Cold Crash

I took a gravity reading of the Pilothouse Pilsner on Friday that came in at 1.012. The 1.012 reading was perfect, but the beer was extremely cloudy. I decided to "cold crash" the beer before I bottled it. Cold crashing is as easy as just putting the fermenter into your refrigerator. Some people do it for a couple days, some at least a week. The drop in temperature makes a lot of the yeast fall to the bottom of the fermenter, ultimately making a clearer beer. I only cold crashed for two days and definitely noticed an improvement when I bottled. With a final gravity of 1.012 the beer has an ABV of 6.0%.

Irish Red

Steeping the roasted barley and crystal

I brewed an Irish Red extract recipe that included specialty grains last night. It was the first time I brewed using any kind of grains and it was actually very simple. Using specialty grains adds certain flavors and/or color to the beer that you cannot get from using extracts. The only downside, which is true with steeping any grains, is that the entire brew process takes longer. I purchased a 20 Quart Pot because I was tired of boil overs! If I ever decide to start brewing 5 gallon batches, this pot is big enough to handle it. I bought the pot for $59 on Friday and the price already rose to $67! The pot is perfect for pouring the wort into the fermenter as well. Here is the Irish Red recipe:

3 lbs. Golden Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)
2 oz. Light Roasted Barley (30 minutes)
8 oz. Crystal 60L (C-60) (30 minutes)
1/3 oz. Fuggles hops (60 minutes)
1/3 oz. Willamette hops (60 minutes)
1/3 oz. Fuggles hops (15 minutes)
1/3 oz. Willamette hops (15 minutes)
1/8 tsp. Irish Moss (15 minutes)
1/3 oz. Fuggles hops (5 minutes)
1/3 oz. Willamette hops (5 minutes)
Safale US-05 dry yeast

The recipe might look complex, but the bulk of it is 1 oz. of Fuggles and Willamette hops each broken down into thirds. I put the specialty grains in a ziplock bag and crushed them with a rolling pin. This method worked fine, but

2 of the 3 hops bags that I used

I will have to come up with something better if I ever use larger amounts. I started brewing with 2 gallons of water. I could have used 1 gallon, but some people recommend an "as close to full volume boil as possible" so I gave it a shot. I added the C-60 and light roasted barley for 30 minutes while maintaining a temperature between 150°-160°. After 30 minutes, I removed the specialty grains, added the 3 lbs. of DME, and brought the wort to a boil. Once boiling, I restarted my timer for 60 minutes and added the first hops bag containing 1/3 oz. Fuggles and 1/3 oz. Willamette. I added the second hops bag and irish moss at 15 minutes, and the third hops bag at 5 minutes. The original gravity was 1.056. Even though it didn't look red at this stage it still smelled great!

Witty Ging bottles

I bottled the Witty Ging on Monday night, which free'd up the fermenter for this Irish Red recipe. The final gravity settled at 1.014, meaning the beer has an ABV of 6.2%. I'm very excited to see how this one turns out because it was my first brew that was not based from a Mr. Beer kit!

Another Success!

I just opened up a bottle of the Sticky Wicket after conditioning it in the refrigerator for two days. The head dissipated rather quickly, but can most likely be attributed to the short time spent in the fridge. The beer tastes just like an oatmeal stout should. I prefer oatmeal stouts to be a little more creamy, but overall this is a delicious beer made from a Mr. Beer recipe. I put most of the remaining bottles into the fridge, but left a few out to see if more time in phase 2 will improve the beer at all.

I also put the remaining Witty Monk bottles into the fridge. The Witty Ging and Pilothouse Pilsner are almost done fermenting. I have to come up with more empty beer bottles in order to move them along!

Not quite ready?

This wasn't the best picture, but there wasn't much to see anyway. I put one Witty Monk in the refrigerator to condition after 14 days of carbonating. The head quickly dissipated, and the beer seemed a little watery. The overall flavor was awesome. It had a distinct orange taste much like a Blue Moon. I am going to let the rest of the bottles carbonate for a total of 21 days to see if that changes anything. The beer was good, but I wish it had a little more body to it.

Hot Break

This is a picture of my boiling pot (from Sunday) and what is called the "hot break". The hot break is foam caused by proteins in the wort that coagulate due to the rolling action of the boil. The wort will continue to foam until the protein clumps get heavy enough to sink back into the pot. The hot break is a good thing! It only becomes a problem when it boils over and messes up your stove (happened twice to me...). If you are adding hops, some people recommend waiting until the hot break finishes before adding the hops and starting the times.

This picture shows part of my set up on brew day. There are really only five things to note here. All the way on the left, you can see the two cans of Mr. Beer Hoppe Malt Extract (HME). They are soaking in hot water so they are easier to pour into the wort (they are still very sticky, but it helps). Before I add the HME cans, I replace the warm water with the sanitized solution from the

fermenter. I dip the opened can into the hot wort to get any remaining extract out. The fermenter is sitting next to the HME cans and is just filled with a gallon of the sanitized solution. In the back, there is a measuring cup covered with foil. That is what I use to rehydrate the yeast in one cup of water. To the right of the fermenter is another measuring cup filled with sanitized solution. I keep utensils (can opener and spatula in this picture) in there until I use them. The last thing is a small plate with the whisk. The plate has a little bit of the sanitized solution on it so I can continually put down the utensils without the risk of picking up any unwanted nasties.