12.12.04
Posted in homebrewing at 9:25 pm by
This may interest the those of you who are interested in homebrewing. If not, well, I’ll document the whole escapade regardless, so, at least you’ll be able to laugh at me if my recipe goes awry.
So, here it is. Now for all of you die hard brewers who do all-grain batches, you’ll be disappointed, but hey, I’m a rookie.
With no further adieu, here’s Fuller Avenue Orange Ale:
Steep @ 150 degrees farenheit:
1/2 lb. Crystal Malt (20L) (Though, if I had to do it again, I might use a lighter malt)
Remove grain bag and bring to boil, then add:
6 lbs super pale liquid malt extract
1 oz. Northern Brewer Hop Pellets (10% AA)
Boil for 45 minutes then add:
1/2 oz. Willamette Hops (4.5% AA)
1 tsp. Irish Moss
1/2 oz. Dried Orange peel (Not just any dried orange peel…the kind they sell at homebrew shops).
Boil for 10 more minutes (55 minutes total now) and add:
1/2 oz. Willamette Hops (4.5% AA)
After 60 minutes of boil, kill heat & bring wort to 80 degrees F. Top up to 5 and 1/4 gallons of wort. (For this batch I did NOT remove the orange peels from the primary fermenter…we’ll see how it turns out.)
Pitch yeast:
White Labs Liquid California Ale Yeast
Fermentation Schedule:
Ferment for 7 days in primary fermenter
Rack to secondary ferementer and ferment in glass carboy for 11 to 14 days.
Prime with 4 oz. corn sugar and bottle condition for 2 weeks.
I had a pretty violent primary fermentation this time. So, be warned, it could get messy. I don’t know how much of that, though, had to do with the fact that my batch was a little on the big side. Thus, there wasn’t much head space.
My OG was about 1.041. But, with a bit smaller volume I wouldn’t be surprised to see an OG of about 1.044-7 on this recipe…like I said, I made a big recipe. If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! I’d love the feedback.
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Posted in homebrewing at 9:25 pm by
This may interest the those of you who are interested in homebrewing. If not, well, I’ll document the whole escapade regardless, so, at least you’ll be able to laugh at me if my recipe goes awry.
So, here it is. Now for all of you die hard brewers who do all-grain batches, you’ll be disappointed, but hey, I’m a rookie.
With no further adieu, here’s Fuller Avenue Orange Ale:
Steep @ 150 degrees farenheit:
1/2 lb. Crystal Malt (20L) (Though, if I had to do it again, I might use a lighter malt)
Remove grain bag and bring to boil, then add:
6 lbs super pale liquid malt extract
1 oz. Northern Brewer Hop Pellets (10% AA)
Boil for 45 minutes then add:
1/2 oz. Willamette Hops (4.5% AA)
1 tsp. Irish Moss
1/2 oz. Dried Orange peel (Not just any dried orange peel…the kind they sell at homebrew shops).
Boil for 10 more minutes (55 minutes total now) and add:
1/2 oz. Willamette Hops (4.5% AA)
After 60 minutes of boil, kill heat & bring wort to 80 degrees F. Top up to 5 and 1/4 gallons of wort. (For this batch I did NOT remove the orange peels from the primary fermenter…we’ll see how it turns out.)
Pitch yeast:
White Labs Liquid California Ale Yeast
Fermentation Schedule:
Ferment for 7 days in primary fermenter
Rack to secondary ferementer and ferment in glass carboy for 11 to 14 days.
Prime with 4 oz. corn sugar and bottle condition for 2 weeks.
I had a pretty violent primary fermentation this time. So, be warned, it could get messy. I don’t know how much of that, though, had to do with the fact that my batch was a little on the big side. Thus, there wasn’t much head space.
My OG was about 1.041. But, with a bit smaller volume I wouldn’t be surprised to see an OG of about 1.044-7 on this recipe…like I said, I made a big recipe. If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! I’d love the feedback.
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Trackback URL »
http://www.badchristian.com/2004/12/12/newest_beer_recipe_my_first_original/trackback/
Streak said,
December 13, 2004 at 11:14 am
Just out of curiosity, what are you using to chill the wort?
Brandon said,
December 13, 2004 at 11:23 am
Streak,
Right now, I’m using the ‘ice in the sink’ method. But, I’ve been promised an immersion wort chiller for Christmas…I hope santa comes early.
Brandon said,
December 13, 2004 at 11:25 am
P.S. I will usually try to only boil about 3 gallons right now…the other 2.5 or so I’ll pre boil and cool during the wort boil process. If possible I stick them (the pre-boiled water) into the freezer so it really shocks the wort.
Any way you cook it, this is a messy/wet process. I recommend a wort chiller even though I haven’t used one yet…it can’t be worse.
Mainsheet said,
December 13, 2004 at 11:33 am
Brandon,
Sounds interesting, and it gives me an idea for a Mexican beer.
As far as wort chillers go, you’ll have to sparge the peel and other fruit debris before fermentation because that stuff will clog your chiller like nobody’s business.
I’ve found bottling to be the messiest part of the process, much messier than producing sweet wort. Have you thought about going to kegs?
Audrey
Brandon said,
December 13, 2004 at 12:43 pm
…even on an immersion wort chiller?
Or, are you talking about a counterflow chiller, Audrey? I’m planning on the immersion chiller, just because they seem a little easier.
I hadn’t thought of going to kegs, can you tell me about the process?
Mainsheet said,
December 13, 2004 at 2:02 pm
Brandon,
I was talking about a counterflow chiller. I’m into efficiency, so if I decide to go to a wort chiller I’ll go with a counterflow unit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an immersion chiller, and it doesn’t strike me that they’d be all that efficient if you were using a plastic primary. But as I told you before, I don’t ever expect to become any sort of all-grain brewer. Extracts work way too well for me so far.
As near as I can tell, the old soda kegs (technically, Cornelius containers) with a CO2 gas bottle and regulator are the way to go. Standard brewery kegs are too big, even 1/4 bbl keg is 12.5 gallons. Cornelius come in 5 gallon, which is perfect. Cost is about $160 or so, which gets you the gas bottle, regulator, gauge, hoses and one keg. Additional kegs run about $60 or so. Of course, then you need a fridge for your beer … but you don’t have to futz with bottles any more. Pop the extra $15 or so for a regulator with gauges on both sides. The HP gauge tells you about the state of your tank, and LP gauge about the state of your keg system.
There are some other systems, but I’m trying to decide if I really want to get away from bottles. I don’t drink that much, and five gallons of beer would sit in my fridge for months. If it’s in bottles it’s easier to give away.
Audrey
Brandon said,
December 13, 2004 at 2:31 pm
immersion chillers, you’re right, are a bit less effective than a counterflow chiller. However, overall, I’ve heard that they’re not that bad. They run about 45 bucks or so. The idea is that you run cold water through a coil which you immerse into the wort. You actually stick the chiller in a few minutes before the boil is done, that way you sanitize the chiller with the wort. Then, hook it up to the sink (with an adapter) and run cold water through the copper coils. Water goes in cold and goes out HOT and takes the heat away from the wort.
It’s really a pretty good option, I think. I think I’m with you on the kegs. It’s just too easy to give bottles away.
Streak said,
December 13, 2004 at 3:36 pm
I made my own immersion chiller, and it works exactly as you describe. Counter-flow chillers always scared me about cleaning them. The interesting thing about the immersion chiller is that it works almost too well in the winter. I think one of the problems I might have had the last few batches is chilling the wort down a little too far.
I also kegged for a while, but found it a little too much trouble. I never seemed to get the co2 working just right, and, like you say, the bottles are more portable.
Mainsheet said,
December 13, 2004 at 4:54 pm
If you’re chilling your wort, White Labs suggest going to 75-80 F and pitching there. Hold the temperature at or around that, then slowly reduce the temperature once you see signs of active fermentation.
The other problem I can see with chilling too quickly is getting the wort oxygenated. Yeasts need some available oxygen to start the fermentation process. The boiled wort is to all intents and purposes gasless. You can bubble air through the wort for a few hours, or oxygen (know any emphysema pts whose O2 you can borrow), or rely on the old slosh around method.
I had one stuck fermentation, and that was one too many.
Audrey
Brandon said,
December 13, 2004 at 6:15 pm
I slosh.
Streak said,
December 14, 2004 at 12:02 pm
Audrey, you want to oxygenate the wort only when it is cooled, right? I had a friend who would siphon the wort into the fermenter and added a tube at the end that had holes drilled in it to pull in oxygen. That is a great point that might be causing me some problems.
Brandon said,
December 14, 2004 at 12:20 pm
From what I understand, oxygenating hot wort is not what you’re looking for.
The biggest problem I see with siphoning the wort into the fermenter would be the oxygenation issue. Much oxygenation comes from the vigorous transfer from brewpot to bucket. (Unless, as Audrey points out, you use an aeration technique with a hose/bubbles/etc.)
Streak said,
December 15, 2004 at 10:32 am
I am talking about siphoning the wort after it cools. Then, I think we want to add oxygen to the wort.
Mainsheet said,
December 15, 2004 at 11:26 am
Sorry about the delay — I was out of town yesterday. Oxygenating hot wort qualifies as a bad idea. In the first place, hot wort doesn’t have much capacity to dissolve gasses. In the second place, the oxygen that does dissolve will oxidize the sugars and dextrins in the malt. You’ll get nasty tasting beer as a result. Don’t oxygenate much above 130F or so.
I had the really bright idea of using LOX to cool the wort. Fortunately, I thought about it before trying it. I still want to try oxygenating with LOX, but I’m not going to try to use it as a cooling agent, too.
I thought about immersion chillers while I was driving (and driving, and driving some more) yesterday, and I finally figured out why I don’t like them. They involve leaving the wort in an open vessel. I want it in a sanitized container and sealed to the world ASAP. Leaving the bucket open for a couple of hours gives me the willies.
If you want to aerate while siphoning, sloppy technique (splashing, etc) is good enough, but a sanitized faucet aerator would work really well. BTW, when siphoning beer you don’t want to aerate it at all. Getting oxygen in at that point will lead to off-flavors.
Audrey
Brandon said,
December 15, 2004 at 12:25 pm
My understanding is that an immersion wort chiller works much faster than a couple of hours. I would have thought that it takes 15 minutes max! I could be wrong, though.
Streak? You’ve got one right? What do you say?