As promised, today I will announce the brewery for the month of February.  Without further delay, I am declaring February to be “Great Divide Brewing Co. Month!”  Kudos to any of you that guessed and/or expected that.  I will be posting as much information as possible about the brewery throughout the month (probably starting Tuesday).  The one constant will be that each Tuesday and Friday the beer review will be of a beer from Great Divide.  The reviews will certainly be fun for me, but I also look forward to learning a bit more about one of my favorites.  Hopefully you will enjoy it as well!

Now on to bottling the Cherry Dunkelweizen . . .

Letting the bottles air dry a bit.

Since I posted a video of the bottling process for the Blueberry Chocolate Stout a few days ago, I will again just provide details for this beer on what was not shown.  Be sure to take a look at that video for the other processes that went on or if you haven’t already done so.

The cherries left behind.

As usual I boiled 4.5 oz of corn sugar in 2 cups of water, cooled it, then added it to the bottling bucket before racking the wort over.  The carbonation levels have varied a bit with the batches, so I may start experimenting with the amount of corn sugar.  However, I think that I will take a beer that is slightly under carbonated to exploding bottles, so I don’t plan on adjusting too much.

Racking to the bottling bucket.

The final hydrometer reading left it with a specific gravity of about 1.0142, giving it approximately 4.56% ABV.  It was down only slightly from when it was transferred to secondary, so I guess adding the cherries did not affect that aspect much.  This was my first time using real fruit in secondary fermentation only, so I was not sure what exactly to expect.

My very scientific labeling system.

After tasting the sample that was pulled off, the nose had a bit of fruit and it was very smooth with some sweetness to it.  The cherries definitely imparted much of their character and I think it will be pretty darn good when carbonated.  It should be ready for a sampling in the very near future.

Sample help up to the light.

Stay tuned for the official review!

Since there was some good feedback on the first video that I posted for my brewing process, it is time to try another one.  Really this is long overdue.  Though usually once the bottling process is started I don’t like to stop, I was able to basically summarize the routine in a few minutes.  There was only one chance at doing this shoot, so fortunately I had a great person on the camera (The Wife) and there were no major catastrophes from me.

Before getting on with the video I will update you on what was not shown.  You will not see that I had already boiled the 4.5 oz of corn sugar in 2 cups of water, cooled it, then added it to the bottling bucket before racking the wort and adding the blueberry flavoring to finish off this recipe.  This was my first time using flavoring and not real fruit, so we will see how that ultimately turns out.

The final hydrometer reading left it with a specific gravity of about 1.0169, giving it approximately 5.76% ABV.  It was down a little from when it was transferred to secondary, but still is the highest of any beer that I have brewed to date.  After tasting the sample that was pulled off, the flavor was very good and the blueberry was there just enough.  I think it will be really nice in the end.

Now onto today’s production . . .

It also turns out that I got the highest yield of filled bottles from this batch than I have ever before, so I must be getting a bit more efficient with all of this practice.  Soon I will have to plan for the next one (or two).

Stay tuned for the official review!

Do you remember when I said that it was probably time to do another video for the process of racking to secondary fermentation a few days ago?  Well I will say it again because I didn’t do it for this batch either and it will continue to stay at the top of the list of things to do for the next brew.  So as usual, if you are interested in the specifics of racking the wort from a primary to secondary fermenter check out the video in “Pumpkin Ale – Part 2” on the “Brewing” page above.  In this post I will just highlight the specifics of this batch to keep you up to date on the progress.

The Chief of Sanitation is serious about his job.

This step was where I could begin my attempt to turn this recipe into a Cherry Dunkelweizen as I called it from the beginning.  Before racking I took 60 oz of frozen, dark sweet cherries and set them out to thaw.  Frozen cherries work nicely because the freezing punctures the skin a bit, making them extra juicy as they come to room temperature and perfect for steeping during secondary fermentation.  I would have liked to get some sour cherries for the mix as well, but I did not have that option where I bought them.  If this turns out well (and even if it doesn’t), there will be many other opportunities for that.

Watching cherries thaw is exciting

A large funnel would have been helpful.

The (soon to be) Cherry Dunkelweizen came in with a specific gravity of about 1.0139 at the time of transfer.  That leaves it with a current ABV of approximately 4.6% and I will just have to wait and see what the addition of cherries ultimately does to that number.

Adding the wort

The sample (without the cherries yet added) was pretty tasty, but I think the cherries will be a great addition.  With that, the cherries were added to the secondary fermenter before racking.  My (basic) understanding is that adding the room temperature fruit at this time is OK because the mix now should be acidic and alcoholic enough to keep any bacteria from doing damage.  In the future I would certainly do secondary fermentation for a beer like this in a bucket rather than a carboy (more room), but I wanted to be able to see what was going on this first time through.

It all got a bit frothy

After the wort was racked and the airlock was in place, the cherries slowly started to float to the top.  In a very short time the fermentation became much more violent than it ever was during primary and I quickly switched the airlock with a blow off tub for that first night.  When things calmed down a bit the airlock was implemented again as fermentation continued on.

So now the batch is still in the bathtub and is still showing some signs of active fermentation.  Though in the future I might let the cherries sit for longer in secondary, I think I will end up bottling this batch sometime soon just to see what the impact was.  That will give me a better guide for what to do with future fruit infused batches.

Until bottling . . .

It is probably time to do another video for the process of racking to secondary fermentation, but I did not remember to do so for this batch.  I know that I say that a lot, but I will actually get to it one of these days!  So for now if you are interested in the specifics of racking the wort from a primary to secondary fermenter check out the video in “Pumpkin Ale – Part 2” on the “Brewing” page above.  In this post I will simply highlight the specifics of this brew to keep you up to date on the progress.

There was nothing to add to the mix at this stage so it was a simple as it could be and makes for a very short recap in this post.  You may be wondering where the blueberry comes in to this Blueberry Chocolate Stout.  Well, I am using an extract flavoring for this batch, so it will be added when I bottle and you will have to wait for the bottling post to see how that goes.  Not to worry, I have real fruit going into another batch very shortly.

Before

During

After

The Chocolate Stout (until the blueberry is added) came in with a specific gravity of about 1.0154 at the time of transfer.  That leaves it with a current ABV of approximately 5.96% and is now the highest ABV that I have brewed to date.  Of course the bar was pretty low, but still a new personal record!

Hydrometer close up

The sample had great, smooth flavors with a very nice roasted and chocolate aroma.  It should turn out well and there was a moment where I though about just leaving the blueberry out completely.  However, after talking with my consultant (The Wife) it was decided to move ahead with the blueberry as originally planned.

A little reward for the effort

So now everything is back in the bathtub and I plan on bottling sometime very soon.  If I end up with enough empty bottles there will be plenty of bottling going on this week, leaving a lot of beer ready for when Cousin Adam come to visit in a few weeks.

Until bottling . . .

Before moving on to the bottling of what will be the last of my half batches for now, there is a bit of housekeeping to mention.  I will be tweaking the look and functioning of the site in the coming days, so you will notice things moving around a bit.  Perhaps it is in part because I have the itch to do so, but it is also in preparation for bigger and better things to come in this year and beyond.  I have some formatting ideas that I would like to try out and now seems like a good time to give them the green light.  Be sure to let me know what you like or don’t like about the changes you see.

Now then, in place of the usual food and travel post on Monday, I bring you more brewing updates . . .

When I say that these are the last half batches for now it is only because I have to adjust my approach to brewing these small amounts and also because I have bigger batches already in the works.  I will revisit the smaller (half) batches some day.

The bottling process for these two took me a lot longer than usual since there was a bit of an oversight in the use of my equipment that made it necessary to do some extra racking to get the job done.  Also because all of my fermenters were tied up with other batches I did leave these two in secondary fermentation for almost twice as long as what I have done in the past.  We will see if that makes a significant difference.

Final racking

A close up look.

There is not much to go over for the bottling process though I do intend on getting the whole thing on video one of these times.  Aside from boiling the bottle caps for five minutes, the other main preparation was to boil 2.5 oz of corn sugar in 1 cup of water for each of the two batches.  After cooling to below 80 degrees, the sugar solution is added to the bucket before racking the beer from the secondary fermenter.

Bottle caps reporting for duty.

The cranberry and ginger infused IPA was the first to go and the final gravity reading came in at 1.0206.  That leaves the beer at about 3.6% ABV and establishes a new low alcohol content for my home brews (not a real surprise).  It did seem to have a pretty nice aroma and flavor, making me think that it will turn out into a pretty good, light beer.

Just a little sample.

The British IPA was next to go and it clocked in at a specific gravity of about 1.0176, giving it a final ABV of roughly 3.77%.  Again that was not a shock and the flavor was fine.  It is definitely not an IPA, but I will likely have a(nother) good lighter beer on my hands.

In the bottle at last

The Cheif of Sanitation is always present.

The one hiccup in the bottling process was when I left my setup unattended to deal with an issue the dog was having.  Thinking that I had to put pressure on the bottling wand for the beer to flow, I did not expect anything to happen.  Let’s just say that there was a fair amount of beer overflowed into the box of bottles and there was some clean up to do before continuing on.  In the end, I lost a few bottles worth of beer to learn a valuable lesson.

Don't leave it unattended!

Now it will sit in bottles for a few weeks before the official review.

Until then . . .

Sometimes a batch of beer just does not want to cooperate.  I have every intention of taking a very nice Dunkelweizen recipe and infusing it with some cherries, but it seems extra effort will be involved if there is to be any chance of success.  Dealing with unexpected results is just another part of the fun of brewing beer at home.

Again taking for granted that I have done my very best to ensure that everything used for my brewing has been sanitized to the best of my ability, I again brought 2.5 gallons of water to about 160 degrees and put the following into the grain bag:

• .5 lb Crystal 60L Malt
• 4 oz Special B Malt
• 4 oz Cara Wheat
• 1.25 lb Red Wheat Malt
• 2 oz Chocolate Malt
• 1.25 lb German Pilsner Malt

Not to be mistaken for bird food.

The grains were then soaked for 45 minutes while maintaining the temperature at about 155 degrees.  The grain bag was then pulled out and I poured 2 quarts of 170 degree water over it to ensure all of the grainy goodness was not lost. I removed the pot from the heat and then added:

• 5 lb Dark Wheat Extract

My first taste of wheat extract.

Once the malt extract was stirred in, the pot went back on the heat until there was a good rolling (controlled) boil.  I set the timer for 60 minutes and then it was time for:

• Bittering hops – 1 oz Tradition
• Flavoring hops – None this time
• Aroma hops – None this time

That is all for this one.

After the 60 minutes of boiling I was able to get everything pretty quickly down to below 80 degrees with the help of my (very near ice cold) pool.  Until I build myself a proper wort chiller (that I keep putting off) I am going to take advantage of what I have on hand during the winter months.  That is part of the fun for me.

Slowly through the strainer.

When the temperature was at 78 degrees (with water added to about 5.25 gallons) I pitched in the Munich German Wheat dry yeast that I was using.  As with the Blueberry Chocolate Stout, I just threw it in and gave it a stir as the package directed rather than blooming the yeast before pitching it.  Unlike the Blueberry Chocolate Stout the yeast did not seem to work all that well this time.  After four days of no real signs of fermentation via the airlock I pitched more yeast (Wyeast Weihenstephan Weizen this time) into the bucket and gave it a vigorous stir.  Relatively soon there were signs of life, but not all that much since that time.  Maybe these yeast have decided to only work at night when I am sleeping?

In this corner we have . . .

If at first you don't succeed . . .

The original specific gravity came in at approximately 1.049, which was a bit lower than expected, but pretty close.  I am keeping a close eye on this one in hopes that it will still turn into something excellent.  Today I might pull the lid off to see where the specific gravity is at and if I can go ahead and transfer to secondary.

Stay tuned . . .

As mentioned previously, it is time to use a slightly different format for the brewing posts.  Until my brewing equipment and methods evolve significantly I think that more of a recipe format with images will be just fine for sharing my brewing adventures.  My earlier batches (see “Brewing” page above) cover some of the process in more depth and I will include any changes to those methods if they occur.  I will also be trying more video posts in the future, so eventually there will be a pretty thorough library of home brewing stuff to reference (for me and you).  Now we move along to what I hope will be a very good Blueberry Chocolate Stout!

Taking for granted that I have done my very best to ensure that everything used for my brewing has been sanitized to the best of my ability, I again brought 2.5 gallons of water to about 160 degrees and put the following into the grain bag:

• .5 lb Crystal 40L Malt
• 2 lb Pale Ale Malt
• .25 lb De-Bittered Black Malt
• 2 oz Black Patent Malt
• ¾ lb Chocolate Malt
• 1 lb Flaked Oats (that I toasted at 325 degrees for 15 minutes)

We now have toasted oats

After the nice warm bath

The grains were then soaked for 45 minutes while maintaining the temperature at about 155 degrees.  The grain bag was then pulled out and I poured 2 quarts of 170 degree water over it to ensure all of the grainy goodness was not lost. I removed the pot from the heat and then added:

• 2 lb Amber Extract
• 3 lb Dark Extract

Once the malt extract was stirred in, the pot went back on the heat until there was a good rolling (controlled) boil.  I set the timer for 60 minutes and then it was time for:

• Bittering hops – 1 oz Target
• Flavoring hops – None this time
• Aroma – 1 oz Belgian Cocoa (for the last 5 minutes)

Time to add the hops

Belgian Cocoa

After the 60 minutes of boiling I was able to get everything pretty quickly down to below 80 degrees with the help of my (very quickly approaching ice cold) pool.  Until I build myself a proper wort chiller I am going to take advantage of what I have on hand during the winter months.  That is part of the fun for me.

Chillin' in the pool

The hops have to go

When the temperature was at 78-79 degrees I pitched in the Muntons Premiums Gold dry yeast that I was using.  For the first time I just threw it in and gave it a stir as the package directed rather than blooming the yeast before pitching it.  It seems to have worked because active fermentation was evident pretty quickly.

Bring on the beasties

The original specific gravity came in at approximately 1.0609, which was actually higher than expected for once.  I have a good feeling that the beer will turn out quite well.

Stay tuned . . .

Fortunately for me (and likely for you reading this), there is less explanation necessary as I go through each (rather basic) recipe of home brew since it has been written here previously.  As my equipment evolves, my methods become more complex, and my ingredients get a bit more adventurous I will need to go through things in more detail.  For now though, if you are interested in the specifics of racking the wort from a primary to secondary fermenter check out the video in “Pumpkin Ale – Part 2” on the “Brewing” page above.  In this post I will simply highlight the specifics of these two brews to keep you up to date on what is happening.

If that first paragraph sounds familiar it is because you have read it before.  Recycling material is fantastic!  Actually I would like to rework my brewing posts into a different format that is more of a recipe and less like reading an article.  I will get there, but today isn’t the day.

Yes, I use painter's tape to mark volumes!

The British IPA was the first to be transferred.  It came in at a specific gravity of about 1.0172 giving it a current ABV of roughly 3.83%.  The specific gravity of this one was even lower than expected after seeing the initial reading.  Hopefully it will continue to ferment a bit in secondary and drop down a little further before bottling.

Still cannot bring myself to try one.

The cranberry and ginger infused IPA was next to go.  No sugar was added at this stage as I have done before so it was a simple transfer to the carboy.  Since I had to deal with quite a bit of fruit floating in the wort, I decided to take the specific gravity reading before it was racked to secondary.  It clocked in with about a 1.0192, giving it and ABV in the neighborhood of 3.79%.  As with the British IPA, I hope that it will continue to ferment and the reading will come down a bit more.

All gone.

Both samples were not bad and I think will turn out OK once carbonated and in the bottle for a while, though with a much lower ABV than I would like to see.  Still a good experiment all in all.  However, it seems that exactly halving the recipes doesn’t equate to two beers of the same strength and character as the original so I think I will have to start upping the ingredients if I am going to continue that method going forward.

Back to the bathtub with you!

So now everything is sitting in the bathtub and I plan on bottling sometime before or during the weekend.  I have actually brewed another (full) batch today so there will soon be more home brewing excitement to share.  Stay tuned!

These two small batches are much the same what was in “IPA and Pale Ale – Part 1” with a few different ingredients thrown in.  Though I am not thrilled with the way the last two turned out, the only way to get better is to continue trying.  So this time I took a recipe for a British IPA and decided to split it into two 2.5-gallon batches so I could experiment a bit further.

Again I am going to focus on what was different this time, so I will likely pass over some of the basic processes.  If you are interested in a more in depth description of the steps, check out “Part 1” for any of the beers on the “Brewing” page above.  Hopefully this will all be clear as I try to again recap two beers in one post.

The Chief of Sanitation is always present

The 1 pound of Crystal 60L Malt and 2 pounds of 2-Row Malt was split into halves (1.5 pounds each).  Each half of the crushed grains was steeped in 1.25 gallons of 155 degree water for 45 minutes.  This time I used the grain bag for one and no grain bag for the other just to see what difference it would make in the process.  Exact temperature control still continues to be a bit of an issue for me, but 155-160 degrees was the general range for that time.  Each half was then rinsed with a quart of 170 degree (or so) water before removing the grains entirely.

In an attempt to keep the two batches straight here, the one with the grain bag will be referred to as the British IPA and the other as the IPA.  I was basically taking half of the recipe and staying very close to the British IPA instructions and using the other half as more of an experimental version.

For both batches 3 pounds of the Extra Pale Extract was added and dissolved before returning the mixture to heat.  Each was brought to a controlled, rolling boil before adding 1.5 ounces of Kent Golding hops to each for bittering.  After 45 minutes .5 ounces of Kent Golding hops was added to each for flavoring.  Ten minutes later the same amount of Kent Golding hops was added to each for aroma along with .5 teaspoons of fresh ground nutmeg and 1.125 ounces of fresh ginger to the IPA.

Hops and hops and hops

Fresh nutmeg

Chunks of fresh ginger

After the boil, the British IPA was cooled to prepare for pitching the yeast.  To the IPA I added 12 ounces of frozen cranberries after scooping out the chunks of ginger and allowed them to steep for 15 minutes (or so).  Since the fruit was frozen I didn’t really need to break the skins, but I did take the masher to some of them just to help the flavor come out.  I wanted the temperature to drop a bit to allow the fruit to pasteurize without boiling.  As mentioned before, if the fruit were to boil the pectin can cause problems with clarity and the higher heat can also give you different flavors that you may not be looking for.

Taking a warm bath.

The cooling is much easier with these small batches and I was able to get the temperature down without much of a problem at all.  Each batch was put into a primary fermenter and water was added to roughly 2.625 gallons.  The original specific gravity for the British IPA was 1.0464 and the IPA came in at 1.0481.  The readings for both batches were pretty low and I think my exactly halving the recipe is watering the mix down a bit.  In the future I might try to end at 2.5 gallons or lower just to see what happens.

Since the dry yeast worked so well last time I decided to use it again.  To prepare for pitching, the yeast was split (5 grams or so each) and added to .5 cups of warm (previously boiled) water and allowed to sit for 15 minutes.  One teaspoon of sugar was boiled in a small amount of water, cooled and then split and added into each of the yeast mixtures.  After covering and allowing each to sit for 30 minutes it was clear that they were alive and ready to pitch.

As it comes

Though I don’t know how the cranberry IPA will turn out, I think that the flavor will work better with the hops than the sweeter pineapple and grapes did in the last.  If the nutmeg and or ginger come through at all in the aroma I would be thrilled.  If nothing else, it was fun to use whatever ingredients I had around the house for an experimental brew.

Now I wait until racking to secondary.

Though I have really only gone through the brewing process a handful of times I have noticed that my efficiency has improved dramatically.  There are many steps along the way that you just cannot rush through, but bottling isn’t one of them.  I have that routine down pretty well and bottling the few cases I have for each brew goes by very quickly.  Even as I evolve my brewing to a larger setup and different techniques it is good to know that at least the bottling should go smoothly.

Since the bottling process was already covered in more detail in Part 3 of the Honey Porter, this will really just be an update on how my two experiments are doing with a few pictures thrown in to prove that all of this actually happened.

Sanitized and ready for duty

Racking one last time

My version of a drying rack

The brew that I have been referring to as the IPA clocked in at just over 4% ABV which was about what I expected with the previous readings being what they were.  Though it is tough to tell exactly how the flavor is when flat, this one seemed to be a bit more of a pale ale than an IPA when I gave the sample a try.  The hop flavor was definitely there though as confirmed by The Wife making a face after one sip.

Done with one and on to the next

The pineapple and grape infused Pale Ale came in at just under 5.25% ABV and, judging by my small sample, seemed like it would be a nice light(er) bodied beer when fully carbonated.

Since that time I have opened a bottle of each to try because I wanted to give some out to friends before the holidays hit.  Neither of the two I sampled were fully carbonated but they were drinkable, which is my rock bottom standard for handing out to others.  So I packed up a case and a half of my Pumpkin Ale (soon to be reviewed here), a few of the “Practice Makes Porter,” and some of the two recently bottled to hand out to some guinea pigs.

There is something about beer (especially when free) that just makes people smile and every bottle was gladly accepted.  Hopefully some of them like some of the beer and if not all I ask is to get the empties back so that I can use them to bottle the next batches.  It certainly felt good that others were willing to drink what I made and I thank them for helping me clear room to brew some more!

I continue to find many interesting beer stories in my daily internet travels and I enjoy passing them along on this site.  It is possible that a few of these may be old news for some of you, but I hope there are an equal number (or more) of them that you really enjoy.  For this Thursday I bring you . . .

• Check out some giant cans of beer if you are passing through Rochester.  A bit of sentimental value for me.

• A Milwaukee brewery wins awards and recognition at a European beer competition.  This certainly doesn’t hurt, but a recommendation from Erin and PJ was all I needed to give them a try!

• An article about The Brew Shop in Bend, Oregon since I love Oregon and running a home brew store fascinates me.

• Buy a piece of Pabst Brewing Company.  The Wife sent this to me so I assume she is OK with me pledging $250,000 in our name?

Time to get your supplies via http://www.bendbulletin.com/

Before getting to the next step in my most recent home brewing adventures, I need to draw attention again to the beer review posted yesterday.  Please be sure to take a look at the comment from Travis at Dunedin Brewery confirming my suspicions of the bottle I opened and also clarifying their bottling process.  I was never going to shy away from their brews based solely on that sample (anyway) and I have every intention of giving the Red Head Red Ale another shot.  A nice response like that directly from them is very much appreciated.

Moving on . . .

Fortunately for me (and likely for you reading this), there is less explanation necessary as I go through each (rather basic) recipe of home brew since it has been written here previously.  As my equipment evolves, my methods become more complex, and my ingredients get a bit more adventurous I will need to go through things in more detail.  For now though, if you are interested in the specifics of racking the wort from a primary to secondary fermenter check out the video in “Pumpkin Ale – Part 2” on the “Brewing” page above.  In this post I will simply highlight the specifics of these two brews to keep you up to date on what is happening.

Chief of Sanitation checking out the setup

Just sit back and watch

The IPA was the first to be transferred.  It came in at a specific gravity of about 1.0111 giving it a current ABV of roughly 4.26%.  The original gravity of this one was lower than expected so this was not exactly a surprise.  As I tasted the sample taken for hydrometer use I did notice some nice hop aroma and flavor, though not as prominent as hoped.  My thought is that the carbonation will certainly amp up the hop aroma, but I am not sure where the flavors will end up.  Though fermentation has seemingly not continued, this beer is currently clarifying in the secondary fermenter.  Maybe I will bottle this one a day or two ahead of the Pale Ale?

Before

After

Job well done!

The pineapple, grape, and Cayenne infused Pale Ale was next to go.  Before starting, I boiled about 1.5 cups of light brown sugar in roughly 2.25 cups of water for a few minutes so I could add it to the mix.  After cooling, that went into the secondary fermenter so that it would be thoroughly mixed in during racking.

Just floating around

All that is left

Since I had to deal with quite a bit of fruit floating in the wort, I decided to take the specific gravity ready before it was added to the brown sugar.  It clocked in with about a 1.0101, giving it and ABV in the neighborhood of 5.67%.  It may gain or lose some with the addition of the brown sugar and I will just have to wait and see.  The sample of this one had a pretty clean aroma, light body, and slight sweetness.  I really did not have much of an idea of what this one would turn out to be, but it was a bit lighter on the palate than I would have guessed.

I could not bring myself to eat one.

Everything is back into the bathtub and if all goes well I plan on bottling sometime this weekend, which will likely be followed shortly thereafter by another two batches.  It seems I am a bit addicted and I am OK with that.

Back to the bathtub with you!

There is one last thing as a note to myself and also a warning to others.  It is not a great idea to put your head anywhere near the bucket directly after taking the lid off, especially with a lot of fruit in the mix.  It will clear your nostrils, and your head in a hurry, possibly taking a few brain cells out with it!

It also needs a "Don't put your head over it when opening" warning!

It is not as if I have mastered basic brewing at any level, but I felt the need to branch out a bit from the straightforward recipe brewing for my next beers.  So I ordered supplies for an American IPA and decided to split it into two 2.5-gallon batches so I could experiment a bit.  With that, I also purchased an extra primary and secondary fermenter so that brewing two batches at once could become the norm for me.  Waiting for one to finish before starting another became frustrating since I want to practice and get better at brewing.

I am going to focus on what was different this time, so I will likely pass over some of the basic processes.  If you are interested in more in depth description of those, check out “Part 1” of the “Honey Porter” or “Pumpkin Ale” on the “Brewing” page above.  Hopefully this will all be clear as I try to recap two beers in one post.

The 1 pound of Crystal 60L Malt and 2 pounds of 2-Row Malt was split into halves (1.5 pounds each) and I took .5 pounds of one half and roasted it for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  In an attempt to keep the to batches straight here, the one with the roasted grains will be referred to as the Pale Ale and the other as the IPA.  I was basically taking half of the recipe and staying very close to the IPA instructions and using the other half as more of an experimental Pale Ale.

Roasting some grains

Each half of the crushed grains was steeped in 1.25 gallons of 155 degree water for 45 minutes.  Exact temperature control continues to be a bit of an issue for me, but 155-160 degrees was the general range for that time.  Each half was then rinsed with a quart of 170 degree water before removing the grains entirely.

For both batches 3 pounds of the Extra Pale Extract was added and dissolved before returning the mixture to heat.  Each was brought to a controlled, rolling boil before adding 2 ounces of Yakima Golding hops to the IPA and 1 ounce of the same to the Pale Ale for bittering.  After 45 minutes .75 ounces of Cluster hops was added to the IPA and .25 ounces to the Pale Ale for flavoring.  Ten minutes later the same amount of Cluster hops was added to each for aroma along with .25 teaspoons of Cayenne to the Pale Ale.

Just some of the hop pellets

After the boil, the IPA was cooled to prepare for pitching the yeast.  To the Pale Ale I added 20 ounces of chunked pineapple (including juice) and 1 pound of halved seedless red grapes and allowed them to steep for 15 minutes (or so).  The fruit was actually put in the freezer for a bit to cool them before adding to the pot.  I wanted to temperature to drop a bit to allow the fruit to pasteurize without boiling.  If the fruit were to boil, the pectin can cause problems with clarity and the higher heat can also give you different flavors that you may not be looking for.

No cutting to be done here

Many grapes to slice

Cooling continues to be another issue for me, but it was much easier with these small batches and I was able to get the temperature down without much of a problem.  Each batch was put into a primary fermenter and water was added to roughly 2.625 gallons.  The original specific gravity for the IPA was 1.0436 and the Pale Ale came in at 1.0534.  The Pale Ale was pretty close to what I was looking for but the IPA was pretty low, possibly a result of adding too much water at the end or maybe just a result of halving the recipe.  Neither was a reason to be upset.

Just some of the strained hops

This was also the first time that I decided to use dry yeast.  That doesn’t always work out because the selection of dry yeast is more limited, but there was that option for this recipe.  To prepare for pitching, the yeast was added to 1 cup of warm (previously boiled) water and allowed to sit for 15 minutes.  One teaspoon of sugar was boiled in a small amount of water, cooled and then added into the yeast mixture.  After covering and allowing to sit for 30 minutes it was clear that they were alive and ready, so I split the mix into halves.

As it came

Half of the beasties

I don’t know exactly how the dry yeast will alter the end product, but active fermentation started earlier than ever before and was actually more vigorous.  It was also cheaper than buying it in liquid form, so if it works out well I will likely use it as often as it makes sense in the future.

Ah, the lovely sound of a bubbling airlock!

The attempt to make a video of the bottling process for my pumpkin ale did not turn out as I envisioned, so a written update will have to do this time.  I had very good reactions to the video for racking the pumpkin ale, but my editing skills were not up to the task of turning the long bottling footage into something of reasonable length.  No worries though as I will figure out what to do for next time.  Refining my video making skills will run right along with refining my brewing skills, which I am more than OK with.

So my pumpkin ale has been in bottles for about a week and a half now.  If you are curious about the bottling process check out what I did with the honey porter a few months ago.  The procedure was exactly the same except I was using all recycled bottles this time rather than brand new.  I ended up with fifty 12-ounce bottles even after spilling at least one bottle worth on the floor.

A few days ago marked one week, so I opened a bottle for sampling to see how things were coming along.  It has carbonated very well and the flavor is pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.  I wished the aroma was a little more prominent, but it seems like it will turn out to be a winner.  The Wife enjoyed it very much and we are looking forward to the official “release” in about a week or so.

If you need proof of it being in bottles, just take a look at what the Chief of Sanitation is resting on.

Dedicated to his work

Stay tuned for the review!

For the second entry regarding my attempt at brewing a pumpkin ale at home I decided to take a break from writing and give you all a break from reading.  I wanted to get some more practice with making video content and this was a perfect opportunity for that.

Now that the mixture is back in the friendly confines of the bathtub bubbling away, I present you with how it got there.