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!

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 . . .

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 . . .