Harvest WHIPA

On Labor Day I harvested my hops and brewed my Harvest Wet Hopped IPA. My crop was not as bountiful as I had hoped; a hot dry spell (accompanied by a lack of attention) burned up all my Williamette and half of my Centennial. The Chinook was very productive and I salvaged a few ounces of Centennial and about an ounce of Cascade. The majority of those hops went into this beer.

I started with what I hope will be a solid backbone for this highly hopped beer.

2 Row 8 lbs (59%)
Rye 3 lbs (22%)
Wheat 1 lb (7%)
Crystal 60 0.5 lbs (4%)

Homemade Candy Sugar 1 lb (7%)
(added with the final hop addition)

I cooked the candy sugar to a caramel brown color; it should add some more flavor as well as dry the beer out some.

All of my measurements for the hops are approximate, assuming that one bowl is 5 oz. If so, it went something like this.

Chinook 1 oz (pellet) 45 min
Chinook 5 oz (wet) 20 min
Chinook 5 oz (wet) 15 min
Chinook 5 oz (wet) 10 min
Centennial 5 oz (wet) 5 min
Cascade 5 oz (wet) 5 min

I filled the boil kettle higher than normal planning for what the hops would absorb, but apparently wet hops do not absorb much wort. My finishing volume was 5.75 gallons (I was shooting for 5.5). It is currently being fermented with 3rd generation washed US - 05.

OG - 1.070
FG - 1.016 (estimate)
IBU - 80?
ABV - 7%

Hop Garden - Summer Update

First, allow me to apologize for my recent absence. Life has been crazy. The Mrs and I have been watching her niece and two nephews for the last month and suddenly becoming a "parent" of three has been time consuming. But, we just returned from vacationing for 10 days and the hops, and other garden plants, have been growing well in our absence.

As you can see the Centennial has quite a few hops and the Chinook has also made it to the top of the trellis in its first year at my house. The first year Cascade is a respectable 6 feet high and the Williamette, which was injured last year, has made a respectable comeback. Everything has signs of hop growth.

Stay tuned. Soon I will try to catch you up on the brews that I managed to get in with 3 kids running around and on some other adventures in home brewing.

Brew Day - Bad Day Kolsch

As is my tradition, when I find a problem on a brew day, I find more than one. Today I used some new equipment for the first time, specifically a floating thermometer in my mash. But the thermometer was reading cooler than the math had told me, which is abnormal from my experience. When compared it to my old thermometer, which I used for the strike water, they differed by about 6*F, the new being cooler than the old. So, like a good little scientist, I ran an experiment. I measured the water I was boiling to raise the mash to the next step. New thermo = 212, old =218... Problem. So I brought in a control, and the digital meat thermometer agreed with the new thermometer. So for the last year or so I've been using an uncalibrated thermometer. Nice.

Problem 2. I just bought grain from a home brew supply store around my mom's house last week and they bagged my grain in paper bags. (Or rather had me bag my grain in paper bags.) My basement was pretty humid when I got home, until I got the dehumidifier going. As I'm sure my intelligent readers know paper bags are not very good at keeping moisture out. So far the only problem that I've noticed is a decrease in my efficiency, hopefully it doesn't taste stale because I bought 4 recipes which were all bagged in this manner... The other 3 have been in an air tight container since I got home. Guess we'll evaluate those when I brew them. But enough of my reasons (I won't bother telling you about my ER visits for work both before and after brewing) for calling this brew Bad Day Kolsch, on to the brew day.

Recipe:

88% Pilsner (7#)
6% Munich (0 5#)
6% Vienna (0.5#)

1 oz Hallertauer (4.3%) 45 min
0.5 oz Hallertauer (4.3%) 30 min

Wyeast 1010 (washed)

I cut down times on both the mash and the boil because I was on call and wanted to shave as much time as I could. So I mashed at 148 for 30 minutes, bumped it to 158 for 15, and then mashed out at 168 for 15. I sparged to 6.5 gallons and vigorously boiled for 75 minute. Note: for my system I should have filled less because my final volume was a quart over my goal, 5.75 gal. After chilling and transferring to the primary I put it in my lager fridge for about 6 hours before pitching the yeast, it was 63 when I pitched. My goal is to ferment at around 60*F throughout primary.

Because my gravity was low I added 0.5# sugar.

Numbers:

1.046 OG (measured)
1.010 FG (hopped for)
4.75 ABV
19 IBUs
3 SRM

6/2/13 - Less than 24 hours after pitching the yeast and fermentation appears full bore. I thought there may be a lag because of the cool temperature I'm fermenting at, but not so my friends. So far I'm a fan of Wyeast 1010.

Brew Therapy - Seasonal Breffective Disorder

Perhaps you suffer from this disorder as I do. During certain times of the year you find yourself craving particular styles of beer. I, for example, want light colored beer in the summer and heavier / stronger (abv) beer in the winter. If you live in an area where there is no winter you may be confused right now. Winter is a season when it gets cold and dark and depressing.

At this time I find myself wanting something wheat, or bright, or session-able. And I have nothing that matches that description. I have quite a few that will be available soon, but what does that do for me today? Nothing.

Can you relate? If so, here is my advice. Be proactive! Begin brewing these beers in preparation for the changing seasons, not in reaction to them. Had I begun brewing these beers a month earlier I would have a Kolsch, an American Wheat, and a Helles at my disposal. And significantly less to write about...

Jackpot

So I received a text from a friend today asking if I would be interested in her husband's old brewing equipment. Since I'm never one to turn down a handout I said that I'd be right over. I thought that I would get a new carboy and maybe an extra hydrometer out of the deal.

Little did I know that he was a brewer from way back. Most of what he had (pictured below) is well aged and will require a lot of cleaning, but is still excellent brewing equipment. Probably won't trust the gypsum to be usable and the old racking cane will find its way to the garbage. But the EZ Cap bottles, 2 six gallon carboys, and wort testing kits are a most welcome surprise. Even the old canned Mr. Beer mixes (best if used before 1997) will decorate my man cave.

Perhaps the best surprise were the 15 still full bottles of his home brew; circa the 1990s. Still good? Probably not. Will I give one a try anyway? You know it.

Brew Day - Cit-Wit III

This brew started for as so many others, a request from a friend.  Three years ago I was inspired by a friend, Adam, to brew a wheat beer infused with citrus and thus Cit-Wit was born.  The first year was an extract brew fermented with Fermentis US-05.  Last year I actually used a Belgian Wit yeast from White Labs.  And this year I mixed it all up again.  So even though this beer has its own name it has not even been close to the same beer twice.

This year I simplified.  I wanted to brew a simple, bright, and refreshing beer for the summer.  In the past I have used pretty massive amounts of citrus zest in this beer; including both lemon and lime.  This year I cut the dose of zest in half.  As you can see above, I used 4 Cuties, 1 navel orange, 1 grapefruit, and 1 Tangelo. This is also the first brew that will be fermented in my new Fermentation Chamber (more on that in a future post).  Here's the recipe.

50% Domestic Two-Row 4.5 lbs
50% White Wheat Malt 4.5 lbs

1 oz Saaz 45 min
1 oz Cascade 5 min
Zest at flame out

Wyeast 1010 American Wheat Ale

1.051 OG (measured)
1.012 FG (estimated)
5% ABV
18 IBU

I'll ferment it at 65* for the first few days, then I'll slowly raise the temp up to 70* to finish primary fermentation.  Cit-Wit mark3 will also be kegged.

The Rinsing of Yeast

There are probably as many methods for doing this as there are brewers; this is my method. First of all, I reuse all of my yeasts, even the cheap US - 05. My reasoning for this is a) it makes propagating yeast for my next brew easier because of the number of yeasties produced during the fermentation process. And b) because the following generations of yeast are said to make better beer; at least to the fourth generation.

I start by having sterilized canned water ready as soon as fermentation comes to a stop. I boil and can it in mason jars every few months. As a note, because the water, mason jars, and lids are boiled for at least 15 minutes they are sterilized, not just sanitized.

I dump a half gallon mason jar in my primary, stir it up, and then lay the carboy on its side to allow it to settle for 15 minutes or so (sometimes up to 30 minutes depending on how distracted I get). I keep the sterilized lid on the mason jar during this time to keep any nasties from falling in.

I then decant (meaning to pour off the top portion while leaving the sediment behind) back into the half gallon mason jar. This will be cloudy with the aforementioned yeasties. I let this settle for another half hour, so that more undesirables can fall out of suspension, before decanting again into smaller sterilized mason jars.

I then put the yeast into my fridge where the yeast will all settle over the following week. Sometimes I'll transfer them into a smaller mason jar after they've all settled to save space, but I try to use them as quickly as possible. "The man" says to use it within a few weeks and I personally try not to let it sit for more than a few months. That being said, I have successfully revived Wyeast's Irish Ale after it sat dormant for almost a year.

Brew Day - Big House Ale V

When I first got my keg system I decided I wanted to have a house ale that was always on draft. My love of pale ales combined with my love of the University of Michigan and from that my Big House Pale Ale was born. Over the following generations it grew away from the parameters of a classic style and more into what I wanted it to become. I still make small tweaks from brew to brew, and (purposefully) I have not brewed the exact same beer twice. This version, number 5, incorporates Chinook and water chemistry manipulation for the first time. (This is the first beer that I've ever changed the chemistry for.)

Sparge water on top of mash

Recipe:

78% Pale malt (9 lbs)
13% Rye malt (1.5 lbs)
7% Crystal 40 (12 oz)
2% Wheat (4 oz)

0.5 oz Chinook (14.2) 45 min
0.5 oz Chinook (14.2) 30 min
1.0 oz Cascade (6.2) 15 min
0.5 oz Cascade (6.2) 5 min
0.5 oz Cascade (6.2) Dry Hop

Safale US - 05

Like all my summer beers I used a longer Beta rest (148-142) to encourage fermentability and "drinkability" (to steal a word from our big beer friends). I also raised the sulfate of the wort in an attempt to give it a cleaner bitterness.

My washed sample of US - 05 did not do well last time, so I pitched a fresh package into Big House V. I brewed this yesterday and am happy to say that it is fully fermenting today. I hope to get this into the keg in three weeks and be drinking by Memorial Day.

Primary fermentation in action

4/30/2013 - Fermentation temps got up to 76, due to abnormally high temps outside (85*) and me not having the AC in the window yet.  So I moved it to the basement where it fell to 64 overnight... just can't win in this old house.  More evidence that I need to build my ale fermentation chamber.

For The Love of The Process

You can tell a lot about a home brewer by how and what they brew. The two extremes are the brewers that brew the beers that they love in the most efficient way that they can, and then there are the brewers who brew beers that they've never tried, and they do it the "hard way." I'm that second one. For me brewing is more about the journey than the destination; I love the process.

If you've been following along at home than you have probably figured that out by now. I didn't need to do a decoction mash for my Munich Helles. I could have just added a few ounces of Melanoidin malt and made my brew day about an hour shorter. Why brew a sour beer, or a mead, that won't be ready to drink for 2 years? Why boil for 90 minutes when 45 would do? With all the high quality extract out now, why brew with all grain? Why? Because I love the process.

When I taste my beer I love to remember what I did to get those flavors into that beer. The beer becomes more enjoyable to me when I remember all the extra work that I did to get it into the bottle; how I tried to shape it in unconventional (or perhaps more conventional) ways. Sure, sometimes my brew day can push 8 hours, but what a way to spend 8 hours. I love the process.

Perhaps you're that first kind of brewer. You know exactly what you like and exactly how to make it. If so you can probably go from a 3 hour brew day to a glass in under a month, and in some ways I envy that. For example, the spring weather has put me in the mood for my summer line up, but they won't be in the glass for another 2 months. But what can I say? Lagers take time, and I only have one primary fermenter. So I wait patiently, because I love the process.

There is plenty of grey area in brewing philosophy. There are people who only brew their favorite beers, but do it the "hard way." And people who love to experiment with new beers the easy way. And probably a lot of others in between. On which side of the fence do you lie. Do you love the process?

Hop Garden 2013

Today my final rhizome arrived from fresh hops; my Cascade. Looks like a really good rhizome this year; good and thick, plenty of buds and shoots, and a few roots (I'm optimistic). Last year I planted Williamette, Centennial, and Cascade, but the Cascade never grew. In June I tried to dig it up to see if something got to it, but it was gone. I blame squirrels... damn squirrels.

My Centennial have been coming in well so far, so no shortage this year... I hope.

My method for planting (which is far from the only method) is to dig a decent hole; maybe 12 - 18 inches in diameter and about as deep.  (There is loose soil in the picture that comes into play in the following step.)

I then fill with a compost soil mixture of at least 8 inches. I compost my spent grains after brewing for use in this and other gardening needs. I feel like this helps with drainage and provides some food for the hops. I plant my rhizome vertically, shoots pointing up, so that the top is at ground level. Some prefer to plant horizontally and have success that way.  I did that my first year and all three of my plants died.  The following year (last year) I planted vertically and only one didn't grow, and that one disappeared... damn squirrels.  It is far more likely that it was due to other factors than how I planted, but this is the method that has worked for me.

To finish I add soil to bring everything to ground level and then add a good mound of cow manure compost on top; maybe 4 to 6 inches. Over time the level will settle, and I will add more manure compost to continue organically feeding my hops. I also add a squirrel deterrent. :-)

This is a picture of my hop trellis. Hopefully later this summer I can post some pictures of four hops meeting at the top of it (though it's way more likely that only my 2 second years will make it. From last year I have my Centennial and Williamette. This year I planted Chinook (thank you travis) and Cascade.

Brew Therapy - Growing Hops

You - "Rob, as you know I have really gotten into brewing.  I enjoy working outside and playing in the dirt.  Do you think that it would be a good idea for me to grow my own hops?"

Me - "Yes."

There is a lot of front end work to growing hops, but once they get started it's fairly easy and rewarding for the average home brewer.  The hop plant loves to climb, so the first thing that you'll need is a trellis or some other support for the bines (not vines) to climb up.  I have seen people who tie some rope to their roof line, build elaborate trellis systems, buy (or make) an archway for their front walk, or just plant it by their fence and let it go.  I'll probably post on my method when my hops start their journey up their ropes, but since the rhizomes (baby hop plants) are on sale now, I thought this was the best time to put your mind at ease on this topic.

When you decide on what you want your hops to grow on, you should decide what hops to grow.  My advice is to purchase hops that you know you'll like to use.  The hops that I use most often are Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, and Williamette; so that's what I grow.  Your rhizomes will be sent to you and you can either plant immediately or put them in the fridge until you're comfortable that it's warm enough in your area to plant.

Eventually the little beauties will start to grow.  With some gentile coaxing they will naturally climb, clockwise, up your support.  The first year will probably not provide many hop cones, but this is an investment.  Year two and beyond will likely provide more hops than you'll know what to do with.

Every third year you should dig them up and split the crown, but this provides you the opportunity to spread this wonderful hobby to your friends.  So order, build, plant, and enjoy.

Orange Craisin Mead - Brew Day

Having just recently tried some mead that I made two years ago, Joe's Ancient Orange Mead (not the raspberry cranberry mead), and I found myself disappointed that I had not brewed more of it.  To fix this problem I have decided to brew some wonderful delicious mead at least once a year.  A few days ago I brewed, what I consider, an updated version of Joe's Ancient Orange.

Zest from 3 Cuties
Juice from said Cuties
Pulp from 1 Cutie
Handful of Craisins
1 cinnamon stick
3.5 lbs of Clover Honey
1 package of Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast

Procedure: I boiled 0.75 gallons of water.  At flame out I threw in the Craisins (to sanitize them a bit).  I then moved the water to a cold bath and added the honey.  While it was cooling I zested, juiced, and removed the pulp from the cuties; adding them to the primary along with the cinnamon stick.  When it came to temp I took my gravity, aerated, and pitched my yeast.  As per usual my gravity came in high.

Update: It took about four days but fermentation has finally taken off in full.  The only trick is keeping the fruit out of the airlock.

5/1/2013 - A month later the bubbles are still flowing.  The gas venting from the airlock smell wonderfully of oranges.

Brew Day - Munich Helles

Brew days like today are why I love brewing so much.  First was the weather, perfect for brewing; it was 55, sunny, and there was only a light breeze (which the best I can hope for in IL).  Second, I threw almost all of my tricks into this beer.  That made for a busy schedule throughout the brew, but it was also a lot of fun.

My lagers have not been attenuating as well as I would like, which was acceptable through the winter when I want some body to my beer.  But winter is over, and lighter bodied, easy drinking, beers are now in order.  Today I brewed a Munich Helles; which is a light colored, malt forward, lager.

In order to push the yeast attenuation up I used a three step mash.  I started the mash with a protein rest at 125 for 30 minutes.  I kept the mash thick during this stage to make following steps easier.

Thick mash in

I then raised the temp up to a Beta Saccrification rest with boiling water.  This ended up being a 45 minute rest that started at 145 and ended at 140.

Beta rest

At the 30 minute point of the Beta rest I pulled out 5 quarts of solids for a decoction.  I have done decoction mashes in the past, most recently a double decocted Dopplebock, but never in a beer that was supposed to be so light in color.  So I used my normal procedure of slowly raising the temp of the decoction to boiling, but this time I returned it to the mash as soon as I achieved a boil; hoping to reduce the maillard reaction.

Decoction

After bringing the temp up to 154, for a low end Alpha Saccrification rest of 15 minutes, I added more boiling water for my mash out and it was a normal brew day for a while…

Sparge

Hot break

I was recently listening to an episode of Brew Strong, on the Brewing Network, where they talked about off flavors produced by trub in the primary of lighter colored beers (Pilsner and Helles were mentioned specifically). So I decided to try something totally new for me, and leave as much of the trub in the boil kettle as I could. To do this I let the wort sit for 15 minutes after cooling it to allow everything to settle.  I then siphoned from the top of the wort into my primary fermenter, through a screen mesh to aerate and catch any hop debris that might get through.  (Sorry no pics of that process, I was rolling solo today.)  In the end it looked to me like I left about a quart of trub in the bottom of the kettle, so I’m expecting to find another quart in the bottom of my fermenter when I transfer (I normally get about a half gallon).  Also of note, I again come in above my expected gravity, about an 85% efficiency.  I think I need to start expecting higher mash efficiency when working with lower grain volumes.

Gravity reading

After letting it cool in the lagering freezer for 10 hours, down to 47, I aerated it and pitched the yeast.  Once fermentation has started I will slowly bring the temperature up to 50.

Almost forgot the recipe...

9 lbs Pilsener (90%)
0.5 lbs Vienna (5%)
0.5 lbs Munich Type II (5%)

Hallertauer 4.3% AAU (45 min)
Hersbrucker 3.95 AAU (20 min)

Wyeast 2206 (Washed)

Stay tuned in for future updates.

4/10/2013 - Fermentation had slowed significantly (over 20 seconds between bubbles) so I turned the temperature in my lager freezer up to 60 (and opened the freezer) for the diacetyl rest.  It took about 6 hours for the temperature in the freezer to get up to 60 (at least another 6 for the beer to get to that temp).  After 48 hours at 60 degrees I will begin turning the freezer down 2 degrees per day until reaching my lagering temperature (40).

5/1/2013 - My lagering technique needs some fine tuning.  After a five day diacetyl rest the fermentation was still going strong, so I put it back in the lager tank to finish fermenting at a high primary lager temp, 54*.  After fermentation appeared to come to a complete stop, on 4/27/2013, I transferred into a secondary and began lowering to lagering temperature, which I achieved today; 40*.  I'm concerned about all the extra time spent at warmer temperatures for what is supposed to be a bright, crisp, and refreshing beer...

Raspberry Cranberry Mead - Tasting

Tonight I "brewed" my first mead in over 2 years. This is the last mead that I made. I can't recall the exact recipe, but I believe I used 2.5 lbs of clover honey, 1 lb of frozen raspberries, a handful of Craisins, and US - 05 ale yeast. I allowed it to ferment for 4 months in the primary, then another few months in secondary to clear.

I bottled it in late summer; two corked wine bottles, a bomber, and a few 12 oz bottles. Imagine my surprise when a month or so after bottling one of the corks blew off of a wine bottle, spraying mead all over my kitchen. I was planning on letting them aged, but I couldn't help but to try the blown bottle. Really hot from alcohol as I recall. That was around October of 2011. Here's what I'm getting today.

PS - this is the port bottle, a lot of dregs in the bottom.

Appearance

Light ruby. Pours effervescent with a quickly diminishing pink head. Perhaps I should put sound here too? It sounds like a champagne, hundreds of tiny bubbles constantly popping.

Aroma

Still smells like alcohol to me, but under that I am getting some sugary sweet raspberry.

Flavor

Hot with alcohol as soon as it hits the tongue. After the initial shock I'm getting a tart fruity burn on the back of the palate. The breath out of the nose gives the impression of a raspberry liquor.

Mouthfeel

Dry, fizzy, and tingley throughout the mouth.

Wish I had only made one mistake with this one. My first mead, which I was provide a tasting for in the future, ended up amazing. With this one I believe I should have added much more fruit, used an appropriate yeast, and not allowed it to dry out so much. Though I love dry wine, I do not believe I like dry mead.

I made my third mead tonight. Post to come in the near future. This is some strong mead.

Update - had another bottle, that was not the bottom of the barrel, with a friend tonight; thanks to Adam for hanging out with mead, beer, and a cigar.  Sadly the cigar made the tasting less accurate than the last, but I can tell you that this had significantly less alcohol heat.  Much more pleasant.

Bread and BBQ

Every year around this time (when corned beef is on sale) I smoke me some pastrami. My post St Patricks Day tradition, if you will. This year I smoked two small corned beef briskets. On one I used the traditional spiced rub, the one in the packets that come with the meat, and on the second I used a combination of spicy brown mustard, fresh garlic, red pepper flakes, paprika, salt, and pepper.

While this was smoking I made the dough for two sourdough loaves. This is one of my favorite early spring meals, pastrami on sourdough with horseradish mayonnaise. I've had my sourdough starter going for a couple of months now; I started it up so I could make some sourdough English muffins for our superbowl guests. This time I used a fairly basic recipe.

0.5 cup starter
1 cup whole wheat flour
5 cups unbleached flour
2.5 cups warm water
2 tsp sea salt

Not included in the ingredients is the 12+ hours it takes for these bad boys to rise. Unfortunately, I was called out to work when I wanted to start them baking, so one loaf fell some. Let this be a lesson, do not do time sensitive recipes while on call for work.

Opening Day

It is 45* and sunny in the Kank this afternoon, perfect day to fire up the grill for the first time. Nothing fancy, just some pork ribs dry rubbed and slowly grilled with charcoal and poplar wood. I used a combo of red pepper flakes, garlic salt, and BBQ rub for the dry rub.

To feel the sun and smell cooking meat and charcoal/wood smoke while enjoying a home brew or three; specifically my dunkel, Moca Latte Yaya Dada (or what ever we're calling it now), and a 7 Kingdoms. A nice way to pass the hour that it took to cook my ribs.

They were delicious. Juicy, smokey, and mildly spicy. Went perfectly with The Hobbit. I recommend all of you light up the grills as soon as you can.

Drunk Monk - Tasting

I think I may have an abnormally high number of tastings to post here in the early stages of my blog.  I have some good beers that I have been aging for a bit of time, especially this one, and I'd like to share them with you... in the form of a blog post.  ;-)

I brewed this a year and a half ago and most of it was drunk (see what I did there :-D) within the first six months of being brewed; with a good amount of help from some friends (Kari).  Luckily for you, and me, I cellared 12 bottles to be enjoyed over the following year, and possibly beyond depending on how well it was aging.

A thought on aging beer; I like it.  The only things that made this special enough to age was that I used Belgian Abby yeast, that I knew would continue to develop as it matured, I brewed it relatively strong, 8%, and I felt like it was a really good beer.  I love the idea of cellaring beer and I've done some experimenting with different types of beer and had some surprising results (I had a Raspberry Cream Ale that I saved for well over a year that seemed to improve despite its low abv); but that is probably a topic on its own.

It's been about 6 months since I've had one of these, so on to the beer.

Appearance

Deep opaque ruby in color with a quickly dissipating tan head.

Aroma

I'm getting a lot of banana with some hints of dark dried fruit (maybe a mix of prune and raisin).

Flavor

When this was a younger beer I remember it having a lot of bubble gum.  The last time I had it the taste was like a young green banana.  Today I'm getting moist banana nut bread with some raisin sauce throughout.  Then it moves into over ripened banana and toasted breadiness aftertaste.

Mouth Feel

It feels silky as it enters the mouth, then the high carbonation kicks in and the tongue gets all tingly.

If I had it to do over the one thing that I know I would change is the level of carbonation.  I think I carbed with 6 oz of brown sugar, when 5 or less would have done the job.  I'm also curious if the better chiller, that I have now, would help the chill haze, so that it would be clear rather than opaque.  I think that Drunk Monk is reaching it peak, so the last couple of bottles will be busted out to be enjoyed at the next BOOBS meeting.  I'm sure you'll excuse me while I savor the rest of this glass.

Big House Ale - Tasting

It was a bitter sweet evening at the main tap of my kegerator tonight. I floated my keg of Big House Ale IV. Normally this would just be sad, not for this brew. This recipe is an institution at my house. I almost always have a keg on hand, as it's my house brew. Number four will go down in my log book as a dud, and I have my theories about why. First let's do the tasting.

Appearance

Slightly darker than the U of M maize that was shooting for but brilliantly clear. Beautiful lingering white head that leaves more than adequate lacing down the glass.

Aroma

Like a warning shot over the nose, even after months in the keg, right up front is fruity yeastyness. If you search you can get some citrus and some fresh bread crust.

Taste

Up front is a brief hope of peppery bread, but, as warned warned your nose, yeast that is chewing tutti frutti takes the ride over. After is the blessed redemption of bitterness followed up by more fruity yeast on the breath out.

Mouth feel

It is medium bodied with enough carbonation to lighten it to medium light. Would be a good transition season brew.

If you can get past the offense of yeast in a perfectly clear beer. Here's what I think the issue is. I used washed yeast with out a starter. My only guess is that I stressed the US - 05 that had been in the fridge for almost 2 months. I have used much older yeast, but only after waking them up in a starter. I mush have stressed the poor things out and they punished me by leaving an unmistakable mark on this brew. A mistake I do not plan to make again.

Brew Therapy - Should I start brewing?

I would like this to become a regular post.  As many of you know, I am a therapist as my day job, and often my night job too.  Well, officially I won't be a "therapist" until May, when I graduate with my masters in professional counseling; I've been a counselor for the last 10 years.  I thought that it would be fun to have a regular post where I answer brewing questions, much like I answer life questions throughout my day job.  This week's question:

"Rob, should I start home brewing?"

The realty is that no one has ever asked me this, though I have recommended to a couple of friends that they start home brewing.  If you are asking yourself if you should start, here are the questions I believe you should ask yourself.  Do you like amazingly delicious beer?  This is clearly the first question, because if you do not like good beer, than no, you should not brew it.

Do you have some expendable income?  A basic home brew kit can run from $80 through $200.  Then each recipe will run between $25 and $40.  Telling ourselves that we are actually saving money by brewing our own beer is just a convenient way for us to forget equipment costs.  I never expect to save enough money by brewing cheaper great beer than is available commercially to cover the costs of all of the equipment that I have bought.  So, there is significant investment involved; I'd estimate that I have spent around $400 in equipment over the last 3 years (don't tell my wife).

Some basic questions.  Can you make Kraft Mac and Cheese?  Than you can make home brewed beer with an extract recipe.  The only other thing that remains is some patience.  It takes 2 to 4 weeks for a brew to finish fermenting and then another 2 weeks for the beer to carbonate in the bottle.  After that you will have some of the best beer you've ever tried.

The true challenge of home brewing, as was pointed out by friend and fellow brewer (Richard), is sanitation. So, I ask you, do you have the attention to detail and the patience to thoroughly clean and sanitize all of your equipment every time you brew or bottle / keg your beer?  This can sometimes take just as much time as the brewing itself and when bottling, it is the longest part of the process.

If you can do these thing than yes, you should brew.  Only your own creativity and willingness to learn new techniques will limit you.

Do you have questions you would like to talk about in future sessions?  Leave a comment and I will do my best to cover them in the weeks to come.

Stupid (sexy) Flanders II

A friend of mine introduced me to sour beers a couple of years ago, thank you Richard. And, as you'll learn about me, if I like something I want to make it myself. Through some research, and the re-re-release of Wyeast's Roselare Blend, I decided to make a Flanders Red Ale. I wanted something that leaned closer to the tart than the funky side of sours. I also love the Simpsons, and thus Stupid Flanders was born. That brew was just bottled a few days ago, after a year in the secondary. I'll let you know how that one turned out in February 2014, when she's done aging. In order to use the dregs from that brew before any household bugs snuck in I brewed what was to be Stupid Flanders II the following day. Here was my recipe:

8# Vienna
1# Cara Amber
1# White Whear
0.5# Crystal 60
0.25# Special "B"

1 oz Hallertauer @ 60 min

Wyeast 3763

I mashed the grains at 158 to try to make as many unfermentable sugars as I could. I won't go into all of the technical yeast and bug info in this, but the general gist is this: in a normal beer the yeast converts all of the fermentable sugars and the unfermentable sugars add sweetness and body. In sour beers extra bugs are added that do convert those sugars, which is where the sourness comes from. So, the generally high mash temp should make for a more sour beer... I'll let ya know in 2015 for this one. I used a 90 minute boil, for added color and character. I chilled the wort to pitching temp (65 for my house), dumped about a gallon onto the dregs from Stupid Flanders 1, stirred it up to make sure I got them all, then transferred everything into the primary. The reason for the added "sexy" moniker for this brew is that I was shooting for a starting gravity of about 1055 but ended up with 1062. So I'm guessing this could be considered an Imperial Flanders Red Ale, which we can all agree is pretty sexy.

3/9/2013 - This is right after I pitched the Roselare Blend.

3/12/2013 - Full kroisen and fermenting along happily at 72*.

3/18/2013 - Last check in for a while. Because my volume was more than my sour aging 5 gallon carboy could handle, I decided to pull 0.75 gallons to be creative with at some point in the future. As you can see I added a white oak dowel to the main secondary. Oak is a traditional flavor in the Flanders Red Ale. This particular dowel was also in my previous Flanders Red, Stupid Flanders I, so I'm hoping that there are some bugs still hanging out on it. The only treatment that it got prior to being adding was a thorough rinse in hot water.

Welcome

I suppose the question is, what is Blank Canvas? The full depth of it would be a bit revealing for this blog, so the short of it is that this is what I named my brewing venture. I love reading about other's experiences in home brewing and thought that it would also be fun to post about my experiences.

I have been home brewing for 3 years and I just bottled my 32 beer. I have brewed ales, lagers, and one sour (so far). I have also made a couple of meads. I hope to post weekly, though I generally only brew once a month I do partake of beer on a weekly basis, so I hope to come up with something.

I also enjoy smoking meats, baking bread (sourdough being my favorite), and creating art in various forms (mainly graphite and oil painting). So I will, no doubt, also share some of those experiences with you.