On beer coolers and Sanitizer....

So handy tip.... when you put your carboy into the fermenter and use water from your santizing cup on the air lock be prepared to see ALOT of bubbles...


I swear I thought the damn thing was rabid!

Also it turns out that 60 on my regulator is about the perfect temperature for fermenting beer.

Whoa...

Yes I'm still brewing beer...

This is more of a informal post on what I've been up to with beer since the last time I posted.

I did a kit amber ale in January that came out really really really well and everybody who tried it really liked it. That would be the one where Curtis is kissing the carboy. So I don't know if the goodness resulted from my skills or Curtis's affections towards the beer, but for now lets say it's my skills.

So in the six months that I've been not brewing beer, my favorite beer store went belly up, so Homebrew Depot in Mesa Az is no longer. It's a sad day for me... good thing I live in the greater Phoenix area. A quick google search and BAM! new brew shop! Brewers Connection in Tempe AZ. Staff of 3, all very very knowledgeable and a book of beer recipes from customers! I'm going to be trying one of those next time around.

As far as this batch goes, it's another amber since that's a good base to work from. This time I'm going to be working on Clarifying the beer to see if I can get rid of that oh so lovely cloudiness that I haven't been able to get rid of.

And as has become something of a tradition I've put out a open invite to all who want to learn and I have a few takers once again. It's always fun to share the love.

How not to brew beer...

Ever wondered what it takes to really foul up a batch of beer?

Yeah me too... well these guys have it figured out.

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Brew_Your_Own_Beer

If you follow these instructions you deserve what you get.

Batch #4 Straight Amber....

OK after the last batch I've gone back to basics... Straight Amber Ale with Amber yeast nothing special in anyway shape or form...

Nothing special other then my assistant... who now seems to be infected with the bug for brewing.

See the picture at the top of the post for proof.

In your world....

The homebrew is good...

Batch #3 has gotten WAAAAYYYY better with a month of aging... like much smoother and no bitter after taste.

We tapped that way to early

yes I've been drinking my beer.... yes I just made a "funny"

It's not often....

that you finish a keg in a evening with friends....

While the beer was good the next day was rough...

a full review once I find my center and think really hard about it....

The mysteries of fermentation.....

3 batches of beer and three different experiences in the fermentation department. I have to say I did not expect there to be this much variation in how the wort gets converted into beer via the yeast.

The first batch was a text book case of fermentation. Within 24 hours there was alot of CO2 being produced and the air lock went nuts for about three days. By day 10 it had been quiet for 48 hours and I transferred the beer.

Batch 2, wasn't as by the book it took 36 hours for fermentation to really set in. When it was done there wasn't nearly the yeast layer on the bottom as there was from the first batch.

This third batch has just been goofy... it was 20 hours when fermentation appeared to be in full effect. The air lock wasn't bubbling at all and the beer was quiet most of the week. The funny thing was the air lock never did anything. And then last night I checked on the beer and I noticed two things. 1.) it smelled like Banana's in beer fridge. 2.) The bubble layer on the top of the beer was now two different shades of cream instead of one. once I started to pay attention to things a little bit closer I noticed that the air lock was bubbling not constantly, but about once every 4 to 5 seconds.

The other thing that I have noticed is the consitentcy of the color of the beer has not changed in the course of the last week. I do not know if that is a normal part of brewing since this is the first batch that has not been done in a water bath. So for thoses of you paying attention it's basicaly the first batch that has not been fermented in a trash can.

Also of note is the fact I'm using a live yeast culture instead of the normal powdered stuff. So this may be a side effect of that or it may be more along the lines of the wort was to hot when I pitched the yeast and the survivors have finally made it to a critical mass of fermentation.

And since this post is truly useless with out pictures I now provide you with a photo gallery of the beer from the last week.

Sunday July 27th at about 13:00 (Brew+ 13 hours). Notice the patchiness of the yeast layer. On the top of the carboy.














Please tilt your neck to the right to see this picture in the proper orentation. July 27th at about 20:00 (brew + 21 hours) notice the dark brown spots and the loose consitency of the yeast layer. I have no clue what that means. Also you would expect the air lock to be doing something at this point, however there was no activity at all.


The smells like banana's stage. August 3rd 15:00 (Brew + 7days 14 hours). The ar lock going every 4 to 5 seconds. Noitce the light cream areas on the yeast layer. Those are new and have been shift all day.

Batch #3... Dead Rouge Honey Ale

The Dead Rouge Ale kit is in the carboy and fermentation is under way. I did a adjunct of 7 or 8 ounces of Mesquite honey from Flagstaff. I added the hone in the last 10 minutes of the boil at the same time as the aroma hops.

I'm interested to see how the beer turns out, I didn't pull back on any of the malt or candy I don't think it will be a overly sweet beer. You never know with home brew though that's part of the joy.

Also brewing in the backyard worked much better then brewing in the garage, more space and less cleanup after a boil over.

15 days in the carboy, and then the keg.

Tapping happens on the first monday night football game of the season.

And before I forget....

I did finally resolve my carbonation issues with my last batch of beer. I need to remember it's ok to super saturate it the beer for a couple of days not the whole time it's conditioning in the keg.

So good to know. Also good to note is that conditioning should take place under gentle pressure (like the first beer).

Ok that is all.

Aren't you glad you get to read all of this Eve?

A little bit of this and a little bit of that....

Went to the Homebrew depot today and picked up a new kit. It's a licensed kit from the Rouge brewery in Oregon. I also got a nice validation from the owner of Homebrew depot when we were talking about kits and what people have done with them.

Turns out that kits in Homebrew are much more forgiving then the cake and cookie mixes you get from Safeway (lets not talk about my experience with cake and cookie mixes). Actually it was just nice to chat with such a experienced person about brewing in general.

So tonight when the sun goes down I light up the 60,000 btu burner and do up a batch of beer. I'm starting a little early on the teach a friend to homebrew, hey you never know what will come out of it.

Oh and as for the project for the cooler... that is on hold for that moment since I can't seem to get my stuff together to try pull it off. It's not like I don't have a ton of free time :)