Home Brewing

So we’ve just finished build a great mash tun. While not measuring efficiency at this point, we consistently hit target OG’s which tells me we are successfully draining the converted sugar from the wort.

So we decided that we want to try our hands at continuous sparging – or fly sparging – as opposed to the batch sparging we’ve been doing in the past. We’ve read that brewers can get better efficiency (the amount of sugar extracted given the amount of grains used) by using the fly sparge method. We don’t care to weigh in on this hot debate and will let you Home Brew Talkers debate in our place.

We began our fly sparging journey by opening the mash tun and slowly trickling water through via a hose. However, we decided this was not the best method and we built a sparge manifold on the cooler lid for the following reasons. See our post here on Building a Fly Sparge System.

1. We did not like keeping the cooler lid open. While all the sugar has probably already been converted to sugars 1 hour into mash, we felt we were losing too much temperature too fast in the mash tun. Why chance it if you don’t have to.
2. We had a stuck sparge when doing a Rye Pale Ale. By being able to slowly trickle water onto the grain bed, we could keep it set, while uniformly rinsing the liquid out of the mash tun. Without the manifold we were guessing (we still are, but with more education) at how much sparge water to put into the mash tun and take out.
3. We saw somebody else do it, and their process seemed much easier. Dumping buckets, holding a hose over a 155 degree mash just wasn’t fun. We want to explore better ways of doing things, so we built a sparge system in our mash tun for less than $15 – we had the cooler already. We wanted to let simple engineering and gravity do the work.

So far we have only used with one batch – we tried the Rye Pale Ale again – with good success. We beat the OG by about .0015 and had no issues with a stuck sparge. We did use a bit more Rye and Pale Malt which accounts for part of the OG, but even with using more of the sticky Rye, we did not collapse the grain bed. Cheers and sparge on!

Growing your own hops is the next step for many home brewers and it’s actually within reach for those looking to invest a few hours during the week to care for the hops plant. You just need sunlight, water and a trellis support structure once the hops reach maturity (which can be up to 20 feet with time). Hops grow almost like a weed and can flourish in most climates that have at least 120 frost-free days during the year.

WHICH HOPS TO PLANT & WHEN TO PLANT

Hops can easily be grown from a root segment that buds into its own hops plant. Many farms have online distribution (here is a review of the popular sites from which to order hop rhizomes) though we used Thyme Garden Herb Company in Oregon based on home brewer reviews and recommendations.

The easiest hops to grow, judging by the general consensus of both growers and distributors, are Cascade, Magnum and Nugget. Early spring is the time to get the rhizomes in the ground, though its probably safest to wait until the threat of frost is gone. Here in Cincinnati the last frost is around mid-April, though we received the shipment in late March … what to do? It was recommended by the grower to seal the hops in a zip bag with a few drops of water and store in the refrigerator until ready to plant. While in cold storage, I started to see a bud growing on the root and got worried that this guy was ready to get in the ground and the cold treatment might stunt his growth. Most forums say the hops will be fine for up to 6 weeks in the fridge with light water moisture periodically added. In retrospect, the smarter approach would have been to plant them in a pot and kept indoors (though rewarded with outdoor sunlight for good behavior), transplanting once the threat of frost had passed.

THE ECONOMICS OF GROWING HOPS

Cost savings is also a driving factor in deciding to grow your own hops. A typical rhizome will cost you $8 – $10 with shipping and the expected annual yield will be 1.0 – 2.5 pounds of dried hops. For comparison, a pound of dried Cascade hop leaves will cost you about $20. Keeping in mind that your hops plant will provide this yield year after year, the economics of growing your own hops can really cut down on the cost of brewing materials.

HOW TO PLANT YOUR HOPS

Though the neighbors gave me strange looks for photographing a hole in the ground, I have included a step-by-step guide to planting hop rhizomes. Caring for the hops and dealing with a trellis support system will have to be covered in a future post, assuming these initial experiments survive. For now we’re just concerned with properly getting the hop rhizomes in the the ground and on their way to maturity.

Home brewers have been debating the merits of all grain brewing vs. malt extract for years, each side claiming their method is superior. We examine the benefits of each in terms of cost, time and flavor profile. The point of difference is that malt extract brewing uses processed malt (dried malt or syrup) while all grain, as the name implies, only uses grain and counts on the home brewer to mash the starch into sugar himself. Just an extra step but one that makes quite a difference. The malt extract is created by evaporating the mash in vacuum conditions to remove almost all water and then drying/packaging for preservation. Some brewers report flavor differences while others stridently stand by their extract brews. Many beer competitions have even been won by extract brewers. Let’s take a look at the benefits of each brewing method:

BENEFITS OF MALT EXTRACT BREWING

• The most commonly cited reason for extract brewing is the time advantage. Total brewing time is typically around 90 minutes to boil, chill the wort and pitch the yeast. Compare this with up to 4 hours for lautering and mashing, in addition to the boiling, chilling and pitching. Busy brewers with busy lives might opt for this time efficiency.
• The flavor of the eventual home brew has been noted to be more consistent, brew after brew. I think this is due to less factors at play, and thus less room for error, with malt extract. There are quite a few steps involved to mash grain and even an experienced brewer might inadvertently mess up the process along the way.
• Cost is a factor that both sides claim to their own benefit. The Malt Extractors out there claim the core equipment does not get more complicated than your brew pot and trusty stirring spoon, while All Grainers must invest around $75 to create the mashing equipment. It is also worth noting the energy costs that are saved by not boiling as much liquid.

BENEFITS OF ALL GRAIN BREWING

• Again the issue of cost comes into play. While the initial cost of buying equipment for the lauter mash tun can be steep (between $40 and $100 depending on your setup), the raw ingredients are more affordable after that. Buying grain in bulk is typically cheaper than a can of malt extract because the cost of preparing the extract has to be added to the bill in some fashion. There is a good article here that compares the relative cost of ingredients.
• Brewing with raw ingredients from the beginning allows you to experiment with new recipes and affect the final product in a variety of ways not possible with a can of extract. So maybe you want to add an extra 1/2 lb of chocolate malt to the grain bill and see what happens … by all means, throw it in the mash and lets see what happens! With more control over the process from start to finish, you have more room for experimentation (though also more room for error).
• Some brewers report better flavor with all grain, a fact harshly contested by loyal Malt Extractors. The mythical “extract twang“, or subtle sweetness, is reported by many as the reason they switched to mashing. The All Grainers claim to have better control over the “malt backbone” of the beer, though for the life of me I can’t understand what exactly that means.
• Home brewing is a labor of love. The time involved and attention to detail makes it hobby for a loyalist. All grain brewing affords the average Joe Homebrewer the chance to convert starch into sugar (magic!) and, with the help of the yeast, convert that sugar into alcohol. Really pretty cool if you think about it. As well, all grain brewing allows you to be involved with more of that awesome process and understand what is happening with your brew.

CONCLUSION: ALL GRAIN FOR ME, BABY!

That final bottle of home brew you hold in your hands represents the brewer as much as the ingredients that went into it. We all know too well the room for error during the brewing process and important role the brewer plays each step of the way. I see all grain brewing as a way of better understanding what is happening during this magic sugar-starch conversion and how those grains you brought home in a bag will magically transform (!) into an alcoholic and tasty beverage. Also important here is the ability to experiment with new flavors and ingredients. What if that Bell’s Oberon clone had just a bit more Munich Light malt, how would that taste? A bit more work but certainly worth the effort.

“This isn’t one of those fake holidays…No, this is officially sanctioned by congress, as of 2006. Which in my book makes it the equal to the separation of church and state.”
–Steven Colbert, May 18, 2008

May 17-23 2010 marks the 5th annual American Craft Brewers week. Organized by the Brewers Association, the week long event celebrates small and independent craft brewers with charity events, homebrew events, beer tastings, festivals, tours, dinners, and Declaration of Beer Independence signings among other things. Support for the week long celebration is very strong, evident by House Resolution 1297 – which supports the goals and ideals of American Craft Beer Week. To find out what is going in your area, click here. So take this opportunity to celebrate all the greatness that is good beer. Cheers.

WHAT”S TO CELEBRATE?

Beyond good beer, this is a time to celebrate the diversity and entrepreneurial spirit that makes this country great and makes our beer great. It’s that same spirit that that pushes us homebrewers to spend a bunch of money on equipment, drive our wives crazy (love you Cara / Amie), concoct new recipes, make up stupid names for those recipes, and share our homebrews with our friends. It’s also time to celebrate the momentum craft beer has seen over the last few years. It’s great to have the ability to purchase and brew such variety and declare our independence from commercial breweries who seem to brew solely for profit without regard for art and craft. The rise of craft brewing is evident in a few statistics from the American Craft Brewers Association website.

• Growth of the craft brewing industry in 2009 was 7.2% by volume and 10.3% by dollars compared to growth in 2008 of 5.9% by volume and 10.1% by dollars.
• Overall, US beer sales were down 2.2% in 2009.
• Craft brewer retail dollar value in 2009 was an estimated $6.98 billion, up from $6.32 billion in 2008.
• 1,595 breweries operated for some or all of 2009, the highest total since before Prohibition.

So take pride in what you create and drink. Celebrate your diverse palate. Have a homebrew – or a craft brew.

Sanitizing your home brew bottles is tricky business … after all, the same bottle had once been filled with liquid, drank by someone else and most likely not immediately rinsed and cleaned. So why do home brewers continue to reuse bottle and endure the stares of friends when collecting up used bottles after a party? Because its a free method of storing and sharing home brew and some of us haven’t experimented yet with kegging.

TO CLEAN, SANITIZE OR STERILIZE?

The constant mantra of home brewers is that clean, sanitized bottles and equipment are important factors in avoiding infection and brewing a successful beer. Oddly enough, we use yeast in the most important part of the brewing process, which itself is a controlled infection of sorts. Cleaning a bottle involves a surface-level removal of debris and noticeable items in the bottle. Sanitizing a bottle starts to remove the microbes hiding below the surface, which is the goal here. Taking this one step further, to sterilize a bottle is to remove 100% of the microbes, a task rather difficult and probably not absolutely vital to home brewing.

TO BLEACH, CHEMICAL RINSE OR USE THE DISHWASHER?

We have tried a few methods of cleaning home brew bottles over the past few years. We started with “Easy Clean” no-rinse solution from LD Carlson and didn’t have any problems. When that ran out, we neglected to buy more and started using bleach to sanitize. This may have sanitized properly but we always worried the bottles were not rinsing completely clean of the bleach and may be affecting the taste of the home brew and lack of carbonation on a few batches. Through all this we have used the dishwasher (on regular wash cycle with no detergent) after cleaning the bottles and using bleach. The theory here was that all the bottles fit nicely into the dishwasher and this was much easier than another rinse (yes, we call that laziness). Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear possible for water to be sprayed accurately into each and every bottle, given the limited range of the dishwasher arm. Smelling a few bottles after the wash cycle still gave off a smell of bleach, which had use worried.

DISHWASHER ON SANITIZE CYCLE

What is home brewing about if not learning from your mistakes? We have since moved away from the bleach in favor of Star San chemical rinse and no longer use the dishwasher for our final rinse. Instead, I think we will utilize the “Sanitize Cycle” option, which blasts hot steam at 160 degrees for over an hour.  Other brewers on HomeBrewTalk agree that the sanitize feature can only help if proper sanitation has already been achieved in advance. I also found a rather in-depth scientific study of bottle sanitation and the amount of bacteria removed through different methods. His findings show that immediate rinsing and proper chemical sanitation are the best method to remove the majority of bacteria. He also recommends covering the bottle tops with tin foil after sanitizing and before bottling, which is a method I had not heard before. But he’s a scientist and I’m not, so it’s definitely worth a try.

So maybe you’re like us and thought that chocolate malt grain might lend your home brew an intensely sweet chocolate taste … something you could enjoy both for the ABV’s and to calm that sweet tooth. Well, that’s not exactly the case, and too much dark roasted malt can really overpower your brew.

BURNT MALT FLAVOR

On our recent Chocolate Irish Stout, we adapted an existing recipe for traditional Irish Stout to include 1/2 lb of chocolate malt grain, in the hopes of imparting a subtle sweetness to the beer. The original recipe only called for black patent, English 2-row pale, English crystal and roasted barley. We thought we were being very clever and certainly bound for home brew greatness by crafting a perfectly blended chocolate beer. The end product wasn’t exactly what we had hoped for. The ABV was low for a number of reasons and the flavor came out burnt and a bit overpowering. Not silky sweet at all! Rather than sulk with our weak 3.12% ABV stout, we looked into the grains used in the recipe and came up with a few reasons why the final flavor came out burnt.

TOO MUCH ROASTED GRAINS

The gang at Brew-Dudes.com offer an excellent overview of the specialty chocolate malt grain, describing the flavor profile as more nutty and roasted than sweet. This could lend richness to a stout or porter, though I am not sure the effect on a pale ale or lager. Some brewers over at HomeBrewTalk.com have complained about the difficulty in using this grain, though I imagine this is more in part to my novice experience than the grain’s fault (oh, I can’t be mad at you, chocolate malt!). The related grain, Black Patent Malt, is similar but roasted longer and at higher temperatures. This can impart a smokey or even burnt flavor on your beer. I think our mistake here was adding chocolate malt grain to a recipe that already included Black Patent Malt as a dominant flavor driver. I believe this overpowering of dual dark roasted malts took over the beer — rather hijacked the beer — and gave the “burnt” taste in the final faux-Chocolate Irish Stout.

CHOCOLATE BEER ON THE FUTURE DOCKET

So, how do you brew the elusive chocolate beer? That will be an adventure for another time, friends, though I am optimistic after trying a few retail chocolate stouts. A submitted recipe for “Chocolate Ale” was well received over at HomeBrewTalk.com, which might make its way to the summer docket for home brewing. The recipe calls for adding unsweetened cocoa directly into the mash during boil, which could be interesting. If anyone has advice on a chocolate beer, be it stout or ale, please share the good word.

After much excitement building our own lautur mash tun and taking the plunge into all grain brewing, we measured a disappointing 2.021 FG and saw that our Chocolate Irish Stout only held 3.12% ABV.

Now, this really isn’t that far off the mark for an Irish stout, with Guinness at 4.2% ABV and Murphy’s at 4%, but we were hoping for a little more bite from our first lauter mash tun experiment. We added an extra 6 oz. of chocolate malt and a bit more Kent Goldings hops in the hopes of adding extra “fermantables” that the yeast could feed on.

POSSIBLE REASONS FOR THE LOW ABV

We did not maintain a consistent temperature during mashing, which could have affected yeast conversion. The recipe instructions had us partially mashing on the stove and then transferring to the mash tun only for the last few minutes; directions which are contrary to most mashing advice. As a result, the wort might not have converted enough sugar for the yeast to then consume (and thus less conversion to ethyl alcohol and lower ABV).

Still thinking about the mash, another culprit could be that our mash efficiency is low, perhaps caused by not grinding the grains up sufficiently. Using an online Efficiency Calculator tool, our ideal 100% mash efficiency is around 1.048 OG, and we measured 1.045, so not too far off the mark there. Another factor to consider is the yeast. This was our first bath using liquid yeast and we forgot to remove from the fridge and bring to room temperature for the full 1 hour recommended (what can I say, we drink home brew while home brewing and sometimes details are overlooked). Our pals at Listermann’s Supply think this might have been a factor in lower yeast activity. They also asked if we shook up the vial and I honestly cannot remember (again, I blame the home brew refreshment).

ONWARD WE BREW

Really, our first attempt at all-grain mashing didn’t turn out so bad. We have a few possible factors for the low ABV and a few ideas to keep in mind for next time. Some stouts do have a lower gravity and ABV, so we weren’t entirely off the mark there. An expected benefit might be that we can enjoy more of our low ABV home brew without getting a headache the next day …

Growing your own hops is relatively easy, a great stepping stone for intermediate home brewers, and it might even save you some money. The “rhizome” is the stem of the hop plant, which will eventually send out roots and grow above ground. Rhizomes are usually ready to order around mid to late March and there is no shortage of online vendors willing to ship across the country [see below]. These plants are perennials and will return year after year, going dormant during the winter months. The average yield from a plant is around 2 pounds of dried hops, which means you can save anywhere from $12 to $40 on the cost of pellet or leaf hops (depending on the variety) for an investment around $10.

WHERE TO ORDER

A quick search of the beer forums brought a few online vendors to the top of the list. Of course if you are fortunate enough to live out in Oregon or other growing regions, check out your local farmers as well. I have excluded supply shops and online distributors and focused this list on buying direct from the growers themselves.

• Thyme Garden Herb Company – Organic farmers in Oregon who offer a variety of hops around $5.95/rhizome and a low $3.00 shipping rate anywhere in the country. This is the only grower that actively promotes its crop as fully organic. We purchased our rhizomes from this company and they should arrive next week.
• Freshhops.com – Also from Oregon, this site is a favorite among home brewers. They offer an exhaustive list of hop rhizomes (many of which I had never heard of … Wye Viking, Zeus, Hallertau) for around $5 – $7 with standard shipping rates.
• HopsDirect.com – This Washington state family farm has been operating since 1932 and offers the basic hop varieties for $7.00/rhizome and standard UPS Ground shipping rates from WA to your address apply.

WHICH HOPS TO PLANT

While hops are a generally a hearty plant, able to withstand the cold winter months, some are easier for the first time grower (which is the category we fall into). Our research has shown that the best hops for early success (assuming your climate is amenable to growing hops) include Cascade, Magnum and Nugget. These are all high alpha hops that can be used across a variety of beer styles.

When you obtain your rhizomes, they should be kept in a slightly moistened plastic bag and in a refrigerator until planting time. Find a spot with lots of sunshine and a structure on which to grow vertically; for example a fence or trellis. More pictures to come once the rhizomes arrive and we start planting. Cheers to growing your own hops!

We decided the time was right to make the leap into all grain brewing and built a lautur-tun to try a new recipe for Chocolate Irish Stout. We got our hands on a rectangular 48 quart cooler and decided to build a “manifold style” apparatus for separating the liquid from the mash. With ambition high and chance of success low, we spent most of the weekend at Lowe’s trying to implement our DIY plan. To my surprise, when we explained our idea to the Lowe’s guy, expecting confusion, he responded with “oh yea, sure, a lauter tun” as if it was commonplace. Sean at Highland Lowe’s, you rock.

LET’S BUILD A LAUTER-TUN
Our lautur tun had 2 main components to build: (1) the manifold to drain liquid and (2) a nozzle spout that could be turned on/off and attach securely to the cooler AND the manifold. We removed the existing spout and found that creating a tight, secure connection (to avoid leaks) was tricky. We eventually purchased 7 feet of 1/2 inch CPVC piping and a whole bag of washers, nuts and nozzles to create the connection. It is important to use CPVC and not traditional PVC since the high temperatures could interact with chemicals in the PVC and make your beer very unhealthy. By some miracle, everything fit securely and our home brewing egos just ratcheted up a bit higher.

LET’S MASH, BABY!
Now on to our first all grain brewing! We chose a relatively safe recipe for Irish Stout but decided to add a bit of chocolate malt (1/2 lb) to balance our increased 2 ounces of hops. We got to hang with the big boys at the brewing shop and grind up our 4 different types of grains, throwing out manly and knowledgeable comments to other brewers like “So, what do you think of the black 2 row grains?” or “Yea, we had some success with that english malt for our pale ale but you gotta watch that boil”. It was awesome.

Mashing is actually much easier than I thought. Really you just combine the heated water and grains in your cooler … and then wait for the magical sugar-sucrose conversion to happen. I couldn’t see this happening but allegedly it was. After the allotted time, we drained a bit of the liquid (which was speckled with grain) and re-circulated it back into the cooler. These speckles appear at the beginning (hence the re-circulating) but weren’t present after that. As a secondary measure, we held a small strainer between the hose and the pot to catch any other stray grains.

WHO WANTS TO SPARGE?

After the liquid was drained down to the last inch in the cooler, we started “sparging” by pouring hot water on the spent grains, which helped us get every last bit of converted sugar from the grain. We ended up with about 3.5 gallons of extracted liquid and started boiling on the stove, adding hops when appropriate, and pitching the yeast after cooling. We had to cool the pot in a homemade igloo of snow outside but it got the job done.

High hopes for this one. A success on our first all grain brew could really kick our egos up to dangerous levels. The next brew will be something more appropriate for the (hopefully) warm weather on its way soon.