Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Homebrew Term of The Day

Priming - The method of adding a small amount of fermentable sugar prior to bottling to give the beer carbonation.

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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Priming Chart

Whenever I first began homebrewing I had a tough time fiquring out how much dextrose to use in priming my beer. After quite a few trials and errors (mostly errors) I did settle on 1.2 ounces per gallon of beer to be primed. If I had a 3 gallon batch, then I would need 3.6 ounces (1.2 x 3). I found this chart in The Homebrewer's Companion for different types of primers and how much to use.

The Homebrewer's Companion

For 5 Gallon Batches

Dextrose 3/4 cup

Honey 1 cup

Maple Syrup 1 1/4 cups

Brown Sugar 2/3 Cup

Cane or Beet Sugar 2/3 cup

Dried Malt Extract 1 1/4 cups

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Homebrew Term of the Day

Cold Break - Proteins that coagulate and fall out of solution when the wort is rapidly cooled prior to pitching the yeast.


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Monday, April 24, 2006

Beer Convention

I got to attend the annual Pennsylvania Malt Beverage Distributor's Association's meeting in Pittsburgh over the past weekend. Besides having training in alcohol laws and underage drinking prevention, they also have some fun things. I attended the Beer School seminar, which was to teach beer sellers how beer was made. The idea being, if you know how it is made, then you can better inform your customers. The class was run by a couple of home brewers and there were a couple of micro brewer's brewmasters there.

After, the seminar, there were numerous booths set-up with samples from quite a few breweries. Of course, the major breweries were there, but the Pennsylvania Room was the best. I got to sample beers from the following Pennsylvania mircobreweries:

The best thing about the microbreweries is that they usually post on their websites what ingredients are in each beer. This allows us homebrewers a chance to replicate the many fine beers that are being made. Check out some of the sites.

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Hombrew Term of the Day

Hopback - A vessel that is filled with hops to act as a filter for removing the break material from the finished wort.

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Thursday, April 20, 2006

Needs to Hombrew

Thought that this would be an interesting read.
Letter Home: Last Call
Mar, 2006 by Sgt. William Andrews, 3rd Infantry Division, Lutifiyah, Iraq
A soldier in Iraq misses the comforts of brewing. The old adage, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone,” rings in my head continuously as I pore over the myriad of pages from brewing magazines, product catalogs and homebrew clubs on the Internet. The clacking sound of the plastic airlock of my fermenter, at first nearly inaudible, grows into a thunderous stomp in my head as my concoction grows to life. The pungent smell of malt and hops that permeate the house on brew day seem to me like the fond memories of fresh-cut grass people recall when asked of childhood. And as these distant mental images and olfactory delights wash over me now, there are some of you out there who let your opportunities squander away. Your brew pots, bottles and kegs lay empty — dry as the Iraqi landscape that I now sit in day after brewless day.
Read More at Brew Your Own

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Hombrew Term of the Day

Enzymes - Protein-based catalysts that effect specific biochemical reactions.


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Hombrew Term of the Day

Aleurone Layer - The living sheath surrounding the endosperm of a barley corn, containing enzymes.


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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Homebrew Term for the Day

Priming - The method of adding a small amount of fermentable sugar prior to bottling to give the beer carbonation.

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Homebrewing Term of the Day

Alpha Acid Units (AAU) - A homebrewing measurement of hops. Equal to the weight in ounces multiplied by the percent of alpha acids.


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Monday, April 17, 2006

Pete's Wicked Ale Clone Recipe

It's been a while since I have had a Pete's maybe I'll give it a try over the weekend.  This recipe is mostly for extract brewers and is fairly simple.
 
 
 
 
2 cans Unhopped light Extract
1 lb Crystal Malt
1 oz. bullion hop
1 oz. Cascade hops
1 oz. Fuggles
Ale Yeast
Put the 1 lb crystal malt in hop bag and put in gallon of cold water. Bring water up to a boil, then removebag of crystal with strainer and throw away(you made a tea with the cystal).
 
Remove from heat and add 2 cans of Unhopped light extract. Bring back to a boil and add 1 oz bullion simmer for 30 minutes.
 
Then add 1oz. cascade hop and simmer for another 15 minutes. Then add 1/2 oz Fuggles simmer for 15 minutes.
 
At last minute add other 1/2 oz. of fuggles.

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Homebrew Term of the Day

Hops - Hop vines are grown in cool climates and brewers make use of the cone-like flowers. The dried cones are available in pellets, plugs, or whole.

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Thursday, April 13, 2006

6,998 Drops and Other Beer Facts

I found this on Bloglines and thought it was an interesting article.  It was orginally posted on Slashfood.com.  Hope you enjoy it !!!
 

6,998 drops and other beer facts

We have some facts and figures about general drinking trends, but what about just beer? Here are a few fun bits of beer trivia, from Here's to Beer and other randomly collected factoids, to quiz your buddies when you're all relaxing over a brew and a game after work:

  • According to the Canadian Ace Brewing Co., there are 6,998 drops in a 12-ounce bottle of beer.
  • St. Arnold is recognized by the Catholic Church as the patron saint of brewing beer.
  • A 12-ounce beer has fewer calories than two slices of standard, sliced bread.
  • In Fairbanks, Alaska, it is illegal to give beer to a moose.
  • The country with the most brands of beer - 400 - is Belgium.
  • In Germany, you can buy beer popsicles.
  • Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty [beer] glass

 

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Homebrew Term of the Day

Blow-off - A type of airlock arrangement consisting of a tube exiting from the fermenter, submerging into a bucket of water, that allows the release of carbon dioxide and removal of excess fermentation material.


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Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Homebrew Term of the Day

Decoction - A method of mashing wherein temperature rests are achieved by boiling a part of the mash and returning it to the mash tun.


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Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Homebrew Term of the Day

Primary Fermentation - The initial fermentation activity marked by the evolution of carbon dioxide and Krausen. Most of the total attenuation occurs during this phase.


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Monday, April 10, 2006

Flying Fish Brewery - Farmhouse Summer Ale Clone Recipe

I may be rushing on this one, since spring is only a few weeks old, but if you want to be enjoying this beer during the heat of the summer, now is the time to begin.  Just imagine, hot day, cold beer and burgers on the grill.  I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it.  This is a nice beginning wheat beer for those of you who want to give it a try.  Happy brewing !!!!
 
5 gallon/19 L, extract with grains 

Ingredients

3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Coopers light malt extract syrup
2.2 lbs. (1.0 kg)
Briess wheat dry malt extract
0.5 lbs. (0.2 kg) wheat malt
3 oz. (85 g) Carapils (dextrin) malt
3 oz. (85 g) pale 2-row malt (for sour mash)
1.0 AAU Styrian Golding hops
(0.25 oz./7g of 4.0% alpha acid)
3.5 AAU Magnum
(0.25 oz./1.8 g of 14.0% alpha acid)
2.1 AAU Styrian Golding hops
(0.53 oz./15 g of 4.0% alpha acid)
1.4 AAU Styrian Golding hops
(0.35 oz./10 g of 4.0% alpha acid)
White Labs WLP005 (British Ale) or
Wyeast 1098 (British Ale) yeast
0.75 cup of corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step
For the sour mash, start 2–3 days in advance. Steep 3 oz. (85 g) 2-row pale malt in a pint of 150 ºF (66 ºC) water, then cover and let sit for 2–3 days. On brew day, steep the sour mash along with the wheat and dextrin malt grains in 3 gallons (11.4 L) of water at 152 ºF (67 ºC) for 30 mins. Remove grains from wort, add the first wort addition of Styrian Golding hops, malt syrup and dry malt extract, tnen bring to a boil. Add the Magnum hops and boil for 60 mins. Add the second addition of Styrian Golding hops for the last 30 mins. of the boil and add the last addition of Styrian Golding hops for the last 2 mins. of the boil. Now add wort to 2 gallons cool water in a sanitary fermenter and top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons (20.9 L). Cool the wort to 75 ºF (24 ºC), aerate the beer and pitch your yeast. Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 68 ºF (20 ºC) and hold at this temperature until the yeast has finished fermentation. Bottle and enjoy!

All-grain option:
This is a single infusion mash. Do the sour mash the same as above. On brew day, add 8.7 lbs. (3.9 kg) of 2 row, 0.5 lbs. (0.2 kg) wheat malt and 3 oz. (85 g) of dextrin malt to complete the grain bill. Mash grains and sour mash at 152 ºF (67 ºC) for 60 mins. Collect enough wort to boil for 90 mins. and have a 5.5-gallon (20.9-L) yield (about 7 gallons or 26 L). Lower the Styrian Golding hops in the 30-min. boil to 0.5 oz. (14 g) to account for higher extraction ratio of a full boil. The rest of the recipe is the same as above. 
 
Recipe from Brew Your Own.

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Homebrew Term of The Day

Ale - A beer brewed from a top-fermenting yeast with a relatively short, warm fermentation.

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