Hey kids!
I understand its been a while, but it has been a couple of very busy weeks. I have a lot of information to pass on, so I won't waste any time!
Early January I returned to Chicago to spend a week with my friends and family. Before I left I wrote up a recipe for a beer to be enjoyed on St. Patrick's Day. If you're thinking that planning a beer in early January to be drunk in mid-March is a bit farsighted, keep in mind that beer is not made in a day. Although the active brewing process only takes a couple of hours, it may take weeks, months, or even years (!) for a beer to truly mature and peak in flavor.
Don’t let this scare you away from brewing, though. I will show you exactly how easy it is to brew beer.
I decided on my St. Paddy’s Day brew. I wanted it to be dark, robust, but balanced – a true dry Irish stout in the style of Guinness, but with an American twist. So I used extra hops, a nice addition of oatmeal, and bumped up the alcohol as well. Here’s the recipe:
Blackthorne Stick
Irish Dry/Oatmeal Stout
Recipe Specs
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Batch Size (G): 5.2
Total Grain (lb): 9.690
Total Hops (oz): 4.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.063 (°P): 15.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.60 %
Colour (SRM): 33.9 (EBC): 66.8
Bitterness (IBU): 59.6 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 61
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
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5.190 lb Dry Malt Extract - Light (53.56%)
2.000 lb American 2-Row (20.64%)
1.500 lb Flaked Oats (15.48%)
1.000 lb Roasted Barley (10.32%)
Hop Bill
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1.25 oz Palisade Pellet (7.1% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 oz/Gal)
1.25 oz Palisade Pellet (7.1% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 oz/Gal)
1.50 oz Palisade Pellet (7.1% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.3 oz/Gal)
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Single step Infusion at 151°F for 30 Minutes.
Fermented at 62°F with Wyeast 1084 - Irish Ale
The brew day went very smooth, despite my equipment limitations.
Every beer starts out with good yeast. I prepared a fresh starter of Wyeast's "Irish Ale" yeast a day before brew day. Yes, that is an Arizona tea container.
Measuring out the dry malt extract on my new scale.
Here are all the specialty grains. The bulk of alcohol will come from the extract, but the color, flavor, feel, and character will come from these grains.
Mini-mashing the specialty grains extracts the sugars from them, but temperature control is vital.
A REAL brewing setup consists of one large kettle. This cheap setup consists of one boil across four pots. Do you want to know what difference it makes? Very, very little :)
Hoppy and happy, here are the beer's bittering agents. Palisades are English hops, so they are appropriate for this style. However, the level of bitterness is pretty American.
After a 60 min. boil, I cooled the beer by cutting it with 1 gallon of purified water and putting the closed fermentation bucket outside in the cold. Once it had dropped to 60°F I brought it back inside for a reading.
This instrument is called a hydrometer. It is used in alcohol creation and in many other fields. It displays the specific gravity of a solution. Since alcohol is less dense than water, I will take another reading after fermentation. The difference will reveal the ABV of the beer. This reading was on par with calculations.
*fun fact* In the brewing process, once the grains hit the water the liquid is called wort (pronounced 'wurt'). Once the yeast hits the wort, it is called beer.
There are many theories about how Guinness achieves its classic 'twang'. One claims that a portion of beer is intentionally soured, pasteurized, and added into the batch. I liked the idea, so I drew a half pint of wort and exposed it to the bacteria cultures present in my sourdough starter. After it was innoculated, I boiled the contaminated wort to kill the bacteria and reintroduced it into the main batch.
This is what a ghetto fermentation set-up looks like. The barrel on the left is a trash can partially filled with cold water and the keg on the right is just a stand to hold the blow-off cup. The only high-tech device is the temperature controller that has a probe connected to the fermentation bucket. It is meant to override a fermentation chamber (such as a mini-fridge), but a house fan will work in a pinch.
The water surrounds the bucket and increases thermal mass, so that the fermenting beer will not be subjected to temperature swings. Proper temperature control is one of THE most important elements in making good beer.
Despite fears that my set-up would fail me, the terminal gravity produced a healthy reading and the beer ended exactly where I wanted it: 6.60% ABV
*fun fact* The formula for ABV is SG (starting gravity) - TG (terminal gravity) x 131
I pitched the yeast into this bad boy on Jan 2. I fermented it at relatively cold temperatures (about 62°F) and let it ramp up towards the end to allow the yeast to finish fermenting any remaining sugars. I then bottled it on Jan. 17 and allowed the bottles to carbonate in a warm area of the apartment (top of the fridge). After 4 days, I moved the bottles into cold storage for a garding period of 2 months. Garding is just the French word for lagering, or cold conditioning. This period allows the beer to mature without staling and allows for tiny substances called polyphenols to fall out of solution and smooth the flavor.
How did the beer turn out? See for your self:
A proper pour will help develop the head and release the aromas of the beer.
And there is the final product.
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: Pours deep, dark ruby with a latte-colored cap of foam. Decent head retention and good lacing.
Smell: The roasted barley pops out and provides coffee and dark chocolate aromas, but the hops are present as well.
Taste: Starts with the grains - a little roast, a little oatmeal sweetness. It finishes with the hops, which are dry and refreshing.
Mouthfeel: Just in-between light and medium-bodied. The oatmeal lends some stickiness, but the high attenuation dries it out sufficiently enough to call it a 'dry' stout.
Overall: This was just what I was going for. It is an 'Irish-American' stout with some real character. However, the smooth flavor and sensible ABV make it something that can be downed over the course of a night.
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OK, I promised you a preview of the ABC Reserve Society:
The ABC Reserve Society is a concept that I have been developing. It is a way for lovers of a fine beer to benefit from a mutual relationship. I have been brewing for nearly 2 years. Since then I have brewed over 20 batches, upgraded my equipment, and after months of study and research, I have greatly developed my technique. I can brew a wide variety of beers of every style. Also, my current setup, which includes a mill and mash tun, uses no artificial flavors or methods, and ensures that the beer is as fresh and delicious as possible! My only prohibition is price.
With raw ingredients and utilities, brewing can be expensive. However, with the ABC Reserve Society, it doesn’t have to be. The ABC Reserve Society is simply a way for you to contribute to the costs of brewing, and receive homemade beer in return! This is NOT a way for me to make money. Profiting from alcohol without a license is ILLEGAL. This is just a way to spread out the costs of brewing, so that we all can benefit: I can do what I love to do – make good beers; you can do what you love to do – drink them! Think about it; an artisanal, unique beer that YOU helped make. All it takes is a little cooperation...
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More information in the next installment!
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