Jakedoza

surprised that Patrick hasn't replied on this one yet...

Update: 8 Hours of fermentation.. This is the rate of Co2 being expelled at the moment.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD5GcIV_9Tw&feature=youtu.be

Making beer can get WAAAY complicated, but it will only get as complicated as you make it. There are guys that do their own water chemistry, which I have thought about doing since I have an RO/DI system and have 0ppm water already. But that in itself can be complicated. When you go all grain it steps up in complication as well as takes more time. I have thought about doing that as well. The equipment cost can be way expensive, or you can do things on the cheap as well. I think I have only spent about $300 on brewing equipment, if that.. There are also a lot of things that go hand in hand with the reef tank world and beer brewing. It truly is very interesting.

I attach a thermometer and temperature sensor to the cardboy and also insert a tube that will go into a cup of water to act as an airlock. This will allow Co2 gas out, but not let any contaminants in. This will be its home for the next few days as the wort ferments. Fermentation temperature control is vital for your yeast as well as the taste of the beer. Each yeast strand has its own characteristics. This particular strand has an optimum fermentation temperature of 68F-72F. Its attenuation at that temperature is 72%-76% and has a medium alcohol tolerance. I should be able to get about a 5.5%ABV beer from this yeast. If you are interested, here is the yeast profile from White Labs. http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp300.html Stay tuned... I will keep you updated as time progresses.

60 min later... At about 5 min left I start to prepare the wort chiller. After the boil I bring the pot to the chiller and cool the wort to 80F or below. after it is cooled I pour it into the glass cardboy and add water to make 5 gallons. I then take a gravity reading. The reason for taking a gravity reading is for two reasons. One, to determine alcohol content by using a formula with the final gravity reading. Two, to see when the yeast has been exhausted to its capacity by a factor called attenuation. We have a starting gravity reading of 1.062 at 80F.. Using a calculator to adjust for temperature, our starting gravity is 1.064. Now it is time to pour in the yeast that has been brewing over the past couple of days. After that is done, I put the cardboy in a fermentation chiller I made.

45 min later.. after the timer goes off I take a strainer and position it on top of the brew pot to let the grains drain. Once they have drained I bring the wort to a boil and then shut off the heat Now I get the Extract ready to pour into the wort after I have poured it.. After I make sure it has all dissolved I bring the wort to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil I add the bittering hops. I then let the wort boil for 60 min.....

First steps.. I will take 2 gallons of water and bring it to 160F While that water is getting up to temperature I will prepare my grain bag and dump the grains. When water is at temperature, I turn off the heat and take the grain bag and submerge it in the water as you would a tea bag. Let it sit and maintain a 155F temperature for 45 Min.

Brew Day: First I start out by sanitizing EVERYTHING that will come or may come in contact with the wort after it has boiled. Since boiling sanitizes in itself I will not have to sanitize the brew pot or the stir spoon. I will not have to sanitize anything that comes in contact with the wort before the boil either, since I will be boiling the wort. Some equipment that I use. Grain bag, Thermometer, Hydrometer. Brew kettle Glass Carboy and funnel. In this photo it has sanitizing solution in it.

Update: Day 2 on the Yeast starter... Today is brew day..

What is fermenting now is the yeast starter that will go in the wort of the actual brew that I will do tomorrow.

It's funny you say that. I just got done with a moosedrool brown ale clone. I bought a moosedrool and poured my homebrew and tasted both.. I literally could not tell the difference.. and actually the homebrew tasted better. I then took them both to my neighbor and he picked the homebrew as the one he liked better as well. A lot of it is in the fermentation temperature, and a lot of brewers will tell you that the temperature is key. This was also the fastest I turned out a brew at right at a month.

Yeah.. I have too many.. NASCAR, Homebrew, Reef tank, Photography, Ice Hockey, Computers, Scuba diving, the car.......

You are right... silly me...

Update: Notice how the wort has taken on a milky color.. That is because it is now saturated with yeast. This is a good thing It smells good too! We brew tomorrow..

cool... wouldn't want that thing to get a hold of your foot.. er.. any shark for that matter..

Update.. We have viable yeast.. 7 hrs later..

shibby!

After the boil you want to cool off the wort as fast as you can so you can add the yeast. If you add the yeast with it being too hot it will kill the yeast. To do this I have what is called a wart chiller. This is a coiled copper tube that I connect to a water source. Cold water runs through the coil transferring heat to the water thus cooling the wort. After it is cooled to under 80F I can put it in the flask and add the yeast. After I add the yeast, I swirl it violently and set it on the stir plate for a period of 2 days. The yeast will gradually multiply, eat the sugars in the wort expelling alcohol and Co2 I will keep you updated step by step on this process..

With the March meeting ahead of us and it being at my place I have decided to get started on something that is appropriate for both the subject of the meeting ahead and the month of March. That is right... I am going to be serving a DIY or better known as Homebrewed Beer. I made a trip to Austin Homebrew Supply(AHS) this morning to pick up the ingredients for the beer. I will be making a straight up Hefeweisen. Hefeweisen is German for yeast and is an unfiltered wheat beer. I am making this beer from what is called a mini mash or a combination of grain and extract brewing. It uses a concentrated malt extract with grains for brewing. Here are the ingredients for this beer. I have 5lbs Wheat Extract, 1lb Red Wheat, 1 vial liquid White Labs Hefeweisen Yeast, 1oz Hallertau German yeast. What I am doing today is making what is called a yeast starter. Doing this does 3 things. It makes sure your yeast strain is a viable strain It creates more yeast for your fermentation process with more yeast it cuts down on the fermentation time Doing this calls for an additional ingredient called Dried Malt Extract (DME). Basically all I will be doing is making a small batch of beer. Start off with Sterilizing everything that will be in contact with the (Wort) after the boil. your Mash is essentially your beer before it has fermented. I start off by taking 8 cups of water and bringing it to a boil. After it starts to boil I add 2 cups DME and stir in until it dissolves. Bring down the temp so that is doesn't boil over. Maintain a rolling boil for 20 min.

Good to see everyone there tonight.. I will post photos later.

I believe it is March 17th

For the frag swap if it were going to be at my place... I have a moosedrool brown ale that I just kegged.. it will be ready for Daytona next Sunday.. Ill be happy to share at any meet that I host though. I'm thinking of a hef for March so I can have green beer if I want to. Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

I believe Patrick (Subsea) has done this..

It was great meeting you as well. Wish we lived closer so we and the kids could hang out. Maybe we can plan something.

I kinda like the idea of something on a week night.. simply because weekends should be spent with family. I can also understand that not everyone can attend on a weeknight. I'm working with another member of the forum on this. I'm sure we can all come to an agreement and work something out. As is, it looks there may be more than one class going on anyway.