Immersion Chiller Ice Pump

I'm desiring (and getting) more and more temperature control for my wort chilling and fermentation processes. I've been listening recently to three good podcasts:

Basic Brewing Radio
The Jamil Show
Brew Strong

And, I continue to listen and learn from the great people at my local homebrew club:

Ohio Valley Homebrewers' Association

What I've learned is, while I've been making pretty good beer, I'm ready to take the next few steps to improve what I'm doing.

The first improvement was Yeast Washing. I won't explain that here, because Don Osborn has explained that pretty well on his site.

The second improvement is the move to yeast starters. Jamil Z says it's the most important thing you can do to improve your beer. I rely on the Wyeast pages:
Wyeast Pitch Rate Calculator
Wyeast Pitch Rate chart
Wyeast Making a Starter

But most importantly, I listened to Jamil Z, especially the Yeast Starter episode on Brew Strong. And used his Pitching Rate Calculator.

The third improvement is going to be a refrigerator. My mom is moving to my hometown and buying a new fridge. So, she's donating her older fridge to us, which we'll put in our kitchen, then we'll move our much older fridge out to the garage for fermentation temp control. Yeah!

Finally (for now), the fourth improvement will be wort cooling. I built an immersion chiller out of 50 ft. of 3/8" copper tubing, and it has worked okay. But, in the spring/summer/fall, I just can't get the wort cooled down below 76-80F. In the winter it's better; our municipal water drops more than 10F; I think they switch to a different source. That's much warmer than I want to pitch even my ales.

So, my plan was to use the immersion chiller on tap water down to around 80-90F. Then, I changed the water source to a bucket of ice water, pumped with a small pond pump through the immersion chiller, and recycled back into the ice bucket.

I bought a small pond pump at Lowes.





That has a 1/2" ID outlet, so I bought some braided 1/2" ID hose, a 1/2"barb to 1/2"pipe adapter, and a 1/2"pipe to garden hose adapter, attaching these with teflon and a hose clamp. That allows me to connect to my immersion chiller easily, which has garden hose connections. Lowes didn't have those connections, so I got them at Ace Hardware, which didn't have the pump.

The tap water temp was down as of this week, so it's running at about 62.5F. I used the immersion chiller with the garden hose water and chilled down to about 65F pretty quickly. I used a sanitized spoon to create a whirlpool, so I had the whole thing chilled from boiling to 65F in under 10 minutes!!!!

I put about 10 lbs of ice in a cooler (my mash tun, actually, after cleaning it out). Then covered the ice with tap water, threw in the pump, connected the pump to the inlet side of my chiller, and dropped the outlet hose back into the cooler to recirculate. Turned it on, and got from about 65F down to below 60F in just about five minutes. The water was just trickling, it's not a strong pump, but it worked just fine.

Here's a pic of my setup. It's pretty simple. I wouldn't mind a stronger pump.

Ancient Mead

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 05/28/2009 | last updated: 06/19/2009
status: Fermenting
temperature: 74F
starting gravity: 1.152 (ser | current gravity: ?? | final gravity:

http://www.moremead.com/mead_logs/Ancient_OCC.html

--------------------
May 28, 2009
Fermenting
--------------------
temperature: 82F
starting gravity: 1.152 (seriously!!!)

A guy brought some of this to our local homebrewer's club meeting last night. Whoa, this stuff will knock you out! I measured the OG just for the hell of it: 1.152. That's not a typo! Check out the recipe, it's pretty damn simple to make. I just happened to have a one gallon bottle and I had the cinnamon, clove, and bread yeast in the kitchen already. Just had to buy the honey, an orange, and some raisins.

6/19/2009 - Three weeks later this stuff is still bubbling, about two bubbles a minute!

6/22/2009 - Topped the carboy up with water.

Bottled sometime in July. This is too sweet. Need to cut back on the honey.

Flat Tire Ale - my first all-grain

This is a longish post, but I guess that someone will want read this. Make comments if you like.

Today was my first all-grain batch. I purchased a kit from Midwest just to take some of the complication out, plus they crush the grains. It was the Flat Tire kit, and I bought the Wyeast Belgian #1214 to go with it.

First of all, equipment. I have a 12 qt stainless pot, an 18 qt aluminum pot that I’ve been using to extract brew, and now a 30 qt aluminum pot of the turkey fryer variety, brand new. I have the base for that, too.

I built a combination mash & lauter tun.

I built an immersion wort chiller from (nearly) 50 ft of 3/8” copper tubing, some hosing, and fitting to put a garden hose on the chiller hose.

Here’s the chronology:

Last night I finished up calculations using Beersmith and printed out a brewsheet. Awesome.

I got up this morning about 5:45am and filled the two small pots with hot water, and put them on the kitchen stove to boil. I’m guessing I had four gallons in one and about 2.5 gallons in the other. Then, I went to the gas station around the corner to replace my propane tank (I have two, one was empty, the other nearly so). The water took almost 30 minutes to boil.

I transported the water outside and put it all in the large pot, and tested out my new burner. Works perfectly. Of course, the water was already nearly boiling, so it began boiling again in about two-three minutes. Question: of what use is the little contraption that controls the air flow into the burner? I just left it wide open the whole time.

Beersmith said I needed 15.75 qts of water at 167.2F. So, I used the 18qt pot to mix in nearly boiling water with some cold from the tap. The best I could do was 166.8F. I was using a 2qt pitcher to move water around, so none of these measurements for water are all that exact. Question: how do you know how much water you’re moving around?

I had 10.5 lbs of grain. That is: 9lbs 2-row, 1/2lb crystal 120L, 1/2lb munich 10L, and 1/2lb special b, whatever that is. I mixed at 1.5qts to lb ratio. I’m not sure why I did that, but anyway. 166.8F water and 10.5lbs of grain averaged out to 153.5F, which I was shooting for 154F. I figured, close enough. Closed the lid at 7:05am.

At 8:15am (I had kids to get to school), I had a temp of 151.1F. Question: if you know your temp is going to drop 2.5 degrees, do you shoot high? Ie., I wanted 154, so should I go for 155.3, and expect a drop to 152.8, or what?

I added 3qts of water at 168.1F, stirred the mash, and drained two quarts of it into my pitcher, recirculated that (it looked pretty clean anyway), and drained it all into the 18qt pot (the brewpot still had hot water in it!). Note to self, it would be helpful to have another large pot to heat water in. An HLT of some kind.

I added 3.5 gallons of 168.0F water to the lauter tun, stirred it, and then remembered to close the valve! :) I dumped the remaining hot water out of the kettle, poured the first draining into the kettle, and then drained the second amount into the kettle. I gave Brewsmith 2qts of dead space in the tun, but I ended up with 6.75 gallons, about 1qt over what I was hoping for.

The preboil gravity was 1.024 at 47F, adjusted up to 1.039. Significantly less than the 1.048 I would’ve gotten at 75% efficiency. I think, I didn’t reach that efficiency, and I had too much water. I brought it all to a boil, which took maybe 20 minutes or so.

I had an extremely full pot, I was using an unfamiliar heat control, and I nearly had a boilover. I avoided it, but then added the hops and that did it. It came out, hops first of course. Then I couldn’t find my matches to relight the stupid burner. Note: buy a long lighter. Geez.

Got a boil again at 9:05am. I was hoping I still had a good amount of Northern Brewer hops, but who knows? I saw quite a bit floating around in there during the boil, so let’s hope for the best.

I gave the boil about 10 extra minutes just for the hell of it. I added some Irish moss at about 15 minutes left, and I dropped the new immersion chiller in. I had tested it out during the boil, so it was full of water, which began to flow rapidly out of the hose as soon as I dropped the chiller in the wort. Cool. I added 1oz Saaz with 2 minutes left, at 10:14.

At 10:16, I cut the heat and started the chiller. I got it down to 80F in about 14 minutes. I got the wort into the fermenter, and it looks like I have about 5-2/3 gallons. The OG is 1.051, lower than the 1.056 Brewsmith expected. Again, too much water is the main problem, and a lower efficiency than expected is a secondary problem. The efficiency came in around 68%.

After cleaning up everything, it was 11:15am. Time:5.5 hours. Plus, I did a few small garden tasks during the boil, once I was sure there’d be no more boilover. I’ve let the thing sit in the fermenter for an hour, and I’m going to rack it off the trub into a carboy, then rack it back again, and pitch the yeast starter.

My Inexpensive Homemade Mash/Lauter Tun - MLT

Here's my rendition of a combination Mash/Lauter Tun using parts easily available around town. It all started the day after I visited my local homebrewer's club, the Ohio Valley Homebrewer's Association, www.ovha.net, and saw a version of a 10-gallon combination mash/lauter tun made from a 10-gallon Rubbermaid cooler, one of the orange round ones that are pretty ubiquitous.

The next day I was in Target and thought I'd just look at the coolers, just to get an idea. They didn't have that particular cooler, but they did have a 50-qt Igloo Ice Cube, and it just happened to be on sale for $18.99. Sold!



The ice cube didn't have a plastic spigot, so my first task was to drill a 5/8" hole into the side. One of the sides has a thinner wall near the bottom just perfectly formed for the insertion of a spigot, so I drilled there.

Then I built the spigot, basically a homemade bulkhead fitting.

On the outside, pictured below are:

• 3/8" male barb adapter, with teflon tape on it
• 3/8" ball valve, for liquid and gas (make sure it's not just for gas)
• a 3/8" x 1-1/2" brass nipple (you can't see it)
• several 5/8" ID flat washers
• a 5/8" o-ring (you can't see it, it's up against the cooler wall
  

Then, on the inside we have:

• the same nipple from the outside coming through the cooler wall (you can't see that, of course)
• another 5/8" o-ring (against the inside cooler wall, you can't see)
• a brass 5/8" flat washer (brass or stainless here, b/c it will contact the wort)
• a 3/8" female barb adapter, with teflon on the nipple
• a 1/4" stainless hose clamp
• a manifold made from a dishwasher supply line (more on that below)
  

I bought a stainless steel (make sure it says so on the package) dishwasher supply line, cut the end connections off, then pushed the stainless braid off the rubber hose. This is tricky, but remember to PUSH the braid and not pull. It slips out VERY easily if you're doing it correctly. Otherwise, it's impossible, like Chinese handcuffs.

Then I used some heavy duty wire cutters to cut the stainless braid to length, which should be just less than the width of the cooler, so that it lies down flat and straight after everything is assembled, without touching the opposite wall of the cooler. On the other end of the hose, I've put a 1/4" brass plug, clamped on with another 1/4" stainless hose clamp.



















That's all there is to it.

My primary references for this were:

http://members.shaw.ca/Fly_Guy/mlt.htm - perfect explanation of how to build it, with good pictures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmwYSjfu3zY# - not so detailed, but this guy's video inspired me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMHLqnWCNjE# - another great video for extract brewer's who are thinking about all-grain.

And, of course, much support and advice from the Ohio Valley Homebrewer's Association, OVHA, www.ovha.net, especially this short topic on the message board: http://www.ovha.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=583&start=0&hilit=stainless+steel.

Just-In-Time Kölsch - 22

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 03/19/2009 | last updated: 07/11/2009
status: Enjoying

--------------------
March 19, 2009
Planning
--------------------
Ordering material today. Base recipe from Papazian, Joy, p. 190. Here's mine:

3.3# Coopers wheat malt extract
2.5# extra light dry malt extract
.5oz Perle (60)
.75oz Saaz (60)
.5oz Tettnang (30)
Safale K-97


--------------------
April 30, 2009
Fermenting
--------------------
temperature: 69F
starting gravity: 1.047

Got this one in the fermenter today, hoping to hold temp around 70F. K-97 is supposed to run between 59 and 75. The weather should cooperate.

5/4/2009 - weather has been cool; temp dropped to 68F a couple of days ago. Fermentation is still in process; a bubble is released about once a minute.

5/9/2009 - all activity has stopped. Temp is back up to 70F. For not trying very hard, I've kept the temp in a pretty small range. Rack tomorrow.

--------------------
May 13, 2009
Secondary
--------------------
temperature: 68F
starting gravity: 1.047
specific gravity 1.011
final gravity:

Racked to secondary. Because of the attention to fermentation temp, this one slow-simmered. Very little krausen. Apparent attenuation is at 77%. Pretty good. Extremely cloudy. Must be the wheat. This could very well be my last extract beer.

--------------------
May 25, 2009
Secondary
--------------------
temperature: 68F
starting gravity: 1.047
final gravity: 1.010

Whoa Nellie!!! This is a great one to end my extract career on! Clear, straw color, subtle hop taste, but not malty at all! This one will be perfect in July and August when the days are warm. I have to convert this to all grain somehow.

ABV: 4.8%
App Atten: 78%
--------------------
June 3, 2009
Secondary
--------------------
temperature: 68F
starting gravity: 1.047
specific gravity 1.010
final gravity: 1.010

This beer is misnamed, it's more than OK! I thought it would be good for hot days in July and August, but it may not last that long! Check out the pic, the beer is clear enough to see the wall patterns behind it!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/photo.php?pid=30444561&id=1076958863&ref=nf

Bourbon Barrel Old Ale - 21

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 03/14/2009 | last updated: 07/11/2009
status: Lagering

--------------------
March 14, 2009
Brewing
--------------------
This is a midwestsupplies.com kit:

6 lbs. Amber liquid malt extract
3.3 lbs. Gold liquid malt extract
8 oz. Brown Malt
8 oz. Crystal 50-60°L
8 oz. Wheat
4 oz. Aromatic
4 oz. Chocolate
1 oz. Northern Brewer
2 oz. Glacier
2 oz. Tradition
2 oz. American Oak Cubes
enough bourbon to cover the cubes in a sealed container
Nottingham ale yeast

OG:1.074
Pitching temp: 68F.
Pitched the Nottingham dry, just sprinkling it on top, waiting 30 minutes, then stirring it in.

Covered the oak cubes with Maker's Mark in gladware. That needs to sit for six weeks for the wood to soak up the bourbon. Then, it will go in the secondary. The brew itself will sit for six months in secondary before bottling.

3/16/2009 - Fermenting away nicely since yesterday morning. Temp remains at 68F.
--------------------
March 19, 2009
Lagering
--------------------
temperature: 68F
starting gravity: 1.074
specific gravity 1.021
final gravity:

Racked to secondary today. Used the glass carboy, as I trust it more for a long term like this: 6 months!!! Refreshed the bourbon on the oak chips, as the level had gone down when the wood soaked it up. Those go into the secondary in five weeks.

--------------------
May 23, 2009
Lagering
--------------------
temperature: 68F
starting gravity: 1.074
specific gravity 1.021
final gravity:

Dumped the bourbon-soaked wood chips in today. It's starting to get warm in the house, so this one is going down to the cellar this afternoon.

Bottle in September/October. Ready for the winter! Yeah!

NPA Pale Ale - 20

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 02/26/2009 | last updated: 07/11/2009
Recipe: | status: Finished

--------------------
February 26, 2009
Planning

Ordered ingredients from Midwest. Plus, ordered two hop rhizomes, Cascade and Glacier.

8 oz crystal 10L
6 lbs Briess pilsen light malt syrup
12 oz pilsen light dme
1 oz Galena pellets (45)
.5oz oz Cascade pellets (15)
1 tsp Irish moss (15)
1 oz Cascade pellets (5)
1 safale 04
1 oz Cascade pellets (dry hop)
6 oz corn sugar

I'm going for a lighter color this time.

OG:1.055
Exp FG:1.014
Starting Temp: 68F.
Took this one to the upstairs closet. Got warm (75F), and starting going nuts within two days; blew out the airlock. Moved to kitchen closet. Now at 65F and fermenting nicely.

3/11/09 - SG:1.011, way better than expected. Extremely light color. Moving to secondary.

--------------------
April 9, 2009
Conditioning
--------------------
temperature: 64F
starting gravity: 1.055
specific gravity 1.011
final gravity: 1.009

Warm, flat beer. Must be bottling time again. Deep straw color, very light. FG came in nicely, dropped 2 points in secondary. See you in two weeks!

FG: 1.009
App Atten: 84% !!!!!
ABV: 6.0%

--------------------
July 11, 2009
Finished
--------------------

Oh so good. I'm working on an all-grain version to brew in August.

Elementary Penguin Maibock - 19

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 02/02/2009 | last updated: 07/11/2009
status: Enjoying

2/3/2009 - Raw materials are on the way. Here's the recipe from Papazian, and I'll edit later to include my modifications:

9.9# light malt extract syrup
.5# toasted malted barley
1.5oz Mt Hood (60)
.5oz Vanguard (30)
1oz French Strisselspalt (15)
Saflager 23

2/25/09 - Got delayed for a number of reasons. But, tomorrow is the day.

--------------------
February 26, 2009
Brewing
--------------------

Brewing as I type this into the blackberry. Here is my recipe:

9.9# Midwest Gold malt extract syrup
.5# lightly roasted barley
1 oz Mt Hood (60)
.4 oz German Spalt (60)
.5oz Vanguard (leaf) (30)
1oz French Strisselspalt (15)
Saflager 23

This is a big beer. OG:1.072, so we're looking at a 7% abv at the finish. Pitched at 74F. Recommended ferm temp is 50-60F, so I'm going to put this one in the basement, and hope for about 55F.

3/5/09 - SG:1.024. 53F.
3/7/09 - SG:1.023. 56F.
3/12/09 - SG:1.017. 53F. Moving to secondary.

--------------------
April 25, 2009
Bottling
--------------------
temperature: 53F
starting gravity: 1.072
specific gravity 1.017
final gravity: 1.016

Bottling day. Dark amber in color, with a sweet taste at this point.

App Atten: 78%
ABV: 7.3%

--------------------
May 14, 2009
--------------------

Oh, this is good.

Sparrow Hawk Porter - 18

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 01/15/2009 | last updated: 07/11/2009
status: Finished

1/15/2009 - I've been brewing for one year, and I've discovered that you can't go wrong with a recipe from the Joy of Homebrewing, so here's another one, p. 201 in the revised edition. And, here's what I'm using:

3.3# amber syrup from Midwest
3.3# dark syrup from Midwest
1.5# light dme
18oz black patent malt (recipe calls for 1#, but I was just dumping extra stuff)
1.75oz Northern Brewer (60)
1oz Tettnanager (less than 5)
1tsp Irish moss (15)

OG: 1.062
Exp atten: 75%
Exp FG: 1.016

Okay, I screwed this one up a little bit. When I measured the OG, it was only in the 44 range. Huh? Oh, damn, forgot the DME!!! So, I poured it straight into fermenter and stirred it up. I mean, it should work, right?

Anyway, when I go to measure the OG again, there's so much foam at the top, I can't quite see the gauge. The foam didn't subside after 15 minutes, so I just took a guess at the OG.

I need some luck.

--------------------
February 19, 2009
Bottling
--------------------

FG:1.018, which isn't too far off the mark. When I racked to secondary, this had some pretty high esters, and not really desirable. Those have tapered off pretty much, so I'm not concerned. Pretty heavy as far as beers go. We'll see how it is after carbonation.
FG: 1.018
Atten: 71%
ABV: 5.8%

--------------------
April 30, 2009
Enjoying
--------------------

Just like Papazian indicated, this beer is bitter when straight out of the fridge, but transforms to a malty sweetness when served above 50-55F. Two beers in one, really. Comes out really green, so it needs at least a couple of months in the bottle before enjoying.

7/11/2009 - It's gone. Kathy's cousin Will thought it was really great.

Cerveza Noche Buena - 17

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 12/11/2008 | last updated: 07/08/2009
status: Finished

12/11/2008 - another of Papazzian's recipes: Good Night in Mexico. Here's what I used, based on what I had in hand:

.5# toasted barley
.5# corn sugar
.5# pilsen light dme
.5# golden light dme
6# dark syrup (from Midwest)
1.5oz German Spalt (60)
1oz German Saaz (20)
1 oz Hersbrucker-Hallertau (5)
1 tsp Irish moss (15)
Saflager 23

The 1/2lb toasted is unmalted barley, toasted in my oven at 350F for 15 minutes. Oh, that smells good!

I used a bag to hold the hops this time. That means, lots of spent hop material didn't make it into the fermentation bucket. I wonder what will happen.

OG: 1.056
Pitched at 70F.
Anticipated FG: 1.014

12/29/2008 - Fermentation was started at room temp (approx 65F). Then, after a day, was moved to the basement (approx 53F). After 10 days, the SG was down to 20. Brought the brew up to room temp again (65F), and sat for another week. Now, it's down to 16. I racked to secondary, I'll let it sit there for a couple of weeks in the garage (approx 40F).

1/22/2008 - Bottled today.
SG:1.015
App atten: 73%
ABV: 5.4%

--------------------
February 19, 2009
Enjoying
--------------------

This one is getting great reviews! Awesome balance of malt and hops. It great for a nightcap.


--------------------
July 8, 2009
Finished
--------------------

I received the following email from Briess malt when I queried them about converting their Dark LME to all-grain.

Hello Michael,

Thank you using our Briess products in the past. The LME dark extract
has a combination of different specialty grains to create the rich dark
color and flavor. The best grain bill for the product you are trying to
duplicate in all grain would be as follows. Do remember this is just a
guideline that can be altered to fit the style of beer you wish to
create.
6-Row Brewers malt 3 - 4#
Munich malt 5 - 6#
Caramel 60 Malt 1 - 2#
Black Malt 1/4#
All of these grains should be in a coarse grind grist.
If there is anything further we can do for you to enhance your brewing
experience please let us know.

Happy Brewing

California Common Beer - 16

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 11/22/2008 | last updated: 01/02/2009
status: Finished

11/22/2008 - based on a recipe from The Brewmaster's Bible, p. 324-6. from Boston Brewers Supply Co, Jamaica Plain, Mass. An Anchor Steam clone.

8oz crystal 10L
6lbs light syrup
1lb light dme
1 oz Northern Brewer (45)
1 oz Northern Brewer (25)
1 oz Cascade (5)
1tsp Irish moss
1pkg Saflager S-23

SG:1.054
Temp: 67F
anticipated FG:1.014

12/01/2008 - Racked to secondary. FG:1.014. Moved to garage. Currently 35F in the garage.


1/1/2009 - I'm measuring something wrong. Bottled today, but the SG was up to 17 (was 14). I don't get it. I've accounted for the temp, so it's not that. Is there something I'm missing?

No Pale American Pale Ale - 15

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 11/06/2008 | last updated: 11/17/2008
status: Finished
Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30201811&l=0

11/6/2008 - from the Brewmaster's Bible, West Coast IPA, but reducing to bring down from the IPA range. I'm entering this one in the local Big Turkey club competition at the end of the month.

8 oz light crystal malt
6 lbs light malt extract syrup
12 oz light dry malt extract
1 oz Galena pellets (45)
.5oz oz Cascade pellets (15)
1 tsp Irish moss (15)
1 oz Cascade pellets (5)
1 package dry ale yeast
1 oz Cascade pellets (dry hop in 2ary)
6 oz corn sugar

OG: 1.050
anticipated FG: 1.013
approx 33 IBUs
Pitched at 74F.

11/11/2008 - Racked to secondary, dry hopped. I'm going to drop some gelatin in later in the day. I want to get this one into bottles by the weekend. Forgot to get SG, no problem, I'll grab it on bottling day.

11/12/2008 - Wait, this thing started fermenting again. Weird, because the temp is lower now than it was before I racked. Oh well.

11/17/2008 - What a PITA to get the hop bag out of the carboy!!! Bottled at FG: 1.013, 4.8% ABV, 74% apparent attenuation. Used 1 cup of corn sugar for bottling to increase carbonation level.

12/29/2008 - Mmmm, Mmmm, good. Unfortunately, I missed the contest, but the beer is good.

Apple Wine - 10/2/2008

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 10/02/2008 | last updated: 02/19/2009
Recipe: Apple Wine | status: Bottling

10/5/2008 - Prepared must. I made a sugar syrup instead of actually adding dry sugar, and that upped the volume to nearly 6 gallons. Also, added chemicals in water solution, rather than directly to must. The SG was 1.091, not as high as I wanted, but high enough not to worry about.

10/6/2008 - Pitched yeast. Lalvin EC-1118, rehydrated, no starter.

10/7/2008 - Fermentation began between 18-24 hours. Temp: 68F.

10/11/2008 - After 3.5 days, SG is 1.036. Racked to carboy.

11/8/2008 - 1st rack, added 5 campden tabs. SG:0.994.

Notes:
Next rack: 12/8
Rack until clear, then bottle.
Ready in 6 mths: April

--------------------
February 19, 2009
Bottling
--------------------

I racked this back in mid-December, and I've been too busy to get to it. It's pretty clear right now, not completely. I'll start with a clearer cider next time, that should help.

FG: .995

I've stabilized with 5 campden tabs and 2.5 tsp of potassium sorbate. I'm going to add 4oz of sugar to the last gallon to sweeten up to 1.005.

Should be ready after the bottle-shock, sometime mid-April, in time for Easter?

5/9/2009 - First bottle was definitely green and heavy on the sulfites. Second bottle was a little better, but still more sulfite flavor than I wanted. Third bottle is in the fridge now, try it tomorrow. Also tried a sweetened bottle recently. Not too sweet, really a balanced sweetness.

7/11/2009 - A note on sweetening. I've found a good balance for this wine, and worth trying on the blueberry, too. Two tablespoons of sugar dissolved in a tiny amount of hot water, put that syrup in a decanter, and pour the dry wine on top of it. Kathy, Mom, and others really like it that way. Then, I can keep all the wine dry like I prefer, and prepare some that others would enjoy, too.

Osmosis Amoebas German Alt - 14

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 09/25/2008 | last updated: 11/17/2008
status: Finished
Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30201812&l=3

Original Recipe: from Papazian.

6# German amber malt syrup
1.75 oz Northern Brewers or Perle hops (60)
.25# chocolate malt
.125# German Caraffe black malt
German ale-type yeast (safale K-97)
.75 cups corn sugar
OG:1.040-1.044
FG:1.007-1.011

Steep malts at 150-160F for 30 minutes.
Add extract and hops. Boil 60 minutes.
Add water up to 5 gallons.
Primary at ale temperature.
Secondary 2 weeks at 55F.

Alts:
2oz Perle to get 16HBU.
ordered 6# Briess Pilsen extract syrup

10/16/2008 - Had a few friends over to observe the process. Pizza and homebrew, can't beat that. Served up the ESB and the Pumpkin; they loved it, the ESB more so. Bought a 4-gallon kettle and used it for the first time. Makes life so much better. I was able to boil almost three gallons at a rolling boil, so I'm hoping the beer will appreciate the expense and effort.

10/16/2008 - SG:1.044. Pitched Safale K-97 at 74F.

10/26/2008 - SG:1.011. Weather has changed; temp is 64F. Ready to rack and put in the garage for lagering.

10/27/2008 - Racked to secondary. In the garage. Need to check temp later today.

10/28/2008 - Secondary is at 51F.

11/6/2008 - Bottled at SG 1.011. I used 1 cup of sugar to increase the carbonation when it's chilled. Perfect reddish brown color, perfect clarity, and flavor is dead-on for a Düsseldorfer. App Atten: 75%, ABV: 4.3%.

11/15/2008 - Perfect! A little bit green, but exactly what I was going for in this altbier. Nice thick head (about 3 inches worth!) that hung around for a while. Great clarity, and just the perfect amount of bite; not too much, not too little. Papazian wins again!

11/17/2008 - This beer is awesome!

Edwin Sandys Bitter - 13

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 09/11/2008 | last updated: 10/01/2008
Recipe: Edwin Sandys Bitter (ESB) | status: Fermenting

9/11/2008 -
Hops:
1oz Columbus (12.2%) (60)
.5oz Willamette (4.8%) (60)
.5oz Glacier (30)
.5oz Glacier (2)

Extracts: 1 can Muntons x-light, 1 can Muntons amber
Grains: 9oz Crystal 60L, 1oz black patent.
Yeast: Nottingham dry

9/12/2008 - SG:1.052, 75F.

9/18/2008 - Fermented around 70F for a week; active for about three days. Racked to secondary. Added gelatin. SG:1.012. Tastes just as great as the first batch, just like beer is supposed to taste. Edwin Sandys is back.

9/22/2008 - Bottled at SG:1.012, 77% apparent attenuation, 5.2% ABV. The gelatin really cleared it out. Looks awesome.

10/1/2008 - Oh, so good. Can't wait 'til it mellows out.

11/1/2008 - How did this one disappear so fast? Some to friends, some to me, and some held back for Christmas gifts. I'm beerless.

Pocahontas' Pumpkin Pleaser - 12

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 08/20/2008 | last updated: 09/18/2008
Recipe: Pocahontas' Pumpkin Pleaser | status: Enjoying
Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30201813&l=5

8/20/2008 - Buying ingredients tomorrow. Prepping yeast starter tonight. Styrian Goldings not available. Substituting Fuggle.

8/21/2008 - Wow, first pumpkin smells, then Willamette, then Fuggle, and finally cinnamon, and that was just the boil!!!

Recipe mods: 1 can Muntons amber, 1 can John Bull amber. Substitute Fuggle for Styrian Golding. 1 package Windsor dried yeast.

8/23/08 - pitched at 76F last night. Bu-bu-bu-bubbling.

8/28/2008 - racked to secondary. Darn, no numbers here. Where are the numbers? The OG was pretty high, but how high I can't say! I do remember thinking, this is the biggest beer I've ever done. I'm thinking it was in the 80s. The SG when I racked was about 1.018, kinda high, but it is a pumpkin beer, so you gotta figure on sweetness. I expect it to come down when I add the gelatin. The cinnamon was very pronounced, not too much, but very noticeable. The pumpkin was more subtle, but certainly there. Much more so than the peach in the peach wheat I did earlier this summer.


9/11/2008 - Bottled. FG:1.017.

9/18/2008 - Whoa! This stuff is incredible! Like the best pumpkin pie you've ever had, IN A GLASS! It's all there, the pumpkin, the cinnamon, the ale, the bubbles! Awesome. It's not as clear as I had hoped, too much pumpkin floating around maybe. Can't wait to share this one when the weather turns cooler.

Not including the pumpkin, beercalculus.com says this is about a 1.060. So, it couldn't have in the 80s? Any help out there?

Let's go with 60. That gives us: 72% apparent attenuation, 5.6% ABV.

Whosyer Blueberry Wine - 7/19/2008

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 07/19/2008 | last updated: 11/07/2008
Recipe: Wild Blueberry Wine | status: Bottling
temperature: n/a
starting gravity: n/a | current gravity: n/a | final gravity: n/a
Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30201814&l=8

7/19/2008 - Got the blueberries, got the chemicals. Bought a 6-gallon betterbottle (wow, they're SO light, I may never buy glass again!). Just waiting now for the fermenter to be free (next week). Blueberries are frozen (helps with sugar extraction I've heard).

Whosyer - The blueberries are from Dexter's farm in Knox County, IN. Ya know, Hoosiers. As in, hoosier daddy?

7/24/2008 - This is TOO easy! Got the must ready today. No worries, no temperature control, no sterilization (except for the Campden tabs), no 60-minute boil, adjust the SG by just adding sugar, wow! Why didn't I do this sooner?

OG:1.093

The only thing I did wrong was, I put twice as much yeast energizer as the recipe calls for. I'm gonna cling to the idea that the yeast won't mind. The cannibals!

7/25/2008 - Made the yeast starter this morning in the official yeast starter bottle (a 750ml Maker's Mark bottle) which has gotten most of my beers off to a good start. So, here's hoping! The yeast was active. When I opened the fermenter, the must had some solids floating on top, but underneath was the most beautiful dark purple liquid I've ever seen. Pitched the yeast and stirred it in a little.

7/27/2008 - Whoa! Came in this afternoon after church and the whole first floor smelled like blueberry "something." Powerful. Then, later today, opened the fermenter to punch the fruit down. The CO2 was coming out so fast that the juice was foaming like a shaken Coke can. This thing is really smoking. I guess I'm used to ales that go really hard for a couple of days. But, the airlock is bubbling two to three times per second, and it's been steady like that since it started two days ago.

7/29/2008 - Half-way done. Down to 1.030 SG. CO2 has slowed down to about 10 pops per minute.

7/31/2008 - Pretty much done. Down to 0.995 SG, I've never seen a hydro float so low before. Tastes like dry wine. Of course, it's full of solids, but wow it's pretty good, even without aging at all. Transfered (not racked) to carboy.

8/21/2008 - Racked to 5-gallon Better Bottle. Had to add about a bottle of wine, and then half that of water.

8/28/2008 - Stir.

9/11/2008 - Stir.

9/18/2008 - Racked. Very little sediment, but some fruit pulp did drop out. Of course, I had to steal a sip. It's so dry, but so good. Very clear except the last little bit.

9/25/2008 - Stir. Target bottle date: 10/30.

11/7/2008 - Stabilized with 5 campden tablets and 2.5 tsp potassium sorbate. Of course I sampled. It's mellowing out; the bite is nearly gone.

Sweetening Wine
Sweetness SG
Dry (less than) 1000
Medium dry 1000-1010
Medium sweet 1010-1020
Sweet 1020-1030
Dessert 1030-1040
Two (2) ounces of sugar will raise one (1) gallon of wine by .005 or five (5) gallons by .001.

1/2/2009 - I bottled this several weeks ago. I sweetened some, left some dry. I'll never sweeten again. It would be better to leave it dry, and offer a syrup table-side for those who want a sweeter wine. The dry is awesome, the rest, less so.

2/19/2009 - Update on the sweetened wine. The stuff that I brought up to about 1.010 was pretty good. It just needed some time to mellow. Maybe bottle-shock. The dessert wine, which I brought up to about 1.020 I don't like very much, and neither does anyone else.

Vicar's Brew Mild Ale - 11

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 07/13/2008 | last updated: 08/21/2008
Recipe: | status: Finished

original recipe calls for 6# Alexanders. I'll check to see, but I don't think I can get that locally, and can't mail order in time for brew day.

7/17/2008 - Had two clergy friends over today to show them the brew process. First, we bottled a peach wheat that was ready, then we brewed this simple brew. This will end up being a dark brown but very light beer. Low in alcohol, low in hops, very drinkable. I was hoping for a little more sugar, maybe at 1.036.

OG: 1.031
Exp app atten: 75%
expected FG: 1.008 (really?)
Yeast: WLP001 (from #9 2nd gen, last culture)

7/21/2008 - Racked to secondary. SG:1.010. ABV:2.8%. Less attenuation than expected, but fermentation was done.

7/26/2008 - Concerned about the mild flavor. Dropped in 1oz of Fuggles.

8/21/2008 - FG:1.006, so the lightest beer I've made. I added gelatin about two weeks ago, and WOW that works. Dark and clear. 3.3% ABV, 81% attenuation. I think the late dry-hopping of the Fuggle saved the beer. We'll see after carbonation.

8/31/2008 - A drinkable beer, very light, very malty in the flavor, hops are more of an aftertaste. Dark and clear. Don't make this one again, though.

9/22/2008 - I take it back. This one has matured into a smoother flavor, the hops have balanced the malt out. I still probably won't make it again.

Peach Wheat Ale - 10

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 06/19/2008 | last updated: 07/17/2008
Recipe: Peach Wheat Ale | status: Finished

6/19/2008 - Woo-hoo! Haven't brewed in six weeks, running out of beer! Modded this based on what's on hand and at the local store. 1 can Muntons wheat, 4lbs wheat dme, 4oz pilsen light dme, 1oz Columbus for bitter, and 1oz Argentinian Cascade for aroma. The puree is going into the secondary later.

OG:1.064
Yeast: WLP001 from #9 (2nd Gen)
Exp Att: 75%
Exp FG: 1.016

6/29/2008 - oh boy, I might be in trouble. Racked to secondary on Thursday, added the peach puree, then went out of town for three days. The yeast absolutely loved the puree, and blew out the airlock completely. I'm concerned about contamination of some kind, though I didn't see any signs of it in the carboy just yet. Of course, I cleaned everything up and stuck a new, sanitized airlock on. Now, there's only praying left. And lots of it.

7/17/2008 - Bottled today with a couple of friends. FG:1.014, a whopping 78% apparent attenuation, and 6.5% ABV! Initial pre-conditioned tasting yielded a great wheat beer flavor, not much peach, though.

Meiriceánach - 9

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 05/08/2008 | last updated: 07/13/2008
Recipe: Meiriceánach | status: Finished

5/8/2008 - Brewing this one for a June clergy picnic. First time I've toasted barley, wow that makes the house smell awesome!

Same day - Dern! Dropped the hydrometer on the floor, itsa goner. Luckily, the farm store is close, headed over there now. Anyway, pitched at 72F, actually used the WLP001, not an Irish yeast. OG:1.044. At 76% App Atten, expect 1.011.

5/12/2008 - Very slow start to fermentation. Pitched Thursday AM, by Saturday AM there was no activity at all. Made a mad dash to the FLHBS and bought a dry yeast to salvage. Boiled water, cooled, rehydrated for 30 minutes. Opened the closet door to pitch, and heard the tell-tale sound of bubbling. Just about 48 hours to the minute for fermentation to start. Still going pretty well two days later. What a nightmare.

5/15/2008 - Racked to secondary. SG: 1.011. Nothing flavor-wise to write home about. Hop profile is distinct, so I'm thinking it's the use of a Calif Ale instead of the guiness yeast.

SG: 1.011
ABV: 4.3%
App Atten: 75%.

6/15/2008 - This one's been in the 2ndary for a month. Racked to a corny today. This is my first kegged beer, prepared for a clergy picnic in two weeks. Now, if I can just find the right fridge or freezer...

Celis White - 8

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 04/30/2008 | last updated: 07/13/2008
Recipe: Celis White | status: Finished

4/30/2008 - This one has some interesting ingredients. Prepped a 1.5qt yeast starter last night. Reusing the Wyeast 3787. Not a witbier yeast, but at least it's Belgian. And it really performed last time around.

5/1/2008 - Flaked oats steeped 30 min in grain bag, drained. 6.6# Muntons wheat extract, no sugar. 1oz Mt Hood for 60, 2tsp Irish moss for 15. Coriander crushed, both orange peels, all that for 10. 1oz Mt Hood for 5. 10 min steep. Cooled to 95F. Poured into fermenter with 3gal cold water. Pitched at 73F.

OG: 1.052
At 76% app atten, expect SG: 1.013

BTW, with the orange peel chunks and the thickening of the oats, the wort looked a lot like vomit! :)

5/2/2008 - Fermentation started pretty early last evening. Things are really popping away right now. I think I have a pretty high pitch rate; I remember thinking (as I was pouring in the yeast) "wow that seems like a lot of yeast." I need a better way to estimate how much yeast I'm pitching.

5/8/2008 - Fermentation was active for about two days, and pretty dormant the last five. Moved to secondary. Was in a hurry and forgot to check SG. Oh well. RDW-HAHB.

5/15/2008 - Wow! I love this brew! Lots of orange flavor from both types of peel, the coriander is more subtle. Finished at 1.014, a tad higher than expected, but okay. Bottle-conditioning as we speak.

SG: 1.014
ABV: 5.0%
App Atten: 73%

5/26/2008 - Whoa! This beer is awesome! Tremendous orange flavor, with a dry, bitterness that I attribute to the coriander. Slice an orange, drop it in, and enjoy!

Belgian Blonde - 7

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 04/12/2008 | last updated: 07/13/2008
Recipe: Belgian Blonde | status: Finished

4/12/2008 - "You go to brew with the hops you have, not the hops you want." To bitter, I used 1/4-oz Sterling and 1 1/4-oz Glacier. For aroma, I used 3/4-oz Sterling. OG: 1.056. Also, used 2 cans Muntons X-light syrup. Wyeast 3787 propagator, first in a 1-liter starter, then stepped up to a 3/4 liter starter. Pitched at 76F.

4/13/2008 - Pitched at 11pm last night, bubbling profusely by 6am this morning. Bubbling has slowed as of this evening. Lots of aroma coming from the fermenter. 72F.

4/16/2008 - Temp is hovering around 70F. Still bubbling pretty well at about 6 or 7 times per minute. At 76% app atten, expect SG: 1.013.

4/17/2008 - Boy is this one fun! Still very actively fermenting after 5 days. Looked up the yeast, it's an active little devil. Don't know if it'll be done after a week or not.

4/21/2008 - Oh boy! Perfect! Racked to secondary this evening. SG: 1.013, exactly what I predicted. The flavor is dead on for the Leffe Blonde, which is what I was going for. It's awesome flat, I can't wait to taste it with carb!

4/25/2008 - It's all in bottles now. This is the clearest beer I've done, there's no appearance of yeast floating around at all. Has a real fruity/citrusy aroma and flavor. This is going to be a good one.

5/3/2008 - Whew! After a week in bottles, this beer definitely has that Leffe taste potential, but the flavors haven't blended yet. It's a little green, needs to mature some.

Pop's Brown Ale - 6

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 03/27/2008 | last updated: 07/13/2008
Recipe: Pop's Brown Ale | status: Finished

3/27/2008 - OG: 1.048. Used a 2nd generation culture of Wyeast 1084, harvested 2/28, in a 1 pint starter, very active. Pitched at 76F. Fermentation started within 4 hours, going strong within 8 hours.

4/3/2008 - Racked to secondary, to store for bottling in a few days. SG: 1.014. ABV: 4.5. Apparent attenuation: 71%. SRM: 10. Mildly to moderately bitter, with very little hop aroma.

Yeast: Harvested 3 bottles worth, this would be 3rd generation, so now I have 5 bottles of Gen3 in the fridge.

4/5/2008 - Bottled today. Same specs as before. Really great color and a mild flavor. Can't wait to try this one.

4/10/2008 - Opened one today. Bam! Lots of carb, too much really. And, you have to pour carefully to reduce head, which is pretty thick and lots of retention. You'll get a beer mustache drinking this one! Flavor is still maturing.

4/18/2008 - Had a tasting at work today of several brews. This one was preferred over all others by the most people. I would call the crowd non-beer drinkers generally, whose only experience with beer was the American macros.

6/19/2008 - One more 22oz'er left. Saving it for my brother's visit in August. Good, easy-drinking beer, especially for people that don't like a lot of hops.

Muntons Export Stout (kit) - 5

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 03/06/2008 | last updated: 06/03/2008
status: Finished

4# can Muntons Connoisseurs Export Stout
1.4# amber DME
2nd Gen WLP004 Irish ale yeast

3/6/2008 - Using a Muntons Connoisseurs can, Export Stout. Instructions are for 6 gallons, reducing it to 5 gallons with same OG by reducing DME to 1# 6oz. No additional hops or grains.

One interesting learning: Never lick hopped malt syrup from your fingers!!!

OG: 1.041.
FG: 1.019
App Atten: 54% !!!!!
2.8% ABV

Notes on the yeast: this yeast was harvested from the Irish Red Ale one week ago. I filled two sanitized 12oz bottle up to the shoulder and put s-locks on top, stored in the garage. I brought both in the house, let one warm up, then just pitched it directly into the wort. The other bottle I capped and put in the fridge. I need to "burp" it weekly.

3/7/2008 - First time using the plastic fermenter I bought last week. This morning, things seem to popping along nicely. I don't like that I can't watch the progress.

3/11/2008 - Stalled at SG:1.019. Temp down to 62F. Moved to upstairs closet for more warmth. Sample has good flavor. I'm thinking it's the temp & not a yeast problem, but I didn't harvest the slurry anyway.

3/26/2008 - Okay, no dice. It's only gone down 1 point to 1.018. I'm not happy. I'm going to bottle it and see what happens. Also, I'm upping the DME slightly during bottling, trying to get some extra carbonation. If the yeast is dead, then I have five gallons of flat & heavy bottled beer. Great. :(

4/3/2008 - First bottle last night. It's only a week old, so it's still green. Flavor is good, color is dead on, Mouthfeel is slightly fuller than it should be. Bitterness is not as high as I anticipated, but there is a tiny little bite at the end. Definitely full-bodied and sweet, which I attribute to the yeast quitting early, but it's not overly sweet. Carbonation is great, with a thick, dark head and good retention.

Looking back over the notes, I think the problem was in handling the yeast. I had it in the garage during a cold spell, but still the garage was probably above 40F, whereas the fridge would've been a better option. And, I'm coming to believe, a starter is a MUST with harvested yeast. I utilized the 2nd bottle of yeast (the one I put in the fridge after a week in the garage) in another batch three weeks later, using a starter, and it had 71% attenuation.

4/16/2008 - Not a very good beer at this point. Drinkable, but not much more. I have one friend that really likes it.

6/3/2008 - Done. Weeks ago.

Edwin Sandys Bitter - 4

owner: Michael Erwin | started: 02/23/2008 | last updated: 06/03/2008
Recipe: Edwin Sandys Bitter (ESB) | status: Finished

This brew is based on the Palace Bitter in Papazian's book. But, I upped the malt and upped the hops to keep up with the malt, pushing it into the ESB range. Plus, I changed the hops around, b/c I didn't want to use low-alpha and hard-to-get Fuggles to bitter this one. Newport is a good choice for this purpose.

This brew is named after a direct ancestor, an Archbishop of York whose theological leanings played an integral part of the Separatist movement some of whose members eventually became the Pilgrim Fathers. Also, this is the connection to Scrooby Manor, after which I've named my brewery.

2/28/2008 - OG: 1.057 I dumped off about 2/3s of the slurry from the previous batch (Irish Red) and just dumped this in the carboy. Who knows what will happen?

[same day, pt 2] - Just checked carboy, this thing has been active for at least an hour, which means it started less than 3 hrs after pitching.

3/1/2008 - Fermentation has slowed. I blew off almost a gallon of beer! I don't like that. Lots of slurry in the bottom. Racked to bucket, cleaned carboy, and racked back to carboy. So, now I am utilizing a secondary for the first time. SG: 1.017, so it's pretty much done. I'll let it sit until Wednesday or Thursday.

3/5/2008 - SG: 1.015. Apparent attenuation: 74%. Bottled at 5.5% ABV, which is the strongest I've made yet. Reduced the DME to 1 cup to get a little less carb in the English style of this brew. I got 7 bottles less than 2 cases b/c of the extreme blow-off. Tastes really good. Harvested two bottles of G3 yeast, capped and fridged.

3/27/2008 - I've been drinking this one for a couple of weeks. Good beer, with moderate bitterness and good flavor and aroma, great light amber color. Very enjoyable brew.

4/16/2008 - Has really matured into a fine beer. Definitely needs some time in the bottle for the flavor to coalesce.

6/3/2008 - This one's gone now. It needs to make a reappearance in the near future.