Blueberry Wine (Starry Blue) - started 7/6/2013

When to the farmers market today. Found there were a family selling blueberries. She told me they would only be getting them maybe another week at most. So I went ahead and got some so I can make a 2 gallon batch of blueberry wine. I am very excited about it.

7/6/2013 Blueberry Wine

I wanted to start putting together the recipe so here we go:

1 quart farm fresh organic blueberries
2.5 lbs of cane sugar
1 pack of champagne yeast
2 gallons of purified water
2 gallon fermentation bucket, lid, and airlock
cleansing solution

Washed the blueberries. Crushed blueberries in a large mixing bowl, sprinkled with 1 cup of cane sugar, then let sit for several hours.

Boiled into 1 gallon of purified water. Melted sugar into water. Let it cool just a bit before moving over into the bucket. Add mesh bag with blueberries to the bucket and pour water over the mesh bag then let cool to room temperature before adding yeast.

Once at room temperature added yeast, sealed the bucket, and filled airlock.

7/8/2013

So last minute I decided to add the star anise I had. It was about a half a cup of the herd. I added it during the boiling stage of the water. The smell is amazing. The last two days I have added yeast nutrients. This stuff is fermenting like crazy! I am not sure if it is because of the different yeast or the sweetness of the berries but the air lock it clanging away as well as major carbonation coming out when I have been adding the nutrients.

7/9/2013
Added more yeast nutrients this morning. As I was doing so I realized that I added my yeast on this batch too early. I hope that this doesn't ruin the wine. I guess I will have to wait and see.

7/13/2013
Removed mesh bag from the fermentation bucket. Added last round of yeast nutrients.

8/7/2013
going to have to redo this wine as it got split.

Chocolate Raspberry Wine - started 7/6/2013

When to the farmers market today. Found there were a family selling raspberries. She told me they would only be getting them maybe another week at most. So I went ahead and got some so I can make a 2 gallon batch of raspberry wine. I am very excited about it.

7/6/2013 Chocolate Raspberry Wine

So I picked up the yeast and some coca nibs for the wine. I wanted to start putting together the recipe so here we go:

1 quart farm fresh organic raspberries
2.5 lbs of cane sugar
5 oz of coca nibs
1 pack of champagne yeast
2 gallons of purified water
2 gallon fermentation bucket, lid, and airlock
cleansing solution

Washed the raspberries. Crushed raspberries in a large mixing bowl, sprinkled with 1 cup of cane sugar, then let sit for several hours.

Boiled into 1 gallon of purified water with coca nibs. Melted sugar into water. Let it cool just a bit before moving over into the bucket. Add mesh bag with raspberries to the bucket and pour water over the mesh bag then let cool to room temperature before adding yeast.

Once at room temperature added yeast, sealed the bucket, and filled airlock.

7/9/2013
Added more yeast nutrients this morning. As I was doing so I realized that I added my yeast on this batch too early. I hope that this doesn't ruin the wine. I guess I will have to wait and see.

7/13/2013
Removed mesh bag from the fermentation bucket. Added last round of yeast nutrients.

8/7/2013
going to have to redo this wine as it got split.

Next Brew Experiment

          I have been thinking about many of the discussions I have been having with other brewers. I think my next experiment will be with doing another full batch of American Cream Ale but breaking it down into 5 one gallon batches which I will do experimental flavors with. A lot of berries are very fresh right now in our area so I want to give those a try to see what can be done with them. Here are the ones I am thinking of so far:

Blueberry
Blackberry
Raspberry
Strawberry

          These are all berries I can get right now so I figured I would give them all a try and see how they turn out. I am also thinking of doing one with coco nibs.

Use of teas and steeped ingredients

          I have been wondering about how to use things like herbs and spices in beers and wines. From everything I have read this can be an extremely difficult process since you can not add a dash of them here and there like cooking good. And I can see where this would be an issue since you are boiling all these things together and then they ferment so it will change. You will not know for sure how much of what items to use.

          I have been doing some research on doing a cinnamon spiced beer. From what I have read most of the experiments have turned out horrid because either too much or too little was used. One site I read talked about using teas or steeped ingredients, such as the cinnamon and spices, to add AFTER the fermentation process. This way it could be added to taste. The interesting thing about this is I had already used this technique in making my Chi Hazel Nut Mead.

          This really opens the door for some more ideas and experiments that I have been wanting to try. Stay tune... I will be sharing!

Brewers going green!

          I am always looking for ways to go green. I am always looking towards companies that go green as well. Going green is the most sustainable way for us humans to continue to survive on this plant.

Draff Jinx

          So many of us love beer! Well there are more and more brewing companies are starting to go green! Popsci.com has a great article with talks about some of the brewing companies which are already becoming green in some really neat ways! Check out the article! It is very much worth the read!

Alaska Brewery Uses Beer To Make More Beer

Can 'Old' beer still taste good?

Beersci Logo Todd Detwiler

         

          Popsci.com has a really great section on Beer Science, which is super groovy. There was a great article on beers that are OLD... as in a decade old beer! Some of the beers I have brewed have had to age a month or so. There is one brew I want to make that has to age at least 5 months before it tastes the way it should... so why not a decade old beer.

          Check out the article for yourself. It really is pretty awesome! I love Beer Science and Brewing!!! There are so many great articles on Popsci.com. Take the time to read through them.

BeerSci: A Decade-Old Beer Is Gross, Right?

2,559 Brewing Recipe?

          When I take up a hobby I really get into it. I will read and research, pick the brains for those who share the same hobby... etc. Well my friend Larri shared with me a very interesting article. This is about what has been discovered about our ancient Celtic ancestors and brewing. Take a few minutes to read it. You will not be disappointed.

2,550-Year-Old Celtic Beer Recipe Resurrected

Old Father Ale - started 2/6/2013

          I have decided to do my first flavored beer. I am using Best Brews American Cream Ale as my base. Then adding elderberry juice and oak chips.

• Elderberry juice 96 oz.
• Oak chips 4 oz.
• 5 cups of Sugar
• Lactose 1 lb.

American Cream Ale by Brewers Best

Contents of Kit:

• Ingredients
• Grain bag(s)
• Priming Sugar
• Bottle caps
• Brewing Procedures

Ingredients consist of:

Fermemtables

• 3.3 lbs Light LME
• 2.0 lbs Pilsen DME
• 1 lb Corn Sugar

Hops

• 2 oz Willamette
• 2 oz Aroma

Yeast

• 1 Sachet

Also will need:

• 4 gallon Brewing Pot
• 5 gallon Fermentation bucket and lid
• 1 Air lock
• easy clean sterilization solution

While the 2.5 gallons of water is boiling. I cleaned and sterilized the fermentation bucket, lid, and airlock. Once the water was at a gentle, rolling boil added the 3.3 lbs of Light LME. Continuously stirred extract into water as it returned to a gentle rolling boil. Added the DME, Corn Sugar, Lactose, and Sugar. Once that boiled I added oak chips to boil for 5 minute boil.

Cooled and added to the wort to the fermentation bucket then filling to 5 gallon mark.

2/10/2013
Add the Elderberry juice to a cleaned sterilized fermentation bucket. Then siphoned the American Cream Ale into the new bucket. The ale had an amazing smell. It was sweet and very aromatic. I could tell just from the smell the alcohol levels are a lot higher than my first American Cream Ale. It looks like this batch is going to be VERY purple. I can't wait to try this beer.

2/13/2013
OK this brew is still just bubbling away through the air lock! it started picking back up on 2/10 when I added the Elderberry juice in the secondary fermentation bucket. And it is STILL bubbling away. I take that as a VERY VERY good sign!

2/24/2013
Bottled this brew today. I am hoping that with aging and carbonation the brew will taste better. There is a heavy taste of Elderberry but much like the first Cream Ale it seems to be a bit off on taste. I added the but lactose but there does not seem to be a sweetness to it that I was expecting. There ended up being 57 bottles in total. In about a month I am hoping that the Old Father Ale will be ready.

4/24/2013
I have let this brew sit longer because it wasn't carbonating very well. It has now reached a nice level of foam when drank. Though it has a nice dry smooth taste, it did not turn out sweet like I had waned even using the lactose which does not ferment. I believe this is because the elderberry juice was so tart and concentrated that it over powered the delicate level of sweetness the lactose should have provided. So will have to try this again to see how it turns out. But everyone who has tried it seems to love it!

6/14/2013
There are still some bottles felt and I have to say this beer is aging nicely! And WOW does it have a ton of kick to it!!!

Tall Dark and British (TDB) - Started 1/20/2013

          John wanted to try the English Brown Ale. So we picked up the kit and starting the brew today. I love brown ales so it should be interesting to see how this turns out. This could be another great base for some other flavored beer ideas I have. This is a Brewers Best beer kit. I really had wanted to brew the Whiskey Stout but they were out of the kits.

English Brown Ale by Brewers Best

Contents of Kit

• Ingredients
• Grain bag
• Priming sugar
• Brewing procedures

Ingredients
     Fermentables

• 3.3 lbs LME
• 2 lbs Amber DME

     Specialty Grains

• 8 oz. Caramel 60L
• 4 oz. Chocolate
• 6 oz. Carapils

     Hops

• 2.5 oz. Willamette
• 1.0 oz. Bittering
• 1.0 oz. Flavoring
• 0.5 oz. Aroma

     Yeast

• 1 Sachet

Also will need:

• 4 gallon Brewing Pot
• 5 gallon Fermentation bucket and lid
• 6 gallons of purified water
• 1 air lock
• sterilization solution
• 5 cups of granulated sugar

As the wort was working to sterilize 5 gallon bucket, lib, airlock, and siphon. Once the grains were steeped and the wort started boiling I added the extra 5 cups of granulated sugar. Then I added the both the LME and the DME. The steeped oats were extremely dark. Placed the brewing pot into an ice bath to lower to room temperature. Siphoned the wort into the 5 gallon bucket, added water up to the 5 gallon mark on the bucket, then pitched the yeast. Placed lid and airlock on the bucket then filled the airlock with purified water.

1/27/2013
Moved this brew into a new bucket for secondary fermentation last night. I added 5 cups of sugar melted in purified water to the bottom of the bucket, allowing it to cool to room temperature before adding the brew. The beer is amazingly dark and had a nice rich smell to it already. I could also smell the alcohol in it where as the other brew I did you couldn't smell it yet. I believe adding the addition sugar to the wort has made a huge difference. I believe this will be something I continue to do with my beer brews.

2/10/2013
Readied the priming sugar. Cleaned and sterilized the bottling bucket, caps, and a mixing blade. I sterilized all the bottles (ended up needing 60 total). Once the priming sugar was ready I siphoned the English Brown Ale over into the bottling bucket. As it moved over I mixed with the mixing blade to make sure the priming sugar was evenly distributed through the mixture. As the American Cream Ale needed a moth to sit I am going to let this brew sit for abut a month and a half to two months just to be sure it primes and ages properly.

4/24/2013
This brew has turned out amazing. It has a nice strong brown ale taste which is rather crisp. It forms a head much like the dark stouts when poured. I can't wait to experiment with flavoring this brew.

6/14/2013
There are still some bottles felt and I have to say this beer is aging nicely! And WOW does it have a ton of kick to it!!!

Beer from a clear glass a bad idea? Why?

Beersci Logo Todd Detweiler

          Have always wondered why so many bottles for beer are brown or green. I figured it was something like why milk is best from a yellow opaque jug than from one the of the 'milky' semi transparent ones . I know with milk, sun light in any degree can destroy many of the nutrients contained within.

          So of course my favorite site POPSCI.com had an article that exampled it so well. The article talks about how sun light changes the beer and makes it 'skunky'.  Here is the article. Pretty neat read. Take the time to read it if you want to learn more about the 'no no' of using clear glass with beers. Now... I wonder if this holds true for wines and meads?!

BeerSci: Why You Should Never Drink Beer From A Clear Glass Bottle

How Beer Gets Its Color

How Beer Gets Its Color 

I love Popsci for so many reasons but the best one still is the fact they have a BeerSci section! They so ROCK!!! This article is about how beer gets it coloring... very cool article:

Alcohol Content of Beers and Wines/Meads

          One of the things I have been think about as of late with brewing is the levels of alcohol in my brews. How do I get them to the highest levels while keeping the integrity of the brew.

          I do rely a great deal on my friend Larri. She is unbelievably knowledgeable about brewing. Here is what she told me about how to raise the levels of alcohol yet keep the integrity of the brews:

For Beer:

          For beer, if you want to help raise the levels of alcohol, you need to add extra sugar during the creation of the wort. This will provide an extra boost to the fermentation. You can also add sugar to the secondary fermentation as well. if you would like.

For Wine/Mead:

          For Wine and meads you can add sugar directly to the brew just before racking the wine and mead. I have taken a lesson from Larri and rack my wines and meads each month. So this would really give an extra boost each month to the yeast so that the levels of alcohol will rise.

          Armed with this knowledge I will be giving some major boosts to my wines and meads during the re-racking in a few weeks.

Chocolate nibs

          I had a beer the other day that I fell in LOVE with. It was a Sam Adams Chocolate Bock. I talked with my friend Larri who is a brew master.

          I asked her how she would go about making this kind of beer. She stated that she would first brew the beer and then add chocolate nibs to the secondary fermentation. So I am looking into that. I would really like to be able to add this into the process.

          So I started looking into some of the forums for beer brewing. It looks like some of them roast the chocolate nibs at about 300 degrees to help kill off any bad bacteria that might be on them. This seems to also add a bit of roasted flavor to the beer as well. It seems that the time ranges from 1-3 weeks on them in the secondary fermentation process. I would add more sugar at this time as well and perhaps some of the un-fermenting sugar as well.

          Just some of the thoughts I am having about new brews. Here is a great article on cocoa and it's use in beer:

Brewing With Cocoa

By K. Florian KlempPublished January 2010, Volume 30, Number 6

New brew

So we stopped by the brew shop today. We were able to taste two beers. One was the whiskey stout the other a pumpkin spice porter. My next beer will be the whiskey stout for sure but I am thinking a pumpkin spiced cream ale as well. Any thoughts?

11/19/2012
The guys at Anuway actually added unfermentable sugar to this brew. It gave it a slightly sweet taste on the front of the tongue and the familiar bit of a stout on the back of the tongue. It was very nice. I to believe I will be picking this kit up in a week or so to start a brew of this.

Connection between Hops and Marijuana?

Hops Plant

          OK I wasn't so sure about this article until I read it. Now I find this subject very interesting! And the mad scientist in me wants to know what would happen if you actually used both in a beer brew!!!

          Anyone out there in CO or WA who are brewers want to give this a try? Could make a most interesting beer for sure!

Hmmm foamer beer?

BeerSci: How To Make Beer Foamier

   This is an article I was reading on PopSci and thought I would share... thought it was most interesting!

          The article is well worth reading. Take a few minutes and read. I an so betting into this whole brewing things. Anything I find I will make sure to share through the blog posts.

New supplies... so excited!!!!

          So this evening I am going to pick up two Ball Lock Soda Kegs so I can start using them for some of my beers. Though I will still be bottling some of the beers, I want to get to the point where I have beer ready sooner, especially seasonal type beers. One Saturday I am picking up a small deep freezer. The brewing shop has a device that will allow me to control the temp of the freezer so it will be perfect for my kegs... AND making lagers... that one I am really excited about as I love a good lager.

11/13/2012

          I picked up the two 5 gallon ball lock kegs and two liquid connectors. Got them for $90. from all the sites I have been looking on that is pretty darn cheap for the two. They are in great shape... a little scuffed on the outside but all the connection ports and seals are good. The guy even had them cleaned really good. Next week I am going to go ahead and pick up a seasonal beer and a whiskey stout beer (it has chips from a whiskey barrel for flavoring... this should be AWESOME). 

My brewing name.... who knows I might be the next Sam Adams!

          So I hung out with friends in Tulsa yesterday. We went hiking on a 4.4 miles (2.5 hour) backpacking tracking. It was wonderful. I am such a big kid in the woods... especially when there are huge stones around for me to climb. There is just something about those stones... they are the bones of our mother. I feel so close to her when I am near them.
 
          There was a nice big rock I climbed and sat on for a nice little rest. It came to me the name for my brew.... 'Sitting Stone Brew's'. It is a play on the Standing Stones... and because I love nature and sitting on large stones. So there is the name of my brews!

Orange Spiced Agave Wine - started 11/1/2012

          When I went to purchase my first around of honey from the local co-op I saw that they had fresh bulk agave nectar. That of course made me wonder what it would be like to brew with agave as the base. I know that agave is the base for Tequila but what would it be like as a wine or even a beer?

          So I talked with Larri about what would it take to create a brew using agave. She explained it should be just like doing any other wine or mead. She helped me come up with a really great recipe for making it. Here is the recipe:

TBS (To Be Started)
Ingredients:

• 1/2-1 gallon agave nectar (for 2 gallon bucket)
• 1 gallon Purified Water
• 2 lbs of sugar
• 1/2 gallon fresh organic orange juice
• 1/2 lb dried orange peels
• 3 cinnamon sticks (Mexican food aisle has great cinnamon bark sticks)
• 3 whole cloves (Mexican food aisle has great cloves) 
• 1/2 teaspoon pectin enzyme
• 1 Campden tablet
• yeast nutrients (1 1/2 teapsons for 4 days)
• mesh bag
• 1 2 gallon fermentation bucket and lid
• 1 airlock
• easy clean sterilization solution

11/1/2012
Sterilized 2 gallon bucket, lid, and airlock. Boiled half gallon of purified water then dissolved agave nectar and sugar into the water. Once cooled a bit added 1/2 gallon all natural orange juice, pectin enzyme, cinnamon sticks, 1 Campden tablet, and gloves. Placed lid and airlock on bucket. Filled airlock halfway with water. Letting stand for 12 hours before adding yeast and yeast nutrients.

11/2/2012
Added yeast and yeast nutrients. Replaced lib and airlock.

11/17/2012
Moved this wine over for secondary fermentation bucket. Liquid is still very cloudy at this point. I added yeast nutrients, Campden tablet, and pectin enzyme because there was still a lot of orange pulp in the wine. There was still a heavy spell of juice, cinnamon and cloves. The muck was very thin and runny at this point. Replaced lid and filled airlock.

1/15/2013
Moved wine over. Added 2 cups of sugar. The aroma was so slight I could barely smell it. The flavor was a ting bit tangy, sweet, and mild. I really am excited to see where this will be since it is only a few months old.

A name?

          OK so I am trying to come up with a name for my brews. I thought about something like 'leaning tree', 'standing tree', or 'druid tree'... heck even 'A Druid's Brew'... what do you all think?