BeerNut: Good Beer and Homebrewing Blog

Back in Action

2011-01-19T13:37:00.000-08:00

After a long hiatus, I am going to start posting here again. I only produced 4 batches of home brew in 2010. I never seemed to have time to brew or document the process.

2010 was a busy year for me personally. Moving and settling into a new house and area in which to live. I started a vegetable garden growing tomatoes, green beans, carrots, and cucumbers. Also during 2010, I started my hand at home grown hops in my back yard. I am currently growing Centennial, Sterling, East Kent Goldings, Nugget, Spalt, Hallertauer, and Williamette hop varieties. I did not have a harvest of hops because I planted late in the spring, but I am happy at the progress they made during the year and look forward to a nice crop this fall. I have big plans in 2011 for both the vegetables and hops.

The other upgrade I plan to do in 2011 is to begin all grain brewing. For this to happen I already got an 8 gallon boil kettle and propane burner. I need to decide what to use for the mash tun and what type of sparging system I am going to use. Right now I am leaning towards a cooler with a false bottom and batch sparging. I am also looking into using an induction burner instead of the propane burner.

This year I also plan on dissecting the various beer styles a bit more by going into the history, ingredients, and brewing process of the various beer styles and how they create a unique beer.

All in all, 2011 promises to be an exciting year.

Beer Styles- Russian Imperial Stout

2009-09-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

Russian Imperial Stouts (RIS) were developed during the 1800s in England. Designed to win favor of the Russian Czars of the time, the beers are high in alcohol (8%+) and are very malty. Chocolate, caramelized, and roasted malt provide a dark almost jet black color and a strong back bone of malty goodness. Bitterness varies from example to example. Most American brewed versions are aggressively hopped like Great Lakes Blackout Stout or Victory Storm King.

Due to the higher ABV than most other beer styles, RIS will warm you as you drink them which makes them an outstanding fall and winter beer.

Beer Styles- Irish Dry Stout

2009-09-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

Irish Dry Stout are probably among the most commonly available beers due to the great Irish St. James Gate Brewery, which takes national pride pumping out Guinness by the barrel. It is also one of the most common versions of stout produced worldwide.

Irish Dry Stout is an ale that deep amber (almost but not quite black) in color, with usually ruby colored edges. Very light in body, they lack alot of carbonation and are usually placed on nitro-tap to improve the creaminess. The majority of the flavor is developed by roasted barley, which provides coffee life flavor and aroma. Moderately hopped, the are extremely drinkable and sessionable at 4-6% ABV.

Beer Styles- Dunkelweizen

2009-08-22T04:23:00.000-07:00

Dunkelweizen is another wheat ale from the Bavarian region of Germany. Brewed with some caramelized malt, these beers are light brown in color. Just like Hefeweizens, the yeast used provides the clove and banana characteristics. Some versions of the style taste like banana bread. YUM!! Bitterness levels are low and alcohol ranges from 4-7% ABV.

This ale style is a nice treat and as fall arrives it helps make the cool air slightly warmer.

Willoughby Brewing

2009-08-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

During the past week, I managed to sneak to happy hour at the Willoughby Brewing Company. Willoughby Brewing Co. (WBC) is one of the beer destinations I frequent around Cleveland. Located in downtown Willoughby, just off OH-2 (Lost Nation exit), WBC has an outstanding food menu with some pretty good beers to match.

The brew master at WBC used to work at Stone Brewing in California. Generally there are any where from 7-10 of their own beers on tap, with most being rotational beers. However, several taps are fixed like Lost Nation Pale and Willoughby Wheat. Pints are $4, but are only $2.50 during happy hour (4-7 Tu-F). Also pizzas and appetizers are half off. The pizzas are all very good, and many of the apps are amazing. The Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls won Taste of Cleveland 2008. Growlers are just $12 for the first fill and $10 there after.

During my visit I indulged in 2 pints of Willoughby Northern Trail Nut Brown Ale and the Chicken Quesadilla. I also got a growler of the Brown ale to go.

Do Not Drink Beer from a Clear or Green Bottle

2009-08-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

People who drink Corona ought to be hung from the rafters. Not because it is an awful beer, which it is by the way, but because they are drinking beer stored in a clear bottle. Most consumers don't think more than a few seconds (if at all) about what their favorite brew is stored in when they visit a distributor, grocery, liquor store, etc, but they should.

Beer stored in clear or green bottles allow greater amounts of Ultra-Violet light. The UV rays break up some of the hop based molecules and create a skunked flavored beer. One of the best defenses is to only drink beers that have been packaged in an amber bottle. Although amber bottles do not have 100% UV protection, they have better protection from UV light than green and clear bottles.

The other key to remember is to not buy beer that has been exposed to sun light or displayed in a brightly lit cooler regardless of the bottle color. Obviously there is no way to know if the beer was exposed to sunlight prior to your arrival, but be weary of beers near doors or windows. Some brewers like Great Lakes Brewing Company and Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) have taken further steps to protect your beer by creating bigger labels and taller six pack boxes that block more UV rays.

Beer Styles- Märzen/Oktoberfest

2009-08-08T05:16:00.000-07:00

It is getting to be that time in the year when many of German ancestry begin to think about Oktoberfest, a celebration of the fall harvest. German brewers made a specific style of beer for this occasion called Märzen. Märzen is a lager style brewed at the end of spring (March=Märzen) because the summer heat would not allow for a quality beer to be brewed because of increased infections and off flavors from high fermentation temperatures. Remeber, lager yeast like lower temperatures for good fermentation. These beers were brewed and held in cold storage for the summer months.

Märzenbier is generally medium to full bodied, brewed with toasted malts that lead to a rich dark copper color. Alcohol is anywhere from 4% to 7% ABV, but most versions settle around 6%. Noble hops are used but provide only slight bitterness. Märzenbier is geared more toward toasted malt sweetness and are easy beers to throw back and enjoy.

Chagrin River Pale Ale

2009-08-04T18:47:00.001-07:00

This past weekend a couple of first occurred in my home brewing effort. I brewed my American Pale Ale recipe that I created called Chagrin River Pale Ale. The first was my first partial mash. Partial Mashing is the next step in going to all grain brewing beyond steeping specialty grains. I mashed 2lbs of Marris Otter (British Pale) malt for an hour at 150 F. This made a nice pale wort base, I then added 6 lbs of pale malt extract syrup and 1 lb of pale dry extract. The Warrior, Cascade, and Summit hops used are all American grown and hopefully will provide clean bitterness with pleasing nice citrus bite. As I write, the airlock is bubbling away!!!!

The other first was using my wort chiller that I built. All I can say is success. It cooled 3 gallons of wort from 212 F to 85 F in about 15 minutes. My best with ice baths was about 1:15. The temperature dropped quickly to about 100 and the last few degrees it slowed (basic heat transfer principles.... and yes, I use my degree more in home brewing than I do for my career). I may build a another and put it in series with the current one. The second chiller will be placed in an ice bath. This will cool the boiled wort even faster and also help cool off the last few degrees.

The next question, what do I brew next?

Tremont Tap House

2009-08-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the Tremont Tap House during happy hour. The Tap House is widely known as Cleveland's first gastropub and is conveniently located just south of downtown Cleveland almost a hop skip and a jump off I-90 at West 14th Street. The food is excellent and the beer selection is phenomenal. The patio is nice, but expect to arrive early to get an outside table. They also require you to order food in order to sit out side.

During Happy Hour, 4-7 Monday through Friday and 11-1 Monday through Thursday, all 24 beers on tap are $1.50 off. What a deal!!!! Select appetizers are $5 like the pretzel and calamari. I had 4 Stoudt's Pils for $3.00 each. Some places in town you could not even get a Bud Light for that price.

Beer Styles- California Common/Steam Beer

2009-07-24T04:53:00.000-07:00

The California Common is a hybrid style of American Beer developed in San Fransisco in the late 1800s. This style of beer is truly one of the first American contributions to beer brewing and beer styles.

During this that late 1800s and into the early 1900s, many in the americans enjoyed drinking lager style of beers that require cooler fermentation temperatures. With refrigeration being scarce, a lager yeast was developed that would ferment at Ale Temperatures. In addition, shallower fermenters were used to also control the temperature.

Examples that can be found today are a light amber hue, generally malty in character, and brewed with aggressive Northwestern US grown hops like Northern Brewer and Mt. Hood.

The most common example is Anchor Steam, which trademarked the title "Steam Beer", all other California Commons must be referred to as such.

Cheap Beer Thing

2009-07-18T05:45:00.001-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, my wife and I went to Great Lakes Brewing in Ohio City to have a few rounds and do the brewery tour. We arrive just as happy hour was starting and walked inside the crowded brew pub and had a round. During happy hour (M-F 4-7) beers are $3.50 per pint. Not too shabby considering they are $5 outside of happy hour. After that round we made it over to the gift shop to wait for the brewery tour.

Tours run on Friday 5-9 starting on the hour, and on Saturday every hour from 12 to 6. The tours are free, and very interesting. The tour includes information on the block that the brewpub is on, the history of the brew house, how beer is brewed, and even former Cleveland brewer Schlather. In the middle of the tour you reach the sampling room where samples are $.25. The tour takes about 30 to 40 minutes and is well worth the time, even to non-beer drinkers.

If it weren't for the $35 parking ticket I received (fuck Cleveland), the trip would have only cost $7.75. Not too shabby for some beer and brewing coolness. Anyways, if you ever make it to Cleveland, make the GLBC tour a must see.

Beer Styles- Pilsner

2009-07-11T03:50:00.000-07:00

Pilsner is a beer that came out of the Bohemian region of Europe, now known as Germany and the Czech Republic. It is a lager style of beer known for being clean, crisp, and well balanced. The base malt used to craft this beers is the light pale Pils malt which can grown in many places of the world. In most common version of pilsner (and I mean watered down American Version), use of adjuncts like rice and corn are also used to increase flavor (if you want to call it that). Color is almost always light straw yellow. Most versions are found with between 4 to 5% ABV. Flowery and spicy noble hops are used, like Saaz,Tennager and Hallertauer which are mostly grown in Germany.

There are many great examples of this style, my favorites include Victory Brewing Prima Pils, Warsteiner Premium, GLBC Prohibition Pils and Lagunitas Pils. Each are spot of examples of the style and are great "lawnmower beers."

Beer Styles- Porter

2009-07-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Porter is another beer style that has branched from a combined English and American brewing traditions. Originating in the 1700's in England, the porter has adapted to the modern day by using a pale malt base. The dark, sometimes almost jet black, color is added by using crystal, chocolate, or black malts. These malts also provide the majority of flavor in porters. English versions are moderately hoped. As with all American styles branching off English brewing traditions, the American Porters are slightly more bitter but generally still balanced. English versions use a yeast that may add some fruitiness, but American versions us clean fermenting yeast. In both the English and American Porter ABV ranges from 4% to just a tad over 7%, but most examples are around 5% ABV.

Another less common version of porter is the Baltic Porter, aka Imperial Porter. These are English style porters that are more robust in alcohol (7-10% ABV). The other variation is that lager style bottom fermenting yeast is used. The most common Baltic Porter I have found is Flying Dog Gonzo Porter.

My favorite example of Porter is GLBC Edmund Fitzgerald. Very smooth with hints of chocolate, smoke, and coffee, it is truly a world class beer.

Beer Styles- American Brown Ale

2009-07-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

American Brown Ale is the next step in the progression of American ales from amber ales. Brown Ales range in color from dark red to almost a deep brown color. Alcohol ranges from 4% to 8% ABV. The American Brown style can include a large range of bitterness and hoppyness, however, it is almost always has less bitterness than an American Amber or American Pale Ale. The beer is geared more towards the malty sweet side of the scale and feature such flavors of coffee, toffee, nut, and chocolate all derived by the type of malt used. The American Brown is generally considered more of a Autumn, Winter, and early spring beer because of its more nutty flavor and aroma. Generally has a medium to full bodied mouth and can be sometimes on the chewy side.

Personally, I am not fond of this style and will skip it over for a good amber ale or porter which border each side of the brown style.

Beer Styles- American Wheat

2009-07-05T03:48:00.000-07:00

The American Wheat style encompasses a broad range of American crafted wheat beer. Generally unfiltered, it should be slightly hazy and yellow/gold in color. Alcohol is usually between 4-7% ABV and is generally considered a good session beer.

Clean fermenting yeast is used to produce little to no phenols or diacetyl flavors that are found in German weizens. Some examples exibit a lot of characteristics of the Bavarian Hefeweizen style: Widmer Bros and Troegs Dreamweaver are on the top of my head. Most examples, however, are geared towards crisp hop flavor (both citrus and spicy): Southern Tier Hop Sun, Bell's Oberon are good examples of this.

The other thing that is unique to this style is the use of spices. American brewers do not commonly spice beers, which is very common in several parts of Europe. In general, spices that can be used to increase the wheat beer flavors are Grains of Paradise (peppery), Orange Peel, Lemon Peel, and in some cases whole fruit like Blueberry, Strawberry, Oranges, and Blackberries.

13 Colonies, my version of the American Wheat is geared a bit more to the hoppy bitter side of the scale. Two late Cascade hop additions provide a nice crisp grapefruit and lemon bite also giving the beer a 24 IBU bittermess. The beer is also spiced with Grains of Paradise. Finaly ABV is 4.5% which is perfect for summer activities coming up.

The beer its self is very good, on the Beeradvocate rating system, I would probabbly score it a B-. I need to increase the head retention which I will do by adding about 8 oz. of Crystal/Caramel 10 malt. I may also add some orange peel to enhance the flavor a bit.

Home Brewing - Label Work

2009-07-02T13:31:00.001-07:00

Its weird how a home brew bottle can be cast aside by casual beer drinkers because it has no form of identification, like its filled with toxic waste or worse. The best thing to do, especially if you have many batches ready to drink at once, is to label the bottles.

I use Avery 58164 labels (3.33"x4"), which can be purchased at any office supply store, and my basic HP printer. Some printers can get waterproof ink to avoid smearing if placed in a cooler. The labels c0me with a website to download templates for Microsoft Word. Then just search the interweb for images and use word art.

The labels are easy to remove it water with a razor blade, and usually can just be peeled off.

Here is some of my work:

Next Up: Chagrin River Pale Ale

2009-06-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

So after much debating I finally decided it was time to brew one of the greatest American contributions to the beer drinking world, an American Pale Ale. Chagrin River Pale Ale features hops from Washington State that are high in alpha acids and will have a nice citrus bite. It also has the English Maris Otter Malt that has a light mouth feel. I am really looking forward to brewing and drinking this.

In other news, it is time to bottle 13 Colonies American Wheat. I will post details on that later.

How to Build a Wort Chiller

2009-06-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

After about 6 months of home brewing, I have become tired of using an ice bath to cool the wort after boiling. The cooling process in home brewing does two things, first provides a heat break for the proteins from the malt. This provides clarity to the beer, shelf life, and a bit of stability to the beer. The other thing it does is prevent oxidation, which can destroy a beer's taste.

The wort chiller is a basic heat exchanger that can be purchased from most home brewing shops for between $60 and $100+ shipping. No thanks. After doing some basic research, I decided to build my own and see how it works.

This is what you need:

20 feet of 3/8" copper refrigerator line (make sure to NOT purchase the L size)

20 feet of 3/8" Inner Diameter Vinyl hose

6 screw clamps that will fit 3/8"

1 Barbed 3/8" to garden hose fitting

With most heat exchangers, the longer the better. Most designs are 50' of line but in my mind that is overkill. Maybe if i was doing all-grain or full batch boiling it would be something to consider, but for my purposes 20' is more than enough. Take the copper line (which should be already coiled) and bend it around a cylindrical object. Be sure to make sure it will fit inside the boil kettle. I used a paint can to bend my line. Also make sure not to crimp the line shut. Once that is done, cut 2 5 feet long sections of the vinyl hose. Attach one to the exit of the cooler and clamp it down with 2 screw clamps. Take the other section and stick the garden hose fitting in it. Clamp this down with 2 screw clamps. Take the other end of that section and attach it to the enterance of the chiller and also clamp with 2 screw clamps. Ta Da!!!! you are done the hard part. The last thing to do is to check for leaks. Attach to the garden hose and let it run for about 2 minutes.

Total cost for me was about $38 and it only took about 30 minutes to build, it took me more time to track down the parts at my local Lowes.

I hope to use it soon in my next batch of beer, what ever that ends u being.

More Homebrewing

2009-06-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Monday I decided I needed a mental health day and off from work. I brewed and bottled during my activities.

The batch I brewed was an American Wheat Ale with grains of Paradise. The beer is named 13 Colonies Wheat Ale and its recipe can be found here. I am aiming for a Sam Adam's Summer Ale clone. I don't realy want a perfect match, but i do enjoy it. I am planning on keeping the beer in the primary fermentor for two weeks and then bottle it straight from there. It will be ready to drink in about 3 weeks.

I also bottled my forth batch Three Weiss Guys, a Hefewiezen with added malt and Honey. This is similar to the Hefe i made previously but the honey and malt with provide for a more alchoholic kick.

The question then becomes, what I do I brew next. i could go for someting strong that needs to age a while, aiming for an autumn drinking date. Or do I keep with the summer/wheat beers that I have been pumping out the last few months. Or I can just go for a clean IPA or Pale Ale. Whose to say?

Home Brewing - Recipe American Amber

2009-05-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

Mistake on the Lake Amber Ale is the third beer I brewed, and the second recipe I developed on my own. The beer was an attempt of a Stone Levitation Ale or Magic Hat Roxy Rolles amber ales. Both trend toward the more bitter hoppy style of the amber ale.

The recipe is as follows:

6# Amber Malt Extract Syrup

8oz Caramel 60 malt steeped for 30 min at 150 F

8oz Caramel 40 malt steeped for 30 min at 150 F

1 oz Chinook hops 60 min

.5 oz Centennial Hop 30 min

.5 oz Cascade Hop 10 min

.5oz Cascade Hop Dry hopped in Secondary 5 days

.5oz Centennial Hop Dry hopped in Secondary 5 days

Nottingham Dry Yeast

This beer was my first attempt at dry hopping as well as steeping specialty grains. The result was a beer with about 5.2% ABV and 47 IBUs. The appreance of the beer was good, nice foamy head with good retention (big plus). The aroma was certainly hoppy, but more of a earthy hop from the Chinook hops. Many people feel Chinook hops are too harsh, but I decided to give them a try since they are major hops in many of my favorite beers. The cascade and centennial hops do provide a citrus bite that I enjoy. The beer is a bit more bitter than I wish it would have been, next time I brew I am going to aim for about 40 IBUs and swap the Chinook and Centennial hops for Nugget. The next iteration of the recipe can be seen here.

I am going to let the beer bottle condition a bit longer, this will let the hop bitterness settle a bit.

Beer Styles - Witbier

2009-05-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

The Witbier is the Belgian style for wheat ales. Spiced with coriander and bitter orange peel, it is extremely drinkable and great during hot weather. The witbier, literaly translated to as white beer, is always a light yellow color with most examples being hazy due to suspended yeast. Little hop presence (less than 20 IBUs) makes this beer trend to the sweet side. Sometimes served with a orange slice to cut the wheat or yeast flavors. If served in a bottle, be sure to swirl to get all of that goodness in your glass, just like the German Hefeweizen.

The most common examples are Blue Moon, Hoegaarden, and Leinekugal's Sunset Wheat. This style of beer is on of my personal favorites during the summer months.

Beer Styles - Vienna Lager

2009-05-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

This Lager style origionated in Vienna (duh) in 1841. The base malts used are light Pilsen and Munich malts and the darker Vienna malt. Color is generally a brownish/copper hue. With light crisp hop bitterness, this beer is generally on the sweet side. ABV is generally low (3-6%) which makes this beer style a session beer.

This beer faded in popularity in Europe during the 19th Century.

Examples of the style are Sam Adams Boston Lager, GLBC Elliot Ness (pictured), and believe it or not Mexican beers Dos Equis and Negra Modelo.

Beer Styles - Weizenbock

2009-05-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

The Weizenbock is another German ale with origins in Bavaria. Essentially a Hefeweizen on steroids, the Weizenbock has many similar flavors and aromas. Made with a wheat base, the Weizenbock features the same yeast that gives estery flavor profiles of banana, clove, pepper, and bubblegum dependent on the example. ABV is in excess of 7% with slight hop bitterness, generally in the range of 20 IBUs.

Not a terribly easy style of beer to find with in the US, however Great Lakes Brewing Company is releasing is Glockenspiel Weizenbock this month. Look for it in stores.

Beer Styles - Imperial IPA

2009-05-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Imperial IPA (aka Double IPA) takes the American India Pale Ale to the next level. Take an already hoppy flavor profile and put it on steroids. Often brewed with more fermentable sugars the result is a high alcohol beer often 7+% ABV. To off set the malty base, the beer generally is 70+ IBUs, with some examples approaching the American Barley Wine 99+ IBU range. The hop flavor range can be from earthy dullness, to citric and floral explosions.

Personally, I enjoy this style in late fall to mid winter. The higher alcohol amount is generally warming. My favorites include Bell's Hopslam, Stone Ruination, GLBC Lake Erie Monster. Best served in a tulip or snifter.

Random Drinking- Wednesday Edition

2009-04-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well, after battling a cold and just getting over it... it was time to celebrate. My wife and I decided to go out to Willoughby, Oh for so fun. Willoughby is a bit of a beer destination in Cleveland. The Willoughby Brewing Company, Ballantine Gastro Pub, and 1899 Tavern are all good shit.

Willoughby Brewing Company is a small brew pub in town. The food is tasty and the beer compliments it well. I would rate most beers in the C+ to B+ range. Among my favorites is the Lost Nation Pale Ale.

Across the parking lot is Ballatine and 1899. Last night we decided we would go to both of the these places.

We arrived to begin our adventure at the Ballantine Gastro Pub around 7:00. We quickly ordered some apps that were still on happy hour until 9 PM. We ordered Mussels, Chicken Wings, and "Breads and Spread." We also started with some beers (also on special $3/ea.). My wife began with Ommegang Hennepin and I had the DFH Aprihop. These are typical selections from the bar, about 14 taps all of which are craft brews, Belgians, and the like. Excellent! We quickly move to Magic Hat #9 and Stone IPA after the first round. We had 3 rounds total and the food for 38 bucks after tip... sweet. The food and the beer were good. Ballantine is one of the better beer bars in Cleveland Metro, and probably the best on the east side.

From there we quickly moved to 1899 Tavern, which is directly next store to Ballantine. 1899 is more of the "every mans" bar.. but don't get me wrong, it is good shit. Available taps are Sierra Neveda Pale, Leinekugals Sunset Wheat, Troegs Hop Back, and a few other tasty choices. Also many many bottles available. For our only beers, my wife had a Troegs Dreamweaver Bottle, and I had Hop Back. The emphasis on this one is this place is cheap, and the service is good. Crowd is generally fun and a bunch of Characters.

Fun nights drinking during the week.

Beer Styles - American IPA

2009-04-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

The India Pale Ale (IPA) is the next step when it comes to Pale Ales. As with the Pale Ale, there are also American and English versions of the IPA. This article will explore the American Version.

Color is ranges from gold to nice bright amber. The hops used are obviously American with emphasis on floral or citrus qualities. Generally more bitter than the APA, it does have a good malt backbone. ABV ranges from 5.5% to 7.5%, however most examples trend to the higher end of the ABV scale.

My favorite examples are Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (seasonal), Dog Fish Head 60 Minute, and GLBC Commodore Perry.

Beer Styles - Kolsch

2009-04-27T12:27:00.001-07:00

Kölsch is a German Ale Style that is originally from the city of Köln, also know outside of Germany as Cologne. Often a rather difficult style of beer to find with in the United States, it is an excellent summer beer.

The style is cold conditioned like a lager, which results is a smooth and clean flavor profile. Light in color, light to medium bodied. Medium hop bitterness used from noble hops, usually just below 30 IBUs. Alcohol is in the 4 to 6% ABV range.

Beer 101 - Ale Vs. Lager

2009-04-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Most people don't know the difference between an Ale and a Lager. Most beers produced are ales (pale, amber, brown, porter, stout, old ale, barley wine, and so forth). The main difference between lagers and ales is the type of yeast used for fermentation and the temperatures used during fermentation and conditioning.

Most ale yeast thrive between the temperatures of 55 F and 75 F, although this certainly differs from strain to strain. Ale yeast is also top fermenting, meaning that the yeast feed on the grain sugars from the top of the fermenter down. Lager yeast on the other hand is bottom feeding and thrive from 45 F to 60 F, but also differ from strain to strain.

Ales are conditioned at room temperature and can be done so for as little as two weeks. Since there are so many ale types, the product is often very different from style to style.

Lagers are conditioned at temperatures often lower than the fermentation temps and for longer periods of time. The amount of time the beer is lagered is a function of the temperature that the beer is lagered (ie. 3-4 weeks at 45 F, 5-6 weeks at 40 F, 7-8 weeks at 35 F). The result of lagering is a clearer less estery (yeast flavors) beer. Like ales, there are several lagering styles. The most predominate lager styles are Pilsener, Vienna, and Bocks. I will discuss them all individually in a future Beer Style entry.

Beer Styles - American Amber Ale

2009-04-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

The next step in american beer brewing is to the American Amber/Red Ale. This beer style features an enhanced body and sweetness by shifting the balance away from hops and more towards malt, nut, with toasted malt characters. A light fruitiness can also befound in serveral versions. These beers are generally hearty and well balaanced. Color ranges from amber to deeper red hues.

I also have developed an homebrewing extract recipe that complements the style well, Mistake on the Lake Amber Ale.

Brew Day - Sanitation

2009-04-20T10:55:00.001-07:00

I think possibly one of the most overlooked concepts in home brewing is cleanliness and sanitation. Of course good fresh malt and hops are important, but with out a clean canvas to begin with you are just plain set up for failure.

There are many techniques to clean and sanitize during the brewing process, and home brewers usually use two or three techniques during the brewing process.

Good clean equipment is the basis for ensuring a good quality batch of home brewed beer. For most equipment, the best things to use to clean are clear unscented dish soap. I use this to clean the brew pot, spoon, measuring equipment, plastic bucket fermenters, thermostats, yeast propagation jars, etc. The problem with dish washing detergents is that it has the ability to kill the head and head retention properties of beer brewed. Another popular technique is to soak an oxy-clean and water solution (1 tables spoon oxyclean/ gallon water). I use this to clean my carboy.

The most common sanitation techniques are heating and chemical. I use heat sanitation (boiling) during the actual brewing process to sanitize the malt/wort. I also use it when I sanitize the bottles I am going to use after fermentation has complete. This is completed by placing the bottles in the dishwasher, be sure NOT to use detergent or any rinse agents (Jet Dry, etc). Also be sure to have heated dry on. The steam from the washer will sanitize the bottles.

Chemical sanitation is generally used to sanitize anything that the boiled wort will contact before, during, and after the fermentation process (ie. Fermentors, airlock, siphoning equipment, hydrometer, thermometer, yeast propagation equipment). There are many commercial products that are great sanitizers (Sanstar, Finalstep), however I use a bleach and water mixture (1 tablespoon bleach/gallon water). makes sure to soak the equipment in the bleach solution for at least 20 minutes and never soak metal. Then rinse with distilled or boiled water to remove chlorine flavors.

Keeping clean and sanitized equipment and work station will ensure a good quality batch of home brew with a long shelf life.

Beer Styles - Pale Ale

2009-04-18T04:14:00.000-07:00

There are two types of Pale ales in the beer world, American and English. English Pales (EPA)have a different complexity than American Pales. English Pale Ales are know for their buttery, caramel notes, run about 5% ABV, have a slight fruity presence from yeast, and have moderate hop bitterness.

American Pales (APA) on the other hand are generally have a stronger hop bitterness, do not have much of a buttery or fruity presence. American Pale Ale is perhaps one of the best contributions of American beer brewing to the world. During most of the micro-brew revolution, APAs were generally used as the "flagship" beer for several brewers. Also, the hops used for APAs is the famed Cascade Hops grown in the northwest of the United States. I am a fan of the american style of APAs and generally do search them out when looking for a nice beer to drink.

I also have developed a Extract Recipe for homebrewing an American Pale Ale, Chagrin River Pale Ale.

Beer Styles- Hefeweizen

2009-04-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hefewiezen is the primary German style of wheat beer (weissbier). The name Hefewiezen translated to english is litterally Yeast Wheat. The main flavor of the Hefe comes from yeast that produces a unique flavor of banana and clove. Sometimes the yeast will produce additional flavors of bubblegum or apples. The style contains little bitterness and a low to moderate scale of alcohol, generally 3-5% ABV. The beer is always generally a light yellow color and slightly hazy due to suspended yeast. Make sure to always swirl the bottle at the end of the pour to get all of the yeast goodness into your glass. This type of beer is excellent to drink on a warm summer day.

Beer 101 - What is Beer?

2009-04-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

Every week, I will explore a beer education topic. Most beer drinkers don't know any history or information behind the ingredients, style, or just general beer knowledge. This week, I am going to discuss a very basic concept, What is Beer?

All beers are made out out of four ingredients: Water, Grain, Hops, and Yeast.

Fudementally, the grains are soaked in warm water to dilute the sugars contained with in into the water that surrounds them. Hops are then added to the boil to bitter the soultion. Without hops, beer would be a very sweet and not thirst quinching beverage. Yeast is added to the mixture during the final stage. The yeast digest the sugars can covert them to achohol and Carbon Dioxide.

I will discuss the ingredients and the process of brewing in greater detail in future installments of the Beer 101 series of post.