Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

National Homebrewing Day

On May 3, 2010

I’m a little late but I spent National Homebrewing Day (2010) doing some homebrewing things.

1. I bottled the Pom/Cin Red Ale. I didn’t taste test all that much. I poured in the whole cinnamon extract along with the rest of the pomegranate juice infused Irish Red Ale along with a priming solution made with a 1/4 of a cup of corn sugar. With only a gallon to work with, I measured the priming solution down to a quantity that I thought was more fitting for drinking than bottle bombs. I have seven 12 ounce bottles and 2 bomber sized bottles (22 ounces). I think I will taste one of the bombers before sending it off to the contest.

2. I planted my hop rhizomes as well. After finding a place with a lot of sun and a path for the little buggers to climb, I made a little mound to plant the rhizome (I kept the Magnum rhizome for myself and gave the Mt. Hood to my brother. The hop climbing race is on!).

Time will tell with both of these endeavors.

Pomegranate Cinnamon Red Ale

By John Krochune

On April 29, 2010

In Brew Log

My entry into the Sam Adams homebrewing contest is a Pomegranate Cinnamon Red ale. When I racked my Irish Red Ale to a glass carboy for some cold conditioning before bottling, I racked about 3/4 of a gallon to my glass jug that I make my yeast starters in (thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, of course).
From there, I added about 10 fluid ounces of 100% pasteurized pomegranate juice. I left it at room temperature to start a secondary fermentation with the sugars in the juice.
At the same time, I cut up two cinnamon sticks and put them in a cup filled with vodka. I am making my own cinnamon extract with the vodka.

This weekend, I am going to bottle up both beers. I will bottle up the Category 23 first because I am going to play around the flavors before I finally bottle it up.

It will be good to have the Irish Red ready to go in case I need to mix in more of the base beer. The cinnamon will be an interesting challenge since I think the flavor may change with time in the bottle. I guess I will have to keep some good notes on how much I add in.

2010 LongShot Homebrewing Contest

By John Krochune

On April 27, 2010

In General

Sam Adams’ LongShot hombrewing contest was announced fairly recently and this year the contest is focused on beers that fit into the specialty beer category, known as Category 23. These are beers that don’t fit into any other category. Either they are brewed with unusual ingredients, following unusual practices, or are just bigger, stronger versions of other styles.

I talked to Mike about doing something stupid for the contest and he supported the notion.

So, I racked a gallon of my Irish Red into a growler and mixed in another ingredient to start up a specialty beer.

I was going to keep the whole thing a secret but I guess I figured someone will care about this goofy project.

I will keep the type of beer under wraps until I bottle it, which will be next week. Then, all will be revealed and we can have a good laugh.

Or, I could surprise myself and have it turn out well. 🙂

Maibock and Spring Celebration

By John Krochune

On April 24, 2010

In General

I think we can finally say that winter is done for a while around here. After a really rainy March, April has shaped up to be ok. It was time to crack open a few Maibocks and celebrate the season.

From all appearances and tastes, the Maibock conditioned nicely in the bottle and carbonated well. I was happy about that since I didn’t know what to expect with the first lager.

Full bodied but smooth. Finishes fairly dry. There is a some malty sweetness present but not cloying.

Since I don’t know the style all that well, I am going to submit it to a competition to get some feedback. I bottled some of it in 12 oz bottles for that very reason.

Happy Spring. Brew On.

Should I Use This Yeast?

By Mike

On April 21, 2010

In Yeast

So I didn’t get to brew my Brown ale last Friday night. After getting the kids to bed (and waiting to be sure they were in bed), I went to the garage to find some equipment troubles. I had stored my chiller inside my 10 gallon stainless pot. There must have been a little water between the copper chiller and the stainless because I got a little oxidation of the copper. So there was a little green copper on the pot bottom and the chiller. I know that oxidized copper is not something you want getting into the beer. So I needed to look up the proper way to clean oxidized copper. As a result, I didn’t brew.

So now I have a dilemma. I am ready to brew again, but should I use my yeast that I started and chilled? I am looking for ideas. Here is my situation:

I had one WLP001 vial of yeast that was only 14 days past its “best buy” date. I made a starter on a stir plate 2 full days before brewing. I got good growth as estimated by an increase in creamy opaqueness of the start wort post 2 days (looks like most starters I make, so no worries there).

Then I crash cooled it overnight, anticipating I’ll pitch the slurry only the next day into a Brown Ale.

I never got to brew the brown ale – sad to say.

So now I have yeast still in the fridge and settled out. The spent starter wort still above it.

Which route is the best course of action?

Pitch the slurry as is after bringing it to room temp.
Decant spent wort and add new start wort day of brew session.
Ditch the whole thing and start fresh.
Something I didn’t think of.