Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Bullion Hops

On March 9, 2009

Bullion hops are an English variety and one of the first bred specifically for its high alpha hops. They are not widely available because of two reasons: They have a strong, pungent aroma and they do not store well. Other bittering hop varieties have taken its place in large breweries’ recipes so the demand is low. Less than 100 acres of Bullion are now grown in the US, but they are still available in a homebrewing shop…somewhere.

Origin: England. Most sources stated that is was first grown in 1919 and it is a cross between a wild Manitoban female and a English male hop.

Aroma: Here’s a new one: Black Currants. Must be fairly earthy/musty.

Alpha Acid: 8 to 12%

Typical Usage: Bittering

Beer Styles: Stouts and dark lagers. I also saw recipes using this hop for Bitters and IPAs as well.

Check out Bullion if you come by it. If you have used them in the past, let us know.

Cooler Mash Tun Conversion

By John Krochune

On March 4, 2009

In All Grain, Equipment

UPS delivered my shipment from Northern Brewer on time yesterday. I got the spigot and the screen and installed them into the cooler. Here are some pictures of the process.

The spigot was installed with no problems. I tested it for leaks and none were found.

The mash screen was a bit too long for the bottom of my 5 gallon cooler. I bent it a bit to make it fit.

Planning a date to brew this month to test out the new set up. Should be good.

Homebrewing Water Filter

By John Krochune

On March 3, 2009

In Equipment

Since moving in September, I have noticed that the local drinking water here tastes a little…different.

It’s hard to describe. It’s not bleachy-chlorine tasting. It’s not rusty-dirty tasting.

It’s soapy tasting. There’s a slickness to the aftertaste that is reminiscent of dish soap. Mike warned me about it since he has relatives that live in this section of town. He said that if he ever moved there, he would have to buy a water filter to brew.

Not that I have brewed with the water yet (I have used spring water), but I think I agree with him.

Although it is tempting to see what a beer would taste with this town’s unfiltered water, I think I would like to invest in a homebrewing water filter.

In Brew Your Own magazine’s January/February 2007 issue, there is an article on how to make a homebrewing water filter for around 40 bucks.

The main component is a water filter built for showers…which looks like a fairly small filter when compared to a water filter needed for a Brita pitcher. I wonder how much filtering it really can do.

But for me, the price is nice and although it’s small, I am willing to bet it can take away the funny water taste my tap water has.

If you would like to read the article, it is available online for you to build your own.

Porter: The toilet bowl of all beer styles.

By Mike

On February 27, 2009

In Style Profiles

Here is my latest diatribe about homebrewing pushing the limits.

Normally, experimentation is a great thing. Hell, I make a living off of experimentation everyday. But there comes a point where as homebrewers, you’ve got to ask yourself: “Can I really make a great experimental beer, if I haven’t mastered the basics.”

I find that Porter has bared the brunt of many a homebrewers foiled experimentation with flavorings. Don’t believe me… when was the last time you saw someone post a Porter recipe that didn’t include, chocolate, fruits, hazelnut, coffee, bourbon, whiskey, mint, sage, vanilla, grass or tooth-paste as a special additive? (That’s a trick question, see here.)

The point is whenever someone says; “Hey I want to add some Root Beer extract to a beer to make a Root Beer flavored beer, any idea what style I should use as a base???” The answer is inevitably poor old Porter.

Is this a just fate for what may actually be one of the grandfather styles of all English Beers? Porter signifies a major change over in the production of coke fired malting plants and roasting techniques that took much of the smoke wood fired nature out of brewing. Black Patent malt and Porter are significant milestones in the production of modern industrialized brewing. This first step brings us cleaner tasting malts and true paler ales!

I challenge anyone who follows along with us here to spread the word: If you have a Porter on your recipe “to do” list this year please, put down the cherry extract, the twigs of spruce or the basket of figs. Just focus on the roasty blackness and simplicity that should be Porter.

BREW ON!

Home Brew Sanitizing Best Practices

By John Krochune

On February 27, 2009

In General

This month’s host of the ongoing Fermentation Friday series is Matt at World of Brews. The topic this time around is:

I have been reading a lot of forums and books lately about cleaning and sanitizing practices. Like most topics in home brewing there are 100’s of different ways to clean and sanitize your equipment. I would like you to post about the process and chemicals you use to prepare your equipment. I would also like you to discuss what you have tried in the past and why you finally settled on your current process.

So when it comes to sanitizing, the Brew Dudes use Star San. It is a flavorless, odorless, no-rinse food grade sanitizer…and it’s effective. We generally use it to soak equipment in, but it can be used to hand sanitize items. You can put it in a spray bottle to use to spot sanitize on the fly.

I have used iodophor as well, but I only use that for small sanitizing jobs. For instance, I soaked my bottle caps in an iodophor solution before I bottled the last batch.

Here’s Star San and Iodophor – back together again for the first time…..

For cleaning equipment, we use One Step Cleaner or Powdered Brewery Wash (PBW). These are cleaning agents that work really well for cleaning brewing equipment. It’s pretty important to make sure you clean anything you are going to sanitize very well. We have had the problem of contamination because the sanitizer just could do that job we had laid before it. You must sanitize any equipment that will come in contact with your wort/beer – post boil. If you take the time to clean and sanitize, you will be on your way to brewing greatness.