Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

BrewSensible BrewSSSiphon Review

On March 23, 2022

We were asked to check out this piece of homebrewing equipment. In an era when all things are made of stainless steel in this era of the hobby, why shouldn’t we have a stainless steel siphon? The answer is, we should.

Even though the conventional wisdom says the majority of us are racking via closed systems, it’s always good to have a siphon on-hand. Check out our demonstration and review of the BrewSSSiphon:

BrewSSSiphon Features

I know that I have gone through about 3 different auto-siphons made out of plastic. They break easily and usually at inconvenient times. Let’s go through the best features of this stainless steel siphon:

It’s extremely durable. It feels heavy in your hand and seems to be built like a tank. This siphon will definitely last a lifetime.
It has a removable check valve that can be manually cleaned in case whole cone hops or other adjuncts might get in there.
It can be sanitized easily. The whole thing can be put in an oven and baked up to 250° F (121°C). You can use it and feel confident that this siphon is safe for sour and traditional yeast ferments.
It’s wider than other auto-siphons I have used so it has faster flow rate.
It’s versatile as it can be used to transfer hot wort in the event a kettle screen gets clogged.
If there is ever a need for replacement parts, the owner has your back. If anything gets broken, lost, worn out, he have all the parts available.
It’s the only choice for distillers. Because it is made of stainless steel and silicone, it is safe to transfer up to 190 proof ethanol.
It provides “Hands Free Racking and greater depth adjustment control with the use of the Carbon Sleeve and Spring clip.
Custom brushes & the best silicone racking tubing is available for the siphon. The tubing is more flexible than the standard silicone tubing you get at the home brew store.
The customer service is top notch – it’s one guy and he sends a personal handwritten thank you from me with every order. If anything happens, he’ll make it right.

We really liked this product and will continue to use it.

Follow this link to find the best brew siphon out there.

BREW ON!

Black IPA - Brewed For The Jar of Destiny

Black IPA – Jar of Destiny

By John Krochune

On March 16, 2022

In Brew Log, Style Profiles, Videos

We continue the second round of the Homebrew Jar of Destiny series with our takes on a Black IPA. First off, I knew that it was going to be difficult to brew a version of this style that both of us would enjoy. So, I Kobayashi Maru’d it: I brewed one that was more to what I thought the style guidelines were telling me and then brewed another one to something that I thought would be great. Check out this video for our Black IPA Review!

Black IPA Recipes

So, I brewed two beers – you get two recipes:

Black IPA #1

Adjusted recipe from 2014 Brew Dudes Black IPA recipe:

Black IPA Recipe

Boil Size: 7 US gallons (26.5 Liters)
Batch Size: 5.25 US gallons (19.9 Liters) in fermentor

Water:

9 US gallons of spring water treated with 5 grams of gypsum and 3 grams of Calcium Chloride for a 2 to 1 Sulfate to Chloride ratio.

Ingredients:

12 pounds (5.4 kg) of Rahr Standard 2-Row Malt – 86% of grain bill
1 pound (.45 kg) of Crisp Crystal Malt – 60°L – 7% of the grain bill
1 pound (.45 kg) of Briess Blackprinz Malt – 7% of the grain bill

1 ounce (28 g) of Nugget hops (15.3% AA) – Added at 60 minutes to go in the boil
0.5 ounce (14 g) of Centennial hops (6.0% AA) – Added at 15 minutes to go in the boil
0.5 ounce (14 g) of Cryo Amarillo hops (17.4% AA) – Added at flameout
0.5 ounce (14 g) of Cryo Amarillo hops (17.4% AA) – Dry hop, added on day 3 of fermentation
0.5 ounce (14 g) of Centennial hops (6.0% AA) – Dry hop, added on day 7 of fermentation

Yeast:
1 packet of SafAle US-05 American Ale Dry Yeast

Instructions:

Mash for 60 minutes at 150° F (66° C). Sparge with 170°F (77°C) water to collect boil size volume. Boil for 60 minutes – adding brewing salts and hops at scheduled times. Ferment for 2 weeks at 68° F (20° C) and add hops at scheduled times.

Results:

Original Gravity: 1.064
Final Gravity: 1.014

Black IPA #2 – Black NEIPA

Boil Size: 7 US gallons (26.5 Liters)
Batch Size: 5.25 US gallons (19.9 Liters) in fermentor

Water:

9 US gallons of filtered tap water, treated with a Campden tablet. I wanted to add 2 grams of gypsum to the boil but I forgot.

Ingredients:

12 pounds (5.4 kg) of Rahr Standard 2-Row Malt – 84% of grain bill
1 pound (.45 kg) of Weyerman Carafa Special Type III malt (dehusked) – 7% of the grain bill
0.5 pound (227 g) Briess Caramel malt, 40°L – 4% of the grain bill
0.5 pound (227 g) of Briess Chocolate malt, 350° L – 4% of the grain bill
0.25 pound (113 g) of Briess Midnight Wheat malt -2% of the grain bill

1 ounce (28 g) of El Dorado hops (13.1% AA) – First Wort Hop
1 ounce (28 g) of Cryo Simcoe hops (23.2% AA) – Hop stand at 180° F (82° C) for 20 minutes
3 ounces (85 g) of LupoMax Mosaic hops (17.5% AA) – Hop stand at 180° F (82° C) for 20 minutes
3 ounces (85 g) of El Dorado hops (13.1% AA) – Dry hop, added on day 3 of fermentation
3 ounces (85 g) of LupoMax Mosaic hops (17.5% AA) – Dry hop, added on day 3 of fermentation

Yeast:
1 packet of Lutra Kveik yeast (dry)

Instructions:

Mash for 60 minutes at 150° F (66° C). Sparge with 170°F (77° C) water to collect boil size volume. Boil for 60 minutes – adding hops at scheduled times. Ferment for 7 days at 75° F (24° C) and add hops at scheduled times.

Results:

Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.012

Black IPA Tasting Notes

OK – let’s start with Black IPA #1. This beer is exactly what I remember the Greg Noonan version to be. It is piney with some citrus notes that are offset a bit with the hints of roast from the Blackprinz malt. Overall, a nice beer. I think in competition, it will get dinged because it’s not bitter enough. No matter – I brewed it that way for a reason. Also, it’s the reason I brewed a second beer.

Black IPA #2 – the Black NEIPA has all the fruity character that you want and it melds well with the caramel notes from the specialty malt. Don’t tell anybody I add some chocolate malt to this beer. I think that is a no-no but for this beer, I wanted it to make it special. Mike was blown away by this beer and I am glad. It was my ace-in-the-hole.

Check out our other Jar of Destiny beer: British Strong Ale.
Check out the Second Picks!
Check out the Belgian Tripel post
Check out the International Amber Lager post

BREW ON!

British Strong Ale – Jar of Destiny

By John Krochune

On March 9, 2022

In Brew Log, Style Profiles, Videos

Welcome to the first output from our Homebrew Jar of Destiny series. As we let a jar let us tell us what beers to brew this year, we show off the output of one of the first selections: British Strong Ale. Let us take you through our thoughts about the style and our notes on Mike’s example of this beer.

British Strong Ale Recipe

Here’s the recipe Mike formulated based on the 2015 guidelines in the BJCP:

Batch Size: 6.5 Gallon
75% efficiency

Ingredients

Grains:
14.5 pounds (6.57 kg) of Maris Otter from Fawcett
0.5 pounds (226 g) of Amber Malt (22°L)
0.5 pounds (226 g) of Simpsons DRC* (152°L)
*Trademarked term – short of dark roasted crystal

Hops:
2 ounces (56 g) of Challenger at 6.3%AA, boiled for 60 minutes (35 IBUs)
1 ounce (28 g) of East Kent Goldings at 4.2%AA, boiled for 30 minutes (11 IBUs)
1 ounce (28 g) of East Kent Goldings at 4.2%AA, boiled for 10 minutes

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 – London ESB Yeast

Instructions

Mash grist following this schedule:
145°F (63°C) for 45 minutes
156°F (69°C) for 20 minutes
168°F (76°C) for 10 minutes as a mash out step.

Boil wort for 60 minutes, adding hops at appropriate times.

After the boil, chill wort to 63°F (17°C) and pitch yeat. Let beer free rise to 68°F (20°C) and hold until complete.
Sample beer and perform diacetyl rest if need be.

Tasting Notes

Man, this beer was good. It was malty and easy drinking – belying its ‘strong’ nature. Sorry, I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with how it looked.

The color was a beautiful copper color and, without the chill haze, would be brilliant. If we taste with our eyes, this color brings back pleasant memories of sitting at the bar in Gritty McDuff’s in Portland, ME. Many of their beers have this same color in my mind.

The aroma had graham cracker malt notes with some hints of spicy/herby hops. I didn’t detect any alcohol notes, which is fine by me.

The flavor followed through with rich, malty flavors, and I dare say it was sweet to my palate. The malt flavors were balanced with the hops in the aftertaste, with a nice bittering presence delivered by the Challenger hops.

Our overall impression is that this style is perfect as a season transition beer. As winter turns to spring, this beer is something I would reach for on the cool days. It would be a good late fall beer too.

I’m glad we brewed this style. Thank you, Jar of Destiny.

Check out our other Jar of Destiny beer(s): Black IPA

Check out the Second Picks!
Check out the Belgian Tripel post
Check out the International Amber Lager post

BREW ON!

2021 BJCP Guidelines Update

By John Krochune

On March 2, 2022

In Style Profiles, Videos

We ended 2021 and/or started off 2022 with the homebrew Jar of Destiny The choices in the jar were all based on the 2015 guidelines. Of course, right after we chose our first wooden nickels, we learned there was a change at the old beer judge certification program. Learn more about what we think about the 2021 BJCP guidelines update.

What Changed?

Well, thankfully – it wasn’t a revision. We would need to throw out all of the wooden nickels in the Jar o’ Destiny. A BJCP update just has some small changes. Here are some of them:

Sour beers had some descriptors adjusted and there is a new Straight Sour Beer style.
Sweet Beers saw some changes along with an added Specialty Spice Beer style.
Oh yeah, New England IPAs are now Hazy IPAs. You couldn’t let NE have that one, eh?

All in all, the 2021 BJCP guidelines update wasn’t too shattering. We do like what the organization has done to improve beer knowledge and to encourage people to become judges. Mike has some issues with the revision that happened back in 2015 since it had more of a historical bent rather than a categorization by style. He liked having all the stouts in one place and all the IPAs in one place.

Mike was also saying that people sometimes mistake the beers listed as commercial examples of the style to be in some sort of order. Instead of just a number of beers added as examples, the first one was understood to be the most representative version of the style. Now, I never saw it as that but can see how people could. I think sometimes we make this beer thing too complex for our own good. Just relax, right?

In these troubled times, I’d rather have things that are simple and good.

Brew ON!

Is Homebrewing In Decline?

By John Krochune

On February 23, 2022

In Homebrew Club, Videos

COVID-19 reared its ugly head at Mike’s house and we had to quarantine again. Staying separate and hearing the news about a long standing homebrew shop closing its doors after 30+ years of operation had us thinking about the state of the hobby. Were the commenters right? Is homebrewing no longer needed because good beer is everywhere? Mike and I talked about the decline of homebrewing beer in this beer.

Long Live Homebrewing

When we picked up our first homebrewing kit, we didn’t know were were going to be blogging/vlogging about it. Over time, we felt compelled to broadcast about our take on the hobby and started this little site.

One of our favorite shops was the Modern Homebrew Emporium on Mass Ave. Working in that area made it convenient for us to pick up things we needed for the weekend brew. The staff was friendly and helpful – even if I had to pay a parking ticket or two because I got caught up in a chat (always feed the meter!)

It’s sad to think that the shop wasn’t going to be an option for us to pick up ingredients and equipment. When I read the article, the comments described a hobby that didn’t need to be anymore. Good beer was everywhere. Kits were expensive. Who has the time?

After talking about it with Mike, it’s true that it’s not as popular as it once was. Maybe there was a level of people who brewed one or two batches and then gave up because it wasn’t great. When you can find great beer in your local store and the only effort for you is to open the can, I can’t argue with that.

What I can argue is that this hobby provides an outlet for your left and right sides of your brains and a chance to meet some great people. Homebrew peeps are the greatest peeps. Thanks for reading and brew on!