Counterbrew Challenge... Amazing Grand Prize...Multiple Winners...

So it is January.  A new year.   Last year I wrote 100 blog entries.  And I just reviewed many of them.  And after this soul searching, self reflective, journey of discovery, I can tell you now what I believe about home brew... not some pedantic, pedestrian  statement about home brew... like  "home brew rox!" or "home brew is totally bitchin".   But also not some altruistic crap about "home brew has a place for everyone" or "whatever your passion you'll find room for it in home brew..."  Nothing as trite as that... you can get that crap on any home brew forum.  because  home brew isn't for everyone, especially not for douche bags, hipster aholes, and other jerks.   They gots to go!

What I believe about home brew:

• You can make fantastic beer at your home, with minimal equipment,  if you will learn some basic techniques.  
• Your goal should be simplification of all things.  Simplification improves process, Simplification improves sanitation.  
• The goal of home brew is to have fun while making excellent beer.  The method you use to make excellent beer doesn't mean squat.   
• You are not more of a brewer if you do all grain,  you are not less of a brewer if you do extract. (by the way you're both wrong Partial Mash is probably the best method for 90% of home brewers) Disagree?  Then send me two identical beers made 3 months apart...
• You are not better if you do 3 vessel eHerms than someone who does BIAB.  
• BIAB is ALL GRAIN BREWING... quit saying "I BIAB now but I'm going to step up to all grain..."  As Will Rogers said,  "sometimes its better to keep your mouth closed...and let people think you're an idiot, rather than opening it and confirming it for them"
• The best brewers are the guys who make the best beer consistently.  
• What I know about the best brewers
• They understand yeast and fermentation
• They understand water chemistry
• They understand hops
• They work clean,  very, very clean.
• The best brewers tend to keg their beer. 
• There is nothing more important than sanitation.   
• There is nothing more important than sanitation.
• Fermentation temperature control is critical
• Correct yeast pitch is critical...
• Brewing is more than making freaking WORT... if you bought a "turbo brew 9500" before you could control fermentation temperatures... you missed the point.

Now on to the contest... Write down for me in the comment section what you believe is most important... just 3 or 4 items... the grand prize... a lifetime of great beer you made yourself.   

John and I are brewing Sunday... cant wait... it is a really simple grain bill and all citra and amarillo hops... should be awesome...

Our cream ale is damned near world class.  It was a little sweet, but the carbonation really helped it balance out.    Definitely making it again.  John nailed the recipe, some guys have the gift. 

2xs the fun Brewday action for you... first the BSDA...

Yup... Im officially insane... no we're not, we're enthusiastic... No quiet voices in my head!... I will write this post... not you... filthy nasty little hobbitses...   I did it again 2 batches in a weekend.   Saturday morning the brew crew assembled early (well early for us) and we set out to brew a Belgian Strong Dark Ale...  And boy did we brew one.  A monster at 1.082  Pushing the outer limits of the OG for the style.

As you can see we milled our grains fine. Special thanks to MA the malt grist machine for coming early and helping me power through the grains.   We also sampled some amazing beers.   Ill let John make a comment below to tell us all what they were.    One of them was an all bret sour, so naturally the dregs got added to my bret sour.  Which should be ready by summer.

Now this was a partial mash batch.   Hopefully many of you have read my partial mash process by now.  It uses 3 pots.  The electric turkey fryer,  a pot to dissolve the DME/LME, and a sparge pot.  I know it sounds complicated, but it really isn't bad at all.   The set up allows you to brew high og beers in the turkey fryer.

We mashed 8 lbs of grains at 154 for an hour,   We used Rahr 2 row malt.  It is awesome.   Nutty and kinda sweet.   Love this malt.  We also used some biscuit, and some Cara 75.   Yes w used pale ale 2 row not pilsner.  But we did use pilsner LME. Then added the water in which the extract had been dissolved (3.3 pilsner liquid and 2 lbs of light DME, and 1 lbs of wheat malt DME)  Then we sparged to volume.   See?  Simple.  We nailed our gravity.   We were shooting for 1.080 and we came in at 1.082 after boil.     I'd love to tell you that the boil was uneventful but we kinda forgot to add the candi syrup.  So when we were transferring to the fermenter we stole some wort, brought it to 165 added the d180 to dissolve, then added more wort to temper it down to temperature, then into the fermenter.   There is always a solution when you screw up.  You just have to think your way through things.     We also removed a couple of cups of wort and used it to puree 6 oz of dried prunes.... yes prunes.  If you want a super raisin taste in your BDSA try prunes.   But put them in a bag and use them like a hop.   You don't want all that prune fiber in your final wort. I know it sounds crazy, but give it a try.

We chilled the batch using the 2 coil 50' set up.   We went from 212 to pitch temps in about 12 minutes.  Awesome.   But I have to say if the jaded chillers can do better... I still want one.

We pitched 2 different Belgian yeasts.   We pitched Wyeast 1214 Monastery yeast, and a pint of WLP 500 that I had on hand.   As of Sunday morning the batch was bubbling away nicely with a beautiful krausen.   Cant wait to taste this beer.

Bonus photo for you.  Starsan does some cool stuff.  in this photo we are sanitizing the aeration stone and the fermenter.   This weird star san snake just kinda formed itself.

And by sunday morning before church, the Belgian Dark Strong Ale was bubbling away.   Love that air lock action.  I don't ever trust it for determining if a beer is ready to bottle or transfer but it sure is cool to get some tactile confirmation of success.   Right?

This one is fermenting in the kitchen.  It is a Belgian after all.  I want those temperatures up at the high end of the fermentation range.   That is a real key to getting the belgian notes.  The color is spot on.  It is now Monday morning and it is still bubbling away nicely.  It is too dark to see much of the party the yeast is having inside but with the flash light on my cell phone, I can see things moving all over the place.

Thats all for now sports fans.  Prost!

UPDATE: 1/29/16  The BDSA fermented to 1.008.  French oak chips were soaked in bourbon, and then added to a secondary fermenter.  The BDSA was transferred onto the chips.  That was about a month ago.  The beer is ready for bottling.  It is oaky, but not very bourbony.  But it is delicious.

What the heck is Partial Mash?

First of all thank you for all of the questions and comments.  You all keep me on my toes.

Recently there have been a lot of questions about partial mash.   If you read this blog, you know partial mash is my favorite style of brewing.   there are so many advantages to partial mash for the home brewer.

Advantages of PM

• More fun than extract - you still get to mash grains and sparge and the fun stuff.
• It feels like brewing. Sometimes when I do an extract batch, it doesn't feel like brewing. I'm just heating up some stuff on the stove and throwing hops into a boil, for me mashing is the difference that feels like real brewing.
• Better Taste than extract  - Real all grain flavor -
• I defy anyone to tell the difference between a high percentage grain partial mash and an all grain brew. I think only industry people and BJCP judges might be able to pick out the differences.
• More recipe options than extract, you can brew anything.
• Less cost than extract - extract is expensive.
• More reliable than all grain or BIAB -
• The extract (DME) is an insurance policy that protects your needed gravity.
• You don't have to stress over pH levels water chemistry etc…
• Affordable equipment - electric turkey fryer is about $100.00  All in equipment is about $250.00
• Decotion and step mashing are available to you.
• It’s reliability is repeatable you can brew the same beer with the same results more easily.
• You control the amount and % of grain that you are using.  I have recipes that are 75% grain.   The DME is there as a buffer, an insurance policy if you will.
• Takes way less time than all grain. It’s about the same as BIAB

But what is partial mash?

There is a lot of confusion over what is partial mash.  Often brewers (especially on the internet)  define partial mashing as extract with grains.   And guys... that isn't partial mash.   

I would define partial mash as a brew where a significant portion of your fermentables come from a grain mash.  What portion?   Well that is up to you.  I have recipes where 75% of my fermentables come from a grain mash, with the rest coming from dry extract.   I always prefer dry, but sometimes you need a variety that isn't readily available as a dry extract, such as Maris Otter, Pilsner, or even Vienna.  

Does Partial Mash take special equipment?

No, not really.  You don't even have to have a brew bag, but it sure makes life easier.  You can use your extract set up for partial mash.   But if you want to make truly excellent beers, you will need to be able to boil full volume batches.  If you can't brew full volume, you will need to increase your hops.  How much?  depends on how much you are boiling. But at this point you need to get a decent brew calculator like brewtoad.com,  or brewersfriend.com

So how do I partial mash?

Well every one does it a little differently.   Basically, you need a way to mash your grains, and a way to boil your wort.  Chris Colby, the editor of beer and wine journal, uses a couple of 2 gallon beverage coolers.   He still does a vorlauf, and a sparge.   This takes him to full volume.   He tends to add his extract late.  With this method, you only need one big pot and one smaller pot for the sparge.

I do things a little differently. I have multiple mash tuns, after 25 years in brewing. But once, I started BIAB small batch, I realized that BIAB and partial mash could be the very best compatible processes.

So I soak my grains in a paint strainer bag in my electric turkey fryer.   After a 60 minute mash I pull the basket and set it on a grate above the turkey fryer to let it drain.   I then add 2 gallons of water in which I have dissolved my DME.   Then I sparge to volume. It is that simple.  

I hit my numbers or barely exceed every time.  I never have issues related to water chemistry.  I can make nearly the exact same beer every time I brew a recipe.   The flavor is as good as all grain (better than when all grain doesn't go very well).   And, most importantly it is a blast.  I still get to do the fun stuff, mashing, full volume boil, chilling, aerating, etc...

Where do I find partial mash recipes?

Here is one for you...

and here is what to avoid when looking for a partial mash

not a partial mash recipe

Partial Mash recipes are readily available on the internet,  but beer and wine journal is a great source.   I have many of them posted on brewtoad.com.   And, if you'd like, I am happy to convert any recipe for you.   But remember it is much easier to go from all grain to extract than the reverse.   As you search for recipes look for recipes that have a base grain in them.  Look for recipes that require a temperature controlled mash.  If they don't they are probably just an extract with grain recipe.

Give partial mash a try. It is fun... and I think truly a better process for homebrewing great beer.   This technique is fighting to find it's place in the post BIAB era.  Many brewers just jump to BIAB, which is fine.  Heck I brew as much small batch BIAB as any one.  Over 70 batches this year. But I have been brewing a long time.   I know how to adjust my water.  I know (or have a good idea) what is going on in my mash/wort.   So if you want to crank out consistently great beer... give this awesome method a try.

Answering a question... "do any breweries use partial mash? " Yes. Several brewpubs that I am aware of, but they do it because they don't have space for the grains.  But primarily it is a home brew method.

Answering another question... "can I do large volumes of partial mash?"... yes the largest I have done is 1BBL.  But to do 10 gallons of PM on a 5 gallon BIAB set up is easy.  Just adjust your hops to account for the partial boil

The absolute rules of home brewing... by Mankind... a letter from an old friend

So last week I got one of those annoying emails from an email service... "Your olderthandirt@someemail.com is about to expire"  Further, "it has been 5 years since you last logged on"  Blah Blah Blah...
The basic message was clear... save any emails you want to keep.  So like an obedient sycophant I logged on to the old account. (some of you younger brewers are in shock... they cant close your account...) well, yes...yes they can.    Anyway, I logged on and began saving 10 to 15 year old pictures of my kids.  Special emails from old friends, and that is when it happened...

I found a folder containing emails from Mankind.  My brewing mentor.   Mankind was one of the funniest guys I ever knew.   At least weekly I think of something funny he said.  Occasionally I run into his son, and we reminisce more about his comedy than his beer.   Most of the emails therefore were jokes, or witty political satire.  But one of them in was about brewing.   I wanted to share it all with you.  Although brewing has advanced in the 12 years or so since this was written.  Much of it is still applicable. He has been gone, 10 years now.  NOTE:  You may not agree with everything he says.  I don't care.  Show respect for this great man and great brewer.  

The email transcript from Mankind.

Mankind’s Absolute Laws of Homebrewing.  As the supreme benevolent magnanimous beneficent and omnipotent ruler of my garage I hereby declare the following laws.  You may consider these canonical and encyclical.  The great and powerful wizard of Mohawk Lane has spoken.  

1. If you don’t enjoy cleaning your gear, you don’t like brewing… you just like making wort.
2. If you don’t control your fermentation temperature…you don’t like brewing… you just like making wort.
3. Brewing is cooking…
1. taste your mash and your wort
2. when it tastes good move to the next step (hopefully consumption)
4. It takes whatever time it takes.  
1. Mash times,  Fermentation times, carbonation times… all take whatever time they take.  Almost always less or more than the recipe says. So following recipes is for people who don’t or won’t understand.
5. Brewers make wort,  yeast makes beer… give the yeast what it needs. (mostly nutrients and oxygen)
1. Yeast doesn’t want to make alcohol.   Yeast “wants” to make more yeast.   To make alcohol you have to ferment at certain temperatures.  Too high or too low… no beer.  Too high… many many bad yucky flavors.  
2. you are screwing with yeast by making it make alcohol, you can only screw with it a couple of times then it changes and adapts to its new environment.  so don’t reuse yeast forever.
3. Modern yeast is carefully selected to be more forgiving, but it’s not saintlike… if you hurt it… it will let you know.
6. Lagers are for losers - in a homebrew sense. But, I could argue that Germany has a huge claim on the title “loser”.
1. Lager yeast is nearly identical to ale yeast.  You can make a clean beer by choosing a clean ale yeast and fermenting it correctly and at a low end temperature.  
7. Take a beer… bring a beer
1. I’m not your mother. If my beer is missing, there had better be something good in there to replace it.  (Natural Light and Bud ICE are not good)
8. The answer to “want to brew?” is always yes, the answer to “can you brew?” is always yes, the answer to “are you available to brew?” may or may not be yes.
1. Addendum to law 8.  If you know the code and want to brew feel free.  If I can tell that you were there, other than by the smell of the mash and boil, your privileges are revoked and you will be placed on the flogging list.
9. Meat does not go in beer. I don’t care what you heard, don’t ask again..
1. Yes that includes bacon.  Acetobacter is not for breakfast.
10. Brewing is supposed to be fun.  Don’t be a dick.  Or you go on the flogging list.

So there it is.  An email from a long lost dear friend.   At a moment when it was so good to hear from him.  Because isn't that what beer and brewing are all about?  Good times and friendship?

Mankind taught me so much,  I hope his words teach you something.  Not necessarily about brewing, but rather about being a brewer.  He used to also say, "we brew because we have joy, we make wine because we have hope."  then he would add... "we make cider... because Motts was on sale at PriceChopper". (in a Groucho Marx voice) 

I Didn't brew... Really. I didn't

Shocking as it may seem, I didn't brew this weekend.   I know that sounds weird coming from me, and it felt a little weird too.  But there was too much going on.  But that doesn't mean I didn't do any home brew related stuff, far from it.   I bottled the Belgian Strong Dark Ale, and I hosted a beer tasting at some friends post wedding brunch.

The BSDA bottled up with no issues.  I was helped out by my trusty bottling buddy, my youngest.   She actually enjoys bottling beer.   And she is really good at it.

Pretty Diverse Menu
for a beer loving crowd

On Sunday morning I got to join some friends for their post wedding brunch (Congrats John and Beth).  The food and the company were great.  I was asked to bring a sampling of beers.   I brought 7 gallons.  Confident in the notion that there would be leftovers.   My menu was pretty diverse.  Let me tell you, when John said their friends and family were into beer, he wasn't kidding.  Every one of their friends were into beer.  I mean really into beer with meaningful questions, and opinions.

By far the best casual beer tasting I have ever hosted. They drank all of the beer.   They had great feedback on the beer.   Over all I think they loved the beer.   Grandpa loved the Belgian Strong Dark ale (a bonus beer not on the menu, I force carbonated .5 gallons for fun and brought it along).  Father of the Groom loved the AIPA and he said, he doesn't like IPAs...

A couple of them are already beginning home brewers.   More of them now want to be.   So, I'd call that a win for team home brew.  We powered through from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM.

UPDATES:

Jake evaluating the Sour Blonde
"Barnyard Funkadelic"

The Cider is still bubbling away.   Should clear up by the weekend, the bubbles have really slowed down.

The rescue beer is dead.  Done, The acrid taste wont go away. I've used every trick in the book. So long sailor.   The drain awaits you, I did all I could...UPDATE;  for grins I hit this one with Saison Bret dregs.  It turned into one of the best sours I have ever brewed.  It is almost a year later now.  And we are just about to bottle this amazing beer.  

The scottish export will bottle this coming weekend.

The Centennial Blonde will bottle this weekend if it's at terminal OG.

The old school lager is lagering away at a crisp 38 F.

Miller the Muggle is still percolating, probably bottle next weekend.

Bonus.  I have developed a faster method for carbonating beers in bottles.   I have tried it now with 5 batches with no ill effects.   It works best in two liters, and pet bottles.  So stay tuned sports fans, Ill be posting about that soon.

#foreverRoyal
#takethecrown
#beRoyal

Dumbest things I've read about home brew on the internet...

I love the internet.   Obviously I am a fan of blogging, and forums and chat rooms.  But,  you have to source your information carefully... Today I present to you some of the dumbest things I have read on the internet about home brewing.  Here are some examples to avoid,  with out names attached... I'm not petty, just a humble servant of home brew truth.

This is MOLD on a batch that was
supposed to be a sour.  It can and does
happen. ideal sour bacteria is probably
not floating around your kitchen...

infections - "let it ride man...it might be great"   first pet peeve... not every infection is a potentially good thing... mold will not magically turn into bret brux and create an amazing beer.  Mold is just mold...   Not every infection is safe... acetobacter is not something to be taken lightly.  I'm so tired of people posting infections that are obviously mold and having some one say... let it ride...   Best advice "if you didn't mean to brew a sour... pour it out... or take lots of photos and take it to your LHBS and ask what it is..."

for comparison sake, and to
end the silly arguments.
Here is a healthy Brett Pellicle.

I think you all get my point.  You just can't tell from a 2" photo on the internet.  It might be wonderful... It might be potentially dangerous to people with mold allergies, asthma, and other sensitivities.  So best advice is to go get some professional advice from your local home brew shop, or an extremely experienced home brewer, who brews sours.  And remember, even if it is an ok sour bacteria... The pitch rate of the bacteria is no where close enough to create what you want.  So if you are going to "let it ride"  I still suggest a trip to your LHBS to get some viable adequate cultures of bacteria.


tannins - "don't squeeze the bag...you'll extract tannin" listen to me round eyes... you are not strong enough to extract tannin by squeezing a grain bag...the extraction of tannins from barley occurs when a certain set of conditions are all present...and chief among them is a pH over 6 in your mash and sparge.   It is really hard to get your pH that high when brewing.   Especially if you are using pH stabilizer.so squeeze your bags biab brewers... get all that wonderful wort out of there 

dms - "if you don't boil for an hour or more... you'll create DMS"   You do not create DMS. The DMS precursor amino acid S-Methyl Methionine is present in all grains...it is necessary for germination. SMM is the DMS precursor, not some magic brewing dust in your boil kettle.  In a kernel of well modified malted barley it is only present in very very low levels. With well modified barley... there is very little risk of DMS.  If you boil hard for 15 minutes or longer.... there is almost no risk.  DMS fear is a hold over from the early days of home brewing.  Back then we didn't get grains that were fully modified.   Perhaps 75-80% of a bag of grain was well modified (meaning the acrospire had reached the top of the kernel) the rest were not there yet.  So there was a much greater risk of DMS.  I have tasted DMS beer... I doubt that most of you ever have tasted a beer ruined by DMS.  It is really rare now.  If you want to taste it get a can of cream corn and throw some hops and canned spinach in it mix it with a beer... that will be close.

diacetyl -  this one's a doosy... "if you ferment over 65 you'll have diacetyl every time"... WRONG FALSE... GO TO JAIL DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT GO HOME.  Here's another classic... "the amount of diacetyl is directly proportionate to the % of crystal and roasted grains..."  what the what...  Diacetyl is a normal product of yeast metabolism.   The amount of buttery, or butterscotchy character you get IS related to the fermentation temperatures. But 70-74 isn't a problem.  The good people at your preferred yeast vendor love brewing as much as you do, probably more,  they have worked hard to create and mutate yeasts that don't kick off a lot of alpha acetyl.   Alpha acetyl is the precursor, that is what becomes diacetyl.   Here is the good news... modern yeast absorbs and breaks down diacetyl.  That is why we ferment for 2-3 weeks minimum. The primary fermentation is usually done in 5-7 days, assuming good aeration and good pitch rate.   The extra time is for the yeast reabsorbing and cleaning up other less desirable flavors. Wyeast, White Labs, and Fermentis all have excellent resources on line...

BIAB isn't efficient... "I don't like BIAB because it is only about 65% efficient..."  No sparge BIAB may be less efficient than sparging methods.   But, no sparge 3 vessel is also less efficient than batch sparging, which is less efficient than fly sparging.   The truth is grains, enzymes, and flavonoids don't know if they are in a 3 vessel system or a pot on your stove.  Efficiency has way more to do with the brewer, and their practice than the system you are using... Unless you are using an automated single vessel system (they regularly run over 80%).  BIAB is no less efficient than 3 vessel.   But, and this is an important thing to remember, There is more going on in your mash than conversion of starch to sugar through the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas metabolic pathway. Better efficiency does not equal better beer.

Worst Recipe Ever... and a common trend.  I see recipes all the time on the internet in various recipe forums for "partial mash" that have no mashable grains... ONLY BASE MALTS NEED TO BE MASHED,  A RECIPE ISN'T PARTIAL MASH UNLESS YOU ARE MASHING FREAKING GRAINS. Sorry, had to get that off my chest.   I have seen a recipe this week on one of the sites that called for... wait for it... 4 # of Black Malt,  3# of Chocolate Malt, and 10 # of Crystal #20... it was described as a sweet stout... uh...well... oh buddy no... just no.   I asked if he meant .4, .3 and 10# of stout malt?  he said no, they brew this all the time... so be careful on the free recipe forums.  There are some new guys, who have lots of enthusiasm, but no real knowledge yet.... Brewtoad is working to correct some of these problems, they are adding a feature to make sure that partial mash actually has base grain, and that there are base grains, or extract in every batch.

The moral of the story... educate your self.  Yes, have fun on the internet.  Read the blogs.   But double check the information.   I can't say I work hard to bring you cutting edge research... I leave that to the Brulosopher, Professor Brew, and Woodland Brewing Research.  But I can say I've been doing this a long time.  I don't know the things I know because I am brilliant (I am but that is another story).  I know these things because I have failed as much as anyone else and had to go to the LHBS and ask what I did wrong.  Or spend time in Dr. George Fix's book "Principles of Brewing Science"  That is all for now brew fans.   Keep on brewing and keep on sending your comments and questions...

What's the dumbest thing you have read about home brew on the internet... please no names or handles...

Lucas Cashman had some great comments, so I added them...

Autolysis... if you don't rack of the primary you'll get autolysis... So many reasons why this isn't a big concern for home brewers... Let's just say it this way... if you aren't aging a beer for more than 4 months in the carboy, Autolysis is not an actual issue for home brew.  The volumes of yeast are just not enough to cause this phenomenon in noticeable amounts.   Current Advice is this... unless you want to use the yeast cake for another batch... or you are going to age a beer (i.e. Barley Wine, RIS) don't rack it at all.

White Sugar makes a cider taste... this one is partially true.  White sugar in large % of your grist can give a cidery taste... but when used for bottling, or used to help dry out a batch... it won't.   Yeast will eat the simplest sugars first in the EMP metabolic pathway.  Glycosis is the conversion of 1 molecule of glucose into 2 ethanol and 2 CO2.  It is a process we can control with healthy adequate yeast pitch, temperature, and wort composition.  If you give the yeast a super simple sugar to eat, they will eat it fast , and they will kick off other compounds in the minor metabolic pathways, in order to eat it fast. But if you give them sugar after they have converted most of the maltose, glucose, and maltriose, fructose... you will extend yeast activity and help to dry out a beer...

Extract Beers are Twangy... too much has been written about this already.  So i will just say... Baloney.  They are not.  They haven't been for years.  The twang that you get from extract has to do with brewing experience and practice not the extract.   A well made extract beer is nearly indistinguishable from an all grain beer.  And a well made partial mash beer is often superior due to the advantages it has in terms of water chemistry and pH.  The reason I prefer all grain and partial mash is that to me they are more fun, offer more variety, and they cost way way less.

A quick rant.

• Mash doesn't know if it's in a recirculating system. 
• Enzymes don't care if they're running through a pump. 
• Recirculating is to keep temperatures perfect and free the sugars into solution, it does not put more grain in contact with enzymes.   The
  
  enzymes are in the grains already.  
• Having said that I really want a Colorado Brewing System, or a System from Brau Supply.
• A mash paddle,  can easily keep your temperatures consistent and your sugar in solution.  
• Better gear only makes sense if it means your brewing gets easier and better.  
• Knowing your gear is way more important than new gear.  
• Fermentation control and proper yeast pitch are way way way more important than recirculation of mash.  
• when you wash yeast , you actually want the stuff from the bottom.  Head over to woodland brew and read up.  In fact get Steve's book and read up.  
• Yeast slurry is way more viable than a starter.  
• You don't need a Kabillion yeast cells,  viability is more important. 
• You can not clean enough.  repeat.  
• If you can't brew a near perfect 1.045 cream ale,  your process needs work.  
• If you buy a home brew system that costs thousands of dollars, and you don't have a college fund for your kids,  you missed the point... of life. 
• If you buy or build a home brew system,  before you can control fermentation temperatures,  you missed the point. 

• North Carolina Home brew... great fermentation chamber 
• Meat does not go in beer. 
• 6 is your friend,  6 malts maximum, 6 hops maximum,  1.06 target.  
• Not all beer should be royal or imperial.   Enough already with the 1.09 beers.  Again I say if you can't brew a nearly perfect 1.045 cream ale, you need work on your procedures.  
• You don't just  "go pro" running a brewery is not the same as making home brew.   Unless you're a great business person,  and a truly
  
  great brewer, focus on getting better and having fun.  
• Any one,  yes any one,  can make a dipa that tastes pretty darn good,  anyone, yes anyone, can make a ris that comes out bold and malty.   Learn to make beers where you can't hide flaws behind huge hops and malt.    Then will you truly be a brewing jedi!
• If you can't lager,  don't spend money on a new brew system.  
• Several of the  AHA NHC award winners, won the award with a turkey fryer,  a voile bag, and a big pot.   They all had fermentation temperature control.  
• Electric brewing means more cleaning than stove top or simple 3 v gravity brewing.   You have to clean the elements and the valves, hot boiling water is not enough.  
• Rims brewing is even more cleaning.  Especially 3v rims.
• The only easy to clean recirculating systems are recirculating biab systems. from brausupply, colorado brewing systems,  high gravity, brewboss, and brewha.  In other words the RIMS eBIAB systems. 
• A clean brewing system is paramount to sudcess in brewing.
• Well modified grains don't generally contain very much dms precursors.   You can't create dms precursors,  they already existi in your grains (S-Methylmethionine) you can only break then down completely and avoid DMS or fail to break them down completely and create some DMS.  S-Methyl-Methionine is a complex methyl, in the boil you can break it down to DMS or past DMS.
• A 60 or 90 minute boil is not necessary,  but it often improves clarity. 
• A Rigorous boil of 15 minutes is required to avoid DMS.
• This was inspired by a guy at a LHBS who shared with us that his daughter was taking a semester off college due to family finances being tight, but he had just purchased a $5000 brewing system...  his beer... kinda sucks... his priorities definitely do.
• Tomorrow Ill be my normal happy go lucky brew enthusiast self. 

Miller the Muggle... No Chill... and I'm done with large batch all grain for a while...

Saturday I moved my middle daughter to college... gulp, sniffle, tear... It took way longer than we thought, but we got it done.

So brew day was Sunday, after church.  But first we went to a local place for after church lunch.   If you are in Kansas City, I encourage you to go to 54th street Grill and Bar.  They have lots of locations.  The food is good, the steaks especially.  There is nothing quaint about this place, it is basically a local version of Applebee's... kinda a high gravity version.  But they have Tank 7 on Draft 16 ounce, for $5.75, that alone makes it worth going to for a beer.

Simple Grain Bill 2-2-2

So Sunday I brewed "Miller the Muggle".  Miller the Muggle is a beer I brew for my Non Craft Beer Friends and Family.  It is a Miller High Life clone.  The original recipe is by Charlie Papazian.  It is actually an ale, but you and your friends will swear it is a lager.  You can dry it all the way out with Amylase Enzyme in secondary.  This beer is cheap, easy, and fun to brew.  I had actually forgotten all about this recipe until I saw a Miller Lite clone on Homebrew Talk.  It was like seeing an old friend again. Here's the recipe.

• 2# of 2 row,  which one?  no big deal...brewers malt or pale ale
• 2# of 6 row,  which one?  no big deal... 6 row brewers, or pilsner
• 2# of Flaked Maise
• .5 of Hallertauer at 60                    Really you can use any hop
• .5 of Hallertauer at 0                      But the German nobles work!
• .5 of Hallertauer 4 day dry hop
• 11 g US-05 Yeast
• 1 TSP of Amylase Enzyme in 2ndary.

1. Protein Rest at 125 for 15 minutes.  So dough in a little above that.
2. Mash low 148-150 for 60 minutes
3. Mash out at 168 for 10 minutes
4. Sparge to get to volume.
5. Boil hard for 60 (you are using some 6 row after all)
6. Chill (in my case I never chill 5 gallon batches that are low IBU)
7. Aerate the wort
8. Pitch the US05  Your gravity should be about 1.044
9. Let it ferment for 14 days.  Then ADD the 1 tsp of Amylase Enzyme right to the fermenter.   
10. An active secondary fermentation will start up with in 24 hours.   And drop your gravity to 1.00-1.005.   That is what makes it like an american lager.
11. When secondary slows,   Dry Hop it with another .5 oz to 1 oz of Hallertauer.   
12. Wait 4 days, then bottle.  

I actually love this beer.   It tastes like an american lager, but somehow, better... Can't explain it, you'll have to try it.   

You can also use Amylase Enzyme with Wyeast 2112 to make a real lager if you'd rather.  Just follow the same procedure.  There really isn't any taste difference, but it sure is fun to try other yeasts.   The only drawback to 2112 is that it doesn't attenuate out all the way.  Routinely the beers I make with it stall at 1.01-1.02.   So a little Amylase and boom... lager.   (Warning.  don't use Amylase in your oktoberfests you want the residual sugars in those...)

On another note,  I am taking a break from big batches for a while.   I'm going to really focus on 1 and 2 gallon all grain batches, with occasional partial mash 5 gallon batches.   Tune in tomorrow to see why...