Monday, October 6th, 2008
I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist, my glass is clearly empty.
I have been drinking my Irish Stout at a healthy pace. I don’t think I have been having too much of it, although at times, I have thought I haven’t had enough. It seems to get better tasting over time. Every so often, I go to the store to grab a few six-packs of some neat little micro-brew that I haven’t tried yet. Those are usually awesome, but I still would love having 65 of those awesome beers in the cabinet…made by me.
Since I am now running low on my home made beer, I decided to give a call to my friends over at Makebeer.net. I read a recipe on their blog on how to make “Chocolate Vanilla Stout.” This recipe intrigued me because it wasn’t your typical fairy beer, like most beers in the world. I am sure you know my taste in beer by now. Let’s see…ok, if you can throw a beer at a wall and the wall breaks, I like the beer.
I talked to the fella at the other end of the line for a while, who was pretty eager to help out. I was most appreciative for that. He seemed to understand my issue (all their beers are too light). We talked about the Chocolate Vanilla Stout. He said he didn’t care for the vanilla part of the recipe. I told him that I like coffee chocolate stout. He looked up a recipe and gave me some information on how to make that.
Basically, I need to make the Irish Stout beer that I have made before. Before I pitch the yeast, I need to mix in 100 grams cocoa powder and a quarter pound of ground coffee. The coffee has to be in some sort of a sack. I have to think about what that sack will be.
I ordered the Irish Stout beer kit and am working on the other ingredients. Remember, this is the first beer that I will be making that isn’t strictly from a kit. Sure, it’s not too involved, but I still think I’m special.
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Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
I have been keeping this batch of beer at a steady 25C. That is warmer than the last batch. When you ferment beer at a higher temperature, there seems to be more activity down in the big jug.
I learned this today. Today, Paul was kind enough to bring over about seventy bottles he has been saving up. I am cleaning them out right now. While he was here, I was showing him the beer kit. As I was showing him, I noticed that the foam inside the jug was touching the inside of the lid. It reminded me of making good bread…it rises real nice. Well, I knew I was going to have to do something about this because it was only going to get worse in the next few days.
After Paul left, I took another look at the fermenting beer and was shocked to see bubbles coming right out of the water seal thingy.
I knew I needed to do something before liquid found its way to the floor. I took a stroll downstairs to look through my tube inventory and found some good stuff I had been saving for…well, nothing. I brought it back upstairs and stretched out the end by heating it up.
As you can see from the picture, this is going to be good beer.
After I hooked it up, I had to use my belt to hold it to the side of the tank. Then, I grabbed a five gallon bucket from the basement and stuck the other side of the tube into it. Now, as it drips, it won’t make a mess.
I love it when things ferment like this.
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Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
I opened up my new Coopers Home Brew kit last night and got to work. I was pretty excited to see how I should put together the ingredients. I had already watched the DVD that came with the package on YouTube, so I was a bit familiar with what to do.
There was something that came off as a bit confusing. In the can with the beer type and yeast packet, came one set of instructions. Then, in a booklet, there was another set of instructions. Then, the DVD offered very similar, but different instructions. I know that each type of beer will have it’s own instructions, but I really wasn’t sure which one to follow. Really, the only thing that was different was whether or not to stir in the yeast. One set of instructions (the one that I was following) said to sprinkle the yeast on top of the mixture (wort) and immediately seal the container. Then, the video said to sprinkle on the yeast and immediately stir it in, then seal the container. Unfortunately, I didn’t stir it in. I had to go back later and agitate the container to stir it in. I know how sensitive yeast can be, so I have my fingers crossed. When I woke up this morning, the air seal thingy up on top of the lid was bubbling, so I know there is some fermentation going on.
Here are some photos of what it looks like…
Basically, you mix together the concentrate, sugar, water and yeast and seal the container. Then, you have to keep the mixture between 21 and 27 degrees celsius. That’s the best temperature for the yeast to work. You have to keep it that way for 4-7 days, until the bubbles stop. Then, you have to check the mixture with a hydrometer to check it’s alcohol content. After that, bottle the beer and wait a little more. I will write more about that when I get to it. For now, I am just hoping that it ferments properly.
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