Welcome back to our Homebrew Happy Hour podcast… the podcast where we answer all of your home brewing questions and discuss anything related to craft beer!
If you appreciate the things we’re doing as Homebrew Happy Hour, consider joining our Patreon community! Not only will you be supporting our efforts, you’ll also receive exclusive perks such as HUGE discounts on HomebrewSupply.com and Kegconnection.com, welcome packs with our merch, discounts to BrewersFriend.com, and lots more! Click the link and join today — https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=21132635
On Today’s Show:
First and foremost – we hope you are hanging in there and keeping healthy during these weird times. “Weird” is about as appropriate word as we can think of. I said this in a newsletter and I’ll say it again — if you need anything, ANYTHING, that we can provide or help you with then please don’t hesitate to ask. We love you guys and will get through all of this together.
On the show — James and Todd join me, remotely, to take your questions on adjusting your brew days when life throws you lemons (i.e – when you’re in quarantine at home!), choosing a grain mill to buy, and mill settings when crushing grains for partial mash brewing.
We want to hear from you!
If you have a question that you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, please click on the “Submit a Question” link at the top of our website or you can now call in your questions via our questions hotline @ 325-305-6107 and leave your message after the beep. This is a friendly reminder that, if we choose your question for a future episode, we give you a $25 gift card to that episode’s sponsor!
Become a Patron! Reminder that these episodes are ultimately made possible because of YOUR support. Consider becoming a member of our newly launched Patreon page and receive perks such as merch, exclusive group access and content, recipes, and some tiers even get monthly recipe kits mailed to you! https://www.patreon.com/HomebrewHappyHour
————————–
Are you a member of the American Homebrewers Association yet? Join today and receive a FREE copy of “Session Beers” by Jennifer Talley on top of all the other cool perks that an AHA membership offers — CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
We’re back with another episode of Recipe Recap & Review!
This show features discussions on the recipes that we’re brewing, how our brew day experiences went, and what we think about the finished beer after it’s done fermenting and is properly carbonated.
All of the recipes we feature on Recipe Recap & Review are provided by HomebrewSupply.com — Fresh ingredients, the best prices, and same-day flat rate shipping make Homebrew Supply your shop for brewing beer. HomebrewSupply.com – make your brew day better!
Thanks for tuning in to another fun-filled epiosde of the Homebrew Happy Hour podcast… a podcast where we answer all of your home brewing questions and discuss anything related to craft beer!
If you appreciate the things we’re doing as Homebrew Happy Hour, consider joining our Patreon community! Not only will you be supporting our efforts, you’ll also receive exclusive perks such as HUGE discounts on HomebrewSupply.com and Kegconnection.com, welcome packs with our merch, discounts to BrewersFriend.com, and lots more! Click the link and join today — https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=21132635
On Today’s Show:
We always love it when visitors come to town and we were especially excited to welcome Kenny Highman, aka The Brewer of Seville, back on the show AND live in studio. Well, not “in studio”, more like “in the barn” but you get what I’m saying.
Kenny made the trek from Ohio all the way down to the heart of Texas to hang with us. We brewed some beer, drank LOTS of beer, and caught up with him and what he’s up to these days.
We want to hear from you!
If you have a question that you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, please click on the “Submit a Question” link at the top of our website or you can now call in your questions via our questions hotline @ 325-305-6107 and leave your message after the beep. This is a friendly reminder that, if we choose your question for a future episode, we give you a $25 gift card to that episode’s sponsor!
Become a Patron! Reminder that these episodes are ultimately made possible because of YOUR support. Consider becoming a member of our newly launched Patreon page and receive perks such as merch, exclusive group access and content, recipes, and some tiers even get monthly recipe kits mailed to you! https://www.patreon.com/HomebrewHappyHour
————————–
Are you a member of the American Homebrewers Association yet? Join today and receive a FREE copy of “Session Beers” by Jennifer Talley on top of all the other cool perks that an AHA membership offers — CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
This show features discussions on the recipes that we’re brewing, how our brew day experiences went, and what we think about the finished beer after it’s done fermenting and is properly carbonated.
All of the recipes we feature on Recipe Recap & Review are provided by HomebrewSupply.com — Fresh ingredients, the best prices, and same-day flat rate shipping make Homebrew Supply your shop for brewing beer. HomebrewSupply.com – make your brew day better!
Welcome back to our Homebrew Happy Hour podcast… the podcast where we answer all of your home brewing questions and discuss anything related to craft beer!
If you appreciate the things we’re doing as Homebrew Happy Hour, consider joining our Patreon community! Not only will you be supporting our efforts, you’ll also receive exclusive perks such as HUGE discounts on HomebrewSupply.com and Kegconnection.com, welcome packs with our merch, discounts to BrewersFriend.com, and lots more! Click the link and join today — https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=21132635
On Today’s Show:
You might not believe this but Todd couldn’t join us today because… get this… he’s on a freakin’ helicopter RIGHT NOW shooting hogs from it. Yes, you read that correctly. James and I are both incredibly jealous of the amazing time that Todd is, undoubtedly, having. In case you’re wondering – hogs are a TERROR here in Texas and are vastly overpopulated on Todd’s ranch where they’ve been literally destroying the land which is affecting all the other wildlife that rely on Todd’s property. So… don’t feel bad for the little piggies 😉 !
ANYWAY – that means it’s just James and I today but thank God he joined me because I could not have done today’s show without him. We discuss whether you should follow the temperature ranges listed in your recipe kit versus what’s on your yeast pack (ideally — they’d both be the same ranges), we talk about how important pH levels are in regards to the mashing process, and a listener writes in with a question on best practices for cleaning his Grainfather unit.
We want to hear from you!
If you have a question that you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, please click on the “Submit a Question” link at the top of our website or you can now call in your questions via our questions hotline @ 325-305-6107 and leave your message after the beep. This is a friendly reminder that, if we choose your question for a future episode, we give you a $25 gift card to that episode’s sponsor!
Become a Patron! Reminder that these episodes are ultimately made possible because of YOUR support. Consider becoming a member of our newly launched Patreon page and receive perks such as merch, exclusive group access and content, recipes, and some tiers even get monthly recipe kits mailed to you! https://www.patreon.com/HomebrewHappyHour
————————–
Are you a member of the American Homebrewers Association yet? Join today and receive a FREE copy of “Session Beers” by Jennifer Talley on top of all the other cool perks that an AHA membership offers — CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
This show will feature discussions on the recipes we’re brewing, how our brew day experiences went, and what we think about the finished beer after it’s done fermenting and is properly carbonated.
The recipes featured on Recipe Recap & Review are provided by HomebrewSupply.com — Fresh ingredients, the best prices, and same-day flat rate shipping make Homebrew Supply your shop for brewing beer. HomebrewSupply.com – make your brew day better!
If a beer is well made, it is well made. I don’t care if it is a homebrew, a local nano-brewery brewing out of a garage, a “too big to be cool craft” brewer, or even a macro from AB InBev. People who won’t drink or say a Boston Lager or Guinness Draught suck because of their own preconceptions just shouldn’t be taken seriously. If you have valid and informed reasons why you don’t like a beer I have no issue with it. There is a reason why stores, bars, and restaurants have more than one beer in stock. Too many beer drinkers can’t or won’t; sadly asking people to be honest and open-minded is often too much to ask for.
Many beer drinkers, especially self-identified connoisseurs don’t understand is how beer is supposed to taste. If you think Boston Lager sucks because it isn’t hoppy enough, then you clearly do not understand that a Vienna Lager isn’t supposed to be hoppy. The issue really isn’t the beer, the issue is that you just don’t like the style. It’s not the beer, it’s you!
On Christmas Eve I went to my uncle’s house. I brought a six-pack of Narragansett Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout. After gorging on food, a full-bodied stout was not all that appealing. To the shock of everyone, I went for an Amstel Light. I hadn’t had one in years, and it was actually better than I remembered. I don’t usually drink light lagers, but at that moment I enjoyed it. It was light, refreshing, and tasted exactly how it was supposed to taste.
All of these beers are fine examples of their particular style. If you say any of these beers suck, you’re wrong. If you don’t like them, see the distinction, then have a reason why other than the name on the label.
Two years ago when asked about “guilty pleasures” in music Dave Grohl said, “I don’t believe in guilty pleasures, I believe you should be able to like what you like. If you like a f***** Ke$ha song, listen to f****** Ke$ha.”
I was out with a group of people at The Yard House last fall. Being at a beer bar the topic of beer came up. My friend Kate sheepishly mentioned that she really enjoyed Shipyard Pumpkinhead. As Shipyard has grown it has fallen into a similar trap as Samuel Adams, Widmer, and Deschutes. Their English and English influenced ales are certainly out of place in a world where if a beer isn’t a hop-bomb, it’s crap! Just because there may be other pumpkin beers I think are superior, or a beer snob who measures the quality of a beer only in IBUs might look down on the Shipyard line, doesn’t mean a beer drinker should feel the need to justify anything to anyone.
I am also starting to question the chase for the latest and greatest beers which has some drinkers leaving brands like Sam Adams. I love trying new things. I love being inspired to brew new things. Now it is to the point where I can’t remember most of the beers that I have tried. To what end am I chasing new beers if most of them aren’t memorable?
Before I started brewing I thought I was an educated beer drinker. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. That was when I truly learned how beer was supposed to taste. That doesn’t mean you have to brew to appreciate beer. What it does mean is to be open to what you don’t know. Too many beer snobs aren’t.
Welcome back to our Homebrew Happy Hour podcast… the podcast where we answer all of your home brewing questions and discuss anything related to craft beer!
On Today’s Show:
We’ve got a fun show for you today! Todd and James were both able to join me and we discussed listener-submitted questions about using the same faucet and beer line to dispense different types of beverages, a listener who is upgrading from his trusty ol’ brew bucket to a shiny new stainless steel conical fermenter, and a question about… you’re not going to believe this… KOLSCH!
If you have a question that you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, please click on the “Submit a Question” link at the top of our website or you can now call in your questions via our questions hotline @ 325-305-6107 and leave your message after the beep. This is a friendly reminder that, if we choose your question for a future episode, we give you a $25 gift card to that episode’s sponsor!
Become a Patron! Reminder that these episodes are ultimately made possible because of YOUR support. Consider becoming a member of our newly launched Patreon page and receive perks such as merch, exclusive group access and content, recipes, and some tiers even get monthly recipe kits mailed to you! https://www.patreon.com/HomebrewHappyHour
————————–
Are you a member of the American Homebrewers Association yet? Join today and receive a FREE copy of “Session Beers” by Jennifer Talley on top of all the other cool perks that an AHA membership offers — CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
We welcome you to another fun-filled episode of our Homebrew Happy Hour podcast… the podcast where we answer all of your home brewing questions and discuss anything related to craft beer!
On Today’s Show:
If you’re one of the few who regularly read our shownotes, then I apologize for the repetition but IMPERIAL YEAST IS NOW SPONSORING OUR MONTHLY RECIPE KITS! Members of our $35 and $50 monthly tiers will now receive premium Imperial liquid yeast with their recipe kits. We’re still just as excited about this as we were when we first announced it!!!
Todd and James were both able to join me for this week’s episode and we had a blast discussing your questions but also, more importantly, getting to the bottom of why Todd continuously breaks so many hydrometers. I mean… really, dude? I’ve been using the same hydrometer for 3+ years but Todd is on his 300th hydrometer it seems like.
The questions on today’s show cover a wide variety of topics so I’m confident that you’re going to learn something this week.
Don’t forget about our LIVE Q&A with Michael Ferguson on February 26th @ 10am central! Below is a blurb about our good friend Michael and a promo banner for the Q&A event —
Emmy-nominated Beer Geeks host master brewer Michael Ferguson has been called a pioneer in the craft beer world and is now in his 30th year as an industry professional. As director of brewery operations for BJ’s Restaurants, Inc., he opened more than 120 BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse locations. Michael previously brewed for Station Casinos, Inc., and was responsible for multiple breweries including Barley’s Casino & Brewing Company, as director of brewery operations. He owns BrewerFX LLC, a company that provides brewery consulting and production and voiceover services, and currently manages Farmboy Brew Shop in Katy, Texas
We want to hear from you!
If you have a question that you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, please click on the “Submit a Question” link at the top of our website or you can now call in your questions via our questions hotline @ 325-305-6107 and leave your message after the beep. This is a friendly reminder that, if we choose your question for a future episode, we give you a $25 gift card to that episode’s sponsor!
Become a Patron! Reminder that these episodes are ultimately made possible because of YOUR support. Consider becoming a member of our newly launched Patreon page and receive perks such as merch, exclusive group access and content, recipes, and some tiers even get monthly recipe kits mailed to you! https://www.patreon.com/HomebrewHappyHour
————————–
Are you a member of the American Homebrewers Association yet? Join today and receive a FREE copy of “Session Beers” by Jennifer Talley on top of all the other cool perks that an AHA membership offers — CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
I am not always one to drink a lot of big beers but there is always a time and place for them. With my current system being a Grainfather all in one system, it limits me to the amount of grains I can use for a single mash, so a high gravity beer was out of the question for me. The most I ever put in a mash was about 17lbs which fills upright to the holes for the handle, which is used to lift the grain basket out of the boil kettle. It has always been a goal of mine to brew some 10 – 13% beer with my current system, and it came with some challenges. It is known that you can add sugar until the desired gravity is met. However, I worry the beer will then be too dry and not have that desired rich, deep, maltiness, and complexity from the roasted grain. The purpose of this brew was to see how far I can push my system, what my efficiency will be, how it will affect the wort and the end result taste.
Starting off
The first challenge I faced was, “How am I going to go about this? What technique should I use when brewing this big of a beer?” For those who have a smaller brewing vessel and only brew five gallons at a time, the necessary grains needed to achieve the desired gravity could cause some issues when you begin planning out your brew. My first step was to utilize a process called a reiterated mash. In doing so, you create wort from your first running’s and then use it as your strike water for your second mash.
Using BeerSmith, a software where you can input your recipe, it will tell you all the info that you need as well as what your starting gravity, IBU’s, color, and if it is in style. This software will also calculate out how much water you need for the mash as well as how much sparge water to reach the desired pre-boil volume. However, with BeerSmith knowing all the grains will not fit in your current brewing vessel, just plugging in 25.5lbs of a grain’s recipe will throw the needed sparge and mash water all off. Therefore, you will not be able to use this recipe to set up on brew day, but it will be beneficial to have on hand throughout the brew. It will still allow you to have an idea of how much will be converted to sugar for your gravity, color and IBU’s. When you get to the session part of the recipe on BeerSmith, you can then put in the gravity and total volume of water for the pre-boil and post-boil. This will give you the efficiency of the brew.
When figuring my mash and sparge water, I learned
I only needed half of my grain for this batch, which is more manageable. Since
this batch calls for 25.5lbs of grains, I split the grain bill in half as I
referenced another recipe through BeerSmith. My final total was a 12.75lbs
grain bill for both mashes. For the mash, I am looking for a water volume of
5.35 gallons and a sparge of 2.74 gallons.
Building the recipe
For the recipe, I used distilled water and a stout water profile that I had on BeerSmith. I recorded this process so that I may be able to replicate this experiment again.
Calcium – 180
ppm
Magnesium –
10ppm
Sodium –
75ppm
Sulfate –
85.3 ppm
Chloride –
341.2
Bicarbonate –
50ppm
Breaking this
down into what you would add into your mash and sparge water, it will look like
this:
Mash:
Chalk – 1.7g
Gypsum – 1.76g
Epsom Salt – 1.93g
Salt – 3.85g
Calcium Chloride – 9.36g
Sparge:
Chalk – .87g
Gypsum – .90g
Epsom Salt –
.99g
Salt – 1.97g
Calcium
Chloride – 4.80g
For my process, I ended up making two batches of sparge water. To keep it simple, I did not use all of the first batch of water but, instead, dumped what was left of the first batch. I then made up new sparge water using the water additions to keep the water profile the same. For the grains, I used two separate bags and split both in half. Then, I put both bags on my scale and adjusted them slightly to make both perfectly even.
When I began, it seemed to be not any different than any other brew day. I added my distilled water with additions to the correct level and then started heating to 157 degrees. Once the temperature was reached, I added in the grains and started my first mash timer for 60 minutes. About 15 minutes into the first mash, I took my first PH sample and it was about 5.2 (no acid addition) which is right on track for what for the recipe requires. With the sparge water at 157 degrees, same as the mash temperature. Doing so ensures that I may not heat the water passed the temp I wanted to mash. The whole sparge took about 40 minutes to reach the necessary volume for the second mash. I then took the grains out of the basket by scooping them into a five-gallon bucket I had next to my Grainfather and left the mash basket in the sparging position. This process went smoothly; however, I did have a little trouble getting the mash all out of the bottom of the grain basket. After checking to make sure my temperature was still correct, I placed the basket back into the wort and proceeded to add the grains for the second mash.
With my second mash timer set at 60 minutes and the temperature at 157 degrees, it was time now to see how the second mash would affect the wort. I waited until about 30 minutes into the mash to pulled a sample for a ph reading. Oddly enough, it seemed to have gone up just by the slightest bit. With all the dark grains in this batch, I would have thought the ph would have gone down. Then I started to wonder “was it the water additions in the sparge, the thickness of the wort messing with the strips, or that may be because most of the dark grains were in the first mash that would have caused this?”
By this point, the mash is very thick and a good portion of the wort seems
to be hitting the overflow above the grain bed. After the second mash was
finished, I pulled the grain basket up out of the boil kettle into the sparge
position. After 15minutes of watching the wort level in the grain basket, my
worst fears seems to be coming true, Oh yes, the joys of a stuck sparge! For
over an hour, I stirred the mash while adding in my sparge water. Now at 167
degrees, I slowly began seeing the wort
flow through the grain basket, to reach my pre-boil volume of 6.8 gallons. I
then measured my gravity at 1.098 by far the biggest beer I have ever brewed.
Before now the biggest beer I have ever down was around 1.080 specific gravity.
Now that my mashes are complete, Its time to focus on the boil and the additions. This is much like the process of any other boil, I began adding in my hops and other adjuncts while stirring occasionally to make sure nothing has settled to the bottom or is sitting on the heater too long. The entire boil was a total of 60 minutes. In that time, I lost .65 of a gallon due to evaporation which, brought my total to 6.15 gallons in post-boil, bringing my gravity up to 1.103 with the addition of one pound of sugar. This became a sugar-rich brew with very thick wort. Currently, it seems to be a little slower coming out the chiller, not by much though, the pump on the Grainfather seemed to handle it okay.
Wrap up
All in all, it was a successful brew day. Needless to say, it was one of the longest brew days that I have had in a long time, totaling to nine hours from start to finish. With a total of 5.5gallons into my fermentor, I can’t say I’m complaining too much. Now it all depends on your current system. My Grainfather does not heat up quickly. If you are using gas, your brew day could be a little faster. My batch fermented for about two weeks, reach the final terminal gravity of 1.026. Using my BeerSmith recipe, I was able to calculate with the total amount of grains and by plugging in my gravities with the volumes. I had a final mash efficiency of 70%, which is not horrible and I was happy with these results as I was expecting it to be lower than what it was. When I took a tasting sample of this beer while transferring into secondary, it was very much on the lines of what I was looking for. It was very smooth tasting (almost dangerously) and has that warming sensation all the way down your throat. It also has this fruity ester and maltiness that made me excited to keg this beer up.
There are many things you can do to Imperial Stouts to boost the flavor. Since I spent so much time on this beer, I wanted to make it even more special. You could put coconut in it or some coffee, however, I wanted it to have an overall barrel-aged kinda taste to it. I bought the biggest bottle I could find of Jim Bean and poured it in a mason jar with two vanilla beans and two medium oak spirals. Then I let this jar sit off to the side while this beer was fermenting. When I transferred the beer to secondary, I took out the oak spiral and put them in the bottom of my glass carboy. I cannot report on the final result yet, however, I am excited to see how it turns out.
Overall, I learned a lot while brewing with a reiterated mash. There are still some questions that I still have not figured out yet, such as “is having a high gypsum mash and sparge water is this what help with the ph on this brew?” Now, I wish that I had my electric ph meter working during this brew, which would have provided a more accurate reading. Also, to see if the color on the ph strips didn’t change because of how thick and dark the mash was. Again, I would expect a longer brew day especially if you have an electric brew system as I do. With such a long sparge and the wort being so thick, it’s possible adding some rice hulls might make this a little easier when dealing with the second mash. All in all, even with a few challenges, this was a very fun brew. In the future, I can see myself brewing a big beer once a year in December and letting this sit in a barrel then tapping it on New Years’. I hope seeing my process helps and makes you want to try a big beer brew. Remember, even if you have a smaller system, don’t let that set you back; a successful brew is still possible!
