!OKTOBERFEST!

Finally! The best month of the year in Florida has arrived! The temperature has dropped out of the 100's, its not pouring rain everyday, and most importantly... It is time for a special beer - OKTOBERFEST!

Also sometimes referred to as Marzen, this beer is normally brewed in the month of March and Lagered through the heat of summer for the Oktoberfest celebration. The style calls for a malt and hop balance with a lean toward the malts. Veinna and Munich should make up the majority of the grist with some caramel and roast malts allowed to play along too. Noble Hops varieties are the only way to go with this style.

I made 2 Oktoberfest styles this year, but instead of Lagering these brews, I went with an Ale Yeast because I did not get them started in March. I used US-05 in both to get a clean finish and fermented at a low 58F and then dropped to 40F in the secondary. For the 1st brew, I went with a Full addition of Munich Extract followed by some caramel and aromatic malts with Mt Hood and Liberty Hops at 40 IBU's. The 2nd brew was a little lighter using Pilsner and Munich Extract followed by caramel and aromatic malts using Hallertau and Tettnang at 27 IBU's. Both came out great. I have gotten split decisions so far on the favorite. Some of my friends like the darker hoppier version, while some like the crisper lighter version.

I always have an OKTOBERFEST party that I dress up in Lederhosen (that I put together at a Thrift Store) and so do my friends, mostly. This year will be the first year that I put together some brews for the celebration. Here are the recipes with some directions on how they were put together. Enjoy the Lederhosen Pic's as well!





Oktoberfest #1

4.5% ABV - 40 IBU's

Extract:

Munich Liquid Malt Extract - 2 cans (6.6 lbs)

Steeping Grains:

Caramel 40 .5 lbs

Caramel 80 .5 lbs

Munich 10L .125 lbs

Dark Munich 33L .125 lbs

Aromatic 20L .125 lbs

Hops:

Mt Hood - 5.2 - 1 oz @ 60, .5 oz @ 50, and .5 dry hop

Liberty - 4.3 - .5 oz @ 60, .5 @ 30 and .5 dry hop

Yeast:

US-05 - (or any other clean yeast)

I followed a normal Extract with Steeping Grains recipe. Steep the grains for 30 mins in 2 gallons of water at 155 - 158. Remove the grains and add 1 can of Munich Extract, then begin boiling. Add the Hops at intended intervals. Pour the remaining Munich Extract with 10 mins left, or at flameout. Bring the temperature down below 80F to add yeast. Ferment as low as possible for Lager characteristics, you want to avoid esters. I luckily have a converted freezer chest that I can ferment at 58F. Then put into a secondary at 40F for 2 weeks. Follow this same directions for the recipe below.

Oktoberfest #2

6% ABV - 27 IBU's

Extract:

Pilsner - Dried Malt Extract (or use equivalent LME)

Munich - LME

Steeping Grains:

Caramel 60 1 lbs

Caramel Vienna .5 lbs

Munich 20 .125 lbs

Aromatic .125 lbs

Hops:

Hallertau - 4.6 - 1 oz @ 60

Saaz - 3.2 - 1 oz @ 60

Yeast:

US-05

Enjoy! Happy Oktoberfest!

Thomas Hooker Brewing Company – More than a Mouthful Watermelon Ale

Surprisingly good and refreshing! I had a lot of doubts when opening this beer. I was expecting a Watermelon extract or Rind flavor. Instead, I got a light bodied beer with a crisp Watermelon taste. I would recommend this for sitting by the pool or at the beach. I like the label that is on the website better than the bottle I have posted.

Check this beer out. I picked it up at Total Wine on Dale Mabry. It is worth a six pack for the next time you’re hanging out on a hot day.

Here is some information that I got from the Thomas Hooker Website.

Watermelon Ale
Style: Ale
ABV: 4.8%
The light and crisp Ale has a hint of watermelon essence, which is accented with colorful hues, resulting in a very refreshing thirst quenching brew.

Our More Than A Mouthful Watermelon Ale is sure to please a variety of palates lending itself to being the perfect summer treat.
Availability: Seasonal, May 1st - August 31st
Malts: Canadian 2-Row, Carapilis, Wheat Malt
Hops: Bittering (Saaz), Flavor (Saaz, Cascade), Aroma (Saaz, Cascade)
Original Gravity: 1.048
Finishing Gravity: 1.010
IBU's: 11

Brewing a Pale Ale: A Blogumentary

In this post I will be brewing a Pale Ale and doing my best to teach beginners how to brew. I myself have only been brewing for a couple of years and still only brew with Extract while steeping grains. I will explain the steps I went through but get into more details in other Blogs.

The Pale Ale I will be brewing is my own recipe that I developed by looking online at other recipes. I got my main ingredients by looking up the Widmer Brothers Drifter Pale Ale. I will be using Breiss Golden Dry Extract and steeping CaraVienna, Caramel 40 and 80. The hops I chose differ a bit because of my interest in using the Sorachi Ace hop that was available to me at my local supply store, Southern Brewing Supply in Tampa.

Pale Ale is a beer that predominantly brewed with Pale Malts. Caramel (or Crystal) malts are also very common in this style. Light to Moderate bitterness is normal but not like its counterpart India Pale Ale.

The ingredients I used for this Brew are:

6 lbs of Golden Dry Malt Extract

.5 lbs of CaraVienna
.5 lbs of Caramel 40
.5 lbs of Caramel 80

.5 oz of Sorachi Ace 12AA at 60 min
.5 oz of Centennial 8.8AA at 30 min
.5 oz of Cascade 5.9AA at 5 min
.5 oz of Sorachi Ace for Dry Hopping in Secondary

.25 oz of Irish Moss for Clarifying, add with 10 min

1 pack of WYEAST American Ale II #1272

Now, before any brewing gets started, everything must be CLEANED and SANITIZED. This part is boring and tedious until a batch goes sour and the time and money you’ve spent is wasted. I picked up 2 buckets at Home Depot to used one as a Cleaner with PBW and the other as a Sanitizer with Star-San. For the brewing pot, I use a 5 gal aluminum Turkey Fryer and propane burner. Dump all the equipment you will be using in your cleaner and sanitizer before you get started. To sanitize the pot, add a bit of water to boil with the top on and let the steam take care of everything.

Another good step to take before you start brewing is to get your Yeast Started. I am using a Smack Pack of WYEAST American Ale II #1272. These packs are easy to use. Just smack the nutrient packet that is inside and the pack will begin to swell. Normally, the pack is ready in just 2 – 3 hours, which is perfect because that is about the time it takes to brew a batch. Other methods are to simply throw a dry yeast packet in, or make a Yeast Starter.

Get your ingredients and hop schedule ready. Have everything laid out neatly so you can get to it without scrambling.

Prepare an Ice or Cold Water Bath. You will need this to cool the wort when you’re done boiling. The wort needs to be below 80 degrees before adding the yeast. The longer the wort sits around, the higher the chance of getting contaminated. So you really want to lower the temperature of the wort quickly. (The Wort is the liquid that’s created with the malts and hops before it is fermented with yeast)

After you cleaned and sanitized the equipment, steamed your pot, smacked your yeast, and prepared an ice bath; begin heating 2 gallons of water in your pot and get your grains into a large sack (or cheesechloth) to steep with. (I like to put the cloth over the bag that the grains are in and tip the bag over so the grains flow into the sack without losing any or making a mess.) The Grains should be steeped at 155 degrees for up to 30 mins. So, you will need to heat the 2 gals to 165because after you add the sack of grains the temperature will drop to 155, which is right where you want to be. (To be honest, I overshot the temperature while messing around and taking pictures. If this happens to you, lower the temp by adding a bit of cold water.) Once you get the temperature to 165 add your grains and steep for 30 mins. Every couple of minutes, stir the water a bit and move the grains around. When the 30 mins are up, remove the grains and rinse with warm water by pouring on top of the sack and letting it drip into the pot. Do not squeeze the sack, this will release Tannins that could cause off flavors in your beer.

What I do next is a little different, or maybe a lot of people use this method. I go ahead and turn on my burner to start heating up the pot before I add my extract. From what I have experienced, the DME floats on top until it is stirred in. So, in theory, it shouldn’t burn at the bottom like a Liquid Extract might. Saying that, light up your burner or stove top and then add 3 lbs of the Pale DME. I used Briess Golden Dry that I picked up at Southern Brewing Supply in Tampa. Bring this to a boil for about 5 mins and then begin adding the hops! ( I am only adding 3 of the 6 lbs because of what I read in John Palmer’s How to Brew, which should be read before or during learning to brew.)

Look, the Smack Pack is starting to Swell.

Now that the wort is boiling we can begin adding hops. I have scheduled to add .5 oz of Sorachi Ace and boil for 60 mins. That is why in my ingredients list I wrote 60 mins next to this hop. Add the hops into a small sack and toss them into the wort, its that simple. When 30 mins have past and you have 30 mins left to boil, add the next hop, which I have selected Centennial for its high Alpha and Citrus qualities to contribute to the beer.

After boiling for 50 mins, 10 mins left, add the other 3 lbs of Dry Malt Extract and Irish Moss. Stir it in well.

With 5 mins left in the boil, add the last remaining hop, Cascade. This hop has great Citrus notes and aroma.

After the full 60 mins, turn off your burner or stove top. Now, either you can place your pot in the Ice bath now or you can follow a method I have been using that so far has worked. Pour 2 gallons of cold spring water into the fermenter you will be using. Then, add your wort and follow it up with more ice water I to bring the volume up to the 5 gallon mark. Next, put an ice pack, after sanitizing of course, into the wort to help cool it down faster. I don’t have any fancy equipment like a wort chiller yet. Finally, put the bucket into a prepare cold water bath, I use a big trash can. This should get your wort below 80 pretty quickly.

Take a sample of the wort and get a Hydrometer Reading. It should read 1.052. I will explain how you get this number in another blog.

Once the wort is below 80, cut open the WYEAST packet and pour it in, and stir vigorously. Stirring will aerate the wort which is important for the yeast to grow and turn the wort into drinkable-mind-altering-deliciousness. Make sure everything that comes in contact with the wort is sanitized thoroughly. Finally, put the top on the fermenter and add on the Air Lock. This will allow the carbon dioxide created from the yeast to escape without creating a ferment-a-bomb.

Store the wort in a controlled environment that stays between 70 – 75 degrees. Or, if you have a freezer chest that you have converted into a temperature controlled fridge, set it how you please. For this beer, I set the temp at 65 to allow some esters to show through from the yeast. The lower the temp, the less esters and longer it will take to ferment. If you set the temp too low, then you won’t get any fermentation.

This completes the Brewing process. Further steps in the process will be posted in other blogs…

Epiblogue:

There is no set time to wait for fermentation to complete. It is done when it is done. The yeast will create Carbon Dioxide and make the Air lock bubble rapidly and slow down when fermentation is coming to an end. Take a few Hydrometer readings and when you get 2 or 3 in a row of the same reading then it should be complete. My last reading was 1.012 after a week, which I get a lot using similar recipes so I was comfortable racking into a secondary.

While I racked (transferred) the pale ale into the secondary Carboy, I added .5 oz of Sorachi Ace for Dry Hopping. Dry Hopping is adding the hops to add taste and aroma to the finished beer. This method is very heavily used in many styles. I noticed I had a lot of suspended yeast when I racked. This hasn’t happened to me before. I am guessing that I stirred up the slurry at the bottom of the fermenter. This shouldn’t harm anything, it will settle at the bottom of the Carboy after a while.

PROST!!!!

Peach Wheat Transfer

First Blog! I want to throw that in right away to let it be known, this is not professional stuff. Today I started a Blog about my HomeBrewing. I dont do enough to fill up a blog constantly so I will be throwing in some random blogs that deal with Brewing, Beers, and what happens while drinking it.

Today I did my 2nd Transfer of my "Eat a Peach Wheat", a tribute to one of my favorite bands - The Allman Brothers. So far it taste excellent. The Peach flavor is showing through without dominating the brew. The first rack was done after fermentation completed. I racked on top of 3 lbs of Peach Puree. I didnt do enough homework on using fresh fruit, so I used the simple method of canned puree. Next time, I hope to use Georgia Peaches when they first get picked.

This picture is the setup I have in my Garage. The Ice Chest was a HUGE find on Craiglist. I was looking all over and decided I needed to save up over $500 for a good size. Then, I found this 13 cu for only $100! It has been a great addition. You can also see my Peach Wheat being Siphoned from the Secondary into the final stage of the Carboy to let it clear up a bit more.

Here's a closeup of the Peach Wheat being Racked. For those that aren't sure what this process is, Racking is another term for Transferring. The inital Wort is Fermented and this Racked off of the yeast into a Secondary. This process helps clear up the beer. For this particular brew, however, I am racking for a third time. This is because when I Racked into the secondary, I also added 3 lbs of Peach Puree. Although it probably isn't necessary, the third rack I hope will clear up the beer a bit more.

The Recipe for this Homebrew will be listed soon. I am going to have this beer opened on Labor Day Weekend and get some feedback from some friends and myself. That way, I can put some notes in about what to expect.

Next, I will be Brewing and Blogging about a Pale Ale that I will be naming, "The Blood of Tebow". It is being brewed for Football Season and yes, I am a Gator fan. Originally, this was supposed to be a Drifter Pale Ale clone attempt but I didn't get my hands on Nelson Sauvin hops. Instead, I am using another hop that is interesting called Sorachi Ace. I will have pictures and list the procedure for how I brew it.

Later...