Taking Stock

Since deciding to get back in the brewing hobby last week, I realized that some of the ingredients I have on hand might be expired or nearing expiration. Furthermore, even though I have plenty of stuff here to make all of the beers in my original plan, the actual order I make those beers in might need to be adjusted to account for the different ages of the HMEs and UMEs I have.

So, first things first, inventory!

After a careful count, I have discovered that I have the following:

• ORIGINAL Hopped Malt Extracts (HME):
• American Devil IPA (ADIPA) (x2)
• Bewitched Red Ale (BRA) (x1)
• Cowboy Golden Lager (CGL) (x1)
• High Country Canadian Draft (HCCD) (x1)
• St Patrick's Irish Stout (SPIS) (x1)
• West Coast Pale Ale (WCPA) (x1)
• NEW Hopped Malt Extracts (HME):
• American Ale (AA-2) (x1)
• American Porter (AP-2) (x1)
• Classic American Light (CAL-2) (x1)
• Patriot Lager (PL-2) (x1)
• St Patrick's Irish Stout II (SPIS-2) (x2)
• Unhopped Malt Extracts:
• Creamy Brown UME (x2)
• Mellow Amber UME (x1)
• Pale Export UME (x1)
• Liquid Malt Extracts:
• Robust SoftPack LME (x3)
• Smooth SoftPack LME (x1)
• Miscellaneous:
• Booster Packs (x2)
• 16 oz PET bottles (x16)
• 24 oz PET bottles (x12)
• Sanitizer Packs (dozens)

I had previously paired up all of the original HMEs with UMEs and Booster Packs to allow me to consume all of the ingredients without anything being left over, so leaving those pairings alone is just fine. Those six brews are:

• Angry Weasel 2 (Pale Ale) = WCPA + Booster
• Bitter Buzzard (English Bitter) = CGL + Mellow Amber UME + Pallisade Hops
• Dark Epiphany 2 (Irish Stout) = SPIS + Creamy Brown UME
• Exterminated IPA = ADIPA(x2)
• Farty Monk 2 (Belgian Dubbel) = HCCD + Creamy Brown UME
• Red's Revenge (Special Red Ale) = BRA + Pale Export UME + Booster

The new HMEs are self-contained and do not need either a UME or a Booster Pack, although adding an LME to any of them will add body, flavor, and other subtleties. Since I have 4 LMEs to go with the 6 new-style HMEs I have on-hand, there isn't any reason I can see to integrate them into the overall plan, which now looks like:

• (2x) Dark Epiphany (Irish Stout) = SPIS-2 + Robust LME
• Inevitable Betrayal (Pale Lager) = CAL-2
• Nevermore (Porter) = AP-2 + Robust LME
• Soylent Amber = AA-2 + Smooth LME
• UNNAMED Lager = PL-2 

So.. arranging the brews so that older ingredients get consumed first, while ensuring that I don't make back-to-back batches with "malty" or "hoppy" flavor profiles, and doing my best to keep from making too many "light" or "heavy" beers in a row, I've come up with the following schedule:

• BB-14: Inevitable Betrayal (Pale Lager): CAL-2 (alone)
• BB-16: Dark Epiphany 2 (Irish Stout): SPIS-2 + Robust LME
• BB-17: Soylent Amber (Ale): AA-2 + Smooth LME
• BB-18: Nevermore (Porter): AP-2 + Robust LME
• BB-19: UNNAMED Lager: PL-2 (alone)
• BB-20: Farty Monk 2 (Belgian Dubbel): HCCD + Creamy Brown UME
• BB-21: Dark Epiphany 3 (Irish Stout): SPIS + Creamy Brown UME
• BB-22: Angry Weasel 2 (Pale Ale): WCPA + Booster
• BB-23: Bitter Buzzard (English Bitter): CGL + Mellow Amber UME + Pallisade Hops
• BB-24: Exterminated IPA: ADIPA(x2)
• BB-25: Red's Revenge (Special Red Ale): BRA + Pale Export UME + Booster
• BB-26: Dark Epiphany 4 Irish Stout: SPIS-2 + Robust LME

Tomorrow I'll be pulling together the ingredients for Inevitable Betrayal.... because this is a fertile beer and we will thrive!

Hey, Didn't You Used To Be My Blog?

So, after a couple of years of idleness at the Picobrewery, Buzzard's Brew is back!

I took a quick inventory of the HMEs and UMEs this weekend, tossed all of the old PET bottles and replaced them with new ones from Rural King (Sixteen half-liter PET bottles - woo hoo!), and dug out the old Beer Plan spreadsheet to see what the original schedule was.  Turns out that except for fresh Pallisade hops and some brown sugar, I've got everything I need to for twelve varieties. So, without further ado, we're resuming with BB-XV, Original Sin Doppelbock. The label is still awesome, though I'll need to touch it up. This is BB-XV, not BB-XII. And the bottles will be 16 Fl Oz, not 32. But otherwise - yeah - I can work with this. I still have the original artwork, and my account at BeerLabelizer should still be valid, so I don't see this as being a problem. [UPDATE:  The label image has been fixed!] Original Sin will be based on the Linebacker Doppelbock HME and Creamy Brown UME.  It should produce a malty beer, 4.6% ABV, 34 SRM (color), 22 IBU (bitterness), and will weigh-in overall as a Class-5 Brew. I'll be making the wort, pitching the yeast, then setting it aside to ferment today. I'm hoping the ingredients are all still "good", particularly the brewer's yeast.

The original schedule called for an English Bitter - Bitter Buzzard (BB-XIV) - as the next beer, but with no hops on hand we're skipping to BB-XV and will prepare to make the Bitter in a few weeks. Besides, I will need to get some more bottles first.

Recalling the time it takes to make beer, the fermentation process takes a minimum of 2 weeks, then another 2 weeks for carbonation once the beer has been bottled, followed by 3 days of cold conditioning, makes a 31-day process.  So, the overall schedule (including future brews) for the next 3 months - assuming I keep on track - looks like:

Original Sin Doppelbock (BB-XV):  25-Jan (today): Brew & begin fermentation. 8-Feb: Bottle & begin carbonation. 22-Feb: Transfer to cold conditioning. 25-Feb: Doppelbock ready

Bitter Buzzard English Bitter (BB-XIV):15-Feb: Brew & begin fermentation (assuming I have Palisade hops & brown sugar). 1-Mar: Bottle & begin carbonation (assuming I have more bottles). 15-Mar: Transfer to cold conditioning. 18-Mar: English Bitter ready

Dark Epiphany 2 Irish Stout (BB-XVI): 8-Mar: Brew & begin fermentation. 22-Mar: Bottle & begin carbonation (assuming I have bottles available). 5-Apr: Transfer to cold conditioning. 8-Apr: Irish Stout ready.

Should be a fun spring.

I Think I'm A Clone Now

Sitting Friday night in an Irish Pub near Cincinnati while thoroughly enjoying a few Smithwick's Irish Ales, I decided that I really needed to make a Smithwick's clone.  Unfortunately, as an Irish Red Ale, the starter ingredient lists that are compatible with my 2 gallon brewing system all begin with an Englishman's Nut Brown Ale HME.  I have only one of those left, and no more can be had since that particular HME is no longer being produced.  So even though it means I will not be able to brew my anticipated 2nd batch of Comfy Chair, I've decided to go ahead and poach that ingredient to make this clone happen.

This means a little shuffle to the scheduled brews, since this takes away key ingredients from both Comfy Chair 2 Nut Brown Ale (BB-XII) and Yellow Reign Golden Lager (unnumbered).  But the good news is that what's left from Comfy Chair (Mellow Amber UME) and Yellow Reign (Mr. Beer's "Cowboy" Golden Lager HME) can combine to form the base of an English Bitter!  So the scheduled brews are being re-done this week.

The new BB-XII will be named Boudicca's Revolting Irish Ale, after the woman who led an uprising against the Romans in 60 AD.  The Irish have adopted her as a national heroine, dubbing her the "Great Queen".  Since this beer is an Irish Red Ale, and since she was a redhead who led a revolt and who is greatly beloved by the Irish, the name, color, and style of this beer all fit together.  Plus, it has a built-in pun in case the beer comes out badly.

Afterwards will come Wuthering Weiss (BB-XIII) and then Bitter Buzzard (BB-XIV), and then we return to our regularly-scheduled beers.

Wuthering Weiss

My "unnamed" Weizenbier (BB-XIII) has finally been christened. I am calling it "Wuthering Weiss", and I've slapped together a prototypical label via MyOwnLabels.com

I think it looks a little like a slice of bread.

The other name I was kicking around was "In The Wheat Of The Night", but I didn't feel like having to pay a quarter to the pun fund every time Cynthia or Sue caught me saying it out loud.

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Here's my updated brewing schedule:

BB-VII Unnamed Chrismas Stout: 7/8 Bottling, 11/11 Conditioning, 12/16 Drink
BB-VIII Nimblejack Blonde Ale: 6/30 Conditioned, 7/3 Drink
BB-IX Browncoat Ale: 7/1 Bottled, 7/15 Conditioning, 7/18 Drink
BB-X Ten If By Giant Robot Black Lager: 6/30 Brewed, 7/14 Bottling, 7/28 Conditioning, 7/31 Drink
BB-XI Rising Storm Red Ale: 7/14 Brewing, 7/28 Bottling, 8/11 Conditioning, 8/14 Drink
BB-XII Comfy Chair 2 Nut Brown Ale: 8/4 Brewing, 8/18 Bottling, 9/1 Conditioning, 9/4 Drink
BB-XIII Wuthering Weiss Weizenbier: 8/25 Brewing, 9/8 Bottling, 9/22 Conditioning, 9/25 Drink
BB-XIV Original Sin Dobbelbock: 9/15 Brewing, 9/29 Bottling, 10/13 Conditioning, 10/16 Drink

I am planning to start a new batch every THREE weeks instead of the former TWO week cycle.  Should prevent me from filling the basement with backlogged beer again, while giving me plenty of opportunity to brew new and tasty beers.  The dates above are merely a guideline.

Bottled Browncoats - Silent Stout

Had a minor emergency at the Brewery this afternoon - my 11 year-old dog Ginger has suddenly developed bladder control issues.  So after cleaning her (and the house) up, I had to run to the pet store to get her some doggie diapers while we both wait for her vet appointment later this week.

So with all that distraction I was not able to bottle both of the brews I had planned.  The Christmas Stout can stay in the fermenter for another week - I'm in it for the long haul and another 7 days won't hurt it a bit.  But I did manage to get BB-IX Browncoat Ale bottled and set back for conditioning.

As mentioned in previous posts, I have been having some problems with beers bottled in my Grolsch-style bottles.  Most have been fine, but a sizable percentage of them are coming out flat when opened.  Since it's only been 1 or 2 bottles per batch, with the rest being nice and carbonated, I'm pretty certain it's not the priming sugar or the process or the timing - all of that is identical for all of the bottles in a given batch.  I suspect something is awry with the gaskets, and that I'm getting inconsistent results because, frankly, some of the gaskets are losing their seal, resulting in the CO2 escaping from the compromised bottle.

When I bottled BB-VIII Nimblejack Blonde Ale, I put half into PET and half into Grolsch.  Unfortunately, I've since learned that I needed to prep the Grolsch seals before bottling, so even if any of those 4 fail to hold seal, I really won't have learned anything.  So tonight, the bottling for BB-IX Browncoat Ale included 6 PET bottles and 2 prepped Grolsch bottles.  I removed the wire cap assembly from both and plunked them into a sealed container of Star San - allowing them to soak while I did all of the other prep work.  Once the bottles had been cleaned, primed with sugar, and filled with beer, I removed the assemblies from the Star San, reattached them to the bottles, and then applied a liberal dose of Star San to the mouth of the bottles before sealing them.  Normal carbonation and conditioning is 2.5 weeks, so I plan to bust one of these puppies open on July 18th to see how I did.

I went ahead and pulled the final bottle of BB-III Dark Epiphany Irish Stout and planned to enjoy it with dinner tonight - but as I feared it might be, it was flat.  I've gone ahead and ordered the Cooper's Carbonation Drops, but I honestly don't know if they'll work or not.  Carbonation comes from yeasts interacting with sugar - the yeasts in my bottle of Stout have already consumed the priming sugar and made CO2, it's just that the bottle's faulty seal let the CO2 escape.  I have nothing to lose by plunking a couple of drops into the bottle to see if there's any residual yeast.  I have my doubts, but I'm already committed to the path.

If that fails, I have a Plan C in mind involving my SodaStream.  I read this on a SodaStream blog:

If you look on homebrewing sites, you'll read that many homebrewers "force carbonate" their beers.  I have recarbonated flat beer from a keg with fantastic success.  My friends brought over a full keg of quality Fat Tire one night and there just weren't enough of us around to make a dent in it.  So before pouring all the warm foamy beer out in my garden (works great as a fertilizer!) I set aside 4 liters of it in plastic bottles.  I later cooled this down, carbonated it 3 weeks later, and did a taste test with a fresh bottle of Fat Tire.  The only difference was that I dissolved too much gas in the recarbonated beer.  The bubbles were slightly "bigger" than the bottle of beer but the taste was exactly the same.

Of course, later on in that same thread were warnings from folks who had carbonated other non-water products with horrible results!

I tried this with a mixture of half cranberry juice and half water. At first, it seemed to work just fine. I pushed the button and heard the three buzzes. When I unscrewed the bottle, everything went to hell. As soon as the seal between the bottle and machine was released, the juice/water mixture exploded out of the bottle. More than half of the contents of the bottle had sprayed themselves onto the walls and ceiling of my kitchen.

If you must try to carbonate anything other than water, do it outside.

Sure, injecting CO2 into flat beer will make it bubbly, but if the seals have allowed the original CO2 to escape, haven't they also allowed ambient air to enter, thus skunking everything?  I might end up with bubbly, but still nasty, beer.  Lots of ways this can go wrong - but I'll do my best.  When the Coopers Tabs show up, I'll divide the Stout, putting 12 oz into a new PET bottle, into which I'll add a tablet (they're proportioned for 375 ml / 12 oz), and I'll pull 500 ml of the Stout and store it in a SodaStream bottle.  For the rest (there should be 3-4 oz left over) I'll find a recipe and use it somewhere in the kitchen.


So, if nothing else, what I end up doing with my final bottle of Stout should be interesting!  Stay tuned!

Some time this week, I'll head over to Butler Winery and get a bunch of replacement gaskets. Maybe between that, the wet seal technique, and possibly heating-up the bottled before priming/filling them, I might hit upon a combination that works.  I've bought two cases at just under $50 a case, so I'm not giving up without a fight!

Red Storm Rising

I've come up with the label for BB-XI - Rising Storm Red Ale.

Coming as it does on the heels of my experimental Black Lager, I wanted the next beer in the pipeline to be something simple, something predictable, something expected.  But I also want something I've not made before.

Rising Storm will be a stock Mr. Beer Red Ale kit.  The end product will have a mere 3.7% Alcohol By Volume, and be a Class 2 Red Ale with 7 SRM and 12 IBU.  If I keep to schedule, it should be brewed in 2 weeks - the target date is the weekend of July 14th - and it should be ready to drink one month later.

And yes, in case you're wondering, the name is a knock-off of the Tom Clancy novel.

Carbonating In Grolsch - Can I Trust It?

Okay, so when I first set out brewing at home, my starter kit came with 8 2-quart plastic screw-top PET bottles.  Clean.  Efficient.  Easy to sanitize and store.  Really ugly.

What I really wanted was something nicer to store, transport, and present my beer in.  Having heard that many brewers have had success with using bottle cap systems, while others have used Grolsch-style bottles with swing-top stoppers, I had a decision to make.

Well, not really.  Because the Grolsch-style bottles are just really, really pretty!

The first attempt at using Grolsch-style bottles was when bottling BB-3 Dark Ephipany.  You've seen the photos - those labeled bottles were darned sexy!  I happily bottled, carbonated, conditioned, and popped open my first Irish Stout, and the effect was nothing short of amazing.

So naturally, I was enthusiastic about sharing.  My ex-wife is just across town, and had been following my brewing exploits through our son, whom I have involved in the process since day one.  She's a Guinness fan, so one evening while taking the boy over I also schlepped a bottle of Dark Epiphany.  After a couple of days, I called to ask how it was.

She said it was flat.

Hmmm.... that's odd.  So I went downstairs into the Man Cave to retrieve an unopened bottle, and when I cracked it open I got the expected POP! FIZZ! indicative of released carbonation.  I supposed that perhaps her bottle got jostled during delivery and somehow the seal was compromised.  I drank my bottle, pulled another out for her and when I delivered this one I was careful to keep it steady.  She popped it open when I arrived, it decanted as expected, and all was well.

Or so I thought.

A couple of weeks later, while opening a bottle of Shaved Amadeus that had been sitting peacefully in the refrigeration unit, I found that it too had gone flat.  Of the 15 bottles I've put into Grolsch and have subsequently opened, two of them didn't seal properly, resulting in a half-gallon of wasted beer.

I've done a little research and have concluded that I need to add a step or two to the bottling process when using Grolsch.  Looks like I need to have a bowl full of Star San at the ready.  One poster on Homebrewtalk.com removes the entire wire cage assembly from the bottle and soaks it for a few minutes.  Then after filling, he removes the assembly from it's bowl, snaps it onto the bottle, sprays a small amount of Star San on the bottle mouth, then snaps the cap on - wiping everything down afterwards.  Supposedly this makes a positive seal between the rubber gasket and the glass bottle top.

This is a big deal, because I won't get a 2nd chance with the Christmas Stout.  Once bottled and set back, it'll be Thanksgiving before anything else happens.  If the seals fail, the beer will be as flat as can be.  I won't really know until I follow this procedure on a different batch - one that will be bottled, carbonated, and enjoyed much sooner than this November/December.  Anticipating I might want to have a batch to experiment upon, the bottling I did for Nimblejack was half-PET and half-Grolsch.  I have 4 bottles of each style.  I did not, however, use the wet seal technique described above when bottling, so even if I have a seal failure with this batch it won't indicate whether or not wet sealing will solve the problem.  All I can get out of this batch is either a negative result or a potentially false positive result.  When I bottle Browncoat tomorrow, which is scheduled for PET, and earmark 1 or 2 quarts to be put into wet-sealed Grolsch.  I should know by late July whether I have a problem or not.

Just in case I do have a seal failure, I plan to stockpile some Coopers Carbonation Drops.  These are used in place of priming sugar and can speed up the carbonation process.  I feel that using these are a bit of a "cheat", but if I've got a complicated batch of beer that has been screwed up during the final step and am looking at pouring it out and losing 6 months of work, these might be a workable "Plan B" to allow me to attempt a "save".

6 bucks for a bag, shipped, from Amazon.  Cheap, as insurance goes.