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January 16, 2008

Brew 03(Belgian Strong Golden Ale) and Brew 05(Christmas ESB) Bottled

Filed under: alcohol,ale,beer,beerenthusiasts,belgian,brew,chicago,christmas,golden,homebrew — Jordan Wilberding @ 7:28 pm

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I have been busy working on things and haven’t had time to update my blog, but I have been able to bottle a few beers.

First of all, I bottled my Christmas ESB on December 12th, 2007. It was bottle conditioned and ready just in time for Christmas day. It ended up having a 4.5% ABV. I am glad I held back on using all the mulling spices, as the spice flavor was just right. It turned out to be a great Christmas Ale. Not bad considering I made the entire recipe from scratch. Next year I will probably try to boost the the original gravity a bit by having more malt balanced with some extra hops. Overall though, I am very pleased with it, and it has gotten even better with age so far.

I also recently just bottled my Belgian Strong Golden Ale. It sat in the secondary primary for 91 day. I unfortunately ran out of priming sugar, so I instead use 1 and 3/4 cups of dry malt extract. I used more than the typically recommended amount, so I could have extra carbonation, which is typical of Belgian Strong Golden Ales. The beer ended up with a 9.7% ABV. It will be my strongest beer to date. I can’t wait to taste it in a few days. I am definitely going to age some for a year though, as the high alcohol content means the beer is capable of aging for several years.

For my next brew, I am finally going to do the big one, Lord Fatbottom.

Finally, Tristan and myself are starting a local beer group called Beer Enthusiasts. The group is for anyone who enjoys a good beer, not just homebrewers. For the future we hope that site will contain beer reviews, beer recipes, food recipes, as well as tools to help the homebrewer in doing calculations to make beer. Please join the site and check back often!

November 6, 2007

Google IMAP broken with Thunderbird

Filed under: broken,google,imap,thunderbird — Jordan Wilberding @ 8:36 pm

I have been having a minor headache lately ever since I switched to using IMAP with Thunderbird(2.0.0.6) to get my GMail. Almost all of the attachments seem to be corrupted, but if I goto gmail.com and download the file there, it works fine. I further investigated by sending myself a text file, and found out the file appears to actually be getting truncated short and not just randomly corrupted.

I looked online and it appears other people are having issues as well. Does anyone know anything a little more official from Google on what they are doing about this?

Brew 04(Belgian IPA) Bottled

Filed under: alcohol,beer,belgian,brew,chicago,homebrew,ipa — Jordan Wilberding @ 11:00 am

I bottled the Belgian IPA on 11-2-07. I only let it sit in the secondary for a week, since the kit was based off didn’t even recommend a secondary fermentation. This will be the shortest time I have had a beer in the secondary fermenter, so it will be interesting to see if I can notice a difference in taste or sediment.

The final OG was 1018. With an original OG of 1070, the beer turned out to have a 6.9% ABV. For those who are curious, I use this online ABV calculator at RooftopBrew.net to do my calculations, since it takes into account the temperature differences. It is a simple and easy site that really comes in handy, especially when you don’t have a calculator around.

I also racked the Christmas ESB to secondary on 11-4-07. It isn’t as dark as I was hoping to be, but hopefully some of the darker flavors will come out.

I also am going to try my first bottle of the Saison tonight. It still has about 6 weeks left to fully develop its flavors, but I feel a sneak peak is in order!

October 28, 2007

Halloween Costumes

Filed under: american,american.apparel,apparel,costumes,doucebag,halloween,horror,jordan,maddie,rocky,rocky.horror — Jordan Wilberding @ 11:06 am

Maddie and I decided to goto the Rocky Horror Show again this year at the Music Box Theater. I decided to go as a LOLCat, specifically the one that is “in yur quantum box.. maybe.” I definitely got a lot of laughs from people, I am not sure if it was because they knew about LOLCats or even the specific reference, or if they just though it was funny to see a person walking around in a quantum box.

Maddie went as “American Apparel Douchebag”(ie: someone that works at American Apparel, they usually aren’t very nice..) Her costume definitely also turned out well. Below are some pictures of us both.

Hallowen LOLCat

Hallowen LOLCat

Hallowen LOLCat

American Apparel Douchebag

American Apparel Douchebag

American Apparel Douchebag

Brew 05: Christmas ESB

Filed under: alcohol,beer,chicago,christmas,esb,homebrew — Jordan Wilberding @ 10:51 am

Yesterday(10-27-2007), I made my fifth brew. This brew is special, because it is my first non-kit beer. Not only is it a non-kit beer, but I completely made up the recipe myself! I had some ESB yeast leftover from not using it in the IPA I made and I wanted to make a Christmas style beer. I looked online for some recipes that might match what I wanted, but alas I could not find any, so I decided to make my own!

I wanted a nice dark beer, with lots of stout flavor, and some seasonal spice lingering in there as well. I went with Simpson’s Dark Crystal as the grain to steep with. It had a very nice dark, almost coffee smell to it. For malt, I used some Munich malt, which is supposed to be a great for “seasonal beers”. I also used some Briess Amber dry malt extract to add a little complexity to the beer hopefully.

I used plenty of hops with 3 different kinds, Saaz, Kent Goldings, and Fuggle. These are what will give that “ESB” tag I hope. We will find out for sure if it turns out that way. I also used a little mulling spices to add a little flavor in the beer. I won’t be adding any to the secondary though, I just want to have a small hint of spice in the beer, nothing overpowering.

The complete list of ingredients is here:

Specialty Grains
* 1 lb. Simpson’s Dark Crystal

Fermentables
* 6.3 lbs. NB Munich Malt
* 1 lbs. Briess Amber Dry Malt Extract

Boil Additions
* 1 oz. Saaz (60 min)
* .5 oz. Mulling Spices (60 min)
* 1 oz. Kent Goldings Hops (30 min)
* 1 oz. Fuggle Hops (10 min)
* 1 oz. Saaz (0 min)

Yeast
* Wyeast #1968 London ESB Yeast.

The original gravity turned out to be 1064. I have nothing to really compare it to, but it was within the range I was expecting. After it sits in the primary fermenter for a week, I will probably put it in the secondary for 3 weeks, then bottle condition, and have it ready for the holiday break!

Brew 02(Saison) Bottled

Filed under: alcohol,ale,beer,brew,chicago,homebrew,saison — Jordan Wilberding @ 10:33 am

I bottled the Saison on 10-23-2007. It had a great look and nice taste to it. I think it is going to turn out fairly well. The final gravity was 1016. The original gravity was 1050. Taking into account temperature differences that works out to be a 4.7% ABV. It isn’t as strong as I was expecting. I am just hoping the beer attenuated well, so it isn’t too sweet. I will let the beer bottle condition for about 4 weeks before trying it out. It is definitely a beer that gets better with age, so I hope to save some for up to a year.

I also racked Brew 04 to secondary on 10-26-2007. It had a super fresh hoppy smell to it. I can’t wait to try some. This beer doesn’t really require a secondary fermentation, so I will probably only keep it in there for a week to give it some clarity.

October 18, 2007

Brew 04: Belgian IPA

Filed under: alcohol,ale,beer,belgian,chicago,homebrew,indian,indianpaleale,ipa,pale — Jordan Wilberding @ 6:04 pm

Today I made brew number 04. It was based on Norther Brewer’s Organic IPA kit. I decided to try to make a Belgian inspired IPA. I used the stock kit, with a few modifications. Instead of the Admiral Hops at 60 minutes, I substituted with Saaz. Also, I added 1 pound of Belgian rock candi to the fermentables. Finally, I substituted the Wyeast #1968 London ESB with Wyeast #1388 Belgian Strong, which was derived from Duvel’s yeast. I am hoping for an IPA with a hint of a Belgian. It will be exciting to see how it turns out. I had originally tried culturing yeast from a bottle of Duvel, but it did not turn out. My guess is my bottles of Duvel were too old, and the yeast simply didn’t have enough left in it to be revived. The complete inventory is here:

Specialty Grains
* 0.5 lbs. Briess Organic Caramel 60

Fermentables
* 6.3 lbs. Organic Light Malt Syrup
* 2 lbs. Organic Light Dry Malt Extract
* 1 lb. Belgian Clear Rock Candi

Boil Additions
* 1 oz. Saaz (60 min)
* 1 oz. Organic Admiral Hops (30 min)
* 1 oz. Organic Goldings Hops (5 min)

Special Ingredients
1 oz. Organic Goldings Hops (dry hop)

Yeast
* Wyeast #1388 Belgian Strong Ale.

One snag I ran into is when my yeast arrived, the Wyeast packet was clearly bloated. I guessed that somehow the activator packet inside must have been ruptured during shipping. I went ahead as planned, figuring it would be ok. When I went to go finally pitch the yeast, I discovered that in fact the activator packet had not been broken. So either the Wyeast packet had become pressurized somehow or the yeast got contaminated. I am hoping for the former!

The original gravity ended up being 1070, which is higher than the kit estimate of 1063, but is to be expected, since I added sugar to the fermentables. I am still debating whether or not I will rack this batch to secondary or not. In order to, I would have to bottle my Saison a few days earlier than I had expected, but still it would have been in the secondary for reasonably long enough time. I plan on waiting to see how much clarity the IPA develops in the primary before deciding for sure.

For my next brew I am basically making up my own recipe! I am going to be calling it Christmas ESB. More details to come soon!

September 30, 2007

Brew 03: Belgian Strong Golden Ale

Filed under: alcohol,ale,beer,belgian,brew,chicago,golden,homebrew — Jordan Wilberding @ 5:19 pm

Today I made brew number 03. It was Norther Brewer’s Belgian Strong Golden Ale kit. It had 7 pounds of malt, along with 3 ounces of Belgian style Saaz hops. Combine those together and I almost had a boil over! Thankfully after a few minutes the boil smoothed out and everything went just fine. The full ingredients are here:

Specialty Grains
* 0.25 lbs. Dingemans Caramel Pils
* 0.25 lbs. Dingemans Biscuit

Fermentables
* 7 lbs. Golden Light Dry Malt Extract
* 2 lbs. Clear Belgian Candi Sugar

Boil Additions
* 2 oz. Saaz (60 min)
* 1 oz. Saaz (1 min)

Yeast
* Wyeast #1388 Belgian Strong Ale.

This kit called for a yeast starter, and since it has such a high original gravity, I thought it would be a good idea to use it. A yeast starter is basically just a small amount of dried malt extract boiled in water for 15 minutes and then yeast added. This allows the yeast to start growing and multiplying, so when you pitch it into the wort, you have good fermentation to convert all those fermentables into alcohol.

The original gravity ended up being 1089, which is much higher than the kit estimate of 1091. It could be that I didn’t quite fill the carboy all the way to 5 gallons with water, since I wanted to leave some room for the 650ml of yeast starter.

The yeast starter definitely appears to have worked though. I already have active fermentation, and it has only been a couple of hours since I pitched the yeast. The beer will of course require a secondary fermentation. According to the general rule, it will need 64-91 days. That along with an extra long conditioning in the bottles to let the flavors come through will mean the beer is ready to drink at the end of February. I’m sure the patience will pay off though!

For my next brew, I am planning on just doing a simple single-fermentation beer, maybe an IPA. I also want to try growing some Duvel yeast with the yeast starter, maybe even using it in the IPA, just to see what kind of interesting flavors it might add.

September 29, 2007

Brew 01(Spiced Winter Ale) Bottled

Filed under: alcohol,ale,beer,belgian,brew,homebrew,saison,winter — Jordan Wilberding @ 10:37 pm

Tonight Maddie and I bottled the Spiced Winter Ale. There were 45 bottles total, but one broke while I was capping it. The final gravity was 1011. With the original gravity being 1046, and accounting for temperature corrections, it gives an ABV of 4.7%. It will now condition in the bottles for 10-14 days, at which time it will be ready to drink!

Tonight I also racked Brew 02, Saison, to secondary. It will sit in the secondary until around mid-December.

Finally, I also started the yeast starter for the Belgian Strong Golden Ale. I am interested in seeing if it makes a real difference, although this will be the highest original gravity I have had with an ale yet, so I won’t have much to compare to, but I will at least be able to see if the active fermentation starts more quickly in the primary fermenter.

September 26, 2007

Brew 02: Saison

Filed under: alcohol,ale,beer,belgian,brew,chicago,homebrew,saison — Jordan Wilberding @ 10:49 pm
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Tonight marked my 2nd adventure into homebrewing. I went ahead and used my experience from my 1st brew in order to make this one a lot smoother. For one, I bought a strainer for my funnel, so I could keep out any extraneous particles from the wort when I transferred it to the primary fermenter. I did run into a little problem when using it. The Saison called for so much hops that the strainer kept getting full. I ended up having to clean it out about 7 times while transferring the wort to the primary fermenter. Thankfully I had Brewmaster Tristan to help, otherwise it could have gotten real ugly. I also figured out what this thing was that came with my brew kit. It is called a “Thief”. It is basically a giant pipette that allows you to easily get a sample out of the carboy into the test jar to use for a hydrometer reading. It was definitely much easier than using the siphon to do it.

For this brew I decided to do one of my favorite types of beer that I like from Goose Island, Saison. It is considered a “pre-modern” Belgian style of beer, as it shares many characteristics of the Belgian ales, including the Belgian style of yeast that gives you that slightly fruity, yet spicy mixture of flavor that only Belgian beers have. The wort boil included 3 additions of hops. There was of course the hops added at the beginning to give the bitterness to the beer, then at 10 minutes before the end of boil some more hops were added to add a nice flavor to the brew. Finally, right at the end of the wart, the final hops are added to give the beer a nice aroma. That is the funny thing about hops. Depending on when you add them to the boil will determine what affect they have on the beer, as hops go through all kinds of changes depending how long they are boiled. The full ingredient list is below:

Specialty Grains
* 0.5 lbs. Dingemans Caravienne

Fermentables
* 6.3 lbs. Golden Light Malt Syrup
* 1 lbs. Light Dry Malt Extract

Boil Additions
* 2 oz. Kent Goldings (60 min)
* 1 oz. Kent Goldings (10 min)
* 1 oz. Kent Goldings (0 min)

Yeast
* Wyeast #3522 Belgian Ardennes Yeast.

The kit called for an optional yeast starter. However, I didn’t think it was really necessary this time around, as the OG for Saison isn’t that high. I do plan on using a yeast starter for the Strong Belgian Ale which will be my next brew. The OG actually came out to be 1050. The kit calls for it being 1056, so it is a little low, but nothing to get hung up about. Once it is done in the fermenter, I will rack it to secondary for almost 2 months to really let the taste develop.

The Spiced Winter Ale has been sitting in the secondary now for a week. I will give it another 1-2 weeks before bottling. A small sampling I took during the racking to the secondary was very good though, so I am really looking forward to opening my own first bottle of homebrew!

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