Drinking Made Easy - Philly

Drunkards are entertaining, and Zane Lamprey is one hell of a drunkard.

Here is a clip of Zane doing a 30,000 foot overview of the Philly beer scene from Drinking Made Easy.

Zane can be found on Dinking Made Easy, and Three Sheets. 

Yeastly Experimentation - Kolsch vs Trappist

The main reason for my new equipment upgrade (besides larger quantities of beer) is to be able to split up the wort, and experiment with different variables. Yeast is the most obvious choice of variable to start with, so here we are.

I created a 10 gallon batch of wort using the ingredient list below. I originally designed this recipe for a kolsch yeast (WLP029), so to have the highest possible contrast for my first experiment I picked a trappist ale yeast (WLP500) for the experimental beer. A kolsch yeast creates a very clean tasting beer, so the very fruity taste producing trappist ale yeast should create easily detectable differences in the final beers.


Grist
19 lbs of Pilsner 2 Row
1 lbs of Munich

Mash
148°F for 75 Minutes

Extract
none

Hops in the Boil
1oz Perle for 60 Minutes
1oz Tettnang for 40 Minutes
1oz Tettnang for 20 Minutes

Additional Ingredients
Whirlfloc

Yeast
White Labs - German Ale/Kölsch (WLP029)
White Labs - Trappist Ale Yeast (WLP500)

Fermentation
Primary - 68°F for 3 Weeks

Dry Hopping
None

Cold Crashing
33°F for 1 Weeks


Luckily there is a window where they are both within their optimal temperature ranges. The kolsch yeast's optimal range is from 65-69°F, and the trappist ale yeast's optimal range is 65-72°F. I selected 68°F to ferment both of these beers to stay within both optimal ranges, and to be warm enough to get sufficient fruity flavors out of the trappist ale yeast. Yes, I know the picture shows 66°F. The pic was taken after the exothermic fermentation took place, and without that extra heat the ambient temperature isn't warm enough to hold the 68°F.

The last, and obviously most important step is to name the beers. Their temporary names are kaucasian kolsch, and "not a kolsch" trappist ale, but as you can probably tell, I am lacking naming inspiration, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

"bubbly bubbly" says the carboys.

Who are you paying for your beer?

A friend of mine recently sent me this link explaining some issues with MillerCoors becoming an investor of Terrapin Beer Company, and it made me think. What other companies are under the umbrella of the 2 major players in the brewing world AB Inbev, the parent company of Budweiser, and MillerCoors, the parent of Miller and Coors.

Here is a much bigger quiz that I put together that will test your brewing industry knowledge.

Good Luck!

Basic Homebrew Kit

I was recently asked a few times what a good basic homebrew kit is, and what it costs. It has been so long since I had looked in that section of homebrew supply stores or their websites, so I had no idea. I almost suggested that Austin Homebrew Supply was the place to go, but that was only because I have used them successfully many times. However none of those times dealt with beginner brew kits. That made me realize that there is a huge knowledge gap where experienced brewers aren't in the best position to advise non-brewers with equipment decisions. Below is a list of the equipment that you absolutely need to begin homebrewing5 gallon batches of beer, and a picture of a basic homebrewing kit that comes from Midwest Homebrewing and Wine Making Supplies website. Most if not all of the equipment listed below can still serve a purpose later if and when you upgrade to more sophisticated equipment.

• Instructions
• 6 Gallon or larger Fermenter and Lid
• 6 Gallon or larger Bottling Bucket with Spigot
• No-Rinse Cleaner

• Sanitizer

• Airlock (Keeps air out of the fermenter)
• Hydrometer (Determines alcohol content)
• Bottle Brush
• Bottle Capper
• Bottle Caps
• Bottles (~48 for a 5 gallon batch)
• Bottle Filler
• Racking Tube
• Siphon Tubing

• Beer Ingredients
• Brewing Thermometer
• 4 Gallon or larger Brew Pot



After doing a little research it seems like you can't go wrong with any basic homebrew kit. I know what you are thinking, but no, this was not a complete waste of time. Here is my spreadsheet that lists the prices and equipment differences between many of the larger online homebrew supply stores, and links to their kits.

To get into homebrewing will cost you about $120 after you buy everything that you need, and even more if you don't already have a 4 gallon or larger pot. However after that first investment it will only cost you between $30 and $50 per 5 gallon batch of beer. It will be a little more expensive if you buy your equipment and ingredients at your local homebrew supply store, but sometimes it is worth it for their help and experience.

Let me know in the comments section if you need me to talk about the "Equipment Not Included" section of the spreadsheet. I do a complete write-up in the near future explaining beer ingredients for beginning brewers.

Maroon Monsoon - Re-brew

With this batch I wanted to attempt to recreate my first all grain batch, an irish red that turned out great, except for the part where I over carbonated it in the keg. I really liked the combination of flavors in this recipe. The maris otter malt gives the beer a slightly nutty characteristic which blends well with the caramel, honey and smokey characteristics of the other malts. If all goes well this beer should resemble honey nut cheerios, and is recommended as a part of a balanced breakfast...


Grist
8.5 lbs of Maris Otter
1.5 lbs of Crystal 20L
0.25 lbs of Honey Malt

0.125 lbs of Roasted Barley

Extract
none


Hops in the Boil
0.5oz Cascade for 60 Minutes
0.5oz Cascade for 40 Minutes

0.5oz Cascade for 20 Minutes

0.5oz Cascade for 5 Minutes


Yeast
White Labs - Irish Ale (WLP001)


Dry Hopping
1oz Cascade


Additional Ingredients
Whirlfloc


The only change that I made on the previous recipe is that I added an ounce of cascade hops that I will dry hop for a week with. 

Brew Day Upgrade - Brew Pot & Hop Blocker

I have been attempting to slowly grow my equipment from the basic kit to a professional home brewer one step at a time. My last upgrade included a Mash Lauter Tun for my first all grain batch, and now it is time to upgrade to a 20 gallon Blichmann Engineering Boilermaker brew pot with a hop blocker. The brew pot has a built in ball valve drain, thermometer and volume level guage. The pot took a little assembly, but it only took 2 wrenches and about 5 minutes to add the thermometer. I still need to get an adapter for the drain to fit tubing, but that will just take a $3 trip to lowes.

The hop blocker fits inside the drain, and will hopefully stop the majority of the hops from the boil from getting into the primary fermenter. I will be brewing a batch of maroon monsoon soon, and I will let y'all know how well it works. 

Schwarzwasser - Racking into Secondary

The schwarzwasser fermentation began almost instantaneously, but it took nearly 2 weeks  to slow down, and another 4 days to stop. With a fermentation that takes that long I like to get the beer off of the trub, and into a secondary. 

If beer sits on the trub for too long it can generate off flavors, but if moved into a secondary then there is a greater chance that the beer gets oxidized. I keep my beer cold enough, and my friends help me drink it fast enough that oxidation isn't an issue, so into the second carboy it goes with the ounce of cascade hops that I am dry hopping the schwarzwasser with.

Oh schwarzwasser keep on rollin', Mississippi moon won't you keep on shinin' on me... 

Schwarzwasser

For all of the years that I have brewed it surprised me that I have never brewed a stout. Actually, with full disclosure...I have never brewed anything darker than an irish red. That is why I decided to brave the 90+F heat, and brew an imperial stout. Below is the recipe that I created for this beer, and if all goes well it should be ready to go by the time cooler weather rolls around.


Grist
18 lbs of Maris Otter
0.5 lbs of Black Patent Malt
0.5 lbs of Chocolate Malt

0.5 lbs of Special B Malt

1 lbs of Flaked Oats


Extract
none


Hops in the Boil
3oz Cascade for 60 Minutes
1oz Cascade for 30 Minutes

1oz Cascade for 15 Minutes

1oz Cascade for 5 Minutes


Yeast
White Labs - California Ale (WLP001)


Dry Hopping
1oz Cascade


Additional Ingredients
Whirlfloc
4oz Cold Steeped Coffee

B.Y.O.B TV

Recently B.Y.O.B TV, the first "American Idol" style homebrewing TV show, had its season finale. Being that the show is on a local TV network in the San Francisco area the production value of the show isn't the best, and 3 commercials replaying over and over gets kind of annoying, but there are some interesting and informative competitions. I have been learning a lot of my brewing knowledge from the Brewing Network guys that put this show together, so I thought I would give them the smallest promotion possible...to the 2 people on average that read each of my blog posts.

Check out all of the past episodes HERE....

Brewing Network: Troegs

For any self respecting beer drinker that has spent any time in central PA, Tröegs Brewing Company should be a familiar name. The Brewing Network's Sunday Session  commonly has some of the best beer brewing minds on their program, and having John and Chris Trogner, the founders of Tröegs, on the program is no exception.

To listen to audio of the Sunday Session show CLICK HERE.

To watch the podcast of the Sunday Session show CLICK HERE.

Sunday Session shows are relatively long, so if you are only interested in hearing from John and Chris advance to just after the 40 minute mark.

It's Summertime, and the Brewing is Lazy - Summer Ale

With summertime upon us I have decided to brew 2 batches of a Sam Adams Summer Ale clone that I have been using for the past few years. It might be my lack of an appetite for a super complexified hop bomb of a beer on a hot summer day, but I am in the mood to brew a few no-brainer super simple mini-mash beers, and that is exactly what my Sam Adams Summer Ale clone is.

Grist

0.5 lbs of 2 Row Malt

0.5 lbs of White Wheat

Extract

7 lbs of Wheat Extract

Hops in the Boil

1.5oz Tettnang for 60 Minutes

0.5oz tettnang for 5 Minutes

Yeast

White Labs - California V Ale Yeast (WLP051)

Dry Hopping 

none

Additional Ingredients

Whirlfloc for 15 Minutes

2g Paradise Seeds for 15 Minutes
Zest of 3 Lemons

The first batch was a success with two gatherings each being able to finish off half of the five gallon keg. My apologies to the second gathering for not anticipating your thirst for more than half of a keg. It was after a brewfest people...how was I to know?!? The second batch is boiling with 1.5 oz of tettnang as I type this, and I will let y'all know how it turns out when I write about my next brewing adventure (insert echo of "adventure" for effect)....

Parti-gyle: AT-ST

The second runnings of wort from my AT-AT Imperial Pale Ale through my Mash Lauter Tun was predictably much lighter in color and gravity. I was able to get 4.5 gallons of wort, and I measured it's specific gravity as 1.022 @ 108°F. Before adding any hops I allowed it to boil off some of the water for 30 min, and then added the following ingredients:

• 1/2oz nugget hops for 60min
• 1/2oz nugget hops for 30min
• 1oz nugget hops, and 1oz sweet orange peels for 10min
• 1 whirlfloc tablet for 15min
• 1oz nugget hops at flame-out
• WLP001 California ale yeast

The resulting 3.25 gallons of wort's OG was 1.032 @ 82°F, and started fermenting away within an hour.

Parti-gyle: AT-AT/AT-ST

The title is probably a strange combination of letters to many of you, but what I will be brewing tomorrow has been a standard practice for a long time. Parti-gyle is a brewing style where the grains are re-mashed to create a second beer with a lower alcohol content. Traditionally the beer made from the first mashing would be given to the ruling class, and the subsequent mashings would have been drank by lower and lower classes.

The AT-AT is an imperial IPA, and the AT-ST will be closer to a standard IPA. The build list for the AT-AT is below, and the AT-ST will be a lower gravity (2-legged) version with a much smaller hop schedule.

Grist

15 lbs of 2 Row Malt

2 lbs of Caramel 10L

2 lbs of Munich Malt

Extract

none

Hops in the Boil

1oz Centennial for 90 Minutes

0.5oz Centennial for 80 Minutes

0.5oz Centennial for 70 Minutes

0.5oz Amarillo for 60 Minutes

0.5oz Amarillo for 50 Minutes

0.5oz Cascade for 40 Minutes

0.5oz Cascade for 30 Minutes

0.5oz Cascade for 20 Minutes

1oz Cascade & 0.5oz Amarillo for 10 Minutes

0.5oz Cascade & 0.5oz Amarillo for 5 Minutes

Yeast

White Labs - High Gravity Ale (WLP099)

Dry Hopping 

1oz Cascade

1oz Amarillo

Additional Ingredients

Whirlfloc

The Beer Smith recipe sheet can be found here.

AT-AT Emperial IPA...get it, GET IT?

Dun, dun, dun, dunt-da-dun, dunt-da-dun.....

First All Grain Batch - Irish Red Ale

This batch of irish red was my first all grain recipe, and I realized that I needed to upgrade my brewing equipment after going through the boil. My 22 quart brew pot (obviously) wouldn't hold the over 6 gallons that I needed to boil to get down to my 5.25 gallon fermentation volume. This extra volume for a full boil was much harder for me to heat up and cool down.  So I would have a better brewing experience next time, I just went on a little buying spree. I got a new stainless steel 32 quart pot, wort chiller, and a propane burner (I also got the ingredients for an imperial IPA, but I'll get into that later). Look out wort, there is now a 210,000BTU dragon underneath you!

Back to the irish red. The Beer Smith build list is below, and everything went well. All of the steps took a little longer than normal, but nothing ended disastrously. During the boil I had a separate pot of boiling wort that I used to top off the main brew pot, so the volume and specific gravity were very close to what was expected. I am really excited to see how my St. Patty's day/opening day brew turned out!

Quadruple hops brewed...look out miller lite!

*Note - I just named this batch "Maroon Monsoon"

Beer Smith

Recently I have begun using Beer Smith to formulate recipes, and keep my brewing notes. Beer Smith can calculate your ABV, IBUs, beer color, and mash temperatures and volumes based on the ingredients and schedules that are entered. Below is the user interface with a pilsner recipe that I am planning on using later.

 I suggest anyone that homebrews, from extract to all grain, should try this program out. The best part is you get a free 21 day trial to decide if you want to pay for it.

Step by Step: Mash Lauter Tun Construction

With all of the information on base and specialty grains that I have been coming across recently, I decided to make a mash lauter tun to turn that knowledge into wisdom. Here was the thought process that I went through while making the MLT.

Step 1: Choose a cooler

There are a lot of cylindrical coolers out there made out of igloo coolers, but while doing research on this I found that they are relatively inefficient at heat retention and dead space. I went with a Coleman 62-Quart Xtreme Wheeled Cooler (Blue), because of the thick insulation and the design of the channeled interior. This channel allows for the filtering tube to lay at the lowest level, and there is little wasted space. 

Step 2: Get the guts

Everything that I used to make the MLT I was able to buy at Lowes. The build list was:

• 1 - Stainless Steel Water Supply Line
• 2 - Stainless Steel 3/4" Washers
• 1 - 1/2" X 1.5" Brass Nipple (2 male threaded ends)
• 1 - 1/2" Ball Valve (2 female threaded ends)
• 1 - 1/2" X 1/2" Brass Hose Barb Adapter (male threaded end) 
• 1 - 1/2" X 1/2" Brass Hose Barb Adapter (female threaded end)
• 2 - Stainless Steel Hose Clamps (large enough to go up to 3/4")
• 1 - Teflon Tape

Step 3: Prep for assembly

The steps taken to prep for the assembly are as follows:

1. Pop the larger handle off of the cooler, because it would be in the way later. 
2. Unscrew the existing drain by holding the interior of the drain with needle nose pliers and spinning the exterior piece. Be sure not to throw away any pieces, because the rubber washer will be needed later on (plus you might want to turn it back into a cooler at some point).
3. To fit onto the nipple, I had to file the inside of the washers. I really hope that you don't have this problem, because it is the step that took me the longest.
4. To remove the interior of the supply line, use a pair of sheers cut the supply line as close to the two ends as possible. Then push the steel braiding off of the tubing (dont pull, think chinese finger trap). Lastly, bend the loose ends into the tube, so that those damn things wont poke you later.

Step 4: Assembly

The assembly was relatively easy and really annoying at the same time. The steps for the assembly are as follows:

1. Open a beer.
2. Place the nipple into the drain of the cooler. On the inside of the cooler put the rubber washer that we saved from the prep, then one of the stainless steel washers on the nipple. On the exterior of the cooler put the other stainless steel washer on the nipple.
3. Use the teflon tape on the threading of the nipple on the inside of the cooler, and put the barb adapter with the female threaded end on finger tight.
4. Use the teflon tape on the threading of the nipple on the exterior of the cooler, and put the ball valve on finger tight.
5. Use the teflon tape on the threading of the barb adapter with the male threaded end, and put the barb adapter into the ball valve finger tight.
6. Wrench tighten the equipment added during the previous 3 steps.
7. Bend one of the ends of the supply line in on itself, place one of the hose clamps onto this end and tighten.
8. Place the other hose clamp onto the supply line, then slide the open end of the supply line onto the barb adapter on the inside of the cooler. Slide the hose clamp over both the barb adapter and the supply line, and tighten.
9. Open another beer, step back and appreciate the work you just did. 

"I am a Craft Beer Drinker" & "I am a Craft Beer Brewer"

These videos show the passion for quality, innovation and integrity that comes along with craft beer brewing and the loyalty that craft beer drinkers show towards this growing industry.

"I expect my brewer to create trends, not chase them"

Pale Force IPA

To contrast with Code Name: One I brewed a normal recipe for my IPA from Austin Homebrew Supply. This won't wind up being as good of a learning experience as I thought it was going to be, because I truncated Code Name: One's secondary fermentation to get it ready in time for the superbowl. It will, however, give me 10 gallons of beer instead of 5 gallons of beer, so it's not all bad. 

Here are the ingredients for my normal Pale Force IPA recipe:

Crushed Grain

1lb of Crystal 20L

Extract

9lbs of Extra Light Liquid Extract

Hops in the Boil

1oz Nugget for 60 Minutes

0.5oz of Perle for 30 Minutes

2oz of Centennial for 15 Minutes

Yeast

Safale S-04

Dry Hopping 

1oz Centennial

0.5oz Chinook

Additional Ingredients

Whirlfloc

Initial Specific Gravity

1.062 taken at  72ºF

The boil went well, and the wort looked and smelled like a standard IPA wort should. The only procedural "problem" that I had was that my mini-mash of the crystal 20L was at a higher temperature than I wanted. It was at about 170ºF instead of the 155ºF that I was aiming for. I don't think this will be an issue, because this malt was added for the color and flavor it will impart on the beer, and not for its fermentables. The only possible affect this could have on the finished product is to give it a imperceptibly lower alcohol content, and a slightly thicker mouth feel.

Beer: The Motivational Speech

This video is the equivalent to watching a trailer for Rudy, Hoosiers and 300 at the same time, and I now feel like i was just inspired to brew by the likes of Lombardi, Patton or FDR. Here is the bug, but be careful. It bites.

Code Name: One - Racking to the Secondary Fermenter

Today I racked Code Name: One into my secondary fermenter, and dry hopped it with 1oz of Centennial, and 0.5oz of Chinook as per the recipe.

I took a specific gravity reading, and got 1.018 at 62ºF. This tells us that the beer is now at approximately 6%ABV, but I believe that it has a little farther to go.

Code Name: One

My local homebrew supply store, Mr. Steve's Homebrew Supply, is great at many things, but they are lacking in liquid malt extract selection. Their bulk liquid extract can only be bought in seven pound increments, and they didn't have any extra light liquid extract at all. These issues left me with an interesting opportunity to experiment away from one of my regular IPA recipes.

Here are the ingredients for the 5 gallon experimental recipe:

Crushed Grain
1lb of Crystal 20L

Extract
7lbs of Light Liquid Extract
2lbs of Plain Extra Light Dry Extract

Hops in the Boil
1oz Nugget for 60 Minutes
0.5oz of Perle for 30 Minutes
2oz of Centennial for 15 Minutes

Yeast
Safale S-04

Dry Hopping 
1oz Centennial
0.5oz Chinook

Additional Ingredients
Whirlfloc

Initial Specific Gravity
1.062 taken at  70ºF

The boil went well, resulting in an expectedly darker wort than my normal recipe that replaces the 9lbs of extracts with 9lbs of extra light liquid extract. I am planning on ordering my normal recipe from Austin Homebrew Supply to have a comparison, and see how these recipe tweaks affect the finished product.

It is experiences like this that really add a fun element to homebrewing, and turns "my beer" into "my baby". Never be afraid to experiment. What is the worst that can happen? You might just have to invite some friends over to destroy the evidence. Trust me, as bad as you think your experimental beer turned out, if your friends are anything like mine they will drink any free beer with smiles on their faces.

Monkey T@il Brewery

Hello world, my name is Bill Krayer. I have been homebrewing for the past four+ years, and a beer snob for awhile longer. Monkey T@il Brewery is what I call my homebrew operations, and this blog will consist of my brewing "lessons learned the hard way".

For my blog dedicated to learning more official brewing information than my personal experiences can provide please visit Brew True.

Welcome aboard.