Just because I haven't posted in a while does not mean that things have been slow here at Lake Effect Brewing. I have a couple more batches under my belt in the past couple of weeks, I have successfully captured and brewed a batch of beer with wild yeast, and I had a great hop harvest, all of which I plan on detailing in future blog posts. For now, I just wanted to throw out a quick plug for a couple of things and tomorrow when I brew my very first sour beer (maybe my second, I still have not tasted my wild yeast ale) I plan on doing a full sized post.
The first thing I want to mention is the Basic Brewing Logbook. I picked this up a couple of weeks ago and I could not be more pleased. I love this book. Even though I use Beer Tools Pro, this serves as an excellent hard copy for finalized recipes for the year. With its agenda in the first few pages, you are able to keep track of all of the dates for your primary, secondary, lagering, and anything else you could possibly want, and with room for 50 batches, even I would have to try to fill it up. For $13, you can't go wrong.
The second, and most important part of this post is a startup brewery in Austin, TX that needs your help. My brother in law's boss, the owner of Austin Homebrew Supply, is in the process of starting up a microbrewery and they need some help purchasing some more equipment. They have set up a Kick Starter page where you can pledge to donate money to their cause. Don't worry though, you won't be just giving someone a handout, for your donation, you can get anything from a sticker to being able to help create a featured beer as well as helping to name it. So, unbutton your change purses and help a worthy cause of fellow homebrewers to pursue their dream.
On Deck: The Gose is Loose
Primary: Wild Yeast Test Batch, Harvest Ale
Secondary: Wildflower Mead
Carbonating: Ginger Ale
Total for 2011: 76 Gallons
Showing posts with label Product Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Product Review. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Brewing with an IR Thermometer
I got lucky, twice (the second time extremely, I thought all hope was lost). The third time bit me hard, but I was able to salvage it with some quick thinking. The Easter bunny gave me an Infrared Thermometer (Pyrometer) this year, and I couldn't wait to try it out for brewing. I wish I would have been a bit smarter.
I jumped into it head first as I usually do with a new toy. It was high tech, so in my mind it had to be accurate. The Pilsner that I brewed with it came out perfectly, both original gravity and terminal gravity (this is where I was lucky). The second beer I brewed with it was my first wedding hefeweisen (now the Hopfen Weiss). At first, I had just thought the original gravity was extremely low because the flaked wheat I had used turned into a giant ball while brewing. The fermentation went pretty well, so I ended up with a nice summer, hoppy, low alcohol content wheat beer that would be perfect for the BBQ. I couldn't complain too much.
The third batch I did was perfect (or so I thought). I used malted wheat instead of flaked wheat and I hit all of my temperatures right on with the temp gun. There was only one problem: my original gravity was low, meaning my efficiency was way off just like the Hopfen Weiss. There had to be something in common with these two batches, and my thoughts started to turn towards my IR Temp Gun.
Naturally, I turned to my engineering background and had to perform some experiments regarding my temperature gun. Over the course of three brew sessions, I took temperature readings with both my normal thermometer and the gun: at my pre mash water temperature, mash in, mash out, and my sparge water, always aiming for the same target temperature. Although I cannot say that after my initial discovery that I was shocked by these results, I was surprised that over the temperature span the deviation between the two devices changed.
These results confirmed my suspicions, my temperature was consistently off. When I thought I was reading 158ºF, my temperature was probably up near 185ºF, far above the range of starch conversion. In a way I am tempted to continue with these tests to build up a better average temperature differential between the two devices so I can use just the IR gun, but all I would need is that one stray time for it to catch me and screw up another of my batches. No, for now I will continue using my reliable dial thermometers.
Primary: Honey Dunkelweisen
Secondary: Hefeweisen 2 (Honeyweisen), Honey Toasted Oat Brown Ale, Wedding IPA
Total for 2011: 53 Gallons
I jumped into it head first as I usually do with a new toy. It was high tech, so in my mind it had to be accurate. The Pilsner that I brewed with it came out perfectly, both original gravity and terminal gravity (this is where I was lucky). The second beer I brewed with it was my first wedding hefeweisen (now the Hopfen Weiss). At first, I had just thought the original gravity was extremely low because the flaked wheat I had used turned into a giant ball while brewing. The fermentation went pretty well, so I ended up with a nice summer, hoppy, low alcohol content wheat beer that would be perfect for the BBQ. I couldn't complain too much.
The third batch I did was perfect (or so I thought). I used malted wheat instead of flaked wheat and I hit all of my temperatures right on with the temp gun. There was only one problem: my original gravity was low, meaning my efficiency was way off just like the Hopfen Weiss. There had to be something in common with these two batches, and my thoughts started to turn towards my IR Temp Gun.
Naturally, I turned to my engineering background and had to perform some experiments regarding my temperature gun. Over the course of three brew sessions, I took temperature readings with both my normal thermometer and the gun: at my pre mash water temperature, mash in, mash out, and my sparge water, always aiming for the same target temperature. Although I cannot say that after my initial discovery that I was shocked by these results, I was surprised that over the temperature span the deviation between the two devices changed.
 | |||||
| Red is a normal dial thermometer, and blue is the IR thermometer. |
Primary: Honey Dunkelweisen
Secondary: Hefeweisen 2 (Honeyweisen), Honey Toasted Oat Brown Ale, Wedding IPA
Total for 2011: 53 Gallons
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
ABS Label Making Paper
I got some new label making material for Christmas, and I decided it was just about time to open them up and give them a whirl for the Beef on Weck Ale. These labels are made by ABS Inc. I can't find any web site associated with the company but they are available in a variety of colors: blue, green, white, orange, red, and yellow.
These labels couldn't be any easier to use. All you have to do is design your labels, print the paper, moisten the back and apply.
Overall, I was fairly impressed by these labels. They stick great on the bottles (much better than the glue sticks I used to use). And although it has yet to be seen how easily these will peel off once the beer has been drank, my hopes are high. I tested one by wetting a small corner of one of the bottles and after a few seconds the label started peeling off with no problem at all. The rest of the label however was rock solid and started ripping when I got to the dry portion.
All in all, these labels look great. I am quite excited to get some of the white ones so I can start printing in colors and not only use black and white.
On Deck: Belgian Blonde (2/20), Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier (2/27)
Primary: Elder Ale, Sarsaparilla Ale
Secondary: Irish Red
Conditioning: Beef on Weck Ale
These labels couldn't be any easier to use. All you have to do is design your labels, print the paper, moisten the back and apply.
Overall, I was fairly impressed by these labels. They stick great on the bottles (much better than the glue sticks I used to use). And although it has yet to be seen how easily these will peel off once the beer has been drank, my hopes are high. I tested one by wetting a small corner of one of the bottles and after a few seconds the label started peeling off with no problem at all. The rest of the label however was rock solid and started ripping when I got to the dry portion.
All in all, these labels look great. I am quite excited to get some of the white ones so I can start printing in colors and not only use black and white.
On Deck: Belgian Blonde (2/20), Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier (2/27)
Primary: Elder Ale, Sarsaparilla Ale
Secondary: Irish Red
Conditioning: Beef on Weck Ale
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