Portable Kegerator/Jockey Box

I always need a project, Marygrace will tell you that.  Typically its brewing a new beer, but since we're getting married and going on our honeymoon soon, I don't want to start a new brew since I wouldn't have time to tend to it.  So, my attention turned to the fact that we just happen to have four beers that we will be serving at our rehearsal dinner, and I just also happen to have a beer tower with four faucets sitting in the attic unused.  Interesting.

I didn't know exactly what I was doing to start.  I was just kind of winging it.  I found a spare Rubbermaid tote in the attic as well, 19" wide x 32" long, so it would fit all my kegs, ice and the CO2 tank.  I measured the kegs at 25" tall so that was enough for me to start with, I had my volume that I needed under the table.  Next, I sketched out a design for the table.  I wanted the overall height for pouring to be about chest height, so I decided to design it tiered.  I'll have some room on each side for cups and a sign displaying what's on tap.



I went to my local hardware store, purchased all of my wood, and I was ready to go.  I decided to go with pine because it was cheap, and I am using a dark cherry stain in hope that it will compliment the brass of the tower nicely.

More will be coming in a later update...

Primary: Honey Dunkelweisen

Secondary: Honey Toasted Oat Brown Ale, Wedding IPA

Total for 2011: 53 Gallons

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.

Red is a normal dial thermometer, and blue is the IR thermometer.

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

Stein Brew June 4th, 2011

Over the weekend, Marygrace and I took a trip down to Ellicottville.  Although the thunderstorms were pretty incredible on the way down there, they were not all that pleasant when standing out in them trying to brew beer.  (Thank God they sopped since as I later found out, I would have been killed if they had lasted much longer.)  All in all though, it was a great experience,  got to sample quite a few homebrews and Ellicottville beers that we don't typically get near us, and I got to learn quite a bit from some veteran homebrewers.

The stein brew the way that it is done in Ellicottville is pretty straight foreword.  Mash and sparge a beer as you typically would on a brew day, then when it is time to boil, then comes the fun.  We arrived shortly after noon and the days events were just getting under way.  Since it was raining, the homebrewers had to be a bit innovative in order to keep the fire going:



When the rocks get hot enough (they start to fracture apart since they were using granite...you don't want to use anything like shale or slate since they will explode rather than fracture) and the sparge has completed, the hot stones are loaded into metal baskets attached to planks by a chain.  The board is then spun around a few times to wrap the chain and raise the basket, then its off to the brew kettle!





The stones (some of them literally red hot) are lowered into the boiling wort and sit there for about 10 to 15 minutes (until all of the heat has been released to the wort).  They are then removed and the process is repeated about 15 times in total.  Although these stones help along with the boil (they still use their primary heat source in the process) one of the great attributes that they are supposed to impart on the beer is carmelization of the wort.  Apart from these few differences, the process is just like any other: add hops and whatever other flavorings.  In this case, they used spruce, cascade hops, and if I recall correctly, Mt. Hood.  Here are some shots of the 35 lbs of spruce that were used during the boil:





As I mentioned earlier, one of the great things that we got to do at the brewery was to taste quite a few of the different beers that not only the Ellicottville Brewery has to offer, but some of the homebrewers as well.  From Ellicottville, we got to try 16, Mow Master, Black Hops, two different Oktoberfests, and a Cherry Chocolate Stout.  All of them were so unique and different, but one of my favorites was definitely the Cherry Chocolate Stout, and when we go back in two months to try the stein brew, I will have to get a growler if it is still available for another adventure in beer ice cream.  From the homebrewers, there was an English Mild and a Belgian Christmas Saison that was the Buffalo Brew Fest BIS from 1996, and although the English Mild was a solid beer, all I have to say about the Belgian is wow, and I never though a beer could age that well.  It was smooth with hints of raisin with spices and was almost reminiscent of a sherry.  It was a deep rich dark color with only minimal carbonation.  I will be bringing some of my own homebrew for the next stein brew in October.  We well see how it holds up.

My list of three take-aways from this outing:

1. Do not let American Homebrewers Association membership expire.
2. Bring homebrew for the fall stein brew.
3. Remember to bring a stein to drink out of next time (it is a stein brew after all)

Primary: Honey Dunkelweisen
Secondary: Hefeweisen 2 (Honeyweisen), Honey Toasted Oat Brown Ale, Wedding IPA
Total for 2011: 53 Gallons

Lake Effect T-Shirts Available

Try to contain yourselves.  I know its hard considering that you can now own your very own Lake Effect Brewing Company t-shirt.  The design that Nate had created for the bottles and the website was too good to not be displayed to everyone even if they weren't drinking my beer or visiting the blog.  I had to shove it in their face.



Nate and I started printing shirts over eight years ago with some breaks in between as well as some improvement in our process.  I am selling these for $10.00 each.  If you're interested, just let me know.  Right now, I only have a couple of larges and extra larges, but if there is enough interest I will be printing more.  Right now, they are light blue with white printing, but if I end up printing more, I will be able to print any color shirt requested, you would just need to let me know.

On Deck: Honey Dunkelweisen (5/29), Wedding IPA (5/30)
Primary: Hefeweisen 2, Honey Toasted Oat Brown Ale
Secondary: Hefeweisen (dry hopped with Sorachi Ace), Traditional Pilsner
Total for 2011: 46 Gallons

Wedding Brews Galore!

Last week, I had posted that I had foregone the Maerzen in order to provide enough time to brew some batches for my wedding.  (They actually aren't for the wedding, just the rehearsal dinner the day before...it would be way too much pressure to brew for the actual reception.)  We got engaged in Europe, Prague to be exact, and they were some of the most memorable weeks of our lives.  I had all the intention in the world of trying to translate that into the homebrew that we would serve for our rehearsal dinner, although intentions aren't always cooperative.

The plan was to try to take guests on a tour through Europe first, the Czech Republic with a traditional Czech Pilsner, then onto Munich, Germany with a traditional Bavarian Hefeweisen, and finally landing in England with a British India Pale Ale. 

The first, the Czech Pilsner, went off without a hitch.  I hit an excellent 70% efficiency with my BIB partial mash and my attenuation was spot on at 71%.  My original and terminal gravity we exactly as calculated at 1.052 and 1.015.  I couldn't have been happier with my results.  The base was Ultralight Extract, Belgian Pilsner Malt, with Carapils (Dextrine) Malt and 20ºL in order to give it a bit more body and a touch of color respectively.  So far, I've hopped with 4 oz of Czech Saaz.  I say so far because in the next day or two, I plan on doing a dry hop with another ounce before kegging it shortly after.

The second is where I started to hit some speed bumps...twice.  The first time I brewed it I was caught off guard.  I used flaked wheat for my wheat portion of the grain bill.  Malted wheat for some reason didn't even cross my mind.  I ended up with a dough ball the size of my mash tun.  The half pound of rice hulls I threw in there didn't do a damn thing.  What I ended up boiling was about a gallon and a half of wort.  The original gravity came out a bit lower than expected and the attenuation wasn't near what I had hoped for.  I ended up with a 3.6% beer that I decided I would try again with wheat malt and try to save this one as a summer drinking beer by dry hopping it with an ounce of Sorachi Ace hops.  If all turns out right, it should be nice and light, slightly sweet and have a pleasant hop flavor that will hopefully go nice with the clove/banana flavor of the weisen yeast.

My second attempt of this beer wasn't too much more successful, and it didn't hit me until the end of this brew day which, unfortunately, was too late to save this beer (at least in the traditional form that I wanted it).  The common thread between the two, and I should have been a bit smarter than using it untested, is that I was using an IR thermometer in order to measure all my mashing and sparge water temperatures.  My efficiency was a dismal 52% when I typically hit between 65% and 70% and my attenuation was extremely low, on the order of 58%.  This pointed to one thing, a high mashing temperature since at higher mash temperatures, sugars are still extracted from the grains, however they are less fermentable sugars and result in a sweeter beer.  Over the next few that I brew, I will be using my original thermometer and taking temperatures with that and the IR gun and comparing the two along the brewing process.  Once I've compiled my data I will be posting it here and the way it is looking right now, I will be suggesting not to brew with IR temperature guns.

Hopefully all is not lost on that second hefeweisen though.  I added a pound and a half of honey after primary fermentation subsided in order to try and boost the alcohol content and at the same time convert this to a honey weise that if all turns out well should be a very drinkable beer.

Almost from the onset, after reading Pale Ale by Terry Foster in order to get some inspiration, I decided to go with the American version of the India Pale Ale.  It seemed like a better beer to serve at a summer BBQ with the citrus notes of the hops and the crispness that one would expect from an American IPA.  The design of this beer is still in the works at this time, but its base will be 2-Row and golden malt extract, and I plan on using plenty of North American hops and a California yeast.

On Deck: Honey Dunkelweisen (5/29), Wedding IPA (5/30)
Primary: Hefeweisen 2, Honey Toasted Oat Brown Ale
Secondary: Hefeweisen (dry hopped with Sorachi Ace), Traditional Pilsner
Total for 2011: 46 Gallons 

New Labels and Brewing Competitions

Before I get onto the post, I figured I would post about a nice offer that is available today.  Moolala is offering a year long subscription for Beer Connoisseur for only $8.  The normal subscription price is $21 for the four issues, so this is a pretty good deal especially since I've been wanting to get myself a subscription for a while now.  The one issue that I had picked up was excellent.  There were reviews of over 20 different beers, an article about Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn Brewery, and my favorite part, an article about some of the breweries in the Czech Republic.  There are also some great looking recipes and pairing suggestions, although I have not had a chance to try any of them yet.  All in all it is a good deal and highly recommended for only $8.

Now onto the real post.  Nate has been at it again and has drawn up a couple more labels for my beers.  They are both for the Cinco de Mayo series of beers that were recently brewed, the Chocolate Chipotle Rauchbier and the Chili Lime Pilsner.





Here's the exciting part of this blog post.  There are two homebrew competitions coming up that will have entries from Lake Effect.  The first I was caught completely off guard by since I didn't know it would be this early.  It is the New York State Fair Homebrew Competition hosted by the Salt City Brew Club.  I plan on entering my Elder Ale, Belgian Blonde (might be entered as a Biere de Garde), and Irish Red Ale.  I am also going to be entering Jay and my Dunkelweisen (hopefully it will do a little better this time) and for Jay, I will be entering his Kitchen Sink California Pale Ale.  Niagara Tradition is a drop off point for this competition and entries are due by May 30th (actually May 28th since the 30th is a holiday and the 29th is a Sunday).  Entries are $6 each and judging takes place on June 10th-11th.

The next competition coming up is the Pearl Street Brew Master's Challenge - Honey Brown Lager/Ale.  It may be the fact that I have been eating Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast recently but I think what this competition needs is a Honey Toasted Oat Brown Ale.  I plan on using Maris Otter as the base malt with English Amber, Crystal, German Carafa, and Honey Malt making appearances.  I wanted to try something that I haven't done before, and that would be using toasted oats.  I believe that this with the late addition honey will give the beer a nice smooth finish and help provide a nice full body.  I plan on using Tettnanger and Northern Brewer hops and an American Ale yeast.  I will be brewing this on 5/21 and the submission date is 6/30.

On Deck: Honey Toasted Oat Brown Ale (5/21)
Primary: Hefeweisen 2
Secondary: Hefeweisen (dry hopped with Sorachi Ace), Traditional Pilsner
Total for 2011: 44 Gallons 

Long Time no Post

Just to clear everything up, the lack of posting is not due to the lack of activity.  Here is just a highlight of the few things that have been going on:

• Maerzen has been scrapped to make room for wedding rehearsal dinner beers.
• That's right, I said wedding rehearsal beers.  These include a traditional pilsner, hefeweisen, and IPA.  More to follow.
• Brewing competitions are coming up.  Stay tuned for more to follow.
• Ellicottville Brewing Company is having a Stein Brew on June 4th.  Covered in this post.
• Equipment review.  Details to follow after final testing.
• New labels have been drawn up.  To be posted shortly.

As I mentioned above, on Saturday June 4th, Ellicottville Brewing Company will be holding their 17th annual stein brew.  They will be brewing a spruce ale using hand picked spruce tips from a local homebrewer's property.  Tickets to this event are $25 or $20 for AHA members (guess I shouldn't have let my AHA membership expire) and includes a BBQ meal and 4 pints of beer.  Exact details about this event can be found on EBC's website.

For everyone that doesn't know, stein brewing is a process where stones (in the case of this one granite) are heated up over a fire for a few hours until they are red hot.  Then, they are added to the kettle in order to heat the water (this method can be used in order to heat the mash as well as the final boil).  The process was originally developed before the use of metal brew kettles when brewing was done in wooden vats which obviously could not be heated over a flame.  I don't know the exact method that will be used for this process but I will be posting about the event.

On Deck: Honey Toasted Oat Amber Ale (5/21)
Primary: Hefeweisen 2
Secondary: Hefeweisen (dry hopped with Sorachi Ace), Traditional Pilsner
Total for 2011: 44 Gallons