APA - 2nd Ferment

After 12 days in the primary time to move APA into the new home.

Moving day - out of primary into secondary

Everything went smooth again.  Easy using the auto-siphon on top of the counter moving it into the secondary.  A note on the fermentation temps, they were typically in the 23-25 range, a little warm by most standards.

Experiment - dry hopped during primary fermentation..

Also for this APA I put the dry hop pellet bag into the primary fermentation.  Looking back should have done this for the secondary rather than primary.  Will be a test for next time.  In most of the forums and other material is supports the dry hopping at the secondary fermentation... which I knew but I'd already opened the outer sealing bag and thought let's give it a shot.

The taste was moderate... I thought the would have been much more hoppiness in the brew, and there was more than the previous batches so it was a win albeit small.

SG at the secondary rack was 1.014, making this a 5.5% so far. 

Pale American

Following the success of the IPA I decided it was time to get back into it.  Need to brew something for summer here.  Catching some waves (still to do), relaxing on the beach and enjoying some home brew in January.  Certainly Australia in January is a special place and has special needs for beer.

So I took a chance back at Dave's and picked up the APA kit with a few extra ingredients.  Most of the kit was dry malt, which was a bit of a surprise.  Hops were still in plastic baggies other than the finishing hops, so similar concerns on the ingredients but we'll give it a go.

A lite steeping process but was great with the setup using the handles above the kettle with the steeping bag.  So cool... I love it. (and yes that is pizza in the lower right of the frame)

Steeping bag above

And most of the boil was through fine.  No dramas.  Fun watching all the malt take up....

All the malt added

At the end of the day everything went fine with the exception of cooling the wort.  It took a lot longer than last batch and I believe it's because the cold water is generally hotter due to the summer.  It just didn't seem as cold to cool and it took far too long.  I got impatient and added the wort back into the carboy and pitched the yeast.   WHAT!?  I pitched the yeast directly without checking the temp...!  This was a complete oversight and complacency on my part.  Liz was coming back from girls night and I just wanted to get it finished, but made the mistake.  I'm estimating it was about 84F when I pitched it.

Luckily when I checked the next day it was starting to ferment... and about 24 hours later it was clear this didn't have too bad of an impact.

Anyway it's up and going, OG was 1.056

740: boil on... getting to steep 30C
746: 42C
752: 66C
753: begin steep - pot is in the middle of the burners, 71C moving off burner alltogethre
804: steeping still... steady at 69C
816: - off steep, up to boil. lid on   
825: - 90+C.... bringing to boil then adding the dry malt extract
834: boil on!
919:
920: - pitched hops "bag 2"
934: - bag 1
949: ....
1112: OG 1.056

Thanksgiving Test

The IPA has had a few more weeks to develop, and in that time things have gotten much better.  The taste is naturally more smooth and has much more fermentation to it.  It's developed well and ready for some field testing.

I brought it to Tim and Jen's Thanksgiving Day get together.  Tim and Jen are our expat friends in Manly and had setup a Thanksgiving get together for fellow Americans and also our Aussie friends.  In thanks I brought 13 bottles of the brew (still unnamed) in honor of the 13 colonies. 

Our friends were curious what the non-labeled bottle was ... Tim coined "Joe Beer" which struck a chord through the night.  Once people knew it was beer and it was on-limits they sampled.   And seemingly enjoyed!  In fact there was only one remaining by the end of the night (and no... it wasn't me having 12 myself!).  Joe-Beer was an unofficial success with requests for more.  A photo from the night that Tim snapped with a few of the friends imbibing...  

Aussie Birthday First Taste

G'day - it's birthday time so what better way to celebrate than with the first taste of the home brew.  I've patiently waited since August (arguably before then) to taste the first down-unda brew.

I have been very concerned about the brew - the ingredients didn't seem as fresh as ones in the states and the recipe seemed a bit off.  I'd done my own tweaks to try and get it close and it has seemingly held.


So, still young in the bottle I gave it a "fair go". 

Good signs of bottle fermentation, suds were coming to the top, albeit lightly.  Color was generally clear and my fear about the bottle caps and the different bottles themselves were lifted.  Success!

But how was the taste?  Taste was surprisingly good!  It was heavily caramel and rich in flavor.  The hops and yeast could have been different as it didn't seem IPA ish... but it did have a unique taste like an English pale ale with a darker twist.  And it was good :)

Great way to start the birthday and spring season off!

Dave's IPA Bottled

After racking to the secondary fermentor (when was that again?) it was time to bottle.  It's been fermenting since early August, so a good 2 months.

The setup was actually good.  Pulled the fermentor out and just did it in the kitchen.  With the newly smuggled acquired Bottle Filling Wand I made quick work on bottling the batch with the auto-siphon.  To prevent a mess put the bottles into the stock pot.  Worked great.

End result speaks for itself :)

FG was 1.018 = roughly 5.5% by volume.  A couple weeks and we'll have the first taste!

Home Brew Contraband

While back in the states I took the opportunity to hit the local homebrew store... Brew and Grow.  It's over on the east side of Madison and although Dave's home brew back in Sydney had most of the gear I couldn't help but envy the ease of which it is to get brewing equipment for decent prices in the US.  I wanted to hit the Wine and Hop shop but time simply didn't permit.  Of course it's one thing to buy, it's another to get through customs.

Floating thermometers, 3 piece airlocks, 9" filter, auto-siphons, bottle capper... where do I stop.  Not that Dave's didn't have all this, simply Aussie prices are criminal...

It didn't stop me, for about $35 USD I got the lot, and they threw in a few extras.  When it was time to bring it back I packed it all tight in the check bag and thought if they take it they do.

24 hours later on arrival we gathered the bags and headed into customs.  The customs patrol asked us if we had any grains, any wood, any food.  "No."  He took a long look at our bags and glanced at our eyes - we were tired, wanted to get home, rest, (and brew).

Finally he checked the customs form and let us on through.  Success!  All as the bloodhounds quietly admired our reentry.

Still Going

Just some observations from the Dave's Home Brew IPA Kit...

The Safale-04 yeast really took off.  I pitched the yeast directly into the carboy and within 12 hours the signs of fermentation were already occurring and after 24 hours it was going very vigorously.  It kept strong through about 48 hours and now it's starting to die down.  Have noticed the SG is around 1.024 already... so it's looking like the yeast have done their job.

Still plenty of fermentation to go, will plan to rack to the secondary carboy this weekend.

Dave's Home Brew IPA

After a long brewing hiatus I finally was able to brew a batch tonight!  Wifey made a nice brewing corner in the kitchen for all the gear and we're back in business.  At least for the near term.

I had bought a kit some time ago from a local brew house in Sydney - Dave's Home Brew but never had the gear or time to brew it.  Until tonight.

The ingredients were mostly familiar and the process generally the same, though I modified the instructions a bit.  The grain was Torrified Wheat.  Bag A had 500g of dry malt extract with what looked to be target hops added to the extract.  The Yeast was Safale S-04, bittering hops were East Kent Golding hops and there was a Goldings hop bag.  

Ingredients in the kit

 I mentioned the instructions didn't look right so I modified them slightly.  Game plan was....

1) Bring 3 gallons water to 158 (70) to steep grains
2) steep grains for 20 minutes
3) after grains then add 2 malt extracts, bag A, bag 2 of hops, bring to boil
4) boil for 45 minutes,
5) then add bag 1 hops
6) boil another 15 then stop...
7) cool down  to 80 F
8) add yeast and then get it into the primary.

And for the most part I did... some photos.

Grain bag in the steep

Nice large grain bag

How awesome is that - grain bag properly hanging from the cabinet!

Post grains and mid boil... going good

So through the boil everything was going good.  No dramas.  Like riding a bike.  After the boil was done then I moved into the laundry room to bring the brew down in temps.  It didn't go as quickly as Cocoa Beach simply b/c I didn't have ice.  If I had ice and a drain plug it would have gone about the same.

Eventually the temps came down and it was time to transfer it to the carboy.  Though because I didn't have a good funnel I ended up having to auto-siphon it.  That worked until about the end when it clogged with the hops, then I had to transfer it using other ways... which made an absolute mess.  Oh well.

End result is a OG of 1.060 (and I think it's actually higher than this because when I transferred to the hydrometer some water also transferred).

OG of Dave's Pale Ale - 1.060(+)

For future reference...

Timeline
7:50 fill - 7 carafe = 49 cups
8:01 start
816 = 60C
826 = 72C
826 = start steep (awesome setup with grain bag from above)
856 = bring to boil 75
902 = 90
906 = boil
910 = bag 2 added
950 = bag 1 added
953 = finishing hops activated in boiling water - these hops smell good.... others didn't at all
1000 = off heat
1002 = back on
1006 = Removed from heat, cool-down begin
1009 = 85
1014 = 65
1019 = 54
1024 = 44
1029 - 37
1034 - 32
1039 - 28
1042: begin autosiphon
1055: pitch yeast
1100 shake it
1108 airlock
1111 beer brewed
1200 midnight, cleanup done

Brewing Drought

After moving to Australia and leaving all my brewing equipment to Drew (who is legally bound to protect my precious) looks like I'll be back in action!

Wifey has made a mini man-cove for me to contain all the brewing equipment.  Carboys, kettles, bottles, etc...!  This is huge and the beginning of a new empire.  :) 

Watch this space...