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Pumpkin Ale Success

“This is really close (to perfection).”

That was the top response I received from the folks at Austin Homebrew Supply after asking them to sample my Pumpkin Ale. Honestly I was a bit surprised. I knew the beer had an imperfection or two but apparently not as noticeable as I had believed.

Photo is too dark. The beer is more red-orange in color.

They pointed out that it’s a bit light on body and has just a tinge of astringency. This is most likely due to mash temps dropping too low. Also in small batches imperfections tend to show more. They offered some advice on how to keep the temperature high (reheat and recirculate liquor during steps) and boost the body (Carapils®). I’ll definitely try these suggestion next time around.

They’re Not Just For Breakfast

So what does a homebrewing hubby do when his wife has lots of oats lying around?

He makes Oatmeal Stout.

It’s good for the soul.

Pumpkin Ale

The Dubbel was a dud.

The Weizen was a waste.

But the pumpkin is looking sweet! My last two attempts at all-grain brewing were less than spectacular. The beers had flavor, they had aroma, but the mouth-feel was empty and dry; totally lacking substance. I blame it entirely on my mash set-up. The wort came out weak and watered down. I wasn’t pulling enough sugars out of the grains. But persevere I shall. Behold, the improved mash tun:

At the bottom of this cooler just above the spigot is a false bottom I created out of a used food pail I picked up at the HEB bakery for free. I totally lucked out. When inverted, the 2.5 gallon bucket squeezed right in down to the correct depth. I cut the top section of the bucket off with the lid attached and evenly drilled many holes to create the adequate grain filter. Now all the wort drains evenly from the grain before exiting the tun.

Loaded with grains:

From the mash tun to the kettle:

The 2 lbs of cooked pumpkin flesh was totally overwhelmed by the grains. Oh well. I’m told that pumpkin really doesn’t add much flavor any way. What really counts is the spice:

I used whole spices crushed and placed in the boil using a couple tea infusers. Worked like a champ.

Here we are, yeast is pitched and we’re ready to ferment.

The original gravity is a whopping 1.058 which is further evidence that the mash tun is doing the job. The wort came out quite a bit darker than I expected, not that I’m complaining. I’m going to be total bummed if this is another dud but so far it looks quite promising.

Yes, that’s not very much beer in there. With extract brewing I could get a full 2.5 gallons into the small carboy. With all grain however I’m severely limited by the size of my kettle since I have to boil the entire wort and you lose quite a bit to evaporation. Me thinks it’s time for an upgrade…

Dubbel in the Making

Twelves hours prior I created a yeast starter using a bit of dried malt extract, water, yeast nutrients, and the yeast. This gives the yeast a “head start” for fermentation. I’d like to give a shout out to our good friend Lauren for the stir plate and Erlenmeyer flask. You rock. While not essential but tremendously beneficial, the stir plate helps provide oxygen to the yeast and drive off CO₂.

Here’s the freshly crushed malt ready to begin the mashing process.

The challenge I wanted to really overcome from my previous brews was chilling the wort. Enter the wort chiller. This version is immersible. Basically, it’s 25 feet of copper tubing placed in the kettle through which chilled water is pumped carrying heat away from the wort. There are a few other ways to chill the wort but this system provides the biggest bang for the buck in terms of money and maintenance. What use to take me 3 hours using just ice baths was done in 40 minutes!

I found the wort chiller on eBay (new, hoses and fittings included) for $40 and a submersible pump at Harbor Freight for $25.

To further improve this method, another system can be added to simultaneously pump wort from the bottom of the kettle and return it through a small, crimped piece of copper tubing that would create a whirlpool effect inside the kettle – circulating the wort around the chiller. This however would require a food-grade, high temperature pump; something for which I am not yet willing to shell out the bucks. And it may not be that much more efficient given I’m brewing a small batch (2.5 gallons).

Elbro Nerkte Brown Ale

To finish up my remaining English Ale yeast I brewed up a small batch of Charlie’s Elbro Nerkte Brown Ale.

“A world-renowned and award-winning recipe, heralded for its quick maturity, this favorite brown ale … can be enjoyed within 10 to 14 days!

The addition of crystal and dark grain malts to an already luscious brown malt extract beautifully enhances the flavorful and mildly sweet richness of the brown ale.” -Charlie Papazian, The Complete Jow of Homebrewing

Kraeusen

Twelve hours fermenting and the wort (pronounced wert) is showing signs of activity. At this point the yeast has gathered enough energy to begin the reproduction and fermentation cycle which is what you see here. The yeast churns out this foamy head called kraeusen (pronounced kroy-zen). It’s a very bitter resin that contains “fusel” oils which are known to contribute to “beer headaches.” Kraeusen can either be allowed to fall back into the beer or automatically removed via a “blow-out” tube as I am doing here. Once the activity subsides the tube will be replaced with an air lock until fermentation is complete.

Homebrew: Round 2

This memorial day weekend I’m brewing Righteous American Real Ale – a recipe from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing which describes it as:

brewed in a style of the “ordinary bitter” served in parts of London and in hop country to the south. It is created with American hops, making exquisitely flavorful ale with a beautiful American hop aroma.

This recipe is a step up from the simple beer kits in that the wort is created by boiling dried malt extract and hops.

The big lesson learned this time: wort takes a while to cool down to room temperatures in order to pitch the yeast. In the future, have an ice bath ready.

First Homebrew

I finally got around to opening the Mr. Beer Homebrewing kit my beloved gave this past Christmas. It’s certainly a good way to familiarize yourself with the basics of homebrewing with minimal hassle. However, at the same time I’ve been making good strides through The Complete Joy of Homebrewing What I really enjoy about this book is that Charlie Papazian (the author) does not skimp on the details. He’s not afraid to dive into a bit of chemistry or horticulture to support what he’s talking about.

The book starts out with Papzian’s own beginner’s guide for the reader to make their first batch. His process was a bit more complex and involved than Mr. Beer, but honestly having read the book first I felt a bit “cheated” with Mr. Beer, like I missed out on a few key learning opportunities to experience for myself – i.e. determining if it’s time to bottle by using a hydrometer as opposed to simply tasting if the beer is flat (ready) or sweet (not ready).

The other thing that left me a bit uneasy with Mr. Beer was the amount of dextrose (corn sugar) used for fermenting known as their Booster product. While it is an acceptable practice to lighten the body and increase the alcohol content, corn sugar is generally used for economical purposes to speed up the fermentation process. A more “natural” method is to use dried malt extract to provide it’s own sugars. As Papazian says,”You will always make a far superior beer by eliminating and substituting or minimizing the amount of any refined sugar” and “[corn sugar] does not contribute to a true malt beer character.” In all fairness however, Mr. Beer does provide numerous recipes that utilize unhopped malt extract as opposed to dextrose. I will certainly choose one of those on my next batch.

All in all, I’m having a lot of fun with this and brainstorming ways to take it up a notch (…or two …or three). lt’ll be a few weeks before my first batch is ready for consumption. I’ll keep you posted.