Wood Barrel Issues

I noticed after the first day or two that the wood barrel's airlock stopped exhibiting gas release.  I realized that since the keg wasn't completely full that there was a potential that the top of the keg has dried slightly allowing gas seepage.

Seeing in a articles when researching wooden barrels about using glass beads to aid in filling the volume of the keg I purchased some beads and boiled.  After cooling I placed them into the barrel to raise the volume but sadly I didn't purchase enough.  Not wanting to potentially contaminate the brew I will wait and see on this effort.

My suggestion in the future is to brew a half gallon more than needed and waste the extra or place into smaller carboy.

First Time in Wooden Kegs

Transferring From the Primary to the Wooden Barrel

After some days of conditioning the new wooden barrel, Sunday was the moving day from the primary to the secondary fermenter.  Although most reports on the barrel fermentation state that it shouldn't be done, if a air lock is placed on top it can be utilized.

Airlock Installed to Relieve Fermentation Pressures

Over the next few weeks the Milky Moose Musk will gather the flavors from the oak barrel and add them to the overall flavor profile.  This will be interesting to determine if wood kegging the stout was the way to go.  Speaking of stouts ... today I will be brewing my first Oatmeal Stout called Rocky Point Oatmeal Stout.

Kick Ass Sassafras -- Almost There, but Not Quite Yet

Wood Keg

Before Adding Boiling Water

I started prepping the wood keg so I can continue the secondary fermentation inside.  The process of swelling the keg back to be water tight takes about three hours and I would advise doing it over the sink.

Added Boiling Water But With the Cracks Came Out Quickly

Kept Adding Boiling Water Until Cracks Sealed

I started the adding of the water on the counter but as quickly as I added the water it seeped through the keg all over the counter ... thus I quickly moved the keg to the sink as the ends sealed back up.  The final process of filling the keg I just took everything into the bath tub ... this part takes up to three days to complete according to the paperwork.

Left the Keg Filled in the Bath Tub

Looking Into Expansion

I have now been brewing in the breakfast nook for over a year and have my eyes on the horizon for expansion.  There is no room left inside the house thus the garage is the next logical area for this upcoming expansion  ... but there will be a cost involved.

A few years back I had water routed into the garage to support a whole house water softener which necessary due to the high levels of Ca in our local water supply, but now I am looking into installing a stainless sink with both hot and cold water, and of course a drain.  Next week I will be speaking to a plumber to discuss options.  I also have been looking at stainless steel sinks since they can be easily sanitized but I will tell you that they are not cheap.  A friend suggested looking into use restaurant equipment which I am and I have noticed a reduction in price of greater than 50%.

I figure with the expansion including getting a professional grade beer sculpture that the total cost will range about $6 to 10K by the time of completion ... and sadly I still cannot sell even one beer to cover the cost.

But first things first.  Looking into the expansion what steps need to be taken to be best prepared and ready once everything is purchased to start brewing.

     1). Get natural gas to the site of sculpture and for the hot water heater for the new sink.  This has to be professionally done for safety and dead headed until next step.

     2)  Purchase stainless sink (double and deep to clean pots)

     3). Have a plumber install, include small hot water heater for hot water and connect to sewer.

     4). Purchase sculpture and conical fermenter.

The first steps aren't sexy but necessary if I want to brew after getting all of the new shiny equipment.

Wood Keg

Yesterday I went to my local beer supply store in Riverside to pick up ingredients for the next four batches of beer and also a couple of extra items.  Among those items was a oak keg for the secondary fermentation of my two stouts -- Maine's Moose Musk (an sweet apple milk stout) and my newest addition a oatmeal stout (not name as of yet).  Additionally, I picked up a book on yeast culturing to self teach myself how to grow my own yeast and keep the strains still going.

Also yesterday I purchased five species of hops from Organic Garden Seeds (or egardenseed.com) to test in Maine to see if it is possible to grow our own hops for some of the beers.  Have to wait until next spring to plant but looking forward to the empirical data glean.

The past week I started working on my Sour Lemon Drop by working on the base recipe.  The original recipe which by accident produced both a slight tartness and lemon flavors I wanted to make more prominent ... thus the new batch I added organic lemon grass, and the upcoming batch afterwards will include the bacteria along with the yeast to "sour" it even more.  Results still pending.

Added recipes include the oatmeal stout, the sour lemon, and now a IPA which will be named Rocky Point IPA ... such a simple name for which I hope to be a complex double IPA.

Working My Other Job

I have still been brewing regularly but have been slacking on the updating posts since this is a busy time of year at my other job.  I think I have got exactly what I am looking for with my Porter, Wheat and Honey Wheat and they will be ready for the next judging.

I have have been talking with my father about setting up our own bee hives for honey production, and getting wood kegs for the secondary fermentation to mellow the flavors in the craft beer.  These are the exciting times when I am changing the setup to prepare for the next level.

Another Attempt at the Porter

After all of the issues this past weekend with the new mash tun I decided to switch out the false bottom with the kettle screen and try the Smoked Porter again.  This time everything went as planned.

Sprage Cooler on Top, Flowing Through Tun into Wort Pot

This also was the first time I could try out the new sprage cooler that I purchased which after a couple of tweaks worked perfectly.

Nice Even Flow - Wish it Fanned Out More However

I was able to keep a constance flow when fly spraging compared to the uneven flow of the spoon method that I was using before.  Plus using the cooler allowed me to keep the sprage water at a more constant temperature.  I would suggest this purchase if you can afford it.

Kegging, New System & Mash Lock

This weekend I made my first attempt at kegging my beer.  I read the instructions and even watch a couple You Tube videos on the process before I started.

Transferring was a breeze and I decided to try my hand at force carbonation instead of the sugar bottle conditioning that I have been trying.  With this method you need to cool the fermentor down before applying CO2. 

Then once finished with the transferring you place the whole kegging system into the fridge at 10 psi for a couple of days then test. 

I have recently purchased a new mash and spraging system but the two batches I have ran through it so far have led to grain lock.  This last time was so bad that I ended dumping the entire batch.  Need to figure out the problem with my set up.

Brewing, Bottling and Transferring Over the Weekend

Over this past weekend I had to transfer the Kick Ass Sassafras into the secondary, bottle the Smoked Gobbling Porter and use up some older grains in the extract based Touch of Everything.  The Touch of Everything was a way of using up some extracts I purchased a while back, some older grains and the last of the hops in the freezer.  This batch will also be my first attempt at kegging beer with forced carbonation vs bottle conditioning.

Barely Can Walk Through

I am running out of room quickly in the breakfast nook but Sharon says I can't have anymore of the house.  I may have to create storage out in the garage just so I can move around more easily than now.  Sadly, it is so much easier to have everything in one place ... oh well.

New Equipment

This week was one of purchases:  I bought a refrigerator for the kegging of the beer and a 10 gallon mash tun and spraging cooler to better extract the grains during mashing.  I tried the mash tun just the other day on the new batch of Kick Ass Sassafras but thanks to a smaller false bottom and my vigorous stirring in the grains, the bottom slightly lifted thus allowing grain under it.  This led to a sprage lock and I had to hand dip the wort.  Lesson learned.

New Fridge and Mashing Equipment

Got the results back from the contest ... the porter fared excellent but needs to be smokier, the Smoking Wheat had a slight metallic taste ... unsure the cause but will find out, and need to be even more smokier, and lastly the Sweet Sharon still isn't fairing very well in the contest, but everyone that tries loves it.  I will change the base recipe the next time. 

Slowly Taking Over the Kitchen -- It's Mine, All Mine

All of the judge's notes have been taken into consideration and adjustments have been made to the recipes to improve their flavors.

Brewing Another Porter

Yesterday I started brewing another smoked porter with a couple of slight changes to improve the recipe.  So far I like what I have produced but still it isn't exactly what I have been looking for in the flavor department.  During the last three batches of other styles of beer I have been extending the secondary carboy time to extract a slightly higher alcohol content and improve their flavors.  Additionally, with the bottle conditions I am extending the amount of time the beer conditions to further enhance the flavors and mouth feel.

Sweet Sharon in the Secondary - Yeast Working Away

I recently purchased a couple of carboy bags which in addition to blocking the light has allowed me to use ice packs to slow the fermentation of the yeast and control the temperature.  Ideally I would like to purchase a dedicated cooler to better control the temperatures, but first I have to get a refrigerator to start the kegging of the beer ... on hold for funds right now.

The Breakfast Nook is Mine Now -- And Even More Room is Needed

I wanted to tell anyone reading this about a warning.  Currently, I have been using the kitchen sink to cool my wort, but over time and thanks to the weight of the wort I have noticed a slight separation in the caulking.  I am going the beef up under the sink and find another way to cool my wort using the wort chiller I purchased.

First Club Meeting

Ever since I started brewing I wanted to join a local brew club to meet other like me and people that have much better brewing skills than I to glean new ideas in making beer.  Well last night I went to my first meeting and joined Inland Empire Brewing Club.  It was fantastic.

I first got to meet several new people and have them test some of my beers to get their input.  Then they had a speaker, Patrick Rue, a brewer and owner of The Brewery discussed some of his beers.  After tasting several of his beers I realized just how far the micro brewing has gone in the country and what level I need to go if I wasn't to be successful ... his beer were clean , flavorful and just darn fantastic.

After he spoke the allowed several brewer to have their beers tasted and get the Club member's reactions.  They had some that were kit brewers to others that seasoned brewers ... all were welcome.  Normally, I personally am not a IPA drinker I tasted a couple that were quite nice last night.  The climax for me was when a couple other brewer got me to showcase a couple of beers for the tasting too.  I poured Kick Ass Sassafras, Sweet Sharon and Moose Musk ... all received well and got some great feedback.

What a great bunch of future friends.

All Grain & Sink

I should have posted this earlier but after brewing so many batches of beer I noticed that the sink started separating from the granite counter top thanks to the weight of the wort.  This may not ever become an issue during your brewing but still I would suggest beefing up the sink under the counter if you plan on doing very many batches, or use another more sure spot to cool your wort.

I converted my Maine's Moose Musk (a sweet milk stout) to all grain on the last batch and added carapils to improve the head retention.  I have noticed that you have to allow a couple extra weeks to condition in the bottle ... but this last batch is still facing head issues.  I am planning to take this batch to the local brewers club and get some help.  More to come later.

Changing to Kegging

As I progress in the craft beer making it was getting to be time to move to the next level.  Kegging is a normal progression and bottling from the keg was too.  Last week I bought this new system and upon my return from vacation I will be producing the first batch to test with my new purchase.  More to come.

Carboy Bags & All Grain

I just started using the carboy bags I just bought ... along with ice packs they are great.  They have been keeping the fermentation temperture where I want it to be, but it does require daily switching of the ice bags.

Additionally, this past weekend I brewed up the first batch on Maine's Milky Moose Musk using all grains and no extracts.  I also took into consideration the comments I received from the judges from Hanger 24 contest where they indicated that I wasn't sweet enough for the style, head retention and astringency issue maybe due to over spraging.  I worked on these and hopefully I fixed those issues ... we will know in 6 weeks.

Using Software

Recently I bought Beer Smith 2 and I have been trying to use it over just taking notes in a composition notebook.  There is so much data required and I am still learning but I am hoping to be able to take it to the next level and start using it in advance to aid in my recipe development.

Also just yesterday I got my carboy holders which should allow me to ice pack the fermentation thus better maintaining the temperature here in the heat of the desert environment.  Will start testing this weekend.

It is Been A Bit

Over the past couple of weeks I made a few batches in between having family visit and my oldest daughter getting married.  Over last week I bottled so much that I actually ran out of enough bottles to make another batch and that was with having a modified smoked porter in the secondary.  Thus I must drink up.

I am getting a couple of batches ready for a couple of upcoming competitions ... hopefully one in July and one in August but lately I am hitting some issue with the increasing outside temperatures I am having difficulties keeping the carboy temperatures in the ideal temperature range for the yeast.  I am looking into maybe using a cooler with ice packs or maybe even use the carboy cover with ice packs I saw online with More Beer.

Over Spiced

Well the Kick Ass Sassafras is over spiced.  It is drinkable ... but just barely.  Way too much sassafras leaves and maybe slightly heavy handed on the anise.  I will reduce to amounts and try again.

I just got in my software (Beer Smith 2) to upgrade my documentation.  Overall, it appears to be a pretty good program but lacks in a couple of the grains I use such as Rauch and Crystal 75.  As I learn more on the program I sure it will become easier. 

Speaking of easier ... on a side note the refractometer I bought ... fantastic plus save about 12 - 14 oz of beer loss during the measuring.  Over 40 to 50 batches that will mean the saving will equal the cost of the instrument.

Smoked Gobbler Porter

Yesterday I brewed up another batch of Sweet Sharon to place into the upcoming contest.  This time I am trying a honey from Florida called Tupelo honey ... hopefully it will get the taste back from my first batch.

I tasted the Smoked Porter yesterday ... all of the background flavors were exactly what I was looking for, however, just a bit heavy on the smoke.  I am going to brew another batch this weekend and reduce the amount of Rauch Malt (the smoke flavor) and hopefully that will get it where it needs to be ... and not tasting like the bottom of a campfire.

Bottled Kick Ass Sassafras

Kick Ass Sassafras in Secondary and Ready to Bottle

Yesterday I had the Kick Ass Sassafras ready to bottle ... so I did.  Of course I performed the bottling while enjoying a Brinton's Wheat Mist.  Tasted the raw product to see how the flavor infused and I was quite happy to see that the flavors were not over powering ... will have to wait until after the conditioning in the bottle to see just how well the spices worked ... or not.

First Bottle Made of Kick Ass

Today, I will be brewing up another batch of Sweet Sharon ... since my daughter is getting married in two weeks here in the Valley I have to increase production to meet the future demand ... economics 101.

Prepping Malts for Today's Brew