Brewing HBK # 9

Good people of the HBK:

It's past time we had a word about the actual brewing process of the much anticipated Eartha's HBK # 9 : Sweet Corn Cream Ale!

The brew took place earlier this month on August 8th, 2012 to be exact. Preparations were made the day before by Chief Tim Himself and my trusted co-blogger, the Queen Bee Kelli wherein they purchased all of the grains, yeast and other ingredients needed for the brew.  If you haven't already checked out the concise and informative blog about this, don't hesitate to do so! Here's the link: Grain Shopping

Now I'll begin by describing the process of brewing, as I experienced it.  I'm going to try to be concise because there were a lot of steps taken and a whole lot to talk about but I don't want anyone feeling like they're reading from a textbook here - that's not the point.  It was a lot of fun.


We began by mixing in 2.5 pounds of fresh sweet corn in with some of our base malt (Maris Otter) and some water and put it all on to cook.  The idea behind this is that the sugar inside of corn comes in the form of starch and is pretty complex and hard for yeast to start breaking down (into alchohol).  This isn't any good because we want the beer to ferment so we cook all this corn up real good like to break the starch down into simpler sugars.  This makes it easier for the yeast to get started in the fermenting process. 

As you can see from the image the total volume of the mixture was probably only about 10 - 15 cups worth.

In the meantime while I stirred this mixture, Tim had a ~15 gal modified keg (that is awesome by the way) warming up to about 150°F on a propane burner on the front porch.  The whole process of simultaneously warming the water and cooking the corn mixture took about 45 minutes.

When the water in the keg was hot and after strong man Justin (excuse me) CHRIS Yoda carried it into the kitchen, we poured the cooked mixture and all of the rest of the dry grains and flaked corn into it.  The idea is that the relatively small amount of cooked mixture will 'kick-start' the yeast into fermentation where then it will be lively enough to take on the more complex starches in the rest of the un-cooked corn.  We also added a considerable amount of rice hulls to the mix so that when we were to drain it later on, all that delicous, sticky cooked corn wouldn't clog the opening of our awesome keg turned Mash Tun by HBK welder Adam (props!).

So the whole concoction was stirred up a bit and left to sit for about an hour basically to steep, just like you would have your tea do.  Only it's a 15 gallon cup.  And it's beer, not tea.  So we all sat back tasted previous HBK creations, talked about beer, had some totally delicious Eartha-made hummus and edamame and watched water polo.  Very nice.

 Once break time was over we prepared to drain the "tea" that had been steeping, called wort, through the filter at the bottom of the mash tun into yet another awesome spouted keg.  So we began draining the full mash tun into the empty one by spout and hose and slowly adding in fresh hot water to the top (since a good deal of the volume in the first mash tun is occupied by grains).

So once our second mash tun was full of good filtered wort, beginning to look a lot like beer, we put it back on the burner and began bringing it to a gentle boil, which happens at around 212°F.  The purpose is to let it boil for 60 minutes and at certain intervals we would add beautiful, marvelous hops as follows:
Boiling begins - 2 oz (about 2 pints full) of nugget hops added.

30 minutes into boiling - 1 oz Cascade hops added.




 45 minutes into boiling - 1 oz Cascade Hops.



 57 minutes into boiling - 1 oz Cascade Hops.

And at 60 minutes we turned off the burner and began the cooling process wherein we ran cold spout water through a copper tube coiling placed in the keg.  Sadly, I can't find a picture of this but You'll get to see it on subsequent brew logs (blogs).

In the time between adding hops we kept ourselves busy by practicing our washer throwing arms.  If you haven't played this game, just come by for the next brew the first Sunday of September and I'm sure you'll get a chance.

Once the wort was cooled to room temperature-ish we went ahead and poured it into iodine-sterilized carboys to get them ready for the ~ 4-5 week fermentation process. 






All in all the brewing was a great success.  We had no accidents, no real delays or errors.  A few HBKers swung by during the whole things to help out and to hang out.  The whole process from beginning to end took about 8 hours but the greater part of that time was spent pitching washers and horseshoes, drinking beer, jib jabbing and laughing our heads off!  It really was a lot of fun and what we'll have to show for it is some undoubtedly very tasty ale!  We'll keep you all posted on the status of our beloved cream ale and any further important HBK related operations.





Until Next Time,
Jester out.

Grain Shopping

Eartha sampling a previous brew

It's time for Home Brew Kimener to start beer number 9. Each HBK batch of beer is started on the first Sunday of the month and in keeping with the rotation August is Eartha's choice, she has decided on a Sweet Corn Cream Ale.  Tim has in his mind the ingredients to make this interesting ale be so. But to do the first step in brewing we must go shopping! 







Any good brew must first start with picking out the ingredients and grain, you will be surprised how excited that Tim guy can get about grain. First we went to Kruger's Hawthorne Farm Stand a local farmers market. We looked to see if they had sweet corn on the cob, and we were in luck! They had bi-color corn and after some quick smart phone research and them letting us try an ear (by the way it was awesome raw!) we knew it was in fact a type of sweet corn.  Sweet corn comes in three colors: yellow, white, and bi-color (yellow and white). We were aiming for 1 pound of kernels once it was off the cob; we got 13 ears, and did not estimate very well. Tim ended up using 2.5lbs in the mashing and had plenty more ears to spare.

The grain at U-Brew

Next stop was to get the grain at a local friendly home brewing store called U- Brew (http://www.portlandubrewandpub.com/).

3 grains mixed

Going off of Tim’s notes of what to get we started with 16lbs of our base malt Maris Otter Pale Ale- (2.5-3.5°L) Maris Otter is a British barley malt variety known for producing beers with a full malty flavor.  Next was 3lbs of Biscuit Malt- (25°L) Biscuit is a roasted malt, with a slightly burned biscuit like flavor, with a brown color. Then 1lbs of Cara-Pils (Dextrin) - (1.2°L) Used to increased foam, improved head retention and enhanced mouthfeel (the perception of body in the beer. Body is how heavy or how light a beer feels in the mouth.).  You probably noticed the numbers with the °L in the parentheses; the numbers are “Degrees Lovibond”, from the system used to characterize beer color. The original lovibond system was created by J.W. Lovibond in 1883, and used colored slides that were compared to the beer color to determine approximate value. For decades, beer was compared to colored glass standards to determine the Lovibond color, and we still use the term “Degrees Lovibond” extensively today to describe the color of grains. Moving on, once we had all our grain measured out and poured into the bucket it’s time to mill.

Milling station

Grain after milling

Milling is crushing malt to retain barley husk integrity while exposing starchy endosperm.  The goal is to expose the starch parts of the barley kernel. You don’t want to pulverize malts into flour. By simply cracking the grains and leaving the husks mostly in tact you will have the best brewhouse yield (percentage of sugar liberated from the malted grain) while still being able to sparge and lauter effectively (don’t worry we will get into those fun words later). Most homebrewers do this at their local homebrew shop like us. You can also use a rolling pin to crack the grains if simply steeping a small percentage of your malts as in partial mashes. U- Brew has a great machine that you just pour in your grain and it spits it out the bottom, Ta-Da! You’re done.



     

Rice hulls



Once the milling is done we measured out 2lbs of Flaked Corn (Maize) - Flaked corn is a common adjunct in British bitters and milds and used to be used extensively in American light lager (although today corn grits are more common). Properly used, corn will lighten the color and body of the beer without overpowering the flavor. The Corn must be mashed with the base malt.  Then 2lbs of Flaked Barley- (Unmalted barley), Flakes are easiest to use. Otherwise, the unmalted barley must be gelatinized (made soluble by heat and pressure) prior to mashing. Flaked unmalted barley is often used in Stouts to provide protein for head retention and body. It can also be used in other strong ale styles. Flaked barley also must be mashed with the base malt. Next was 2lbs of Rice Hulls - the hulls of rice are not fermentable, but they can be useful in the mash. The hulls provide bulk and help prevent the mash from settling and becoming stuck during the sparge.

 



  

Last but most definitely not least Tim grabbed a few packages of yeast:

1056 American Ale- This has very clean, crisp flavor characteristics with low fruitiness and mild ester production. A very versatile yeast for styles that desire dominant malt and hop character. This strain makes a wonderful “House” strain. Mild citrus notes develop with cooler 60-66°F fermentations. Normally requires filtration for bright beers.

Flocculation: Medium-Low
Attenuation: 73-77%
Temperature Range: 60-72°F

Alcohol Tolerance: 11% ABV

2124 Bohemian Lager- This Carlsberg type yeast is the most widely used lager strain in the world. This strain produces a distinct malty profile with some ester character and a crisp finish. A versatile strain, that is great to use with lagers or Pilsners for fermentations in the 45-55°F range. It may also be used for Common beer production with fermentations at 65-68°F. A thorough diacetyl rest is recommended after fermentation is complete.

Flocculation: Medium-low
Attenuation: 73-77%
Temperature Range: 45-68°F
Alcohol Tolerance: 9% ABV

Next up Co-Blogger Josh will talk about what happens in the first day of beer making.

IPA Day ~ August 2, 2012

Today August 2, 2012 is IPA Day!  Join beer enthusiasts across the land in a collective toast to one of craft beer’s most beloved styles: India Pale Ale!

Founded in 2011 by Ashley Routson (aka The Beer Wench) and Ryan Ross of Karl Strauss, IPA Day is a universal movement created to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers, and brewers worldwide, using social media as the common arena for connecting the conversation. IPA Day makes way for all breweries, bloggers, businesses and consumers to connect and share their love of craft beer. It is an opportunity for the entire craft beer culture to combine forces and advocate craft beer through increased education and global awareness.

Now, some of you are thinking, Why the IPA?  Please keep in mind that, although you and your friends might drink craft beer, craft beer only makes up 5% of the overall beer market meaning that everyone in the world does NOT, in fact, drink craft beer,  or IPA for that matter. This is an opportunity to change that!

This style represents the pinnacle of brewing innovation with its broad spectrum of diverse brands, subcategories, and regional flavor variations—making it the perfect style to spur craft beer’s social voice.  At the 2012 World Beer Cup®, the most-entered category was the American-Style India Pale Ale with 150 entries. The second most entered was its close cousin, the Imperial India Pale Ale (93 entries). Its popularity and accessibility makes the IPA the best overall style for brewers, retailers and consumers to collectively celebrate.

The history of IPA Day started just last year, hundreds of craft breweries and bars joined forces to launch the first IPA Day. Events, tastings, dinners and other IPA Day celebrations were hosted all over the world. Roughly 10,000 tweets were sent over a 24-hour period using the official #IPADay hashtag—with thousands of tweets sent in the weeks leading up to and following the event. The official hashtag trended in six major U.S. metropolises, including Portland, Seattle, New York, Chicago, San Diego, and Raleigh. Mentions of #IPADay spread across six continents—truly making it the most extensive craft beer celebration the world has experienced to date.

So what’s the goal of this year’s IPA Day? To make it even bigger of course! Getting involved is easy; the only requirements are an appreciation for great beer and the will to spread the word. Anyone can participate by enjoying an IPA with friends, making some noise online with the #IPADay hashtag, and showing the world that craft beer is more than a trend.  HBKers that still have some (or for some strange reason) have yet to enjoy your ”Infuriating IPA” –there’s no better day than today to crack open one of those bad boys and better yet share it with others. So get out there and become a craft beer steward in your community. Encourage non-craft beer drinkers to take a break from their normal beverage routine and join the collective toast. Let’s set the goal of converting at least one person, nay the whole world of drinkers, to IPA lovers!

Share and submit your favorite IPA-based cooking or cocktail recipes or for more information on IPA Day visit IPADay.org.

Now a word from The Beer Wench:

How to Participate in IPA Day

1. Organize or attend an IPA Day event at a local brewery, brewpub, restaurant, bar, bottle shop, home or office. Check out the CraftBeer.com Event Calendar to find or submit an IPA Day event near you! (If submitting an event, please check out Tips on Submitting an Event before getting started.)

2. On August 2, share your photos, videos, blog posts, tasting notes, recipes, and thoughts on IPA with the world. Be sure to tag your posts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and other social media platforms with the #IPADay hashtag.

3. See what other people are saying on Twitter by searching #IPADay. Follow the conversation closely by adding a #IPADay search column on your Tweetdeck.

And remember, just have fun. After all, that’s what IPA Day is all about — having fun with craft beer!