Rainy Day Brews

It is no secret that a stir plate can boost your yeast count when doing a starter, however, one thing that didn't know off the hop was how easy and inexpensive it would be to make one at home. I will outline how I put together my stir plate, there are many other ways but hopefully, this will give you an idea of exactly how easy it is if you are not currently using one. Materials: Rare Earth Magnet  (rip apart an old hard drive) Fan Speed Controller 12V Power Supply  (dig around in your old electronics bin, you probably have one) Case Fan(80mm)  (use one from an old computer) Stir Bar Wooden Cigar Box (cigar shops usually give these away or sell for $1) Machine screws (qty 4) and nuts(qty 12) -  (any size that can be pushed through the mounting holes on your fan) Steps:  Glue rare earth magnets on either side of the middle of the computer fan. Ensure you are glueing to the side of the fan that is free spinning. The exposed magnet faces should att...

I think many people will agree, that life has been a crazy hot mess these last few years. A global pandemic, supply chain issues, murder hornets, Suez Canal getting corked by the Ever Given, Bitcoin exploding, and countless other oddities that make me feel bad for school children studying history 50 years from now, trying to figure out what in the actual <insert choice word> happened in 2020/2021. It's been a minute since my last post but I am going to make regular posts a priority. However, as I write these musings for my own enjoyment and documentation purposes, my readership is undoubtedly limited to my mother.  I have recently moved house and decided to dedicate a room in my basement for "home brewery space". I have also procured a permanent 15-gallon EHERMS brew setup from Spike Brewing and Electric Brew Supply which will live in that space. I will go into the finer points of the system in a later post. I would be remiss if I did not state clearly and categoric...

Flagship Brown Ale Stats: Brew Date: September 2, 2018 Estimated ABV:5.4% IBU:26 SRM:25 Batch Size: 3 Gallon Grains: · 5lb 8oz Pale Malt(2-Row) · 8oz Carmel 80L · 4oz Chocolate Malt · 1oz Black Barley Hops: · 0.65oz East Kent Goldings (60min) (3.25 AAU) · 0.30oz Liberty (30min) (1.26 AAU) · 0.30oz Willamette (0min) (1.44 AAU) Yeast: · Imperial Yeast - Flagship Ale (A07) · Given my 3.0 Gal batch size and estimated OG of 1.054 there is no need to make a starter when tossing this powerhouse yeast pack. However, I wanted to harvest yeast to use in another batch so I used the starter and harvesting method outlined in previous posts. Misc: · 0.35tbs 5.2 Stabilizer · 0.5 Whirlflock tablet (15min) Brew Day Steps: Collect and heat 2.20 gal strike water Preheat mash tun with hot tap water Add stabilizer to mash water Mash in, smoosh dough balls and mix Mash at 153F for 60 min Collect and heat 2.7 gallons of sparge water Iodine test...

Harvesting and washing yeast intimidated me for a long time. It seemed like a ton of work, a lengthy process and too complicated. It turns out that I was wrong. I cannot take credit for inventing this yeast harvesting method, it has been well documented online. Essentially you make a larger yeast starter than you need (see my previous post about yeast starters). After 24 hours on the stir plate I split the starter into two different (sanitized) containers and put it in the fridge to force the yeast to fall out of suspension and form a cake at the bottom of the containers. I then decant the starter wort off both of the containers. I swirl up on yeast cake and pitch in my aerated wort. I take the second and pour the slurry into several sanitized vials for longer term storage.   What I really love about this method is that you harvest perfectly clean yeast that has only fermented 1.040 SG wort that didn't contain hops...that's a pretty easy life for ...

It is no secret, homebrewing is a lot of work, a labor of love if you will. From planning out your recipe, going to the homebrew shop to pick up your yeast, grains and hops, measuring and milling, cleaning and sanitizing equipment, standing over a boiling kettle, and cleaning up your impressive brew day mess. One of the single most important things that will affect the quality of your batch is yeast count and health. And compared to your other brew day activities....its easy! The best things you can do for your beer is to make a yeast starter. This will ensure that you have ample yeast count and that they are healthy and hungry to munch down all that sugar. It will also reduce the risk of your batch developing off flavors. You may be thinking, "This all sounds fine and great but what the heck is a yeast starter?" I am glad you asked! A yeast starter is basically making a mini beer. You mix yeast with fresh wort and allow it to incubate and propagate, resulting in a sl...

The good people at Imperial Yeast have sent me a care package with 5 strains of yeast to test out in my upcoming brew days! This will be my first time brewing with Imperial Yeast and I am beyond excited to take these for a spin. I will be documenting each brew day here on the blog! The yeast strains I received are: Flagship A07 - Ale "A craft brewing standard, Flagship is a versatile strain loved for its extremely clean character. This strain performs well at standard ale temperatures, but can be used in the low 60s to produce exceptionally crisp ales. Flocculation is in the middle of the road and will typically require filtration or fining to achieve crystal clear beers. Temp: 60-72F, 16-22C // Flocculation: Med-low // Attenuation: 73-77%" - Imperial Yeast Darkness A10 - Ale "A beautiful strain for stout, porter, brown, and amber ales. Darkness produces a unique character that matches up perfectly with roasted and caramel malts. This strain is alcohol t...

One of my main concerns when I decided to take up homebrewing was space. I think this is a common concern among new homebrewers, especially those living in apartments with significant others who would find living in a homebrewery less than enjoyable. My goal is to dispel these concerns by going through my own brew setup. I'd like to begin by stating that I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with no balcony and I am able to quite comfortably brew 3 gallon, all-grain batches right inside my apartment. Granted my brew setup is not elaborate or fancy by any means, however I feel I have all of the essentials to make very good beer in my home. The one thing that I have in my apartment that allows me to brew easily is a gas stove(flame, not electric burner). This is pretty common in most houses across the US, however if you do not have a gas stove there are other options such as induction brewing which I will talk about in a upcoming post. One thing I have found to be especi...

An essential piece of equipment for all-grain brewing is a mash tun. This is where your starchy malts get transformed into sweet, sweet, worty goodness. Surely I am not the only one to have my housemate walk past my computer and gasp, slack jawed at the scintillating image splayed shamefully across my computer screen in all its unbridled glory... a shiny, stainless steel mash tun of course. Who wouldn't want something like that to mash their grains in? While these are indeed a beautiful sight to behold, there are far more cost effective options that work just as well in my opinion. I have opted for the classic Home Depot cooler mash tun! This is a very inexpensive mash tun that cost less than $80 to build. I by no means came up with this idea, it is well documented all over the internet. My Mash Tun What you need: 5gal Home Depot Cooler ($22) Stainless Steel Ball Valve /w bulkhead 1/2" NPT ($27) 1/2" MPT x 3/8" Stainless Steel Barb ($6) 3/4" x...