7/26/2013 Robust Porter

7/26/2013 Robust Porter

Ingredients

FERMENTABLES

6.6 lb. Porter LME

SPECIALTY GRAINS

4 oz. De-bittered Black

4 oz. Caramel 120L

4 oz. Chocolate

HOPS

.5 oz. Brewer’s Gold

1 oz. Northern Brewer

.5 oz. Northern Brewer

YEAST

1 Sachet Nottingham Ale Yeast

SG- 1.051

FG- 1.020

4.07% ABV

Besides the cider brew I did the other day, my official beer making career has started. I ventured and made a Robust Porter from Brewers Choice. It was one of their ingredient packs. For now, this is what I will be brewing until I become a little more proficient at it. This batch had some pretty good reviews through the web and I am looking forward to cracking my first one!

I started with 2.5 gallons of water which I started to bring to a boil. 

Once the temp hit 160 degrees, I put in my "sock" of grains. These steep in the water for 20 minutes. At this time too, the batch goes from water to wort. it was interesting in the 20 minutes it was in. Went from clear to pitch black. At this point too, my kitchen began to smell awesome!

rolling boil started, and the malt was added along with the hops. This set had three sets of hops, added in at different times. 

After the third set, it was time to take the 212 degree wort and cool it down to 70 degrees! I had a sink full of cold water and ice. It took about 20 minutes, and I was able to get the temp down to 78 degrees before it evened out. I then transferred the wort to a fermenter. I then added in an additional 2.5 gallons of water to make the 5 gallon batch. I checked the specific gravity which was 1.051 and was within the specified range. I then pitched my yeast, stirred it in and placed the top on the fermenter and added the airlock. From here, it was transferred to a cool dark area in an undisclosed location for fermenting!

See ya in a few days!

7/27/2013

Fermentation is well under way. I just checked the fermenter around 1500hrs and there were a number of bubbles observed in the air lock! 

7/30/2013

Fermentation has really slowed down. Checked tonight and I am down to approx one bubble every 30 seconds. Will probably trasnfer to a secondary on Friday!

8/2/2013

Transfer to secondary fermenter..... the bubbles became much more infrequent, so I decided today would be the day to transfer the brew to a secondary fermenter into a glass carboy. It had slowed down considerably for probably about 48 hours.

8/17/2013 BOTTLING DAY!

    2 weeks in the secondary fermenter, and it was time to bottle! I sanitized all equipment (man, that was a lot of beer bottles!) I boiled up the priming sugar and then dumped it into the bottler bucket. From there, I transferred the beer from the carboy to the bottling bucket and stirred gentle to mix the priming sugar throughout. Then, it was time to bottle!

Finished Product (A Mix of 12oz, 20oz and 22oz bottles):

-Corey

7/25/2013 Hard Apple Cider

7/25/2013

I began my "brewing" career with a simple batch of hard cider. Over the past week, I have been watching videos on brewing, and gathering some basic equipment. While I am still waiting for some equipment to come in, I came across a video for hard cider making. Being that it looked easy, I decided along with a buddy (Simon Hernandez) to give it a go. We set off to Terhune Orchards in Lawrence, NJ to purchase 4 gallons of apple cider.

We decided that Simon would make up some sweeter batches while I was going to make a dryer batch. It comes down to the yeast selection. Simon went with a Nottingham Ale yeast batch, while I ventured for the champagne yeast. We both bought 2 gallons of cider and mixed our batches in 1 gallon carboys. My first one I used was with two cups of sugar (to bring a higher alcohol content) and my second was done simply with the sugars of the cider. I added a few raisins in the second batch (as I read the yeasts like this as a nutrient). Anyways, they are tucked away, and we will see how they go!

-Corey

8/11/2013

Today after some advice from Simon Hernandez, I decided to transfer my cider to a secondary carboy to rid itself of some of the sediment that has accumulated on the bottom of the original carboy. By doing this, it will clear some of the sediment from the finished product and make for a cleaner cider. The process went smooth, and the cider really has a nice smell to it (I did not try any). I am pretty stoked to see how this turns out, especially since it was a pretty easy brew. Here are the before and afters:

Before:

After:

Two more weeks and I will bottle them. I have also decided that when it comes time to bottle, I am not going to carbonate them. I decided I want to just try and see what transpires and how this batch tastes.

Tasting Review: