Begin Brewing!

In June, I brewed what was probably my fourth batch of Belgian style Tripel ale (I didn't keep good records until last August so I'm not sure how many attempts there have been).  Each batch I've made has gotten a little better.  This one was no exception.  I brewed it from an ingredient kit, supplemented with different yeast, coriander, and sweet orange peel.  When I took the last sample from the fermenter for testing, it smelled and tasted great - though obviously flat. As I often do, I bottled this beer following my usual process.  I cleaned and sanitized my bottles.  I did the same with my caps.  I dropped a Fermenter's Favorites carbonation drop in each bottle, filled it, and capped it.  The bottles were placed in my basement inside a cooler, to stabilize the temperatures and provide protection should a bottle burst open.  I left them for two weeks and put one bottle in the refrigerator.  The next day, I pulled out the bottle, popp...

When the IMake company ran its Kickstarter campaign to bring The Grainfather into the United States, I was considering making the switch from extract to all-grain brewing.  I'd been looking at the Speidel Braumeister, the Zymatic Picobrew, and some other all-in-one systems.  I came to the conclusion that what I wanted was: The ability to brew 5-gallon all-grain batches of beer Use of electric heating rather than gas, to allow indoor brewing year-round Relative ease of use If possible, an "all-in-one" system.  If not, as few points of failure as possible. The Grainfather met these requirements quite well, at a Kickstarter cost of $840.  Other products I'd been looking at had more bells and whistles, but were priced at least twice that.  So I took the risk that the Kickstarter would fall through and paid my money for the Grainfather.  The device arrived in August 2015. I spent my first few weeks getting to know it, and not actually brewing anyth...

Adventures in Homebrewing (AIH) is a brewing supply store located in Southeast Michigan.  They offer a full range of homebrewing products, including equipment and ingredients.  I learned about them relatively recently through sales they were doing that the brewing bargain site Homebrew Finds shared.  I decided to check out their Gingerbread Brown Ale kit and their Peanut Butter Conspiracy Stout kit, as both were on sale at the time (priced around $27 each). AIH shipped the kits very quickly.  I had them only a few days after I ordered them.  They were packaged well and made the trip without harm.  Since it's the summer, I opted for dry yeast with these as there was a good chance that standard yeast packets or tubes would get too warm in shipping. Ingredient Kit Packaging The kit arrives in a small box, imprinted with the AIH logo and slogan "I would walk the plank for a homebrew" in back. The ingredients come sealed in plastic bags, along with...

Some of my earliest attempts at home brewing would have made good viral YouTube videos.  I've transferred wort into a fermenter equipped with a spigot, only to find the spigot was open.  I've tried to get the last of a beer into the bottle from the bottling bucket, to see it overflow and end up on the floor.  I've nearly pulled a kettle of boiling-hot wort onto the floor trying to hook up the wort chiller.  Fortunately, I've not had any serious messes or a need to dial 911 yet... One issue I struggled with a lot is boil-over.  When I made smaller batches, my kettle was just barely larger than the batch I was brewing.  More than a little foam meant that I ran a huge risk of boil-over.  A few times, when I stopped watching the boil to double-check a measurement or see what I needed to add next, foam crept over the sides of the kettle and made a mess.  Here are all the ways you can prevent boil-over in your next batch of homebrew: Larger Kettles...

I recently brewed a Belgian Dubbel and my third or fourth Belgian Tripel, so it seemed worthwhile to brew a Belgian table beer - sometimes referred to here in the States as a Belgian Single.  The Belgian "Single" style is a lighter, more sessionable style than the Tripel or Quadrupel, due to its lower alcohol content.  But like the other more-common Belgian styles, it's got plenty of flavor and complexity. I found this recipe on the E.C. Kraus brewing supply site and decided to make it.  It was apparently supplied to them by David Ackley, a "beer writer, brewer, and self-described 'craft beer crusader'" who has a certificate in brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, so it ought to be a good recipe. I altered the original recipe, which called for Light DME and Wyeast 1762, to this: 3 pounds of Extra Light DME (early addition) 3 pounds of Extra Light DME (late addition) 1 pound of Dingeman's biscuit malt 0.5 pounds of Dingeman...

Running PBW through the Grainfather In the last post in this series , I showed you the unboxing and assembly of the Grainfather, an all-grain brewing system (pictured at left).  For the most part the assembly is pretty easy to figure out and follow from the instructions provided. Today, I decided that I wanted to test the Grainfather out using nothing more than cleaning solution and ordinary water.  I didn't want to risk a batch of ingredients to a brewing device I'd never used before. This proved to be a wise move. Initial Water Test and Cleaning According to the instruction manual, the Grainfather should cleaned before its first real use.  I've read reviews online where people have tried to brew with it before doing this cleaning step, and their beers tasted terrible.  The manufacturer recommends their own CIP (Clean in Place) solution but says that PBW (Powdered Brewer's Wash) is a good substitute. I filled the Grainfather with a full 8-gallon...

Months ago, I encountered the Homebrew Finds blog.  It's become a site that I check daily.  The blog provides information about (and links to) low prices on brewing equipment, beer ingredients, books about brewing, and other related items.  Through the information it provides, I've been able to score big discounts on hops pellets, ingredient kits, and pieces of equipment I wanted. Homebrew Finds is mostly a deal site, but it's more than that.  You'll find reviews of equipment, tutorials on brewing techniques (like rehydrating yeast), and DIY equipment like magnetic stirrers.  You'll see tips and tricks, too. Check it out the next time you're surfing the web!