IPA Recipe and Updates!

Peach Wine Update: Really nothing much to say about the peach wine other than it is still fermenting nicely. I will check the SG of it this weekend and if necessary, will add the remaining syrup to it. I have yet to remove 2 pints to allow space to add the syrup, and will do that when the time comes. (this Saturday)

Ok..the ingredients have been ordered for the next 2 beer batches! After taking inventory of my supplies, it was discovered that I had enough grains to make the IPA if I used the mini-mash method. And that's exactly what I wanted to do anyways due to the fact that my brew system can only mash up to around 10 lbs of grain max. The next recipes call for more grain than my system can handle, so I have opted to use the mini-mash method and am planning to brew the IPA this weekend, depending on what day the goods arrive. I'll need to make a yeast starter 1-2 days before brew day, so we'll see.

The IPA recipe was originally an all grain recipe that I have recalculated into the mini-mash recipe shown below. I used the mathamatical methods that appear in the wonderful book written by Ray Daniels titled "Designing Great Beers". Every homebrewer really needs a copy of this book as it is very helpful in helping the homebrewer understand the different styles, their history, how to hit your starting specific gravity, and the math behind the scenes to help you to not only to formulate your own recipies, but to also help you to convert any all grain recipe into a more manageable and easier to perform mini or partial mash method of brewing. That means that although you may have have a small 5 gallon brewing setup, you should still be able to brew all those really big Belgium style brews that typically have enormous grain bills. And it has a whole lot more too!

Here's the IPA recipe and directions:

----------------------Schooner 1889 IPA----------------------------------
General----------------------------------------------------------------------

Category: India Pale Ale (IPA)

Subcategory: English IPA

Recipe Type: Partial Mash

Batch Size: 5.00 gal.

Volume Boiled: 4.0 gal.

Sterlized Water to Top Off: 2-2.5 gal. (having a little extra is a good thing)

Mash Efficiency: 72 %

Total Grain/Extract: 11.26 lbs.

Total Hops: 3.4 oz.

Calories (12 fl. oz.): 287.1

Cost to Brew: $38.46 (USD)Cost per Bottle (12 fl. oz.): $0.69 (USD)

Vital Statistics-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Gravity: 1.072

Terminal Gravity: 1.015

Color: 13.35 SRM

Bitterness: 54.4 IBU

Alcohol (%volume): 7.5 %

Ingredients--------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.43 lbs. Golden Promise Pale Malt (Grain)

1.0 lbs. British Crystal Malt 55 deg;L (Grain)

3.5 lbs. Muntons Dry Extra Light DME

3.33 lbs. Alexanders Pale Liquid

1.1 oz. Challenger (Pellets, 8.5 %AA) boiled 90 minutes.

1.0 oz. Whitbread Golding (WGV) (Whole, 6.00 %AA) (or Fuggles) boiled 15 minutes.

1.25 oz. East Kent Goldings (Whole, 5.00 %AA) boiled 2 minutes.

4 ounces Lyles Golden Syrup (not included in calculations)

Yeast: WYeast 1187 Ringwood Ale

Brewing Directions--------------------------------------------------------------------------24-48 hours before brew day: Create a 1 quart yeast starter by boiling 2 cups water then
take off heat source, then add 2 cups of M & F Extra Light DME and a few bittering hop
pellets and dissolve and boil for 10 minutes. Cool in ice water bath, and when below 80
deg F, transfer into a half gal jug and add yeast to it and mix well. Put a stopper and air
lock on it then let it ferment until ready to use at room temp.

On Brew day: Start by boiling 2.5 gal of water for 10 minutes to sterilize and put aside to cool and for topping off primary fermentor.

Then crush and mix the grains in 1.25 gal of 167 deg F water. When fully mixed, the mash temp should be at 154 deg F. Hold at 154 deg F for 90 minutes or until starch conversion has taken place. Test a few drops with iodine on a stark white saucer. If it changes color, mash for another 15 minutes then test again. The color of the iodine should not change color. During mashing, prepare your sparge water (3 gallons) by bringing it to a boil for 10 minutes, then take off heat source and let it cool to 168-170 deg F. Try to keep it at this temp until ready to sparge. Once conversion has tested positive, continue to the next step.

Now strain the grain water into the brew pot and return the mashed grains into the mashing vessel and add the 3 gals of 168 deg F sparge water to it. Stir it well to mix then let it sit for 10 minutes, then strain off into brew pot again. Discard the spent grains. Top off the brew pot if necessary to contain 4 to 4.25 gals of wort, bring to a boil, then remove from heat and add the DME and LME, the Lyles Golden Syrup and bittering hops.

Return to heat and boil for 1 hour while watching for and preventing any boil-overs.Then add your flavor hops, and 1 tsp of Irish Moss and boil for 15 minutes. You can also place your wort chiller into the brew-pot at this time to sterilize it. Boil for 13 minutes then add your aroma hops, boil for another 1-2 minutes, then kill the fire and cool off wort as fast as possible to below 80 deg F. I like to cool mine off to an even 72 deg F. When cooled, strain and transfer wort to 6 gal carboy, and then carefully add the sterilized water we put aside until it comes up to the turn on the top of the carboy. I usually fill it just to the bottom of where it curves up to save room for the yeast. When the temp has stabelized at 70 deg F, aerate wort with aerating stone and oxygen for 15 minutes then pitch your yeast and continue to aerate while stirring for another 10 minutes. Put a stopper and air lock on and ferment for no more than 7 days or until fermentation slows down.

Then rack into secondary (5 gal carboy) and ferment out to finished gravity (FG) or until beer has cleared. (3-4 weeks). Then prime with 1.25 cups of M&F Xtra Light DME and bottle, or if kegging, prime with 2/3 cups DME and seal with 10 psi CO2 and let it carbonate for a minimum of 4 weeks at 70 deg F. then store kegs or bottles at cellar temperatures of 50 deg F. Also if you want, you can try to make the beer clearer by storing it at 33-40 deg F for a period of 3 additional weeks after the initial 3-4 week priming and carbonating phase has been completed. Then serve at 48-50 deg F and enjoy!

Kegging and Priming Day!

***Sunday 07/17/2005***

We have finally reached week 3 for Howies Celebration Bier and it is time to rack the finished beer into a keg and prime it! After gathering the equipment and sterlizing everything, the transfer commences. The picture shows the brew(Howies' Celebration Bier) being siphoned off into the 5 gal corny keg. I usually just keg the beer then force carbonate it with my CO2 system, but this time I wanted to prime the keg with 1/2 cup of corn sugar which is boiled in 1/2 pint of water for 10 minutes. Before adding the priming sugar to the keg, it is cooled off to 70 deg F. While adding, the brew is stirred and the primer is mixed very well. The keg is then sealed with 10-/12 lbs PSI and purged of atmosphere, then allowed to carbonate for a minimum of 3 weeks. (I like to wait at least 5 weeks before I try a pint) During each week I find it necessary to add some CO2 to the keg to maintain the 10-12 lbs of pressure while carbonating.

After inspecting the New Castle Nut Brown Ale clone for clairity and FG (final gravity), I decided to keg this brew today as well and save myself some work and time. I primed this brew with 2/3 cup of M&F Extra Light Dry Malt Extract, boiled for the usual 10 minutes in 3/4 pint of water, then cooled to 70 deg F before adding to the kegged beer. Then the same procedure will be followed as for the carbonation and addition of CO2 when needed.

The photo above shows the beer being racked into a keg. You can also see the triple manifold gage setup on the pegboard, the CO2 tank on the bottom right, the temperature controller on peg board to maintain constant cooling temps and the custom kegerator that I built from a freezer, to dispense the brew with 4 taps. Now all we have to do is to wait until it is time to "pull a pint".

The peach wine is still fermenting out and should take a few more weeks to get the SG (specific gravity) down to the required level in order to add more sugar syrup. It smells awesome, but has a long time to go. (about 7 months)

I am now planning the next 2 brews to be made soon. An IPA and a Scottish Red Strong Ale. I will be ordering the ingredients this week and getting things ready to go! When I get close to another brew day, I will post the exact receipe's that I will be using.

Well, thats all for now. Cheers!

Peach Wine Receipe

I have just noticed that I have omitted the Peach Wine receipe that I used. This receipe appears in a book entitled "First Steps in Wine Making" written by C.C. Berry. I had to change it a bit to accomodate my needs. Here's the receipe that I used to make 3 gallons of Peach Wine:

Ingredients:

9 lbs fresh over ripe peaches
5 lbs white sugar
2 lbs dark brown sugar
2 oz pectic enzyme
3 tsb citric acid
1/2 tsp grape tannin
Sherry or Tokay yeast ( I used sherry yeast)

Wash and stone peaches and place into polyethelene fermenting bin. Scrub hands clean then crush and squeeze peaches as much as possible.
Boil 1 1/2 gal of water and pour over peaches and cover, Let cool overnight.
The next day, stir in the Pectic Enzyme and cover until the following day.
On the third day, strain peach mixture through muslin ( I used a Large fine mesh grain bag ) twice if possible, and place into a 3 gal carboy fermentor.
Mix the white and brown sugar together in a large bowl, then measure out 5 lbs of sugar and dissolve into 1 pint of very hot water. This will give you slightly over a quart of syrup with 2 pounds of dry sugar left for later use. Pour syrup into carboy and mix well. Add sterlized and cooled water to the turn of the carboy and stabilize temp at 70 deg F. Then add the yeast and place fermentation lock on carboy.
Ferment for 5-6 days, then check the SG. When the SG is at or below 1.030, make up the rest of the sugar syrup into a pint of water like before, and add half of it after it cools down to 70 deg F. Save the rest for later in the fridge.
Check the SG a week later, and if the reading is between 10 or 15, add remainder of syrup. You will have to remove 2 pints from the fermentor to do this. Just save this into a half gallon jar under a fermentation lack to use to top off after the first racking.
Allow to ferment out until the SG reading is 10. Then rack into secondary fermentor. The wine will settle out and will become clear. Bottle when the SG is at 1.005 or below. For best results, let the wine age for 4 to 6 months or longer before trying.
Enjoy!

Day One for my Weblog!

OK...this is new to me, so please bear with me till I get the hang of this.
I have been home brewing beer for about 10 years now and have just started to make my own wines during the last year. I 'm an all grain brewer of beer and am now creating "Country Wines" from whole fruits. This publication is just a record of my brewing activities, and who knows, it might even turn out to be useful to someone other than myself!
Shown below is what's been going on for the last couple of weeks. I will be creating new entries as I go along and will be including my best recipies to go along with this.
Enjoy!

***June 16 2005***Brewed Howie's Celebration Bier today. This is a receipe that I have created. You can view the receipe here: http://www.beertools.com/html/recipe.php?view=4694

***June 24 2005***Racked Howie's Celebration into secondary fermenter today. Also made plans to brew a New Castle Clone Brown Ale for tomorrow.

***June 25 2005***Brewed the New Castle Brown Ale Clone today. It was a very easy receipe to make! Here it is below:

OG: 1.048-1.051
FG: 1.011-1.013

Mash 8.75 lbs of British 2-row and2oz 55L British Crystal Malt2oz British Chocolate Malt 1oz British Black malt at 150deg F for 90 minutes. then sparge w/169 deg F water to get 6.5 gal wort. Bring to a boil and add: 1oz Target @8% AA for 1 hour then add: .5 oz East Kent Goldings and 1 tsp Irish Moss for 15 minutes.Cool wort as quickly as possible and whirlpool for 45 minutes. Then slowly drain from brew pot into primary fermentor. I use a 6 gal carboy. Stabilize temp to 70 deg F then pitch yeast. (British Ale Yeast) Ferment for no more than 7 days or until it slows, then rack into 5 gal secondary fermenter. Hold for 3 weeks or until target gravity is reached.Prime with .75 cup of corn sugar dissolved in once boiling water of 1 pint and when at 70 deg F rack finished beer into keg with primer or bottle. Let it ferment at 70 deg F for at lease 4 weeks then cool to 50-55 deg F and try a pint or 2!

***July 2nd 2005***
Placed Peach wine in to Primary Carboy and added sherry yeast.
Racked off NCastle clone into secondary fermenter.
Week 2 starts for Howies Celebration in the secondary. Looking very clear. Time will tell.

***July 9 2005***
Peach Wine fermented very well during the week and as of today has slowed down considerably. I will check gravity today and if it is at or below 30, will add the next addition of sugar syrup, which should wake it up somewhat.
NCastle clone brew starts 2nd week of secondary.
Week 3 starts for Howies Celebration. This brew is now looking crystal clear. I am looking forward to tasting it, but it still has to go thru racking and priming phase and will take at least another 4-5 weeks before it ends up in a glass.

***July 10 2005***
SG of Peach Wine too low so I had to add 2 pints of sugar syrup which is a 5:2 ratio of white sugar to dark brown sugar and 2lbs to 1 pint of boiled water, which brought SG to around 1.026. I have about 1 pint of syrup left and will have to rack 2 pints out of carboy to make the rest fit. I will save the racked 2 pints in a half gallon bottle with lock on it and will use it after SG falls to 1.005 and gets racked into secondary fermenter. This should take about 2 weeks or so, and I'll have to check it weekly until target is hit. After about 2 hrs, fermentation has resumed nicely!

Well...I think i'm all caught up now and can continue with this blog thingy! Stay tuned for more, and I should have some more pics to display soon!