Citronivre

Step 1:  Mise en Place, Starter

Ok, so this is basically fermented lemonade.  I'm trying to make something that my wife will enjoy drinking.  She hates beer.  The one thing that all styles have in common is that they all taste like beer.  And she hates that taste.  I thought about trying my hand at EdWort's Apfelwine, since she has been known to enjoy commercial hard ciders.  But, I wanted something a little lighter and refreshing for the hot summer months.  This one seems to fit the bill perfectly.  The recipe was taken directly from this website and all credit should go to the original author.

I considered calling it "Lemonade Wine" because I'm trying to elevate its image a little bit.  The guy who originated this recipe calls it "Skeeter Pee." Hard Lemonade would be a perfect name for it, but he was trying to differentiate it from the commercial hard lemonades on the market, and rightfully so.  This beverage is not at all the same thing, and puts that other stuff to shame.  Still, I certainly can't call it Skeeter Pee and have any hope that my wife will drink it.  

"Here, Honey; I made you some Skeeter Pee."

"No Thank You.  Thank you though."

Hmmmmm...yeah.

I came up with the name "Drunken Lemon."  This is a simple, easy summer sipper, so it shouldn't take itself too seriously--but at the same time, it should carry some level of sophistication.  "Drunken Lemon" is sufficiently playful, but not quite sophisticated enough, so I translated it into French:  citron (lemon), and ivre (drunk) combined into one brand new, perfectly silly word that sounds sophisticated.  Nice!

Citronivre

Mis en Place.  This thing is basically just pure lemon juice,
a little wine tannin, some water and lots and lots of sugar.
Oh and of course some heavy duty wine yeast.

The true recipe calls for a yeast slurry from a previous batch of wine.  Since I don't make wine, I don't have any wine yeast slurry.  Instead, I will be making a starter from two fresh packets of Lalvin EC-1118 (wine yeast derived from Champagne) and one half gallon of Newman's Own Virgin Lemonade.  The significance of the lemonade I chose is that it contains no preservatives (whose job it is precisely to inhibit yeast activity), artificial sweeteners, or other silly chemistry.  It's just lemons, sugar, and water to give this yeast a fighting chance.  

Gravity reading of the lemonade shows
about 1.044, so just about right for
a starter.

I'm also adding a little yeast nutrient, yeast energizer, and aerating the bajezzus out of this starter before pitching the yeast.  There is clearly a healthy dose of concern over the health and vitality of the yeast, since it's going into an environment that's a bit more hostile than it's used to. That's why the recipe's author recommends pitching onto a large yeast cake from a previous batch of wine.  Lemon juice, obviously, is extremely acidic, and that is one of the primary factors that makes this "must" (winemakers term for wort) so hostile to the yeast.  So much so that lemon juice will not ferment on its own; the sugars that naturally exist in lemons remaining virtually inaccessible to the yeast.  This is why the recipe calls for so much additional sugar.

No Preservatives.

The other factor that makes the must hostile to yeast is that most commercial botttled lemon juices contain preservatives.  The recipe's author counters this by letting his prepared must sit in a bucket (covered with cheese cloth) for several days before pitching his yeast.  During this time he frequently whips his must with a wire whip both to aerate it and to allow the preservatives to evaporate out.  Luckily, I have found a great looking organic lemon juice that is free of preservatives, so I will be using that.

So the yeast has now been pitched into the starter.  Now the task is just to wait a few days while the yeast multiply and start to get active.  After that, I'll prepare the full 5 gallons of lemonade must and pitch the entire starter into it.

Citronivre Starter:  half gallon lemonade with two packets
EC-1118.  No stir plate for this.  That's busy spinning away
a wlp530 starter for Wednesday's brewday.

Dropping two packets of EC-1118 into
100ml of warm water to "bloom"

Step 1 complete.  I will update this post in a few days when I continue the process.  Wish me luck!  I really have no idea what I'm doing . . .

Step 2:  "Brew Day"

Today, Wednesday July 17, was "Brew Day" for my Citronivre.  I made two mistakes:  forgot to take a gravity reading for the OG (should be fine; I'm assuming around 1.070, which the recipe is formulated to), and I pitched the yeast a little warm (in the low 80s, just got excited I guess).  

Other than that, this beverage couldn't have been easier to make.  Heat a little sugar water on the stove to make invert sugar, cool it, add lemon juice, top off water to 5.5 gallons, tanin, and yeast nutrient.  Easy Peasy.  Then pitch the starter.  This yeast is a beast!  Saw activity within 30 minutes, the yeast cake is visibly larger than when I pitched it, and the airlock is going crazy now about 2 hours in.

I'm keeping it in the kitchen since it's supposed to ferment in the 70s.  When it reaches 1.050 (probably soon), I add the rest of the lemon juice and more nutrient, then wait for terminal gravity.  This EC-1118 I think is going to chew through this thing in no time.  Then it's just wait for it to clean up it's act, add some finings, wait for it to clear (I think like 30 days), then bottle.  

Really excited about this one--hope it turns out well!

Step 3:  Transferring to Secondary/ Stabilizing and Clearing

Saturday, July 27.  Yesterday a gravity reading revealed my Citronivre to be holding steady at a bone-dry 0.997.  

So I racked it to a 5 gallon carboy and added K-meta and sorbate and finings.  The first two additions are stabilizers (kill off any remaining yeast so that the wine can be back-sweetened without fear of further fermentation); the finings cling to solids in the wine and pull out of suspension to make the wine clear.

Today I drew a sample out of the carboy for Stephanie and me to try.  It's amazing to me how much this has cleared in just 24 hours.  I think this is ready to bottle any time.

Big nose of fresh squeezed lemonade; presents on the palate as a bone dry white wine; medium-short finish of fermented lemons.  Very cool!  It is quite tart though--makes you pucker!

We're now trying to decide how much (if any) back-sweetening, and with what.

Sexy Blonde

This is a great beer to have around during the summer months.  Light, simple and unchallenging, yet with just enough character to hold my interest for a second pint.  A great refresher on a hot afternoon!

OG:  1.040
FG:   1.008
ABV:  4.2%
IBU:  17.7

Simple grain bill, equal parts domestic 2-row malt and Belgian pils, with just a touch of Crystal 40L .  Just as simple with the hops, a few grams of Warrior at 60 minutes for bittering, and a bit of Palisade at 5 minutes and at flame out for that subtle citrusy/ floral flavor and aroma.  Pitched wlp001 (California Ale yeast) for a nice, clean fermentation character.

This was the first all grain batch I brewed on my newly tweaked setup.

It's also the first 12 gallon batch I've brewed in quite a while.  I used to have all of my recipes formulated for 6 gallon batches, but I've finally realized that my lower gravity beers need to be brewed to 12 gallons.  This is due to the capacity of the mash tun.  I can brew most of my beers to 6 gallon with no worries, but with anything below, say, 1.045 OG, I could never seem to hold temp during the mash.  I now realize (light bulb), that the mash tun doesn't really care how much volume of wort I want going into the kettle, it is only sensitive to the volume of grist and water it holds.  If I don't have at least 10.5 pounds of grist with water at 1.25 qts/lb, then there will be too much head space.  And head space, as I am finally aware, causes heat loss.

This beer uses a total grain bill of 15.57 pounds for a 12 gallon batch.  Held temp to the degree.  In contrast, three days ago I brewed an IIPA with a total grain bill of 17.3 pounds for a 6 gallon batch.  Again, held temp beautifully.  Total volume of the mash was very similar in the two batches.  The difference in yield of wort into the kettle (as well as the difference in gravity) was made up in the volume of sparge water.  For the Blonde, I sparged with almost 9 gallons of water, while the IIPA was effectively no-sparge.  And with that, I think I'm finally beginning to get my brain wrapped around the all grain brewing process!  WSHEWWW!

I will be brewing this again this week.  12 gallons, of course.  This time, I'll split the batch, pitching a slurry of wlp001 into the first carboy, and pitching a starter of wlp530 (Abbey Ale yeast) into the second.  Need to start growing up some yeast for some high gravity Belgians I have planned for later in the summer.

Home Brewery Upgrade--the New Setup

Well, unfortunately, I failed to take pictures when I punched holes and installed the inlet valves in my mash tun and boil kettle.  Guess I got excited and jumped right in.  It was a bit stressful, but I feel a LOT better now that it's finished and everything turned out well.

View of inlet from inside kettle.  5' of
silicone tubing coils around to the
bottom of the kettle to help with
whirlpooling.

Kettle inlet valve installed 2" from top.
Blichmann Thrumometer installed inline
to monitor wort temps into kettle

Mash Tun inlet valve for sparging

So, now that the modifications are behind me, it does seem much simpler than it did when I was in the planning stages.  The only real equipment modification was the addition of the inlet valves.  Two big additions were the March pump and the Blichmann floor burner.  Other than that, all the fittings are now quick disconnect and I replaced all my flimsy 1/2" vinyl tubing with thermoplastic tubing, which makes a pretty badass looking hose when it's rockin a QD fitting on each end.





Tomorrow I plan to brew my first batch on this new setup, a Scottish 70/- that I'm calling No Pence.  It will be a 5 gallon extract batch made with Marris Otter LME from Northern Brewer.  This will be my first extract batch in over 6 years; thought I'd keep it simple as I get used to the pump, etc.

From kettle to pump, through chiller, back into kettle!

Today, I set up the BK, pump, chiller circuit and ran some One Step cleanser through it.  This was meant not only to clean but more importantly to test run the setup before brew day tomorrow.  Worked great!  I couldn't be more thrilled.  The test run did expose some leaks, but after tightening up a few spots I think I'm ready.  Got some nice whirlpool action inside the kettle, too, and I dropped an extra tablespoon of One Step powder into the kettle which didn't take long to find its way into a tidy little pile in the center.

Maybe difficult to see, but there's a nice whirlpool going.

Can't wait for brew day tomorrow!

Home Brewery Upgrade--The Plan

So, now that the problems have been outlined, let's talk about solutions.

All the parts for the upgrade are in.  I have 10 stainless quick disconnects, several feet of thermoplastic tubing and some silicone tubing, three stainless ball valves, two street elbows, a March pump, and a Blichmann floor burner.

I also picked up a used Barley Crusher with 7" rollers and a 15# hopper.  This should make it much easier to mill my grain than it is on my current Grain Gobbler with 2" rollers and plastic funnel for a hopper, which holds maybe 2#.  More importantly, the Barley Crusher should improve the consistency of my crush, which will help me hit my efficiency more consistently.

Now, lets tackle each limitation in order, and talk about what all this stuff is going to do about it:

1.  Fly sparging with the lid off = massive heat loss.  I need an inlet valve about 1" from the top of my mash tun.  This should allow me to add sparge water above the grain bed while keeping the lid on, retaining much more heat. One ball valve, street elbow and some silicone tubing--along with the right size hole punched at the appropriate place on my cooler--should do the trick.  I've seen two configurations that I like.  The simpler one, and the one I plan to use, comes from The Electric Brewery build.  A length of tubing simply rests on the grain bed supplying sparge water at a single point.  Shouldn't really have a problem with channeling, but if I don't get good results with this, I can try the other configuration, which employs a T to form the tubing into a circle which hovers above the grain bed.  Holes punched in the tubing allow sparge water to be "sprinkled" evenly across the surface, similar to my current sparge arm.  Either way, the significant improvement is the addition of the top inlet valve--allows me to sparge with the lid on, and combined with the March pump, will allow me to retire my two pitchers and do a proper vorlauf.

2.  Can't fire the BK until runoff is complete.  So the addition of the Blichmann burner should do the trick here.  My summer batches will be done on the patio, HLT and MLT on the patio table, BK on the burner a foot below.  Shouldn't have a problem firing that puppy up during runoff, at least to maintain temp in the BK, if not to raise it, without fear of kettle caramelization.

3.  Stovetop boiling is no good.  Blichmann burner.  Done.

4.  Added a plate chiller; created issues.
       a.  Cold break ends up in the fermenter
       b.  Gravity is not the best way . . .

       The addition of the March pump and an inlet valve on the boil kettle will take care of both of these issues.  The pump pulls the wort through the plate chiller and recirculates it back into the BK as I see fit, and finally pumps it into the fermenter.  And of course the whirlpool attachment on the interior of the inlet will help to chill the wort inside the BK, at a rate I decide, controlled by the ball valve on the exit end of the pump.  This allows all lengths of whirlpool/ hop stands at temps I control, for any number of fun aromatic additions.  Meanwhile, cold break is pumped back into the BK, where the whirlpool action deposits it neatly in a cute cone in the center of the kettle with the rest of the trub, far from the output valve.  When this process is complete, the pump moves the chilled wort into the fermenter.

So that's it!  My next post, hopefully soon, will include pictures of the modifications as they were made.  Can't wait until this is complete and I can brew on it.

Home Brewery Upgrade--Limitations of my Current Setup

I have been brewing on the Morebeer B3-200 since I started brewing all grain.  It's the most basic setup:  two orange coolers, a brew kettle, and some tubing.  The bulkheads, the spigots, and the fittings are all original--which makes them 10 years old.  I have replaced tubing, of course, and I added a 1/2" stainless ball valve spigot and bazooka screen to the brew kettle about 18 months ago but that's about it.

"Three tier Brew Stand"

Sparge arm that came with the setup.
I think it was manufactured by Listerman
or Fermentap--not even sure they're
still in business...

Original stainless steel ball valve with
a plastic barb fitting.

Runoff into the BK

Stovetop boiling.  What a mess.

This setup has served me very well up to now, but I am beginning to feel its limitations, so I know it's time to update it.  Some of the limitations I need to address:

1.  Fly sparging with the lid off = massive heat loss.  As seen in the above photo, I have no way to fly sparge with the lid on the mash tun under this current setup.  You may well imagine that after 45-60 minutes with the lid off, the temperature of the mash drops significantly (down to about 140 or below, in fact).  It's been ok up to now--just a minor inconvenience--but if I hope to improve my beer, I need to figure out a way to keep the lid on during the sparge.

2.  Can't fire the BK until runoff is complete.  Because my setup is 100% gravity driven, and because I don't have a proper 3 tier brew stand, my BK sits on the floor during runoff.  This means that I can't apply heat to it until after I've collected my full volume of wort and moved it to the stove top.  I imagine I could easily shave 60-90 minutes off my brew day just by maintaining temp during the sparge and firing up the kettle sooner.

3.  Stovetop boiling is no good.  I have gone through a few different iterations of kettle setup, but since we moved into this house 10 months ago, I've been boiling on this glass topped stove.  No good.  Can't attain or maintain a good rolling boil without the lid on the kettle, and I'm pretty sure I'm destroying this stove, which certainly was not designed to boil 10 gallons of anything for 60-90 minutes.  I need a proper heat source for my kettle, I need to get this kettle off the stove before I have to explain to my wife that I broke it, and I need a configuration that eliminates the need to carry my full kettle from one place to another.

4.  Added a plate chiller; created issues.  A few months ago I replaced my immersion chiller with a Shirron plate chiller.  Love the fact that I got the IC out of my wort, but the addition of a plate chiller without any other modifications to my process has caused two issues:
   
     a.  Cold break all ends up in the fermenter.  I understand that a little bit of break
          material in the fermenter is a good idea since it contains nutrients for the yeast, but
          I'd like a way to leave most of it behind in the kettle.

     b.  Gravity is not the best way to move wort through the plate chiller on its way to the
           fermenter.  It is possible, but tricky, a big pain in the ass.  I need a way to move wort 
           through the plate chiller that is more reliable and consistent than gravity.

That's the basic outline.  I would also like to add the ability to whirlpool after flameout.  I have already planned out my upgrades and purchased the parts and equipment that I need in order to hopefully overcome these limitations.  In the next post or two, I will lay out the plan.

Hop Sprouts!

Just a quick update:

I came home this evening to find three tiny sprouts pushing their way through the soil to sunlight!

They look like this...

See my Hops Page for the full photo documentary of my first year of hop "farming."

Growing Hops

This weekend I planted three Centennial hop rhizomes.

I'm apparently planting late in the season, and I definitely don't have a green thumb.  But, I like the thought of brewing up something this fall using fresh hops grown in my own back yard, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I planted the rhizomes in a 30" pot with a tomato stake, along with several other produce items in their own pots.  Our family decided to plant a vegetable garden this year, but since this is only our first full summer in our new house, we decided to keep it simple with a container garden.  So on the patio we now have five pots, one each of strawberries, tomatoes, zucchini, rosemary, and of course Centennial hops.

It was such a great afternoon with the kids--so much enthusiasm, not just for going elbow deep in dirt, but genuinely for handling plants that they realize and trust will yield some of their favorite foods in a few weeks and months.

I hope my hops take off, and I am fully prepared to add structure and support as they hopefully climb far beyond the 36" of this tomato stake framework.

I will update here as things progress.

2013 Strategy

It's been quite a while since my last post.  Work's been busy, and I've had plenty at home as well to keep me distracted--building a guest bedroom in the basement (a project still only halfway complete).  Fortunately I have managed to brew two batches since the new year:  A Tripel and an American Pale Ale.  The Tripel is absolutely delicious, although I missed my efficiency and my attenuation so it’s much fuller and sweeter than intended.  The Pale Ale--hopped with 100% Cascade hops—just kicked last night (wish I would have waited longer to start drinking it; the past two nights’ pulls were amazing).

Anyway, I think now may be a good time to set the focus of my brewing, and perhaps of this blog, a little better.  Until now, my brewing has been kind of random, and that’s probably reflected in my posts up to this point.  It has always been my goal to learn as much as I can about home brewing, to continue to grow as a brewer and someday to produce amazing beers that can stand up to the best commercial examples.  I think I finally understand how to achieve that, and in 2013, I’m narrowing the focus of my brewing and setting a strategy for my own improvement.  You’ll read about it shortly.

WHERE I STARTED:

I brewed my first batch in 2001, but I wouldn't say that I've been brewing that long since I took a six year hiatus when my kids were born.  In the first stint (pre-kids), I probably brewed about 8 extract batches, none of them repeats, each of them a complete mess—but at least I was making beer.  And of course I had no idea that it sucked (my family and friends are very supportive; they “love” all my beer).  Like so many other new homebrewers, I wanted to brew everything, and to brew with everything.  A fresh strawberry "wheat," an oaked IPA, a Belgian wit, and a chocolate stout were all among this first round of brews.  After a few years, I invested in a basic 3-vessel all grain system (two 10 gallon converted coolers and a 15 gallon kettle) from MoreBeer.  I thought (incorrectly) that this was the best thing I could do to improve my beers.  I stumbled around two or three all grain batches before my wife had twin boys in 2005, at which time my burgeoning hobby was shelved.

WHERE I AM NOW:

I picked up brewing again right around this time in 2011, on the equipment I bought in 2003, that had been collecting dust since 2005.  The cool thing—as I would discover—was that equipment had not changed in that time, but the quality of information available to me seems to have improved tremendously.  In the past two years I've brewed 12 all grain batches—mostly not repeating any style or recipe more than once, and my results have been varied to say the least.  I now have a fermentation chamber (able to control fermentation temps to within 1 deg F anywhere from 30-80).  I cold crash, and I fine with gelatin and my past few batches have looked and tasted great.  But I still know I have a lot to learn.

WHERE I’M HEADED:

Over about the past year, I've been reading voraciously on Home Brew Talk Forums (while not posting much) as well as in books from Brewers Publications, and also listening to podcasts (current and archived) from the Brewing Network trying to gain as much knowledge as I can.  My 2013 strategy follows advice offered repeatedly by Jamil Zainasheff on “Can You Brew It” and probably elsewhere.  This year I am focusing on:

• Repeatability 
• Understanding yeast

Specifically, I have chosen just a few beer styles to focus on and will brew those over and over—hopefully with identical results--in order to really understand my system and process, and in order to “nail” those styles (“clone” my own brews).  Styles I’ll be working on this year are:

• Scottish 80/-
•  American Blonde Ale
• American Pale Ale 
•  Imperial IPA
•  Patersbier
• Tripel

Six styles may seem a bit much for the strategy I just laid out, but I love them all so much . . .  And my goal is to brew twice a month starting in May.  I chose these styles also because they can help me with my second goal:  understanding yeast.  I will brew everything on this list with one of only two yeast strains, so that I can really begin to understand them, how they behave, what they like and don’t like, etc.  I will be able to ferment the Pale Ale and IIPA using slurry (WLP001) from the Blonde or 80 /-, and I will be able to ferment the Tripel using slurry (WLP550) from the Patersbier.

For the 80/-, the Blonde, the Pale, and the Tripel, I simply pulled the recipes from Brewing Classic Styles.  The Patersbier is based on the kit recipe from Northern Brewer, and the IIPA will probably be an amped up version of my Columbus IPA.

I might join a local home brew club, and I’ll probably also enter a few of my brews in competition before the year is through.  Having my beer evaluated by strangers trained to do so will no doubt reveal flaws I don’t detect, refining my process and my palate (my friends and family are not helpful; they “love” all my beers—they’re all just impressed that it is beer).

This blog itself is another strategy toward my overall goal of developing myself as a home brewer.  From the beginning, I've meant it as a tool to chronicle my progress.  I’m sure I will someday look back at my early posts and chuckle at the silliness.  Those early posts will no doubt expose some of my limited understanding, misinformation, misinterpretation, and otherwise general noobdouchery.  I’m ok with that.  They will stand as they were written, as what they are:  points on the map showing where I was as I continue my journey to where I’d like to be.