Binder Clips

Binder clips are the multi tool of home brewers at least in my little brew space. The clips are used throughout the entire brew process. While brewing the clips are used to hold hop bags, pinch tubing, and as hose stand offs. I am racking the Sour Hammer today. A binder clip prevents the auto-siphon from falling into the fermentor. Disturbing the yeast lees is not wanted. The clip allows me to draw off clear liquid. The beer has been aging since January 2013 fermented with various yeast & bacteria some wild others from commercial laboratories.

The lab strands:
Brettanomyces Lambicus –produces a pie cherry-like flavor and sourness along with distinct "Brett" character. A pellicle may form in bottles or casks.
Roeselare Ale Blend –produce beer with a complex, earthy profile and a distinctive pie cherry sourness. Blend of Belgian ale yeast, a sherry yeast, two Brettanomyces strains, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus.
Lactobacillus –produces moderate levels of acidity and is commonly found in many types of beers.

The house bugs:
JPBD –Jolly Pumpkin bottle dregs harvested from commercial beer.
Special B –A blend of Belgian Saison yeast, Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus.
TX-BB –A blend of wild yeast from persimmons with a heavy dose of Brettanomyces Bruxellensis.

The intent was to make a unique sour with second runnings. In good faith I must admit I dumped much of this project. The beer had sat around too long or had less than stellar results. I reserved best batches for bottling and blending. The bugs achieved 95%+ attenuation. The samples ranged from funky, fruity, fusel, hot, and solvent. Notes of oxidation ranged from stale to cellar like. Very little notes from kettle caramelization held up. The beer lacks body it is aged beer for blending with young beer. Blending will help replenish body and display the intended character. The ones I dumped were too far gone.

The TX-BB Sour Hammer was bottled as-is with a high dose of priming sugar. Corked bottles are carbonating while half-keg is cold aging. I am preparing a young Flanders Red for blending. I've also though a secondary batch on black cherries would be nice.

Works Cited:
Thanks to MP father of The Velvet Hammer
http://peticolasbrewing.com/‎

Cheers Buddy!

This weekend was packed with beer exercises as my region prepares for the Bluebonnet Brewoff. In the coming weeks we will judge 1300+ entries from all over the United States. The first week began with unpacking, verifying, and sorting entries. I volunteered on the yellow sticky line. Having put dots on about 4500 bottles of beer I am still seeing dots. Sunday began with some spiritual cleansing. After worship I gathered with the community of beer lovers to empty the barrel. We racked the Berliner onto various bugs in attempt to get it sharply sour. The base had reach a SG 1.008 while fermented solely with WLP677 the beer tasted clean –Belgian clean that is with light notes of lactic acid. Pitching different bugs will allow us to identify which bugs are preferred. I will work much of the batch with a house culture. I am thinking Brett B will move the base into the Berliner family without being out of style. The challenge will be to produce sharply sour notes within three weeks. I am open to ideas on this. Having not pitched the bugs I’m still gathering thoughts. While the crew was around we also shared some award winning home brew. Cheers Buddy!

2014 Midwinter Homebrew Competition
1st Place - Straight Unblended Lambic - House Guest 2.0
Cuvee Conditioned -Dec 2012 Golden sour dry with medium funk and deep acidity | Exceptional | Bottled for aging

3rd Place - Open Category Mead - Coffee Mead
Coffee Mead 2.0 ground coffee added to 1/2 gallon. Stored cold. Racked and bottled.

2014 16th Annual Domras Cup Mead Competition
1st Place - Open Category Mead - Oak Aged Caramelized Honey Mead
Oak Stick Aged Caramelized honey mead. Ruby brown color. Fruity floral aroma. Flavor of toffee and light cinnamon. Getting better aged at room temperature. The sweetness and alcohol are becoming one/well rounded.

Works Cited:
Family Photo - AB, CH, AG, DM, SW, EF
http://domras.homebrewcomp.com/domras/Results.htm
http://www.midwinterhbc.com/

Pretty In Pink

Quite fitting for Valentine's day is a pretty in pink fermentation chamber the barrel box. The project is approaching final gravity within a week. The starter culture of Lactobacillus Delbrueckii was given 4 days of heated fermentation at 120F. The first sign of pellicle appeared within 24 hours. After the lag phase the gravity dropped 64% by day four. The flavor is tart with light notes of oak. There is very little acid in this Berliner. The fermentation is very clean. I've pulled a sample contemplating if the acid will increase overtime. I like the clean lactic acid as opposed to the sharp acetic acid from acetobacter. Overall I will say our work is paying off.

2-Day SG 1.040   

Heated fermentation chamber   

White Labs WLP677 Lactobacillus Delbrueckii 24-Hour Pellicle   

Wet towels for additional humidity   

5-Day rolling fermentation. Blow off tubing installed.   

Pulling a sample   

4-Day SG 1.013   

Brewday photo by RF. Yeast Pitching Photo (top) by TC.   

Dry Hopped Wild Ale

Working with sour beer has taken me on a wild journey of cellarmanship —the obsession with aging. I am learning how a beer reaches peak maturity. The stages are quite radical buttery, oil, roppy, balanced, acidic, etc. Sour beer can also go very wrong. They simply do not get better with time sour beers are to be intentional with an expected outcome. The bad ones are to be dumped. I have seen barrels at commercial breweries marked for deletion. While humbling the experience is also quite liberating. Going through my sour kegs I realize it's time to invite over the beer nerds. We will have dinner sample beer and share knowledge. This weekend we will share beers older than toddlers. They range from acidic to wild with horsey dank aromas of rotting fruit. Cleaning house I have saved my best sours the occasion. I have added Santiam dry hops to revive a complex farmhouse ale. The spicy hop will deliver herbal & floral aroma. The beer a farmhouse rye fermented with pediococcus & brettanomyces bruxellensis deserves some aromatics. Also arriving for the masses a selection of sours from SSF those bottles are prize worthy.

Sour Kegs+ some clean beers   

Dump Barrels at Jester King   

Sours by www.overcarbed.com   

Harvesting Bugs, Ales & Lagers

Harvesting Yeast at High Krausen   

This yeast has been saved for my next batch of beer. I am brewing for my brew-anniversary two beers a golden sour and an Oktoberfest. One beer is for aging the other is for the masses. One yeast is top-cropping ale yeast the other is bottom harvesting lager yeast. Each sample was taken from fermentation at high krausen when the yeast is most active. Fermenting in corny kegs has simplified pulling yeast. Ale samples are pulled from the gas-in while lager yeast is pulled from the dip-tube-out. I pull enough for a starter to keep from making a mess. The yeast is then cultured up on a stir plate. The blend of bacteria will be pitched from a yeast slurry. The golden sour I am brewing today has been going over a year. The yeast was snagged from SSF House Saison. The culture is a blend of White Labs bugs and bottle dregs. Named appropriately the strand is called "The House Guest". I am brewing the 4th batch today and racking the 3rd. I have one tap dedicated to sour beer plus one 3rd award for batch 1.0. Today will be a long day of brewing. Cheers!

The Sour Tap: House Guest 2.0   

Straight Un-blended Lambic   

The Sour Hammer

Every great beer has a simple beginning water, malt, hops, and yeast. The rest is in the hands of the brewer. When we look at the brewing regions claims can be made that Germans are the most technical brewers while the Belgians are the most patient and the Americans are extremist. All great qualities for the aspiring home brewer determined to make better beer. This attention to detail will distinguish your creations from the beers of the crowd.

When The Peticolas Brewery hit Dallas's beer scene. The family brewery presented an extreme beer called The Velvet Hammer. The acute use of malt and hops make this beer special. Hidden behind the malt is 9% alcohol by volume balanced by lots of hops (85 IBUs).

After an extended passage as laymen to the brewmaster Michael Peticolas trusted CH and I with the last runnings from the Velvet Hammer grist mash. This is the low gravity wort just before the grains drain out. In the brewery this wort is discharged so that no grains flow into the boil kettle. In the old world these runnings would have been collected to make beer for laymen. The King's beer was made from strong wort called first runnings. The Velvet Hammer is made from strong wort hopped, boiled and fermented.



The Sour Hammer was made with laymen's wort (malt extract). The low gravity mash out gave us as homebrewers brewmasters an opportunity to make beer fitting for the King. We took the small amount of wort boiled it down and hopped it. The result was rich and flavorful at 15 Plato of 7.5% ABV potential. In an effort to create distinct sours the wort was fermented with with several strands of wild yeast with Brettanomyces. Two gallons were inoculated sour blends from the regions of Belgium. The funk is developing nicely. However, sour beers mature over time like Belgian brewers we are practicing patience while planning a private release. There are only 10 gallons so the event must be elitist by nature. Stay Tuned!

White Dog

This weekend I toured Firestone & Robertson's Distillery. I had stumbled upon their website in search of all things fermented. Head distiller Rob Arnold is preparing a Texas Bourbon whiskey fermented with wild yeast. The oak aged product is scheduled for release as early as 2014. However, tour guests are offered samples of pure whiskey off the still. I've noted the "White Dog" as a bouquet of fruity esters with a sweet corn finish. The one ounce sample regulation was gone before I could gather my own words.

Here are notes from Rob the distiller:

Color: Perfectly clear
Nose: Floral and fruity, graham cracker and banana
Taste: Butterscotch, orange zest, black cherry, very smooth
Finish: Fruity, viscous, warm

http://frdistilling.com/whiskeys/StraightBourbon/2

As you can imagine the yeast is dominating the nose and the finish. Rob has done a great job by isolating the saccharomyces cerevisiae strain from a Texas pecan. The yeast has been named Brazos or RHB-422. Even more work is done maintaining a pure pitch. At F&R each 1000 gallon batch is fermented with 40 gallons of fresh Brazos. Going from plate to pitch is a job itself. The mash is conducted much like craft beer using local corn & wheat with a small amount of U.S. six-row malt. The entire grist is then cooled and fermented in open vats. The resulting mash yields a 9% ABV wash for distillation.

Thou shall not covet another brewers' yeast!

Works Cited:
http://frdistilling.com/blog/rob-arnold-begins-pursuit-of-a-wild-texas-yeast-strain-full-time
http://frdistilling.com/whiskeys/StraightBourbon/2
http://www.vendomecopper.com/obbatch.htm

Road to Recovery

A friend of mine is prevented from climbing ladders alone. The basis being accidents happen and so it's not safe to work without aide. I've had such unfortune on a smaller scale. My prized glass carboy has suffered an avoidable fall. The crash happened while balancing a racking racking cane, sanitizer and the slick carboy. Intended to drop lightly the carboy slipped from my grip. The shattered remains were a disappointment. I had spared the glass for wild yeast & Brettanomyces fermentation. Plastic carboys seemed to hold off flavors not intended for regular beers. Luckily I was preparing a historic German beer a Berliner Weisse. The beer is a light and refreshing wheat beer with Lactobacillus. Research has shown the beer also contained traces of Brettanomyces. I racked to the plastic carboy and recovered with a Blackberry Schwarzbier. I had brewed the beer on my birthday so it seemed life was coming full circle. I'll bottle up some beer for my friend and his ladder. :)



Berliner Weisse —Sour German Wheat

Aroma: A sharply sour, somewhat acidic character is dominant. Can have up to a moderately fruity character. The fruitiness may increase with age and a flowery character may develop. A mild Brettanomyces aroma may be present.

Appearance: Very pale straw in color. Clarity ranges from clear to somewhat hazy. Large, dense, white head with poor retention due to high acidity and low protein and hop content. Always effervescent.

Flavor: Clean lactic sourness dominates and can be quite strong, although not so acidic as a lambic. Some complementary bready or grainy wheat flavor is generally noticeable. Hop bitterness is very low. A mild Brettanomyces character may be detected, as may a restrained fruitiness.

Mouthfeel: Light body. Very dry finish. Very high carbonation. No sensation of alcohol.

Overall Impression: A very pale, sour, refreshing, low-alcohol wheat ale.

Schwarzbier —Black Beer

Aroma: Low to moderate malt, with low aromatic sweetness and/or hints of roast malt often apparent. The malt can be clean and neutral or rich and Munich-like, and may have a hint of caramel. The roast can be coffee-like but should never be burnt.

Appearance: Medium to very dark brown in color, often with deep ruby to garnet highlights, yet almost never truly black. Very clear. Large, persistent, tan-colored head.

Flavor: Light to moderate malt flavor, which can have a clean, neutral character to a rich, sweet, Munich-like intensity. Light to moderate roasted malt flavors can give a bitter-chocolate palate that lasts into the finish, but which are never burnt. Medium-low to medium bitterness, which can last into the finish. Light to moderate noble hop flavor. Clean lager character with no fruity esters or diacetyl. Aftertaste tends to dry out slowly and linger, featuring hop bitterness with a complementary but subtle roastiness in the background. Some residual sweetness is acceptable but not required.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. Moderate to moderately high carbonation. Smooth. No harshness or astringency, despite the use of dark, roasted malts.

Overall Impression: A dark German lager that balances roasted yet smooth malt flavors with moderate hop bitterness.

Works Cited:
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style17.php
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.php#1d

St. James Detour

A quite thought came to mind as I drove through Missouri: "Stop at St. James Winery for a tasting". I was a beer geek in wine country dressed like a truck driver passing swiftly. I had no time to stop, a to-do list, and a deadline. I thought of a solution: "Make our own wine using grapes from this region".

I purchased grapes on my way home. Determined to ferment on the skins I would produce a naturally fermented Vin de pays wine. I could run a secondary fermentation on the wine to mellow its acids & tannins. Saving the yeast collected to make an artisanal beer.

Proceeding with this plan I arrived home with one-half bushel of Magnolia Muscadines. The grape variety is a hybrid of the native American Scuppernog found during the early 1800s. The box was enough to make 1.625 gallons. The attempt at wine could turn into a natural disaster so extra precautions were taken. I rinsed the grapes in a bath of salt water and separated the stems and soft fruit. After a second rinse I crushed the grapes by hand. I then pitched some pectin enzyme to help clarify the juice and some potassium metabisulfite to knockdown the wild bacteria. I missed the initial brix reading so I have no idea the final ABV.

The batch fermented on it's own. I had wine two weeks later. I racked off the skins using one gallon for a secondary malolactic fermentation. One-half gallon was blended with beer. The resulting yeast slurry was saved. I am thinking an artisanal American Saison beer would be interesting. I have a test batch going to determine how well the yeast converts maltotriose.

Notes on the blended beer later.   

Works Cited:
http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fruits/muscadines/cultivars/documents/A%20Century%20of%20Muscadine%20Grape%20Breeding.pdf
http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fruits/muscadines/cultivars/magnolia/magnolia.html
http://intranet.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/agentinfo/muscadine_testing.htm

Gleaning

Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been harvested.

The act involves the humble or the poor collecting where it is not economically profitable. Ancient cultures have promoted gleaning as an early form of welfare. Today I will expound on a biblical story that has taken hold of my life. In the photo on the left I am harvesting wheat from fields in Boaz, Alabama. On the right I am gleaning two-row barley fields in Teaxs. The barley can be noted by it's smaller kernel size and husk extensions.

I was picking up my 11 year old daughter for the summer. She in Alabama and I in Texas became inspiration for regional farmhouse ales. Two ales would represent our origin and separation. The idea could go sour quickly so I was open to experimentation. When I returned home the grains were tossed in wort. The next day both were fermenting. I was getting more pleasant esters of light nut, bananas, and bumble gum from Texas gleaning. The Alabama harvest was rustic with an earthly herbal aroma it seemed more sour and slower to ferment. After a few days each was transferred to pint glassware with fresh wort. I'll run a batch of standard brew then pitch the spontaneous cultures separate. I am expecting the rural Alabama to be a sour beer. The Texas culture has an interesting lactic contentment. I am not certain either will make great beer. I've become as mad as microbiologist Louis Pasteur. My resolve ferment first then sample with precaution. I'll flash pasteurize then sample. If the results are noteworthy the ale will make a small production run. Otherwise all will remain experiential.

As for the biblical stuff it's hard to mix belief with conviction and so I will tell it to you straight. I find much wisdom in the old testament. Having read the story of Ruth and Boaz I was compelled to revisit the separation between my child and I. She had spent her youth with Mom while I lived a blessed life in Texas. Estranged by distance and father of a great kid. I was convicted* to be proactive. Resolved to take a leading role I've enlisted as a full-time father together we will work through adolescence, high school, and the push to college. She will reside with me for the transition. —*I am taken by the nature of redemption. Boaz at the time was blessed. A kinsman redeemer accountable for passing blessing from his generation to the next. I myself was prepared for fatherhood to pass inheritance to my heirs.

Works Cited:
Arthur Hughes (1832-1915) Gleaning oil on canvas
http://www.fineartlib.info/plugins/p17_image_gallery/images/11/3047.jpg

Bottle Aged Farmhouse Rye

I am learning to take competitions with smiles and giggles. The smiles represent the ability to brew good beer while the laughter is to soothe the jagged pill of crushed confidence. I am reviewing a multitude of scoresheets. The beers I entered scored low or suffered from low carbonation. I had simply rushed some and held others beyond their grace. At the time I was in a phase of farmhouse ales & sours. Needing to produce beers for competition my better brews were likewise edgy. The NTHBA my local home brewing club and I were fighting to bring home the Bluebonnet Cup award. Our club took home the medal; however, with no help from my arsenal.

I entered a Farmhouse Rye which had developed an interesting profile. The ale was fermented with a homebrewed culture then aged in the bottle. I found the result to be horsey with a leading edge not quite lactic. The early notes were grassy sour with some sulfuric and bumble gum esters. Time had pinched the bumble gum leaving a crusted earth aroma with no sulfur. Surprisingly the competition judges found it hard to describe. I've thought this would be the case given the culture's unique history.

Aroma: 9/12
medium general farmhouse aroma horse blanket. no hops or malt.

Appearance: 3/3
Big head. good retention. good color
lacey head

Flavor: 14/20
no malt. some hop. Farmhouse flavors. hard to describe.

Mouthfeel: 5/5
medium body. good carb. no warmth.
no astringency.

Overall: 7/10
An ok beer. not sure what to think. not a bad beer but not a good Belgian Pale Ale

Aroma: 9/12
Wonderful farmhouse aroma, malt, hops, and cheese. Odd esters & Phenols

Appearance: 3/3
Excellent head, rocky white, w/great lace.

Flavor: 14/20
hoppy flavor with unusual finish. Has grassy notes, and lemony taste

Mouthfeel: 4/5
good body & great carbonation

Overall: 7/10
this is a true specialty beer the flavors are unusual, but pleasant I would enjoy this with Thai food

Beer and Ruh

When it comes to brewing beer at home I feel there should be no limits. The homebrewer should be to open experimentation and beer styles are only outlined Cliff Notes on malt character. I'm an advocate of learning to brew great beer. However, I'm strongly apposed to the confines of classic styles. I've read Jamil's book and others. I've gathered those tools so that I may become a better brewer.

My latest beer as an interesting take on a saison using bottled cultured Sterkens White Ale yeast.

The yeast showed promise throughout the growth phase yielding a ruh beer with a some spicy notes and a touch of bubble gum aroma. The notion of brewing a witbier with the yeast was surpassed in favor of a neutral brew for experimentation. The grain bill was heavy on the pilsner malt with equal parts CaraMunich, Wheat, and beer sugar. The color is tan or rather 9SRM. For bittering German Hersbrucker hops accompanied  Sterling hops for flavor and aroma.

In my head this would yield a saison base with a less than noble approach to hops. The 1.060 gravity concoction is currently fermenting. I am anxious to taste the results. I'm shooting for a pleasant finishing warm beer. After fermentation I'll have a better handle on what was brewed.

Twice As Nice IPA

After a month on the yeast the Wild Pale Ale was slowly falling to 1.032 gravity. Having also noted its sweetness as high levels of DMS I decided to rework the batch. The new brew would be hopped again to create an English style India Pale Ale. I added 3lbs of malt extract to increase the gravity and an additional 2 gallons of water for before the boil for trub loss and evaporation. Unlike a culinary boil the boil was rolling with notable aspiration.

I have no calculations for the resulting bitterness. The assumption is the second hopping added an additional 20 units to the original 38IBUs. The boil resulted in a collection of 4.5 gallons at 1.059 gravity. I pitched a starter of Burton Ale Yeast WLP023 as its profile closely matches the fruity notes I was getting from Wild Yeast minus the tartness. I've named the yeast TX2104.

The IPA is fermenting well after the ale yeast I'll rack and pitch the wild yeast on a smaller batch. I'm thinking it will develop a nice tartness within 6-months.

12 Points, 3 Weeks

After carefully culturing some wild persimmon yeast from 20mL to ~750mL I had high hopes of developing an awesome Pale Ale. The first week fermentation went well. The batch dropped 10 points. The next two weeks it dropped two points. A week ago I pitched some American Ale yeast 1056 to get the gravity up. What's going on here? Has the fresh yeast been eaten by wild yeast? The carboy has a foam layer but the gravity has stabilized. Resting at 1.5% ABV this is malted soda not beer. The wort is slightly tart but malty sweet with an apple, pear, and grape aroma. I'll continue the yeast research.

Works Cited:
http://vitamaltplcnig.com/images/vitamalt%20press%202.jpg
http://vitamaltplcnig.com/about.html