Category: Beer Brewing

My adventures in home brewing… for better and sometimes worse… much worse.

Results of Batch #1 of Obispo Brewery…


Kegging is done and the beer has been under CO2 pressure for 4 days. While it still needs to be under pressure for another 7 days before it’s really done the beer is finally at a point that it’s either going to be good or it’s not.

But before we get to that point I wanted to talk briefly about kegging. The soda keg for the beer is one of the better decisions I made for this entire process. Aside from not having to screw with 48 some odd bottles and caps I also don’t have to screw with a secondary fermentation vessel or additional adjuncts to my beer. As you can see in my picture I’m currently keeping my whole keg setup in a fridge…. this is a less then ideal setup since I lose my fridge for storing food (kind of a issue for me) and the cold humidity is screwing with the regulator… That part is what is causing more pain and misery then anything else right now. So for the weekend I will keep the beer in the fridge but will be purchasing a small freezer and doing some work on it to make it more suitable for beer kegs. More on that once I actually do it.

Now for the part that you have been waiting for… Results of the first beer tasting.

IT’S GOOD!!

The biggest concerns were spoilage because I for got to clean something or something was not quite right…. I’m happy to say that I had no problems in that department and have good beer!

Overall the beer is defintly a ale, a touch hoppier then what I’m used to in Ales, but no where near the level of a traditional IPA. The alcohol content is also a bit on the heavy side as I had a single 16oz serving and was feeling a little to good. A empty stomach may also have had something to do with that. Overall I’m very pleased with the results of this first batch.

In the next series of entries I show I get my fridge back and begin prep for my next batch.

Until next time kiddies.

Obispo Brewery batch #1

First brew is in the Carboy and fermenting… turns out on my dry run I had closer to 4 gallons of water and not the 5 I had estimated to begin with.

All told it was 3.5 hours to from start to finish (finish being the carboy in a water bath).

At this point the only thing I’m worried about is the carboy water bath. The bath has been holding steady at ~78F unless I add ice to the bath then it drops to ~70F which is good. This particular ale doesn’t like to ferment above 80F. The plan for the moment is to let the wort/beer ferment until Monday night and then transfer to a keg. I don’t need to do a secondary fermentation since I’m going to be using a keg to infuse the CO2, however I still do question that particular move.

More on the kegging and CO2 process when I actually do it. Which reminds me I need to find a industrial gas supply company and get my CO2 tank either filled or swapped.

Pictures are up on Flickr… blogspot is to much of a pain in the ass to load pictures.

A “Dry” run…

Doing a first “dry” run on the beer kit…. making sure that I have all the stuff that I need logistics that kind of thing.

Things to note…

Propane burners are loud and hot… should probally brew on back porch when time comes not garage unless it is a windy day.

20 minutes to bring ~8 gallons of water to 200F so around 15minutes for 6 gallons to 180F

Propane control knob has a small play region after 2 turns it’s wide open.

Need to find a better thermometer… this one floating way low in the pot is not a good idea.

Oven mits are a really good idea all around

Ball valve on the pot is holding… small leakage only from the end.

Sink, test, and tighten chiller before starting boil…

7 minutes to 150F with 8 gallons of water.

May need to spray out side of kettle to help get water temp down. Need to get second hose.

Time to serious… ish…

OK finally time to get serious with this whole home brewing thing. Just the inital research is a bit intimidating. And when I say intimidating I mean there are a million and one ways to screw everything up and not know that you’ve done something wrong until it is far to late.

So I present to you now two resources that I have up to this point found exceedingly helpful in doing this whole home brew thing

— Home Brewing For Dummies. It’s a bit old but brewing isn’t exactly something that changes every other week. A good general resource and how to.

— Morebeer.com. Website a couple of quick how to video’s and a FAQ section that really helps in some spots. Other spots it’s a bit thin. The biggest thing with this is it lets you see what your working with so you can plan accordingly. Of course going to your local brewer supply store would achieve the same effect.

My other resource is Greg at work… and well he doesn’t have a website and I’m not going to post his email so you need to go find your own brew geek.

The first review… Fat Tire Amber Ale

Brewery: New Belgium Fort Collins Colorado

Type: Ale

From the Website: “Fat Tire’s depth of flavor, achieved with neither a disproportionate sway toward hops or malts, tandems well with a full spectrum of today’s engaging cuisines. Salmon, dry-aged cheeses, roasted chilies, omelets at midnight, sweet potato French fries and just about anything with grill marks or garlic are just a few of the edibles we like to partner up with our Amber Ale.“

My Take: Fat Tire is one of my favorite beers. I’m starting with this beer since I know it better then I know most any other beer. It’s a Belgium Style influenced Ale, but it lacks the bite of other Belgian style ales. To someone who is not used to drinking Fat Tire they would probably be struck at how strong the flavor truly is.

Whoops… Looks like I kinda forgot…

Whoa… Looks like someone kind of forgot they started a beer brewing blog.

I still want to chronicle my home brewing “experiences” but, I haven’t really had a chance to try it out and honestly I’ve been focused on other things.

I have been having a hankering to write about beer though. I don’t know why I just do. So while I’m waiting to bring myself out of my self induced beer brewing funk. I will share with you the reader the beers that I love here in the desert’s of Arizona.

Everything from large Macro brews (Coors, Bud, Miller) to local craft brews (Oak Creek, Four Peaks, Cavecreek).

Honestly this is just a excuse for me to go out and buy every beer I can and report back on it.

Knowing is…..

GI Joe would say knowing is half the battle…

My research for home brewing is proving that knowing isn’t even the start of the battle

I’m have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. In the overall scheme of things.

Kegging looks to be vastly more efficient over bottling in both ease and getting things carbonated. The biggest turn off to home brewing since I became interested has been cleaning all of those damned bottles.

The down side to kegging is it’s a much higher upfront cost and I truly look at home brewing as something of a capital investment. If I do three or four batches a year at five gallons a batch that is just a bit more then four 12 packs of beer. So three or 4 batches over the course of the year would be about right for me.

The other thing with beer brewing is that unless you flat break something you can pretty much use it for freaking ever. They may come out with some new fancy thing but it won’t help you do your job any better.

I guess the other question is how many kegs do I buy up front?

Beer….

So it’s no secret that I like beer… Light beer, dark beer, hoppy beer, holiday beer, summer beer, winter beer, wheat beer, rice beer. The list goes on and on and on and on.

This notion of beer love got me thinking tonight… What beers do I like and how can I share that with my loyal readership? Well ok 2.1 of you who drink beer, .5 of you is a pansy and only drink “whiskey” (pansy) and the .4 don’t drink at all (I admire you for your steadfastness but I can’t but wonder how you make it through the day)

So lets start at the beginning (where we should start will all things) and talk about my personal favorite…

Yes the true “King of Beers” actually you know that is a insult…. NO… Guiness is the Nectar of the Gods!

Actually Guiness is a stout… which is a very ummm stout beer. OK you know what let me go find a wikipedia entry for Guiness.

Hold ON… I found something even better… www.beerhunter.com Looks like the internet is for more then just P0rn!

“An extra-dark, almost black, top-fermenting brew, made with highly roasted malts. Sweet stout, an English style, is typified by Mackeson, which has only about 3.75 percent alcohol by volume in its domestic market but more than 5 in the Americas. Sweet stout usually contains milk sugars (lactose), and is a soothing restorative. Dry stout, the Irish style, is typified by Guinness, which comes in at around 4 percent in the British Isles, a little more in North America and as much as 8 in tropical countries. Dry stouts sometimes contain roasted unmalted barley. Imperial Stout, originally brewed as a winter warmer, for sale in the Tsarist Russian Empire, is medium dry and distinguished by its great strength: anything from 7 to more than 10.”

Guiness and I have a long history… but that is for another entry.

Moving on, there is a picture of me floating around holding a bottle of “Polygamy Porter”. Now this is significant for two reasons. 1. It’s the only “posed” picture of myself that I actually like and 2. It’s the only porter I’ve drank in the last couple of years that I’ve actually enjoyed.

Again from the dude at www.beerhunter.com

“A London style that became extinct, though it has recently been revived. It was a lighter-bodied companion to stout, and the most accurate revivals are probably the porters made by American micro-brewers like Sierra Nevada. Around 5 percent by volume. In some countries, the porter tradition remains in roasty-tasting dark brews that are bottom-fermented, and often of a greater strength.”
Polygamy porter is made by a micro brewer in…. Salt Lake City? OK looks like Mormons do drink beer the just don’t owe up to it. Anywhoo the quote is and the beer are both spot on… it’s got a “roasted nut” taste to it.

I’m also very fond of Fat Tire Amber Ale… Actually I like all ales… shit who are we kidding I like all beers…. but yeah Fat Tire is my favorite for regional type beer.

So let me just go ahead and list different beers I like and we can all move on.

Oak Creek Stout… It’s like Guiness only not quite as smooth a bit more bite to it. About the only good thing to come out of the relationship with the bitch.

Sam Adams… I’m again in the boat of liking just about anything this brewery puts out. Sam Adam’s Light is their best brew in my mind. Octoberfest is a close second.

There are many other beers… but that is for another time.

I leave you know with a view of my fridge from a month or two ago.