Photo Updates

I checked on everything I have fermenting last night and also had 4 Amber Ales during the process. Below are some picture updates...

Belgian Dubbel - About 2 weeks in Primary

Sam Adams Summer Ale Clone - About 1 week in Primary

Empty Glass of Amber Ale - Yummy head lines!

Beer @ Work - Part 2

As a follow up to my previous post.. I brought a Fat Tire Amber Ale into work today for my 2 buddies to try. The picture in the previous post was the beer in the work refridgerator. After lunch, we came back down to our cubicles, and the guy across from me cracked open the beer in his cube. The beer was passed around and tasted by 5 people. All enjoyed the beer (even though it was left on its side and the yeast was all disturbed). To make it even better, the guys boss came walking down the aisle (who is also a director at the company) and stops him to take a swig of the beer. The director took a hearty gulp and liked it. He was told I made it, then tells me for being my 3rd ever beer, it is pretty good. He then informs me he used to brew himself when he was younger and has a case of 26oz. empty bottles he will bring in for me.

Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy! Even in shitty work!

Beer @ Work - Part 1

Today, I decided to bring in 2 bottles of my homebrew for two guys at work. Here is a nice shot of my beer at work...



I love it.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) Score Sheet

Taster: Mark Blaszczyk

Name of Beer: Fat Tire Amber Ale (clone)

Type: Amber

Brewery: Sunday Brewing Co.

Date: 4/25/09



Basic Scoring:
_7_ Presentation (10) - Observe the head, the consistency, the color, the clarity, the aroma…
_12_ Taste (20) - Use terms like fruity, dry, smooth, metallic, yeasty, alcoholic to help score.
_7_ Body (10) - Was this beer creamy, bubbly, hearty, thick or thin? Was it a good temperature? Was the 'mouthfeel' good(+) or bad(-)? Why?
_4_ Drinkability (5) - When finished, did you want to go out an get a six pack (+) or dump the rest of the bottle (-)?
_2_ Empty Glass Factor (5) - A trace of the ring in the glass (+) A very clean glass (-). The best beers leave a nice ring of foam. Drinking from the bottle scores a 2.

BASIC SCORE (50) __32__

Alternate Scoring:
_8_ Aroma (12) - Comment on malt, hops, esters, and other aromatics.
_2_ Appearance (3) - Comment on color, clarity, and head (retention, color, and texture)
_12_ Flavor (20) - Comment on malt, hops, fermentation characteristics, balance, finish/aftertaste, and other characteristics
_3_ Mouthfeel (5) - Comment on body, carbonation, warmth, creaminess, tartness, bitterness and other palate sensations
_6_ Overall Impression (10) - Comment on overall drinking pleasure associated with this beer and give suggestions for improvement

ALTERNATE SCORE (50) __31__

TOTAL SCORE (100) __63__ = VERY GOOD

KEY:
Outstanding (84-100)
Excellent: (68-83)
Very Good: (52-67)
Good: (36-51)
Fair: (20-35)
Poor: (0-19)

Comments: I think this beer went pretty well with only a few mistakes. The overall taste is great. The color seems a bit dark due to steeping the grains at too high of a temperature. Also, some bottles may have been over carbonated. The head is nice during the inital pour, but it does not leave a ring around the glass. I will try tweaking this recipie a little next time it is brewed, but overall, it is a pretty decent beer!

Weekend Update

Ok, where to begin...

1. I took a pre-mature taste of the 1-week bottle conditioned Amber Ale and it is by far the best batch made to date. It actually tastes like beer (And a really good one to boot!). I am not going to open anymore until it's been sitting another week or two, but so far, it's a good beer!
2. On Saturday, a Belgian Dubbel (St. Francis' Blessed Midnight Dubbel) was brewed (should be roughly 8.2% ABV). This beer will ferment for about 2-3 weeks, then bottled. It will bottle condition around 2-3 months. For this type of beer, the longer it bottle conditions the better.
3. On Sunday, I made a batch of Ed Wort's Apfelwein. I will post the recipie. There is no actual boiling involved, and you can pick up all the ingredients for around 25$.

Sadly, I was real lazy and did not take any good pictures of either the Dubbel or Apfelwein being made. I will post some fermentation pictures during the process. The Dubbel is going to have a very vigorous ferment, so that should be interesting.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - Bottling Day

Busy weekend...

First off, the Fat Tire Amber Ale was bottled. The bottling process went smoothly. Also, the hydrometer reading was 1.010 which was where it should be.

I did take a taste and the beer still had a small acidic/soapy aftertaste. I will let this batch sit for 2 weeks and give it a try then. I have my reasons for the off aftertaste again...

I believe it would be from using tap water to top off the wort after boiling. The water *should* be boiled before topping off the wort to 5 gallons. However, the aftertaste was not that bad, so I am hoping some of the off tasted will disappear after letting the bottles sit for 2 weeks.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - 1 Week of Fermenting

Very little activity coming from the air lock. About a bubble every 20 seconds. The Fat Tire Amber Ale will be bottled on Saturday, due to Sunday being Easter.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (clone) - 5 Days of Fermenting

Nothing too exciting..  The new air lock has stayed on top of the carboy and fermentation seems to be slowing down now.  The air lock is blowing out a bubble every 10 seconds.  I did notice some sediment sticking on the side of the fermenter.  I am guessing it is just the yeast moving and sticking in the carboy?  Hopefully it disappears over the weekend.

 

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - 4 Days of Fermenting & Replacing Air Lock

As expected when I got home yesterday, the air lock was still full of bubbles and foam.

I stopped at Home Sweet Homebrew during lunch and picked up a new stopper, 3-piece air lock, blow-off tube, and a carboy handle (the carboy handle was added to the purchase because I needed to have a 15$ minimum to use my credit card, oh well!).

I decided to put the 3-piece airlock on top of the carboy instead of the blow-off hose and tin foil. I've read both the blow-off hose and tin foil are good for the beginning stages of fermentation when the yeast is very active. After the fermentation seems to slow down, it is best to put an air lock on the carboy. Being it has been 4 days of fermenting now, and the activity has died down (about 1 bubble every 5 seconds), I went with the air lock.

Before replacing the air lock, I sterilized a piece of tin foil, the rubber stopper and the 3-piece air lock.

I took off the old air lock and put the piece of sterilized tin foil on top of the carboy to keep out any bugs that might try to get in. During this time, I assembled the new 3-piece air lock and filled it with water (about half way up).

I cleaned around the carboy mouth with a sterilized paper towel and put the new air lock on. I also assembled and attached the handy-dandy carboy handle (how sexy).

Everything is back to normal. I checked this morning before I left work, and the air lock is still bubbling about 1 bubble every 5 seconds. It is also clean and foam-free! Tonight I will drink like a fish so I have enough bottles to fill the Weiss in on Sunday.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - 3 Days of Fermenting

DANGER WILL ROBINSON! I got home from work yesterday and checked on the fermenter and I seen a giant foamy mess in the air lock.

This is not the first time I have had this happen. The first brew we made had the stopper and air lock completely blown off the carboy. Thankfully this time, the air lock has kept itself in the carboy. I did my best to clean around the air lock to prevent any type of infection. I decided to leave the air lock on for the night. I took the cap off the top of the air lock as the small holes were all clogged up (seen below).

I read several posts yesterday about clogged air locks. Most of the posts said to throw away the air locks as they are pretty much useless during primary fermentation. As for the one I have, the S-shaped air lock, experts say it is impossible to clean out properly once clogged.

The best method I read that is used for primary fermentation is to wrap aluminum foil around the top of the carboy, or use a blow-off hose for the first few days. Once fermentation seems to die down, then put a air lock on the carboy (I can see why...). I will be doing one or the other with the next batch (maybe even tonight).

The good thing... this happens all the time, and it does not ruin the batch. This happened because we have a very active fermentation and very active yeast. There is so much CO2 coming out of the carboy, that there is no chance of any contaminates entering the carboy. Since fermentation should be nearing its end, I think it will be ok leaving the air lock on top, as long as it does not clog more.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - 48 Hours of Fermenting

The beer is agressively fermenting now. The krausen (foam head) on the top layer of the beer is much more foamier than it was 24 hours ago. The airlock is bubbling about 1 bubble every 2 seconds. The color of the beer seems to be somewhat clearer, but it is still dark in color. However, the smell coming from the airlock is FANTASTIC! I think I felt buzzed just taking a whiff!

I also noticed the Weizenbier in the background was also blowing out a bubble or two after 10 days of fermenting. Bottling of the Weiszbier will be this Sunday. Pictures will be posted.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - 24 Hours of Fermenting

The sediment has fallen to the bottom of the carboy and the color has become much darker than expected. The airlock is bubbling about 1-2 bubbles every 10 seconds. Also, krausen (foam head) has began to form on top of the beer.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - 1 Hour After Boil

Below are some pictures of the wort in the carboy 1 hour after boiling. (Notice the German Weiszbeir in the background! - Pictures to be added later)

Like I previously mentioned, I am a little unsure of the color. Looking at a picture of the Fat Tire Amber Ale, it looked a little more red in color. Ours seems to be somewhat chocolate brown. I will keep posting pictures during the ferment. The temperature of the basement is about 65 degrees which is perfect for primary fermentation.

What the beer color should turn out as... we shall see!

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - Brewing Day

On Sunday (3/29/09), the team gathered in the backyard to begin brewing the Fat Tire Amber Ale. Below are some pictures from the Brewing Day. We forgot to take the O.G reading! Oops! But as far as I can tell, everything seems to be going as it should. One concern I do have is the color of the wort. It seems a tad dark. This could be good or bad, we shall see. Also not included in the pictures was the terrential downpour & hail that nearly flooded the backyard.

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs. Laaglander plain extra-light DME
• 0.50 lb. crystal malt (20° Lovibond)
• 0.50 lb. crystal malt (40° Lovibond)
• 0.50 lb. carapils malt
• 0.50 lb. Munich malt
• 0.50 lb. biscuit malt
• 0.50 lb. chocolate malt
• 3 AAUs Willamette pellet hops (0.66 oz. at 4.5% alpha acid)
• 1.33 AAUs Fuggle pellet hops (0.33 oz. at 4% alpha acid)
• 2 AAUs Fuggle pellet hops (0.50 oz. at 4% alpha acid)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss
• 2/3 to 3/4 cup corn sugar to prime
• California Ale Wyeast 1056

Dr. Robert drinking a brew.

The yeast!

Wort starting to foam up a bit.

Stirring the wort so it doesn't boil over.

Lifting the wort off the flame because it's about to boil over.

Flame got turned off due to almost boiling over.

Wort back on the flame!