Amarillo IPA Photos

Photos from the Amarillo IPA brew day. As you can see from the first picture, it was a great day! We will be holding a contest to name this beer. Keep your names coming!

Nutsacks anyone?

Wort boiling

Party like a rock star!

Fermenting Fun!

(partial) Sunday Brewing Co.

Yes, Ladies... He is single.

Oatmeal Stout Photos

Just some photos of the Oatmeal Stout... nothing too exciting here. I figured i'll post some photos of what I have on hand..

Fermenting

Cooling down wort in 20+ inches of snow.

Steeping grains

Dunkelweizen - Fermenting

Below are some pictures of the dunkelweizen fermenting. This batch took about 48 hours to starting kicking off the fermenting process. It has been going strong since then...

About 48 hours in

Close up of the blow-off hose

Dunkelweizen and Belgian Dubbel (beer porn!)

Belgian Dubbel pictures

Sorry for the lack of updates.. Below are some pictures from past brews I never got around to uploading.

Dan keeping an eye on the Belgian Dubbel

Belgian Dubbel fermenting in the dark

The Belgian Dubbel will be ready to be bottled this weekend. It will need to ferment about 1-2 months, but an 8.2% ABV Belgian Dubbel will be worth the wait. The Dubbel will also be bottled in flip-top 22oz. bottles (think Grolsch bottles!)

Status Updates

Belgian Dubbel
The Belgian Dubbel just began its primary fermenting on Monday. It took about 30 hours before I seen any action taking play within the carboy. Right now it is blowing out a bubble every 5 seconds and a thick layer of krausen has formed on top of the carboy. The fermentation temperature is around 68 - 70 degrees. I will keep a close watch on it this weekend because the Philadelphia area is supposed to get temperatures in the 80's.

Ed Wort's Apfelwein
The apfelwein seems to be fermenting or doing its thing. It is in a plastic bucket fermenting, so I can not see what is going on. I smelled the top of the airlock to get a hint of what is coming out and it smelled like rotten eggs. This is common in certain strains of yeast. And since this yeast is a wine yeast, it probably produces some interesting smells.

Wild Flower Wheat
The Wild Flower Wheat is just about hitting the 2 week mark of fermentation and should be bottled this weekend. It is still shooting out a bubble about every minute or so. The fermentation temperature is around 64-66 degrees. I might try to warm up the Wild Flower Wheat a little bit to make sure fermentation is complete.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone)
The Fat Tire Amber Ale has been conditioning just about 2 weeks now. I was impatient and sampled one at the 1 week mark, and it tasted wonderful. This recipie will be brewed again this weekend, but with some personal tweeks to the recipie.

Wild Flower Wheat - 6 Days of Fermenting

The Wild Flower Wheat is still going strong in the ferment. The krausen is lowering, which is good... but it is still blowing out a good amount of bubbles after 6 days. I might have to leave this batch in the fermenter close to 3 weeks.

I also need a new hydrometer due to an "accident" from last weekend. Around the 2.5 week mark, I will start taking hydrometer readings to ensure fermentation is complete. If the hydrometer reading stays constant over 2 days, it is safe enough to bottle.

Also, there will be some interesting brews being made. Stay tuned!

Wild Flower Wheat - 5 Days of Fermenting

Maybe it is the ingredients of this batch, or the yeast, or the higher sugar content... but this batch is still fermenting pretty strong. It is still blowing out a bubble about every 5 seconds after 5 days! The krausen has died down a bit and it is less foamy that it was a few days ago. Also the color is still a golden brown.. looking almost like apple cider.

I will be letting this one ferment for a total of 2 - 2.5 weeks before bottling. Also, once it is bottled, I will let it condition for about 2-3 weeks before cracking one open. I can't wait to drink that 6% ABV goodness!

Wild Flower Wheat - 3 Days of Fermenting

The blow-off hose is working great. The foam just seems to be flying right through the tube with no clogging. I will never use a air lock during the first days of fermentation again! The tube is blowing out bubbles about every 3-5 seconds. I do not see any clogging in the tube at all.

I checked on it this morning before work and it looks like it is starting to slow down. Some foam has settled in the tube and the CO2 pressure is slowing a bit. Depending on how the tube looks when I get home, I might replace the blow-off hose with the air lock since the beer is nearing the end of the primary fermentation stage (when the yeast is most active).

Wild Flower Wheat - 2 Days of Fermenting

It looks like the blow-off hose is doing it's job. The krausen has started to form in the carboy. The foam is blowing out of the tube and into the saucer of water with no issues. I will closely monitor the fermentation daily just in case the hose somehow gets clogged.

Wild Flower Wheat - 1 Day of Fermenting

Day 1 of fermenting. The yeast has started moving through the beer. The color has gotten a little bit darker... almost a golden brown. I decided to try the blow-off tube instead of the air lock during fermentation. Not much coming through the tube right now. There should be some CO2 bubbles coming shortly.

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!