GeoBrew FINALLY ready for the bottle!

time to uncover

  On Memorial Day weekend I was finally able to bottle the beer that John and I brewed and buried 6 weeks prior.  I tried the beer on the Saturday of MDW and it had a buttery flavor, which I read is common for Lagers.  You must warm them up to room temp for 48 hours to allow the yeast a chance to consume those buttery esters (Diacetyl Rest for nerds or for geeks).  I pulled the bottle out of the ground and put it in the woods (covered) for 48 hours, temps were in the 60's, so all was good.

father in law chipping in

dead-lift 5 gallons out of a hole

 Tasting the beer after two days at room temp got rid of most of the buttery flavor.  The roasted malts used in this beer hid any subtle off flavors, which was no accident.  based on the taste of this beer, I think I'll try a lighter Lager next time.  Go for a crisp clean brew.

 So, how does it taste?

Making a Mash Tun - All Grain Brewing

I've brewed 6 batches of been since January, all have been from extract kits.  Extract kits are great, they make great beer, and cut down on a few complex steps.  I've found it helpful to start with extract kits, it's good to cut down on the variables at first.  Lord knows enough can go wrong in the beer making process, why start complex and get frustrated?  Plus, all grain batches require a few more items, start up cost can be minimized by starting with extract kits.  Once you are ready to get more technical and get a taste of what a all-grain brewing is all about, pick up a Partial Mash Kit.  It uses a mashing process and some extract, you'll get a feel for what all-grain brewing is all about.  Northern Brewers Speckled Heifer is a good partial mash kit.

I'm at the point where I'm ready to make the switch to all-grain, so the first thing I needed was a Mash Tun.

GeoBrew Update week 3

It's been three weeks since I buried 5 gallons of Schwartzbier lager  in a hole near Waupaca WI.  I have NO IDEA what's happening with it!  The temps have been cool topside, which I hope translates to appropriate temps 4 feet below ground.  I need a temp of 45-55 degrees to get my Lager actively fermenting.  Ground temp was 40 when we put it to rest.



Next will be to get it out of the hole to get a Gravity reading, then a 48 hour warm up...  then?  Well, we're working on that.  I need to chill it down to the mid thirty's for at least two weeks.  I've been told to research the old Norwegian tradition of harvesting ice in the winter from lakes and storing it in sawdust and hay for use in the summer...  Must make that decision soon!

Cheers!
-Chris

Lemon Infused American Ale in bottles

I set aside 1.20 gallons of American Ale and dropped an entire lemon into the carboy for 2 weeks.  I peeled off strips of the lemon rind, then quartered the lemon before dropping it in.  After 2 weeks I tasted it, you could definitely taste the lemon, unlike the pear infused beer I tried earlier this spring.  In that batch I dropped two quartered and peeled red pears into the same amount of beer and the pear taste was subtle!

My impression was that the lemon flavor was too prevalent...  But we'll see what happens after priming sugar has been added and its had time to ferment.  I added a little extra priming sugar to give it a little more carbonation.  My thinking is that it'll make a great dog day summer afternoon beer..  Light, lemony, fizzy.  We'll see.  GottaBHot American Ale?

Cheers!
-Chris

It's here! It's here!

I can't thank the experts at the U of M enough for their gracious offer to supply me with a small amount of barley seed for my 'grow it yourself' batch of beer project.  If all goes well, I should have enough barley to make a 5 gallon batch of beer in about 4 months.  In exchange for the seed, I have agreed to share my progress through this blog, and share some of the final product with them.  That sounds fair to me!  Now to find a place to plant it.

I've also planted a few varieties of hops around the house.  I heard you don't get much of a harvest your first year... and I've also heard from someone who grew them last year, that a first year harvest can yield over a pound of hops.  So, we'll see.  The goal will be to grow, harvest, malt, dry and kiln the barley..  Grow, harvest and dry the hops..  Then use it all for a batch of beer in the fall.  We'll see what happens!

Beer? Check.. Shovel? Check..

Beer had been purchased, yeast has been started, the minivan is loaded.. I'm on the eve of a 3 day weekend near Waupaca WI.  It's an annual trip with good friends.

I think it's safe to say that burying beer in the ground to ferment for 2 weeks, then setting it in a stream for a second fermentation for another 3 weeks may expose it to less than consistent conditions.  Because of this I've settled on a dark lager, 1) because dark beers hide off flavors, which can be produced by a host of issues.  2)  Lagers require cold fermentations.  When done at home, lagers are usually fermented in a refrigerator to keep temps low.

Pear Infused Sinistral Warrior IPA

I love the 3 gallon carboy!  I've been pulling 1 gallon off of my original batches and putting it in this little guy so I can have some fun with it.  I put 2 peeled and quartered red pears into this 2nd fermentation for 10 days.  I was SURE it was going to be very parry, but it wasn't!  It tasted excellent prior to bottling.  Tonight I tried it for the first time, I expected great things, but was very disappointed with the taste.