The Old Man Lived in Wooley Swamp

My next batch of beer, a clone of Bell's Two-Hearted IPA, is done! The brewday went pretty well, aside from a narrowly-avoided boilover and the fact that I forgot to get ice to cool the wort down before I started. I had to run to the gas station across the road mid-boil to get two bags. No problems, though! In a few weeks, I'll transfer this beer to secondary, and add another oz. of hops to make it extra hoppy. This technique is called "dry hopping." I've never done it before, but I look forward to seeing how it turns out!

This really isn't what I wanted to talk about, though. I wanted to talk a little about my swamp cooler (hence the terrible Charlie Daniels reference in the title and video). I've tried a swamp cooler before with less-than-stellar results. But I think I've worked out all the kinks now. If I have, then this will be the key to getting great homebrew. So, what is a swamp cooler?

Basically, a swamp cooler is a tub of water in which you put the carboy while the beer is fermenting. Then, you can adjust the temperature of the water using ice. If it's really hot, you can take a t-shirt and drape it over the carboy so that the water is wicked up and evaporates, cooling it even more.

So, here's a picture of my carboy bubbling away in a swamp cooler.

As you can see, this fermentation is in full swing. The bottle in the back is what I'm using to cool it. Basically it's a two-liter coke bottle filled with water. I then froze it along with two other bottles so I can swap them out and keep the temperature low enough for the yeast to do its job without producing bad off flavors.

So far this system has been working. As you can see from this picture, the temperature of the carboy has been holding at a nice 68 degrees.

After I took this picture, I replaced the bottle, and the temperature went down another degree or so, but that's fine. It's better for it to be a little on the cold side anyway. For a little perspective, this yeast's optimal temperature is 60-72 with 66-68 really being the best. I've been fermenting close to (or past) the 72 mark. However, with the swamp cooler, I can keep it in that 66-68 range, making much better beer.

However, I do need to make sure I stay on top of this. I had a problem early on in the fermentation when the water got TOO cold. The carboy's temperature got down to about 56 and it stopped fermenting. Temperatures this low cause the yeast to go dormant. It's not that bad, and since it was so early in the stages of fermentation, it shouldn't hurt it. I just warmed it back up a little bit, and it took off like a rocket (as you can see in the pictures above).

Now I just have to keep rotating those bottles, maintaining a good temperature while it ferments. I'll let you know if I have any other hiccups. Also, I'll write another post going more in-depth about this style and the beer I'm cloning! Until then!

Beers of Christmas Present

It's been a couple of days since I wrote a post about my brewing, and since I have a little bit of free time, I thought I'd give a quick update on the goings on of Misdemeanor Brewing.

I bottled the Smoked Amber Ale last week, so that's carbing up in the closet now. It tasted pretty good. It fermented a little hotter than it should have (a problem I always seem to have), so there are some off flavors, but overall it's pretty good! Since I brewed it for Woodfest, I have declared that it henceforth shall be known as Woodfest Ale. It generally takes about two weeks to carbonate in the bottle, so it will be ready for Woodfest whether Woodfest is ready for it or not!

So, now that the Woodfest Ale is gradually building up the bubbles, I've started on my next beer. This will be an IPA that's a clone of Bell's Two-Hearted Ale. This one should be good! I'm a big fan of Two-Hearted, and I can't wait to see how this stacks up. Since the fridge still has some work to go and I'm probably just going to use it for kegging anyway, I'm going to try my hand at a swamp cooler again. I think I know what I can do to make this one better, so I should be able to control the temperature of the fermenting beer more accurately, thus minimizing the off flavors. Right now I have a yeast starter going for that, and I should be ready to brew tomorrow or Thursday.

Other than this, the other exciting thing about my brewing right now is that I am joining a local brew club. This club, called CHAOS, seems really cool. They have a brew house not too far from here on the Ell, with lots of cool stuff going on. They just got a bunch of 53 Gal barrels that they are going to fill up. So, I plan on getting a stake in that, giving me about 5 gallons of barrel-aged beer. It's really nice to interact with other homebrewers in real life, and I can tell I'm going to learn a lot from these more experienced brewers!

Well, that's about all for the update on my brewing. I'll probably post a more in-depth description of the Two-Hearted clone once I get that going. Until then!

Sending SMOKE Signals

Once again I find myself writing a blog while drinking flat, room-temperature beer out of a graduated cylinder, and in no way is that sad! I just took another sample of the Smoked Amber Ale to see how the gravity was looking and to give it a quick taste. I was so happy that I just had to give an update!

First off, the beer tastes amazing. Definitely still pretty smokey, but it's not nearly as pronounced as it was before. As I've said multiple times, I'm sure this won't be everyone's favorite. I actually met another homebrewer last night at the Auburn Alumni bar here in Chicago, and even he said that he's not a fan of smoked beers. Oh well, more beer for me! From my perspective, though, I'm still happy because this beer did exactly what I wanted it to, and I can only see it getting better in the next few weeks.

The other reason I'm so happy (and the reason this sample is in a graduated cylinder) is that I took a gravity reading and it came down more! It's still not where I was hoping it would get to originally, but considering the state of this beer a week ago, I'll take it. It came down to 1.015 from 1.018, a change of .003. While that may seem relatively insignificant, it means that this beer has come up from 3.67% ABV to 4.06% ABV (again, remember that Bud Light is 4.2%). Breaking the 4% threshold is more than I thought this beer would come to, and I'm pleased that it has.

So, how does the future of this beer look now? Much better. In a week I'll bottle it, then two weeks later it will be ready for consumption! I expect the smokey flavor to mellow out even more over the next few weeks, so don't be too freaked out by that. I'm really happy because this beer will most definitely be ready for Woodfest VI, the occasion that this beer was brewed for. Perhaps in another post I'll elaborate on exactly what Woodfest is, but for now all you need to know is that it's a bonfire. I don't know if I'm going to do a label for this one, but if I do, I'll let you know.

Now, I'm going to go back to my graduated cylinder! Until next time!

Irish Red or Amber Ale?

So, the next page of Misdemeanor Brewing is to develop a few "House Recipes." The two styles that I've chosen to work on are Irish Red Ales and IPA's. The first because this style was very popular (even Mrs. Misdemeanor liked it!), and IPA's because it's a more widely defined style, giving me more leeway to experiment. Besides, IPA's are just so tasty!

So, in preparation for this, I've been doing some research into recipes from which I can work. In the process, I got a little confused. I know what makes IPA's IPA's - light to medium color, hoppy taste and aroma, strong in ABV - but Irish Red to me has always been a little harder to pin down. What's the difference between an Irish Red and an Amber Ale? Turns out, not a lot. So, I thought I'd do a little post about what I found.

Here is the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) style description for the Irish Red. (No, you don't have to read it all, since I'll be explaining it in a bit.)

Aroma: Low to moderate malt aroma, generally caramel-like but occasionally toasty or toffee-like in nature. May have a light buttery character (although this is not required). Hop aroma is low to none (usually not present). Quite clean. Appearance: Amber to deep reddish copper color (most examples have a deep reddish hue). Clear. Low off-white to tan colored head.

Flavor: Moderate caramel malt flavor and sweetness, occasionally with a buttered toast or toffee-like quality. Finishes with a light taste of roasted grain, which lends a characteristic dryness to the finish. Generally no flavor hops, although some examples may have a light English hop flavor. Medium-low hop bitterness, although light use of roasted grains may increase the perception of bitterness to the medium range. Medium-dry to dry finish. Clean and smooth (lager versions can be very smooth). No esters.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body, although examples containing low levels of diacetyl may have a slightly slick mouthfeel. Moderate carbonation. Smooth. Moderately attenuated (more so than Scottish ales). May have a slight alcohol warmth in stronger versions.

Overall Impression: An easy-drinking pint. Malt-focused with an initial sweetness and a roasted dryness in the finish. Comments: Sometimes brewed as a lager (if so, generally will not exhibit a diacetyl character). When served too cold, the roasted character and bitterness may seem more elevated. Ingredients: May contain some adjuncts (corn, rice, or sugar), although excessive adjunct use will harm the character of the beer. Generally has a bit of roasted barley to provide reddish color and dry roasted finish. UK/Irish malts, hops, yeast.

Vital Statistics:
IBUs: 17 – 28
SRM: 9 – 18
OG: 1.044 - 1.060
FG: 1.010 - 1.014
ABV: 4.0 - 6.0%

And here's the description for the American Amber Ale. (Same as above.)

Aroma: Low to moderate hop aroma from dry hopping or late kettle additions of American hop varieties. A citrusy hop character is common, but not required. Moderately low to moderately high maltiness balances and sometimes masks the hop presentation, and usually shows a moderate caramel character. Esters vary from moderate to none. No diacetyl.

Appearance: Amber to coppery brown in color. Moderately large off-white head with good retention. Generally quite clear, although dry-hopped versions may be slightly hazy.

Flavor: Moderate to high hop flavor from American hop varieties, which often but not always has a citrusy quality. Malt flavors are moderate to strong, and usually show an initial malty sweetness followed by a moderate caramel flavor (and sometimes other character malts in lesser amounts). Malt and hop bitterness are usually balanced and mutually supportive. Fruity esters can be moderate to none. Caramel sweetness and hop flavor/bitterness can linger somewhat into the medium to full finish. No diacetyl.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body. Carbonation moderate to high. Overall smooth finish without astringency often associated with high hopping rates. Stronger versions may have a slight alcohol warmth.

Overall Impression: Like an American pale ale with more body, more caramel richness, and a balance more towards malt than hops (although hop rates can be significant).

History: Known simply as Red Ales in some regions, these beers were popularized in the hop-loving Northern California and the Pacific Northwest areas before spreading nationwide.

Comments: Can overlap in color with American pale ales. However, American amber ales differ from American pale ales not only by being usually darker in color, but also by having more caramel flavor, more body, and usually being balanced more evenly between malt and bitterness. Should not have a strong chocolate or roast character that might suggest an American brown ale (although small amounts are OK). Ingredients: Pale ale malt, typically American two-row. Medium to dark crystal malts. May also contain specialty grains which add additional character and uniqueness. American hops, often with citrusy flavors, are common but others may also be used. Water can vary in sulfate and carbonate content.

Vital Statistics
IBUs: 25 - 40
SRM: 10 - 17
OG: 1.045 - 1.060
FG: 1.010 - 1.015
ABV: 4.5 - 6.2%

So, what all does this mean? If you look at the "Vital Statistics," you can see that the two are very similar. The main difference is in the IBU's. What is an IBU, you ask? Well, it stands for International Bittering Units, but basically it's a measure of the bitterness in the beer. So, Amber Ales use more hops. The other difference you can see in the description is the type of malts and hops used in the two. For the Irish Red, understandably, one would use more English malts and hops with a tendency to use toasted malts. The Amber Ales use more American malts and hops.

Will I stick with the Irish Red style in my experimenting? Probably not exclusively. Most likely, I will blur the line between the two styles, but we'll see. At least for now, I'll try to stay as close to style as I can.

I know probably no one cares about all of this, but I hope you have learned a little bit from this. I know I have! Anyway, until next time!

Smokey the Beer

Over the past few days the active fermentation of the beer has really slowed, and today it appeared as if it had stopped completely. So, I thought now would be a good time to check the ABV and give it a little taste!

First I checked the ABV using my hydrometer. The original gravity of the beer was about 1.046. Today the gravity is down to 1.018. If we plug this into our handy little formula, ABV = (OG - FG) * 131, this brings our ABV to a WHOPPING 3.67. This is not exactly what I was hoping for. Keep in mind, Bud Light has about 4.2% ABV.

To be fair, I don't really care a whole lot about the ABV. If you recall, one of my favorite beers I made was The Innkeeper which only weighed in at about 3.8%. Still, I would really like for this beer to get above that mark. So, I roused the yeast a bit to see if it can do a little bit more for me. Hopefully I can get over that 3.8% mark. If not, I'll still drink it, which brings me to my next point: How does it taste?

Well, with any tasting of fresh, flat, warm beer, you don't really know how the finished product is going to taste. You can only guess. And if I had to guess, like REALLY guess, I'm going to say this is going to be freaking smokey. When I tasted the unfermented wort, I didn't think that the smoke was as pronounced as I wanted it. Now I think it might be TOO pronounced. I tasted this thing about a half an hour ago, and my mouth still tastes like smoke. And I didn't take a huge gulp of it either, it was a tiny sip. Seriously, when I first tasted it I said out loud, "DAMN that is smokey!"

I think once it gets carbonated and ages a bit, the smoke will mellow out. If it mellows just a little bit, it will be perfect for me! That being said, I know it's not going to be everyone's favorite. Just like some people don't like IPA's and some people don't like Stouts, a lot of people aren't going to like smoked beers. They just aren't. So, if you have one of these and don't like it, don't complain! I warned you!

Anyway, the beer is sitting again, hopefully fermenting a little bit more. I'm going to give it a couple more weeks and see how it goes from there. I promise to keep you updated! Also, soon I will talk a little more about my fermentation chamber project. It's starting to come along, and I hope to have it finished before the new year! If you haven't already, make sure you subscribe to my new twitter! It's @MisdemeanorBrew. I posted some pictures of the fridge project on there already, and I'm sure I'll continue to post as I go along. If you don't have twitter, no big. You'll just have to wait a little longer! I hope you look forward to my next post as much as I do!

Back to Basics (and THE FUTURE)

Since I started back, I've been thinking a lot about the future of Misdemeanor Brewing. The big question that should probably never be fully answered is "What can I do to make my beer better?" Well, I've come up with a couple of different things that I plan on doing that should dramatically improve the quality of my final product.

If you've read my blog from the beginning, you know that one of the biggest problems that has plagued my beer from the beginning is temperature control. I've tried several methods such as a swamp cooler, but so far nothing has been able to reliably keep the fermentation temperature low. So, what am I to do? The answer: a fermentation chamber.

Lauren and I happen to have a spare mini fridge that is just sitting in the kitchen taking up room. With a few modifications, I should be able to fit an entire carboy in the fridge. Then, with the addition of a digital temperature controller, I will be able to get and keep the temperature of the fermenting beer low enough to keep from having any off flavors. Also, the ability to control the temperature will also open up an entirely new avenue of brewing for me: lagers! Until now I haven't been able to do a lager, but now I can try several new styles of beer. I'm really excited about this!

Aside from temperature control, I have decided to try to perfect one style of beer. Until now, I have not brewed the same style of beer twice. I will still be experimenting with different styles, just not as frequently. The point of this is to try to perfect my brewing techniques as well as creating a standard "House Recipe." So, what beer should I try to perfect?

I've been trying to come up with my favorite beer that I've brewed since beginning this as well as finding others' favorite. It seems like the most well received (and one of my favorite) beers that I brewed was the Irish Red Ale. Yes, the very first beer I brewed. So, after my next beer, which I have decided will be my first IPA, I will be coming back to the Irish Red. While some people may think I'm limiting myself, thus making my brewing WAY less interesting for them, I disagree. This gives me a level of creativity that I haven't really had from my other beers. By starting with a base recipe and tweaking it, I can find just exactly what I like. And don't think that these will all be minor tweaks. Who knows. Perhaps a an Oak Aged Cranberry Red Ale will pop up after a while (though I don't know if that combination would really work)!

Like I said, don't think that just because I'm going to be focusing on improving one style I will JUST be brewing that style. Who wants to be limited to one style?! Certainly not me! Anyway, keep looking back here to find out just how things are going with my current beer. I'll post again soon with an update!

Smooooooke

So, I finally managed to get back to brewing yesterday! For my first time back as well as my first time doing a partial mash, it went fairly well. However, I don't have super high hopes for this beer. But I'll get into that later. First, I'll talk a little about the brewday.

This brewday just illustrated how resourceful you have to be when brewing. First, I had to take stock of my brewing equipment. Since the move, I haven't really looked at it, and it seems there are a few things missing. I managed to order some of the replacements when I got my ingredients, but I missed a few things. So, I had to get some new tubing for the auto-siphon and had to figure out something for a beer thief. A quick trip to Home Depot took care of the tubing and a turkey baster from Target worked out for the beer thief. The last little piece of equipment I needed was a nylon mesh bag. This was a little trickier and required me going into the city to a brew shop.

After I got all of the equipment in order, I started the brewday. I have to say, they weren't lying when they said the malt was smokey. When I first started the mashing process, our entire apartment smelled like a campfire. As I remarked on twitter, "What's more manly than beer and the smell of a campfire?" Unbeknownst to me, however, the pilot light had gone off in my oven, so when I put my kettle in, it didn't maintain the temperature that I wanted it to. What does that mean? It didn't get great extraction of sugars from the grain. So, my gravity wasn't as high as it should have been, and it's likely it won't have as much of that smokey flavor that I was looking for.

This is the first reason I don't have super high hopes for this beer. The other happened after I pitched the yeast. In the past few hours the active fermentation has begun, but not near as vigorously as I had hoped. Also, it's fermenting a little hot, meaning it will probably produce some off flavors.

The only thing I can do at this point is just wait and see how it turns out. I'm hoping that smokey flavor really stands out and that it doesn't get too phenolic. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks!

Until then, "ARE YA SMOKIN' YET?!"