Homebrewing

It all started when I was working as a chemist. I loved all the reactions, the hands-on aspect of seeing things change properties based on science. Then I was promoted to management, but I really missed being able to mess around… uh, I mean work… in a lab.

So I started brewing. I cultured my own yeast on homemade slants (thank you, advanced bio!) and built elaborate setups with carbon dioxide traps (thank you, organic chem lab!) and had a ton of fun.

I am well aware that I am far from being a master brewer. That being said, I’ve made some really good stuff. All it takes is a little art, a little science… and a lot of patience!! To see my posts about brewing, look for my Chemistry Nerd Avatar on the forum.

For more history of the Brewery @ the Bale’s, skip the ingredients pictures. Want to know what I’ve made and my humble opinions about them? Read on.

27 July 2005: This is the Brew Tub. No, not the Brew Pub, the Brew Tub. Why, oh why must I have cute names for everything? Anyway… on the right is the mead with blowoff tube that I’m bottling soon. In the middle primary is a Fat Tire clone from Midwest Supplies. On the left is my secondary, the new Fermentap. On the far left is the cheap bourbon I use in my airlocks. It makes the whole room smell of bourbon and sweet, sweet beer… mmmm…..

06 August 2005: I bottled my mead that I started in February. It was racked at 2 weeks and again at 7 weeks. I have never made it, so we’ll see. It tasted OK, which I was not expecting; I had heard lovely descriptors of young mead as “kerosene.” I bottled four types: lemon ginger, peach with extra honey, vanilla and brown sugar, and a holiday spiced with traditional mulling spices. Stay tuned for reviews.

08 August 2005: Begin on my Oktoberfest lager. It’s my first lager. With the mead bottled, the Brew Tub has space for a 20-gallon water reservoir, insulated with towels. The coils are a drop-in titanium chiller with a small water pump. The whole thing is regulated by a Medusa. Why wouldn’t I just use a refrigerator? Because that would be easy, you fool. Plus, I had all that stuff just lying around the house (see my other hobby page). One might also question why I’m making lager in August, the hottest month of the year. Answer: I need it for my annual Oktoberfest. Any other silly questions? No? Good.

10 August 2005: So I changed the airlock on my new lager and am hit with that methanethiol-asparagus smell that smelled like the gummy stuff on the bottom of my crisper drawer. I was about to just pour it down the drain until I was saved by vfdirk, this guru on my forum, who sent me this link explaining how lager stinks when it starts ferementing. So I kept it, the smell diminished, and I racked it to secondary on 18 August and moved the temperature down to 42F.

18 September 2005: I brewed a nut brown and used the Fermentap again. I’m really starting to like it. I’ll feature it on this page if I think it warrants endorsing, but I need to use it a few more times…..

19 September 2005: The lager seems to be at a standstill. As a novice brewer, I don’t check SG, so I would rely on the airlock. The lager has been under pressure but not bubbling for about a week. I am going to let it go about 10 more days and then keg. I’m thinking of using some potassium metabisulphite to kill the yeast so it doesn’t try to cold ferment and blow the keg.

20 September 2005: I brewed my first stout- an oatmeal stout- today. I now have 25 gallons of beer in my house in various stages of fermentation, plus 5 gallons of mead. Hooray! I used the Fermentap. As my grains steeped, I assembled the valve/racking cane assembly and snapped the cane. No big deal, I have a spare. SNAP! OK, this isn’t working out. I used a straight racking cane, didn’t snap it…but it was too long to fit in the stand, so I had to prop in in the sink with two boards. Not pretty. I made the airlock out of flexible tubing. It was a huge pain, but it’s already bubbling furiously (I made an Irish Ale yeast starter and used half for the nut brown, half for the stout).

It’s a testament to the Fermentap that I like it so much that I went to great lengths to use it. However, the materials used in contruction leave much to be desired. True, I bought the canes that snapped separately, but the valve attachment assembly is a cheap plastic that bends when tightened, and the stands are way too short. Maybe I’ll make my own nylon-webbing suspenders and hang them! Yeah, in all my “free” time.

I decided not to mess with sanitizing bottles, and went straight to kegging. Not only did I only have to sanitize one vessel, but the beer was ready to drink four weeks faster! I made my own keg refrigerator by sawing out the shelves with a dremel tool and drilling a hole for the tap. I am disappointed at the lack of floor space; the cooling unit barely allows for the footprint of a five-gallon soda keg to fit. I was hoping two would fit based on the dimensions. I will be purchasing a better refrigerator very soon.

Working in a chemistry lab made me predisposed to tinkering, so I discovered a couple of cool things to do: first, I don’t start siphons when racking or bottling/kegging. I simply put the racking cane into a stopper and let the liquid rise in the tube. In the picture to the right, the mead is creeping up to the neck of the racking tube (click the hyperlink for a closeup). This requires attention to keep from putting beer onto the floor, but it also is not as forceful, so less yeast is disturbed in the transfer. Second, I like to purge my secondary carboy with CO2 before racking; to do so, I vent the airlock into the bottom of the secondary for a couple of days. Because CO2 is heavier than air, it fills the carboy and reduces oxidation.

42 thoughts on “Homebrewing

  1. Pingback: Nicole, Deipnosophist. » Setup Phase I: Equipment

  2. Pingback: 【エントリーでポイント10倍以上可能!】【エーモン】 【6711】ガレージミ

  3. Pingback: 2015年モデル z11-020 【011Artistic/ゼロワンワンアーティスティック】ボードケース KNIT BOARD CA

  4. Pingback: 【プロアクティブ 薬用ボディーソープ クリアゾーン ボディウォッシュ 240

  5. Pingback: ★お取寄せ★ 【オスプレー OSPREY】 トランスポーター 130 トゥルーブルー 【6月1

  6. Pingback: ★お取寄せ★ 【スカルパ SCARPA】 クラックス ハイパーブルー/イエロー #45 【6月

  7. Pingback: 【激安市場】コーチ COACH★財布(コインケース)F43956 シルバー ジュリアパテント

  8. Pingback: 【激安市場】コーチ COACH★アクセサリー(キーホルダー)F92064 マルチカラー カン

  9. Pingback: 敷布団カバー 敷布団きカバー 敷きカバー [綿100%タオル素材が気持ちイイ

  10. Pingback: 【送料無料】犬小屋 ワイド ブラウン?鏡面ホワイト 28741?28737【完成品】【室内

  11. Pingback: 【激安市場】コーチ COACH★レビューを書くと送料無料!財布(コインケース)

  12. Pingback: PanasonicKHICA140TFH ハイカライト(演色本位形高圧ナトリウム灯) 高彩度形 直管形:

  13. Pingback: ★廃番 ターキー ボーダーステンレス食器犬用 11cm ピンク[LP] 【TC】【hl150515】:Pe

  14. Pingback: 【代引利用不可】EXマイクロファイバー洗えるパズルラグマット MS301 50×100cm ナ

  15. Pingback: TIOGA タイオガ SureFoot 6 シュアーフット 6 PDL10400-02 M 【スポーツ 自転車 パーツ ペダル アッ

  16. Pingback: フクビ化学工業 「マルチポスト 6A型」 <調整幅 : 124~175mm> 10本セット

  17. Pingback: 山善(YAMAZEN) ハンガーラック 木製 棚付き/キャスター付き SP-3395 木製ハンガー 木製

  18. Pingback: 【楽天市場】へら浮き 自作用 無地 パイプトップ 30本 全長16/17/18cm 径2.0-1.5mm R23top

  19. Pingback: 【楽天市場】ライル入り バイブレーション 3個 セット R12VIBA03 ルアーフィッシ

  20. Pingback: ミオ ドライミックス 毛玉対応 11歳以上 かつお味 1.2kg[LP]【D】【RCP】【hl150515】:Pet館

  21. Pingback: ■最短発送■3000商品以上の品揃え【LTG】(ロータステクノロジーギア)BAG GINA SERIES (

  22. Pingback: 【送料無料】 東京西川(西川産業) 健圧敷きふとん(しっかりハード)ダブル

  23. Pingback: 即納!送料無料 HiSKY HCP100S用 プルロッド 800386 |ラジコンヘリ関連商品 HiSKY パーツ HCP100S

  24. Pingback: エスケイジャパン【DCモーター搭載】 2電源方式DCマルチファン SKJ-KA203DCD-P ピンク

  25. Pingback: ◆ 激安 ! ◆ 到着後レビューを書いて 送料無料 ! 7x50 双眼鏡 コンサート ライブ

  26. Pingback: スーツケース キャリーケース 安心1年保証 国内線 国際線 機内持ち込み可

  27. Pingback: BPS まとめ買い 和風 LEDソーラーガーデンライト 2本セット モダン おしゃれ な

  28. Pingback: ステンレス リング ダイヤモンド レディース ペア 在庫限り記念日 誕生日

  29. Pingback: 子供 枕 キッズ まくら ピロー [キャラクター ジュニア枕?ピローケース 28×39cm

  30. Pingback: 【送料無料】comfos 低反発マットレス 8cm 【シングル】低反発 マットレス 寝具

  31. Pingback: SUC-002 ウォールミラー 壁掛け 鏡 塩川 M's collection シオカワ(代引き不可)【送料無料】

  32. Pingback: BPS あす楽 対応! 動画 音楽 通話 可能! 外れにくい カナル型 Bluetooth ワイヤレス

  33. Pingback: 【半幅帯 半巾帯 細帯 絹 カラフル野菜柄 ボタニカル】和装 着物 きもの

  34. Pingback: 【 激安 ! 】到着後レビューを書いて 送料無料 ! ( メール便 ) 変換名人 4571284882300 USB

  35. Pingback: ** 新作 BLUE STARNIK 428 七分丈 ジーンズ メンズ ☆ ダメージジーンズ クラッシュ

  36. Pingback: 【激安市場】ジバンシー GIVENCHY イドラ スパークリング セラム 30mL美容液

  37. Pingback: 即納!へら餌絞り器 一発楽押し(e37)(50021)|ヘラブナ用品 スカート~お膳など

  38. Pingback: アウトレット 訳あり 激安 キャリーバッグ 機内持ち込み 可 スーツケース

  39. Pingback: 腕時計 レディース セイコー SEIKO セイコー5 SEIKO 5 自動巻き 腕時計 SYMK43J1 クリスマス

  40. Pingback: ブレーキローター E9001 S6-010B 純正同等 社外品 左右セット MRワゴン ラパン ツイン

  41. Pingback: セイコー 腕時計 海外逆輸入モデル SNN255P2 メンズ クロノグラフ タキメーター

  42. Pingback: 【14時までのご注文は即日発送】【レイバン国内正規品販売認定店】RX8731D 1077

Leave a Reply