#15 - Ronk Christmas Bock [Extract]

Since its getting close to the festive season I went searching for a Christmas beer that sounded tasty. Seeing as I was still quite new to extract brewing and I had just started using BeerSmith (#14), I went looking on their website for a recipe. I went through the various recipies and came across "Happy Holidays Ale" which attracted my attention due to the simplicity of the ingredients and the addition of a speciality grain called 'Special B Malt'. It was great to see something that wasn't the same old iteration involving crystal grains.

Steeping grains

As was the case in the previous brew (#14), some of the ingredients were not available in the home brew store. I had to substitute the grains with something so I literally guessed that Carafa Special I Roasted Caramalt would do the trick. 

The resulting taste of this brew has been very good. Fairly good head retention which I reckon could be improved a lot with the addition of some flaked Oates. As it was a Christmas beer I would have liked a bit more of the cloves and cinnamon to come through. They were very much in the background and I couldn't detect them. The next time I think I would double their addition size to increase their potency. The hops come through very well in aroma and taste. They are not overpowering but are still upfront enough to be enjoyable. Overall a recommended recipe. :) 

Recipe: Ronk Christmas Bock TYPE: Extract

Style: Fruit Beer/Bock

---RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS-----------------------------------------------

SRM: 31.3 SRM SRM RANGE: 5.0-50.0 SRM

IBU: 21.4 IBUs Tinseth IBU RANGE: 5.0-70.0 IBUs

OG: 1.059 SG OG RANGE: 1.030-1.110 SG

FG: 1.013 SG FG RANGE: 1.006-1.024 SG

BU:GU: 0.365 Calories: 169.1 kCal/12 oz Est ABV: 6.0 %

EE%: 72.00 % Batch: 5.02 gal      Boil: 3.69 gal BT: 60 Mins

---WATER CHEMISTRY ADDITIONS----------------

Taste of Christmas! 

Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         

3.96 gal              Dublin, Ireland                       Water         1           -             

Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

---BOIL PROCESS-----------------------------

Est Pre_Boil Gravity: 1.088 SG Est OG: 1.059 SG

Amt                   Name                                                 Type           #        %/IBU         

6 lbs 9.8 oz          Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM)                  Dry Extract   3        85.7 %        

2.00 oz               Cascade [4.30 %] - Boil 45.0 min           Hop           4        19.3 IBUs     

0.45 kg               Honey (Boil 45.0 mins)                         Other         5        -             

1.00 tsp              Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins)                    Fining        6        -             

4.00 Items           Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 10.0 mins)      Spice         7        -             

2.00 tsp              Vanilla (Boil 10.0 mins)                         Spice         8        -             

0.25 tsp              Cloves (Ground) (Boil 10.0 mins)           Spice         10       -             

0.25 tsp              Cinnamon (Powdered) (Boil 10.0 mins)   Spice         9        -             

1.00 oz               Cascade [4.30 %] - Boil 5.0 min            Hop           11       2.1 IBUs      

#12 - Brewers Choice Traditional IPA [Extract]

Since my original coopers IPA in brew #3 had completely run out I decided it was time for another IPA. I so impressed with the process of making the Weissbier in brew #11 that I went with another Brewers Choice kit. When making kits you never have any experience of steeping grains (at least not initially) but this IPA had several types of grains to be steeped and a couple of types of hops. They were all contained in their own tea bag things but you could smell that "IPA smell" from one of the grain bags and I was really impressed with that. I didn't realise that certain types of grain could have such an affect on the taste.

Please excuse the apparent filth of the cooker but it was rusting before I moved in here. :P  I have the grains and hops steeping in a pot of boiled water which is sitting on a wooden board to keep in some of the heat. This steeping is done 3 times. The coopers malt extract is also heating up in the back along with a Alexander's Pale Kicker which I later dumped as it was old and smelt disgusting.

When bottling the brew I used dextrose for the fist time without a bottling bucket. If there is one method that makes the misery of bottling worse then this has to be it. It was an awful mess, when adding the dextrose to the beer, it foamed out of the bottles. When adding the dextrose first it then foamed meaning it took twice as long as it required waiting till the foam died down. I was also conservative with the amount I put in with slightly less than 1 teaspoon. I opened a bottle earlier in the week and it wasn't carbonated yet which has quelled my previous worry that the whole batch would start exploding. : /

I will update this as the picture changes.


Stats:
Started - 28.8.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 08.09.11
Bottled - 08.09.11
Code - 1012
Yeast Brand - B.C Yeast
Yeast Code -  DZB 6G
Y-Temp -  22.0
Beer/Product Type -   Brewers Choice Traditional IPA
Malt/Sugar Type - 1.5kG Coopers LME Amber
Volume -  23.0 L
OG - 1058 
FG -  1017
Proof  - 6.00 (Including 0.5% Priming)

#11 - Brewers Choice Bavarian Weissbier [Extract]

This brew was my 2nd attempt at making a beer that had that sweet distinctive Weissbier taste that I had hoped to emulate in brew #2. The key ingredient that was missing in that brew to create that taste was the correct type of yeast. This was not a problem with this kit. The Brewers Choice kits are also a bit more 'involved' than the traditional kit type as they have separate hops, grains, DME and an additional malt extract which you buy separately. 

I chose to buy an LME(wheat) for this brew as it was recommended as a means of getting the highest quality possible out of the kit. I also made my first yeast starter which I'm sure wasn't made correctly as I just used a bit of sugar and water to make it. I left it for 4 or 5 hours and it had grown quite a bit but I have no idea whether it was too much, too little and I wasn't bothered checking that website that tells you the correct amount of yeast to pitch into wort. Either way it was fine and it really does reinforce what I read on a forum recently, "its quite hard to screw up a batch of beer". I would tend to agree with this when kits are concerned. My tract record of venturing outside kit territory has been fraught with failure so far! :) 

The end result was very positive, it had 'the' taste that I was looking for and the first taste induces that "mmmm German beer" mental comment when you drink it.


Stats:
Started - 28.7.11
Racked -  28.8.11
Finished - 2.8.11
Bottled - 14.8.11
Code - 1011
Yeast Brand - Muntons Yeast
Yeast Code - NA
Y-Temp - 21.0
Beer/Product Type -   Brewers Choice Bavarian Weissbier 
Malt/Sugar Type - 1.5kG Coopers Wheat
Volume -  24.0 L
OG - 1055
FG -  1018
Proof  - 5.46 (Including 0.5% Priming)

#10 - Basic Mead [Extract]

While the other Mead #7 was brewing I was eager to get another Mead in the pipeline given that a Mead pipeline can be measured in years rather than months for beer. I had been reading around and felt that the previous brew had been unnecessarily complicated. I reduced the amount of ingredients and made my own guide to brewing the must so that it would be clearer in future. 

Simple Mead Recipe

•  1.2kg     pure raw honey                  (for sweet, stronger Mead)

• 5              Litres spring water            (Bottled, not tap unless chlorine free)

• 1              tsp. yeast nutrient            (Citrix Additive)

• 1              tsp. Nutmeg                       (main flavour)

• 5              tsp Mellon balls                (stuff for yeast to eat)

• 3              slices lime                           (stuff for yeast to eat)

• 1/4          tsp. Irish moss                   (to clarify Mead)

• 1/2          packet yeast                      (ale yeast)

Bring 1.5L of water to the boil. Take off the heat, add the honey and stir in until dissolved. Add the nutmeg, yeast nutrient and put back on the heat. Skim off the protein scum as it forms and boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to prevent boil overs if necessary. Add Irish moss and continue to boil for another 5 minutes. More scum, protein and clumps will form due to the Irish moss. Skim all of this off. Take off the heat and add all of the fruit. Allow the liquid to cool for 60 minutes.  

Add 0.5L of cool water to a sanitised demijohn; this prevents thermal shock when hot liquid added. Using a funnel and sieve, pour the mixture into the demi john and top up the liquid to the 1 gallon mark leaving enough head space for the krausen to form. Fill a sink with water and ice and gently lower the demijohn into it. This will cool the mixture to a temperature which is suitable for pitching the yeast. Add the yeast once the temperature has dropped below 25oC. 18-20 oC is preferable if you have patience. Bung the demijohn and shake the mixture to mix the yeast and aerate the mixture. Insert air lock and store in a cool, dark location for a month before racking to secondary. 

OG should be in the 1090 – 1100 range, FG should be 1000 or less

I racked the yeast after one month and took a small sample for tasting. If you compare this sample to that from brew #7, it can be seen that this one is a lot cloudier. This is to be expected as it was only fermenting for 1 month and hasn't had the same amount of time to settle. The taste from this recipe was delicious and was completely unexpected this early on! I figure the sweetness was due to an unfinished fermentation and the fact that I used ale yeast this time instead of the nasty champaign yeast. In theory the ale yeast shouldn't be able to ferment to the same level and should begin to die at 8 or 9% volume?  I don't have full faith in that assumption as it didn't work to well with the cider in brew #4. 

I am considering stabilising the fermentation to maintain the flavour as I feel it tastes great now and doesn't need any more. I will leave it go for another month and rack it again and taste it again to see what it is like. If it is still ok I will stabilise and perhaps add some bentonite to clear it further before bottling. 

Stats:
Started - 11.7.11
Racked -  28.8.11
Finished - NA
Bottled - NA
Code - 1010
Yeast Brand - Coopers Ale Yeast
Yeast Code - 19310 IPA
Y-Temp - 25.0
Beer/Product Type -   Basic Mead
Malt/Sugar Type - 1.2kG honey + limited Flavours
Volume -  5L
OG - 1091
FG - NA
Proof  - NA

#9 - St. Peters Ruby Red Ale [Kit]

I was informed about this kit after seeing a couple of videos making the kit and later tasting it. I was impressed by the little bit of extra hops that they supplied and it fed my urges to have more control over my batches. The kit also came highly recommended from several sources so I decided to give it a shot after seeing it stocked in my local home-brew store. 

This brew is quite slow to ferment and it really needs to be left in the primary fermenter for a full 2 weeks as it took nearly a week for the beer to get from a FG of 1018 down to 1016. I had a similar experience to that in the tasting video as I opened a bottle after 2 weeks and was very underwhelmed. I had high expectations yet the head retention was quite poor but the taste was still quite nice. 

This image is after opening a brew almost 2 months after bottling, I think I got a bad leaky bottle as there was very little hiss when I opened the bottle (Coopers Plastic bottles). The head disappeared relatively soon but the taste was quite nice. The colour is pretty much as you would expect. I'm hoping that by the time I have the next beer tasting it will have "sorted itself out". :) Overall a nice brew and I would recommend it. 

Stats:
Started - 10.7.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 20.7.11
Bottled - 21.7.11
Code - 1009
Yeast Brand - St. Peters Premium
Yeast Code - XHZB6G
Y-Temp - 26.0 
Beer/Product Type -  St Peters Ruby Red Ale
Malt/Sugar Type - Rye Malt Extract, Barley Malt Extract, Hops
Volume -  23.0L
OG - 1044
FG - 1016
Proof  - 4.25% (Including 0.5% for priming)

#8 - Red Wine* [Juice]

At this point I decided I was confident enough to attempt a small red wine batch. I started looking for grape juice in my local supermarket but the closest I could find at the time was a juice which was 70% red grape with the rest a mix of raspberry and cherry. I also bought some blackberries for a late addition. 

Wine Recipe

Wine Recipe & Guidelines

• 1 tsp of allspice

• 550g Caster Sugar

• 4L Red Grape And Raspberry Cherry (Not From Concentrate)

• 500ml Bottled water

• 300g Blackberries  

Add the allspice granules to 500ml of water and allow it to boil for 10 minutes.Then add the sugar in portions while stirring.This will cause the sugar to dissolve into the solution.Leave this solution to boil for 5 minutes.  

Crush, juice or grind all of the blackberries into a pulp. Take the solution off the hot plate and add the pulp to the hot water and stir in gently. Put the solution back on the hot plate and bring to the boil then turn off the heat and take it off. 

Thankfully I didn't go to bed early the night I made this brew. It was the first time I have ever had to use a blow off tube. I was minding my own business, reading home-brew forums probably and I glanced over towards the freshly made brew (2 or 3 hours I would say). Sure enough grape and cherry trub as spewing out though the airlock! Normally I would have started having a heart attack at this point but thankfully my months of reading forums and watching YouTube videos finally paid off. The solution was to simply use a blow off tube and bottle of water which did the trick.

I recently tried the wine after letting it age in bottles for 2 months. It was bloody disgusting! That was what I get for using the last of the champaign yeast for this batch. I now officially HATE champaign yeast and will not buy it again and I really don't know why it is recommended for recipes above a normal wine yeast! The wine itself was very very slightly carbonated but it tasted like champaign which I don't really like at the best of times. Basically it was rocket fuel which homeless men one the street wouldn't even drink. Another batch down the drain unfortunately but valuable lessons learned.

Stats:

Started - 6.6.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 15.6.11
Bottled - 7.7.11
Code - 1008
Yeast Brand - Young's Champagne
Yeast Code - 28032013
Y-Temp - 24.0 
Beer/Product Type -  Red Wine
Malt/Sugar Type - Grape, Raspberry, Cherry & Blackberry Juice with 550g of sugar
Volume -  4.8L
OG - 1094
FG - 998
Proof  - 12.87%

#6 - Coopers European Lager [Kit]

I tried this brew as I was looking to make some kind of light beer that didn't need the lime slice like brew#1 and wasn't as heavy as brews #3 or #5. I didn't like how mainstream it looked (I'm the type that judges a book by its cover) but I was willing to give it a chance. I made the brew at one of my beer tasting sessions with a load of friends. They were all curious to see the process so it made sense.

There was nothing out of the ordinary to report during the fermentation process of this beer.Although there was plenty to talk about from the bottling stage. I had previously primed all my bottles with 1 carbonation drop each while being aware that 1 drop is actually suited to 330ml bottles. For this batch I chopped a load of drops in half and put 1.5 drops into each bottle thinking it would be fine. It was fine.....kinda.... The beer was definitely over carbonated in the end which I didn't expect. I genuinely thought I was putting the perfect amount of sugar in and I had read in several places of others doing the same with positive results.

Instead I noticed that there had been "seepage" on some of the Grolsch bottles that I had stored the beer in. The pressure had obviously built up to such a degree that it had vented out through the swing top. I found this worrying and interesting at the same time. I did some searching around and found that it was indeed rare for Grolsch bottles to explode and this 'self venting' feature commonly noticed. I enjoy the 'POP' when opening a normal Grolsch bottle but opening the ones containing the lager was unbelievable. It was shocking how loud it was, it makes a room full of people go quiet!  :)  

I did let it age for much longer than I normally had done for previous beers.This was partly due to fear that a bottle would explode in my face if I disturbed it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the taste which was very refreshing and a little sweet which was a good thing. I don't know if I would bother brewing another Lager as I don't have any space or equipment to store it in cool temperatures for several weeks. I would probably make a pale ale instead. 

Stats:

Started - 4.6.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 11.6.11
Bottled - 12.6.11
Code - 1006
Yeast Brand - Coopers Lagar 
Yeast Code - 1011
Y-Temp - 20
Beer/Product Type -  Coopers European Lager
Malt/Sugar Type - 1.5kgCoopers Extract Light
Volume -  23L
OG - 1045
FG - 1013
Proof  - 4.8% (Including 0.5% for priming)