Still Born Trappist

I've pulled three bottles from the cellar to track carbonation. Given the yeast time to settle each bottle was chilled upright and poured without rousing. I pulled a Saison III bottle first after conditioning two weeks. Then waited another week on the Trappist bottle. The following day I popped open a Wine yeast-ed bottle upset by the unnerving Trappist still born. The remaining bottles will rest until they carbonate. I find the CO2 has less bite when naturally produced. Comparing to the pressurized competition entries the phenols are also lighter. Conditioned with fresh yeast the beer is more digestible. However, it still interprets the style with loads of hot-handed crystal malt, and toasted oak aroma. It paints out of style but remains quaffable.

Tips for corking Belgian style bottles:

American styled champagne bottles have a 16.5mm opening. The bottles can be corked and crown capped. These will accept 26mm caps with 23.5 mm cork.

Belgian styled bottles will a require 25.5 mm corks. The opening is 18.5 mm.

Don't trust hard corks, purchase high quality¹  new stock to protect your creations. Purchase treated² cork packed in SO2 sterile bags for immediate use. Do not soak or heat before use which will remove the surface treatment.

For good sealing the cork diameter should be 7 mm larger than the bottle opening. When carbonating for champagne pressure (+1.5 bar) use large format 30.5 mm diameter cork.

Insert the cork with 16-19 mm extending from the bottle then cage with wirehoods.

Fill the bottle leaving 15 mm of airspace under the cork.

Bottles should sit upright for 2 hours after corking allowing the compressed cork to expand³.



1st #9 Natural Bi-Disk Agglomerated Cork
Diameter = 23.5 mm
Length = 44 mm (1.75" in.)

Belgian Micro-Agglomerated Cork
Diameter = 25.5 mm
Length = 44 mm (1.75" in.)

Champagne Agglomerated Cork
Diameter = 30.5 mm
Length = 48 mm (1.9" in.)

corkscrew rescues cork   

¹  Grades highest to lowest (Flor -Extra -Superior -1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th -Agglomerated -Colmated).
^2a  Ozone, ethanol, and SO2 treatment processes to ensure against taint
^2b  Peroxide washed for sterility. No chlorine
^2c  Surface treatment (paraffin and silicone) for easy corking and better seal
³  A cork is compressed from to ~16 mm during corking and then expands to the diameter of the bottle opening. The bottle is sealed tightly as the cork relaxes. The relaxation does not happen instantly reach 95% expansion after 3 hours. If you lay a bottle down before the cork has fully expanded, liquid can fill the space between causing a poor seal.

Works Cited:
http://www.nomacorc.com/nomacorc-quality-bottle-bore.php
http://www.corksupply.com/products/sparkling-wine-closures.aspx
http://www.nomacorc.com/nomacorc-bottling-guide-details.php

Brew It Again Prez

Each year I approach home brewing with the intent to make better beer. Last year I found a community of home brewers whose list of ales were far better than my homemade swill. I purposed to get involved and learn. I wanted to know more about brewing process and how it applied to the finish product. My beers got noticeably better as the year progressed.

This year I've set out to corral ideas by serving as club President. The duty is fun practice in leadership amidst politics. The club has been brewing for a while, I'd like to challenge us to brew our best. Thus, I'm taking the same brew it again make it better approach. This does not mean my ales will win awards, or ribbons. I still have the ability to make pridefully awful beer.

Here is my list of entries for competition. All are interpretations of style and ingredients. I've used uncommon hops, rye malt, limited release yeast, and aged for complexity. I am entering competition for feedback. I'd like to know about detectable flaws and off-flavors. My brewing process is subject to change leaving room for refinement.

2013 Bluebonnet Brew Off Entries:
Belgian Pale - Rye base with fermented with Belgian lager yeast.

Belgian Blonde - Table Trappist low gravity blonde.

Wood Aged Belgian Dark Strong - (Barrel Project) Beer in question.

Ordinary Bitter - No crystal malt or sugar fermented with Yorkshire yeast.

English IPA - English & American hop blend.

Robust Porter - Dry stout recipe with low roast profile. Noted diacetyl.

Dry Stout - Brew it again. Dry stout with more roast. Fermented with Yorkshire yeast. Bottled early.

Flanders Brown - (One Year Old) TX Wild Brown. Sour with berry notes.

Black Cherry Sparkling Hydromel - (Bottle Conditioned) Young low gravity cherry mead.

Barrel Rider

CH the guy riding the barrel has taken charge of the next barrel project. He has prepared a Burbon Porter. The wort was brewed at using the big rig provided by BargainFittings.com two weeks prior. This weekend CH, AW, LW (film director) and I prepped and filled the barrel. CH also managed to brew a large batch of Bochet mead (burnt honey) while AW & I brewed top up wort. In an effort the keep the barrel clean we washed and sanitized with a hot solution of potassium metabisulfite and citrus acid. The idea is to keep the barrel free of wild yeast while we can. The oak character is neutral so we added 1lb of Knob Creek soaked chips. The chamber is treated as a gloried oxidizing vessel. The inlet of O2 is controlled by wood porosity and ambient temperature. I'd like to think all things are measured but I'm really just limiting variables. Oak aging is fun practice. I am waiting to crown the barrel with sour beer.



I'm also waiting for bottles to carbonate. The oaked dark strong has been in bottles for a week. The Belgian Saison yeast has lightly dusted the bottles. The Trappist and 1116 Wine yeast are forming creatures.

week 1 bottle conditioning with 1116 wine yeast   

Crowned and Corked

This weekend a small gang of homebrewers gathered at my place to fill kegs and bottles. After four months of oak aging the barrel project was ready for bottling. As cellarman I had the fortune of sampling along the way. The barrel imparted an interesting fermented berry note that's somewhere between wine and dates. The Belgian Dark Strong has changed immensely. I wanted more specialty crystal malt and cleaner phenols. I liked its warming notes of alcohol, oak, toasted malt, and caramelized sugar. However, the beer is unique.

Tasting Notes:
9/15/2012 Brewday Wort is malty with a hop forward profile. Great gemstone brown color.

9/29/2012 Fermented wort is well balanced with some esters. The flavor is Belgian with some nuttiness and caramels. Has a spicy clove that wants to come forward. Color is medium brown with good clarity.

9/29/2012 Top-up Wort is sweet with little to no hops. Malt presence is low resembles caramelized sugar.

10/3/2012 Phenolic with moderate esters: note higher fermentation temp has attributed more Belgian phenol character (1.015 FG1 | 1.017 FG2)

10/6/2012 Blended batch into the barrel is well balanced with some muted fusels and warming. Great profile needs time to mellow. The color is lower than target.

10/25/2012 Beer is developing nicely. Alcohol warming is slightly lower. Fusels are annoyingly forward. Fresh oak nose with low oak flavor. Barrel temp holding 62F.

12/13/2012 Light fusel nose. No hop aroma with some toasted oak, vanilla and berry wine notes. Profile is more specialty ale than Belgian Dark Strong. Medium-light body. Fully fermented finish. Lacking caramel character. Color is burnished brown. Clarity is brilliant.

12/17/2012 Top-Up Wort sweet with no hop heavy caramel malt for more body.

2/2/2013 Aroma toasted malt with light oak and fermented berry. Warming phenolic with toasted crystal malt light oak and fermented grape notes. Dark brown color with great clarity.

Barrel Racking:
In preparation for racking I had constructed a "racking bulldog" using PVC plumbing. The idea is to push CO2 gas in the barrel to pressurize the head space forcing the liquid out. The design worked well when filling bottling buckets from the hose. Later we switched to keg connections and had some fun. Soda kegs were filled from the beer line out with the pressure release open allowing filling from the bottom up. Kegs with "universal poppets" provided beer showers for all. These poppets restrict flow at the disconnect causing back pressure up-stream. Imagine a rocket torpedoing from the bung spraying everyone with beer. Now repeat twice before identifying the problem. Not fun! We solved the problem with a brace then returned to bottling.

Bottle Conditioning:
In keeping with the practice of re-fermenting in Belgian bottles I prepared fresh yeast for bottling. The yeast was to reach high krausen and be pitched with priming sugar. Using a pint of thin yeast slurry and 130 grams of sugar I am shooting for 2.5 volumes of CO2 in 5 gallons of solution. I have been forewarned this could result in bottles without carbonation so I prepared three for testing (Belgian Saison III, Trappist High Gravity, Dry Wine Yeast 1116). The corks go in straight but expand like mushrooms over time. I am expecting the bottles will carbonate within a month.

FG 1.015 | Final Color   

Before the geyser   

Soda Keg Poppets | Universal - Challenger - Cornelius   

Empty barrel yeast lees & oak additives   

Bottling yeast   

JB & TC Bottling Line   

The Sour Hammer

Every great beer has a simple beginning water, malt, hops, and yeast. The rest is in the hands of the brewer. When we look at the brewing regions claims can be made that Germans are the most technical brewers while the Belgians are the most patient and the Americans are extremist. All great qualities for the aspiring home brewer determined to make better beer. This attention to detail will distinguish your creations from the beers of the crowd.

When The Peticolas Brewery hit Dallas's beer scene. The family brewery presented an extreme beer called The Velvet Hammer. The acute use of malt and hops make this beer special. Hidden behind the malt is 9% alcohol by volume balanced by lots of hops (85 IBUs).

After an extended passage as laymen to the brewmaster Michael Peticolas trusted CH and I with the last runnings from the Velvet Hammer grist mash. This is the low gravity wort just before the grains drain out. In the brewery this wort is discharged so that no grains flow into the boil kettle. In the old world these runnings would have been collected to make beer for laymen. The King's beer was made from strong wort called first runnings. The Velvet Hammer is made from strong wort hopped, boiled and fermented.



The Sour Hammer was made with laymen's wort (malt extract). The low gravity mash out gave us as homebrewers brewmasters an opportunity to make beer fitting for the King. We took the small amount of wort boiled it down and hopped it. The result was rich and flavorful at 15 Plato of 7.5% ABV potential. In an effort to create distinct sours the wort was fermented with with several strands of wild yeast with Brettanomyces. Two gallons were inoculated sour blends from the regions of Belgium. The funk is developing nicely. However, sour beers mature over time like Belgian brewers we are practicing patience while planning a private release. There are only 10 gallons so the event must be elitist by nature. Stay Tuned!

White Dog

This weekend I toured Firestone & Robertson's Distillery. I had stumbled upon their website in search of all things fermented. Head distiller Rob Arnold is preparing a Texas Bourbon whiskey fermented with wild yeast. The oak aged product is scheduled for release as early as 2014. However, tour guests are offered samples of pure whiskey off the still. I've noted the "White Dog" as a bouquet of fruity esters with a sweet corn finish. The one ounce sample regulation was gone before I could gather my own words.

Here are notes from Rob the distiller:

Color: Perfectly clear
Nose: Floral and fruity, graham cracker and banana
Taste: Butterscotch, orange zest, black cherry, very smooth
Finish: Fruity, viscous, warm

http://frdistilling.com/whiskeys/StraightBourbon/2

As you can imagine the yeast is dominating the nose and the finish. Rob has done a great job by isolating the saccharomyces cerevisiae strain from a Texas pecan. The yeast has been named Brazos or RHB-422. Even more work is done maintaining a pure pitch. At F&R each 1000 gallon batch is fermented with 40 gallons of fresh Brazos. Going from plate to pitch is a job itself. The mash is conducted much like craft beer using local corn & wheat with a small amount of U.S. six-row malt. The entire grist is then cooled and fermented in open vats. The resulting mash yields a 9% ABV wash for distillation.

Thou shall not covet another brewers' yeast!

Works Cited:
http://frdistilling.com/blog/rob-arnold-begins-pursuit-of-a-wild-texas-yeast-strain-full-time
http://frdistilling.com/whiskeys/StraightBourbon/2
http://www.vendomecopper.com/obbatch.htm

Black Forty, Miles from Home

There are many reasons to leave home. I left to find a job and to establish new life. When I visit home now it's to seek the friends and family who remain. After driving 12 hours yesterday I rested with a southern meal and a tall glass of piss-lite. The beer was the best I could do in the small town comfort of Alabama. Today I've found the best pub around and a local brewery. Craft beer is here folks!




I stopped at the brewery first to see if they would allow a traveler to pass the gates. After brief chat I was sent on my way with note to come back later. I had two hours to spare and so filled time at Blackstone Pub & Eatery two blocks south for the brewery. The pub is the best place within forty miles. They served four Black Forty selections. My favorite of the bunch was unexpectedly the Freckled Belly IPA. The hops were presence but not pallet wrecking. The malt profile read more amber ale and the beer was cleanly finned. The runner up was the luscious Naked Pig pale ale. The beer was lighter on the hops with a rounded malt bill. Think cream ale with a touch more hops. I ordered an IPA pint along with a "Fire on the Mountain Pizza" with grilled buffalo chicken, jalapenos and feta cheese. Great Pair! I admired the list of other beer pairings on the bottles. I'd dare not order bottled when draft is offered.