Verkenbrau 8.0
Verken-Steam
Pretty closely follows the Danchor California Common recipe found on page 186 of Homebrew Favorites, by Karl Lutzen & Mark Stevens
7.0 lbs light malt extract
1.0 lb Coopers DME
0.5 lb Crystal 40
2.0 oz Norther Brewer hops, 1.5 for boil & 0.5 for finishing
White Labs San Francisco Lager yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for priming
First lager attempt, although I read that this yeast can ferment well at temperatures of 65 degrees. The plan is to let it undergo primary fermentation upstairs in plastic at about 58-65 degrees. I'll let it be in primary for one or two weeks, then transfer to glass secondary and store in garage around 50 degrees for six weeks or so.
I steeped the grains at 150-160 degrees for 1/2 hour in 2.5 gallons of water, then removed grains and brought to a boil. Added bulk extract and dry extract, then 1.5 oz of hops and boiled for 1 hour. 45 mins in I added the remaining 0.5 oz of hops. I chilled the wort, added it to cold tap water to bring it to 5.5 gallons, then waited for temperature to cool before adding yeast.
24 hours later it was fermenting nicely right at 65 degrees. Will keep it here for a week or so & then transfer to glass secondary and colder temps. Need to bottle April 10th or 11th.
Transferred to secondary on March 6, had about a gallon of leftover beer that I stored in the fridge. Tasted on March 12 and it is about what I expected. Yeast stays completely out of the way and the taste of the ingredients shine through. It is slightly hoppy and has a bit of the Anchor Steam taste that can be described only as a bit skunky, but not unpleasantly so, if that makes any sense at all. Honestly, I can't wait to try this stuff when it's done.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Verkenbrau 5.2 & 5.3
Time to start brewing for La Grande.
5.x got a good response, so I'll do it again. Or at least close to it. This may become the basic recipe of Verkenbrau until I start brewing from all-grain and have my own home-grown hops supply on a regular basis.
Ingredients:
7.0 lb bulk pale malt extract
1.0 lb rice syrup solids
1 tsp irish moss
3 oz. Tettnanger hops - 2 for boil, 1 for aroma/finish (batch 1)
3 oz. Willamette hops - 2 for boil, 1 for aroma/finish (batch 2)
1 cup corn sugar for priming
2 pkgs nottingham danstar dry yeast
I'm going to try & reuse the yeast when transferring from primary to secondary by pouring another batch of 5.1 on top of it.
Brought 2 gallons of water up to 170 degrees and turned off the heat, let the grains steep for 20 minutes, squeezed the grain bag & then removed. Brought the wort up to a boil & added the malt extract and rice syrup solids. This is the first time brewing outside and using my propane burner. Like the ability to turn on/off the heat easily & working outdoors. It highlights my need for a utility sink and workbench in the garage for a proper brewing station. I was working with the garden hose which was less than ideal. Boil time was one hour, chilled the wort with an ice bath and combined with enough Clackamas water to bring it to 5 gal in the primary (plastic) fermenter. Ptched the yeast & I was happy to see it happily bubbling away in less than 24 hours.
After 9 days I started my second batch. This time around I'll boil it, chill it, then pitch it on the yeast cake of 5.1 after siphoning into the glass fermenter. Again, I used the same method...steeped the grain bag for about 20 minutes while holding it around 170 degrees. I then brought the wort up to boil and pulled it off the heat to add the extract and rice syrup solids. The new cooker shows it's BTU power, the damned thing wanted to boil over several times, so I had to take it off the heat until it was rolling. Smooth sailing after that. Boil time 1 hour. chilled with ice bath while siphoning 5.2 to a sanitized glass carboy. Made sure 5.3 was under 70 degrees then pitched into the remaining 5.2 yeast cake. Should be good.
A couple of weeks later....5.2 I let ferment in plastic for a week, transferred to secondary, pitched 5.3 on the yeast & it was up & rolling within a few hours. Fermented 5.2 for two weeks in glass, then bottled. Transferred 5.3 into the glass carboy after done bottling 5.2. Will let 5.3 sit in secondary for two weeks before bottling.
Tasted 5.2 after one week in bottles, still needs some time to develop. Nice light body, the bitterness of the hops comes through a bit more, I like it quite a bit. After two weeks in bottles the head is nice & big, yeast is less pronounced and bitterness still evident but not obvious. A very nice blonde brew with a bit of twang from the hops. Good stuff. Interested to see how the yeast tastes from the 5.3 brew.
5.x got a good response, so I'll do it again. Or at least close to it. This may become the basic recipe of Verkenbrau until I start brewing from all-grain and have my own home-grown hops supply on a regular basis.
Ingredients:
7.0 lb bulk pale malt extract
1.0 lb rice syrup solids
1 tsp irish moss
3 oz. Tettnanger hops - 2 for boil, 1 for aroma/finish (batch 1)
3 oz. Willamette hops - 2 for boil, 1 for aroma/finish (batch 2)
1 cup corn sugar for priming
2 pkgs nottingham danstar dry yeast
I'm going to try & reuse the yeast when transferring from primary to secondary by pouring another batch of 5.1 on top of it.
Brought 2 gallons of water up to 170 degrees and turned off the heat, let the grains steep for 20 minutes, squeezed the grain bag & then removed. Brought the wort up to a boil & added the malt extract and rice syrup solids. This is the first time brewing outside and using my propane burner. Like the ability to turn on/off the heat easily & working outdoors. It highlights my need for a utility sink and workbench in the garage for a proper brewing station. I was working with the garden hose which was less than ideal. Boil time was one hour, chilled the wort with an ice bath and combined with enough Clackamas water to bring it to 5 gal in the primary (plastic) fermenter. Ptched the yeast & I was happy to see it happily bubbling away in less than 24 hours.
After 9 days I started my second batch. This time around I'll boil it, chill it, then pitch it on the yeast cake of 5.1 after siphoning into the glass fermenter. Again, I used the same method...steeped the grain bag for about 20 minutes while holding it around 170 degrees. I then brought the wort up to boil and pulled it off the heat to add the extract and rice syrup solids. The new cooker shows it's BTU power, the damned thing wanted to boil over several times, so I had to take it off the heat until it was rolling. Smooth sailing after that. Boil time 1 hour. chilled with ice bath while siphoning 5.2 to a sanitized glass carboy. Made sure 5.3 was under 70 degrees then pitched into the remaining 5.2 yeast cake. Should be good.
A couple of weeks later....5.2 I let ferment in plastic for a week, transferred to secondary, pitched 5.3 on the yeast & it was up & rolling within a few hours. Fermented 5.2 for two weeks in glass, then bottled. Transferred 5.3 into the glass carboy after done bottling 5.2. Will let 5.3 sit in secondary for two weeks before bottling.
Tasted 5.2 after one week in bottles, still needs some time to develop. Nice light body, the bitterness of the hops comes through a bit more, I like it quite a bit. After two weeks in bottles the head is nice & big, yeast is less pronounced and bitterness still evident but not obvious. A very nice blonde brew with a bit of twang from the hops. Good stuff. Interested to see how the yeast tastes from the 5.3 brew.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Verkenbrau 7.0
Okay, this is my first brew in a while and my first since publishing the blog. For now I'm happy posting the recipes and my general notes/comments on each one. Please feel free to comment or make suggestions about my beer or my blog. Enjoy a Verkenbrau.
Batch 9 - in progress, started 11/8/09
Verkenbrau 7.0
IPA or American Pale Ale (depending on how hoppy my hops turn out to be)
Frist brew at the new house. It’s been a while…I’m a little rusty. Just finished posting on the blog & was inspired to get back to brewing. Hoping the hops weren’t sitting out too long. They were harvested back in September(?) and have been exposed to the air in the garage ever since. I added the DME to this brew to make it a little maltier than previous batches. In the end I hoped there would be more hops, but there is something to be said for using only what we grew on our own. Special thanks to the Kraljevs for growing the things as well as to Jim and Heather for supplying the special fertilizer that made of one of the two vines so productive. Man, that fertilizer stuff was amazing. I’m thinking about rubbing it all over my body to see what happens. Maybe I’ll be able to paint beautifully realistic landscapes with a brush made from my own hair. Then make a production facility where I enslave children for cheap labor. Anyways…here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
7.0 lb light malt extract
1 lb light dry malt extract
1 lb American Crystal Malt 20L
Unknown amount of Cascade hops –approx 3 oz? Total yield from Nick’s backyard. 1st year of growth from rhizomes.
1 tube WL p060 American Ale yeast
1 tbs Irish moss
Boil volume 2 gallons, steeped grain in a bag & then added dry & liquid malt extract. Brought to a boil and added roughly 2/3 of the hops and Irish moss. Boiled 30 min & then added remainder of the hops. Chilled in the sink w/ ice. Added enough cold tapwater to bring total volume to 5+ gallons. Pitched yeast when under 80 degrees. Will ferment for a week in primary (plastic) and then siphon to secondary (glass) for another week or so. Next time I’ll have a propane burner to use instead of my stove. I'm looking forward to expanding production into my garage. Verkenbrau production will surely be up several percent.
24 hours in I'm nervous. No action in the fermenter. So, I move it upstairs, wrap it in a magical blanket & turn up the furnace to 68 degrees. One of these days I'll turn into a more technically sound brewer with constant temperature and gravity readings, but i'm not there yet. I'm still of the belief that if I take the same basic ingredients and brew them in fairly similar environments the results will be the same. Maybe that shits on the 'craft brewers' but damn...people have been making this stuff for thousands of years. "when I find something that works, I stick to it" like John Candy dropping so many pennies underneath ladies in dresses....
After moving to a more sub-tropical climate the brew is bubbling, & the out-gassing already tells me that the yeasty presence of most batches will not be present. I think we're in for a malty, subtly hoppy and clean tasting beer. Something i think I will enjoy. We'll see....
After three weeks in the primary I bottled. Fermentation never really got going wholeheartedly, but it should be ready to go. I primed with a cup & a quarter of corn sugar just to be sure, hopefully no exploding bottles.
Three weeks after bottling it is ready. It is a little on the sweet side but the yeast is still working it's magic. We've got some gushers, so it's best to chill all the bottles.
Four weeks in & the yeast did its job. This is an amazingly smooth, but full-bodied beer. The yeast has a nice subtle tang to it. No hoppiness at all, a very good, slightly malty brew. Good work.
Batch 9 - in progress, started 11/8/09
Verkenbrau 7.0
IPA or American Pale Ale (depending on how hoppy my hops turn out to be)
Frist brew at the new house. It’s been a while…I’m a little rusty. Just finished posting on the blog & was inspired to get back to brewing. Hoping the hops weren’t sitting out too long. They were harvested back in September(?) and have been exposed to the air in the garage ever since. I added the DME to this brew to make it a little maltier than previous batches. In the end I hoped there would be more hops, but there is something to be said for using only what we grew on our own. Special thanks to the Kraljevs for growing the things as well as to Jim and Heather for supplying the special fertilizer that made of one of the two vines so productive. Man, that fertilizer stuff was amazing. I’m thinking about rubbing it all over my body to see what happens. Maybe I’ll be able to paint beautifully realistic landscapes with a brush made from my own hair. Then make a production facility where I enslave children for cheap labor. Anyways…here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
7.0 lb light malt extract
1 lb light dry malt extract
1 lb American Crystal Malt 20L
Unknown amount of Cascade hops –approx 3 oz? Total yield from Nick’s backyard. 1st year of growth from rhizomes.
1 tube WL p060 American Ale yeast
1 tbs Irish moss
Boil volume 2 gallons, steeped grain in a bag & then added dry & liquid malt extract. Brought to a boil and added roughly 2/3 of the hops and Irish moss. Boiled 30 min & then added remainder of the hops. Chilled in the sink w/ ice. Added enough cold tapwater to bring total volume to 5+ gallons. Pitched yeast when under 80 degrees. Will ferment for a week in primary (plastic) and then siphon to secondary (glass) for another week or so. Next time I’ll have a propane burner to use instead of my stove. I'm looking forward to expanding production into my garage. Verkenbrau production will surely be up several percent.
24 hours in I'm nervous. No action in the fermenter. So, I move it upstairs, wrap it in a magical blanket & turn up the furnace to 68 degrees. One of these days I'll turn into a more technically sound brewer with constant temperature and gravity readings, but i'm not there yet. I'm still of the belief that if I take the same basic ingredients and brew them in fairly similar environments the results will be the same. Maybe that shits on the 'craft brewers' but damn...people have been making this stuff for thousands of years. "when I find something that works, I stick to it" like John Candy dropping so many pennies underneath ladies in dresses....
After moving to a more sub-tropical climate the brew is bubbling, & the out-gassing already tells me that the yeasty presence of most batches will not be present. I think we're in for a malty, subtly hoppy and clean tasting beer. Something i think I will enjoy. We'll see....
After three weeks in the primary I bottled. Fermentation never really got going wholeheartedly, but it should be ready to go. I primed with a cup & a quarter of corn sugar just to be sure, hopefully no exploding bottles.
Three weeks after bottling it is ready. It is a little on the sweet side but the yeast is still working it's magic. We've got some gushers, so it's best to chill all the bottles.
Four weeks in & the yeast did its job. This is an amazingly smooth, but full-bodied beer. The yeast has a nice subtle tang to it. No hoppiness at all, a very good, slightly malty brew. Good work.
Verkenbrau 5.1
Batch 8
Verkenbrau 5.1 (Golden cap) (second installment of Green cap with a little more malt…aka Pac-10 Champion Ale)
Ingredients:
7.0 lb light malt extract
1 lb rice syrup solids
½ lb American Crystal Malt 20L
2 oz Tettnanger Hops (1 oz boil, ½ oz aroma, ½ oz finishing)
1 package Nottingham Danstar ale yeast (dry)
Empty house, Saturday afternoon….time to brew! Two weekends ago Nick texted me saying that his brother was on the hunt for more green cap. I’d like some more on hand for the upcoming Duck Football season.
Verkenbrau 5.1 (Golden cap) (second installment of Green cap with a little more malt…aka Pac-10 Champion Ale)
Ingredients:
7.0 lb light malt extract
1 lb rice syrup solids
½ lb American Crystal Malt 20L
2 oz Tettnanger Hops (1 oz boil, ½ oz aroma, ½ oz finishing)
1 package Nottingham Danstar ale yeast (dry)
Empty house, Saturday afternoon….time to brew! Two weekends ago Nick texted me saying that his brother was on the hunt for more green cap. I’d like some more on hand for the upcoming Duck Football season.
Verkenbrau 6.0
Batch 7
Verkenbrau 6.0 (Golden Cap – well, not really, let’s call this Verkenberry)
5 gallons
Raspberry beer
Recipe derived from tastybrew.com, but not exactly (fruit handling portion only)
Ingredients
6.0 lb extra light malt dry malt extract
1 lb rice syrup solids
½ lb American Crystal Malt 10L
2 oz Willamette Hops (1.5 oz boil, ½ oz aroma)
2 teaspoons irish moss (30 min in boil)
1 pkg Nottingham Danstar yeast.
5.0 lbs raspberries
7/19/09 – Used 2.5 gallons of water in the boil. Steeped grain until boiling, added syrup solids & DME. First time using DME. Had heard the extra light comes out amber in color, very true. It was very sticky & hard to get in the pot without help. Had to take the pot off the heat for quite a while when I put it in & stirred to ensure syrup & DME didn’t stick to the bottom. Added most of the hops at the boil, saving only ½ oz for the last 15 min. Sprinkled Irish moss in about halfway through the hour boil. Brew came out looking very, very dark. Interesting. I chilled in an ice bath for about 20 minutes & was able to pitch the yeast right away. Let sit in the living room to ferment as the weather is hot, hot, hot & I didn’t want it to cook upstairs. Next week will add 5 lb raspberries in a gallon of water.
Boiled raspberries for 10 minutes, added to the bottom of a plastic bucket, siphoned beer on top of it. Let sit for 10 days.
Extreme heat wave during fermentation. Apartment got up to 100 degrees, concerned for the beer.
14 days after adding berries I siphoned the beer to another plastic fermenter to get rid of berries. Transferred 4 more times (a day apart) for added clarity before bottling. Bottling yielded 54 12 oz. plus 4 champagne bottles.
After a week of aging I tasted it & was pleasantly surprised. It’s pretty light bodied with a strong raspberry flavor that somehow isn’t overwhelming. It’s very good. I’m very happy, & Banessa says she’ll drink it. We’ll see about that.
Verkenbrau 6.0 (Golden Cap – well, not really, let’s call this Verkenberry)
5 gallons
Raspberry beer
Recipe derived from tastybrew.com, but not exactly (fruit handling portion only)
Ingredients
6.0 lb extra light malt dry malt extract
1 lb rice syrup solids
½ lb American Crystal Malt 10L
2 oz Willamette Hops (1.5 oz boil, ½ oz aroma)
2 teaspoons irish moss (30 min in boil)
1 pkg Nottingham Danstar yeast.
5.0 lbs raspberries
7/19/09 – Used 2.5 gallons of water in the boil. Steeped grain until boiling, added syrup solids & DME. First time using DME. Had heard the extra light comes out amber in color, very true. It was very sticky & hard to get in the pot without help. Had to take the pot off the heat for quite a while when I put it in & stirred to ensure syrup & DME didn’t stick to the bottom. Added most of the hops at the boil, saving only ½ oz for the last 15 min. Sprinkled Irish moss in about halfway through the hour boil. Brew came out looking very, very dark. Interesting. I chilled in an ice bath for about 20 minutes & was able to pitch the yeast right away. Let sit in the living room to ferment as the weather is hot, hot, hot & I didn’t want it to cook upstairs. Next week will add 5 lb raspberries in a gallon of water.
Boiled raspberries for 10 minutes, added to the bottom of a plastic bucket, siphoned beer on top of it. Let sit for 10 days.
Extreme heat wave during fermentation. Apartment got up to 100 degrees, concerned for the beer.
14 days after adding berries I siphoned the beer to another plastic fermenter to get rid of berries. Transferred 4 more times (a day apart) for added clarity before bottling. Bottling yielded 54 12 oz. plus 4 champagne bottles.
After a week of aging I tasted it & was pleasantly surprised. It’s pretty light bodied with a strong raspberry flavor that somehow isn’t overwhelming. It’s very good. I’m very happy, & Banessa says she’ll drink it. We’ll see about that.
Verkenbrau 5.0
Batch 6
Verkenbrau 5.0 (Green cap)
Ingredients:
6.0 lb light malt extract
1 lb rice syrup solids
½ lb American Crystal Malt 20L
2 oz Tettnanger Hops (1 oz boil, ½ oz aroma, ½ oz finishing)
1 oz Cascade Hops (1/2 oz boil, ½ oz aroma)
2 packages Nottingham Danstar ale yeast (dry)
6/19/09 -- Used three gallons of water in the boil, steeped grain until boiling, added syrup solids & extract. Boiled w/ hops for an hour, added aroma hops w/ 15 minutes left & finishing hops as I pulled off the heat & prepared the fermenter. Used two frozen water bottles & a bag of ice to chill the wort. The ice bag in the sink worked so well that I had to fish out the two ice chunks. Added two packages of dry yeast within 20 minutes of end of boil.
Beer turned out very light & crisp. Good mouth feel, light bodied & very mellow. Excellent. The favorite of the beer party we had w/ Kraljevs, Lillegrens & Keys on 7/18.
Verkenbrau 5.0 (Green cap)
Ingredients:
6.0 lb light malt extract
1 lb rice syrup solids
½ lb American Crystal Malt 20L
2 oz Tettnanger Hops (1 oz boil, ½ oz aroma, ½ oz finishing)
1 oz Cascade Hops (1/2 oz boil, ½ oz aroma)
2 packages Nottingham Danstar ale yeast (dry)
6/19/09 -- Used three gallons of water in the boil, steeped grain until boiling, added syrup solids & extract. Boiled w/ hops for an hour, added aroma hops w/ 15 minutes left & finishing hops as I pulled off the heat & prepared the fermenter. Used two frozen water bottles & a bag of ice to chill the wort. The ice bag in the sink worked so well that I had to fish out the two ice chunks. Added two packages of dry yeast within 20 minutes of end of boil.
Beer turned out very light & crisp. Good mouth feel, light bodied & very mellow. Excellent. The favorite of the beer party we had w/ Kraljevs, Lillegrens & Keys on 7/18.
Verkenbrau 4.0
Batch 5
Verkenbrau 4.0 (Yellow Cap)
American Pale Ale derivative – my own interpretation, going for something even lighter
5 gallons
Ingredients:
7.0 lbs Pilsner malt extract
½ lb American Crystal Malt 10L
2 oz. Willamette Hops (1 oz for boil, ½ oz. for finishing, ½ oz. for aroma)
1 lb. corn sugar
Wyeast Labs 1272 American Pale Ale smack pack
2 teaspoon Irish Moss (30 min boil)
Tried the Pilsner malt extract & Willamette Hops for an even lighter body & finish. Turned out fantastically light & no bitterness. Very good light summer beer. Rave reviews.
Verkenbrau 4.0 (Yellow Cap)
American Pale Ale derivative – my own interpretation, going for something even lighter
5 gallons
Ingredients:
7.0 lbs Pilsner malt extract
½ lb American Crystal Malt 10L
2 oz. Willamette Hops (1 oz for boil, ½ oz. for finishing, ½ oz. for aroma)
1 lb. corn sugar
Wyeast Labs 1272 American Pale Ale smack pack
2 teaspoon Irish Moss (30 min boil)
Tried the Pilsner malt extract & Willamette Hops for an even lighter body & finish. Turned out fantastically light & no bitterness. Very good light summer beer. Rave reviews.
Verkenbrau 3.1
Batch 4
Verkenbrau 3.1 (Red Cap)
American Pale Ale recipe derived from Verkenbrau 3.0
5 gallons
OG 1.045
FG
Ingredients used:
7.3 pounds pale malt extract from homebrew store in Tigard
½ pound American Crystal Malt 10L
1 pound corn sugar for the boil
2 oz. Cascade Hops (1 oz for boil, ½ oz. for finishing, ½ oz. for aroma)
2 teaspoons irish moss (last 30 min of boil)
1 activator smack pack of Wyeast Labs American Ale II 1272
5/2/09 - First trip to home brew store in Tigard. The proprietor said they’ve been there for 15 years. Overall it’s great. She was a little crazy but the prices were great. They’ve got all five Breiss bulk malt extract flavors for $1.95 /lb. The yeast is a couple of bucks cheaper & they offer both Wyeast & White Labs. She also has used White Labs yeast that she said is great if you use a starter culture. Those are only $3.00, although the variety is limited. Very nice experience. Will definitely head out there again. Thanks to Patty Callaghan for the recommendation.
5/3/09 - On to the brew….brought 3.5 gallons of water to a boil with the crystal 10 in my grain sack. Removed the sack when it came to a boil, pulled it off the heat, added the extract & the sugar, returned to boil. Once boiling, added 1 oz. of the Cascade hops. At about 30 minutes I added 2 oz. of Irish moss. With 15 minutes remaining I added ½ oz. of the Cascade hops & sanitized my plastic fermentation bucket, strainer, cork & fermentation lock. Last two minutes of the boil I added the remaining ½ oz. of Cascade hops & took off the heat. I cooled the wort in an ice-bath for the first time. The wort chilled considerably in about twenty minutes. I transferred the wort to the fermenter with one frozen gallon of FM spring water. Added another gallon of tap water to bring the total volume to 5.5 gallons. The temperature dropped to 74 right away, so I fished out the chunk of ice & pitched the expanded yeast package.
5/4/09 – 6am fermentation is already very active. Chilling the wort right away & using the activator pack definitely made a huge difference in the quick start. Would still like to try a starter culture next time.
Finished product after bottle conditioning was fantastic. Lighter bodied & less hoppiness than the previous version. Everyone that has had it loves it.
Verkenbrau 3.1 (Red Cap)
American Pale Ale recipe derived from Verkenbrau 3.0
5 gallons
OG 1.045
FG
Ingredients used:
7.3 pounds pale malt extract from homebrew store in Tigard
½ pound American Crystal Malt 10L
1 pound corn sugar for the boil
2 oz. Cascade Hops (1 oz for boil, ½ oz. for finishing, ½ oz. for aroma)
2 teaspoons irish moss (last 30 min of boil)
1 activator smack pack of Wyeast Labs American Ale II 1272
5/2/09 - First trip to home brew store in Tigard. The proprietor said they’ve been there for 15 years. Overall it’s great. She was a little crazy but the prices were great. They’ve got all five Breiss bulk malt extract flavors for $1.95 /lb. The yeast is a couple of bucks cheaper & they offer both Wyeast & White Labs. She also has used White Labs yeast that she said is great if you use a starter culture. Those are only $3.00, although the variety is limited. Very nice experience. Will definitely head out there again. Thanks to Patty Callaghan for the recommendation.
5/3/09 - On to the brew….brought 3.5 gallons of water to a boil with the crystal 10 in my grain sack. Removed the sack when it came to a boil, pulled it off the heat, added the extract & the sugar, returned to boil. Once boiling, added 1 oz. of the Cascade hops. At about 30 minutes I added 2 oz. of Irish moss. With 15 minutes remaining I added ½ oz. of the Cascade hops & sanitized my plastic fermentation bucket, strainer, cork & fermentation lock. Last two minutes of the boil I added the remaining ½ oz. of Cascade hops & took off the heat. I cooled the wort in an ice-bath for the first time. The wort chilled considerably in about twenty minutes. I transferred the wort to the fermenter with one frozen gallon of FM spring water. Added another gallon of tap water to bring the total volume to 5.5 gallons. The temperature dropped to 74 right away, so I fished out the chunk of ice & pitched the expanded yeast package.
5/4/09 – 6am fermentation is already very active. Chilling the wort right away & using the activator pack definitely made a huge difference in the quick start. Would still like to try a starter culture next time.
Finished product after bottle conditioning was fantastic. Lighter bodied & less hoppiness than the previous version. Everyone that has had it loves it.
Verkenbrau 3.0
Verkenbrau 3.0
American Pale Ale recipe from Tastybrew.com
5 gallons
OG 1.045
FG 1.012
Ingredients used:
7.0 pounds light malt extract (bulk from Main Street)
0.50 lb American crystal malt 10L
2 oz (boil) Cascade hops
1 oz (finishing) Cascade hops
1 package Wyeast #1056 American Ale yeast (liquid) – Recipe called for Wyeast 1272 but Main Street did not carry it.
2 tsp Irish Moss (last 15 min of boil)
3/22/09 -- Back to Main Street for the ingredients. It’s a drive but I like it out there. The cost was $2.15 per pound for the extract. Also bought some DME for next time to do the starter yeast, as well as 3 cascade hops rhizomes and some green & yellow caps. Pulled yeast out & smacked it to get it started about 9:00 AM. Cracked the grains & steeped in 3 ½ gallons of water while bringing to boil. Once boiling I added the extract & brought back to a boil. For the first time it didn’t boil over…interesting. Added 2 oz Cascade hops & boiled for 1 hr. Last 15 min of boil added 1 oz. Cascade hops & 2 tsp of Irish moss. At the hour point I poured into the fermenter where two 1-gallon frozen Fred Meyer Spring Water bottles were emptied. Filled to the 5.5 gallon mark & shook to aerate & cool. Waited for wort to cool approximately 11 hours. Unfortunately the spring water didn’t sit in the freezer long enough and wasn’t frozen solid. At the 9th hour the yeast package was bursting & I had to cut a small hole in the package to relieve some pressure. Hope it didn’t negatively affect the yeast.
3/23/09 – 5 pm, (15 hours after pitching yeast) very little activity, but some.
3/24/09 – 6 am yeast has taken off, bubbling readily thank goodness. Going to let ferment in the primary for 7 days & then to secondary.
4/4/09 – transferred from primary to secondary, had about a quart left, which I drank. Very light, flowery tones of the hops come through nicely. This is going to be a very nice, light beer. I can’t wait.
4/12/09 – bottled the beer in 40 12 oz bottles, 2 22 oz bottles & 4 apple-cider bottles (26 oz?) with a cup of corn sugar. The cider bottles don’t take the caps really well, the necks are a little thick. Two 12 oz bottles cracked at the neck, I separated them and will open them first. Put bottles in upstairs bedroom to ferment for two weeks before La Grande. Took a hydrometer reading of 1.012.
4/18/09 – Opened one of the cracked bottles to sneak a taste. It’s very light, but a little hoppy. It is a little young but tastes amazing. In another week it should really, really be good.
4/24/09 – Gave the beer another taste before trip to La Grande. It is really, really good. Nice, light body, very clean & crisp, good frothy white head & good head retention. The Cascade hops are prominent but not overpowering. The yeast leaves a very clean, crisp taste, maybe a little tangy. Can’t wait to share w/ everyone in La Grande.
La Grande weekend – 4/25-4/28 Everyone really liked the beer, especially the Mexican & American Ales. The lighter the better as far as most of my friends are concerned. Alex liked the hefeweizen a lot too. I gave two bottles of Mexican & two bottles of hefeweizen to Art & Carrol to try. We drank all but a few hefeweizen’s. Rob drank his with ouzo. Going to share a hefe with Patty C. & Jan from work. I really like the American Ale. Drank so much of it I’m down to a few bottles. Version 4 will be another American Ale.
American Pale Ale recipe from Tastybrew.com
5 gallons
OG 1.045
FG 1.012
Ingredients used:
7.0 pounds light malt extract (bulk from Main Street)
0.50 lb American crystal malt 10L
2 oz (boil) Cascade hops
1 oz (finishing) Cascade hops
1 package Wyeast #1056 American Ale yeast (liquid) – Recipe called for Wyeast 1272 but Main Street did not carry it.
2 tsp Irish Moss (last 15 min of boil)
3/22/09 -- Back to Main Street for the ingredients. It’s a drive but I like it out there. The cost was $2.15 per pound for the extract. Also bought some DME for next time to do the starter yeast, as well as 3 cascade hops rhizomes and some green & yellow caps. Pulled yeast out & smacked it to get it started about 9:00 AM. Cracked the grains & steeped in 3 ½ gallons of water while bringing to boil. Once boiling I added the extract & brought back to a boil. For the first time it didn’t boil over…interesting. Added 2 oz Cascade hops & boiled for 1 hr. Last 15 min of boil added 1 oz. Cascade hops & 2 tsp of Irish moss. At the hour point I poured into the fermenter where two 1-gallon frozen Fred Meyer Spring Water bottles were emptied. Filled to the 5.5 gallon mark & shook to aerate & cool. Waited for wort to cool approximately 11 hours. Unfortunately the spring water didn’t sit in the freezer long enough and wasn’t frozen solid. At the 9th hour the yeast package was bursting & I had to cut a small hole in the package to relieve some pressure. Hope it didn’t negatively affect the yeast.
3/23/09 – 5 pm, (15 hours after pitching yeast) very little activity, but some.
3/24/09 – 6 am yeast has taken off, bubbling readily thank goodness. Going to let ferment in the primary for 7 days & then to secondary.
4/4/09 – transferred from primary to secondary, had about a quart left, which I drank. Very light, flowery tones of the hops come through nicely. This is going to be a very nice, light beer. I can’t wait.
4/12/09 – bottled the beer in 40 12 oz bottles, 2 22 oz bottles & 4 apple-cider bottles (26 oz?) with a cup of corn sugar. The cider bottles don’t take the caps really well, the necks are a little thick. Two 12 oz bottles cracked at the neck, I separated them and will open them first. Put bottles in upstairs bedroom to ferment for two weeks before La Grande. Took a hydrometer reading of 1.012.
4/18/09 – Opened one of the cracked bottles to sneak a taste. It’s very light, but a little hoppy. It is a little young but tastes amazing. In another week it should really, really be good.
4/24/09 – Gave the beer another taste before trip to La Grande. It is really, really good. Nice, light body, very clean & crisp, good frothy white head & good head retention. The Cascade hops are prominent but not overpowering. The yeast leaves a very clean, crisp taste, maybe a little tangy. Can’t wait to share w/ everyone in La Grande.
La Grande weekend – 4/25-4/28 Everyone really liked the beer, especially the Mexican & American Ales. The lighter the better as far as most of my friends are concerned. Alex liked the hefeweizen a lot too. I gave two bottles of Mexican & two bottles of hefeweizen to Art & Carrol to try. We drank all but a few hefeweizen’s. Rob drank his with ouzo. Going to share a hefe with Patty C. & Jan from work. I really like the American Ale. Drank so much of it I’m down to a few bottles. Version 4 will be another American Ale.
Verkenbrau 2.0
Verkenbrau 2.0
Weizen? Why not? From FH Steinbarts recipe
5 gallons
OG 1.050
FG 1.012
Recipe recommends starter yeast culture– don’t have the time or equipment at this time. Some ingredients are more than recommended in recipe…guys at store said it was ok.
Ingredients used:
6.6 pounds Muntons Wheat extract
Approx 1.75 lb crystal malt (caramel 60) (recipe called for 1.0 lb)
Approx .75 lb toasted barley (flaked) (recipe called for .50 lb)
1.5 lb blackberry honey (recipe called for 1 lb)
2 oz (boil) Cascade hops
½ oz (finishing) Cascade hops
1 package Wyeast #3333 German Wheat yeast (liquid)
First ingredient purchase from Steinbarts. Overall impression, the malt was expensive. I probably could’ve gone w/ out the honey from there & used cheaper bulk stuff or just sugar. The grains were nice though. Lots of advice (albeit most of it was over my head for now).
Steeped grains in approximately 3.25 gallons water as it came to a boil (40-45 minutes). Boiled 2 cans of malt extract & honey with 2 oz hops for 1 hour 10 minutes. Pulled off heat, covered & added ½ oz hops for finishing (about 5 minutes). Sparged into fermenter that had two 1-gallon Fred Meyer Spring Water containers that were frozen into ice. Closed fermenter & shook every once in a while. After about 2 ½ hours the thermometer read 72-74. First impressions, the wort smells a little more bitter than I thought. I’m a little worried about the yeast, I wish I would’ve taken the time to do a starter. For the future I think I’ll do the starter process.
First time using Wyeast package. I slapped the package per instructions & let sit for a couple of hours at room temperature. When the wort was down to 72-74 I opened the fermenter, fished out a small chunk of ice that was left w/ some sanitized tongs, took a hydrometer reading of 1.050 & pitched the yeast.
3/1/09 – Lots of activity in the fermenter. Moved the fermenter upstairs to the second bedroom & closed the door & window to keep temperature up. Wort still measuring at 72 degrees & fermenting rapidly.
3/5/09 – fermentation activity slowed to a bubble every 70-90 seconds in airlock. Racked to secondary. There was significant yeast on the surface of the beer as well as the expected ‘pancake’ at the bottom. Siphoned smoothly to secondary, took a hydrometer reading of 1.020 from what was left in the primary. Drank the sample afterwards, it was very yeasty & had a bit of a sour taste on the back of the tongue. Last thermometer reading on the side of the primary showed approximately 70 degrees. Fermented in upstairs bedroom to this point, plan to keep in secondary five days upstairs then move to the hall closet downstairs (much cooler) for a few days prior to bottling. Hoping secondary clears the beer a little bit & smooths out the flavor.
3/14 – fermentation activity was very low, time to bottle. I boiled ¾ cup corn sugar with one pint of water for approximately 10 minutes while I boiled the bottle caps & sanitized equipment. Bottled with Banessa’s help. Was able to bottle 48 12 oz. bottles & 2 22 oz. bottles that I’ll give to Alex. Had enough left over for a hydrometer reading of approximately 1.012(?) and have a drink. The hops are prominent but overall the taste has mellowed nicely & is not too yeasty. No residual sour taste as I thought before. It should condition well in the bottles & I’m excited to try it in a week or so.
3/22/09 – opened beer. Carbonation hasn’t fully developed yet. Probably a result of aging in the colder closet. Will let it age another week or so before opening the next bottle. Taste was very good. Hops were prominent but not overpowering. Aftertaste was clean.
3/27/09 – second try at the beer tasting. Carbonation has developed nicely, although not uniformly throughout each bottle. Taste is very good. Hops are strong, but nice. Medium body, the carbonated bottles have a very nice mouth feel. Brought several bottles to Nick’s for a BBQ. Feedback from Nick, Jimmy, Heather & Jamie was very good. Nick also gave some to his sister who said she liked it.
4/8/09 -- Alex emailed & said the following: Wow! I finished the first bottle of Verkeweizen this evening with dinner. This is very impressive. You're right. The hops did come through really prominently. I like it. You should go down to the store and buy a bottle of Franziskaner, a german hefe. It tastes similar. The banana / clove notes. Your beer is more balanced, and therefore more delicious.
I’m truly flattered.
Weizen? Why not? From FH Steinbarts recipe
5 gallons
OG 1.050
FG 1.012
Recipe recommends starter yeast culture– don’t have the time or equipment at this time. Some ingredients are more than recommended in recipe…guys at store said it was ok.
Ingredients used:
6.6 pounds Muntons Wheat extract
Approx 1.75 lb crystal malt (caramel 60) (recipe called for 1.0 lb)
Approx .75 lb toasted barley (flaked) (recipe called for .50 lb)
1.5 lb blackberry honey (recipe called for 1 lb)
2 oz (boil) Cascade hops
½ oz (finishing) Cascade hops
1 package Wyeast #3333 German Wheat yeast (liquid)
First ingredient purchase from Steinbarts. Overall impression, the malt was expensive. I probably could’ve gone w/ out the honey from there & used cheaper bulk stuff or just sugar. The grains were nice though. Lots of advice (albeit most of it was over my head for now).
Steeped grains in approximately 3.25 gallons water as it came to a boil (40-45 minutes). Boiled 2 cans of malt extract & honey with 2 oz hops for 1 hour 10 minutes. Pulled off heat, covered & added ½ oz hops for finishing (about 5 minutes). Sparged into fermenter that had two 1-gallon Fred Meyer Spring Water containers that were frozen into ice. Closed fermenter & shook every once in a while. After about 2 ½ hours the thermometer read 72-74. First impressions, the wort smells a little more bitter than I thought. I’m a little worried about the yeast, I wish I would’ve taken the time to do a starter. For the future I think I’ll do the starter process.
First time using Wyeast package. I slapped the package per instructions & let sit for a couple of hours at room temperature. When the wort was down to 72-74 I opened the fermenter, fished out a small chunk of ice that was left w/ some sanitized tongs, took a hydrometer reading of 1.050 & pitched the yeast.
3/1/09 – Lots of activity in the fermenter. Moved the fermenter upstairs to the second bedroom & closed the door & window to keep temperature up. Wort still measuring at 72 degrees & fermenting rapidly.
3/5/09 – fermentation activity slowed to a bubble every 70-90 seconds in airlock. Racked to secondary. There was significant yeast on the surface of the beer as well as the expected ‘pancake’ at the bottom. Siphoned smoothly to secondary, took a hydrometer reading of 1.020 from what was left in the primary. Drank the sample afterwards, it was very yeasty & had a bit of a sour taste on the back of the tongue. Last thermometer reading on the side of the primary showed approximately 70 degrees. Fermented in upstairs bedroom to this point, plan to keep in secondary five days upstairs then move to the hall closet downstairs (much cooler) for a few days prior to bottling. Hoping secondary clears the beer a little bit & smooths out the flavor.
3/14 – fermentation activity was very low, time to bottle. I boiled ¾ cup corn sugar with one pint of water for approximately 10 minutes while I boiled the bottle caps & sanitized equipment. Bottled with Banessa’s help. Was able to bottle 48 12 oz. bottles & 2 22 oz. bottles that I’ll give to Alex. Had enough left over for a hydrometer reading of approximately 1.012(?) and have a drink. The hops are prominent but overall the taste has mellowed nicely & is not too yeasty. No residual sour taste as I thought before. It should condition well in the bottles & I’m excited to try it in a week or so.
3/22/09 – opened beer. Carbonation hasn’t fully developed yet. Probably a result of aging in the colder closet. Will let it age another week or so before opening the next bottle. Taste was very good. Hops were prominent but not overpowering. Aftertaste was clean.
3/27/09 – second try at the beer tasting. Carbonation has developed nicely, although not uniformly throughout each bottle. Taste is very good. Hops are strong, but nice. Medium body, the carbonated bottles have a very nice mouth feel. Brought several bottles to Nick’s for a BBQ. Feedback from Nick, Jimmy, Heather & Jamie was very good. Nick also gave some to his sister who said she liked it.
4/8/09 -- Alex emailed & said the following: Wow! I finished the first bottle of Verkeweizen this evening with dinner. This is very impressive. You're right. The hops did come through really prominently. I like it. You should go down to the store and buy a bottle of Franziskaner, a german hefe. It tastes similar. The banana / clove notes. Your beer is more balanced, and therefore more delicious.
I’m truly flattered.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Verkenbrau 1.0
1st Brew!!
January 28, 2009
Verkenbrau 1.0
Golden Halo Cerveza from Main Street Brewing in Hillsboro (kit)
5 Gallons
6lb Breiss Pale Malt Extract
1 oz. Tettnanger Hops (for boiling) 1 hour
½ oz. Tettnanger Hops (for finishing) 12 min
½ oz. Tettnanger Hops (aroma) 2 min
1 pkg. Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast
Boiled 3 gallons of water, boiled malt & hops for 1 hour. Added finishing & aroma hops. Strained out hops into 1 gallon of Fred Meyer mountain spring water frozen into ice & one gallon of water.
1/28/09 Added yeast at 78 degrees, approximately 7 hours after boil. Fermented in upstairs bedroom in 8 gal bucket.
2/2/09 Airlock bubbles every 60 seconds.
2/3/09 Airlock bubbles every 90-180 seconds. Racked beer to secondary fermenter (5 gal glass carboy). Wrapped in towel & stored in living room.
2/13/09 All perceptible activity has stopped. Ready to bottle.
2/15/09 Boiled 1 cup corn sugar in 1 pint water, siphoned beer back into primary, primed beer & bottled into 53 12 oz bottles. Had one glass & shared one w/ Alex. Tastes very light & clean. Very good.
2/27/09 First bottle! Chilled in fridge ½ hour. Head was nice & foamy, fully carbonated but not over-carbonated. Very drinkable. Light bodied, crisp & a little on the sweet side. After taste is not as clean as I would like, is a bit tangy? Overall, excellent. Had five bottles! Looking forward to Alex’s opinion. Some bottles appeared to have a cloudy film on the interior, possibly a result of removing the labels w/ washing soda & not rinsing enough? Or not sterilizing bottles long enough? Doesn’t adversely affect taste on bottles I’ve tried so far. Might be too discriminating on first batch. Going shopping tomorrow to start batch 2.
Feedback from friends—Alex really likes it, comments on how clean it tastes. Nick seems to like it quite a bit. Rob says it’s better than Tacate. Shawn liked it well. Jan from work loved it, said he’d love me to make some more & share. Said it was light, crisp & exactly the kind of beer he loves to drink. Josh said it would make an amazing summer beer & was good to see a light homebrew. I’d love to make this for the summer.
January 28, 2009
Verkenbrau 1.0
Golden Halo Cerveza from Main Street Brewing in Hillsboro (kit)
5 Gallons
6lb Breiss Pale Malt Extract
1 oz. Tettnanger Hops (for boiling) 1 hour
½ oz. Tettnanger Hops (for finishing) 12 min
½ oz. Tettnanger Hops (aroma) 2 min
1 pkg. Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast
Boiled 3 gallons of water, boiled malt & hops for 1 hour. Added finishing & aroma hops. Strained out hops into 1 gallon of Fred Meyer mountain spring water frozen into ice & one gallon of water.
1/28/09 Added yeast at 78 degrees, approximately 7 hours after boil. Fermented in upstairs bedroom in 8 gal bucket.
2/2/09 Airlock bubbles every 60 seconds.
2/3/09 Airlock bubbles every 90-180 seconds. Racked beer to secondary fermenter (5 gal glass carboy). Wrapped in towel & stored in living room.
2/13/09 All perceptible activity has stopped. Ready to bottle.
2/15/09 Boiled 1 cup corn sugar in 1 pint water, siphoned beer back into primary, primed beer & bottled into 53 12 oz bottles. Had one glass & shared one w/ Alex. Tastes very light & clean. Very good.
2/27/09 First bottle! Chilled in fridge ½ hour. Head was nice & foamy, fully carbonated but not over-carbonated. Very drinkable. Light bodied, crisp & a little on the sweet side. After taste is not as clean as I would like, is a bit tangy? Overall, excellent. Had five bottles! Looking forward to Alex’s opinion. Some bottles appeared to have a cloudy film on the interior, possibly a result of removing the labels w/ washing soda & not rinsing enough? Or not sterilizing bottles long enough? Doesn’t adversely affect taste on bottles I’ve tried so far. Might be too discriminating on first batch. Going shopping tomorrow to start batch 2.
Feedback from friends—Alex really likes it, comments on how clean it tastes. Nick seems to like it quite a bit. Rob says it’s better than Tacate. Shawn liked it well. Jan from work loved it, said he’d love me to make some more & share. Said it was light, crisp & exactly the kind of beer he loves to drink. Josh said it would make an amazing summer beer & was good to see a light homebrew. I’d love to make this for the summer.
First post
Welcome....
This will serve as the repository for my recipes, pictures and reflections about each batch I brew. I'd also welcome any reaction, comments, special requests, etc. Verkenbrau isn't complicated, it is simply what I like to drink and hope my friends will too. I guess there isn't any other place to start than to roll out my brewing diary to date. Forgive me if it's a little cheesy, I'm sure this'll get more refined as I go. Enjoy a Verkenbrau.
This will serve as the repository for my recipes, pictures and reflections about each batch I brew. I'd also welcome any reaction, comments, special requests, etc. Verkenbrau isn't complicated, it is simply what I like to drink and hope my friends will too. I guess there isn't any other place to start than to roll out my brewing diary to date. Forgive me if it's a little cheesy, I'm sure this'll get more refined as I go. Enjoy a Verkenbrau.
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