Happy Thanksgiving! (Pumpkin Ale Tasting)

Pumpkin Ale

It's been two weeks and it's Thanksgiving. This will be a good time to share the pumpkin ale that was bottled two weeks ago. I wont be able to make it home for the holiday, but a friend and his family graciously invited me to spend the day with them. In return, I'm going to take a few over for them to try.

Before sharing, I snuck a bottle to sample. I can't be more than happy. During the pour, I found the color was on the darker side of amber and the carbonation was great. The flavor was good. Upon tasting, you get those hints of spice from the cinnamon and nutmeg. The overall body is fruitful from both the hops and the pumpkin. The pumpkin ends up a little hard to pinpoint however.It's not overly bitter, but you can taste the hops. I also took a hydrometer reading and its right at 5% alcohol. I shared a bottle with a friend at work and I received a praise. In the end, I'm happy with the outcome. I have a couple plans for a Christmas beer. More details coming soon. Until then, have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the brew.

Sláinte!

Pumpkin Ale Part II - Bottling

Fermenter after 2 weeks

It's been two weeks, the yeast has gone through their cycle in the fermenter.  It's time to bottle.  We're gonna use the bottling bucket, racking cane and tubing, bottling wand, bottle washer and at least 50 - 12 ounce bottles.  You can use larger if you have them, but I like to recycle and reuse so I've saved and collected bottles that came with a pry-off cap. You can pick up a bottle washer at any brew shop or online.  It's around a $10 investment and it's well worth it.  You can also get an adapter to attach it to a standard kitchen faucet. Bottles get pretty grimy after awhile and it really helps in the cleaning. 


To carbonate the beer, we need to add priming sugar in the wort as we bottle.  To do this, dissolve 5oz of priming sugar (aka corn sugar) in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool. While we're waiting for this to cool, clean the bottles. Give them a good rinse with hot water through the bottle washer.  If you need to, use a bottle brush to clean any residue stuck to the bottom of the bottles.  For the really troublesome ones, I boil water in my electric kettle and pour it into the suspect bottle and let it sit to break up anything that we can't get out.

We will also need to clean the bottling bucket.  If you haven't yet, it would be a good idea to sterilize first, using diluted bleach or other products.  After it has been sterilized, fill the bucket with warm water and mix with a cleaning agent.  I use Easy Clean, a no rinse cleanser made by LD Carlson.  Hook up the hose with the bottling wand and clean everything by filling the bottles with the cleaning solution (if you are using caps, toss them in the bucket with the solution and then set them aside to dry after the bucket is empty).

This is a good chance to learn how to use the bottling set up and the wand.  When the spigot is turned, the wand will fill and lock up. You'll notice that a little stopper is sticking out.  When the wand is pressed into the bottle, the stopper will release. Fill the bottles til the solution reaches the lip and remove the wand.  You'll notice the volume will drop to an appropriate level as you take it out. Let the solution sit in the bottles until ready to use.



Fermenter to bottling bucket

Once the bucket is empty, dump any extra cleaning solution and set on a stool or chair. Don't worry about any small bits of solution left; as long as you followed the instructions of use, it will be safe for you and the beer.  Place the fermenter on a counter or table that sets higher than the bottling bucket. The higher the original point of transfer, the smoother this will go.   Make sure the spout on the bottling bucket is closed and pour in the cooled corn sugar. Use the racking cane and hose to transfer the beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket.  If you have a steady flow, this will mix the corn sugar during the transfer.   If you need to, tip the fermenter to get the last of the fluid to transfer.  Don't try to get every last drop because you want to keep as much sediment in the fermenter as possible.  You'll find some gunk at the bottom, just set that aside to clean.

Bottles ready to be filled

Place the bottling bucket where the fermenter was during the transfer.  I like to keep the bottles on the floor during this process for easy clean up in case they are over filled (which will happen).  Empty the bottles and line them up a row so that they will be within reach.  Hook the hose and bottling wand back up to the bucket.  Place the wand in the bottle to avoid any spilling and turn the spigot to start the flow. Fill the bottles just like we did with the cleaning solution, keeping that bit of head room at the top of the bottles. Once the bottles are filled, use the capper and seal all of the bottles. The yield should be around 48-50 bottles, give or take a few.

Keep the finished product in a cool place such as a closet or basement (as long as it's not winter).  It would be a good idea to save 6 and 12 pack cases to help with organizing.  Time for another week or two of waiting, the longer the better.  You can push it and try a beer after a week, but if it seems under carbonated, give it an additional week.



Finished product!







Pumpkin Ale Part I - The Boil

I am happy to share that I have put my first batch of brew into the fermenter that I will be sharing with the masses. I have put together what I am hoping will be a fantastic Pumpkin Ale, ready in time to share during Thanksgiving. I cannot take all the credit however. The idea came from the lovely, Vegan Miss. We both agreed that there was no better flavor for the season than pumpkin.
My ingredients are as follows:

 



LME Used in this boil


• 8 ounces each of Carapils & Caramel 20 L crushed grains
• 1 ounce each of Crystal and Cascade hops (I used pellets)
• 2 - 3.3 pound jars of Amber LME (liquid malt extract)
• 1 packet Nottingham dry active yeast
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1, 3-4 pound pumpkin
• 1 - 1½ tbsp of freshly grated cinnamon and nutmeg
• 2 large Muslin boiling bags
• 2, 7 lb bags of ice (you may not need both, but it's better to be safe than sorry)

*Note that this being the first post, it will be a little lengthy. Have to make sure all the necessary steps are there.

Let's start by roasting the pumpkin. Preheat your oven to 350°F. With the Halloween rush, I was unable to find a single pumpkin at the size I wanted, so I found two small ones. Start by cutting them in half and using a spoon, scrape out all the unwanted insides. Place the pumpkin halves on a baking sheet that has a layer of water. The water will keep the pumpkins from burning while they roast. Cover in foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes or until a fork softly sticks in the flesh of the pumpkins.

Use this time to prepare all of your equipment. For this step of brewing, we are going to use the fermenter and lid, the bubbler, the racking cane and the tubing. Everything needs to be sterilized. You can do this by mixing 1 to 2 tbsp of unscented bleach per 1 gallon of water. Place everything to be used in the fermenting bucket and cover with the bleach solution.

This would be a good time to check on the pumpkin. Peel the foil back, do a fork test and make sure that there is still water in the bottom of the pan. Lets get the kettle on the burner and prepare our grains. I put 3 gallons of water (I measured this using an old 1-gallon water jug) in to the kettle. Get the water heated but not boiling, the ideal temp being 155°F. It would be ideal to have a thermometer at this stage. I personally do not have one so I brought the pot up just before boil and kicked it slightly back. Place the crushed grains into one of the Muslin bags. Place the bag in the pot to steep like a big bag of tea for 30 minutes. This is another great time to check the pumpkins, they should be ready by this time. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.

After 30 minutes, kill the heat on the grains. If you are using an electric stove, be sure to remove the kettle from the burner. Let the grains steep for an extra 5 minutes off the heat. Remove the bag and if possible, try and to squeeze any excess water, careful not to burn yourself.

Before returning the the pot to the heat, add the malt and brown sugar. Be sure to stir to avoid the sugars from burning or sticking to the bottom. Return the pot to the heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, it's time to add the Crystal hops. It's finally starting to smell like a real beer. Keep the wort (that's what the brew is called at this point) at a boil for an hour, stirring frequently. While this is going, the pumpkin should be cool enough to touch. Start spooning the meat of the pumpkin out into the second muslin bag.

At the last 10 minutes of of the boil, place the pumpkin in the pot. At the 2 minute mark, place Cascade hops in the boil with the spices.  Now that it has boiled for 60 minutes, remove the kettle from the heat.

Before the boil can be transferred to the fementer, we need to bring the temperature down. This is where the ice comes in, it will be used to bring the temp down and get us to the 5 gallon mark. Start by mixing the first bag in to the kettle, stirring until the ice has melted. You may not need both bags of ice for this step, but it's better to be prepared. While cooling, prepare the yeast by mixing it with warm water and let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes. Check the temperature of the wort, the target being around 80°F.

The wort being siphoned
into the fermenter.

Syphon the wort from the kettle to the fermenter using the racking cane and tubing (for a good example of how to do this, see this page). This step will help with filtering the wort and keeping sediment in the kettle.

Now that everything is transferred to the fermenter, add any additional water to the fermenter to bring it up to 5 gallons. Add the yeast and give the whole thing a nice, vigorous stir. This will bring some oxygen into the mix and make the yeast happy. Place the lid on to seal the wort and then attach the bubbler. Now time for the waiting game. Since I only have a single fermenter, this will sit for 2 weeks before being touched.

Welcome to Brew or Die!

Welcome to Brew or Die! This is a new blog about the home brewing adventures of one Chicago resident. This will be my first post in a hopefully long lived blog. I'm here to share my experiences in making that delicious brew that some can't live without.  I am, by no means, a professional.  I will never claim to be.  I just want to show how easy brewing your own delicious beer actually is.  It might seem that there is a lot of time or even money to put towards this, but we will learn otherwise.

To start, you need some equipment.  You can find what you need at any brew shop, local or online.  Mine just happened to come from Midwest Supplies.  I have the basic beginners set so the only thing I needed to add was a brew kettle and bottles.   The recipes I've used or read require to steep grains in at least 2 gallons of water. I picked up a 5 gallon stock pot relatively cheap.  It doesn't have to be 5-gallons, but from what I have read, the more you can boil at one time, the better. For bottles, I just started collecting bottles from beer I've drank at home.  If you do this, you can only keep pry off bottles.

The first brew I made was an Irish Red Ale from a kit that can be found here.  I unfortunately don't have a whole lot to post about this besides that it turned out amazing.  Great color, flavor, and carbonation.  After tasting the final product, I decided to make this a frequent adventure.  The way I figure it, not only would it be fun to experiment, but also a good way to enjoy quality brew for the fraction of the cost.  I was able to get about 50 bottles out of the 5 gallons the kit produced and the kit was only $25.  What if I bought that much beer from a liquor store?  It'd be at least $75.

My intentions are to share everything I can when it comes to cost, ingredients and any other details to help in brewing the best beer possible. I would like to reach out and show others that this would be a worthwhile endeavor.

Sláinte!