Homebrew #3
April 29, 2007 @ 10:11 am by will
Jesse, Kellen and I brewed a batch of beer yesterday. This one is a pale ale (although, as you can see in the video, it’s coming out pretty dark) brewed with cascade hops for bittering and finishing and american ale yeast is providing the fermentation. As you can see it is getting busy. It should be in bottles next weekend.
Also the slightly strange setup (lots of cardboard, and the carboy sat in the brew kettle with an aluminum foil hat on top) is due to me being slightly paranoid about being in a newly rented apartment and having a particularly explosive fermentation process last time. I don’t really want beer spraying out of the airlock and the resulting mess again.
Update:
I have posted videos for day 2 and 3 on my viddler account.
Hey! I like the brewing vids - and now I know why there’s the pokey hat! I suppose the advantage of using a brewing bucket instead of a glass carbouy is that any mess just dribbles into the bucket lid. Like mine did last night! Did you see on my vid all the hops that fell in when I was straining the wort? Must get round that somehow, the sieve I’m using is too small and I’m not terribly keen on using a bag for the hops - have you tried that at all?
Comment by Paw — May 2, 2007 @ 1:46 am
We use a funnel with a strainer in it for the straining. It seems to work quite well, although you still have to make sure you don’t get too many hops in it as it tends to get clogged quite easily. You could probably put the lid of your fermenter on and then put the funnel in the airlock hole so you don’t have to have mum hold it. Btw, do the hops rise once the wort is cold or something? Our hops always seem to sink to the bottom.
Comment by will — May 2, 2007 @ 7:34 am
Hey! I’ve bought a bigger sieve - it holds all the wet hops loose. Trouble is - now I realise I should have been chilling the wort (after aall this time!) and use a chiller, I have to sanitize everything, including the sieve. The hops do seem to sink now they’re cold when I drop the wort into the fermenter.
Comment by Paw — June 2, 2007 @ 7:41 am
Hello
Great book. I just want to say what a fantastic thing you are doing! Good luck!
Bye
Comment by tovorinok — July 4, 2007 @ 8:53 pm