Barleypopmaker's Beer Blog

Review of BeerSmith Mobile

Barleypopmaker — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:43:46 +0000

BeerSmith 2 Mobile (Kindle Edition)

Today I have a special treat for you, BeerSmith 2 has gone fully mobile. Prior to this release, mobile phone and tablet users have been restricted to BeerSmith Lite, which gave you the ability to view your recipes and utilize some very basic tools, like a brewday sheet and brewday timers. However, BeerSmith has not released a fully functioning beer recipe formulation software package for Android Devices (Phones and Tablets), Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD, and very soon the Iphone and Ipad. I am a BeerSmith 2 user as well as a BeerSmith Lite user on my Kindle Fire. So While I was content with creating recipes on my laptop and transferring them to my kindle, I always wanted that ability on the fly. I usually have my Fire with me and it would be nice to tweak or enter recipes on the go. It’s more handy than it may sound. The ability to enter a recipe of a fellow homebrewer that you like at a homebrew club meeting, or even a competition. So I purchased BeerSmith Mobile today and let’s take a very high level view of the software. All in all I’m very pleased, so much so that I would venture to say that if you do not own BeerSmith 2 for desktop and you own a tablet. You could probably get by with just buying the mobile version and not even deal with the full version. Granted there is a lot more control and bells and whistles in the full desktop version, but all the solid meat and potatoes of the software is included in the Mobile version and will be adequate for most brewers. I would also like to add that if you were a BeerSmith Lite user, all of the recipes you have saved will transfer over to your BeerSmith mobile App. You don’t have to go through the trouble of reloading them. So let’s take a quick look at BeerSmith Mobile.

The first Screen you see after the app loads is this one. As you can see, just like BeerSmith Lite, you can search recipes online, you have your personal recipes, tools, unit converters,and access to the cloud. But now you also have Equipment/Mash/Age profiles and an Ingredients Database. Clicking on each one is fairly Self explanatory. I would like to add though, that in the ingredients database and the profiles section you do have the ability to manually add your own equipment, ingredients, mash schedules, and ale or lager aging profiles. Just like in the Regular edition of BeerSmith Desktop. Below I will show a few screenshots of the Ingredient Databases and Profiles segments.

Ingredients Main Page.

Here is a real quick view of just a portion of the grain database, mainly so you can see what that looks like.

Profiles Main page

Your selection of tools

OK, so now let’s dig in just a touch deeper, not too deep though. This is not intended to be a tutorial. But I do want to give you enough information to make an educated decision on if BeerSmith Mobile is right for you. So let’s start looking a bit more at the important part, the Recipe formulation and editing. To the left is a list of my recipes, both my own original recipes and clone recipes I had on file with BeerSmith Lite. If you want to create a new recipe from scratch, you will notice the Add button in the upper right corner. But for now I want to edit a recipe since it will bring us to the same type of screen. I also want to mention that in order to transfer files from your PC you still have to utilize the cloud. Some people don’t like this feature, but to me it doesn’t bother me. I just upload the file from BeerSmith Desktop to the cloud, open the cloud on my Kindle (or your device) open the recipe and click copy. Then I go to my desktop and delete it from the cloud. It’s no more difficult than transferring via a USB device. Some people don’t like to be forced to use the cloud, but I don’t see what the big deal is. You get storage for 10 recipes for free and if you want to pay for more space you can. Me, I tend to try to keep only my most favorite or current recipes on the cloud. I don’t have an interest in storing all my recipes permanently there anyway. If you are interested in seeing what is currently on my could page, click here. Let’s take a look at one of my recipes and see what it looks like in Mobile.

There is a lot you can access from this page, and lot you can do. Just like in Lite, you can view, have brewday timer (which is also where you get your water volume and temperatures as well as your mash/hop schedules), you can copy the recipe which will take it to the cloud, and you can delete the recipe. By clicking on one of the ingredients you view the properties of that ingredient. You can also view the specifics of the recipe like volume, estimated ABV, IBU’s, color and so forth. But one difference is if you look up in the upper right corner you will notice the edit Button. If you tap that, you will be taken to the image below. Since you will notice that I misspelled the name “Corellian” as Corillian, and I have 2 types of yeast in there. Let’s edit the recipe and delete the cry havoc yeast from the recipe and edit the name. Something you couldn’t do in lite.

So now you see the recipe and formulation and editing section. If this were a new recipe it would all be blank. But since we are editing we have most of it filled in already. From the top down you have the style category choose, the style accuracy slide bars, the beer color graphic, then the buttons to add grain, hops, yeast, miscellaneous ingredients and water profiles. Below all that you have the ingredient list of your current recipe, in this case it’s a pre-prohibition lager I just brewed. Below that, you have your equipment profiles, the ability to scale your recipe, your mash profiles, your aging profile, and your storage and carbonation method. You also have your session data and other data below. I should note that anyplace you see a gear to the right of the selection, you can customize and edit that profile. If there is just an arrow, you can view the properties or it takes you to a new window. At the very bottom you will the “save as default recipe” button. Just like in BeerSmith Desktop you can create a template that contains all your most common used information like your name, batch size, equipment profile, and so forth. If you save as a default recipe, any new recipe you open will start out like this. So if you just want to save the recipe and not make it a template for all your future recipes, use the save button in the upper right corner. In my default template I just have my name, my equipment, my batch size, a single stage ale aging profile (I use a keg as my bright tank/secondary), and a single infusion medium body, batch sparge mash profile. That’s all that is in my template.

The last screenshot I want to show you is the timer/brewday sheet. This is where you can get your information on water volumes, mash in temperatures, sparge volumes, sparge temps, hop addition timers, mash timers and so forth. In other words, this is the part you use on Brew Day! That you can see below. But in conclusion, I think this app is well worth the $7.99 introductory price. But get it soon, it will go up to a whopping $9.99 in June. Still worth the price. Brad Smith has on his website that if you are a lite owner, sometime in the near future you will be able to upgrade to BeerSmith Mobile as an in-app upgrade and will only have to pay the difference. Personally, I couldn’t wait and thought $7.99 or waiting for the in-app purchase price of $5.99 would make no difference to me. I wanted it now and the price is very reasonable considering you are getting almost all the tools you get with the desktop version, minus the inventory feature. Sorry inventory fans, it’s not in this release of the app. But it’s probably in the works. I have an Iphone and don’t think I would like this app as much on the Iphone as I do on a tablet, but still….it’s a great app worth having.

Manitowoc Area Water Reports

Barleypopmaker — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:11:51 +0000

I sent off a water sample to Ward Labs for my local water report, and is an extension of a previous post I did on getting started in understanding water. I did the same test for another local water source which is a natural Artesian well named the Kossuth Artesian Well which is just north of Manitowoc, WI on Hwy Q. I will post the water data for both sources below. With this data you can more accurately know what beer styles will work best with the current water profile and what water adjustments to make for other styles (if necessary). This is a troubleshooting and fine tuning aspect of brewing. There is no reason to stress about your water as long as the water tastes good and is free of chlorine. If you don’t want to worry about water, you don’t have to. But water chemistry can affect hop perception in beer as well as affect your mash, it is important to understand and at least acknowledge that. So for those local readers, I will provide that data below. Granted it will change slightly year after year, but this will get you solidly in the ballpark. Here are the Manitowoc water results (which get’s it’s water from Lake Michigan) and the Kossuth Artesian well. Below that I will provide links to brewing water spreadsheets. The most essential numbers applicable to brewing are in bold.

Manitowoc Water Report 2013

pH: 7.0
Total Dissolved Solids: 156
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm: 0.26
Cations/Anions, me/L: 2.6/2.5

Sodium, Na: 9
Potassium, K: 2
Calcium, Ca: 18
Magnesium, Mg: 15
Total Hardness: 108
Nitrate, NO₃-N: 0.4
*Sulfate as SO₄-S : 8
*Sulfate as SO₄: 24
Chloride, Cl: 15
Carbonate, Co₃: <1
Bicarbonate, HC0₃: 91
Total Alkalinity, CaCO₃: 75
*=Some water spreadsheets are looking for Sulfate as either SO₄-S or SO₄. I provided both numbers. To get the SO₄ number you multiply the SO₄-S by 3.

Kossuth Artesian Well 2012

pH: 7.1
Total Dissolved Solids: 398
Electrical Conductivity: .66
Cations/Anions: 8.3/7.8

Sodium, Na: 10
Potassium, K: 1
Calcium, Ca: 87
Magnesium, Mg: 42
Total Hardness: 393
Nitrate, NO₃-N: 0.6
Sulfate as SO₄-S: 27
Sulfate as SO₄: 81
Chloride, Cl: 19
Carbonate, Co₃: <1
Bicarbonate, HC0₃: 340
Total Alkalinity, CaCO₃: 278

Water Spreadsheet Resources: (Bru’n Water, Brukaiser Water Spreadsheet, EZ Water Calculator, Of course you can always use Beersmith’s water tool as well but the spreadsheets provide more detail)
Water Education: (Brukaiser Water, How to Brew’s Chapter on Water, Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers)

Just a reminder

Barleypopmaker — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:36:15 +0000

If you have not checked out my book, Roasted: A Homebrewer’s Guide to Home Roasting Grain. You can do so at Amazon, even if you don’t own a kindle you can still read the book by downloading the Kindle App for your Iphone, PC, or Mac. The book has been updated with a new cover, and I have added chapter links by request. So check it out, for $2.99 what do you have to lose. As a note, the book as been removed from Barnes and Noble for now because of an agreement made with Amazon. My fault for not reading the fine print, Amazon has exclusive selling rights for a few months. But it will make it’s way to Barnes and Nobel and other formats. To Book contains a lot more in depth information than what is contained in my blog posts. Topics include understanding malt analysis, smoking malt, and much more.

Roasted: A Homebrewer’s Guide to Home Roasting Grain

American PBR vs. Chinese PBR A showdown

Barleypopmaker — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:10:49 +0000

On the left, is a PBR from the US and on the right is a PBR from China.

A friend of mine from work had to travel to China recently and when he returned he called me and said he brought me back a beer from China. I thought that was pretty interesting, even more so when he said it was a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to compare a US version and a Chinese Version. First I wanted to be sure the Chinese version was not brewed in the US, packaged for China, exported, then my friend only brought back a Chinese packaged version of the same beer made here. A quick internet search provided me the following information. “Pabst Blue Ribbon America has a licensing agreement and joint venture arrangement with China Pabst Blue Ribbon. It is produced, marketed and distributed by CBR Brewing Company, which jointly owns the company along with Guangdong Blue Ribbon Group under a sub-licensing agreement with the Pabst Brewing Company. CBR is a British Virgin Islands owned company but it is based in Hong Kong. China Pabst recently released a new beer called Pabst Blue Ribbon 1844 for consumption in the domestic market; it sells for 44 U.S. dollars a bottle.” So now I have exactly what I was hoping for, a side by side comparison of two beers bearing the same name, brewed in two different countries, and are of roughly the same age. Now while I can’t read Chinese and I don’t really know the age of the can, I am assuming that the beer my friend brought back directly from here was not on the shelf for a year, but I guess I have now way of knowing. The only thing I do know is it was flown directly here and was not transported to the US on a hot ship and sat on a warm loading dock for a few days in customs. So I am assuming they beers are of relatively the same age. The first and most notable difference is that we have the traditional pop-top cans, while in China they are the old style 70′s pull tabs I remember my opening in my youth. The next most notable difference is the size of the can. The US version is 355ml, and the Chinese version is 330ml. Then, as you see in the photo above, while they have the same blue ribbon logo the cans in general look a bit different. So let’s see how these two beers break down in a side by side comparison judging them as the BJCP style, Standard American Lager; of which Pabst Blue Ribbon is a classic example. Standard American Lager is one of those styles where the scores can vary greatly. There really is not a lot to these styles, there is not a lot of hop flavor or aroma, the malt profile is light and delicate, and the mouthfeel is light. In other words, any off flavors shine through very well and while the the guidelines say the malt and or hops flavor/aroma can be low to none, if there really is none….well….that’s a bad thing. You want to have at least some beer-like quality to the American lager. Just not much. So let’s look at how these two beers broke down.

Chinese Version’s Aroma: Very neutral. Almost no discernible aroma at all. The dominant aroma of green apple notes are honestly about all I detect in this beer. Even that is fairly low. So while acceptable, it should not be the only aroma you can pick up in the beer. 4 points

American Version’s Aroma: Faint green apple but also low notes of spicy hops. Some dry grainy malt aroma as well.Fairly clean and a typical Standard American Lager aroma. Light, yet some detectable qualities. 10 points

Chinese Version’s Appearance: Pale yellow and very clear. Head dissipates almost immediately. Head was composed of loose bubbles and leave zero lacing (See photo at end of post). 2 Points

American Version’s Appearance: Pale yellow, almost an exact match in color. The biggest difference can be seen in the head. The head was fairly dense, foamy, and long lasting. 3 points

Chinese Version’s Flavor: Very odd. There is a slight twang to the beer, almost metallic. There is some noticeable green apple flavor and actually some bitterness. Very little malt flavor to mention, but there is some there. There is also a medicinal flavor in the finish which combined with the metallic flavor makes the beer taste very odd. Overall, very watery…even for this style. 9 Points

American Version’s Flavor: Very low malt flavor. There is a corn-like malt flavor that almost comes across a bit sweet in the beginning. The bitterness is there but not as high as the Chinese version, I also feel it in a different place. With the American version I get more of the bitterness in the middle of my tongue, the Chinese version is coming through way in the back. While there was some green apple in the aroma, I don’t get as much in the flavor. Over all the beer finishes dry and quenching. 18 Points

Chinese Version’s Mouthfeel: It has exactly the same mouthfeel as water. I honestly have never had a beer this thin. There is a bit more carbonation on the tongue as I would have been lead to believe off the pour. There is not a lot to talk about here because there really is nothing going on other than carbonation. 3 Points

American Version’s Mouthfeel: While still a light body beer, there is a bit of mouthfeel to it. It’s a lot more noticeable when I switch between beers for comparison. While light bodied, there is some body to it, while the Chinese version has just about zero body. The carbonation is noticeably lower than the Chinese version and not what I would consider Very Highly Carbonated. 4 Points

Overall: Overall I easily choose the American version. The Chinese version lacks in all the avenues of a beer, even the American Standard Lager. The aroma is almost nothing, the mouthfeel is nothing, and the flavor is just odd. While granted the style as it should be, has almost all low to none as acceptable for malt and hop flavor/aroma, that doesn’t mean that it should be like water. The American version, with the exception of carbonation easily has the Chinese version beat in not only as an example of what a Standard American Lager should be, but even in simple enjoyability. While I cannot tell you the age of the beer on shelf in China, it was purchased at the same time and flown directly here from a friend of mine. So while the beer could easily be a year or more old, I have to assume it was not. Now the American version is not my typical style of beer I drink. I think there is a greater appreciation for this style here, compared to what people in China (and I can only assume other countries) think our American lagers are like. While all at lower levels, the aroma flavor and mouthfeel were exactly what one would expect for an American Standard Lager as far as the classic PBR goes. But this experience leads me to wonder what is Budweiser like in Europe? Is it just as watered down and laughable as the Chinese version of PBR? I mean, the beer style itself is not assertive, but if it’s off putting in flavor that is sort of embarrassing. This would be what the Chinese commercial beer crowd would think that ALL American beer is like. Chinese Overall: 4 American Overall 8

Overall Tally: Chinese Version of PBR is 22 out of 50 American Version of PBR is 43 out of 50

Even to show the lifelessness of the Chinese Version, there is no lacing and beer even looks dead in the glass as I approach halfway through each glass.

Amazon.com Widgets

Building a Stir Plate for Yeast Starters, Easy Project for a few dollars

Barleypopmaker — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 02:23:30 +0000

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I am all about building equipment that you can buy. It tends to work just as well and cost a lot less. Today I will show you a quick project you can put together in less than an hour and with minimal purchased parts. It really helps if you have access to old computer parts. Here is what you will need.

1 cigar box or old jewlery box or equivelant
1 6 or 9 volt DC Charger
1 Potentiometer and knob
1 Computer cooling Fan
1 Rare Earth Magnet from a hard Drive
2 male and female Quick Connect terminals

The first step is to cut the DC connector (when it’s not plugged in of course) and split the wires. Do the same for the fan. Then to find which wire on the connector is hot, connect the wires together until you get the fan to spin. Mark the pairing wires so you know how to create the loop pictured in the diagram you will see below. Think of the connection between the power supply, fan, and potentiometer as one loop (you can add an on/off switch as well if you wish). So once you find out what wires paired make the fan spin, you will connect wires below as shown below in my crude wiring diagram. Upper left is the plug, below is the potentiometer, and the big square is the fan. As you can see the red wire connects to the potentiometer, then the red wire on the fan connects to the other terminal (sometimes the potentiometer has 3 prongs, 1 of them is not used). The two black wires connect between the fan and the power supply to complete the circuit. Your wires may not be colored, which is why you test between the power supply and the fan to find the wire pairings.

Below are pictures of the project so you can see. I used electrical tape to hold down the wires.

Center the magnet the best you can on the fan and attach it by using super glue. Centering the fan is critical to prevent wobbling and to get proper spin on the stir bar.

Some people attach the fan to the lid, I chose to measure out wood standoffs on the bottom and glue them to the bottom of the jewelry box. The goal is to get the fan and magnet as close the lid as possible without touching it.

Below you can see how simple the wiring is. I used quick connect crimping terminals to connect the wires. Easy as pie. On the right side is a key that can lock the box if I so choose. That’s all that that is.

I’m not sure how much you can see from this picture. but it’s a close up of the potentiometer. Obviously you drill holes to get it into the box properly.

Rear view of the power going into the box.

Below is the end result. You will need a flask and stir bar once the stir plate is complete. You can purchase the same 1000ml flask and stir bar I have below by clicking the links. I purchased a 1 1/2″ X 5/16″ stir bar.

Depending on how vigorous you want the spin, you can use the control the speed.

Convert a Refrigerator to a Kegerator with internal taps

Barleypopmaker — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:47:07 +0000

If you have a refrigerator and want to build a kegerator out of it, but you do not want to drill holes in the door for the taps, you are in luck. You can do so. However there are a few cons to this setup. First is you will be more limited in how many beers you can put on tap, in an average size fridge you will be limited to about 2 taps, 3 if you have a larger fridge. Plus the taps are not as conveniently located when they are on the inside as they are when they on the outside of the door. However, there are a few minor advantages as well. First you will not be drilling a hole in our door, so if the thought of drilling a hole in door is not appealing for whatever reason, you can still have the kegerator you dream of. Also, you can get by with smaller shanks in your taps. Below is a kegerator I built out of a fridge with internal taps. This fridge is limited to 2 taps, but since I personally seldom have more than 2 beers on tap at any one time anyway, this shouldn’t be an issue for me. I did have a 10 cubic foot chest freezer, but I found the footprint of the freezer too big for my liking, so I chose to switch to a standard refrigerator.

My first consideration was how will I mount the taps inside. So I purchased some 1500PSI all weather Epoxy and affixed 2 pieces of lumber that were 1″ X 2″ X 27″. Then purchases some one other piece of lumber that was 1/4″ X 6″ and cut it to the width I needed for my fridge. You also have to consider how deep to insert the taps, because the shelves in the door will be inside the fridge to some degree, in my case it was 4 1/2″. So you have to be sure the front of your taps are at least that far deep into the fridge.

Next you will want a way to access the back of the taps. I chose to use a hinge attached to the wood posts I glued to the inside of the fridge. On the other side I used a simple bolt lock to keep the tap assembly in place. Below are the pictures, and it will all make complete sense once you view the pictures.

Hinged Side

Center tap holes

Bolt Lock

You have to make sure you leave enough room for the kegs in the back, yet make sure the shelves in the door do not hit the taps. Here is the whole simple assembly in place.

Here is the assembly in place with the taps. There is room in here for 2 kegs and my CO2 tank. In my case I will have to lay my CO2 tank on it’s side because I have dual regulators. The 2 regulators will fit between the tanks.

Don’t forget to utilize your space! The door is the perfect place to store all those commercial beer or bottled homebrews. Plus the crisper drawers can hold even more bottled beer. Plus these bottles are much easier to access than they were in my chest freezer.

I hope this post helps if you are in a situation where you want to make a kegerator out of a standard refrigerator, but do not want to drill holes in the door.

-Enjoy!

Review: Mississippi Mud from Mississippi Brewing Company

Barleypopmaker — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:21:48 +0000

The blending of beer is by far nothing new. As a matter of fact a traditional Geuze is a blend of 1 year old, 2 year old, and 3 year old lambic. Then you have the traditional Black and Tan combination of a Guinness Stout and Bass Ale. Some breweries blend beer for consistency. So this is not a new concept. However, Mississsippi Mud from Mississippi Brewing company in Utica, New York (Yep you read that right), is the only beer I have seen that blends the Black and Tan style of beer prior to bottling. I had this beer between 10 to 15 years ago and I honestly don’t recall if I enjoyed. So I will review it here now. I will review it under BJCP guidelines since really this technically is not even a specialty style. But I will review for aroma, flavor, appearance, mouthfeel, and overall thoughts. I just will not score it. I picked up a couple of these because the label is just shrink-wrapped plastic and cuts off easily. What you are left with is some very nice mini-growlers which will hold a quart of beer. Perfect for taking a small amount of your homebrew for yourself, or to share with one person. I’m being 100% honest when I say the only thing that really attracted me to this beer was the container. For $3.50 I got a mini-growler filled with beer. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Aroma: The first thing I notice is a distinct chocolate aroma. Some spicy hop aroma is present, but mostly it’s the malt that shines through. It’s coming off a bit more like a brown ale with the subtle roast and mild chocolate-like aroma. There is a sweetness there as well which brings out a bit of toffee-like aroma. All in all, I don’t think it’s a bad smelling beer there is just not a whole lot there.

Appearance: I pours a nice tan head. There is some deep amber hues around the edges and the center is a nice garnet color. It’s appealing, that’s for sure.

Flavor: Here is where I get lost a bit. The flavor is pleasent, but it’s a bit watery down the middle. Up front it comes across a touch sweet with a little bit of caramel, and the finish is all chocolate and a touch of roast, with a small bit of hop bitterness and chocolate lingering in the finish. Again, it’s not a bad beer, but it’s not going to blow your socks off either. It’s very mild, very unassuming, yet has a pleasant finish. It’s not overly malty, not bitter at all, and very middle of the road.

Mouthfeel: A medium-light mouthfeel with a moderate amount of carbonation which would be true the Pilsner style. I was surprised at how fizzy it was at first. But it’s such a big bottle that calmed down by the second glass.

Overall: Overall I am not disappointed. I’m not blown away either. It’s a very tasty beer, perfect for serving with grilled hamburgers or a steak. It’s not flawed and the flavors are not muddled, it’s just a nice even round beverage. I’d buy it again…..for the bottle of course, but nobody will be twisting my arm to drink the beer inside. If I were to grade it, it would score a B from me.

Roasted: A Homebrewer’s Guide to Home Roasting Grain a New Ebook!

Barleypopmaker — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 16:25:55 +0000

It’s here! Roasted: the Homebrewer’s Guide to Home Roasting Grain written by yours truly! It’s available as an Ebook Download through Amazon for only $2.99. The book covers a lot of the information contained in my posts, but also has additional information on base malts, and reading a malt analysis sheet. It’s not the longest book, but it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of books that cover how to brew and brewing science. This book focuses solely on the art of home roasting grain for beer. For only $3, you can’t really go wrong. But if you do not have a kindle don’t worry, you can download the Kindle App for the Ipad, Iphone, Android Devices, and the PC. Just search your app store for the Kindle App and you can read ebooks on any electronic device. CLICK HERE to download the PC version. You can preview the book on Amazon as well prior to purchasing it. If you are an Amazon Prime member you can rent the book for free through the lending library.

Review: Indio from Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery

Barleypopmaker — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 01:02:28 +0000

Indio Dark Lager

Once in a while I am lucky enough that I get beer sent to from a brewery or a marketing firm representing a brewery. This was one of those cases, where I may not have purchased this beer if it was not sent to me. Indio is a dark lager offering from Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery. Beer advocate lists the beer as an Oktoberfest/Märzen style beer but based on the label this would be inaccurate for this type of beer. Right on the back of the label it says that it uses caramel malts as a featured grain. According to the BJCP guidelines “Caramel aroma is inappropriate” and “Noticeable caramel or roasted flavors are inappropriate” . Even many judges miss that detail. An Oktoberfest should not be carmel-like. It should be toasty and have a nice melanoidin character, but not be caramel-like. So the use of caramel or crystal malts would be inappropriate. The only reason I remember that so well, is on my BJCP exam the recipe we had to formulate on the fly for our exam was an Oktoberfest beer. I was dinged for using too much caramel malt and listing the use of it to add a little caramel sweetness to the beer. A more accurate category to place this beer in would be the Dark American Lager, which is the category I will judge this beer in. While the use of a lot of caramel malt would be inappropriate, it is more acceptable than to use it just for color enhancement.

Aroma: Very light sweet caramel aroma, with an even lower toasty quality. The hop aroma is a bit spicy, and very low and almost non-existent. The aroma is very clean with no fruity esters. For this style the aroma is pretty much right on, if you were comparing this to a Oktoberfest, it would be a bit off and nowhere near as rich as it should be. (9 points)

Appearance: The beer is a nice deep amber and brilliantly clear. It poured very little head, and the thin layer I did get from an aggressive pour, disappeared fairly quickly. (2 points)

Flavor: The flavor is noticeably sweet up front, and for an instant I thought it was actually going to be a bit cloying, but it evened out fairly quickly. The middle is a bit devoid of flavor, but there is some caramel and even more melanoidin flavors near the end. There is a slight fruity flavor in the finish, which while I don’t enjoy it, it is acceptable. The hop flavor first also appears near the finish. It is spicy and a bit prickly, it barely balances the mild sweetness. Overall it is an easy drinking beer and is a lot more enjoyable than I was thinking it would be. If the there was a bit more life to the beer in the middle, I would be very happy with it. That void left me a little confused. (15 points)

Mouthfeel:Solidly in the medium range for mouthfeel, the beer is at the top of the mouthfeel range for this beer. It is smooth and creamy. The carbonation is bit low for the style, and should have a bit more pop than it does. (3 points)

Overall: I have to say I’m impressed. I went into this beer with the thought it was going to be a sub-par offering, but it actually was very enjoyable and a beer that one could easily polish off a six-pack without getting sick of it. For an American Dark Lager, the beer is very close to the style. The only issue I had with it was the lack of flavor between the time it first hits your mouth, until you start to swallow. This is where the middle lays, and it was bit devoid of flavor in that area. A bit more carbonation could help bring a bit more life into the middle the beer. In the grand scheme of things, this is a fairly minor flaw. In the end, I think this beer is a fine example of the American Dark Lager….even if it was brewed in Mexico. (8 Points)

Overall Score: 37 out of 50, which would be a solid B.

Small Batch Brewing- Economical and perfect for the brewer with limited space

Barleypopmaker — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:21:38 +0000

This is pretty much most of what you need for a small batch recipe. This is 3 pounds of grain, a small fermentation bucket, yeast, an ounce of hops, and aside from the kettle, that’s it. Total investment $20-$30 to get started in All Grain, including ingredients.

While the concept of brewing in batches smaller than 5 gallons is nothing new, it is becoming more popular and I wanted to give it try to see why someone would want to brew on such a small scale. I had some theories on it having to do with the economy, and if it could be the quickness and ease of the small batch. But no matter what the reason small batch brewing is gaining in popularity, it is still brewing so I thought I would take another look at brewing in small batches. We have a guy in our homebrew club who brews mostly in small batches. I never really saw the appeal because I generally went though a 5 gallon batch fast enough and felt brewing 1 or 2 gallons was hardly worth the time and effort. But after really examining why a person would want to brew small batches, I can see several benefits of small batch brewing.

The first is if you enjoy brewing, and you enjoy drinking good beer, but don’t really drink very often. Maybe you enjoy one or two beers week. After all, many craft beer lovers are not drinking to get drunk, but rather the enjoyment of good beer. If you have a hard time going through a full 5 gallon batch beer yourself, going through 1 or 2 gallons is not as intimidating.

The second reason is that the cost is considerably less. To get a 2 gallon fermentation bucket, will run you between $3 and $5. A one gallon glass jug can run you about $15 and a 3 gallon better bottle will run you about $25. You can also generally even brew an all grain batch (See below for my small batch brewing demonstration) on your kitchen stove with equipment you already own. You do not need a huge 7+ gallon pot. The average cost for ingredients on a 5 gallon batch will run you anywhere from $22 to upwards of $60 or more. The cost of ingredients for a small batch should not exceed $15 in most cases and not over $25 for really big beers. So if you are finding money tight, and you still love to brew. Moving to small batches can keep your passion alive.

The third major advantage is that it is a great way to experiment with new batches, varieties of hops, and differences in grain. With brewing software making it easier to scale between batches, you can design a 5 gallon recipe, scale it back to 1 or 2 gallons and brew it for less money. If it turns out as you expect, you can scale it back up to 5 gallons and brew it in full. That way your experimentation stage is costing you at least half as much.

Another advantage comes with brewing big beers. One complaint I hear from time to time is when brewing beers like barleywines or other really big beers. While many of them do get better, or at least change with age. Some people just are not into cellaring their beer and the thought of having 2 cases of barleywine taking up space for such a long time is not that appealing. With small batch you can brew a big old barleywine (for much less than full batch mind you) and only have 12 or so bottles of beer to age.

A disadvantage in average gravity beers can be an advantage in bigger beers. Since you cannot open vial or package of yeast and save it for your next batch (but you could brew 2 small batches and split the yeast between them), you are limited to adding the whole package or vial for only that small batch. The good news is that if you are making a beer of 1.060 or larger, there is no need for a starter. Most of the vials and packages are designed to be pitched without a starter in beers of about 1.050 and smaller. Since you are making about half the volume, the pitching of a whole vial into the small batch on those high gravity beers will be just fine. However, it is a waste of money in regular sized beers. You could use the small batch as an advanced starter, and just re-pitch the yeast into a 5 gallon or larger batch. Of course, if you are using dry yeast (which is my old standby for regular beers. I am a big fan of US-05), the cost is not as painful as dropping $7 or more on a vial for a 2 gallon batch. Again, you can just re-pitch the yeast with some planning.

There are other advantages, but these are the major ones I came up with. So with all that being said, let’s look at brewing a small all grain batch. This is an experimentation recipe making a Belgian Spiced Pale Ale. The hardest part is measuring out the hops, you use considerably less hops. I found it easier to measure in grams, then convert to ounces to use in beersmith.

The recipe (this is a first run experimental recipe)

Pale Half One Fifth- Spiced Belgian Pale Ale (2 gallon batch)

1lb brewers malt 6 row (1.8L)
1lb Breiss Munich 10L
8oz Caramel 40L
2oz of Carafa I ( just because I had some, you can leave it out if you wish)
8oz Brewer’s malt 2 row (1.8L)
4oz turbinado sugar
3.5 grams (.123 oz) of Newport Hops (13.5AA) – First Wort Hops
3.5 grams (.123 oz) of Newport Hops (13.5AA) -15 minutes
3.5 grams (.123 oz) of Newport Hops (13.5AA) -5 minutes
Peeled Zest from 1 Minneola or orange
Fermentis T-58
Water 2.5 gallons

Equipment

1 four to five gallon pot $25
1 two gallon fermentation bucket or 3 gallon carboy with airlock $4 to $20
1 autosiphon and hose
1 fine nylon mesh bag (also can be used for brew in a bag full size batch)
O2 aeration system or air pump aeration system(optional)
1 hop bag (optional)
1 scale capable of measuring down to hundredths of an ounce. This is the scale I have and it does the trick.

After crushing the grains, heat the water to 159 degrees. Add the grain to heated water and allow it to equalize to 152 degrees. I figured the best and easiest way to brew this small batch as all grain, would be the brew in a bag method.

If your numbers are off by a degree or two, don’t sweat it. It’s all good.

You will need a scale capable of measuring to tenths of a gram which the scale pictured can do. Or you need to be able to measure to hundredths of an ounce (.01 ounces). This scale can do this. Pictured is 3.5 grams of hops which is about .12 ounces. I chose some of my home grown newport hops. The average alpha acid is 13.5% but I have no way of knowing my actual acid percentages. Right after the mash, as you are bringing the wort to a boil, you add the first charge of hops. I chose to first wort hop this recipe instead of going with the traditional 60 minute addition.

Bring the beer to a boil (I used a hop bag which is visible in this picture) and add the rest of the ingredients according to the recipe.

With 10 minutes left in the boil, add the peeled zest from 1 minneola or medium sized orange. This is the spice addition for the spiced Belgian Pale Ale.

The batch is so small that an ice bath is more than sufficient to cool the wort in 15 minutes or less. You could use an immersion chiller, counterflow chiller, or plate chiller if you choose. But I cooled this 2 gallon batch in about 10 minutes.

Just siphoning the wort from the cooled pot into a 2 gallon fermentation bucket.

If you have a means to aerate the wort, you still should do so even with a small batch. Just be sure to reduce your time accordingly if you have a pure Oxygen system.

It’s a little blurry, but I am running the pure O2 system here before pitching.

Another blurry one, but the pitching of the yeast (fermentis T-58). There is a lot of yeast here, and I actually saw solid fermentation in about 3 hours.

The little 2 gallon bucket tucks away easily anywhere you want. This fit right under the cabinets. Small batch brewing would be perfect for those in small apartment buildings or other spaces with limited to no outdoor space for brewing.

So in the end how much beer do you end up with? I ended up with 10 of the twelve ounce bottles and 4 of the sixteen ounce bottles, plus a glass to taste. So after trub loss and my glass to drink I had about 1.5 gallons of finished product. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Here is the finished batch of beer.

My final verdict? While you will not fill a keg (unless you go with the smaller 3 gallon kegging systems), and you do not produce as much beer. There is a lot of value in small batch brewing. If you are a brewer, or potential brewer, who has very limited space and you want to go all grain, small batch is the perfect answer. You can brew all grain right on your stove-top, and you will still end up with just shy of one case of beer. The time it took for the brewday from start to finish, including cleanup was just shy of 3 hours. Heating and bringing that small volume of wort to a boil was fairly quick. The cost of ingredients will cost you $8-$15 per batch and that is still well below the cost of good craft beer per bottle. The final cost is under $1 per bottle. The startup cost is also minimal. If you have no equipment at all, it will run about $30 to get everything, if you already are a brewer, it will only cost you the amount of the bucket or small carboy. So while brewing 5 gallon batches in the summer will be my main brewing process, in winter when I have my brewhouse closed up, I can still brew in my kitchen in small batches and keep my brewing fire roaring. I can also brew big beers very easily without a starter. My eyes have been opened and I now see great value in small batch brewing. I still don’t like the idea of just 1 gallon, but 2 gallons seems about right. Below you will find all the equipment you need to get started in small batch brewing, except for 5/16″ vinyl tubing.