The looming Holiday Season jump-started my brewing again. Most tasks may be "like riding a bike" in terms of never truly forgetting how to do them, but brewing, like driving a manual transmission, is one best served by regular practice! It is not rocket science, but there are a lot of steps. The beer is better when things go smoothly.
Since I am a "yeast starter" guy, I need to start my timeline a couple days early in order to brew. I'm no stranger to brewing through the night after family stuff is done (hence the name of this blog), but planning is still necessary. Since I had a list beers I was planning on brewing in the late summer and early fall, most of my yeast was getting tired viability-wise. This added a few more days to the brewing timeline, because I had to step-up my starters.
Nevertheless - I finally got my Dunkel Weiss going a few weeks ago... It was my first Bavarian-style weiss beer, having only brewed an American Raspberry Wheat (for my wife) previously. I have heard all the stories about the vigor of this yeast (the Weihenstephan strain - WY3068), but was still not prepared! This yeast was relatively fresh, so I did my usual 2L starter.
Geyser is probably not the appropriate term, since it did not hit the ceiling... But I came home from work to find the foil off the carboy, and a steady flow of krausen flowing down the entire circumference of the carboy. I am glad that the carboy was in a milk crate and on a towel (and likewise glad that I found this before my wife)!
I am no rookie when it comes to blow-off mishaps. In fact, my wife has called me at work and even threatened to cut off my brewing of ales (fermenting in the house) as a result of vigorous fermentation accidents. Fearing the loss of hobby privileges, I have adapted my techniques to try to avoid these yeast-caused problems...
When I ferment in a 5-gallon vessel, I always use an appropriately-sized blow-off tube which flows into container of ample volume (2L minimum, emptied before I go to work!). Preferably, I ferment in 6-gallon vessels, and never put more than 5.5-gallons of beer into it. It has been quite a while since I had more than a couple tablespoonfuls of yeast krausen escape containment, which may be why this massive flow was such a surprise (FYI - keep your dog away if you expect that your yeast is making a break for it! I had to drag my lab away from licking up the expelled yeast!). I put about 5.25 gallons into the 6-gallon fermenter.
Having not been caught by my wife, I quickly changed out the towel, and took the vigorous yeast activity as a good sign (while at the same time dreading the future carboy-cleaning task). I did a little triage, and the fermentation was back on track. Then came the Thanksgiving-week storm... If you don't live in the Pacific Northwest, you might have missed it - but we got 4" of snow in the Puget Sound region, accompanied by high winds and power outages.
I pretended like I was concerned for the comfort of my family (OK, I was a bit concerned) as I kept the wood stove gong 24-7. I was worried about my 4 yeast starters and my Dunkel Weiss, and needed to maintain a suitable ambient temperature in the face of no power and sub-freezing outdoor temperatures! I dutifully kept logs on the fire, and occasionally sneaked a peak at the LCD carboy thermometers, aiming to keep their temps above 60° at least. I think I managed OK.
I mentioned the Holiday Season as a motivational factor. Since the very first year I homebrewed, I have given beer as gifts. At this point, I think that my friends and co-workers would be disappointed by anything other than beer (this is quite a compliment). And at our National Guard Holiday Party, it is a foregone conclusion that I'll provide baskets of homebrew for the family support auction. If you are a homebrewer, you know what I'm talking about - the list of people who want your beer grows...
By my reckoning, demand was going to exceed supply... I took stock of on-hand supplies and proven recipes. Next up: a partial-mash ESB that has become a bit of a stand-by! The partial mash was carried out in a 2-gal beverage cooler, and added to a the kettle with some DME for a full-wort boil. I love this recipe (based on somebody's take on Fuller's ESB - but in my mind, not really a clone), and like to brew it 3-4 times a year. It has also become one of the beers that I like to use to check out different yeasts... This time around I went with NW Ale (WY1332 - believed to be from Hale's in Seattle). At this point, it is probably very close to being done...
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I loaded up the wagon with brewing equipment and supplies for the trek to Seattle for an annual memorial brew day. I lost the best friend (a homebrewer) I ever had - the closest thing I had to a brother - on the 23rd of November, 2003 in Iraq; a family of lifelong friends lost their homebrewer almost two years ago on Superbowl Sunday (his birthday is in November)... We decided to make a commemorative tradition on Thanksgiving Weekend. This was our second year (last year we brewed a delicious Winter Warmer and a Robust Porter)...
Ferry traffic was crazy, and I arrived late. But things went fairly smooth for only my second brew session in months! I brewed a Rye Pale Ale, based on the Terrapin Rye clone on the Can You Brew It show on the Brewing Network (http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/597); Ben brewed an Amber Ale from Brewing Classic Styles. We drank the last bottles of each of our beers from last year, video skyped with our missing brew partner who's teaching in Viet Nam, and enjoyed the good company of family.
I missed the mark this past weekend... Several of my beers were not yet ready, and I needed to fill two raffle baskets. I have been lagering a batch of Classic American Pilsener for my Mom - but at least 24 bottles of it absolutely needed to find its way to her this time around (this is a long and entertaining story in itself). In my keezer, I still had a few gallons of beer left from late-summer brewing: a little over a gallon of Düsseldorf Alt brewed for a friend's retirement and a little over a gallon of an Imperial Rye IPA (a modification of Denny' Rye IPA). I counter-pressured this into bottles. I also had a few bottles of Pumpkin Ale (an attempt at an Elysian Night Owl clone, tasted and preferred on the Can You Brew It show - to the best of my knowledge, the only non-show homebrew tasted and discussed on the show) left from last winter. So, the baskets looked as follows:
- 2x 22oz Dunkel Weiss
- 2x 12oz Pumpkin Ale
- 1x 12oz Classic American Pilsener
- 1x 22oz Düsseldorf Alt
- 1x 22oz Imperial Rye IPA
I will definitely be in good shape for the rest of my bottled gifts leading into the holidays... I've already got the remainder of my bottled Dunkel Weiss and CAP, and should be adding the ESB and Rye Pale Ale shortly. I've got several recipes on deck, including a big batch of Pale Ale for a lautering experiment proposed by BYO magazine and Basic Brewing Radio. I'm torn between ending the year in a brewing flourish, still coming well short of my 100-gallon goal, or saving most of my brewing plans until after the New Year in order to get a jump on 2011's goal!
