Author Archives: Jon

Sour Beers

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I think its time to take my sour beer projects to the next level. Senior Assistant Brewmaster, Stephen Jay, is always raving about Russian River, New Belgian, and Belgo sours. Berliner Weisse was my first foray and it has finally matured and is drinking wonderfully. Tasted by a few Master Brewers last month (Mitch, Otto, Jaime, Doug, etc), I got a thumbs up on this odd ball style. I think a more traditional yet complex Flanders Red. CCB is ready to take on the biggest and best in the world. Ingredients are being ordered today. Look for this to be brewed in the next few weeks.

Organizing and Cleaning the brewery

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While Tom and Sarah were out at book club, I was able to finally finish insulating the garage / brewery today. After I finished I decided to finish the brewery re-org that I started last weekend. After discovering some really moldy brittle cardboard cases of homebrew that I had been storing, I have upgraded to brand new boxes. The moldy cardboard crates was caused from a raspberry mead bottle bomb that must have gone off months ago. No major harm but definitely a mess to be cleaned up. The new boxes I am using are from CW Crate (http://www.cwcrate.com). They are made from corrugated plastic (polypropylene) and are lightweight, durable, and more importantly water proof.

After cleaning up and putting all my homebrew into the boxes, I have a pretty good inventory on what beers I have floating around. Berliner Weisse, Gluten Free Porter, East India Porter, Maple Porter, Cider, Pomegranate Melomel, Raspberry Melomel, A few bottles of Oktoberfest, Double IPA, and Slam Dunkel Weisse. I also have a case of my new Sake. I need to dig around in the basement to see if I can find any Bad Ass B’Wine or Braggot Rights version I.

Overall, things look pretty good. I need to use up some of my older liquid malt extracts in prep for some all grain on the Top Tier. I am wondering if I used all Dark Malt Extract with a small additional of Attenuzyme-Flex whether I could make a low carb dark beer. Hmmmm…. Not sure its worth finding out. Sounds like an interesting concept though. I know we were able to hit 87 RDF on sorghum syrup in a nano trial at work so its definitely possible. Not sure what it would taste like though.

Progress in Sake Land

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So I decided after my struggles on Day one of filtration to filter about 1/3 of the crystal clear Seishu and then blend in 1/3 on the unfiltered of the top. I am planning on dumping the final 1/3 since it is like rice sludge. This will make a nice nigorizake. I think I will bottle my first bottles on Saturday and begin pasteurization. I think this batch is only going to yield maybe 6-8 bottles. A rare selection indeed.

Sake Update

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Finally, I received my bottles from Midwest Home Brewing (after a little delay). The sake was moved to a colder location to slow fermentation and mellow. Today, I am trying to figure out the best way to bottle and pasteurize my first batch of Sake. I think fermentation is done. It takes good but is a little chunky with rice. I figure a combo of of a rough filter through cheese cloth and then a fine filter should get me the product I am looking for. Bringing the bottles up to 145F for 10 minutes is probably my best bet for pasteurizing.

Pretty Blue Bottles

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I ordered a case of cobalt blue bottles and some fancy silver corks for my sake today.

375 ml Cobalt Blue Bottle

This project is really turning out to be fun although extremely nerve racking. I am excited to taste the final product. I opened my fermenter up today and it smells like delicious sake. It had some whisps of foam on top and the rice blob is dissolving into a liquid. I am still trying to figure out if I should filter it and how to best home pasteurize it. I will take a couple fermentation photos tomorrow for the update. Any one have any suggestions on a name?

PS A few have asked what style of sake I am making. I have to admit its hard to say. It is very much junmai-ginjo but since I do not have access to ultra polished rice, it doesn’t technically qualify for much. My plan is to filter and pasteurize as well. Maybe a real home brewing sake expert can assist.

CCB Sake

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So I decided that I wanted to try to make Sake in the New Year. I figured it couldn’t be too difficult. “Its just rice”. Well I was sadly mistaken. Koji (which is a mold) is the key ingredient in successful Sake making and unlike yeast, cropping and propagating mold is not so simple. First, you need to make sure you only propagate the right mold, aspergillus oryzae. The wrong mold and you might seriously make someone sick or dead. I don’t think I have any deadly molds in my house but extra care was needed. I dumped my first batch of Kome Koji because it didn’t look right to me. The second batch came out much better.

The second annoying thing is handling the rice. Washing the rice takes a long time. For proper steaming, you need to make sure all of the cloudiness is removed and the liquid runs clear. After that, it needs to soak for a couple hours, then drain, then steamed. Most rice is not actually steamed. You add water and rice bring to a boil, viola. Steamed rice is different. Steamed rice has an al dente texture and it doesn’t stick together. It takes a long time too. After making rice, koji, and then pitching yeast, the process is just beginning. You need to bump the fermentation with additional rice and koji to keep the yeast performing and keep the subtle sweetness and delicateness of the rice in the final product. I am at Day 1 of Fermentation. I will post some pictures and updates when I see some active fermentation.

I did pick out some awesome blue bottles and corks for the final product. Hopefully, it works out. Projected completion around the end of February so keep an eye out for updates and bottles.

Toptier

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I received the most amazing and generous birthday gift from my Senior Assistant Brewmaster, Steve, today. It looks like a beast. It is a Blichmann Toptier. I think Steve decided that I had complained too much about why I don’t do all grain that he needed to eliminate any excuses. Grain Milling station, check. Brew Sculpture with room for multiple burners, pumps, heat exchangers, etc, check. But before the double decoction martens begin, I have the daunting task of putting it all together. It looks like its going to be a pretty big project and I don’t think it is up Tom’s alley to help me “Fix it” since its so rugged and heavy. It will add to the weekend project list. Hopefully, I can get it put together and fired up before October when I want to brew heavy for the Christmas season.

Is it just me…

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I was wondering for any of my brewing friends who read this. Am I the only one who thinks of crazy and new ingredients for making beer? Last weekend, Sarah and I were able to spend a night away from home as Tom spent the evening with his Grammy Allen. As we were window shopping and thinking about my dinner the night before which included potatoes from Lewiston ME, it got me thinking. How do you make potato vodka? Could you use local potatoes to make beer? How much malt would be needed to convert the starch? Do potatoes convert themselves at high temp (sweet potatoes)? Could you supplement with Maine maple syrup and blueberries? What would it taste like?

I look for ways to make local, unique beers everywhere I go. Most would be total train wrecks but I am always thinking about making weird stuff. Could I make a bloody mary beer with tomato and horseradish powder? I remember my mom used to have an olive in her beer. As a kid I was fascinated by it floating to the top and then sinking again, now I wonder who the olive brine would make a beer taste. Is it like a “dirty” martini?

I want to brew beers for everyone to enjoy but I also really just want to experiment. Trial and error.

Is it just me?

Dry Hopped and finishing up

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Last Monday, I moved the East India Porter to secondary and added 4 oz of hops (Fuggles and East Kent Goldings). I am guessing I should shake the fermenter like its on a boat for the next 3-4 weeks but I will just let it gentle extract the wonderful free hoppy aroma that will make this beer awesome. I am excited. I hope you are too.