Brewer's Friend Home Brewing Software

Aeration Practices Simplified

In the interests of simplifying the brewing process I no longer aerate with an oxygen tank and stone! This saves the trouble of sanitizing the tube and stone each brew day. There is no worry of running out of oxygen, or keeping a second tank on hand. My tube is impossible to clean thoroughly because the stone is fused to the tube and water will not run through it.

(O2 tank is no longer needed!)

(Hose and regulator are no longer needed!)

The way I aerate is so simple it seems lazy. Just splash around the wort as it drains into the fermenter. The procedure is to occasionally shake the bucket or carboy as it is draining to build up a nice frothy head. It reminds me of early extract brewing days. Some people sanitize a large spoon and stir up the wort. Some people rock the carboy back and forth, I find that takes extra effort though.

In the future I plan to rig up a splash manifold at the end of the drain hose. It would be suspended above the wort level in the fermenter and cause the wort pouring in to go all over the place. Stay tuned for a future article on that. It should be a pretty cool looking gadget and cost next to nothing.

I am an all grain brewer, so aeration is especially important because of the full wort boil (which drives off oxygen). The last four batches I brewed have been aerated with the new lazy approach. I have noticed zero problems with fermentation time, attenuation, and flavor. Aeration in home brewing is over emphasized by some sources. There is at least one experiment showing it is okay to be “lazy” about it. The following test indicated little if any improvement with using an aeration system, vs shaking:

Link: Aeration Experiment Including Time Lapse Video of the Sample Fermentations

For a commercial brewery, monitoring exact levels of oxygen in the wort is important for quality control. Personally, I am not going to loose sleep over O2 levels in my brewing. This information will hopefully save some readers the $50 it costs for a basic aeration system, if not more in time and hassles.

Posted in Brewing | 10 Comments »

Basket Press for Fruit Based Brews

Fermenting crushed berries, grapes, and fruits can be a fun diversion from making beer. Home brewers who make beer already have all the equipment, except for a basket press. I tasted an amazing pear, blueberry, raspberry cider at a home brew club meeting last year. This inspired me to get more into fruity meads and wine. I tired making wine last fall. It is now in the bottle and going fast. It was totally worth it! Apples, Cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, apricots, peaches… the list goes on, could all be experimented with.

The Basket Press:

Once again, you will need a new piece of equipment to make this work. I looked into the Do-It-Yourself solutions. A good basket press would take a lot of time to build, more time than I wanted to spend. Personally, I decided to buy a professionally made press. The pressure from the screw, alignment, and reliability were reasons I decided not to build my own. A small size is perfect for the small amounts I am working with.

(Action shot of the wine press.)

When shopping for a basket press, check out the Yakima Press Company.

Yakima Press Company sells high quality basket presses. If you are interested in pressing more than a few gallons, you will probably want a bigger press. All their products are 100% made in the USA.

Outline of the process to make Fruit Wine, Hard Cider, Sweet Mead:

1. Pick and wash your fruit. Get good quality fruit, it will shine through in the end result! Wine grapes are normally not washed, as it is too time consuming, and not necessary due to addition of sulfites later on. You’ll need a lot of fruit to get 1 gallon of juice. For example, with apples one bushel is about 42 pounds, and gives 2-3 gallons of juice. You can top this off with water and add sugar or honey to compensate. You don’t have to go with 100% juice to get a good result.

2. Crush the fruit to release the juices. Wine grapes are done with a de-stemmer / crusher. Raspberries and blueberries can be done easily by hand. Fruits like apples and pears can be chopped and then put through a food processor.

3. Run fruit through basket press. The harder you press, the more tannins and other harsh flavors will come through. I sampled for flavor as the crush went just to tell where I was at. When it gets hard to turn the press, that’s probably a good sign it is time to stop. Beware, this step is sticky and messy but tastes good.

Note: Red wine is an exception. With red wine pressing comes after fermentation, as the skins are what give red wine its color.

4. Add 1 campden tablet per gallon of juice. Let sit for 24 hours. This step kills off all the wild yeasts and other bad guys and creates a stable environment for the brewing yeast to take off.

Campden is the same thing as  potassium or sodium metabisulfite. An equivalent solution can be created on your own (1 campden table in 1 gallon of water gives 67 ppm sulfur dioxide). Be careful not to over sulfite the batch!

Note: Again with wine from grapes the story is a little different. Sulfites are added right after the crush, targeting 60 ppm.

5. Measure gravity and volume. At this point, adjust with water and sugar or honey as desired so your target volume and alcohol level will be reached. This is going to vary widely depending on the recipe.

6. Transfer to carboy and pitch yeast. Yeast nutrient is a good idea. Dry mead yeast is very dry and will strip out all the sweetness. I’d recommend a sweet mead yeast on the first go.

7. Rack after primary fermentation is complete – could take up to a month. Expect to get a lot of trub, aka lees on the bottom of the carboy. Top off secondary with water or last year’s product. You may want to add more sulfites at this point to protect your new brew. The sulfites that were originally added are pretty much eliminated during primary fermentation.

8. Rack again and repeat every week or so until desired clarity is reached.

9. Bottle and age as desired.

10. Enjoy!

Posted in Equipment, Wine | No Comments »

Brew Shed Update

The shed is taking its final shape. The roof is on, skylight is in, and gutters installed. The electrical is in and the inspection passed!

The paint job is just primer right now. It was all done by hand with rollers or by brush so it soaked in good. I was told by a friend who is a home inspector that spraying paint on T-111 will cause problems later. I plan to paint the trim brown for an exposed timber look. Painting T-111 is hard work, especially in the grooves. It took 4 gallons to get two coats of primer on the entire shed.

The entire shed is insulated. Before I insulated, I air sealed all the seams with caulk. For larger gaps I used expanding foam. I am working on getting the metal panels in place for the brewery section under the loft. I’m not that happy with how the corrugated panels line up at the seams. I might go with tile, or even metal tile, but that gets expensive fast.

The loft is good for storage and also forms a natural vent hood. The opening for the intake on the exhaust fan is visible on the left.  I looked into the expensive stainless steel kitchen hoods. Damn those things are spendy (minimum $600). This is an experiment on my part but I think it will work out fine.

The electrical panel has some spare circuit breakers and plenty of juice. I went with a 50 amp service installed by a professional signing electrician. To save money, I dug the trench and crawled under the house to run the wire. With 50 amps there is room for electric brewing in the future. To make it even easier when that time comes, I ran a wire inside the wall of the shed. If I ever want to switch to electric, all I need to do is buy a breaker and outlet.  My kettle and HLT will need adjustments too. That project will likely take 12 trips to the hardware store. I’m waiting on that adventure for now.

Next steps:

• Sheet rock.
• Exhaust fan.
• Finish metal section for brewery.
• Brew!
• Then deal with all the little cosmetic details like interior paint and a nice trellis for the hops.

I’ll warn you, this project may look cool, but it has been a lot of work. It gets complex and expensive. So far I am in about $7,000. There is a lot of over head work up on ladders. I have skinned my knuckles many times, and cussed out loud many more. My beer supply is dwindling as I have not had time to brew. My wife has been just great about the whole thing and has helped on many sections. Without her I could not have done this.

I will be glad when this is completed and I can brew again!

Posted in Equipment, Fun | 6 Comments »

Alcohol By Volume Calculator Updated

The Brewer’s Friend ABV Calculator was just updated to include not one, but now two formulas for calculating ABV.  There are two popular formulas out there for calculating ABV.  You can pick the one you prefer for use in your brewing notes.   If you don’t like math, or don’t care that much, just stick with the basic formula. If you are super into math, and want to use the advanced formula (which is supposedly more accurate for high gravity beers), then the alternate equation is now there for you.

Standard Formula:

Most brewing sites use this basic formula:

ABV = (og – fg) * 131.25

This equation was created before the computer age.  It is easy to do by hand, and over time became the accepted formula for home brewers!

Variations on this equation which report within tenths of each other come from The Joy of Homebrewing Method by Charlie Papazian, Bee Lee’s Method, Beer Advocate Method. Some variations use 131 instead of 131.25. The resulting difference is pretty minor.

Alternate Formula:

A more complex equation which attempts to provide greater accuracy at higher gravities is:

ABV =(76.08 * (og-fg) / (1.775-og)) * (fg / 0.794)

The alternate equation reports a higher ABV for higher gravity beers. This equation is just a different take on it. Scientists rarely agree when it comes to equations. There will probably be another equation for ABV down the road.

The complex formula, and variations on it come from Ritchie Products Ltd, (Zymurgy, Summer 1995, vol. 18, no. 2) -Michael L. Hall’s article Brew by the Numbers: Add Up What’s in Your Beer, and Designing Great Beers by Daniels.

Why don’t calculators all agree?

1. The relationship between the change in gravity, and the change in ABV is not linear. All these equations are approximations.
2. Some calculators round internally as they go. The Brewer’s Friend calculator rounds only at the very end, which means significant digits are kept along the way (making it more true to the equation).
3. Other online calculators should be close to one of the two equations reported by the Brewer’s Friend ABV Calculator. If not, they are doing their own thing which warrants inquiry.

What equation should I use?

Your home brewing friends probably use the basic equation. If you don’t like math, go with the basic equation.

If you are a really tech heavy brewer, and want to brew a lot of high gravity beers, or prefer Daniels over Papazian, use the advanced equation.

Either way, they are close for beers below 6% ABV.   The difference does get larger as the gravity increases.   For a brew with OG 1.092, and an FG of 1.021, the standard equation reports an ABV of 9.32%, while the alternate equation reports 10.17%, that’s a difference of 0.85%.  At that alcohol level, after a few beers, maybe it doesn’t matter so much… hehe ;)

Prost!

Legal Disclaimer: The Brewer’s Friend ABV calculator is for entertainment purposes and should not be used for professional brewing. No warranty or guarantee of accuracy is provided on the information provided by this calculator.

Posted in Brewing | 12 Comments »

Beer Wagon Deployed

The latest do it yourself (DIY) home brew project is complete! This is nowhere near as cool as my shed, but it does help save the back when it comes to brewing.

While my brew shed is underway I brew in the garage and ferment in the spare bedroom. This means I have to lug a full carboy up and down the hall. Carrying a full carboy sucks. I use carboy straps to help make it easier but it is a pretty long way. I built this beer wagon to make life easier.

The wagon measures 16.5” x 16.5”, 11.5” tall. That is plenty of room for a 6.5 gallon carboy. I used a 16”x16” 3/4” plywood base and some scrap wood I had left over for the rails. The white wood is aspen, 1/4” thick. The vertical supports are 1.25” wide. The horizontal rails are 2.25” wide. The trim is walnut and mahogany same dimensions. Any hard wood will do.

For mobility and load capacity it has 3” casters. Wheels are fixed in the back, and swiveled in the front for steering. A gallon of water weighs 8.35 pounds, so figure if you want to move seven gallons plus the carboy you need to be able to support 65 pounds. Most 3” casters support over 100 pounds easily.

Posted in Equipment | 2 Comments »

Brew Shed Is Framed and Sided

With the brew shed foundation poured and cured the project continued forward. It takes about a month for concrete to cure. It also takes about a month for spring to kick off in Oregon.

Reminder to our readers: You know you are seriously addicted to home brewing when you start making plans for a brew shed!

Three of us bolted down a pressure treated sill plate, then put up all four walls in one afternoon. The framing of the roof and sheathing took another two afternoons. One more solid day should finish off the roof and trim. Then it will need a couple coats of primer and paint. After that I will turn my attention to the electrical panel.

Details about the shed:

• Walls are just under 8 feet tall. This way the siding overlaps the concrete a little.
• I went with 5/8” T111 siding, which works both as sheathing (like OSB), and siding (like lap boards). I found this was the best bang for the buck in terms of appearance and price.
• The 12′ x 12′ size feels roomy enough for a brewery without hogging the back yard.
• The height at the peak is 11′ 6”.
• Total cost was about $2200 for all the materials, delivered.

(Roof framing completed).

Recommendations:

• Use a qualified contractor who has experience building houses. There are a lot of little details that go into framing I had no idea about. You want your brew shed built solid with the help of a professional.
• Check with local city / county building codes before getting started.
• Get the materials delivered. A local place only charged me $80 to have everything delivered at once.
• Charge it and get credit card mileage points / rewards.
• Keep natural lighting in mind. This shed has a skylight and two windows.
• Design in a big door that is easy to get items like kettles, keezers, and drunk friends in and out.
• Keep your dimensions in units that work well with basic lumber sizes. Multiples of four are good.
• Consider going with 2×6 construction for added insulation value. It my case it wasn’t worth going past 2×4 walls, but it might be in yours.
• Add in a loft. Mine has one in the back at seven feet high. The brewing equipment will fit nicely under there.

(Framed and sheathed, ready for shingles).

(Lots of natural light are a good thing).

More articles to come on the subject of brew sheds.

Posted in Fun | 10 Comments »

My New Tool – The Carboy Cleaner

Carboy Cleaner LLC has made life better by building a better carboy brush. Unlike a better mouse trap (which nobody cares about), the Carboy Cleaner really is a time saver and does a better job than my old ‘L’ shaped brush. Thank you capitalism.

You know, I didn’t have a good relationship with old ‘L’ anyway. ‘L’ was always spraying me in the face. I was on my second ‘L’, as the first one rusted. Now I can say goodbye and good riddance to ‘L’.

The Carboy Cleaner is a metal rod attached to two padded brushes at one end. It has a rubber gromet that fits in the neck of a carboy. Once you see how it works, it is a no brainer. You need a cordless drill to make it work. If you don’t own a cordless drill, buy the Carboy Cleaner first, then you have an excuse to buy a cordless drill. The product website has a great video demonstration. Ryan is an enthusastic presenter. https://www.carboycleaner.com/

The Carboy Cleaner can also be used to sanitize a carboy. Just soak the brushes in sanitizer solution, and add some of the sanitizer solution to the carboy, then go for it with the drill for minute or so.

Practicallity aside, it’s a great excuse to get out a power tool and fire it full throttle! I hooked up my 18V cordless drill and let it rip. Here’s how it went:

Start it off in the bottom slowly.

Spin it up to 100%.

Raise and lower the brush to cover the entire inside.

Nice and sudsy.

Brewer’sFriend received a complimentary Carboy Cleaner.

Posted in Equipment | 9 Comments »

Recipe – Golden NW Extra Special Bitter

This a wonderful tasting British ale that uses Zeus bittering hops. More of a NW + British hybrid really. This Golden NW ESB has a nice balanced malt to hop ratio. A bread like biscuit flavor rolls into medium bitterness over the tongue. It finishes smooth and has drinkability – in that you will want to take another sip of this brew right away. Extra Special Bitter is traditionally served in British pubs, and would cost extra compared to the house ale.

Target Volume: 5 gallons

Grains:
5.25 lb Pale 2-Row
4 lb ESB Malt
0.5 lb Mild Ale Malt
(at 75% efficiency)

Extract brewers:
Steep 1 lb ESB Malt, 0.25 lb Mild Ale Malt
Use 5.75 Light Dry Malt Extract, or 7 lb Light Liquid Extract

Hops:
0.75 oz Zeus, 60 min
0.75 oz Goldings, 20 min
0.75 oz Goldings, 10 min

(Extract brewers may want to use 1 oz Zeus to get correct IBU level.)

Yeast:
Wyeast 1098 British Ale Yeast (aka White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale Yeast)

Water Chemistry:
Calcium 116
Sodium 89
Sulfates 214
Carbonates (HCO3) 226
Chloride 46
(all numbers in ppm)

My tap water is practically mineral free. I added approximately 1 tsp CaCl, 3 tsp Gypsum, and 2.5 tsp Baking Soda to get these concentrations.

Procedure:
Mashed at 158F for 60 minutes, standard batch sparge. Fermented for 10 days between 62F-68F, racked and let sit for 12 days. Bottled and primed with 3.5oz dextrose.

Batch Stats:
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.011
IBU: 60
ABV: 5.35%

(Freshly filled and capped batch of ESB).

(Nice foamy head on this ESB).

Posted in Recipes | 5 Comments »

Brew Shed Slab Is Poured

The brew shed has gone from the drawing board to reality. The slab has been poured! Late into the evenings last winter I had been making plans for this project. Now it is underway! Next step is to frame and roof it. That will be happening soon and I will post pictures.

May I remind our readers: You know you are seriously addicted to home brewing when you start making plans for a brew shed!

Details about the slab:

• 12′ x 12′
• Mono pour
• 4” thick
• 6” wide footings around the edge 8” deep, reinforced with rebar
• Vapor barrier
• Wire mesh
• J-bolts (achor bolts), three per side, which the treated sill plate will bolt to.
• Made space for door jamb
• 4 hops plants already added out front.
• Total cost: $1200.

You can get the price down on the slab if you do it yourself. The bill from the concrete ready mix truck was under $300. Be prepared to dig and level the area first. Then add a base of gravel and tamp. Then install the forms, haul in more gravel, tamp, etc… It adds up to many hours of hard labor. Not being an expert at this, or knowing anybody who was willing to help, writing a check was the simplest solution. I plan to use my wood working skills and help out with the framing in the next phase.

Ideas for an over the top brew shed foundation:

• Go with stamped and dyed concrete pattern. It is amazing what can be done with decorative concrete. This was more than double the price. Someday I might cover my basic gray floor in tile, but I don’t have immediate plans.
• Acid stain over the concrete – this looks good too, and is more affordable than a stamped pattern.
• Polished finish, again for looks more than anything. My concrete guy said it would cost about $300, or I could rent the machine.
• Add in your plumbing pipes ahead of time – floor drain, sewer line, supply line. I opted out of these for cost reasons.
• Add insulation underneath the slab. This can really help if you plan to make it climate controlled.
• Design the layout of the building with hops in mind. Plan to cover the shed in hops! I have already planted 4 new rhizomes on the southern exposure.

Alternative Designs:

I considered doing posts supporting a wooden floor. Ultimately a wooden floor is just about as much work as a slab. The slab will perform better and last longer. With a suspended floor animals can tear up insulation from underneath. Oregon is really wet too, and I figured the concrete would hold up better.

Stay tuned for more from Brewer’s Friend!

Posted in Fun | 1 Comment »

Racking Tutorial with a Built In Spigot

Racking beer is made easy if your primary fermenter has a spigot. Note that this piece of equipment is essentially a bottling bucket with a good lid. They are cheap and easy to use with only a few drawbacks.

Racking beer is not required, but it can add clarity in the final beer. I only rack my ales about a third of the time. If you are going to dry hop, doing a very strong beer, or fermenting for more than 3-4 weeks, then racking is a good idea. There is an exception, I always rack my lagers before cooling them down to 33F for 4-6 weeks.

Here is how I racked my latest batch of Oktoberfest:

1) At least one day before, lift the primary fermenter up to a table. This will give the yeast time to settle back down.

2) Sanitize secondary fermentor, hose, cork and airlock. I like StarSan for this purpose. Have your hydrometer and a sampling cup on hand.

3) Get the hose hooked up and dropped into the secondary. Turn on the hose. Minimize splashing if possible. Depending on how low the spigot is some yeast will come through, but not a lot.

4) About half way through I stop the hose, and take a sample for gravity and taste. I make sure my hands are VERY clean for this step.

5) Continue draining. Tip the bucket at the end. Make sure to fill it to the top.

6) Record your hydrometer value and note the flavors.

Primary fermentation in a bucket is easy for the following reasons:

• Easy to sanitize the bucket. Those 90-degree brushes for cleaning carboys can be a pain to use.
• Easy to clean the bucket after fermentation.
• When fitted with a spigot, draining is a breeze. No siphon is needed. There is less equipment to sanitize and clean up.
• Stopping the flow to take a sample is easy.

Knocks against using a plastic buckets as a fermenters:

• Odors can remain behind in plastic, especially strong dark beers.
• There is concern for oxygen penetration.
• The seal can fail around the spigot. Never had this happen, but it would be a major mess. I fitted mine with a double set of washers on the inside and outside. This did involve a trip to the hardware store, and I bought extra. I keep a habit of only turning the spigot clockwise, so I don’t accidentally loosen the thread.

The real solution to this issue is to buy a stainless steel canonical fermentor. This is how commercial breweries do it. Compared to a carboy or plastic bucket they are fifteen times the price! Figure spending at least $500 on one.

Notice there was no head space in the secondary. That was 100% on purpose to avoid oxidation. Check out information in this article about why topping of the secondary is important.

Update 11/12/2011: Check out the article on Infected Batches to see why you might want to tear down your bottling bucket now and then, since the spigot can get pretty gross without you knowing it.

Posted in Brewing, Equipment | 1 Comment »