The Brew Times
Why you should not batch prime with Mr. Beer
Batch priming refers to the process of adding your priming sugar (sugar which creates carbonation) to the entire "batch" of beer, instead of the individual bottles. Fans of batch priming list simplicity and consistent carbonation from bottle to bottle as the primary benefits.
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Why You Should Homebrew?
If you have ever been wondering about why you should get into homebrewing or just want to learn more about homebrewing then this is the right place to be. Throughout this post, we will go over why I think you should homebrew, the different types of brewing methods, and then of course why you should brew with Mr. Beer. Now, you are probably wondering who the hell is this guy and why do I care what he has to say. Good point. I’m not sure that you will care what I have to say but at least allow me to introduce myself. My name is Robert Lewis. I am the Sales & Marketing Manager for Mr. Beer. I have been working at Mr. Beer for just about 8 years and homebrewing all along the way. I was never a homebrewer before I started working here, so I think I have a unique perspective on why homebrewing is unlike any other hobby. I hope you enjoy my stories and learn a little bit about homebrewing along the way. WHY SHOULD YOU HOMEBREW? Save Money I’m a huge fan of IPA’s. They are the best beers, hands down. Try to prove me wrong, I dare you. However, they can be quite expensive. One of my favorite IPA’s is from a local craft brewery here in Arizona. It runs right around $14-$16 for a 4 pack. That’s insane! It’s like $4.00+ a beer. I get it, they are making “craft beer” but, come on, that’s just too much. Now if you wanted to brew an amazing IPA, let’s say with Mr. Beer, for instance, that same type of beer would cost around $1.05 a beer. That’s it! You’re saving serious cash. Even if you wanted to brew the most expensive IPA that Mr. Beer offers, which is a crazy supper hopped imperial IPA, it would cost about $2.90 a beer. If you're like me who drinks about 6 beers a weekend, at $4 a beer that’s $24 a week, $96 a month, or $1,152 a year. Now if you homebrew and drink 6 beers a weekend at an average of $1.90 that is $11.40 a weekend, $45.60 a month, or $547.20 a year. So, you can save $600 a year by homebrewing! The more you drink the more you save. That’s what I call a win, win! Know Your Ingredients Like many of us, I am cautious about what goes into my body. Our world is full of over-processed foods and drinks and who knows what the ingredients are? Most of the time I can’t even pronounce half the stuff on the back of the labels. You will notice that with beer most brewers don’t list what they use in their beers. Some of them add clarifying chemicals to make the beer look clear or stabilizers to extend the shelf life of the beer. That’s just not cool. With homebrewing, you know exactly what you are putting into your beer, so you can trust that you have the best, real ingredients to brew with. Mr. Beer ingredients are made from all-natural Malted Barley, Hops, Water, and then Yeast (which you add) and that’s all! We use the best ingredients possible and oversee the entire process from the grain fields to the ingredients that go into your beer kit. We want to ensure that you get the best possible beer each and every time you brew. Create Your Own Brew Just brewing your own beer is an extremely rewarding feeling but creating your own custom recipe that is all your own is an experience unto itself. Through some trial and error, you can create some amazing beer. I remember the first recipe I created. I wanted it to be this super hoppy IPA. So, I got all kinds of random hops and threw them together and the result was not that good. I went straight mad scientist and did zero research before I brewed it, I just winged it. Now my second attempt at this was excellent. I did a little research and picked some bittering hops that would pair well together, did a nice 45-minute boil with around 2 oz. of hops and the results were amazing. I think I shared that beer with anyone that was willing to taste it and all were blown away at how well it came out. It's quite a rewarding experience creating your own beer that tastes good and that people truly enjoy. Have Fun Brewing beer is always a good time. You have some friends over, turn on some tunes, drink some beers, and just brew away. It’s the perfect escape from the weekly grind and a great way to relax and unwind. Another fun aspect of homebrewing that is not talked about that much is brewing beer for special occasions, like birthdays, holidays, weddings, etc. I got married 7 years ago and I wanted to brew beer for the wedding, so I brewed 20 gallons of beer, (we like to drink). I still remember what I brewed, it was an American Lager, Pilsner, an Amber Ale, and an IPA. During the wedding reception everyone I talked to did not say the ceremony was great or the flowers or any of that, they all wanted to talk about the homebrew. Every single person mentioned how much they enjoyed the beer. Even in our wedding video, every single comment was “Congratulations, we wish you all the best… And Amazing beer”. It was something that I will never forget. The impact that a good homemade beer can have. To this day when I see extended family members they still talk about the beers I brewed and are always wanting to try something new. Appreciate Good Beer Within the Craft Brewing scene and even Homebrewing you can find a lot of beer snobbery. People like beers a certain way and I get that. I have also come to appreciate a beer that is brewed very well, but I am by no means a beer snob. For the longest time, my go-to beer was Bud Light or Bud Light Lime. Overtime my pallet has changed where I can appreciate a really good brewed craft beer. The more you learn about a subject the more you appreciate the work that goes into it. So, you can tell when you have a good beer and a really good beer. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ll still grab a Bud Light here and there. One thing that you have to appreciate about the big brewers is that no matter where you are the beer will always taste the same. Once you understand homebrewing you will know how hard that is. Most Craft Brewers have trouble replicating the same exact beer each time. So, I would say that your appreciation for good beer will increase but your appreciation for just beer, in general, will also increase when you learn about all that goes into making a great tasting beer. DIFFERENT BREWING METHODS Alright, let's get educated. There are a few different ways that you can brew beer at home. Some are quicker than others, some are more expensive, some offer more ways to customize your beer but, in the end, they all produce great beer. It just depends on how much money you want to invest and how much time you want to spend. If you are looking to get started you should follow the advice of the American Homebrews Association (AHA.) According to the AHA, “extract brewing is one of the best ways to introduce people how to brew beer at home. Not only does extract brewing make homebrewing easier to grasp and understand, but it’s one of the cheapest and newb-friendly ways to encourage people to take up the hobby. For this reason alone–the power to spark interest in making beer at home—the effectiveness of extract homebrewing should not be looked down on by those who brew with grains.” I have brewed with all these methods, so I have a good understanding of why one is better than the other. Let's dive into the different brewing methods. Hopped Malt Extract Brewing with Hopped Malt Extract is the best way to get started brewing, period. If anyone disagrees, send them to me and I’ll straighten them out. Brewing with Hopped Malt Extract (HME) is the best way to start because it includes everything you need except water and yeast. The inclusion of hops simplifies things. It will save you time, space in your house and allows you to create a consistent beer each time you brew. All you need is a starter kit with HME and a few common kitchen items like a pot and stirring spoon. HME is a thick syrup-like substance that is basically distilled beer. It is made the same way a brewery brews beer. You add your grains, and hops into water, spend a few hours letting that boil, then go through evaporation where you condense it down to a thick liquid. From there it is packaged and sent out for homebrewers to use. Much of the time-consuming aspects of brewing are done for you. To sum up in one sentence, add your can of HME to water, mix it up, add your yeast and that’s it! See super simple! It only takes about 30 minutes of your time from setup to clean up. Plus, you can customize your beer to your heart’s content. Just use your HME as a base and add just about anything you want from there. You can even add more hops. You are not losing any quality in the finished product by brewing with HME. What you are doing is saving yourself some serious time and increasing your chances of always brewing a quality beer every single time. LME, Specialty Grains, & Hops Liquid Malt Extract (LME) is made the same as HME, only without the hops. When brewing with LME you will need to add hops and, in some cases, specialty grains. The brewing time will be a bit longer and the equipment you need is a little more involved than brewing with HME. The basic brewing process for this method is you will steep your specialty grains, typically for 30 minutes. Then you will add in your LME, then you will need to add hops and do a hop boil to get some bitterness in your beer. This can be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on what you are brewing. You will also need a larger pot to boil your water and a large strainer for the grains. It will add at least 45 minutes to an hour to your brew day vs brewing with HME. DME, Grains & Hops Dried Malt Extract (DME) is made by taking LME and evaporating it down to a powder form. This is done to help increase the shelf life of the beer and also to preserve color. Sometimes when using HME or LME your beers can come out slightly darker than if you used DME. However, brewing with DME can be a giant pain if you have not done it before. The 1st time I brewed with DME I the pot overflowed on my stovetop and made a sticky mess. Imagine taking maple syrup and mixing it with some water, and then just dump that all over your stove, yeah it was a disaster. I think it took me a few hours to get everything cleaned up, and by that point, I did not want to brew beer anymore. So, when brewing with DME you have to wait for something called the “hot break” before you add your hops. Before this, the foam in your pot will keep rising so you have to be consistently stirring it and removing the pot from the heat so it does not overflow. It’s the most intense 15-25 minutes you can have. One wrong move and its disaster all over your kitchen. Now don’t get me wrong, DME can be good and I have used it since then, it's great for making really light-colored beers and has an incredibly long shelf life. Overall, it will take about 2-3 hours to brew a batch from setup to cleanup. The process is the same as brewing with LME, you just have to deal with the intense session with the DME. You will also need a little larger pot and a few other things you might not have in your common kitchen. All Grain Brewing with all-grain is the most complicated and time-consuming. However, it does allow for as much customization as you can possibly imagine. You can choose the exact kind of grains that go into your beer. I have brewed all-grain several times, mostly with friends and the days are typically 6-8 hours long and I usually wind up drinking too much beer so around hour 5 I'm pretty much done with the brew day. To brew all-grain is a significant investment in equipment. The basic all-grain brewing equipment starts around $125 and goes up from there to thousands of dollars. The ingredients you need are grains (pounds of grains), and hops. The basic method goes as follows. The first step is mashing where grains are steeped at a specific temperature for about an hour. Then you have the lautering process which is the act of taking the spent grains out of the liquid. This can be done by using false bottoms and drainage systems. The next step is called the sparge where you slowly transfer liquid from one container to another and rinse the grains to get rid of as much of the fermentable sugar as possible. These two steps can take 3-4 hours to complete. After that, you do a hop boil which is usually takes about hour. For a typical brew day it will take you 6-8 hours depending on the brew. While the customization is endless it does take significantly more time, equipment, and money to brew all-grain. WHY BREW WITH MR. BEER? Here’s a little secret. I am not passionate about homebrewing. But I do enjoy it. I brew as often as I can but I don’t wake up dreaming of brewing beers. I am more passionate about spending time with my family, doing fun activities with my kids, watching sports, exercising, sport shooting, and several other things. I choose to brew with Hopped Malt Extract (HME) from Mr. Beer so I can brew a batch in 30 minutes and do everything else I want to do. I don’t want to waste an entire day brewing a batch of beer. There are other things I would rather do than watch a pot boil for 8 hours. By using HME as a base I can easily experiment with other ingredients to make any kind of crazy beer I can think of in a short amount of time. Here at Mr. Beer, we have 16 different base styles you can brew from, then building off of those 16, we have created over 100 different recipes which we constantly rotate. We use hops, grains, DME, fruit, soda, heck even bacon. Since we are using the HME as a base it shortens the brew day and allows us to get very creative with our recipes. There are 6 key reasons why I think you should brew with Mr. Beer. They mean a heck of a lot to me, so I hope they mean something to you too. Saves Time It reduces brew day from 4-8 hours down to 30 minutes. Even the most complex recipes will take from 1 to 1.5 hours tops from set-up to clean-up. You will have time to enjoy the important things in your life. Who wants to spend an entire day watching the pot boil? Saves Space The Mr. Beer Kit is compact. We use a 2-gallon fermenter that does not take up much space.. All you need to brew are a few common kitchen items. No extra pots, tubes, strainers, buckets, or anything else. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the space to have my garage taken with a bunch of brewing equipment. Saves Money You can save $600 a year at a minimum. To get started with Mr. Beer all you need is one of our 2-Gallon Beer Making Kits. They cost between $39-$59 depending on what you get. Other homebrewing kits can range from $39-$49 for 1 gallon of beer or $125+ to brew all-grain, but you will still need additional items besides just the starter kit so it’s a little closer to $200. Let's break it down. The cost per beer, for a Mr. Beer Kit at $59.99 will cost you $2.50 a beer for your kit. For a 1 Gallon Kit at $39.99 it will cost you $4 a beer, and for the all-grain kit at $200 it will cost you $3.33 a beer. The best value to brew and save money is clearly Mr. Beer. Consistency I went over the basic brewing process earlier. A lot of the boiling involved with each of the processes requires you to hold the boil at certain temperature range for a specific period of time. If you don’t, you can mess up your beer and can get some off-flavors or beer that isn’t what you wanted. When brewing with Mr. Beer you don’t have to worry about that. Using our HME takes out those variables so you can get a more consistent beer every time you brew. We have all had that one experience when a friend you know is just hyping up this restaurant. You decide to give it a try after days of anticipation from hearing how good it is. Then that 1st bite of food is just terrible. Well, brewing with Mr. Beer can help prevent that in your beer. Each beer will live up to the hype. Customer Support I am extremely proud of the customer support we offer at Mr. Beer. Not only are we the best support for a homebrewing company, I think we offer the best support of any company. We have experienced Brewmasters that are very passionate about homebrewing. You can give them a call any time Monday through Friday. We offer live chat and an awesome Facebook group, Mr. Beer’s Brewing Society, where you can learn all kinds of new things about homebrewing. If you have any issues, we take care of it. You have a damaged shipment? We send you a new one. Bad beer? We’ll send you a new batch. Just got some brewing questions? We got you covered. We welcome you as a part of the Mr. Beer family. We don’t have customers, we have brewing partners, friends, and family. The Only Homebrew Company Owned by a Brewery Mr. Beer is owned by Coopers Brewery in Australia. Coopers is the oldest family-owned and independent brewery in Australia and they have been brewing beer for over 150 years. They have been in the homebrewing space since the 1970s and create the highest quality malt extract in the world. Coopers creates all of our Mr. Beer Hopped Malt Extracts. This makes Mr. Beer the only homebrewing company whose ingredients are created by a brewery. The same ingredients you use to brew are used to make beer in the brewery. They use state-of-the-art technology and oversee the entire process from “grain to glass.” Coopers is also extremely focused on sustainability. The water they use comes from below the water table and runs through a reverse osmosis process that removes the high salt content. They have an onsite powerplant so that they don’t rely on the local grid. All water, steam heat, grains, etc. is recirculated throughout the brewery and used in more ways than one. I hope you enjoyed this and are now motivated to homebrew. It’s a great hobby, lifestyle, and very rewarding in many ways. If you have questions about brewing please reach out to us. We are more than happy to help. Thank you for taking the time to read through this. As they say at Coopers Brewery and we say here, “Cheers Mate!" Robert
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Beer Brined Turkey
Thanksgiving is around the corner… How could we forget? We cannot! That pumpkin spice malarkey is everywhere, *said in a tone that implies my sanity is fleeting*. So how do you bring your beer into your Thanksgiving feast, without spiking it with pumpkin and besides drinking it as a meal accompaniment? Well my fine, beer-drinking, friend… What about letting that fat bird (the one that did not get pardoned), take a swim in your BEER? You hear that? That is angels singing because this recipe came straight from heaven! Besides being delicious, brining your turkey in beer has lots of benefits! The naturally occurring chemicals within beer, create the perfect conditions for tender, juicy meat, AND the sugars found in your brew encourage a lovely, caramelized skin. This is also a fantastic way to utilize whatever “truby” liquid is left at the bottom of your fermenter after bottling. Got a batch that did not turn out just right? Well, now you do not have to throw it away or suffer through drinking it in the interest of not wasting the investment. Do I have your attention yet? Good. Now join me as we turn that “sober” bird, into a delicious “drunken” one! Gone are the days of dry, bland white meat. You can thank me later, from your inevitable tryptophan stupor. Here is how we brine our turkey with beer! Gobble, gobble, GLUG. What you need to make the brine: (Makes about 2ish gallons of brine, the recipe can be doubled if you need more) 2 Gallons of water (plan to set aside about 4 cups of it for dissolving the sugars) 1 cup of kosher salt or pink salt (basically any salt that is not iodized, avoid table salt) ½ cup Brown sugar or raw sugar (Brown sugar has a little molasses in it which is “very nice”) About 48 ounces (That’s approximately 4-12 oz bottles) of your favorite stout, red, or basically whatever sounds good or that you have on hand or reserved from a previous batch. Stouts are great because the extra sugar gives the turkey skin great crisping potential and lends enough strong flavors to carry through in the meat. This beer can come from your fermenter, a bottle of homebrew or from a commercial bottle or package. Herb Butter- because after that salty bath, that bird is going to need some moisturizer 1 stick of butter, softened (half a cup) 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped (You can use dried rosemary too, roughly a tablespoon 4-6 leaves fresh sage chopped (You can use dried sage as well, up to a tablespoon.) 4 sprigs fresh thyme chopped (You can use dried sage as well, up to a tablespoon.) 4 sprigs fresh oregano minced (You can use dried sage as well, up to a tablespoon.) You can certainly use more or less of the herbs listed, to your liking. These quantities are for approx. a 12lb turkey. You will also need a brining vessel large enough to fully submerge your turkey in the brine. Those 5-gallon buckets from the hardware store work quite nicely. Let us make it! Get that thawed bird out and get your game face on! Combine salt and brown sugar with the 4 cups of water from the 2 gallons into a saucepan. Heat this mixture, stirring frequently until salt & sugar are completely dissolved into water. Allow the mixture to cool. Pour the solution into the brining bucket and add the remaining water. Next, dump that beer into the bucket. Remove giblet bag from the neck cavity of the turkey (often tucked up under a flap of skin) and the neck from the carcass cavity (keep that for delicious gravy!). Submerge turkey in brine and soak, chilled, for 12-24 hours. Remember this is raw meat, so if you cannot refrigerate your brining vessel, you will need to pack it with ice to maintain a food-safe temperature and prevent an ugly brush with botulism. (Turkey must be completely submerged. Increase brine if needed.) After the brining period, it is time to rinse the turkey. Before taking it out of the brine, add about 8 cups of water to a kettle or pot on the stove and bring it to boil. Next, grab that bird, tress the legs if need be, and rinse the turkey with cold water, and then with the hot water you just boiled. Pat the turkey dry with a paper towel. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. Combine the stick of softened butter with the herbs and rub the butter and herb mixture liberally all over the turkey, give it a good massage. Place the turkey in the oven at 350 degrees. For a 12lb turkey, cook for approx. 1-1/2 hours, then reduce the oven temp to 125 and continue to cook until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 165 degrees. A twelve-pound turkey can take anywhere between 2-3 hours but keep a close eye on the legs. If the legs start to brown too quickly, wrap them in foil for the duration of the cooking. Once cooked, remove the turkey from the oven and cover it with foil but loose enough to allow it to vent so the skin does not become tough and chewy. Let the turkey rest for 20-40 minutes. And whalah! Presto, TURKEY! Now pair that delicious creation with a delicious beer! Cheers! Ashley
Read moreCan you bottle & brew using the same sanitizer solution?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="jn7c_NfU1pU" video_title1="Can you bottle & brew using the same sanitizer solution? " video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} Can you use the same sanitizing solution for bottling & brewing on the same day? We break it all down in this episode of BrewTalk with Mr. Beer. A lot of times if you’re working on being an efficient brewer you will bottle your beer then brew up another batch on the same day. This helps keep your beer pipeline flowing and since your already in the process of sanitizing and cleaning everything it just helps to put a batch of beer back into that fermenter as well. A question we see quite often when people are doing this is can you use the same sanitizing solution to sanitize your bottles & your keg for your new brew? The answer is you can, as long as you are getting it all done in a decent amount of time. In one of our previous videos, we talked about how long our No-Rinse cleanser will last once it is mixed up. Once the solution is mixed we advise that is will be at is most effective up to 3 hours. So if you are able to sanitize your bottles, bottle your beer, clean your fermenter, and then sanitize your equipment within the 3-hour time frame then you should be good to go. If you are going to bottle your beer, then come back later in the day to brew a batch of beer I would suggest mixing up a new batch of No-Rinse cleanser. When it comes to sanitizing it is always better to be safe than sorry. That’s also why we recommend always having a few extra packets of sanitizing solution on hand just in case. This same concept of bottling and brewing on the same day with the same sanitizer would also work if you are brewing multiple batches on a day. If you are going to brew 2-3 batches back to back, then you will be fine to use the same sanitizing solution to sanitize each of your fermenters. Cheers, Robert
Read moreWhat to do if you forgot to aerate your wort before adding your yeast?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="Yivte0ev4gE" video_title1="What to do if you forgot to aerate your wort before adding your yeast? " video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} Today we are tackling another common question we see especially from beginners. Your brewing your batch of beer and you add your yeast and then you realize it! You forgot to stir up your wort before you added your yeast. Now before you freak out don’t worry, your beer is going to be good. 99% of the time the yeast will still do what it is meant to do and eat up all those sugars and give you some good beer. So first I wanted to talk about why aerating is so important to your yeast. If you want to reverence this in detail go back and watch our video on the life cycle of a yeast and yeast management. So what can happen when you do not aerate your wort is that it can lead to an off-flavor in your beer and create unwanted ester production early on. Plus your yeast can also have a slow start to the fermentation process. However, sometimes these off-flavors can condition out over time. So, if you did forget to stir up your wort just let your beer condition at room temperature for a little longer. When you go to try it, just put one in the fridge and let it cool and see how that one tastes. Then you can tell if the rest need more conditioning or not. Now one thing to note and why you will most likely be okay if you did not stir your wort. In the instructions when we have you dump your wort into the fermenter and then dump in more cold water, that is aerating your beer. You will notice just by doing that you have foamy bubbles on top suggesting that your wort did get aeriated. We tell you to mix to ensure that proper aeration has taken place and that the yeast is going to ferment well. So if you forgot to stir your wort, you most likely got some aeration that you might not get any off-flavors in your beer. That’s why it is always good to slow down on brew day and check off your steps as you go. Cheers, Robert
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Spent Grain Pizza Dough Recipe
Few things on the planet pair better with a glass of ice-cold beer, than a hot, fresh pizza. Sure, there’s tons of potential for fancy food pairings with beer, and we love that, but sometimes you just need a nice hot slice to go with your brew. Now that I have you thinking about pizza and beer, how about we talk about incorporating your spent grain from your brewing into a delicious and easy to make pizza crust! Sound good? Of course, it does. Just like Mom always said, waste not, want not; so, let us turn those perfectly good grains, into perfectly good pizza. Here is what you will need: 1 ½ cup Pizza flour (AP flour works fine too) ½ cup warm water (Alternatively, you can use ¼ cup beer and ¼ water warmed to about 110 degrees) ¾ cup wet spent grains (typically the lighter grains work best, but caramel malts can provide a rich flavor as well. Dark roast malts are great to use with pumpernickel or rye flour, recipes) 2 ¼ teaspoons Dry active yeast (You can throw a tablespoon of trub in there for flavor as well, but we need the bread yeast to create an ample amount of bubbles in our crust since this will be a heavier dough. Do not skip the bread yeast, ya hear? 1/4 teaspoon sugar or liquid malt extract ½ teaspoon salt Olive Oil How to Make the Dough In the bowl of a standing mixer, gently mix the yeast into water (or water and beer mixture) and sugar (or liquid malt) just to combine. Let sit for five minutes and it should start to bubble and smell delightful. If you do not have a stand mixer, you can also use a whisk to gently stir the mixture in a large bowl. Add the rest of your ingredients to the bowl and knead with a dough hook for 8-10 minutes. (Alternatively, you can use a regular medium-sized bowl, simply mix the dough by hand in the bowl, and transfer it to a clean, floured work surface for kneading.) After the dough is combined, turn it on a surface that it will not stick to. Add a good splash of olive oil to your mixing bowl. Place the dough back in the bowl and turn to coat in olive oil. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rest in a warm spot for 2 hours. After that long, boring 2-hour rise, punch that dough like it owes you money and let rise again for 30 minutes, covered with a damp towel (just trust me here). In the meantime, preheat your oven to 475 degrees F. Remove dough from the bowl after the 30-minute rise and place it on to a sheet pan for a square pizza, or a round pan for a pizza that is also round. Using your hands, manipulate the dough to stretch it evenly over the sheet pan surface. Then, finish with sauce, cheese, and whatever other toppings your hungry heart might desire. Bake for 20 minutes, or until crust is evenly browned on the bottom. Use something other than your naked, fleshy fingers to lift the edges of the crust, and inspect for “doneness”. Some like it crispy, some like it soft, that is none of my business. Once your Glorious pizza is done to your liking, pull it out of the oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Cut, Serve and enjoy with a tell glass of your favorite homebrew! Cheers to you, homebrewer (and a pizza chef)! Ashley
Read moreDo you need to rinse your fermenters and bottles after they are sanitized?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="8nKFCiAotPQ" video_title1="Do you need to rinse your fermenter & bottles after they are sanitized?" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} For first-time brewers this a very common question. I think the term sanitization can imply that it's dangerous or somehow can be harmful to you if it is ingested. Now before we get too far along you don’t want to just drink sanitizer, that is not good for you. We are just talking about that little bit of liquid that is left in your fermenter or bottles after you sanitize them. A lot of people will want to rinse this out, and that is something that you do not want to do. Adding tap water at this time to rinse the fermenter or bottles can lead to the risk of introducing bacteria that can cause an infection. So by using any type of brewing sanitizers like our No-Rinse and StarSan you don’t need to worry about getting it all of your fermenter or bottles. When mixed with water it turns into a type of Hydrogen peroxide and kills off the bacteria on the surface that it comes in contact with. Now if you are sanitizing your equipment with something other than a brewing sanitizer and using bleach or Oxy clean free you will want to rinse it out. These you will rinse out until the smell is gone. Since these are much more powerful chemicals you do not want those lingering around in your beer. Cheers, Robert
Read moreEsters and Phenols in Beer. What are they, and what do they contribute? Part 2
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="bgRGR7NtW1U" video_title1="Esters and Phenols in Beer. What are they, and what do they contribute? Part 2" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} You may be wondering, what exactly is a “phenol”? Let me start off with a quote from a contributor to the Journal of The American Society of Brewing Chemists, CW Bamforth. Bamforth says: “there are few more intimidating topics in brewing science than that of polyphenols; the complexity is immense” That’s not scary or anything, NAH! Luckily, today I will attempt to simplify this for you and distill it down to the info you really need to know. So, what is the definition of a “phenol”? well, broadly, a “phenol” can be any of a family of organic compounds characterized by a hydroxyl (―OH) group attached to a carbon atom that is part of an aromatic ring. Phenols are like alcohol but form stronger hydrogen bonds. Thus, they are more soluble in water than are alcohols and have higher boiling points. So now that the technical definitions are out of the way, what do phenols in beer mean to us? To put it simply, phenols or “phenolic flavors” are usually described as clove-like, spicy, smoky or in worst-case scenarios, band aid- like or rubbery and medicinal. Phenolic flavors can be an innate feature of specific brewing yeasts such as Wheat yeasts and other Belgian yeast varieties. Beyond those styles, phenolic flavors are using considered as “off”. Let’s use the clove-like flavor that comes from Hefeweizen beers as an example. Wheat yeasts can target a specific acid found in malt called “ferulic” acid, into a compound called 4-vinyl guaiacol. So actually, while the primary precursor for this phenol comes from the malt (specifically wheat malt in the highest concentrations, as opposed to barley which produces less) This transformation cannot occur without yeast that is capable, though it’s the genetics of this chemical conversion process. This is how we are still able to brew wheat-based beers, with low phenol production, by using a yeast less likely to catalyze the transformation. It’s also important to remember that phenolic flavors can also come from wild yeasts, either intentionally, or unintentionally via unwanted infection. There is yet another way you can end up with phenolic flavors in your beer, and it’s no fun at all. Enter something called a “chloro-phenol”, what in tarnation is that?! That is phenol created by chlorine… yep, the same chlorine you might find in pool water. So how does this happen? Chlorophenols occur when chlorine is present, usually from the brewing water itself but sometimes it can come from cleaners containing chlorine, too. That chlorine bonds itself with the low molecular weight phenols found in malts to produce a Chlorophenol. This is the “phenol” that brings us that awful, burnt band-aid, medicine flavor. And yeah, it’s as gross as it sounds. Luckily, that risk can be eliminated by not using chlorinated brewing water or cleaners that leave chlorine residues. Now I think this next part is worth mentioning, for our All-grain brewers out there. Believe it or not, excessive phenols can also be extracted from malt during the mash and sparge program. The phenols created through this are called “polyphenols” or sometimes “tannins”. If you are an all-grain or even partial mash brewer, you can reduce the incidence of the “polyphenols” by simply lowering your sparge temperature below 170 degrees, and by using brewing water with low alkalinity and or residual alkalinity. If you are steeping grains, and you find yourself getting acrid, sharp tannins in your finished product, try lowering your steep temperature just a bit, this reduces the extraction of tannins coming from the grain husk itself. These astringent tannins serve a purpose for the grain, in that they help to protect the “seed” from fungal infection. So, is there anything positive about phenols outside of them tasting nice in specific beer styles? There is! According to published scientific consensus documents, studies have shown that the phenols in beer and wine, may actually be good for your heart! Here’s a quote from the abstract: “A large evidence-based review on the effects of moderate consumption of beer on human health has been conducted by an international panel of experts who reached a full consensus on the present document. Low-moderate (up to 1 drink per day in women, up to 2 in men), non-bingeing beer consumption, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.” In fact, the Managing director for Cooper’s brewery, Dr. Tim Cooper, is a cardiologist! So… if you needed a good excuse to enjoy that nightly brew, now you have it! You’re welcome. Keep in mind, however, this only applies to wine and beer and not to distilled spirits. Sorry guys! Fortunately, science has taught us that phenols protect LDL against peroxynitrite-mediated oxidation. In short, they act as antioxidants! YAY beer! As a side note, if you wish to learn more about the healthy aspects of phenols, I highly recommend checking out the work of Ph.D.’s, Christy Tangney, and Heather E. Rasmussen. All being said, there are too many individual phenols and polyphenols to name them all here. But this should tell you what you need to know for the purposes of brewing delicious beer as well as a bonus justification for drinking it. All right guys! That about wraps it up for today! Thank you for hanging out with me again, and nerding out on my favorite thing, BEER! We’ll see you next time! Cheers, Ashley
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What is the Reinheitsgebot?
If you have been a homebrewer for any length of time, or you’ve found yourself wandering down the vast rabbit hole of Bavarian and German brewing traditions and edicts, then you have probably heard the term “Reinheitsgebot” at least once. No, I did not just sneeze, I spoke German; say it with me “rhine-heights-geh-boat”. Very good! So, what the heck is it, what does it mean and what significance does it have today? These are all questions you may or may not have, but I have very little self-control when it comes to talking or writing about beer, so I am going to tell you anyway. Reinheitsgebot translated literally, means “purity order” is an approximately 500-year-old Bavarian brewing edict that was the brainchild of Wilhelm IV of Bavaria and brought to fruition on April 23rd, 1516… You could say it’s a bit “long in the tooth”. I don’t know about you, but I feel young next to a 500-year-old brewing law! (It’s about time I felt young next to something.) Contrary to what the name implies, the original form of Reinheitsgebot was not as geared toward consumer health and preventing the inclusion of “harmful” ingredients as many may think, though this was a part of it, as brewers sometimes added not-so-healthy things when supplies like hops were short. The original edict which would see many renditions in the coming centuries had slightly different priorities. Ingredients were originally listed as the third stipulation and stated that only barley, hops, and water could be used. Many individuals hear this and have a few follow up questions, and rightfully so. Some of those questions might include confusion about the omission of yeast, and the reasoning on why beers often viewed as traditionally German, include ingredients not allowed by the original edict. You may also be wondering if it’s something you should be paying attention to. So, what on earth was the primary motivation for the creation of Reinheitsgebot law in the first place? When the edict is read in its totality, it becomes clear the primary reason it existed was mostly monetary. Are you shocked? Probably not. The first points stated in law, deal with pricing restrictions, and dictate what could be charged for a product and what season specifically that pricing cap applied to. Within the edict also existed a statement allowing Duke Wilhelm to change any part of the rules, whenever he wanted during grain shortages. Speaking of grain shortages, that brings me to my next point. Many individuals wonder why their Bavarian Wheat beers, or any other traditionally recognized German styles containing wheat, would not have been considered passable under the original law. Wilhelm’s reason for this came, at least partly down to his desire to protect his people from potential food shortages, which were commonplace in 16th century Europe. By restricting brewers to only using barley, wheat was reserved for bakers and helped to prevent the price of bread from inflating beyond what the average person could afford, making the motivation for the edict a far cry from the sometimes “snotty superiority complex” that Reinheitsgebot is often, unfairly associated within the modern-day. When we examine the original edict, it is hard not to notice that yeast is not mentioned. This omission has led many to believe the myth that brewers did not know about yeast in the 16th century. Fortunately, this probably could not be further from the truth, and the brewers of old deserve a bit more credit for their understanding of alcoholic fermentation than that! We know for a fact that brewers were aware of yeast and its role because they had a job title dedicated to the harvesting of yeast from prior batches. This individual placed in this role was called the “Hefener”. If they knew about it, why didn’t they mention it? Brewers in the middle ages thought about yeast as an innate feature of beer production, not as an extraneous ingredient. Though they may not have fully understood where it came from (mostly the air at that point) they knew it was important, and that they needed it to continue to produce beer, but was not viewed as an “ingredient” within what has been their understanding and usage of the word at the time. A very old case of “lost in translation”. When discussing Reinheitsgebot, it’s important to know that in 1506, it only applied to brewers in Bavaria, but not brewers in other places, like Berlin and the surrounding areas. This is at least partly because by this time, Bavaria was already well known and established at brewing lager beers, meaning beers that could ferment in colder temperatures and this was exclusive to Bavaria, only. In other parts of Germany, brewers had completely different mindsets and were brewing funky ales, that allowed for the additions of all kinds of different brewing ingredients, unlike the restrictions set forth by the Duke. Brewers in places such as Belgium even made a concerted effort to set their beers away from those brewed in Bavaria and, Cologne even went so far as to ban the production of Lager beers in 1603. Drama much?! Up until the later 19th century, there was still quite a bit of division between Bavarian brewing traditions and the rest of Germany and what would become part of Germany, going forward. During the German unification of 1871, a new rendition of the purity law was embraced that left out ingredient restrictions, which gave the government the ability to tax all ingredients that brewers were using, across the land. Ah yes, there’s that monetary element, again. Later, in 1906 the law further adapted to include specific rules for the production of lagers and ales as separate, core styles. WW1 brought about yet another reunification under the Weimer Republic. Bavaria would only agree to their inclusion IF their beloved beer law was also included. Talk about shrewd negotiations! In 1919, Reinheitsgebot split into two laws. The older, restrictive Bavarian lager rules seen as one law (the portion often misunderstood today), and the other, a more lenient code applying to Ales. This has understandably created much confusion among modern brewers attempting to understand it or those with a desire to follow it. Fast forward to the present day, and we see many individuals that are under the false impression that proper German beer (or any beer for that matter) is only ever made from barley, hops, and yeast. This is categorically false, as the current Reinheitsgebot covers additional ingredients found in broader traditional German styles such as Wheat, salt, and spices. Nowadays Reinheitsgebot, more than almost anything else, is a tax classification and a point of national historical pride. Unfortunately, it’s still got a lot of people confused, and under the impression that beer brewed outside of the “purity order” does not qualify as “real” beer… This is also, untrue. Attempting to brew a beer according to Reinheitsgebot restrictions in the modern day is quite tough. This difficulty doesn’t come from the law includes, but rather because of what it does not mention at all. Brewing technology has made leaps and bounds over the many decades and centuries since the purity order’s inception. Is a brewer permitted to add water conditioners, nutrients, or malt in extract form? What about dry-hopping or forced carbonation? What about wort aeration? Answer? Pretty much a big, fat, shrug. We can’t know what isn’t even mentioned, unfortunately. Brewers in Germany do their best to follow the modern rendition of Reinheitsgebot, but it often poses challenges that brewers outside of Germany never need to consider. Need to acidify a mash; Thinking of reaching for a spot of lab-created lactic acid? You better not, if you are trying to follow the rules; that acid needs to come from an acidified malt. What about clarifying or fining agents? You better be sure it’s not making it into the finished product, ha! German brewers honor these long-held traditions with pride, however, they are not above admitting that it does create more work for them in general. Reinheitsgebot was originally something the government handled the primary enforcement of, later it was the pride of brewers that kept it policed. In modern-day, it seems to be the customer that is most concerned with this term. This consumer allegiance while admirable and historically significant, is at least partially driven by the misconception that beer brewed outside of these rules, is somehow subpar and that’s a sad prospect. If you are brewing beer outside of Germany, it’s completely up to you to follow Reinheitsgebot or not follow it. It’s the opinion of this brewer, that knowing how to work with your ingredients whatever they may be, with the end goal of producing delicious beer, should always be the primary priority. Part of the fun of brewing your own beer is breaking the rules and having the experience of learning new things! Rules are great, but so is creativity and experimentation! At the end of the day, brewers and drinkers alike should keep well in mind that beer that “tastes good” is the most important “rule” of all, regardless of how you get there! So next time you hear some snobbery pertaining to non- Reinheitsgebot compliant brews, kindly suggest some historical research and a nice cold beer! Maybe you’ll make a new friend, maybe you’ll experience an awkward silence or maybe you would rather just “know more than them” and hey, that’s fine too! Bottoms up, brewers! **Smashes down empty stein** PROST! Ashley
Read moreEsters and Phenols in Beer. What are they, and what do they contribute? Part 1
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="39DYF5PLLrs" video_title1="Esters and Phenols in Beer. What are they, and what do they contribute? Part 1" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} You may or may not have heard these two terms before, but if you have brewed or even just enjoyed beer, chances are you have experienced them. Let’s start with Esters first. So, what are they? Esters are fruity tasting compounds. Think flavors like banana or apple or anything fruit-like that isn’t actual fruit. So how are esters formed? Esters in beer are formed by the reactions of organic acids and alcohol created during fermentation. This reaction causes the esterification of alcohols, including the most abundantly created, ethanol as well as other higher, or “fusel” alcohols. The type of ester formed depends on the specific type of alcohol being implicated in the esterification. The MOST abundantly concentrated esters are “acetates”, meaning they use an acetic acid molecule (known as acetyl coenzyme A) as part of their esterification process and others do not use this same chemical acetyl coenzyme A, as a catalyst, but use others instead. The most significant esters found in beer are isoamyl acetate, resembling banana or pear drop, ethyl acetate which is light fruity or solvent-like, ethyl caprylate giving an apple-like character, ethyl caproate apple-like with a little aniseed, and phenylethyl acetate like roses, honey. Let us take Ethyl acetate for example. This ester is caused by the combination of ethanol and acetic acid. Because ethanol is the most abundant alcohol created by brewing yeast, the solvent-like presence of ethyl acetate is often detected in beer, especially in beer that is young or “green”, before the yeast has begun to use the stationary phase, to clean up excessive amounts of this ester. At lower concentrations, this ester can translate pleasantly as pear, or unpleasantly at higher concentrations as the formerly mentioned, solvent. Keeping this ester “in check” is of high importance to many brewers, so an emphasis is placed on control parameters, primarily fermentation temperature and suitably high pitch rates. In addition to being produced by brewer’s yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces pastorianus), ethyl acetate is also produced in large quantities by the wild yeasts Brettanomyces, Hansenula, and Pichia via aerobic fermentation. Therefore, It is important to note that excessive levels of ethyl acetate can also be a result of infection, but mixed-fermentation brewers will often use a wild bacterium to intentionally increase the concentration of ethyl acetate and other esters. Isoamyl acetate, another common ester found in and associated with beer carries that distinctive banana-like flavor and aroma typically found in many German beers such as Hefeweizen. Isoamyl acetate is created by the esterification of Isoamyl alcohol (a fusel alcohol) and its distinctive flavor effect is a signature of Several German Ale styles. Because of the desirability of this ester, brewers will intentionally create conditions in which to exaggerate its production. If high levels of Isoamyl acetate are what you desire in your brew, the first step is to select a yeast variety that is well suited to produce its precursors and catalysts. We will cover that more in-depth, later in this discussion. Isoamyl acetate is an aggressive ester and can be detected on the pallet in quantities as low as 2ppm. Unfortunately, when this ester appears in beers that are not “supposed to” contain it, it is considered an off-flavor. This Ester is usually not particularly difficult to reduce or control in beers where the selected yeast is not prone to producing specific elements during fermentation. Ethyl caprylate, the next “common” ester on our list, though it is not as abundant as the previous two we have discussed. This ester is a bit different in that instead of using acetic acid, this ester is formed by the combination of caprylic acid and ethanol. Caprylic acid is a medium-chain fatty acid with a generally unpleasant smell, and the corresponding ester, while less unpleasant is still usually considered an off-flavor in excessive quantities. Ethyl caprylate comes across and cloyingly fruit or brandy-like. At high concentrations, Ethyl caprylate can contribute to what is often described as an undesirable “yeasty” flavor. It is an ester that when controlled and well placed, can be a positive contribution as well in certain styles only. Like Ethyl Caprylate is Ethyl Caproate, also known as Ethyl Hexanoate. This Ester is created through the condensation of Hexanoic Acid, and Ethanol. Ethyl Caproate has a pineapple aroma that is like lightly flanked by an anise-like or sometimes red-apple-like character that can be pleasant when appearing appropriately, in certain styles. This sets it a bit apart from other apple associated compounds like aldehydes, that translate more like sharper, green apple. That is as long as it stays in normal ranges. A fun fact about Caproate acid; It is one of three fatty acids named in relation to Capra, the genus of goats. The names are derived from the high amounts of these fatty acids found in goat’s milk, which give the milk its characteristic odor and flavor. Hexanoic acid itself, can be VERY unpleasant in high quantities and is typically considered a negative attribute in those cases. The Lambic and wild fermentation styles are notable exceptions where the “funk” that high levels of this acid can be appreciated as a style feature. The final ester we will discuss today is Phenethyl acetate. Phenethyl acetate is the ester resulting from the condensation of acetic acid and phenethyl alcohol. This ester typically has an aroma that is like roses or honey and is often described as tasting like raspberry or even guava. In most cases, it is minimally present. If you decide you want a higher concentration of esters in your beer, or lower for that matter, the first place you must start is yeast selection. All yeast has individual ester production characteristics. Some yeast will produce more esters than others and some will produce different esters than others. Esterification of alcohol is controlled by an enzyme called alcohol acetate transferase (AAT). So, the first way you can increase your beer’s fruity flavors and aromas are to select a yeast strain that produces a higher concentration of that AAT enzyme. As we learned in our prior episode, enzymes are the catalysts for everything! Another common way to increase ester production in fermentation is to under-pitch the yeast, slightly. This creates some stress and stimulates yeast growth, which leads to higher ester production. Another method, the one I typically prefer to use, is temperature modulation. Having a slightly warmer fermentation temp can also promote esters in yeasts that have the potential to make them. Under pitching, in my opinion, and that of many other brewers is too risky for most of us. I think we all know by now how I feel about under-pitching. And lastly, some individuals choose to promote ester production by under-aerating; this I do not recommend as it usually comes with extra aldehydes, as well. Believe it or not, even the shape of your fermenter has an effect on ester production. This is often why breweries with certain specialties will have different shaped tanks, as well. So, now that we know how to increase our ester production, what about controlling them or even decreasing them? I could sum it up quickly by just saying “do the opposite of everything listed above”, and that would almost cover it. If you want to reduce the incidence of esters in your beer, in other words, if you are looking for a “clean” flavor, there are a few key points to consider. It all comes back to yeast management. (see my prior video for more on that!) -Adequately aerate -Select a strain with low ester formation potential -Pitch many viable/vital yeast cells AND -Pitch and ferment within the manufacturer’s ideal temperature ranges Well, that about wraps us up on Esters! Please I hope you enjoyed this, and please join me next week for Part 2. We will be discussing Phenols. Have a great day everyone. Cheers, Ashley
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Yeast Characteristics
Have you ever wanted to know more about the yeasts we sell thorough Mr. Beer? Well, look no further because that’s what we are tackling today! As you may know, besides being the catalyst for alcoholic fermentation, yeast plays a huge role in the flavor, AND style classification of your beer. Have you ever cracked open a delicious Hefeweizen, closed your eyes, and taken in the distinctive aromas of banana, clove, and coriander? Even though some beers contain added spices, these are the fine flavors associated with a proper wheat yeast! Perhaps you prefer a nice, cold American IPA, and yeast may not seem like much of a concern since it’s the hops that take center stage, right? You might be surprised to know that the yeast selected for IPA beers, also changes how those hops and grains express in the finished product. Yeast choice also affects factors in your beer such as fermentation time, body, aroma, etc. I guess you could say… It’s pretty important! Obviously, all yeast labs offer information on the nature and flavor of your strain of brewing yeast; wouldn’t it be nice if you could access a version of those descriptions that don’t require you to break out the brewing dictionary? Well, you have arrived at the right place! Below are descriptions of the yeasts we offer through Mr. Beer, so you can really get to know them without having to learn a different language. Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 (Famous strain from the Weihenstephan Brewery in Germany) Type: Lager yeast (Ferments cold) Best temperature range to ferment: 53.6-59 F The best temperature to add it to your wort: 53.6-59 Flavors/Aroma: Slight floral, fruit on the sniff. With a clean and well-balanced flavor that produces a VERY easy to drink Bohemian lager style. The beers produced with this lager yeast come out, clean and crisp with a refreshing dry character. Fermentis Saflager S-23 Type: Lager yeast (ferments cold) Best temperature range to ferment: 53.6-59 F The best temperature to add it to your wort: 53.6-59 F Flavors/Aroma: This yeast brings a lot of fruity flavors and aromas. This yeast is best suited toward lagers that require that bright and fruity finish. Wonderful for producing summer lagers, Kolsch beers, and when brewed at higher temps, California common! (up to 75 degrees for California common) Since this lager yeast is not as aggressive when it comes to fermenting more complex starches in your wort, it leaves behind a lingering presence in the mouth, and beers brewed with it keep a good level of head retention in the glass and a soft and silky character on the tongue. Fermentis Safale WB-06 Type: Wheat/Ale yeast (ferments at typical Ale temperatures) Best temperature range to ferment: 64-75 F The best temperature to add it to your wort: 68-80 F (the higher end of this range with giving you more banana and “bubblegum” flavors) Flavors/Aroma: This wheat strain is fairly moderate comparatively, to other wheat yeasts and being fruity. This yeast can produce very pleasant banana, clove, and even some “bubblegum” flavors! The fruity, spicy character of this yeast can be increased by brewing and pitching your yeast on the warmer end of the ideal temperature spectrums. If you enjoy beer styles like hefeweizen, this is the yeast that will take you there! Beers made with this yeast leave a slight lingering on the tongue, but that is quickly washed away do the yeasts ability to ferment more complex starches. WB-06 also tends to stay in suspension longer, increasing the likelihood of trub production (sediment) in the bottle which is acceptable in wheat beer styles. Fermentis Safale T-58 Type: Belgian Ale yeast (Great for Trappist style beers) Best temperature range to ferment: 59-68 F (Can be brewed at 70-72 to increase clove flavors) The best temperature to add it to your wort: 59-72 F Flavors/Aroma: This is a “spicy” yeast. Bringing traditional trappiest flavors such as pepper and clove, this yeast can maintain a slightly hazy character in finished beer as well. This is not a “fruity” yeast but rather places a strong focus on well-formed notes of spice. Because this yeast does not aggressively consume more complex starches, it leaves the finished beer with a lingering character on the tongue and a noticeable softness in the mouth. T-58 has a high tolerance to alcohol, making it a great choice for brewing beers with ABV’s up to 11.5%. Fermentis Safale S-33 Type: Ale yeast (well suited for a wide range of ales, including Belgians and Wits.) Best temperature range to ferment: 59-68 F (Can be brewed at 70-72 F but can produce more fruit flavors) The best temperature to add it to your wort: 68-72 F Flavors/Aroma: This yeast is considered to have a balanced flavor profile. It does carry some mild fruit flavors, especially when brewed on the higher end of the temperature spectrum. S-33 can be used in a multitude of styles, especially in brews that desire a fuller body, and lingering presence on the tongue and can leave a haze in the finished beer. This yeast is ideal for beers that have a lower to moderate alcohol range. Fermentis Safale Us-05 Type: Ale yeast (Great for a wide range of American beers, especially very hoppy ales) Best temperature range to ferment: 64-82 F (produces very clean flavors at 70-72 F) The best temperature to add it to your wort: 64-80 F Flavors/Aromas: This is a very “clean” yeast. This means it does not produce a noticeable amount of fruity or spicy character in the finished beer. This yeast is ideal to use in beers where you wish to highlight flavors of hops and grain by letting them shine through unbridled by excessive yeast flavors. Us-05 is VERY good at fermenting more complex starches so it produces a crisp, dry beer that drinks very easily! It’s a favorite for producing IPA and Pale ale styles. Fermentis Safale S-04 Type: Ale yeast (English style ale yeast, suitable for a wide range of beer styles) Best temperature range to ferment: 59-68 F (Can be brewed at 70-72 with great results) The best temperature to add it to your wort: 60-72 F Flavors/Aromas: This yeast is not known for producing a high incidence of fruity flavors and tends to be neutral, and well suited for brewing beers that are on the maltier side. S-04 is ideal for cask or bottle conditioned beers as well. S-04 ferments fast and leaves you with a clear product due to the tightly compacted sediment that it produces. Though you find it most often in browns, porters, and stouts, S-04 can also be a great yeast to use for heavily hopped beers due to its potential for clarity. This yeast leaves a mild lingering presence in the mouth. S-04 also tends to ferment quite quickly! Lallemand Nottingham High-performance ale yeast Type: Ale yeast (English ale yeast, suitable for a wide range of styles and especially useful for making high alcohol beers) Best temperature range to ferment: 50-72 F Best temperature range to add it to your wort: 65-72 F Flavors/Aromas: Nottingham is considered to be neutral in flavor, but some brewers detect a very mild fruitiness, and like many English ale strains, it does not create spice flavors. Nottingham can be used in just about anything but is commonly found in Pale ale, Amber, Porter, Stout and Barleywine style beers. Nottingham is a great option for high alcohol beers as well. When kept in the 70-72 F temperature range, it can fully ferment is as little as 4 days and can finish at lower temperatures in as few as 9 days. Nottingham is very efficient at breaking down more complex starches and produce a dry brew when that is the desired effect. Lallemand Belle Saison Type: Ale yeast (Belgian/Saison ale yeast, suitable for farmhouse ales and traditional Saison beers) Best temperature range to ferment: 59-95 F (Produces more spice and fruit flavors at higher temperatures) Best temperature range to add it to your wort: 65-95 F (Do not use this yeast right out of the fridge, it must come to room temperature before use) Flavors/Aromas: With strong flavors and aromas of pepper, clove, and citrus; this yeast creates complex and multilayered beers. These strong flavor components can be further expressed when the beer is brewed on the higher end of the temperature spectrum. When brewed within optimal temperature ranges, Belle Saison yeast will fully ferment most wort, in as little as 4 days. Because Belle Saison has an easy time fermenting the more complex starches found in the wort, it creates a refreshing and dry finished beer but still takes nicely to fruit additions. Hopefully, this helps you to become a little more familiar with the yeast options we offer, outside of our Cooper’s proprietary yeast. If you ever find yourself needing additional guidance, give us a call or send us an email to our customer service team, we are always more than happy to get “geeky” about yeast with you! Cheers! Ashley
Read moreTips to Prevent Your Spigot from Getting Clogged
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="_pvzwaxYXBg" video_title1="Tips to prevent your spigot from getting clogged" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} This can be one of the most frustrating things in homebrewing. Your beer is all done and ready to be bottled and during the bottling process, you start to get clogs in your spigot. Bottling is already one of the most monotonous things about homebrewing, but when you run into issues during bottling that makes it worse. When are brewing a beer that has a lot of additives such as hops or fruit or you are just brewing a big old beer that creates a large layer of trub it can sometimes clog your spigot. Here are a few tips and tricks to help prevent that. This first would be to use a hopsack. If you are adding a large amount, like a few ounces of hops add them to a hopsack. This will help keep the all contained together and if the hop sack gets in the way of the spigot it is easy to grab that with sanitized tongs. The second would be to prop up the front of your fermenter during fermentation. If you put a small book or something just to prop up the front of your LBK it will help all the trub and sediment settled to the back of the fermenter and keep the spigot clear. The third thing you can do is cold crash your beer. This is putting your fermenter in the fridge for 24-48 hours. This will help all of the sediment settled and solidify in the bottom of your fermenter. This is also a great way to help clear up your beer. If you really want to make sure your spigot does not get clogged them prop up the front of your fermenter while you are doing the cold crash. That will help everything settle to the back of the fermenter and solidify with the cold crash. Cheers, Robert
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Bottom of the Barrel Oktoberfest Pretzel Bites & Beer Cheese Dip
Oh Autumn, how we love the signals of your arrival. Changing leaves, cooler temperatures, aromas of cinnamon and spice dancing in the air. Those are just some of the lovely things about fall, but here at Mr. Beer, a couple of other things come to mind. The Fall season brings us the most beer-centric holiday that many of us celebrate all around the world, reaching far beyond its original cultural borders! While enjoying all that fabulous beer, you’re probably going to get kind of hungry, just a guess! We don’t know your life, but we sure know the following recipe will cure whatever hunger pangs that might “ALE” you this beer-fest season! What could possibly be a more appropriate form of sustenance for such a holiday than “Beer pretzel bites” and “Beer cheese”?! The answer? Pretty much nothing. This recipe allows you to incorporate your homebrew into the perfect beer-drinking accessory so that you can be the talk of the party, neighborhood, or office; perhaps the only person you feel the need to impress is reading this, now. Either way, these delicious little golden balls of dough will hit the spot, especially smothered in delicious beer cheese! HEYO! Pour yourself a beer, pull on your best lederhosen or Dirndl, crack your knuckles, and MAKE THIS YEAR’S OKTOBERFEST, DELICIOUS! Here are a couple of handle tips from us, but we’re sure you already knew this stuff: *These recipes were originally created with remaining beer from the bottom of the fermenter after bottling, but bottled homebrew or commercially produced beer also works, great. The nice thing about using homebrew is that you will have more flavor, and better proofing. *Beers that would be great to utilize: Oktoberfest, Bohemian Pilsner, Weiss beer, Golden ale, Classic American light, American ale, Canadian blonde, or bewitched amber *Give yourself enough time, and plan! *Relax, have a homebrew. “Bottom of the Barrel” Oktoberfest Beer cheese Pretzel bites and dip. For the Beer cheese dip: 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup whole milk 2/3 cup of beer (You can use beer you have bottled OR you can use the liquid remains from your keg) 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce .5 teaspoon Dijon mustard .5 teaspoon garlic powder (more if you like that kind of thing) .25 teaspoon smoked Paprika .25 teaspoon salt (or more to taste) 2 cups of good quality, shredded cheddar cheese. (Treat yourself) Start by melting your butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the butter. Once the butter is fully melted, begin adding your flour, while stirring constantly to form a roux. This takes about one minute. In a slow stream, pour in the milk and continue to whisk. Next, whisk in the beer, lowering or raising the heat to keep the temperature fairly consistent. Continuing to stir, add in your Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt Lastly, add the shredded cheese while stirring a bit at a time, until the mixture because smooth and incorporated. We don’t have time in our lives for chunky cheese. What would a proper beer cheese be without a vehicle to drive it right into your mouth? Enter: “Bottom of the Barrel” beer pretzel bites! Are You hungry yet? NO? GREAT! Can I have your portion? “BTB” Pretzel Bites: 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 12 ounces warmed beer about 110 degrees (you can use what’s leftover in your LBK, or you can use already bottled beer) 2 tablespoons honey or sugar 3 ¼ cup AP flour 1 teaspoon Kosher salt ½ cup baking soda (yes It’s really that much!) 1 large egg *additional coarse kosher salt for topping the bites How to make them: Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and or cooking spray. Pour beer into the bowl of a stand mixer (You can hand mix this if you do not have a mixer.) Sprinkle yeast over top, add honey and stir. Allow yeast to bloom for 5-10 minutes. Once it is nice and foamy, it is ready. (You can also use a couple of tablespoons of your beer trub in with the bread yeast as well) Fill an 8-quart pot with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (you will utilize this a little later in the process). In a small bowl beat egg and 2 tablespoons water with a fork. Set aside. Wash a section of countertop for rolling out dough. Do not flour it or it will be harder to roll out the dough. Add flour and salt to mixer. Knead for about 3 minutes until the dough comes together in one ball. Add more flour a tablespoon at a time as needed, if the bread is too sticky to come together. The dough should be tacky when you pull it out of the mixer, not sticky. Place dough on the countertop and form dough into a ball. We are going to cut this ball into about 64 even pieces. First-quarter the ball of dough. Roll each quarter into an 18-22” strand. Cut that into 4 equal pieces. Then cut each piece into 4 equal pieces. You can use a bench scraper or a knife. When you are done you will have 64 pieces… Or you know, something like that. Hey, they’re your pretzels! Now, this next part is a little piece of culinary magic for ya! ** PLEASE CONDUCT THIS NEXT STEP WITH EXTREME CARE AND CAUTION. BOILING HOT BAKING SODA IS VERY CAUSTIC AND CAN DAMAGE YOUR SKIN AND EYES. PREFORM SODA WASH IN A WELL-VENTILATED AREA. WE WANT YOU TO LIVE FOREVER** The “soda bath” will give your pretzel bites that hallmark pretzel texture and color! All your friends will say “How did you this, please share your great knowledge?!” and you can reply “SCIENCE! GET SOME!”, while beating your chest with beer-fest pride! Carefully, add baking soda to boiling water. USE CAUTION: IT WILL BUBBLE UP. Reduce heat to medium. Place dough bites into boiling water about 10 at a time. It will bubble up, so use extreme caution. Remove with a slotted spoon after 30 seconds. Place on parchment paper to cool and repeat until all bites have been boiled. Arrange all pretzel bites on parchment so they are not touching. Brush egg wash onto each one and sprinkle with coarse salt. (pretzel bites are known for their anti-social nature) Bake for 7-9 minutes until the tops are browned. Remove them from the over, pat yourself on the back. Last, tell your family you’re leaving and taking your beer cheese creation with you and eat it all yourself while enjoying your finely crafted homebrew and keeping watch for interlopers…. Or you know, share them with people you love and bask in the glory of your culinary accomplishment! PROST! *said through a mouth full of cheese and pretzel bites*
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