The Brew Times Homebrewing Blog
Why you should ferment your Mr. Beer refills for no longer than 14 days
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="8VdSNmNcO-k" video_title1="Why you should ferment your Mr. Beer refills for no longer than 14 days" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} This is a common point of differentiation between brewers. Some people are avid 3-week brewers while others are on the shorter side of brewing in the 10-14 day range. For all of our Mr. Beer Refills, we recommend a brewing time of 10-14 days and we do that for good reason. It is a common misconception that leaving your beer in the fermenter for an extra week, beyond the initial fermentation will make it better the opposite is true. When your yeast is eating away all those sugars in your beer, it is producing C02. Once the C02 is produced it will race to the top of your fermenter and push its way out through the air ventilation notices that are cut into the lid of your LBK. What this is doing is creating positive pressure in your LBK. This is creating a protective barrier that prevents oxygen from getting into your fermenter and ultimately your beer. Oxygen creates an awfully bad off-flavor in your beer. Your beer will come out tasting stale and often taste like cardboard. So when you let your beer go longer than the 14 days, for example, 21 days you are increasing the risk of getting your beer oxidized. Once the yeast has eaten up most of the sugars that are in your beer, it will be creating less C02. Thus, reducing that positive pressure in your LBK and opening up the risk of oxygen getting in. So that is why we suggest all refills be brewed in 10-14 days. Now we know there are exceptions for everything. If you are brewing at much colder temperatures than the 68-76 degrees that we recommend your yeast will work slower and it may need more time to ferment. If you are adding a ton of extra fermentables to your beer such as honey, or brown sugar or extract booters, etc. It may take longer to ferment all those sugars out. That is why on some of our bigger recipes that we create we do recommend you brew it for 21 days. The more sugars that are added, the longer the yeast will need. If you are brewing any of our refills just as is, then you only need to brew them for 10-14 days. Cheers, Robert
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The Life Cycle of a Yeast Cell, and Yeast Management
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="tJp4n-ROK4s" video_title1="The Life Cycle of a Yeast Cell, and Yeast Management" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} If you want to learn all about yeast then this video is for you. Part of our new advanced education series this video covers everything about yeast! In order to understand yeast, it’s health, management, and how that affects our beer, we first must understand how yeast lives out its life, within your beer. First, we will discuss “What is yeast?” Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. You can see here in my illustration of a yeast cell. We can see here on the outside, this is the “cell wall”, it provides protection and shape to the cell and is also a valuable indicator of a yeast cells health and how much it has reproduced, as it begins to scar We also see here, the “Periplasm” This is the location of the enzymes and Mannoproteins, these provide some of the primary catalysts for the fermentation process Next, we look at the “Cell Membrane” Responsible for selective transport, metabolism, and communication. You could almost compare it to a nervous system of sorts. Now we move onto the “nucleus” This is where the yeast cell holds its genetic material, which are the blueprints for its future offspring. Yeast cells also contain a “Vacuole” Seen here *points* This is where Your yeast cell breaks proteins down to their amino acid building blocks, basically working like tiny disassemblers We have also the “Mitochondria”, This is responsible for functions such as respiration ATP production. ATP stands for “Adenosine triphosphate” which is the primary source of fuel for every living thing on earth, and very important. After that, we have the Ribosome Which is responsible for protein production Lastly, we see the ER, Golgi, and Vesicles. These handle secretion and protein processing/trafficking The yeast we use for brewing belongs to the class “Saccharomycetes” and we use two primary species of this yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces Pastorianus (also known as Saccharomyces carlsbergensis) Saccharomyces cerevisiae is what we know as Ale and wheat yeast. These yeasts are referred to as “Top fermenting yeasts” and this yeast is typically associated with warmer fermentation temperatures, compared to Lager or bottom-fermenting yeast varieties. Saccharomyces Pastorianus is what we know as “Lager” yeast, which is considered bottom-fermenting and is associated with colder fermenting temperatures. Obviously, the difference is important due to their different fermentation characteristics and requirements. You can see how they differ physically. Figure A Saccharomyces Pastorianus and figure B is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, you can see the differences of how the cells group together between the two. Depending on the species you are using, you will need to make considerations about your specific brewing environment, as we will discuss later, these environmental parameters dramatically impact the health of your yeast, and the overall success of an alcoholic fermentation. It’s very important to keep in mind that yeast is, indeed, a living organism and like all living organisms, it has needs! Now that we understand yeast a little better, and what it is… Let’s talk about its life cycle and as we move through that, I will talk about points of yeast health and management that apply to that stage. In this talk, we will mostly be discussing these subjects, in terms of dry yeast. Everything here will apply to hydrated yeast starters as well, with some subtle nuances. Let’s start where our yeast first meets our wort, the pitch! When your yeast is first pitched into your wort, it enters something called the “lag phase” This is when your yeast is acclimating to its environment. This period lasts typically, anywhere between 3-15 hours respectively. During this time, the yeast begins to uptake the essential minerals and amino acids that it will use as protein building blocks. Whatever the yeast cannot get from the wort, it will attempt to manufacture itself, like any other living organism, yeast needs a full spectrum of nutrients to perform its job and basically live a happy life and complete a healthy fermentation. As the nutritional needs of the yeast are met during the lag phase, the yeast begins to manufacture necessary enzymes. Oxygen is also extremely important to yeast during this period, as yeast cells require it to build up the cell walls and create adequate yeast vitality, and better vitality and viability generally mean cleaner tasting beer in the long run. Let’s take a moment and talk about why this lag phase is important when it comes to the entire process of our fermentation. During the initial hydration, if you are pitching dry yeast, or even initially making a starter, yeast can lose on average, 30-50% of its viability, and that is in ideal conditions, that number can be higher if the yeast is already in bad shape (which is usually because it’s old or expired) or if we are introducing the yeast to an environment that is not ideal, such as wort that is too warm, too cold, or lacks the appropriate nutrient profile or oxygen content, or if your pitch was simply too small, to begin with. If you are working with a low number of viable cells during the LAG, or your wort does not contain the required nutrients, vitamins and oxygen, yeast can struggle to move through this phase and into its exponential growth phase (log which we will discuss next), This because the yeast is under stress and stressed yeast takes longer to start budding and making it’s catalyzing components in order to begin the process of fermentation. If the wort is too cold, this can also impede the lag phase. Our goal when we brew is to move through the lag phase successfully with adequate nutrient uptake so that we maintain many viable mother cells. Without viable mother cells, our yeast can not produce the number of daughter cells needed to reduce the total stress and properly distribute the labor of fermentation to keep up, as older cells begin to die off, later. In my opinion and the option of many other brewers, having an adequate number of initial yeast cells is even more critically important if you are naturally carbonating your beer, using priming sugar. If our yeast pitch is too small or has low total viability due to the earlier mentioned factors, it can also give wild bacteria and pathogens an opportunity to become the dominant organism in the beer, right out of the gate. Leading to infection. Basically, you are leaving a door open. If your yeast cells are damaged or stressed during LAG, your production of off-flavors can potentially be much higher, which can follow you all the way to bottling! What do we do about this as far as yeast management is concerned? As a brewer, I always look first at my pitch rate, Followed by the initial parameters of your starting wort. This includes temperature, oxygenation, and wort nutrient profile. As far as pitching is concerned to keep in mind, in homebrewing it is difficult to truly overpitch to a detriment, so if you are getting off flavors routinely, upping your yeast may be in order, especially if you struggle with temperature management, or your lag times seem to be longer than that 15-hour window. It’s important to note that while very long lag times are not ideal, neither is the opposite in all cases, because this a critical acclimation stage, so we want to give the yeast enough time to build strong cell walls, and uptake everything it needs to be healthy. An hour-long lag might be exciting, but precocious yeast tends to not be quite as happy long term. You can think of your Lag phase as the “formative” stage of your yeast, so it’s important to set yourself up for success, from the very beginning. I cannot stress enough, AERATION. It is so critically important to make sure your wort contains ample oxygen before pitching. I mention this because in my experience the two most common reasons for high, unwanted ester production early on, are under pitching, and under aeration. Again, these are not the only possible negative variables, but they are the most common especially within extract and partial mash brewing. Also, when it comes to yeast, it loves an all-malt wort because of the full spectrum of nutrition it provides, some examples of necessary vitamins are riboflavin, inositol, and biotin. Important minerals are phosphorous, Sulphur, copper, iron, zinc, potassium, and sodium. So, if you are brewing a wort that has a high amount of adjuncts like corn sugar or cane sugar, these tend to lack the nutrients needed for proper yeast health, leading to stress and off-flavor production. Therefore, beverages fermented with cane sugar or corn sugar like seltzer, are usually dosed with extraneous nutrients as yeast cannot live well off these simple sugars, alone. So now that we have covered the Lag phase, let’s talk about our yeast as it transitions into Log, otherwise known as the exponential growth phase. This phase can last anywhere between 1-4 days This is the phase where we visually see the fermentation start to take off by way of the Krausen layer. As the yeast comes out of the lag phase, it starts to consume the sugars in solution. And large amounts of CO2 are produced. The term Log stands for Logarithmic because the yeast is increasing its activity and rapidly budding, creating additional exact copies of itself, called Daughter cells. This is a form of vegetative growth, is asexual and ideal when it comes to brewing as it allows the mother cells nucleus to split and provide the daughter, or bud, with an exact copy of the parent's DNA. The yeast will quickly and aggressively consume the available wort sugar and start to convert them into ethanol at this time. This is usually the time you will see large amounts of turbulence occurring within your fermenter, almost like it was being stirred. That is the intense and aggressive metabolic action of the yeast occurring on a visible level. The exponential growth phase is made possible by the rapid consumption of wort sugars by yeast. It’s important to note that wort sugar is consumed by yeast in a certain pattern. Glucose is used first, then fructose and sucrose. These are simple sugars and can be quickly shuttled into metabolism, giving a quick burst of energy. The glucose concentration in wort is roughly 14 percent of wort sugars. Next, the wort will go after the more complex Maltose which accounts for up to more than half of your wort sugars Maltose is an incredibly important contributor to flavor, it’s what gives you perceptible grist notes and even influences the flavor that yeast contributes. Maltose is important also because it has the ability to turn on 5 of the genes found in a yeast cell's DNA, this is what sends the message to the yeast cell that it’s time to start fermenting. Maltose is taken up into the cell via a transport mechanism. Since Maltose is a more complex Disaccharide, it is taken up by something called a Proton Coupled symport mechanism. This is more labor-intensive for the yeast, but this is where your yeast is really going to get it’s fermenting power. The monosaccharides that your yeast used first, like glucose and fructose are transported more simply by something called facilitated diffusion. After the Maltose has been taken in, it is converted into glucose using Maltase enzymes. After this process, the yeast now has fermentable glucose to munch on and turn into alcohol. Lastly, your yeast moves onto the trickiest sugar to digest called maltotriose. It is important to remember that some yeasts are better at fermenting this carbohydrate than others, and some can not ferment it at all. The ability of a strain to ferment Maltotriose is what contributes to its individual attenuation rage. And when we talk about attenuation we are basically talking about how fully a yeast will ferment, available malt sugars within our wort, including maltotriose. You may hear some yeasts described as very dry, this is referring to their high attenuation potential. So let's discuss some important yeast management parameters to consider during the LOG phase before we move on. As we have mentioned, LOG is the most active stage of fermentation, this is the high-intensity workout portion of the process for your yeast cells, and the height of their metabolic activity. Because of this, you may notice that your yeast generates quite a lot of heat. Because of this added heat, some brews can benefit from being fermented a couple of degrees lower during log to offset this heat production and slow down the yeast growth just a bit, in order to mitigate the production of too many esters, primarily the undesirable ones. This is another instance where surprise surprise, pitch rate is again, vitally important because starting with an adequate pitch means your yeast has to grow less and has lower stress put on it, to get the job done… helping to maintain the integrity of your flavors and prevent your brew from stalling out as well. Now let’s move to the final stage of your fermentation process. Enter the stationary phase: This can be anywhere from 3-10 days depending on your yeast, but in most cases with typical brewing yeasts (excluding certain fast fermenters like kiviek). At this point, yeast growth slows down, and yeast enters the stationary phase of growth. Most of the flavor and aroma compounds have been produced, including fusel alcohols, esters, and sulfur compounds. The beer is referred to as green because it does not yet have the acceptable balance of flavors. If you had brewed a batch or two, you have probably noticed your beer tastes different before it is conditioned and this is where that green apple or butter flavor can usually be most apparent, especially if the yeast has been under stress and or there has been a significant amount of yeast growth because the batch was under pitched. We will discuss that in more detail, shortly. We mature and condition beer in the stationary phase. At this point, Krausen has fallen, and yeast begins to flocculate. This is the time that yeast really starts to clean up after themselves. They intracellularly reduce undesirable compounds, into their more acceptable reductive chemicals. A very notable compound that is reduced during this phase is the ketone, Diacetyl. So let’s talk about Diacetyl for a moment. Diacetyl is a byproduct of yeast; they ALL produce it to certain varying degrees and it’s almost always considered an off-flavor with some very particular exceptions, like the ESB style. Diacetyl is characterized by a butterscotch or buttered popcorn flavor in your beer. The flavor threshold for Diacetyl in home-brewed beer is about .05 ppm to 1.0ppm, but some pallets can detect it at even the most minute levels. Diacetyl can become noticeable in your beer when one of the precursors within the yeast cell, acetolactate is leaked from the yeast cell, instead of being converted to Valine, within the cell. That Diacetyl that leaked into your beer can be reduced during the stationary phase of fermentation. The yeast reabsorbs this ketone and uses enzymes to break it down into it’s reductive, and less offensive chemicals, Acetoin, and butanediol. So what do you do if you find yourself with a beer full of diacetyl during your stationary phase? You have probably heard the term “Diacetyl rest” at one point or another. The concept is pretty simple. Diacetyl reduction slows way down at cooler temps. That is why it’s usually more of an issue in cold fermented Lager style beers, but it can also show up in heavily dry-hopped ales, as well. In these cases, we employ a diacetyl rest procedure to reduce that. For lagers, we usually raise the temperature to 65-68 for the last two or so days of fermentation or about 2-5 specific gravity points from the target terminal gravity. For ales, the reduction of diacetyl is much the same, except for different temperature parameters, so if you are fermenting your ale at say 70, you may only need to bring your rest temp up a degree or two. Here we can see a general depiction of the expression, of diacetyl, and the beginning of its reduction It’s worth noting that Diacetyl can also be caused by a bacterial infection usually by Either pediococcus or lactobacillus bacteria, this is a whole subject on its own, so for the sake of time we will save that for an episode on infections. So let’s go back to that green apple flavor we mentioned earlier, what chemical causes that? The culprit is Acetaldehyde! Brewing yeast produces acetaldehyde as an intermediate compound during the conversion of glucose to ethanol. This chemical is produced in every beer, usually during the earlier fermentation stages. In a healthy fermentation, the yeast is usually able to the convert the majority of acetaldehyde into alcohol so that it can no longer be tasted, but if you had factors earlier on in your fermentation process like off temps, under pitching, poor aeration, or overexposure to oxygen after the wort has become beer, your acetaldehyde will fail to fully convert to alcohol, and BOOOOYYYY will you taste it! Speaking of oxygen exposure, this can become even more complex if, during that exposure, your beer is also exposed aerobic bacteria, and those bacteria covert your Acetaldehyde into acetic acid, which you guessed it… that’s vinegar. Gross! Acetaldehyde is the most common indicator, in my experience of a stressful fermentation, and the number one cause for most homebrewers that I see is under pitching or untimely exposure to oxygen. Are you starting to notice a pattern here with pitch rate? What do we do if we are beyond that point, and we can’t go back to the beginning? The answer is usually time and conditioning. That’s where natural conditioning and carbonating can come in very handy! First, if you have completed fermentation, meaning that there are no longer gravity drops occurring in your beer, bottling it and adding priming sugar, acts to wake the yeast back up, and send them back to work. Not only will they have the ability to consume some additional sugars to make C02, but they will have an opportunity to reabsorb more of those off-flavors and convert them into more desirable compounds. Speaking of our LBK for a moment, it can be tempting to leave it in there for a longer amount of time, thinking this flavor will clean up…. You’re not entirely wrong in that thinking, but you are overlooking a critical factor…. Over oxygenation encourages the expression of Acetaldehyde, if your ending SG has been reached, there’s not enough C02 being produced to push oxygen away from your beer anymore, effectively making the problem worse. By bottling, you stop that unwanted exposure. Then your beer is left to condition and clean up in a far more controlled environment. Now, this can apply to other fermenters too, but it is important to remember especially in fermenters that are not using a traditional bung and airlock system. BUT as I touched on earlier, it’s a little bit of a catch 22, Because a lack of good aeration during our LAG phase, will also set us up for Acetaldehyde expression later as well. A good rule of thumb I always try and keep in mind is Oxygen is great for wort, not so great for beer. It can also be helpful to condition your bottles, at a warm enough temperature at least initially, so that your yeast is able to work quickly and efficiently, conditioning too cold can cause further stress on already tired, old yeast cells, and further complicate your green apple flavor, and other “off” indicators. Alright, guys so let’s go over some of what we have learned today…. I think it’s become very clear that proper yeast management from beginning to end, is tantamount to be a successful brewer. Some of the most critical factors being Yeast pitch rate, temperature, and wort quality. You can think of a yeast pitch like a construction crew, the more healthy, viable workers that are on that crew, the better, and faster the job can be accomplished. If we provide the yeast with enough environmental support, through proper temperature, mineral and nutrient base, and aeration…. Those incredible little cells will pay you dividends. I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope it helped to enrich your knowledge and understanding of yeast, it’s life cycle, and its contribution to your beer. Believe it or not, there’s still lots about yeast we didn’t get a chance to cover, but hopefully, this will inspire you to continue to bolster your knowledge and understanding of yeasts. Thank you for nerding out with me on one of my favorite subjects, and please come back and join us next week for another episode of “Brew talk with Mr. Beer” with Robert! I hope to do these advanced education talks as often as possible, as long as there’s a demand. If you have suggestions on topics for a future Advanced education talk, please let us know. Cheers guys, and happy brewing! Ashley
Read moreWhy you should not boil hopped malt extract
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="-LLSxdTFMJM" video_title1="Why you should not boil hopped malt extract" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} Hopped malt extract is already preboiled, so what happens if you accidentally boil it again? Find out on this week’s episode of BrewTalk with Mr. Beer. This is one of the mistakes we see quite often, especially from new brewers. We also see this when people want to go mad scientist from the get-go and boil their HME with all kinds of hops or other flavors. When most people think of brewing beer for the first time they think of this boiling liquid and all kinds of different complex processes. While that is true when brewing from all-grain, it is not true for brewing with Mr. Beer. Since we used hopped malt extract all of that boiling and the complicated process has already been done. So if you do boil your hopped malt extract then that can lead to bad off-flavors in your brew. It should be noted that hopped malt extract and malt extract are two completely different things. For this purpose, we are only talking about hopped malt extract. You never want to boil your hopped malt extract can. The can of hopped malt extract contains isomerized hops. This means that the hops in the can have already been exposed to a certain amount of heat to achieve a specific level of bitterness for that style of extract. If you decide to boil your can of HME it will cause off-flavors in your beer. Plus it will make your beer much darker than it should be. When you boil your can of hopped malt extract you run the risk of over-isomerizing the hops. What this can do is lead to an extremely bitter beer and also create a medicine like flavor in your beer. This is not a flavor that will condition out. So it is best to remember, that when brewing with hopped malt extract you never want to boil the contents of the can. Cheers Robert
Read moreDo you add your priming sugar before or after you fill your bottles?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="v1IBFB9_q6Q" video_title1="Do you add your priming sugar before or after you fill your bottles?" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} A question we see quite often, when should you add your priming sugar? We break it down in this week's episode of BrewTalk with Mr. Beer. A question we see people asking quite often, do I add my priming sugar before or after I fill my bottles? I think a good second question to that would be do I shake my bottles once they are filled and the priming sugar has been added? So, let's tackle the first question. We do think and recommend in our instructions that you add your sugar or carbonation drops before you add the beer to your bottle. A few reasons for this, it does make it a little easier to handle your bottle when it's empty vs when it's full of beer. Also, adding carbonation drops or sugar to your bottles when they are full, could kick up very small splashes of beer which can lead to the protentional of oxygenation. As we have mentioned in past videos that is one of the most common off-flavors people get when bottling, so you always want to be careful to not kick up the beer. Now, this brings us to the second part of this, shaking your bottles. This is something that you do not want to do. All this will do is create oxygen in your beer which will lead to off-flavors. When bottling your beer, you want to be as gentle as possible. Treat it like a newborn baby and make sure to always handle your brew with care. So to recap, add your priming sugar or carbonation drops before you fill your bottles and never shake your bottles. Cheers, Robert
Read moreThe Different Stages of Fermentation
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="so3z-g2mzFI" video_title1="The Different Stages of Fermentation" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} If you are a first-time brewer you are most likely unsure what to expect for your first batch. We thought it would be helpful to break down the different basic stages of fermentation in this week's episode of BrewTalk with Mr. Beer. The first stage would be right after you pitch your yeast. Most people expect to see something right away but you usually won't. You will get some action with in the first 24 hours of pitching your yeast but not a lot. And you won’t see anything happen right away, so just be patient. The second stage is what is usually referred to as high krausen and is the most active stage of fermentation. This is during the first 72 hours of fermentation. So, during the first 3 days, you will see some good action in your beer and foam on top. This is when the yeast is eating up most of the simple sugars first and just going crazy. After this stage, the fermentation activity will slow and can even sometimes look like nothing is happening, but don’t worry, those yeasts are still doing their thing. During this phase, they are breaking down more of the complex sugars, so they are not as active, but they are still fermenting away. Your beer will remain this way until it is done. So the majority of the sugars are eaten up in the first 72 hours then the yeast works on the more complex sugars for the remaining time of fermentation. It is important to note that when you bottle your beer you will get a slight secondary fermentation activity. The yeast will be a little more active due to the sugar that you added to your bottles. This is what will create the C02 in your beer. You will also see the same thing if you add fruit for example later in fermentation. So if you add fruit on day 10 of fermentation the yeast will go crazy again and look like high krausen all over again. One more thing to keep in mind, the more fermentables you have in your beer the more active of a fermentation you will have. So if you are brewing a big beer or something with fruit or added sugars, you will see a lot more active fermentation that you normally would. Cheers, Robert
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Trub Bread Recipe
Once you're all done with the brewing process and your beer has fermented and been bottled, you have this layer of sediment or Trub at the bottom of the fermenter. Most people would just clean out their fermenter and think nothing of it. Did you know that you can make your own beer bread or trub bread from this? It’s fairly simple and easy to do. Plus, it makes some awesome tasting bread. So now you can be a homebrewer and a baker! To make this it requires you to do your Trub starter the night before. Ingredients for Trub Starter: ½ cup Trub ¾ cup flour 1 Tablespoon Sugar Instructions: Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, then cover with a kitchen towel and let it sit overnight. The mixture once mixed, will look like a liquid paste. That is the start of the bread now let’s dive into the part of the actual bread making. Ingredients for Bread: 2 cups flour 2 tablespoons Sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dry bread yeast 1/3 to ½ cup of warm water Instructions: In a mixing bowl mix together 2 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of dry bread yeast. Once that is well mixed, make a well in the center and add in the Trub Starter and a little bit of water. Stir this mixture until it is all mixed well together. You may need to add a little bit of additional water during this time until the dough comes together. Not too wet, not too dry, you want it just right. Be careful not to overwork. Once it is all combined and forms a uniformed ball, place it in a buttered pan or bowl, cover with a damp kitchen town and let it rise until it doubles in size. Once it has doubled in size punch down the dough like your Bruce Lee, then form it into a loaf and bake it at 400 degrees for around 30 minutes or until the top of the bread is golden brown and it sounds hollow when you tap it. Once removed you can cover the top in melted butter if you so choose. That’s it! We hope you enjoy your awesome and delicious trub bread, make sure to post your pictures on social media, and tag us! We want to see those awesome loaves your baking. Cheers! Robert
Read moreOur thoughts on brewing with tap water
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="q-dM5ggevBs" video_title1="Our thoughts on brewing with tap water" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} Water is the most important ingredient when it comes to brewing, so how does brewing with tap water affect your beer, and is it safe to brew with? One of the most common water questions that we get is, can I use tap water? Most people don’t want to run out and buy filtered water for brew day or as we learned earlier this year it may be hard to come by bottled water sometimes. So, you can use tap water on your brew day. A general rule of thumb is if you drink your tap water than you can brew with your tap water. However, if you have water that is high in chlorine than we would suggest not to brew with it. Chlorine is added to water in treatment facilities to make it portable and safe to drink. But chlorine can have negative effects on your beer. According to our Brewmaster and resident brewing scientist Ashely, chlorine can bond with low molecular malts to create “Chlorophenols”. These will translate a flavor to your beer which will taste like medicine or band-aids. Which no one wants in their beer! If you want to be safe on brew day, then make sure you have good quality water. Use either bottled spring or drinking water or you can use filter water in your house. We use RO water in our brew room. So to sum it up, you can use tap water but beware of high levels of chlorine that is in your water. Cheers, Robert
Read moreWhy you should tilt your bottle during bottling?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="iX20-mv-Mp8" video_title1="Why you should tilt your bottle during bottling?" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} We always tell brewers to tilt their bottles while filling them from the spigot, well this is why you should do it. So in our instructions when it comes to bottling we tell you to tilt the bottle at an angle when filling. What this does is it prevents oxygen from getting in the beer which can create off-flavors. This can lead to a stale or a cardboard flavor in your beer. Not something that you want. So what you want to do is have the beer flow down the side of the bottle. This helps prevent the beer from kicking up at the bottom of the bottle and getting oxidized. If you have ever poured beer from a tap or into a glass it is the same thing. You pour the beer down the side to prevent from getting a glass of foam, so you do the same thing for bottling. If you want a sure proof way to help reduce the risk of oxidation during bottling even more then I would recommend using a bottling wand. They fill your bottle from the bottom up and they are a great way to reduce the risk of oxidation as well as make bottling easier. Cheers, Robert
Read moreHow long does our No-Rinse Cleanser last in solution?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="ySRR-IwB6YY" video_title1="How long does our No-Rinse Cleanser last in solution?" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} This is a question we get quite often regarding our Mr. Beer No-Rinse Cleanser. How long can it last once it is mixed up? Unlike other sanitizers such as Star San, our No-Rinse Cleaners is a little different, in that it must be used once it is mixed up. Once you wet the dry ingredients of the cleanser and mix it up, it then becomes active. You typically have a few hours left of the sanitizing activity. 2-3 tops. Over time the germ-fighting ingredients are lost to the atmosphere. So the longer the solution sits the less effective it will become. That is why you should always use it right away once it is mixed. Then you know that you will get the best results and that your equipment is properly sanitized. The No-Rinse cleanser in its dry form will last indefinitely. If you want to have a solution that will last a while we would recommend getting Star San. Following the mixing ratios on the bottle, you can mix some up into a spray bottle and it will last around 3-4 weeks. This is a great extra tool to add to your brewing arsenal. We use it daily in our brew room. If you brew a lot you can also mix some up and store it in a 3-gallon keg or some other airtight container and then you can use that to sanitize as well when it comes to brew day. Cheers, Robert
Read moreWhat is the difference between sanitization, sterilization and cleaning?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="cfK9mrzoP0Q" video_title1="What is the difference between sanitization, sterilization and cleaning?" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} Often times people wonder if these are the same when related to brewing. You want to make sure all your equipment is clean and sanitized but what exactly are you doing and when? So first off sterilization is the process of killing all living organisms on a surface, think like surgical instruments and stuff like that. This is not something that we use in brewing. When you are preparing your brewing equipment you will cleaning and sanitizing. Alight so the first thing you are going to do when brewing is sanitization. This is a reduction or impairment of invasive, and or harmful pathogens, usually up to 99%. This is what you want to do with your fermenter, bottles, and other equipment that you are going to use during the brewing process. We always say that it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to sanitizing your equipment. So, sanitize anything and everything that you might even be considering using on your brew day or bottling day. There is nothing worse than having an infected batch of beer! So, sanitize everything! So now the next part of this cleaning. This is the act of removing unwanted substances, such as infective agents, dirt, and other contaminants from an item or environment. It is normally done as the first step for preventing cross-contamination. The best time to clean your fermenter or bottles is right after you use them. So after you bottle your beer you will want to clean out your fermenter right away. The best way to do this is first to give it a good rinse with warm water to make sure you get all the trub and all that junk out. Make sure to run some water through your spigot and take it apart to rinse well. Then I will usually get a paper towel or a soft cloth and make sure to wipe the inside really well to be sure that you are not leaving anything behind. You can also you Brewery Wash. We sell the Craftmesiter Oxygen Brewery Wash which works great and I highly recommend that. Now when it comes to bottles you will want to rinse these really well in warm water after you drink the beer that was in them. Also, it never hurts to soak your bottles every so often in some brewery wash just to make sure there is nothing hanging out in there. Cheers, Robert
Read moreHow to Sanitize for & Add Hops for your Dry Hop Additions?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="2jLnnR5U3II" video_title1="How to Sanitize for & Add Hops for your Dry Hop Additions?" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} How should you sanitize for dry hopping and how do you do it? We break it all down in this week’s episode of BrewTalk with Mr. Beer. So Dry hopping, it’s a pretty cool thing. Adding hops late in fermentation for aroma can add that extra element to your beer. A lot of our recipes, especially IPAs call for dry hopping. Not a lot of people are sure how to sanitize the hop sack for dry hopping though. Yes, you do need to always sanitize everything that will come in contact with your beer. Depending on what recipe you are brewing we will have you dry hop with our without a hopsack. This is mostly dependent on how many hops you are adding. You don’t want to add 3oz of loose hops into your LBK, you might have a few issues when it comes time to bottling. Okay so to sanitize your hopsack you can do a few things. If you have any extra sanitizer packets or something like Star San you can mix it up and let hop sack soak in that. If you don’t have any extra sanitizer you can boil the hop sack in water for a few minutes to sanitize it that way. Always make sure to sanitize any other equipment you might be using as well. That would be scissors to open the packet of hops and then tongs to get the hop sack out of the boiling water. If you are not using a hopsack then you just want to make sure to sanitize your scissors and you will be good to go. When adding the hops to the hop sack make sure not to touch the outside of the hop bag with the hop sack. The risk of infection this way is very low, but you don’t want to take the chance! Once you pour in the hops you will want to tie off the hop sack. Make sure to tie the knot a little high as the hops will expand once they get soaked up in the beer. From there you open your lid quick and gently drop them in. If you not using a hopsack then you would just gently pour the hops in the keg. Then once you're done put the lid back on and your good to go. Just remember when doing this always be careful about sanitization. Make sure to wash your hands and that everything is clean. This is a place where a lot of people can get infections to make sure to be careful. Cheers, Robert
Read moreWhat's the difference between carbonating and conditioning your homebrew?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="Ov0KLH74lQA" video_title1="What's the difference between carbonating and conditioning your homebrew?" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} This seems to be a question that we see quite often. How can you tell when one stage ends and the other begins? The truth is you really can’t they kind of happen at the same time for the first 2 weeks after your beer has been in the bottle. The whole process of carbonating and conditioning your beer in the bottle is called Bottle Conditioning. We just like to break them out separately. The reason that we call them out as separate things is just to help you better understand the entire process and know what is going on. Between carbonating and conditioning you don’t need to do anything different with your brew. They can stay in the same spot at the same temperature. During the first 2 weeks is when the carbonation is taking place. The yeast is eating up your carbonation drops or sugar and creating CO2. This is what gives your beer a nice layer of foam and also helps create those little carbonated bubbles. Another thing that carbonation does it helps the flavors and aromatics of the beer to come together. If you have ever tasted a beer before you bottle when it is flat and then you taste it after it is carbonated the difference is night and day. The CO2 really helps tie it all together. After the first 2 weeks of carbonation, we say that the beer is now conditioning. During this time some of the harsh flavors are mellowing out and everything is coming together. This is also where some off-flavors will get cleaned up. If your beer has a green or cidery taste to it, this is the time where those flavors will clean up and go away. Conditioning is one of the best things you can do for your beer. Especially for malty beers and beers high in ABV. When you let them sit over time those flavors start to blend together to get the best possible version of your beer. One thing to note with conditioning is that Hop flavor and aroma will dissipate over time, so if you want a hoppy beer just keep that in mind when you are conditioning your beer. Cheers, Robert
Read moreHow long can you leave your homebrew in the fermenter?
{{widget type="Solvature\VideoSlider\Block\Widget\VideoSliderWidget" video_embed1="kkVDU8stpUM" video_title1="How long can you leave your homebrew in the fermenter?" video_cta_color1="white" video_cta_color2="white" video_cta_color3="white" video_cta_color4="white" video_cta_color5="white"}} It's happened to the best of us. You brew then get busy and totally forget about bottling your beer! You may think it's no good and should toss it, but hold a sec! We break down how long is too long in this week's episode. So let's paint a picture, you brew an awesome Mr. Beer recipe, but then life gets busy. You forget you brewed a batch and then one night you're sitting there and you realize that your beer has been sitting there for 4 weeks! It’s happened to all of us. Things come up and bottling your homebrew is just not a priority at the moment. A common question we get is from people that have left their beer for to long and are thinking about dumping it. Before you ever dump your beer always try it. You may think something is bad but when you taste it you could be surprised. It could be totally fine, or if you did get some type of infection it could be a good one that turns your beer into a nice sour! For brewing with Mr. Beer, we always recommend that you bottle your beer no later than 24 days in the fermenter. You can go longer but the longer your beer sits the more chance you have to get an infection and get off-flavors in your beer. The 24-day mark has always worked well for us. We have gone over in some cases but mostly by a few days. If I had to put a date on it, I would say you want to bottle your beer around 28 days, or if you cannot bottle it then you would want to rack it into a secondary fermenter to get it off the yeast. The main reason you want to get your beer off the yeast is due to Autolysis. This happens when the yeast cells die and rupture they release several off-flavors into your beer. So getting your beer off the dead yeast will help prevent those flavors from happening. When you have a brew that has succumbed to Autolysis it will have this burnt rubber taste and smell to it and will most likely be undrinkable. At that point, you would want to toss it. Now I do want to note that you can keep beer in the fermenter for longer. When you have healthy yeast and good temperatures your beer can sit longer and be fine but the longer it goes the chances of infection will increase. So make sure when your brewing to plain out your bottling day as well so you don’t forget! Cheers, Robert
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