I have been really keen on brewing lately and pretty excited about trying my hand at some Belgian Ales after visiting the Allagash Brewery in Portland Maine in August.

So in the next week or so, I have a Belgian Pale Ale planned and then move on to a Dubbel. The Dubbel is what I have been looking forward to brewing and I am going to make the Pale Ale to build up the yeast for the Dubbel. Once the fermentation is complete, I am going to do the unthinkable and bottle them. YIKES!!!!

I am also going to brewing a number of English Ales and German Lagers. Can’t wait!!!

Cheers,

Tim

This was another brew that I put on during my vacation. It turned out to be more of a kitchen sink brew as I checked out my inventory. I had some odds and sods of stuff left so figured I would finish them off.

Again, it was beautiful warm autumn day so brewing outside was not an issue. I ended up starting this one late in day as the kids had the day off from school and some of their friends called for them to come over for a visit.

You maybe wondering why I did a protein rest for this ale as I usually don’t. The reason is simple, the protein rest does not create dough balls when I mash-in at that lower temperature, like the higher temperature mash-in does. So, it’s just easier.

This beer is pretty much ready for kegging now. I haven’t check the gravity but this beer should come in around 3.5%ABV. A good session beer.

I am crossing my fingers on this ale. My last few didn’t turn out very well, but I think it was because of under pitching of the yeast and this might have happened to this also.

Recipe: Deerwood Bitter
Brewer: Tim Gorman
Style: Standard/Ordinary Bitter
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
————————–
Batch Size: 40.00 L
Boil Size: 48.17 L
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 10.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 34.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.50 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
————
Amount      Item
6.00 kg     Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) 85.35 %
0.45 kg     Carafoam (2.0 SRM) 6.40 %
0.25 kg     Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) 3.56 %
0.22 kg     Special B Malt (220.0 SRM)  3.13 %
0.11 kg     Caramel/Crystal Malt – 40L (45.0 SRM) 1.56 %
28.30 gm    Crystal [3.30 %]  (60 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
44.00 gm    Northern Brewer [6.00 %]  (60 min) 17.7 IBU
28.30 gm    Pearle [7.00 %]  (30 min) 10.2 IBU
28.30 gm    Pearle [7.00 %]  (15 min) 6.6 IBU
1 Pkgs      London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) [Starter 12Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Double Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 7.03 kg
—————————-
Double Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time     Name               Description Step Temp
15 min        Protein Rest       Add 13.19 L of water at 55.6 C 50.0 C
75 min        Saccrification     Add 11.42 L of water at 89.9 C 66.7 C

Last week I was on vacation and seeing as I wasn’t going anywhere I figured it was a good time to brew some beer. For some reason the weather has been quite mild lately, so this made the day even better.

This was my first brew day since early spring and with no distractions, the brew day went off without a hitch. I missed my target mash temp, but that was an easy fix with some cold water. The fermentation took off quickly, 2 hours later and there was a good head of krausen.

Currently, it is fermenting at 10C and I will lager it around 1C until I can’t stand it and need some beer. The brew should come in at just below 4%ABV. More of a lawnmower beer, but also a good ’sit down and have a few and not get too tipsy’ beer.

Recipe: autumn lager
Brewer: Tim Gorman
Style: Lite American Lager
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
————————–
Batch Size: 40.00 L
Boil Size: 45.79 L
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 3.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 11.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.50 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
————
Amount      Item
5.75 kg     Pale Malt (2 Row) Canada (2.0 SRM) 79.31 %
1.50 kg     Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) 20.69 %
14.00 gm    Pearle [7.00 %]  (60 min) 6.4 IBU
22.00 gm    Crystal [3.30 %]  (60 min) (First Wort Hop) 5.3 IBU
0.53 tsp    Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)
2 Pkgs      SafLager West European Lager (DCL Yeast #S-23)Yeast-Lager

Mash Schedule: Double Infusion, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 7.25 kg
—————————-
Double Infusion, Light Body
Step Time     Name               Description Step Temp
10 min         Protein Rest       Add 13.63 L of water at 55.6 C 50.0 C
75 min        Saccrification     Add 12.11 L of water at 86.7 C 66.7 C

Thursday night I kegged my first beer in almost a year…YIKES!!! It was a German Pils that I made a few weeks earlier. I know, it only lagered for a very short period of time. But I really needed some beer in a keg as the local liquor store was draining my wallet with it’s limited selection and over priced brews.

I made the brew lower in alcohol % from the actual style guidelines, as my goal was to have a nice sharp bitter pils to my liking and be able to drink a few without the alcohol taking over.

My only worry when kegging this brew was that I didn’t do a check list to make sure that I had everything that I need to keg (CO2, dispensing line, clean taps etc). The dispensing line and taps were not a major worry. It was when I put the CO2 line on the keg post that I got worried…nothing or very little was coming out. It turned out it was just one of my valves that wasn’t opened. (Which reminds me to take my CO2 tanks in to get them refilled.)

After a few days in the keg and being fully carbed up to style, to my tastes, it was just what I was looking for. Crisp, dry and a nice hop bitterness bite that isn’t overpowering. Success…

Cheers,

Tim

Easter Sunday I had the chance to brew one of my favourite beer styles, a VMO. Well I guess that the style guidelines have change a bit over the last year but for now I will still call it a VMO (Vienna Märzen Octoberfest). I tend stick to the Märzen end of the style. It is a lager which is amber in color and the taste is malty but not sweet and also has a toasty favour.

“In the Middle Ages, brewers had a difficult time brewing good-tasting beers during the hot summer months when the brew could easily become infected with air-born bacteria. To have an ample supply of saleable beer on hand during the summer, brewers worked overtime in March to brew an extra strong and well-hopped beer that would keep for a long time. Märzen is German for March, so the beer came to be known for the month in which it was brewed.

In time, the March beer turned into an October beer. When the summer was over and it was safe to resume brewing again, the brewers needed to empty their kegs to make room for the new brews. That meant that Märzen had to be finished off in a hurry. Throw a little bit of merriment into the mix, and you’ve got an Oktoberfest with a Märzen beer party. Modern Märzen, like Oktoberfestbier, is always well-aged, usually for at least four to eight weeks. It is usually amber in color and has an alcohol content of 5 to 6.2%.”

- German Beer Institute

One of the things that I have been asked a few times is ‘How do you dry hop your beer in your kegs?’.

I am the kind of brewer that likes to use odds and ends that are around me for brewing gadgets. As I tend to procrastinate, this works well for me most times.

Dry Hopping in a Keg started when I wanted to dry hop an ordinary bitter about a year and a half ago. I could have used a hop bag, but I really wanted the hops to just float around in the keg and really ‘touch’ the beer. I could have used a stainless pot scrubber, but I use those to get the wort out of my kettle. So, I looked around and saw that I had extra stainless steel braided hose left over from my second mash tun that I had just built.

Head to the Gallery page for some images. It works great and you don’t get much in the way of hop bits in your beer, the little bits you do get don’t bother me.

Last Saturday I was fortunate to get together with my friends JasonS and KevinP to brew some Ale.

I had been thinking of Jason and Kevin quite a bit and was really missing the ‘bonding’. Kevin, Jason and I have been through a lot over the past (gasp) 20ish years. Almost the first 10 of those years were spent in the theatre industry. They have also been there with me since the beginning of the Burning Barrel Brewery.

These two men stood up with me at my wedding..’nuff said.

Our Saturday brew all started the previous Monday with an email from Kevin that simply stated ‘WE should get together for drinks.’. That simple email then grew into us deciding to get together at Jason’s to brew.

I had 5 days to decide on what to brew and I was expecting some Fermentis S-04 Ale yeast from George Leet. This arrived on Wednesday, so I decided to use up the rest of my Crisp Maris Otter and make an Ordinary Bitter. I pretty much stuck to my standard OB recipe with a few variations.

When Saturday morning arrived, I looked outside and thought to myself ‘What a beautiful day it’s going to be.”. I was looking forward to the brew day. As I walked outside to get my gear out of the shed, I realized that looks can be deceiving. It was cold outside, but it was even worse when I walked into the wind. But it didn’t matter, I was going to brew today with friends.

With all the gear in the van, my son and I headed into town as he had hockey before the brew day was to begin.

Jason’s place is very close to the rink so that was an added bonus. When we were done with hockey, my son and I headed for a bagel and a coffee for me and an apple juice for my son then off to Jason’s. My wife, who had my other son at basketball, came and picked up the hockey player.

Then Jason and I started to setup for our brew day. We realized then that Kevin would probably not be brewing, but he did show up with some beer. In his hands on arrival were…Big Rock Grasshopper and Trad – we finished these off first and saved the best for last as he also brought Pumphouse Red and St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout.

The great thing about when the three of us get together…it’s like we haven’t been apart. The brewing almost is secondary as we spend the day discussing what has been going on in our lives since the three of us gathered last (which should be more often…but we get older, heh heh).

As we brew we forget about some things in the brewing process…but it will be beer in the end.

At the end of the brew day and the cold…cold day, Jason, the saint that he is, had some amazing chicken chili ready. And of course we washed that down with some of the beer that Kevin arrived with. The chili was just what we needed to end the cold brew day. Nice thick, hot, spicy chili. Oh and the hockey game was on the television.

Cheers to my friends Kevin and Jason (who have become brewers).

Tim