Home Brewer’s Ultimate Recipe Book

Hell Gate Porter

I don’t know how other people decide what they are going to brew, but often I will begin a recipe because I like the name of the beer; especially if the ingredients are unique or interesting to me. The name “Hell Gate Porter” catches they eye because it just sounds cool, and the recipe itself is intriguing. Aside from the unusual combining of both honey and molasses in a porter there is a detailed hops list with very specific call times which appealed to me. Admit it, sometimes just standing over the pot and watching it boil for an hour gets a little stale…

So, this recipe fit my criteria for “sounds cool, looks fun to cook and has some interesting ingredient variations”. Decision made, I gathered all the supplies and started cooking. Don’t start this one unless you are ready to stand over the pot, watching the clock, the hop addition times are specific and although I have no idea what happens if you vary the call times, I do know that following this recipe to the letter produces a delicious porter.

The end result is a nice clean porter with a rich dark cola color and a creamy dense tan head. It has a sharp beginning taste with a very light mouth-feel. The flavor quickly smooths out but maintains a nice clean bitter taste with a slight bite. There is almost no nutty character to this one but the molasses is more noticeable in the smell than in the taste. Because of the light mouth-feel, this is a dark beer that would be very enjoyable in the summer time.

Overall this is a good porter; most of the people who tried it liked it and went back for more, but there weren’t any rave reviews or requests for another batch. I think that it would benefit from some malto-dextrine just to give it a little more substance.

SG 1.066
OG 1.019
ABV 7%

Fermenting temp 66º-69º
1 Week Primary
2 Week Secondary
10 days bottled

I brewed this up last month and at first tasting it is very very good. This isn’t your typical peach flavored wheat, as it doesnt employ apricot or peach flavorings from your LHBS, or from real peaches. Instead, its a sort of herbal beer that I flavored using perfect peach tea bags from bigelow teas. They contain rose hips, hibiscus, orange peel, lemon peel, apple and strawberry leaves, and roasted chicory. Some of these are mentioned in the book sacred and herbal healing beers, and the others i found reference to wine making. This recipe is a for a 2.5 gallon “partial mash,” which only uses 1lbs of amber malt extract to boast alcohol content. The only reason I added this was to compensate for a low post-mash gravity reading. My efficiency was pretty low (high 50s/ low 60s), which may have been caused by the large quantity of adjuncts that I used.

Perfect Peach Ale

Ingredients

2lbs Belgian pale malt
0.25lbs Carahelles
0.25lbs 20L Crystal malt
0.50lbs Toasted oats
2lbs Flaked wheat
1lb Dry amber malt extract
0.5lbs honey
.25oz Cascade hops (first wort hopped)
.1oz Cascade hops (flameout)
2bags of Perfect Peach Tea from Bigelow Teas
Wyeast American Ale (.5L starter)
3/8 cups priming sugar

Mashed at 128F for 30 mins, then rose temp to 150F for 50mins. Recirculated 3L wort then ran off into kettle with the cascade hops. I then sparged with 6L at 170F. Added enough water to make 3 gallons, and brought it to a boil. I then added the peach tea and boiled for an hour. I added the honey and the dry malt extract in the last 10 mins and then added the remaining cascade hops at flameout. Chilled, racked to the primary, aerated, and then pitched the yeast. It was in the primary for a week, the secondary for three weeks, and then primed and bottled.

I tasted a week after bottling and I am very happy with the flavor of this beer, its smooth and citrusy with a light peach undertone. The cascade hops are slightly noticeable and blend together nicely with fruit flavor. There is also a slight tang, possibly from the hibiscus or the lemon peel, that goes well. Its appearance is very very very hazy, im guessing its from the high oat and flaked wheat content. Its aroma is light with scents of peaches, orange, and is lightly floral. The head retention is surprisingly good for being freshly bottled.

Overall, I loved the way this one turned out. I think this herbal peach tea is a very good substitute to peach flavoring and adds an added complexity because of the combination of herbs. However, time will tell if this flavoring ages well. According to Radical Brewing, the nature flavoring in peaches can somehow be digested or altered by fermentation and the resultant taste ends up being gummy and unappealing

The wort chiller, is simply that, a piece of equipment to cool your wort down from boiling temperatures low enough to pitch your yeast. They come in many different configurations, and can cost a bundle. The simple way to cool your wort is an ice bath, just put your brew pot into the sink with ice water, and wait. This method while effective, is quite time consuming. When extract brewing, and only boiling a partial wort, it can work just fine. When doing full boils however, it really doesn’t work all that great. Thus the need for a chiller. There are simple copper coils, you immerse them into your hot wort, and run cold water through them. Probably the simplest of the chillers we will talk about. There are plate chillers, your wort passes through a series of metal plates that can be externally or internally chilled. These are very effective, but hard to clean and sanitize, and can be pretty expensive. There are counter-flow chillers, where cold water passes through a copper line inside a length of tubing , and the wort is circulated through the tubing itself. Another very effective set up, but again, it can be difficult to clean, and it’s expensive. All these chillers can be purchased either on line, or at your local home brew store.

If you have a little time, you can fashion a very effective imersion type chiller yourself. Simply buy some 1/4″ or 3/8″ copper tubing, Length depending on budget and chiller size, 12′ to 15′ minimun. (the longer the more effecient) And a couple fittings. Bending the copper can be difficult, it tends to crimp easily. You can buy a bender or If you bend it carefully around something hard and round, say a 3# coffee can, you can make coils without crimping the line. The fittings should be compression type, with standard male hose connections. Look at a photo of one, and you will get the idea. Make one, and you can save a few dollars, Purchase one and you won’t be sorry. A wort chiller can make brew day a lot shorter and easier.

This is a recurring topic that seems to be asked about frequently. This should take a lot of the questions out of the process and help with some shortcuts as well if desired. The advantage to kegging is the consistant carbonation level that can be maintained as well as the lag time between green beer and ready to drink. Although the longer your beer stays under pressure the better conditioned it will become, this article is mainly focused on carbonation method, but your decision for which method may take conditioning into account.

The first step to force carbonating is prepping your keg. To do this you want to fill your sanatized keg with your post-fermented green beer. No need to add any priming sources, let the CO2 do its job. Once all of your fittings are tightened down, and the keg lid is in place (keg lubing the gasket is recommended), you need to now “burp” it. This is the removal of the deadspace that is now containing O2 between the top of the surface of the beer and the keg lid. To do this, connect the gas line to the gas in post for just a couple seconds. You will hear a quick fill then stop. Either disconnect the line, or shutoff the valve at the manifold, then release the pressure by lifting the PRV (pressure release valve). Repeat this “burping” 3 times to assure that all of the O2 is forced out and the heavier CO2 has replaced it. Chill the new keg down to your serving temp. Now we need some carbonation.

The easiest way to force carb is to enter your fresh keg into a balanced system. The advantage to this method is its ease and consistancy. The disadvantage is the wait time. A balanced system is one that serves your beer and maintains carbonation at the same psi level. Most systems find this balance between 9-13 psi. Your liquid line’s length and diameter, as well as tap height will all play slight differences in individual system needs. Let’s say for the sake of argument your system balances at 12psi. You now want to hook your gas line up to the new keg’s gas in post, and forget about it for 10-14 days. After this period of time, you can hook up the liquid line and you will get a balanced pour with a balanced carb level.

The next method is a “quick carb” method. This will have you drinking your homebrew within minutes after kegging. The advantage is you will be drinking your homebrew within minutes after kegging. The disadvantage is you will get no conditioning time. To do this, you want to shut off all of your gas lines first before doing anything else. Now turn your regulator up to 30 psi, open the valve for the dedicated line for carbing, then connect to the liquid post of your keg. You will hear lots of gurgling. Rock the keg back and forth for aprroximately one minute, wait one minute then disconnect. Rock the keg again to get all the newly infused CO2 into the beer. Repeat this process once more. Your goal here is to get the keg’s pressure to internally maintain 12 psi after the gas has been infused. If you have a gas pressure bleeder valve with gauge it is a great tool to have now, check to see if after a few minutes you have maintained your target 12 psi. If you have, turn your regulator back down to 12 psi and hook the gas line up to the gas in post, and your serving line to the liquid post. Pour your beer and enjoy.

The third way combines these two and I feel is the best way to get the maximum efficiency and compromise between consistancy and time. Connect your gas line to the liquid out post, as above. Carb at 30 psi the same as above. Wait for the kegs pressure to equalize, then connect the gas to the gas in post, leave at balanced system pressure for 1 week. This jumpstart gets CO2 into solution right away, but then allows some conditioning as well. You can also perform this method but leave the keg disconnected (still chilled) until you have room for it in your system’s rotation. Now if a keg unexpectedly kicks (which is when they always seem to) you will have a pre-carbed back up ready to go.

When using any of these methods heed the caution that you are dealing with gas under pressure and preesure in and pressure out will always balance. If you use a quick carb method and bring your kegs pressure up above serving pressure, you will get beer in your gas line! To avoid this make sure the internal pressure does not exceed that of the gas in pressure if connecting to the liquid post. The easiest way for this is to again check w/ a bleeder valve and relieve excess pressure by the PRV.

Determining now which method you want to use, also take into account your individual systems balance, temperature and volumes of CO2 desired. Practice and reference to http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/carbonation.html will get you there.

So balance your system, carb some beer, and share it with those who appreciate it!

Prost!

I figured it would be a good idea to write a basic summary of the acids in hops. I suppose should start by saying that there three main compound groups in hops that provide our sought after bitterness, aroma, and flavor. These groups are the hard resins, soft resins, and the essential oils. The consensus is that hard resins aren’t important and don’t contribute much of anything in terms of flavor and aroma. As such, I am going to ignore them… forever. (more…)

The Brew Pot:

Weather you are brewing extract or all grain, you should have a pot big enough to do a full boil. For most of us, a standard 30qt turkey fryer does the job nicely. While the aluminum ones are fairly inexpensive, and work, I recommend spending a bit more and getting a stainless steel one. Plus you get the added benefit of a high btu burner, so you don’t have take up the whole stove. And your mobile. This mobility is nice especially if you have a spouse that doesn’t appreciate the aroma’s of brewing.

Well, using the turkey fryer, we are covered for batches up to 7 Gal. For Larger batches, you have to graduate up to bigger, equipment. Polar-ware TM, considered the pinnacle of brew pots come in sizes to meet all needs. They also come with a stiff price tag. Another option, one that many people use, is the keg. However, kegs generally speaking are the property of a brewery. Personal ownership is possible however, it is up to individual to ensure it’s legality. Cut the top open, (should be done by a professional) and they make a really nice brew pot. When graduating to the bigger pots, a larger burner (more btu’s) may be necessary.

Some nice additions to any brew pot include a spigot near the bottom (I consider this a necessity). A thermometer about half way up is nice too. Both can installed as welded or weld-less.