RIP Apple MBP
Just wanted to hold a moment of silence in this post for my 2011 Macbook Pro that officially died this morning. /sadface
After a lot of troubleshooting I narrowed it down to the keyboard’s power button and ended up ripping it all open and replacing the keyboard. The power button did work after that and I felt a moment of accomplishment. It continued to work up until I had to plug in the power cord to charge it. Overnight it charged while in “hibernation” due to being idle. Next day - nothing from the power button. Going through all the troubleshooting - no dice. Therefore, I’m going to conclude that there was a short going on somewhere that bricked the board when I hooked up the power and I’m moving on. I’ve still got my Samsung ultrabook to keep me company.
Well - onto the brewing notes! I recently attended a brewing 101 session. I brewed for maybe 2 years off and on but never really tried to greatly improve. This time will hopefully be different. Key notes from the session below.
Brew 101 Notes
General
- Mark 5 gallons on fermenter for ease of use
- Do not use distilled water - no minerals
- Even temperatures during fermentation help yeast prevent off flavors
- Certain kinds of beer - higher fermentation temps help flavor (ie. bavarian hefeweizen and banana clove flavor)
- Think about a bag over a fermenter in case of eruption
- Avoid aluminum pots because they heat too quickly
- Don’t add nuts or anything with high fat to beer
- White Vinegar can clean a copper wort chiller
- OG - if lower than expected - expect to drink beer faster. If above, can dilute the wort before fermentation with extra water.
| Type |
Hops Flavor |
Grain Flavor |
| American |
Piney |
Dry |
| British |
Herbal/Earthy |
Bread-y |
| German |
Mix of above |
Mix of above |
| Belgian/French |
Pepper/Flower-y |
Biscuit |
| New Zealand/Australia |
Tropical Fruit |
—— |
Procedure
Prep
- Everything should be “Visibility” clean
- Cleanliness is the most important thing to brewing good beer
- CLEAN - PBW is your friend
- SANITIZE - StarSan is your friend
- Fermenter - 30 second shake
Brew day
- Only use cold water
- Grains into water before bringing to boil - 170 degrees max / ~20 minutes
- Cut heat when adding extract or malt
- Don’t squeeze the grains when removing from the kettle, just let it drip
- No need to stir hops
- Avoid boil over by removing heat, don’t blow on foam
- Do not put a lid on the boil, causes off flavors
- Clarifiers are awesome, but not for all beers (ie. hefeweizen)
- Wort chiller could be added into boil near the end (5min) to sanitize, but better idea to just sanitize in solution
- Add chilled water to wort after boil to bring to fermenter. Fill to 5.25-5.5 gallons.
- Be sure to stir wort prior to OG reading after adding chilled water. Taste it and remember it for comparison post-fermination.
Fermenting
- The sooner the fermentation begins the better. Hopefully 12-24 hours.
- If nothing happens after 36+ hours - pitch new yeast
- If there isn’t much action, check temp of the fermenter. Should be in the mid-high end for the yeast strain ideally.
Secondary
- After OG remains consistent for 2-3 days in a row, transfer.
- Secondary is absolutely necessary for beers with OG > 1.05
- Used to smooth out taste or add other flavors (like a dry hop)
- Try not to disturb the cake of the primary fermenter when transferring
- Dry hopping - can be done at any time during the secondary timeframe (~2 weeks)
- OG measurement - taste should be approx 75% less sweet than the original OG measurement (wort)
Bottling
- Use corn sugar, it’s the best for bottle conditioning
- Dried malt extract (DME) could be used for more bubbles, but takes longer to condition (3+ weeks)
- Stir the boiled sugar into bottling bucket for thorough mixture, gently.
- Turn the bottle to its side after capping to ensure proper seal
Amount of corn sugar per 5gal batch
- 4.5 oz - Bar type carbonation
- 4 oz - better for English beers
- 4.75 oz - Belgians
Enjoyment
- 2-3 weeks to condition, max 3
- If OG 1.030 –> Drink within 2 months
- If OG is higher –> Drink within 6 months