In the Bottles, wishing I had kegs...

So its been almost two weeks since my last entry...My Raspberry Red Ale is in the bottles, I so wish I had kegs so that I could force carbonate them, and be able to drink my beer already...wahhhhh!!! Oh well I just need to grow up and ask Santa, aka SWMBO, for a very nice Christmas present maybe next year....who knows...I will be adding some pics of the process for y'all to look at here in a few minutes. By the way the beer smelled great...and it was very clear going into the bottling bucket...Hopefully we can crack some open for the wedding next weekend in the Michigan...who knows...

Bottling Day...

Well today we get to bottle, this is probably going to be the longest day, cause I have to sanitize the bottles and dry all them. I will most likely dry them in the dishwasher, which will most likely be alot more efficient time wise. I will keep you all updated on the bottling phase cause today I get to use the Super Agata Bench Capper. Oh yeah. For all you who are reading this post, do not buy the Emily Capper, its worthless...so back to everything else. I had a Amber Ale last night from Mickey Finn's. It was in the can, definitely a great beer but different. I will Blog again tonight or tomorrow, depending on the hour...see you all then...

Happy Homebrewing,

Jon A.

Raspberry Red Ale

OK so here we go...I have finally found so time to import some pics of the May 2009 Raspberry Red Ale. I hope you all enjoy...oh please feel free to subscribe to this blog...it has a whole bunch of interesting subject matter about home brewing...well that's just a given...The first pic is of my Ale Pale in which the primary fermenting takes place...second pic is of the water beginning to boil to 160 degrees...third pic is of the grain steeping in the hot baby...fourth is when I put the hop ball in once it reached it finally boiling point...Cascades if I am not mistaken...oh boy they smelled yummy...WARNING!!! DO NOT FEED YOUR PETS(DOGS) HOPS...THEY CAN CAUSE MALIGNANT HYPOTHERMIA IF INGESTED!!! Now back to the descriptions...fifth shows the cooled wort sitting in the primary fermenter awaiting to be stirred for aeration...this is a must cause the yeast lives off of it...if you can get a pure oxygen system for aerating...finally the ALE PALE is sealed and the airlock is filled half way waiting for CO2 to arrive and leave the fermenter...more pics to come of racking to the secondary since it is highly recommended for this beer...oh yeah I forgot once pic. It is actually the second pic it is off the HOPS, 1oz. Cascades and 1oz. Fuggles(USA)...can't wait to grow my own...

Fermentation Counting Down...

Well we are four days into the primary fermentation stage. On Monday we will siphon the wort into the glass carboy for secondary fermentation. I always like watching the brew in the secondary fermentation because you can actually see the sediment sift to the bottom. Maybe this time I can save some of my yeast for the next brew date. I would really like to try that this time. We will just have to wait and see. As for a new commerical brew review. I have recently bought two six packs of Lienenkugel's 1888 Bock and Summer Shandy...both are a great drinks for the summer I feel. The 1888 Bock is a little crisp mild lager that grasps on to the rich aroma of toasted and caramel malts. The Summer Shandy is a lemonade flavored beer which is a European favorite in the warmer months. It has hints on wheat, malted barley and real Wisconsin honey then topped of by real lemonade that gives it that citrus flavoring, yummy!!! Well its a warm yet overcast day in Lake County, IL and I started marinating the pork ribs last night with garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and brown sugar, and then I am going to top them off with some sort of barbecue sauce tonight, and one of those Lienies...hope you can enjoy the weather and outside where every you are...

Happy Brewing...

Jon A.

P.S. Sorry pics soon to come...probably when I transfer the brew to the secondary on Monday night...

The Brew is a Fermenting...

Well the second batch is now fermenting as we speak. Total time for brewing was just a little over three hours, roughly 3h 15min. the process was time consuming as I always feel like I was contaminating the brew. But I did my best to make sure all was sanitized and there wasn't anything that could have gotten into the brew pot. The smell was intoxicating...well not just yet but it will get there. I had one ounce of Cascade hops for bittering and one ounce of Fuggle (USA) for aroma. One reminder to all, make sure you have a good enough strainer for filtering the wort into the primary fermenter, mine slipped a few times which was rather aggravating. So I have a feeling that some of my hop sediment made it into the primary, hopefully this won't ruin the taste of the brew. I also included one teaspoon of Irish Moss for clarifying the brew once it goes into the bottling stage. I apologize to those reading this as I am jumping all over my process of brewing. I finally ended up with an original gravity for the brew at 1.043, which is a pretty good OG. The alcohol content was about 5.5%, which will be a very tasty brew I think. I will be posting more pics tonight if I get a chance so you all can see my attempts at making a Raspberry Red Ale.

Hope you all enjoy this read...

Jon A.

Some Great Ways To Stay Fruggle While You BREW

As I was reading Chris Colby's latest article in BYO(Brew Your Own) magazine, I thought to myself, this is a great way to get others interested in home brewing and it won't break your bank. He starts off by saying that if you brew more you will save more, oh how true. I always look at it if you can save a few bucks in shipping costs, that is if you purchase your kits online, why not right? His second point was Buying in Bulk, and I believe this is directed at those all grain brewers out there. Buying in bulk will always save yourself more instead of buying smaller amounts of grain. Just remember to use them before they go bad. Third point was Brew appropriately-smaller batches if you want that is. If you aren't looking at brewing a five gallon batch save yourself the hassle. His next point is in regards to substituting malt for malt extract. I think this is a great idea, but take into consideration that if you are pursuing bulking up on kits, your LME or liquid malt extract will not last as long as straight malt will. Point five, HOPS, HOPS, HOPS....I always say grow your own, that is if you have a green thumb like I do, yet for some reason I have started growing my own, hmmmmm? Yeast. Now this is an interesting topic, I have always used a dry packaged yeast for my brewing, but I have heard that by using a liquid yeast for your brew is a much better alternative because you can distinguish the different characters that are in each strand of the yeast...oh yea, they say you can reuse the yeast strand as well, if you are brewing the same or similar batch. His next point is BREW WITH A FRIEND...it doesn't get any simpler than that. One it saves you money, wait a tick isn't that what this article is all about? Two you can share a hobby with your friend(s), three you make beer, duh!!! Chris' next point is about growing your own, now for all of you that listen to Basic Brewing Radio and Video pod casts, you will catch Chris and James and Steve talking about all different aspects of homebrewing. Chris is an expect hop and grain grower in his backyard and driveway, check them out for sure...Tip number 9...Use Energy Wisely...if you are brewing a larger batch do it, don't waste the same amount of propane if that's what you do on one 5 gallon batch, brew a 10 gallon and you will only use a tad bit more of energy brewing more...His next point is about purchasing the right equipment at the right time...he suggests that if you are planning on purchasing equipment for your current brewing circumstance buy it, but remember that brewing larger and more efficiently is always good too. So be prepared that if you want to brew more efficiently start saving or find something that might be second hand or sell some of your current equipment to upgrade to the next level of brewing. Chris' last and final point is think green. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...it goes just like anything else in life. Did you know you can reuse cleaning solution? Star San can be reused only if its pH level doesn't reach 3. If you know you are going to be brewing again in the next few days, save your cleaning solution it will save you quite a bundle.
Well I hope you can all read his article for brewing on a budget, I loved reading it...

!!!NEWS FLASH!!! I just received a message from my wife, my equipment has arrived...

HAPPY BREWING Y'ALL,

Jon A.

Review of Mr. Wizard

So I have finished reading Mr. Wizards articles regarding putting your wort on hold to make the brew day a little less of a hassle on the brewers wife. I totally agree with Mr. Wizards advice of not to put anything on hold, just due to the fact that bacteria can grow on the wort leaving some off tastes. Definitely wouldn't want that to happen if I were brewing an all grain batch. On the second article that Mr. Wizard answered. This was in response to a brewer going all out and opening his own nanobrewery. AWESOME ADVICE!!! Once again, kudos to the brewer that wants to expand his brewing. Defiantly go through and start getting all that paper work completed for tax purposes, cause we all know the government needs the money...I would love to open up my own brewery but I think that would be something I would do once I have retired from working the 9-5. Hopefully someday I can come back the this article and research the actions I would need to take in order to follow through with opening my own brewery. Well that's all for now...stay tuned for more great reading reviews from this issue of BYO.

Happy Brewing...

Jon A.

The gear is in transit...

Well it about time...no just kidding Midwest...my equipment is now in transit for me to begin my last batch of Raspberry Red Ale. This is I am hoping to be a great beer for the late spring and summer months. If you all didn't catch the updates that I have made to the blog, I am now offering adsense via Google, for those who want to find local homebrew equipment and supply carriers. Check them out...
I have in my about me section stated that I am currently a subcriber to BYO (Brew Your Own) Magazine. I will attempt to write unbiased reviews of the articles so that y'all can enjoy what my take is on their beliefs. So stay tuned if you are not currently subscribing to their magazine. But just in case you want to subscribe, check out www.byo.com, very reasonable subscription cost.
I also wanted to throw out there some great and ecomical ideas for keeping yourself intrigued about the hobby of homebrewing. If you look at my other blogs that I am currently reading you will be able to find out a whole vast of ideas that other homebrewers are currently using for their setups. Check them out, you might even be able to find out more information about the hobby itself, but this is not my attempt of shooting myself in the foot, PLEASE READ MY BLOG TOO!!!
Thanks to ALL of YOU for reading this blog(CHAD) Hope you are all having fun.
Please stay tuned for the first review of the current BYO article Stretching Your Brewing Budget:tips and techniques to make more beer for less.

Happy Brewing...

Jon

P.S. Pictures to come from my homebrewing experiences.

The ball is a rolling...

Well here we go. After an unexpected little surprise my mail carrier left in my mail box, I was able to purchase the last few items that I needed to continue my hobby of home brewing. Last night I purchased from Midwest Homebrewing Supply based out of Minneapolis, MN(www.midwestsupplies.com). Since I have been trying with all my might to get some information on quality products and after viewing some other companies catalogs I have found that if you go with Midwest you will definitely get more bang for your buck, which is great in this economic crisis that we are currently going through.

This go around I purchased some replacement items after breaking them on my last homebrew experience, which is probably not uncommon for most first timers. I purchased a floating thermometer for 5.95, a triple scale hydrometer for 5.95, a SUPER AGATA Bench Capper for 37.95, this is because I literally snapped my Emily capper into pieces on trying to bottle my first bottle and almost broke my wrist, Brewer's Best caps 144 count for 2.95, and for brewing this time and because I wanted the wife to enjoy the fruits of my labors a Raspberry Red Ale for 26.95, which is an amazing price for a brewing kit that includes everything that you need to make about 54 12oz bottles of homebrew. YUMMY!!! I also picked up a package of Irish Moss which is a seaweed derived fining. This clarifying agent accelerates protein coagulation during the end of the boil which helps prevent chill haze. I bought this for 1.40, which is great cause you only use a teaspoon for every batch of beer you make, so I am hoping this will last me at least for a few batches of homebrew.

The goal for this go around is to post pics of me homebrewing and for y'all to really understand how easy and fun this hobby can truly be. So I hope you all enjoy this little excerpt and look forward to seeing and reading more with pictures to come.

Happy Brewing...

Jon Anderson

Preferred Retailers

So I have a list of preferred retailers of homebrewing equipment. Since I live in the Chicago Metro area, mostly Lake County, IL. There is this nice little place in Libertyville, IL. No need to say I found them via this blog, but www.PerfectBrewingSupply.com is a great place to find what you need in order to get started. They have a full assorment of supplies and they also sell grains for those of you who wish to step up your brewing techniques and go into all-grain(grain mill also available-not sure if there is a charge, but unlikely). As for me I am still playing around with extract brewing. Hope all who read this and live in the area can stop on by to help out small businesses.

I have also subscribed to Northern Brewer, Midwest Brewing(MN), and Williams Brewing(CA). These three companies all have online access and store for purhcasing items, and for those of you who also would like to try home wine making they offer those items as well. Oh yea, MOREBEER.com is another website that has great info and good pricing.

Feel free to stop on by BasicBrewing Radio and Video website, that's where this little hobby of mine all started. Thanks to James and Steve...they have great podcasts and videocasts as well...with a vast variety in their libraries...and they are always brewing something tasty...

Until next time...Happy Homebrewing...

Jon Anderson

This is my first...

So for those who even care to read this blog post...I am new to blogging and homebrewing, and I figured that I would share my experiences with those and whom ever wanted to give advice for anyone to read. Eventually I want this blog to be a sounding board for all to share ideas, recipes, trials and tribulations about their experiences of Homebrewing and what honestly worked best for them. I am by no means an expert, I have only been homebrewing for about 6 months, but I feel that making your own delicous crafted homebrew should be something that all can enjoy even if it doesn't hit their tastebuds. Even if you are not interested in homebrewing maybe you know someone who does and I hope that you can share in there experiences just as I have with all my friends. As time goes on I further hope that this blog post will become an area where all can find resources to homebrewing in your local areas.

Well kudos to all who are sharing in reading this blog and I hope that I can at least entertain you with my positive and negative encounters with what I hope will become a lifetime hobby for all.

Thanks again for reading the first post,

Sincerely,

Jon Anderson