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2017 Best Beers in America Results

Each year we ask Zymurgy magazine readers to share a list of their 20 favorite beers that are commercially available in the United States.

We’ve tallied the votes, and here are the results for the 2017 Best Beers in America survey including Top Ranked Beers, Top Breweries, Best Porfolio and Top Imports. You can also check out the Best Beers in America results broken down by individual state.

Note: ‘T’ indicates a tie, and hyperlinked beers include a clone homebrew recipe.

Top-Ranked Beers

  • 1. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
  • 2. Russian River Pliny the Elder
  • 3. Founders Breakfast Stout
  • 4. Three Floyds Zombie Dust
  • 5. Bell’s Hopslam
  • T6. Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout)
  • T6. The Alchemist Heady Topper
  • T8. Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA
  • T8. Sierra Nevada Celebration
  • 10. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
  • T11. Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
  • T11. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
  • T13. Founders All Day IPA
  • T13. Lawson’s Finest Liquids Sip of Sunshine
  • 15. Cigar City Jai Alai IPA
  • 16. Deschutes Black Butte Porter
  • 17. Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
  • 18. Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro
  • T19. Lagunitas IPA
  • T19. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
  • T19. Stone IPA
  • T22. Tree House Julius
  • T22. Odell IPA
  • T22. Russian River Blind Pig IPA
  • T22. Toppling Goliath pseudoSue
  • 26. Fat Head’s Hop Juju
  • T27. Fat Head’s Head Hunter IPA
  • T27. Firestone Walker Double Jack
  • T27. Melvin 2×4 DIPA
  • T27. New Belgium La Folie
  • T27. Odell 90 Shilling
  • T27. Russian River Pliny the Younger
  • T27. Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
  • T27. The Alchemist Focal Banger
  • T27. Tröegs Nugget Nectar
  • T27. Founders Backwoods Bastard
  • T27. Oskar Blues Ten FIDY
  • T38. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
  • T38. Deschutes The Abyss
  • T38. North Coast Old Rasputin
  • T38. Arrogant Bastard Ale
  • T38. Stone Enjoy By IPA
  • T43. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA
  • T43. New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red
  • T43. Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale
  • T43. Russian River Consecration
  • T47. Wicked Weed Pernicious
  • T47. Firestone Walker Union Jack
  • T47. New Holland Dragon’s Milk
  • T47. Oskar Blues Old Chub
  • T47. Three Floyds Alpha King

Top Breweries

  • 1. Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Comstock, Mich.
  • 2. Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.
  • 3. Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, Calif.
  • 4. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, Calif. and Mills River, N.C.
  • 5. Stone Brewing, Escondido, Calif., Richmond, Va., and Berlin, Germany
  • 6. Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, Calif.
  • 7. Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Ore.
  • 8. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Del.
  • 9. Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, Calif. and Chicago, Ill.
  • 10. Ballast Point Brewing, San Diego, Calif.
  • 11. Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo.
  • 12. Three Floyds Brewing Co., Munster, Ind.
  • 13. Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Mo.
  • 14. Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, Colo., Brevard, N.C., and Austin, Texas
  • 15. New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, Wis.
  • T16. New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Colo. and Asheville, N.C.
  • T16. The Alchemist, Waterbury and Stowe, Vt.
  • 18. Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, Colo.
  • 19. Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland, Ohio
  • T20. Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, Fla.
  • T20. Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, Colo.
  • T20. Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, Colo.
  • 23. Victory Brewing Co., Downingtown, Pa.
  • 24. Surly Brewing Co., Minneapolis, Minn.
  • T25. Fat Head’s Brewery, Cleveland, Ohio, and Portland, Ore.
  • T25. Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, Ill.

Top Imports

  • 1. Unibroue La Fin Du Monde (Canada)
  • 2. Duvel (Belgium)
  • T3. Orval (Belgium)
  • T3. Saison Dupont (Belgium)
  • T3. Rodenbach Grand Cru (Belgium)
  • T3. St. Bernardus Abt 12 (Belgium)
  • T7. Chimay Cinq Cents (White) (Belgium)
  • T7. Duchesse De Bourgogne (Belgium)
  • T7. Westvleteren 12 (Belgium)
  • T7. Paulaner Oktoberfest (Germany)
  • T7. Schneider Aventinus (Germany)
  • T7. Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast (Denmark)
  • T7. Epic Hop Zombie (New Zealand)

Best Portfolio

  • 1. Stone Brewing (31 beers)
  • 2. Bell’s Brewery, Inc. (27 beers)
  • 3. Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (25 beers)
  • 4. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (24 beers)
  • T5. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (22 beers)
  • T5. Lagunitas Brewing Company (22 beers)
  • T7. Boulevard Brewing Co. (21 beers)
  • T7. Founders Brewing Co. (21 beers)
  • 9. Avery Brewing Co. (19 beers)
  • T10. New Glarus Brewing Co. (18 beers)
  • T10. Odell Brewing Co. (18 beers)

Share your favorite commercial beers in the comments below!

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Building a Mash Tun has Never Been So Easy

Unless you’re using the brew in a bag technique, a mash tun is an essential piece of equipment when advancing to all-grain brewing. Mash tuns come in all shapes, sizes and materials, and the ideal vessel for you will depend on your current procedures and future goals as a homebrewer. Mash tuns can be purchased from a homebrew shop, or easily made at home with limited skill and tools.

In this tutorial, we’ll cover how to build a mash tun for batch sparge brewing (~5 gallon batches), an approachable means of all-grain brewing. For additional instructions, follow along with AHA Director Gary Glass in part three of the Introduction to All-Grain Video Series, as he walks viewers through the steps to building this mash tun.

How it Works

Simply put, a mash tun is a vessel for conducting the mashing process, while allowing for easy lautering—the process of removing the liquid wort from grain solids.

This specific build uses a stainless steel supply line as the filter to allow the liquid to move to the boil kettle, while leaving the grains and as much sediment as possible behind in the mash tun. The supply line is prepared so that there is basically a cylindrical screen of stainless steel that is fine enough to prevent most solids from being transferred, without too much worry of clogging.

Materials

  • Build a Mash Tun48 quart picnic cooler
  • Rubber mini-keg bung
  • (2) 1/4″ hose clamps
  • 1/2″ hose clamp
  • 3/8″ inline nylon valve
  • 7/16″ vinyl tubing*
  • 16″ stainless steel supply line**
  • Food-grade sealer

*Enough length to reach your boil kettle.

**Shorter or longer lengths should work fine.

Tools

  • Scissors, to cut tubing
  • Screw driver, for tightening hose clamps
  • Needle-nosed pliers, for preparing the stainless steel braid
  • Paper towel or rag, to clean up sealer
  • Saw, or other means of cutting through stainless steel supply line

Construction

Putting together a mash tun out of a rectangular picnic cooler is actually quite easy. Review the following steps, gather the materials and tools, and you’ll have yourself a homemade mash tun in no time.

  1. Remove the spigot from the picnic cooler. Typically it can be unscrewed by hand, but you may need to use pliers or some other tool if it is screwed on tight.
  2. Remove the plastic plug from the rubber mini-keg bung. You will not need this.
  3. From the inside of the cooler, place the rubber mini-keg bung in the whole where the spigot was.
  4. Optional: If the mini-keg bung is not fitting snug, food-grade sealer can be used to create a water-tight seal.
  5. Run 6″ of the vinyl tubing through the mini-keg bung so that there are a few inches hanging out of each side of the cooler.
  6. Prepare the stainless steel braid:
    1. Cut off both ends of the stainless steel supply line with snips or a saw.
    2. Remove the plastic tubing from the inside of the stainless steel braid.
    3. Using needle-nosed pliers, clamp one end of the supply line shut.
  7. Attach the prepared stainless steel braid to the end of vinyl tubing on the inside of the cooler using the 1/2″ hose clamp.
  8. Attach the nylon valve to the end of the tubing on the outside of the cooler using a 1/4″ hose clamp.
  9. On the other end of the nylon valve, attach a piece of tubing long enough to reach your boil kettle (typically ~2-4 feet) using a 1/4″ hose clamp.

[vimeo 63918361 w=500 h=281]

Additional All-Grain Resources

We offer all the resources you need to become an accomplished all-grain brewer!

Other resources:

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A Big Year for Big Brew: After 20 Years, More Beer than Ever

May 6, 2017 marked the 20th annual celebration of Big Brew for National Homebrew Day. Homebrewers from 11 different countries and territories and 49 states fired up their brew kettles and brewed more than 2,000 batches of beer at 384 Big Brew events around the globe. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) estimates that over 7,500 people participated in this year’s celebration, brewing a record 19,222 gallons (72,763 liters) of beer.

Craft breweries, homebrew shops and clubs, and a number of individuals hosted Big Brew events in their own backyards. Of the 384 Big Brew sites,

  • 134 were hosted by a homebrew retail business,
  • 85 were hosted by breweries,
  • 81 were hosted by individual homebrewers,
  • 52 were hosted by homebrew clubs, and
  • 32 were hosted by other businesses.

Those other businesses included craft beer–centric restaurants and hop farms, and one Big Brew event even mashed in at John Smith’s Bay Beach in Smith’s Parish, Bermuda!

2017-Infographic big brew

The Glass City Mashers in Toledo, Ohio claimed 46 batches, the most brewed for Big Brew 2017, and Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore, N.Y. reported the largest volume of beer, a whopping 1,310 gallons (4,959 liters) of homebrew.

The states reporting the highest totals were New York (1,980 gallons/7,495 liters), Michigan (1,242 gallons/4,701 liters), and Ohio (1,049 gallons/3,971 liters).

For the first time in 20 years of celebrating Big Brew, the AHA is excited to announce that the largest reported attendance for a single site was not from a Big Brew event in the United States. With 200 reported attendees, the Hovevey Zion Homebrew Club’s 8th Brew Party in Tel Aviv, Israel is the first international Big Brew site to host more homebrewers than any other event in the US!

Other countries and territories that celebrated Big Brew in 2017 included Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, and Singapore. Of the 19,222 estimated gallons brewed for Big Brew this year, 3,467 gallons (13,124 liters)—18 percent of the total—was reported by international Big Brew sites.

Big Brew 2017 attendees were encouraged to brew one of three recipes: Rushmore American IPA, Battre L’oie Saison, and Klang Fredenfest Oktoberfest Lager. All recipes were taken from the newly released version fourth edition of How to Brew by John Palmer, a book that has taught thousands of homebrewers to craft their own beer since it was first published in 1999.

Big Brew for National Homebrew Day finally turns 21 next year on May 5, 2018.

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Club Connection: Your Homebrew Club’s Home Base

In November 2016, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) relaunched the formerly discontinued clubs newsletter. To complement the newsletter, the AHA is proud to announce a new section of the website called Club Connection.

Club Connection offers valuable resources to your homebrew club and its members. We regularly add articles focused on managing a homebrew club, suggest resources and topics for your next club meeting, and deliver news from homebrew clubs around the country who bring the collaborative spirit of homebrewing into their local communities.

Club Connection also features the AHA’s homebrew club database and resources for your organization. The homebrew club insurance program, revenue-generating web banners for your club’s website, the Radegast Club of the Year homepage, and the media contact list request form are just a few of the resources you’ll find at the new site.

Everything you need to start, grow, maintain, and promote a homebrew club can be found in the Club Connection archives. We encourage you to ensure that your club’s contact information is up to date with the AHA. The AHA will automatically announce new content through our newsletter to the email address linked to your club’s record, but we encourage any of your interested club members to sign up for the Club Connection newsletter so that they, too, can benefit from these resources.

radegast club of the year award

2016 Radegast Club of the Year Award recipients, the Hogtown Brewers, at the 2016 National Homebrewers Conference Grand Banquet.

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How to Build a Temperature Controller

This dual-stage temperature controller is perfect for managing temperatures of your kegerator, fermentation chamber or keezer. It allows for a hot and a cool trigger to be individually controlled, so you could have your fermentation refrigerator hooked up to the cold trigger and a heat source to the hot trigger. If the temperature falls below the target value, the heating device will be turned on, and vice versa.

Note: this project deals with electrical current and DIY’ers should pursue the build at their own discretion. Read through the directions entirely to have a full understanding of the build before diving in. If you are unsure of your abilities, consult with someone well versed in electrical wiring.

The Build

Materials

Shop around for the best deals. I managed to get everything listed below for under $45. For this project, you’ll need to following materials:
Homemade Temperature Control Materials - Homebrewing

  • STC-1000 Digital temperature controller with sensor (110v): This can be purchased from Amazon.com for around $18. Find a friend with Amazon Prime for free shipping!
  • Project box: This will house the components and wiring of the project. I purchased a large, plastic project box from Radio Shack for $10, but any container that can safely hold electrical components will work.
  • Power Outlet: One three-pronged, dual wall outlet. Don’t forget the wall plate!
  • 8+ feet grounded power Cord: A three-pronged power cord is needed to supply power and provide the wires needed for the project. If you have an old extension cord, chop it up for this project. If not, I recommend purchasing a cord from a hardware store that comes with bare wires on one end. You will end up cutting out segments of this cord to strip to use the internal wires for this project, so make sure you get a long enough cable.
  • Wire connectors: These are plastic, cone-shaped devices used to safely join wires together.
  • Electrical tape: Tape is needed in conjunction with wire connectors to join wires.

Tools

The following tools will make for the quickest and easiest build, though all are not necessarily required. Try borrowing from friends and family to keep the cost down!

  • Screwdrivers: You will likely need a few different sized screwdrivers, including one fairly small flat-head for manipulating the STC-1000 inputs, and a philips head for the outlet connects.
  • Wire strippers: Wire strippers will take a lot of work out of the harvesting of wires. If you don’t have a pair, carefully use scissors to remove plastic covering from wires.
  • Needle-nose pliers: These are used to break the tab on one side of the wall outlet.
  • Voltage meter or multimeter: This is a tool used to safely test wall outlets. Not necessary, but highly recommended.
  • Dremel: The project box needs to have slots cut to hold the STC-1000 and outlet. A dremel fitted with a cutting bit will make a quick job of the process. If you don’t have a dremel, an X-Acto knife can be used. Be sure to buy a few blades, since they will likely break or dull during the process.

Preparation

Before jumping into the construction, take time to do some prep that will help speed up the overall process.

  1. Homemade Temperature Control HomebrewingUnpackage the project box, STC-1000 and wall outlet. Place the STC-1000 and power outlet where you want them on the box and trace with a pencil. Cut along the outline with the dremel. It may take a few rounds to get the fit just right. Test to make sure the STC-1000 (remove the orange tabs, they will be used later) and wall outlet fit snuggly into the holes cut in the project box. You will also want to cut a hole for the power cable and temperature probe to run out, and the location will depend on how you plan to mount the temperature controller. I cut mine at the bottom side of the project box so the wires would be aiming down when the temperature controller is mounted to the wall.
  2. Homemade Temperature Control - Breaking Outlet Tab - HomebrewingPrepare the wires. For this build you will need eight 5-inch pieces of wire. Cut off a piece of the power cord and strip to reveal the internal wires. To keep things from getting too confusing, plan to cut three pieces of black wire, four pieces of white wire and one piece of green wire. The green wire is used for grounding and is not supposed to be used for anything other than the ground, so we recommend you do not use these for any of the hardwiring besides tying the outlet’s ground to the power cord’s ground. On either end of the wire segments, strip a half-inch of the insulation to reveal the inner wires.
  3. Break the bridge on one side of the power outlet to allow separate control of heating and cooling. If looking at the outlet from the front, this would be on the right side with only two screws, not the side with three screws. To break the tab, take a pair of pliers, grab the tab connecting the metal pieces beneath each screw, and bend back and forth until it snaps. It takes a bit of force.

Wiring

STC-1000 Wiring Diagram - Homemade Temperature Control Homebrewing

Follow the directions below carefully and reference the wiring diagram. If you have never wired anything before, seek a friend experienced in working with electrical current. It is also important to point out the the wiring process must be done as if the box is already constructed. If you do the entire wiring of the components outside the box, you wont be able to run the cords. The directions are intended to make this as little as an inconvenience as possible.

  1. In the 1, 5 and 7 slots of the STC-1000, secure a piece of black wire.
  2. In the 2, 6 and 9 slots of the STC-1000, secure a piece of white wire. Somehow mark the wire going into slot 6 as “hot” and the wire going into slot 9 as “cold”. This will prevent confusion later on.
  3. In the 3 and 4 slots of the STC-1000, secure the temperature probe, which comes with the STC-1000.
  4. Slide the STC-1000 into the project box until secure.
  5. IMPORTANT: All wires that will be connected to the power outlet should be run through the back of the hole for the outlet, but don’t mount the outlet at this point since you will need access to the screws on the side.
  6. Take all the black wires coming from the STC-1000 and the black wire coming from the power cord and twist the exposed wires together and cap with a wire connector. Use electrical tape to wrap the wire connector securely.
  7. Take the white wire coming from slot 2 and secure to the power outlet at the top screw on the side in which the tab WASN’T broken. This will be the side that has three screws. (Remember to run these wires through the hole that the outlet will be mounted).
  8. Take the white wire coming from slot 6 that you labeled “hot” and connect to the outlet at the top screw of the side with the broken bridge. This is the side that only has two screws. This means the top outlet will control whatever device you will use for heating.
  9. Take the white wire coming from slot 9 that you labeled “cool” and connect to the outlet at the bottom screw of the side with the broken bridge. This is the side that only has two screws. This means the bottom outlet will control whatever device you use for cooling.
  10. Connect a piece of white wire to the middle screw of the side of the outlet with three screws. Using a wire connector and electrical tape, connect this wire with the white wire coming from the power cord.
  11. Connect a green piece of wire to the bottom screw of the side of the outlet with three screws. Using a wire connector and electrical tape, connecting this wire with the green wire coming from the power cord.

Final Touches

You are almost ready to test your DIY temperature controller!

  1. With the STC-1000 in place, slide the orange clips back onto the STC-1000 to hold it securely to the project box.
  2. Mount the wall outlet to the project box with screws. It may be easiest to start the holes with a drill.
  3. Run the power cord and temperature probe through the hole you cut for this purpose. I recommend using a piece of electrical tape to secure the power cord and probe to the inside of the project box so if they get pulled on by accident, it won’t directly pull on the connections to the STC-1000.
  4. Place the back cover on the project box and screw closed.
  5. You can also add some sort of device to the back of the project box to mount it where you please. For now, I put magnets on mine and it hangs on the side of my keezer.

Testing

Before putting the temperature controller to work, take a moment to test that the device is working and triggering the outlets appropriately. For this, you will need the voltage reader mentioned under the tools above.

  1. Plug the completed temperature controller into the wall. The STC-1000 should power on immediately and show the current temperature the probe is picking up.
  2. Hold the up arrow on the STC-1000 to see what the current temperature is set at.
  3. On the left side of the STC-1000 you will see the labels “Cool” and “Heat”. When a red dot appears next to one or the other, this means the corresponding outlet should be issuing power (remember the directions above wired the cold trigger to the bottom and the hot to the top). Let’s assume there is a red dot next to heat.
  4. Take the voltage reader and test the top outlet. If the light comes on the voltage reader, all is good.
  5. Next, change the temperature so that the cool function will be triggered. To do this, hold the “S” button until “F1” shows up, then release. Then, while holding the “S” button, use the down arrows to set the temperature below the current ambient temperature. Once you’ve found a temperature you want, push the power button to accept. Now there should be a red dot next to the “Cool” label.
  6. Again, use the voltage reader and test the bottom outlet. If the light comes on the voltage reader, everything is working!
  7. If the STC-1000 doesn’t power on, or the voltage reader doesn’t light up when testing the appropriate outlet, open up the project box and make sure the wiring is correct and all the wire connectors are effective.

How to Use

Using this temperature controller is fairly easy. The overarching functionality is that a cooling device will be triggered when temperatures exceed the target value and a heating device will be triggered when temperatures drop below the target value.

We will walk through a few of the basics, but the download (pdf) the full STC-1000 manual for more complete instructions.

On/off: When the temperature controller is plugged in, it will automatically power on. The number displayed is the current ambient temperature in Celsius being read by the temperature probe. To shut off, hold the power button until the display turns black.

Checking parameters: To see what the ambient temperature the controller is currently set to maintain, push the up arrow. Push the down arrow to see the “Difference Value”, explained below.

Editing parameters: The STC-1000 has four programmable parameters, explained below. To access these, hold the “S” button until “F1” appears in the display and then release the button. Use the up/down arrows to cycle through F1, F2, F3 and F4. To edit one of the parameters, cycle to the menu item in question, hold the “S” button and use the up/down arrows to change the value. Once the value you want is selected, push the power button to save.

Parameters Explained:

  • F1 – temperature set value: This is the temperature that the controller is set to maintain.
  • F2 – difference set value: This value determines the degree of allowable variation in Celsius before the controller kicks in. For example, if the F1 is set at 20°C with a F2 value of 0.3°C, the controller won’t kick in until the temperature raises to 20.3°C or drops to 19.7°C.
  • F3 – compressor delay time: This value is in minutes and determines how long the controller will wait before kicking in when the temperature exceeds the difference set value.
  • F4 – temperature calibration value: This can be used to calibrate the controller when inaccuracies occur.

Duncan Bryant is the Web Coordinator for the American Homebrewers Association.

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How To Make Kombucha

Simply put, kombucha is fermented tea. A culture of bacteria called SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture oBacteria and Yeast), sometimes called “the mother,” consumes the sugar in a fermentation process just like yeast does in beer. The result is a tangy, semi-sweet fermented tea with a very low level of alcohol–typically below 1% ABV. It can be carbonated, making for a bubbly elixir, and combined with other ingredients like fruit or spices to open up even more flavor possibilities.

While kombucha is hailed as a beneficial probiotic beverage, the jury is still out on whether or not it actually has such profound health effects. We’re not here to clear up that debate, but learning how to make kombucha at home is a fun way to explore other fermented beverages in addition to your beer, mead, and cider adventures.

Just like making beer, fermenting tea can be done in a number ways, and in this article we’ll show you one of these techniques for making kombucha at home.

Materials:

  • organic cheesecloth
  • bottles
  • pH meter (optional)
  • ppm meter (optional)
  • 2-3 gallon kettle
  • Starsan
  • kitchen thermometer
  • 1 gallon wide-mouthed jar
  • funnel
  • strainer
  • tongs

Ingredients:

  • organic black tea (8 tea bags makes 1 gallon)
  • organic sugar
  • SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast)
  • filtered water

Step 1: Brewing the Tea

I start with filtered water. Your home water filter should be sufficient, but it is important not to use water that is too mineral-rich because it will alter the flavor of the kombucha.

Place 1 gallon (3.8 liters) of filtered water into your kettle and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, remove the kettle from the heat, add the tea bags, and let steep for 4 minutes. Note: It’s very important not to over-steep the tea because you will end up with very bitter kombucha.

Step 2: Adding Sugar

After steeping the tea, add 1 cup (200 g) of sugar and stir until it dissolves. Cover your sweetened tea with cheesecloth until it cools to room temperature. This can take several hours, but you can fill your sink with ice and place the kettle in there to help speed up the process.

As the tea is chilling, thoroughly sanitize your 1-gallon jar with Star San in preparation for the tea.

Step 3: Pitching the SCOBY

 

Whether you get your SCOBY mother (bacteria culture) from a friend or you purchase it from your local homebrew shop, you’ll need to make sure it stays at room temperature and never exceeds 90° F (32° C) or goes below 32° F (0° C). That is why pitching your SCOBY in room temperature tea is crucial; otherwise, you could potentially harm the bacteria and hinder fermentation. The SCOBY should also come submerged in a starter tea. This starter tea keeps the SCOBY comfortable in its environment so that you don’t shock it when you move it to another tea.

Test the temperature of your sweetened tea with a sanitized kitchen thermometer. Remember: the temperature should be no higher than 90° F (32° C). When it has cooled sufficiently, pour the sweetened tea into the sanitized wide-mouth jar.

Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Take your SCOBY out of the vessel it came in and place into the sweetened tea in the jar. Pour in the remainder of the starter tea as well. Cover the jar with a piece of organic cheese cloth and affix it so that it stays in place. Place the concoction in a dark place for 1 to 2 weeks. Note: Don’t stress if your SCOBY falls to the bottom of the jar at first—it will eventually rise to the top to create a new SCOBY.

Step 4: Removing the SCOBY

After 7 to 14 days, you’ll want to give the kombucha a good look and a good smell. The fermented tea should actually have a sour/sweet smell, and the SCOBY should have formed a bigger “mother” SCOBY that covers the entire surface area of the liquid at the top of the jar. With thoroughly clean hands, remove the SCOBY and put it in a jar submerged in kombucha for your next use.

Step 5: Bottling your kombucha

For bottling, you’ll need about 4 liter-sized bottles or 8 to 10 22 oz. bottles. I prefer Grolsch-style flip-top bottles, but any of your various stocked up bottles should do. Sanitize the bottles, caps, funnel, and strainer. I bought a funnel with a built-in strainer, but if you don’t have that, place your strainer over the funnel and begin filling your bottles.

By bottling your kombucha, you have moved it to the secondary fermentation. Allow the kombucha to ferment another week to ten days in the bottles in the refrigerator. Allowing your kombucha to ferment in secondary will increase carbonation. Note: If you like your kombucha less bubbly and carbonated, you may not want to let it ferment in secondary as long.

Optional: Check the pH of your kombucha

Kombucha pH should lie somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5.* Test your kombucha to see if it falls in the right range. If the pH is too high, you might consider letting it ferment some more before bottling. If it is too low, go ahead and move it to bottles.

*pH range taken from Kombucha Kamp

* * *

Hailing from the South, Millie has developed an affinity for the beer industry and all the shiny things that come with it. When not exploring beer, Millie is in the kitchen, enjoying the outdoors, and wearing out her dancing shoes. Millie is the American Homebrewers Association administrative assistant. 

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Brewing Brewers: Beer in College is Not What You Think

Today’s college kids are not the same.  I see them as freshmen, and again as seniors, and the evolution is stark.  Most freshmen have never lived away from home or had a job.  They’ve been shuttled from sports to lessons, and are truly dependents.  By the time they’re seniors, they’re driven to succeed, aware of the debts they owe, and the hard work ahead.  Most seniors work at least one job, even full time, to keep up with their bills while in school.  They know how to build networks and actively seek opportunities.  When they come to my Brewing Arts class, they’re already planning their careers.  And then they discover brewing.

For generations, American culture has demonized beverage alcohol to the realm of ‘evil toxic weapon’ rather than a complex food.  (It’s regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, not the Food and Drug Administration.)  And home brewing was only legalized in all 50 states as of 2013.  But WE know brewing is culinary arts, with the chemistry of molecular gastronomy and the microbiology of baking.  And it’s a rapidly expanding market.

So I ask Brewing Arts students why they’re taking the class.  Some students say they don’t even like beer, but know it’s an important part of the business.  Others say they just had a free elective to fill, and thought it would be fun.  Some are taking it as part of their Sommelier minor, or Food and Beverage Management degree.  One or two may have brewed with their Uncle Bob in the past.  Then I warn them all – “You will learn way more than you thought there was to know about beer.  You will learn how to write a recipe for and home-brew an all-grain batch of beer.  This will become an addictive hobby, and a great way to connect with others.  All of the beer you drink will taste better.  And best of all, in the event of an apocalypse, you will be the LAST one kicked off the island.”

After the 11 weeks are through, they are totally hooked, and most keep in touch after they leave.  Their course review comments have a consistent thread.  “I wish I knew about this class as a sophomore.”  “Why didn’t my high school guidance counselor even mention brewing?  I would have started earlier.”  “I am so happy – this is my dream job.” “I can’t wait to learn more!”  But that’s the issue – how?

When students ask, “How do I get a job at a brewery?” I say, “Knock on the door.  Offer to help out for free.  If they like you, they’ll hire you.  Most small breweries are built by people just like you, who wanted to take their passion to the next level.  Brewers also have to wear many other hats, and do a variety of tasks.  Skills can be taught, but it’s a small team, so team chemistry is most important.”  More often than not, this job-seeking tactic has actually worked out, as attested to many alumni who have gone on to work in the industry, as beer sommeliers, managers, brewers and assistant brewers, brasserie and brewpub chefs, and more, but most only learning on the job.

Until recently, the avenues for brewing and beer education were limited to either very expensive advanced degree programs and specialized formal education, or the very informal back-yard turkey-fryer classroom.  Both of the above are an excellent means of learning, but the demand for skilled labor at all levels in the craft beer industry, including sales and service, cannot be met by either of these alone.  So the education middle ground is blossoming, and homebrew clubs and organizations can maximize this opportunity for recruitment by getting involved.

Not that long ago, perceived legal, ethical and socio-moral barriers made it awkward at best to discuss beer in college.  But most students today have never seen or even heard of the movie, Animal House, and very few think of beer as an ‘alcohol delivery system’, as hard as it is for us ‘old folks’ to believe.  Instead, most millennials think of craft beer as a means of connoisseurship, supporting the local economy, community involvement, a means of exploring global flavors, and (most importantly) a cool expression of personal taste.  The boom in community colleges offering beer appreciation and home brewing classes is not a fad, it’s a response.  Because craft beer is food, many culinary schools are also on board.

A confession – I was once a wine person.  I still like wine, drink wine, even make wine at home, but I’ve proudly “crossed to the dark side” for beer, as my department chair says.  When I started the JbreW club 12 years ago, it wasn’t because I was an avid beer enthusiast – far from it.  What I saw was an unmet need amongst our students.  They were hungry to learn about craft beer, but the courses didn’t exist yet.  So we organized, met on the weekends, and fired up the ½ barrel pilot plant, learning as we went along.

Fast forward to now, the JbreW club has won awards for our beers and meads in competition, and we host our own Ocean State Homebrew Competition.   JWU now has brewing courses taught on all four campuses across the country –Providence, Charlotte, North Miami and Denver.  We also now have a Study Abroad Craft Brewing program (with Brewlab UK), and Beer Sommelier and Beer Judge Certification courses.  By next year, we’ll have both a Craft Brewing Minor and Beer Sommelier Minor, and another Study Abroad for Beer Culture and Cuisine in Europe.  An advanced Mead and Honey course, and a Ciders and Fruit Wines course are also on the menu.  In the very near future, JWU will also be offering Certificate Programs to the public for both Craft Brewing and Beer Sommelier Certificates, and one-day and weekend courses for continuing education for professionals.

And NONE of this would have been possible without the help of our local home brewing community, for their mentorship and support through the years. ‘Uncle Frank’ Fermino took our club under his wing and taught us how to use the system, build recipes, enter competitions, and so much more.  Paul ‘Zok’ Zocco showed us how to build and run our own competition.  Other shops and breweries and homebrew clubs helped as well, sponsoring our competition and student club over the years. And I KNOW we are not alone – the home brewing community is chock full of generous, open-minded folks who love to ‘pay it forward.’

I love beer and love brewing, but I REALLY love my job – I make brewers!  Here at JWU, I encourage all of my students to join the AHA.  I give each student a current copy of the “Introduction to Homebrewing” issue of Zymurgy, and the local “Yankee Brew News” to keep them up-to-date on local breweries, brewpubs, events and more.  I send them to our local homebrew shops, competitions and events, and also show them how to find shops and clubs when they leave school, wherever their travels take them.  So, do you know who your local college students are?  More importantly, do they know about you?  Become guest speakers, offer on-campus demos, support school clubs and organizations, and brew up some more brewers in your town. Cheers!

* * *

Jennifer Pereira is an Associate Professor of Beverage and Dining Service at Johnson and Wales University, College of Culinary Arts in Providence, RI. She is the Lead Beer Educator for the Johnson and Wales University system, promoting university relationships within the brewing industry.

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The Boil Experiment: Lid On vs Lid Off

This homebrew experiment was originally published on Brulosophy.com.

Of the numerous off-flavors that can be present in beer, dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is one of the most common, at least based on how often it gets cited during beer evaluations. Thanks to the hard work of those who came before us, brewers of today have a fairly decent understanding of what causes DMS in beer such that we’re able to employ certain methods to avoid it, most of which come into play during the boil.

While it is generally recommended to boil wort for at least an hour, prior xBmts have produced results suggesting that a Pale malt based beer and a Pilsner malt based beer boiled for 30 minutes were indistinguishable from the same beers boiled for 60 and 90 minutes, respectively. Since we know the S-methylmethionine (SMM) is abundant in malt and that it is rather easily converted to DMS during the mash, these findings were somewhat bewildering and got me wondering about another “rule” any homebrewer with more than a couple batches under their belt is well aware of. According to the book named after what it taught many of us,

Once you achieve a boil, only partially cover the pot, if at all. Why? Because in wort there are sulfur compounds that evolve and boil off. If they aren’t removed during the boil, they can form dimethyl sulfide which contributes a cooked cabbage or corn-like flavor to the beer. If the cover is left on the pot, or left on such that the condensate from the lid can drip back in, then these flavors will have a much greater chance of showing up in the finished beer. (How To Brew, Ch. 7 – 2)

Despite John’s equivocalness in stating that boiling with the lid on merely increases the chances of DMS being an issue, many of us accepted the practice as a beer death sentence. I know I did, it just made sense that DMS rich condensate being allowed to drip back into the boil would lead to a beer with noticeable levels of said off-flavor. While boiling without a lid is a no-brainer for most, I was inspired to test it out due to the rising popularity of counter-top brewing systems where the boil occurs in an enclosed space.

Purpose

To evaluate the differences between two beers of the same recipe where one was boiled with the lid on and the other was boiled with the lid off.

Methods

Considering the variable, I thought it’d be best to brew a clean and minimally hopped beer with a relatively high malt content, and with the recent release of Sierra Nevada’s delicious seasonal Oktoberfest, I was inspired to make my first ever Festbier.

Freaky Festbier Recipe

Details

BATCH SIZE BOIL TIME IBU SRM EST. OG EST. FG ABV
11 gal 60 min 22.0 IBUs 3.8 SRM 1.060 1.012 6.3 %
Actuals 1.06 1.006 7.1 %

Fermentables

NAME AMOUNT %
Pilsner (Weyermann) 17.5 lbs 77.78
Vienna Malt 5 lbs 22.22

Hops

NAME AMOUNT TIME USE FORM ALPHA %
Magnum 24 g 60 min Boil Pellet 11.2
Select Spalt 42 g 15 min Boil Pellet 3.1

Yeast

NAME LAB ATTENUATION TEMPERATURE
Saflager Lager (W-34/70) DCL/Fermentis 75% 48°F – 59°F

Notes

Water Profile: Ca 75 | Mg 1 | Na 10 | SO4 84 | Cl 70

Since I’d be kegging different xBmt beers while brewing this batch, I decided to use fresh yeast slurry, hence no starter necessary. After collecting my water and adjusting it to my target profile the night prior to brewing, I weighed out and milled the grain for a single 10 gallon batch.

The following morning, I awoke to the sweet sounds of Hall & Oats’ Sara Smile, flipped the switch on coffee maker, and hit the flame under my kettle of strike water.

It took about 15 minutes for the water to reach a few degrees warmer than the strike temperature suggested in BeerSmith, at which point I transferred it to my MLT for a brief preheat before mashing in to nail my target mash temperature.

I let the mash rest for an hour, stirring 3 times throughout, then began collecting the sweet wort.

Following a quick batch sparge, the full volume of sweet wort was stirred in a single kettle to ensure homogenization before I transferred an equal amount to a second kettle.

Refractomer measurements from both batches at this point showed they were at exactly the same pre-boil SG. To ensure a seamless brew day, I started the boil on the lid-off batch 20 minutes before the lid-on batch, leaving a lid on the kettle the entire time. Eventually, both batches were boiling at the same time.

I fully expected to see some steam escape between the seam of the lid and kettle, and that’s exactly what I observed throughout the entire boil.

I also expected the condensate dripping back into the wort to more than make up for most of volume lost through escaping steam. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the boiloff rate for the lid-on batch was exactly the same as the lid-off batch.

Over the course of the 1 hour boil, I removed the lid twice for no more than 3 seconds only to shake the condensate into the wort. Weird. I proceeded to quickly chill each batch to a few degrees above my groundwater temperature.

Refractomer readings from each wort revealed a very slight difference, which despite the post-boil volume similarity, made me wonder if the lid being on didn’t have some sort of impact.

Each wort was racked into a fermentor and placed in a cool chamber to finish chilling to my target fermentation temperature of 55°F/13°C. I returned a few hours later to find both worts had stabilized at my set temperature then proceeded to pitch equal amounts of yeast slurry into each fermentor. Both beers were observed fermenting with similar vigor the following morning. I raised the temperature of the chamber to 70°F/21°C after 4 days of activity. While both beers showed signs of diminished activity a couple days later, it seemed the lid-off batch developed a much larger kräusen.

I took an initial hydrometer measurement at 9 days post-pitch that matched a reading 3 days later showing a very slight difference between the beers.

Following an 18 hour cold crash, I fined the beers with gelatin and kegged them  a couple days later.

The filled kegs were placed in my cool keezer where they were burst carbonated overnight then left at serving pressure to condition for another week before data collection commenced, a point at which the beers shared a similar appearance.

Results

A total of 20 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 2 samples of the lid-on beer and 1 sample of the lid-off beer then asked to identify the sample that was unique. Given the sample size, 11 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to correctly identify the lid-off beer as being different in order to reach statistical significance. A total of 8 tasters (p=0.34) accurately identified the unique sample, indicating panelists were unable to reliably distinguish a beer in which the wort was boiled with the lid on from the same beer in which the boil occurred with the lid off.

My Impressions: Biased by my performance on the DMS off-flavor xBmt where I was easily able to identify the intentionally dosed beer over many trials, I was convinced this was going to be a piece of cake. In fact, in a non-blind sampling of both beers the night prior to my first data collection session, I was pretty certain I perceived a difference, subtle though it was. The following day, after witnessing many people fail to distinguish the unique sample, I asked a taster to set me up with a triangle. Sure enough, when blind to which beer was in which cups, despite fully knowing what the variable was, I couldn’t tell the beers apart at all, they smelled and tasted exactly the same. I did this 5 more times over that weekend with similarly unreliable performance.

Discussion

It’s only natural to wonder why the results are the way they are, though based on the data collection methods we use, we’re unable to provide any conclusive explanations. But we can certainly speculate. I can’t help but wonder how much DMS is actually contained in the covered kettle during the boil compared to how much escapes through the opening between the lid and kettle rim. Throughout the 1 hour boil, it was quite clear rather massive amounts of steam were indeed leaving the kettle, and it’s probably safe to assume it carried some DMS with it. Another potential explanation is that the lid-on beer did in fact contain a higher level of DMS than the lid-off beer and tasters simply were unable to detect it. Considering the fact participants from the recent DMS off-flavor xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a beer intentionally dosed with DMS to over triple the standard threshold, this theory doesn’t seem all too far-fetched.

Then again, it could simply be that both beers shared similar amounts of DMS, which would likely be very low based on prior lab data showing a Pilsner boiled for 30 minutes had none. Either way, I’ll continue with my standard practice of boiling without a lid, though my confidence in contained brewing systems has admittedly increased. If anything, it’s results like these that lead me to question the accuracy of beer evaluation.

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Meeting Topic: Cask Ale

Cask ale is unfiltered beer that is racked into casks, krausened, and sealed. It then undergoes a final fermentation in the cask from which it is then served. The result is a beer with lower carbonation and more complex flavor and aroma. It is also often called ‘real ale’, and is best served at cellar temperature (~55°F).

For your May 2017 club meeting, we encourage you to educate your club members on cask ales using the resources below.


Zymurgy Volume 36 No. 4 – July/August 2013

(Un)Real Ale: A Free Thinker’s Guide to Cask Conditioning – p. 32


National Homebrewers Conference 2015

Hosting Cask Ale Events | Slides (PDF) | Audio

 


HomebrewersAssociation.org

An Introduction to Cask Conditioning Homebrew

 


Research and Education Fund

Cask Conditioned Ale Experiment


Tuesday Beer Trivia

Tuesday Beer Trivia: Cask Ale

beer trivia


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Enfoque en ciertos tipos de cerveza: Dry Irish Stout

[Este artículo apareció en la edición de Marzo/Abril 2017 de la revista Zymurgy]

Por Amahl Turczyn

Varios escritores sobre cervezas han opinado acerca de las historias entrelazadas de las cervezas negras porter y stout. Algunos sostienen que la “stout” simplemente hacía referencia a cualquier cerveza fuerte; otros sugieren que es igual de posible que la stout haya existido como un estilo propio en paralelo con la porter ya desde fines del siglo XVII. En lo que los historiadores sí están de acuerdo es que Guinness fue fundada en Dublín por Arthur Guinness cuando alquiló una cervecería en St. James’s Gate, y que la empresa que fundó fue la responsable directa de que la dry stout haya llegado eventualmente a todo el mundo.

Varios factores contribuyeron al éxito de Guinness. Uno era la proximidad de la cervecería al Grand Canal de Dublín, que era perfecto para transportar barriles de cerveza y recibir suministros para fabricar cerveza. Los cereales cultivados en el centro de Irlanda también eran accesibles y fácilmente obtenibles. Otra ventaja era una fuente constante de excelente agua para cerveza, la cual en esa época también provenía del canal.

El mercado dio un giro favorable para la empresa en 1777. Guinness había estado produciendo porter para competir con la porter importada que se fabricaba en Londres, pero debido a los impuestos especiales existentes, los cerveceros de Dublín estaban sujetos a impuestos mucho mayores. En 1777, esos impuestos se levantaron y disminuyó la importación de porters londinenses, lo que le permitió a Guinness ver mayores ingresos y ampliar el negocio. A partir de entonces, la empresa pudo comenzar a exportar su propia porter, con cuentas en lugares tan distantes como las Indias Occidentales. Michael J. Lewis escribe en Stout que la cerveza exportada al Caribe en esa época fue probablemente el origen de lo que algún día sería la Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.

El último factor, y quizás el más importante, que contribuyó al éxito de la compañía fue la perspicacia comercial de sus fundadores. Una tradición de gestión inteligente y una visión de gran alcance para la expansión, iniciada por el fundador Arthur Guinness, fue retomada por tres de sus hijos después de su muerte en 1803. Para el año 1890, la cervecería de St. James’s Gate en Dublín era la más grande en su tipo y utilizaba equipos mecánicos sofisticados para fabricar cerveza a gran escala con el fin de responder a la demanda. Las exportaciones también aumentaron, y la stout de la cervecería llegó hasta el continente americano, África y Australia hacia fines del siglo XIX.

El término integración vertical es conocido por muchas empresas grandes, modernas y exitosas, incluyendo cervecerías como New Belgium y Oskar Blues, pero Guinness fue una de las primeras grandes fábricas de cerveza en utilizar la estrategia: tomar posesión de la cadena de suministro de materia prima para fabricar cerveza hasta llegar a ser propietarios de los pubs que vendían el producto terminado era prácticamente una garantía de éxito. No sería una sorpresa que la familia Guinness tuviera amigos en el gobierno que les garantizaran una legislación fiscal y comercial favorable en cuanto a la venta de cerveza.

Guinness evolucionó a través de muchas variaciones en su fórmula a lo largo de los años, a menudo dictada por los avances en el procesamiento de materiales. La malta black patent malt, un producto introducido por Daniel Wheeler en 1819, permitió a los fabricantes de cerveza dejar de utilizar la malta marrón y ámbar, y solamente usar malta clara con la nueva malta negra. Guinness reformuló lo que se convertiría en su ilustremente exportable Extra Stout utilizando black patent en 1821. Otra evolución tuvo lugar a principios de la década de 1930 cuando la cebada tostada más barata reemplazó la patent malt, y luego nuevamente en la década de 1950 cuando la empresa comenzó a utilizar una proporción de cebada triturada.

Stout de barril al estilo Dublín

Receta de Amahl Turczyn

  • Volumen del batch: 20,82 litros (5,5 galones estadounidenses)
  • Densidad inicial: 1,041 (10,3 grados Plato)
  • Densidad final: 1,009 (2,3 grados Plato)
  • Amargor: 43 IBU
  • Color: 31 según el SRM
  • Alcohol: 4,2 % según el volumen

MALTAS:

  • 2,49 kg (5,5 lb) de malta clara británica
  • 1,02 kg (2,25 lb) de cebada triturada
  • 0,45 kg (1 lb) de cebada tostada británica de 500° L

LÚPULOS:

  • 49 g (1,75 oz) de East Kent Goldings a los 60 min (30 IBU)
  • 14 g (0,5 oz) de Challenger a los 60 min (15 IBU)

LEVADURA:

  • Levadura Wyeast 1084 o White Labs WLP004 Irish ale (starter de 1 litro)

AGUA:

Agua de ósmosis inversa (OI) tratada con 0,5 g/l (2 g/gal) de sulfato de calcio

NOTAS DE FABRICACIÓN:

Macera la cebada clara y la triturada a 64° C (148° F) y déjala reposar durante una hora. Remoja la cebada tostada molida en un recipiente aparte con 2 L (2 qt) de agua a 68° C (155° F). Agrega agua caliente o hirviendo para aumentar la temperatura a 76 °C (168 °F) y deja reposar durante 10 minutos. Después de recircular el mosto para darle claridad, comienza a pasar al hervidor. En este punto, añade la cebada tostada junto con el agua de remojo al macerador y haz el lavado continuo a 80° C (176° F). Cuando la densidad del mosto se aproxime a 1,008 (2 grados Plato), detén el lavado. Si es necesario, cubre el hervidor con agua de ósmosis inversa. Hiérvelo durante 90 minutos y agrega el lúpulo a intervalos fijos. Enfríalo hasta 19° C (67° F) y oxigena. Agrega un fuerte starter de levadura y fermenta a 20 °C (68° F). Para maximizar la atenuación, asegúrate de que la densidad específica se haya estabilizado en 1,009 o (2,3 grados Plato) antes de transferir.

VERSIÓN DE MACERACIÓN PARCIAL:

Reduce la cebada triturada a 0,9 kg (2 lb) y la malta clara a 1,36 kg (3 lb). Macera todo junto a 66° C (150° F) durante una hora. Remoja la cebada tostada molida en un recipiente aparte con 2 L (2 qt) de agua a 68° C (155° F). Escurre y enjuaga los granos del remojo y macerado, y disuelve 0,9 kg (2 lb) de extracto de malta líquida clara dentro del mosto. Lava los granos a 80° C (176° F) hasta el volumen de hervor deseado con agua de OI, luego sigue como se indica arriba.

Si bien la marca de Guinness ha seguido siendo la más omnipresente de las Irish stouts, otros cerveceros irlandeses se destacaron en el mundo con este estilo. La fórmula actual de Guinness se basa en una gran proporción de cebada triturada sin maltear y cebada tostada, además de malta base clara, lo que produce una stout amarga y muy seca. Beamish y Murphy’s, ambas de Cork, tienen sus propias variaciones de este estilo.

Murphy’s utiliza una pequeña proporción de malta de chocolate además de malta tostada, con lúpulo Target en vez del énfasis de Guinness por el Goldings. La cerveza resultante es seca, pero no tan seca como el estándar de Dublín. Beamish reemplaza la cebada tostada enteramente a favor de la malta de chocolate y un poco de trigo malteado, y lúpulo Challenger, Goldings y Hersbrucker, para lograr una stout un poco más suave y cremosa. Desde la perspectiva de la elaboración de cerveza, hay que tener en cuenta que, al considerar la apariencia de la cerveza terminada, la malta de chocolate puede dar lugar a un color de espuma algo más oscuro que la cebada tostada, que produce una espuma casi blanca.

De las muchas variaciones, apuntaremos a una versión de barril de Dublín parecida a la Guinness. Veamos la materia prima, comenzando por el perfil del agua. Muchos estilos porter y stout requieren agua de elevada alcalinidad para equilibrar la acidez de los granos en el macerado. Sin embargo, para la stout seca, se prefiere un agua de baja alcalinidad y bajo contenido de minerales. Esto tiene que ver tanto con el proceso, en el cual la cebada tostada molida se remoja separada del macerado principal, como con el sabor ácido deseable que deriva del bajo pH de la cebada tostada. La nítida acidez final es una característica del perfil de sabor de la Dublin dry stout.

La fuente original de agua para la cervecería, al parecer, era muy suave y, de hecho, el experto en agua para cerveza Martin Brungard observa que la cervecería moderna utiliza la filtración por ósmosis inversa (OI) para mantener esta suavidad de las distintas fuentes de agua que se usan actualmente (ver: “Brewing Water Series: Ireland” de Brungard en la edición de Zymurgy de nov./dic. de 2012 para más información). Así que hay pocos motivos para tratar de reformular un perfil de agua de Dublín con sales minerales; el agua filtrada por OI debe ser suficiente o, si tu suministro local es bastante suave, eso debería andar bien.

La malta clara con alto poder diastático (como casi todas las maltas claras tienen actualmente) realmente es el único requisito para una dry stout. Es discutible si el sabor adicional y el carácter singular que se podría obtener al usar maltas Maris Otter, Optic, Pearl o Golden Promise se notaría en un estilo de gran amargor y sabor como este, si utilizáramos malta de origen británico exclusivamente en nombre de la autenticidad. Yo tiendo a preferir la malta clara domestica (americana) para la dry stout y he obtenido excelentes resultados.

La cebada tostada, sin embargo, es otro tema. Es posible que la cebada tostada domestica que está en el rango de 300° a 400° L no logre el color negro “adecuado” de 30 según el SRM. (El BJCP permite un rango de color de 25 a 40 según el SRM para este estilo). Busca una tostada de 500° L de gran calidad, específica para dry stout, a veces llamada “cebada negra” o “cebada stout”. En general suelo optar por una marca británica, pero las malteras de EE. UU. como Briess también fabrican una excelente cebada negra con el requisito de color de 500° L.

Se puede hacer una dry stout muy buena con lúpulo cultivado en EE. UU., pero como este estilo se basa muchísimo en la presencia del lúpulo, pienso que lo mejor sería optar por Target, Challenger, Goldings o una combinación de los tres, aunque en la receta solo se requieren adiciones tempranas. Se dice que Guinness agrega una pequeña cantidad de extracto de lúpulo a su cerveza terminada, así que tal vez haya una nota de lúpulo distintiva escondida en el aroma complejo de la cerveza.

La levadura para cerveza irlandesa es limpia y atenuante, pero puede agregar unos ésteres frutales a altas temperaturas. El bien documentado cronograma de fermentación de Guinness comienza a 17° C (63° F), pero luego se deja aumentar hasta 23 a 27° C (74 a 80° F), para garantizar una rápida fermentación de tres a cuatro días. Esto tiene sentido para una producción de gran volumen y alta rotación, pero a los cerveceros caseros, les advierto que el sabor frutal puede irse de las manos por encima de los 23° C (74° F). La mayoría de los laboratorios de levadura recomiendan no más de 22° C (72° F) para la cepa. Anecdóticamente, he descubierto que la cepa actúa fuerte y limpiamente a 20° C (68° F), así que eso es lo que recomiendo.

Para el macerado, son deseables las temperaturas que producirán un mosto altamente fermentable. Un macerado de 70 minutos a 64° C (148° F) era el procedimiento estándar en Guinness según Lewis, seguido de un aumento de temperatura y lavado a 80° C (176° F). Para nuestra receta, especialmente si usamos malta con mayor poder diastático, 60 minutos son suficientes, pero igual se recomienda el lavado a alta temperatura, ya que el alto porcentaje de cebada triturada puede volver gomoso el macerado con beta-glucanos. (Si tu sistema de fabricación de cerveza es propenso a que se atasque el macerado, lo mejor es tener unas cáscaras de arroz a mano por si acaso). Remojar la cebada tostada finamente molida por separado del macerado principal de malta clara y cebada triturada evita que el pH se vuelva demasiado bajo durante la conversión del almidón. Eso no quiere decir que no se pueda hacer una dry stout decente simplemente macerando todo junto, pero el remojo por separado produce un resultado final notablemente más suave y más integrado.

Agregar los granos tostados y el agua de infusión después de una hora de la conversión hará bajar el pH del macerado durante el lavado, pero para entonces la mayor parte de la acción enzimática habrá cesado, y el lavado simplemente servirá para enjuagar el sabor restante del tostado. Curiosamente, Lewis observa que la cervecería Park Royal Guinness con sede en Londres y la cervecería original St. James’s Gate de Dublín tenían procedimientos de macerado diferentes: en un punto Park Royal maceraba al menos una parte del grano tostado junto con la malta clara y la cebada triturada; St. James’s Gate utilizaba un remojo separado para el tostado ¡y agregaba el extracto resultante al mosto claro en el hervidor!

Uno pensaría que desde entonces se habrían aplicado estándares modernos sobre la consistencia del producto para encontrar algún tipo de consenso entre los procedimientos de ambos lugares, pero al agregar la cebada tostada más tarde en el macerado, estamos en algún punto entre los dos procedimientos. Para llevar el procedimiento de remojo al extremo, incluso se podría hacer un remojo en frío del tostado molido un par de días antes y luego agregar el extracto tostado después del hervor para un resultado aún más suave; este es un método común para usar café tostado en la cerveza, aunque esta sugerencia para la stout es puramente teórica.

Al envasar la dry stout, personalmente creo que guardar en barril es mejor que el embotellado, pero, sin duda, haz lo que puedas con los recursos que tengas. Guinness, y de hecho todas las dry stout, se han vuelto conocidas por el famoso “nitro pour” (mezcla de nitrógeno) mediante el cual una cerveza terminada con un carbonatado relativamente bajo es forzada a través de una placa perforada al momento de dispensar, produciendo cascadas de burbujas diminutas que suben a la superficie en forma de una rica capa de espuma fina y cremosa que con frecuencia dura hasta el fondo del vaso. Obviamente, un sistema dedicado de barril de nitrógeno, incluyendo la mezcla apropiada de gases y el grifo de la placa reductora, es la mejor manera de lograr este resultado hermoso y fácil de beber en el vaso, pero con un poco de práctica, hasta los cerveceros caseros que usan barriles Cornelius y con tapa cobra podrán lograr una buena aproximación.

Al carbonatar la stout hasta aproximadamente 4 gramos por litro (2 volúmenes) de CO2 y aplicar una presión superior (usando CO2 normal) de 172 a 207 kPa (25 a 30 libras por pulgada cuadrada), se puede utilizar el dispensador con tapa cobra como punto de restricción. Como cerveceros caseros, estamos acostumbrados a dispensar con el grifo completamente abierto para lograr un vaso de cerveza carbonatada relativamente libre de espuma. Pero simplemente apretando apenas la manija para forzar la stout a través de una abertura estrecha a alta presión, se puede imitar el vertido en cascada de la Irish stout. Si la carbonatación de la cerveza es demasiado alta, este método dará como resultado un vaso de espuma; si es demasiado bajo, no obtendrás casi nada de espuma (de tu cerveza sin gas). Pero si logras el equilibrio correcto ¡te sorprenderá el buen sabor y gusto de esa pinta de stout casera! Ah, y no te olvides de reducir la presión superior en el barril después de que termines de servir las pintas, de lo contrario carbonatarás de más la cerveza. Y entonces será pura espuma de todas formas. ¡Sláinte!

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Amahl Turczyn es subredactor de Zymurgy.

Recursos:

  • Lewis, Michael J. Classic Beer Style Series: Stout. Brewers Publications, 1995.
  • Jackson, Michael. Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion, Duncan Baird Publishers, 1993.
  • Kemp, Florian. “The Evolution of Dry Stout,” All About Beer, 35, Edición 6, 17 de marzo de 2015.

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