It's Brew Day!
Well, technically, it's B+1-day, and the brew is almost half done. Timing really isn't my forte, so instead of around noon-ish, I finally kicked the whole thing in motion sometime after dinner. Not ideal, but Saturdays are sparse, and quality time even sparser.
So instead of milling, I went grocery shopping.
Instead of starting a mash, a made scrambled eggs, something the kids call Crabs Burgers, and noodles for lunch.
Instead of filtering, I took the kids out and sang for the climate.
And instead of boiling wort, I prepared dinner.
I cannot for the life of me say that this was a day I'd rather have spent differently.
But work needs to be done or else this beer will remain loose components for ever.
So I got me some assistance for the milling.
Adjusting the mill to achieve the proper coarseness was fiddly, but I got the hang of it. Witness this quality grist:
All that grist wound up in that nifty double bucket thing I told you about some time ago. Poured 14.2 liters of 69° water on top of it and added hot water until I got a steady 66°C, and then left the whole thing more or less alone for about an hour and a half, which was just about enough to put my lovely assistant to bed. Some whining and moping was exhibited, since said assistant really wanted to, well, assist me further. Looking at the time now, I'm glad I used my sternest Daddy-mode and got her to cooperate on the "get some sleep now and help me clean up the mess tomorrow if you insist".
Filtering took forever, but I'd been warned about that, and while I cannot honestly call my wort "clear", I think it may just be about good enough for a first time.
Well, technically, it's B+1-day, and the brew is almost half done. Timing really isn't my forte, so instead of around noon-ish, I finally kicked the whole thing in motion sometime after dinner. Not ideal, but Saturdays are sparse, and quality time even sparser.
So instead of milling, I went grocery shopping.
Instead of starting a mash, a made scrambled eggs, something the kids call Crabs Burgers, and noodles for lunch.
Instead of filtering, I took the kids out and sang for the climate.
And instead of boiling wort, I prepared dinner.
I cannot for the life of me say that this was a day I'd rather have spent differently.
But work needs to be done or else this beer will remain loose components for ever.
So I got me some assistance for the milling.
 |
| Some home brewers use a drill. I think of the climate. |
Adjusting the mill to achieve the proper coarseness was fiddly, but I got the hang of it. Witness this quality grist:
 |
| Yes I have very small hands and I like purple nail polish. |
Filtering took forever, but I'd been warned about that, and while I cannot honestly call my wort "clear", I think it may just be about good enough for a first time.
Okay, I confess. I "forgot" to take a picture of my cloudy wort.
The filtered wort went into my supersize casserole, which I purchased off a nice gentleman called Mustafa near the Brussels Red Light District, which I happened to be passing...through...on my way...to...work no really I can explain all that.
The steaming vessel itself
When this finally came to the boil (and I really need to find some way of boiling 20-odd liters of fluid that doesn't take forever), I added these little babies:
Because I always cook sideways.
Those are Challenger hops, which will serve as the main "bittering" hops. The long boil will not leave much in terms of aroma, but should provide a nice bitter foundation for the beer.
I also added 1 kg of dark brown sugar, which will do three things for my beer:
- make it darker
- make it heavier in terms of alcohol
- make it less sweet. Yeah. I know. Someday I'll explain, but until then you'll just have to take my word for it.
Aroma hops need to be added and the boil needs to complete, but you'll be reading more about that later on.
Till then!
Greetz
Jo
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