100 Bottles of Beer - Keep on Brewin'

OK, let's see, on the first three legs of our journey we covered my first five home brews and subsequent remakes of those brews. Brew number six was a remake of number two so, that puts us at number seven. At this point I am still brewing two or three time a month, which is good, for we still have "91 bottles of beer on the wall."

Brew number seven is Osmosis Amoebas German Alt, also from The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing. Where Charlie comes up with the names of his brews is beyond me. I am sure there is some hidden meaning or a deep personal significance known only to Charlie and a close circle of friends.

Osmosis Amoebas German Alt

6.6 lbs Ireks Amber LME

1/3 lb chocolate malt

1/8 lb black patent malt

1 3/4 oz Perle hops 60 min

1/4 oz Perle hops 5 min

Wyeast 1007 German Ale yeast

Priming: ¾ cup corn sugar & ¼ cup DME

It should be pointed out that specific brands of malt extracts used in these recipes may no longer be available. Not to worry, you can substitute with other brands; just try to match up brands with styles, i.e. German extracts for German styles, English for English styles, etc.

Charlie's recipe calls for either Northern Brewer or Perle hops, not sure why I went with Perle, probably availability at the home brew shop. Also, the ¼ oz. finishing hops were my addition. Hops generally come packaged in one or two oz. packages. I just wanted to use up the package.

Alt is German for old, so this could be called German Old Ale. This recipe produces a dark brown ale which tastes lighter than it looks. Begins sweet but finishes bitter. At first, I was not too impressed with it, but it got better as it aged, became quite good.

The alcohol level on this brew was just under 3.5% by weight, ABW. Alcohol content of beer is usually described as a percentage ABV, alcohol by volume; one, because it produces a higher, more impressive percentage and, two, because it makes more sense. You don't buy beer by the pound; you buy it by the pint, quart, or fluid ounce, a measurement of volume, not weight.

You can measure the approximate alcohol content of you beer with a hydrometer. Most hydrometers available in home brew shops are Triple Scale Beer & Wine Hydrometers. The first scale is the specific gravity scale and measures the density of liquid relative to pure water with water being 1.000. My hydrometer is graduated up to 1.170 and I have never had any beer come even close to that specific gravity, so it is more than sufficient. The next scale is the potential alcohol scale and is graduated from 0% to over 20%. While it is possible to make beer over 20%, the process required would never require an original gravity that high. The third scale is the Balling scale and is most commonly used by professional brewers. It is graduated in degrees Plato from 0 to 39. A reading of 39 will coincide with 1.170 on the specific gravity scale.

All three scales measure the same thing, the density of the liquid (beer) in which it is immersed. The hydrometer will float in the liquid (beer). Take the reading where the level of the surface of the liquid (beer) is on the scale. The scales are all calibrated to be accurate at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The reading will be off by about .0025 on the specific gravity scale for every 10 degrees. So, if you want to be that nit-picky, if your beer is 80 degrees when you measure it, add .005 to the reading. I don't bother because I never take a reading unless the beer is in the 60-70 degree range where I consider the error to be insignificant.

All three scales can be used to determine the alcohol content. You do want to measure the gravity of your beer using either the specific gravity scale or the Balling scale. This is because any recipe you try to follow will give this information as target original gravity and finishing or final gravity in one or both of these scales. The key to alcohol content is not how high these numbers are, but how great the difference between original and final numbers. Charlie gives a simple mathematical equation for determining the content using the specific gravity readings. I started off using this system but no longer do because it results in the alcohol content by weight, ABW. The Balling scale gives a more direct reading in that 1 degree Plato equals 1% sugar content in the beer. The problem is; this is also ABW. The most direct reading of alcohol content is on the, you guessed it, potential alcohol scale. Did the name of the scale give it away? This scale is direct reading in percent and it is by volume, ABV. It is also the simplest. If your original reading is 9% and your final reading is 3%, the difference is 6% and, guess what, 6% is your ABV. Yeah! Have a home brew! By the way, you can convert ABW to ABV by multiplying by 1.25.

As I stated, I started off using the specific gravity scale and Charlie's equation to determine my alcohol. I decided after a couple dozen or so brews, did I really care, as long as it tasted good, it did not matter what the ABW or ABV was. I did not even bother with taking gravity readings for a long time. Quite some time later, as I began to be more technical in my brewing, I did get back to being concerned about gravity and ABV.

My first seven brews ranged from 2.1% to 4.5% ABW. I will note these readings, converted to ABV, on all recipes when I have the information going forward.

Now that I have either dazzled with brilliance or baffled with bull, let's get on to the next beer.

Brew number eight was Regatta Best Bitter. This marks the first time I strayed from Charlie Papazian as this recipe comes from Homebrew Favorites by Karl F. Lutzen and Mark Stevens. They credit this recipe to Steve Collins of Bridgton, ME.

Regatta Best Bitter

6 lbs M&F Amber DME

1 lb M&F Light DME

1 lb Crystal Malt 40L

2 oz Cascade whole cone hops 60 min

1 oz Cascade whole cone hops 5 min

2 tsp gypsum

1/2 tsp Irish Moss

2 pkg (12 g total) M&F ale yeast

Priming: ¾ cup corn sugar & ¼ cup DME

This was my first brew after installing an under sink cold water filter. Did not suspect any problem with the water, just decided it could not hurt. Pure water is important to good beer. Also, I believe this is the first time I specified in my notes whether I used whole cone or pellet hops.

The only thing I changed from the original recipe was adding the Irish Moss and selecting 40L crystal as the recipe was not specific as to how dark crystal malt to use. This produced a good drinkable beer although not as hoppy or bitter as expected. Had I selected a lighter crystal, it would have increased the bitterness by decreasing the caramelized sugar content. The original gravity (OG) was 1.055 and the final (FG) was 1.018 for an ABV of 4.8%.

My next brew, number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine... Excuse me, had Beatles flashback there for a second...was Bullhead Fury Pale Ale, also from Homebrew Favorites. This recipe is credited to Ray Taylor and Martin Draper of Fargo, ND.

Bullhead Fury Pale Ale

6.6 lbs John Bull plain light LME

1/2 lb M&F plain light DME

12 oz Crystal Malt 10L

2 oz Crystal Malt 40L

3/4 oz English Kent Golding whole cone hops (60 min)

1/4 oz Fuggles whole cone hops (60 min)

1 oz Cascade whole cone hops (1 min)

1/4 oz English Kent Golding (15-20 min steep)

1 tsp Irish Moss

1 tsp gypsum

1 pkg Burton water salts

Wyeast 1098 British Ale yeast

Priming: ¾ cup corn sugar & ¼ cup DME

The brand of extracts used was changed from the original recipe due to availability and a different, although still British, ale yeast was used. Note that the last addition of hops calls for a 15-20 minute steep. This means to add after the 60 minute boil is complete and the kettle has been removed from the heat source. The gypsum and water salts are added to five quarts cold water along with the crystal malts and heated to 150-160 degrees for 45 minutes. This water is then strained into the kettle containing the extracts and two quarts of water. The grains are then sparged with one quart boiling water.

I did single stage fermentation on this one per the original recipe. This means it was all fermented and left to settle and clear in the primary fermentation bucket. I did not rack to a secondary.

How did this turn out? Well, in my notes dated 7/10/95 I wrote, "OH WOW! That's GOOD!" Carbonation level was right on. The beer was very clear with a nice red-amber color. Taste was light with a medium body and nice hop bitterness. Very good stuff!

I did not take any gravity readings to determine ABV.

I did a remake of Bullhead Fury a little over a year later with some changes due to availability and circumstance. Also, I did rack to a secondary fermenter on this one.

6.6 lbs John Bull plain light LME

1/2 lb M&F plain light DME

12 oz American Crystal Malt 10L

2 oz American Crystal Malt 40L

2/3 oz English Kent Golding hop pellets (61 min)

1/3 oz English Fuggle hop pellets (61 min)

1 oz Cascade hop pellets (1 min)

1/3 oz English Kent Golding hop pellets (20 min steep)

1 tsp Irish Moss (16 min)

1 tsp gypsum

1 pkg Burton water salts

Wyeast 1098 British Ale yeast

Priming: ¾ cup corn sugar & ¼ cup DME

I am not sure why the odd, 61 minute, boil time. I probably forgot the last Cascade hop addition at the 59 minute mark so added it at 60 minutes and let it boil an extra minute.

I did have one scare in making this one. While dumping the LME into the kettle I was using a kitchen rubber spatula to scrape out the extract can. The rubber end fell off of the wooden handle revealing some mold on the handle. Some of this mold got into the extract syrup. Not good, but not a huge issue because the boil should kill any mold or bacteria. I did throw away the spatula.

This brew took longer to bottle condition but did turn nearly as good as the first time. I did not take any gravity readings to determine ABV.

The next brew, number 10, was from a recipe Keith had included in monthly newsletter from Highlander Home Brew. Keith called it John Q. Adams Massachusetts Bay Ale. Like my first brew, this is a Sam Adams clone although still an ale not a lager.

John Q. Adams Massachusetts Bay Ale

3.3 lbs M&F extra light LME

3 lbs M&F extra light DME

1/2 lb American Crystal Malt 40L

1 oz Hallertau pellets (60 min)

1/2 oz Hallertau pellets (30 min)

1/2 oz Czech Saaz pellets (15 min)

1/2 oz Czech Saaz pellets (2 min)

1 1/2 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)

Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast

Priming: ¾ cup corn sugar & ¼ cup DME

Keith had actually called for Laaglander DME but was out at the shop so I substituted M&F. Also, the second addition of Hallertau was my idea.

This took longer than expected to bottle condition but just kept getting better with age. This was the first brew I had bottled exclusively in 12 ounce bottles instead of 22. I did a side by side comparison with a Sam Adams Boston Lager and it was very close, as good as or better than the real thing. I took some bottles of this to a home brew party put on by my wife's co-worker who had helped her put together the home brew kit Christmas gift. Many of the women thought it was the best brew there. OG was 1.040 and FG was 1.007 for an ABV of about 4.2%

OK, that's five more down, 86 bottles of beer on the wall.

Next up: A pair of Porters and unlucky number 13

To be continued...

References:

Charlie Papazian, The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing, 2^nd edition, October 1991

Karl F. Lutzen & Mark Stevens, Homebrew Favorites, Third printing, February 1995