Beer Making: Java Stout

Beer Making: Java Stout

One of my earliest childhood memories is touring a beer factory in Wisconsin and thinking how godawful it smelled.

Beer making has always been a somewhat mysterious process to me, so when my neighbor Roger invited me over this morning to make some, I said hellyaz.

We started by steeping the grain sack.



Aside from providing comic relief and relentless documentation of the process, I oozed the malt concentrate into the bubbling cauldron:



Then we plopped in the hops, carefully teabagging them in the simmering wort.



I found the aggressively named ingredients amusing:





After a few hours of steeping, cooling the wort and aerating, we transferred the liquid to a pail in the basement (positioned above the floor to enable the brew to remain cool but not too cool). Here it will sit for a week before we begin the next phase, which includes adding the coffee that will help this beverage earn its oddly bipolar appellation.



It smelled great.

TBC.

David,
Not to denigrate your experience, but using malt extract is really the semi-homemade version of making beer. (I'm hoping other brewers here will back me up on that.) It can still make great beer, but you're turning over the selection of malts to the company that makes the extract rather than selecting them yourself. Virtually everyone who starts out brewing uses malt extract, but going all-grain really lets you experience the magic of brewing.

For me, I love the mystery of taking little kernels of non-sweet dry malted barley, soaking them in hot water, and ending up with a sweet liquid for the yeast to nibble on. Right now, I have a version of a rauchbier going, using a newly introduced cherry-wood smoked malt from Briess.

Any time you want to come over and help with an all-grain batch, you're invited. But you might find yourself cleaning and sanitizing a lot of stuff.

And when I've made coffee stouts, I usually include the coffee in the mash. I hadn't considered adding it to the secondary, but I'll be interested in hearing how that technique works.

Nothing like a coffee beer first thing in the morning.

Nr, no denigration felt.

As I mentioned, my pal Roger invited me over to his place and he had purchased the stuff from Midwest Supply. It was his second time making beer at home; my first. We're learning...and I'm sure you're right that selecting malt ingredients gives a beermaker more control over the finished product, but we're still on training wheels here.

nr706 wrote:And when I've made coffee stouts, I usually include the coffee in the mash. I hadn't considered adding it to the secondary, but I'll be interested in hearing how that technique works.

My guess is that putting the coffee in secondary will leave more aromatic elements that can be blown out during the initial rush of fermentation.

And yes, going all-grain definitely produces beer on an entirely different level than extract with specialty grains but everybody's gotta start somewhere I figure. David, if you'd like to check out an all-grain session (probably in the spring once it warms up--I'm still doing some cold-weather brewing in the garage but it's nicer when you can sit outside in the warm and enjoy the day while you're brewing) I'm sure nr706 or I would be happy to host.

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:My guess is that putting the coffee in secondary will leave more aromatic elements that can be blown out during the initial rush of fermentation.

Excellent point. I'll remember that for the next time I make a coffee stout. But the next beer up for me will be an over-the-top pale ale; Dan Carey, the brewmaster at New Glarus, described the style, and he'll be making soon. I want to imitate it. I'll have a little bit from my discussion with him up on The Local Beet soon.

David,

The single biggest mistake that new brewmasters usually make is not properly sanitizing everything that comes into contact with the beer, post boil. You cannot over clean and sanitize.

I believe the second biggest mistake is not properly scaling up your supply of yeast to overwhelm the native yeast.

Just a couple of ideas to pass on to your brewing buddy.

lougord99 wrote:I believe the second biggest mistake is not properly scaling up your supply of yeast to overwhelm the native yeast..

Another good point. The Propagator line of yeasts from Wyeast isn't meant to be pitched directly into the wort; it's made to be grown into a larger quantity of yeast to pitch. If your sanitation is good, you might be able to get away with pitching directly from a Propagator package, but the Activator line (which includes the Thames Valley yeast, which it looks like you used) provides far more active yeast cells, and is safer to pitch into the wort directly. It's less likely for the nasty organisms to get a foothold in your brew the more friendly yeasties you can put into your wort.

Wyeast wrote:The Activator™ has a minimum of 100 billion cells of pure, ready-to-pitch yeast, plus an internal nutrient packet. The Activator™ is designed to inoculate five gallons of wort (up to 1.060 SG) providing the pitching rate recommended by professional brewers.

The PROPAGATOR™ has a minimum of 25 billion cells of pure yeast, plus an internal nutrient packet. The PROPAGATOR™ is designed to inoculate a one liter starter* before adding to five gallons of wort (up to 1.060 SG).

I like using British yeasts; I've never tried the Thames Valley, though. Maybe I'll use that for a future batch.

I suppose this is taking the thread in a different direction, but having done only some extract brewing, how do you more experienced brewers do your all-grain process? Brew trees, or simpler, more jury-rigged affairs? I've read around quite a bit, but I'm just curious what the very detail-oriented LTH community has to say.

My setup is not fancy at all. No fixed multitier system. I have a corona mill for cracking grains. I use an Igloo cooler for a mash tun. I do single-infusion mashes, which calls for adding a set amount of water at a set temperature to result in a mash of a specified temperature and thickness and then resting until conversion has taken place, so the Igloo is ideal. I have a Phil's lauter system for sparging and set up the tiers on an impromptu basis when prepping the sparge. (I'll stack a couple cases of beer on a table and put my sparge water there, set another case on a stool and put the lauter tun there, and drain from the lauter tun directly into my boil pot sitting on the floor.) My boil pot is a 30qt stainless steel turkey fryer with a 180K btu propane burner and I use this for heating mash and sparge water as well. I have a homemade copper immersion chiller for bringing the wort temperature down to pitchable levels.

Sometimes I wish I had a fancier setup if only to make some of the prep work easier, or to make some fancier mashes possible (wait 'til nr706 tells us about his triple-decoction mashes ) but the truth is that brewing all-grain is a longer, more involved process. An extract-only brew session might take only 2-3 hours; an all-grain session is going to take at least twice that long, possibly longer.

I do batch sparging in a 70qt cooler and boil in a converted 15.5 gallon keg.
I make good beer with it

nr706 wrote:David,
Not to denigrate your experience, but using malt extract is really the semi-homemade version of making beer. (I'm hoping other brewers here will back me up on that.) It can still make great beer, but you're turning over the selection of malts to the company that makes the extract rather than selecting them yourself. Virtually everyone who starts out brewing uses malt extract, but going all-grain really lets you experience the magic of brewing.

I agree, but like you said, you can make good beer with extract. You give up a little control, but not all of it. I've been brewing for a couple years (not much recently though) and have yet to move to an all grain system. Time and space are the biggest drawbacks -- my little city apartment is already stuffed.

I'd recommend people stick to extract for the first few tries anyway, just to get that part of the technique down. All grain isn't really that much harder, but there are more steps and that means more things that can go wrong. The whole process is simple after you get the hang of it. And of course, sanitize, sanitize, sanitize. The best ingredients in the world me nothing if it gets infected.

Pick up a copy of "How to Brew" by John Palmer. http://www.howtobrew.com/

Edited for one practical point. Extract brewing requires less equipment. You might as well figure out if it is more than a passing interest before investing in even more stuff. If after 3 or 4 simple batches you are still interested, then it is a good time to think about what else you need.

I started - as most homebrewers do - with extract & specialty grains. I quickly switched to all-grain using two modified orange Gott water coolers (10gal mash/lauter tun & 5gal hot liquor tank) and a 30qt stainless pot. This served me well until I stumbled upon a 3-tier MoreBeer setup for sale on Craigslist. It's still not what I'd consider ideal but I at least have most of the hardware that can be migrated whenever I build a better stand.

The Wyeast Propagator pack can be used without a starter for lower gravity beers (< about 1.060). It's really just the same as the original size Wyeast pack before they came out with the XL (now call Activator) pack. Most of us opt for the larger pack for primary fermentation though and use the smaller packs for bottling yeast for stronger or long-aged beers.

A friend who makes quite a few coffee beers (he owns a Kona coffee farm near Captain Cook, HI) uses a Toddy to cold-brew a quart of coffee concentrate which he adds to the secondary. His beers have great coffee aroma and flavor.

Also, for those wanting to combine great food, beer, and homebrewing the Chicago Beer Society hosts a big event the first Saturday in May (also Derby day) for Big Brew Day. It has been held at a club member's house in Roger's Park the past several years. I think he'll volunteer again but don't know for sure yet. Several brewing teams bring their rigs and brew up a batch throughout the day. I'm sure any of the teams or the host would be willing to share information and brewing duties with anyone who wanted to show up early and help out.

Today, coffee was added to the wort.



Then the liquid was transferred to the corboy for secondary fermentation. My one job today was to make sure the hose stayed in the corboy and didn’t splash out and make a mess.

What were your original and pre-secondary gravities like? How much coffee was added, and how strong was it? Will you eventually need help consuming this? The more details, the merrier

mtgl wrote:What were your original and pre-secondary gravities like? How much coffee was added, and how strong was it? Will you eventually need help consuming this? The more details, the merrier

Roger did check for gravities, but we were not entirely sure what to do with that information so it didn't influence our decisions.

We added a pot of coffee to a little less than five gallons of wort.

Help consuming? Probably.

David Hammond wrote:

mtgl wrote:What were your original and pre-secondary gravities like? How much coffee was added, and how strong was it? Will you eventually need help consuming this? The more details, the merrier

Roger did check for gravities, but we were not entirely sure what to do with that information so it didn't influence our decisions.

The easiest thing to do with your gravity readings is to calculate the alcohol content. Use a simple calculator.

jblth wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

mtgl wrote:What were your original and pre-secondary gravities like? How much coffee was added, and how strong was it? Will you eventually need help consuming this? The more details, the merrier

Roger did check for gravities, but we were not entirely sure what to do with that information so it didn't influence our decisions.

The easiest thing to do with your gravity readings is to calculate the alcohol content. Use a simple calculator.

So once I have degrees Plato, then what? I'm not seeing how, until we're much more accomplished (unlikely), this information is going to help one way or the other. I'm always interested in more knowledge, but this hunk of info seems academic. Or am I missing something?

David Hammond wrote:So once I have degrees Plato, then what? I'm not seeing how, until we're much more accomplished (unlikely), this information is going to help one way or the other. I'm always interested in more knowledge, but this hunk of info seems academic. Or am I missing something?

If you measured when you pitched the yeast and when it is done fermenting, you can get the ABV. Stick the number in the original and final gravity fields and press calculate. "Specific Gravity" and "Degrees Plato" measure the same thing -- just different scales. It will also give you the number of Calories in the beer. That's all I've ever used the gravity readings for when the beer is done.

If you aren't sure the wort is done fermenting, you can take the gravity a few days in a row. If it doesn't change it is done fermenting.

jblth wrote:
If you aren't sure the wort is done fermenting, you can take the gravity a few days in a row. If it doesn't change it is done fermenting.

If the wort has reached the anticipated final gravity range I agree. If it has not, it can also mean that you have a stuck fermentation.

I've had a weizenbock maintain the same gravity for over two months at 1.028. Warmer summertime temperatures restarted the fermentation and it finally finished at 1.016.


Ron

David Hammond wrote:Roger did check for gravities, but we were not entirely sure what to do with that information so it didn't influence our decisions.

Based on your Original gravity (OG) you should strive to reach an anticipated Final gravity (FG). Bottling your beer before it reaches this done range can cause "bottle bombs" (exploding bottles) or "gushers" (when you open a bottle, the beer gushes out).

Based only on the info I have found in your fine postings, for OG/FG purposes, I would guess what you folks made might be in the area of a Sweet Stout (with coffee...of course! ) The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) has various style guidelines for many beers. The stouts can be found here: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style13.php.

Please take a look at the other stouts also to get a better handle on what your ale's anticipated FG range should be.

A rule of thumb would be that if your wort had an OG in the lower part of the range, you should also anticipated that your FG should also be in the lower part of the range.

On another matter, please allow me to pass along a tip for you to consider. When I used to carbonate my beer in bottles by adding priming sugar, I found it tough to determine when carbonation was completed without actually opening up one of the bottles. (Here comes the tip! ) What I would do is get my hands on one of those 500ml water bottles with the screw on top. If you don't feel like dumpster diving, you can always buy one at a Quicky-Mart. Clean & sanitize the empty bottle & cap with the rest of your bottles. Fill (with a 1/2 inch or so of head space) the plastic bottle and screw the cap on when you are bottling the rest of your ale. In 4-6 days take a look at the plastic bottle. Hopefully the bottom of the bottle has started to bulge. In 7-14 days it might be tough for the plastic bottle to remain upright on a flat surface and, if so, carbonation should be complete. You should also be able to plainly see some residue on the bottom of the bottle. ( If it is not bulging, move all the beer to a warmer location.)

Chill...Open it up and enjoy!

Heck, it might even be considered a "green thing" to recycle what might otherwise be a single use bottle.

Ron

Not to be a stickler, but it stopped being wort the moment you added yeast. Once that happens it is called beer.

RonJS wrote:

jblth wrote:
If you aren't sure the wort is done fermenting, you can take the gravity a few days in a row. If it doesn't change it is done fermenting.

If the wort has reached the anticipated final gravity range I agree. If it has not, it can also mean that you have a stuck fermentation.

I've had a weizenbock maintain the same gravity for over two months at 1.028. Warmer summertime temperatures restarted the fermentation and it finally finished at 1.016.

Ah, I see. So if the reading is not where it should be, wait. That I could do. I was thinking we would have to make some adjustment on the formula, which at this stage in my evolution as a biermeister, would be challenging.

RonJS, thanks for the tip. We’ll sequester some suds in a smaller bottle for testing.

Jamieson22 wrote:Not to be a stickler, but it stopped being wort the moment you added yeast. Once that happens it is called beer.

Jamieson22, I appreciate the clarification of terms – I was thinking of wort as pre-drinkable beer…and what I saw in the bucket yesterday smelled pretty good but I don’t think I’d drink it (and that’s saying a lot).

Jamieson22 wrote:Not to be a stickler, but it stopped being wort the moment you added yeast. Once that happens it is called beer.

I thought it wasn't beer until it finished fermenting (or at least a good clip through its fermentation.) I've always called it fermenting wort until it reached beerness. At the very least, the instant you pitch the yeast, I don't really think you can call wort "beer." But this is starting to sound like a "when does life begin" sort of debate....

Yeah, I guess I'm not maybe the most technically accurate but to me it's beer when you drink it. But of course, I'd have definitely sampled that stout when it was being transferred to secondary--not as delicate as Mr. Hammond on that matter

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:Yeah, I guess I'm not maybe the most technically accurate but to me it's beer when you drink it. But of course, I'd have definitely sampled that stout when it was being transferred to secondary--not as delicate as Mr. Hammond on that matter

I'm sure the stuff is potable (i.e., won't make you sick), it just didn't look very good. How'd it taste?

In general when I taste beers after a week or two of primary fermentation they're flat (obviously), maybe a bit sweet, wilder and and hop-heavier than they'll be when finished but it gives me a general sense of where the beer is going and how good it'll be when it gets there. But the real reason I do it is because I'm a big overgrown child with no patience* and can't wait to taste the stuff

* well I can't really say no patience, I'd definitely be in the wrong hobby if that were the case, but it is true that I am always eager to get that taste.

I sniff when the beer is going into secondary, but I usually don't taste. If there are off-smells, there's usually not much you can do, except try to figure out what caused them - some may dissipate; others won't. But if it doesn't smell like much, I'll dry hop it.

I'm every bit as much a big, overgrown child as JimTheBeerGuy, but I can handle delayed gratification.

Today was big: we added some sugar, a bit of water, and transferred beer to bottles.



One question we have for more experienced beer drinkers is this: We are correct, aren’t we, in avoiding the dregs at the bottom of the corboy? Does anyone here intentionally add dregs to the bottles? We didn’t. We stopped at just about the point this photo was taken.

I got a case of EZ Cap bottles from Midwest Supplies:



They were, as their name implies, super easy to use, though my main reason for getting them was that once the beer is ready, it’d be easy to drink a little, re-cap, and then have the remainder for lunch.

Two weeks in a 60-70 degree closet, and we’ll finally be able to raise a glass. In the meantime, we plan to brew another batch of some different stuff (I’ve got six more EZ Cap bottles to fill).

The more stuff you leave behind, the less you will have settled out into your bottles.

Did you use a bottling bucket or go directly from the carboy? Looks like you may have a bit more headspace than I generally leave behind. If you use a bottle filler cane you fill to top and the space occupied by the wand leaves the perfect amount of headspace when it is removed.

Jamieson22 wrote:The more stuff you leave behind, the less you will have settled out into your bottles.

Did you use a bottling bucket or go directly from the carboy? Looks like you may have a bit more headspace than I generally leave behind. If you use a bottle filler cane you fill to top and the space occupied by the wand leaves the perfect amount of headspace when it is removed.

We had a bottling bucket (still getting used to terminology).

I was so cautious about spilling (this time) that I gave bottles a little more room at the top, and I agree I went short. That's no kind of problem, is it, except for maybe aesthetically?