Experiences with Fermcap-S

I recently received a bottle of Fermcap-S from Northern Brewer and had a chance to test it over the weekend. I brewed an Imperial IPA and Scott B. brewed a Pale Ale.

Fermcap-S is an anti-foam agent that you can add to your starters, your boil, and your fermenter to help reduce or eliminate boil overs and blowoffs. It's nontoxic and approved as a food additive. It requires agitation to dissolve, so after fermentation completes, it precipitates out and settles down in the trub. Long story short, it never makes its way into your beer, and hence doesn't affect head retention.

How did it fare? I added Fermcap to my boil kettle, along with enough wort to leave only one inch of clearance from the top of the kettle. It worked like a charm. A roiling boil erupted without spilling a drop. Effectively no foam. Magic.

With regards to fermentation, the results were less stark. I also added Fermcap to my 6.5 gallon carboy, and Scott B. added some to his 5 gallon Better Bottle. With plenty of headspace, I observed an approximately 1.5 inch krausen. Scott had effectively no headspace, and hence had some blowoff spilling over his airlock. Scott believes that Fermcap reduces the intensity, but doesn't eliminate the blowoff. I agree with that sentiment.

You can read others experiences here.

Lazy Man Carboy Cleaning

This is my cleaning procedure for glass carboys used as primary (or secondary) fermenters, adapted from my Lazy Man Keg Cleaning procedure. Yes, it is designed for lazy men and women. Are you lazy?

Cleaning Procedure

1. Halfheartedly rinse trub out of carboy with 1/2 gallon of water. Really. Halfheartedly.
2. Place carboy in the location it will sit for up to 7 days. Location should allow for some water+Oxyclean spillage.
   
3. Add 6 tbsp Oxyclean Free to empty carboy (one tbsp for every gallon, plus one extra for fun).
4. Fill carboy with water just until it overflows.
   1. Make sure it is water and not just bubbles that is overflowing.
   2. Cold tap water is fine.
   3. There is no need to stir in the Oxyclean.
   4. I use a hose.
   5. I do not cover the mouth with anything.
      
5. Wait 1 - 7 days. (From my experience, I no longer see any bubbling activity after one week. Letting it sit indefinitely should not be a problem. I've read that one day is sufficient time for the cleaning action to complete.)

Rinsing Procedure

1. Filled carboys are heavy! Siphon is our friend! Siphon the cleaning solution out of the carboy. Do something else while it is emptying (like step one above).
   
2. Repeat step 1 for each carboy you are cleaning, preferably in parallel.
3. Use either the last remaining gallon of cleaning solution in the carboy, or a fresh gallon of water (or both) to swirl out the remaining muck in the carboy. (Many rinsing steps remain, so don't stress this step too much. Just make sure the walls looks clean.)
   
4. Add approximately one shotglass of distilled white vinegar and approximately one gallon of water directly to the carboy. You must use distilled vinegar!
5. Seal the carboy with a solid stopper.
6. Swirl carboy mildly, then invert and mildly swirl inverted carboy.
7. Lay carboy on its side on a soft surface. DO NOT LAY ON CONCRETE as the next steps may introduce stress fractures that could eventually lead to a dangerously shatter-prone carboy. Grass is great. Other surfaces?
   
8. Using your foot to push, roll carboy. Do approximately three revolutions in about 10 seconds.
9. Remove stopper and dump vinegar.
10. Add about a gallon of fresh tap water to carboy. Repeat steps 5 - 9, then dump out water. You can probably skip this step, since it will be followed by a Sanitizer Rinse.
11. Repeat steps 3 - 10 for each carboy you are rinsing.
    

Sanitizing Procedure

1. Add about a gallon of sanitizer to carboy. Repeat steps 5 - 9 of the Rinsing Procedure, then dump or save sanitizer.
   

Alternatives

As is the case with the Lazy Man Keg Cleaning, the Vinegar Rinse may be unnecessary if replaced by a Star San Rinse.

Lazy Man Keg Cleaning

This is my cleaning procedure for cornelius kegs used for secondary fermenters. I've designed this procedure for the lazy man (myself). I wanted as little scrubbing and lifting of heavy objects as possible. The following is my first, and hopefully last, draft.

I should note that this procedure eliminates scrubbing altogether, by utilizing the power of Oxyclean. The stuff is truly amazing, given enough time. I'll venture to say that Oxyclean cleans my kegs and carboys better that I'd ever be able to do with a brush.

Cleaning Procedure

1. Halfheartedly rinse trub out of keg with 1/2 gallon of water. Really. Halfheartedly.
2. Remove the plugs (posts), poppet valves, and gas dip tube, and place all of them inside the keg on the bottom. Remove the liquid dip tub and place it inside the keg as well (doing so will prevent the keg from being closed, which is fine). Be sure the poppet valves are separated from the posts. Keep the lid handy.
   
3. Place keg in the location it will sit for up to 7 days. Location should allow for some water+Oxyclean spillage.
   
4. Add 6 tbsp Oxyclean Free to empty keg (one tbsp for every gallon, plus one extra for fun).
5. Fill keg with water just until it overflows.
   1. Make sure it is water and not just bubbles that is overflowing.
   2. Cold tap water is fine.
   3. There is no need to stir in the Oxyclean.
   4. I use a hose.
6. Dip both "ends" of the keg lid inside the cleaning solution in the mouth of the keg.
   
7. Do not attempt to properly install the lid (the liquid dip tube will prevent you from doing so). Instead, simply set the lid on top of the mouth of the keg to keep bugs out.
   
8. Wait 1 - 7 days. (From my experience, I no longer see any bubbling activity after one week. Letting it sit indefinitely should not be a problem. I've read that one day is sufficient time for the cleaning action to complete.)

Rinsing Procedure

1. Add one shotglass of distilled white vinegar to approximately one gallon of water in a bucket. You must use distilled vinegar!
2. Lay keg on side to empty most of the cleaning solution. Orient the gas port so that it is directly below the liquid port (or vice versa) to promote emptying. Do something else while it is emptying (like step one above).
   
3. Move the liquid dip tube and the keg lid to the vinegar bucket.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each keg you are cleaning.
   
5. Collect the posts, poppet valves, and gas dip tube. This can be done by slowly raising the bottom of the keg until those items slide forward within reach. Transfer those items (a total of 5 items) to the vinegar bucket.
6. Swirl bucket (to rinse everything minus the liquid dip tube).
   
7. Completely empty keg.
   
8. Reassemble keg, except for the lid.
9. Pour vinegar solution from bucket to keg.
10. Install lid.
11. Swirl keg mildly, then invert and mildly swirl inverted keg.
12. Lay keg on its side.
13. Using your foot to push, roll keg. Do approximately three revolutions in about 10 seconds.
14. Remove lid and pour vinegar back into bucket.
15. Add about a gallon of fresh tap water to keg. Repeat steps 10 - 13, then dump out water. You can probably skip this step, since it will be followed by a Sanitizer Rinse.
16. Repeat steps 5 - 15 for each keg you are rinsing.
    

Sanitizing Procedure

1. Add about a gallon of sanitizer to keg. Repeat steps 10 - 13 of the Rinsing Procedure, then dump or save sanitizer.
   

Alternatives

Currently, this is the regimen:

Water Rinse
Oxyclean
Vinegar Rinse
Water Rinse
Star San Rinse

However, the Vinegar Rinse followed by a Water Rinse may be unnecessary. I'm not sure yet. People use a Vinegar Rinse as an acid rinse to remove the residue left by Oxyclean. However, others have indicated that Star San is a stronger acid than vinegar, and hence a Star San Rinse should suffice as the acid rinse. I don't know the veracity of that claim. I'll have to test it out.

If I were to change my procedure, I'd probably still leave in a lazy Water Rinse just to rinse out the muck loosened by the Oxyclean, like so:

Lazy Water Rinse
Oxyclean
Lazy Water Rinse
Star San Rinse

Notes

It would be nice to be able to fill a corny keg with Star San, and then pressure clean the inside of a keg. Another alternative is to fill one of those pumpable pest control deals with Star San. Anyway, here are a few links:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/pvc-carboy-washer-20168/

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/my-cheap-easy-keg-washer-109684/

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/my-new-keg-washer-112504/

fittings, kegging, shopping

Thought I'd share a few good stores I've browsed or shopped at lately.

Good prices on various fittings:

http://www.greatbargain.net/order/index.html

http://www.buyfittingsonline.com/

Good kegging equipment:

http://kegkits.com/

http://www.beveragefactory.com/

http://www.micromatic.com/

Edit: kegkits.com has great prices and terrible service. This has been documented extensively at homebrewtalk.com. The owner is supposedly a nice guy. In any case, it took weeks longer than it should have for my order to arrive.

Nov 23rd Brew date

Well...Scott and I have been talking and it appears our only mutual opportunity to brew before thanksgiving--and maybe in what remains of the year--is Nov. 23rd. So we are running the flag up the pole to see who will salute.

We'll set up space heaters in the garage, and do like before--starting around noon and going in shifts on the burners until we are done.

Post if you are in--and post what you think you will brew.

I will retry the honeyspice IPA. And i will brew some sort of lager.

jerry

Fall Homebrew contests

The only Fall contest I have identified so far. October 23. This one is BJCP sanctioned.

Portland Fall Classic

i emailed the guy and he is trying to find a Eugene outlet that will serve as a drop off point for entries.

--------

Wait, I found another one...

BridgePort's 2008 Hop Harvest Home Brew Challenge

For beers made with fresh 2008 hops. Perfect for our homegrown hop beers.

-----

and check this one out...already passed, but worth a look next year...

Hop Madness

IPA--Honey Spice IPA

1 lbs Crystal 10L
1 lb Honey malt

8 lbs pils extract
2 lbs dry pils extract
1 lb honey.

Hops:
i just threw a .5-1 oz bag of nugget hops in about every 10 minutes or so through a ~ 90 minute boil. One bag was pride of ringwood. A lot of hops.

Plan to dry hop with nugget and cascade.

OG was 1.100. I diluted this later to get to around 1.083 or so.
OT was 70

Yeast was pacman, which i am hoping produces a richer more complex beer, and does not necessarily emphasize the hoppiness.

Mead--Live Blogging the first tasting

Sorry Ron , I'll save a sample for you.

No label for the mead yet. Title under consideration--Bee's bane, because several bees met their maker in this boil. Also, riffing off of Scott, George Herbert Mead. But if this is good, Scott really should have dibs on that in case he decides to make some. (BTW, I am definitely not used to ceding the pragmatist canon to others like this. It is a sign of my utmost respect for Dr. pratt's combination of erudition and beer making talents.)

Mead recipe is relatively simple.

~ 10 lbs of honey (about half was honey from bees feeding on blackberries, the rest was wildflower honey), a few pounds of blackberries and marrion berries reduced and strained, then a couple of jars of pure blackberry juice.

This made about 6 gallons so I split it in two. OG = 1.150. If this reduced to 1.020 with, say a champagne yeast, it would make 17% alcohol mead. Champagne yeast alcohol tolerance is 18%, so this is possible. This is about average for a strong dry mead. If the yeast stops earlier, you just get a sweeter mead.

I used pacman yeast starters in the first stage--because, you know, why not. I had them. The starters, perhaps unwisely, were made with malt and hops, but I am hoping that is drowned out by the honey and juice. (Scott you can quit laughing till these are finished.)

Tonight, I added the always intended second half of a wort to these batches. I siphoned into secondary, then added a wort made from same honey combo, reduced blackberries from Jason and Joanna's back yard, and a small bottle of three different juices--we'll see if anyone can identify them next year when this stuff is ready. The OG of the added wort was also 1.150.

I, of course, took a sample from the already fermented batches, the gravity on these was 1.080 and 1.075. 9.1% ABV and 9.8% ABV respectively. Note...Pacman has some staying power.

O.K., let's taste...I have some bread, cheese, and really green mead to sample. I'll try the sweeter one first (higher gravity). Not bad. Still very sweet. You can taste the alcohol--it is like a weak or watered down fruit brandy. Oh...that is pretty fine tasting. It is lighter on the front of the taste, then gets sweeter over time, leaving a warm sweet aftertaste with just a little berry tartness. Can't tell if it has a nose, because I have a cold.

O.K., now the other one...it smelled a little odd during the siphon, from what I could tell. Hmmm...not much difference--maybe a little more alcohol warmth. It almost has a plum like sweetness to it. Yes, tastes more like plum than blackberry to me.

No trace of hops in either one.

I intend to carbonate these, making sparkling fruit flavoed mead (melomel is the proper term for this I think.) Carbonation will make these lighter bodied. After tasting them, I can't wait.

As was always my plan, I am adding new yeast to these with the addition of new wort. I pitched one of these batches with a Wyeast Sweet Mead smack pack. It purports to take things up to 11% ABV. I have attempted to make two champagne yeast starters for the other one. That will allegedly make a drier, much more high alcohol Mead. Given how good they taste right now, I suppose someone might want to talk me out of pitching the champagne yeast--and just let the pac man ride. I'll wait a few days and talk to Ron.

Anyway--an auspicious beginning.

Czech Pilsner--Zymurgidelic

The image above is the bottom of a beer bottle, rendered in some sort of negative colors.

7 lbs of pils (extra light) extract
1 lb of French Organic Pilsner
.5 lbs crystal 10L

1 oz Czech Saaz, 1 oz Tettnanger, 1 oz liberty--60 min
.5 oz Czech Saaz, .5 oz Tettnanger--15 min
.5 oz Czech Saaz, .5 oz Tettnanger--5 minute

Czech pilsner yeast, white labs

----------

O.G. 1.o74
O.T. 68 degrees

F.G. 1.017
F.T. 55

a little less than 5 gallons

7.7% ABV

Amber Ale--Copper Melody

7 lbs amber extract

.5 lbs crystal 60L
.5 lbs Carared
.5 lbs belgian aromatic ~20L
.5 lbs munich

hops
1 oz willamette--60 minutes
1 oz willamette--10 minutes
1 oz paliscades-2 minutes

5.5 gallons--full carboy.

Pacman yeast

O.G. 1.o44
O.T. 7 5 degrees

F.G. 1.012
F.T. 64

4.5% ABV

Specialty Beer--Bama Yama Ale

I have been working on this beer for a while--trying to make a sweet amber beer with yams. This may be the best effort yet.

8 lbs amber extract

1 lb honey

.5 lbs maple syrup

reduction of 8 yams, boiled and filtered

.5 lbs german Vienna

.5 lbs Caraamber

.5 lbs crystal malt 60L

.5 lbs Honey malt

8 oz malto dextrin

8 oz lactos

4 sticks of cinnamon.

(I am guessing at the hops bill.
1 oz willamette--60 minutes
1 oz willamette--10 minutes
1 oz paliscades-2 minutes

pacman yeast

O.G. 1.100
O.T. 73 degrees

Upon racking to secondary, this tasted like a cordial. So I diluted it with 1 gallon of water. I estimnated this brought the original gravity to 1.080

F.G. 1.028 (high because of adjuncts, or destined to ovber carbonate?--well see.)
F.T. 65

Estimated 6.8% ABV

Russian Imperial Stout---Black Eye P.A. I & II

These two brews were our 100^th Gallon Anniversary Alesm a cross between a creamstout and an IPA. I think it fits into the Russian Imperial Stout category.

Here is the grain and hops bill for both...

.5 lb black patent

.5 lbs british chocolate malt

.5 lbs crystal malt 80L

.30 lbs Honey malt

.5 lbs german Vienna

4 oz malto dextrin

6 lbs dark extract

6 lbs amber extract

Hops:

Bittering: 2 oz magnum (10%) 2 oz sticklebract (13%) 1oz horizon (14%)--60+ minutes

Flavor: 1 oz Amarillo, 1 oz paliscades--15 minutes

Aroma: 1 oz paliscades 1oz horizon--5 minutes

Yeast:

BEPA I--WLP028 California Ale I

BEPA II--Fat Tire Ale culture

-----------------

BEPA I--WLP028 California Ale I

O.G. 1.100
O.T. 78 degrees

F.G. 1.032 (the maltodextrin accounts some for the high FG. Still, it seems almost destined to over carbonate)
F.T. 64 degrees

8.9% ABV

---------

BEPA II--Fat Tire Ale culture

O.G. 1.077
O.T. 75 degrees

F.G. 1.024 (might be just about right, slightly elevated by maltodextrin.)
F.T. 64 degrees

7.2% ABV

Cream Ale -- Smooth Operator

Recipe for the cream ale--a pale colored ale with low hops and adjuncts like maize or rice.

1 lb 2-row malt grain

3.5 lbs pilsner dry malt extract
2 lbs rice solids

2 oz halltertuer--60 minutes
.5 oz reg haltertauer, 1 oz sterling--10 minutes
.5 oz reg haltertauer, 1 oz sterling-2 minutes

pacman yeast

O.G. 1.o50
O.T. 7 8 degrees

F.G. 1.006
F.T. 60

6.1% ABV

Cream Stout -- Glory

First recipe...from the batch Ron and I just bottled.

.5 lb British chocolate
.25 lb. British black patent

.5 lb. honey malt

.5 lbs British crystal

.5 lbs British brown

.25 lbs carapils

.5 lb. oats

12 oz lactos

4 oz malto dextrin

4 lb. Amber dry malt extract
4 lb. Dark malt extract

Hops:

1 oz Northern Brewers 60 minutes

1oz ek golding 15 minutes

1 oz mt hood 2 minutes

pacman yeast

------------------

O.G. 1.078

O.T. 75 degrees

Primary ~1month

Secondary ~1 month

F.G.--1.028 (higher than average because of the addition of unfermentable sugars--i think)

F.T. 65 degrees

6.8% ABV

Hops Harvest

Our hops harvest is in!  Around 11 ounces of Nugget, Centennial, and Zeus/Columbus.

Hops are for sale all over craig's list

I know, some of you have grown your own. Some of us were not so fortunate. Turns out lots of people seem to grow hops then sell them on craigs list. I am looking around for some nugget, fuggles, and cascade.

Prices on craigs list are way cheaper than in the store.

In the meantime, check out this chimney full of hops. I might try this next year.

Steel has been purchased for the first brew tree

Ron and I went to the--oh so beautiful--schnitzer steel yard and purchased the piping necessary for the frame of the brew tree. We also priced propane burner elements and pipe fittings.

The image at the left is a version of what we are aiming for.

More photos will follow as this thing gets assembled.

Bottle washing and hops drying

We must have washed a thousand bottles on Tuesday night. Jeff, Ron, Keith and I stood around the sink spray washing and brush scrubbing all the bottles stored in my garage. It was 3 hours of production-line work--with union mandated breaks for beer sampling of course. I think we are set for bottles for the coming year.

Also transferred 3 of our beers--the Yamshine, Cream Stout, and Amber Ale to secondary. Left the Black Eye P.A. and pale ale in carboys for conditioning. And we bottled keith's Alleged PA--which is more like an IPA. Keith seems inexorably drawn to the hops.

AND, Keith brought over a burlap sack with his hops harvest. This foced us to spark up the hops dyer--which against all odds WORKS. Complete with a thermostat that turns the heating element on and off to prevent cooking the hops. An auspicious sign for our hops growing future.

September Group Brew?

We are trying to get a group brew going. This weekend is out for Scott. And it looks like my in-laws are coming on the weekend of the 20th. That narrows the options considerably. Hopefully we'll get group going. And I am gonna use a doodle--click the link below.

http://www.doodle.ch/vv98bgsrqbv99yps

If not this month, then maybe Late Oct. or Nov.

Scott's blue ribbon winner

We need to make a photo gallery on the right with our awards and award winners.

For now I am posting this professional looking portrait of a champion beer. Look at that glint of sunlight caught off of the lip of the bottle!

Carboy junkies take more prizes

Jeff Edmundson just called me from the fair. He reports that:

Jason took First place in his category with his Brown ale.
Jerry and Ron took second place in their category with their Bock
And Scott took third place in his category with his Porter.

Oh yeah!

That makes 5 awards so far, correct?

I am going to try to swing by tomorrow to check it out. I'll post photos once i have gone...we can't pick up out ribbons until next week i think.


Jerry

PACMAN IS BACK

Oh yeah. Pacman is back.

what is pacman? It is the proprietary yeast of Rougue Brewing Co. It is the yeast that Ron and I used in our first stout, one that convinced us of the value of premium yeast. It is the yeast that was used in the original Dewey's draft. The yeast used in the infamous Bama yama yamshine. it may have been used in the original chocolate stout that Joanna made.

After months of haranguing Wyeast about another release of the Pacman yeast...I stumbled into a conversation with one of the valley vitner guys, and he said they have some on hand. Turns out some company somewhere had a deal with wyeast to make it for their kits. and now it is being distributed--at a premium price.

Just found this on line.

http://www.homebrewers.com/product/XLROGUE/Rogue_Pacman_Ale_Yeast.html

AND THIS!

http://www.brewabeer.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1

Not knowing for sure how easy it would be to tap into this limited supply, or how long it would last, I grabbed 3 packs out of ten as soon as I saw them. Went back today and they had four left. I emailed you about it, but since three disappeared in one day, I grabbed three more, just to be sure we all had some if we want it. $9 a smack pack. Trust me, you want this.

We *will* culture this stuff.

I think we should have a pacman brew party.

Attack of the Pincher Bugs

It's neither aphids or spider mites, but rather Earwigs (also known as pincher bugs) who are chowing down on our hops. Not sure what to do quite yet, but I'd better do something soon or we might lose our crop!

one two three four

One: Fabrication



Two: Half Height



Three: Precarious



Four: 3/4th Height

This post has been brought to you by the letter A.

This is my attempt at a hops trellis. The general idea (two A-frames) was suggested by my father in law Leslie Goode. It beat out a few other designs because in the end it was the cheapest (and probably easiest with my skill set) .

The whole endeavor was put into overdrive as our Nugget started growing several inches per day. At the moment, our Nugget has a mere six more inches of rope remaining on our temporary bamboo/rope trellis (seen in the background).

Hops grow quite tall, but it appears that I might've outdone myself. While building it, both Joanna and my mother in law Anne independently asked "How are you going to raise it?" I brushed off their doubts until I put the first A-frame vertical.... Now I see their point. I think I might sever the bottom half into two 4-foot 2x4's, and raise it 4 feet at a time.

A word of caution for all you trellis builders: figure out in advance how you'll pick your hops flowers when they bloom. I'm tossing ideas around, but at the moment, since I have no 15-foot ladder, I suspect I'll disassemble the trellis. If I had a do-over, I'd probably have built it half as tall for the first year's growth.