# Summertime boils



## jswordy

There's an a/c vent under the towels...





Hey, it's 95 degrees here. I didn't want to fiddle around with protracted recipes, so I popped two extract ales off, one after the other.

*#1: Donald Trump*

I call it that because it is blonde and not PC by homebrew standards at all. It is an English Pale Ale. Basically a lawn mower brew.

6 gallons initial boil. 

Remove from heat.

Add:

3 lbs. Maris Otter LME
3 lbs. table sugar (the "not PC" part)
1 oz. Centennial hops (bittering)

Boil 45 minutes.

Add:
3 oz. maltodextrin
1 oz. Centennial hops (aroma)

Boil 10 minutes.

Cool.

Add Clarity Ferm and Danstar Windsor Ale yeast.


*#2: Mean Ruby Jean*

This is sort-kinda an EZ drinking red ale.

6 gallons initial boil.

After water has reached 90 degrees, steep:

3 ounces Debittered Belgian Black Barley (The jury is still out on 3 oz.; I may use 4 or even 5 next time around. We'll see how red it turns out.)

Continue steep, occasionally moving and dipping the bag, until water reaches 150 degrees, then remove.

Bring to boil. Remove from heat.

Add:

3 lbs. Maillard Malts Gold LME
3 lbs. Munton's Light DME
1 oz. US Brewer's Gold hops (bittering)

Boil 45 minutes.

Add:

3 oz. maltodextrin
1 oz. German Tettnang hops (a Saaz varient)

Boil 10 minutes. Cool.

Add Clarity Ferm and Danstar BRY-97 American West Coast Ale yeast.

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So there ya go, a couple of beers I could crank out on a Sunday afternoon that won't have craft brewers swooning but should taste mighty good after working in 95 degrees.


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## Elmer

Looks good.
I am curious how the blonde turns out.


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## Mismost

Jim...one of my favorite beers is a Muntons canned pre-hopped Pilsner...according to the LHBS it does not even qualify as real homebrewed beer....a boil and stir beer. Add an oz or so of whatever hops are laying around, a pinch of this, a little of that...I like a bit of sweet orange peel...simple fast beer that goes down easy and is gone real quick. It looks just like beer! I like simple extract beers...good, cheap, and fast!

Remember I bought that freezer for temp control? Well, I pitched a fit and fired up the pits and cooked off a bunch of that pork. I would like to brew in it before I have to put a heater in it this winter!


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## RevA

The Donald Trump should be good! Red ale might be a bit on the dark side...


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## jswordy

RevA said:


> The Donald Trump should be good! Red ale might be a bit on the dark side...



Dunno, 3 oz. is what I saw in a lot of recipes. It is just a steep. We'll see. Having fun and they were EZ to conjure up and do. Should go to secondary tomorrow, if it works out for me time-wise.


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## jswordy

Mismost said:


> Jim...one of my favorite beers is a Muntons canned pre-hopped Pilsner...according to the LHBS it does not even qualify as real homebrewed beer....a boil and stir beer. Add an oz or so of whatever hops are laying around, a pinch of this, a little of that...I like a bit of sweet orange peel...simple fast beer that goes down easy and is gone real quick. It looks just like beer! I like simple extract beers...good, cheap, and fast!
> 
> Remember I bought that freezer for temp control? Well, I pitched a fit and fired up the pits and cooked off a bunch of that pork. I would like to brew in it before I have to put a heater in it this winter!



Cooper's is my favorite all in the can extract. I like the Cooper's English Bitter, add Cascade at the end of boil. OMG! I have also boosted it with honey. Also good. Cooper's was the first beer I tried, as an easy kit. The instructions are, like, "No worries, mate, you can do this lots of ways," and then they go on to tell you. NO BOIL brewing? Sure! Just use hot water out of the tap. Towel over bucket as the primary? That'll work, too. 

I didn't do all those methods, but it made me much less uptight about beer making. A good starting point.

Hmmm, firing off the pit. I have mine all ready to go but farm chores are keeping me from it....


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## Mismost

Farm chores...can't see the kitchen counter top for all the squash...last night I was pruning tomatoes and squash plants with a machette while dodging skeeters the size of White Leghorn Chickens in 90 degree heat and 90% humidity. It is a great life if you're strong....or stupid!!


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## jswordy

Mismost said:


> It is a great life if you're strong....or stupid!!



I got both covered. 

Brews are still bubbling regularly, so I'm waiting around for my chance to rack. Also waiting on a new calf any day now, so one is going to beat out the other somehow.


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## jswordy

Well, we are in the carboys now. About 11-1/2 gallons of beer total. Taste tests of both are about as expected. 

The American Ale yeast in the red is very clean and I may use it a lot more in the future. I like the hops there, too. US Brewers Gold is a favorite, and the Saaz family Tattnang comes through on top. As I thought, it will be a lighter red than I had hoped. Up the black next time, maybe double. But we'll see when it clears. I may get surprised.

The pale is as expected, a sort of Bud Light of ales. Very few lees, due to the lower grain content, I guess. Hopefully good for after hard, hot work and also with the less crafty of my beer drinking friends.

Time to wait around some more now...

(No, the lid is not tight on the gallon. Yes, I have done it like this before and had no worries.  )


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## jswordy

Still waiting for slow bubbling to stop...


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## RevA

jswordy said:


> Still waiting for slow bubbling to stop...



Haha, it's still early.
At leaste you will soon have a lot of tasty beer.


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## jswordy

Bottled these Monday, declaring my independence from InBev. 

6 1/2 cases yield total.

*Carboy (flat) tastes:*

Mean Ruby Jean is not quite as red as I would have liked but it is red and has a nice fairly complex flavor that is on the lighter side due to the non-PC addition of adjuncts to lighten the taste. It should come out like beer a larger commercial craft brewery would produce for the mass market. It does have some fruity overtones.

Donald Trump is promising as a quick drinking and accessible beer that, with the exception of the stronger hop flavor, would fit in the display case well with InBev products. See,s to finish clean. It is a light straw color. Love the Centennial. I want to try this one sometime with just Saaz or Tetnang hops. 

Now to wait for them to carb and see how they taste dry.

*Side notes:* 

Fermented under a towel tent that captured air conditioned air, when on, from a vent. That slowed the fermentation down to about twice the length of time it usually takes. 

Broke two bottles in capping this time, one after the other. What a mess. Unless I am forced not to, I am sticking exclusively to Sam Adams bottles from now on. Easy to get the labels off and they are stout. Not paying $12.99 for 12 empties when I can get them with BEER in them for $15.99. 

Bottled 24 22-ounce bombers of these recipes, as well.


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## RevA

Enjoy it, sounds very good


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## jswordy

OK, so carb testing impressions...

Both carbed well in 8 days.

Mean Ruby Jean turned out to be a nice red after all, with a surprising cinnamon flavor that is also tart, due to the Tettnang hop. Fruitiness has gone away. I would cut this hop quantity in half next time. The beer is not at all unpleasant, but I would ideally want the Tettnang as a supporting player and not the main event.

Donald Trump is a nice lighter beer with good hop taste. Head retention is medium. I would maybe try the full 5 oz maltodextrin on this one if a foamy top is important. A more slam it down type beer could be achieved by cutting the hops quantity in half. Still, it is a very drinkable "session" beer.

Both are really young and surely will change in taste over a month or more. 

Both pack the kind of punch I was looking for from 6.2-6.4% ABV.

I'm happy with both, and they give me room for more tinkering. I'll stick some poured pix up later on.


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## Mismost

I am 10 days into an American Smash Ale...4.5% abl with 3 ozs of Simcoe hops....smells like a freaking pine tree. I am not real crazy about real hoppy beers, but my son in law is and he has suffered though enough of my darker, maltier beers to deserve a little reward. Did I mention it smells like a freaking pine tree? A big freaking pine tree too!

First brew in my chest freezer temp controlled fermentation chamber. I really miss not hearing the airlock going tick tick tick in my office. Fermentation was slower to take off at 63 degrees, but she is chugging right along. The cheap 20 buck InkBird controller seems to function perfectly, freezer is very seldom runs.

Looking forward to my first cold crashing experience before AIO vac pump racking later...just turn down the temp on the controller.

One big mess up....FYI...when I bought that freezer...I used a couple of five gallon Home Depot buckets to verify that I could get two buckets in at the same time. You can....if they are 5 gallon Home Depot buckets. My fermenting buckets are bigger (duh 7.5 gallons)...can only get one at a time in there. The best laid plans of mice and home brewers.....

Anybody got a source for a shorter square vessel to ferment in??


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## jswordy

The Donald and some ribeye. It still needs a few more days to be clear but hell, what do I care?


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## Elmer

Who needs clear beer?
Looks good!


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## Mismost

jswordy said:


> The Donald and some ribeye. It still needs a few more days to be clear but hell, what do I care?



I want some too!

Love eating what I grew and cooked while drinking what I made or brewed....it's the simple things that make life good.


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## jswordy

Finally a glass of Mean Ruby Jean. Not as red as I wanted. Have to up the black a bit. This has an herbal/cinnamon taste. Don't know why they didn't clear better.


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## Elmer

jswordy said:


> Finally a glass of Mean Ruby Jean. Not as red as I wanted. Have to up the black a bit. This has an herbal/cinnamon taste. Don't know why they didn't clear better.




Did you add whirlfloc @15 boil?
Or cold crash prior to bottling?

But really, who needs beer to be clear in order to drink?


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## jswordy

Elmer said:


> Did you add whirlfloc @15 boil?
> Or cold crash prior to bottling?
> 
> But really, who needs beer to be clear in order to drink?



I don't know if you are aware of this, but Irish moss has tested as a carcinogen. I avoid it at all costs.

I always use Brewer's Clarity (Clarity Ferm) as my clearing agent. It also makes the beer so low in gluten that it is gluten free by US government standards. My wife and I are both gluten sensitive. It is amazing how much difference it makes in how we feel the next day. Because of the size of the batches this time, I may have used slightly less of it than I should have. 

I always cold crash, but after bottle conditioning. It is a favorite method. 

I theorize that it is because of the sugar in the recipe that it has not cleared as well as I like. This is my first time with adjuncts. Also, the yeast has not compacted at the bottom of the bottle as well as prior batches this time, so there is a probability of dispersion on pouring. I plan to test this by leaving more in the bottle on the next pour and checking clarity then. 

Both taste fine.


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## Mismost

jswordy said:


> I don't know if you are aware of this, but Irish moss has tested as a carcinogen. I avoid it at all costs.
> 
> I always use Brewer's Clarity (Clarity Ferm) as my clearing agent. It also makes the beer so low in gluten that it is gluten free by US government standards. My wife and I are both gluten sensitive. It is amazing how much difference it makes in how we feel the next day. Because of the size of the batches this time, I may have used slightly less of it than I should have.
> 
> I always cold crash, but after bottle conditioning. It is a favorite method.
> 
> I theorize that it is because of the sugar in the recipe that it has not cleared as well as I like. This is my first time with adjuncts. Also, the yeast has not compacted at the bottom of the bottle as well as prior batches this time, so there is a probability of dispersion on pouring. I plan to test this by leaving more in the bottle on the next pour and checking clarity then.
> 
> Both taste fine.



Jim...I cold crashed my SMASH and it was the clearest beer I have ever bottled...my first cold crash too. I really liked using the freezer as a fermenting chamber, yeast seemed very happy...ZERO off flavors. Simple matter to crank the temp down to 33 and cold crash for 3-4 days. Clear, clean beer no sweat.

Have Speckled Cow clone in there now, seems very happy at about 63 degrees in my 100 degree shop. I see a freezer in your future.

Seriously thinking of doing my Old Vine Zin in the chamber and going low end temp for a longer period of time.


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## jswordy

Mismost said:


> I see a freezer in your future.



I cold crash wine and beer in my farm shop's side by side fridge. After carbing the beer bottles usually reside in a 1960s era Coke chest cooler at about 38 degrees (best $25 I ever spent). Always been clear up to now, but I always made full malt recipes before and I always used 5 gallon finished batches for the measured amount of Clarity Ferm. Also not all these bottles made it there first, so I may have used two that were just sitting, now that I think of it. 

To be real honest about it, right now I see a lot less home brew in my future, once my supply stockpile is used up. Time will tell.


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## Mismost

Jim...I say the same thing, but the beer keeps disappearing anyway! I may drink 3-4 beers a month, but it gets gone! I didn't think my wife would like the SMASH, but she loves it...more empty bottles to fill.
Local vet had me order the clone I'm working now...he pays, we split it. Will be making two Porters, same deal, different guy.


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## jswordy

Turns out those bottles had not been through the Coke cooler yet. Got to get them loaded up.


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