Since my last post, I have finished my Chocolate Raspberry Porter and have given it a most appropriate name: The Chuck Norris Raspberry Round House Kick to the Face. After adding more raspberries, chocolate, and maltodextrin to the secondary carboy I was satisfied with the product. It is at about 9.5% alcohol, and is a very refreshing tart beer. The carbonation level is extremely high resulting in a soda like mouth feel. The chocolate flavor is present in the after taste. Overall, the result is an aggressive tart beer that kicks you in the face with a refreshing soda like body.
About 2 weeks after bottling I noticed that the beer became extremely over carbonated, and foamed all over the place when opened. About 3 weeks after brewing, I rolled over in my bed to the pain of cutting my elbow on a piece of broken brown glass. I thought i smelt beer in the air. One of The Chuck Norris Raspberry Round House Kick to the Face beers had exploded in my room leaving shards of glass everywhere, and a very pleasant raspberry beer aroma.
About 3.5 weeks after bottling, I put a case of The Chuck Norris Raspberry Round House Kick to the Face in my car and brought it to sample with my coworkers. After about half the beer foamed out of the bottle I was able to sample it out. Many liked the tart kick and some did not. Overall I was happy with the acceptance of this aggressively tart raspberry beer. After the tasting I am driving home with 5 bottles left of The Chuck Norris Raspberry Round House Kick to the Face in my back seat. Exited about the new Jersey Shores episode on television I rush inside leaving the 5 beers in my car, in the 90 degree heat. ( Just kidding I don't watch Jersey Shores, but yes I left the beer in my hot car) About 20 minutes pass when I remember that I have The Chuck Norris Raspberry Round House Kick to the Face in my car. I am greeted by a overwhelming beer smell as I open the car door. One of the Kicks had exploded in my car spraying beer, and glass everywhere. I clean up my mess and proceed to carry the box of beers up the driveway. I stop at the front on the driveway to removed the 4, not broken, bottles from the beer soaked box. As I remove one it explodes in my hand with a sound similar to a small bomb. I had officially been Chuck Norris round house kicked to the face by this aggressively tart beer. Oh and yes I named the beer before this occurrence. With a bleeding ear lobe, and bleeding shin, I bow down to the monster I had created. Lets just be glad that I never gave the beer out to anyone.
Forever The Chuck Norris Raspberry Round House Kick to the Face will have a place in my heart. Now to creating a recipe that does not literally kick you in the face.
Fear Chuck Norris,
In Love,
JayHarp
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Chocolate Raspberry Porter
After about 6 days in primary the chocolate raspberry porter is almost done fermenting. I decided to take a sample. My gravity went from 1.074 to 1.012, which puts the beer currently around 8.5%. The beer has almost no body, with a sweet taste. No chocolate flavor was present, and the sweet flavor did not taste like raspberry. I have been searching ways to fix it and I think i will add more raspberries, coco powder, and maltodextrin powder to the secondary stage. Lets hope it turns out better.
I racked the Belgium wheat beer to secondary today. The beer tastes good.
Support your local microbrew,
In love,
Harpo
I racked the Belgium wheat beer to secondary today. The beer tastes good.
Support your local microbrew,
In love,
Harpo
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Bacon Vodka.....Hello Camp David
I have infused my own bacon vodka. I'm ready for bacon shots! I hope everyone has fun and is safe this year at camp David. Since I am unable to attend I will be video blogging about it. It will be almost like I'm there.
Don't try this at home,
In love,
harpo
Don't try this at home,
In love,
harpo
Friday, June 25, 2010
Chocolate Raspberry Porter
I started my chocolate raspberry porter yesterday. The process went really smooth. I added 36 ounces of berries in the wort at 5 min before the end of the boil. I made sure to smash the berries to release the juices. I pitched the yeast and fermentation started about 6 hours later. Now, less than 24 hours later, the beer is really fermenting and is about to foam out the top. I will continue to log my process and if it turns out I will publish the recipe.
Support your local microbrew,
In love,
harpo
Support your local microbrew,
In love,
harpo
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Sanitation and Temperature Control
Sanitation and temperature control are both very import in making a good tasting brew. I am very careful about sanitation, and thus have has no problems yet. My brew shop told me that if you have one bad batch every 20 then you are doing okay.
One Step VS Oxi-Clean
When i first started brewing I was using One Step cleaner as both my cleaner and sanitizer. From my extended research it seems to be a safe option. The pH content gets high enough to sanitize your gear, while cleaning. After about 4 batches One Step was beginning to be very expensive. I did some research on One Step VS Oxi-clean, and this is what I discovered; they are essentially the same thing. Okay let me explain. They have the same main ingredient, but use different fillers. One Step uses a more expensive filler that allows for a greater pH content, thus a better sanitation. Oxi-Clean uses soda ash as a filler, which does not allow the pH content to raise as high. It is probably high enough to use for a home brew alternative. One thing to note about Oxi-Clean is the additives that can be present. They can add perfumes and blue color so you know it is working. These are not good things for home brew use.
Solution: I went to Walmart and bought a 3.5 lb container of Oxi-Clean Free. It is free of perfumes and dyes, and is the closest you can get to One Step. I love the cleaning power of Oxi-Clean and the price is much better. To be extra careful I have begun to use Idophor for sanitation. By using Oxi-Clean as a cleaner, and Idophor as a sanitizer I have had great results, and I am saving loads of money.
Temperature Control: I truly believe that a constant temperature will make or break a home brew. If you have no way on controlling your house temperature I would not bother brewing. It is not good to have temperature variances during the fermentation stage. Try to keep a constant temperature bellow 72 degrees. I like to ferment mine at a lower temperature, but that is just a preference. It seems to produce less off flavors at a lower temperature.
Some Options: I have fermented my beer in a temperature controlled storage unit. Typically storage units are on the cold side, 65-70 degrees. I would put a sweatshirt over my carboy to keep it a little warmer. Also getting a second fridge and buying a temperature controller for it will allow you to adjust the temperature for fermentation. Another option is to just pay your damn air conditioning bill and ferment in your living room.
That's my two cents.
Remember to support your local microbrew,
In love,
Harpo
One Step VS Oxi-Clean
When i first started brewing I was using One Step cleaner as both my cleaner and sanitizer. From my extended research it seems to be a safe option. The pH content gets high enough to sanitize your gear, while cleaning. After about 4 batches One Step was beginning to be very expensive. I did some research on One Step VS Oxi-clean, and this is what I discovered; they are essentially the same thing. Okay let me explain. They have the same main ingredient, but use different fillers. One Step uses a more expensive filler that allows for a greater pH content, thus a better sanitation. Oxi-Clean uses soda ash as a filler, which does not allow the pH content to raise as high. It is probably high enough to use for a home brew alternative. One thing to note about Oxi-Clean is the additives that can be present. They can add perfumes and blue color so you know it is working. These are not good things for home brew use.
Solution: I went to Walmart and bought a 3.5 lb container of Oxi-Clean Free. It is free of perfumes and dyes, and is the closest you can get to One Step. I love the cleaning power of Oxi-Clean and the price is much better. To be extra careful I have begun to use Idophor for sanitation. By using Oxi-Clean as a cleaner, and Idophor as a sanitizer I have had great results, and I am saving loads of money.
Temperature Control: I truly believe that a constant temperature will make or break a home brew. If you have no way on controlling your house temperature I would not bother brewing. It is not good to have temperature variances during the fermentation stage. Try to keep a constant temperature bellow 72 degrees. I like to ferment mine at a lower temperature, but that is just a preference. It seems to produce less off flavors at a lower temperature.
Some Options: I have fermented my beer in a temperature controlled storage unit. Typically storage units are on the cold side, 65-70 degrees. I would put a sweatshirt over my carboy to keep it a little warmer. Also getting a second fridge and buying a temperature controller for it will allow you to adjust the temperature for fermentation. Another option is to just pay your damn air conditioning bill and ferment in your living room.
That's my two cents.
Remember to support your local microbrew,
In love,
Harpo
Let the brewing begin!
I did my first batch, in Colorado, yesterday. I did a Belgium style wheat beer that I got from my local brew supply shop. This is a dry docks house recipe:
Saison Du Mont:
7lbs Wheat Extract
2 lbs Vienna Malt
1/2 lb Flaked Wheat
1/2 lb Flaked Oats
8 oz Honey (0 min)
1 oz Kent Goldings (60min)
1/2 oz Hallertau (15 min)
1/2 oz Hallertau (0 min)
1/2 oz coriander (0 min)
1/4 sweet peel (0 min)
1/4 oz Bitter Orange Peel (0 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss
Saison Ale Yeast
Today I began a yeast starter for a chocolate raspberry porter that I will brew tomorrow. I am going to hold off on publishing the recipe until further notice. This is my first attempt at making my own recipe so I want to try it first. It is going to feature an American yeast with a very robust chocolate porter. I will use fresh raspberries in both the boil (last 5 min), and in secondary fermentation.
Remember to support your local microbrew,
In love,
Harpo
Saison Du Mont:
7lbs Wheat Extract
2 lbs Vienna Malt
1/2 lb Flaked Wheat
1/2 lb Flaked Oats
8 oz Honey (0 min)
1 oz Kent Goldings (60min)
1/2 oz Hallertau (15 min)
1/2 oz Hallertau (0 min)
1/2 oz coriander (0 min)
1/4 sweet peel (0 min)
1/4 oz Bitter Orange Peel (0 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss
Saison Ale Yeast
Today I began a yeast starter for a chocolate raspberry porter that I will brew tomorrow. I am going to hold off on publishing the recipe until further notice. This is my first attempt at making my own recipe so I want to try it first. It is going to feature an American yeast with a very robust chocolate porter. I will use fresh raspberries in both the boil (last 5 min), and in secondary fermentation.
Remember to support your local microbrew,
In love,
Harpo
Monday, June 21, 2010
"I thought you were a believer, someone that wanted to blog about their ideals"
After 18+ hours on the road I have made it safely to Aurora, Colorado. I had my first day of work at Rentbits, an online rental advertising company. However i do not want to bore you with my everyday grind, so I will bore you with my view on the windmill phenomenon.
At this point you are beginning to become worried, I see it in your eyes, but please let me explain. As my brother and I drove through Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado we begin to notice a trend. Wind energy is everywhere. These huge wind turbines standing high in the sky scatter the terrain. Our attention is shifted to the oversize truck loads, with flashing lights, going the other direction. One truck passes with a pacer car in front and one in back, carrying ONE wind turbine blade. Each wind turbine, high in the sky, has three blades, a large gear box, and a big post. A few minutes after the first truck comes a second, with another large turbine blade, followed by a pacer car. 2 more miles down the road we see the third blade, followed by yet another pacer car. That's a lot of trucks for ONE wind turbine, high in the sky. "But wait, there's more," another truck passes carrying a PIECE of the post for the wind turbine (With a pacer car). 3 more miles down the road comes another truck carrying the gear box (with a pacer car) and another truck with another piece of the post. We never did figure out how many trucks it takes to transport the post (I'm thinking 2).
Recap: 1 wind turbine = 3 blades, 1 post, and 1 gear box = 6 over sized semi trucks, 6-12 pacer cars, and xxxxxxxxx gallons of oil. From my limited research it seems that these turbines are coming from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Clipper Wind power in the larger manufacturer in the US and they manufacture all the units in Iowa. Google tells me that if this is true then the turbine travels 1000+ miles to reach their destination.
Efficient? I think not. On the positive side we are creating 12-18 jobs just to transport the wind turbines.
In love,
Harpo
At this point you are beginning to become worried, I see it in your eyes, but please let me explain. As my brother and I drove through Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado we begin to notice a trend. Wind energy is everywhere. These huge wind turbines standing high in the sky scatter the terrain. Our attention is shifted to the oversize truck loads, with flashing lights, going the other direction. One truck passes with a pacer car in front and one in back, carrying ONE wind turbine blade. Each wind turbine, high in the sky, has three blades, a large gear box, and a big post. A few minutes after the first truck comes a second, with another large turbine blade, followed by a pacer car. 2 more miles down the road we see the third blade, followed by yet another pacer car. That's a lot of trucks for ONE wind turbine, high in the sky. "But wait, there's more," another truck passes carrying a PIECE of the post for the wind turbine (With a pacer car). 3 more miles down the road comes another truck carrying the gear box (with a pacer car) and another truck with another piece of the post. We never did figure out how many trucks it takes to transport the post (I'm thinking 2).
Recap: 1 wind turbine = 3 blades, 1 post, and 1 gear box = 6 over sized semi trucks, 6-12 pacer cars, and xxxxxxxxx gallons of oil. From my limited research it seems that these turbines are coming from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Clipper Wind power in the larger manufacturer in the US and they manufacture all the units in Iowa. Google tells me that if this is true then the turbine travels 1000+ miles to reach their destination.
Efficient? I think not. On the positive side we are creating 12-18 jobs just to transport the wind turbines.
In love,
Harpo
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Welcome
I would like to introduce you to The Fanbeltian. This is a world class, one of a kind, drunken ramble of my everyday life. The Fanbeltian is inspired by all the amazing people of the Fanbelt Condo in Bellingham, Washington. The main goal of this blog is to lead my readers through my summer brewing adventures. I'm on my way to Denver, Colorado where I will spend my summer brewing beer, drinking, camping, bike riding, and working (last of course). I hope you check back about once a week to stay posting on my current brew adventures. Cheers Mate.
Remember to support you local microbrew,
In love,
Harpo.
Remember to support you local microbrew,
In love,
Harpo.
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