The Chuck Norris Raspberry Round House Kick to the Face

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

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

Bacon Bacon Bacon

Have a great night folks at Camp David.

To You Camp David!

Nothing like some bacon vodka chased with a sausage dog.

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

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

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