Birthday Brews: Palace Bitter & Rocky Raccoon's Honey Lager - Part 1

Today is my birthday, and I decided to brew two batches of beer. Below you will find ingredients and a description of the brewing process. 

Adding the amber malt extract to the Palace Bitter.

Palace Bitter
A variation of a Bitter from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
O.G.: 1.101
F.G.: n/a

Ingredients:

•  4.5 pounds Munton's Amber Dry Malt Extract
• 12.0 oz Crystal Malt
• boiling hops
• 0.5 oz US Fuggles Hops (fresh)
• 0.75 oz UK Kent Goldings Hops (fresh)
• flavor hops
  • 0.5 oz US Fuggles Hops (fresh)
  • 0.75 oz UK Kent Goldings Hops (fresh)
• aroma hops
  • 0.5 oz UK Kent Goldings Hops (fresh)
• dry hopping
• 0.5 oz UK Kent Goldings Hops (fresh)
• 2.0 oz UK Kent Goldings Hops (fresh)
• Yeast: WYEAST 1098: British Ale
• 0.75 cup Corn Sugar
• for bottling

   

Note that the flavor hops are added in halves (i.e., add 0.25 Fuggles and  0.375 Kent Goldings, boil 15 minutes, then add the remaining hops and boil another 15 minutes). Additionally, the recipe called for a light dried malt extract. HopToIt was out of this, so I decided to substitute an amber dried malt extract.

Chris placing the crystal malt into a muslin bag.

Rocky Raccoon's Crystal Honey Lager

A variation of a Lager from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
O.G.: 1.084
F.G.: n/a

Ingredients:

•  3.5 pounds Munton's Extra-Light Dry Malt Extract
• 2.75 pounds Colorado Light Alfalfa Honey
• 1.0 oz US Tettnanger Hops (fresh, boiling)
• 2.0 oz Heather Tips (dried, aroma)
• 2.0 oz Heather Tips (dried, dry hopping)
• Yeast: WYEAST 2007: American Pilsner
• 0.75 cup Corn Sugar
• for bottling

  

One will immediately notice that this recipe is very light and simple. The original recipe for this brew doesn't call for any heather tips and requires an additional ounce of hops in order to achieve a very delicate flavor profile. Since heather has bittering properties - it was actually used heavily for that very reason before hops became so prevalent - I reduced the amount of hops and have decided to test out 'dry flowering.' I debated whether or not to try this recipe as originally written before making alterations, but then HopToIt didn't have any additional hops for me to purchase and I made the choice to attempt the heather tips. Maybe this will work out, maybe it won't, but I'm eager to find out!

You've gotta love being able to comfortably heat two brew-pots on one stove!

Two-Stage Fermentation

Where to even begin? I've never brewed two batches simultaneously, and it was much more intense than when I brewed the Whoop Moffit and the Elbro Nerkte on the same day. Chris and I started the process of sanitizing, activating the yeast, etc., at around 6:30pm and didn't finish with cleanup until close to 10:30pm. I know this is a relatively short amount of time if, say, you're doing an all-grain brew, but we weren't and I typically average about 2 1/2 hours for any given brew. Honestly, I think the added time here came from working in a new kitchen (brewed in Denver this time) and working later in the day. It was suggested to me that it could have been the beers we were drinking (Moe's Backroom Pale Ale and Wheat), but one must always have a few beers when homebrewing. In any case, I think we both had a great time and it was my pleasure to introduce Chris to the brewing process. After all was said and done, he echoed what a few other people have expressed after going through the homebrew process: it took away a bit of the mystique of beer (just a little bit, mind you). I understand this viewpoint, but could never get behind it - homebrewing puts you in control of the arcane art of beer-crafting!

In any case, things got off to a relatively smooth start. We began steeping the crystal malt at the same time we began raising the temperature of the honey, extra-light malt, and Tettnanger hops to a boil. I should mention here that I forgot to add the honey until the boil started; it took Chris fiddling with the honey jar and asking when we were going to add it for me to remember. Beyond that, everything went like clockwork. Staggering the hop additions to the Palace Bitter was made easier because we presorted the hops and placed them in muslin bags in order to minimize the amount of filtering required later on. While it took care of that problem, It definitely reduced the amount of wort that made it into the carboy. I think this brewing experience has actually convinced me that muslin bags aren't for me and I will probably do my next brew without them to see how the process compares and determine how I want to continue into the future. 

This was the first time I was able to hook my wort chiller up to a hose rather than a faucet. It made a huge difference! It took probably five minutes or so for the wort to cool to an acceptable temperature while in the past it has taken up to 20 minutes - even in an ice bath. This is definitely the way to go in the future.

Additionally, I'm testing out a new cap'n'hose method that involves using a stopper and airlock, and just attaching a hose to the airlock (see it pictured below). I've had issues in the past with the cap'n'hose in terms of it popping off and have had to hold it in place with rubberbands to ensure that it stays secure. I'll be sure to report back in the next post about how the stopper and airlock method works.

Going into this post I thought I'd have a lot more to say since we were constantly adding ingredients or preparing them during the brewing process, but I think I've mentioned everything that is pertinent to the process at this point. I'll be sure to post updates as the process continues. In the mean time, be sure to grab yourself a homebrew!

Note the two different kinds of blow-off tubes.