I started brewing the day I got home from Arizona, I walked into the door and literally
just left my luggage in the middle of the room and started getting out all the equipment I needed to begin, The one main thing you need is the giant pot (left) to hold the wort (all the ingredients you will be combining to make your beer). I then began to boil 2.5 gallons of purified water, which because of my old stove ended up taking 40 minutes, from here this is where the actual process of making the beer begins.
So as the water is boiling you are suppose to add all of your ingredients (in my case I have a few different kind of nuts, chocolate, I added cinnamon and a little maple syrup) into this sock looking bag and then put it into the boiling water for 30 minutes or so. Well not even fifteen minutes into this excursion I had a little miscue with getting everything into this little bag and as you can see quite a bit of it spilled into my sink. I know the picture tells a different story but because I have no shame I just scooped up what I could out of the sink and put it into the bag, as if it never even happened. It may not sound significant but the main advice I have received is to keep everything clean. Im not really sure how sanitary that is considered but I think the soap pictured in the background should cut me some slack.
After cleaning everything up, I threw the bag into the boiling water to let it steep for the next 20 to 30 minutes. During this time I just sat back and relaxed for a few and got mentally prepared for the rest of my journey. (quick side note, the cover you can make out in the picture is actual size, for some reason I thought that could actually cover this gigantic pot and as you can see, not even close!) After the 30 minutes was up I took the bag out and brought the wort back to a boil. As I stated before, my stove was actually made in the 18th century so it takes a little while to get going, Well I thought I could just go in the other room and finish watching the game before I had to worry about it again. Did I have a surprise coming to me!!
This is what it looked like before I walked away. (Notice how its not even half way full)
This is what happened after being left for 3 minutes unsupervised. Im sure some of you are thinking, "not a big deal" but let me fill you in. Not only was this over half of my stove, it was also on the ground, the wall (still not really sure how that happened) and under my microwave. Not only was it in all of these places but it wasn't just a liquid you could soak up, No it was a sticky, boiling mess that when I tried to wipe up, the paper towel just stuck to it and ended up ripping. This was the kind of mess that if it happened at Carly's place she would of probably started scurrying (yes another mouse reference) around the house crying hysterically. (kidding but it would of probably ended up with her trying to nibble on my arm, (there's another one)
Before I go on lets talk about a few things happening in this picture. 1. My beard is looking phenomenal, its saying I'm classy but still a rebel (I would just like to thank my genetics and overall good looks) 2. My hair is eerily similar to Mcdreamy's (Patrick Dempsey) and overall its just doin its thang. 3. If there was such a thing as a neck model, I think its safe to say I would be one 4. I look like an actual giant in the picture, notice the door frame which is like 8 feet tall, Im towering over the refrigerator and it looks like the ceiling and I are the same size. (lets move on) This picture was actually shot as I walked in to the room to discover the mess. From here I had no real choice but to soldier on and worry about the mess at a later time. So after I fought back the tears (kidding, but not really, but kind of) I brought the wort back to a boil, this time watching carefully and then put some of the finishing ingredients into the batch. From this point my first batch was almost done. I allowed it to cool down and then poured it into another 3 gallons of cold water where I would then put some yeast into it put on the airlock lid and wait for the fermentation process to begin. After about a week, I siphoned the beer into a secondary bottle to allow it the beer to clarify and push some of the sediment down to the bottom. After about 2 weeks in the secondary I began to bottle.
I stated before the big rule is to make sure everything is sanitized before you use, so I was able to load about 18 bottles at a time into a bucket filled with hot water and 5 star sanitizer, after letting sit for about 10 to 15 minutes I would begin to grab them out of the bucket rinse them out and place them on the side to dry. I had about 50 bottles on hand so after a few hours of cleaning and drying, I was finally able to begin in bottling my (close) to finished beer. 
In this picture you will notice a few things; First off my table was a mess, all of this took place during finals so everything I needed to study was located on or near my table. Next you will notice the tin foil tops, I did this to make sure no dust or anything could make its way into the newly sanitized bottle. This one is for Sars if you look closely (underneath the tin foil holder) you will notice the planner I will be sending to you here shortly. One thing I also just noticed was the container of oatmeal on the ground, don't judge me on that.
This picture was taken right before bottling, as you can see I have the remaining of the bottles drying out and I am about to syphon the beer from my secondary into my bottling bucket.
It's hard to make out what I am boiling but I have about 50 bottle tops in there. Not really sure why I enjoyed doing this but I started trying to toss them into the pan from about 5 feet and if I made it I would back up another few feet etc etc. I made it to 7 feet then gave up.
As I started to actually bottle I had to rig it so my bottling bucket was high enough that it would consistently dispense the beer, now Im not proud of how I did it and honestly there were probably a few easier ways to do it but I ended up putting one of my dining room chairs on my counter and then placed the beer on top of that. I could of sworn I had a picture of it but I think I may have deleted it but I do have the aftermath of bottling 49 beers. I was able to taste one of the beers and I really did enjoy it, I think after I added the priming sugars and letting it sit in the bottles to carbonate it will only get better.
Heres all of the beer finally bottled and waiting to be drank. I will probably wait around 3 weeks to actually trying one but initially like I said it was pretty good. As far as the name goes I talked it over with my brew Collin and we decided that the with all of the ingredients in the beer it just felt right to call it the Fuzzy Bear!!!
Since I stayed in New Orleans for an extra week with nothing to do, I also ended up brewing another beer (I take suggestions for names) which should be ready when I get back. (since this picture was taken it has become a lighter yellow with an orange tint)
Well thats it, I have taken you on a roller coaster ride of emotions, We visited some highs and a few lows but ultimately I think you walk away feeling better about yourself. Im just gonna stop right there, I promise at some point I will begin posting regularly, I also want to say I hope everyone has a Merry Xmas or had a Happy Hanukkah, My next post will be about this break and give an update on how the beers tastes!!!!! I will also tell you my best and worst gift of Xmas so if you're reading this (Marisa,Mom) make sure your gifts don't suck!!!! I also love receiving gifts in the mail from any of my other readers, if your a true friend I expect a gift (Im totally kidding by the way) Have a Happy Holiday
MO
A first batch that included classic rookie blunders: boil-over, spilled specialty grains, and questionable sanitation practices. All in all, a grand success.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you've officially gotten your home-brewing wings, buddy!