Going with the Grain

Last May my former office mate, current friend, and assistant brewer Dave brought his camera over when we brewed a stout together.  It was a nice sunny afternoon. I had the equipment set up out on the brewing pad, a ballgame on the radio, and our pups were out enjoying the sun and keeping an eye on us.

 

I hardly remembered Dave taking pictures, focused as I was on being meticulous with the recipe and steps. Last weekend he came over to brew again (a Belgian wit ale this time, and again a nice hot day) and he brought a disk with some pics on it, so I decided to post a few, and share.

That’s me at the mashtun (the barrel on stilts at left), with the brewing kettle on the burner, at right.

  

 

 

Once the water hits the brewkettle it’s no longer water, it’s called liquor. Fired up to 165-170 degrees (depending on recipe) it’s then poured on the milled grain in the mashtun. 

 

The grain is usually malted barley of several different strains, but it can also be wheat, oats, or other grain. For the stout recipe, it included some chocolate malted barley. Here’s a close up of the grain, heated up to about 150 degrees — perfect for activating the enzymes in the grain and releasing the starches, so the liquor becomes wort.

 

 

 

  

Okay, that’s maybe enough brew jargon. How about a picture of Edie girl in the backyard, instead? 

 

 

 

After the mashtun has held the wort for a good hour or more, the wort is drained out of a spiggot in the bottom.

 

 

I then pour the wort back into the brewkettle, to cook it for a bit, adding hops both  bittering and aromatic.  Did I mention I do this for fun?  Here’s a photo of Ernie boy, grinning. (No, he hasn’t had any beer. He’s just happy hanging out with the pack.)

 

 

At the end, the fully hopped and cooked beer is cooled and drained into carboys (the large glass jugs, below). At around 75-80 degrees the yeast is added, so it can ferment.

 

 

It’s cool to have someone else come over and take pics; through his lens I see our yard anew. I’d forgotten that our roses were blooming. I like these yellow and red ones very much.

 

 

Here, too, is a picture from the back of the yard, looking at our backdeck and our house (note Ernie boy on the porch, where he can both sun and keep an eye on us). 

 

 

 

This stout turned out well — a bit heavier than my earlier efforts, maybe more syruppy. When I get back from our trip to Pittsburgh, I’ll bottle my latest two batches, a Belgian white ale and an IPA. I brew two to four times a year, generally, but did an extra batch this year; some surplus for a party during the holidays. Cheers!