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!
Ombud!… glad to see you back and writing. Great pics and an awesome post.
I once was sent on assignment (i’m a part time freelance photographer for the Chronicle) to take pics of some guys who are home brewers. What should have been a 30 to 45 minute shoot last four and a half hours.
They quickly learned I am a fellow beer lover so they insisted i try the different beers they had on hand. I didn’t get home until 12:30 in the morning.
Jules! Good to hear from you, man. My bags are packed for western PA — going to see an old friend, and the Cardinals play the Pirates at PNC Field this Saturday. Mrs. Ombud and I will also take in the Carnegie Museum, Falling Water (Frank Lloyd Wright house) and some other sites (I’d like to see the inclined railways up Mt Washington).
Whups — there’s my mother-in-law upstairs, to take the dogs to Club k-9 (Club Med for dogs) and us to the airport; gotta go. Will write you when I get back.
Woah, how long does all that take???
nice pics 🙂
Yay! An Omsbud post. Your house and backyard look lovely, as do Ernie and Edie. While I no longer am a drinker, it looks like a lovely way to spend a day.
Have a good trip!
Hey Trucie! If you mean the brewing, it takes several hours, but what with set up and clean up afterward — on top of going to the brew supply store in the morning to get ingredients — I’m usually starting mid-morning and finishing up in the late afternoon.
Then there is also the bottling, which is another afternoon — half the time is cleaning, sterilizing, and rinsing the bottles, the rest is filling and capping.
But if you mean the whole process, in days, it’s several weeks between brewing and bottling, and most beers then need to “bottle condition” for 1 to 3 months, some even longer.
Thanks, LB! I wish I could spend more time in that backyard, I love it back there. Brewing’s a lot of “work”, or better phrased as a labor of love. I’m up and down those stairs quite a bit, between kitchen and the brewpad, but that exercise is good for me, yeah?
So it is a good way to spend an afternoon. There’s a feeling of achieving something.
The trip to PA was great. Will try to make time to post about it.
Edie’s such a pretty girl.
Love the hat. 🙂
Ben: I’ve missed you. That sounds like a hell of an afternoon: Beer making, dogs, and friends, with a camera thrown in for good measure.
Ditto: I love the hat.
On Edie’s behalf, thanks, Am. It’s interesting to see people react to her in perso-, in the flesh. Because her skull is kind of wide, and her eyes are far apart, they’re often kind of wary. Until they find out what a sweetheart she is. Not only has she never nipped at anyone, I don’t think it has ever even occurred to her to do so.
While Ernie likes to play tug-of-war, I think she was taught not to pull; it has taken years for her to realize it’s okay to use her mouth/teeth to pull and play tug-of-war. She sees us play. she knows we’re having fun — she’s just not sure it’s okay for her.
Good to hear from you, Stevo. I’ve missed you guys too — there just ain’t enough hours in the day, what with having to be at the office at 8 am workdays. And the hat? (Smile.) The important thing is the brim. Having had one patch of skin cancer taken off my face, I’m trying to avoid the repeat. (Seriously, I was so focused on cookin’ the recipe, I didn’t realize I was modeling, too.)
You have a great homebrewing setup. I’m a tad bit envious. 😉
How did you like P’burgh? Did you ride on the incline? Visit Falling Water? P’burgh isn’t too far from us. If I’d known you were going, I could have recommended a few sights for you to see (or brews to try).
Love the hat. 🙂
Thanks, Robin! It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon.
I did like Pittsburgh — and no, we didn’t make it to the incline. But it’s not bad to leave somethings for next time, no?
We stayed at the Priory Inn one night, which, as it happens, is close to the Penn Brewery.
Believe me, we did not lack for good beers! 🙂
I’ve finally gotten around to writing down a few impressions for a post on Pittsburgh. It just takes me a while. Even when I try to be concise …
(Sigh.)
Wow, that’s a serious labour of love. I hope the beer’s worth it 😉