I received my Northern Brewing Kit shortly after my Birthday on the 8th, and on the weekend my boyfriend went out of town to work in LA, I got to work on my first brew. Caribou Slobber. It’s brown, it’s named after a large North American ungulate, and its name suggests oral incontinence. Ah, we market product with our minds, but we drink beer with our mouths! Which is why this American brown ale is your new favorite session beer. Dense layers of malt, caramel, baking chocolate, and a hint of light-roast coffee give way to reveal a hop character you’ll be surprised to find if you’re used to drinking English brown ale. The finish is complex but balanced, and the gravity is not so high as to keep you from having another.
Weekend 1:
I DID have to go to the local brew supply store, #Hydrobrew , to pick up a 5 gallon pot and some extra sanitizer (Iodiphor), because I imagined this might get messy, and I REALLY wanted to make sure I didn’t run out after everything was said and done. I sanitzed as much as I could. My brewing friend back in Michigan was a click away for any and all questions and concerns(and I had a lot!). I ran into my first minor snag on the fact that I have an electric stove, but I was going to make it work. I do live in an apartment after all! I got my water semi hot,(not boiling) then started to steep my grains. MAILLARD MALTS SPECIALTY GRAIN - 0.25 lbs Briess Caramel 80L - 0.25 lbs Fawcett Pale Chocolate - 0.125 lbs Black Malt MAILLARD MALTS EXTRACTS & OTHER FERMENTABLES - 6 lbs Amber malt syrup - 1 lbs Amber dry malt extract I shook out a lot of extra debri before doing so, and of course..made a huge mess. After allotted time, I pulled my pot off the heat and slowly added the malt.(At the end of the process I found a bit of the malt stuck to the bottom so this was something I realized I had to do much better as not to burn). My first mistake was the addition of my first hops. HOPTIMUS REXTM PREMIUM HOPS & OTHER FLAVORINGS - 1 oz US Goldings (60 min) - 1 oz Liberty (45 min) - 1 oz Willamette (15 min) I missed the part about bringing to a boil first and added my first round of hops immediately after bringing my pot back to the heat. It took a good 15 minutes for my pot to come back to a boil so my first instinct was to start my timer for the first malt once it came to a rolling boil. (After consulting my MiBrewBuddy, he said I made the right decision). The rest of the hops were added accordingly to their time, and the process went well...until...the chilling phase. I have a good 15 or so ice cube trays, and half a bag of ice from a party the weekend before...but I underestimated how quickly such a mediocre chilling method was going to be obliterated. I even threw ICE PACKS into the sink to chill as quickly, and best I could. After about 15-20 minutes...I hit the required temp. I added the required cooled water to the Glass Carbouy supplied, struggle-bussed(and I mean struggled since I was alone) the wort into the fermentor, topped it off to the required level with more water, shook that body like a cyclone(cyclone!), popped the yeast in(Dry Danstar Windsor Ale Yeast), and popped her in my sheet closet.
Between the first and second weekend
I got worried between the first stage and second...as my airlock was very active the first 2 days then barely anything for the remainder of the time. I thought I screwed it up. Did I sanitize enough? Did a dog hair get in somewhere? Did I just ruin my entire first batch? I sulked for the entire two weeks..worried..and disappointed...but a lot of reading lifted my spirits by the end that there was still hope, and not to worry so much!
Weekend 2(2 weeks later)
This step was far easier and less to talk about. Lots of sanitizing..again...and careful..splash-less transferring from carbouy>>>carbouy. I did however go 3 days over (17 days) in first ferment before moving to second. LAZY/BUSY STATUS made me push off the process.
Weekend 3(4 weeks later)
My bottling process was a mess. I thought I drank enough California(and not so California) brews to cover the amount of beer I made..but I was so wrong. I sanitized my bottles..and realized I under scored on the bottles. Halfway through the bucket I ran out. Towels COVERING the kitchen floor, equipment everywhere, drenched in water and beer. A scene I can only describe as a jello wrestling match against myself, except instead of jello it was beer, and instead of a kiddie pool it was my kitchen. Now, when faced with another 2.5 Gallons of beer sitting in the bottling bucket, uncovered, and running out of time before air contamination may or may not become an issue, I rummaged through my house for anything I could find. Results as follows: -One 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew(Picked from my garbage) -One 5th of saved(and cherished) glass bottle of Two James Spirits from our hometown (Detroit) with a tight cork top -One Karl Strauss Growler -One Latitude 33 Growler Even after all that, I had to DRINK the uncarbonated remains of my brew, a good 5 pints( on a work night none the less). IT tasted amazing though! Success, I thought!
Packed into a milk crate..and back into the closet!
The Time Until the Cool Finish.
3 Days had gone by. The brew was covered in red sheets to keep the light out, as some of my bottles were not satisfactory and restricting light. Working at 5am every day causes me to go to bed early. At about 10pm, what I assumed was another loud sound coming from the upstairs apartment woke me. I brushed it off assuming it was such (Fucking loud neighbors!). By morning, I smelled the oh so familiar smell of beer. A cruise into the hallway showed a puddle of beer, and to my dismay..my only clean(well..only worn once!) bra lying in front of the sink...drenched in my Red Ale to be. Upon opening the closet I found that one of my growlers(the old school Latitude 33) had exploded, and to my surprise, had not effected any of the surrounding beers that were helplessly packed into the milk crate with it. In fear of disturbing the final process. I left the destroyed growler amongst the other beer bottles and relocated the remaining growler into a pillow case(a suggestion from my MiBrewBuddy).
The Final Weekend(6 weeks Later)
I probably(Most definitely) should have waited a few more days to put the beer into the refrigerator. Or at LEAST left half of my bounty in the closet to see the difference(if any) in taste and carbonation from the rest of the batch. However, I was greedy, and felt I waited long enough! LEaving my beer to carbonate for a total of 12 days..I was ready to pull it out for Hard Day of the Dead in Pamona, CA that weekend. I was broke, and I wanted to taste the fruits of my labor, but I went full force and pushed the entire batch into the cooling phase. I cracked one beer after 3 hours to test the carbonation, and it seemed quite good! However, the beer itself tasted different than the flat remains I didn’t even have to reluctantly drink. The flat product seemed somewhat sweet, and full of flavor. My carbonated product seemed less so, but not bad!
I have to make clear that I am not good at deciphering beer categories. I must also make clear that none of the options in the Northern Brewing kit are beers that I would normally drink, so my friend made the right choice in the Red Ale being closest to what I like. Well...as close as possible. I am a Stout and Porter lover who also enjoys IPAs. So I wonder if I made it perfect, and am just a complete noob, or my bottling process fell short based on my excitement.
All in all, first brew was fun, sticky, scary, and amazing. This entry is my first brew, and I assume no one is reading this. Although I hope someday my Lazy Brewing will be felt and understood by many in their home brewing. ^__^
On to the next one. Soon!