There have been requests for photos of the brewing process; thus, I offer forth the following with commentary:
1) That's the yeast there (of Noble Trappist Belgian Ale origin) that came in liquid form. It was necessary to 'propagate' the yeast in a mini-beer . . . that is, feed it and keep it warm while it multiplies . . . this takes a few days.
2) Later in the week we move over to the boil . . . here the boil bag filled with grains is steeping in the water as it comes to boil. Later we added the malt and boiled for an hour . . .
3) At about halfway into the boil we add the first of two hop sachets which add bitterness, balancing out the sweetness of the malt. Here I interrogate the hops prior to incorporation into the boil . . .
4) After the boil, the wort is placed into a fermentation device. Here a food grade bucket . . . cleverly dubbed the Ale Pail . . . holds our liquid. After we pour in the yeast slurry, we can officially call this a beer . . . Over a week the liquor begins to ferment and a head of gunk (dead yeast cells, hop oils, etc) called krausen rises to the top. Yes, just like G. Heileman's Old Style, "our beer is fully krausened."
5) Then we rack the liquor into a five gallon carboy, minding not to siphon the krausen or the yeast pit at the bottom of the Pail into the carboy.
6) The carboy sits in the corner of the kitchen conducting secondary fermentation. It's alive!
I guess the bottling photos will come next . . . some time this weekend.
Labels: Beer
