Belgian triple IPA brew process.

I've started this blog upon the request of my freinds and family whom drink my brews but don't know much about the process or really about what exactly they are drinking.   well, here it is - my attempt to shine light on what i'm up to.    to start off, i'll show what goes into the brew and later i'll do reviews and tastes of both my own and other's selections.  we'll start with Belgian Triple IPA!

Personally, this is my favorite kind of beer to make. Big, yet light- smooth, with a Belgian yeast overtone that pairs oh so sweetly with cascade, saaz and Amarillo hops. East meets west baby!

This is a look into my makeshift brew process.   Though i'm no pro and I don't have a lot of resources to put into purchasing equipment, i've been making some really great beers for the last year.  
 
 

The first step is to steep the grains for one hour. As mash temp was at around 153', I added water that was 160' and regulated with the burner.    The goal of this step is to extract the sugars in the grains by process of keeping them at a specific temperature for one hour.  

After the hour is up, i did my best to strain all liquid from the grains through a makeshift process of industrial stainer.    Once all available liquid is removed, I poured on another gallon of near boiling water to rinse the grains of sugars as well as stopping the conversion process.

 once all liquid is removed from the grains, i began my boil.   the boil is the hour in which the wort is boiled with hops and additional adjuncts (sugars, spices, stabilizers) to create the final product.   during this hour hops are added incrementally to provide the adequate bitters to hide the sweetness of our malt.   


also, as used just seven pounds of grains for the mash, additional sources of sugar are needed to achieve a higher alcohol content.   in this case i used approximately 5 pounds of light pilsner malt extract.  also, i used two pounds of clear rock candy sugar to bring out keep the body of the beer down as much as possible.   


during the hour boil, i usually take the time to create a boost for my beer's yeast pitch.......

.    one potential mishap that i've made with prior beers is to not throw enough yeast on a beer that is chock full of sugars to digest.   if there is not enough yeast pitched, the yeast can get overwhelmed and you end up with a sweet beer.   in order to avoid this issue, brewers many times make a high concentrated wort for the yeast to get going before pitching it into the actual beer.      i boiled a small amount of my wort with some additional malt extract and cooled to room to room temperate.     very carefully i sanitized a old growler and air lock for a fermentation vessel.   then, I added the yeast and left it in a warm spot for the night to do its magic.

for this brew i used the best.....white labs liquid yeast.   with many ales or stouts it is fine to use a nondescript yeast, but a belgian beers defining characteristics (in my opinion) is the yeast undertones.   in order to get the fruity, spicy flavors i went for the top shelf.

    Using a sanitized bucket and straining equipment, i carefully transfered the wort and mixed it with cold water to make 5.5 gallons.    My boil yielded 3.5 gallons, so the addition of 2 gallons of cold water brings the temp of the wort down considerably.   this is a potentially dangerous time in the life cycle as airborne yeast can survive (and thrive) at these temperatures.      Cover immediately!      Sanitize! 

My transfer bucket is handy in that its equipped with a valve.   I simply place the sanitized carboy under the bucket with a short length of tubing attached to reduce spill.   As the wort is still too warm to host yeast (temps over 90 will kill the yeast.....i learned the hard way.   twice) i let it sit overnight in my cold kitchen.   this is also handy because it gives my starter the time to do its thing.  

The next day when i added the yeast starter to the wort (on the right) i was sure to keep it warm for the first 24 hours.   In this stage of fermentation it is vital to keep the wort at 70 degrees or above to ensure strong growth.    

So basically, there it is.    A peep into my passion.    A look into my love.   This insight may or may not be helpful - in fact, i may be doing some things in a totally unreasonable way....but hey, its been working for me!