First Pour - Cherry Wheat

Tried the Cherry Wheat on Saturday.  It had great head on it, that lingered for a while.  I had to drink down some of the foam in order to get the rest of the beer out of the bottle.  The cherry flavor was subtle, would add it later in the fermentation process next time, perhaps after 10 days instead of 7.  It has a nice color and is cloudy like a good wheat beer should be.  Still has a bit of a dry finish, so I'll let this condition for two more weeks before trying it again.

0007 - White IPA (Seasonal)

My first Mr. Beer seasonal, the White IPA for Spring 2012.  This can is huge, 3.75 pounds of hopped malt extract.  Includes a spice pack and an 11g packet of specialty yeast (Safbrew T58).  This one is going into the Brew Demon conical due to its extra head space.  I've modified the conical a bit, adding a more robust spigot to it.  There have been some issues over at Mr. Beer with these things breaking during the brewing cycle.  Haven't heard of any Brew Demon ones breaking (the spigots are from the same supplier), but don't want to take any chances.  Will covert the other two conicals to this spigot once I pick up some more from the LHBS.

Don't have any Qbrew info for this brew as it isn't in the database.   From the Mr. Beer website:

This White IPA is a flavorsome modification of a traditional IPA. An exciting fusion of complex citrus and melon hop flavors characteristics to an American IPA, balanced with coriander, orange peel, lemon and the velvety characters of wheat malt typical of a Belgian Witbier. Pale in color with a tightly packed white head, spicy notes and crisp finish. 

Flavor: Hoppy
ABV (alc/vol): 6.5%
SRM (Color): 5
IBU (Bitterness): 60

Brewed it up on 2013/04/07 so it will be ready before Spring is over.  If you are interested in the conical brewing system, check out Brew Demon Conical Fermenters.

Update: 2013/04/28:
Bottled this one up today.  Sample was interesting, had a flavor I'm not used to.  Wasn't a bad flavor, just different.  Not sure if it is the coriander or something else.  Also found out I didn't do a very good job of crushing the coriander seeds in the spice packet.  I estimate about 80% of them were still whole.

0006 - Bavarian Weissbier

Brewed up a Mr. Beer recipe yesterday, the Bavarian Weissbier.  Should be a good summer beer, perhaps with a slice of orange tossed in.


0006 - Bavarian Weissbier
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Brewer: James
Style: Weizen/Weissbier
Batch: 2.13 galExtract

Characteristics
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Recipe Gravity: 1.041 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 18 IBU
Recipe Color: 3° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.010
Alcohol by Volume: 4.0%
Alcohol by Weight: 3.1%

Ingredients
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Mr. Beer BrewMax Pale - LME   0.55 lb, Extract, Extract
Mr. Beer/Coopers Bavarian Weissbier1.87 lb, Extract, Extract

Mr. Beer/Coopers Bavarian Weissbier1.00 oz, Pellet, 5 minutes


Notes
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Recipe Notes:
Actually used Mr. Beer BrewMax LME SoftPack - Golden but this does not exist in the Qbrew database.

Batch Notes:

Looks like another yeast party going on.  I'm liking this style of airlock since I cracked one of the S styled ones trying to install it.  Guess I don't know my own strength.  The design of this one prevents any back flow of water into the brew, and costing only $1.19 at the local home brew store, I see more of these in my future.

Update: 2013/04/20
Bottled this up today.  Got 21 bottles out of it.  The sample tasted a bit malty and a touch sweet.  Should be a very good beer once it conditions and carbonates.  Looking forward to this one.

First Pour - Hellfire Deep Red Ale

Great head with good retention and some lacing. Taste is very good and carbonation is just right. A very good brew that I'll look forward to brewing again. This is a Brew Demon recipe.

I really enjoyed the taste of this beer.  Though it might make some good beer bread, so I tried it.  Here's the result:

It is dense and hearty, with great flavor and a nice crust.  Very enjoyable bread!

Contest Prize Arrives

Received my contest prize from the recent Brew Demon contest.  It arrived in great condition, packed in a heavy cardboard box.

Inside the shipping box was the Brew Demon box.  Internet orders get the two tone box, while retail units (due out later this year) will feature full color boxes to better grab the attention of shoppers.

And here's the Signature kit.  It includes the conical fermenter and stand, two cans of HME, a stick on thermometer, a vent cap, a bottling wand with hose, plastic mixing spoon, no rinse cleaner and 8 liter plastic bottles with caps.  Not shown are the Brew Demon labels for the bottles, instructions and DVD.

Awesome prize!  Thank you very much Brew Demon.

Bottling Process

The process starts with washed bottles, I didn't bother to photograph this part.  I use OxiClean Free for cleaning the bottles as it lifts out any dried on junk and old labels really easily.  And it doesn't leave a residue behind to affect the beer.

 Bottling Tree and Vinator setup and sanitized with a spray bottle filled with Star-San solution.  I spray down the outside of the bottling wand during this step, by placing it in front of the tree when I sanitize it, saving a step.  Then sanitize the inside of the wand.

 Spigot gets sanitized with a cotton swab dipped in Star-San solution, then the wand carefully attached.  Need to avoid putting too much stress on the spigot as I've read online they are prone to breaking at the base of the threads.  Mr. Beer and Brew Demon use the same supplier for the spigots, so it isn't a vendor specific problem.

 Bottles have been sanitized inside using two pumps each on the Vinator and are placed on the bottle tree to drain.  The Vinator gets the inside of the bottles on the down pump and gets the rim and outside area where the cap crimps on the release.  A great time saver and both accessories are highly recommended to make bottling easier!

  Line up the bottles 6 at a time to receive priming sugar.  This sugar will be consumed by the yeast providing the carbonation for the beer.  The funnel and the measuring spoon have been sanitized then dried so the sugar won't stick or clump in either, which would throw off the measurement leading to inconsistent carbonation.  Each 12 oz bottle gets 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.  This is less than the guidelines from Mr. Beer and Brew Demon, both of which lead to over carbonation.

Even using the conical fermenter, it is possible to get trub in the bottles.  Using a slower fill rate will minimize this.  If I had space in the fridge that would accommodate this (with the attached air lock) that might help move the trub that settles near the spigot.  It will settle out when the bottle is put in the fridge before drinking, so it isn't a concern.

 Filled bottle, just about to be capped using the Super Agata bottler.

 Another bottle just after capping, and the finished batch of beer to the right.  Got 21 bottles out of this one, which is just about where it should be.

Not the prettiest picture, but this is what remains in the fermenter after bottling.  There is a bit of beer left that can't be bottled, under that is the trub, or sediment and dead yeast from fermentation.  Along the walls is some trub that clung to the sides and some krausen (foam) which was produced during fermentation.  This all has to be thoroughly cleaned out to prevent any infections in the next batch of beer.

Here's a close up photo that shows the trub at the bottom of the conical and some accumulated around the spigot.  The conical does a good job of getting most of it away from the spigot and leaves a very small surface area exposed to the beer.  I'll starting to elevate the front for future batches trying to further reduce the amount near the spigot so I can fill the bottles faster.

A small sample drawn from what was left in the bottling wand.  Tasted like warm, flat beer, with a hint of a cidery (dry) after taste.  This will condition out and should be ready for Cinco De Mayo.

Won a Brew Demon Premium Kit

Just found out a won a contest Brew Demon was hosting on their Facebook page.  It was a video contest using the cut up LBKs from their Trade Up promotion.  My daughter and I made a video for it and won (doesn't hurt that no one else entered).  There will soon be a Brew Demon Premium kit headed my way.  Thank you Brew Demon!  For more information on their conical fermenting system, please see Brew Demon.