Guate Brewing

Hi guys, I am finally back to brewing and other things, have had a rough couple of months but things are finally looking great. Had to separate from the wife a month ago so have been dealing with all sorts of stuff and focused on my daughter. Hope my beer is still good and not dead though!!! Need to bottle it asap or will take forever to carbonate LOL! So just wanted to say hi and let you guys know I'm doing great and ready to get into homebrewing really strong.

Curtis, authorities now think every friggin chemical is a "precursor" to make sythetic drugs so they will always ***** about it.

Rappy, sorry to hear about your difficulties, but at least sounds like they are soon be behind you -- sometimes that is better. I joke that the best thing my first wife and I did for our relationship was to get divorced -- we became very close friends afterwards.

I think I will avoid any "chemical" shipments in the future. I have not had any problems just shipping normal beer ingredients. Can probably find or make chemical additives here in country anyway (just not always as convenient).

I will be in the City just briefly over Sunday night (Catching a flight Monday). So, if any of you want to hook up for a beer just let me know. I will be back on Dec 6 and probably be in the City for a few days after that -- maybe a better time to try and get every one together again?

I'm also sorry to hear things went south in the end, but I'm also glad to hear you're back on your feet. Don't worry about the beer though, you can always add sugar or honey and let it carbonate, as for aging; some people recommend extended primaries (up to 3 months depending on the kind of beer) so I believe you'll be ok.

On a happier note, the ESB at the bar ran out on thursday, so it did marginally better than I had expected after the 1st month went by. They still haven't paid for the porter so it's sitting in my beer fridge right now (less of it every weekend though), I can bottle a few and bring them over for our get together (whenever it may be).

Also, I uploaded some chemical descriptions and procurement guidelines at the CA-4 group's "where to get supplies in Guate" thread.

Wow! I have been in the DFW and Austin, Texas areas for about a week now and the explosion in craft brewing is absolutely amazing! Even supermarkets have gotten in on the act. We were in an HEB (large chain supermarket) and they had a build-your-own-6-pack section with a good selection of craft brews. Some of the brewpubs and craft brew stores are just overwhelming -- the "Flying Saucer" in Austin has 4 page beer menu! SPEC's (a very good beer, wine, gourment food distributor) carries an amazing inventory of craft beers. An entire wall, of a very large SPECs store we visited, is nothing but beer.

The variety and range beer styles available here is just staggering. We've been like kids in a candy store.

Also visited Austin Homebrew Supply, I order a lot from them but this is the first time I have been in the store -- impressive shop.

hopbrad said:

just stumbled across this thread, i am moving to Nicaragua and there was just about no info on the web about people homebrewing...

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I think I missed your original post. Welcome aboard.

We traveled back from Panama last year via Nicaragua and really enjoyed it there. Especially Grenada.

Where in Nic are moving?

Thanks for the support guys! Agree that the craft beer selection in the US is amazing, you even go to Wynn Dixie and they have quite a few. Love it over there.

I just joined the Cerveceros CA-4 group.

I've been poking around on the thread for a few minutes and already I've found a few bits of information that will likely make my next two years in Guate much more pleasurable.

I don't have much for equipment yet but I do have a batch of maracuja mead fermenting and a few packets of dry yeast and hop pellets waiting to be hydrated. I'm stoked to learn about Distribudora Caribe, as soon as I can get there to get some malt I'll be brewing. It's been years since I've done an extract brew, but any homebrew is better than none.

que chelero... I'm so happy to have found other brewers in Guatemala!!!

Glad to have you on board, if you'd like to know about malting grain I can also help you out, all you need for 5 pounds of pale malt is a 15 gallon plastic bucket, water and 6 ft of screen mesh (and a couple of days of sunny weather) if you'd like specialty malts you can go from there (it'd be mostly 6-row adaptations but they work out just as well).

If you'd like a different strain of yeast let us know, we have a decent selection: champagne, mead, british ales, german ales & lagers, american ales & lagers and even local funky bugs; Curtis, Rodrigo & I are willing to share.

Anything you'd like to know you can ask in this thread or by PM, we'll be happy to answer (as soon as life allows).

On an unrelated note, you guys up for a get together this weekend? I have some time & more importantly $ (and clearing O-chem 2 is as good a reason as any to celebrate), I could bring a few yeast cultures and a couple of quarts of the porter the bar hasn't paid for yet. As always, I'd be dropping in after 8:00 except if it's sunday; but really, who stays up late and drinks on sunday? that's just asking for trouble...

firefarmer said:

I just joined the Cerveceros CA-4 group....

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Welcome aboard! Out little group is growing.

Just got back to the City yesterday. Will be in town tonight and tomorrow night if anyone wants to meet for a beer.

pacayaforhops said:

...
On an unrelated note, you guys up for a get together this weekend? I have some time & more importantly $ (and clearing O-chem 2 is as good a reason as any to celebrate), I could bring a few yeast cultures and a couple of quarts of the porter the bar hasn't paid for yet. As always, I'd be dropping in after 8:00 except if it's sunday; but really, who stays up late and drinks on sunday? that's just asking for trouble...

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Sure, I will be around tonight and tomorrow (Friday) night.

Any place in particular? it seems revolver's also run out of Brooklyn brews and sold their soul to InBev, it was nice while it lasted... I'd suggest rattle & hum like the first get together, hopefully they still have Brooklyn beer, I'll still be bringing a couple of quarts of my porter. (I can be in zone 10 by about 8:30)

Sucks about revolver. I have my daughter today so could get there until 10PM more or less, don't know if you guys will be there still?

Possibly, PM me your cellphone (text after 3:00), I'll text you to let you know. (I think I took it down last time but I want to make sure it's not the other Rodrigo that I know's phone)

We opened the first Craft Brewery in El Salvador back in June, 2012. we now import everything directly and will be selling home brew kits and ingredients starting next year. only in El Salvador though for now. Brewing here is seriously hard work. We are Brew Revolution http://www.brewrevolution.com

THERE'S a travel destination, I'll keep it in mind for next time I go to ES. Feel free to join:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/groups/cerveceros-ca-4/

You have a wealth of knowledge we'd all like to share and hopefully share some back with you; and above all, we all like to have a good time, let us know if you're ever in Guate city, we'll see about getting together and sharing some brews.

awesome Im there periodically. Lots friends in Guat. We also launched the first ever craft beer kickstarter in LAtin America http://www.kickstarter.com/projects...revolution-el-salvadors-first-craft-beer-brew

Andynewbom said:

We opened the first Craft Brewery in El Salvador back in June, 2012. we now import everything directly and will be selling home brew kits and ingredients starting next year. only in El Salvador though for now. Brewing here is seriously hard work. We are Brew Revolution http://www.brewrevolution.com

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Cool, we will be returning to Panama via El Salvador in a few months. Will definitely stop in.

Welcome guys! I will definitely make it a must see destination in january! This is the kind of thing we need here in Guatemala, hopefully one day we can do the exact same thing.

Thanks for the info. I drove across the city this afternoon and found Distribudora del caribe and bought some malt. I was a little dissapointed because they said it was 75Q for a gallon but the jugs were only about two thirds full. Still not bad for 3.5 kg. It's been a very long time since I've used extract and this seems like it is a little thinner than what I remember. I guess I'll see how it works. I just need to get myself a good sized kettle.

firefarmer said:

Thanks for the info. I drove across the city this afternoon and found Distribudora del caribe and bought some malt. I was a little dissapointed because they said it was 75Q for a gallon but the jugs were only about two thirds full. Still not bad for 3.5 kg. It's been a very long time since I've used extract and this seems like it is a little thinner than what I remember. I guess I'll see how it works. I just need to get myself a good sized kettle.

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Of course, large aluminum pots are readily available and inexpensive. The southern section of 4 Ave in Z1 that has cookware shops with these. The only place I've found large stainless pots in Guate is at "Home Green" in Torres de Gemini in Z10, but I have not searched extensively.

I am working on upgrading my batch sizes and am about to order a 15 gallon brew pot.

Curtis2010 said:

I am working on upgrading my batch sizes and am about to order a 15 gallon brew pot.

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That sounds like a nice upgrade.

I've seen the aluminum pots in zone 1 and elsewhere but was looking for stainless. I'll try home green. Thanks for the tip.

I have thought about getting one of the large blue enamel pots because they look old school and are relatively inexpensive, but was worried that likely imperfections in the glaze could cause negative interactions between the iron and the wort.

firefarmer said:

That sounds like a nice upgrade.

I've seen the aluminum pots in zone 1 and elsewhere but was looking for stainless. I'll try home green. Thanks for the tip.

I have thought about getting one of the large blue enamel pots because they look old school and are relatively inexpensive, but was worried that likely imperfections in the glaze could cause negative interactions between the iron and the wort.

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I expect the enameled pots would be fine for boiling wort, but a problem for installing fittings.

Curtis2010 said:

I expect the enameled pots would be fine for boiling wort, but a problem for installing fittings.

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I use an enamel pot. They'll rust if the enamel chips so just inspect them before each brew. I wouldn't want rust in my brew! At <20 bucks it's a cheap replacement.

I bottled up some of my latest iteration of "Cerveza Rosa" (a light Ale, Saaz hops, and Rosa Jamica) today so I could share it at New Years. Nice red color and a pinkish head. Not bad, but with some I bottled earlier I am having spoilage problems. I don't think this bottle will last long enough for that to become a problem.

Pic attached of the new good bottle and the old, that is not necessarily bad, but has some pretty good funk growing on top. This has happened to a couple of bottles/samples along the way so I think it is somehow related to the Rosa Jamica (actual extract I made directly from dried flowers, not that sugary artificial stuff, boiled, no sugar added).

Pacaya, as our resident food sciences guy, any ideas or suggestions?

Looks like Brettanomyces sp. if you want to kill it, pasteurizing (heating the bottle in a water bath for 5 min @ 180*F+) will usually do the trick.

If it were me, I'd let it age for about 3-6 months and see if it's drinkable; rosa de jamaica sour ale sounds tasty. Worse comes to worse, it tastes like wet dog, you loose a couple of bottles for 6 months and dump 5L of beer.

If you want to get rid of it off the bottle walls you can use bleach as usual and for the cap seal you can use chlorohexidine mouthwash (let it soak for a few min, you can get it at most pharmacies, ask for "gluconato de clorohexidina en enjuague").

On an unrelated note: I just had my first weevil infestation (or rather I just noticed) over the weekend, couriously enough it's not in my home malted grain but in my 10L crystal malt I bought from that guy in Antigua a few years ago, tried using long chain fatty acids (non toxic to humans or any mammals as far as I'm aware of) but there were some survivors so i sent them to my gulag in siberia... i mean the beer fridge.

In other news; I decided to spice things up, so to speak, and made a mandarin orange peel spiced standard bitter (hence noticing the infestation). I'm pretty happy with how it's coming along. I'll be laying off the 5%+ ABV brews for a while.

Hey there's a fine a idea, a Guate Sour. I think I will let a few bottles continue along that route while I am gone and see what they taste like. No big loss at this point.

I tried a few sours while in the States are really liked them. So, it is definitely on my list to brew anyway.

Re grains. As I recall Distrib. Caribe has 2-row and 6-row barley -- correct? I assume they also have wheat? Another other grains you know of that they carry. I'm designing my all-grain system and would like to take a shot at an all-grain brew from mostly ingredients available in Guate.

Curtis2010 said:

Re grains. As I recall Distrib. Caribe has 2-row and 6-row barley -- correct? I assume they also have wheat? Another other grains you know of that they carry. I'm designing my all-grain system and would like to take a shot at an all-grain brew from mostly ingredients available in Guate.

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As far as I know D-Caribe only carries dark liquid extract, CENMA's where I get the 6-row barley & wheat that I home-malt, home-malting might be worth looking into if you're going all grain with local stuff, here are a few guides I've used to make mine:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/happiness-home-malting-107409/
http://brewery.org/brewery/library/Malt.html
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/home-roasting-expert-needed-138483/
http://www.franklinbrew.org/wp/?page_id=391

The last one works in case you'd rather not home-malt the crystal malts, you can sub some of them with candy sugar and/or syrup.

The way I malt mine is :

• wash the grain
• soak for 4 hours, air for 8 for, then repeat for 2 days
• spread it in a wide mouth plastic bucket and fold the grain into itself (kind of like beating eggs) every day twice for 3-5 days until the acrospire (1st leaf blade) has grown up to the top of the grain on 4 out of 5 from a couple of random samples
• spread on 6'X3' window screen mesh
• set it in the sun for 2 days (1 if you're making crystal malts)
• bake at < 200*F for 1 hour for pale malt or vary temp/time depending on the kind of malt

Be sure to pick the weevils off as they come out of the grain, most will get washed off at the beginning but some will mature at the germination step of the process and they will easily infest any grain that might be near by in an open container; I usually germinate in my bathroom because of the white tile, it allows me to see weevils more easily, it's all good once you bake the malt, I've never had issues with weevils in my home-malted grain.

Thanks much for the info. I don't have time left this season to malt, but definitely on the list for next season. An AG brew using mostly local ingredients sounds interesting.

As is finishing up my brew kitchen, building my 3-tier AG rig, installing a better water filtration system, building a lagering cellar...I stay pretty busy for an unemployed old gringo!

Just had a glass of my latest iteration of "Cerveza Rosa"...and it is yummy. My SWMBO suggested that it might be tasty with a little lime...and she was right (of course)!

A nice light ale with touch of Rosa Jamica (RJ) and Lime...perfect for sitting by the pool (or the Rio in my case) in the summer....and watching the chicas stroll by...

I've tried a few different approaches to this, but here are the basics of the most recent batch (the one I like best so far). I ferment and carbonate in corny kegs, but you could modify to fit your gear of course.

1. Brew a nice light ale with a mild hops schedule (something that won't hide the RJ flavor or color). In this case I brewed a basic ale using Saaz hops. Recipe attached. I don't add the RJ extract until bottling. One thing I like about this approach is that I have a nice light ale on tap and Cerveza Rosa bottled (I use swing-top bottles and bottle from the keg). Ferment ale to completion and force carbonate.

2. Just before bottling day, brew up a batch of RJ tea very concentrated. I use natural dried flowers (not the extract concentrate crap). The issue of course with this is that you are using a natural product so the concentration varies. Brew very strong and then later blend to color/taste. I put about 2 fist fulls of dried flowers per liter of water. Brew up enough to equal about 40% of the planned bottling volume. I suggest 40% because, depending upon the resulting intensity of your RJ extract, I've found that about 30%+ hits the mark for color and taste so 40% gives you some extra volume in case you need it for blending to taste and color. I go for enough RJ concentrate to get a nice reddish color and a tinge of pink in the head. I suggest a couple of test blends in a glass first before bottling.

3. Add about 30% by volume to your bottle(s) (I use 1 liter swing-top bottles so start with 300ml RJ). Use bottle filler to top up bottle and cap on foam. Store in fridge/cooler and let it condition for a week or so.

Racking onto RJ extract in secondary works well to, but I find a I get a bit fresher RJ flavor and color if I bottle onto RJ.

View attachment Cerveza Rosa.pdf

Thanks for the tips, I might have to look into this as the standard bitter I brewed came out with too much tannins, so I'll have to either add more flavor or cover it up with light brown sugar. Lesson learned, steeping grains for extract beer should be done at mash temp, not boil temp.

I was still having problems with too much tannins in my bitter (making it too bitter and slightly acidic), so having O-chem2 fresh in my mind I figured if they're mostly polyphenols which affix to proteins, I could probably use some hydrolyzed protein to wash them away. So, I looked it up and wouldn't you know it, the cheapest hydrolyzed protein you can get is unflavored gelatin, so gelatin finings it is.

Tannins are responsible for the astringency in tea, coffee & the higher kilned malts. I also found out that gelatin finings are the preferred method for removing tannins from wine as well.

I just mixed them in today, so I'll let you guys know how it turns out in about a week.

Be sure and post how that works out.

On an impulse, because it was only $4, I recently purchased "Brewing Beer: Problems (Troubleshooting Your Home Brew)" by "Homebrew Hendricks". Even at $4 I was disappointed, better info here on HBT. This transaction may influence me to sign up for Amazon Prime. With Prime I could have checked this book out for $0...a better fair market value I think.

Just got back home today from working a charter in Belize, and sampled my Braggot, Cerveza Rosa, and Pilsener. All are coming along quite nicely.

I plan to be back in the City in a couple of weeks...hopefully there will be enough left to share!

Couldn't wait the whole week (overnight should be long enough for the reaction), I thought the beer would take about a week to carbonate, but it's already back where it needs to be.

It's worked out pretty good actually, the tannins were so strong that they were masking the hops aroma. There is some astringency left to where you would think I used chocolate malt rather than brown malt, but it's much more balanced to where you get a hint of the crystal malt I used and now you can smell the wonderful EKG hops, and the very faintest hint of citrus from the tangerine peel.

Let me know when you'll be back in town, I'll make sure to bottle a few samples of this one for when we get together I have loads of free time right now so I can stay up late most of the week after work or meet up in the morning.

PS: I'd really appreciate it if you could bring some EC-1118 yeast, I'd like to get into making blackberry wine/melomel among other things. Let me know if you want any of the ones I have, including the shrine valley funk mix.

Wyeast Thames valley ale
Wyeast Irish ale
Wyeast California lager
Wyeast german wheat (innoculated with lacto for berliner weisse)
Wyeast Kolsch
Wayne ale (thames valley & irish ale mix)
Wayne german ale (Kolsch & California lager mix)
Wayne shrine valley funk mix (german ale with Brettanomyces sp.)

Quick reminder, this thread was started 1 year & 3 days ago...

pacayaforhops said:

....

Let me know when you'll be back in town, I'll make sure to bottle a few samples of this one for when we get together I have loads of free time right now so I can stay up late most of the week after work or meet up in the morning. ...

PS: I'd really appreciate it if you could bring some EC-1118 yeast, I'd like to get into making blackberry wine/melomel among other things...

Quick reminder, this thread was started 1 year & 3 days ago...

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I should be in the city about 10 days from now. Will have a more definite date soon and will post it.

I will bring along some samples too. Had a little tasting at a friend's marina last night of my current brews. Menu attached.

Be happy to bring along some EC-1118. I think I still have some banked, but if not have several meads/melomels conditioning and can extract a bit. Also interested in some samples of yours, but will wait till next brewing season because we are about to head back to Panama. Be back in about 4-6 months I think. So, my brewing season is over and I will get a fresh sample when I return.

Cool that our little group has grown. I also have a friend here on the Rio who has gotten back into brewing. Tried an IPA of his recently that was quite good. Maybe a CA-4 event down on the Rio next season? I've got a guest house, brew kitchen, and coolers at your disposal. And, several different friends who own marinas/hotels here who would be happy to host.



View attachment Brew Menu.pdf

Sounds like a plan guys! lets meet in 10 days, lemme know, I am pretty much available now. Also definitely agree on doing a tour of la cerveceria de Curtis! That menu looks tasty! I need to get back into brewing next week, still have the ingredients for the porter and the Imperial stout to brew.

Change of plans, have some documents to complete, and need to be in the City next week. We now plan to drive up on Sunday and be there for a few days. Does that work out for you guys?

Quite well actually, I can get together any day after 8:00 PM, mon-wed before 3:00 PM or sunday all day. Let me know which works out best.

Good. We will be driving on Sunday so probably not then. Maybe Monday night

Rappy? When's good for you?

Monday is fine!