Couple Questions about Alton Brown's brewing show...

It aired again last night on the Food Network...

1. He sanitized with bleach, but I don't remember him rinsing. (Could have been while I was letting the dog out or something.) Did he go no-rinse?

2. He used bottled water. I wish he had been a little clearer that the vast majority could brew perfectly great beer with their tap water.

3. He consistently referred to the bittering hops as the flavor hops--that could be quite confusing.

Overall, though, it was great. He did use some terminology in ways that aren't exactly standard, and pronounced "wort" wrong, but who really cares. I like "Good Eats"--I like the combination of recipes and food geekery.

I love his show too.

I only saw the last two minutes. Notice that the beer he poured had essentially zero head retention?

I didn't like at all that he said the beer only needed a week to go through its "second fermentation," i.e. carbonation ("but two weeks is better" - uh, it's still green beer at two weeks). I don't like that he mis-used the secondary fermenatation term, even if he might be techically correct. I don't like that he used blue bottles instead of brown.

Wasn't there something about him boiling the grain? I haven't seen the first 28 minutes of the episode since I started brewing.

the_bird said:

Wasn't there something about him boiling the grain? I haven't seen the first 28 minutes of the episode since I started brewing.

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No--he held it at 155 for 1/2 hour. It did seem that he never even mentioned what kind of specialty grain it was.

He poured very delicately, so there wasn't much head to even be retained. Of course, if it had only been carbing a week...

All told, it was pretty good. You're right--it would have been easy to mention that most beers aren't at their best until at least 6-8 weeks after brew day.

cweston said:

He poured very delicately, so there wasn't much head to even be retained. Of course, if it had only been carbing a week...

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I'm going to make the most meaningless disagreement in the history of man.

He poured moderately aggressively, there was about an inch of head, but by the time he drank it, it was all gone. Methinks Mr. Brown needs a half-pound or so of wheat malt...

the_bird said:

I'm going to make the most meaningless disagreement in the history of man.

He poured moderately aggressively, there was about an inch of head, but by the time he drank it, it was all gone. Methinks Mr. Brown needs a half-pound or so of wheat malt...

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OK...I'll match you geek for geek. I also noticed that his pour technique was almost exactly opposite of mine.

He started moderately aggressively, right down the middle of the (vertical) glass. Then he tilted the glass and poured the second half very delicately.

I start with the glass slanted, then pour more aggressively straight down the middle if needed, depending on how much head is being produced.

Oh--and he also primed with 3/4 cup table sugar, which surprised me.

cweston said:

OK...I'll match you geek for geek. I also noticed that his pour technique was almost exactly opposite of mine.

He started moderately aggressively, right down the middle of the (vertical) glass. Then he tilted the glass and poured the second half very delicately.

I start with the glass slanted, then pour more aggressively straight down the middle if needed, depending on how much head is being produced.

Oh--and he also primed with 3/4 cup table sugar, which surprised me.

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Hey, we're geeks together! That's how I pour - down the side, with the glass slanted maybe 20, 25 degrees, then pour down the middle at the end.

I'm still pissed that I didn't see the whole episode - DAMN YOU, FUTURAMA! But, at least the Futurama episode included the classic line, "I am Bender! Please insert liquor!"

Alright, back to work...

the_bird said:

Wasn't there something about him boiling the grain? I haven't seen the first 28 minutes of the episode since I started brewing.

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Yes, he 'steeps' his grain (loose in the water with no hope of recovery) for 30 minutes at 155, and then dumps his LME right into the pot with it and brings it up to a boil... The grains never came out until he strains at the fermentor.

And Bird (or anyone), PM me if you'd like a copy of it, I have it on my computer at home somewhere, I'm sure I could upload it somewhere you could find it.

kvh

Did anyone else notice that he said that at the end of the primary the yeast will die and settle to the bottom of the fermentor and made no mention of how the sugar actually carbonates the beer?

It's been said before, but it does make you wonder about his other episodes... I mean, it's pretty clear that Alton's not a homebrewer. Someone did some research, badly, and he followed their script. I like Alton, I love Good Eats, but this can't help but make you wonder exactly how much of his knowledge is really his, and what else he and his research peeps get wrong...

I'm a big fan of Good Eats, and Alton Brown in general. I'm sure he knows his stuff, and although he may have left out a few key details, I still don't think this was the first time he's brewed beer. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he brews every weekend like some of us here (myself included in this) but as far as explaining the general technique of brewing beer to the masses, I think he did a fine job.

Think about it, if you had to explain the full process of brewing to someone who otherwise didn't care, make it interesting, and get it all out in 22 minutes, could you do it?

That said, if anyone wants to watch it again, or catch it for the first time, it'll be aired again next week in typical cable fashion.

kvh

the_bird said:

DAMN YOU, FUTURAMA!

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Still can't believe that show only lasted 4 season... "Are we boned?", "Yup, we're boned!"

Well, I tivo-ed it and watched it this morning. The only other time I've seen this was before I had started brewing, so there was definitely a difference in my opinion. I did notice that he did not remove the grain before boiling, though it was only 1/2 lb. but he also only boiled for like 10 minutes! He used almost 2 oz. of hops for the first addition, boiled 10 mins. added the second hops and flame out, steeped for 5 mins... in a 2.5-3 gl boil, that's horrible hops utilization!

As far as the rinsing the bleach thing goes, with that low concentration, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem not rinsing, but it does mean that you have to have everything touching the solution for 30mins as opposed to only a couple.

Didn't he cram the bucket lid into the bucket when he sanitized? I used to do that, until I realized that it was a pretty damn good way to get some nasty scratches in the plastic.

I still havent seen it all the way through....I think its great he did a brew show. I dont think its worth nit-picking though. I'm sure if Rachel Ray did a '30-minute Beer' it would be worse, or if Emeril was like "Throw the hops in BAM!"

Its cool that he did the show.

Ivan Lendl said:

I'm sure if Rachel Ray did a '30-minute Beer' it would be worse...

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LOL, if she did it would definitely be a Kit & Kilo beer!

Ivan Lendl said:

or if Emeril was like "Throw the hops in BAM!"

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How about a little Essence of Emeril in the brew! BAM "Oh Yeah Babe"

He called the hops at flame-out "dry hops" too. ERRRRRR.....

Agreed, his show is full of mistakes. However, that show, along with a copy of "The Joy of Homebrewing," is what sparked my interest in the hobby. I'd venture to say that I'm not the only one.

My second batch followed his procedures almost exactly...and it was pretty good beer.

Yeah, yall beat me to it starting the thread. Yeah the steep grains getting boild with the wort killed me. Ok class, lets all sat Tannin extraction. Ah well. Have to give credit... when I first saw the show a few years ago, it helped spark my interest in brewing. Luckily I was not watching the show when I did my 1st batch though... I let Palmer walk me through that one.

You can get a copy of this on Google videos. Search for "good eats beer show" It was this show that really showed me how easy it was to brew beer.

Maybe their were mistakes, but it is exposure for the hobby which is good right?

Dude said:

He called the hops at flame-out "dry hops" too. ERRRRRR.....

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I moaned about that one, too.

Stuff like that is confusing, but at least he wasn't flat-out doing it wrong (like when he boiled the grains). Seems like it would have been easy to run the script by some actual homebrewers and catch the misused words like that, though.

Also, the LHBS he visited is now out of business.

cweston said:

I moaned about that one, too.

Stuff like that is confusing, but at least he wasn't flat-out doing it wrong (like when he boiled the grains). Seems like it would have been easy to run the script by some actual homebrewers and catch the misused words like that, though.

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He's a smart dude and probably feels confident in everything he does. I doubt he wants to run his recipes by anyone, ya know? This is not beer for the hobby brewer, but beer for the kitchen wife that wants to do a "cool project." for the hubby.

He used ice as a quick wort cooling method. I have never heard of this...is it safe to try?

mdf191 said:

He used ice as a quick wort cooling method. I have never heard of this...is it safe to try?

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There was a post about that not too long ago, someone's dad did it and swore by it. He froze his sanitized water the night before. The census seemed to be that its a fine technique. You are talking about top off water for a partial boil, right?

Alton was trying to teach to the middle of the class, not the upper crust like us who do this thing with a zeal, nor to the bottom who could care less as they drink their bud light. i thought he did a pretty credible job. no, he isn't a homebrewer, but he covered the subject relatively well for a research project, which is what it was essentially.
i liked it.

mdf191 said:

He used ice as a quick wort cooling method. I have never heard of this...is it safe to try?

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Using commercially available ice probably isn't the best way of doing things. I did it twice without incident, but that doesn't mean it's foolproof.

Here are a few better ways of using ice to cool your wort (pronounced, "wert," by the way):

For a partial boil:
A day ahead of time, boil your top-off water to sanitize it, then freeze it in clean containers (Rubbermaid, maybe?). After your brew is finished boiling, dump it into the fermenter and use your pre-frozen top-off ice blocks to cool it down (run some warm water over the outside of the containers to release the ice blocks).

For a full boil:
A day ahead of time, freeze a couple of full 1 gallon water jugs. After the boil, sanitize the outside of those jugs, and dunk them into your wort.

OR

Dunk the whole brew kettle into an ice bath in the sink or bathtub.

OR

Use a pump with your CFC or immersion chiller to recirculate water from an ice bath through it. This is the method I use most often.

mdf191 said:

He used ice as a quick wort cooling method. I have never heard of this...is it safe to try?

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My friend and I did it on 6-10 different batches (I don't know exactly how many). We learned that a 3 gallon boil, plus 8lbs of ice (approx 1 gallon) plus a gallon of room temp water typically hits 80 degrees in about 1 minute.

It worked great for us time after time. I've since built an immursion chiller, so we don't do that anymore though...

mdf191 said:

He used ice as a quick wort cooling method. I have never heard of this...is it safe to try?

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This is how I cool wort exclusively. I haven't had a problem yet.

i dont know if he was right or wrong because i am still reading and getting to know everything b4 i take the leap... but he is the one who sparked my interest to try it

want to watch the episode?

click

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2852527078421700337&q=good+eats&hl=en

Thanks Teacup!

Great link. If this was on last night, it's probably on my DVR, but I watched the google video version, just in case.:rockin:

teacup13 said:

i dont know if he was right or wrong because i am still reading and getting to know everything b4 i take the leap... but he is the one who sparked my interest to try it

want to watch the episode?

click

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2852527078421700337&q=good+eats&hl=en

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Thanks, finally got to watch it!

Just watched it on Google video I agree with all of you that he probably doesn't homebrew on a regular basis like most of us, but he did know the basics and even though he did many things different from probably 99 or 100% of this forum ie no grain bag for steeping and the grains stayed in for the whole boil, and some of the terminology was wrong I bet the beer was still decent. Also it probably got many into the hobby b/c watching it you realize it isn't as hard as it seems.

Thanks for all the feedback!! I have yet to decide if I will go immursion chiller yet or not. By the way...while we are on that subject...For a college student with !very! little money!, but wanting to go all-grain, how should i chill iva ice bath? Should I build my own unit? And if so....immursion or other suggestions?