khokeson
New Member
Bear with me, this will be a long post with a lot of information asking for advice. First ( [1.] )I will start by telling you what I plan on brewing within the next week or so, then ( [2.] )give you my goal and predicaments, finally( [3.] ), I will give you my background in formation. At the end of every section will be question.
[0.1] Summery: I am living in Beijing China and I really hope to brew. For now I just want to get something along the lines of 25 liters up and running for me and my friends. I have very limited access to ingredients without importing and cannot afford to import equipment. In the very near future I am planning on brewing a small (2-3 liter) test batch given my meager resources. Mostly I am to prove it can be done and also, I want to try just for the fun and experimentation of it all. I have access to what I think are malted barley in the form of Korean barley tea. I do not have hops, I will be using a bitter tea for now. Finally, I will be using bread yeast, and bottled mineral water. Read on for more information and wish me luck!
[1.0] I plan on brewing a test batch of what I hope will come out as some sort of brown ale or porter. Right now I'm thinking of doing about 3 liters just as a test batch to see if I can actually brew anything from my materials that tastes somewhat like beer without importing anything at this point. Although, in the future I expect to import some things.
[1.1] My ingredients:
[1.2] My recipe: Very roughly speaking, a 5 gallon batch of Brown Ale or Porter typically consists of about 10 lbs of malt mostly consisting of pale malt and amber malt with a bit of Crystal 60L or Chocolate for color and flavor. They have roughly 1-1.5 oz hops split pretty even for bitterness and aroma (source: “How to Brew” John Palmer). Converting to metric thats about 4.5kg of malt, and about 25-50g of hops.
` A typical water to grist ratio is about 3-4 liters to 1 kg of malt. For my first batch, I am planning on using 1200g (1.2kg) of malt, so I should use roughly 3.6 to 4.8 liters of water. However, a decent mash efficiency is about 80% of convertible sugars. If I get 50% I'll be fairly excited given my materials and experience. Thus, I am planning on using 3-3.5 liters of water for my initial mash, which I hope by the end will leave me with somewhere between 2.5-3 liters of beer (after boil off and trub).
` Since I don't have hops, I am planning on using a bitter tea. Right now I'm thinking Kuding tea (苦丁茶. It's very bitter (I've been told) but this is open to suggestions. I might try and find dandelion root instead.
` This means my final recipe will be: 3.0 liters of initial water (a little more during the mash to maintain temperature if necessary), 1.2kg of unknown dark malt, 10g (like 1-2 tea bags) of bitter tea (hops replacement), and 1 pack of bread yeast.
Questions at this point:
If I use too much yeast will it hurt the beer? Remember I don't care much about clarity I just want to prove that I can brew something like beer.
Would typical bread yeast be ale or lager yeast? Any suggestions there?
Right now I'm thinking bitter tea or possibly dandelion root as a hops alternative. Any suggestions that I would realistically be able to find in Beijing, China?
[1.3] My materials:
[1.4] My procedure (please bare with me and correct me if I use a term wrong):
[0.1] Summery: I am living in Beijing China and I really hope to brew. For now I just want to get something along the lines of 25 liters up and running for me and my friends. I have very limited access to ingredients without importing and cannot afford to import equipment. In the very near future I am planning on brewing a small (2-3 liter) test batch given my meager resources. Mostly I am to prove it can be done and also, I want to try just for the fun and experimentation of it all. I have access to what I think are malted barley in the form of Korean barley tea. I do not have hops, I will be using a bitter tea for now. Finally, I will be using bread yeast, and bottled mineral water. Read on for more information and wish me luck!
[1.0] I plan on brewing a test batch of what I hope will come out as some sort of brown ale or porter. Right now I'm thinking of doing about 3 liters just as a test batch to see if I can actually brew anything from my materials that tastes somewhat like beer without importing anything at this point. Although, in the future I expect to import some things.
[1.1] My ingredients:
- Barley: I have some darkish barley. I am assuming they are malted because from my little experience they look the same as malted barley and they taste sweet. They are roasted barley tea which I believe originated in Korea and has since spread to Japan and China; I have easy, plentiful, and cheap access to this barley.
- Hops: I have no hops. In the future I will either locate Chinese hops or import them but for now I think I will try a really bitter, astringent tea. From what I've read up on Gruit I am fairly confident small amounts of some tea won't kill the yeast or something equally devastating (I hope!), although I am considering forgoing the hops, or using dandelion root (if I can find it) instead.
- Yeast: Bread yeast. Any clues as to weather this would be top or bottom fermenting?
- Water: Bottled spring water. Tap? What do you think I'm stupid? I live in China.
- Starter/Primer: I think I can find pure cane sugar. In fact I can get it crushed straight out of the stalk.
[1.2] My recipe: Very roughly speaking, a 5 gallon batch of Brown Ale or Porter typically consists of about 10 lbs of malt mostly consisting of pale malt and amber malt with a bit of Crystal 60L or Chocolate for color and flavor. They have roughly 1-1.5 oz hops split pretty even for bitterness and aroma (source: “How to Brew” John Palmer). Converting to metric thats about 4.5kg of malt, and about 25-50g of hops.
` A typical water to grist ratio is about 3-4 liters to 1 kg of malt. For my first batch, I am planning on using 1200g (1.2kg) of malt, so I should use roughly 3.6 to 4.8 liters of water. However, a decent mash efficiency is about 80% of convertible sugars. If I get 50% I'll be fairly excited given my materials and experience. Thus, I am planning on using 3-3.5 liters of water for my initial mash, which I hope by the end will leave me with somewhere between 2.5-3 liters of beer (after boil off and trub).
` Since I don't have hops, I am planning on using a bitter tea. Right now I'm thinking Kuding tea (苦丁茶. It's very bitter (I've been told) but this is open to suggestions. I might try and find dandelion root instead.
` This means my final recipe will be: 3.0 liters of initial water (a little more during the mash to maintain temperature if necessary), 1.2kg of unknown dark malt, 10g (like 1-2 tea bags) of bitter tea (hops replacement), and 1 pack of bread yeast.
Questions at this point:
If I use too much yeast will it hurt the beer? Remember I don't care much about clarity I just want to prove that I can brew something like beer.
Would typical bread yeast be ale or lager yeast? Any suggestions there?
Right now I'm thinking bitter tea or possibly dandelion root as a hops alternative. Any suggestions that I would realistically be able to find in Beijing, China?
[1.3] My materials:
- I've got a water kettle to boil the strike water.
- A large thermos (3L or more) with a spigot for mash/lauter tun.
- A large cup to recirculate and very carefully transfer wort (I can't do any better right now).
- Another 0.5 L cup to start the fermentation.
- A typical 5L (or more) aluminum pot to boil wort with.
- A glass or plastic (undecided) 5L or so jug for primary fermenting. The top will be plastic and I will cut a whole for a blow off valve. Not 100% sure on how to do the seal.
- A typical (new)plastic spatchula for stirring.
- A tea straining screen for the lauter spigot [picture] (still not 100% how to rig this up until I get my thermos).
- A plastic tube or two to siphon and for blow off (this will be tricky to not use my mouth).
- Typical cooking thermometer for temperature gage and regulation
- 3-4 wine bottles with plastic corks for bottling.
- Unscented bleach for sanitizer.
- Any suggestions at this point?
- Should I use plastic bottles instead for my bottles?
- For the primary blow-off tube seal. I'm thinking of cutting a hole a little bigger than the diameter of my blow-off tube. I will coat the edges as evenly as I can with silicon caulk. Hopefully this will lead to an acceptable seal. Suggestions??? The tube will of course go into another small bucket of water for a 1-way air lock.
[1.4] My procedure (please bare with me and correct me if I use a term wrong):
- 1.Sanitize my glass cups, the tubes, the thermometer, the spatchula, the screen, the (plastic) corks (or bottle caps), and any measuring spoons (am I missing anything) in a bucket for 20 minutes in hot water. I will be using unscented plain bleach, I read 5ml per liter.
*5ml per liter, correct?
*Can I sanitize in a large aluminum pot? I know stainless steal is a big No No. - 2.Use some sanitary water to clean the inside of my bottles and primary fermenter.
- 3.Rinse everything once with hot boiled water.
*Am I missing anything? - 4.Mash: Boil bottled spring water in kettle for strike water.
- 5.Preheat the thermos with some water, drain the water.
- 6.Fill the thermos with my 1.2kg of mystery malt
- 7.Slowly pour in maybe 1.5L of water, my aim is about 70°C. (Seems in the range for brown ales and porters)
- 8.I don't want this to drop below 65°C so over the next 40 minutes or so I will pour in more water and stir every 10 minutes or so according to temperature.
- 9.After 40 minutes or so, I will recirculate and hope to get something clear-ish, although if I can't I won't be all too disappointed.
- 10.Lauter the mash to the drain pot carefully and try not to oxidize.
- 11.Using the same grist, restart one more time from Step 5.
- 12.Boil: I should have a total of something like 3 liters of what I hope is wort. I will taste some and hope to Jesus that it is sweet.
- 13.Bring the wort to a rolling boil and add some (one bag, maybe 5g) of my fake hops (bitter tea).
- 14.Boil for 30 minutes (I can't tell you how hard I'm guessing here)
*Should I steep some grain as well? - 15.Prepare yeast in my 0.5 l cup.
- 16.After 25 minutes, add another bag (5g) of my fake hops.
- 17.Prepare my sink full of ice water.
- 18.After the full 30 minutes is up, turn off the heat, wait for the boil to stop.
- 19.Place the entire pot into my ice water sink trying my damnedest not to get any unwanted water into my wort.
- 20.Cool to something like room temperature (22-30°C), be careful not to shake it and disturb the cold break and what should be forming sediment on the bottom during this process.
- 21.Using my tubes and ingenuity, rack this to my primary fermenter; try and avoid any particles and sediment and such at the bottom of the pot.
- 22.Once in the fermenter, give a good shake or two to aerate. This should be something like 2.5 liters or so. Maybe more.
- 23.Add yeast (which should have started successfully).
- 24.Seal the fermenter, Drape with a shirt or towel to keep light out. Put it in a room temperature, undisturbed place.
- 25.After a day, hope to god for Kraeusen foam and bubbling action. If nothing happens by the third day I probably failed but I might try and add more yeast just in case.
*How long should it sit in the primary? I'm thinking a week or until bubbles slow down significantly. - 26.Racking: prepare some sugar water.
*I really don't know how much, I'm thinking like 20g in 100ml of hot spring water. - 27.Carefully pour the priming solution into the primary fermenter. Let it sit for... an hour?
*How long should it sit? - 28.Rack to 2 to 4, 0.75 liter wine bottles as necessary. Discarding the trub I'm guessing this is something like 2.5 liters. Cork very tightly.
*I have no access to caps and a capper for glass bottles and don't know of any screw top glass bottles that would have a tight seal. Should I use plastic bottles instead? - 29.Let bottle condition for... 1 week to 4 weeks.
*Just how long should I bottle condition? - 30.I am sure I will be antsy so I will probably try one of them after about a week or two and pray to Buddha I get beer...ish.