I had every intention of brewing Mr. Beer’s St. Patrick’s
Irish Stout in time to enjoy a brew on the holiday. I got a late start and this one stayed in the
fermenter for three weeks, a week longer than intended.I don’t believe it caused any harm other than
losing some beer to evaporation. The stout was finally bottled in May… but as
the Irish say, Fearr go mall ná go brách.I had already missed St. Pat’s
Day and couldn’t wait to drink this beer. Two weeks conditioning at room temperature
and overnight in the fridge, was all the waiting I could stand.The head
was magnificent and stuck around for a while. I would compare the taste to dark chocolate,
bitter and flavorful. I have already decided to give this one
another go next year, as this beer should be enjoyed on March 17th.
Popped open another Aztec Mexican the other day. The taste was satisfying but this homebrew did not keep its head for long. Not to worry though, the Awa Master forced carbonation device saved the day. One click infused my beer with CO2 and the Aztec Mexican quickly formed a nice head.
Hey, I took an overnight sight-seeing tour to Ise Jingu shrine, which is sort of like the highest ranking Shinto shrine in Japan. Located in Mie prefecture, Ise Jingu is home to the deity Amaterasu from Japanese mythology. Anyways, I was gifted free beer from the touring company and I just had to share the news, because free beer is a beautiful thing. Each coupon is redeemable for a six pack of Suntory Premium Malts at 7-11 stores throughout Japan.
I really enjoy simple things and life's simple pleasures. Some of the best things in the world are the simplest. As an example, I recently prepped a batch of mead in the fermenter. For the uninitiated, mead is a mixture of honey and water that is fermented to perfection. Typically around 8 to 15 percent alcohol by volume, mead is more similar to white wine than beer. It is an ancient spirit with a history that has been lost to time. It is sometimes called ambrosia, nectar of the gods and other over the top names. But it is seriously good.
I mixed six pounds of wild mountain honey with two gallons of water and threw in a packet of Lavlin EC-118 yeast and some sliced ginger to add some interest. I will provide an update on this in a couple of weeks.
Friday a friend of mine suprised me with a can of Yebisu's Joel Robuchon lager. Although I am not a big fan of French cuisine, I was intrigued nonetheless. This can of beer could deliver to me tastes and style of Joel Robuchon and it only cost my friend a couple hundred Japanese Yen, far less than the 36,000 Yen it would cost for an evening dinner at Robuchon's Chateau Restaurant in Tokyo .
The longer the beer is allowed to condition, the better it tastes. It was never bad, but after an additonal 1 month of conditioning this beer has imrpoved substantially!
I began writing this journal to document my attempts at
making some beer. My first attempt will
be made using the famous Mr. Beer home brewing kit!
DISCLAIMER: I have never made beer or anything like it
before.I have no knowledge of brewing
science or application.I am a complete
newbie. If you are looking for secrets of brewing beer, you will NOT find them
here.Essentially this blog is a tool for
me to document my beer making trials.
DISCLAIMER2: I don’t expect anyone to read a single word of this.
I recently recieved my Mr. Beer Deluxe Brewing Kit in the mail and have been anxiously waiting to try this product. The kit came with two batches of extract: Aztec Mexican Cerveza and Bohemian Pilsner. I chose to brew the cervesa first. Initially, the instructions that came witht the kit seemed a bit vague and I didn't want to ruin my first batch of beer. Luckily, I found an excellent video on youtube.com that demonstrates the entire process. After watching the video, I was ready to start brewing.
Wow, the video makes it look easy. That's because it is. Honestly, brewing with Mr. Beer is
very easy to do. I think the vagueness of the instructions is due to the fact
that it is a simple process that is difficult to botch up. (The deluxe kit comes with everything
that you need to make beer, but I would recommend a decent sized funnel and a
cooking thermometer to make the task a little easier. )
After following the
instructions in the video, I stored my LBK in the closet for primary
fermentation. I tried various techniques to keep the closet at a consistent 20
degrees C. Placing an oil heater into the closet with the LBK ended up being
the solution for me . Within 24 hours, the LBK was covered with krausen and a
thin layer of foam, nothing crazy but it let me know that everything was
working as intended. After 48 hours the foaming action subsided and the surface
of the wort was 1/2 covered by bubbles. I read somewhere that the action may
last longer if you use more yeast but that faster fermentation is never better.
After waiting 6 weeks-
2/2/2 ( 2 weeks fermenting, 2 weeks conditioning in bottle, and 2 weeks
lagering, it was time to see how the beer tasted. I thought that I surely must
have made some big mistakes and I was fully prepared for a disaster. However,
the cervesa surpassed my expectations and I became a believer of the Mr. Beer
brewing system.
