South Union Brewing Update

Well winter has finally passed and sadly we had no spring this year which stinks because spring brewing is the best! Last weekend I was finally able to find time to brew and was able to do so out doors! I have found that my switch to all grain has resulted in a much better home brewing product however it also takes a lot more time. This winter when it was so cold I had to modify my brew day and do a lot of it in doors. This means I was running in between the basement,the kitchen and outside and it was taking me 6 to 8 hours to brew a batch. When I was able to move everything outside the other day I got it all done in four hours!

My brewing setup all in one place outside where it belongs

So my brew day Saturday night went smoothly I brewed a Copper Ale which gets its name form the rich copper color it has. It will be a nicely hopped ale with additions of Cascade and Willamette hops. It should be a perfect summer beer!

Here it is boiling in the kettle.


I have also been busy ordering supplies for summer brewing. I am looking forward to brewing a lot of nice refreshing easy drinking beers this summer! On deck right now I have a Saison,La Petite Ala Orange is making a return appearance and a double batch of Raspberry Wheat! I brewed the La Petite this winter and Loved it so I wanted to do it again. Also I made a batch of the Raspberry Wheat last summer and two cases vanished in a matter of days so this time I am going to double up on it and add a bit more Raspberries to.

My beer fridge has more grain in it than it does drinkable beer right now!

On tap right now is a Belgian Triple which I have been talking a lot about lately! This was by far the biggest beer most complex beer I have made to date! It took close to four months of aging to become drinkable and I am still wondering if it needs more time. I would say the ABV is close to eight or nine percent meaning one or two of these and you really need to sit down or have a nap. When you taste this beer upfront it has a nice Caramel taste and then leaves a warm alcohol/booze feeling all over your tongue. I had a mug the other night and when I finally got to the bottom of the glass it was warm. What I tasted at the point reminded me of a very smooth sipping whisky??? I am not into strong beers but it was fun to brew and it will to nice to have around and age a bit! Hopefully I have some around this fall because it will be perfect drinking by then.

A picture of the Triple and check out my brewery label on the bottle! Thanks Dad!

Looking a week or two ahead I should be able to find time to turn out another batch as well as bottle the copper ale. I am also looking forward to once again raising the bar quality wise some newly acquired equipment! I just I ordered a few pieces of lab equipment so now I have two Erlenmeyer flasks and a stir plate. This will allow me to grow stronger and healthier brewing yeast which is the back bone of every great beer. By making a simple yeast starter and leaving it on the stir plate for 12 hours you can double your yeast cell count. Having a large amount of healthy yeast to add to your beer at fermentation will give you a stronger fermentation and leads to a cleaner better tasting beer.

Here is the stir plate in action. A magnetic stir bar  is placed in the bottom of the flask. Magnets in the stir plate rotate the stir bar causing a vortex in the flask. This vortex or spinning keeps the yeast in suspension and gives them a steady supply of oxygen so the cells can multiply. Having a large healthy population of yeast is key to making great beer!

Well that about does it for this update! I cant wait until the next brew day and until then cheers!!!!