4th of July Brew Day

Since we moved into the house, I have not found the time to brew. A few weeks ago Darcy said she'd really like some Hefeweizen ready after the baby comes. After a little procrastinating, I finally ordered all of the supplies I needed from my favorite homebrew supply shop Brewmasters Warehouse. The ingredients then sat around for another few weeks. I had July 4th off, so Darcy suggested we use the day to brew. 

I got home from work on the 3rd, and set out to pull the equipment that has been sitting for over a year from the shed and get it cleaned up. It was a fairly daunting task, but after about an hour of scrubbing everything down in the back yard, and 20 dead spiders later, I had everything ready. I also had a lot of help from the faithful brew dog. 

The Beer

The beer I'm brewing today is a Hefeweizen. Also known as Weizen or Weissbier. This is a German style wheat beer fermented with a specific strain of yeast that gives off bananna and clove flavors. Weizens are pale beers that are perfect for the summer heat. You can read more about this great style at the BJCP website, or the article I wrote for Dine and Cook. 

My recipe changes a bit every time. Here is what I brewed today. 

for 5.5 gallons (targeting 5 gallons final volume)

7lbs Weyermann Wheat Malt

4lbs Weyermann Pilsner malt

1 oz Hallertauer (3.8AA%) boil for 60 min

1 package Wyeast 3068 (no starter)

Brew Day

We woke up early in the morning to get everything ready. Brewing is actually very easy, especially if you have a system in place. The night before, I make all of my calculations on how much water I will need for each step. I measured and started heating the mash infusion water on the stove. We then ran the grains through a malt mill to crack them open properly for a good mash. 

My mill is a Barley Crusher, which I attach to a low speed cord drill. 

After we mill the malt and the mash water is heated, it is time to start the mash. Mashing is the process in which hot water is added to cracked malted grains. The hot water activates natural enzymes in the malted grain that will turn starch into sugar. 

My method is a single infusion mash with a pseudo decoction. I infuse the mash to 145°F for 30 minutes. I then decoct a portion of the mash, boil it, then return it to bring the tempeature of the next rest to 155°F for 45 minutes. Decoction mashing is a traditional German method in which parts of the mash are removed from the main mash, and boiled. Those boiled portions are then added back to the main mash to raise the temperature. Before the days of thermometers, this was a great way to ensure the mash went through all the proper temperature stages in order to fully convert all of the starch into sugar. I like to use a single decoction on this beer because removing and boiling part of the mash lends a depth of flavor. 

Here I am checking the mash temperature

Brew dog is already tired out. 

Next, I drain the mash tun, then send more water through the mash to rinse all of the sugars from the grains. It all goes into a large kettle (minus the grains of course) and boils for 90 minutes. After 30 minutes of boiling, I add in the hops. I like to use a cheesecloth sack for my hops because it makes the final transfer to the fermenter much easier. 

The final steps are to chill the wort (fancy term for the boiled sugar water) to 60°F as fast as possible. I rigged up a subermsible pump in an ice bath that recirculates water through coiled copper pipes to do this. The setup looks confusing, but it works. 

After chilling, Darcy helped me transfer the wort to a glass carboy. I then added oxygen to the wort to help the yeast develop. I then pitched the yeast, put in an air lock, and put it in a cool dark place.

Brew dog is taking a well deserved nap

After cleaning up, we joined some neighbors in the cul de sac for a cookout and fireworks. Happy 4th!

Bread and Biscuits

We spent the 4th of July brewing in the morning. I guess I should specify that Ed brewed. I just stirred the mash. Still, after the mash was done, we had about 11 lbs of spent grains. That is where I come in with spent grain bread and spent grain dog biscuits.

This is Jane waiting for her dog treats.  She was very excited about them!

I modified my favorite bread recipe to make the spent grain bread and it turned out maybe even better than the original bread! I can't wait to pass some of this bread to friends around town.

And as for the dog treats, Jane can attest that they are very delicious. Ed can too. He ate some. He said they were a little bland but good none the less.  And these I can't wait to pass out to our furry friends around town!

Spent Grain Bread Recipe (For any home brewers)

1) Mix the following:

• 1 1/2 C warm mater
• 1 package of active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons honey

2) After yeast becomes frothy (about 5 mins), add the following:

• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 C spent grains
• 1 C flour

3) Add 3-4 more cups of flour, one at a time, until reaching bread forms a dough ball

4) Kneed the dough until dough is even in texture and consistency. Put in a bowl and set aside for 1 1/2 hours.

5) Preheat oven to 350.  Punch down and divide dough.  Shape into 2 loafs and place in loaf pan.  Allow to rise again (I put the bread on the warming oven as it helps rise a little faster).

6) Bake bread for about 25 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you knock on it.

Food Food Food

My favorite kind of nights are the ones where we spend the whole evening cooking and enjoying food together. The kind where you make a meal a process and work together and really enjoy and savor the flavors and the conversation. I think that's what is so much fun about eating; socializing!

Tonight was one of those nights. I started making bread before Ed got home and we finished it together and then moved into slowly prepping and making dinner, taking our time! I love Fridays.

I also love the smell of fresh bread baking in a house. Almost nothing else compares to it! And I love this bread recipe.  It's easy, requires things I always have on hand, the bread turns out really soft and light and it is good for everything. We've even used it for pizza dough.

This time, I made one regular and one rolled with cinnamon sugar. I have yet to try this recipe with wheat flour but maybe I will do that next time.

After the bread was finished, we started dinner. About a week ago, a friend gave us a couple of squash from her backyard garden. They have been sitting on display without much of any other purpose so far. Well, tonight, we decided to crack into the bigger of the two, the asian squash.

We grilled the squash on the cast iron. Then we grilled some pita bread and cooked down some spinach and nasturtium (from our garden). Through it all together with some hummus, goat cheese and almonds and then enjoyed a fresh dinner. Nothing makes a meal better than knowing where your food came from.

I think that's all for tonight. We start out tomorrow at the market (more food!). Hopefully it won't be as hot in the morning as it was all day today! My least favorite thing about being pregnant so far has been doing it in the summer! Just a few more weeks left though, and we finally get to know whether it's a boy or a girl!

Good night, all!!  And until next time, take care!

Just Waiting

Things have been slow around the Struble house.  It feels like we should have a baby soon even though I'm 36 weeks pregnant.  I guess it's because Baby Struble has tried twice to come that it feels like baby should be here.  Anyway, we still have a few loose ends to tie up before baby makes his/her appearance so I hope baby waits at least till Sunday.

While we are waiting, we are trying to keep busy!  We got our very first cucumber from our garden.  There a lot more little ones growing but nothing else is ready to pick.  We used our cucumber and some market cucumbers and onions and some of our backyard herbs and made our very first batch of pickles.   They were awesome!  I can't wait to have more.

I'm also hoping we'll start getting some tomatoes soon.  I can't wait for tomato pie, tomato sandwiches, tomato basil mozzarella salad and pretty much anything else you can do with tomatoes!

That's all for now.  Till next time!