I used the "official" Mr Beer liter bottles for my first batch. They say you can use any bottle that's previously held a carbonated beverage and has a cap that fits airtight (because of pressure concerns). I'll try that in a future bottling.
I didn't bother with the "Mr Beer" labels that came with the bottles, leaving them instead in all their naked (and in this case, frosty) glory:
I unscrewed the top and heard a promising hissss of escaping carbonation. It was time for the first pour.
Here's how it looked (brief video below): First the initial pour, then I zoom in to look at the body of the drink to see the de-carbonation action; and then get close on the head so you can see the size of the bubbles and the structure.
And yes, the camera is a little unsteady; I was holding the camera in one hand and looking through the viewfinder while I tried to pour with my left hand. Camerawork's not great, but at least all the beer went into the glass!
Not too bad at all for a first batch! I was, I admit, surprised at the carbonation; it had that "fresh keg" level of foam.
Shooting from the side didn't show the beer's color and clarity very well, so I tried using a plain white paper as a backdrop. That helped some.
But then I had the idea of shooting through the beer towards a day-lit window. That showed the bubbles and body better. Note the slight cloudiness to the beer (partly condensation on the glass, partly defunct yeast in the unfiltered brew. Note also some of the small pieces of hops and such in the glass (the glass was spotless before the pour, honest!) It's all harmless stuff, and full-blown beer-filtering is a hassle. If the small hops particles prove troublesome, I may simply strain the beer as it goes into the bottle in future batches: a simple step to remove some of the solids.
Take a look:
As for the taste, it was more like Bud than Coors, though not exactly like either. It was perfectly acceptable and tasted fine, if undistinguished--- simple, undemanding, and easy to drink. Several friends, including two who say they rarely drink beer, helped me make some serious inroads into this first batch. No one spat it out. 8-) It had alcohol in the range of normal commercial beers, and produced all the same effects.
As a "first batch" beer, I have to say I was pretty pleased with the way it came out. But I prefer a bit more flavor, complexity and hoppiness in beer, so my next batches will explore some deeper, redder worts. I'll keep you toasted--- er, I mean posted!
Fred,
ReplyDeleteDo you have a script running on your pages that keeps calling for a refresh of some type? The tab on on my Mozilla keeps changing (briefly) to a "reloading" state (the red dot) and flashing back. It is wrecking havoc on the other pages, however. This seems to happen on any page below http://fredlanga.blogspot.com/
No script from me. I view the site in Firefox and IE8, and it's OK on both those browsers.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I've tried Blogger's video function. I wonder if Mozilla is pre-buffering the videos? Or perhaps one of your plug-ins is doing so?
Sorry you're having trouble, but I don't think it's anything I did from here!
On the theory that more information is better, although I've been seeing this for the past week or so, I haven't seen this problem since I logged in and posted my previous comment.
ReplyDeleteYup, I can report that Mozilla is indeed pre-buffering the videos (in my Firefox setup at least.)
ReplyDeleteThe only beer I've ever liked was Rauchbier, perhaps local to Bamberg, a very dark, full, and heavy "smoked" beer. Thinking back (some forty-plus years...) I suspect it was a lot closer to hard liquor than anything else.
Nice, thorough description again. Thanks, Fred! I always enjoy your articles.
ReplyDeleteNew Zealand ingredients? Yay! Thanks for supporting my local economy, Fred! (Although how on earth do they get it to come out like Bud? Fortunately for us Kiwis, no New Zealand beer tastes anything like it.)
ReplyDelete>>(Although how on earth do they get it to come out like Bud?...)
ReplyDeleteEasy. Cut way back on the hops, dry the malt but don't toast it, and base the fermentation on simpler sugars.
Bud is Very Basic Beer--- if even I could emulate it in my kitchen, I'm sure it'd be no great challenge for a beermeister! 8-)
BTW, a millennia or two ago when business travel took me far and wide, I tried some of the Czech "Budejovicky Budvar" beer, also call "Budweiser" in Europe. This is the beer Adolphus Busch ripped off, er, I mean emulated:
---snip----
In 1876, Busch and his friend Carl Conrad, a liquor importer, developed a "Bohemian-style" lager, inspired after a trip to the region. Brewers in Bohemia generally named a beer after their town with the suffix "er." Beers produced in the town of Plzen, for example, were called Plzners, or Pilsners. Busch and Conrad had visited another town, only 104 km (65 miles) south of Plzenalso, known for its breweries: Bömische Budweis, which became [was renamed] Ceske Budejovice in 1918. Beer has been brewed in Ceske Budejovice since it was founded as Budiwoyz by king Premys II Otakar in 1245. The German name for the town is Budweis. The name "Budweiser" is a locative, meaning "of Budweis."
----snip----
But back in the US, Busch added rice to his wort as a cheap filler (rice is still used in the American Bud today), which means that the US Budweiser fails the Germanic Beer Purity laws, which says (among other things, "no fillers."
Budvar, the original Budweiser, is a very nice beer and was a revelation to me when compared to the US Budweiser.
The US Bud and similar beers have their place as simple cold drinks for adults. They're good party beers, grilling-in-the-hot-sun beers, watching a ball game beers, etc. They're what you might call "background beers," where the beer isn't much of a focus. But a complex beer can be savored in its own right, like a good wine or good spirits. You'd never sit down to savor a Bud.
Budvar was like that--- a beer to be slowly enjoyed. Budweiser, well, pass the peanuts, please. 8-)
Easy. Cut way back on the hops, dry the malt but don't toast it, and base the fermentation on simpler sugars.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, and makes sense, too: the last thing I'd call Bud is hoppy. Yes, I've had the Czech version as well, and yummy it was. Not to mention that the hard-drinking Aussies with me were weeping with joy because it was something like US 30 cents a pint.
But I'll have to respectfully disagree about Bud having its place. Even when you're just watching the game, you don't want to be mistaking your beer for water.
I make beer also - cept in 7 gallon batches. I buy separate components (like my computers) so I can make a beer to my liking. My favorite is very much like Michelob dark - more of an ale (less hops, more malt) and without a lot of fizzy (not much sugar in the final fermentation in the bottle). I use crown caps and old quart 7up bottles. My batches are split between two 5 gallon plastic pails with lids and I use a top fermenting yeast (most of the solids get caught up in the yeast). After the primary fermenting, I siphon the liquid into the bottles for capping and secondary fermentation. I have never lost a bottle from explosion nor had a bad batch. I found just washing my tools and containers with hot soapy water with hot water rinse works just fine. Using a hydrometer (sp?), you can adjust the sugar in the primary fermentation for the final alcohol content (plus it tells you when the primary fermentation is done). Above about 6% alcohol you begin to taste the alcohol, not the beer. (I have gone up to 12%.) In homemade unfiltered beer, it is a good idea to pour the entire bottle without tipping the bottle back into the upright position so as not to stir up the sediment (like pouring fine wine). Also the better way to pour is down the side of the glass to create about a 1" head of thick, uniform sized bubbles (watch a good bartender). Good brewing!
ReplyDelete