Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Lagers in Southern California
Labels: brewing
Posted by Heather Graehl at 10:29 PM
Home Brewing
Labels: brewing
Posted by Heather Graehl at 10:37 PM
smart AND home brewery. wow... one advice: make sure you really like the guy before you invite him over. when he finds out about your brewery, he'll never leave.
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I waited to do my first lager brew until December-January because the bottom fermenting yeast requires lower fermentation temperatures of about 45-55F. I started a Marzen with perle bittering and liberty aromatics. Slight problem though - IT IS SO HOT OUT! I thought I could sacrifice a minifridge but my carboy doesn't fit in it. I did the water bath with for a bit, pitched extra yeat, but the temperature has gotten as high as 75F. It is in the secondary but with the continuing weather and no fitting fridge, I think this batch might be complete trash. All the yeast is probably dead and I am not sure if I should let people drink it at their own risk because I don't know if there is a lot of methanol or higher alcohols. Sigh, I need to stick with ales until I can get a designated beer fridge.
I also joined Pacific Gravity Homebrew Club which I am very excited about!
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Monday, January 12, 2009
Last quarter in organic synthesis lab, I was fascinated by a milky reaction mixture when making 7,7-dichlorobicyclohept-2-en-6-one. As the reaction progressed, it became to resemble a milkshake which got me thinking about how interesting I find food chemistry. Of course my enone was chlorinated and likely toxic, tasting it was never a thought. But paired with my end of college "what to do with life??!!" crisis, I decided beer brewing would be a cathartic experience. From there it was history, and I have been making beer for the last few months.
There is a neat place I get my supplies called Culver City Home Brewing Supply. I had many life contemplating walks from UCLA to the supply store... which is over five miles. So I am reading Radical Brewing which is a great book for anyone to pick up and start understand and doing some home brewing. Being a biochemist of some sorts, I am also reading Brewing Science and Practice, which is more comprehensive and deals with hop chemistry and other really cool things.
While I still have a small fantasy having my own microbrewery, the start up costs are several hundred thousand dollars to a million. Right now I am learning all I can and hopefully perfecting a few recipes. There is so much I don't know about beer! One day, one day. It is fun just as a hobby anyways, and everyone needs hobbies.
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