So it’s here again! BREW DAY. That glorious few hours where I get to drink beer while making beer. There’s really something chicken and egg about the whole thing. Which came first? Beer or beer? But I digress for now.
As this is still somewhat of the beginning to my brewing adventures, I’ve been starting with some small batch 1-gallon kits to get a feel for where I’m headed next. Ideally I’ll be migrating onto some 5-10 gallon batches over the next year or so, getting some automation involved, and preparing a sweet taproom setup.
So with all of that out of the way, let’s look at the most recent brew day where I put together a Black IPA. I used the Northern Brewer Small Batch Black IPA kit for this round and this was immensely better than getting started with the all-grain method that I started with during my first Beer Brewing Adventures.
Black IPA Ingredients
- Steeping grains and mesh bag
- Gold malt extract syrup
- 7 grams Centennial hops
- 3.5 grams Chinook hops
- 3.5 grams Centennial hops
- 3.5 grams Cascade hops
- 7 grams Centennial hops
- 7 grams Cascade hops
- 5 oz Priming Sugar
- Safale US-05 brewer’s yeast
Step 0: Sanitize the Equipment
Sanitize above all else. Clean hands, equipment, surfaces, mind-set == great beer. This is the absolutely first and foremost thing you need to get in your head. If you don’t like to clean, maybe this sport isn’t for you.
I use Star San as it’s a great wash that you don’t need to rinse out. You only need an ounce for 5 gallons of water so you can really get a lot of use out of this stuff.
Step 1: Brewing the Wort
First, you’ll want some decent quality water. You’ll need to put about 1.25 gallons (20 cups) of water in the kettle and start to bring it to a boil. While the kettle is heating up, go ahead and steep your grains in the water. Dump the grains in the mesh bag, and tie it off. Think of this as making tea with barley malt—steep for approximately 10 minutes as the water heats, then remove the grain and discard.
Step 2: Boiling the Wort
Once your wort comes to a solid rolling boil, start the timer at 45 minutes. Follow this exact addition schedule:
- 0 minutes in: Add Gold Malt Extract and 7g of Centennial hops
- 30 minutes in: Add 3.5g of Chinook hops
- 35 minutes in: Add 3.5g of Centennial hops
- 40 minutes in: Add 3.5g of Cascade hops
- 45 minutes in: Turn off heat, add remaining 7g of Centennial and 7g Cascade hops. Mix in the 5oz of priming sugar after the boil has stopped.
Step 3: Chilling the Wort
Ideally you’ll want to chill your wort as quickly as possible. The budget way to do this is in a sink full of ice and water. I use between 10lbs and 20lbs of ice and fill the sink with water. Stirring the ice around will help take the heat away from the kettle. You’ll want to do this until the kettle is cool to the touch. 60-70 degrees is ideal as this is where our yeast will be happy.
Step 4: Transferring the Wort to the Fermentor
Transfer your wort to the fermentor for fermenting. Make sure you’ve sanitized your gear! Transfer a gallon into your fermenter. Dump HALF and only half of the yeast into the fermentor. Place the cap on top, give the fermentor a healthy shake. Put the tube in, fill a small glass with water and a drop of Star San, and put the other end of the tube in the glass to let out CO2 but not let any contamination in.
Step 5: The Long Wait!
Put your fermentor setup in a cool (68-70 degree) dark place and wait. You’ll want to wait about 2-3 weeks or until the ferment is done. The first 24-48 hours, fermentation begins with a lot of foam and CO2. I’ll be doing a second ferment to clean up the beer for this round, so stay tuned for my next post.
For now… I’ll wait impatiently for my tasty tasty beer…