03.14.10

Captain Brew Beer’d

Posted in Art, Science at 5:45 am by Administrator

I started my first batch of beer last night with a recently acquired home brew set-up. It took about 3 hours start to finish, and the end product one month from now, will be 5 gallons of chocolate porter. It came from a basic starter recipe the guy at the brew shop recommended to me. Here’s the rundown of the process in the manner to which my organic chemistry class has made me accustomed.

Synthesis of ethanol by fermentation of malted barley

Purpose: Sugars from malted barleys will be reacted with activated yeast and fermentation will convert the sugars into a delicious ethanol containing beverage. An analysis of the density before and after the fermentation process will be used to calculate the specific gravity and the alcohol content. A percent yield will be calculated from the expected yield of 5 gallons, and the product will be analyzed by IR spectroscopy before being consumed by multiple bros.

Reagents:

6.6 lbs Unhopped Amber Malt Syrup – Viscous molasses like syrup extracted by kilning germinated barley.

1 dummy proof grain kit – Assembled by instructor(guy at home brew shop) (Consists of 0.25lb Roasted Barley, 0.25lb Chocolate Malt, 0.75lb 120L Crystal Malt)

2 oz. Fuggles Hops – Stinky, sticky green flowers

1 oz. Yakima Golding Hops – Stinky, sticky green flowers

0.75 cups corn sugar

1 packet safale yeast

Procedure:

Heat 2 gallons water to 150 degrees F. Add dummy proof grain kit to water in grain steeping bag, and continue to heat at constant temperature for 30 min, constantly monitoring temperature to avoid the release of tanins.

Remove grains from water, and bring to a gentle boil, and remove from heat, stirring in 1 cup of amber malt syrup. Add 2 ounces of fuggles hops in steeping bags, and return to a boil. Heat mixture at reflux taking care not to boil over, for approximately 60 minutes, adding 1 ounce Yakima golding hops for last 5 minutes of reflux.

Remove from heat and stir in remaining malt syrup, making sure to get it all over your hands and clothes.

Once the mixture is stirred completely, fill well sanitized carboy with 2 gallons of ice cold distilled water. Add hot wort mixture to the carboy using a sanitized funnel, and top with 1 gallon of ice cold distilled water.

Mix thoroughly and, using a small sample of the mixture, measure the specific gravity using a hydrometer. Record the value here.

Place carboy in bathtub full of ice-water, and monitor temperature carefully. Once temperature has dropped below 75 degrees F, add the packet of yeast, while swirling to airate the mixture. Fit the carboy with a sanitized air lock via a blow-off tube to release carbon dioxide.

Allow 2 weeks fermentation between 60-75 degrees F. Once fermentation slows, take a sample and record the specific gravity. Subtract this number from the original and multiply by 0.125 to obtain the alcohol content in percent by volume.

Bring 2 cups water to a boil and add 3/4 cups of corn sugar. Boil for 5 minutes. Place in a clean, sanitized carboy. Using a sanitized siphon, siphon the fermented mixture in on top of the sugarwater, taking care not to splash and filling from the bottom. Once siphoning is complete, fill and cap bottles with the mixture.

Allow 2 weeks for natural carbonation of corn sugar by yeast.

Take IR of the final product, and calculate a percent yield based on 5 gallon theoretical yield.

Chill remaining product and consume with nachos in the presence of bros.

I am currently in the fermentation stage, and it’s bubbling like crazy. I still have plenty of time to fowl this undertaking and receive my legendary low yield of product. Will post data, observations and conclusion section when the process is complete.

Here’s a shot of the sudzy crudy wort, just doin its thang.

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