The roots are taking root!

Here is a picture of the latest stage in the new malt.  Most of the roots have sprung out and are beginning to grow.  It shouldn't be long now.  About four more days and then I can begin drying them out.

Malt is rooting!

Here is the next picture of the malt test.  The barley has begun to sprout roots (that's the little white thing at the end of the kernel).  This is after two soaking sessions and two resting sessions.  It is now safe and sound in between two damp paper towels, laid out in a think layer, and covered in a plastic bag.  The hope is that the plastic bag will do two things.  1.  Provide a nice barrier from yeast and dirt.  2.  Create a little green house effect to get the barley really going.

From here on out we are just doing periodic looks in the bag to see how the roots/plant are doing.  Once the whole root/plant structure is about the length of the kernel it is time to dry the malt and brew!

Barley plot

Just a quick note on the "farm".  The barley broke ground today.  I have nice little rows popping up in the whole plot.  Unfitunately for you "pics or it didn't happen" people, you'll have to wait.  Rain is upon us here in NH and it is coming down fast.

That's all for now!

First malt attempt.

This barley has been soaking for two hours.  This is the first attempt at malt and will lead to a nice 1 gallon test batch if it works out.  Going for two types, crystal(caramel), and pale.  For you brewmasters out there try to guess the recipe.  Might not be hard if you search my previous posts!

Cradle to grave brewing.

Hi all long time no post up here.  It's been busy at work and on the home front so unfortunately I haven't been able to brew much.  I did do a Bavarian Helles with a buddy a few weeks back, but it was an extract kit and really nothing special or complicated.  Looking forward to the taste though.  Another reason for the lack of posts is that my brewing tastes have changed slightly.  Before I was all about meads, and I think I've got that down.  I have learned now that there is no such thing as a "quick" mead.  Meaning one that is drinkable in anything less than one year.  So as my patience grew thin I decided to join up with my brother in all grain beer brewing.  In helpingnhim with his efforts I have learned a lot and I think I moe fully appreciate beer now.

That brings us to today.  I am officially announcing that I will be changing this blog to be about both mead and beer.  The format will generally stay the same.  Recipe formula, process, end results, etc.  However there will be some added posts about farming, yes farming.  I have setup a small plot at my house for barley and hops.  I am going for the full process cradle to grave for beer.  Currently I am growing three kinds of hops: centennial, cascade, and willemette.  I am also growing barley and will be making my own malts.

To start the barley field I purchased 35 pounds of barley seed.  I only used about 7 to 8 pounds for my field so I am going to set some aside for next year and set my sights on some for trials before my crop comes in.  My first batch of beer is going to be a 1 gallon batch of a Budweiser American Ale clone.  Say what you like, that beer was pretty decent and I miss it.  My hops aren't ready so I will be purchasing the hops and yeast.  The biggest upshot to that will be that the only ingredient in the recipe that is the "X" factor is my malt.

Happy brewing!

8th in the Brew - Gruit Mead

Hello All!

It's testing time again! I have been researching ways to "bitter" up my sweeter meads to try to get them to taste closer to beer. Most of what I had found were recipes that used hops, the main bittering and preservative agent in beers. My preference is to steer clear of hops as I'd rather not get that close to beer.

My research lead to gruit ale. This was a form of beer that used various spices and plants that formed a "gruit". These spices and plants were used as preservatives and add bitters. If you have been following from the previous paragraph you will know how excited that made me.

I chose to use Sage and Licorice Root in mine. However, unable to find Licorice Root (a plant not commonly produced in the States) I used the only alternative I could find Anise. Anise like licorice has a non-fermentable sugar that is also more potent that sucrose (common table sugar). The sugar in Anise is anethole.
Go ahead an read that whole Wikipedia page. You'll find that this is a great subtitute for licorice root.

Seeing as there are preservatives in this mead I was going to go for less ABV and try to naturally carbonate again. And thanks to the anethole it will still taste somewhat sweet even though I will ferment this to dryness.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 lbs of Clover Honey
1 oz Sage (or 2 Tablesppons)
1 oz Anise
1 tsp yeast
Water to one gallon.

Process:

Take a 3 quart pan and fill it with 2 quarts of water. Bring that water to a boil. No! I am not returning to the boil method. However, these herbs need to be boiled to be useful. Read on, read on....

Once the water is boiling toss in half an ounce of sage and the full ounce of anise. Boil this for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to fully cool to room temperature. I let mine cool without an ice bath and that took just over an hour and a half.

Remove all the sage and anise from the water and put the water in to the carboy. Put in all the honey and shake or use the lees stirrer to disolve the honey (guess which one I used!).

Top off with more water to one gallon.

Pitch yeast.

Update on 5th in the brew

Hello all!

I'd just like to say that out of all of my meads that this was by far one of the best. If you are looking to make a mead start with this one! It is potent and tastes great! One note though, I would take out the cinnamon. The cinnamon tends to over power, but then again after three sips you don't notice anymore!