- Know what you like
- Calibrate your equipment
- Use the best ingredients you can find
- Close your valves
- Control your temperature
Cask Ale Blowout
It was warm in central Pennsylvania on the weekend after Christmas. Highs in the 50s. Warm enough that I was able to get in a brew session. I decided to brew a batch of CJ’s House of the Rising Sun JPA using the extract recipe on Homebrew Adventures.
It was the first time I used the Wyeast 1026 PC British Cask Ale. I bought two packs as soon as they became available. Manufactured 14-oct-08.
I smacked and the pack did almost nothing. It filled some, but did not swell. There was some yeast in there, but not terribly active.
I made a starter — 7 oz Light DME in 2 quarts of water with a pinch of Wyeast Nutrient — and the starter did almost nothing. Some effervescence but not very active bubbling. Some yeast, but not terribly active.
When I brewed I added a ½-teaspoon of Wyeast Nutrient 10 minutes before the end of the boil. After cooling, I rocked the carboy back and forth for a good five minutes to aerate before pitching. I pitched that afternoon and the next morning I had to switch from a 3-piece airlock to a blow off tube and the bubbling sounded like a damned minigun.
I guess the next time I use the Cask Ale yeast I will keep in mind that it may be a little slow to start.
How many beer bottles do I need?
128 ounces per gallon × 5 gallons = 640 ounces
640 ounces ÷ X ounces per bottle = Y bottles
Here are some numbers for bottle sizes you can order online.
- 6 oz = 106
- 187 mL = 101
- 12 oz = 53
- 375 mL = 50
- 16 oz = 40
- 500 mL = 37
- 22 oz = 29
- 750 mL = 25
- 32 oz = 20
- 1 L = 18
- 1.5 L = 12
- 64 oz = 10
- 2 L = 9
Shorter "Top 10 Steps to Better Beer"
From Chris Colby’s September 2005 article Top 10 Steps to Better Beer, annotated with my own notes:
- Cleaning (PBW)
- Sanitation (Star San)
- Quality Ingredients (Vacuum-packed hop pellets stored in the freezer, DME)
- Pitch Enough Healthy Yeast (Liquid yeast with starters)
- Proper and Stable Fermentation Temperature (Son of fermentation chiller, fermwrap, stopper thermowell, and a digital thermostat)
- Wort Aeration (Rock for 5 minutes)
- Avoid Excess Tannins (steep in 1–3 quarts per pound, rinse with the same volume or less, stay under 170°F)
- Keep Oxygen Away (move beer gently)
- Vigorous, Full-Wort Boil (A 10-gallon Blichmann BoilerMaker™ Brew Pot on a Camp Chef Explorer. Woo hoo!)
- Proper pH (Hmmm…)
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p>What about proper wort chilling? What would another be? Maybe pitching at your fermentation temperature, though that might be part of proper wort chilling.