California Common- Day 2

Day 2:

Wow! Not only am I excited to see all this activity with our newly brewed beverage bucket, but I can just picture the flabbergasted and exhilarated look on all of your faces!

Remember that whole fermentation thing we were talking about in the 'Day 1' post? Well, ladies and gentlemen all over the world, WE HAVE FERMENTATION! Although it is just beginning, these are incredibly positive signs for amateur brewers like ourselves.

Things to note that one looking at this photo may not immediately notice...

1) Carbonation is in full-effect: There is a constant baby-bubble party cruising up the fermentor. This is a positive sign, meaning that fermentation is occurring as we speak!

                                                              

 2) Foamy-discharge and build-up in the upper-deck of the fermentor: Some people and researchers may say that this is caused by our wort having extreme feelings of eagerness and excitedness to finally become beer for the first time :) but in reality, this is a naturally occurring issue with home brewing. The yeast is working vigorously to turn the glucose in the wort to alcohol, so there is a significant amount of foam that builds up in the airlock and upper part of the fermentor. No need to fret, this is just another situation where yeast is doing what it does best.

3) Hissy-noises: Paul was woken at around 2 AM (when this whole fermenting thing began to take place) by a very high-pitched, hissy noise, which could easily be mistaken for a mouse being slightly pushed on its belly. To Paul's surprise, there was no mouse, and there was nobody pushing on its belly. As we said before, the airlock is responsible for allowing excess CO2 to escape from the fermentor. With our yeast working hard all night and into today, it is quite remarkable that the noise is not louder.

4) Thermometer: Do you see that rectangular, black strip in the center of the fermentor? That is our adhesive thermometer. There's nothing fancy about it; it's just a sticky thermometer that tells us the temperature of our wort-soon-to-be-beer. At 10:15 AM, our sticky little guy told us the wort was 68 Degrees F, giving it the temperature quality of an Ale.

5) Bottom Fermenting: Remember yesterday when I told you about Bottom and Top Fermenting? Well, our Steam Brew has the temperature of an Ale, but it engaged in Bottom Fermenting, which gives it a check in the Lager column. This is starting to look like a Steam Brew!

That's all we have for today. Over and Out!

'California Common' Day 1

California Common (a.k.a "Steam Beer"): Brewnion Street's first official batch of beer! Woo Hoo

Brief Description: 

Steam Beer is essentially a hybrid beer; a cross between an ale and a lager. The final flavor of a beer is determined by the type of yeast used in the fermentation process.

Lager yeast is fermented at temperatures ranging from 35-55 Degrees F and is considered to be involved in Bottom Fermenting (meaning that after fermentation the yeast settles on the bottom of the fermenter).

On the Countrary....

Ale Yeast is fermented at temperatures ranging from 55-75 Degrees F and is considered to be involved in Top Fermenting (after fermentation the yeast settles at the top of the fermenter).

Steam Beer, or in this case, our first-born California Common, is using Bottom Fermenting Lager Yeast at Ale Temperatures. Ultimately, if brewed, fermented, and bottled correctly, we will have ourselves a very distinctly flavored beer with both lager and ale characteristics.

Let The Brewing Begin!

Day 1:

Beginning Gravity (Readings taken with a hydrometer): 1.038 OG

Ideal Gravity (According to our handy home-brewing direction packet): 1.048-1.051

The wort was finished brewing and transferred into the fermenter (6-gallon glass container) at 6:12 P.M. on January 29, 2012. 

Yeast is added before the airlock is placed on the fermentor. Yeast will be an ingredient necessary to turn our wort into actual beer. The yeast will convert the glucose in the wort to alcohol and carbon dioxide, which gives the beer its carbonation as well as its potency to make you giggle, impair your motor functions, and encourage you to exhibit taboo behavior. 

An airlock is placed on top of the fermentor once the wort is funneled into the apparatus (that's a fun word). This airlock is a one-way valve that allows carbon-dioxide produced during the fermentation process escape out, while keeping outside oxygen from getting into the wort. If any oxygen were to get into the fermentor, this could ultimately affect the taste of the final product (Boo!) 

As you can see, there is very little activity in the upper-sector of the fermentor. As our brew begins to ferment, we should see more activity. This process is said to take up to 72 hours, so we will report back with our latest observations as they come onto our radar. Over and out.

Welcome to Brewnion Street!

Good afternoon to a realistically small, yet quality audience! Today, January, 29th, 2012 marks the beginning of an exciting and wild time for myself and two friends. Thanks to our buddy Paul and his home brewing kit, Gideon and myself have joined him to dabble in the life of brewing our own beer.

This blog was created to keep tabs on what we are doing RIGHT while brewing our beer, but more importantly, what things we DO NOT want to do for our next batch. Motivated by a keen interest and sheer love of craft beer, this project is something we take pride in. So, without further ado, let the brewing begin!

Brewnion Street Inc. Copyright 2012

Bob Sohigian (Co-Founder)

Gideon Cohen (Co-Founder)

Paul Mareb (Founder)