Electric Brewing Benefits

www.brew-boss.com #homebrew #BrewBoss

Electric Brewing Benefits:

- More economical - 1/5 the cost of propane
- Safer - No carbon monoxide or risk of explosion
- Efficient - 100% of BTUs transferred to wort
- Accurate - Holds temperatures +/- 1 degree
- Faster - 3½ hours for 10 gallon batch including clean-up
- Quiet - No obnoxious “roar” of the burner
- Convenient - Brew indoors in a sanitary environment

• Android Tablet or Apple application provides:
- Simple - press “Start” and follow the prompts
- Convenient process monitoring and control
- Graphical Interface with Speech Prompts
- Saving and recalling brew steps & parameters
- Automatic or manual control

• Automatic Hops-Boss hops feeder option that dispenses hops automatically.
• All Food/Brewery Grade Components
• Great Value - Affordable
• First time home brewers can brew all grain perfectly the first time!

Brew-Boss Features and Benefits

• Brew-Boss controller automates all temperature, timing, & pump control.
• Electronic process control provides consistent results batch after batch.
• Available with Mesh Bag or the New COFI Filter System
• User defined steps configurable to nearly any brew process.
• Brew all-grain batches in 3½ hours including clean-up!
• Complete systems and conversion kits available.
• Supports Conventional or Brew-in-a-Bag (BIAB) brewing methods.
If you are unfamiliar with the Brew-Boss® home brew system, it is an all electric home brewing system that allows home brewers to brew extract or all-grain recipes with complete and accurate automatic control of temperature and timing. Automated control provides consistent results every time. No other system available offers this level of automated brew control. It actually talks you through the brew process. www.brew-boss.com

Grand opening of U-Brew-U "Brew on Premise" Facility in Oconomowoc, WI

Grand opening of U-Brew-U "Brew on Premise" Facility in Oconomowoc, WI. Featuring six Brew-Boss electric all-grain brewing systems (www.brew-boss.com) allowing you to brew your own beer from 5 to 15 gallon batches. Free "Learn to Brew" classes will be offered on Learn to Homebrew Day (November 7, 2015) as well as drawings for prizes. Beer sampling from local homebrewers and snacks will also be provided.

https://www.facebook.com/ubrewuniversity?fref=nf



https://www.facebook.com/events/441651932693784/

Electric HomeBrewing Benefits

Electric Brewing Benefits:

- More economical - 1/5 the cost of propane
- Safer - No carbon monoxide or risk of explosion
- Efficient - 100% of BTUs transferred to wort
- Accurate - Holds temperatures +/- 1 degree
- Faster - 3½ hours for 10 gallon batch including clean-up
- Quiet - No obnoxious “roar” of the burner
- Convenient - Brew indoors in a sanitary environment

• Tablet application provides:
- Simple - press “Start” and follow the prompts
- Convenient process monitoring and control
- Graphical Interface with Speech Prompts
- Saving and recalling brew steps & parameters
- Automatic or manual control

• Automatic Hops-Boss hops feeder option that dispenses hops automatically.

• All Food/Brewery Grade Components

• Great Value - Affordable

• First time home brewers can brew all grain perfectly the first time!

If you are unfamiliar with the Brew-Boss® home brew system www.brew-boss.com, it is an all electric home brewing system that allows home brewers to brew extract or all-grain recipes with complete and accurate automatic control of temperature and timing. Automated control provides consistent results every time. No other system available offers this level of automated brew control. It actually talks you through the brew process.

Brew-Boss Homebrew System Brew Session Highlights

Brew-Boss Brewing Session Highlights. Takes you through the entire process of brewing with the Brew-Boss electric homebrew system. The COFI mash infusion system was used for this batch.


www.brew-boss.com

Brew Your Beer, Your Way!

The Brew-Boss® System is a great value and competitively priced.

Brew-Boss Features and Benefits

• Brew-Boss controller automates all temperature, timing, & pump control.

• Electronic process control provides consistent results batch after batch.
• Available with Mesh Bag or the New COFI Filter System
• User defined steps configurable to nearly any brew process.
• Brew all-grain batches in 3½ hours including clean-up!
• Complete systems and conversion kits available.
• Supports Conventional or Brew-in-a-Bag (BIAB) brewing methods.

Electric Brewing Benefits:
- More economical - 1/5 the cost of propane
- Safer - No carbon monoxide or risk of explosion
- Efficient - 100% of BTUs transferred to wort
- Accurate - Holds temperatures +/- 1 degree
- Faster - 3½ hours for 10 gallon batch including clean-up
- Quiet - No obnoxious “roar” of the burner
- Convenient - Brew indoors in a sanitary environment

Android Tablet application provides:
- Simple - press “Start” and follow the prompts
- Convenient process monitoring and control
- Graphical Interface with Speech Prompts
- Saving and recalling brew steps & parameters
- Automatic or manual control


Other Features
• Automatic Hops-Boss hops feeder option that dispenses hops automatically.
• All Food/Brewery Grade Components
• Great Value - Affordable
• First time home brewers can brew all grain perfectly the first time!

Order yours today so you can have your beer, your way!  www.brew-boss.com  

Automated Electric Homebrew Systems

Whirlpooling Makes a World of Difference

Whirpooling is an easy process to include in your brew day that can greatly impact your beers. If you have a spoon, you can whirlpool!

The Benefits of Whirlpooling

Quicker Chilling: The time it takes to chill wort to yeast pitching temperatures is greatly decreased when whirlpooling. Because the wort is circulating, the cool and warm wort will constantly be churning and combining to promote quick chilling. Also, whirlpooling with a wort chiller can offer increased control of hitting an exact pitching temperature.

Clearer Wort: A whirlpool promotes clearer wort by collecting the cold break solids in the center of the brew kettle. The chilled wort can then either be siphoned from the side of the kettle or through the kettle valve to avoid transferring any particulate.

Improved Hop Flavor & Aroma: Because whirlpooling cools wort faster, post-boil hop additions instill more flavor and aroma without too much of the bitterness. Hops will continue to isomerize—the process which attaches alpha acids to water molecules creating bitterness—above 180°F (82°C). Being able to drop below this temperature will prevent isomerization in hop additions that are intended to instill just flavors and aromas.

Reduced DMS: The heat from the boil converts s-methyl methionine (SMM) in malt to dimethyl sulfide (DMS), which appears in beer as an unfavorable cooked or cream corn flavor. A longer, vigours boil—especially when using Pilsner malt, which contains eight times more SMM then typical base malts—can drive off DMS. When the boil is over, the heat continues to convert SMM to DMS until temperature drops below about 140°F (60 °C). Whirlpooling cools wort quickly, reducing the amount of DMS occurring in the post-boil.

How to Whirlpool

Whirlpooling involves creating a circular current in the brew kettle, and this can be done using various techniques and equipment.

Spoon

The simplest way, whether using an ice bath, an immersion chiller or no formal chilling method, is to stir the contents of the kettle with a spoon rapidly until a circular current is achieved. Stir along the walls of the kettle for a few minutes, taking care not to splash to prevent any chances of hot side aeration, until a strong, lasting whirlpool forms. Depending on what your goals are (e.g., clarification, hop flavor/aroma), allow the whirlpool to stand for 10-30 minutes before racking.

Pump or Counterflow Chiller

If a pump is available, or you are using a counterflow chiller, a whirlpool can be created by angling the pump-out hose along the side of the kettle a few inches below the surface of the wort. This flow will cause the wort to spin in a circular current. Be careful when creating a whirlpool with a pump as it can cause hot wort to splash out of the kettle.

One of the most effective means of whirlpooling and chilling is highlighted by Jamil Zainasheff in “A New Spin on an Old Chiller” in the January/February 2007 Zymurgy(AHA members can access this issue instantly on eZymurgy or with the Zymurgy mobile apps). Zainasheff offers an upgrade to the typical immersion chiller that makes for effecting whirlpooling and chilling.

The Physics of Whirlpooling

It may seem logical that a whirlpool would send the solid material to the outside of the kettle because of our child hood experiments with swinging a bucket of water around in circle without any falling on our heads. However, because the contents of the boil kettle are light enough, they will collect in the center due to something called the “tea leaf paradox.”

Basically, stirring the wort into a whirlpool is creating centripetal force, but because of friction caused by the liquid’s contact with the bottom and sides of the kettle, the liquid towards the bottom slows, creating a pressure gradient. This pressure gradient is lower than the upper portion of the liquid, so the solid materials in the kettle are pulled towards the center of the bottom (things move from higher to lower pressures). Isn’t physics phun?

Class dismissed!

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/whirlpooling-makes-a-world-of-difference/

Homebrewing: How to Dry Hop Your Beer

Opening a sealed package of hops from the homebrew store gives a blast of that fresh aroma that sometimes seems to be difficult to capture in a beer. The truth is, the simple technique of dry hopping is all it takes to bring out those wonderfully fresh citrus, pine and earthy aromas in your homebrew.

Dry hopping is basically the ultimate late hop addition.

Traditional boiling changes the natural alpha acids in hops into iso-alpha acids—they're the stable compound that provides the bitter flavors in beer. Unfortunately, boiling also breaks down the volatile essential oils that comprise the aromas and much of the flavor of the hop itself. When we first talked about hops, I mentioned that the later the hops are added to the boil, the more they will affect flavor and aroma. This is because the less time hops are boiled, the fewer bitter iso-alpha acids are produced and the fewer aromatic essential oils are driven away. Dry hopping is basically the ultimate late hop addition. 

The phrase is a bit of a misnomer, since you don't keep the hops dry at all. Instead they are added to the beer in the conditioning phase, after the fermentation but before it's time to bottle. Usually this means you'll add the hops after the airlock has stopped bubbling. If you're doing a two-stage fermentation, then the dry hops would be added at the time you transfer your beer to a secondary fermentation vessel. Otherwise the rapid discharge of carbon dioxide will "scrub" the delicate flavors that we're trying to preserve. Since the beer is only around 65°F at this point in the process, the breakdown of essential oils occurs much more slowly, preserving the flavor and aromas of the hops.

Dry hopping is a great way to experiment with different recipes. You can always dry hop a Pale Ale or an IPA with the same variety of hops used in the recipe. Or you can try to find a variety that complements the flavors you're already using. In our Pale Ale, for example, dry hopping with the citrusy Amarillo hops would help bring out the grapefruit character of the Cascades added late in the boil. But you can also try dry hopping other, more unexpected styles to make a hoppy American-style Stout or a hoppy wheat beer.

When you do dry hop a homebrew, you'll want to drink it a little quicker than usual. The added aromas are still quite volatile, even at cooler temperatures, and they will dissipate within a few months of bottling. Some lasting flavors and aromas will remain after that, but you will notice that the first few bottles you open will have a much stronger aroma than the last ones in the batch.

Dry Hopping Instructions

The only equipment needed is a nylon hop bag, a few clean glass marbles, and about an ounce of hops. The job of the marbles is to sink the bag of hops to the bottom of the carboy or fermentation bucket. You can use as much as two ounces of hops for a five gallon batch, but one is enough to get the job done.

Sanitation is still important here, but since we add the hops after fermentation is complete, the alcohol present in the beer provides some protection against unwanted bacteria. Simply boil the hop bag and the marbles for about 10 minutes to sanitize. Hops are naturally antiseptic, which is one of the reasons they're used in the brewing process to begin with, so there is no reason to sanitize them. Now, just add the marbles and the hops to the bag, and put them in the fermentation vessel.

The majority of the benefits will occur within a week, but you can leave the dry hops in the fermenting vessel up to two weeks if you would like. After that, just transfer to a bottling bucket and bottle as usual.

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/03/homebrewing-tips-how-to-dry-hop-your-beer-what-is-dry-hopping.html

Home Brew Recipe: "Miller Like"

Home Brew Recipe (5 gallon batch) by www.Brew-Boss.com

Note: Hops in the recipes below are pellets.

 "Miller Like" This is a basic drinkable beer that resembles a typical American "blonde" beer. It is a lighter beer that everyone enjoys. If Malt is purchased in bulk (50-55lb) bags, you can expect this recipe to cost a little over $10!

8 lbs pale Ale Malt (2 Row)

1 oz Cascade Hops (Boiling)

½ oz Hallertau Hops (Aroma) added 15 minutes before end of boil

1 tsp Irish Moss added 15 minutes before end of boil

1 packets Safale US-05 Yeast or equivalent



Strike Temp 154F
Mash Time 60 Minutes @ 152F
Sparge Time 15Minutes at 168F
Boil Time 60 Minutes

Calculating Starting Water Volume
We've found that 9 pounds of grain absorbs about 1 gallon of water during mashing. We also lose about 1 gallon of volume per hour of boil. So, for the Miller Like recipe example above, we have 8 lbs of grain, so we'll lose about 1 gallon of water to grain absorption. We have a 1 hour boil, so we'll lose another gallon, totaling 2 gallons lost. If we want 5.5 gallons into our fermenter (allowing for trub loss), we'll need 7.5 gallons of water to start. This same calculation can be made for any recipe.

Seven Easy Ways to Improve Your IPA!

Here are 7 easy ways on how you can improve your Home Brewed IPA!

1) Every Beer Starts with Water!

Never under estimate the importance of beers primary ingredient, water. The water that you are using to make your beer is critical, especially when it comes to all grain brewing. Water plays an important part in everything from the taste and the mouth feel of a beer to the sugar conversion and acidity in a finished beer.

If you are using city water that has been treated with chlorine, always make sure that you are removing the chlorine with a carbon filter or alternative method. It is also a good idea to check your city’s water report to see if you are lacking or have an over abundance of minerals in your water that may be impacting your beer. Vinnie suggests treating your water with gypsum in both your mash and your boil to heighten the hop flavor of your beer. You can also use low level sodium additions to have a similar effect. Before making these additions you should first examine your existing levels to make sure that it will not detract from the quality of your finished beer.

2) Dry Hop Until You Just Can’t Dry Hop Anymore!

Unlike adding hops early in the boil, dry hopping adds little to no bitterness to the finished beer but what it does add is a strong and fresh hop aroma! When dry hopping beer, I always recommend adding the hops after the airlock has stopped bubbling in fermentation. That ways the escaping CO2 will not carry the hop aroma out of the fermentor along with it. Vinnie suggests adding multiple dry hop additions at different times which may deliver additional hop aroma to your finished IPA!

3) Do Not Rush Your Fermentation!

We all want to try out our latest beer as quickly as possible, but there is allot to be said for patience in home brewing! If you have the ability to temperature control your fermentation, set the temp between 65F to 67F. Yeast loves a low stable temperature and produces far less off flavors than at higher temps. It will take longer to ferment at a lower temperature but your beer will come out cleaner tasting so that your robust hop profile can really shine in the finished beer! Also, cold crash your beer once your fermentation has completed. Try to crash at around 36F for 2 weeks if possible. This will help force any residual yeast out of suspension and leave you with a cleaner tasting and clearer beer!

4) Don’t Skimp On the Yeast!

Now a days home brewers have a huge variety of options when it comes to yeast. If you want your beer to be as good as possible, then you are going to have to use the best and most suitable yeast for the style of beer that you are brewing. A great West Coast IPA yeast strain is theWhite Labs WLP001 Ale Yeast.

Make sure that you create a yeast starter, insuring viability and that you pitch a sufficient quantity of yeast for the strength of beer that you are brewing.

5) Do Not Overload Your Beer With Crystal or Malty Grains!

Vinnie suggests that you add crystal malts sparingly to your grain bill. He remarks that the sweet flavors and aromatics derived from those grains can compete with the flavors and aromas of your hops. An IPA is a showcase for the hops and the other ingredients should complement them not detract from them.

6) Consider Adding Hop Resin Extract to Your Boil!

Pure hop resign extracts can be a great way of boosting the bitterness of your wort with out having to add an extreme amount of hop additions to your boil. Just like with actual hops, in order for the bitterness to be captured by the wort, the hop resign still needs to be boiled in the wort for a sufficient amount of time.

7) Opt For a Dryer Beer!

A dryer beer can really help the hops in your IPA stand out! Vinnie suggests supplementing approximately 5% of your grain bills sugars with dextrose. Dextrose is a very simple sugar that yeast can easily ferment. Another option would be dropping your mash temp down by a degree or two in order to create less complex sugars during the mashing process.


http://www.westcoastbrewer.com/BrewersBlog/home-beer-brewing-techniques/seven-easy-ways-to-improve-your-ipa/

The stout matrix

   

http://draftmag.com/the-stout-matrix/

Practically black and forever brooding, stout’s claim to fame is its swirls of cocoa, coffee, char and cola notes extracted from roasted malt. But the style’s ever-expanding with fruit, barrels and hops shining new light into our favorite dark brew.

1. Cocoa conspires with all that dark roast to elevate chocolate stouts to confectionary status.

2. Coffee stouts give a double jolt: The first from real coffee (beans or cold brew!) in the batch, the second from some bonus booze.

3. Beans in the brew give vanilla stouts a floral, high-pitched sweetness.

4. Real bivalves—meat and shells!—lend a distinct brininess to oyster stouts.

5. Funky, fruity Belgian yeast gives Belgian stouts a strangely alluring sweet spice.

6. Blueberries, pineapple, squash; there’s no limit to the sweet stuff brewers will slip into a fruit stout.

7. Smoldering smoked stouts spark a little campfire (via smoked malts) in every sip.

8. Sturdy malts make stouts good for wood. Barrel-aged stouts nap in new vats or ones that once held rum, whiskey or wine; they emerge mature and high in alcohol.

9. A little lactose in the brew gives sweet stouts velvety creaminess and a milky-sweet smirk.

10. Oatmeal stouts augment roasted barley with sweet oats for a chewy, crazy-creamy mouthfeel.

11. Intense roast, complex malts and high alcohol make imperial stouts some of beer’s biggest boozers.

12. Sessionable dry stouts are a step up from porters—and fish ‘n’ chips best friend.

13. Bitter U.S. hops color American stouts with subtle greenness.

14. Like foreign extra stouts but sweeter, tropical stouts dial up their fruit and molasses flavors.

15. Assertive roast headlines foreign extra stouts, but ABVs under 8% keep them manageable.


Want to brew your own stout?  Brew Boss has the system for you!
Cheers! www.brew-boss.com

New Technology from Brew Boss - COFI

Brew-Boss.com has developed a new technology we are calling the COFI filter. COFI is an acronym for:

Center
Out
Forced
Infusion

The Brew-Boss COFI filter is an exciting new patent pending technology that optimizes the efficiency of Brew-In-A-Bag (BIAB) type brewing. The filter is manufactured from 304 grade stainless steel mesh which holds the grain during the mash process, but allows water to flow through.




A central infusion tube, that is perforated with a series of flow-matched holes, extends all the way to the bottom of the filter.



During the mash cycle, water/wort is continuously pumped from the bottom of the kettle to the top of the filter, into the central infusion tube, where it is forced through the grain bed. Water passing through the grain bed flows out of the filter to the bottom of the kettle. This Center Out Forced Infusion (COFI) technology assures that all the grain is in constant contact with the mash water and that there are no dead spots. No stirring is required as the system is self agitating and efficiency is thereby optimized. The COFI filter is also very easy to clean, simply invert it in a sink and spray it with your sprayer! Because it is made of stainless steel, it will not rust and will last indefinitely.



The central infusion tube is also connected to a false bottom. After mashing is completed, the elbow fitting at the top of the COFI filter is exchanged with a lifting ring. When removing the filter, the filter is lifted by the lift ring. This brings the false bottom towards the fixed cover, allowing the weight of the filter to squeeze the grain. This squeezing action extracts much of the trapped sweet wort from the grain.




Visit www.brew-boss.com and purchase this new technology for your home brewing!

4 Homebrewing Tips You Won't Find in the Books

Ask any home brewing expert and they will tell you: The best tips on brewing the perfect batch come from real-world experience, which is exactly what four homebrewers are sharing here.

Don't Be Afraid to Experiment With Flavors

"With one exception I've never brewed the same recipe twice," says James Schirmer, an institutional research analyst at the University of La Verne. "I've brewed beers with various spices, chocolate, fruit, and anything that I think may lend itself well to a beer."

Schirmer says one of his most successful batches was a wheat beer brewed with hibiscus flowers. "I got the idea from my mother-in-law, who mentioned one of her favorite drinks is made with hibiscus flowers," he says. After trying it, Schirmer says he immediately knew the hibiscus flavor would meld well with a nice, light, easy-drinking summer beer. "And so I brewed an American wheat-style beer and added some dried hibiscus flowers in the boil," he says.

That beer went on to win the 2012 Samuel Adams Longshot competition. It's available now (under the name James Schirmer's Beerflower Wheat) in the Samuel Adams Longshot Variety six-pack, along with the two other winners of the competition.

Keep Your Hands Away

"I showed my rookie stripes during my very first brew when I stuck my hand in the wort to retrieve the thermometer," says home-brewer Ron Perez, a CAD manager for an engineering firm in Northern Colorado.

What he did is a huge no-no because it can contaminate the brew before even getting it to the fermentation process. "When I started home brewing, I was also pretty lax about keeping all the measuring equipment sanitized and did not use an acid sanitizer to clean the fermenter," Perez says. "As a result, my first batch was a little fruity—a characteristic of contamination."

Keep a Brew Log

"I am a believer in recording data throughout the brewing process," says Scott Klym, who works as an institutional equity trader and has been home-brewing for more than two years. Why? Because if something goes wrong, a log gives him a better chance of identifying the problem and correcting it.

Klym uses a software program called Beersmith to develop recipes and record his brew day data. "I print out a brew sheet and record water volumes, temperatures at various stages, original and final gravity readings," he explains. Then he compares those to the expected values. "If there are large deviations, I can track down what caused the problem," Klym says. "For example, if my temp was too high during the mash, it would alter the original gravity and body of the beer."

Update Your Equipment

"The basic kits and ingredients available today are much better than in the past, but they have limits," says Brent Shelton, an online shopping expert and media relations specialist for FatWallet.com. For really passionate brewers, the goal is to keep improving the process and the results, so upgrading to better equipment and ingredients is a logical step toward custom brewing and possibly competing with other brewers, he says.

First, Shelton says, simply upgrading your boiling kettle will make a big difference in the mash and cook. This is especially true if you buy a glass kettle, which is superior to plastic when fermenting. He also recommends investing in a counterflow system for cooling your batch, which improves the time and accuracy of this process.

"I started out with a five-gallon pale kit from Midwest Supplies, but I've since graduated to more custom equipment, including a grain crusher, an extra burner (saves about an hour per batch), refracometer, better cleaning supplies, tubing and connectors, and an auto siphon — a must!" Shelton says. An electric all grain brewing system from www.Brew-Boss.com will also help make great consistent home brew. 

So heed the advice of the experts. Whether you've been brewing for a while or just getting started, there's always room for improvisation, experimentation, and improvement.

Rockin’ Beergarita Recipe:

Rockin’ Beergarita Recipe:

Sure to become another classic, this Beergarita recipe is a fun way to have a beer, and to toast – or “Parrot” – a classic mixed drink. In Spanish it might be called a Cerveza Preparada – prepared beer. We’ll just call it a Beergarita.

8 servings
Beergarita Recipe – What you need:
(2) 12 oz. beers. (Use a light lager, or for authenticity, a Mexican lager)

BTW, the Mexican lager is based on the recipes that Austrian and German brewers produced after arriving in Mexico in the 19th century with other European immigrants.

Beergarita Recipe

• 8 oz. tequila
• 2 oz. orange juice
• (1) 12 oz. can frozen limeade concentrate
• 8 Lime slices
• 1/2 Cup salt
• One or two pints ice cubes

What you do:

1. Pour ice in a pitcher.
2. Add tequila, orange juice and frozen limeaid.
3. Stir well and thoroughly.
4. Pour beer over ice – very slowly. It will foam up so a slow pour is essential.
5. Pour salt on a small plate.|
6. Rub a lime wedge around the rim of the glasses.
7. Dip glasses upside down into the salt plate to coat the rim.
8. Fill glasses with Beergarita.
9. Garnish with a lime slice.

Cheers!

HOPS-Boss App Now Available!

The Hops-Boss application is completed for both Android and iOS (iPhones and iPads)!



Now you can add the Hops-Boss automated hops feeder to your existing brew kettle. The new App allows you to program hops addition times into the unit for stand-alone operation or to manually control the feeder. Purchase the hops boss feeder at http://www.brew-boss.com/product-p/hb-master.htm and download the app from the Google Play store or iTunes.

Here is a video link showing the Hops-Boss hops feeder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNiwBl_035U

We Want Beer

Want Beer?  Make your beer, your way with the Brew-Boss system.  Check us out at www.brew-boss.com !

How to Grow Your Own Hops

By Jeff Flowers

Growing Hops Right At Home Is Easier than You Think

Home brewing is becoming increasingly popular as more and more beer lovers discover just how easy it can be to a cook up a batch of your very own creation. An integral part of the home brewing process are hops, which infuse beer with its signature flavor. While some home brewers choose to purchase hops for the brewing process, many are choosing to grow hops on there own.

What Are Hops?

photo credit

Hops are the female flowers of the plant known as humulus lupulus. Hops are used as a means of flavoring beer, as well playing a role in preserving the beverage. Hops offset the sweetness of malt to create a complex flavor profile that beer lovers crave. Depending on how much and what type of hops are used will determine how bitter a beer may be.

Hops were used as a method of flavoring beer as far back as the 11th century. Before then, many brewers imparted flavor to their beer by use of a variety of herbs and flowers. The resulting brews contained far less alcohol content, and were also more susceptible to spoilage.

Today, hops are an integral part of the brewing process, with many growers taking a scientific approach to this age’s old traditional preparation.
Types of Hops

There are typically two kinds of hops used in brewing. Aroma hops feature a lower acid percentage, which helps bolster the aroma of a beer. These are most commonly used as a means of finishing or conditioning a brew. Conversely, bitter hops feature a higher acid percentage. These are useful when beer is going through the boiling process.

Each of the numerous varieties of hops offers a unique flavor profile. There are many different hop varieties out there you can use to brew your beer. Here are just a few well-known hop varieties, along with a brief description of what they do for your beer:

• Cascade:  Cascade hops are a well-known American hop created by Oregon State University in 1956. They feature a light and citrusy flavor, such as those found in a variety of pale ales.
• Bullion: Bullion hops offer a distinctly bitter flavor profile, as found in dark ales and stouts. Dominant flavors include earthy, resin-rich notes that some beer drinkers may find too strong.
• Challenger: Challenger hops are a very popular English variety thanks to their dual nature. The complex flavor profile includes notes of citrus and toffee, which pairs beautifully with stronger ales.
• Fuggles: Fuggles are a version of ‘wild’ hops that first came to notice in 1860s Great Britain. Upon their introduction by one Richard Fuggle (hence the name), these hops offered an earthy taste, as exemplified by such beers as English ales, porters, as well as stouts.
• Columbus: Sometimes referred to as Tomahawk, this hop variety is commonly used for its bitterness.

Tips on Growing Hops

Just about anyone is capable of growing hops right in their own backyards. The process starts with procuring rhizomes, which are root segments are taken from older plants. These can be found from a number of reputable dealers all over the country. Growers can also purchase potted hops plants, which can then be planted in their home gardens.

Maintenance of hops plants is relatively easy, as they are robust enough to withstand many different environmental factors.

Planting:

It’s best to choose a sunny spot for your hops plants. You’ll also need a means of support as they grow. Hops plants climb as they get bigger, and many growers construct wire supports, which allows the hops plants to curl upward. This is recommended as some vines can grow well over twenty feet long. It’s best to plant your rhizomes at least three feet apart, at a depth of about one to two inches. Plants will grow exceedingly fast at first, with plants sometimes growing a foot per day. It’s best to do your planting early in the spring, once frost is no longer a concern. Take care when watering and fertilizing your plants; too much or too little can prove detrimental to your yield.

Harvesting:

Harvest ranges from mid-August to mid-September depending on where you’re located. When harvesting, one should be aware of what to look for to indicate whether your plants are ready. Smell is important in this capacity, as well as the look and feel of the plants. Hops will smell most pungent when ready for harvest, and they should appear light in color and feel dry to the touch when ready. Once harvested, hops should be dried before being incorporated into beer. This can be done using an oven, food dehydrator, or a self-made hop dryer.

Without the addition of hops, beer just wouldn’t be the same. Growing your own for brewing purposes can be a great experience for both master brewers as well as novices. A small home garden is all you need to take your home brewing to a new level.
Planting Hops Around Your Pets

Special thanks to Brian, a commenter below, for pointing out that hops are potentially poisonous to pets. After doing some research, it appears that hops are indeed poisonous to both cats and dogs.

The toxicity can range from mild to severe, and depends on many factors, including the size and breed of your dog, as well as how much they ingested. Symptoms to look out for include: heavy breathing, anxiety, stomach pain, vomiting, extremely high temperatures, elevated heart rate, and in some cases, death. If you suspect your dog has ingested your homegrown hops or hop pellets, then it is highly recommended that you get them to an animal hospital immediately.

YouTube Video of Brew-Boss Automated Electric Homebrew System

Interested in how the Brew Boss System works? Watch our video on YouTube and contact us with any questions you may have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPysPl7X-RU

The Brew-Boss Automated Electric Homebrew System. Showing the new custom made kettle, COFI infusion filter, and the Hops-Boss automated hops dispensing device. Designed for those new to the hobby and for experienced homebrewers.

Cheers!

www.brew-boss.com

Stainless Steel Heating Element

New from www.Brew-Boss.com!

We've designed our own heating elements and had them fabricated specifically for Brew Boss. They are designed specifically for brewing. They are made from shiny, durable Stainless Steel and clean up very easily. They look brand new after each brew session. They are 100% stainless steel and will not rust!  Order yours today!

http://www.brew-boss.com/category-s/147.htm

Ten Top Tips for Home Brewing Beer

by BRAD SMITH

Today we look at 10 tips for brewing better beer. These are things I wish I knew when I started homebrewing but had to learn the hard way. Enjoy!

1. Use High Quality, Fresh Ingredients – Fresh ingredients make better homebrew. If you started with dry yeast, move up to liquid yeast. If you are an extract brewer, look for fresh extract rather than a can that is several years old. Store liquid yeast in the refrigerator, grains in a cool dry place, and hops in the freezer. Hops, dry malt, yeast, liquid malt and crushed grains all have a limited shelf life and must be used quickly. Crushed grains, dry malt and liquid malt will oxidize over time.
2. Do your Homework – Designing great beer is one part science and one part art. Why guess on the science part? Switching to brewing software like BeerSmith can make a difference in your brewing as it gives you the opportunity to calculate the color, bitterness and original gravity up front to match your brewing style. As I brewed more, I started reading top brewing books, engaging in discussion forums and browsing the internet for brewing resources. All of these sources, combined with experience and experimentation dramatically impacted my brewing style and consistency in a search for brewing perfection.
3. Keep It Sterile – Anything that touches your beer after it has started cooling must be sanitized using any of the popular sanitizing solutions (bleach, iodophor, etc). The period immediately after you cool your beer is particularly critical as bacteria and other infections are most likely to take hold before the yeast has started fermentation.
4. Cool the Wort Quickly – Cooling your beer quickly will increase the fallout of proteins and tannins that are bad for your beer and will also reduce the chance of infection. An immersion wort chiller is a relatively inexpensive investment that will improve the clarity and quality of your beer. Cooling is particularly important for full batch boils.
5. Boil for 60-90 Minutes – Boiling your wort performs several important functions. It sterilizes your wort, vaporizes many undesirable compounds, releases bittering oils from the hops and coagulates proteins and tannins from the grains so they can fall out during cooling. To achieve all of these noble goals you need to boil for at least 60 minutes, and for lighter styles of beers a longer boil of 90 minutes is desirable.
6. Control Fermentation Temperature – Though few brewers have dedicated fermentation refrigerators, there are simple methods you can use to maintain a constant temperature for ales during fermentation. The best technique I’ve seen is to pick a cool, dry area in your home and then wrap the fermentor in wet towels and place a fan in front of it. Wet the towels every 12 hours or so, and you should get a steady fermentation temperature in the 66-68F range. Most brewing shops sell stick-on thermometers that can be attached to your fermentation vessel to monitor the temperature.
7. Switch to a Full Batch Boil – Boiling all of your wort will benefit to your beer. If you are only boiling 2-3 gallons of a 5 gallon batch, then you are not getting the full benefits of a 60-90 minute boil. The purchase of a 7-12 gallon brew pot and (highly recommended) outdoor propane burner (which will make the spouse happy as you now brew outside) are great intermediate steps for moving to all-grain brewing and the full boils will improve your beer.
8. Use Glass Fermenters – Glass carboys (or stainless) fermenters offer significant advantages over the typical plastic bucket. First they are much easier to clean and sterilize. Second, glass (or stainless) provides a 100% oxygen barrier, where plastic buckets are porous and can leak oxygen if stored for long periods. Third, plastic fermenters often have very poor seals around the top of the bucket and can leak in both directions making it difficult to determine when fermentation has actually completed. A 5 gallon glass carboy will do the job better, and is available at a very reasonable price from most stores.
9. Make a Yeast Starter – While pitching directly from a tube or packet of liquid yeast is OK, your beer will ferment better if you make a yeast starter first. Boil up a small amount of dried malt extract in a quart of water with 1/4 oz of hops. Cool it well and then pitch your yeast into it 2-3 days before you brew. Install some foil or an airlock over it and place it in a cool dark location. When brew day comes, pitching your starter will result in a quicker start and less risk of infection or off flavors.
10. Make Long Term Purchases – You may have started brewing with an off-the-shelf kit, but if you enjoy brewing then you are best off making long term purchases rather than a series of short term purchases. For example, early on I bought a 3 gallon pot, then a 5 gallon pot, then an 8 gallon enamel pot and finally a 9 gallon stainless. It would have been much cheaper to jump to the 9 gallon stainless after the 3 gallon pot. Similarly I’ve had several sizes of immersion chillers, finally settling on a two stage 3/8″ diameter copper coil. If you instead make long term purchases (a good pot, a good chiller, glass carboys, a nice mash tun/cooler) you will save a lot of money in the long run.

BeerSmith Brewing Software – Take the guesswork out of brewing

June 11-13th, 2015, the National Homebrew Conference

Make your plans now to visit with Brew-Boss at Brew's Up San Diego June 11-13th, 2015, the National Homebrew Conference. We are an exhibiting sponsor again this year and look forward to meeting our Facebook friends!

http://www.ahaconference.org/registration/details/

Details

Registration is Now Open
Membership
Conference registration is open only to AHA/BA members 21 years or older.

Membership must be current at the time of registration and the event.
A valid 9-digit AHA/BA member number for each registrant is required.
In compliance with California state law, all attendees of the 2015 AHA National Homebrewers Conference must be American Homebrewers Association or Brewers Association members in good standing at the time of the event, June 11-13, to attend the conference.

Guests
Each member registering for the Full Conference package may request ONE guest registration.

• All guests must also be members of the AHA.
• Guests can choose between the Full Conference or Social Package registration option.
• The Social Package registration option is only available for guests of a Full Conference registrant.

Altitude Tickets Account

• To complete your purchase online, you must have an account with Altitude Tickets.
• If you applied to register, your account was created for you. Follow the link sent by Altitude Tickets to log into your account and finalize your payment.
• If you created an account with Altitude Tickets in the past, log in with your account information.
• If you do not have an Altitude Tickets account, create one.