Bottle conditioning is the process through which beer is naturally carbonated in the bottle as a result of fermentation. Usually this is accomplished by adding a priming sugar during the bottling process.
Author: Brewers Journey
Brew Terminology: Alpha Acid
A naturally occurring soft resins in hops. Alpha Acids are converted during wort boiling to iso-alpha acids, which adds bitterness to beer. Over time alpha acids will age out (through oxidation) and bitterness will lessen.
Bottling Day #2: Irish Blonde Ale
Continuing on from where I left off last time, the beer had fermented for just over three weeks when I began to prepare it for bottling. I started by moving the carboy into my cold garage for about 48 hours in order to cold crash it. Once that was over I added about 1/2 teaspoon…
Recipe: OBK Witbier
A refreshing, elegant, tasty, moderate-strength wheat based ale. Pale straw in colour, this beer will be very cloudy from starch haze and yeast, which gives it a milky, whitish-yellow appearance. Dense, white, moussy head. A medium-light bodied ale with a smooth creaminess from the wheat, although finishes dry. Flavours are light, slightly grainy with wheat…
Recipe: OBK West Coast IPA
The American IPA started out on the West Coast for the access to citrusy, grapefruit, and pine flavoured hops. That was decades ago, and now the style is among the most popular craft beer styles. And for good reason. Amazing bright hops lead to a vast array of juicy hop flavours and bitterness. Also a…
Brew Day #2: Irish Blonde Ale
After bottling my previous brew, the Baldwin St. Bohemian Pilsner, I was excited to get started on my next batch. For my second round, pun completely intended, I decided to try out making an Irish Blonde Ale. You can find the recipe for the Blonde Ale here. I also decieed that this time around I would…
Beer Tasting & Review Day #1: Baldwin St. Bohemian Pilsner
Well the big day has finally arrived: it’s finally time to try my first homebrewed beer. I have to admit that when I went to crack the first bottle there were still quite a few unknowns… would it be carbonated enough? How would it taste? What did I screw up? Thank god for that hiiiissss…
Bottling Day #1: Baldwin St. Bohemian Pilsner
After my first successful brew day I counted down the days until it was time to check if fermentation was complete. After taking samples every day for 3 days and confirming that the final gravity (FG) reading was steady I prepared my equipment for bottle conditioning! Before actually bottling anything though I took my original…
Recipe: OBK Irish Blonde Ale
A light and refreshing Irish-style pale blonde ale. Simple and quenching. Light grain and bread flavours and aromas are combined with fruity and floral notes from the hops and yeast. A tasty beer with emphasis on drinkability. Source: Ontario Beer Kegs Beer Specifications Beer Name: Irish Blonde Ale Beer Style: Blonde Ale Recipe Type: All…
Brew Day #1: Baldwin St. Bohemian Pilsner
What does someone choose to make for their first homebrew? This is perhaps both the most important and the least important decision facing new homebrewers. What I mean by that is on one hand there are certainly some homebrew recipes that are more challenging to get right than others, especially when you have only vague ideas…