Yeast is a delicate organism and requires some care before it goes to work in your wine. It is important when re-hydrating the yeast, to not “cook” it with too hot of water. You should re-hydrate the yeast at 50°F-86°F.
When pitching the yeast into the grape juice, the must, make sure that the temperature is in the 58°F-62°F for white wine and around 65°F for red wine. Do your best to make sure that the temperature does not fluctuate more than 10°.
Last month I submitted five of my home brewed beers to the AHA 2010 National Homebrewing Competition. This was my first brewing competition and I was eager to get unbiased reviews of my beer from judges who have been trained to identify the best characteristics of beer as well as point out flaws.
All of my beers received “Good” reviews, which is encouraging. But even more valuable, was the feedback the judges gave. The judges point out the good characteristics of your beer as well as areas for improvement.
In this blog entry, I will describe how beer is judged and how to read a BJCP beer score sheet.
The judges judge each beer against the beer style for which the beer was submitted. In each style, the judges rate the following characteristics of the beer:
• Aroma – The “Aroma” characteristic identifies the quality of the malt, hops, esters, and other aromatics picked up in nose of the beer. The judge ranks the aroma according to style, with a maximum score of 12 points.
• Appearance – The “Appearance” characteristic of the beer identifies the quality of the beer’s head, color, clarity. The judge ranks the appearance according to style, with a maximum score of 3 points.
• Flavor – The “Flavor” characteristic of the beer identifies the quality of the taste and after-taste of the beer. Flavor is the biggest component of the total beer score. Judges rank the flavor according to style, with a maximum score of 20 points.
• Mouthfeel – The “Mouthfeel” characteristic identifies the quality of the beer’s body, carbonation, creaminess, astringency, warmth, and other palate sensations. The judge ranks a beers mouthfeel according to style, with a maximum score of 5 points.
• Overall Impression – The “Overall Impression” of the beer is an area where the judge can comment on the overall beer experience and provide feedback for the brewer for improving their beer. This area allows the judge to rank the overall beer experience according to beer style, with a maximum score of 10 points.
The tallied result of from each of these characteristics makes the total score of your beer. The following point ranges below help you understand what the score means in the realm of beer quality:
• 45-50 points – Outstanding – An “Outstanding” score range is a world-class example of the beer style. This beer has great characteristics representing the style and no flaws.
• 38-44 points – Excellent – An “Excellent” score range is a flawless beer that may be missing some of the intangibles for a world-class beer.
• 30-37 points – Very Good – A “Very Good” score range may be missing balance or complexity for the style or may have a minor flaw (technical or stylistic).
• 21-29 points – Good – A “Good” score is a satisfactory beer that generally fits the style parameters. Scores in the higher range may have fewer flaws and stylistic inconsistencies than scores at the lower end of the range.
• 14-20 points – Fair – A ”Fair” score is a beer with its share of problems ranging from missing style characteristics, off-flavors and aromas, and/or lack of balance or complexity.
• 0-13 points – Problematic – A “Problematic” score is a beer with major problems such as contamination. These beers are barely palatable.
So this is how a BJCP brewing competition is judged. Understanding this can help you as a brewer understand what to tweak in your recipes and brewing process. Over the next weeks, I will be breaking down my home brew entry results and try to identify what aspects to tweak…
I sent five of my beers into the AHA NHC and got my results back recently. I am so excited to get unbiased feedback on my beers. But first take gander of the fine winners of the 2010 NHC…
On Saturday April 24th I did a brewing demonstration with the Kansas City Bier Meisters at the Parkville Microfest in Parkville, MO. I made a extract Golden Ale. Here are the pictures.
I built this hop trellis in my back yard for the hops to climb. Check it out!
Growing Hops, Climbing the Trellis
Growing Hops, Climbing the Trellis
Presently I am just relaxing and enjoying a Bell’s Hopslam. I really love IPA, and I really love Bell’s Hopslam! It is just a luscious pale ale with a mouth-full of honey and a hoppiness!
I am thinking of brewing a clone this week. Recipe coming soon!
Yesterday morning I checked up on my hop rhizomes. They are starting to produce leaves. From what I understand about growing hops, is that the hop will grow quickly, trailing up poles and wires like a vine. They will rapidly produce leaves and vine all through the spring and summer seasons. When the days start getting shorter (< 12 hrs of sunlight) the hop will start producing the prized hop flower buds.
Some of my colleagues in my home brewing club told me they collected 20 pounds of hops. I am excited to see how much hops I end up with this fall. meanwhile, I need to build a fence around the hops to keep my curious dogs out of them. I have read the hops are bad for dogs.
Growing Hops: Rhizome Starting to Produce Leaves
This morning I stopped by at Don’s house. He invited me over to checkout his home brewery and hang out for a bit while he brewed. He was brewing a half wheat recipe and was mashing-in when I arrived.
I saw something, I never expected to see before, a garage door opener used to make beer! Don was scooping his cracked barley/wheat blend into the mash tun and using a cannibalized garage door opener to stir his mash. Very ingenious! I am sure the guys at Genie garage doors never thought their door opener could make beer!
While the Genie Garage Door Opener stirred the mash tun, we sampled some of his home brew. Don gave me a sample of his Dunkel Wheat and Maibock. Both were fabulous! Don told me when making the Dunkel he didn’t have any dark roasted barley, so he roasted the malt for the Dunkel in his oven. I am going to have to try this for myself sometime!
Here is a picture of Don’s brew-house. The left keg is Don’s Brew Kettle, the center keg covered with insulation is the Mash Tun, and the right keg is the Holt Liquor Tank. Don has a March Pump for lautering his mash and transferring wort to the kettle.
Don uses conical fermenters at his home brewery. They are poly-propylene conical tanks that were designed for making bio-diesel. Don says they work perfectly but don’t hold any pressure. Also in the background, is Don’s grain mill. He converted an old file-cabinet into a grain cabinet that perfectly fits a 7 gallon bucket to catch the cracked grain.
Don and I will definitely be brewing together sometime soon! So stay tuned.
Mash Stirrer - Genie Garage Door Opener coverted to Stir Mash
Don's Brewery
Don's Conical Fermenters
Every once in awhile, I like to make a custom beer labels.
One of my favorite ways to make beer labels is to go “old school” with a classic wood-cut print.
So I grab a block of wood, my chisel and my Dremel tool and carve this lovely hop bud.
The green paint is just regular satin green paint from Lowes hardware store.
These labels will probably go on my Ranger IPA clone I made this last weekend.
Hand Made Beer Labels: Hop Bud
Mar 31
Today’s mail had a special delivery.
HOP RHIZOMES!!!
So I quickly prepared some potting soil and planted my Cascade Hop Rhizomes. My goal is to get them well rooted, plant them in a flower bed, and train them up lattice and rope.
I have read that hops can grow over 25 feet tall and each bine can weigh 25 lbs.
Hopefully by Fall I will have a bunch of hops. I can just image the amount of fresh Cascade hops to use in my beer!
Cascade Hop Rhizomes
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