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chandlerbang said:This is so far out of my realm of brewing knowledge I can be useful for little advice. But moral support... I think It's fantastic. It's amazing that you were able to get this much information about you family history.
jlw said:I'm very fascinitaed with re-creating these old brews. Probably why one of my favorite beers I have created and made is my George Washington Porter.
Dr_Jerryrigger said:Sounds like your equipment is all wrong... If he was using a direct fire mash tun, rather than a plastic cooler you'll have some noticeable difference there. Home malting is also quite the project, where things rarely go as well as it would in a malt house. To make it more authentic adding some unmalted barley may be fitting (4-10%). Now home made crystal, there is nothing like it available. If you really don't want to make it (it isn't hard to make) you should mix every kind of crystal you can get 20L up to 150L. I mean it's a carp shoot, so you might as well make your own... it makes it easier to pick what to use.
And yeast is also a shot in the dark... The apples may be unrelated, and he just made some cider on the side (and didn't tell you damn kids about it). One thing I can say, it's unlikely it was a true strain like we all use. Pitching a pack of a few things may get you closer. Yeast blends that you would get wild are different though. Any yeast used for brewing has some alcohol tolerance, many of the wild one's have little, so they only work for the first day or so. This all adds up to normal attenuation. So you should start harvesting wild yeast.
So basically, your first step in brewing should be to plant some wheat and barley.... oh was is a summer or winter barley? I always think of barley just being a winter crop, but if I recall there are summer kinds too.
Dr_Jerryrigger said:I should do a write up on cooking crystal... what I say? It's not hard at all, and makes your house smell great. It takes some time, but you don't really need to do much, just be around and check it now and then.
FromZwolle said:and for the lazy folks that don't click links:
For Crystal/Caramel Malt soak 1-2 lbs of pale 2 row in just enough water to cover plus about an inch (make sure you use distilled, filtered tap, or spring water). Let soak for a few hours, but no less than 2 hours and no more than 24, I soak for 3 hours. Then Put grains into a pan and keep grains about 2″ deep then place into a preheated 180 degree oven (make sure you have a probe thermometer in the oven and not to let the temps inside the stewing grain to go above 160. If they do reduce your ovens temperature) for 1 1/2 hours. Then spread out grain into 2 separate pans and make sure the grains are no more than 1″ deep. Then increase temperature in over to 250 and let bake for 2 hours or until dry. Then if desired remove from oven for light crystal, or use the roasting guide above to create your own darker versions of crystal malt. Personally I like the 350 degrees for 45 minutes for a sweet roasty crystal malt. Experiment with 1lb batches and see what you like. I find that 1.5lbs is perfect, 2lbs seems to take way to long to dry. To minimize any foul flavors, use distilled or filtered water. EDIT: I would like to add that based on some recent experiments, I am having much better results by Soaking my grain for 3 hours in filtered water, then transferring that grain and water to pot and bringing the temperature up to 154 degrees. Then let it rest at 154 for an hour (applying heat as needed if it dips below 149 degrees). Then Bring the grain up to a solid boil, then drain the water. Lay the grain in a thin layer and dry in the oven at 260 degrees. Then roast to desired color. This has been working much better than mashing in the oven. Pics will come in my 3rd installment on home roasting coming soon. I just wanted to post this prior to compiling my 3rd post on the topic.
You can also do what I call Sudo-Caramel malts. To do these you just wet the grain a bit to change the flavor and aroma profile and add a bit of sweetness to the grain. You will not get as much sweetness as if you do a full caramel malt process above, but you will make a great grain for both all grain and steeping grain for extract. Generally what you are going to do is soak the grain for under an hour, I find a half hour works well to impart a bit of wetness to the grain. You can use the same temperatures above to produce similar grains but add a touch of sweetness.
FromZwolle said:it's a bit time consuming, but it's pretty easy and it really does produce a depth of flavor that's just not available in commercial malts.
ceannt said: