Making Beer: The New Batch - German Doppelbock

Standing here listening to TWIT live (http://twit.tv/live) and brewing beer and I thought, why not make a quick video post as I brew? This is the all important step of adding the malts to the brew.

Crystal Malt
De-Husked Carafa I Malt
Victory Malt

Today I'm making my very first high gravity (i.e. more alcohol) brew. Very excited!
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Making Beer: Secondary Fermentation

Now that the beer is in the secondary fermenter it is ready to be stored . As you can see from the picture it goes right back into the same closet where it sat for about a week in the primary fermentation stage. Again it simply sits at room temperature out of direct sunlight.

Part of the beauty of the secondary fermentation stage is that the beer can sit for weeks without affecting the taste or quality of your brew. This helps if you are busy and don't have time to bottle it for a while.

My beer never lasts that long. :) Really, once it is in the secondary you could bottle (or keg) at any time. You just want to make sure that the fermentation process has died down. Generally that only take 8 to 10 days from the start of the primary fermentation stage. Now that I have spent a good part of my evening transferring the beer (and posting about it) I will leave it for a few days.

I don't bottle any more. I spent the money on a keg, CO2 canister, & regulator. It makes getting the beer ready to drink a much faster process than placing it in bottles. I'll probably get to that this weekend. If I have the time I will take some more pictures and you can follow me through that step as well.

Thanks for sticking with me. Happy brewing!
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Making Beer: Transfering the Beer

Now that everything is clean and prepped the transfer is a quick and easy step. Simply run a hose from the bucket to the carboy, pull out the air lock from the bucket so that there is an air hole in the top to allow the beer to flow, place the other end of the hose in the bottom of the carboy, open the spout and let it flow.

Placing the end of the hose in the bottom of the carboy (secondary fermenter) is a good trick. It keeps the beer from splashing and aerating to guard against oxidation again.

Once the beer is transfered the stopper and new air lock are attached right away and the beer is ready for storage again...
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