Tag: fermentation

Kombucha – Denouement

Finally, I have settled into a one gallon continuous brew system.  I’ve been continuously brewing for over 3 months.  I’ve cleaned the 1 gallon jar once and it did not necessarily need cleaning at the time. The vessel is a 1 gallon dispenser with stainless steel spigot (photo below).  I leave a fresh tea batch to brew anywhere from 7 to 14 days depending on how busy I am and what time permits.  Each time I cycle the KT, I prepare the fresh fruit, juice, and added sugar.  I drain the KT into a 135.25 ounce fido jar (lock lid) and add the fruit.  It then sits at room temperature for 2-3 days.

In the meantime, I brew a gallon of tea and allow it to cool to room temperature (ususally overnight) sealed with plastic wrap (use shot me now, I use plastic wrap) and seal with rubber band.  Once cooled to room temp, it is added back to the 1 gallon continuous brew dispenser.

After the KT in the fido jar has brewed at room temp for 2-3 days, I get out the flip-top bottles and strain the KT into them.  The strainer catches all the fruit and bits. Once the bottles are filled, they go into the refrigerator.  Once chilled it is ready to drink.  I like it over ice.

Bottom line, for me, is the taste.  It tastes good to me.  I pour it over ice.  It has a special carbonation with a “tight fizz”.  The flavor is not too sweet and has that fermented flavor and scent that I like as well.  Since is is a probiotic, I don’t drink a great deal of it – about 6-8 ounces per day.  Sometimes several times a day depending on the day.

I prepare a gallon of tea with 12 Lipton tea bags.  It is inexpensive and is a good enough tea for me.  Also, 1/2 cup of sugar is added.  I usually pour some of the water in a pot bring it to near a boil, then add the tea bags.  The remaining water is added to a 1 gallon jar and then the brewed tea is added to the sugared water, stirred and a plastic wrap “lid” placed on a secured with a rubber band.  The tea needs to be 80 degrees F. or less when added to the SCOBY and starter KT.

There you have it.  The only other thing that I pay a little attention to is my SCOBY hotel.  Every 2-3 weeks, I drain it and add fresh tea.  This is my back up SCOBY culture in case things go south for some reason.  It is a quick way to recover and restart the continuous brew system.

Kombucha – The Beginnings

Raspberry Kombucha
Raspberry Kombucha

While at lunch on day, a coworker had a bottle of Kombucha and I asked her for a small sample.  I loved it.  Honestly, if you don’t like sour, vinegary, tart, slightly fermented flavors, I suggest you discontinue reading this piece.

I like kefir, buttermilk, sour cream, sauerkraut, sour pickles, and other food items that can be made using fermentation.  In all sincerity, most of us know that these foods were once created by natural fermentation are now processed and produced in mass quantities. Food in general is not nearly as healthy as they used to be back in the day.

So, while at Fresh Market, my wife Cat and I picked up a few bottles of commercially prepared kombucha. One was a ginger flavored bottle and the other a cranberry flavored one.  The are especially good when cooled and very effervescent.  Probiotics are all the rage now and kombucha also called “booch” by enthusiasts and are rather easy to make.  There is a little bit of SCOBY at the bottom of most bottles.  A SCOBY is a Symbiotic Culture (or Community) Of Bacteria (beneficial, of course) and Yeast.

SCOBY – Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast

When creating my most recent home brewed beer that I saw kombucha SCOBYs in the local brew supply shop.  They were in a large jar stacked together. It`s called a SCOBY Hotel (no joke). So, I ventured down to the brew shop and asked to purchase one.  I later learned that purchasing a SCOBY of size is only necessary if you wanted quicker gratification in making your own.  You can start your SCOBY from a commercial jar of plain, raw Kombucha, some black tea, non-chlorinated water, and plain white sugar.

The proportions for making 1/2 Gallon of the sweet tea are:

  • 1/2 Gallon Non-Chlorinated Water
  • 1/2 Cup Sugar
  • 4-6 Bags of Black or Green Tea (or mix is fine)

I prepared a 1/2 gallon batch of sweetened tea which cooled to room temperature.  I added the SCOBY to the tea which was in a 1/2 gallon pickle jar which I previously cleaned and rinsed in white vinegar.  I did not have any kombucha starter since this was my first batch, so I added about a 1/2 cup of white vinegar.  This is added to make the solution more acidic which inhibits undesired microbial growth.  I then added the SCOBY and a little of the kombucha liquid into the room temperature tea.  I placed a coffee filter over the top of the jar and secured it with a rubber band.  I waited 8 days tasting the tea each day after the 5th day of fermentation.  The kombucha tea can sit and ferment for up to 30 days without any negative effects on the SCOBY.  The longer you allow it to ferment, the stronger the vinegar taste and less sugar.

Ginger Ale on left, Cranberry Apple Kombucha, then Plain Kombucha on the right

Since this was my first brew, I waited only 8 days and bottled it in flip-top bottles. I made one bottle of plain unflavored kombucha and added about 1/2 cup of apple-cranberry juice to the other bottle.  These were 1/2 liter bottles.  I place to wait 1-2 weeks before refrigerating.

Here are the next batches of 1/2 gallon Kombucha brews:

Black and Green Kombucha Tea beginning their transformation

 

“Get Down” Brown Ale – All Grain Recipe

BROWN ALE (All Grain)

Roasted malt, caramel-like and chocolate-like characters should be of medium intensity in both flavor and aroma. American-style brown ales have evident low to medium hop flavor and aroma and medium to high hop bitterness. The history of this style dates back to U.S. home brewers who were inspired by English-style brown ales and porters. It sits in flavor between those British styles and is more bitter than both.

MASH INGREDIENTS
9.5 lbs 2 Row
0.5 lbs. Chocolate 375 Lovibond Medium
1.00 lbs. Crystal 120 (Briess)
0.5 lbs. Aromatic Malt (Castle)

1.5 oz. Fuggle Hops (60 min)
(Save .5 oz for final 10 minutes)

YEAST: WLP001 California Ale

MASH SCHEDULE: SINGLE INFUSION
Saccharine Rest: 154° F for 60 minutes
Mash-out: 170° F for 10 minutes
BOIL ADDITIONS & TIMES
1.5 oz. US Fuggle (at hot break)

O.G: 1.044-1.053 (actual 1.047)

Suggested fermentation schedule:
2-3 weeks primary fermenter or 2 weeks primary and 1 week after racking to secondary
2 weeks bottle conditioning

SMASH Beer Recipe

I’ve been growing Cascade hops for 3 years now and have a good crop to use from this year. I decided to make a SMASH (Single Malt Single Hop) beer to economize.
This is the all-grain recipe that I used

Recipe Specs
Batch Size: 5.0 gallons
Original Gravity: 1.050 (75% Efficiency)
Final Gravity: 1.011  (1.035 actual)
SRM: 4.7L
IBUs: 41
ABV: 5.1%
Ingredients:
  • 10 lbs Maris Otter 2 Row Malt
  • 12 ounces of Whole Cascade Hops (6%AA) for 60 minutes
  • 1 Whirfloc tablet (Irish Moss)
  • Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast
Procedure:

Mash for one hour at 152° F or until starch conversion is complete. Mash out at 170° F. Bring to a boil. Add hops in bag. Boil for 60 minutes. After the time has passed, add the Whirfloc tablet.

Chill to 72° F, and rack to carboy. Pitch yeast and ferment at 68° F for 7-10 days or until fermentation is complete.

Let rest for 7-14 days at 68° F and bottle.