Wort chiller in 8qt pot

Yesterday I decided to build my own wort chiller vs. purchasing one. Why? Because I like to build things The total cost was about $50 but would have been less if I didn’t buy the tube bender (about $9).

I did have 8 AWG wrapped around each coil to reinforce it but decided to take it off because it spaced the coils out too much for my pot. Plus, by not having the reinforcement, I can change the height of the coil for slighter larger pots.

I still have to grab a few parts for the exit on the coil. You can see that I have no fittings on it. My plan was to just clamp the nylon hose onto the exit thinking that back pressure wouldn’t be an issue. It appears the pressure is greater than I originally anticipated.

Wort chiller

Wort chiller side shot

Coffee Porter bottled and ready to condition for 3wks

So here we are. All 50 bottles of Coffee Porter. I had some left over and I’m drinking it right now. I wonder if this would be good in the morning instead of just coffee

Porter vs. Sediment

The image to the right shows you that even after moving the brew to a secondary fermenter for an additional week, there is always crap at the bottom of the bucket. The left is the color the Porter is suppose to be whereas the right is the crap at the bottom of the carboy–I didn’t let that into my filler bucket!

[edit] I forgot to mention that I took a gravity reading after moving the beer to the filler bucket…I’m sad to announce that it is still at 1.020.

Coffee Porter pre bottled

Wow.  That’s all that needs to be said.  I am very impressed on how this came out.  The coffee isn’t too overpowering and I think adds a nice flavor to the beer.  Of course this is before bottleing the beer so there is very little carbination/conditioning.

I’m not sure that this beer needed a cold brew of coffee.  As you may remember in a previous post, I expressed my concern about the coffee possibly making the final product too bitter.  So far it is not too bittering. 1++

On a side note…auto siphons are well worth the money.

Sanitized equipment and bottles

Today is the day I am bottling the Coffee Porter and what better day to do it than on Big Brew Day. In celebration of Big Brew Day not only am I bottling, I am going to start my next brew, an Irish Stout.

The image to the left is where I stand in regards to my bottling progress. Everything you see in that image is sanitized and is drying off. You can see the new auto siphon that I picked up today (broke my racking cane last week) as well as all of the bottles I will be using.

So, for now I am off to get some well water. My house has city water running through it and that won’t cut it for brewing. Check back in a bit for the bottling/brewing progress.

Coffee Porter moved to carboy

So I took a gravity reading a few days ago (Friday) and it read 1.020. I took a reading again today (Sunday) and it hasn’t changed and I don’t think it will.  So, I decided to clean my carboy and utilities, brew some coffee, and move the brew to the secondary fermenter. Pics are below (I think I’m going to stop using Wordpress Gallery as well…too many limitations with controlling image sizes…meh). What sucks about the low gravity reading is that I will end up with a lower ABV than I wanted (1.043 – 1.020) / .0075 ~= 3.07%. I was hoping for more like 4.5%

Sludge left behind

One thing I will note for next time–find a smoother coffee and do a cold brew. I ended up using Maxwell House 100% Columbian coffee (medium dark) because that is what I drink in the morning  It is smooth but I think it may be a little too bitter for this beer.  As it stands, I am drinking the sample (pic below) and it isn’t all that bad (no coffee in the sample). It has a very minor sour flavor (not sure if that is really how to describe it) but that might be because this was the first amount of beer to come out of the primary fermenter and contains the most yeast from the bottom of the bucket (yum).

[edit] Sorry Joel, I didn’t take your suggestion on the espresso because I was too lazy to leave the house today. I’ll probably try it on the next batch.

Coffee Porter sample (minus coffee)

Coffee Porter sample (minus coffee) top shot

The pictures below show what the beer currently looks like…sorry for the blurry image…meh.

Ginger beer fail

Tonight I decided to get my camera out and take a few shots of my ginger beer that I have been slowly drinking. I really wanted to take shots of the brew that I did last night (read: Coffee Stout) but I couldn’t find my camera.

The photos of the ginger beer (and other equipment) can be found in the new Home Brewing section in my gallery. I will try and post more shots of the coffee stout as it unfolds.