It took me to the craft beer culture, so there was a desire to brew something unusual, or at least prove to myself that it is not so difficult, quite feasible, and you can even make money on it if you try.
I already had the very base, that is, I roughly understood all the processes of brewing, juggled terms and could defend my opinion about the garbage mass market.
The first brews are the most ordinary, nothing new, only book base and basics, hospital cleanliness and patience, but the classics are boring. You need to do something different and different. A chocolate tangerine stout should work, so I decided to go for it.
This story was sent by my subscriber Vadim Ch.
Ingredient Set
You need to start with the ingredients if you also decide to repeat a similar experience. By the time of cooking, the recipe should already be in your head, otherwise you will get porridge or sour burda at the exit.
No one wants to pour 10 or even more liters of spoiled beer down the toilet, which became so because of irresponsibility or a disregard. I decided to take a standard grist of stout for 10 liters of finished beer, adding tangerines and cocoa there. As a result, you need to buy the following.
Salt:
- Pale Ale – 2.3 kg;
- Roasted Barley – 210 grams;
- Chocolate – 250 grams;
- Carafa III — 50 grams;
- Oatmeal – 200 grams;
- Carahell – 200 grams;
Hop:
- Perle (7% alpha) – 15 grams;
- Centennial (7.5% alpha) – 15 grams.
Extra charges:
- Cocoa powder (minimum amount of protein) – 100 grams;
- Yeast S-04 – 5 grams;
- Tangerines – 1 kg;
- Glucose – 7 grams / liter.
In principle, it remains only to mix this whole thing at the right time, but there are other nuances associated with a set of necessary devices, because one mum’s saucepan is not enough to get that same beer.
Accessory set
It makes no sense to explain the need for each device for a long time, since even the beginner himself will understand why a hose or the same sieve is needed here, so I’ll just list what I had and what I can’t do without.
- Pot 15 liters. This is where all the magic happens.
- Malt bag. I don’t use home brews as I’m just starting to brew. The bag is needed in order to then remove all this porridge and drink it with beer.
- Probe thermometer. Temperature is one of the most important factors in brewing, so a probe with good accuracy is indispensable.
- Libra, yes, even a canter with the necessary divisions. Not by eye to measure 15 grams of hops and 223 grams of malt.
- Bucket for fermentation – purchased in general in any specialized store.
- Water seal. If the wort is gurgling, the process is on.
- Hydrometer. This obscure thing is needed in order to calculate the approximate amount of alcohol in beer, if you like.
- Silicone hose. Through it we will pour the beer first from the pan into the bucket, and then into the bottles.
- Spatula for mixing. You can take at least a stick, but be sure to boil it.
All this can be bought in one set in the same MirBir or in general any store specializing in brewing.
Brewing process
It’s time to brew the beer itself, if you are doing this for the first time, do not consider my description as an instruction, since even a beer with tangerines and chocolate is definitely not an option for a beginner.
- We take clean drinking water in the amount of 10 liters. We heat up to a temperature of 54 degrees, we attach a bag for malt there. Turn off the gas, throw in all the malt and wait 10 minutes.
- We turn on the gas again, heat it up to 64 degrees, turn off the gas and just wait 30 minutes.
- On the new one, we turn on the gas, bring it to 73 degrees, turn it off and wait again, but for 10 minutes already.
- Turn on the heat and bring to a boil. At this time, they already removed the bag with malt, squeezed it slightly, transferred it to any other bucket and washed all the malt with five liters of water, then pouring it all back into the pan. We throw away the porridge or give it to feed the pigs, and do not return it to the pan with water. She has already fulfilled her function.
- You need to boil the wort with the lid open for an hour, throwing equal portions of hops every 15 minutes.
- 2 minutes before the end, we throw in 100 grams of cocoa or natural chocolate.
- At this time, a bath of ice water was already taken to cool the wort.
- Pour the hot wort through the silicone hose into the fermentation tank and quickly take it to the bathroom to cool. Puree from tangerines, carefully ground with a blender and passed through a sieve, we pour immediately after the overflow of the wort. In the bathroom, cover the bucket with a lid so that nothing else gets in. Cool the wort as quickly as possible to 35 degrees somewhere. Now you can take part of the wort, pour it into a measuring cup and check the initial density with a hydrometer. It should be about 15-17, which in the end will give 6-7 degrees of alcohol.
- Now you can pour the yeast, evenly distributing it over the surface, close the lid, put on a water seal and ferment for at least a week at a temperature of 18-24 degrees.
- The first activity will be heard after 12-24 hours. It is important not to open the lid to check the beer and not to climb there with anything, since it is during this period that the probability of catching an infection is simply huge.
- Once the water seal has stopped gurgling, wait a day and pour the beer into glass or plastic bottles, leaving as little air inside as possible.
- Fermentation at room temperature until the bottles are inflated to the state of Coca-Cola, and then in the refrigerator for at least a week.
The nuances of cooking
There are several important points that everyone who is going to repeat the recipe should know:
- Read at least one brewing book to understand the algorithms and principles.
- Make the first classic brews and improve your skills so that every time it turns out perfectly.
- Use tangerine puree, handmade or purchased, not juice or concentrate, so as not to spit out all the flavor.
- Take cocoa with a minimum protein content (this is a chemical part that no one needs. Just do it that way).
- It is best to disinfect with peroxide, after 15 minutes, washing it off with boiling water or hot water.
Important! Cleanliness is the most important thing in brewing. If you are just going to make the first brew, watch the video and read the materials on this topic. Do not use iodine for disinfection, but take peroxide or alcohol. Be sure to disinfect everything that will come into contact with future beer.
As a result, after 21 days, I received a pure beer, in which chocolate and tangerine were intertwined.
But, unfortunately, by this time I stopped loving stouts, so there was no “wow” effect, just a good result, which was achieved thanks to the observance of all the rules, technologies and measured actions.
If you have already brewed a similar beer and you can not wait to share the result, or decided to get to the bottom of my recipe, feel free to leave your opinion, because I may be wrong or not know some of the subtleties.