Tasted: Hef Pale Ale

Out of the frustration and anxiety of being without-kettle for three months, I finally couldn't take it anymore.  I HAD to brew.  Such was the inspiration for the Hef Pale Ale.

Once we finally got back to brewing, I really had the itch to get things going again.  It was a week after the Inaugural Brew (Hefewitzen 8.0) and Brewmaster Mike and I had planned to brew his Wit that Sunday.  Suddenly Saturday I discovered that I would be alone for an evening (it was the day of my lady's baby shower) and I got it in my head that I needed to brew.  I thought it through and decided I would use some of the US 2-row Pale malt I had laying around to make a simple pale ale.  Since the bulk of the grain bill would be the Pale I already had, I thought it would be a simple and inexpensive beer to make spontaneously.  I would only need a few hops and some yeast.  Well, as it turns out, I had plenty from the Hefewitzen brewed the week before.  So, I made a quick recipe in BeerSmith, exported it, and headed over to the baby shower to make a quick appearance.  There just happened to be a homebrew shop on the way to the shower.  I stopped in, grabbed the ingredients, and was all set for my evening spontaneous brew!  I wasn't going for anything fancy with this one, just something to fill the fridge.  The only "style" guideline I really gave myself was to make it hoppy and light enough to enjoy many pints worth.

Aroma:  5
Appearance:  6
Style:  7
Bitterness:  5
Maltiness:  6
Mouthfeel:  5
Head:  3
Balance:  5

These marks earned the Hef Pale Ale a 40 out of 55 and a percentage of 73%.

As the description above would suggest, this hastily put together pale ale is nothing spectacular.  It merely fills a keg.  Due to some technical problems it ended up not being incredibly alcoholic.  I think I can attribute this problem to the temperature problem I have recently solved that gave me such low efficiency and possibly low conversion rates.  The beer ends up being a bit starchy and sweet.  Yet, it still exudes the aromas and pleasantries of a proper pale ale.  Finally, the yeast stands out a bit too much.  Its full bodied and slightly bitter and leaves you... maybe wanting more.  All said and done, it fills a keg and allowed me to brew on a day I found myself craving my hobby.

Recipe: Hef Pale Ale

Tasted: Hefewitzen 8.0

As you can probably tell, we make this beer a lot.  This version (8.0) is the eighth iteration of this recipe and possibly the best.  It has been a struggle to get any kind of body or significant mouthfeel from this beer over the years.  The flavors have worked themselves out long ago, but the stubbornness of wheat has not allowed us to perfect this "style."  I write it as a "style" because we kind of made this one up.  We have always enjoyed the faux-gruit flavors of coriander and orange peel as well as the banana and clove present in the Hefeweissen yeast.  The though for this "style" was to combined the two in some unholy matrimony to create a unique and enjoyable flavor profile.  However, getting this beer to exhibit any sense of body has been a real challenge.  It wasn't until very recently in a conversation with Tom, the owner of our local home brew shop, that I realized wheat requires a high mash temp due to its highly fermentable nature.  We had been mashing this recipe at 150 to 152 over the years, thinking that this beer would be awful as a big bodied beer.  So over the years we added less and less malted wheat and more and more flaked wheat.  This did a few things, added more haze to the final product and reduced the convertibility of the mash.  To think, we were heading in the wrong direction for years with this beer.  Well, its all been made up for now, unfortunately, it has become more of a Wit than a Hef and would probably be better suited with the correct yeast.

Appearance:  8
Aroma:  10
Style:  8
Bitterness:  5
Maltiness:  5
Mouthfeel:  5
Head:  5
Balance:  5

These marks earn the Hefewitzen 8.0 a 51 out of 55 and a percentage of 93%.

Like a late summer evening, the striking visual of a gold haze filling a glass with a cloudy white head draws you into its soft pillowy top.  Before drifting off into the comfort of its bosom you are awoken by the bright scent of fresh orange peel and sweet coriander.  The first sip is cooling and refreshing leaving you with a faint hint of bananas and cloves.  The body is there, but just barely allowing you to savor only the most flavorful parts of the beverage.  Once consumed, the sweet nectar calls back to you, asking you to "have another."

As I said earlier, this version of the Hefewitzen is probably one of, if not the best versions of this beer we have made.  There's not much I would change at this point (as the recipe goes), but I would like to try it as a true Wit.  As far as this particular brew goes, I think if it had been mashed at the proper temperature (158 degrees F), it would have been perfection.

Recipe: Hefewitzen 8.0

Kettle Update

After brewing with the new electric system for a few beers, I thought some changes were in order.  Some problems arose, as I knew they would, with the way the system was set up.  The most obvious problem I discovered only after the air conditioner was put on in my house.  It turns out that steam traveling across a cool HVAC duct condenses, pools, and turns into a downpour.  Who knew?  I solved this problem by moving the kettle so it was directly under the basement window and added a large box fan.  The steam now goes directly out the window.

The next problem I found was something I had suspected since the initial setup of the kettle.  The efficiency of the system kept coming out very low, even for a batch sparge system.  Average estimates for a batch sparge system are normally about 65%.  We had been hitting somewhere around 60 to 63 percent efficient.  It wasn't until I was able to finally obtain a proper thermometer that I discovered that the thermocouple was incorrectly calibrated.  Now, this was my own fault, but it had a little bit to do with physics that I had overlooked.  When I originally setup and tested the PID and thermocouple, I filled the kettle and brought the water up to boiling.  I thought this meant that the thermocouple should be reading 212 degrees Fahrenheit.  I ended up adding about 6 degrees to offset what the thermocouple was reading.  Well, it turns out that the temperature of the water when its boiling is not really 212 degrees; its actually a bit lower.  I learned this the hard way when I measured the mash temp after mashing in for my latest brew.  It read 148, which was about 6 degrees cooler than I wanted it (and almost outside the scope of enzymatic action).  This could have been contributing to efficiency loss (as well as producing a different beer than I had intended to make).

In the midst of all this temperature confusion, I thought I'd try to get a little higher resolution on the temperatures I was measuring.  After reading the manual to determine how to activate the proper function to change the resolution, I discovered that the particular mode I wanted was only available in when reading the thermocouple in Celsius.  So, I have gone to the dark side.  Its a slippery slope.  Next thing you know, I'll be measure weights in kilograms and talking about how many kilometers it is to the brew shop.  Ugh.  I feel so European.  Anyway, I'll give it a try for a while, see if it really gets me any more resolution.  It really might not be worth it since the resolution of the Celsius scale is lower than Fahrenheit, but I'll give it a try anyway.

Brewed: It's Electric

Mission Accomplished...

The first successful electric kettle brew is in the books.  It went off without a hitch, that is, we made beer!  This was the 8th brew of our "Legacy" beer, the Hefewitzen.

After some discussion with Tom, the owner of the Thirsty Brewer and president of Wootown brewing club, about the electrical element, I was initially concerned about using it in its current configuration.  When I told him about the new setup, he asked if I was running the element at 110V rather than the manufacturer recommended 220V.  He asked because many brewers that go the direction we have gone with our setup have seen issues with scorching of the wort due to the heat density of the element.  I thought this was not a problem due to our use of an extra low density (ELD) element.  Tom mentioned that even those that used that type of element would still see scorching of the wort (in the past).  He also thought that if recent brewers using our particular setup might not see scorching because of new materials used to make the low density elements.

This made me a bit anxious about using the element at 220V, but I decided that if there was going to be scorching, it would be during this first brew due to its light color and high flaked grain percentage.  I thought that if it became a problem, I could construct a new circuit to vary the input voltage to the element.  I could use a switch to connect one or two phases to the element depending on the mode it was going to be used in.  For HLT mode, it could run at 220V as I would only be heating water.  In kettle mode, it could run at 110V to reduce scorching.  The second mode, I thought, would work well because the wort, as it is sparged from the MLT, is already at about 170 degrees F.  So, despite the low voltage and therefore power, the wort would still be able to reach boiling in an acceptable amount of time.  It would also be a viable solution because all of the equipment in the circuit can be used at 110V or 220V.  However, after Sunday's brew, we saw no scorching and realized that we also had a cleaner kettle than we have had in the past after a brew.  We speculate that the propane burners excess heat traveling up the sides of the kettle caused scorching along the outer walls and therefore caused the build up.  This build up is not present after our brew this time.  The element, being completely submerged the entire boil probably helped keep the wort at boiling and kept if from scorching.  I now think we can just use the element at 220V.  I think I will still consider the alternate mode if we end up seeing scorching after other brews.

Electric Brewery: Phase 2

After many trials and tribulations, we have finally succeeded in creating a (partially) electric brewery!  The original design remains in tact, but there were several missteps that lead to broken parts and new parts being ordered.  Initially, the design included a few elements, the PID, SSR, and heating element.  This is still true, but the original kit that included the PID, SSR, and heat sink (for the SSR) is no longer any part of the system.

The story began the day I finally got the kit from China.  I was excited to start assembling the unit after all the waiting and anxiety, but I still needed a few pieces that I didn't necessarily consider at first.  The PID needed some kind of enclosure to house it and all of the wires that would be connecting each of the elements.  It also required a fuse to ensure a power surge wouldn't destroy it.  The power I would be using was from my clothes dryer, which already had a socket and breaker connected.  I just needed a dryer plug to connect my 10 gage wire to the outlet.  Once all the additional pieces were purchased, I could start to assemble.

The enclosure I chose was a large sized plastic outdoor junction box.  The fact that it was plastic allowed me to be able to cut it fairly easily as well as avoid incidental contact with the high voltage lines inside.

The dryer plug was a three pronged 220V type with a ground and two 110V pins.  This was all I need to connect as the 110V lines were opposite poles (across which the 220V was supplied).

Inside the enclosure I used simple wire nuts to connect all of the necessary wires to their respective circuitry.  (See schematic)  The junction box also housed the heat sink and SSR (as I did not anticipate much heat being generated).

The two elements that needed control, were the PID and the heating element.  I added separate switches for these pieces so they could be turned on and off independently.  I thought it would be a nice touch to be able to avoid a boil over by simply flipping the switch on the heating element, thereby instantaneously removing the heat source.

The thermocouple used to provide feedback to the PID was screwed into a metric stainless steel nut that had been welded into the side of the keggle.  It was connected directly to the PID inside the junction box.

The final piece of this puzzle is the heating element.  It was merely screwed into a 1 inch NPT fitting welded into my keggle.  The wiring was connected on one side from the SSR (which provided the switching on and off) and on the other from the negative 110V line.

Once completely assembled, I plugged in the dryer plug (wincing as I did).  Nothing happened (thankfully!) as the switches to the PID and heating element were both in the off position.  When dealing with any kind of power (as I am an electrical engineer by trade), I always expect the worst (something exploding), but hope for the best (no action whatsoever).  Having the best of reactions to the last change of state of this new system, I was hopeful when flipping the switches to the on position.  As I did, the display on the PID lit up and showed some numbers and the keggle did not spontaneously combust!

Things were really going well at this point.  I had added some water to the keggle before this test began, so I was confident that the element would not be burning up if the PID came on and thought that it should enable the heating element.  It was a good thing, as the PID was unable to sense that the water was being heated.  As the element was turned on, the water started to heat and the PID read the temperature as decreasing.  I had connected the thermocouple backwards.  It was a minor mistake, but required me to open the junction box to rewire the thermocouple.  Once all the hardware bugs were worked out, I set the PID on something above the boiling point of water and allowed the water to come to a full boil.  During this process, I had been testing the temperature of the junction box by placing my hand on it from time to time.  It did not feel too terribly hot at any point during the initial test.

Once I was satisfied that I was able to boil water, I decided to do some testing to see if I could set the PID to a particular temperature and have the water remain there for an extended amount of time.  This proved impossible at this point.  I set the PID to something like 70 degrees Celsius and watched as the water climbed right back to boiling.  I noticed that the small LED on the SSR that indicated that it was active was no longer lit, but was confused when the water still climbed in temperature.  I had blown the SSR!  The heat inside the junction box and more critically the heat sink that was sent with it were no match for the heat generated by the SSR.  It turns out that the SSR is only rated to run at an internal temperature of 70 degrees Celsius and that the heat sink provided was only for a 25 Amp SSR (when, in fact, the SSR was a 40 Amp!).  Disappointed, I left the keggle filled with hot water, shut down the PID and heating element, and unplugged the junction box from the dryer outlet and went to bed.

The next day, I decided I would get things cleaned up, order a new SSR, and found that the keggle had rusted!  The "stainless" steel nut that held the thermocouple as well as the thermocouple itself had rusted!  Broken by the weight of these events, I called my welder and scheduled a replacement fitting to be welded in and ordered a new thermocouple (except this time I decided I would use an resistance temperature detector or RTD) that would fit into a standard 1/4 inch NPT fitting instead of that awkward metric nut that had been used before.

Several days later, the RTD arrived.  Excited that I might finally be able to use my setup as I had originally intended, I connected the RTD, plugged in the junction box, and set a temperature.  After several minutes and noticing that the water had begun to boil (at least above the heating element), I saw that the temperature on the PID read by the RTD was not increasing.  I thought it might have been the connection and tried to tighten the screws holding the leads from the RTD, but there was no change.  Next I thought there might have been an error in the directions I was reading for the PID as they had come with the PID from China and could have been poorly translated.  Swapping the leads made little difference.  Eventually I noticed in the directions that particular part numbers were associated with particular input devices and output parameters.  I discovered that this PID was only designed to be used with a K type thermocouple (which it had been shipped with).  Incredibly frustrated and angry at this point, I immediately ordered a new PID to replace the minimally functional PID I had been using.  Little did I know, I could have just ordered a new thermocouple that would have worked with my original PID and saved me about 20 dollars, but that is a story for another day.

Finally, a few days ago, my new PID arrived.  I replaced the old one, ran a few tests similar to those described above and decided that I can finally call the electric keggle project a success.  The end result being that I had replaced every piece of the original PID kit I had ordered from China.  The lesson here (to me anyway) is to only buy the good stuff and don't be cheap about it.  Buying crappy unsubstantiated materials only leads to more frustration than necessary.

I'm excited as our inaugural brew is Sunday.  We are brewing, what we consider, our legacy beer, the Hefewitzen (a mostly Wit style recipe with hefeweizen yeast).  It is our legacy because every time it turns out pretty well, but we feel we can always do better.

Here is a link to a spreadsheet showing all of the elements I purchased, their prices, and where to find them: Electric Keggle Parts, etc.