Black Friday Pale Ale

[Owly055]

     I'm a regular home brewer, and one of my concerns regarding voyaging is obtaining malted grains and hops.  Many parts of the world do not seem to have general availability of these supplies, and I can't see carrying 100 pounds of malted grain and a bunch of hop pellets, though as a solo cruiser, this should not be a real problem except that hops need to be refrigerated or frozen.   There is also the matter of constant motion, which, while it may not be relevant regarding fermentation, will present some issues with boiling wort, and of course getting trub to settle out properly.  It's pretty much a given that the fermenter will have to swing in a gymbal.   I'd be interested in how others have solved these issues.    I have been experimenting with various fermentables that might be more available in remote localities, such as sweet potatoes, with good results.  Next I plan to work with plantains and bananas.    I of course use a malt foundation.   There are plenty of tropical fruits and starches, and all starches are maltable more or less provided with amylase, but not all are easily manageable.  One has to be able to separate the wort from the pulp.  The line between beer and wine really is the presence of hops and malt.  Fruits have often been incorporated in beers, but some are suitable, and others are not.  I recently finished off the last of a chocolate cherry stout that was quite good.

     Today I'm brewing what I call Black Friday Pale Ale in, a simple pale ale with malted barley and malted wheat 3:1 ratio, and hopped with a two New Zealand hops I really like, Nelson Sauvin and Mouteka, as well as some Chinook, all in equal parts late the boil, with an IBU of 45.    The strike water contains approximately .01% tears of rage ;-).     

     I brew approximately once every two weeks, but quite small brews, down from earlier years, my brews are 2 gallon, and ultimately only yield about  1.6 - 1.75 gallons.

                                                       H.W.

[CapnK]

Sadly, moving aboard meant for me that brewing my own came to an end. Room for supplies, motion during the process, temperature control, and the quantities of water needed for the job in addition to what is needed just for the brew were the main factors. Now, as a compromise of sorts, I just do my best to support craft breweries by purchasing their product and 'importing' it to the boat pre-made. :) Had some NC-made 'East Coast IPA' tonight - Hoppiyum, was maybe the name? Good stuff. ;D

[Owly055]

    I'm not at all sure that alcohol and single hand voyaging are compatible anyway.    It calls for an iron discipline if you are completely alone with nobody to back you up.  I've always been capable of that, but temptation should not be ignored.
    Considering the fact that I intend to sail in a small trimaran, space is a big consideration.   I don't believe water should be a big consideration, as it is my plan to build my own pedal powered watermaker........ excellent exercise on a long crossing, I have not encountered a single example of such a thing for some reason.   Grain is fairly light and bulky, so storing vacuum sealed packages in the amas to the tune of a hundred pounds of so should be no big issue, but motion is the biggest concern.
     The Fast Ferment conical fermenter is a plastic conical designed with two pegs that allow it to be hung from a bracket, which could allow it to swing freely on one axis.   It would not be difficult to allow swinging on the other axis also.


                                                                                                                        H.W.

[Frank]

Was it Blondie Hassler or Chichester that always packed a case of rum for the crossing?

[Owly055]

Was it Blondie Hassler or Chichester that always packed a case of rum for the crossing?

Blondie I believe, and in fact he was eventually sponsored by Mount Gay Rum.......................     

     I'm more of a Bourbon guy, but an excellent dark smooth smokey Haitian or Jamaican Rum would be hard to resist!!  There are a few superb rums out there.   I'll take my Woodford Private Reserve Bourbon over most hard liquor, but have a good friend who is a connoisseur of fine rums who's introduced me to truly superb rums!   I'm really kind of ambidrinksterous.   I like a few Single Malts, and some Tequilas also.   Wine, and particularly red wine, often does not sit well with me..............      There is a huge selection of alcoholic beverages out there, and very few I really enjoy.

                                                                                 H.W.

[Owly055]

     I bought the fermenter In the photo above today........ $110, and will set it up tomorrow, and perhaps brew with it.   I'm not confident that the mounting would take the constant swinging aboard a yacht, but there is no reason why a macrame type hanger couldn't suspend it so long as one limited it's travel a bit.  The real problem brewing while sailing would be the boil.   5 gallons or even 2.5 gallons of boiling wort is not something  one would want to deal with under many circumstances.   It would have to be done very securely with provision to avoid slop, using a fairly large burner, probably in the cockpit, or on a trimaran or cat, out over the wing deck / bridge deck, or netting in some way, and then during fairly ideal conditions.   Good weather in a sheltered bay?   That the actual time of mashing and boiling is pretty short, and I've used a "no boil no chill" system before that only raises the wort to 170F or so, allowing it to slow cool......... it works fine but doesn't yield crystal clarity, though that doesn't effect flavor and drinkability at all.  Close your eyes and you can't tell the difference.
     Brewing on board could be an interesting challenge if one could keep it from being dangerous.   I can see having a hundred pounds or so of malted barley in vacuum sealed bags in the bilges.  I use a system with 1.5 gallon plastic bottles that lay down and have a tap screwed to them, the tap modified from taking a CO2 cartridge to using paint ball tanks.   This eliminates the bottling headaches.  What better use for solar power than to chill home brew beer ;-)

                                     H.W.

[maxiSwede]

Interesting thread!

I too was a home breder for many years, but gave it up pnce i moped onboard permanently. Met an Aussie bloke a couple years back who regularly did it from a kit ( can of malt extract and a bag of yeast) and used reused water bottles for finished product.

I do miss the process of brewing, as well as roasting coffee, but found it less practical onboard....interested to know how you set all that up, looking forward to your future posts!!!  :D


@@@@@@@I don't believe water should be a big consideration, as it is my plan to build my own pedal powered watermaker........ excellent exercise on a long crossing,@@@@@@@

Now this also sounds like a great idea! Keep us posted, a thread of it's own I reckon?

[Owly055]

Interesting thread!

I too was a home breder for many years, but gave it up pnce i moped onboard permanently. Met an Aussie bloke a couple years back who regularly did it from a kit ( can of malt extract and a bag of yeast) and used reused water bottles for finished product.

I do miss the process of brewing, as well as roasting coffee, but found it less practical onboard....interested to know how you set all that up, looking forward to your future posts!!!  :D


@@@@@@@I don't believe water should be a big consideration, as it is my plan to build my own pedal powered watermaker........ excellent exercise on a long crossing,@@@@@@@

Now this also sounds like a great idea! Keep us posted, a thread of it's own I reckon?

I've been tossing around methods for driving the watermaker pump.  There are a number of online articles on building your own watermaker, but all are electric.   Better even than pedal power might be a rowing machine type mechanism for a full body work out.   If done right, the same mechanism could be installed in the dinghy.    A sort of clone of the Oarboard modified to work in either application.   I haven't modeled out how a mechanism like this could work both with oars that move in the rowlocks and with just handles, as the geometry is different, but it would be a near perfect workout.   

https://www.oarboard.com/

                                                                                    H.W.

[maxiSwede]

The closest item on the current market I think will be the PUR Survivor, a hand cranked watermaker that was conceived for life boats, so would suffice for about 20 people after an abandon ship maneuver.

As I understand it, one is supposed to keep a foot on it to keep it in place while pumping with one arm....at a time. If I'll ever again will fit out a smalli boat for a long crossing, I would try and hook this thingy up to the mast base or whatever and then pump away. Good solution if 200 liters of water is too much of a payload for a small/ light boat.

[CharlieJ]

I have one, or similar. Aboard Tehani. Next I'm aboard I'll snap pics

[Owly055]

     I've just about finished my Black Friday Pale Ale......... and it turned out to be a superb recipe..... I crafted the recipe and brewed it on Friday Jan 20'th to take my mind off events elsewhere in the nation that day.   A lovely orange color, crystal clear, and a sharp refreshing taste.  For any homebrewers out there here's a brief description of the recipe. (2 gallons) all grain brew.   3 pounds of two row malt, one pound malted wheat, and 1 ounce of carmel crystal 120 malt.   Half an ounce each Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, and Chinook, all 7 minutes before the end of the boil.   One hour mash at 152, 30 minute boil.  OG 1.057, FG 1.011, ABV 6% IBU 43, SRM 5.86.  Yeast Safale USA - 05.

     This size brew could easily be done aboard.   I intend to do a no boil / no chill version of this tomorrow morning.    No boil / No chill works because there are only three reasons for boiling wort.   

1:   The first is to concentrate it more, giving higher efficiency.    That is trivial as far as I'm concerned.  A tad more grain will produce the same result without the boil.   
2:   Boil off DMS which gives a "creamed corn" flavor.   DMS is formed about 180F, so staying below that temp eliminates this concern.
3:   Sterilization of wort.  Wort can be sterilized at well under 180F.   Holding it at 160 for 20 minutes would more than sterilize it

     Extracting the essence of hops, and in particular bitterness requires boiling, but it doesn't require boiling the entire brew ...... Note in the above recipe all hops were added 7 minutes before the end of the boil.  This means that I could have taken a pint of wort and added the hops (pellet), boiled 7 minutes and added it back.   I've done this and it works.  I call it a "hop decoction"

      Boiling requires rapid cooling because DMS also forms during cooling.  If you don't boil, you don't have to fast cool.

      The sole liability here is clarity......... Without filtration, the clarity of no-boil / no chill will not be as good as with normal brewing, but this does not effect the brew in any other way.   

     Brewing aboard, no boil / no chill would be a great asset.  The lower temps make brewing safer, and the fact that you are not boiling off liquid, means that you can keep the pot tightly lidded.  It could easily be processed in a pressure cooker in batches.  It means less fuel, and no cooling issues.  Chilling from  212 down to an 80 degree pitch temp with warm sea water would be impossible.

     Cooling to a suitable pitch / fermentation temp and maintaining it in the tropics would be a challenge by any measure.   It calls for innovative strategies.    The strategy I would employ would be a tight fitting fabric cover over my fermenter, and a means to keep it damp so that it can cool below air temp by evaporative cooling.  As a child, I well remember dad carrying two water bags on the grill guard as we traveled through the intense summer heat of the high desert of Eastern Oregon.  With every window down, every vent open, we suffered from the heat which often approached 100F, but evaporative cooling from sweat, and from dampening clothing with water made it bearable, and the one water bag for drinking water stayed at a tolerable temp in the high 60's to low 70's.   Not crisp icy refreshing, but hydrating and tolerable, it didn't create that craving for more and more as ice cold water does.   



                                                    H.W.