Dirty Bastard Clone (with tasting) A Part 2 video

 

HELP! While recuperating from open heart surgery I stumbled upon some information about the benefits of monetizing your YouTube channel. I had never even considered that option to be viable for me but as it turns out its not just about getting a few cents for every ad that runs in your videos but there are tax write off opportunities.

So I have decided to go ahead and monetize the Easy Brewing channel. All these years I have laid out a lot of money to make videos... cameras... lighting... wireless mics... etc. I could have been writing these off on my taxes as well as brewing equipment and recipe ingredients.

If I can monetize the channel and only take advantage of the tax write offs not to mention the other ad sharing possibilities I will be able to make the channel better. However I need your help. I have the minimum number of subscribers but I am way short on video views.

The problem with attracting views right now is that I am unable to make new videos until I fully recover. So I am going through my older videos and re-editing and re-posting them. This is one of the first re-edited videos. I found two videos that could be combined into one like this one. A brew day video and then a few weeks later I taped and posted the tasting video. I need you to watch it... share it with your friends to watch... and then if you would be so kind as to scroll through my library and watch other videos. And also subscribe if you have not already. More views and more subscribers will help immensely. 

Thank you,
Kevin 

Brewing For All?

 

Is homebrewing for everyone?

I was watching a gardening video on YouTube recently and the host was going over a list of items to be avoided at the local big-box garden center. 

More than once he emphasized that the purpose of big-box stores is not to help you become a better gardener or even to supply you with the best plants and tools available. But rather to sell lots of everything both cheaply and conveniently. 

Then he said something that burrowed into the cynical, lizard part of my brain and took up residence. That if you are a beginner and are relying on these big-box stores to grow beautiful, lush plants, you are setting yourself up to fail. And you have two choices, lower your expectations... or perhaps gardening is not for you.

So what does this have to do with making beer? Two things... One: I harken back to the reason I began my YouTube channel in the first place. I had begun to make beer at home and a co-worker was curious about the process. I made a short video to outline the basics and then I invited him over to see how it is done. I was making simple extract batches on my kitchen stove at the time which is simply boiling water, opening and adding a can of liquid malt, cooling it, topping off and tossing in a packet of yeast. About halfway through the process he looks worried and says "this looks complicated!" and he never asked another question about making beer after that. 

At least that guy realized that as much as he liked beer and as much as the initial idea appealed to him, that this hobby wasn't the correct fit for him.

Second: Within days of watching that gardening video and hearing those words I read a couple of questions posed on a Facebook homebrewing page and another on a homebrewing forum. Both from newbie brewers who were reaching far beyond their skill level and with every answer they received a new term or process was mentioned that neither of them knew of or had heard about. And these were not super advance terms being used either. Things like "racking", "pitching" yeast, or even the word "wort". 

 It is difficult to try and help someone who doesn't even have the basic building blocks of knowledge such as language to understand what it is you are suggesting. These folks either need to lower their expectations or sell their equipment because it appears homebrewing is not for you!

WHERE'S THE BEER

PART TWO

After much prodding, probing and more lab work than a lab rat is used to it turns out my lymphoma is stage 2. BUT! since I am not exhibiting symptoms my Oncologist has decided to hold off on treatment in lieu of close monitoring and regular testing.

That's the good bad news. The bad bad news is that a routine stress test lead to a heart cauterization which revealed 4 blockages in my heart totaling 80% to 90%  blockage. One of them the Cardiologist calls the "widow maker". Such a warm and fuzzy bedside manner the man has. Bottom line is that in just over a week they will cut my chest open and take blood vessels from my arms and legs to bypass the damage. 

My brewing days are suspended indefinitely. 

 SMASH!

SINGLE MALT and SINGLE HOP

I don't know who needs to hear this but if you are adding a crystal malt or adjunct in addition to your base malt it is no longer a SMaSH.

Similarly if you add different hop to your hop schedule... Magnum at :60 for bittering and then Citra at :10 for flavor and aroma... it is no longer a SMaSH. 

 

WHERE'S THE BEER?

I stopped brewing in April 2023. I began to have shoulder pain and could not lift anything more than 10 pounds. 

Then I bought an Anvil 6.5 for the purpose of making small, 2.5 gallon batches and made one Vienna Lager a year later in April of this year.

A month later the doc finally insisted that I have shoulder surgery!

Finally, this past October after intense physical therapy I began thinking about what I wanted to brew so that I could jump back in the game. Put me in coach! Except that I began having other problems like almost daily gut cramping coupled with nausea and a marked lack of appetite. (I've lost just over 30 pounds in the past 18 to 24 months!) On top of that I was easily winded which I attributed to lack of exercise. No problem since I was going to the gym three to four days a week for my shoulder rehabilitation. While I was there I just put in some extra cardio routines to fix that issue right up. Right?

Well, my doctor was a little more curious about all of it and sent me in for tests and scans. The first issue uncovered was that the shortness of breath is the result of COPD. Great. Now I have to carry a rescue inhaler around with me at all times. But THEN... a CT scan revealed a 2.6cm abdominal lymphoma. So I went to have a biopsy the day before Thanksgiving. As of right now I am still waiting for the results but the doc suspects that based on the size it is more than likely cancerous. 

I still feel well enough to brew but now my days are filled with doctor appointments, more tests and scans and that is on top of everything that keeps us all busy during daily life. As much as I want to brew the reality is that my beer life is still on hold.

Why I Hate Beer Kits

I don't really hate beer kits. 

Well, I try not to hate beer kits. 

Beer kits have some good points. 

I just can't get past the drawbacks inherent of many... most... all kits. 

Oh who am I fooling? I hate beer kits for one reason.

First however let me start with why beer kits are valuable. The brewer doesn't have to source a recipe. They don't have to figure how much of everything they need. It's all included in the kit. Since a majority of kit users are new to brewing these can help them make some very good beer right out of the gate. Even seasoned brewers find them very convenient and worthwhile.

The reason to hate kits however lies in the instructions that come with them. Step Six in the included picture is the perfect example of crappy instructions. Have you ever run into any advice so unsound?

To suggest to a new brewer that they should be monitoring the krausen to determine when it falls means that the brewer will be removing the lid of the brew bucket ("pail") to check. This will lead to oxidized beer.

Next comes the directions to transfer the beer to a secondary vessel. The first error is the time frame given and the "hazardous" warning in the box. How can anyone suggest racking to secondary after just 5 days? And suggest that you should "never" let beer sit in the primary fermenter longer than that? For starters, an average ale is not finished fermenting at just 5 days. You are removing the beer off of the yeast before the yeast has finished its job! No wonder we see so many questions on homebrew forums about FG being too high.

In those same directions comes the perpetuated myth of using a secondary step. This step is not necessary and creates more risk than benefit. Use of a secondary was once considered as a standard practice 30 years ago but even those1990's stalwarts of the process now say that the perceived benefits were not true and that the risks are too high. This can also lead to oxidation.

Why would the makers of a product provide instruction that can result in almost certain failure for their customers? Because these instructions were probably written 30+ years ago and have never been updated. 

Just because they printed it doesn't make it right. 

 

Homebrew Do's and Don'ts

Somewhat related to my last post talking about homebrewing myths here are some do's and don'ts that have been gleaned from social media.  

(1) Refractometers don't give accurate gravity readings once fermentation has started. The presence of alcohol skews the readings. There are conversion calculators online but it is generally considered sound practice to take your fermentation and post fermentation gravity checks with a hydrometer.

(2) If you airlock isn't bubbling it's because the seal on your fermenter isn't sealed well and the CO2 is escaping through this "leak" and bypassing the airlock. 

(3) Despite the recipe you are following saying bottle on day [fill in the blank] yeast doesn't follow a calendar. Yeast are living creatures that work on their own time. Let them do their work and throw out your own timeline.

(4) Original gravity, or Specific gravity and Final gravity are not written in stone. The numbers published in your recipe are only estimates. More than likely they are the numbers the author of the recipe experienced and you don't brew on the same equipment they do... you don't use the same ingredients they do... you don't follow the same processes they do. Ignore the number. We are making beer here, not numbers. 

(5) Most homebrewers do not pitch enough yeast. As with timelines and gravity readings you do not have to be a slave to yeast cell counts but you do have to pitch healthy, vibrant yeast and enough of it to keep them happy when doing their job. 

(6) A complex recipe does not necessarily make good beer. Often too many ingredients added without purpose can produce a so-so beer. Using fresh ingredients and developing consistent brewing practices will lead to better success more reliably than a complex recipe. The rule of thumb is: use as many ingredients as you wish just make sure you know what each ingredient does and have a reason for everything you add.

(7) Keep your first few brewing attempts simple. High gravity imperial stouts, complex hazy IPAs, even lagers with their unique fermentation schedules and need for temperature control for the lagering process should be put off as a goal to attempt sometime in the future. Concentrate on making simple recipes consistently before tackling those goals.

(9) If you have a recipe in hand but you don't have or cannot acquire the exact ingredients don't sweat it. Try it with what you've got or make some reasonable substitutions. Don't be afraid to experiment.

(10) There is no reason to run to the internet with every little problem you encounter. Your are likely to get as many silly, misinformed, wrong answers as good ones... and you won't know which are which. Work it out. Power through it. You will learn more by doing than by sifting through the cacophony of confusing voices on social media. This leads to analysis paralysis. But on the other hand who isn't ready to read one more "does this look infected" post on your favorite forum.

Did I get them right? Did I miss one? Or have I gone completely off the rails?