How long is your brew day? Four, five... six hours? I began thinking about this as I was making some invert sugar for an upcoming brew and I realized my brew day has already begun! Or had it?
Recipe Creation: It starts days, weeks or maybe evens months in advance when the recipe is decided upon. In the case of 1933 Drybrough Burns Ale pictured, the seed was planted while reading Ron Pattinson's book, Scotland Vol. II. Following the failure of my Dirty Bastard Clone attempt I decided to retrace my steps and begin with an historically accurate Scotch Ale and it doesn't get much Scotch-ier than Robert Burns right? So I scoured Ron's book looking at several strong Scotch Ales and settled on this one. Then I sat down with Beersmith and created a recipe using Mr. Pattinson's published version as a baseline. Everything in mine is the same except my invert sugar came out looking more like #3 than #1. Plus the turnover of Imperial Yeast at my LHBS is greater than many other brands they carry so I get fresher yeast and bigger cell counts to start with. Boom! Day One - recipe created.
Invert Sugar:
I don't always use invert sugar but this recipe calls for it and I had the ingredients on hand. So I count this as Day Two. If you Google invert sugar you will find several different versions. The recipe I use comes once again, from Ron Pattinson. He is after the English beer historian. Here is what I do:
1 lb cane sugar. (not table sugar) Turbinado or Demerara are good choices. Brown sugar, molasses and Belgian or candi sugar are not. Anyone who tells you they are are not worth talking to so just walk away.
1 pint water
1/4 teaspoon citric acid
You will need a candy thermometer and a sauce pan.
Bring the water to a boil in the sauce pan. Turn the heat off once it starts boiling and slowly stir in the sugar until it has completely dissolved. Add 1/4 tsp of citric acid. I use the same stuff that my wife and I used when canning and preserving tomatoes and vegetables. Turn the heat back on and bring this mixture up to 230 degrees F. Stirring is a necessity during this whole process as is keeping a close eye on the candy thermometer. Once 230 F is reached I stir less frequently but here you want to continue ramping the temperature up to 240 F but do not let it go higher than 250 F.
To make Invert #1 heat for 20 - 30 minutes. The SRM should be around 12 - 16
To make Invert #2 heat for 90 - 120 minutes or until you get an SRM of 30 -35
For Invert #3 heat for 150 - 210 minutes until the SRM is 60 -70
And Invert #4 heats for 240 - 300 minutes. It's SRM will be 275 - 375
Shopping for Ingredients:
So where were we? Oh yes, figuring out exactly how long a brew day actually is. In my case the only ingredients I keep on hand are those that have some shelf life. I buy my base malt in bulk and keep some hops in the freezer but specialty grains and yeast are something I buy on an as needed basis. Today was one of those days. A trip to my local homebrew store for some flaked maize, black malt and Imperial A31 Tartan yeast. Day Three - hanging out at the LHBS, Hop Craft Supply Co., and chatting with Brandon. Who by the way just got a shipment of homebrew sized, table top beer can sealing machines. Only $499... hmmm.
Yeast Starter:
A couple of days before brew day I will make a yeast starter. Traditionally I would make my starter and put it on a stir plate 24 to 36 hours ahead of time. Lately however I have been making a Shaken Not Stirred starter just 12 hours before pitching. Using the traditional method this counts as Day Four.
Brew Day Prep:
When ever possible I like to do some things the day (or evening) before the burners get lit. All of my equipment and utensils will get cleaned. I will measure out my water.... grind my grain and lately make my SNS starter. If that is the case, then this is Day Four. If I had used a traditional stir plate starter this is Day Five.
Brew Day:
And here is the day I used to think of as "Brew Day". Not all of these steps take an entire day but if you add up the hours it dawns on you that brew day is a lot more than mashing and boiling. Now let's see... today is Friday that means tomorrow is prep day and bright and early Sunday morning I'll flip the switch on the HLT heating element and hopefully be done before the heat of the day sets in.
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