I still cannot seem to locate my camera cable in order to transfer any pictures. I can't imagine where the cable was last left at. What I've been doing lately is mostly cleaning, however in the meantime, I have transferred beer from one 5 gallon keg to a second 5 gallon keg, to which I've added some dextrose syrup and will be leaving for approximately three or more weeks to naturally carbonate. This saves me from using a co2 gas tank, plus lets the beer's flavors mellow and age.
I've also been working on plans for a Gluten Free Stout which didn't go as well as I'd like. There are several recipes floating out on the internet now, particularly where some people have been working on various renditions of a stout. A Stout tends to be a dark, slightly sweet, and heavy beer. Heavy in the way of mouthfeel, texture and flavor. It tends to be made from darkly roasted grains and have a coffee or chocolate flavor. Those of us unable to have the normal grains have to try to find different workarounds using toasted oats, buckwheat and other gluten free grains.
There are many combinations that I would like to try, but I had toasted about half a pound of gluten free steel cut oats until it was a fairly dark color. I may have overtoasted it, or toasted it too quickly because what had happened when I steeped it in hot water two weeks later, was that it gave off a burnt odor. Perhaps I'll let it sit and degas even longer than two weeks next time. It did give off a fairly dark color however. I believe that it would be better if the grains contained sugar (like malted grains) so that it would caramelize rather than toast.
What I wound up doing yesterday was cooking these grains in a gallon of water until it was like a cooked oatmeal, let the temperature cool to around 150 and then added some amylase enzyme and let it sit for an hour. I then poured the liquid into another pot and repeatedly dipped the grains in a large pot of hot water to try to get anything else out. I then added the liquid to the pot.
I also used about a cup of molasses, similar to my first beer. This was primarily to add color and sugar to the liquid. I added half an ounce of columbus hops at the beginning. Later on, I added 2 tablespoons of a local cocoa powder, then added 2 more tablespoons later. I also added 7 pounds of sorghum extract.
This resulted in:
.5 lbs dark roasted oats
.5 oz columbus hops (60)
7 lbs sorghum extract (45)
1 gallon oat liquid (45)
2Tbs cocoa powder (30)
2Tbs cocoa powder (15)
1/4tsp irish moss (15)
It seems that I added far too much water so I wound up with 6 gallons total of liquid which seemed to have a 1.050 original gravity (lower than what I had wanted). I had planned on 5.5 gallons with about .5 gallons boiling away since that's what had happened last time. I put this into a keg as well as two gallon sized jugs.
The keg was the same one as the earlier English Bitter, or English Pale Ale and I added the liquid right to the remaining S-04 yeast. In the two gallon sized kegs, I used the yeast I had on hand which was S-33 a lager yeast. I don't know what that will do to it.
I later plan to include some chocolate nibs (also from the local supplier) pressurized in vodka to get a stronger extraction and add that to the stout. I will also look at adding espresso that I will roast, brew and deoil.
Later attempts at this stout will likely include using buckwheat grains that have been toasted, which others seem to have had some success with, as well as buckwheat honey for it's color and molasses-like flavor.
I think I'll get some longer hoses for the chiller. The chiller is a coiled length of copper tubing that sits in the boiling liquid. Cold water is run through this copper pipe by way of a pvc tubing from the end of the copper tubing to the sink. A second tube runs from the other end of the pipe to the sink. I knew I needed longer ones because the size barely fits now, and the outflow sits at the edge of the sink, held down by a weight. But, if the weight slips, like it did last night, I get splashed in boiling hot water which results in a lot of pain. I pretty much gave up and finished what I could and barely cleaned up any of that mess afterwards.
