Hi Chuck,

Chuck Cox wrote:

1) Would you be able to brew a batch in a fairly quiet anchorage? How
long does the brewing process take?


Anywhere from a month to a year. A decent ale might take 6 weeks.
Mostly depending on temperature, strength and gravity. A cool anchorage
would be preferred, warm ferments can get funky and messy. Ideally
something in the 50-70F range for ales.

A month to six weeks sounds doable. A lot of long-term
cruisers seem to hang out in the same place for that long.
The temperature range could probably be handled with a
cooler, or possibly with just a small water evaporation pump.

2) Is there something inherent in the brewing process that would cause
it to not work when the contents are constantly agitated such as at
sea? If settling is the issue, could you substitute filtration?


According to lore, one of the things that made the original India Pale
Ale unique was the fact that they underwent secondary fermentation and
aging in oak casks while sailing from England to India. Supposedly the
agitation increased the efficiency of the fermentation, converting a
higher percentage of sugars to alcohol than was the norm at the time.
Some scholars dismiss this as just lore however.

Also, in Burton-on-Trent they created the Burton Union system which
intentionally agitates fermentation to increase efficiency. This also
produces a surfeit of yeast which they dry and put in jars and sell to
Aussies who actually eat it for some reason.

In general I think it is safe to say that the agitation of brewing at
anchor would allow the fermentation to go on longer than usual,
producing a slightly lower finishing gravity and higher alcohol than on
land. Also, clarity would be slightly reduced due to the agitation and
increased yeast bed. Filtration works, but requires a pump and filters
and will make a hell of a mess when a fitting lets loose. A simpler
solution would be to use a clarifying agent and some patience. Racking
to a tertiary fermenter would also help clarify it. Dark beers don't
need much clarity, and a full-bodied stout can hide a lot of flaws,
especially after the 3rd pint.

If I understand what you are getting at correctly, you could
probably start a batch at anchor, and possibly let it
continue to ferment on a passage. Sounds like the agitation
wouldn't be a show stopper.

3) Are ingredients (besides the water) such that they could be stored

fairly long term while on a cruise?


It depends on how you make your beer. Storing fresh grain and hops is
probably a pain on a boat. On the other hand, dry malt extract can be
stored like sugar and vacuum packed hop pellets are more robust than
fresh hops. You can even use hop extract if your beer doesn't need too
much hop character. Dried yeast packs store nicely.

Making beer from dry extract, hop pellets and dry yeast is not going to
yield a competition-quality homebrew, but with practice, and depending
on your taste, you might be able to develop a combination of recipe and
technique that worked for you.

Fresh grain probably wouldn't be a problem unless you needed
large quantities of it. 25-50lbs could be vaccum packed and
storred on a boat. We like to make fresh bread, and are
considering taking an electric grinder and fresh wheat to
make flour for the bread.

I grew up on a wheat farm, so can testify that wheat,
barley, oats, and corn all store quite nicely if kept dry.
I'd add rice to the list as well, as we still have a good
bit of a 50 lb bag that we bought back in 1999, and its
still as good as new.

Don't know about hops though.


Any successful homebrewers out there?


I'm a former award-winning homebrewer and BJCP Master Beer Judge.

cool! Would you mind describing the process from start to
finish for those of us that would like to try, but haven't
yet gotten educated on the finer (or possibly even some of
the coarse) points?

Where are you thinking of brewing? I'm assuming there are some ports of
call where an onboard brewery would be frowned upon.

I'll bet! That would take some research to determine where
it would be okay and where they would get irritated at you.

Don W.