Brewing beer aboard
 

What's the difference between American beer and making love in a canoe?
None. They are both ***king near water.

Brewing beer aboard
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
What's the difference between American beer and making love in a canoe?
None. They are both ***king near water.


I do not expect to have to bite into my beer to be able to ingest it. ;-)

American beers are indeed quite mild as compared to stout ales or beers from
Canada or Europe. There are a number of private brew houses throughout the
States frequented by those with a greater appreciation of beer.

Excluding the drunk party scenario.........we drink beer here as a
compliment to casual meals or to relax.

Now college drinking is another scenario altogether and the quality of the
beer is not high on that list. ;-)

Brewing beer aboard
 

I really don't see a feasible way to brew while underway but it might be
possible in a quiet anchorage. I think filteration must be necessary.

Primary fermentation is in what is basically a food-grade garbage can. It
takes about week or less. Secondary fermentation takes
another...week...less with with a clarifying agent and maybe filtering.
After that, it's bottling. After bottling leave for one week and then enjoy
responsibily.

One can buy canned kits that should be easy to store.

My challenge is that I can't see me making a normal 5-gallons at a
time...too big for my boat. Wondering how others solved this.

Glenn.

"Don W" wrote in message
. com...
Hi Bill,

Bill Kearney wrote:
Surely beer has to stand during the fermentation/settling process. How
can
you achieve that unless it's a houseboat you live on?

Not to mention how NASTY the smell is gonna be WHEN that thing tips over
due
to wave action.


I have never personally tried to make beer or ale, but have
always thought it would be a neat hobby.

Some friends of mine in Seattle used to make great beers,
ales, and wines at home. They were members of the Boeing
Employees brewing club (or some such org). Also, my cousins
used to make very tasty dark beer at home.

Here are some questions wrt this thread:

Take it for granted that you could set up a gimbled
arrangement for the brewing keg--could be as simple as
suspending from the ceiling in an aft cabin with some
bungees to keep it from swinging around too much...

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

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?

3) Are ingredients (besides the water) such that they could
be stored fairly long term while on a cruise?

Any successful homebrewers out there?

Don W.

Brewing beer aboard
 

JimH wrote:
"prodigal1" wrote in message
...

JimH wrote:

But then again, I am an American who favors a nice cold bottle of Miller
Genuine Draft. ;-)

and therein lies the problem
go north young man...great white north that is
pop-fzzzz-gulp-ahhhhhh
MGD? naw, that's not beer
__
everyone need something to believe in...
I believe I'll have another one (thanks Norm)


I have. When I drink beer I do not expect to find clumps of barley, malt
and yeast in it (a very stout beer!). I also do not expect to have to scoop
it out of the mug. ;-)

These flavour buds ensure the satisfying aftertaste. They also can be
counted as servings of green vegetables if one is concerned with such
things.

I want a beer that is pleasing to the taste yet does not overwhelm my
senses. Perhaps if I were raised in Dublin, Ireland or Fort George, Canada
I would have different tastes. ;-)

Absolutely. Sensory overload is a distinct problem with many of our
tasty beverages. Caution must be exercised at all times.

If you have a problem with MGD have you ever had a Coors Lite? Nothing
but water passed over some barley and hops for 2 seconds.

naw, just yanking your chain, both MGD and Coors are brewed up here and
the hotter it is, the better they taste!

Brewing beer aboard
 

Brewing beer aboard
 

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 22:56:40 -0500, prodigal1 wrote:

JimH wrote:
"prodigal1" wrote in message
...

JimH wrote:

But then again, I am an American who favors a nice cold bottle of Miller
Genuine Draft. ;-)

and therein lies the problem
go north young man...great white north that is
pop-fzzzz-gulp-ahhhhhh
MGD? naw, that's not beer
__
everyone need something to believe in...
I believe I'll have another one (thanks Norm)


I have. When I drink beer I do not expect to find clumps of barley, malt
and yeast in it (a very stout beer!). I also do not expect to have to scoop
it out of the mug. ;-)

These flavour buds ensure the satisfying aftertaste. They also can be
counted as servings of green vegetables if one is concerned with such
things.

I want a beer that is pleasing to the taste yet does not overwhelm my
senses. Perhaps if I were raised in Dublin, Ireland or Fort George, Canada
I would have different tastes. ;-)

Absolutely. Sensory overload is a distinct problem with many of our
tasty beverages. Caution must be exercised at all times.

If you have a problem with MGD have you ever had a Coors Lite? Nothing
but water passed over some barley and hops for 2 seconds.

naw, just yanking your chain, both MGD and Coors are brewed up here and
the hotter it is, the better they taste!

As a Pom now living in Australia, my problem is the temperature that
beer's served over here. If I want frostbite of the toungue, I'll
lick my eutetic plate.

Still, 20 seconds in the microwave brings a pint of Aussie beer to a
reasonable temperature and nothing could damage the taste any more
than the "brewers' have.

Brewing beer aboard
 

Peter Knight wrote:

As a Pom now living in Australia, my problem is the temperature that
beer's served over here. If I want frostbite of the toungue, I'll
lick my eutetic plate.

Still, 20 seconds in the microwave brings a pint of Aussie beer to a
reasonable temperature and nothing could damage the taste any more
than the "brewers' have.

buddy of mine feeds his dog beer --I know, he's an idiot-- calls the
poor thing "Six Pack"

funny thing is, the dog turns it's nose away from Fosters!

Brewing beer aboard
 

Glenn -

Do you recall or have a copy of the articles regarding the brewing of beer
on boats?
I do hope you receive constructive answers and hopefully someone who has
been brewing will answer your post. For years I hated to pay big bucks for
beer in most of the islands. I hated carrying a case or two back to the
boat. We went to rum because of the costs and avilablity. But we ended up
paying a lot for cokes and we were still carrying the cases back to the
boat.

From my experience, I had thought about brewing beer on my next boat. I
have also thought about putting in a mini soda fountain to dispense coke,
tonic...

Lastly, the best beer I had found in the West Indies was in the DR. We
would load up on beer and rum and ration our beer for special occasions.

stu


"Glenn A. Heslop" wrote in message
news:raEVf.183041$sa3.143382@pd7tw1no...
I've read several articles where cruisers were brewing their own beer
aboard
their boats. I brew my own when ashore, but have had to resort to
store-bought beer when living aboard for the winter.

Have any of you any experience brewing your own afloat?

Glenn.
s/v Seawing
www.seawing.net

Brewing beer aboard
 

Don W wrote:
Here are some questions wrt this thread:

Take it for granted that you could set up a gimbled arrangement for the
brewing keg--could be as simple as suspending from the ceiling in an aft
cabin with some bungees to keep it from swinging around too much...

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.

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.

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.

Any successful homebrewers out there?

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

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

--
Chuck Cox - SynchroSystems - Synchro.com
,
my email is politician-proof, just remove the PORK

Brewing beer aboard
 

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.