American Pale Ale Continued

It didn't take as long as we thought for the yeast to slow down in our APA.  It was ready to roll!  The yeast settled down, so it was time to rack the beer over into the secondary fermenter.  We did this on Thursday, April 21.  Only 5 days in the primary this time, but as you can see in the photo below, it was time.

Again, the key to this step is sanitation.  We cleaned and sanitized the secondary carboy as well as the plastic tubing that will be used to siphon the beer as well as our hands.  Cleaning your hands is important and is a step many tend to forget.

We also have a cup to the side to catch the initial runoff of the tube before we insert it into the carboy.  Why wouldn't you just pour it in, you may ask.  Well, remember, air is BAD for beer.  The less oxygenated the beer, the better.  Pouring the beer would cause air bubbles.  Some bubbles are going to be unavoidable, but the fewer the better.  We placed the secondary on the floor in preparation for the siphoning since gravity is needed.

Here Gary and Byron are siphoning the beer into the secondary.  To do this, we filled our plastic tube with water and capped one end.  We placed the other end into the cup, released the cap on the bottom of the tubing and the pressure allowed the water to flow out and the beer to be sucked up the tube.  Once the water had run out of the tube, we inserted it into the secondary.  We used the cling wrap to cover both fermenters' openings around the tube to avoid as much air as possible.

This particular recipe called for dryhopping.  Dry hopping is simply adding hops to the beer after it has been boiled to add a burst of bitterness and/or aroma.  Hops added during the boil release alpha acids that add the bitterness that is needed to offset the sweet maltiness of the beer.  Just as adding basil to a cooking pot yields flavor, but not nearly as much flavor as adding it fresh on top after the cooking is complete, adding hops after the boil provides that bright hoppy flavor.  Pictured here are 1/2 ounce of Goldings and 1/2 ounce of Cascade (both we used during the brew as well to keep the flavors consistent).

This is what the beer looks like as it enters the secondary.  You will notice that Byron put the siphoning tube all the way down onto the bottom.  Again, that is to keep from aerating the beer.  Bubbles = bad.  Isn't it a pretty color?

As the primary gets close to the bottom, we tilt it to get the remaining liquid out of it, but leave the adjuncts on the bottom behind.  Remember, we are trying to add clarity to our beer which is why we are racking it into a secondary fermenter.  Here, Gary and Byron get the last of the liquid that is useable as Daphne and Kirk observe.  We never seem to be alone when the beer process is as work.  We love it!

Now that we have gotten all of the liquid into the secondary, we add our hops and then cap the fermenter again with an airlock and set it in a dark place that is at an even temperature to ferment some more.  Any wonder the last time we made this it was 6.5% ABV?

Here is the finished (well, racked-over to the secondary) product.  The beer will need to sit some more for at least a week.  See all of the gunk in the bottom of the primary?  That is what we wanted out of our beer and the reason we racked it.

I will post more as time comes.  We will be adding some Gelatin Finings (another clarifier) to the beer a few days before we keg it, which will probably be some time this weekend.