GF Beer #3

Cleaned all the carboys, time to brew.
Additions:
Filtered water (Chlorine smell is noticeable from tap water).

Goal:
Dark Hoppy Ale
Ingredients:
Coffee
Roasted oats
Sorghum Syrup
Rice Syrup
Irish Moss

GF Beer #2 update

Waited longer to try GF Beer #2.  The aroma seemed to tone back as it aged.  I don't know if the aroma of the beer is bad, so much as my beer selection has been limited for so long, I think I have forgotten what a lot of real beers taste like.




I think the next time I brew this, I am going to try a hefeweizen yeast/hops, I think it would benefit from a citrus flavor and be a good summer beer.  The sorghum adds some bitterness to the finish of this beer. Not sure how to combat that.

Good ammount of carbonation, though some bottles really seemed to have a lot of head, and others not so much.  I think I am going to come up with a more standard method for cleaning bottles.  Noticed in some of the cider bottles (mostly 22ozs) that the yeast didn't completely settle in some of the bottles, which makes me wonder about the cleanliness of the bottle.

GF Beer 2

Bottled GF Beer 2.  Didn't bother taking a hydrometer reading, since I didn't take one at the beginning.

Taste:

Sweet, noticeable apricot taste, hops at finish. Doesn't taste like a traditional ale.  Not bad so far, but different.  Gonna let it rest for a month this time.

Probably going to retry the Oatmeal Pale Ale without the apricots next time...

Cider 1: Bottled.

Bottled. Yeilded 11, 22oz, 10 16oz bottles.
Added 5Oz Priming Sugar with 8 Oz water.
Final Hydrometer Reading:1.0. ~9%ABV.

Flavor:
Dry & Tangy without being bitter.
Able to taste alcohol at finish.

I'm pretty happy with this first cider. I guess I'm happy with anything that doesn't taste like the 5 brand's I've had for the past 2.75 years. Depending on how GF Beer 2 Goes, I may add more apricot/fruit to the next one.

Not able to taste cinnamon that was added.


Side Note:
Tap water had strong Cholrine Smell. Definitely going to buy my own Water filter for brewing.

MUST: make device for cleaning/sanitizing bottles faster.

Cider/GF Beer 2

Cider 1
Cider fermentation is finally winding down. Nice amber color, cloudy though. Will bottle Friday/Saturday. Only took ~18 days for it to settle down. This should be pretty strong.

GF Beer 2
Violent fermentation for first 3 days. Smell in the closet where the fermenter's reside was funky... makes me wonder if this will be my first train wreck. Starting to settle down. This beer will definitely go into a secondary for atleast a week.

GF Beer 2

Started GF Beer #2. Started as a English Pale Ale, decided to add apricot...
Apricot-Oat-Sorghum
Bittering Hops: UK Challenger
Aroma Hops: Fuggles
Windsor Yeast
1Tsp Irish Moss
Apricot (1lb/gallon)
5 Cups Toasted Rolled Oats

• 2 Cups roasted in oven, 200F 10 Minutes, 300F 10 Minutes, 400 F 10 Minutes. Opened oven several times to mix. Resulted with Mixed golden/brown. Allowed to rest for 1 week in brown paper bag.
  
• 3 Cups Roasted in oven, 400F 15 Minutes. No mixing, yeilded dark brown oats.

5 Lbs Apricots (cheap kind from Trader Joes...) Chopped in food processor.

1. Put Grains / Apricot in Muslin Bags (should have bought the big ones). Added 2.5 Gallons tap water to pot.
   
2. Heated on 3 to 170 (about 1 hour.)
3. Let steep for 15 minutes.
4. Removed oats, left apricots.
5. Added Sorghum Syrup. Brought to boil.
6. Added Challenger, boiled for 60 Minutes.
7. Last 15 minutes, added fuggles in muslin bag, 1 Tsp Irish Moss.
8. Added contents of Ice Tray to kettle to cool down (perhaps this was a mistake).
9. Added contents to fermenter.
10. Went to Canadian Thanksgiving.
11. Pitched yeast 6 Hours later.

Unknowns: exactly how much started in fermenter (Weighed 55lbs including the carboy).
Hyrdometer Reading.

GF Brewing Update

Bottled GF Beer #1. It tasted ok, almost how I remember an IPA tasting, it's been almost 3 years, so I'm not exactly sure I remember what these beers tasted like. Didn't bother taking any Hydrometer readings since I didn't take any at the outset.

Unfortunately, I think this beer has been making me sick. I was suspicious of the Corn Flake that was provided with the kit. I should have trusted my instinct on that one, and thrown it out at the outset.

Makes me paranoid about having contaminated my gear...

Brewing

Transferred GF Beer 1 to a Secondary today, has a nice amber color. Tasted ok so far, will bottle in another week.

Cider 1:
4 Gallon Cider
Champagne Yeast (2 Packets started in a 8oz cider with 3 tablespoons of honey)
1 Cup dried cranberries
3/4 Cup dried cherries
1/4 Cup dried apricots
2 Cups Honey
2 Cups Brown Sugar
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Tea Spoon Cinnamon

Started the yeast ~4 Hours before it was pitched - very active.
Mixed 1/2 Gallon Cider with the dried fruit, Honey, Sugar, and cinnamon. Brought to a boil, then pitched with the rest of the cider (straining fruit out.)

Pitched yeast when cider at 72F, SG:1.072.

GF Brewing, Attempt #1.

Gluten Free Beer Brewing. Remember, "Free of all natural allergens," means free of all natural flavor, the same motto extends to Gluten Free Beers.

Bought glass carboy, and GF Brewing kit today. Slight deviation, since original plan was to make cider as first home brewing attempt.

GF Brew kit consisted of:
Yeast, Sorghum Extract, Liberty Hops, Corn Flake, and Irish Moss.

I added two cups of GF Rolled Oats to the Corn Flake for mash... we will see what happens with this. I spilled about 1/2 cup of the Sorghum Syrup, so I added some honey (about 1/4 cup) in it's stead.

After the first fermentation, I'll buy a 5 gallon carboy for racking, and start brewing cider.


Probably going to construct a make shift cider press in the coming weeks; goal is to purchase as little as possible to get this rolling.

UPDATE:
Pitched yeast at around 86F @ Midnight. Yeast is active - vapor lock working!!

Summer Project > Fall Project

The project for this summer was gardening and canning/pickling.

• Pickled Green Beans per Gabe's grandmothers recipe. They came out real good, still very crisp.
• Pickled Cucumbers per USDA Home Pickling Quick Pickling Guide. Did not add anything to make the pickles firm (i.e. Alum) so they tasted fine but the texture = no good. Gonna try to stomach them anyway.
• Lot's of green tomatoes in the garden, and we are rolling into October, so it may be time to make Picklelilly relish.

With regard to the garden. We got a good number of vegetables, but our methods/timing needed improvement. Except the peppers, everything almost got killed at one point or another, or was not given enough room to grow.

For next Year:

• Pay attention to when to start seeds.
• Start fewer seeds.
• Don't put plant's out too soon.
• Do something different with the lettuce.
• Fewer tomato plants/more space to grow/plant.
• Strings for tomato plants to grow up.
  

3D Printer Advancements

A lot more work on the 3D printer.

• Learned a lot more about the firmware making the thing run. Attempted to get the Arduino Mega + Pololu Stepper Motors work with the Makerbot Extruder Controller, but they are just different enough to be beyond my current firmware capability. In the interest of getting this done in a timely manner, I've decided to adopt the complete Arduino Mega/Pololu Rep-Rap, schema.
• Waiting for AD595 Thermocouple Amp to arrive.
  
• Decided to abandon Makerbot Extruder Controller Board, gear motor. Different enough to be a pain to configure.
  
• Continuing using Arduino Mega, Pololu/Easydriver Stepper Motor Drivers, AD595. Thermocouple.
  
• Procured Parts: 12" Linear Stage, 1" Pitch Ball Screw, shipping.
  
• Using existing limit switches for endstops, instead of opto endstop.
• Procured X-stage Bearings, Rod, Shaft Supports, shipping.
• Need to design/buy floating Y stage.
• Need to spec pulleys/timing belts.
• Need to Design print head adaptor.
  

Summer Happened

Not much advancement on the Arduino since the fall. Moving->Summer=Not A lot of time spent inside twiddling with electronics.

• Spliting CNC Endeavors. I have accumulated a mini lathe, so I am looking to retrofit it for EMC2 CNC Controls, using Xylotex System. If that ever dies, I will probably go with and Arudino Based System, new advancements on GRBL.
  
• Spent a lot of time trying to get my Makerbot Extruder/Controller, to work with Xylotex CNC Driver/EMC2. Abandoned because difficulty/not enough know-how to make work with Linux/Time.
• Adopted Arduino Mega/Pololu Stepper Driver Method - better documentation,
  
• Currently attempting to edit Motherboard/Extruder Controller to work with each other.

Current Challenges:

• Connecting Makerbot Extruder to Arduino Mega - Have to alter the Firmware for both extruder and motherboard/pololu to make work. It seems I have just the right number of motors to make the lathe CNC, and the 3D Printer. Let's just hope they are strong enough to provide the right power.
  
• No other Arduino Mega + Makerbot Extruder (DC Gear Motor vs. Stepper Motor) + Pololu Stepper Drivers, existing. More anxious to get the thing printing than ambitious to get into the firmware, so I am going to forgo for now.
  
• Need Opto-EndStops.
• Need to build physical machine - have held off on the machine, until I get the extruder working - but the extruder is getting close.