Jim's Beer Kit Winter Warmer for CAMRA's Beer magazine

[StevePereira]

I posted this on the thread about the Beer magazine home brewing articles.

Anyway. My aim is to encourage people to get into brewing without getting too anxious about the details. Brewing is not difficult, and people do not always need to be precise. Kits are great to start people off, and many people are quite happy staying with kits. I don't wish to leave the kit people behind, and will be looking to have recipes which can be done with both kit and grain.

For the winter issue of Beer I am thinking of doing a partial mash for a Winter Warmer. Tom originally gave me a word target of 300-350 words for the column which I have pushed to 470 and he hasn't objected. Of that word total I am keen to have something about the background of the style in order to put it into context, and to make the article readable to the general reader who (as yet) is not a homebrewer. And some space would need to be given to the equipment needed - grain bag and colander to rest it in while draining, etc. I'm thinking 150 - 200 words on the background, then 300 - 350 for the equipment and recipe.

What might be interesting, if you guys are keen, would be to produce a "Jim's Beer Kit Winter Warmer". You guys would shape the recipe, and would get the credit and a link in the column. I understand that not everyone would want to get involved, and I wouldn't wish to cause conflict within the forum, so it's a tentative suggestion, and if I get flamed down I will understand and leave you guys alone. But see what you think.

Responses so far:

I would love to get involved in a winter warmer recipe . . . although a bit late for this year . . . . what brew length are we talking about, and what size of boiler do we assume the 'brewer' to have, as that will, without a doubt, shape the ingredients and method.

To sound a positive note I think it's great that we have the chance to give feedback directly to the person writing these CAMRA articles. It says something about the reputation of JBK if nothing else!

One thing I found strange was that in the same issue there was more print devoted to a detailed "science" article on finings! Perhaps a similar article on hops explaining alpha acid, aroma and bittering uses, storage, substituting different varieties etc would save you having to cover the same topic?

For future articles I would suggest keeping the background on style to a minimum. That sort of thing gets covered elsewhere in Beer/What's Brewing. I think writing about the ingredients in the recipe, why they are appropriate to the style, their flavour etc would still interest the casual reader, then devote more space to the equipment and method.

Using a grain bag and colander... it would be nice if you could cover the more modern approaches (sorry Jim ) to mashing.

It think it would good if we could give you ideas/feedback for a recipe, especially if it gives JBK a plug. I would also love to see CAMRA give more prominence to home/craft brewing. Perhaps a direct mention of Graham's new book would be an idea too?

the winter warmer project is a great idea. there's a wealth of knowledge on this website that could be put to good use. i've read all the books - Papazian, Line, Wheeler, Palmer, even Alexander, but i've learned more about brewing from other brewers either here or at LAB. if we can't agree we can always put a contentious issue to the vote with the poll facility (e.g. "what makes the most difference to a beer, hops or yeast?" )

I take the point about talking more about the ingredients - and perhaps methods and equipment, rather than the style, as style is generally covered elsewhere.

[boingy]

I don't think you need to talk much about the ingredients but you do need to list the ingredients and quantities more precisely.
If you choose common ingredients and probably a single (common) hop variety you increase the chances of newcomers being able to get hold of them. Given the prices of hops, the single hop thing is probably important.

Porter is a good beginner's beer. It is fairly forgiving on the technique and also has the benefit of masking a cloudy brew.

One question: when will this be published? It may be a bit late for a winter warmer. My brewing thoughts are already turning to something lighter for spring and summer.

[NickK]

I could say

1.5 buckets of malt

3/4 pack of hops (bittering)

1/4 pack of hops (finishing)

and you'll be fine as long as you use White Labs WLP026 Premium Bitter Ale yeast

But of course that might be a bit misleading.

If you were to use one of the buckets in my shed and any number of the packs of hops this particular homebrewers freezer it would be fine but the choice of shed and freezer in this case would be much more important than the choice of yeast)

Winter warmer is basically using all your old ingredients up into one heavy alcoholic brew to offset the cold.. the high alcohol content (a) keeps the brew from freezing and (b) kills any accidental food poisonings from turkey..

[StevePereira]

I don't think you need to talk much about the ingredients but you do need to list the ingredients and quantities more precisely.
If you choose common ingredients and probably a single (common) hop variety you increase the chances of newcomers being able to get hold of them. Given the prices of hops, the single hop thing is probably important.

Porter is a good beginner's beer. It is fairly forgiving on the technique and also has the benefit of masking a cloudy brew.

One question: when will this be published? It may be a bit late for a winter warmer. My brewing thoughts are already turning to something lighter for spring and summer.

This would be for the Autumn issue. I was thinking of an Imperial Stout at first because that's an impressive beer to make easily, and can be cheated out of a dry stout kit, so I'd be quite happy to change to a dark beer. Winter Warmers incline to the dark, and are a fairly vague style. We could call it JBK Winter Porter.

[Horden Hillbilly]

Steve, if you fancy giving a porter a go, I made a cracker recently, recipe here.

You can see the brewday, the beer being served & some feedback on the porter here.

[Chiltern Brewer]

I quite like the old ale style. A simple recipe would use pale, crystal and a small amount of a dark malt (1-2%) and some sugar to boost the gravity a bit and not to leave it cloying. This could work as a malt extract recipe to as you wouldn't need to mash the crystal and dark malt just substitute LME for the pale malt. English hops (suggest alternatives/equivalents) and English ale yeast.

Here an example of something I brewed the autumn before last, the amber and wheat malt add complexity but could be dropped in favour of more pale and crystal malt. I think going for gravities higher than 1050 for the novice masher would not be a good idea.

[Aleman]

What sort of beer volume are we talking about?
What sort of volume do we have for boiling?
What can we assume we will be using for a kettle?

I notice you say using a Stout kit as a base . . . Indeed I had a cracking winter warmer made from a double strength stout kit . . . but boiling a 2 1/2 gallon stout kit with hops is going to affect all sorts of things. . . . and you would want additional hops/bitterness

[StevePereira]

What sort of beer volume are we talking about?
What sort of volume do we have for boiling?
What can we assume we will be using for a kettle?

I notice you say using a Stout kit as a base . . . Indeed I had a cracking winter warmer made from a double strength stout kit . . . but boiling a 2 1/2 gallon stout kit with hops is going to affect all sorts of things. . . . and you would want additional hops/bitterness

These matters are up for discussion.

The difficulty is the equipment, and making it as easy as possible for the beginner who knows very little about the science of brewing and has little equipment.

I'm thinking of a partial mash using a grain bag and colander. But it has been suggested that there may be a better way of doing it.

[Jim]

Regarding equipment, I understand the wish to try to make a grain beer with the minimum of gear, but I wonder if it's a good idea to start off that way. It's always easier to do a job if you have the proper tools, and for all grain brewing that means a mash tun, a boiler and a fermenter as a minimum. Even an expert would struggle with the equipment you're talking about.

Some people may not agree, but I think it would be better to encourage people to start with a kit. Some of the better all-malt kits make a cracking beer and all you need is a fermenter and some bottles. Plus you already have a partial set up if you decide go on to grain brewing.

[boingy]

I've been pondering the question of equipment. Folks will not want to spend a large amount on equipment just to give all-grain a try. I'm guessing most people who try will have made at least one beer kit so will have access to a 5 gallon fermenter (or be prepared to buy one).

(warning, the following may offend the purists, but remember that we are compromising the process a little to reduce the equipment requirements)

I reckon you can get decent results with hardly any special stuff and that a 3 gallon batch would be a great starting place. The boil can be split across as many pans as you need. The bigger issue is the mash. Unless you manage to stay with a few degrees of 67C for at least an hour then you will not make beer. The best thing I can think of is to mash in an unmodified coolbox. After 60-90 minutes you could just scoop out the grain and strain through a sieve or some muslin (or a pair of tights!). Put the grain back into the coolbox, add the sparge water then strain again. Aim to collect about 3 gallons or wort. Divide the wort equally across a few pans and split the hops in the same proportions. Rolling boil 60-90 mins. Pour into FV via the same sieve/muslin/tights, top up with cold water and wait for the temp to cool to 20 degrees. Proceed as for kits.

This shortcuts many of the more techy parts of brewing but you can still make a bloody decent beer like this.

I figure most people will have access to a coolbox and a largish stock pot or pan.

(Boingy looks around for his parapet again...)