The perfect starter

It seems that I brew too seldomly. I usually can not remember how to make the starter, so I have to think about it. Here is one way of making one, I can think of. These instructions are for liquid yeast. If the yeast is dried, somply add "Re-hydrate in a cup of pre-boiled water at 25deg C for a couple of minutes" as the second action in the below list

• Set the Whitelabs tube at room temperature and let it slowly warm up over 2 hours or so.
• While the tube is warming up, brew your batch of starter with dried malt extract, DME. 100 grams DME to 1 liter of water and a little bit of hops.
• Boil the starter for 10-15 minutes in a 2 liter Erlenmeyer Flask then cover and cool to 25-30deg C.
• Sanitize the outside of the tube of yeast.
• Pour contents into your Erlenmeyer Flask and cover with airlock and stopper.
• When the starter has a visible head of foam, you are ready to pitch - approximately 4 to 6 hours later. Older yeast will take longer.
  
• You may also brew a larger amount of starter at this point and divide your original starter among more containers for additional batches of starter.

Beer bloggers wanted in Denmark

Over at The Brew Site there is this great post about setting up a blog. Thats great - get over there and read it!

In fact there is way to few Danish beer bloggers out there, so get writing.

If you do not want to set up a blog yourself and want to post once in a while, why don't you write a guest post here at Nanobryg?

Drop me a line on jens AT nanobryg DOT dk

What is the difference between ale, bitter, lager and stout?

What is the difference between ale, bitter, lager and stout? I often get this and similar questions.

Here is the short answer and definition I have come up with:

• Ale
  Made with a top fermenting yeast, ales are described as hearty, robust, and fruity.
• Bitter
  A mainstay in English pubs, this golden-brown draft ale is top-fermented, hoppy, dry, and lightly carbonated.
• Lager
  Made with a bottom fermenting yeast, lagers are characteristically smooth, elegant, crisp, and clean. Comparable to pilsener.
• Stout
  Typically dark, heavy, and richly flavored, stout is top-fermented beer made from pale malt, roasted unmalted barley, and often caramel malt.
  

Ny maltmølle på vej

Jeg har alt for længe haft planer om at bygge en ny og mere effektiv maltmølle. Indtil videre en lille preview:

Valserne fra CrankAndStein

Motoren til den nye mølle.

Jeg har haft svært ved at komme i gang med at lave møllen, men nu er der hul på bylden. Selve monteringingen af valseværk, controller og motor er blevet ganske simpel. To stykker træ med statetisk korrekt placerede huller er alt hvad der skulle til, for at få den op og køre. Til at starte med havde jeg ikke de rigtige bolte til motoren, så derfor bevæger den sig på den nedenstående video (og ja, jeg ved godt at boltene til fastlåsning af valserne sidder i de forkerte huller :-) )

Hastigheden kan varieres fra under 1 omdrejning i sekundet op til ca 200, og ved de højere omdrejninger, kan møllen virkelig rive en arm af. Den observante læser vil også bemærke at der mangler en hopper / tragt til møllen, og her er jeg strandet pt. Ikke fordi jeg ikke har mod på at lave møllen færdig, men fordi valseværket er fabrikeret i USA og derfor ikke har de samme typer gevind som har i europa. Det betyder at jeg ikke har nogen bolte til at fasgøre hopperen. Så lige nu er jeg på udkig efter en dansk leverandør at boltene. Jeg ved at Maltbazaren.dk også arbejder på sagen, så er det bare at se hvem der kommer først med boltene.