New patio poured on the back of the new house? Check. New fence up? Check. Hops set up and strung up? Check. Sounds like I have all the fix’n’s for a new brewing and barbequing space.
A view of a few of my hop plants (these ones are Glacier and Centennial). I’ll do a few updates throughout this season on my hop yard).
Lots of breaking in to do this weekend. FIrst time using the new patio extensively. First time firing up my new smoker. FIrst time brewing on my new propane burner and 9 gallon kettle. First time brewing at all since February 3rd. Yes, it is appropriate to envision me giggling in anticipation. Fortunately, the weather in the Philly area is supposed to be pretty much money this weekend, so game on.
My original inclination was to brew and smoke in the same day. Then I envisioned a lot of stress and rushing around multitasking while trying to learn a few new pieces of equipment at the same time. Don’t get ahead of yourself John, there will be plenty of time to multitask once your comfortable with the new gear.
As a result, I’ll be christening the new smoker with a couple pounds of beef jerky (done two ways) on Saturday, and breaking in the new brewing gear with a 5 gallon all-grain batch of a pretty straightforward APA. Enter prep day.
Whenever possible, it always seems like a good idea to do as much prep work in advance as you can. It makes cooking and brewing much more enjoyable. Today was very definitely a prep day – 1L WLP-001 starter, buy a propane tank, strip down and deep-clean the mash tun that hasn’t been used in a long ass time, marinate jerky, clean and prep the smoker. Busy day. Totally worth it to be able to get going right off the bat tomorrow. The plan is to continue that prepatory philosophy tomorrow by giving the brewing rig a good PBW soak once I get the smoker temperature dialed in good. It is all about making the actual brew/cook day a lot more enjoyable by taking away as much stress as possible from a hectic schedule.
Beef Jerky, Two Ways
I’ve never made jerky before, but I figure that would be a good way to break in my new smoker. Since it’s my first time, I decided I would try out a couple different flavors and styles to see what works for me, and what doesn’t. The first is based off of the jerky recipe in the Stone Brewery Book (which, on a side note, is an awesome book, and you should buy it … like, now), which uses a steak sauce recipe in the same book. Their’s calls for using Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard, which I substituted Southern Tier Live, because I had it on hand and thought the flavor would go well.
For the other jerky variety, I chose to go with a pretty straightforward Cajun dry rub, but a little heavier on brown sugar. Both versions got a pound of 1/4 inch sliced top round steak and were marinated over night. From what I can gather, it will probably take me 4-6 hours to smoke the jerky around 200F until it is dried out enough.
Tire Kicker Pale Ale
Sunday will be the time to shake out the cobwebs and fire up the new burner and kettle. Prior to moving into our new house, I was confined to a tiny kitchen with an electric range for brewing, so, needless to say, I am very excited to have an outdoor brewing setup. To see how the new system works out and how efficient it is, I figured a great place to start would be a straightforward APA – something I am comfortable with and know what it should come out like – a control, if you will. An APA also fills my need for a sessionable beer to restock my homebrew supply. My stockpile is looking mighty heavy on barley wines, strong belgians, meads, and ciders.
Needless to say, I am very amped to get back in the saddle and brew again, so all in all, this weekend is slated to dull the homebrew itch pretty good. Get out there and enjoy the weekend! Cheers!
Tire Kicker Pale Ale
Recipe specifics:
Style: American Pale Ale
Batch size: 5.2 gal
Boil volume: 6.2 gal
OG: 1.058
FG: 1.014
Bitterness (IBU): 40.5
Color (SRM): 5.8
ABV: 5.7%
Grain/Sugars:
10.00 lb Two-row (US), 90.9%
1.00 lb Crystal 20L, 9.1%
Hops:
0.50 oz Columbus (AA 15.4%, Whole) 60 min, 23.1 IBU
0.50 oz Columbus (AA 15.4%, Whole) 15 min, 11.5 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial (AA 9.0%, Pellet) 5 min, 6.0 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial (AA 9.0%, Pellet) 0 min, 0.0 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial (AA 9.0%, Pellet) dry hop
Yeast/Misc:
California Ale yeast, 1.0 unit(s), Yeast
Irish Moss, 1.0 unit(s), Fining 1 tsp at 15 min
Song of the Day: “Oh Me, Oh My” by Streetlight Manifesto
Beer of the Day: Southern Tier Live
The Absentminded Brewer 