The Day the Group was Launched

Group is a Go!
In previous posts I mumbled about forming a group, a club or association of homebrewers in the Philippines. Yeah right Dan. Are you some kind of politician? OK, not a politician as I think people still like me. Well on Saturday PM I posted some ads in a few of the Philippines related groups on Yahoo promoting the Homebrewers in the Philippines group.

The results were fantastic! Within a few hours there were 20 members! The next day there were 40 and today we sit at 49 members. We had special endorsement from Don at Living In The Philippines and that is really cool. Thanks Don. Don's group is very popular. (The link is: here)

If you are interested in joining in the discussion on beer, homebrew, wine making, mead making, vinegar, yogurt, cheese, sauerkraut and anything else that ferments then click the link and join.

Join na po!

I have too much work to do today, but I want to say I have bought more grains. I bought 2kg of barley and 2kg of wheat. We'll have to wait for my first experiment to finish. I think it may have gone sour so I want to start trying some new things again.

Job Openings
Oh yeah, we have a few openings in the group for persons of high expertise. We need a yeast expert (I think that is some sort of microbiologist), a malting specialist (maltster), a chemist, a brewmeister, physicist and a professional jester or clown. Know anyone that wants to have fun? Free stay at my place if you join. I provide the beer. Cool? Another oh... there is no monetary, financial or otherwise reward. This is a volunteer "job".

Just in case my lawyer complains, I will say that all disbursements to volunteers shall be in liquid form, ad nauseum, ad perpetum, ad barlyuem and some lupulum.

:-)

Cheers!

Getting Homebrew Supplies from the USA

It's a scorching Sunday afternoon and I am happy today as I placed my order at Homebrew Heaven in Everett, Washington USA. I have been friends with Ralph and his team at Homebrew Heaven there for over four years. I asked him if they ship to the Philippines. Ralph says says they ship quite a few orders to the Philippines. The sad part is they ship only USPS Air Parcel to the Philippines and it's expensive; but... at least I know it will get here. By expensive I mean about the same in US dollars as my order. Example, I ordered $50 worth of supplies and the air freight was $48.40. Oh my! Well, most of my order is heavy on hops and yeast as they are difficult to find here. I also got a few pieces of hardware like a bottle filler, fermentation thermometer and a tiny (4 pounds) of dark Dry Malt Extract or DME as it's called in the trade.

We've had a few brown-outs (black outs in the rest of the world) but I have a laptop and I can keep blogging. Maybe I should walk to the sari-sari and get a Pale Pilsen or two to fight the heat.
Oh I want to take lots of pictures when the stuff arrives. I expect it in about 10 business days.

Wish me luck, it's like Pasko di ba?


Cheers....

Ambient Temperatures in Brewing Ales

Today, I am researching the effects of higher than ideal fermentation temperatures and simple "homemade" solutions to overcome some of these problems.

I recently listened to a podcast from Basic Brewing Radio featuring homebrew author John Palmer. The host James Spencer and John talked about issues of high fermenting temperatures. The gist of it is: High temperatures during fermentation can produce off flavors, but the most important time to have a cooler wort is when pitching. Increases in temperatures after the yeast's growth phase are acceptable, but not too high. From what I have gleaned from research and that podcast is that 90° F (32.2° C) as the absolute maximum temperature, of course this will depend on the yeast used. When I say absolute maximum this is not what I consider an ideal fermentation temperature.

What is deemed most important for hot climate brewing is the pitching temperature. With an ice bucket pre-chiller and immersion wort chiller I will certainly be able to get the wort to 20° prior to pitching the yeast. If I wrap the primary fermenter with some insulation the wort temperature should remain low and fairly constant until the yeast growth phase is complete. After the growth phase is complete the brew temp can increase as long as it doesn't get too warm.

I would like to build an insulated box with a place for an ice tray. I'd need a week's worth of ice, but can make a few bags of ice a day to keep the system cool. This box would allow me to use lager yeast and brew at cooler (10° C) temperatures, but I'd be happy with 15 to 17° C and a nice ale.

So as I build my mini brewery, I will be on the lookout for ways to keep things cool with ice. My shopping list now includes some lengths of copper pipe, a few pieces of garden hose, fittings and a sheet of rigid polystyrene. I know I can get the plumbing parts, but the 'am not sure about the polystyrene. I have seen plans on the web for a brew box that's made of polystyrene. It's rigid and easy to work with. I could also buy or build a wooden box and line it with something. Perhaps something native or spray the inside with insulating foam spray. More things to keep my eyes peeled for.

My next research project is about malting. There is a grains dealer about 4km from the house here. (we're semi-rural) I saw a bag of barley the last time we went past on the jeepney. Hmmm, home malted barley? Pwede!

'till next time...cheers.

Welcome to my new blog on my experimentations with home brewing. I have lived in the Philippines for a while now and have not yet come across any homebrew stores, home brewing clubs or really anything related to home brewing and/or wine making at all.

I hope to one day start a homebrew club in the Philippines and maybe have an online forum where the members can exchange ideas, recipes, tips and advice.

I will be posting some of my research as I develop recipes with a distinct Pinoy flavor. I will be malting some rice while I gather my brewing gear. So far gingerbeer is the only thing I have started as barley and hops are tough to come by.

If you have any information on suppliers in the Philippines or want to drop me a message please do.

Best wishes and hope to see you soon.