# Cannabis and Hops... Let's Make some Beer



## yktind (Jun 17, 2014)

Okay RIU!

Let me start by saying I am not a professional by any means. 

I have been brewing beer for a while now and have about 5 brews under my belt (15 gallon batches). I just ordered a 6 gallon Carboy and 7 gallon ferment-er. We will be doing some brewing this weekend just to break her in and to get my sea legs back. This will be my first solo brew (usually it is my uncle + me). I'll have all the tools needed, hops, malt, stainless steel pot, etc, etc. 

Just received my copy of "How To Brew" by John Palmer (basically this is the brewer's bible). This will be an ongoing thread so please feel free to post anything beer/ cannabis related. 

What I want to do is replace the hops with buds, hoping to retain the smells and taste of the actual plant. When brewing with hops in the past I have always noticed that hops retain a lot of the smell and some of their flavor usually it mellows out a bit. Essentially I want to make an THC "beer".

During the brewing process you make what is called "wort". This is the building blocks of your beer. Add most ingredients, water, malt, hops (or in this case buds), sugar, orange or lemon zest, etc. This goes into a pot and boils for around 45 mins - 2 hours depending on size and flavor goals. 

From my understanding this will be plenty of time to decarboxolate the THC. However there is nothing to break the THC away from the plant material and mix with the wort. Later on during the fermentation process alcohol will begin to form as a byproduct of the yeast. This will work as a solvent I suppose and help to dissolve the THC. The goal here is an even mix so that every beer is identical in potency. 

Has anyone on here ever brewed beer? Better yet, has anyone brewed a cannabis beer?

I have a harvest coming in the middle of July so I plan to try out my little experiment at that time. 

In the mean time please post away. I need advice, Stories of what has worked and what hasn't. Blah Blah, I'd love to hear some of your recipes for just beer as well. 

I want this thread to be about Brewing... with the added benefit of trying a THC beer. 

Here is the brew Kit:


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## yktind (Jun 17, 2014)

Here is a little reading about hops and how they are related to Cannabis:
http://entheology.com/plants/humulus-lupulus-hops/

...Indeed, Cannabis and hops are the only plants in the Cannabaceae family, and can be cross-grafted very well, but there is no translocation of cannabinoids to the hops vine when this is done (Voogelbreinder 2009, 192)...








*TRADITIONAL USES: *Many people only associate the hops plant with beer and do not consider it an entheogen. However, it does create altered states, both on its own and brewed in to alcoholic beverages, and for some people it can be a very powerful healer. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive picture of hops so that you can decide for yourself what constitutes an entheogen or plant medicine. 







*TRADITIONAL EFFECTS:* Hops flowers contain 15-30% resin, as well as bitter acids, an essential oil, minerals, flavonoids, chalcones, polypenoles, and catechines. The flowers contain yellow hops granules, which include the bitter lupulone. This substance has antibiotic properties and creates the characteristic bitter taste of hopped beer. It has a calming effect on humans, and also inhibits premature ejaculation. Furthermore, it has antimycotic, spasmolytic, and estrogenic effects (Williams & Menary 198.


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## yktind (Jun 17, 2014)

I am working on the recipe right now and doing some google research. So far I know that I will be using 54 grams/ 5 gallons of brew. This puts about 1 gram per beer, 12 fl. oz. beers.

Anyone think this will be to much or perhaps not enough. I like to drink between 3 and 6 beers at a time. I don't want to rocking back and forth shaking like a leaf as I finish my third beer. When I make I edibles I aim for about 1/2 - 1 gram per cookie. and usually eat 1 cookie. I don't know how this will translate into a liquid form though.

Perhaps I should start with a 1 gallon brew. I just don't know If I can make such a small amount using a 6 gallon ferment-er/ carboy.

Now that I think about it I should probably aim for 1/4 gram per beer.


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## greenlikemoney (Jun 17, 2014)

Don't be surprised ( or disappointed as the case may be ) when your batch is undrinkable. From an all-grain brewer. Happy experimenting though.


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## yktind (Jun 17, 2014)

greenlikemoney said:


> Don't be surprised ( or disappointed as the case may be ) when your batch is undrinkable. From an all-grain brewer. Happy experimenting though.


Hey @greenlikemoney Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by "undrinkable"...

This will be using cured and dried buds. It is a toss up between using that and sugar trim, larf that I use for hash. But I want the end product to have trace smells and flavors of the plant I use... In this case Skywalker OG.

I read in another thread about leaving to much chlorophyll, etc. That is why I am thinking dried cured buds.

Also, I have never brewed with grain. Our basic recipe is; hops, water, malt, sugar, hops, hops, cold water and yeast.


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## greenlikemoney (Jun 17, 2014)

yktind said:


> Hey @greenlikemoney Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by "undrinkable"...
> 
> This will be using cured and dried buds. It is a toss up between using that and sugar trim, larf that I use for hash. But I want the end product to have trace smells and flavors of the plant I use... In this case Skywalker OG.
> 
> ...


Yes, I assumed you were using a malt extract as you didn't list your grain bill. As you most likely are aware, the bitterness of the hops complements ( or overrules ) the sweetness of your wort. Cannabis does not contain those bitter qualities ( thank you God for that small miracle ). You will definitely need to supplement your cannabis with hops or your finished product will be wayyyy tooooo sweet for consumption ( just my opinion ).


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## Cannabliss88 (Jun 17, 2014)

I'll have a CPA (Cannabis Pale Ale)


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## yktind (Jun 18, 2014)

greenlikemoney said:


> Yes, I assumed you were using a malt extract as you didn't list your grain bill. As you most likely are aware, the bitterness of the hops complements ( or overrules ) the sweetness of your wort. Cannabis does not contain those bitter qualities ( thank you God for that small miracle ). You will definitely need to supplement your cannabis with hops or your finished product will be wayyyy tooooo sweet for consumption ( just my opinion ).


Okay good note. I'll porbably do 1:1 hops:cannabis. I usually add hops at three different times... Start of wort, 45 mins of boiling towards the end and sometimes a dry hop for aroma. 

I have never worked with grain for brew before. What is a beer I would know of that uses grain? I've heard that the big three (Miller, Coors, Anhuser Busch) use rice to save on cost. Don't know if that is true or not.


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## greenlikemoney (Jun 18, 2014)

yktind said:


> Okay good note. I'll porbably do 1:1 hops:cannabis. I usually add hops at three different times... Start of wort, 45 mins of boiling towards the end and sometimes a dry hop for aroma.
> 
> I have never worked with grain for brew before. What is a beer I would know of that uses grain? I've heard that the big three (Miller, Coors, Anhuser Busch) use rice to save on cost. Don't know if that is true or not.


True about the BIG 3, but most small batch brews are all-grains ( no rice ). Quite honestly, aside from local brewerys, Sam Adams has the best beer brewed in America. PBR is still brewed without rice also. You couldn't pay me to drink a BIG 3 beer, they are garbage.

As for your hopping schedule, I think you would get a better product using your cannabis as a dry hop ingredient. Definitely don't use it in your wort start and I'd be leary of using it at your 45 minute addition. End of boil and dry hopping is your best bet. Also, just remember if someone could have made a beer that tastes like cannabis, it would have already been done and recipe shared with the world. True that.


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## polo the don (Jun 18, 2014)

I have to admit this is a good idea. Even if it don't work. 
Just a thought, could you make a tincture and add some to each bottle before putting the top on? You wouldn't really get the taste or smell your looking for but wouldn't you still get the effect?


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## yktind (Jun 18, 2014)

greenlikemoney said:


> True about the BIG 3, but most small batch brews are all-grains ( no rice ). Quite honestly, aside from local brewerys, Sam Adams has the best beer brewed in America. PBR is still brewed without rice also. You couldn't pay me to drink a BIG 3 beer, they are garbage.
> 
> As for your hopping schedule, I think you would get a better product using your cannabis as a dry hop ingredient. Definitely don't use it in your wort start and I'd be leary of using it at your 45 minute addition. End of boil and dry hopping is your best bet. Also, just remember if someone could have made a beer that tastes like cannabis, it would have already been done and recipe shared with the world. True that.


Edit: Documentary Name = Beer Wars | Click Here for a Link

I drink Coors, when I can't afford good micros (Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, etc.). After watching a documentary on Beer and the big 3 and how fucked up the industry actually is, makes you think twice about buying any of their shit.

Anyway I like your idea of dry hopping the cannabis. I think that will help retain the smells and flavors. Only thing that worries me is the wort will be in process of cooling down... so it'll be around 200 degrees and will take maybe an hour or two to get down to yeast adding level. We usually add a couple gallons of chilled water to help speed it up, I could skip the chilled water (that is always done in the 15 gallon batches any way). My question then would be: Is this enough time to decarboxolate? The true test is how long it take to get from 200 degrees to 80 degrees.

So I will skip the chilled water to help decarb. The cannabis will be dry hopped (which is after the wort comes off the fire). Now to figure out my basic recipe (scaled from 15 gallons to 5 gallons).

Oh yeah, the only reason no one has figured it out is because people assume someone would have figured it out ... And every one else is more dumb then us, lol. I think with the help of RIU, brew books, science and a little luck we can get some stuff that will blow your mind and taste amazing.


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## greenlikemoney (Jun 18, 2014)

Well, when you brew all-grain, after the boil you immediately run thru a wort chiller, so that would be the time to dry hop. I would be hesitant to throw cannabis into hot liquid.

I'll be checking on your post, interested to see your results.


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## yktind (Jun 18, 2014)

polo the don said:


> I have to admit this is a good idea. Even if it don't work.
> Just a thought, could you make a tincture and add some to each bottle before putting the top on? You wouldn't really get the taste or smell your looking for but wouldn't you still get the effect?


That isn't a bad idea. I personally don't like the taste of tincture (maybe it is the glycerin). Also, the yeast may see it as sugar and munch it down which in turn would carbonate the beer, this could be a good thing. Will have to do some other experiments with what yeast will eat. I wonder if they ate all of the glycerin if the flavors and smell of the cannabis would be released. 

Another idea would be to use Hash or some other extraction. However I have always found it difficult to get hash to dilute even in pure fat (butter/ oil), alcohol is another story and I haven't had a chance to try this yet. 

When carbonating bottled beer: The wort has fermented out and stopped bubbling. The yeast need a kick start so we add a bit of sugar water, this gives them something to eat. Yeast poop and pee alcohol and CO2. When this happens in a sealed environment the beverage becomes carbonated (which is the fizzy stuff). This can be dangerous if you add to much sugar water... Bottle can explode and scare the bejesus out of you if unprepared.


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## yktind (Jun 18, 2014)

Anybody have any comments on the quantity to use.

I want to be able to drink between 3 and 6 of these without wanting to run into on coming traffic.

When I make edibles I aim for 1 gram/ cookie which is a good dose for me to feel high but not crazy. The only thing I have zero experience with is making cannabis into a drink. So I don't know if the dosage should be higher or lower. I think I will start with .25/ 12 oz bottle of beer. That way I can have a few.

***Side Note on the preparation of Cannabis*** I will not be crushing or grinding these. I am basically going to treat the material exactly like @Frenchy Cannoli does when he makes his hash. If the buds are to big they will be trimmed with scissors or by hand.

CPA - ABV = 6.5% | THCPMBWPB = 0.25 g
I'm stealing this @Cannabliss88 (Cannabis Pale Ale)
Oh and THCPMBWPB stands for: Tetrahydrocannabinol Plant Material By Weight Per Bottle.

I am open to acronym suggestions as well, lol.


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## greenlikemoney (Jun 18, 2014)

Been thinking about this....if you took your buds and did a dry ice hash, basically you are left with trichomes ( not getting into the argument about % of leaf material ). If you took that kief and used it as a "dry hop" ( in a hop bag) halfway thru cooldown ( or the correct temp which is unknown to me ) you could possibly get a hash flavored ale. Just a thought.


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## vostok (Jun 18, 2014)

*Has anyone on here ever brewed beer? Better yet, has anyone brewed a cannabis beer?*
I've done about 5-8 brews of mostly German lagers ..but I had rotten temp control and most of the brews went down the John*,* I went for the easier option of growing canna*..
but like many I'm looking for the canna brew recipe ...if you have one post it up?*


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## yktind (Jun 18, 2014)

greenlikemoney said:


> Been thinking about this....if you took your buds and did a dry ice hash, basically you are left with trichomes ( not getting into the argument about % of leaf material ). If you took that kief and used it as a "dry hop" ( in a hop bag) halfway thru cooldown ( or the correct temp which is unknown to me ) you could possibly get a hash flavored ale. Just a thought.


That is a great idea. I am gonna need a lot more buds, lol.


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## greenlikemoney (Jun 18, 2014)

Depends on the batch size....if you brew a 15 gal batch, just pull 5 gal off and dry hop that, then you aren't ruining your whole batch....


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## Wilksey (Jun 18, 2014)

yktind said:


> Edit: Documentary Name = Beer Wars | Click Here for a Link
> 
> After watching a documentary on Beer and the big 3 and how fucked up the industry actually is, makes you think twice about buying any of their shit.


Once you start brewing and are able to recognize what real beer is supposed to taste like, you can pick up the taste of bullshit adjuncts thrown into the mass marketed beers....like corn. That's why I don't like em' anymore.

There ARE some good brews out there on the market, but the pale lagers are almost ALL completely shyte these days, and most of the "craft" beers I've had taste like your sucking on a hop.


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## yktind (Jun 18, 2014)

vostok said:


> *Has anyone on here ever brewed beer? Better yet, has anyone brewed a cannabis beer?*
> I've done about 5-8 brews of mostly German lagers ..but I had rotten temp control and most of the brews went down the John*,* I went for the easier option of growing canna*..
> but like many I'm looking for the canna brew recipe ...if you have one post it up?*


Stick around and we may find a keeper. Haven't done it yet. 
I'll be doing a normal brew this weekend. So I'll post that recipe when I do.


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## yktind (Jun 18, 2014)

greenlikemoney said:


> Depends on the batch size....if you brew a 15 gal batch, just pull 5 gal off and dry hop that, then you aren't ruining your whole batch....


Will be 5 gallon batches. My carboy will be here on Friday. So excited. Been brewing for a few years with my uncle this will be my first solo run.


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## yktind (Jun 18, 2014)

greenlikemoney said:


> Depends on the batch size....if you brew a 15 gal batch, just pull 5 gal off and dry hop that, then you aren't ruining your whole batch....


I think dry hop is the way to go for cannabis but the different trials will need a lot more cannabis:

Trial 1:
- Dry hop whole cured buds aiming for .25 grams / bottle

Trial 2:
- Dry Hop with Dry Ice Kief aiming for ..... Maybe .1 / bottle (Basically I will use the same amount of herb as above, dry ice it and then divide by 54 beers, so it will vary I am sure)

Trial 3:
- Larf, Trim and sugar leaves added right before fermentation begins.

Trial 4:
- Unknown


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## greenlikemoney (Jun 18, 2014)

yktind said:


> I think dry hop is the way to go for cannabis but the different trials will need a lot more cannabis:
> 
> Trial 1:
> - Dry hop whole cured buds aiming for .25 grams / bottle
> ...


Sounds like a plan !!!!


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## farmasensist (Jun 20, 2014)

I saw something on here not too long ago about this. Some people were saying they tried it and it didnt get high and tasted like crap, other people were saying it gets you high and tasted delicious.

Do any of you know of a good brew supply website? I've been wanting try it for a while.


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## yktind (Jun 20, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> I saw something on here not too long ago about this. Some people were saying they tried it and it didnt get high and tasted like crap, other people were saying it gets you high and tasted delicious.
> 
> Do any of you know of a good brew supply website? I've been wanting try it for a while.


What area are you in? I would just do a google search on brew supply.


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## yktind (Jun 20, 2014)

Okay so I'll be brewing either tonight or tomorrow. This will be a normal batch to help get my sea legs back.

Basic recipe is:
3 lbs Pale Malt Extract (Syrup)
3 lbs Amber Malt Extract (Powder)
1 oz Nugget Hop Pellets (Bittering)
2 oz Cascade Hop Pellets (Finish)
2 Packages Pale Ale Yeast (Dry)

That is it. Usually we add a couple pounds of corn sugar to help jack up the ABV%. This time we should land right around 4 - 5% I think.

I have a lot more research to do on making the Canna-Ale. If you have ever made ice water hash you will know what I am talking about when I say that I want to match that special smell and flavor you get when doing a gentle mix either by hand or machine. Once the Trichomes start being separated from the plant material. It is a beautiful amazing smell. I care less about the THC and getting high factor (We can nail that down later just by adding extracts). I want to retain the smell and flavor of the live plant. (I do not recommend using skunk or 'cat-piss' strains, lol). As soon as you pop the cap on the beer it should smell like someone is carrying an ounce in their pocket.


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## farmasensist (Jun 20, 2014)

There is a place close to me ill probably check it out next week. It looks like the successful brews water cured to remove the clorophil and dry hopped with the buds.

http://rollitup.org/t/cannabis-beer.8644/#post-3595229

http://rollitup.org/t/brewing-beer-with-cannabis.281675/#post-3526846


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## yktind (Jun 20, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> There is a place close to me ill probably check it out next week. It looks like the successful brews water cured to remove the clorophil and dry hopped with the buds.
> 
> http://rollitup.org/t/cannabis-beer.8644/#post-3595229
> 
> http://rollitup.org/t/brewing-beer-with-cannabis.281675/#post-3526846


Thank you for chiming in. Doesn't really tell you what they did for a success. One guy said he pre steeped the trim and larf in 150 degree water for 30 min. then dry hopped it. My plan is use cured buds so there shouldn't be a whole lot of chlorophyll left. 

Only issues are decarb and how to evenly mix the THC into the beer. They also recommend IPA type as someone else already mentioned here. That way the alcohol content is higher.


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## yktind (Jun 23, 2014)

Well we brewed up our beer and followed the recipe... mostly. I do not have an accurate scale (body weight one not for food) and it turns out liquid malt is extremely difficult to measure without a scale.

So note to self when purchasing enough ingredients for 3 batches have dude at store separate into 3 pound bags. It was a nightmare trying to separate everything after the fact... Any way.

The recipe above can still be followed just add ~ish at the end of the syrup malt.

Here are some picks of the brew:
(In order) 6 gallon glass Carboy, 7 gallon filling bucket, Capper + Dry Malt Extract, Sterilize Everything, Boil Water, Add Malt, Boil, Add Bittering Hops, Boil 45 min, Add Finish Hops, In the meantime waiting for boiled water to cool for the yeast.


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## yktind (Jun 23, 2014)

I forgot to add that you want to cool the wort down before adding the additional water. Also, I did not filter out the hops on this batch. 

Next batch will get filtered and we will try only 1 package of yeast to see what the flavor differences are. 

The Rest:
(In Order) Agitating the Wort, Mixing Back and Forth, Additional Water to make 5 gallons, Filling up the Carboy, Fermentation Begins.

I checked on the brew this morning and it is looking a lot more clear. Will post pics on Wednesday for the updated look. This will ferment for 2 weeks (even after the bubbles stop it isn't finished). Then go into bottles and sit for another 2 weeks. We will also be doing the second batch after we bottle the first.


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## thegreensurfer (Jun 24, 2014)

I agree with the dry hopping idea. If you added to the hot wort it would probably extract too many plant-y flavors. If added after primary fermentation you would probably have a less plant taste, plus the alcohol that is needed to extract cannabinboids doesn't show up in high amounts until a week or so in.....
Additionally....
1. Are we even sure thc wont inhibit fermentation?
2. Is it possible that any residual spores that might be on the plant material could infect the brew?

Carboxylation would be necessary since there is no heat involved in the brewing & drinking process.

What about starting some sort of hash/alcohol culture on the side and then adding that to a secondary? This side process could also be heated to assist in thc absorbing into the alcohol, thus carboxylating and sterilizing it before being added to the secondary.


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## yktind (Jun 24, 2014)

thegreensurfer said:


> I agree with the dry hopping idea. If you added to the hot wort it would probably extract too many plant-y flavors. If added after primary fermentation you would probably have a less plant taste, plus the alcohol is needed to extract cannabinboids, and the alc doesnt show up in high amounts until a week or to in.....
> Additionally....
> 1. Are we even sure thc wont inhibit fermentation?
> 2. Is it possible that any residual spores that might be on the plant material could infect the brew?
> ...


That was a great thought.

I watched "Beer Wars" last night and it interviews "DogFishHead". He does a brew where he runs the finshed beer through fresh hops (this is after fermentation) and the alcohol extracts pure flavor and smells from the hops. I am sure his exact process is patened or protected but I think we can invent a way to do it similar.

Only issue left is decarboxialation. One way I can think of off the top of my head is to throw the whole buds into the oven and do a low temp long bake. This would essentially pre-decarb the buds. These "decarbed" buds would then go into a glass cylinder. From the fermentation bucket the liquid is pumped through the buds then into the bottles.This would be after priming with sugar. 

As to inhibiting fermentation I have no idea. I wouldn't think so but it could have some affect on the yeast.


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## thegreensurfer (Jun 24, 2014)

yktind said:


> That was a great thought.
> 
> I watched "Beer Wars" last night and it interviews "DogFishHead". He does a brew where he runs the finshed beer through fresh hops (this is after fermentation) and the alcohol extracts pure flavor and smells from the hops. I am sure his exact process is patened or protected but I think we can invent a way to do it similar.
> 
> ...


.....maybe the yeast cells lose motivation to poop out the goods when under the influence?
I figured there may be some sort of anti fungal property of the various cannibinoids that could negatively affect yeast cells. That should definitely be looked into considering yeast activity is needed for carbonation/conditioning. Unless its being kegged with CO2, which interestingly is a solvent under high pressure and low temps. Probably not the same conditions as CO2 oil is made though
That is an interesting infusing idea, like blasting bho. There would probably be a need for thorough mixing to be sure every bottle is getting the same amount of thc. Otherwise dosing would be unpredictable.
Sam Calagione is one bad mofo.....Check out _Brewmasters_ on Netflix. He's one of the most creative prolific brewers around...


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## yktind (Jun 25, 2014)

Just an update on the clarity of the beer. We will be bottling on 7/3/14.

 

Compared to beginning:


Bubbling has just about stopped. This does not mean that fermentation has finished.


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## greenlikemoney (Jun 25, 2014)

Bout time to rack that bitch !!!!!!!


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## greenlikemoney (Jun 25, 2014)

BTW ykt, if you have a local small brewery around, get to know the brewer ( or at least the dude who cleans out the fermenters ) and see if you can come in and pull some yeast off the bottom of the fermenter after they transfer off. Talk about a quick fermentation in a 5 gallon carboy !!!!! That freshly sated yeast can get hungry again in a matter of hours !!!!


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## yktind (Jun 25, 2014)

I was thinking about doing the transfer over the weekend. Then we will be ready for bottling without having to do the transfer and wait for everything to settle again. on the 3rd.


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## sensimilla86 (Jun 25, 2014)

I was just talking with u yktind on another thread. And asked u about the brewing with cannabis below ur avatar and I think this is really great idk anything about brewing but would love to get a taste should this ever become something available to buy I would deff b a buyer but anyways I don't know anything bout brewing though I did just learn a bit in reading this thread sounds like with a few runs some tweaking here and there you may b able to arrive at a tasty result good luck man I'll deff n checking this thread out


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## yktind (Jun 26, 2014)

sensimilla86 said:


> I was just talking with u yktind on another thread. And asked u about the brewing with cannabis below ur avatar and I think this is really great idk anything about brewing but would love to get a taste should this ever become something available to buy I would deff b a buyer but anyways I don't know anything bout brewing though I did just learn a bit in reading this thread sounds like with a few runs some tweaking here and there you may b able to arrive at a tasty result good luck man I'll deff n checking this thread out


Cool thanks for subbing. Looking forward to getting this going. Who knows maybe it'll hit stores when legalization happens.


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## sensimilla86 (Jun 26, 2014)

yktind said:


> Cool thanks for subbing. Looking forward to getting this going. Who knows maybe it'll hit stores when legalization happens.


I would think that would b a real money maker too even for people who don't smoke and if u can get both ends of the buzz that would b interesting possibly even ease those against pot to appreciate it in a form there used to catching a buzz but who knows some r just so close minded nothing will ever bridge that gap


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## yktind (Jun 30, 2014)

Bottling day is July 3rd!!! Should be a good batch.


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## yktind (Jul 2, 2014)

One more day!!!! Got some American Flag Caps to go with our 3rd of July Beer.


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## yktind (Jul 3, 2014)

Woohoo Today is bottling day.

Also made some sourdough bread with wild yeast from our area.

Plus the last day compared to first day of fermentation.


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## yktind (Jul 3, 2014)

I am thinking about getting a 5 gallon keg or maybe used kegerator. Anyone ever use one of these instead of bottling?


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## vostok (Jul 6, 2014)

Just wondering if a water cure will improve the flavor some, as there is very little starch or chlorophyll once the cannabis has been water cured for 7 days in a bucket, water changed daily ...?


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## vostok (Jul 6, 2014)

yktind said:


> I am thinking about getting a 5 gallon keg or maybe used kegerator. Anyone ever use one of these instead of bottling?


Yes ...but use a c02 injection system that uses those soda stream c02 bullets, to charge the keg, ...*and the fucker leaked like a whore grrr!*


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## yktind (Jul 7, 2014)

vostok said:


> Just wondering if a water cure will improve the flavor some, as there is very little starch or chlorophyll once the cannabis has been water cured for 7 days in a bucket, water changed daily ...?


I have never researched a water cure before. Do you have a link handy? Otherwise I'll jump on to the ol' Google.


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## yktind (Jul 7, 2014)

Bottled the beer over the weekend. Very tasty even though it has yet to be carbonated. Will have pics soon.


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## vostok (Jul 7, 2014)

yktind said:


> I have never researched a water cure before. Do you have a link handy? Otherwise I'll jump on to the ol' Google.


Google is you buddy here, is a very old way of recovering low grade weed, or for further 'processing' weed


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## yktind (Jul 7, 2014)

So here they are... FYI the most important part of brewing = Sanitize and Clean everything!!! Even the caps. 

For the bottles I do a quick wash and check for mold then into the dishwasher that works similar to an autoclave. 

You can see the foam working in the fermenter/ bottle pourer thing. 

One picture that isn't shown is priming the beer. Basically I boiled 2 cups of water w/ 5. oz of Corn Sugar. Let this cool then put that into the bottling bucket and then syphon the beer in with it. 

Do not let the beer splash. We do not want to add any more O2 to the mix. 

The color of the beer is beautiful imo. Smells malty. Next time I will be doing a dry hop to get the aroma that I am looking for. From the sample this batch shouldn't be to bitter but semi sweet and delicious.


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## yktind (Jul 7, 2014)

You can also see that the hops do not sink for the most part. In the bottom of the carboy you can see the sediment caused by the yeast doing its job.

Thought we would get festive with out caps. Happy 4th to everyone.

Oh I should also mention that once the beer is transferred to the bottling container it needs to rest for a minimum of 30 mins. This will help any accidental sediment settle and avoid bottles. I was pretty good on this round and ended up with 0 sediment inside the bottling the container.


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## yktind (Jul 7, 2014)

vostok said:


> Google is you buddy here, is a very old way of recovering low grade weed, or for further 'processing' weed


I checked it out. Not sure this will accomplish what I want. However I will add it to the list of things to try when/ if I start having problems and or do not get the results I want on the first try. 

The nice thing about not being in a rush is I can do all this research and get advice from everyone on RIU. The goal is to nail it on the first try. But I will be okay with something that retains the smells and flavors of the Cannabis... Skywalker OG in this Case. 

The plan is still the same as listed in a previous post. The leftover cannabis that will be soaked with wort and beer flavors will be thrown into the crock pot with coconut oil. Not sure what the wort will do to the end product but I cannot justify throwing away 54 grams of herb. Especially since it will be a quick wash.


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## yktind (Jul 7, 2014)

yktind said:


> I am thinking about getting a 5 gallon keg or maybe used kegerator. Anyone ever use one of these instead of bottling?


So it turns out it'll run about 5 - 600 bucks to get setup. So that'll be put on hold until we really get into it.


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## Brada Haole (Jul 9, 2014)

Fermentation in the grow area? I keep thinking it would be great to have a few weeks of some free co2? I have no experience brewing so i dont know if this is a dumb idea. CanaBeer Brah thats alright


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## yktind (Jul 9, 2014)

Brada Haole said:


> Fermentation in the grow area? I keep thinking it would be great to have a few weeks of some free co2? I have no experience brewing so i dont know if this is a dumb idea. CanaBeer Brah thats alright


I've thought about it. But I don't really have enough room in my grow area. As long as your temps are good and you have no pests I would think it'd be beneficial.


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## yktind (Jul 9, 2014)

***Side Note***

Harvested some hops mostly cascade I think and then later that night harvested all my Skywalker OG. (See Link in Sig). 

I've tried hops on a few different occasions, usually during the brewing process. Decided that I would taste some fresh off the vine. Quite bitter with a little bit of a burning sensation. The more you chew and suck on it the flavors that hit you. Basically the flavor is so strong that you will only taste "Hops" for a little while. It wan't unpleasant, I like the flavor actually, but if you aren't an IPA fan you may not like chewing on hops. 

Hops and Cannabis are related basically cousins. The growth is very different except for how the flowers look. They both kind of bud up and you can see "cones". Obviously they are different but you can see the similarities. 

Last night in the middle of trimming I started getting hints of a hoppy smell. I learned that every time I smell hops and then smell cannabis I can still smell the hops. Sometimes it is vice versa as well. Anyway, I decided to try a small nug. I chewed it the same way I chewed the hop cone. At first the flavor was pretty intense with the same mild burning sensation, just like the hop, but then it turned quite different and became a grassy nasty finish. I am assuming that all of the horror stories about brewing with Cannabis have resulted in this exact flavor. 

I am still pretty confident that we can nail a delicious beer that reminds you of the plant it came from with the added benefit of THC. The plan is still to brew an IPA style of beer aiming for 9-10% ABV. The method for adding cannabis will be similar to the QWISO technique. The process will be like putting a bowl of fresh cured cannabis flowers (pre-decarboxolated) onto a strainer and pouring the wort through into the bottling container where the priming sugar is then added. From there it will be bottled as normal. 

FYI: The process will not actually be a strainer, although it will still probably work similarly, I will be making a custom container with a wide mouth quart size mason jar that will attach to the auto siphon and them pour into the bottling container. You do not want the wort to come in contact with to much open air once it is cooled and ready for bottles. 



Here is a random picture I found on the internet comparing hops and cannabis:


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## Brada Haole (Jul 9, 2014)

yktind said:


> I've thought about it. But I don't really have enough room in my grow area. As long as your temps are good and you have no pests I would think it'd be beneficial.


Thanks man new to the forum been growing a little over 10 years finding all kinds of new ideas. Brah Cana Beer! I will make room my next run! I will have to take some data so i can show what a difference it makes. Thanks man this made my night.


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## Texas(THC) (Jul 10, 2014)

why not use hash oil in the recipe
super easy to decarb and you may be able to just add it in the end
of a normal brew


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## Glaucoma (Jul 10, 2014)

I happen to be a very experienced brewer. I've even done small hobby brews with a German Brewmaster, so I like to think I know what I'm doing.

When it comes to making a weed beer, I've failed every time trying to use flowers. I've tried dry hopping it, I've tried throwing it into the normal hop schedule. It just sucks. Those are the only batches I've ever made that didn't turn out well.

If you want to add a weed buzz to your brew, use an extract when you bottle/keg. For flavor.. stick to hops.


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## Glaucoma (Jul 10, 2014)

yktind said:


> That was a great thought.
> 
> 
> View attachment 3187842


I built myself a similar contraption for my kegs. The difference being mine is between my keg and my pint glass and holds a solid ounce of fresh hops. Talk about a huge floral boost! I introduced it once at a beer festival and that keg was drained in 15 mins.


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## farmasensist (Jul 11, 2014)

Glaucoma said:


> I built myselfilar contraption for my kegs. The difference being mine is between my keg and my pint glass and holds a solid ounce of fresh hops. Talk about a huge floral boost! I introduced it once at a beer festival and that keg was drained in 15 mins.


I went to a brewery that did something like this but they used rosemary. It really did pull alot of flavor and it tasted really good with the hoppy beer.


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## greenlikemoney (Jul 11, 2014)

yktind said:


> I am thinking about getting a 5 gallon keg or maybe used kegerator. Anyone ever use one of these instead of bottling?


Get your hands on some of those metal soda syrup canisters, that's the ticket.


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## yktind (Jul 11, 2014)

Texas(THC) said:


> why not use hash oil in the recipe
> super easy to decarb and you may be able to just add it in the end
> of a normal brew


That is definitely going to be one of the options to try! I think there will be some different flavors and highs between the different methods that we try.


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## yktind (Jul 11, 2014)

Glaucoma said:


> I happen to be a very experienced brewer. I've even done small hobby brews with a German Brewmaster, so I like to think I know what I'm doing.
> 
> When it comes to making a weed beer, I've failed every time trying to use flowers. I've tried dry hopping it, I've tried throwing it into the normal hop schedule. It just sucks. Those are the only batches I've ever made that didn't turn out well.
> 
> If you want to add a weed buzz to your brew, use an extract when you bottle/keg. For flavor.. stick to hops.



I appreciate your input. My aim is less about the potency of THC. That is easy to add using extractions. What I want is an explosion of flavor, smell with delicious smooth finish.


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## Glaucoma (Jul 11, 2014)

greenlikemoney said:


> Get your hands on some of those metal soda syrup canisters, that's the ticket.


A 5 gallon corny keg is the only way to go! Plus, once you have a CO2 bottle, it's useful for more than just carbonating/pushing beer. I purge my secondary and kegs with CO2 before racking so I can minimize oxygen exposure. I can also sanitize my kegs and use CO2 to push out the idophor solution and store my empty kegs presanitized and ready to fill. The only time I bottle is if I have a beer intern to do all the grunt work for me. =)



yktind said:


> I appreciate your input. My aim is less about the potency of THC. That is easy to add using extractions. What I want is an explosion of flavor, smell with delicious smooth finish.


Lots of things have been used when hops are not available. If you have access to hops though.. it's damn hard to beat.

I'll be keeping an eye on this.. I'm curious if you find a good recipe. It may very well be similar to using hops, as in, it could be very strain dependent. Could be the strains I tried just weren't appropriate. (though, honestly.. they all tasted like complete ass)


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## yktind (Jul 11, 2014)

Glaucoma said:


> A 5 gallon corny keg is the only way to go! Plus, once you have a CO2 bottle, it's useful for more than just carbonating/pushing beer. I purge my secondary and kegs with CO2 before racking so I can minimize oxygen exposure. I can also sanitize my kegs and use CO2 to push out the idophor solution and store my empty kegs presanitized and ready to fill. The only time I bottle is if I have a beer intern to do all the grunt work for me. =)
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think I know what flavor you are referring to. In a previous post I wrote about chewing on a hop compared to a cannabis bud. They start the same but end very differently. 

Cannabis = Grass 
Hop = More Bitter w/ almost 0 plant flavor

By using dried cured buds I am assuming/ hoping that most of that "grass flavor" will already be gone. This plus doing the quick wash with High gravity IPA wort will, in theory, be exactly what I am looking for. Then it just comes down to tweaking the recipe, getting cannabis completely legalized and making a bagillion dollars, haha.


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## [email protected] (Jul 11, 2014)

Damn Y Im late to the party.....But this was awesome ....You and vostok are my heros LMAO.....


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## yktind (Jul 15, 2014)

Thanks for joining the party. Will be doing a taste taste tonight of our Cincinnati style pale ale. Right off the bat I already know it is over carbonated. We tried one last week and it was very crisp. Not unpleasant just isn't the appropriate level of carbonation for the specific style of beer we were going for. 

NTS - You will almost never use a full 5 oz. priming bag of sugar. Especially with Pale Ales (should have used like 2 oz)


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## youngbuzz101 (Jul 22, 2014)

I like this thread! good job yktind.


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## yktind (Jul 22, 2014)

Here are the results:

Cincinnati Pale Ale using Nugget and Cascade:
The smell has a nice malty tone almost molasses like.
Taste is very crisp. I think this because of the of doing priming sugar. Should have used 2 oz instead of 5 oz. It isn't unpleasant just not the way it is supposed to feel.
The flavor is almost spicy. I believe the first round of hops with the nugget gave it this. It lingers for a few seconds then turns sweet. 

Wish I could give some more detail but this is really the first time I have ever recorded flavors of beer. 


Notes for next brew:
Add more aroma hops. Will try a dry hop on the next batch. It will be a mixture of cascade and one other type. Can't remember the name. The bitterness is right where it feels nice but gives a little kick but I can't smell any of the hops...

Color of the beer is beautiful nice amber. Similar to a bass or amstel light. Totally different flavor but same color. 

Hopefully I can develop my palate over the next couple of batches. So I can better describe the CPA (Cannabis Pale Ale) once I design the recipe. Gotta find a nice combo that will highlight the cannabis without over powering it but should match with similar aromas and flavors. At least from what I think. Really there will be a different recipe for every strain known to man. 

Also, if any of you guys have brewed any batches and would like to share the recipe please feel free to post.


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## [email protected] (Jul 22, 2014)

yktind said:


> Here are the results:
> 
> Cincinnati Pale Ale using Nugget and Cascade:
> The smell has a nice malty tone almost molasses like.
> ...


Have you tried to brew any of the fruittier Beers? Kinda like Sam Adams Chery wheat I guess?


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## yktind (Jul 23, 2014)

[email protected] said:


> Have you tried to brew any of the fruittier Beers? Kinda like Sam Adams Chery wheat I guess?


I am what you call a hop head. I like IPA's and similar. I wouldn't mind making a fruitier beer would probably skip the wheat cause I don't like wheat beer.


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## yktind (Jul 23, 2014)

Here is a fresh poured beer, Another note is that this "Cincinnati Batch doesn't hold a hold for longer than 30 secs (See below for more on head). You can see it fading away through the pics:

  

Also found this company "Howe Sound" yesterday at Total Wine. They are from British Columbia and have a pretty cool story. Gotta say this is a pretty damn good IPA. Very malty bitter with a nutty sweet finish. Like roasted malt was used maybe: Even the beer is a bit more cloudy.

 


What is a beer head?

For me: It helps identify the different smells that are inside the beer. It also looks cool. That is about as much as I know about it. If there is to much that is bad to little that is bad.

Below is what Wikipedia calls Beer Head:

*Beer head* (also *head*) is the frothy foam on top of beer which is produced by bubbles of gas, typically carbon dioxide, rising to the surface. The elements that produce the head are wort protein, yeast and hop residue. The carbon dioxide that forms the bubbles in the head is produced during fermentation. The carbonation can occur before or after bottling the beer. If the beer continues fermenting in the bottle, then it naturally carbonates and the head is formed upon opening and/or pouring the beer. If the beer is pasteurized or filtered then the beer must be force carbonated using pressurized gas.

The density and longevity of the head will be determined by the type of malt and adjunct from which the beer was fermented. Different mash schedules and cereal sources influence head retention. In general, wheat tends to produce larger and longer-lasting heads than barley.

Here is a link to wikipedia if you want to read more about head:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_head


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## yktind (Jul 23, 2014)

After tasting this delicious new IPA. I have decided to incorporate some whole grain on the next brew. Will be doing research over the next couple of days.

Also, this book "How to Brew" by John Palmer, has been so helpful. It really breaks things down. The cool thing is it has a couple of quick and easy recipes so you can basically buy it and start brewing. Then it has other chapters for some one like me who is just getting into brewing and would like to get a bit more involved. Very good book and easy to read.

I read a chapter about Malt yesterday and how it is actually made where it comes from etc. Also, learned about sugar and which sugars yeast prefer to eat. I'll share some of the more interesting stuff when I come across it. At least the stuff that is interesting to me.

Please RIU feel free to post anything about beer. The more knowledge the better.

If you want quality beer you have to use quality malt.

Here is a little article on malt:
https://byo.com/stories/item/1101-making-malt-extract

-----Paraphrase 1 paragraph-------------

"Brewing-grade malt extracts are made with only the highest quality brewing malts and get additional colors and flavors from using specialty malts. This gives them a flavor suitable for beer or other products where they are the main flavor component. Food-grade malt extracts are often made with non-brewing grade food or distilling malt, and are usually used as a minor ingredient. In many cases, malted barley products for the food industry are blended with corn syrup, caramel color or other ingredients. This might not be apparent from the trade name or brand name of the product, but it will appear on the ingredient statement. Darker versions of food grade extracts are often made by heating them until they darken to the desired color. This lowers the pH of the extract and generates darker, molasses-like flavors."


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## [email protected] (Jul 23, 2014)

Hey hop head!lol....Guess you like adams maybe?Double the hops of normal beers..... ......Its my jam...Im gonna get that book and check it out... I'm quite ignorant in the art of brewing but you've given me that spark to wanna pick it up ...Wish I could contribute more, But looks like ya got that coveredAwesome thread BTW


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## farmasensist (Jul 23, 2014)

i just got back from the store with a 6.5 gallon kit and ingredients for an IPA. Will probably brew it later this week or over the weekend. The brew supply store is moving next week and will be less than 5 miles from the house so that will be cool. I also gotthe john palmer book and heard its the go to guide for brewing. I tried reading it a while ago but i dont think it will make much sense until i actuallyget my hands on a batch or two.


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## yktind (Jul 23, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> i just got back from the store with a 6.5 gallon kit and ingredients for an IPA. Will probably brew it later this week or over the weekend. The brew supply store is moving next week and will be less than 5 miles from the house so that will be cool. I also gotthe john palmer book and heard its the go to guide for brewing. I tried reading it a while ago but i dont think it will make much sense until i actuallyget my hands on a batch or two.


I think brewing is up there in addictions just under growing, lol.


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## yktind (Jul 23, 2014)

NTS: Buy 2.5 lbs of Grain.

Will be doing the same recipe with a couple of tweaks. We will start with:

2.5 lbs Grain (TBD - Will go down to brew shop and smell until something stands out)
-Note- This ^ will be steeped for 30 mins @150f, in about 1 gallon of water. Wort will then continue as normal. With more water added totaling 3 gallons for the main boil.
3 lbs Pale LME
3 lbs Amber DME
1 Oz Nugget (Bittering) - 15 min boil then add
2 Oz Cascade (Aroma + Flavor) - 1 oz @ 30 Min and 1 oz @ 45 Min boil then add (or last 30 min and last 15 min of total boil)
1 - 2 Oz (TBD) Dry Hop after Cooling and going into first Fermentation Bucket (1 Week). Then transfer to glass carboy and let settle for additional week. Then prime with 3 oz. corn sugar and bottle.

The goal is more hop smell and flavor w/o adding to much bite. Also want to have a delicious malt smell.

Brew Day is Saturday!!!!


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## youngbuzz101 (Jul 24, 2014)

what is IPA? second question.. When are you planning on throwing in some buds?


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## yktind (Jul 25, 2014)

youngbuzz101 said:


> what is IPA? second question.. When are you planning on throwing in some buds?


Well there is no rush. I'd like to get it right on the first try. Right now I am getting into brewing on my own. I have a few brews under my belt but that was with my uncle leading. Now it is just me. So First I need to have a good tasting beer so that the bud can compliment it. I have the buds sitting in a vacuum sealed bag waiting to be tossed in. The main goal here is getting an amazing taste and smell out of it. With the added benefit of a moderate high (This way you can drink more then one beer). By my calculations I will need approx 54 grams of cured Cannabis. I am not in a hurry to fuck up that much bud, lol. I don't want to dash anyone's dreams but realistically the CPA will not be brewed until September. I have some more reading and learning to do but I am very confident that we can get it right and prove to everyone that says "It cannot be done without tasting like grass", that in Can be Done!!!

Thanks to everyone who has been dropping by, giving advice and support!


An IPA is a subcategory of Pale Ale, usually a gigher ABV% and usually pretty hoppy and bitter. 

Here is what Wiki has to say about it:

*India Pale Ale* or *IPA* is a hoppy beer style within the broader category of pale ale. It was first brewed in England in the 19th century. The first known use of the term "*India pale ale*" is an advertisement in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser in 1829.


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## youngbuzz101 (Jul 25, 2014)

Thanks for the enlightenment of brewer terminology. As for when your going to make your Cannabrew I was not asking out of impatience. Merely anticipation and curiosity. I understand your weariness to start tossing in bud for science sake as it is expensive and not government funded lmao. I shall wait until september! I hope it works for you I will never do this myself as I don't know shit when it comes to brewing let alone canna brewing. But it really is interesting to follow.

All the best,

youngbuzz101


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## yktind (Jul 26, 2014)

youngbuzz101 said:


> Thanks for the enlightenment of brewer terminology. As for when your going to make your Cannabrew I was not asking out of impatience. Merely anticipation and curiosity. I understand your weariness to start tossing in bud for science sake as it is expensive and not government funded lmao. I shall wait until september! I hope it works for you I will never do this myself as I don't know shit when it comes to brewing let alone canna brewing. But it really is interesting to follow.
> 
> All the best,
> 
> youngbuzz101


Right on man. Enjoy the ride. I hope I can put together something that is out of this world.


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## GrowinDad (Jul 27, 2014)

I do a good amount of homebrewing. Kegging is the way to go if you invest in a keg fridge.

I have pondered a thc brew. Dry hopping (I do for last three to four days of fermentation) I believe would get the flavor in. So you would want to use a well cured bud. I would think most startins would best compliment a california type pale ale. I use about an ounce of hops to dry hop.

I don't think you will get much THC extraction though. Not a high enough alcohol content in the brew. You decarb the bud first, but I think this would impact the flavor. So to really do it, I would think the best bet would be to make an extraction with everclear and then add it to the end of the wort boiling. And then doa dry hop with a second batch of bud for flavor.


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## [email protected] (Jul 29, 2014)

I swear I'm going to get into this I'm jealous and you guys are making me really thirsty...lol


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## yktind (Jul 29, 2014)

Hey Everyone! Brew day was over the Weekend. Adding the whole hops really got the hop smell that we were missing from before. We will be doing a dry hop on this Saturday (1 week fermenting) when we transfer the Beer into the glass carboy. Everything I have read about dry hopping has basically said add about 1 oz per 5 gal. Well, we are going to add 4 oz of whole hops.

We have named this brew "Hop Crazy"

Here is the basic Recipe:
- 5.4 lbs Pale LME (Liquid Malt Extract)
- 1.6 Amber DME (Dry Malt Extract)
- 2.5 Mixed Grain (Crushed) | 1 lb Pale, .5 lb Crystal Carmel 30, .5 lb Vienna and .5 lb Carapils)

***Note on Hops: The time listed is where we are at in the boil that they were added***

- 1 oz Centennial @ 15 min (Bittering)
- 1 oz Cascade @ 30 min (Flavoring)
- 3 oz Fresh Frozen Whole Hops (Cascade and Some Others Unknown) @ 45 min (Aroma)
- Dry Hop after at Transfer to Glass Carboy (1 Week) - 4 oz Fresh Frozen Whole Hops (Cascade and Some Others Unknown)

- 2 Packets Dry Ale Yeast

- Prime w/ 3 oz Corn Sugar Prior to bottling

Directions:
Steep grain in 1.5 gal of water @ 153 degrees F for 35 mins. Remove grain, add 2 gal. of water (making the total 3 gal.) and bring water to boil. Once boiling add LME and DME slowly while stirring to avoid clumping and/ or anything sticking to the bottom of the pot. Boil for 15 mins. Add bittering hops/ Continue boil for another 15 mins. Add Flavoring Hops. Continue boil for 15 mins. Add aroma hops. Continue boil for 15 mins. Boil should now be at 60 mins. Cut the heat.

To cool down the wort I fill the bath with a little bit of water and put a 20 lb bag of ice in it. This gets the wort down to temp in about 20 mins. (Keep the wort in the pot, lol do not dump the wort into the bath tub.

Once it is cooled you can take a hydrometer reading, mine was at 1.052 for gravity and measured at 6% ABV. Once the fermentation is complete we will take another reading and subtract it from the original reading to find out where we are approx. in alcohol content.

Then we want to add O2 to the mix, so we pour the wort back and forth from our bottling bucket to our pot. We did this 5 times. Now the wort can stay inside the bottling bucket and we can pitch the yeast. I should of said this earlier but we need to pre boil 1 cup of water (this is to sterilize). Once this gets to room temperature we can add our yeast packets an mix. Toss the mixture into the wort give a small stir with a sanitized whisk. Put the lid on the fermentation bucket. Put an airlock in the lid to allow the CO2 to escape. Put the bucket somewhere cool and safe (must remain undisturbed) and wait. After a week we will tranfer into our glass carboy and add more hops. Wait for an additional week. Prime and bottle! That's It, lol. 

Pictures are basically in order of the recipe:


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## yktind (Jul 29, 2014)

More Pics from Brew Day:

- Also, Side Note. It is very important to keep everything clean, sanitized and sterile when necessary. Next post we will explain the difference between all three.

Steeping the Malted Grain


Second Addition of Hops


Last Addition of Hops (These are the fresh frozen)


Time to Pitch Some Yeast


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## yktind (Jul 29, 2014)

Clean, Sanitize and Sterilize... Aren't they all same? Nope.
Here is a link to pretty good article, CLICK HERE:

Cleaning = Clean is free from dirt, marks, or stains. | or | morally uncontaminated; pure; innocent, haha

Sanitizing = Sanitizing is the reduction of the number of living organisms that are on your equipment

Sterilizing = Sterilizing make (something) free from bacteria or other living microorganisms.


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## youngbuzz101 (Jul 29, 2014)

soooo.. wanna mail me a bottle lmao.


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## yktind (Jul 30, 2014)

So I was just thinking to myself... "Say this works and it is the most amazing beer ever and it gets drunk plus a nice stone..." How much would someone be willing to pay for it? 

Lol, say I use 48 grams (which = about a gram per bottle | roughly 48 bottles per 5 gal). Street Value tells us that each beer should cost $20. Hahaha who the fuck would buy it? Even as a novelty how quickly would you drink a 12 oz bottle of beer. Well there goes 20 bucks and 40 and 60, lol. 

Anyway its a good thing I grow or this would not be a realistic adventure. 

@youngbuzz101 

I'll email you one right away.


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## youngbuzz101 (Jul 30, 2014)

Lmao I couldn't see realistically it take 48 grams per brew, I mean to say you can you a half quarter and get some pretty decent brownies it would all depend on how you were to extract and and infuse your THC. With that being said the same logic could be totally irrational in the aspect of brewing but I would imagine if you needed 48 grams per brew you must be doing something wrong or less productive. When smoking you waste a lot of your THC while extracting is more efficient. My theory and prove me wrong but my theory is you extract 48 grams via ever clear and infuse it in the finalities of your brewing sequence you will have beer so god damn strong it will be like 1 beer damn 2 beer gone 3rd bee..water nope I think I want water. Lol. Checking my inbox now I'm excited lol


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## yktind (Jul 30, 2014)

This is the contraption I am going to have my glass guy make. Basically the wort will travel through the buds (like making BHO) and then into the bottling bucket and straight into bottles. 

The leftover mash will probably get infused into coconut oil and then turned into mild edibles. I can't imagine that all of the THC will be extracted into the brew. The only thing that turns me off about using an extract is I want the smells of the actual flower. I want to pop open a beer and be like "goddamn are there buds inside there?" 

Imagine the glass is about the size of a wide mouth mason jar (which holds about 42 - 50 grams of cured buds). We do not want anything to splash, should be a smooth flow. I think if I put a nipple on the contraption then I can connect my auto siphon to it. I'd actually love here your opinion on this @GrowinDad . 

 

Not sure if you have ever seen Beer Wars, but, there is a seen where they are interveiwing the guy from DogFishHead and he has a special hop infuser (looks like my contraption) that adds an extra dry hop effect. 

My theory is that I will get all of the flavor and smell I am looking for. Using a 9% abv will extract enough of the cannbinoids so that when ingested you will soon know that they are in there. I don't won't these to make people freak out and run into on coming traffic or something, mild is better. The only thing that has me a bit up in the air is Decarb. 

When you decarb at least when making coconut oil it really loses that "beautiful" smell I am looking. Now I have also read that there is no reason to decarb because the liver still processes THC-A and actually transforms it into THC. 

Personally out of the numerous times I have made edibles the ones that were pre-Decarbed where far more potent than previous batches. Maybe it is the placebo affect. Not sure. 

I'll try to find the article on Decarb.


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## yktind (Jul 30, 2014)

My contraption would be similar to this:


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## yktind (Jul 30, 2014)

Here is the article. I remember getting into a discussion with frenchy and Than I stumbled upon this study (Well actually a kind member sent me the link):

Study on Decarb. Click Here.

The study is a bit over my head. Basically it says that urine samples tested for THC not THC-A on both DeCarb vs Not.

The only thing I would like to add is that personally I feel the affects are felt different even if our bodies process similarly.


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## youngbuzz101 (Jul 30, 2014)

That's interesting, you should make your batch with your theory, then extract 3.5 g the classic way. Add that extract to about 5 of your beers and compare the two maybe you will find that if you double extract using the two methods you will get the effect your looking for. 

-OR-

Say your using the 48 grams you originally want to incorporate into your brew. Take 45 g and put it into your contraption for the flavor and smell then, add the three grams extracted via everclear in a dropper evenly through out the bottles. Say like 10 drops each bottle for the boost in effect. Just a thought..


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## yktind (Jul 30, 2014)

youngbuzz101 said:


> That's interesting, you should make your batch with your theory, then extract 3.5 g the classic way. Add that extract to about 5 of your beers and compare the two maybe you will find that if you double extract using the two methods you will get the effect your looking for.
> 
> -OR-
> 
> Say your using the 48 grams you originally want to incorporate into your brew. Take 45 g and put it into your contraption for the flavor and smell then, add the three grams extracted via everclear in a dropper evenly through out the bottles. Say like 10 drops each bottle for the boost in effect. Just a thought..


I think this will be a pretty good solution if we find the alcohol doesn't extract enough of the THC to be noticed. I don't want to be floored but I want to know that hey, I feel pretty high after that beer.


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## rob333 (Jul 30, 2014)

wanna learn how make some canna beer hit me up i have a recipe that is awsome 3 beers and u drunk and spinning out


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## yktind (Jul 31, 2014)

rob333 said:


> wanna learn how make some canna beer hit me up i have a recipe that is awsome 3 beers and u drunk and spinning out


I sent you a PM


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## yktind (Jul 31, 2014)

*Dihydrogen Monoxide (H20)*

Well finished up another chapter out of "How To Brew". Today was a quick read on water. It probably goes without saying that if your water tastes bad than your beer is going to taste bad. Simple...?

Yes that is the basics of water: It should have no smell and taste like water. If not you can do a mixture of RO water and Tap or Tap and Distilled water to help lower the levels of chlorine and other stuff. Personally we have been using RO water for the entire brew, so far so good. I won't get into to much detail but here are a couple of things summarized from the book:

- You can't make good beer with bad tasting water
- Bad-tasting water can be treated by a variety of methods i.e. Brita filter, Campden tablets, charcoal filter, etc.
- Do not add brewing salts to your recipe until you know how much you have to start with from your water report
- Decarbonation of your water for brewing pale, highly hopped beer may be necessary.

This brings up two questions: Why would you add salt to your recipe? and What is decarbonation, what the hell does it have to do with my hops?

So Why add salt? Burtonizing is the addition of gypsum or calcium sulfate. Brewers do this to replicate the water from different areas in the world. This was a new concept to me, I have no intentions of ever doing a brew where I would need this just thought it was interesting.

What is decarbonation? Taking the bubbles away? No. Decarbonation in brewing refers to bicarbonate ions (alkalinity) found in local water. Some areas of the US have high alkaline water. PPMs higher than 250 can alter the taste of a mash (when brewing all grain) and can result in a nasty bitterness due additional components of the hop being extracted (polyphenols/ tannin - Basically an extra bitter nasty thing). There is a process to removing this from your water but that is another thing I don't ever plan on doing just thought it was interesting and wanted to share.

So there you have it. If you want to be sure of what is in your water you should be able to get a copy of your water report just by googling your city name plus water report.



Here is a table about adding salts to your water:
Link for reference: http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-4.html


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## yktind (Jul 31, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> i just got back from the store with a 6.5 gallon kit and ingredients for an IPA. Will probably brew it later this week or over the weekend. The brew supply store is moving next week and will be less than 5 miles from the house so that will be cool. I also gotthe john palmer book and heard its the go to guide for brewing. I tried reading it a while ago but i dont think it will make much sense until i actuallyget my hands on a batch or two.


Did you ever get your brew on?



youngbuzz101 said:


> what is IPA? second question.. When are you planning on throwing in some buds?


I just read a cool story I thought you might like - From "How to Brew" By John Palmer:
"Hops are a natural preservative, and part of the early use of hops beer was to help preserve it. This is how one particular style of beer, India pale ale, was developed. At the turn of the 18th century, British brewers began shipping strong ale with lots of hops added to the barrel to preserve it during the several month voyage to India. By journey's end, the beer had acquired a depth of hop aroma and flavor - perfect for quenching the thirst of British personnel in the tropics."


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## farmasensist (Aug 1, 2014)

I brewed it last week. The gravity was a little lower than it was supposed to be and i had some trouble cooling it but i think it will be OK. I'm going to let it sit in the fermenter another week before i bottle just to make sure its ready. Can't really see any action in the air lock and dont want want to peel back the lid and mess with it any more than i need too. The lid felt kind of swollen and the air lock smeels like straight hops so I think i did it right.


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## farmasensist (Aug 1, 2014)

The water chapter was about when I stoped read ing the book. I appreciate the book reports, it makes me want to read it again.

When i started doing hydro, i realized i had good water 45 PPM out the tap hell yeah

Home depot has a mail in water test near the exit, I might give that a try.


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## yktind (Aug 4, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> I brewed it last week. The gravity was a little lower than it was supposed to be and i had some trouble cooling it but i think it will be OK. I'm going to let it sit in the fermenter another week before i bottle just to make sure its ready. Can't really see any action in the air lock and dont want want to peel back the lid and mess with it any more than i need too. The lid felt kind of swollen and the air lock smeels like straight hops so I think i did it right.


That sounds right to me. Not sure what size boiling pot you have. Mine holds 5 gallons but I never put more than 3 gallons in it. I filled up the bathtub maybe halfway (just high enough that the pot doesn't float) then dumped a 20 lb bag of ice in it right before the wort was ready. Cooled it down to yeast pitching temp in about 20 mins.


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## yktind (Aug 4, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> The water chapter was about when I stoped read ing the book. I appreciate the book reports, it makes me want to read it again.
> 
> When i started doing hydro, i realized i had good water 45 PPM out the tap hell yeah
> 
> Home depot has a mail in water test near the exit, I might give that a try.


Holy Shit my water is around 250 - 350!


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## DrunkenRampage (Aug 4, 2014)

greenlikemoney said:


> True about the BIG 3, but most small batch brews are all-grains ( no rice ). Quite honestly, aside from local brewerys, Sam Adams has the best beer brewed in America. PBR is still brewed without rice also. You couldn't pay me to drink a BIG 3 beer, they are garbage.
> 
> As for your hopping schedule, I think you would get a better product using your cannabis as a dry hop ingredient. Definitely don't use it in your wort start and I'd be leary of using it at your 45 minute addition. End of boil and dry hopping is your best bet. Also, just remember if someone could have made a beer that tastes like cannabis, it would have already been done and recipe shared with the world. True that.


 Try a Ruination, by Stone Brewery, popping the top on one of them is just like sticking your nose into a bag of green buds IMO, kinda tastes like weed too! A bit on the pricey side but hey, just like quality cannabis quality beer is gonna cost you..... I was hooked on Flying Dog's Double Dog IPA, but they stopped distributing them in New England, but man they were delicious. Potent too, like 11-12%.


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## yktind (Aug 4, 2014)

Good news. Next batch will be an IPA, I have some reading to do about high gravity and how to handle yeast. I will be getting a couple of re-sealing growlers and will be siphoning off about a gallon to start the first CPA test! I am pretty excited about this. Will be going out of town for the rest of the week but when I get back I'll make my contraption out of a quart size mason jar. Then go to the brew shop and gather ingredients. 

I found a recipe inside "How To Brew" for a high gravity IPA. I will share once I decide that is the recipe we will be using. 

Also, a side note, I have been watching a Mini Series about DogFishHead. It's funny because the very last episode is about making a beer that is around 12% ABV. The problem they had is that the yeast stalled out. Basically it means that there is to much Alcohol in the beer for the yeast to survive. They showed a few ways to correct it and try to save but in the end they had to dump it because it did not meet their standards. 

Good thing I am not a commercial brewer lol. If for some reason our yeast stalls out this will be pre Cannabis addition which won't ruin the Herb. What will happen is we will just bottle and drink it anyway and try again. 

What happens when the yeast stalls? There are leftover sugars that did not get fermented resulting in a sweeter profile than what was intended and a lower ABV%. For us that doesn't matter except that we want the highest ABV % while still being drinkable for the Cannabis addition. My thinking is somewhere between 9% and 12%. There is no science behind why I chose those numbers it just sounds right.


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## yktind (Aug 4, 2014)

DrunkenRampage said:


> Try a Ruination, by Stone Brewery, popping the top on one of them is just like sticking your nose into a bag of green buds IMO, kinda tastes like weed too! A bit on the pricey side but hey, just like quality cannabis quality beer is gonna cost you..... I was hooked on Flying Dog's Double Dog IPA, but they stopped distributing them in New England, but man they were delicious. Potent too, like 11-12%.


We did some double IPA and Barley wine sampling last night. Man those super high gravitys can kick you in the ass. We tried an Ale Brewed by Belgian Monks, One that was Oak Barrel Aged for two years and DogFishHead Theobroma. I can't remember the other two brew names but they were good. One very chocolaty and Malty and Grainy (almost wheat) the Monk was more of a pilsner feel but was a belgian style beer not very much aroma or flavor actually. 

If I find them I will post


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## DrunkenRampage (Aug 4, 2014)

yktind said:


> We did some double IPA and Barley wine sampling last night. Man those super high gravitys can kick you in the ass. We tried an Ale Brewed by Belgian Monks, One that was Oak Barrel Aged for two years and DogFishHead Theobroma. I can't remember the other two brew names but they were good. One very chocolaty and Malty and Grainy (almost wheat) the Monk was more of a pilsner feel but was a belgian style beer not very much aroma or flavor actually.
> 
> If I find them I will post


Belgian monk brew, sounds like Weyerbacher! good stuff. They also make a great barley wine, "Blithering Idiot", and their Insanity line is pretty delicious. Im an IPA man myself I love hops. Sierra Nevadas are great and kind of like my "bud light", its the cheapest beer i will drink basically, but man nothing like sucking down some freezing cold Torpedos at the lake fishing. I like Lagunitas as well, their Lil Sumthin ale is great as well as their IPA Maximus and Lil Sumthin Extra Ale. You ever try anything from Flying Dog? they make one of my favorites, "Raging Bitch", which is a belgian style pale ale, sooooo good, i think 8.3%. Not all states carry it because it has "bitch" on the six pack carton, and the bottle says something like "good shit", lol.


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## yktind (Aug 4, 2014)

DrunkenRampage said:


> Belgian monk brew, sounds like Weyerbacher! good stuff. They also make a great barley wine, "Blithering Idiot", and their Insanity line is pretty delicious. Im an IPA man myself I love hops. Sierra Nevadas are great and kind of like my "bud light", its the cheapest beer i will drink basically, but man nothing like sucking down some freezing cold Torpedos at the lake fishing. I like Lagunitas as well, their Lil Sumthin ale is great as well as their IPA Maximus and Lil Sumthin Extra Ale. You ever try anything from Flying Dog? they make one of my favorites, "Raging Bitch", which is a belgian style pale ale, sooooo good, i think 8.3%. Not all states carry it because it has "bitch" on the six pack carton, and the bottle says something like "good shit", lol.


Man, we get sales on Sierra Nevada all the Time. $12.99/ 12 Pack. Even Torpedo. Never had flying dog. I always see them just haven't tried it yet. They have cool labels.


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## DrunkenRampage (Aug 4, 2014)

yktind said:


> Man, we get sales on Sierra Nevada all the Time. $12.99/ 12 Pack. Even Torpedo. Never had flying dog. I always see them just haven't tried it yet. They have cool labels.


Raging Bitch, if you can get them try them at least, and the Snake Dog IPA isnt that bad either. If your taste buds are anything like mine you will be sticking with that beer for a while. I drink so much beer i have always wanted to get into brewing but I know nothing about it really, and i work full time and when i come home i have to take care of my plants, which there is plenty outside and inside and different stages so feeding them is a real chore dif. nute batches the inside ones are budding the outside ones not etc etc....but anyways i would love to try a cannabis hopped beer! Keep us posted man, happy gowin!


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## yktind (Aug 4, 2014)

DrunkenRampage said:


> Raging Bitch, if you can get them try them at least, and the Snake Dog IPA isnt that bad either. If your taste buds are anything like mine you will be sticking with that beer for a while. I drink so much beer i have always wanted to get into brewing but I know nothing about it really, and i work full time and when i come home i have to take care of my plants, which there is plenty outside and inside and different stages so feeding them is a real chore dif. nute batches the inside ones are budding the outside ones not etc etc....but anyways i would love to try a cannabis hopped beer! Keep us posted man, happy gowin!


Well I do like to chew on hops like bubble gum, lol. Not really but I would consider myself a hop head. I have never had a beer and thought... "well that was way to hoppy." I'll keep an eye out for Raging Bitch.

The recipe I posted towards the beginning is a pretty good start up brew. Won't get the hop flavor you are looking for but will help get your feet wet as for timing it is a lot of hurry up and wait. But you need to be around the house for idk 3 hours or so but you can do a step and then do something else while waiting, then another, etc. That's what I do, I can't sit still though even when I have nothing to do. That's why I blaze it, haha. Only time I can sit down and play video games or veg out.

Stick around we will be brewing when I get back. Probably one day after work next week.


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## DrunkenRampage (Aug 4, 2014)

Nice, im waiting for results, pass or fail either one is knowledge! cannabis beer sounds great if it can be done.


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## youngbuzz101 (Aug 4, 2014)

DrunkenRampage said:


> Try a Ruination, by Stone Brewery, popping the top on one of them is just like sticking your nose into a bag of green buds IMO, kinda tastes like weed too! A bit on the pricey side but hey, just like quality cannabis quality beer is gonna cost you..... I was hooked on Flying Dog's Double Dog IPA, but they stopped distributing them in New England, but man they were delicious. Potent too, like 11-12%.


Was that 11-12% alc or thc?


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## greenlikemoney (Aug 5, 2014)

yktind said:


> Good news. Next batch will be an IPA, I have some reading to do about high gravity and how to handle yeast. I will be getting a couple of re-sealing growlers and will be siphoning off about a gallon to start the first CPA test! I am pretty excited about this. Will be going out of town for the rest of the week but when I get back I'll make my contraption out of a quart size mason jar. Then go to the brew shop and gather ingredients.
> 
> I found a recipe inside "How To Brew" for a high gravity IPA. I will share once I decide that is the recipe we will be using.
> 
> ...


 
We brewed a high gravity Barleywine using fresh yeast pulled off a fermenter at a local brewery. Shit worked great, hard to brew a high gravity with packet yeast ( even the smash packs ). Best thing you could do would be to make a wort, add your yeast, then once it ferments and settles drain off the now fermented wort and pour the yeast into another bottle of wort ( etc etc ) until you have a nice batch of yeast ( at least a quart ) to pitch into your high gravity wort. Just my experienced opinion.


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## DrunkenRampage (Aug 5, 2014)

youngbuzz101 said:


> Was that 11-12% alc or thc?


ABV


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## youngbuzz101 (Aug 6, 2014)

sorry but what is abv?


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## farmasensist (Aug 7, 2014)

youngbuzz101 said:


> sorry but what is abv?


alcohol by volume, basically measures how drunk it gets you. 80 proof liquor is 40% and most beers like coors, miller, bud are about 5%.


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## youngbuzz101 (Aug 7, 2014)

ohhh makes sense.. pretty sure american beer is 4%. OH CANADA! drinking a 10% beer as we speak lmao


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## yktind (Aug 8, 2014)

greenlikemoney said:


> We brewed a high gravity Barleywine using fresh yeast pulled off a fermenter at a local brewery. Shit worked great, hard to brew a high gravity with packet yeast ( even the smash packs ). Best thing you could do would be to make a wort, add your yeast, then once it ferments and settles drain off the now fermented wort and pour the yeast into another bottle of wort ( etc etc ) until you have a nice batch of yeast ( at least a quart ) to pitch into your high gravity wort. Just my experienced opinion.


What about liquid yeast? Also, I did some reading about using a starter (similar to bread making). I think that is what you are talking about. I've been away this whole week but will be getting down and dirty over the weekend. Bottling day from the last batch is Saturday.


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## greenlikemoney (Aug 8, 2014)

yktind said:


> What about liquid yeast? Also, I did some reading about using a starter (similar to bread making). I think that is what you are talking about. I've been away this whole week but will be getting down and dirty over the weekend. Bottling day from the last batch is Saturday.


Yes, actually you would be making a starter multiple times to get a healthy supply to pitch.


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## yktind (Aug 8, 2014)

Getting ready for the brew. I am thinking about skipping out on the decarb for the first run. I think this will give us maximum potential for smell and flavor. 

Anybody think we should decarb. Or maybe a half and half mix. The only reason I am thinking about skipping decarb is because it completely changes the smell and flavor profiles.


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## yktind (Aug 8, 2014)

Sorry Guys I made a mistake. We will not be brewing an IPA we will be brewing an Imperial IPA. What the hell is the difference. Well its just numbers really. Take a look:

This is out of How To Brew: J. Palmer
*Indian Pale Ale Style Guidelines:*
*SubStyles -------- OG (Original Gravity) ------- Degrees Plato ------- FG (Final Gravity) -------- IBUS (International Bittering Units) --------- Color*
_English IPA -------------- 1.050 - 75 -------------------- 12.5 - 18 ----------------------- 1.010 - 18 ------------------------------ 40 - 60 ------------------------------ 8 -14
American IPA ----------- 1.056 - 75 -------------------- 13.5 - 18 ----------------------- 1.010 - 18 ------------------------------ 40 - 60+ ---------------------------- 6 -15
Imperial IPA ------------ 1.075 - 90+ ------------------- 18 - 22+ ----------------------- 1.012 - 18 ------------------------------ 60 - 100+ --------------------------- 8 -15

*Note*_
I will do a write up on how to measure using a hydrometer soon. This is kind of jumping ahead in the book. But Why waste time we have to taste this soon to be delicious beer. 

OG - FG Approximate ABV Chart:
 

Plato Conversion Chart (This is usually used with a Refractometer. I do not have one therefore I won't be going into to detail):
 

Color Rating Chart:
 

I need to do some more reading about yeast and making a starter then I will post the recipe and an explanation on yeast.


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## yktind (Aug 8, 2014)

***I need to write this equation down for later use***

Dry malt is approximately 40 points (that is actually 1.040 on the hydrometer) per pound per gallon. My goal is about 10% ABV.

The equation is: OG = m (malt in pounds) x 40/ 5 gallons of water

We know that the FG should land around 1.010 once fermentation is over and our goal is 10% ABV (~1.090). How many pounds of DME (Dry Malt Extract) will we need?

90 = (m * 40) / 5
5 * 90 = m * 40
450 = m * 40
450/ 40 = m
11.25 = malt in pounds

Remember that the 90 and 40 in this example are points, on the hydrometer they will read 1.090 or 1.040. This is just how the equation works in terms of pounds of malt.

Based on this example our wort will need ~ 11.25 pounds of DME or 13.5 pounds of LME

Here is the conversion from Dry Malt Extract (DME) to Liquid Malt Extract (LME): Approximately 1 pound of dry malt extract would roughly equal 1.2 pounds of syrup malt extract. Likewise, 1 pound of syrup malt extract would roughly equal 0.8 pounds of dry malt extract.

Also, here is a very useful calculator if you don't like math:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/


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## yktind (Aug 8, 2014)

Holy Shit this thing is fucking awesome... If you know how to use it:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/

Very good calculator.


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## yktind (Aug 8, 2014)

So after doing some fuzzy math I have decided to use 14 grams / fat gallon of beer (12 Beers). We will be siphoning off ~ 1 gallon of our wort go through our special contraption and begin the final conditioning period of our "Indian Skywalker" brew.


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## farmasensist (Aug 10, 2014)

I bottled mine yesterday after being in the fermenter for two weeks. I got 12 x 22 oz bottles and 22 x 12 oz bottles. It smelled weird when i took the lid off, it was really, really sweet smelling. I took a little taste and it was very sweet and malty but also had a very bitter hop taste.I can see now how the flavors work together to make a balance of sweet and bitter but it's too early. Right now its like the flavors are cocompeting to see which one can taste worse. I put it in the bottling bucket, added the priming sugar and let it sit for about an hour. When i came back, the smell totally changed. It was a very strong smell of hot alcohol. Now i just have to wait. I think i might do a wheat beer next.


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## yktind (Aug 11, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> I bottled mine yesterday after being in the fermenter for two weeks. I got 12 x 22 oz bottles and 22 x 12 oz bottles. It smelled weird when i took the lid off, it was really, really sweet smelling. I took a little taste and it was very sweet and malty but also had a very bitter hop taste.I can see now how the flavors work together to make a balance of sweet and bitter but it's too early. Right now its like the flavors are cocompeting to see which one can taste worse. I put it in the bottling bucket, added the priming sugar and let it sit for about an hour. When i came back, the smell totally changed. It was a very strong smell of hot alcohol. Now i just have to wait. I think i might do a wheat beer next.
> 
> View attachment 3225815


Congrats on your first batch!!! Its funny even after bottling. two weeks has a certain flavor, 4 weeks has a smoother flavor. 6 weeks... IDK I have never left one alone long enough, haha.


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## yktind (Aug 11, 2014)

Good News. Went to the brew shop gathered all of the ingredients on Saturday including a yeast starter kit. Will post pictures tomorrow. Anyway for the starter all I did was:

Here is what white labs says:
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew/starter-tips

1/2 pound Light DME
1 Pinch Fermentaid (came with the kit)
1 Liquid Pack of White Labs 99 Super High Gravity Yeast

To help give our beer a jump start the start is required. We do not want the yeast filling up on sugars before they are all gone. So what we do is increase the cell count by a few billion. Then we will dump our yeast starter into our wort.

Here is the basic recipe of our "Indian Skywalker Ale":

.5 lbs Amber DME
11 lbs Light LME
*1.5 ibs Carmel Crystal 30
*1.5 lbs American Pale Ale

* = grains, steeped @ 155 degrees F for 30 - 45 mins

White Labs Super High Gravity in Starter (48 - 72 hours depends if we brew today or tomorrow).

1.5 oz Nugget @ 15
1.5 oz Centennial @ 30
1 oz Cascade @ 45
1 oz Cascade @ 60
1 oz cascade @ 75
Boil Stop @ 90

We will aerate the mix by swishing back and forth a total of 20 times as opposed to our normal 5 times.

Prime with 3 oz Corn Sugar, 2 Cups of water.

Siphon 1 gallon through special made "Hop Back" containing 14 grams of Dried and Cured Skywalker OG.

***Special Note*** We will not be doing a decarb for this trial.


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## yktind (Aug 11, 2014)

Here is a pretty cool Yeast cell count calculator. This will help determine how much yeast you will actually need. 
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html


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## yktind (Aug 12, 2014)

Okay Bottling day was on Saturday:

Looks like we are about 5% or so. The color is beautiful, smells amazing and has a perfect hop bitterness. Very excited to try this in two weeks.


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## yktind (Aug 12, 2014)

Oh and here is the beginning of "Indian Skywalker"

This is the starter:
Always make sure you are drinking beer while making beer


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## yktind (Aug 12, 2014)

The rest of the starter pics. It is now in the fridge waiting for the yeast to settle to the bottom. Brew day is Thursday!


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## yktind (Aug 14, 2014)

Bottle Caps Came in Today!!



Also, I have decided to dry hop with an additional 4 oz of whole hops. I am a little worried that our beer will come out to sweet. We are using way more malt than normal. Brew Day is today!!! Once the wort goes into the fermentor it will stay there for 7 days, then transfer into the glass carboy with 4 oz of whole hops.


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## yktind (Aug 14, 2014)

Hey Guys change to the recipe:

Here is the basic recipe of our "Indian Skywalker Ale":

.5 lbs Amber DME
11 lbs Light LME
*1.5 ibs Carmel Crystal 30
*1.5 lbs American Pale Ale

* = grains, steeped @ 155 degrees F for 30 - 45 mins

White Labs Super High Gravity in Starter (48 - 72 hours depends if we brew today or tomorrow).

1.5 oz Nugget @ 15
1.5 oz Centennial @ 30
1 oz Cascade @ 45
2 oz Cascade @ 60
4 oz Cascade mix (Whole Hops) @ 75
Boil Stop @ 90

We will aerate the mix by swishing back and forth a total of 20 times as opposed to our normal 5 times.
Prime with 3 oz Corn Sugar, 2 Cups of water.
Siphon 1 gallon through special made "Hop Back" containing 14 grams of Dried and Cured Skywalker OG.
***Special Note*** We will not be doing a decarb for this trial.

Below are some estimates of the beer:

IBU = 95.85
ABV = 10.84%
SRM (Color) = 11.59

Also, will no longer do a dry hop since this recipe change will super boost the IBU's.


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## farmasensist (Aug 14, 2014)

I found this not too long ago. it explains how the boil time and gravity change the IBUs. Theres also a part two to it.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/analyzing-tinseth-formula.html


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## farmasensist (Aug 14, 2014)

that's really cool. where did you find that cap?


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## yktind (Aug 14, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> that's really cool. where did you find that cap?


MY GF special ordered them for me


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## yktind (Aug 14, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> I found this not too long ago. it explains how the boil time and gravity change the IBUs. Theres also a part two to it.
> 
> http://www.homebrewtalk.com/analyzing-tinseth-formula.html


Thanks for the share. That is a pretty interesting read. Now I can justify our 90 min. Boil Time. Also, if you look at the order we are adding hops this is very specific. Nugget has a spicy bitter flavor without to much aroma. Centennial has a nice Lemony feel with a bit more aroma and cascade is basically for our smell. Also, adding 2 oz of hops and 60 vs 1 at 60 and 1 at 75 is what gave us a good boost in IBU's. Adding the 4 oz whole hops at 75 mins instead of Dry Hopping let's extract a bit more bitterness from the whole hops, getting us into the 90 IBU zone. Dry Hopping is purely for aroma.

Time to get to work! I'll post the Brew Day Pics in the morning.


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## yktind (Aug 18, 2014)

Brew Day!!! = 8/14/2014

Quick Recipe Recap:

"Imperial Indian Skywalker Ale":

.5 lbs Amber DME
11 lbs Light LME
*1.5 ibs Carmel Crystal 30
*1.5 lbs American Pale Ale

* = grains, steeped @ 155 degrees F for 30 - 45 mins

White Labs Super High Gravity in Starter (48 - 72 hours depends if we brew today or tomorrow).

1.5 oz Nugget @ 15
1.5 oz Centennial @ 30
1 oz Cascade @ 45
2 oz Cascade @ 60
4 oz Cascade mix (Whole Hops) @ 75
Boil Stop @ 90


Step One: Get yeast out of fridge and get to room temperature, Gather Supplies and make sure you have everything before starting.
  

Sterilize and get 2 gallons of water up 155 degrees F. 
 

Pour off 80% of the top liquid and give a couple of swirls. (Yeast)



Start Steeping Grains

 

Bring to boil (Its actually under boil. You have to play with the temp because at this point boil overs are pretty easy), add in all the malt and stir. Make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. Get the Hops Ready!


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## yktind (Aug 18, 2014)

Rest of the brew:

This is the first couple of Hop Additions. This was a 90 Minute Brew with additions every 15 mins. 

  

The Final 4 Oz. of Fresh Whole Hops. 

 

Cool the wort down as quickly as possible. I even put Ice on top. Not sure if it helps but it makes me feel better about it. 

 

This is right after agitation (x20)

 

Take the reading from the hydrometer (no pic), Fill a glass and pitch the yeast. 

  

I think it is pretty important to taste the beer in different stages. It helps me learn how the smell and flavors change. Which helps tweak recipes to where you want them. 

See you guys in a week or so when we do the transfer into the glass carboy.


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## yktind (Aug 18, 2014)

Notes on the Hydrometer:

Our OG (Original Gravity) is about: 1.072
Estimated ABV: 9.25%
Estimated IBU: 94

Here's to a Full Fermentation!!!

The ABV % less than expected by a full percent. So equations don't always translate into real life. It is better use them as guidelines and estimates not exact. At least for our purposes.


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## yktind (Aug 18, 2014)

Here is the partial setup of the "Cannabis Hop Back".
This is a crude prototype for this batch. If it works and this still seems like a good idea after bottling I will have one made out of glass or something. Or maybe Aluminum.

Homedepot didn't have a male to male connector so I bought the Tee and modified it, lol.

Will have more pics on bottling day. I may try running a complete beer through it just to see if it retains any properties with such a quick wash.


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## yktind (Aug 19, 2014)

Fermentation is about complete at least the bubbling phase. But here is a video of the second day:


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## yktind (Aug 20, 2014)

*Disclaimer, I am not a scientist. Just showing you guys why I am doing what I am doing. Its really more of a study session for myself. With that said I am interested to hear opinions on both temperature and timing. Please remember we are going for maximum flavor profile*

I have changed my mind one last time... We will be doing a decarb of the cannabis material before washing it with our beer. Oven set to 230 degrees F for 45 mins. According to the two articles below we can decarb without loosing to many terpinoids (smells). Below is a summary of the boiling temperatures for some compounds and essential oils found in Cannabis. 

 

But why 230 degrees F for 45 mins? In reading the articles the guy had his trim and keif tested by a lab at 240 degrees for 30 mins and 60 mins. It basically shows that 60 mins gets a complete decarb. (See Below Chart). Personally I do not think my oven will stay at a constant temperature so I am anticipating fluctuations of 10 degrees +/-. 

This chart is from: 
*"Decarboxylating Cannabis: Turning THCA into THC"*
_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_
*Kief*
CompoundBefore Decarb30 Min Decarb60 Min Decarb
THCA 24.5% 2.6% .1%
THC 3.8% 25.4% 25.5%
CBDA .6% .3% .3%
CBD 0% 1% .1%
CBN .4% 1% 1.4%
Moisture 0% 0% 0%
Total Cannabanoids 29.3% 30.3% 27.4%
*Cannabis Trim*
CompoundBefore Decarb30 Min Decarb60 Min Decarb
THCA 6.5% 2.9% .2%
THC .6% 4.8% 6.9%
CBDA .2% .2% .1%
CBD 0% 0% .1%
CBN 0% 0% 0%
Moisture 3.4% 4.5% 0%
Total Cannabanoids 7.3% 7.9% 7.3%
_Testing provided by SC Labs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_


Decarboxylating Cannabis: Turning THCA into THC:
http://www.marijuanagrowershq.com/decarboxylating-cannabis-turning-thca-into-thc/

Here is the publication that inspired the above article:
http://www.cannabis-med.org/data/pdf/2001-03-04-7.pdf


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## yktind (Aug 22, 2014)

Transfer day was yesterday 8.21.2014

***Side Note***
When I opened the primary fermentor I noticed some small bubbles appearing. This tells me that fermentation is not complete. I later found out that the beer wort should sit in the primary fermentor until complete. It was already to late since half the beer was already in the glass carboy. So in an attempt to get the most yeast back into the glass carboy I did a couple of gentle stirs and pumps with the auto siphon. The beer is definitely not done yet.

Note To Self: When making a high gravity beer let sit in primary fermentor for a minimum of 10 days.

Our beer will now sit in the secondary fermentor for about 2 weeks because I will be going out of town on Wednesday. I am not worried about letting it sit for to long because the yeast is still very active. I would not recommend letting your beer sit longer than 6 weeks, this is based on nothing except feelings and different things I have read.

Now about the beer, it smells delicious, nice and hoppy but not overpowering, very sweet and a young fermentation smell. (If you have ever gotten fresh squeezed OJ that was old and started to get carbonation, this is what that smells like... Orange Juice that is beginning to ferment).

Step 1 as always... Clean and sterilize everything that will touch the beer wort. You will notice that I did not remove the foam. Don't worry, no off flavors or smells are produced. Star-San is made to leave in foam:
 

Open the primary fermentor and take a big deep smell... Awww. Isn't that nice.
    

Looking at the color of the hose it looks like we will have a really nice finish. Keep in mind that it is cloudy because fermentation is not complete. I expect it be much cleaner in another week.


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## yktind (Aug 25, 2014)

Finally had the opportunity to "Hop Crazy" the last beer that we bottled. 

First we will have to change the name from hop crazy to hoplicious. Not quite as hoppy as I was hoping for. Here are the notes I wrote down while tasting:

Smell Subtle Hop almost sweetness. Reminds me of Peaches or fruit with a light malt flavor. Bitter, Sharp flowery, like 7up with a smooth finish. 

***Notes*** Add .5 additional priming sugar.


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## farmasensist (Sep 2, 2014)

i tried mine after three weeks in the bottle. I didn't think it would be too good but it actually was. It wasn't anything amazing but if i paid for it at the store, I'd be satisfied with my purchase.


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## yktind (Sep 2, 2014)

Bottling Day is going to be between Wednesday and Sunday.. It's actually Thursday but football season starts!

This will be the Imperial Indian Skywalker Pale Ale. 1 gallon will be run through our special contraption and straight into the bottles.

I will be checking the fermentation tonight using the hydrometer. Remember, we cannot bottle until fermentation is complete. Why? If we add priming sugar to a beer wort that is still fermenting it will give the yeast to much of a jump start resulting in...













Also, side note, the color has changed dramatically resulting in a much darker beer than anticipated. Will have to tweak the recipe to get a true Double IPA. Pictures Tomorrow.


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## yktind (Sep 2, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> i tried mine after three weeks in the bottle. I didn't think it would be too good but it actually was. It wasn't anything amazing but if i paid for it at the store, I'd be satisfied with my purchase.
> 
> View attachment 3244534


Looks tasty to me! The problem my last couple of beers have had is holding a head. I'm not sure how to fix this. So I'll be reading and posting as I finish this book. "How to Brew"


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## farmasensist (Sep 3, 2014)

mine didn't have any head either. I think it was because there wasn't much carbonation. It's crazy how quick the color, smell, taste, clarity... can all change so quick. I was looking into some bottles holding them up to the light and it looked fairly clear with all the sediment swirling around at the bottom but after sitting in the fridge for two days it looked like everything more evenly dispersed and mixed itself up more evenly.


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## yktind (Sep 3, 2014)

Here is a comparison of where the beer started to where it is today, color wise:
After and then Before:


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## yktind (Sep 5, 2014)

After reading another chapter, I might have solved the head problem.

The last few brews I have added all of my extract at the beginning of the boil. According to the book this causes: Low Hop Isomerzation, poorer foam stability and changes in flavor. It has something to do with proteins and coagulation, etc. That is for another discussion and someone smarter than myself to describe. 

In the example, John Palmer, used. 

3.3 lbs LME
2.5 lbs DME

He used all of the dry malt extract in the beginning boil and then the rest of the extracts 5 mins prior to boil shut down. This is just enough time to pasterize the new sugars (make them free of bacteria). 

This is from Chapter 7 in "How To Brew" by John Palmer. 

So from here on out, we will be using half and half and see if that gets us a better head and a better hop profile. The next beer coming out will be a red style ale inspired by Sierra Nevada's Flipside Red IPA


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## farmasensist (Sep 6, 2014)

http://www.theflavorbomb.com/

i found this today, its a little contraption that you put in the beer when you bottle it and it slowly leaches out outthe flavor of whatever is in it. It might be worth a try if the other attattempts dont work.


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## yktind (Sep 8, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> http://www.theflavorbomb.com/
> 
> i found this today, its a little contraption that you put in the beer when you bottle it and it slowly leaches out outthe flavor of whatever is in it. It might be worth a try if the other attattempts dont work.


That is a pretty cool little contraption. Will be doing our first attempt either Tuesday or Wednesday.


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## yktind (Sep 9, 2014)

Okay so a quick update. 
"Imperial Indian Skywalker Brew"
Our original gravity was 1.073 our target for a finished fermentation is 1.010 - 1.012.
I took the reading last night and we are between 1.012 and 1.014. So what this means is that our fermentation has either stalled or is taking way longer than anticipated or I didn't make a big enough yeast starter. Will give it until Friday and then will bottle and prime as usual. 

Remember that not having a full fermentation prior to priming and bottling may result in exploding bottles. So we will keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. I may do a light priming just in case. Will check the reading on Friday. I just want to be clearly at 1.012 and I will feel better about everything.


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## yktind (Sep 12, 2014)

Today is the Day. Time to sanitize everything and prep for bottling!

*Notes*
- Prime w/ 2 Cups of boiled water including 3.5 oz Priming Sugar. 
- Decarb 14 grams/ gal (in this case 1 gallon will be used as a tester)
- Decarb = 45 mins @ 230 degrees F
- Siphon 1 gal, after priming, beer wort through contraption
- Bottle and cap immediately


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## youngbuzz101 (Sep 15, 2014)

you do it yet?!?!?!?! YKTIND


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## youngbuzz101 (Sep 15, 2014)

That canna-beer you told me you would get on come September?


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## yktind (Sep 15, 2014)

We did it!!! And it is fucking delicious!! Can't say rather or not it'll get you high because I sampled a shot glass right before bottling. It retained the exact amount of flavor and smell that I was looking for!!! Pretty excited. Most expensive beer I've ever made is coming soon, hahaha. 

The flavor will change over the course of the next two weeks (conditioning period). This way the beer gets carbonated. I really am impressed by the flavor. Didn't think such a quick rinse would do it but to my surprise it smells and tastes like Skywalker. 

I wish I would have done the whole batch! I am a little worried that the rest of the beer will be to sweet. I think it really needed that last hit of dry hopping. Full report will come once the very first beer is opened. 



Check out the Party:


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## yktind (Sep 15, 2014)

Rest of the pics.

Also, my contraption broke at the end during cleaning. So will definitely need to get something made.

        

The plan was to use the left over cannabis and make some coconut oil or something, unfortunately I got a little carried away trying to Disconnect hoses and ejected the buds all over my sink. So they got wasted but hopefully we got a decent extraction. Would be very curious to know how THC was mixed into the beer. But I don't have the equipment to do so.


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## youngbuzz101 (Sep 16, 2014)

Wait up bro run that by me how exactly did you difuse the THC into the beer? Wouldn't there be no alcohol at the point in which you ran your beer through the buds?

Why didnt you soak them say overnight or would that turn the beer to vineger?

Not sure I understand your process although good job bro for following through I'm happy I remembered to check in how long until you have the end product?


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## youngbuzz101 (Sep 16, 2014)

In the pictures it looks like the thing you made to hold your buds the intake hose and the outake hose is the same size. You should make the bottom hose smaller so it fills the cup and drains slower giving your beer solution more time in contact with your buds.


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## yktind (Sep 16, 2014)

youngbuzz101 said:


> Wait up bro run that by me how exactly did you difuse the THC into the beer? Wouldn't there be no alcohol at the point in which you ran your beer through the buds?
> 
> Why didnt you soak them say overnight or would that turn the beer to vineger?
> 
> Not sure I understand your process although good job bro for following through I'm happy I remembered to check in how long until you have the end product?


Well its a super sophisticated way of extraction, that was determined throughout this thread. I'll do a more formal tutorial as I get deeper into this but here is a quick recap:

- The beer finished fermentation already (alcohol content ~ 8%)
- The quick wash was determined by a study on hops showing that the quicker the wash time the more flavors and smells that were retained. 
- I doubt that the THC content is above 1% (that is a different trial - Maybe we'll call that beer hash bombs)

You can certainly leave them overnight but my main concern on this trial was flavor.
1. Try chewing on a bud... It tastes good for about 30 secs or so and then the flavor goes from spicy and herbal to grass. We do not want grass beer. 

In short the extraction process was quite similar to doing a qwiso tech. i.e. quick wash minus the freezing temperatures.


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## yktind (Sep 16, 2014)

youngbuzz101 said:


> In the pictures it looks like the thing you made to hold your buds the intake hose and the outake hose is the same size. You should make the bottom hose smaller so it fills the cup and drains slower giving your beer solution more time in contact with your buds.


I appreciate the input however, the cup did stay full almost the entire time. We actually had to shut off the valve a couple of times to keep it from over flowing.

This is a 1 gallon trial so we siphoned off 1 gallon into a separate pot and bottled immediately after rinsing the cannabis.

***Note*** Once we have the perfect technique down with 1 gallon we will do a full 5 gallon batch. (Combination of high to flavor and smell to alcohol content)


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## youngbuzz101 (Sep 17, 2014)

Outstanding! Okay I didn't know the cup was already filling or I wouldnt have suggested a mod I apologize. 

So if you were using buds for a flavor enhancement would you have used less bud then you would say if you were trying concuct so potent beer? 

I would imaging more wouldn't nessecarily be better when it came to THC content if you could get 2% THC/vol per beer would probably be good after five beers would would have 10% if my rationality works..

That beer isn't for the slight of heart literally people with heart conditions should be weiry.


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## yktind (Sep 17, 2014)

youngbuzz101 said:


> Outstanding! Okay I didn't know the cup was already filling or I wouldnt have suggested a mod I apologize.
> 
> So if you were using buds for a flavor enhancement would you have used less bud then you would say if you were trying concuct so potent beer?
> 
> ...


You are right that you definitely don't want this to be a super high concentrate of THC. If we find that we want higher THC% we can also add hash oil or something similar. We don't want people freaking out, we want to enjoy the beer and a slight stone feeling.

Well the best hypothesis I can come up and this is super fuzzy math but here it goes:
Say Skywalker Og has a a THC % of 18%. (We used whole buds so it is safe to assume that this number is close). 
Our beer has an ABV of ~8%.
Does this mean that we extract 8% of 18% and divide it by 11 beers? 
Equation: 
.08 x 18 = 1.44%
1.44%/ 11 = .13% per beer
*I am not a scientist nor by any means do I think that the above equation is accurate this is just my best guess. 


It is just easier to say that we used 14 grams/ 11 beers which is ~ 1.27 grams/ beer.


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## youngbuzz101 (Sep 17, 2014)

yktind said:


> You are right that you definitely don't want this to be a super high concentrate of THC. If we find that we want higher THC% we can also add hash oil or something similar. We don't want people freaking out, we want to enjoy the beer and a slight stone feeling.
> 
> Well the best hypothesis I can come up and this is super fuzzy math but here it goes:
> Say Skywalker Og has a a THC % of 18%. (We used whole buds so it is safe to assume that this number is close).
> ...


How about you consider these perimeters to do your bud amount;

each gram of weed has 1000mg dry weight. So if your skywalker is 18% THC then 1000 x 0.18 = 180mg. So each gram of dry OG skywalker weed contains 180mg of psychoactive thc.

SO when medical dispensaries create their edible doses they dose each serving at 10mg thc. So at an eighteenth a gram of 18% or 10mg infused edible concentration people get medicated from one portion.

So assuming we plan on having a good night and want to consume more than one deliciously home brew beverage we would probably want less than an edible dosage as the percentage of thc mg's will increase exponentially with each beer.

*Remember edibles react differently than smoke*

So for safeties sake we will take the 18 doses of 10mg (making the 180mg gram of OG) by a fifth which makes it a mere 3.6 mg of pure thc per beer so drinking three beers will bring us roughly to a regular edible dose. (three beers @ 10.8mg/thc)

Since a bottle of beer is 341 ml
and your brew is 5 gal.
...going to get a calculator.
ok so..
there are 3785.41 ml in one us gal

3785.41 x 5= 18927.05ml
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

18927.05 divided by 341= 55.5045454545 cont.
therefore,
there are 55 beers being made at 3.6mg a bottle
so you only need 198 mg of thc
to be dilluted into your brew evenly which works out to..
1.1 grams of your skywalker OG.

That being said that would be if you were to extract 1.1 of a gram completely which is unlikely so I would double up even so thats only 2.2 grams theoretically to make a extremely mild psychoactive beer.

If you are seasoned with marijuana you could up the the intensity to 6mg which, is a 2/3rd of a dose (dose being a tenth of a gram) which would be 6mg being 1.83 grams. (doubled is 3.66 a little over a half quarter).

Seeing as how your earlier way of extracting weed through the cup is unregulated its hard to say how much of your nugs are being fully extracted. If you were to find a way to extract efficiently like oil or butter methods you can get the effect desired and use a fraction of what you used originally in your post.

As for flavor I have no idea maybe after you extract the thc you could soak the remaining physical bud in your beer to obtain flavor? or run the solution before it become alcohol to extract flavor and not thc and then add desired amount thc concentrate.


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## yktind (Sep 17, 2014)

The truth is without testing it we just do not know. When making qwiso with 99% you still don't wind up with 100% THC. We are only using 8% alcohol. I like the mg conversion but I don't see 1 gram working for a 5 gallon batch. That being said, I don't think 14 grams will be enough for 11 beers either (flavor yes, high I doubt it). But this is why we try things. So we will see in 2 weeks when we open the first beer and I can judge the flavor and high for myself.


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## yktind (Sep 17, 2014)

DrunkenRampage said:


> Belgian monk brew, sounds like Weyerbacher! good stuff. They also make a great barley wine, "Blithering Idiot", and their Insanity line is pretty delicious. Im an IPA man myself I love hops. Sierra Nevadas are great and kind of like my "bud light", its the cheapest beer i will drink basically, but man nothing like sucking down some freezing cold Torpedos at the lake fishing. I like Lagunitas as well, their Lil Sumthin ale is great as well as their IPA Maximus and Lil Sumthin Extra Ale. You ever try anything from Flying Dog? they make one of my favorites, "Raging Bitch", which is a belgian style pale ale, sooooo good, i think 8.3%. Not all states carry it because it has "bitch" on the six pack carton, and the bottle says something like "good shit", lol.


Finally tried "Snake Dog" IPA by Flying Dog.

I am not much experienced in the art of reviewing and tasting a beer but I'll give it a shot.

It has an awesome fresh grain smell almost roasted sugar like. Makes you want to dive right in. Sweet Than hoppy bitterness with a hop finish. It is not a heavy beer considering the 7.1% ABV, I want to just keep drinking it.

Roasted Malt to a sweet then quite bitter with a smooth finish. That is from start to finish on a drink.


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## youngbuzz101 (Sep 18, 2014)

I read a high times article once were they where making THC infused alcohol some liquor variety. 

Anyways all they did was drop a gram nug in the bottle and let it sit in there for 2 weeks. 

They claim that it was some potent shit lime they said only to do a shot of it. And then switch to regular liquor. So that shows you a gram will go pretty far I'll try to find the article.


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## [email protected] (Sep 18, 2014)

yktind said:


> Finally tried "Snake Dog" IPA by Flying Dog.
> 
> I am not much experienced in the art of reviewing and tasting a beer but I'll give it a shot.
> 
> ...


...Thats not because of the flavour bro.....LMAO...jk


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## yktind (Sep 22, 2014)

Tasting day is finally around the Corner. We are planning for Saturday to pop one open and give it a try. If you are in my area and I told you I would give you a brew and or let you try it, send me a PM and we might be able to get together for a brew and smoke sesh.

I wish I could give everyone on RIU a brew but only made 11 this round. Oh and there is a recipe if you want to try and recreate it .

I'll still be updating the thread as I try new things with the brew and share anything I learn about brewing in general. Thanks for sticking around everybody! Couldn't have made it this far without all the feedback!

I am thinking the next trial should have an extract for THC content and trim, larf, bud mixture for flavor and smell. That way we can do a lower alcohol content. We will play it by ear!


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## [email protected] (Sep 22, 2014)

Hey!!! I wanna beer!!!LMFAO....


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## yktind (Oct 2, 2014)

Drum Roll please.... 

Finally got to taste the Cannabis Beer. Here are my tasting notes:

Oh by the way, There will be two different tasting notes 1. being cannabis infusion 2. being the normal beer.
*Cannabis Infusion:

   

Smell: *Hoppy, Light, Refreshing to inhale, Smells of Vermouth Olives (weird but good).
*See: *The color is everything that I wanted. A little cloudy, holds head very well.
*Taste: *Spicy, Bitter Hop Dunked In Alcohol, Sweet Roasted Honey, After Taste Reminds you of Cannabis. 2nd Taste: Sweet Malty, Hoppiness (I believe this flavor is the Cannabis), Finish = Burning Bitter Alcohol Flavor (I think this is because of the high gravity).

*Final Conclusion:* If I did not know that there was Cannabis in the beer I would have no idea that it was dry hopped with Skywalker OG. Perhaps a longer soak would help but on the day of the bottling and infusion the flavor and smell was very intense and could easily tell that there was in fact cannabis in the beer. My thoughts are that even with a longer soak the flavors would be lost in the hops.

Thinking back to when I did a side by side taste test of both the hops and cannabis the flavors are easily mixed up, especially after tasting one or the other. Even the smells become similar after taking a whiff a couple of times and jumping back and forth. The only difference in flavor was; when the hop was finishing it turned very bitter and more intensely got more and more bitter with every passing second and chew. The cannabis on the other hand went from a spicy earthy flavor to grass and then faded to nothing.

So my analysis would be to remove hops entirely from the equation and use cannabis throughout the process. My fear would be that grassy taste sticking around and ruining the beer. A normal person would not be able to taste hops and cannabis at the same time and be able to differentiate which was which.
___________________________________________________________

Next trial will be using a hash extract mixed with everclear (or similar solvent) and pouring this into the beer wort after the first week of fermentation. I think the hash flavor will be more prevalent and it is quite different then the Cannabis flavor. The other benefit is that this next batch we will be able to give a better estimate as to how much THC is actually dissolved, mostly because I will be able to say well there 5 grams/ 5 gallons (or whatever the ratio ends up being).

*RIU: *I would love to hear some thoughts about what ratio we should do the hash and Everclear mixture. Also, how much Everclear to hash (this is just to help the hash be dissolved into the actual beer, since hash won't mix well in a 8% - 10% ABV).
____________________________________________________

*Taste Test w/o Cannabis:

 

Smell: *Sweet with Citrus and maybe a hint of apples
*See: *Perfect Color, A bit Cloudy
*Taste: *Full Body, Thick, Hops are in your face, bitter, spicy with a smooth finish with an extra bite hop flavor.
*Start to Finish: *Floral, Spicy Sweet, Full Body, Spicy, Very Bitter, Hoppy
_______________________________________________________________________

So the two different beers look and smell similar but the taste veers slightly. I think the Cannabis added the extra spicy flavor and that Vermouth/ Olive smell, Perhaps the THC affected the final fermentation and carbonation process (which is unlikely becasue the Cannabis Beer actually held a better head so... ????).


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## Flagg420 (Oct 2, 2014)

Make sure to save a bottle or two, let them condition a little longer, might mellow that "hops dipped in alcohol" flavor, mellow the bitterness, and let the back flavors come thru a bit.... we had that with our first attempt at graff, was much much better after another month or 2 of bottle conditioning. (clarity improved too)

Found a few @ my moms last month (6 month after initial finish) was fucking amazing.... n we were GIVING this shit away (thats how it ended up there) was bitter, then flat... empty tasting.... that 6month one.... omg...


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## yktind (Oct 3, 2014)

Flagg420 said:


> Make sure to save a bottle or two, let them condition a little longer, might mellow that "hops dipped in alcohol" flavor, mellow the bitterness, and let the back flavors come thru a bit.... we had that with our first attempt at graff, was much much better after another month or 2 of bottle conditioning. (clarity improved too)
> 
> Found a few @ my moms last month (6 month after initial finish) was fucking amazing.... n we were GIVING this shit away (thats how it ended up there) was bitter, then flat... empty tasting.... that 6month one.... omg...


Good Call on that. I still have 10 left of the Cannabis Beer. So maybe I'll let them sit for another month and then try another beer.

I have about 40 of non Cannabis beers (same batch) and it is pretty good. Threw a 12 pack in the fridge last night. I think being cold will help ton down the intensity.

Also, just in case no one knew this:

Our beer style should be tasted closer to room temperature not and artic freezing. Being warm allows all the flavors to come out. I will try to find an article about it. I'll be back.


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## yktind (Oct 3, 2014)

Here is a little article about tasting beer:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/taste/

*How To Taste Beer*
When analyzing a beer, you can't just swill it down, burp and say "it's great" or "it's crap." And, even though tasting is an individual art, there are a few steps, which if followed, will take your beer tasting to a blissful level.




*Look* 
Take pause and marvel at its greatness before you partake of it. Raise the beer in front of you, but don't hold your beer to direct light as this will dilute its true color. Describe its color, its head and its consistency.




*Agitate* 
Swirl your beer, gently in the glass. This will pull out aromas, slight nuances, loosen & stimulate carbonation and test head retention.




*Smell* 
90-95% of what you experience is through you sense of smell. Breathe thru your nose with two quick sniffs, then with your mouth open, then thru your mouth only (nose and mouth are connected in the experience). Let olfaction guide you. Agitate again if need be, and ensure that you are in an area that has no overpowering aromas. Enjoy its bouquet.




*Taste* 
Now sip the beer. Resist swallowing immediately. Let it wander and explore your entire palate. Let your taste buds speak. Note the mouthfeel, the consistency of the liquid's body, and breathe out during the process of tasting. This process of exhaling is called "retro-olfaction" and will release retained stimulations at the mucus and mouthfeel level, but at a higher temperature. At times this will be the same as the olfactory process if not different and complimentary. Try to detect any sweetness, salty flavors, acids and general bitterness. Explain what they are, or what they are similar to. 

Also, try tasting the beer after it warms a bit (just a bit mind you). Really cold beer tends to mask some of the flavors. As a beer warms, its true flavors will pull through, become more pronounced.


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## yktind (Oct 3, 2014)

Here is an article about what temp to actually taste and what the differences are:
http://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=479


These are general statements. If you click the link it goes into a bit more information. But for our purposes this is good enough. 

*Very cold (0-4C/32-39F):* Any beer you don’t actually want to taste. Pale Lager, Malt Liquor, Canadian-style Golden Ale and Cream Ale, Low Alcohol, Canadian, American or Scandinavian-style Cider.



*Cold (4-7C/39-45F):* Hefeweizen, Kristalweizen, Kölsch, Premium Lager, Pilsner, Classic German Pilsner, Fruit Beer, brewpub-style Golden Ale, European Strong Lager, Berliner Weisse, Belgian White, American Dark Lager, sweetened Fruit Lambics and Gueuzes, Duvel-types



*Cool (8-12C/45-54F): *American Pale Ale, Amber Ale, California Common, Dunkelweizen, Sweet Stout, Stout, Dry Stout, Porter, English-style Golden Ale, unsweetened Fruit Lambics and Gueuzes, Faro, Belgian Ale, Bohemian Pilsner, Dunkel, Dortmunder/Helles, Vienna, Schwarzbier, Smoked, Altbier, Tripel, Irish Ale, French or Spanish-style Cider



*Cellar (12-14C/54-57F):* Bitter, Premium Bitter, Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, English Pale Ale, English Strong Ale, Old Ale, Saison, Unblended Lambic, Flemish Sour Ale, Bière de Garde, Baltic Porter, Abbey Dubbel, Belgian Strong Ale, Weizen Bock, Bock, Foreign Stout, Zwickel/Keller/Landbier, Scottish Ale, Scotch Ale, American Strong Ale, Mild, English-style Cider 



*Warm (14-16C/57-61F):* Barley Wine, Abt/Quadrupel, Imperial Stout, Imperial/Double IPA, Doppelbock, Eisbock, Mead



*Hot (70C/158F):* Quelque Chose, Liefmans Glühkriek, dark, spiced winter ales like Daleside Morocco Ale.


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## farmasensist (Oct 5, 2014)

The hash and everclear sounds like a good idea. It should get rid of the grass and give it much more OG flavor. I would use just enoigh everclear to disolve the hash, then let some of it evaporate off so the beer doesnt get too boozy.

I have some qwiso drying out now. I was going to bottle some kolsh today but i think I will wait until the iso drys out then I will disolve it in the everclear and mix before i bottle. The hash should show up more in the kolsh. I thought the IPA hops would mix well with the OG but it sounds like it might have covered it up too much.

Thank you for trying this and sharing it with everyone and giving me the idea to try some hash and everclear. I'll probably bottle it next weekend and let you know how it goes.


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## yktind (Oct 6, 2014)

farmasensist said:


> The hash and everclear sounds like a good idea. It should get rid of the grass and give it much more OG flavor. I would use just enoigh everclear to disolve the hash, then let some of it evaporate off so the beer doesnt get too boozy.
> 
> I have some qwiso drying out now. I was going to bottle some kolsh today but i think I will wait until the iso drys out then I will disolve it in the everclear and mix before i bottle. The hash should show up more in the kolsh. I thought the IPA hops would mix well with the OG but it sounds like it might have covered it up too much.
> 
> Thank you for trying this and sharing it with everyone and giving me the idea to try some hash and everclear. I'll probably bottle it next weekend and let you know how it goes.


That is great, Farm! Do it. 

I just made some some QWISO myself. That is a good idea with the Kolsh. Maybe I'll try a light pale ale to let the Skywalker shine through. I've never made a lager and my temps are no where near where they should be otherwise I would try that. Maybe like a Stella or Peroni type.


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## yktind (Oct 20, 2014)

Well it has been a while since the last tasting. Will be doing another this week sometime. 

Also, we will be making a Honey Mead. Target is about 18% ABV should be interesting. (This is for the Game of Thrones opener next October. Considering the Mead takes over 6 months the timing should be perfect).


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## farmasensist (Oct 28, 2014)

i bottled mine yesterday. I had some untrimmed buds that i let dry and cure for about a wek and a half. didnt weigh it but had to be at least an ounce. Did a quick wash in everclear and let it evaporate over half way out.

I probably should have let it evaporate less. by the time i got to it there was a thick sticky film at the top that was impossible to work with. I mixed it with water and boiled for an hour hoping it would decarb but i don't know, the hash was oily at this point and didnt want to mix with the water, mostly just stuck to the pot but it think some of it was inthe water because i could smell it and the water looked kind of green, i mixed the hash water withthe beer right before bottling. I got 12 bottles with the hash and 24 without and two more 22 oz bottles without. Somehow i broke a third 22 while trying to cap it, the bottle just snapped at the neck. i'll let you know how it tastes in a few weeks.


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## farmasensist (Oct 28, 2014)

These are the buds i used from some really nice bag seed i've run a few times already. I couldnt get all the oil out while it was still wet but it finished drying out and whats left is not oily at all, more of a crystal or powder consistancy.


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## yktind (Oct 28, 2014)

Awesome! Farm!

Now I have to run another batch. I really like the idea of using ever clear.

What kind of style did you brew? Is it hop heavy? Mild?

Also, will be doing another taste test of the first batch soon. See if the alcohol flavor mellowed out at all.


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## farmasensist (Oct 29, 2014)

I put this in the kolsch, described as

"a crisp, clean, easy-drinking ale. it has a straw-yellow hue similar to a pilsner, but less hoppy, a bit sweeter and uses pale malts and a small amount of wheat."

ABV=4.25% - 4.75%
IBU=25-28
OG=1.042-1.046 (actaul was 1.03)
FG=1.010-1.013 (actual was 1.02)

So, if i measured the gravity correctey, it will only have 1.3% ABV. Hopefully i just measured it wrong.


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## farmasensist (Feb 25, 2015)

I know its been a while, ive been having issues getting RIUto stay on my phones internet but its working now. The kolsh tasted terrible. The kolsh with the hash tasted better but didnt taste like bud or get me stoned.

But... i was making some ice extract and noticed all the leftover water smelled really good so i used that as my boil water in a belgian tripel. I tried one the other day and it felt like i ate a weak edible. I think two or three of the beers would get the job done. You could taste the bud but it didnt taste too good. There was an alcohol taste, malt taste, and bitter hop taste but it isnt mixed together, its like you get a seperate taste of each flavor. Some more time in the bottle might fix that but i dont know all the other beers i made hade the same issue. It might be the extract kits just suck. I kind of want totry all grain to see if that helps but i also dont feel like wasting a bunch of time to make more crappy beer.


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## Glaucoma (Feb 25, 2015)

farmasensist said:


> I kind of want totry all grain to see if that helps but i also dont feel like wasting a bunch of time to make more crappy beer.


I'm surprised you didn't mention that the 1030SG/1020FG brew wasn't sweet. Perhaps your hydrometer is cracked? Check the calibration. It's hard to misread them, but I think the chances of you leaving out about a 1/3 of your extracts combined with a crapped out fermentation is equally low. Personally, I would have stopped as soon as I got a 1030 reading.

The only time I've had a batch that sucked was when I was chasing the beer/weed dragon. I let her go. You can add the kick with extracts, but the flavors just aren't compatible when trying to use it like hops.

I think we are just 400 years too late. Back in early colonial days when we were forced to use shit like Spruce tree tips instead of hops it might have passed.

Weed soda on the other hand.. is great! Using extracts, of course.


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## Joedank (Feb 25, 2015)

yktind said:


> Okay RIU!
> 
> Let me start by saying I am not a professional by any means.
> 
> ...


i was advised to make a tincure and add it into the beer once finished.


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## farmasensist (Feb 25, 2015)

Glaucoma said:


> I'm surprised you didn't mention that the 1030SG/1020FG brew wasn't sweet. Perhaps your hydrometer is cracked? Check the calibration. It's hard to misread them, but I think the chances of you leaving out about a 1/3 of your extracts combined with a crapped out fermentation is equally low. Personally, I would have stopped as soon as I got a 1030 reading.
> 
> The only time I've had a batch that sucked was when I was chasing the beer/weed dragon. I let her go. You can add the kick with extracts, but the flavors just aren't compatible when trying to use it like hops.
> 
> ...



I just checked the hydrometer in some tap amd it was at 1.0. I must have messed something up. Im just going to try making good beer before doing any more experiments, so far its all been drinkable but i wouldnt say good.

Its a good thing they used to have beer purity laws or people like me would have kept screwing things up when there is already a right way to do it. A tincture probably would work but ill let someone else try it, im done for now.


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## yktind (May 22, 2015)

I forgot to update.

I tasted one of the beers again. It was delicious! Very hoppy and satisfying. and yes it was only hoppy. Maybe I could taste the skywalker but the beer really just tasted like a double IPA. If I wasn't aware (being the person that brewed it) that there was cannabis in it, I would have never known.

Next test will be with a tincture of some sort. I think this will get the high we are looking for (we aren't looking for a one hitter quitter. I'd still like to drink between 3 - 5 beers. The goal will be about a bowl per beer, I think). I still want that flavor to shine through and I'm not quite sure that the tincture will give us that. Maybe a combination of tincture with a hop back of cannabis right before bottling. Not sure on the timing of this but will update once I do it.

Also, if anyone does their own batch or experiment please post away.


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## yktind (May 22, 2015)

Flagg420 said:


> Make sure to save a bottle or two, let them condition a little longer, might mellow that "hops dipped in alcohol" flavor, mellow the bitterness, and let the back flavors come thru a bit.... we had that with our first attempt at graff, was much much better after another month or 2 of bottle conditioning. (clarity improved too)
> 
> Found a few @ my moms last month (6 month after initial finish) was fucking amazing.... n we were GIVING this shit away (thats how it ended up there) was bitter, then flat... empty tasting.... that 6month one.... omg...


You were right. The beer lost that extra alcohol flavor and became smoother.


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## iwantpics (Oct 11, 2015)

GABF this year...


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## iHearAll (Oct 16, 2015)

Consider dry hopping with the cannabis and using high gravity yeast. For instance. 
Brew your beer with hops.
Ferment it. For 2 weeks only. Hold.
Heat your buds up to decarb temperature (now sterile as well)and dry hop them into your secondary carboy. Pour your alcoholic beer over top the buds and leave the yeast cake behind.
Wait 2 weeks again.
Filter/bottle. Drink in a week


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## yktind (Oct 16, 2015)

iHearAll said:


> Consider dry hopping with the cannabis and using high gravity yeast. For instance.
> Brew your beer with hops.
> Ferment it. For 2 weeks only. Hold.
> Heat your buds up to decarb temperature (now sterile as well)and dry hop them into your secondary carboy. Pour your alcoholic beer over top the buds and leave the yeast cake behind.
> ...


I've decided the best way, for me that is, is to make a tincture and add to your full batch. The only thing dry hoping is good for is flavor, but if you use hops I just about guarantee you will lose the flavor of "bud" and only taste hops. Also, I am convinced that if you dry hop for too long, using herbals, you will end up with a grass like flavor (try chewing on a bud versus chewing on a hop and you'll see what I mean). 

I think I am going to brew this weekend. Thanks for reviving the thread, lol.


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## iHearAll (Oct 16, 2015)

Valid point on the flavor. Might be tough to muscle down. 

Cheers


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