Farm beer

and yet both advocate a strong rolling boil and as quick as possible cooling.

 

I'm not sure the quickest cooling is needed, IMO. The boil, damn right, the best, hardest boil you get, the better I think.


I often do hopstands, so I kill the flame, add some hops.. whirlpool it hot, and let it cool down and add more hops.. I've often gone 45 minutes before I even get the temp down to 120-100 degrees, and then chill it down with the wort chiller. I don't get off flavors, or even haze in those beers.

 

This is true - a good solid boil is key.
Cooling - yes, quicker is better, but when ice / water baths work, and when people can make great beer using the "no chill" method (I call it natural cool, personally) it's not THE most important thing, IMO.
The MOST important three things are sanitation, sanitation and sanitation.
One can overcome almost anything else as far as procedures go, but if it's not clean and sanitized, the most spot on brew day is for naught.

 

A long and strong rolling boil leads to better isomerization of alpha-acids into iso-alpha acids (bittering compounds in beer), a hot break which coagulates proteins that if left in the beer give haze and stability issues possibly off-flavors, volatilizes bad smelling/tasting stuff(see DMS), denatures enzymes from the mash, and sterilizes. I would say it should be minimum 1 hour and 90min is even better. I think thats pretty much it I may be missing something, but the long and short of it is that it is very important.

 

In that case I would pick up Mr. Charlie and read Joy of Homebrewing. I think you'll like it.

Agree with others to roll the boil (after removing the grains). Aside from things you may not care much about like isomerization, a rolling open boil is the easiest way to remove compounds that can contribute an off-flavor to the beer (dimethyl sulphides). They are a natural byproduct of the process, and they come off with the steam. It's an easy thing to avoid. Simmering really does nothing for you. Also, 60 minutes is plenty.

Other than that, sounds like you've got a wonderful, low-pressure process that makes beer, and the attendant attitude that if you like what you've made then why mess with a good thing. It's the kind of approach that many here will want to fine-tune, but I think you should roll with what you've got.
I wouldn't mind brewing with you sometime.

 

60 minutes is plenty but I mentioned 90 minutes because more DMS is driven off in 90 minutes. The time it takes for half the DMS to go away is I think around 40 minutes. So after 90 minutes of boiling >75% is driven off which means it will probably be undetectable. But again, 60 minutes is plenty, I've never done a longer boil than that and I never taste DMS.

Also slow cooling can give you higher DMS concentration because it forms at hot temps below boiling, that's another reason for chilling asap.

And +1 to Joy of Homebrewing by Papazian, the father of homebrewing. That was my intro book, too.

 

Recipe formulation is almost an afterthought (I think I just said that in another, unrelated thread, lol). Any reasonable combination of quality ingredients can make tasty beer if your fundamental processes are solid.

here's my (adjusted for you) list of fundamentals:

• fermentation temp (below 70F, preferably 65F ambient room temp, or even a little cooler, for ales)
• pitching temp for yeast (similar to above, but the wort needs to be that cool)
• proper preparation of quality yeasts, including proper starters with the correct number of cells (this parameter can be controlled with reasonable precision, and should be)
• sanitation
• full rigorous boils (don't simmer, boil strongly, with the lid OFF)
• fast cooling of wort after boil (read: wort chiller)
• KISS recipe forumulation
• proper preparation of quality ingredients (i.e. you need MALTED barley, not just barley)
• having a plan (and a procedure) BEFORE you start
• having procedures that mesh with your goals, ingredients, and equipment limitations
• not getting too drunk on brew day
• not getting sprayed by angry skunks when harvesting your crops*

The exact variety of your hops isn't that big of a concern, but whether they are fresh or (properly) dried and stored is a significant consideration. I've made excellent beer from fresh hops, but it's a very different beast from using dried hops. However, if you gave me three unknown varieties of fresh hops, I could still make tasty beer. Same goes for dried, but I would be a bit more cautious formulating the initial recipe, and would tweak it over several batches in order to learn their properties.

*that one seems like a gimme, but I mention it for the sake of completeness for our many readers

 

Not unless you want a sour beer. Your sourdough yeast culture also contains bacteria. That's what makes it sourdough.

 

Fermentation temp is going to be the key to good beer. Yeast handling.

You are using brewers yeast, and not bread yeast, right? Sourdough starters will not work for a clean beer. Unless you want to try your hand at sour beers. Which is probably over your head at this point in time.

 

http://olvalde.com/home.html

You may want to contact Joe Pond of Olvalde Farm and Brewing. He makes stellar beers without the use of fermentation temp control. I don't know what yeast he's using, but it's probably one you might want to try to replicate. I've contacted him before, and he's been happy to answer questions.

 

I know certain breweries are eager to help us when we're trying new things on a homebrew level. Maybe contacting a maltster via email or phone would be a great way to get a crash course on how to DIY.

 

I'm as laid back a brewer as you'll find on any homebrewing forum Iweigh grain by scoops, not pounds, weigh hops by the ounce and then throw in some extra just in case but there's one thing I do get slightly anal about and that's fermentation temp. After 20+ years of brewing the one thing that made my beer go from "get-drunk juice" to "Wow, that's delicious" was controlling fermentation temp. Go as high or low tech as you're comfortable with, but do it.

 

Those of us that control fermentation have chambers to do so. My chamber is a chest freezer and digital temp controller. Other people use fridges, or even air-conditioned boxes.

You can view some of them here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/show-us-your-fermentation-chamber.149728/

 

Thamnophis, I am totally jealous of your process and realistic aspirations of entirely self sufficient brewing. I read a lot of stuff on brewing forums and often become discouraged by the multitude of posts by brewers who are so much more scientific in their methods than I will ever be. I make really good beer every time, but still feel clueless every time I start using forums for research.

I have seven all-grain batches under my belt and have recently started to experiment with growing yeast in an effort to reduce costs. I buy one vial of White Labs liquid and then make oversized starters and save some for the future. It's a really good feeling to save money by being a bit scientific. Apartment living and a glass flat top stove are my biggest limitations to growth right now, but one day will have a yard and a brew-shed.

Again, I commend you for taking what you want from the forums and doing things your own way. Beer is good.

 

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned checking out the book Wild Brews (I did notice that Farmhouse Ales came up) but I think the info it contains is pertinent to what you're trying to do. It has a lot of history behind lambic and other spontaneously fermented beers as well as easy to read info about the whole process. Check it out!

 

Get a chest freezer, or an old fridge and a temp controller. For most ales, a consistent 65* does the trick. Consistent is the ideal part.

 

OP has not at any time said that he wants to do spontaneously fermented beers. He just wants to use ingredients that he grows himself, with some sort of laid back process.

OP: If you'd like to read the recommended book, that's great. But don't spend money on it thinking it holds the answers to your questions.