Another Successful Brewster Weekend

I had such a blast this weekend. Saturday I ended up going to Cooper River Brewing in Charleston for their first Brewster Brew Day. We had 5 women  ready to brew a Watermelon Wheat. This was such a fun experience. Mark, head brewer and  very knowledgeable teacher led us through the mashing as we stirred the grains.

                      Mark , head brewer opening up the grain and filling the mashtun.

                                       Kris, stirring the grain in the hot water.

                           That's me stirring.

 

I need to start lifting weights. We took turns stirring to make sure all the grain was good and wet for mashing. That was a lot of stirring. My arms felt like jelly. So basically, we added very hot water to the grain and then let it steep like tea to draw the sugars out(mash)for about an hour. Then we took the wort(liquid from the mash)and poured it back over the grains. We drained the wort into the boil kettle and then sparged (poured hot water over the grain)to rinse the remaining sugars and to add enough liquid for the hour long boil. While the boil was going, we shoveled out the spent grains for a local farmer who will use it to feed his pigs and cows. You can also use the spent grains in your composter or garden so nothing needs to be wasted.

           Katie, our Cooper River Brewing host and brewer shovels with a smile.

             Local farmers brought their trailer to pick up the grain.

                                                       Testing some fermenting beer.

                                                Brewster Club at the Cooper River Brewery.
We had a successful Brewster Brew and we'll be going back in a couple of weeks to add the watermelon for our Watermelon Wheat beer. I can't thank Mark and the other guys enough for letting us come in and brew with them and sample their beer. It was new for me to brew on larger equipment. We even sanitized tanks. Each brewery is different  and the beer we make is not the usual beer that they make so you have a new experience each time. And you will have a chance to enjoy all the Brewster beers at Craftmans Kitchen during Charleston Beer Week.