Dylan
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dcmcd.bsky.social
Dylan
@dcmcd.bsky.social
I brewed 3000-year-old beer and look at data...but I do other stuff too, I think.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/20/science/ancient-egyptian-beer-yeast.html
Its barreling day. I'm moving my 100% chestnut. Its a nice light golden color. 6 weeks in the barrel then it's off to conditioning. #glutenfree #beer #brewing
October 11, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Got my label and wax seal logo proofs ready to go. Let me know what you think:
September 26, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Well, I think it's safe to say that yeast loves chestnut sugar. #brewing #beer #glutenfree
September 14, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Just checked and fermentation is going strong. 2 weeks in the fermenter (end of Sept), 2 weeks in a secondary (mid October), 6 weeks in a Rye barrel, and it will be ready just in time for Christmas! #HomeBrewing #Beer #Glutenfree #Brewing
September 14, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Alright. I rounded it up to 10 now. Og is 1.067 at 9.5. Should give us ~7-7.5 abv. Now to add the 6 smack packs of Belgian abbey ale II because I hate making starters.
September 14, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Final 2 oz of strisselspalt after 20 min then drop temp and move to fermenter. I ended up having 9.5 gallons, which is fine by me.
September 14, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Added 2 more oz of strisselspalt at flame-out. This beer is smelling proper.
September 14, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Now that we are at the 15 min mark we'll add 2 oz of Strisselspalt. Now it's really starting to smell like a proper beer.
September 14, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Now that we're at the 60 min. mark it's time to add 2.5 Oz of East Kent Goldings hops.
September 14, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Folks, I've made dozens of batches and hundreds of gallons of beer in my life and I've never smelt anything like this before. It smells incredible. #beer #brewing #glutenfree #chestnut
September 14, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Well after a bit of a struggle I've gotten it in to the boil tank. I'll be boiling for 2 hours instead of 1 just to tighten up the wort for the yeast.
September 13, 2025 at 11:52 PM
And for those of you wondering, yes, that means I had to pull out my old friend, Iodine.
September 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Well, I'm now taste-testing for pH, the good ol' fashioned way. Luckily I have a bit of experience in brewing beer before there were measuring tools.

On a side note: My thermometer also went out, but I have plenty of those.

SEBAmyl L added. I think I'll extend this to a 2 hour.
September 13, 2025 at 8:17 PM
And of course, no batch is created without issues. My pH meter died and my backup wasn't calibrated, so now I'm in trouble-shooting mode to make sure I'm hitting the pH just right. *fingers crossed*
September 13, 2025 at 7:12 PM
With the 30 min rest between 155 and 165 completed, I'm now letting the mash reduce temp to 145. At that time I'll measure the pH (goal is to be between 5.2-5.4) then add the SEBAmyl L. This is the traditional saccharification).
September 13, 2025 at 5:26 PM
20 min down and 10 more min to go, and this is smelling AMAZING. It smells like a nutty bread. I think I'm on the right track here.
September 13, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Oh, and last thing for anyone with technical knowledge that may be following along. Yes I added WAY too much Termamyl. It won't hurt the mash, I just knew clumping was going to be an issue, so I doubled it. It won't affect the final product at all, just helps more.
September 13, 2025 at 5:08 PM
After 15 min the Termamyl has removed all the clumps and it looks like a proper mash.

The other cool thing: I started with 10 gallons of strike water, after adding other ingredients it increased to 15 gallons. After adding the Termamyl it's down to 13.5 gallons.
September 13, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The cool thing: This happened RIGHT AWAY. As soon as I added it, I could feel a difference. It went from a porridge consistency to a much more traditional mash consistency. I've added before and after pictures, you can literally see the difference. #AmBrewing #Brewday
September 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM
After the first 2 tbsp, the mash was at a pH of 5.75. The sweet spot! So next I added the Termamyl (thermo-stable amylase) that breaks down the long starch chains in to shorter dextrins. #Beerbrewing
September 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Once it hit just above 165 I diluted the 88% Lactic acid at a 1:4 ratio, then added 2 tbs of the dilution, waited 10 min and measured the pH. #Beer #Brewing
September 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Well, it's brew day. I'll update you where I'm at.

I started by getting the strike water to ~175. Added 2 lbs of rice hulls and ~24-25 lbs of ground chestnuts (I roasted 4 cups and smoked 2 cups to add flavor and depth. I then measured the pH (which was ~6.0). #Homebrewing #GlutenFree
September 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM
If you've ever wondered what 25 lbs of ground chestnuts look like, look no further.

I'm still deciding if I want to use may own wrangled yeast or just buy some. Hops are ordered. Hoping it will be ready for Christmas. #homebrewing #beer #glutenfree
August 25, 2025 at 10:40 PM