Brewing Adventures in the Closet

Well I think that was my last brew until I find a job and...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:49:00 -0400

Well I think that was my last brew until I find a job and get settled down somewhere- kind of threw together as many remaining ingredients as I could use up. This should have enough time to condition before I move but if it doesnt I can always bring with me. Used up the last of Maris Otter, 2 row, and black patent malts, as well as my Chinook and Willamette hops. This was based off the Bee Cave Brewery Robust Porter off HomeBrew Talk (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f126/bee-cave-brewery-robust-porter-56768/)- I’ve had the recipe in my brew book waiting for a while so adapted it to what ingredients I had on hand- I only had some S-04 English available so figured darker beer was in order, have Wyeast 1388 too but no pilsner malt. No doubt I will be making the actual recipe with correct ingredients in the future, seeing as how awesome it smelled going into the fermentor.

Last Bastard Porter (1 gallon) 1.064 expected OG 39 IBUs
1.48 lbs Maris Otter and 2 row mix
.18 lbs crystal 60L
.18 lbs chocolate malt 350L
.045 lbs black patent malt
.011 lbs roasted barley
.1 lbs flaked barley
.1 lbs munich 10L
.15 oz Chinook 11%AA 60 mins
.15 oz Willamette 4.8% AA 60 mins
.2 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
S-04 yeast

2.1 x 1.3= 2.75 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 166.4F for 70 min mash (end temp= 149.4F, hope that works out for English ale yeast and slightly higher than normal OG without getting dry). Double batch sparged with 5.25 qts 185F water. Boiled 68 mins.
OG: 1.065 at 67F= 1.066 86% efficient
FG:

Full Sail Amber Ale clone

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 10:58:00 -0400

Finally getting around to brewing this clone from BYO’s 250 Clone Recipes magazine edition. Was going to brew it on March 6th but had made a starter with US 05 when the recipe calls for english ale yeast, so did a similar recipe that morning. Now it is getting brewed, has another 30mins left to boil as of now.

Full Sail Amber clone (1 gallon) 1.057 expected OG 33 IBUs
1.4 lbs Rahr 2 row
.12 lbs munich 10L
.28 lbs crystal 60L
.6 oz chocolate malt 350L (.038 lbs)
.1 oz Willamette 4.8% AA 45 mins
.15 oz Cascade 6.2% AA 45 mins
.2 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
.1 oz Willamette 10 mins
.15 oz Cascade 10 mins
S-04 dry english ale yeast

1.82 x 1.3= 2.37 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 167.4F to mash for 60 mins (end temp= 151F). Double batch sparged with 5.6 qts 185F water. Boiled 68 mins.
OG: 1.056 at 68F= 1.057 85% efficiency
FG: 1.015 5.6% ABV

At bottling, tasted a little to English for my taste. Fermented it cool and still some esters. WIll see how it is when carbed and chilled.

Black Eye Pale Ale (IPA) #2. Damn hops, quit stealing my...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 12:15:00 -0400

Black Eye Pale Ale (IPA) #2. Damn hops, quit stealing my beer!

Went to an interview yesterday in Virginia for brewery assistant position- hope i made a good impression, am really nervous to hear back now. Afterwards I ordered a sampler of their house beers. I enjoyed the Alpha Ale (hoppy sessionable ipa reminiscent of Hardywoods Hoplar), the Blonde Honey ale (with spice blend from which I could pick out some cinnamon- worked well with the honey and belgian yeast spice…reminded me of a cinnamon mead I made), and the Wee Heavy (nowhere close to my wee heavy because they used some peat/smoked malt and think aged in whiskey barrels, was an interesting and distinctive beer). Also had a pilsner hopped with american varieties and an IBA (India Black Ale). I thought that brewing a Black IPA this morning would be a good idea since I could use up a lot of my remaining hops and have been wanting to do another since the 1st one i made last year (it was amazing but lacking in the hop department- was bittered with Warrior and used Centennial for flavor and aroma). Didnt have enough bitterness to say “IPA!” and also the Warrior was too clean.
This one got beefed up on hops and used more characteristic hops (not the clean Warrior). I used a total of .9 oz of hops in this gallon- bittered with Chinook for some piney/spiciness, flavor additions of bit of chinook, some Cascade and Citra, then finished off with Cascade for citrusy aroma. Am excited to see what the citrus/berry/melon of Citra will bring to this beer with its subtle roast aroma/flavor. Nailed efficiency and expected starting gravity!

Black Eye-PA (1 gallon) 1.063 expected OG 82 IBUs
1.7 lbs 2 row pale malt
.12 lbs munich 10L
.14 lbs crystal 60L
.11 lbs black patent (last 5 mins of mash, not stirred in)
.25 oz Chinook 11.1% AA 60 mins
.15 oz Cascade 6.2% AA 15 mins
.1 oz Chinook 15 mins
.2 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
.2 oz Citra 14.1% AA 10 mins
.2 oz Cascade 1 min
US 05 yeast from starter

1.99 x 1.3= 2.6 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 168F to mash at 153F for 60 mins (end temp= 153.7F next time dough in lower). Double batch sparged with 5.4 qts 185F water. Boiled 68 mins.
OG: 1.062 at 67.9F= 1.063 84.5% efficiency
FG: 1.019 6% ABV (mash lower!)

Pretty decent on bottling day. With increased hops the roast character I had on my 1st BIPA was not present in this one. This one also seemed to be lighter than the 1st one. The citra really made a presence in this, should have toned it down with some Cascade for flavor additions. Maybe half the Citra, and make it up with Cascade. Definitely a surprising beer- dark and then you get an excellent hop aroma and then melons, peachy, and berries. Will see how it is carbed and chilled though.

Decided to brew up a Belgian Pale Ale today to fill my 5th...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 15:48:00 -0400

Decided to brew up a Belgian Pale Ale today to fill my 5th fermentation jug up (have a jug of Bottleworks IPA, American Amber ale, Toasted 2 row stout, and Rogue’s Daddy’s Little Helper clone in other jugs). Was able to finish off my pilsner malt, Styrian Goldings, and the last portion of a Wyeast 1388 yeast starter in a mason jar. Think I should be able to use up almost all my brewing ingredients before I move from PA…waste not!
Fixed my water proportions in my last brew and tried the 90 min amount out today since I was using pilsner malt. I think I overshot the calculation so adjusted the chart again in my brew book, lowering the 75 and 90 min boil water amounts by a bit. But since I had to add hops at 60 mins and I have a mark on the outside of the kettle for a 60 min boil, I was able to tell I had to much wort for 1 gallon at current boiling rate- cranked up the heat on the stove for about 30 minutes to increase boil-off and hit the 1 gallon mark on fermentation jug perfectly. Since I sparged more than I should have for the 90 min boil and had to boil hotter, I also hit 90% efficiency, which is a 1st for all-grain. I think on the next brew (Full Sail Amber) I should have the water amounts just right.

Belgian Pale Ale (1 gallon) 1.055 expected 25 IBUs
1.55 lbs pilsner malt
.14 lbs munich I (7L)
.09 lbs crystal 60L
.35 oz Styrian Goldings 3.8% AA 60 mins
.2 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
Wyeast 1388

1.78 x 1.35= 2.4 qts 185F to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 166.7 to mash at 151F for 65 mins (end temp= 151F). Double batch sparged with 6 qts 185F and added .85 qts water to kettle for 90 MIN BOIL!
OG: 1.058 at 68F= 1.059 90% efficiency
FG: 1.011 6.4% ABV

Daddy's Little Helper

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:16:00 -0400

Have been planning on rebrewing the light/corn ale recipe I did a few months ago but also found this recipe for Rogue’s Daddy’s Little Helper on HBT from a Can You Brew It episode:

(http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/can-you-brew-recipe-rogue-daddys-little-helper-175557/).

Without the rice hulls I decided to drop the amount of flaked corn down to avoid stuck sparge. Also wanted a little lower starting gravity so this would be ready quicker. Ran out of Liberty about a month ago so substituted some Czech Saaz for bittering (considered throwing in a touch of Cascade for aroma addition but decided just to stick with recipe). Using US 05 for a clean profile. Had a tad of Carapils I could have used for the carafoam but went with munich 1 instead, suppose I could have substituted some wheat malt too but that just occured to me right now. The break on this was amazing, the wort sat above the hops and could see right through it- could just be because its a super light beer.

Daddy’s Little Helper (1 gallon) 1.060 expected 17 IBUs
1.3 lbs Rahr 2 row
.55 lbs flaked corn
.07 lbs munich 7L
.35 oz Czech Saaz 3% AA 60 mins
.2 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
US 05 yeast

1.92 x 1.3= 2.5 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 167F and mashed for 70 mins (end temp=151F so let sit in kettle so enzymes could work a little more. Next time will go 166F). Double batch sparged with 5.5 qts 185F water (been having to top off last few batches, this amount worked out perfectly, right at 1 gallon mark. Adjusted my chart in brew log to reflect new amounts for various boil times).
OG: 1.061 at 68F= 1.062 87% efficiency (more sparge water)

Bottling day- tastes way better than Miller High Life and packs a punch! Going to be a good one.

Can see the break matter/protein clumps floating up with yeast CO2. Beer lava lamp!

Stout with toasted 2 row

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:04:00 -0400

Needed to use up some darker grains and since my only true to form stouts have been a simple generic recipe and a russian imperial stout, I decided to brew one up yesterday with the English S-04 to hopefully get some more character in this one (the 1st recipe used US 05 and was too clean). Also added some toasted 2 row for intrigue- dont know how much this will really contribute since will probably be overpowered by the roast malts. Just sampled the ESB I brewed with toasted 2 row- had a nice subtle nutty, bready taste up front that I liked.

Toasted Stout (1 gallon) 1.058 expected 25 IBUs
1.05 lbs Rahr 2 row
.35 lbs toasted 2 row
.3 lbs flaked barley
.15 lbs roasted barley
.07 lbs chocolate malt 350L
.3 oz Willamette 4.8% AA 60 mins
.2 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
S-04 English yeast

1.92 x 1.3= 2.5 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 169.3F and mashed for 60 mins (end temp=153F) Double batch sparged with 5.1 qts 185F water. Boiled 65 mins. (ended up having to top off a bit, definitely need to re-evaluate boiloff rate and water additions with new kettle).
OG: 1.054 at 68F=1.055 81% efficiency (topping off..need more sparge water?)
FG: 1.021 5% ABV (should have mashed a bit lower because of lower attenuation of S-04, going to have great body though)

Taste Updates

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:15:00 -0400

Well I’ve tried a few of my brews lately so here are some notes about what I think.

B’raisin Brown- First taste 3 weeks in bottle had a funky,fruity aroma (engish yeast esters). There was some typical english fruitiness with light chocolate and classic special b raisiny caramel. Deceivingly light for the alcohol content yet still malty. Some bready notes in finish. Definitely benefits from drinking warm. Preferred room temperature beer to chilled in fridge, poured, and warmed up. Some other fruitiness (like banana) developing with time. Dry pear/raisin followed by caramel sweetness. Would prefer a bit more malt from higher mash or lower starting gravity so its an actual english low gravity session beer.

Belgian Blonde- dont think 1388 was suited to this brew. Wyeast 3787 might have been a better choice. Surprisingly lacking in fruity flavor when compared with the smells I was getting during fermentation. Some Belgian funkiness, light banana and fruity esters on finish. Highly carbonated. Still needs time to age- hot alcohol. Should have bumped alcohol down on this. Will compare to the 1.053 starting Patersbier thats coming up soon. Last bottle was much more enjoyable, fiancee loves it so must be doing something right.

Arrogant Bastard 2- AMAZING! Definite rebrew/staple in the brew line- house beer worthy. Excellent firm hoppiness that stands up to the original- dry hopping would be only forseeable improvement. Beats first attempt by far. No weird english esters even with Safale S-04 (fermented around 64F). Believe this yeast left more of the malt character intact. Even chilled right out the fridge there is an impression of thick body and being warmer than actually is. No hint of alcohol even at 7.8% abv.

Russian River Row 2 Hill 56 clone- Thin head (another week of carbonating temp should be fine). Spicy, honeyed fruit aroma. Super drinkable- light, clean with some malt balance (surprised its not more malty seeing as how it finished at 1.016). Melon/grapefruit twang…mango? Great lacing. Not as fruity or tropical as I remember the Maris Otter/Simcoe SMaSH I made (both had Simcoe single hopping). Would definitely rebrew.

Blue Moon 1 and 2- #1 used oatmeal from grocery store (messed with efficiency) and #2 used flaked barley. Both taste remarkably similar (obviously since both adjuncts barely affect flavor, more for mouthfeel). Very close to Blue Moon, pretty damn good. Had used orange peel before in beer with extract and tasted like green beans. This has sweet/soft malt with some orange and little bit more coriander spice than orange. Orange I think mainly contributes to the delicate aroma. Fiancee and I both enjoy this- not very expensive at all (35 cents a bottle) and super drinkable (#1 is 4.9% abv and #2 is 5.3% abv). Surprised how using US 05 yeast kept it clean but still got some wit flavors from orange and coriander- didnt thin them out.

Rogue Old Crustacean Clone- Looked at actual specifications for this beer on Rogue’s site and didnt match the recipe I used from brew 365. Needed high starting gravity and more hops to be closer. However, this brew is pretty remarkable. Aroma is malty with some chocolate and cinnamon, and dark fruit. Malty taste with firm hop profile. Caramel and chocolate fading to some malt/caramel, then the spicy Chinook and some spicy/flowery Centennial in the background. Incredibly smooth, deceptive alcohol at 9.6%- no fusels/heat.

Other recent tastes have been from bottling leftover samples but many have been great. Willl report when i get a few tastings in.

American Amber Ale

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:18:00 -0400

I planned on doing the Full Sail Amber Ale from BYO 150 Clone Recipes but 2 days before I was supposed to brew I had made a US 05 starter since I was running out of yeast and had a few more that required US 05. I stepped it up the day before brewing to get more yeast I could store in the fridge. Then I realized the recipe called for an English yeast; I had been stepping up American yeast for this brew. Therefore I created another amber that was based off the recipe and some style guidelines- kept going back and forth about how much chocolate malt I should use and whether or not to replace it with roasted barley. I cut the crystal 60 down from the recipe’s .28 lbs to .15 lbs. Also reduced chocolate malt by .1 oz and used all Cascade in this one. Will brew the Full Sail Amber with the correct proportions and hops coming up soon. But here’s what I came up with:

American Amber Ale (1 gallon) 1.057 expected 32 IBUs
1.55 lbs 2 row
.15 lbs munich 7L
.15 lbs crystal 60L
.5 oz chocolate malt 350L
.2 oz Cascade 6.2%AA 60 mins
.15 oz Cascade 20 mins
.2 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
.15 oz Cascade 0 mins
US 05

1.88 x 1.3= 2.44 qts 185F water. Doughed in at 169.3F and mashed for 60 mins (end temp: 154F). Double batch sparged with 5 qts 185F water. 60 min boil.
OG: 1.058 at 69.2F= 1.059 86% efficiency
FG: 1.015 5.9% ABV

Bottleworks IPA from BYO 250 Clone Recipes

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:03:00 -0400

Attempting to use up as many ingredients and hops before I move to wherever I can get a job. The Bottleworks IPA looked great because I had exactly the right amount of Columbus leftover from my Columbus IPA, so could finish that off. Also bittered with a good bit of Warrior. Efficiency suffered because of all the wort sucked up by the hops and I think with my boil kettle upgrade I should be sparging a bit more (ended up a bit short for past 2 brews and had to top off).

Bottleworks IPA (1 gallon) 1.080 expected 119 IBUs
2.38 lbs 2 row
.1 lbs munich 7L
.092 special B (finished off this malt with this brew)
.011 lbs chocolate malt
.15 oz Warrior 16% AA 60 mins
.25 oz Columbus 14.1% AA 60 mins
.2 oz Columbus EACH at 20 and 5 mins
.2 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
US 05 yeast

2.57 x 1.3= 3.34 qts 185F water. Doughed in at 166.7F to mash 151-152F for 60 mins (end temp=151.9F). Double batch sparged with 5.15 qts 185F water. Boiled for 90 mins.
OG: 1.076 at 68F= 1.077 82% efficiency
FG: 1.017 8.3% ABV

Just bottled a Citra Pale Ale this morning that I made 2...

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:56:00 -0400

Just bottled a Citra Pale Ale this morning that I made 2 weeks ago. All my beers have recently been coming out really clear when racking to the bottling bucket with minimal amount of trub. I think the irish moss has really been helping. I had Free Will’s Citra Pale Ale at a draft house a few days ago and it was really weird- tasted a lot like sunflower seeds. Didnt get any of the flavors i would expect from Citra (though before this brew, have never used them, only going off their description). Think there was probably some victory or biscuit malt or something odd used that gave it a nutty taste. My brew however really puts out the flavors described on the hop package. I had a small sample leftover after bottling to savor. Definitely some citrus in there but also a fruity, tart taste almost like berries, there was some slight melon too. Apparently most people recommend using Citra below 30 mins, saying as a bittering hop that it can get catty, funky. Therefore I added a little Warrior for bittering and saved the Citra for flavor/aroma. It came out right at 1.012 so its super drinkable. Seemed a little thin but will see how much body it has after carbonated and chilled- should be just fine.

Citra Pale Ale (1 gallon) 1.058 expected 41 IBUs
1.55 lbs 2 row
.1 lbs munich 10L
.11 lbs wheat malt
.11 lbs crystal 60L
.05 oz Warrior 16% AA 60 mins
.1 oz Citra 14.1% AA EACH at 15, 10, 5, and 1 mins
.2 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
US 05 yeast

1.87 lbs x 1.3= 2.43 qts 185F to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 167F and mashed for 60 mins (end temp=151.4F). Double batch sparged with 5.1 qts 185F water. Boiled for 65 mins.
OG: 1.056 at 69.3F= 1.057 83% efficiency (didnt calculate the munich, just had 1.65 lbs 2 row instead of 1.55 lbs 2 row and .1 lbs munich)
FG: 1.011 at 71F= 1.012 6% ABV

Copper Ale (first 2 gallon batch)

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:17:00 -0500

Well there was another graduate assistant who wanted to brew up either a copper ale or Belgian so I came across a recipe on HomeBrew Talk that seemed like an appropriate choice for what she wanted (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/moose-corners-copper-ale-275689/). Since I’ve never made this recipe before I decided instead of brewing it twice to just brew up 2 gallons- one for each of us. This is where the problems began.
It didnt take as long as I thought to crush double the grain (taped around the mill’s cup to reduce gap between body and grain holder so I could fill it all the way up). I knew that more water and more grain would increase heat retention since there was less airspace in the mash lauter tun. Accordingly, I dropped my dough in temperature a few degrees- still came out hotter than I wanted (155F at end of mash) so I let the first runnings sit in the boil kettle hoping the enzymes would do a little more work. Sparging took forever, it seemed. Didnt have enough room for 2 batch sparges so had to do a 3rd. Ended up with a ton of wort, nearing top of boil kettle. The boil off rate was my real downfall, more wort needs more time to boil or a hotter boil for increased boil off rate. Absentmindedly I just doubled what a 1 gallon batch wouldve been and this didnt occur to me until after when I discovered I had 2.4 gallons instead of the 2 I planned for. I’m guessing from all the 1 gallon batches and this one that my boil-off rate is somewhere near .4 gallons an hour or 1.6 qts. Next time I will boil 1.3 times longer than what the 1 gallon batch would require, that or reduce the amount of sparge water to meet the correct post-boil volume (will probably reduce efficiency though). Didnt want to keep going with boil fearing longer time would change hop profile. Instead of 1.060 I ended up with an OG of 1.053. Not terrible but definitely not what I wanted.

Copper Ale (2 gallon) 1.060 expected 32 IBUs
3.44 lbs 2 row
.28 lbs munich 10L
.04 lbs roasted barley
.08 lbs crystal 60L
.036 lbs special B
.25 oz Chinook 11%AA 60 mins
.5 oz Willamette 4.8% AA 15 mins
.4 tsp Irish moss 15 mins
US 05 from starter night before

3.87 lbs x 1.3= 5 qts 179F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 166.8F and mashed 60 mins. Triple batch sparged with 10.2 qts 185F water. Boiled 66 mins (should have been about 85 min boil according to some post brew math).
OG: 1.052 at 68F= 1.053
FG: 1.011 5.5% ABV

Smells good in the fermenter!

Belgian Patersbier brew day. Have been wanting to brew this...

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:18:00 -0500

Belgian Patersbier brew day. Have been wanting to brew this beer since seeing how long fermenting a belgian takes and the recommended conditioning period for belgian ales. Since the patersbier is a lower gravity beer, the conditioning time is much faster. Hopefully I will end up with a complex belgian character beer without waiting months. Today was also the first time I’ve ever used Irish moss in the boil- ideally I would have used Whirfloc but the brew store only had Irish moss. I was a little worried with 15 mins left in the boil because of the smell of the Irish moss (its actually dried flakes of seaweed that enhances protein/break matter coagulation). The resulting wort was unlike any other I’ve ever made as you can see by the pictures. The first two show how many clumpy particles there were (have never seen this) and how clear the beer was as the particles settled. The last picture shows the clumps rising up with fermentation bubbles. Its very weird but I hope it helps reduce the chill haze in my beers. Recipe is based off this patersbier on HomeBrew Talk:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/patersbier-371363/

Patersbier (1 gallon) Expected 1.051 19 IBUs
1.55 lbs pilsner malt
.1 lbs munich I 6L
.15 oz Styrian Goldings 3.8% AA 60 mins
.1 oz Czech Saaz 3% AA 30 mins
.1 oz Saaz 15 mins
.2 tsp Irish Moss 15 mins
Wyeast 1388 from refrigerated starter

1.65 lbs x 1.4= 2.31 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 167F to mash at 153F for 60 mins. Double batch sparged with 5.1 qts 185F water. Added 1 qt water to BOIL 90 MINS! Start fermentation at 65F and let warm to 72F over a few days.
OG: 1.052 at 69.7F= 1.053 87% efficiency
FG: 1.012 5.4% ABV

Stone Russian Imperial Stout! Was able to use up a good...

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:11:00 -0500

Stone Russian Imperial Stout! Was able to use up a good bit of Warrior hops on this one. Highest starting gravity I’ve made in brewing yet- 1.094. Running out of mash tun it looked thick and syrupy like oil. Based the recipe from the one in BYO’s 250 Clone magazine. Also made a S-04 yeast starter the night before to give it a good chance to get going before it went into this- let’s just say HUGE blowoff and it was bubbling 5 hours after pitching.

Stone RIS (1 gallon) Expected 1.092 68 IBUs
2.5 lbs 2 row
.1 lbs crystal 60L
.15 lbs munich 10L
.19 lbs roasted barley
.19 lbs black patent
.3 oz Warrior 16% AA 90 mins
S-04 yeast from decanted starter

3.51 lbs x 1.3= 4 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 166F to mash at 149-150F for 80 mins (end mash temp=149.3F). Double batch sparged with 5.1 qts 185F water. BOIL FOR 108 MINS!
OG: 1.093 at 69.3F= 1.094 85% efficiency (dont know how)
FG: 1.028 9.5% ABV

Columbus IPA

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 12:56:00 -0500

Well I have a ton of 1 oz hops packets accumulating in the fridge so with that and spring around the corner, IPA time is now. I picked up some Columbus hops to try out from the brew store. I used the Stone IPA malt base from a previous recipe because I really enjoyed the strong malt backing it provided for the burst of hop flavor. Was looking for some Galaxy hops or something exotic but didnt find any at store- needed something new. I meant to FWH with Columbus but forgot mid sparge and just threw the addition in at 60 mins.

Columbus IPA (1 gallon) Expected 1.067 68 IBUs
1.86 lbs 2 row
.19 lbs munich 10L
.12 lbs crystal 60L
.05 oz Columbus 13.9% AA 60 mins
.15 oz Warrior 16% AA 60 mins
.1 oz Columbus each at 20,10, and 5 mins
.1 oz Centennial 8% AA 0 min
US 05 yeast

2.16 lbs x 1.3= 2.8 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 168.3 to mash 154F for 60 mins (end mash temp= 152.5F). Double batch sparged with 5.1 qts 185F water. BOIL 73 MINS!
OG: 1.067 at 70F= 1.068 85% efficiency
FG: 1.016 7.2% ABV

ESB (Red Hook)

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 12:48:00 -0500

Got a lot of catching up to do, been brewing like crazy trying to build up my depleted pipeline. Since I’ve been using the S-04 dry english ale yeast (Arrogant Bastard, English brown ale) I decided to do an ESB with it too. I based the recipe off BierMuncher’s Captain Hooked on Bitters ESB on HomeBrew Talk:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/captain-hooked-bitters-red-hook-clone-award-winner-29740/

Not only was this interesting because I’ve never brewed an ESB before, but because the recipe called for toasted 2 row. I meant to brew this one friday, so I toasted it the day before on thursday. People say that when toasting your own malt that it needs to mellow out for about 2 weeks before using but in another thread, BierMuncher states that he toasts the malt right before his brew day without bad results. Needless to say, I brewed something else that friday and postponed the ESB by a week (toasted malt did get some aging time.
The toasting was very interesting and I think I will employ this technique more often in brown ales. Having not bottled the ESB yet I dont exactly know what flavor additions the malt provided but the smell when toasting was amazing. Toasted at 350F for 15 mins- the first 10 mins smelled of toast and sweet bread, but when I took the malt out it was a more nutty aroma. The nutty smell was present during crushing the malt. I got a little worried because the malt was popping or cracking during toasting but I would assume this is normal. Here it is:

Captain Hooked on Bitters ESB (1 gallon) Expected 1.055 26 IBUs
1.18 lbs Maris Otter
.39 lbs toasted 2 row (350F for 15 mins)
.14 lbs crystal 60L
.05 lbs munich 10L
.1 oz Willamette 4.8% AA 60 mins
.15 oz Saaz 4% AA 30 mins
.1 oz Willamette 20 mins
.2 oz Saaz 5 mins

1.75 lbs x 1.3= 2.45 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in at 167.9F to mash at 154F for 60 mins. Double batch sparged with 5 qts 185F water.
End temp: 153F
OG: 1.054 at 69.6F= 1.055 85% efficiency
FG: 1.017 5.1% ABV

Blue Moon Wit

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 08:19:00 -0500

Well I did a brew day on 2/2/13 with fellow graduate assistants and told them if they paid for ingredients they could keep the brew they helped out with. So they wanted to brew a blue moon clone. I didnt have any wit yeast, nor did I want to go buy liquid wit yeast for 1 gallon batches, so I subbed US05 instead….which according to some forums people have done, they swear that Coors uses a clean American ale yeast to let the citrus and coriander shine through. Brew day was a little more hectic with other people and being in a small apartment, felt kind of frazzled but it went smoothly enough.
I think my efficiency majorly sucked due to used oatmeal oats from the grocery store. The beer actually smells pretty good and since I bought 2 tangerines to zest and only ended up needing 1 and efficiency sucked, I am doing another blue moon clone right now so I can taste my recipe as the 1st one is going to the graduate assistants. I am using some flaked barley I have on hand instead of the oatmeal oats, will see if I get closer to gravity I should have gotten.

Blue Moon #1 (1 gallon) 1.053 estimated at 84% efficiency 20 IBUs
.8 lbs pilsner
.72 lbs wheat malt
.03 lbs munich 10L
.14 lbs Quaker oats
.25 oz Liberty 3.9%AA 60 mins
.3 oz tangerine zest 5 mins
2 grams cracked coriander 5 mins
US 05 yeast

1.69 lbs x 1.45= 2.45 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Dough in to mash at 153-154 for 55 mins. Double batch sparged with 5.1 qts 185F water and added .85 qts water to reach pre-boil volume needed for 90 MIN BOIL. (shouldve added .75 qts, ended up with little too much wort).
OG: 1.047 at 69.5F= 1.048 80% efficiency
FG: 1.012 at 45F= 1.011 4.9% ABV

Cold crashed this one. First one in fridge was undercarbed and I got worried but the next few had excellent carbonation. Was scared that I dropped too much yeast out with cold crash.

Blue Moon #2 (1 gallon) 1.053 estimated at 84% efficiency 20 IBUs
.8 lbs pilsner
.72 lbs wheat malt
.03 lbs munich 10L
.14 lbs flaked barley
.25 oz Liberty 3.9%AA 60 mins
.3 oz tangerine zest 5 mins
2 grams cracked coriander 5 mins
US 05 yeast

1.69 lbs x 1.45= 2.45 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Dough in to mash at 153-154 for 55 mins. Double batch sparged with 5.1 qts 185F water and added .75 qts water to reach pre-boil volume needed for 90 MIN BOIL.
OG: 1.052 83% efficiency
FG: 1.011 at 69F= 1.012 5.3% ABV

Both of these beers came out relatively well for such low expectations (concern about using oatmeal and US 05). Worked out really well though- I would definitely make these again, pretty cheap but light and flavorful/subtle. Nice touch of coriander spice and some light orange. Sweet, soft pilsner but light and drinkable.

Russian River Row 2 Hill 56 clone

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:53:00 -0500

Well I have noticed that I have tons of little hop packages in the fridge so need to use them up. Before I throw together a bastard hop ale with remnants I am using them up in actual recipes. I had some Simcoe and this thread on HomeBrew Talk caught my eye:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/russian-river-row-2-hill-56-clone-369668/

Apparently the guy emailed Vinnie Cilurzo at Russian River and got all the stats for the brew, and it turns out its all Simcoe. So I brewed this up on 1/28/13 and primary fermentation just started to slow yesterday. Smells good! Wish I had the original to compare with- the only other single hop Simcoe beer I have made tasted like mangos and peach. It may have been a low fermentation temperature with US05 but with the good malt profile in this beer I will hopefully pull some dank pine Simcoe is known for. Didnt have crystal 20L but added some munich 10L.

R2H56 clone (1 gallon) OG 1.056 42 IBUs
1.07 lbs pilsner malt
.57 lbs Maris Otter
.125 lbs munich 10L
.1 oz Simcoe 12.2% AA 90 mins
.1 oz Simcoe 30 mins
.15 oz Simcoe 0 mins
US 05 yeast

1.75 x 1.4= 2.45 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Thinned mash a bit so could collect bit more before having to add water for 90 min boil for pilsner. Dough in to mash at 154F for 50 mins. Double batch sparge with 5.1 qts 185F water. Add .8 qts water for 90 min boil!

OG: 1.056 85% efficiency
FG: 1.016 5.3% ABV

Stone Arrogant Bastard #2

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:43:00 -0500

Well this is the 2nd attempt with Stone’s Arrogant Bastard, same grain bill as the first but with safale s-04 english ale yeast and a different hop schedule (more of them!). It was brewed up 1/25/13 and is sitting in the dark flocculating out now, planning on giving it 2 weeks but if it clears substantially by day 10 might just bottle it. Fermented around 64-65F with S-04 since others say unpleasant fusels start to come out above 66F. I switched the FWH (first wort hops) of 1st recipe with a larger addition of bittering Chinook and toned down the flameout amount (maybe I should have left it). Will see soon enough!

Arrogant Bastard #2 (1 gallon) OG: 1.073 94 IBUs
2.2 lbs 2 row
.187 lbs special b malt
.35 oz Chinook (.25 oz 15% AA + .1 oz 11%AA) 75 mins
.2 oz Chinook 11% AA 15 mins
.1 oz Chinook 11% 0 mins
Safale S-04

2.317 x 1.3= 3 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Dough in to mash at 154F for 60 mins. Double batch sparge with 5 qts of 185F water. Boil 75 mins.

OG: 1.073 84% efficiency
FG: 1.017 7.8% ABV

Literally JUST finished brewing this Belgian Golden Strong...

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:27:00 -0500

Literally JUST finished brewing this Belgian Golden Strong Ale. The Wyeast 1388 I got is specifically designed for BGS ales but I used it a few days ago in a Belgian blonde. Used my 1st yeast starter from the previous post in this batch. Excited about this brew but also nervous, not yet knowing how the blonde tastes or how to age a Golden Strong (have been looking a lot on HomeBrew Talk for answers). Am think about letting this go for ~3 weeks in primary, maybe 4, then priming and bottling. Will let age about 1 month and then start to cold condition in the fridge. Most recipe suggest long primary, cold condition to drop the yeast and mellow flavors, then bottle (with or without adding fresh yeast), then age for around 4 months. Hopefully when I move in June I can save most these bottles for longer aging (AKA not drink them all to have less stuff to move).
Based this brew off of HomeBrew Talk’s “Allagash Tripel vs Duvel” thread (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/allagash-tripel-clone-duvel-clone-recipe-89494/) and Jamil’s recipe from “Brewing Classic Styles”.

Belgian Golden Strong Ale (1 gallon) 1.076 calculated 83% efficiency 26 IBUs
2.07 lbs pilsner malt
.32 lbs white sugar
.4 oz Czech Saaz 4% AA 90 mins
Wyeast 1388
2.06 lbs x 1.35= 2.7 qts 185F water to preheat MLT. Doughed in to mash at 149F for 85 mins. Double batch sparged with 5.1 qts 185F water, then added .6 qts for 90 MIN BOIL. Pitched at 65F and will let rise to 80F over 1 week like Jamil suggests. Should end right around 1.010 and 9.5-10% ABV.
OG: 1.081 at 70F= 1.082 89% efficiency (high from sugar?)
FG: 1.014 9.5% ABV

Made my first yeast starter with leftover Wyeast 1388 on DIY...

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:09:00 -0500

Made my first yeast starter with leftover Wyeast 1388 on DIY stirplate in my new erlenmeyer flask! Also got some normal bleach at Walmart to sanitize the dusty flask. Used 1 tablespoon bleach per gallon of cold water and let soak about 5 mins. Then rinsed with hot water to deactivate the bleach. Mixed 60 grams DME to 600 mL water for my starter. The pictures of the process above are as follows:
1. 4 hours on the stir plate (some krausen on top)
2. 10 hours after started (more apparent fermentation, creamy top)
3. 18 hours after started at 6 am, fermented out
4. Layers of starter settling out and yeast cake on bottom.

In the morning when I woke up the krausen and fermentation bubbles were gone so I stuck it into the fridge to make decanting starter liquid off the yeast cake easier. Such a quick fermentation made me want to brew this afternoon (which I did!). Just took the flask with starter out the fridge when I started brew day, decanted liquid off top, and swirled yeast into suspension to warm up to room temp. When I finished brew day, just pitched about 1/3 of starter yeast and put leftovers into a sterilized mason jar with sterilized water. Should get another 2 uses out of this jar and still have another jar which I will make a starter from to get another 3 uses out of (it ideally should be 4 uses since Im doubling yeast but with viability concerns I’ll be satisfied with 3 pitches from each jar, plus original pitch from smack pack to belgian blonde……$6.25 for pack/7 batches= $0.89 per batch).
Hopefully everything was sanitized properly and starter/batches show NO signs of infection. Dropped damn stir bar into mason jar when pouring the starter so had to use magnet to drag it up the side and my fingers to get it out.