A Homebrew Log

Sour Cider - 2 Years Old

2012-01-22T19:31:00.000-05:00

Last night I drank the last bottle of the sour cider I made back in October of 2009. It left me wishing I had several more bottles. It was an example of why its always a good idea to stow away a six pack of a good homebrewed beer or cider for aging over a couple years.

While it still had a crisp tartness, most of the sourness had surprisingly mellowed with age leaving only a mild tartness reminiscent of what you would taste in a granny smith apple. The mellowing of acidity did catch me off guard, but the phenomenon agrees with information I've read. On this page, Raj Apte has a great graph titled "Lambic Fermentation Dynamics" that plots the pH evolution of a lambic during fermentation. You see the pH bottom out at just above 3.0 around 72 weeks before it increases back up to 4.0 after just over 2 years. Although this isn't a lambic, its a pretty safe guess that lambic souring bacteria such as lacto and/or pedio are responsible for the sourness that it developed so it stands to reason that the acidity evolution would be similar.

Unlike most of the ciders I've made, this one was made with fresh pressed preservative-free juice from a Virginia orchard. I think that over time, the use of this juice does generate more complexity in the finish cider. Fresh cider season has passed so I will make a note to get several gallons this year when it rolls around to make another batch of this.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Apple juice. White wine-like acidity.

Appearance: very clear light straw color. No head, very litle carbonation

Flavor: like biting into a granny smith apple. Dry, yet fruity with a pronounced tartness that creates a crisp finish. Drying tannins.

Mouthfeel: Very light bodied with little carbonation.

Gravity Adjustment Calculator - Update

2011-12-29T21:41:00.000-05:00

I recently updated my Gravity Adjustment Calculator to operate in metric units as well as US standard. You can access it using the link below:

http://www.ahomebrewlog.com/gravity_adjustment/

The suggestion for adding metric units came from a homebrewer in Australia. Its pretty cool to get feedback from down under. It sounded like a good addition and I figured it was time for an update anyway.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement or if you find any problems. I'd also like to hear any ideas for other web-based calculators or brewing tools.

Cascade Brett Saison

2011-12-24T21:24:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago I brewed this saison. Its the fifth batch of saison I've brewed. You'd think by now I'd have a solid recipe or at least some tricks, but no, nothing but mediocrity so far. Looking back on the saisons I've brewed, my favorite was actually the first one, It had a peppery aroma and dryness that I just didn't get from any of the other yeasts I've tried. The last batch I made was pretty good, but I felt that the yeast character of the WLP 568 Saison blend was more reminiscent of a Belgian blond than a true saison.

I brewed an 11 gallon batch and split it three ways. I got crazy with the yeast selections and experimented with a couple different pitches of Brett. I kept the hopping on the light side of the style, but used Cascades for some American flare. The grist bill was simple with Pilsner,wheat, and a dash of oats for some classic Saison cereal grain diversity and a little bit of body.

Having tried multi-step mashes on past batches of saison for the purpose of drying out the beer, I really haven't found that it improves fermentability over what I get by using a cool single infusion and 10% simple sugar in the grist bill. So I kept this one simple an employed a single infusion at 148°F. After a 90 minute boil, the wort was chilled and aerated with 30 seconds of pure O2 in each of the three fermenters.

6 gallons was kept straight 565 only and went away with a friend who shared the batch costs and helped out with the brewday. I kept the other 5 gallons and split it with two kinds of brett in two 3 gallon carboys.

In my first 2.5 gallons I pitched a vial of WLP 645 Brett C.

In the second 2.5 gallons I pitched a portion of a starter I had built up from the dregs of a funky beer I brought back from Belgium. The beer was L'Enfant Terrible a beer from Dochter Van De Korenaar. It had a big tropical fruit and malt nose and a firm bitter Brett finish. I really enjoyed the beer and immediately decided to build up the dregs. I had no problem getting a starter going, the dregs seemed very hardy.

None of the three portions of the batch had any of the stuck fermentation problems commonly associated with WLP 565. My first batch of saison with 565 saison stuck at 1.020 and I had to pitch another yeast to finish it. I even fermented this one on the cool end of spectrum for where you can push this yeast and still hit 1.005. The only thing I can figure on this one is that I made a huge starter resulting in a really large pitching rate. After two weeks the Brett C. portion has no sign of funk so its safe to say that it wasn't the Brett that drove the FG down (the non-Brett portion finished at 1.005 too).

I plan to bottle condition both Brett batches at a high carbonation level in thick bottles. I may also bottle a blend of the two Brett batches. Perhaps I will get a few bottles of the un-bretted version from the guy who split the batch with me.

Cascade Brett Saison
Batch Size: 11.5 gallons
OG 1.050
FG 1.006 or less
Boil: 90 minutes
SRM: 3.3
IBUs: 27

FERMENTABLES
Qty Ingredient %
15.75 lbs Pilsner Malt 75%
2 lbs Wheat Malt 10%
1 lb Flaked Oats 5%
1 lb Clear Candi Sugar (boil) 5%
1 lb Table Sugar (boil) 5%

HOPS
60 mins .8 oz Magnum 14% AA 19.2 IBUs
15 mins 1.25 oz Cascade 5.5% AA 5.7 IBUs
5 mins 1 oz Cascade 5.5% AA 2 IBUs

YEAST
WLP 565 Saison (Dupont) 3000ml starter from 1 vial
WLP 645 Brett Claussenii
Starter of dregs built up from a bottle of Dochter Van de Korenaar L'Enfant Terrible

WATER
Mash: 2g each CaCl and Gypsum
Boil: 1g each Gypsum, Epsom

MASH
Single infusion rest at 148°F with 1.5 qt/lb for 75 minutes

FERMENTATION
Fermented inside at room temperature (70°F)

NOTES
@2 weeks
L'Enfant- 1.006
Aroma: mild funk and moderate citrus and acidity
Flavor: bright cirtus and acidity
Mouthfeel: very light

WLP Brett C. - 1.005
Aroma: mild sulfur. White wine. 565 character is there with no Brett.
Flavor: a touch of sulfur and hop bitterness.
Mouthfeel: very thin.
Overall much less characterful than the L'Enfant version. Needs more time.

Bourgogne de Fortune

2011-12-23T20:01:00.000-05:00

A few months ago while preparing to brew a Lambic, I incorrectly ordered a pack of Wyeast Roselare instead of the Lambic Blend. Since a Flanders Red had been on my To Brew list for awhile anyway I decided the Roselare was an omen and that I should not put it off any longer. And so this beer was born.

I followed the Flanders Red Ale recipe on page 257 of Wild Brews very closely, employing the Flanders Mash Schedule on page 143 as it advises. I then boiled for two hours with a minimal hopping of Saaz and Styrian Goldings. Finally the wort was cooled and aerated with pure O2 for about 15 seconds. The starting gravity was 1.048, just a couple points lower than planned.

Primary fermentation at 68 degrees

I pitched the single swelled smack pack into the wort with no starter. With a yeast/bacteria blend like this starter can throw off the balance of the bugs and yeast unpredictably resulting in a blend that is not what the manufacturer intended. I was surprised to see visible fermentation and krausen in less than 12 hours given the small pitch and limited aeration.

After three weeks in primary at 68 degrees the beer was at 1.019 and fermentation had visibly ceased. I attributed the high gravity at this point in the process to the large quantity (~18%) of crsytal malt in the recipe. It helps to ensure there is plenty of residual sugar and carbs for the bugs to go to work on for the next several months to a year.

After three weeks in primary the beer was racked to secondary

I haven't check on the beer since racking it about seven weeks ago. I 'm trying to stay pretty hands off with this one. The amount of time I keep it in secondary is going to depend on how samples taste. I'm aiming for something on the moderately sour end of the spectrum. Its stowed away in a dark corner of a closet inside at 68°F-70°F right now.

For the most part I prefer the American versions of Flanders reds like New Belgium's La Folie and Jolly Pumpkin's La Roja. I like the more dry aggressive sour and funk character of these beers. Although I still enjoy them sometimes, I find a lot of the popular imported Belgian beers of this style to be either too sweet or too worcestershire saucey for the ideal target beer I'd like to brew.


Recipe Specifications


--------------------------


Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal      

Boil Size: 7.13 gal
Estimated OG: 1.049

Estimated Color: 13

Est IBUs: 10.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 74.00 %
Boil Time: 120 Minutes





--MASH--



AMT         Name                                     Type          #         %   


15.9 oz     Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM)               Grain         5        8.9 %


5 lbs 10oz  Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)                    Grain         1        50 % 


15.9 oz     Carahell - 10L (10.0 SRM)                Grain         4       8.9 % 


15.9 oz     Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)                 Grain         3        8.9 %

5.4 oz      Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)               Grain         6        3.0  

2 lbs 4oz   Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)                   Grain         2        20 %

--HOPS--
90 mins -- 0.39oz    Styrian Bobek [5.4%AA] 7 IBUs  
90 mins -- 0.39 oz   Saaz [2.40 %]          3.2 IBUs


--YEAST--
1.0 pkg    Wyeast Roselare Blend - 1 Activator pack no starter

--MASH SCHEDULE--

Rodenbach Mash (From Wild Brews)
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 2.6 oz
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time     
Mash In           Add 13.95 qt of water at 155.6 F        145.0 F       40 min

Mash Step         Add 0.00 qt of water and heat to 162.0  162.0 F       30 min  
Mash Step         Add 0.00 qt of water and heat to 169.0  169.0 F       10 min

Notes
---

16-Oct-2011 Brewed
02-Nov-2011 Racked to secondary, carrying over a small amount of trub. Gravity 1.018. Racked onto .5oz medium+ toast oak cubes (pressure cooked and drained).

5 gallons of Flanders Red aging in glass with .5oz medium+ toast French oak cubes

La Première Année Lambic

2011-11-06T20:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I brewed my first lambic. My hope is to brew a batch each Fall for the next two years, then blend them to produce a gueuze in 2014. There is plenty of opportunity for mistakes and failure with each batch between now and then, so for the time being I'll just remain hopeful.

I took the recipe and brewday procedures right out of the book Wild Brews. This being my first attempt at brewing a lambic, I opted to forgo the traditional turbid mash in favor of the more simplistic but equally time consuming Wyeast Lambic Mash (I see now that the one outlined on their website varies considerably from the one in Wild Brews).

La Première Année Lambic

OG 1.047

Mash Efficiency 60%

Pre-boil Volume 11 gallons

Boil Time: 180 minutes

Malt/Fermentables/Etc

55% Belgian Pilsner - 6 lb 9 oz

37% Raw Wheat - 4 lb 6 oz

8% Extra Light DME - 1 lb (late addition @30mins)

8oz rice hulls

Mash water: 6.75 gallons (2.35 qt/lb)

Main mash: 158°F for 90 mins (after cereal mashing wheat, see below)

Hops

93 grams (~3.3 ounces) of debittered 0%AA leaf hops all added at the beginning of the boil.

I purchased these from Hops Direct last month.

Yeast/Bacteria

Wyeast 3278 Lambic Blend

Cantillon Gueuze dregs pitched 24 hours after lambic blend. I was waiting for friends to share the Cantillon with.

Brewday

1) Cereal Mash. Cereal mashed all wheat with 11oz (10%) of the pilsner malt. Doughed in with 75% of the water (~5 gallons) to hit 140°F. Immediately after dough in, began heating and stirring until boiling. Boiled for 30 mins.

2) Main Mash. Combined cereal mash with remainder of water (1.7 gallons), all pilsner malt, and rice hulls. Held at 158°F for 90 mins. Despite Wyeast's instructions to stir the mash continuously at this point, I just let it rest for an hour, then heated and stirred it after an hour.

At 60% the mash efficiency was much less than normal ~75%. I have no idea why that is.

3) Drained first runnings to the kettle then batch sparged with 6.2 gallons of 190°F water. Finally drained the second runnings to the kettle.

Pre-boil gravity fell 3 points low (1.027) and pre-boil volume was almost one gallon short. To compensate I added .75 gallons of distilled water and 1lb of extra light DME 30 mins before the end of the boil. I attribute the volume shortfall to evaporation during the cereal mash and I suspect that the raw gelantinized wheat absorbs more water than barley malt does, but that's just a guess.

4) Brought to a boil, added all hops, and boiled for 3 hours.

5) Chilled to 65°F and aerated with 15 seconds of pure 02. I read conflicting opinions about lambic wort aeration (some say yes, some say no) so I decided to compromise and use half the amount of pure O2 I would with a regular ale. My feeling is that there is some aeration occurring in the coolship and associated transfers but likely less than the amount modern commercial ale breweries target.

I ended up with 11 gallons of 1.047 wort, which was just two points short of my target gravity of 1.049.

I pitched one fully swelled smack pack of 3278 I had smacked the night before. I saw visible fermentation within 16 hours. It is fermenting now in a closet inside where it will stay for a year at 68°F-70°F. I'm looking forward to La Deuxième Année and La Troisième Année.

Düsseldorf Altbier

2011-10-24T20:19:00.000-04:00

A waiter standing in front of Zum Schlussel in the late morning before the crowds

My wife and I spent a great couple of nights in the Altstadt of Düsseldorf Germany last month. Crawling the many old brewpubs to drink stanges of their house altbier, it was amazing to taste each brewery's interpretation of the style in its place of origin. Just experiencing the pub culture that exists in Düsseldorf was a treat. The efficiency of the service and the simplicity of ordering another beer are memorable. If your stange is empty, nod to a server likely carrying a full tray of alt and they will set a full glass down in front of you and make another mark on your coaster. There was rarely any need to specify what beer I wanted since many times they carry only one beer, their Altbier.

Patrons enjoying an altbier in front of Hausbrauerei Uerige

Aside from the beer, the pubs themselves are something to behold. Most of them over a hundred years old, they fall back into sprawling parlors and hallways that open up to yet more hallways and parlors, all decorated with old ornate woodwork and overseen by bartenders and servers who approach their jobs very professionally. It was clear that drinking beer is considered serious business.

Here are some pictures I took to remember the many altbiers that I enjoyed during my visit to Düsseldorf.

My personal favorite, Schumacher Alt. Bitter, crisp, and at 4.6% ABV, a little lower in alcohol than many of the other Düsseldorf Alts.

A couple stanges of Schlussel Altbier at Hausbrauerei Schlussel.

A Frankenheim Alt

A stubbier than typical stange of Fuchschen Alt

A couple Diebels altbiers enjoyed at one of the many cafes along Rhine waterfront.

Although the altstadt is very compact and the pubs are easy to find, I used Ron Pattinson's Düsseldorf Pub Guide to plan our meander from pub to pub and to target essential stops.

Lambic and Gueuze in Belgium

2011-10-17T21:20:00.002-04:00

I got to drink a lot of amazing lambic and gueuze while traveling in Belgium last month. Here are some pictures I took of the more memorable ones.

Cantillon Gueuze and Lambic at the Brasserie Cantillon tasting room in Brussels

La Mort Subite Gueuze at A La Mort Subite in Brussels. Order two and you'll be guaranteed to hear your very competent waiter announce "Deuex Gueuze" to the bartender across the room, followed by a loud "pop" as your bottle is opened and poured completely into two large goblets.

Girardin Gueuze (Black Label) and Boon Mariage Parfait Gueuze at Bier Circus in Brussels.

Boon Kriek poured on draft and Lindeman's Gueuze. Served at Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant in Ghent.

Cantillon Iris at A La Becasse in Brussels

Drie Fonteinen Lambic straight from the barrel and into the pitcher at the Drie Fonteinen Lambikdroom in Beersel.

Cantillon Mamouche (left) and Cantillon Fou Foune (right) served on draft at Moeder Lambic Fontainas in Brussels.

Brouwerij de Dochter van de Korenaar

2011-09-19T21:24:00.000-04:00

Divided by the porous Belgian-Dutch border, the sleepy village of Baarle-Hertog sits surrounded by flat green expansive countryside. Its here that Ronald Mengerink constructed his small batch brewery, Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar. In what must be less that 800 square feet, Ronald is producing fine beer that draws inspiration from an eclectic array of styles and regions. The rich and varied brewing culture of Belgium as well as modern American craft beer are just two of the aesthetics clearly influencing the beer he is making.

Outside the brewery

I had the opportunity to visit this brewery and several others over the past couple weeks while on vacation in Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany. Of the five breweries I visited on the trip, I was struck most by the unexpected creativity, raw simplicity, and quality of the beer that is being brewed at Dochter van de Korenaar.

In this small manageable craft brewery, two brews are done to fill the two to three barrel fermenters with one batch. If any chilling is necessary to control fermentation temperature, cool water is run over the outsides of the fermenters. Aside from a handful of year-round beers, experimental and one-off batches are a staple. Wine and whiskey barrels used for aging casually occupy any available premium real estate around the brewery.

Standing in his brewery, Ronald Mengerink toasts with a glass of his IPA

During my short visit I got to sample the special edition Peat Smoked Oak Aged Embrasse, a dark strong beer that the brewery website describes as "balancing between a trappist and a stout". The special edition gets even wilder and is brewed with a touch of peat smoked malt and then aged in oak whiskey barrels. All of the characteristics you would expect given the description were present in great subtle balance.

Sight glass mounted on the tile insulating the kettle

The second beer I got to sample was the IPA. A great example of the less aggressive more balanced side of the style, the beer was floral with a mildly toasty malt character and a delicate bitterness. Hoppy, but not in the commonly citrusy, piney, American way. Very drinkable. If I remember correctly the recipe makes use of cascade and crystal amongst other varieties. Ronald said that as a small operation in Belgium he has a hard time obtaining many popular American hop varieties but that he can usually get his hands on cascade and occasionally some centennial.

Beer aging in wine and whiskey barrels in the tasting room

I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a bottle each of the Peated Oak Aged Embrasse and L'Enfant Terrible, the only sour ale that Ronald produces. Although I am hoarding these two bottles I do find some solace in the fact that much of De Dochter's year-round beer lineup can be searched out here in the US through 12% Imports. De Dochter van de Korenaar is a unique privately owned and operated small batch brewery that is producing wonderful and creative beer on the border of Belgium and The Netherlands.

Bohemian Pilsner Recipes

2011-09-04T14:33:00.001-04:00

Last month I had the opportunity enter the Pilsner Urquell Master Homebrewer Competition in Washington DC. I'm happy to report that my entry, Ticket to Prague, placed third out of 32 total entries and that while I won't be taking an all expenses paid trip to Prague, I did win a fancy bronze 3rd place plaque. The event was very well organized and was a lot of fun.

Vaclav Berka, brewmaster at Pilsner Urquell (only the sixth person to hold that title since 1842) in the Czech Republic was among the event's five judges. You might say that if anyone knows what an authentic Bohemian Pilsner should look, smell, and taste like, it would be him.

Despite what the competition scoring system suggested (70% Accuracy to BJCP style, 15% Cleanliness, 15% Artistic impression), it seemed to me that the judges were ultimately looking for the winning beer to be as similar as possible to Pilsner Urquell in all aspects. The judges had glasses of Pilsner Urquell at the judging table in order to compare it to each of the homebrewed entries.

After the event I got to thinking about what the top placing recipes looked like. Did they share common elements? Common techniques? For example, how many of the top entries were decocted or used floor malted Bohemian Pilsner malt. I also wondered whether a look at the recipes could reveal any surprises such as extracts or unusual techniques and ingredients.

I set out to try and get recipe information from the brewers who placed in the top six of the Washington DC competition. I managed to get recipe information for four of the top six placing beerss in the competition. Below is a table that compares the recipes at a high level.

A look at 4 of the top 6 DC Pilsner Urquell Master Homebrewer Comp recipes

Brewer	Base Malt	Other Malts	Yeast(s)	Hops	#Decoctions	Water	Boil Time	OG	IBU
A(1st place)	Weyermann Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner	Melanoiden (2.3%)	Wyeast Urquell Lager 2001 Wyeast 2782 - Staro Prague Lager	FW-Saaz@100min Saaz@80min Saaz@25min	2 (20min boil)	60/40 distilled/filtered tap	100 min	1.050	42
B(2nd place)	Weyermann Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner 100%	none	Wyeast Urquell Lager 2001	Bittering:Saaz Finish:Saaz,Sterling	3 (10min boil)	n/a	n/a
C(3rd place)	Weyermann Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner 100%	none	Wyeast Urquell Lager 2001	FWH Saaz@120min Saaz@80mins 7 IBU Saaz@25min	2 (15min boil)	100% distilled w/mineral additions ~25ppm Calcium	120min	1.050	41
D	Weyermann Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner	1.2% acid malt	Wyeast Urquell Lager 2001	Bittering:Saaz Finish:Saaz	3 (10min boil)	66/34 distilled/filtered tap	90min	1.050	42

All four were all-grain recipes that started with a base of Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner malt, employed at least two decoctions, used the Urquell Lager strain, and relied on Saaz hops for all or most of the hopping. Furthermore, all four entries were kegged and force carbonated. Three of the four were confirmed to have targeted around 1.050 OG with about 40 IBUs of Saaz hops and used softened water by means of dilution or the use of distilled exclusively with mineral additions (brewer "B" may have as well, but I don't have the data). No surprises here, the recipes reflect what most brewers think of as a classic Bohemian Pilsner recipe.

The first place recipe stands out from the other three in its use of a small percentage of melanoiden malt as well as its use of a secondary lager strain (Wyeast 2782).

Conclusion

Its tough to say how much of a factor recipe really plays in a competition like this. Brewer experience, sound brewing practices, and access to specialized equipment (i.e. temperature control, kegging equipment, and yeast culture growth equipment) play as big of a role in making a good lager as recipe does. This is a very small sample of recipes and doesn't reflect how many of the other non-top 6 beers used recipes similar/dissimilar to these. There are many aspects of the recipes that I didn't take the time to compare such as pitching rate, lagering times/temps, and fermenattion temperatures; each of which could play a big role in the quality of the finished beer.

Decoction is a widely debated subject among brewers. Many believe the characteristics it imparts can be sufficiently mimicked by other means. Bohemian Pilsner is a style that historically relies heavily on decoction and its malty yet not sweet, melanoiden-rich product. Is it a coincidence that all four of these beers were decocted? As Mike Tonsmeire, brewer of one of the top six recipes and author of the blog The Mad Fermentationist wrote to me in the email about the competition "it is always hard to tell if the people who are better brewers go to the extra lengths (special malt, decoctions, water adjustments etc...) or if those things are actually what contributed to the better beer".

What is clear is that in the DC branch of the competition, the top three beers as selected by Vaklav Berka employed at least two decoctions and made use of many of the classic techniques and ingredients that are associated with the Bohemian Pilsner style.

There are still two more brewers who placed in the DC top six that I have not yet obtained recipe information from. I am going to continue to try and get this information and will post an update if/when I do.

A special thanks to the three brewers who placed in the top six and shared recipe information with me. Also, a big congratulations to Aaron Hermes for his win.

Finally, since there were no big recipe surprises in the DC branch of the competition, I think its necessary to share one from the New York branch. The recipe of the first place brewer in New York used no decoctions and included rye malt.

Saison Quatre

2011-08-06T09:29:00.003-04:00

Still on a quest to brew a great saison, I gave WLP 568 Belgian Saison Blend try. The yeast is a blend of a classic saison ale strain (565 Dupont?) and a Belgian ale strain. The Belgian strain is likely intended to speed up attenuation given the classic saison strain's infamous sluggishness towards the end of fermentation.

Having already brewed saisons with the two most popular yeasts, WLP 565 (Dupont) and Wyeast 3711 French saison, I was interested to see how the 568 yeast blend compared in performance and character in the finished beer.

One problem with using a yeast blend like 568 is that when making a starter, the multiple strains present in the blend likely do not multiply by equal amounts. As a result the yeast pitched from the starter contains a different ratio of the strains than was originally intended by the manufacturer. In this beer I ended up detecting a lot more of the Belgian strain's fruity characteristics than I did the saison strain's spicy pepper.

As far as fermentation and attenuation are concerned, the 568 worked like a champ. From 1.056 to 1.007 in five or six days at 74°F. One mistake on my part was attaching a Brew Belt to the fermenter once the beer reached 1.010 in order to ensure complete attenuation. As I intended, it ramped the temperature up to 85°F, but in hindsight that is above the recommended threshold for the Belgian ale yeast in the blend and I think ended up really intensifying its characteristics in the finished beer. Though it was only during the last several gravity points, I think it did stress the yeast a bit. While high temperatures like that are desirable for the 565 strain alone, I don't think they are appropriate for the blend.

In the past few months I've brewed a couple beers using 100% distilled water and mineral/salt additions. Gordon Strong is a big proponent of this technique in his new book, and it led me to be curious as to what kind of differences using distilled water instead of my filtered and treated tap water would make in my finished beers. This saison was the second beer I brewed using distilled water. Both beers have turned out well and I am going to continue brewing some beers this way until I get a good handle on whether its a worthwhile technique for me or not.

The grain bill and hopping for this recipe were loosely based on the Raison D'Saison recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. I replaced a portion of the table sugar with honey and used WLP 568 yeast instead of the recommended 565.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Flowery with light fruit esters (pineapple? apple?). Some alcohol as it warms.
Appearance: After about six weeks in the serving keg it has become brilliantly clear. Light gold with a white head.
Flavor: Light pilsner malt up front with some fruitiness reminiscent of pineapple, white grape, and apple. Mild hop bitterness present just enough to be noticeable. Finishes dry with a hint of sweetness that I think might be from alcohols. Maybe a little cidery. My least favorite part of this beer is the finish. Its long an lingering with a broad earthiness that keeps it from seeming crisp.
Mouthfeel: light with mild alcohol warming. Prickly carbonation.

Overall

Aside from the finish that I find a little offsetting for the style, this turned out to be a decent beer. Its not one that I would brew again, but maybe one that I will build off of. I think the yeast blend could make a good saison if the recipe is right and the fermenation temperature is properly maintained as recommended by White Labs (70°F - 80°F). I also think that I am starting to dislike the over-use of simple sugars in some saisons and Belgian beers. Sometimes, to me, it can leave a little bit of a cidery character in the beer that I don't enjoy. In the future I will likely reduce the simple sugars a little and focus more on generating fermentability in the mash.

Saison Quatre

Saison

Type: All Grain

Date: 5/10/2011

Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal

Boil Size: 8.14 gal

Boil Time: 90 min

Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal

Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00

Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
6 lbs 12.0 oz	Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)	Grain	1	56.9 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz	Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)	Grain	2	21.1 %
12.0 oz	Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)	Grain	3	6.3 %
5.9 oz	Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)	Grain	4	3.1 %
5.9 oz	Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)	Grain	5	3.1 %
2.1 oz	Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)	Grain	6	1.1 %
1.70 oz	Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 90.0 min	Hop	8	25.2 IBUs
0.25 oz	Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 45.0 min	Hop	9	3.2 IBUs
0.75 oz	Hallertauer [3.80 %] - Boil 0.0 min	Hop	10	0.0 IBUs
12.0 oz	Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM)	Sugar	7	6.3 %
4.0 oz	Honey (1.0 SRM)	Sugar	12	2.1 %
1.0 pkg	Belgian Style Saison Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs #WLP568) [946.36 ml]	Yeast	11	-

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.056 SG

Measured Original Gravity: 1.056 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.007 SG

Measured Final Gravity: 1.004 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.5 %

Bitterness: 28.4 IBUs

Est Color: 5.4 SRM

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge

Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 13.9 oz

Sparge Water: 5.62 gal

Grain Temperature: 72.0 F

Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F

Tun Temperature: 148.0 F

Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Mash PH: 5.20

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Mash In	Add 16.31 qt of water at 157.2 F	148.0 F	75 min

Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Keg

Volumes of CO2: 2.8

Notes

Used Distilled Water
Mash: 1.5 gypsum. 1.5 cacl , 2gm Baking Soda
Sparge 1 gypsum, 2.5 cacl, 1gm epsom

Ticket to Prague

2011-08-03T20:17:00.012-04:00

Pictured right above is my entry for the Pilsner Urquell Master Homebrewer Competition. With less than a week to go before the judging event in DC, I decided to do a side by side tasting with Pilsner Urquell (left) and my beer (right).

First, a little recipe background. I went the traditional route and used a grist of 100% floor malted Bohemian Pilsner malt from Weyermann. The mash was a Hochkurz Double Decoction. In an attempt emulate the soft water of Plzen, I used distilled water with minimal salt additions. Hopping was 100% Saaz with three additions timed as outlined in some Pilnser Urquell recipe resources I read. One of the hop additions was a first wort addition added before the start of the 120 minute boil.

Finally, after primary fermentation, diacetyl rest, and kegging with some carbonation, I had an early taste of the beer and detected a prominent amount of diacetyl. At this point, to reduce the diacetyl, I decided to krausen it with a little over a quart of a second batch of pilsner I brewed that was actively fermenting.

After adding the krausen beer, venting the keg daily, and the gravity falling back down to terminal, I moved the keg into the kegerator for lagering 8 weeks. After krausening and lagering I detected no diacetyl.

As I mentioned above, I brewed two batches of this beer, only switching up the water profile and hopping a little. My plan was to enter the batch that turned out better. The first batch is clearly the better of the two. I'll put up a post about the second batch eventually.

Now on to the tasting.

Aroma: The Urquell has a fuller and spicier aroma. My beer has a cleaner nose without the diacetyl but is lacking the deeper bread crusty, melanoidins and hint of diacetyl in the Urquell.

Appearance: At first sight I was very surprised how similar the beers looked. I didn't expect the color and clarity be so close. Aside from my beer having a thicker, creamier, more lasting head, I could not tell the difference based on appearance.

Flavor: My beer has a clean pilsner malt flavor with more hop bitterness than the Urquell. The hop character of my beer is more in the finish than in the flavor. It is clean and crisp with a lasting spicy bitterness. Although its lacking the melanoiden and diacetyl combo that seems to give the Urquell a fuller, deeper, more complex flavor.
Mouthfeel: My beer is slightly lighter in mouthfeel than the Urquell. The carbonation is pretty similar.

This is definitely the best lager I have made so far in my short brewing career. It has that clean crisp lager bite that has been missing from my other lagers. I'm now a believer in krausening and the ability of active yeast to clean up fermentation byproducts like acetaldehyde and diacetyl.

Overall the Pilsner Urquell has a little deeper, complex malt character than my beer. My beer is a little more bitter and has less aromatics. But, it is clean and crisp with mildly subdued characteristics of the Pilsner Urquell. I think its a competitive entry for the competition and am happy with how the beer turned out.

Good luck to everyone else competing the event. I'm looking forward to meeting some of the people I've met through Twitter and blogs but have yet to meet in person. It should be a lot of fun.

A couple of resources I found useful when putting my recipe together were:

Ticket to Prague

Bohemian Pilsner

Type: All Grain

Date: 5/2/2011

Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal

OG: 1.050

Boil Size: 8.40 gal

FG: 1.012

Boil Time: 120 min

Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal

Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00

Mash

Amt	Name	Type		%
10 lbs	Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)	Grain		100.0 %

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Step	Add 18.50 qt of water at 138.4 F	131.0 F	10 min
Step	Add 0.00 qt of water and heat to 144.0 F over 15 min	144.0 F	30 min
Step	Decoct 4.56 qt of mash and boil it	158.0 F	30 min
Step	Decoct 4.10 qt of mash and boil it	168.0 F	40 min

Hops

Boil Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
1.00 oz 1.00 oz	Saaz [4.5 %] - Boil 120 min Saaz [4.50 %] - Boil 80.0 min	Hop Hop	2 3	18.3IBUs 16.1 IBUs
1.25 oz	Saaz [2.60 %] - Boil 25.0 min	Hop	4	7.7 IBUs

Yeast

Fermentation Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type
2.0 pkg	Urquell Lager (Wyeast Labs #2001) [2365.90 ml]	Yeast

Fermentation

Pitch at 45°F and let rise to 49°F.
Hold at 49°F until gravity is 1.019, then raise temp to 65°F for diacetyl rest
Hold at 65°F until terminal gravity reached (2 to 3 days)
Transfer to keg and krausen with one quart actively fermenting beer (1.040) of similar recipe
Leave at 65°F until gravity reaches terminal once again.
Lager at 37°F for 8 weeks

Notes

2 x 2 day old smack packs into 2.5 litre stirplate starter
Distilled water:
mash : 1.2gm Gypsum, 2gm CaCl
boil: .6gm Magnesium, .3g baking soda

Black Lodge - dark Belgian style ale

2011-06-21T19:46:00.018-04:00

*Type:* All Grain	*Date:* 4/23/2011
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
*Boil Size:* 7.85 gal
*Boil Time:* 90 min

Brewhouse Efficiency: 82.00

Total Water Needed: 9.40 gal

Mash Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
7 lbs 4.0 oz	Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)	Grain	1	62.3 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz	White Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)	Grain	3	12.9 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz	Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)	Grain	2	12.9 %
6.4 oz	Dehusked Carafa III (525.0 SRM)	Grain	4	3.4 %
4.0 oz	Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)	Grain	5	2.1 %

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Mash In	Add 16.35 qt of water at 159.2 F	150.0 F	60 min

Drain mash tun, Batch sparge with 1 steps (5.32gal) of 168.0 F water

First Wort Hops

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
1.00 oz	Liberty [4.30 %] - First Wort 90.0 min	Hop	6	15.5 IBUs

Boil Wort

Add water to achieve boil volume of 7.85 gal

Estimated pre-boil gravity is 1.048 SG

Boil Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
5.9 oz	Candi Sugar, Dark (275.0 SRM)	Sugar	7	3.2 %
5.9 oz	Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM)	Sugar	8	3.2 %
1.00 oz	Liberty [4.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min	Hop	9	6.5 IBUs
0.25 oz	Liberty [4.30 %] - Boil 5.0 min	Hop	10	0.7 IBUs
2.50 g	Toasted Cardamom (Boil 5.0 mins)	Spice	11	-

Yeast

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
1.0 pkg	Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787) [1L starter]	Yeast	12	-

Notes

Mash: 1.2g Gypsum, 2gm CaCl
Sparge: 2.6 gm CaCl
Predicted Mash pH: 5.38

I brewed this beer for Iron Brewer Batch 2 Round 1. For anyone not familiar with the contest, full details can be found here. Basically for each round 6-8 brewers participate by each brewing a beer using three required ingredients. Eight weeks after the round begins, brewers ship samples of their beer to all of the other participants for a tasting via a phone/web conference where a winner is announced based on scoring by participants as well as the Iron Brewer judging panel (75% of the score).

The secret ingredients for my round were:

Cardamom
White Wheat
Liberty Hops

The first thing I did before formulating my recipe was to pick up two forms of cardamom. I got whole cardamom still in the pods as well as some ground cardamom. I familiarized myself with the aroma and flavor of the spice while imagining what kind of beer it would fit well into. Cardamom is an Indian spice plant and ounce for ounce is one of the most expensive spices in the world. It exhibits a bold range of aromas and flavors reminiscent of spicy fresh ginger, white pepper, lemon, cola, and can sometimes be medicinal (especially when using the black variety). It is very potent and its character can easily be detected by using as little as a couple grams in the boil of a 5 gallon batch.

When I saw the secret ingredients, the spices and wheat made me tend to think of brewing a Witbier. However, I thought that was a little too obvious and not unique enough to stand out in the competition. The character of the cardamom seemed 'dark' to me so in the end I came up with a recipe for a dark Belgian ale with a little bready/toastiness under esters and spices, thinking of cardamom bread. I think of the beer as a dark version of a Belgian Blond spiced with cardamom.

I told my mom I was brewing with Cardamom and she suggested toasting it to mellow the flavor out a bit. I experimented with toasting it before brewing and found that it brought out a nice nutty aroma that I liked. So, I went with toasting the cardamom in the pods and adding it during the last 5 minutes of the boil. I toasted the whole pods by heating them in a dry skillet on med-high for about five to six minutes until they started to turn brown and release a nutty aroma.

(toasted cardamom pods, then the seeds removed from the pods)

Reading around the Internet about brewing with cardamom I found that a little goes a long way. I saw a couple stories where batches were undrinkable after as little a 10 grams were added during the boil. Being generally light-handed with spices I decided to err on the side of caution and add only 2.5 grams with the idea that I could always add more later if needed. In the finished beer the 2.5 grams added the subtle cardamom aroma and flavor I was looking for and seemed pretty well integrated into the beer. I did not need to add cardamom at any other point in the brewing process.

To get the dark color I had in mind without adding too much roastiness, I capped the mash with about 6oz of Weyermann Carafa III Special (dehusked). It worked and the beer ended up with a deep dark color without any roastiness or astringency. I first read about this technique on the blog Ryan Brews. Before brewing this beer I engaged in a series of back and forth messages with Ryan to get a little more information and a few tips about his experience using the late addition of roasted grains in the mash.

I single hopped the beer to showcase the liberty hops. I used three additions starting with a first wort addition. The finished beer does have a noticeable spicy flavor characteristic of hallertauer which liberty are comparable to.

Here are a couple pictures of the mash before and after the dehusked Carafa III addition at the end of the mash and before the sparge.

Tasting

Aroma: Light raisin, malt, and spice. Some dark fruit esters mingle with the white pepper and ginger character of the cardamom.

Appearance: Clear deep dark brown, copper almost black with garnet highlights.

Flavor: light toasty and subtle bready raisin and brown sugar. Light and smooth with a crisp dry finish. A lingering spicy hop bitterness from the Liberty hops remains on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied

Overall

The beer turned out pretty closely to what I had in mind. If I brewed this again, I would replace the table sugar addition with more base malt to increase the FG a little bit. I think it would be better with just a little more body. Not too much though because the way it is it has a nice crisp dry finish.

I didn't win my Iron Brewer round. Although my beer did turn out well and I enjoy it, I think I got too caught up in the cardamom and liberty hops and neglected the white wheat. Regardless, participating in the Iron Brewer competition was a lot of fun and I enjoyed getting to try all of the other competitors beers.

Fans of the show Twin Peaks may recognize the name of the beer is taken from the dark mystical place that Agent Cooper repeatedly travels to meet with the tiny man and the spirit of Laura Palmer. Thanks to M. Westfall who drew the label pictured above and took the meaning a level deeper to incorporate elements of freemasons and the channeling of dark energy.

Dissolution Dubbel

2011-06-12T22:06:00.003-04:00

Monumental Refresher Ale - American Wheat

2011-06-10T12:04:00.013-04:00

I brewed this back in early March as a post-run beer for enjoyment after the Richmond Monument Avenue 10k in early April. The goal was to make something light and refreshing with a little bit of citrusy hop presence on the nose and flavor; hopefully a beer with widespread appeal. I came up with this simple recipe that lends itself to a quick turn-around time. It placed third in the Olde Hickory Pro-Am in North Carolina at the Light & Amber Hybrid table.

The beer turned out great and as a result ran out way too quickly. I brought a 5 gallon corny of it to my sister's place in Richmond where we all got together after the run and enjoyed a couple glasses.

(thanks to VelkyAl of Fuggled for the picture taken on Dissolution Dubbel brewday)

Monumental Refresher Ale - American Wheat

BeerSmith Recipe File

Water adjustment and Additional Recipe Info

OG: 1.040

FG: 1.007

ABV: 4.2%

Batch Size: 10 gallons

Boil Time: 2 hours

Grain Bill

57% Weyermann German Pilsner Malt

43% White wheat malt

Hops

20.6 IBUs Centennial @ 60 mins (1oz 10%aa)

.5 IBU Cascade @ 1min (1oz 5%aa)

Dry Hop - Cascade 1oz per 5 gallons in corny for 5 days

Mash

Single infusion 1.5qt/lb @150°F

Yeast

Safale US-05 dry ale yeast

Fermentation

Pitch at 65°F. Let rise to 70 near the end of fermentation.

The finished beer was light, smooth, and crisp with a subtle graininess. The aroma was a mixture of light malt and a hint of citrus from the cascade dry hopping.

Although I made ten gallons, I split the batch and pitched White Labs Berliner Weisse Blend into the other half. That batch never soured and is becoming somewhat of an experimental beer that I am pitching various things into. So far rasberry puree has been added and soon there will be some sour bugs that were built up from commercial sour dregs (thanks Dave) added along with some malto-dextrin for food.

Philly Beer Week(end)

2011-06-06T20:27:00.017-04:00

Yesterday my wife and I came home from a long weekend in Philadelphia. The city is currently running its annual beer week. From June 3 to June 12 there are literally hundreds of beer related events taking place throughout the city. A quick look at the overwhelming list of events reveals that attempting to attend every one would be impossible without a time machine and a titanium liver.

I targeted a few events and then supplemented the agenda with mandatory stops at Monk's Cafe and Eulogy Belgian Tavern for mussels and hard to find sour beers.

Tilquin Gueuze USA Release @Monk's Cafe

Immediately after arriving in Philly and checking in our hotel, we rushed straight over to Monk's Cafe for the USA debut of Tilquin Gueuze, a blend of Boon, Cantillon, Lindeman's, and Giardin lambics. Its a good thing we hurried because the first bottle was popped at 12:01 and by 12:35 a large and excited audience had drank all of the fantastic transatlantic sour nectar that was there. Gueuzerie Tilquin is the first new lambic blendery in Belgium in nearly 15 years. Chuck Cook has a nice write up about Tilquin on is blog Belgian Beer and Travel.

Mikkeller 25 Draft Party @The Farmers Cabinet

25 taps worth of Mikkeller one offs, collaborations, and year 'rounds were showcased at The Farmer's Cabinet. Being in a sour beer mindset for the weekend, the highlight for me was the Mikkeller Brettanomyces, a 100% brett fermented beer that flaunted all of the funk and sour I was needing, right over a little bit of toasty malt.

(Mikkeller tap listing at Farmer's Cabinet)

While at the Farmer's Cabinet ordering another Mikkeller I looked over my shoulder and spotted a lone Brian Strumke, gypsy brewmaster and creator of Stillwater Ales. I introduced myself and told him how much I enjoyed his Stillwater/Mikkeller collaboration beer that was being poured. He told me I should come to a Stillwater beer cocktail event on Monday, but alas I was leaving on Sunday. What a fanboy...

(outside seating at Farmer's Cabinet complete with malt and popcorn munchies)

A Firkin Riot @Johnny Brenda's
Johnny Brenda's is the type of bar I'd love to frequent if I lived in Philly. A laid back joint in an old semi-restored building where a dj spins classic punk on vinyl beside a row of various local and US craft taps.

On Saturday they had over 20 firkins of cask ale in stock and were rotating them through a custom made overhead rack (pictured below). Sadly, for me, during the time I was there, this event fell short of its potential. We tried three of the cask beers currently being offered and two of the three had serious off flavors that made them practically undrinkable. It is notable that one of the bad beers was from a major US craft brewery. The exception was the Flying Fish Wild Rice IIPA which boasted a big American hop bouquet and flavor over the soft creamy malt profile you'd expect from a cask ale.

For me this event was a bit of a disappointment. When done right cask beer can be a wonderful thing. Johnny Brenda's is definitely somewhere I would go again, but the beers served during the portion of the cask event I was able to attend were less than stellar.

Aside from those publicized events we enjoyed a lot of top notch US craft beer in dark quiet corners of good beer pubs with most excellent beer menus. I rarely get my hands on sour beers from Russian River, Jolly Pumpkin, and Lost Abbey so we spent some quality time consuming them along with some mussels. Hell, sours aside, we even had a Bacon Chocolate Stout with chocolate coated bacon one morning with brunch. I also finally got around to visiting Nodding Head to sample their popular Ich Bin Ein Berliner Weisse, a crisp and light beer with a doughy maltiness and just a small touch of tartness.

We capped off the weekend with a good friend and Philly resident whom we see far too little of. He and his girlfriend opened up a bottle of limited release Barrel Aged North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout to share. We enjoyed a little time on the porch sipping the fantastic brew and conversating before heading back to Virginia. Sharing the good beer with a couple friends was as good as any of the exclusive beer events of the previous two days.

Portable Serving

2011-05-16T20:33:00.006-04:00

Recently I had the opportunity to attend an annual outdoor homebrew club meeting hosted by one of the larger clubs in Northern Virginia. It was a great event and a beautiful day. There was a lot of awesome chili and beer being served.

Some of the attendees had some pretty ingenious homemade devices for serving and keeping their homebrew cold. Here are a couple of the better ones I had a chance to snap pictures of.

The above jockey box cooler with affixed faucet tower was pouring a Belgian style Golden Strong.

This one was made from two nested Gott coolers and outfitted with a faucet and drip tray. It contained a five gallon corny of Kolsch packed in ice.

Cold, mobile, shareable homebrew. Whats not to like?

Dissolution Dubbel

2011-05-01T11:15:00.006-04:00

Early last month I hosted a collaborative brewing session with Al who blogs at Fuggled and Eric who blogs at Relentless Thirst. The day had been long in-the-making with months of emails exchanged to build the recipe and plan the date. The final product of this collaboration will be a beer brewed by three Virginia homebrewers and beer bloggers from three different regions and homebrew clubs. Broedershcap (Dutch for Brotherhood) Brouwerij is the name of our collaborative brewery.

The style we agreed upon was a Belgian dubbel. The recipe was a product of input from each of us. The name of the beer, Dissolution Dubbel, was suggested by Al and is a reference to the end of monasticism in England.

Currently the roughly 10 gallons of universe changing dubbel is conditioning and carbonating in two corny kegs, one of which will be bottled in weeks to come.

Al posted a great write up of the brewday events here along with some very nice pictures and the recipe so I won't go into too much detail about that myself. But, I will say that the day was a lot of fun and that aside from brewing, there was a lot of great homebrew shared. I will leave you with a preview of the uncarbonated beer as it appeared at kegging when I drew off a sample into a small taster glass.

1933 Barclay Perkins Milk Stout

2011-04-11T19:18:00.005-04:00

Time to review my batch of the 2011 Fuggled International Homebrew Project beer. As I posted before, this year's recipe was a historical recreation of a 1933 Barclay Perkins Milk Stout. Due to a recipe formulation and scaling error on my part, the ABV fell short of the projected 4.4% by almost a full point. Regardless, this beer turned out to be a tasty sweet little dark brew that goes great beside some vanilla ice cream.

Starting Gravity: 1.041 (no lactose)

Final Gravity: 1.014 (1.027 with all lactose added)

ABV: ~3.5%

After pouring the jet-black beer, a tan head forms and settles down to a nice thin layer. Subtle aromas of dark caramel, cream, turn to maple syrup as it warms. A creamy sweetness dominates the flavor. There is little to no hop bitterness and what is there is tough to distinguish from the very mild roastiness. Sometimes I think it has a bit of a cola flavor. The body and sweetness are more than I would expect from a 3.5% beer, no doubt because of the large lactose additions. The flavor and aroma leave me thinking about invert syrup, roasted barley, and all the English brown, amber, and mild malts in the recipe.

At kegging time I boiled the second 1lb lactose addition in some water and then added it to the keg during racking. Having tasted the beer before the second lactose addition, I can attest to the additional level of sweetness that was contributed.

Check out how all the other participants' batches turned out.

Hickory Ridge Pilsner II

2011-03-31T19:38:00.009-04:00

I'm far behind on reviewing this beer. Brewed last year on Christmas Eve, this is my second attempt at a Bohemian style Pilsner and was the impetus for my first decoction. Although the beer didn't turn out all that well, its better than my first attempt and is drinkable. I feel like I learned a few things in the process that will help in future attempts at this style as well as with lagers in general.

One thing I can say as a result of having brewed this beer is that all the decocting in the world won't fix a poor fermentation. As I rebrew this recipe in the future, I'm going to focus on producing a great beer from a single infusion mash and an optimal fermentation. Once I have those things nailed down, I'll add decoction to the recipe.

Most of the problems with this beer stem from a poor fermentation. There was a 48 hour lag time after pitching followed by a very sluggish fermentation. It all started when a well planned gargantuan yeast starter got a little too gargantuan. After I decanted it and built it up with fresh wort, it went crazy and krausen massively overflowed the flask, bellowing out several times. A lot of thick yeast slurry was lost during these overflows which ultimately cost me a lot of yeast.

I believe the decoction increased my efficiency beyond what I expected. I usually expect 72%-74% mash efficiency. I was expecting an OG of 1.053 but ended up with an OG of 1.057, indicating an efficiency of 77%. Aside from raising the gravity past the upper end of what is appropriate for the type of beer I was trying to brew, this also put an increasingly hard work load on my less than appropriately sized yeast starter. In hindsight I should have diluted the wort down in the kettle to adjust the gravity.

Despite all of that, and even though the brewing of the beer took me over 7 hours instead of 5 to 6 I did have a good time. Unable to contain my joy while performing the decoction, I shot this short video to share with you all ...

I highly recommend reading the Decoction Mashing page on Braukaiser.com as well as watching the videos included at the bottom of it. It contains a lot of scientific as well as practical information about decoction. The videos help to get a good idea of what the whole process looks like. The site in general is an excellent resource for brewing information.

Tasting

Aroma:

light malt with strong grassy notes. Maybe a little of lemon-like fruitiness. Some plastic and phenolic aroma.

Appearance:

Light Straw color with a seriously thick and creamy white head. Could be the all the hop matter that went into the kettle or the decoction, but this beer has the most retentive head of any beer I can remember brewing.

Flavor:

subtle malt character with notes of grain and honey.Super spicy hop flavor and bitterness dominate the flavor and linger to the finish. Some mild astringency.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied.

Recipe: Hickory Ridge Pilsner II

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 10.00 gal

Boil Size: 13.19 gal

OG: 1.057 SG

FG: 1.011

Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM

Estimated IBU: 39.1 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 77.00 %

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Malt

19.00 lb Weyerman Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 95.00 %

1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %

Hops

2.75 oz Saaz [3.90 %] (60 min) Hops 19.6 IBU

2.50 oz Saaz [3.90 %] (30 min) Hops 13.7 IBU

2.25 oz Saaz [3.90 %] (10 min) Hops 5.8 IBU

2.50 oz Saaz [3.90 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -

Mash

Schedule: Decoction Mash, Single

Total Grain Weight: 20.00 lb

----------------------------

Step Time Name Description Step Temp

35 min Protein Rest Add 40.00 qt of water at 133.0 F 128.0 F

60 min Saccharification Decoct 15.23 qt of mash and boil it 155.0 F

10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F

Other

1 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc

Yeast

2 Pkgs White Labs WLP800 Pilsner Lager

Stirplate starter built up once 2L => 3.5L

Fermentation

Pitched at 46°F. Allowed to rise and held steady at 52°F for ten days. At this point gravity was at 1.030 and droppping less than 1 point per day. So I brought the fermenter inside at 70°F for diacetyl rest and to finish up he last couple points for another week.

Racked to corney keg and lagered uncarbonated at 36°F for three weeks. Then hooked to C02 and waited another 10 days to carbonate.

Purple Heather

2011-03-26T14:07:00.013-04:00

This beer is named for Van Morrison's track Purple Heather off the record Hard Nose The Highway.

The aroma of he clear amber colored beer is that of herbal tea, honeysuckle, and a little caramelly sweet malt. A white head forms when pouring and a thin layer remains along with some lacing until the last drop. When I take a sip of the medium bodied beer the first thing I taste is the herbal tea-like, flowery flavor imparted by the heather. Carrying the heather flavors is a crisp, caramelly, and toasty malt backbone. The overall bitterness of the beer is more than what I would expect from just a half ounce of Goldings for a 5 gallon batch so its clear that the 8 ounces of heather did provide some additional bitterness. The light herbal bitterness lingers on the finish.

8 oz of heather tips. I ordered them from Austin Homebrew.

To me, the heather definitely added a dimension to the beer that you don't get from hops. Its an herbal and floral character that to me is a little reminiscent of honeysuckle or chamomile tea. Its surprising how well the heather fits in this beer. I could see using heather in many other styles of beer (i'm thinking about a saison).

Thanks to M. Westfall for the great bottle label

The character imparted by the heather is pretty delicate and subtle, so it takes a relatively large amount to get a noticeable result in the finished beer. I used a total of 8 ounces in this 5 gallon batch and while its definitely not overdone, I don't think I'd add too much more because the flavor of the heather could get a little overwhelming. Although, I am sure the amount of heather required depends on the form (blossoms vs tips) as well as freshness.

Mashing in the Golden Promise and Caramel 60 malts

For the base beer I went with Golden Promise malt, a little caramel 60, and a Scottish ale yeast. Being unsure how much bitterness and flavor I would get from the heather, I used a half ounce of Goldings at 60 minutes. Had I added a dash of roasted barley and boiled longer, I would've had something pretty close to a Scottish 80 for the base beer. I really like this beer and if I made it again I would still add a small addition of hops because I think this beer just works the way it is.

White Labs' Edinburgh strain working at high krausen

Recipe: Purple Heather Ale

ABV: 4.8%

Batch Size: 5.75 gal

Boil Size: 6.96 gal

OG: 1.053

FG: 1.016

Estimated Color: 7.0 SRM

Estimated IBU: 7.9 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 77.00 %

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Malts

Amount Item Type % or IBU

10.00 lb Pale Malt, Golden Promise (2.5 SRM) Grain 95.24 %

0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %

Hops & Heather

0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 7.9 IBU

2.00 oz Heather Tips (Boil 15.0 min) Misc

6.00 oz Heather Tips (Boil 60.0 min) Misc

Mash

Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge

60 min Mash In Add 15.75 qt of water at 162.8 F 153.0 F

Yeast

1 Pkgs Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028) - 1 qt stirplate starter

Fermentation

Pitched at 64 °F, kept at that temp for first couple days then rose to 68°F

Notes:

------

Salts:

Mash: 2gm Gypsum, 3gm CaCl

Sparge: 2.5 Gypsum, 3.7 CaCl

Starting Gravity Adjustment Calculator

2011-03-25T09:00:00.003-04:00

I spent some time this week writing a simple JavaScript calculator for making starting gravity adjustments. I have made it available at the following URL:

http://ahomebrewlog.com/gravity_adjustment/

Its a great idea to take a gravity readings pre-boil as well as about 15 minutes before the end of the boil. At either time its easy add extract or water to adjust the starting gravity up or down respectively. This calculator takes the guess work out of making these adjustments.

The concept is based on the Gravity Correction Calculator that is included in the Brewzor Android App. I have found that app very useful and thought that a web-based version of that particular calculator would be useful for everyone else who doesn't use Android.

I found the information and formulas needed to make this calculator here as well as on the Brewzor website. For those who are interested in the formulas the calculator uses, I have provided that information below:

Assumed points per pound per gallon for LME and DME:

LME = 36 ppg
 DME = 44 ppg

Formulas:
 Gravity Unit (GU) = (Specific Gravity Points) * Volume; Req'd Extract Addition(oz) = ((target_GU - current_GU) / DME ppg) * 16
H2O to add(quarts) = ((current_gu/target_points) - volume) * 4

Calculating DME addition (gravity too low) 
example: 5 gallons of 1.056 wort. target gravity was 1.060 current_GU: 280gu = 56 * 5
target_GU: 300gu = 60 * 5
Req'd Extract Addition(oz) = ((target_GU - current_GU) / Extract ppg) * 167.27oz DME = ((300 - 280)/44) * 16

Calculating Water Addition (gravity too high) example: 5 gallons of 1.060 wort. target gravity was 1.056
current_GU: 300gu = 60 * 5H2O to add(quarts) = ((current_GU/target_points) - volume) * 4
1.43 qt = ((300/56) - 5) * 4

Any feedback related to this calculator is welcome and much appreciated.

Single Malt and Single Hop - SMaSH Adams Pale Ale

2011-03-16T20:38:00.003-04:00

The idea for this beer was born when I won almost 8 ounces of Willamette Hops at a homebrew club meeting drawing a few months ago. I wasn't super familiar with Willamette hops and I thought brewing a simple heavily hopped SMaSH beer would be a good way to wrap my head around their character.

I went with Maris Otter Pale Malt for a simple but flavorful malt backbone and chose WLP 051 Cal Ale V for the yeast. Cal Ale V has a lower attenuation than regular Cal Ale (001, 1056) and can produce a maltier flavor profile with more residual sweetness. The Maris Otter malt used in this beer produced a sweet, toasty, backbone and along with the selected yeast, a medium full body.

Willamette hops are of American origin (primarily produced in Oregon) and are a hybrid of the Fuggles variety. In this beer they produced floral, resiny, and woody aromas and flavors. These hops have little to no grapefruit/citrusy character and are pretty mild in potency.

A beer like this makes me wonder whether complex malt and hop bills are all that important. If I was served this beer without knowing anything about it, there is no way I would guess it was produced from only a single variety of hops and malt. There is plenty of flavor, character, and depth here. I certainly wouldn't guess that for a pale ale, it was lacking a light caramel malt addition. Maybe a good practice when constructing and re-brewing a recipe is to start simple and add things as necessary, instead of starting with complexity and taking away to simplify.

I'm not too sure I'll use the WLP 051 in an elevated gravity beer like this one again. It left a little too much residual sweetness for my taste. It also produced a lot of sulfur during fermentation, although it aged out after a few weeks. Sulfur production seems to be a typical attribute of this yeast. However, I could see this yeast being excellent in a lower gravity beer where you want a nice portion of residual sugars remaining for body and flavor.

This is probably my most successful dry-hopped beer to date. The hop aroma and flavor improvement I got after dry hopping in the corny keg for 5 days was amazing. This was also the first time I used sanitized weights to sink the dry hop sack down fully into the beer in the corny.

Review

Aroma: Woody, flowery, a little resiny, with some malty sweetness and a little fruity esters

Appearance: deep gold, slightly hazy (probably from dry hopping) with a thick white persistent head.

Flavor: some sweet maltiness at first. Aside from sweet, the malt flavor is toasty a little bit of honey. The Hop flavor is woodsy, resiny and spicy. Not much grapefruit or citrus with these Willamett hops. A moderate bitterness finishes and lingers along with some malt sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Medium full with some alcohol warming

Recipe - SMasH Adams

Style: American Pale Ale

TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 5.50 gal

Boil Size: 6.95 gal

OG: 1.055

FG: 1.015

ABV: 6.6%

Estimated Color: 5.1 SRM

Estimated IBU: 46.4 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:

------------

Amount Item Type % or IBU

11.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 100.00 %

2.25 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 35.3 IBU

1.00 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (10 min) Hops 5.7 IBU

1.00 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (5 min) Hops 3.1 IBU

1.75 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (2 min) Hops 2.3 IBU

1.75 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (flameout)

2 oz Willamette [4.80 %] Dry Hop (5 days)

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge

Total Grain Weight: 11.00 lb

---------------------------------

Step Time Name Description Step Temp

60 min Mash In Add 16.50 qt of water at 164.0 F 154.0 F

For those who aren't in the know, this beer's name is a reference back to the old Nickelodeon cartoon Doug. Smash Adams was Doug's imaginary secret agent alter ego.

2011 Fuggled International Homebrew Project Brewday

2011-03-07T19:35:00.009-05:00

I brewed my batch of the 1933 Barclay Perkins Milk Stout for the Fuggled 2011 International Homebrew Project last Friday. It was an interesting beer to brew; having to prepare homemade invert syrup and conduct a 2.5 hour boil. I made a couple knuckle headed mistakes but overall the brewing was a success.

My main two mistakes were not making the invert syrup dark enough and then missing the target starting gravity (1.048 vice 1.053).

I tracked down the cause of my low OG. I scaled the recipe up to 6 gallons to make sure I had at least 5 gallons left after the super long boil. When I did this, I made a mistake in calculating the bottling lactose addition in with everything in the boil and the mash. This caused the proportions of all the malts to drop a little bit and accounts for my missing 5 gravity points. Doh...

The beer started fermentation very quickly after pitching and the yeast looks to have already settled out and gone still. A blowoff was absolutely necessary as the krausen on this thing was out of control.

Invert syrup boiling

I went ahead and made an extra large batch of invert syrup. I figured I could keep some around to use in future beers. Pictured above is the syrup packaged into mason jars. I think the color is somewhere between a #2 and a #3.

crushed mild, amber, brown, roasted barley, and caramel 80 malts

the beer fresh into the fermenter with some starsan foam still remaining on top.

I'm looking forward to trying this one. The recipe called for a few malts I had not yet brewed with. That together with the hefty additions of lactose and some homemade invert syrup should guarantee that this is an interesting beer.

BJCP Exam Results and Other Stuff

2011-03-03T20:43:00.008-05:00

Last weekend after almost five and a half months I received the results of my BJCP exam. I passed with an overall score of 76. This means that I currently hold the rank of Recognized and after participating in a competition or two I can level-up to the rank of Certified. I'm looking forward to volunteering as a judge in a couple events this year.

After reading over the graders' feedback to my exam responses I could see why it takes so long to receive the results. Multiple BJCP volunteer graders ranked National or higher review each exam and provide a lot of thoughtful feedback on each question to justify and explain the score. Given the large quantity of handwritten essay responses and score sheets for each examinee, this is no simple task.

I'm really happy and a little surprised by how well I did. I put in a lot of time studying and preparing last summer but was really just shooting for a 60-ish score. I doubt I'll ever have the urge to re-take the exam to try for a better score or a higher rank.

In other news around here, I have homebrews in a couple competitions taking place this weekend. Beach Brewing Company in Virginia Beach is accepting entries of Summer themed ales for their Sandshark Summer Ale contest. One entry will be selected on Saturday to be brewed at their brewery this coming summer (here is a write up about the recently opened brewery). I sent in my Heather Blonde Ale. Also this weekend is the Highland Cup, a BJCP sanctioned competition hosted by Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, North Carolina. I sent in a few entries to that one.

Right now in my brewery some brewing water is prepped, a yeast starter is flocculating, and homemade invert sugar syrup is ready. All this is in preparation for a 1933 Barlclay Perkins Milk Stout recreation I am brewing tomorrow as a participant in the 2011 Fuggled International Homebrew Project. Its promises to be a unique beer boasting a long brew day that includes a healthy dose of lactose and a 2.5 hour boil.

Hog Heaven

2011-02-26T16:49:00.002-05:00

What could be better than a pulled pork sandwich and a barleywine? Today and tomorrow Mad Fox Brewing in Falls Church is hosting its first annual Barleywine Festival. I stopped in for lunch this afternoon and sampled several of the offerings. Dozens of barleywines from various breweries are tapped alongside a couple Mad Fox barleywines. Included in the mix are a few barleywines on cask. A whole pig was smoked on site for pulled pork sandwiches to go along with the strong malt nectar.

(Sierra Nevada Grand Cru)

The highlights for me were the Sierra Nevada Grand Cru, a one-time brewed blend of their Celebration, Bigfoot, and Pale Ale and the Corps Mort from Canadian based A L'abri De La Tempête. The Corps Mort was unique because of a subtle smokiness derived from the use of smoked malts.

(the smokey Corps Mort from A L'abri De La Tempête)

A couple other good ones I tried were the Heavy Seas Below Decks barleywine on cask and the Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot.

Farmhouse Saison II

2011-02-24T20:20:00.009-05:00

I've held off on posting the recipe and review for this one because I'm not all that happy with it. I was hoping it might improve with some time, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I had high hopes for this beer, having gone through some additional trouble to perform a multi-step temperature mash and a cereal mash for a pound of unmalted spelt. The results are not what I expected; a little disappointing.

This was my second attempt at brewing a saison inspired by the recipes in the book Farmhouse Ales by Phil Markowski. My first attempt yielded a pretty decent beer, but I thought it could use a lot of improvements and tweaking to get it where I wanted (spicier, fruitier, hoppier). So, I replaced some of the base malt with a pound of rye and a pound of unmalted spelt, changed up the hop bill, and used a different yeast (Wyeast 3711 vice WLP 565). I added the rye and spelt for more diversity in the malt bill and to include more of the grains in the farmhouse-themed recipes described in Phil's book.

(spelt before boiling/cereal mashing)

Because the spelt was unmalted it had to be cereal mashed. This means boiling it until it is mushy and falling apart so that all of its starches are easily accessible by the conversion enzymes in the main mash. This took about 20 minutes. I milled the one pound of spelt as I would any other malts/grains and then mixed it with a couple liters of water in a small pot separate from the main mash. I slowly brought the mixture to a boil and kept it boiling for about 15 minutes while continuously stirring to prevent scorching. Once the spelt was gooey and gelatinous, I added it to the main mash which I had already mashed in. Note that gooey cereal mashed grains will clog false bottoms, so be prepared with rice hulls.

(gooey gelatinized spelt after boiling for 15 mins)

The making of the beer was troubled. The cereal mashed spelt, which had turned into thick goo, clogged the mash tun false bottom once added to the main mash. This caused a some mash scorching at one point while stepping up the temperature. I'm not sure if that affected the finished beer too much or not though as I do not detect any smoky, burnt, or rubber character.

Later I dry hopped the beer with 1 oz whole EKG in the primary carboy after fermentation had completed. This did little aside from contribute a lot of hop particulates that made it into the bottles and float around like they are in a snow globe when poured. The hops floated on top and didn't seem to get submerged very far into the beer.

Finally, after having bottle conditioned the beer I began to find the bottles were wildly varied in carbonation level. Some are mildly carbonated (see picture above, definitely not proper saison carb level) others are effervescent. I believe that the priming sugar didn't get mixed up well enough in the bottling bucket.

(saison dry hopping with EKG)

My favorite method of dry hopping so far is to put the hops in muslin bags with weights (sanitized marbles, stainless, or glass) and sink them down into the beer. I tie sanitized fishing like to the muslin bag to suspend the bag and retreive it later. This method provided awesome hop aroma to the SMaSH Willammette/Maris Otter Pale Ale I brewed recently.

Overall this beer is too thin, grainy, and astringent. For my next batch of saison I'm going back to basics with a single infusion mash and some Munich malt for more malty/toasty/breadiness. I'm also going to keep an eye on my bottling procedure to make sure I get the carbonation right.

Farmhouse Saison II

Batch Size: 5.50 gal

Boil Size: 7.29 gal

Estimated OG: 1.052 SG

Estimated Color: 4.4 SRM

Estimated IBU: 31.7 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Malts/Fermentables

Amount Item Type % or IBU

5.50 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (Castle) (1.6 SRM) Grain 52.38 %

1.00 lb Spelt, Unmalted (3.0 SRM) Adjunct 9.52 %

1.00 lb Rye Malt (Weyermann) (3.5 SRM) Grain 9.52 %

1.00 lb Vienna Malt (GlobalMalt) (3.8 SRM) Grain 9.52 %

1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Dark (Wyermann) (7.5 SRM) Grain 9.52 %

0.25 lb Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 2.38 %

0.75 lb Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 7.14 %

Hops

1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [7.20 %] (60 min) Hops 24.5 IBU

1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (15 min) Hops 6.7 IBU

1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [3.20 %] (1 min) Hops 0.5 IBU

1.00 oz Kent Goldings (dry hop 4 days in primary)

Yeast

1 Pkgs French Saison (Wyeast #3711) [Starter 1230Yeast-Ale

1.3 liter stirplate starter

Mash

Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Light Body

Step Time Name Description Step Temp

30 min Protein Rest Add 14.63 qt of water at 119.1 F 113.0 F

15 min Step Heat to 131.0 F over 5 min 131.0 F

30 min Step Heat to 144.0 F over 5 min 144.0 F

15 min Saccharification Heat to 154.0 F over 5 min 154.0 F

Mash Salt Additions

------

2gm gypsum (.5 tsp)

2gm cacl (.3 tsp)

1 gm epsom (1/8 tsp)

Tasting

Aroma: Lemon, honey, and tea

Appearance: golden, very clear, some hop particles still remain from dry hopping. White head with poor retention.

Flavor: Thin, grainy, astringent. Some mild light malty sweetness.

Mouthfeel: thin, light, some astringency on the finish.

German Beer Score

2011-02-13T18:26:00.007-05:00

Today my wife and I had the opportunity to sample some German beers that don't usually make their way the USA. A friend of ours brought them back from Germany after a recent trip to her home town of Amberg Germany. Some of the beers were brewed in small breweries in and around Amberg.

The beers, pictured below, included some lagers, a hefeweizen, and a dunkelweizen. My favorite was the Bruckmuller Kellerbier, a pale crisp golden lager with a noble hoppiness.

Homebrew Tour

2011-02-09T21:29:00.002-05:00

I'm only a couple years late on this one, but here's an interesting post that recalls a homebrew tour that took place in New York City. Its a pretty interesting idea. A group of homebrewers and beer enthusiasts organized a tour that visited several homebrewer's homes/tiny NYC apartments one evening. At each stop members of the group were served samples and had the opportunity to converse with the brewers.

Homebrew in the White House

2011-02-08T09:24:00.007-05:00

A couple different sites (The Examiner and The AHA) have reported recently that homebrew was served at the White House Super Bowl Party this week. According to the reports, the White House chef brewed and served "White House Honey Ale" using equipment that was purchased by the Obama family. The recipe even contained one pound of honey from the White House Bee Hive.

This happening interests me for a couple of reasons. The first is that it is an indication that some decision makers in the executive branch are at least vaguely familiar with and supportive of home brewing. Some personally know of at least one homebrewer (the chef) and they have enjoyed what I have to assume was well-made home-brewed beer. A subtle endorsement like this one is good for the home brewing community, as it can persuade and inform those with legal decision making power at the state and federal levels to make decisions in support of homebrewers and possibly even small commercial startup breweries.

Take for example the recent attempts by large brewers and distributors to prohibit small breweries from self-distributing their products in states where that practice is currently legal. Or, look at the legal clusterfuck in Oregon that has outlawed home brewing competitions in a state with a historically great home brewing culture. Homebrewers and small breweries could certainly use more people with political clout on their side to help fight the good fight as issues like these arise.

The second and more tangential of my observations on this event, is the fact that it was the white house chef who brewed the beer. I've always said that I think brewing is cooking. Instead of making a dish to be consumed immediately after preparation is complete, brewers prepare something to be consumed in the weeks or months to follow. I'm willing to bet that most good brewers are also good in the kitchen and that the interest and passion they have for their beer is many times reflected in the food they cook and enjoy. The fact that the White House chef brewed the beer doesn't prove any of this, I just thought it was interesting.

Candice's Tripel

2011-01-31T20:36:00.011-05:00

Third Place - Belgian Strong Ales - 2011 NYCHG Homebrew Alley 5 NYC, NY
First Place - Belgian Strong Ales - 2011 Highland Cup Asheville, NC

I just got word that this beer, placed 3rd out of 33 entries in the Belgian Strong Ale category of the Homebrew Alley 5 competition in New York City yesterday. My Black Friday Stout also placed 3rd out of 25 in the Porter category of the same competition.

Back in November my wife decided she wanted to have a go at brewing a beer of her own. The Belgian Tripel being one of her favorite styles, that's what she went with. We worked up a recipe based on the Holier than Thou Tripel I brewed awhile back and tweaked it based on her preferences, my notes, and feedback from the first batch.

I helped out as she did most of the brewday work including crushing the grains, the mash, sparge, boil, melting/adding the candi sugar and then the hop additions. I prepared a nice big active yeast starter a few days prior to brewing and then handled a lot of the cold side fermentation stuff. When the fermentation was complete, we kegged it up.

Wyeast 3787 is so far my favorite strong Belgian yeast strain. Both times I've used 3787 it has fermented strong, fast, and left a clear beer with a nice balance of fruit and spice. Other Belgian strains I've tried are Wyeast Abbey II 1762 and White Labs 550. WLP 550 is a nice strain but seems to generate more spice and less fruit.

This was the first of my brews in which I used salt additions in the boil. I kept the additions light, and I can't really say what they added. But, the beer turned out great. In addition to using John Palmer's Water Adjustment Spreadsheet, I've been using the EZ Water Calculator spreadsheet. It can calculate the sparge/boil salt additions for you and does some nice mash pH estimations for you that I have found to be pretty accurate using a pH meter.

(Candice stirring in the mash)

Candice's Tripel

9.4% ABV

41 IBUs

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 5.50 gal

Boil Size: 7.29 gal

Estimated OG: 1.085 SG

Final Gravity 1.013 FG

Estimated Color: 5.4 SRM

Estimated IBU: 40.8 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Malts & Sugars

Amount Item Type % or IBU

12.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 71.09 %

2.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 11.85 %

1.75 lb Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM) Sugar 10.37 %

1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Light Weyermann (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.92 %

0.13 lb Aromatic Malt (19.0 SRM) Grain 0.77 %

Hops

1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] (60 min) Hops 11.6 IBU

0.50 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 18.8 IBU

0.25 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (30 min) Hops 7.2 IBU

1.00 oz Saaz [3.20 %] (10 min) Hops 3.1 IBU

Yeast & Fermentation

1 Pkgs Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787) Yeast (3.25 liter stirplate starter)

Pitched at 64 °F. Allowed to rise a degree or two per day up to 78°F. 3 week primary.

Mash Schedule

Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge

Total Grain Weight: 15.13 lb

----------------------------

60 min Mash In Add 18.16 qt of water at 162.9 F to rest at 149.0 F

Water

Target Water:

Calcium 56

Mag 8

Alkalinity (CaCO3): 23

Sodium 25

Chloride 76

Sulfate 82

Salt Additions:

Mash: 1gm gypsum, 3gm CaCl, 1gm Epsom

Boil: 0.7gm gypsum, 2gm CaCl

Notes:

------

3.25 litre starter stirplate - 1 pack yeast

Nov 6 - Pitched at 64 degrees

Nov 27 - temp rose throughout fermentation to 78 degrees. Crash cooled to drop yeast.

(a big active Wyeast 3787 stirplate starter)

Tasting Notes

The bright gold beer sits proudly with a foamy, lacey white head that lasts. The aroma consists of light fruits, spicy alcohol and honey-like sweetness. There may be some hop aroma but its difficult to pick out from the assertive fruits and spice. Up front flavors of spicy sweet light fruits dominate before a giving away to more spicy hop bitterness and a warming alcohol finish. The spicy hop bitterness lingers. The beer is medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.

Way to go Candice!

North Dakota - A Reason to Live/Visit There

2011-01-25T20:02:00.004-05:00

Bloomberg is reporting that there is currently proposed legislation in North Dakota that would allow people who brew their own beer at home to obtain a license to sell their beer at trade shows.

This is the first of such laws I have heard of, and if passed would definitely make for some pretty interesting homebrew (trade) conventions.

This leaves me with a lot of questions and wondering how the homebrewing scene would change if more states began to adopt similar laws. Would some homebrewers' beers obtain cult status and fetch ridiculously high prices? Would the public in general, able to purchase homebrewed beer, be underwhelmed by unstable and inconsistent homebrew? Would a surge of new homebrewers enter the hobby with hopes of making a buck? Would the quality and diversity of beer thrive even more than it has in the past decade?

Evil Santa's Secret Mild

2011-01-20T19:40:00.004-05:00

(a washed out camera-phone pic of the mild)

It was the first Sunday in December when I decided I was going to make a beer as a Christmas gift for my dad, brother, and father-in-law. The local homebrew shops were closed and I didn't have time to order ingredients. I went through my inventory and figured I had on hand what it would take to make a mild from extract with specialty grains. A mild was also a good idea because the beer needed to get from grain to glass pretty quick.

The beer turned out pretty decent and I gave each recipient a 12 pack. Though because I ended up with a little less volume than planned I had only two bottles leftover for myself. That's the Christmas spirit. I opened the last bottle I had tonight for a quick review.

Evil Santa's Secret Mild

Extract with specialty grains

3.8% ABV

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 4.25 gal

Boil Size: 5.99 gal

Estimated OG: 1.041 SG

Final Gravity: 1.014

Estimated Color: 20.2 SRM

Estimated IBU: 23.4 IBU

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Malts/Extract

Amount Item Type % or IBU

4.50 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 70.53 %

1.00 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 15.67 %

0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L Grain 7.84 %

0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3.92 %

0.13 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 2.04 %

Hops

0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 9.5 IBU

0.50 oz Cluster [7.00 %] (60 min) Hops 13.9 IBU

Yeast

1 Pkgs SafAle 05 (Fermentis) no starter, not rehydrated

Notes:

------

used storebought distilled water

split into two 3 gallon carboys. each with 1/2 pack US 05

chilled wort to 60 degrees before pitching yeast.

Fermented inside in closet at about 68°F.

Review

Aroma: Very subtle aroma. Really have to search. I get a little grainy roast and some light breadiness.
Appearance: Deep brown with re orange hues. Moderately clear.
Flavor: light maltiness with a touch of roastiness that lingers on the finish. A little bit of caramel sweetness, some breadiness, and some earthiness. On the fault side of the house, I get a touch of chlorophenol/plastic on the finish.
Mouthfeel: medium light bodied.

The subtle roastiness ended up carrying the beer with a background light breadiness and earthiness. I could back off on the chocolate malt a little bit if I brew this again. I plan to brew another mild sometime this year.

Black Friday Stout

2011-01-18T20:37:00.013-05:00

Third Place in Porter- NYCHG Homebrew Alley 5 - 31-JAN-2011
First Place in Porter - 2011 Highland Cup - March 5 2011

I brewed this beer November 26th, the day after Thanksgiving also known as Black Friday. While many people were out racing around, assailing one another to land the last of the two $99 42" LCD TVs on sale, I was in the comforting paradise that is my garage/brewery whipping up a beauty of a brew.

I've brewed a couple really dark roasty beers before, though on the stronger side, and I feel that I let the grain bills get a little overly complex on those. On this one I wanted to keep it simpler, using a high quality English pale malt base, putting the focus on roasted barley with some caramel malts for mild sweetness and some flaked barley for extra body. I went with a standard clean American ale yeast and kept the hopping simple with a small dash of first wort hops for fun and then a single 60 minute addition of 4oz of Willamette pellet hops I had laying around from Dominion Cup winnings earlier last year. I wanted a good amount of body in this beer so in addition to using the flaked barley, I mashed at 155°F.

One thing about brewing a stout or porter, especially all-grain, is that the heavily roasted and black malts can drive the pH of the beer too low. The result can be a beer with a really astringent finish, sometimes described as metallic or even bloody. To help counteract the acidifying properties of the dark malts in the mash I used some 5.2 stabilizer along with a healthy dose of chalk. I also tried to use as light a hand as possible with the dark malts, keeping the roasted barley to under 8% of the total grist. I ended up with a mash pH of 5.19. Not bad at all. Based on the pitch black color and prominent roastiness the finished beer has, I think I could go even a bit lighter on the Crisp roasted barley with good results. I may target around 6.75% - 7% roasted barley the next time around.

After fermentation was complete I transferred the 10 gallons of finished beer into two cornys, one to be carbonated and served ASAP, the other to age for a month on a few ounces of heavy toast oak cubes I had soaking in bourbon for a year. I strained the cubes out of the bourbon and put them in a sanitized muslin bag. I tied sanitized fishing line around the bag and let the bag dangle somewhere near the center of the keg, leaving the line to hang out the top of the sealed corny lid. After the lid was sealed I purged the head space with CO2 and left it to age at about 68 degrees in my pantry for a month. The oaked keg tasted really promising and is carbonating right now. It should be ready to drink in a week or two.

The finished beer is somewhere in between a dry stout and a sweet stout. A little sweetness on the nose and just a bit of it in the flavor, but its subtle. Even though the beer finished out at a little higher gravity than I had planned, it has a surprisingly dry finish. I would expect a 1.020 beer to be pretty heavy and sweet, but I think the roasted barley and moderate bittering addition lend a dry finish to the beer.

The aroma of the jet black beer is coffee, cream, and chocolate. The flavor starts out smooth and creamy semi-sweet chocolate with a tiny bit of sweetness before turning to a dry, roasty, bitter, finish from the roasted barley and hops.

I can easily say this is the best stout or porter that I have brewed in my homebrewing career so far.

Black Friday Stout

ABV: 5.6%

36 IBUs

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 11.00 gal

Boil Size: 13.17 gal

Estimated OG: 1.063 SG

Finished Gravity: 1.020

Estimated Color: 39.1 SRM

Mash Extract Efficiency: 69%

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Malts

Amount Item Type % or IBU

22.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 80.00 %

2.00 lb Crisp Roasted Barley (550.0 SRM) Grain 7.27 %

1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5.45 %

1.00 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 3.64 %

1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3.64 %

Hops

4.00 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 29.4 IBU

0.50 oz Cluster [7.50 %] (60 min) (First Wort HopHops 6.3 IBU

Yeast

3 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) 2qt stirplate starter

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge

Total Grain Weight: 27.50 lb

----------------------------

Step Time Name Description Step Temp

60 min Mash In Add 41.25 qt of water at 164.8 F 155.0 F

Fermentation

Pitched at 65°F and let rise to 68°F.

Notes:

------

Mash: add 5.2 Stabilizer for Ph and 5 grams of Chalk for Calcium

Boil Salts: 5 gm CaCl, 2 gm Epsom

Holiday Spiced Graff

2010-12-26T15:52:00.005-05:00

This is a spiced holiday version of the Graff I made earlier this year. I dropped the light DME and used all amber DME for a little more caramel sweetness and body and added a little hops along with some classic holiday and cider themed spices. As in the last batch, the sweetness from the 20% amber beer in the recipe does a great job of balancing the acidity of the cider.

The nose is orange peel, brown apple, and nutmeg. The moderate carbonation creates a foamy white head that lingers surprisingly well compared to a straight sparkling cider. Color is a slightly hazy amber-orange. Flavors of green apple with cinnamon and orange peel dominate. Caramel malt sweetness and body compete with the cider-like acidity for dominance but the tart crisp cider is the winner and lingers into the finish. Alcohol is well masked.

I think this is an improvement over my first batch. I like the all-amber DME. For a future improvement I might eliminate the orange peel and increase the cinnamon addition. The Graff seems to generate a decent amount of citrus character on its own. The spice additions I used are on the subtle side and I think could be increased with good results depending upon personal preference.

Holiday Spiced Graff

6.7% ABV

1.057 OG

1.005 FG

~7 IBUs

Fermentables

4 Gallons preservative free apple juice

2 lbs amber DME

.5 lb crystal 40

Hops and Spices

.25 oz Perle hops

.25 tsp clove

.25 tsp nutmeg

.5 tsp allspice

.5 tsp dried orange peel

1 cinnamon stick

Yeast

White Labs English Ale (WLP 002) -made 1 qt starter

1) Heat 1.1 gallons distilled water to 160. Steeped crystal malt for 15 mins.

2) Remove crystal malt and heat to boil, stirring in DME just before boil.

3) Bring to boil, add hops and all spices in a muslin bag. Boil for 30 mins.

4) Cool wort to pitching temp.

5) Combine apple juice and wort in carboy. Aerate using preferred method.

6) Pitch yeast and ferment at 68 °F

Carbonate, targeting 2.7 - 2.9 volumes of CO2 for a nice effervescence.

Quick and Simple Apple Cider

2010-12-09T20:03:00.009-05:00

I've made several batches of apple cider over the past year. I've used fresh pressed unpasteurized juice from nearby orchards as well as $1.50 per gallon grocery store brand juice. The recipe I use most frequently is very simple and has produced a very consistent cider. The finished product is a light straw-colored crisp sparkling beverage of a little over 4% alcohol with an aroma of apple but the tart taste and finish of a dry champagne. Those who are expecting a sugary sweet flavor similar to commercial ciders like Woodchuck or Woodpecker will be either surprised or disappointed.

Like brewing, cider making has many nuances. There is a lot of information out there and there are a lot of different varieties of cider that can be made. Some recipes and techniques call for months or even years of aging. The recipe I am posting here is a quick and simple recipe for a juice-only cider that is ready to drink in about 5 weeks but improves with more aging.

My routine recipe is simple, pasteurized apple juice and ale yeast fermented at around 65°F - 70°F. The optimal pH for the pre-fermentation apple juice is 3.2 - 3.8. I have tested the store bought juices I have used and found them to be within the lower side of that range. However, if the juice's pH is not within that range it can be adjusted using additives such as food grade acids (to lower) or precipitated chalk (to raise).

Simple Cider

Color: about 3 SRM or less

ABV: ~4%

Fermentables

Pasteurized store bought apple juice like Motts, Tree Top, or even Food Lion Brand. NO PRESERVATIVES, don't use anything that has "potassium" or "sorbate" on the label, they will inhibit fermentation. Use as much juice as you want finished cider. i.e. 5 gallons of juice will yield about 5 gallons of finished cider.

Yeast

Any dry ale yeast (I have used Danstar Nottingham, Danstar Windsor, and Safale 05 with good results)

Fermentation

Ferment at 65°F to 70°F until gravity reaches 1.001 or less. Two weeks.

I start with a cleaned and sanitized carboy. Then I sanitize the mouths of all apple juice containers with Starsan in a spray bottle. Next I pour each apple juice container into the carboy using a sanitized funnel. I like to keep the juice at fermentation temperature (65-70) before starting this process.

Once all the apple juice is in the carboy, I pitch the packet of dry yeast in, attach an air lock and place the carboy in an area that holds a steady temperature in the desired range. I let the cider sit for at least two weeks. Terminal gravity is reached typically within the first week.

I like to keg the finished cider and force carbonate it to about 3 volumes of CO2 so that it is moderately effervescent. I give it about two weeks to carbonate and age before serving but I find that it gets better as it ages. I've never had any problem with clarity. I've never had to use any fining agents and the cider has always come out very clear.

A batch of cider I made using this recipe placed 2nd in the cider category this year at the Dominion Cup. Its pretty tasty stuff that is cheap and easy to make.

Other Resources

CvilleKevin's: Juice and Yeast Experiments

http://makinghardcider.com/

East Coast Common (Thanksgiving Steam Beer)

2010-12-07T16:09:00.006-05:00

The idea for this beer was born when a neighbor asked if I could brew something they could serve at their Thanksgiving dinner. I liked the idea and brewed a ten gallon batch so that I could bring some to my family's Thanksgiving dinner as well. I wanted to brew something that would appeal to a wide audience and was on the lower side of the ABV spectrum. I chose to brew a California Common but keep the hops on the subdued side.

The finished beer is a deep gold color. Aroma's of light fruits and caramel dominate with perhaps a little hint of butterscotch. No hop aroma is detectable to me. There is a crisp lager-like aroma. The flavor is dominated by light fruits and caramel with some toasty notes. The finish is crisp with a lingering hop bitterness and some lingering caramel. I used only Northern Brewer hops for three additions and I like the character they produced. When the beer was fresher it really had a nice minty quality on the finish. Its a pretty light bodied beer but there is a smooth creaminess.

Compared to Anchor Steam, the prototypical California Common, this beer has a similar malt character (maybe a tad on the lighter side) but isn't as bitter and assertive which is what I was aiming for. It is not nearly as bitter or aromatic as the 38 IBUs in the recipe suggest.

The butterscotch aroma may be a little diacetyl, although it is very subtle. Per BJCP guidelines, diacetyl is not appropriate in California Commons. However, the California Common yeast does produce higher levels of diacetyl compared to other yeasts and if it is in fact diacetyl in this beer, it is pretty subdued. I fermented at 62 degrees and let it rise to 70°F near the end for a diacetyl rest. If I brew this again I will probably go a little lower, like 60°F.

Improvements for future batches of this will include a little bit more hop aroma and again, a lower fermentation temperature. I would also swap out some of the caramel malt for more Victory malt to get some more toastiness (maybe even use some Vienna). Other than that I really like this beer.

The beer went over real well at my family's Thanksgiving dinner. I brought a full 5 gallon corny keg and I estimate that about half of it was drank.

Recipe
East Coast Common (Thanksgiving Steam Beer)

Style: California Common Beer

Recipe Specifications

Batch Size: 11.00 gal

Boil Size: 14.50 gal

Estimated OG: 1.051 SG

FG: 1.008

Estimated Color: 8.4 SRM

Estimated IBU: 38.4 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Malts

18.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 83.72 %

2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) 9.30 %

1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 4.65 %

0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) 2.33 %

Hops

1.25 oz Northern Brewer [9.80 %] (60 min) Hops 21.3 IBU

1.87 oz Northern Brewer [9.80 %] (15 min) Hops 15.8 IBU

1.88 oz Northern Brewer [9.80 %] (1 min) Hops 1.4 IBU

Misc

1.00 tsp Wyeast Yeast Nutrient (Boil 3.0 days) Misc

2.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc

Mash

Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out

Total Grain Weight: 21.50 lb

----------------------------

60 min Mash In Add 32.25 qt of water at 159.2 F for 150.0 F rest

Yeast

2 Pkgs San Francisco Lager (White Labs #WLP810)

2 vials into a 3.3 liter starter - starter focculated nicely in 12 hours

Fermentation

Chilled to 63°F and pitched yeast from starter.

Fermented at 62°F until gravity reached 1.015 (5 days), then raised temperature to 70°F for another week to finish.

Notes:

Mash Salts:

1gm chalk

1.5 gm Gypsum

2 gm CaCl

1 gm Epsom Salt.

mash ph ~5.1 - 5.2

- first fermentation using new triclamp fitting for sanke keg

- aerated with pure 02 for 1 min

- airlock activity after 12 hours

Raisin Cane Dubbel

2010-11-27T21:06:00.007-05:00

In August I brewed a Dubbel based on Tomme Arthur's Dubbel recipe in Brew Like a Monk (page 243) . It caught my attention because of a late boil addition of raisins coupled with a complex grist bill. Tomme Arthur is the head brewer for Pizza Port brewery in California and the recipe is based on his production Dubbel Overhead beer which I have yet to try. I'd like to get my hands on a bottle of Dubbel Overhead to compare to the beer I brewed. I stayed very close to Arthur's grist bill but switched up the yeast and hops base on what I had available.

The finished beer has taken a couple months of aging for the alcohols to mellow. This one also took a lot longer than normal to start clearing up. I used Wyeast 1762 Abbey II for the first time and I'm not really that happy with it. It may have just been my fermentation and temps but 1762 produced a great deal of hot alcohols and did not clear all that well. I really like Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity and I think I am going to stick with that one for future strong Belgians. The finished beer has a slight metallic taste on the finish that is a turn off for me.

I used Dark Candi Syrup instead of the dark rock candi sugar that was called for in the recipe. Candi syrup is a byproduct of rock candi sugar production is supposedly more like molasses, lending dark character and complexity. I believe that the syrup did impart some caramelly brown sugar dark character and complexity to the finished beer.

The syrup was rated at 80 SRM but I don't believe it imparted as much color as expected. BeerSmith estimated 20 SRM (dark dark brown) for the finished beer but as you can see in the picture below, the it came out a little lighter than that (the initial picture above makes the beer look darker than it really is). I think it was because the syrup did not contribute as much color as its 80 SRM rating suggests.

I planned the mash salt additions based on the color of the beer without the dark candi syrup. Since the syrup would be added in the boil and would darken the beer without the use of roasted or highly kilned malts.

The finished beer turned out okay, but I think I could have done a better job in the fermentation department on this one. Definitely some room for improvement. I detect a slight metallic taste on the finish, something I have never had in any other beers I have brewed. I can only guess that the taste is yeast/fermentation derived or that I overdid the mash salt additions. Does anyone know if improper use of mash salts can result in a metallic off flavor? The beer is improving with age,

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Brown Sugar, yeast derived spice phenols reminiscent of nutmeg and cinnamon. Malt and yeast derived aromas dominate with no discernible hop presence. Hints of alcohol.

Appearance: Copper, slightly hazy with a creamy tan head.

Flavor: Round biscuity sweet malt up front. Hints of dark fruits like raisins give away to alcohol in the middle. The finish has a slight metallic, coin-like flavor. Little to no hop bitterness. As it warms flavors of honey and brown sugar come out and the spices noticeable in the aroma become also evident in the flavor.

Mouthfeel: Medium silky bodied with some alcohol warmth.

RECIPE

Recipe: Raisin Cane Dubbel - (Tomme Arthur's Dubbel)

Style: Belgian Dubbel

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 5.50 gal

Boil Size: 7.57 gal

Estimated OG: 1.072 SG

Estimated Color: 21.0 SRM

Estimated IBU: 18.0 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:

------------

8.25 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 59.87 %

0.90 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 6.53 %

0.75 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.44 % (was running short on Pils malt)

0.50 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3.63 %

0.50 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 3.63 %

0.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3.63 %

0.50 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.63 %

0.25 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 1.81 %

Misc

4.00 oz Sunmaid raisins (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.50 lb Candi Syrup, Dark (80.0 SRM) Sugar 10.89 %

Hops

1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [3.40 %] (90 min) 10.9 IBU

0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.70 %] (60 min) 7.1 IBU

Yeast

1 Pkgs Belgian Abbey II (Wyeast Labs #1762) [Built up twice from Propogator pack (1qt, then 2 qt]

Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body

Total Grain Weight: 12.15 lb

----------------------------

60 min Saccharification Add 18.23 qt of water at 160.6 F rest at 151.0 F

10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F

Mash Water Profile

------

Calcium (ppm) 94

Magnesium (ppm) 9

Alkalinity as CaCO3 232

Sodium (ppm) 81

Chloride (ppm) 37

Sulfate (ppm) 38

Mash Salt Additions

Chalk 4 gm

CaCl 2 gm

Epsom 2 gm

Baking Soda 3.5 gm

Fuggled Homebrew Swap

2010-11-01T21:09:00.009-04:00

This weekend I met once again with Velky Al, author of the blog Fuggled, to exchange homebrew. We met at The Beer Run in Charlottesville and discussed homebrewing and beer in general over some stout and porter. I gave him a bottle each of my Oktoberfest Marzen, American Amber, and Farmhouse Saison II. He gave me a bottle each of his Peat Brown Ale, IPA, and Best Bitter.

Homebrew swaps are great. Tasting small samples of other homebrewers' beers at homebrew club meetings is a lot of fun, but its an altogether different experience to get a full bottle of a another homebrewer's beer to yourself. It provides opportunities for more contemplative consumption.

Peat Brown Ale

I poured the Peat Brown Ale into a glass that would surely make Al proud. I was greeted with a deep dark brown glass of brew that boasted a thick creamy off-white head that stuck around until the beer was gone. Inviting aromas of caramel and sweet dark malt were evident along with a tiny touch of vanilla.

Up front I got flavors of sweet caramelly maltiness. That was followed by chocolate and a mild smoke character that faded to a balancing and lingering roasty hop bitterness. The smoke chimes in just enough to add complexity. The body of the beer is full and silky with a medium to moderate level of carbonation that compliments the maltiness and to me is just right.

This was an excellent homebrew and was definitely my favorite of the three I received. I enjoyed it a lot and could surely drink a few pints of it. It was dark, complex, full bodied, and balanced.

Best Bitter

The Best Bitter was a copper color with a thick foamy white head. Ample carbonation was evident upon pouring. Aromas of European(?) hops and mild pear-like esters dominated. Hop bitterness took center stage in the flavor. It finished with a lingering bitterness and what seemed to be some phenolic spiciness. This was a light bodied, crisp, bitter beer.

Old Baldy IPA

Old Baldy IPA poured a deep amber to copper color with a thick white head. Al warned me that this one could be over-carbonated, but upon opening I did not find that to be the case with this bottle. Carbonation was strong but not outrageous. Aromas of American citrusy hops dominated with a side of woody, earthiness. As hinted upon by the aroma, flavors and citrusy bitterness dominated over a backdrop of subtle toasty sweet malt. A nice amber American style IPA.

That's a wrap. I'm closing up this autumn evening blog post with a glass of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. Earlier I made a starter of English Ale yeast for a batch of Christmas Spiced Graff my brother and I are going to make on Wednesday.

Book Review: Yeast - A Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation

2010-10-30T10:00:00.005-04:00

The new yeast book by Jamil Zainasheff and White Labs founder Chris White brushes on everything from proper pitching rates to cell biology to yeast lab design. Its one of the most useful technical brewing books I've read recently. The content of the book is targeted at homebrewers as well as commercial microbrewers.

The topics that most interested me included techniques for optimizing yeast health, detecting off flavors and aromas associated with yeast problems, testing for contamination, and proper fermentation temperature control. Most experienced and well read home brewers have probably already been exposed to a lot of the information presented on these topics in other brewing books and in Zainasheff's Brew Strong podcasts. What makes this book special is the fact that all that information has been delved into in greater depth and compiled into a single resource. For example, the book concisely outlines a good fermentation temperature schedule that minimizes fusel alcohol, diacetyl, and acetaldehyde in the finished beer:

Start fermentation 3°F below target fermentation temperature.
pitch yeast and allow to slowly rise to target fermentation temperature over 18-36 hours
Hold the temperature steady at target temp until the final quarter or third of fermentation
Finally, raise the temperature of the beer 4°F to 10°F over the course of one to two days

(Yeast A practical Guide to Fermentation, White/Zainasheff, pg 97)

Some of the book does get pretty advanced in the areas of cellular biology and yeast lab design. I did find it all pretty interesting, but I don't see any application for that information in my near future. My guess is most homebrewers will feel the same way about these sections but perhaps professional brewers thinking of establishing a yeast lab in their brewery will find them much more useful.

This book really hammers home the importance of sanitation and good fermentation in the production of good beer. Its a reminder that without good sanitation and fermentation practices things like recipe formulation matter very little. I will probably consult this book every once in awhile for preparing yeast and troubleshooting.

American Amber Ale with Homegrown Hops

2010-10-12T11:20:00.017-04:00

Homegrown Galenas reaching for the sky

By late August my Galena hop vine was ripe for the pickin'. My little hop garden, now cut to the ground for Fall/Winter was by no means a huge producer. The Cascades yielded some cones but not enough to do anything with besides pick and smell/marvel at. By far my best producing vine was the Galena vine which sprouted dozens of large plump green nuggets. But still, after picked and dried I only had a half ounce of Galena hops. I needed a recipe where high alpha American aroma hops could shine. Given the onslaught of fall and the characteristics of my home grown hops, I went with an American Amber Ale.

(a freshly poured pint of the American Amber Ale)

After picking the cones I placed the hops in a paper bag and put them up in the non-climate controlled attic. After several 80 to 90+ degree days the hops were well dried. I took them out of the bag and pitched them right into the boiling wort at knockout.

Of course I used a lot more hops than what I grew myself, but I focused the recipe around the Galena hop variety, which I used in both the bittering and aroma additions. I used my .5 oz of homegrown Galena for the aroma addition.

close up: picked and ready to dry

The finished beer has some mild American hop aroma and bitterness. However, the star of the show turned out to be the malt. A base of Marris Otter along with crystal malts and about 5% victory malt created a wonderful toasty/buscuity malt presence. The White Labs WLP 001 yeast lived up to its claims and left behind a nice clean malt profile with very low esters and some noticeable hop character.

Next time I will slightly increase the hop additions throughout the recipe.

RECIPE

American Amber Ale

Type: All Grain

Batch Size: 11.00 gal into fermenter (10 gallons finished)

Boil Size: 13.01 gal

Estimated OG: 1.050 SG

Estimated Color: 13.4 SRM

Estimated IBU: 37.2 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:

------------

Amount Item Type % or IBU

15.50 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 73.81 %

2.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %

1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 7.14 %

1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %

1.00 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %

Hops

1.35 oz Galena [14.10 %] (60 min) Hops 31.2 IBU

0.75 oz Cascade [7.40 %] (10 min) Hops 3.3 IBU

0.50 oz Centennial [9.00 %] (10 min) Hops 2.7 IBU

0.50 oz Centennial [9.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-St Hops -

0.25 oz Cascade [7.40 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep Hops -

0.50 oz Galena [13.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep Hops -

Mash Schedule

Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge

Total Grain Weight: 21.00 lb

60 min Mash In Add 31.50 qt of water at 163.6 F rest at 154.0 F

Water Adjustment

------

Chalk 3gm

Gypsum 1gm

CaCl 2gm

Epsom 2gm

Baking Soda 3gm

Final Mash Water Profile (Palmer Spreadsheet):

Calcium (ppm) 125

Magnesium (ppm) 9

Alkalinity as CaCO3 138

Sodium (ppm) 25

Chloride (ppm) 51

Sulfate (ppm) 38

Fermentation

2 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) with 3 qt stirplate starter

Ferment for two weeks at 67°F

cold condition at 35 degrees for week then rack to kegs.

For next time

Next time a little more hops all the way around.

Wild Wolf Brewing Company - Another Virginia Nano Startup

2010-10-11T16:46:00.004-04:00

A third Brewery has opened in Nelson County Virginia and I suppose it could unofficially be considered the newest addition to the Blue Ridge Beer Trail.

Wild Wolf Brewing Company is brewing commercially on a ten gallon (!!!) Brew Magic system and operating an on-premises homebrew shop. Based on the size of their brewhouse I'd say that presently they are definitely deserving of the trending "Nanobrewery" label. According to their website they will begin selling growler fills November 1st 2010. Future expansion plans include a larger brewing system and the addition of a brewpub. Thanks to Lug Wrench Brewing Company for sharing an interview with the owner.

Lug Wrench Brewing Company Interview

http://www.lugwrenchbrewing.com/2010/10/nanobrewery-interviews-wild-wolf.html

In the News

http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2010/aug/11/wild-wolf-brewing-company-open-ar-421598/

Kegging - Benefits and Myths

2010-10-08T15:12:00.008-04:00

(my garage kegerator. nothing glamorous, jut the way I like it.)

Its approaching almost a year since I picked up a cornelius kegging system and assembled a kegerator for my homebrew. I have greatly enjoyed the luxury of having homebrew on tap at home and have found the kegging system to offer a lot of benefits over bottling in many cases. In fact, as a testament to my appreciation of its benefits, since initially acquiring the system with two corny kegs, I have added three more corny kegs, reaching the maximum capacity of the kegerator.

However, a kegging system is certainly not required to make good homebrew. I still do some bottle conditioning because I think some beers are just better made that way. At the end of the day homebrew kegging is a luxury. I think that in addition to the many benefits it offers, there are also some myths out there. So, after a year of action, I thought I'd jot down my thoughts on the benefits and myths surrounding kegging homebrew.

Benefits

custom sized portions

If I want just a 6oz pour of one of my homebrews, I don't have to open a whole 12oz bottle and when I have guests over I can offer them small samples of a few beers I have on tap and let them decide which one they want a whole glass of. Also, if I want to gauge how the carbonation of a newly kegged batch is coming along, I can just pour a few ounces to sample. Flexible portions.

ability to adjust carbonation level

With bottle conditioning you are pretty much stuck with the carbonation level you achieve in the bottle. If the beer fails to carbonate there is no way to add more carbonation. If it overcarbonates, then you just have to pour it and wait for it to degas a little. Kegging allows you to add and remove carbonation until you get the beer just where you like it. Then, you can bottle from the keg and lock it in right where you want it.

fewer containers to clean and sanitize

If you are not going to be giving away much homebrew or keeping it all for yourself for consumption at home, cleaning couldn't be easier. You have a single lightweight stainless steel keg and a couple hoses to clean and sanitize as opposed to about 50 individual glass bottles that may or may not need labels removed as well. Just give the keg a good PBW soak, good rinsing, and some starsan and your ready to rack.

no bottle yeast "slugs"

You can bottle from a keg and eliminate the occurrence of yeast sediment in the bottle. There are times I enjoy looking down into a an empty bottle of beer and seeing a nice layer of yeast from bottle conditioning. This lets you know you're holding a bottle of unpasteurized goodness with CO2 that was produced right there in the bottle. Most of us beer crazed folk know how to properly pour a bottle conditioned beer. On the other hand I have given people bottles of my bottle conditioned homebrew only later to have them describe it to me as cloudy, murky, or yeasty. And don't forget some people like to drink straight out of the bottle no matter how many times you explain why they shouldn't. It really makes me shudder to think of all the time spent brewing a bottle conditioned lager only to have someone shotgun pour it yeast and all right into a glass or right into their mouth.

C02 equipment is versitile. Pressurized transfers.

Having a CO2 tank, regulators, and gas hoses around can be useful. I have used my CO2 tank and hoses to perform pressurized transfers from fermenters to kegs when I have brewed 10 gallon batches. Lifting 10 gallons of beer plus a fermenter is never a good idea. Additionally closed transfers can help minimized post-fermentation oxidation.

Myths

kegging frees you from bottling

Don't toss out your bottles and capper. As long as you want to share your beer with people outside of your house, enter competitions, or stash away a couple bottles of a batch for aging, you will have to bottle. Also, depending on the size of your kegging system and how frequently you brew, your supply will likely outrun your keg capacity so you will either need to bottle condition or empty out a keg by bottling from it. So, some cleaning and sanitizing of bottles is still necessary, you just wont have to do it as much or as often.

kegging is easier

In my opinion this just isn't true. I wouldn't say its any more difficult than bottle conditioning, but I also wouldn't say its easier. Its just another way to skin the cat. It can save time, but kegging comes with its own host of problems. CO2 leaks, tank exchanges, and foaming pours due to an unbalanced system are just a few things that can require additional attention.

equipment acquisition syndrome

It seems one piece of equipment calls for another. No sooner did I have a kegging system than I needed more kegs. If you have a kegging system you will no doubt need some way to keep that large quantity of beer cold (kegerator?). Another handy although completely optional piece of kegging equipment I have yet to acquire is a bottle filler like a Blichmann Beergun or a Counterpressure Bottle Filler. I have been using a MacGuyver style bottle filler constructed from about $5 of parts that works pretty darn good.

Finally

Having kegged homebrew at home is awesome. If a bandit broke into my garage and hauled off my beloved tapped beer chest, I would greatly miss it and would seek to get another one. However, it does pose its own complications and to me, doesn't solve 100% of my packaging needs. Bottle conditioned beer is a thing of beauty and for some styles kegging just isn't always as good.

And finally just a pro-bottle-conditioning fact before I close. I've read many times that bottle conditioning can allow for increased stability and minimal oxidation in the bottle. The larger quantity of active yeast that remain in a bottle of bottle conditioned beer help to consume any remaining oxygen and other compounds slowly over time, helping to preserve and protect the beer.

Octo-Beerfest - 2010 Oktoberfest Lager

2010-09-23T18:08:00.012-04:00

Octo-Berfest is the third lager that I have brewed this summer. It was brewed August 7th and been has lagering in corny kegs since late-August. I just started drinking it this week and its pretty tasty right now. It has prominent aromas and flavors of sweet and toasty melanoidins and Munich malt. Its smooth with a finish that is balanced with solid noble hop bitterness and just a little lingering toasty malt flavor. Its very clear coppery red/orange.

I took the recipe pretty much straight out of Brewing Classic Styles. Really the only modification I made was a small addition of Melanoidin malt to integrate some of the flavors and character associated with a decoction mash into the beer.

Even more excellent than the beer is the awesome artwork that a friend put together for the labels. Think German beerfest staged on an old wooden ship in the 1800s suddenly attacked and destroyed by a monster octopus.

Name: Octo-Bierfest

Style: Oktoberfest/Marzen

TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 10.50 gal

Boil Size: 12.87 gal

Estimated OG: 1.055 SG

Estimated Color: 10.8 SRM

Estimated IBU: 27.7 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 71.00 %

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Fermentables

8.75 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 39.33 %

6.75 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 30.34 %

4.75 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 21.35 %

1.50 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 6.74 %

0.50 lb Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.25 %

Hops

2.75 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 22.7 IBU

1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (20 min) Hops 5.0 IBU

Other

1.00 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc

1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 min) Misc

2 Pkgs Munich Lager (Wyeast Labs #2308) (2 x 2 quart starters (built up twice))

Mash Schedule

Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Light Body

Total Grain Weight: 22.25 lb

----------------------------

60 min Saccharification Add 33.38 qt of water at 162.8 F. Rest at 151.0 F

10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F

Mash Water Profile

Calcium 125 ppm

Magesium 9 ppm

Alkalinity (CaCO3) 138 ppm

Sodium 25 ppm

Chloride 51 ppm

Sulfate 38 ppm

Notes:

- Mash pH after salt additions: 5.3

- placed in fridge overnight to chill to 48.

-mash salts: 8 gm chalk, 3gm CaCl, 2gm Epsom

- 30 hour lag time. followed by vigrous fermentation

- 25-SEP-2010 -- 2nd Place Amber Lager category 2010 CASK Virginia Beer Blitz Competition

Still Just a Flunky?

2010-09-18T20:54:00.007-04:00

I drove to Fredrick Maryland this morning and took the BJCP exam. It was a brain frying three hours of solid writing. Time flew by and afterwards I felt like I had fallen out the other end of a time warp. The exam was hosted at Brewers Alley in historic downtown Frederick. They provided a nice cozy conference room upstairs from the pub. From what I saw and tasted it is a nice pub. After the exam I had a really tasty glass of their cask IPA while I waited for my brain to re-stabilized and decompress.

One reason I haven't been posting much over the past couple of weeks is because I have been spending most of my "beer time" studying for the exam. There hasn't been a lot of brewing or blogging going on over here. Instead I've been doing things like memorizing style parameters, studying the yeast life cycle, and formulating all grain recipes.

The exam is tough. To me, the primary reason it is so difficult is the 3 hour time limit coupled with the all-essay question format. I was warned beforehand that time management was key and that spending too much time on any one question could lead to a lack of time remaining for the others. I studied a lot and I felt well prepared and comfortable with all of the questions on the exam as I encountered them. But in the end, I was seriously rushed to get it all down on paper in the 3 hour time limit. I did not have enough time to answer a couple of the questions thoroughly.

In the end, I had written eight full letter sized pages and completed four scoresheets for the beer samples that had to be tasted and judged during the three hour period. My long-gone-soft keyboarder ex-writing hand had seriously cramped up.

Now its going to be months of long patient waiting to receive the results. As I hear, it takes about three to six months to receive them.

Regardless of whether I pass or fail, I feel that I already have a much broader familiarity with beer styles, off-flavors, and brewing science than I did before I started studying several months ago. The BJCP study guide points to and contains a lot of valuable information for home brewers. My motivations for taking the exam are not driven by a maniacal desire to fit every beer into a nice cozy official style, but rather a desire to help me become a better, more knowledgeable brewer.

Happy Oktoberfest! Now I'm going to sit back and enjoy a pint of my home brewed Oktoberfest lager. I'll be posting pictures the recipe soon.

World's Oldest Beer - Actual Imperial Stout?

2010-09-03T12:17:00.003-04:00

Explorers found a lost shipment of what may be the world's oldest beer among the wreckage of a 200 year old shipwreck.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/03/baltic.sea.beer/index.html?hpt=T2

Its an amazing find. But, what further piqued my interest was this bit of information:

"The cargo was aboard a ship believed to be heading from Copenhagen, Denmark, to St Petersburg, Russia. It could have possibly been sent by France's King Louis XVI to the Russian Imperial Court."

The crew noted that when one of the bottles exploded, " A dark fluid seeped from the broken bottle". Dark beer, imperial court, Russia... It may very well be a shipment of true Russian Imperial Stout.

Farmhouse Saison

2010-08-30T18:50:00.003-04:00

click here for the recipe post

For the past couple of weeks I have been enjoying the Farmhouse Saison I brewed last month. Bottle conditioned with 9 bottles going to 750ml corked & caged Belgian bottles, it turned out more restrained in spice and tartness and with a little more body than my target beer, Saison Dupont Vieille Provision. However its very smooth, light, zesty, and enjoyable in its own right.

The beer is a light golden yellow color with some wheat haze and a foamy white head that recedes before remaining in a thin layer with lacing. Upon pouring, aromas of mild lemon citrus and pilsner malt are prominent along with a faint hint of white pepper phenol and mellow noble hops. The flavor follows the aroma with mild lemon and pear over a base of light pilsener malt flavor and sweetness before drying out with some hop bitterness and tart/peppery yeast character. The mildly tart zesty finish lingers. The beer is medium light bodied with a delicate creaminess that can probably be attributed to the use of torrified wheat. Carbonation is medium.

As for improvements and modifications next time, I plan to increase the hopping levels for bitterness and aroma (maybe even do some dry hopping) and swap out a pound or two of the pilsner malt for some rye to create a little more spice and depth. The carbonation needs to be increased next time (probably go for 5oz corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch), as its good for a normal ale but needs more to reach the effervescence of many commercial Belgian or French saisons. A secondary fermentation with Brettanomyces to create that dry tart bite/finish of Saison Dupont Vieille Provision would be worth considering too.

The Good and the Bad

2010-08-18T22:30:00.007-04:00

The good news is that tonight I racked the 10 gallons of Oktoberfest I brewed a little over two weeks ago into corny kegs for further lagering. I took a sample and it tasted great.

The bad news is that shortly after that, I broke my 13 gallon carboy while full of PBW solution when I rolled the wheeled cart it was sitting on into a counter-top ledge. It was a garage PBW tsunami. Fortunately I grabbed onto a tree before being swept away into a storm drain.

Its probably best that this thing finally broke without me being injured. My future fermenter for 10 gallon batches will be a stainless steel Sanke keg.

Review: Abzug Vienna Lager

2010-08-14T14:39:00.008-04:00

Recipe

Originally brewed with the intent of building up German lager yeast for a 10 gallon batch of Munich Dunkel, this sessionable extract-brewed lager clocks in at just over 4% ABV and still has plenty of character.

I got the name Abzug from Ray Daniels' Designing Great beer. In the "VMO" (Vienna-Marzen-Oktoberfest) Chapter, Daniels describes a historical style of lager called Abzug which my lager closely resembles:

"Abzug is a low gravity (10°P, 1.040 SG) lager brewed for quick consumption. This beer was lagered before sale, but for a shorter period of time than the regular [Vienna] or Marzen beers. One source states that Abzug should be ready to drink within eight days of lagering, but that cold storage might be continued for up to two months." -- Ray Daniels, Designing Great Beers page 323.

When fermentation failed to start after pitching a sluggish starter of Wyeast 2308 three days earlier, I reached for two packs of SafLager S-23 that quickly went to work and saved the day. Initially I pitched the S-23 a little warm at about 55°F. Once it started I dropped it down to 51 deg;F.

It was either the warmish starting temp or the initial pitch of unhealthy yeast that contributed the slightest hint of an apple or strawberry fruity ester to the finished beer; a trait considered a flaw for this style. But, the beer tastes great, so who cares! I would brew this again, though keeping a better eye on yeast and temperatures to eliminate any fruitiness. I entered this beer in the Dominion Cup competition and will be interested to see how the judges identified and diagnosed the fruity ester. I am curious as to whether it could be a mild case of acetaldehyde, a yeast-produced compound generating apple-like aromas and flavors caused by poor fermentations, over-pitching, or a beer being pulled off the yeast too soon.

Aroma: subtle aroma. what is there smells like a hint of malt/honey-like sweetness and apple.

Appearance: Light copper with a white foamy head. Decent retention. Very good clarity.

Flavor: Light notes of toasted malt behind moderate hop bitterness and a crisp lager bite. Mild earthy hop flavor. A hint of light fruit. Finishes moderately dry with a lingering bitterness.

Mouthfeel: light bodied, moderate carbonation

Overall: a crisp noticeably bitter lager with a toasted malt character and a tad bit of light fruitiness.

As far as recipe improvements go, I would lighten up on the bittering hop addition and possibly eliminate the roasted barley addition.

Homebrewer of the Week

2010-07-30T08:26:00.003-04:00

Velky Al over at Fuggled has a weekly Homebrewer of the Week post. This week, its me. Check it out if you are interested in reading about my thoughts on politics, religon, Twilight, and wine.

Survey Results and Other News

2010-07-25T18:35:00.004-04:00

Based on the survey results, I will be using Maris Otter as the malt for the Single Malt and Single Hop (SMaSH) brew I will make later this year with my home grown Galena hops. First up before that though, are 10 gallons of Oktoberfest and then a Raisin Dubbel (Brother TweeddAle's Raisin Cane Dubbel). Too many brews, too little time.

In other homebrew news,

I bottled the Farmhouse Saison today. It smells and tastes promising. Nine of the bottles are 750ml Belgian corked and caged bottles. I had some Belgian bottling corks and cages left over from the Triple last year. Its been a little while since I bottle conditioned a homebrew, it can definitely be more work than kegging, but for the right beer and the right style, its worth it.
The Munich Dunkel is dropping down to lagering temps before I keg it. However, it did not turn out as well as I had hoped. Fermentation stalled at around 1.020 so I pitched a secondary strain to finish up. I mistakenly used Safbrew S-33 for this purpose not realizing it was a Belgian strain until too late. Now I have what seems to be a Banana Bread Dunkel. The melanoiden malt experiment is off. We'll see what happens with this one.
I dropped off my 2010 Dominion Cup entries yesterday at the Weekend Brewer in Chester, VA. I feel like I have some good beers going into this competition and I am looking forward to the results.
I had a great beer today; Left Hand Brewing Company's Sawtooth ESB. The malt character in this beer is outstanding and balanced perfectly with the hops. I could drink a lot of these. Maybe it was just the right beer at the right time, but its one of the more memorable beers I've had recently.

SMaSH, Hops, and Survey

2010-07-18T18:34:00.016-04:00

Single Malt and Single Hop (SMaSH) beers provide the opportunity for evaluating and enjoying individual hop and malt varieties. For example, drinking a beer brewed using solely Vienna malt in the grain bill would make it much easier to pick up and understand the character Vienna malt will contribute to a beer. Likewise, using a single hop variety for all additions is a good way to make a beer that showcases the characteristics of that hop.

(hops sprouting on my Galena plant)

Pretty soon my hop garden will be yielding a small quantity of Galena hops. Hopefully enough for a 5 gallon batch of Pale Ale. The Galena vine did pretty well this year. It looks like there are a few dozen to several dozen hop cones developing on it. The Cascades started well but lost steam last month and seem to be only producing about 8 cones.

(more Galena hops sprouting)

What's my hop garden got to do with SMaSH beers? Well, I plan to brew a SMaSH beer using only the Galena hops from my garden to get an idea of the characteristics that those hops alone contribute to a beer. Now that I've got my hop variety nailed down, I just need to pick a malt. This is where you, Reader, come in. Help me select the malt variety I will use in my SMaSH recipe by voting on the poll at the top right of the page. Will it be toasty Vienna malt or bready Maris Otter? Later this year, once the hops have been picked and dried, I will brew the beer.

Hoptastic Voyage - American IPA

2010-07-17T19:51:00.004-04:00

Name: Hoptastic Voyage

Style: American IPA

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 6.00 gal

Boil Size: 7.83 gal

Estimated OG: 1.064 SG

Estimated Color: 8.2 SRM

Estimated IBU: 72.0 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.00 %

Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Fermentables:

------------

Amount Item Type % or IBU

14.00 lb Pale Malt, Munton's Pearl (3.0 SRM) Grain 93.33 %

0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3.33 %

0.50 lb Caramunich Malt (39.0 SRM) Grain 3.33 %

Hops

0.50 oz Warrior [16.10 %] (60 min) Hops 23.5 IBU

0.50 oz Warrior [16.10 %] (30 min) Hops 17.3 IBU

1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (15 min) Hops 18.0 IBU

1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] (10 min) Hops 8.3 IBU

1.00 oz Centennial [9.00 %] (5 min) Hops 5.0 IBU

1.00 oz Centennial [9.00 %] (0 min)

1.00 oz Cascade [8.00 %] (0 min)

1.00 oz Centennial [9.00 %] whole hops (Dry hop for 4 days)

1.00 oz Cascade [8.00 %] whole hops (Dry hop for 4 days)

Yeast

1.2 Pkgs safale 05 (fermentis) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule

Total Grain Weight: 15.00 lb

----------------------------

Step Time Description Step Temp

60 min Step Add 18.75 qt of water at 165.3 F 151.0 F

Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 2 min 168.0 F

Water Adjustment

mash: .5 tsp Gypsum, .5 tsp CaCl, 1/8tsp Epsom

Based on the feedback I received from the Hop on Hop IPA I entered in this year's Spirit of Free Beer competition, I updated my recipe and re-brewed it. This is the first time I have really taken the judging scoresheet comments constructively by updating a recipe and rebrewing it. My goals were to intensify hop bitterness and add a little bit of additional maltiness while maintaining the great big hop aroma and flavor the first batch had.

The judges' main criticisms of my first batch were that while it had great hop aroma and flavor it was lacking assertive bitterness. A couple of the judges also commented that more malt character would be good.

In response to each of these criticisms, I did the following:

Needs more hop bitterness
I upped the IBUs of the bittering addition and used Warrior, a more potent hop, for the first and second additions.
Needs to be maltier
I swapped out the US Two Row base malt for Munton's Pearl Pale Ale malt, a slightly higher SRM two row base malt. I also dropped the corn sugar addition and replaced a half pound of Caramel 20 with Wyermann CaraMunich 40.

I feel that the recipe adjustments were a success. This batch has more assertive bitterness (although still not over the top) as well as more body and maltiness. It has a nice thick creamy head with thick lacing most likely from all the hops. The Caramunich darkened it up. I like it even more than the first batch. I am submitting this beer into the upcoming 2010 Dominion Cup. It will be interesting to see how it fares given that I modified the recipe based on past BJCP judge feedback.

Home Malting

2010-07-16T13:05:00.002-04:00

Here is a great HomebrewTalk thread documenting one user's home malting procedure and equipment:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/happiness-home-malting-107409/

It looks like a good deal of work. I'm not sure if its something I'd ever like to try, but its pretty interesting.

Peter McCotton Ale - Scottish 80

2010-07-13T21:43:00.005-04:00

recipe post

This beer has been a joy to have around since May. Brewed in April on Easter Sunday, this beer was the first 10 gallon batch made on the used single-tier home brewing system I purchased earlier this year. Its a great relatively low abv beer that's quaffable and flavorful. I'm glad I made 10 gallons of it as I have distributed quite a decent portion to friends and family.

The aroma consists of subtle sweet Munich-like malt, bread crusts and caramel. The color is a dark dark amber with red highlights. A thin white head sticks around. Clarity is great. Again on the flavor I taste a malt character that reminds me of Munich malt while in fact the grain bill was nearly 99% Golden Promise pale ale malt. The body is medium-light and creamy with flavors of subtle caramel and malt dominating. Carbonation is medium and there is little to no detectable hop flavor or bitterness. Finish is between earthy and mild caramel.

I'm going to brew this one again eventually, its a style I have started to really enjoy. Its been on tap since may and now I'm down to only about a third of a keg. One area for improvement on this one is wort chilling and pitching temp. Next time I need to pitch the yeast closer to fermentation temperature, 62°F.

(my super cool Peter McCotton Ale tap handle. Art courtesy of Richard Jones)

Fuggled Homebrew Exchange Tasting - Part II

2010-07-08T20:27:00.017-04:00

This evening I had a chance to sample the final two beers I received from Al at Fuggled as a result of our homebrew exchange.

Black Rose Dunkelweizen

Al's Black Rose Dunkelweizen poured a deep dark brown with a fast forming tan head. Classic German weizen aromas of banana and tropical fruit quickly wafted from the freshly poured glass. The beer had more dark roasted malt flavor and bitterness than I was expecting which was a nice surprise. I would generalize by describing this beer as a cross between a German Hefeweizen and a roasty porter. The body was light and carbonation was strong. After bitterness from the roasted malt and hops faded, hints of alcohol and dark chocolate remained.

LimeLight

Al describes his LimeLight Witbier as a "lime witbier made with coriander and Czech Saaz hops". I really enjoyed the aromas of this beer. Citrusy sweet zesty lime was definitely the dominating character in the aroma. It smelled crisp and refreshing. The beer was a crystal clear golden to light amber color with a nice foamy white head that persisted. The flavor, like the aroma, was light and zesty. The taste of lime faded to a subtle zesty saaz hop finish. The body was very light which contributed to the beers refreshing nature and there was little detectable malt character. Carbonation was strong. A great refreshing and quaffable summer beer. The lime spice is pleasant and obvioius but not overdone.

That concludes my tasting notes for the beers I received as a result of the exchange. Click here for my first two. Thanks to Al for brewing four great beers. I look forward to swapping homebrew with him in the future!

See what Al has had to say the beers of mine he has sampled so far:

Farmhouse Saison

2010-07-05T19:05:00.013-04:00

I posted awhile ago about reading the book Farmhouse Ales by Phil Markowski. Since then, an all-grain saison has been on my to-brew list. For the recipe, I wanted to use the information outlined in the book Farmhouse Ales as much as possible, hopefully approaching something similar to a historically accurate farmhouse saison or my favorite saison, Saison Dupont Vieille Provision. I used the "Saison - classic version" recipe on page 181 as my starting point.

To add a little bit of historic authenticity I used 1 lb of unmalted wheat in the mash. I used the torrified/puffed variety. According to the book, the use of unmalted and non-barley grains was common in the production of the classic farmhouse saisons. Any grains on the farm could have been used in brewing the beer in the farm's brewery.

In planning salt additions for the water, I consulted the "Typical Saison Brewing Water" chart on page 154. I stuck to it as closely as possible. As I have been doing on my last several brews I also utilized John Palmer's most excellent water chemistry spreadsheet.

For the hopping, I stuck with traditional European and noble varieties. I had a hard time selecting which hops I would use for each of the additions. So, instead of using a single variety for each addition, I decided to blend them all together in equal parts measured out for each addition. A "hop cocktail" if you will. This will hopefully create some hop complexity.

Good saisons finish very dry. To give the beer this characteristic I used 1.25 lb of corn sugar and performed a two step mash. The first rest at the very low temp of 147°F and the second rest at 155°F. In theory this is supposed to activate multiple types of enzymes at each rest that each break down different sets of dextrins resulting in a more fermentable wort. If the WLP 565 yeast doesn't finish out low enough I may add champagne yeast to finish it off.

I plan to ferment this one warm at an ambient temperature of 74-75°F, letting the temperature rise freely.

Recipe: Farmhouse Saison

Style: Saison

TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------

Batch Size: 5.50 gal

Boil Size: 8.53 gal

Estimated OG: 1.056 SG

Estimated Color: 3.8 SRM

Estimated IBU: 36.1 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 67.00 %

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:

------------

Amount Item Type % or IBU

8.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 69.57 %

1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 8.70 %

1.00 lb Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 8.70 %

0.25 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.17 %

1.25 lb Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 10.87 %

1 Pkgs Belgian Saison I Ale (White Labs #WLP565) Yeast-Ale 2 quart starter decanted

1 Whirfloc tablet

1 capsule Yeast Nutrient

Hopping

Hop Blend:

equal parts Kent Goldings (5% aa), Saaz (5.3% aa), Styrian Goldings (5.4% aa), Tettnang (5.1%)

Additions

60 min - 1 oz of hop blend

30 min - 1 oz of hop blend

15 min - 1 oz of hop blend

1 min - 1 oz of hop blend

Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Light Body

Total Grain Weight: 10.25 lb

----------------------------

Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Light Body

Step Time Name Description Step Temp

45 min Saccharification Add 13.63 qt of water at 159.2 F 146.0 F

25 min Step Heat to 154.0 F over 2 min 154.0 F

10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F

Water

to mash:

2gm gypsum (.5 tsp)

1gm cacl (.3 tsp)

.5 gm epsom (1/8 tsp)

Notes

- Strong fermentation only 6 hours after pitching.

- fermented inside at 75 degrees ambient. Temperature rose to 78-79 during high krausen.

- fermented down to 1.012 then stopped.moved into garage for a week of 95+ degree days. Fermentation still did not resume.

-July 18th: made a 1 quart starter of Safbrew S-33. Pitched a portion into the Saison to ferment it down drier at summer garage temps in the 90s.

- Within 3 days the S-33 yeast dropped the gravity to 1.007 where it held steady for 3 days. 88% attenuation.

- July 24th bottled (bottle conditioned)

Homebrew Exchange and Tasting

2010-07-05T16:13:00.009-04:00

(Scottish 80's - Al's on left and mine on right)

The time has come for a side by side review of the two American Pale Ales brewed for the International Homebrew Project back in February. A few weeks ago I met with Al, fellow Virginia homebrewer and author of the blog Fuggled. We exchanged our IHP Pale Ales along with several other brews. This afternoon I opened up two of the beers he gave me; the Pale ale and the Scottish 80 +/-.

Before proceeding with my observations on two of the beers I will say that I think the exchange was a great success. Both of the beers I have had so far were excellent. I am looking forward to the other two which I will drink and review soon.

I tasted the beers with my wife and my brother. Just for fun, alongside each of Al's beers, we drank a sample of the version that I had brewed as well as a classic example of the same style (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Belhaven Scottish Ale).

Velky Al's IHP American Pale Ale

Tasted along side my American Pale Ale and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Aroma: mild citrusy American hop aroma. sweet malts. citrus fruits.

Appearance: light amber with a mild haze. Nice foamy head with ample retention.

Flavor: A little bit of sweetness and caramelliness from malts. Hop flavor and bitterness are present, but a little subdued.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied with a little bit of creaminess. Good carbonation.

Overall:

Great beer. Drinking this one was fun because it had me thinking about how two beers with nearly the same recipe can vary so greatly based on procedures and equipment. Al's Pale Ale was a little maltier and had more body than mine. There was a little hint of fruit on the nose and flavor. It had less of a dry finish with a little bit of sweetness and caramel flavor that mine did not have. I found the hop bitterness to be a little more subdued than in the other two beers.

It should be noted that my brother said he preferred Al's Pale ale to mine and stated that he would buy a six pack of it! Traitor.

Velky Al's Scottish 80+/-
Tasted alongside my Scottish 80 and a Belhaven Scottish Ale

Aroma: subtle malt aroma. clean, no off or fruity aromas.

Appearance: dark dark brown with reddish hues when held to light. Very clear and pretty. Foamy white head. As you can see in the picture above, our Scottish 80's look almost identical.

Flavor: Subtle maltiness with hints of caramel, fig, chocolate and dark roasted malt. Earthy, crisp, and clean. A tad bit of hop bitterness on the finish keeps it crisp on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with good carbonation.

Overall:

Its smooth and quaffable but still manages to pack great character. After tasting the subtle dark maltiness, the roasted grain and the english hops (?) give it a nice dry earthy finish. I could drink a few of these.

---

Looking forward to the Dunkelweizen and Witbier in the days to come!

See what Al had to say about my version of the IHP Pale Ale:

http://www.fuggled.net/2010/07/ihp-pale-ale-la-homebrew-log.html