Today I brewed up batch #13, a rye beer. I had intended to brew Brevity Wit again, but the homebrew store was out of the appropriate yeast. So, I flipped through some brew magazines to get ideas and thought, hey, how about rye? I dreamed up some proportions, milled my grain twice, and was ready to go.
The Recipe:
7 lb 2-row pale malt
2 lb rye malt
1 lb flaked rye
11 AAU (24g @ 13% AA) Nugget @ 60
5 AAU (31g @ 4.5% AA) Willamette @ 15
4 AAU (37g @ 3% AA) Hallertau @ 5
1 Irish moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1272 - American Ale II
Mashed at 150° for an hour using about 14 quarts of water. Sparged with 170°-185° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.062
Est. IBU: 57.0*
This beer is either a rye beer or an IPA; you could call it a hybrid. I'm just calling it a rye for my own purposes.
As I mentioned, I milled the grain twice just as I did last time; lo and behold, I hit 90% mash efficiency once again. The fine mill (plus, I have read, rye's natural properties) led to a very slow sparge of about an hour and fifteen minutes. Still, I'll take the extra time waiting in exchange for great efficiency any day.
I went with the name Black Ryeday because I bought the ingredients for this batch on the day after Thanksgiving, though the beer itself is not black in any way. The homebrew store was busier than I'd ever seen it, which I thought was weird, but at least it inspired a name.
Also, I racked Terrible Tripel to the secondary and measured its gravity at 1.005. If that ends up being the actual final gravity, we're talking 9.8% here. It tasted pretty good, too.
*Note: I just noticed (13 July 2010) that the AAU and IBU calculations were slightly off based on how many grams of hops I actually added at the 5 minute mark. Not sure how this happened or how I missed it for so long. This has been fixed; IBUs dropped by a paltry 0.8 units.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
A Mishap
So, today I had my first real bottle-related mishap. I had brought a selection of homebrews to my parents' house to share for Thanksgiving, including one bottle of my dwindling supply of Brevity Wit. But when I popped the cap to pour a sample for my brother, I heard no satisfying "kshh" sound; when I poured, the beer was flat and rather foul smelling. Let this be a lesson: cap your bottles tightly, kids, or you too will know the shame of massively oxidized homebrew.
On another note, I tried Blackacre IPA now that it has had enough time to really carbonate and found it quite tasty. Initial comments from my brothers tend to confirm that I have indeed finally made a somewhat successful hop-centric beer. I also sampled a Procrastination today and it was pretty good; another week or two won't hurt it, but I think it's turning into a solid porter.
My brewing goals for this weekend are manifold: bottle Bar-None Brown, rack Terrible Tripel to the secondary, maybe rack Dummkopf to a secondary and brew another batch of Brevity Wit. Racking Dummkopf would require the acquisition of another secondary, but it may be worth it; I definitely need to get Terrible into the secondary if I want to have it bottled and drinkable before Christmas.
On another note, I tried Blackacre IPA now that it has had enough time to really carbonate and found it quite tasty. Initial comments from my brothers tend to confirm that I have indeed finally made a somewhat successful hop-centric beer. I also sampled a Procrastination today and it was pretty good; another week or two won't hurt it, but I think it's turning into a solid porter.
My brewing goals for this weekend are manifold: bottle Bar-None Brown, rack Terrible Tripel to the secondary, maybe rack Dummkopf to a secondary and brew another batch of Brevity Wit. Racking Dummkopf would require the acquisition of another secondary, but it may be worth it; I definitely need to get Terrible into the secondary if I want to have it bottled and drinkable before Christmas.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Dummkopf Dunkelweizen
Today I finally got around to brewing my dunkelweizen. Things went very well; more on that later.
The Recipe:
4.5 lb European Pilsner malt
4.5 lb wheat malt
2 oz chocolate malt
4 AAU (9g @ 13% AA) Nugget @ 60
2 AAU (16g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 15
Wyeast 3068 - Weihenstephan Weizen
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 150° using 11.5 quarts; fly sparged with ~170-185° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.057
Est. IBU: 20.4
So, in an attempt to maximize mash efficiency, I ran the grain through the mill twice at my LHBS. And guess what! I managed 90% efficiency this time around. I was rather gobsmacked to see it, but happy. Dummkopf is going to be a little higher ABV than planned, but I think I can deal.
One unfortunate thing is that I lazily let the grain sit unused for almost 2 weeks after milling but before brewing; it didn't seem nasty so I think I'm OK, but I'm still a little apprehensive about the effects of oxidation (or whatever other processes can occur in a paper bag).
The Recipe:
4.5 lb European Pilsner malt
4.5 lb wheat malt
2 oz chocolate malt
4 AAU (9g @ 13% AA) Nugget @ 60
2 AAU (16g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 15
Wyeast 3068 - Weihenstephan Weizen
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 150° using 11.5 quarts; fly sparged with ~170-185° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.057
Est. IBU: 20.4
So, in an attempt to maximize mash efficiency, I ran the grain through the mill twice at my LHBS. And guess what! I managed 90% efficiency this time around. I was rather gobsmacked to see it, but happy. Dummkopf is going to be a little higher ABV than planned, but I think I can deal.
One unfortunate thing is that I lazily let the grain sit unused for almost 2 weeks after milling but before brewing; it didn't seem nasty so I think I'm OK, but I'm still a little apprehensive about the effects of oxidation (or whatever other processes can occur in a paper bag).
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Bloodshed
So, today my new hobby finally drew blood. While attempting to remove a piece of plastic tubing from the racking cane of my auto-siphon, I broke the cane and cut my finger. Not a major injury, but it makes me feel more complete as a brewer.
Other than that, I bottled Blackacre IPA (finished at 1.006 - 6% ABV) and racked Bar-None Brown to the secondary. It has achieved 1.010 so far, but I don't expect it to attenuate any further at this point.
Tomorrow I need to brew, because I crushed the grain for this batch almost two weeks ago. Has it all oxidized and started to turn? I guess we'll find out.
Other than that, I bottled Blackacre IPA (finished at 1.006 - 6% ABV) and racked Bar-None Brown to the secondary. It has achieved 1.010 so far, but I don't expect it to attenuate any further at this point.
Tomorrow I need to brew, because I crushed the grain for this batch almost two weeks ago. Has it all oxidized and started to turn? I guess we'll find out.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Grid
Yesterday I stopped off at my LHBS to buy ingredients for my next brewing session (a dunkelweizen!) and some green bottle caps for Blackacre IPA (not sure why, but my vision for this beer entails green caps). So, that was fun.
Mostly, I wanted to post a link to the Beer Grid, which catalogues and analyzes my brewing projects. It's über-simple, but it servers as a nice little dashboard/summary of my brew projects.
So ... behold! The Beer Grid!
Mostly, I wanted to post a link to the Beer Grid, which catalogues and analyzes my brewing projects. It's über-simple, but it servers as a nice little dashboard/summary of my brew projects.
So ... behold! The Beer Grid!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Terrible Tripel
Today I brewed up a tripel for the first time. I have been really getting into tripels as a style and I am very much looking forward to finding out if this one will be any good. The grain costs a bit more (using Euro Pilsner malt instead of 2-row American) but the hops content is quite low, so the price of the batch is probably a wash. I have decided to name it Terrible Tripel to honor today's holiday.
The Recipe:
11 lb European Pilsner malt
1 lb wheat malt
2 lb granulated white sugar, added with about 20 minutes left in the boil
7 AAU (15g @ 13% AA) Nugget @ 60
2 AAU (16g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 15
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 3787 - Trappist High Gravity (w/starter)
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 152° using 15 quarts; fly sparged with ~170-180° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.080
Est. IBU: 29.7
While I was brewing, I did some mental calculating and figured out that this is probably one of the most cost-effective beers I've made. With ingredients at about $32, I'm probably not much over $35 or $36 including water, gas, &c., so if I make 24 bottles I'll end up at $1.50 per bottle. A good tripel costs $3-6 or even $7 for a bomber, so even at an average of $5 I'm saving $3.50 per bottle. That means this batch alone will be saving me about $84 (and, brothers, I'd have no problem drinking 24 bottles of good tripel). Also, I'm estimating that this thing will finish in the 8.3%-8.5% ABV range, so theoretically it should last me awhile.
The Recipe:
11 lb European Pilsner malt
1 lb wheat malt
2 lb granulated white sugar, added with about 20 minutes left in the boil
7 AAU (15g @ 13% AA) Nugget @ 60
2 AAU (16g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 15
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 3787 - Trappist High Gravity (w/starter)
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 152° using 15 quarts; fly sparged with ~170-180° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.080
Est. IBU: 29.7
While I was brewing, I did some mental calculating and figured out that this is probably one of the most cost-effective beers I've made. With ingredients at about $32, I'm probably not much over $35 or $36 including water, gas, &c., so if I make 24 bottles I'll end up at $1.50 per bottle. A good tripel costs $3-6 or even $7 for a bomber, so even at an average of $5 I'm saving $3.50 per bottle. That means this batch alone will be saving me about $84 (and, brothers, I'd have no problem drinking 24 bottles of good tripel). Also, I'm estimating that this thing will finish in the 8.3%-8.5% ABV range, so theoretically it should last me awhile.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A Rackin' Good Time!
Tonight I performed a number of brewing tasks which pretty much wore me out.
Now it is time for bed.
- Bottled Procrastination Oatmeal Porter. I got 26 full bottles and the final gravity was 1.010 (.001 higher than my racking reading, proving once again the imprecision of the hydrometer as a scientific instrument), giving it an ABV of about 7.1%. It is a little hot and estery at this time, so hopefully it mellows out in the bottle.
- Racked Blackacre IPA. Its racking gravity reading was 1.006, making it a tentative 6% ABV ... perfect for an IPA. Its color is light orange and its flavor is bitter, grapefruity and herby. It might be my best beer yet.
- Made a starter for this weekend's brewing session. I'm making a big tripel, so a starter will be indispensable.
Now it is time for bed.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Bar-None Brown
Today I brewed up a brown ale based roughly on a clone recipe for Dogfish Head India Brown Ale, one of my favorite beers ever. I had originally planned on calling it Bangalore Brown or Bombay Brown, but decided to rename it in honor of my wife/lovely brewing assistant Emily who just found out she passed the bar exam.
I've kind of had a bad day today, influenced by my scale breaking and my mash efficiency being quite poor. But, bellyaching aside, I think this beer might turn out OK.
The Recipe:
11 lb 2-row pale malt
12 oz victory malt
8 oz crystal 60°
8 oz chocolate malt
2 oz roasted barley
1 lb dark brown sugar, added with about 20 minutes left in the boil
13 AAU (28g @ 13% AA) Nugget @ 60
5 AAU (40g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 20
5 AAU (40g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 5
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1187 - Ringwood Ale (w/starter)
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 151° using 16 quarts; fly sparged with ~170-190° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.068
Est. IBU: 65.9
I learned that 13 pounds of grist and 16 quarts of water are about the maximum my 5-gallon Rubbermaid mash tun will hold. In the future, if I wish to make bigger beers, they will have to be fortified with sugar or DME or something if I don't want to do two mashes for one batch. Today I had a pretty bad 65% mash efficiency; this could be due to my sparge, which was rather faster than normal (about 30-35 minutes instead of the 45-60 territory I usually occupy) or due to a poor crush at the LHBS. Sadly, I really have no way of guaranteeing consistency of the mill.
Today also represented two firsts for me in my homebrew adventures: the use of sugar in a brew and the use of a yeast starter. With my poor efficiency and an OG of only 1.068, a starter may not have been necessary, but at least it was a learning experience. Last week I purchased a growler with matching stopper and an airlock, along with a 3-lb package of light dry malt extract. I boiled 6 oz of extract in 2 quarts of water, cooled it, dumped it into the growler, aerated the wort and pitched the yeast on Tuesday evening. I then let it ferment until Thursday (fermentation activity was subtle and no big kräusen was formed), when I put the batch in the fridge so the yeast could flocculate out of solution. Today, before brewing, I decanted about 95% of the liquid from the growler and then swirled the yeast cake into the remaining small amount of solution and let the whole works come up to room temperature for a couple hours. I then pitched it like I normally would straight from the package ... we'll see if it works.
I've kind of had a bad day today, influenced by my scale breaking and my mash efficiency being quite poor. But, bellyaching aside, I think this beer might turn out OK.
The Recipe:
11 lb 2-row pale malt
12 oz victory malt
8 oz crystal 60°
8 oz chocolate malt
2 oz roasted barley
1 lb dark brown sugar, added with about 20 minutes left in the boil
13 AAU (28g @ 13% AA) Nugget @ 60
5 AAU (40g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 20
5 AAU (40g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 5
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1187 - Ringwood Ale (w/starter)
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 151° using 16 quarts; fly sparged with ~170-190° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.068
Est. IBU: 65.9
I learned that 13 pounds of grist and 16 quarts of water are about the maximum my 5-gallon Rubbermaid mash tun will hold. In the future, if I wish to make bigger beers, they will have to be fortified with sugar or DME or something if I don't want to do two mashes for one batch. Today I had a pretty bad 65% mash efficiency; this could be due to my sparge, which was rather faster than normal (about 30-35 minutes instead of the 45-60 territory I usually occupy) or due to a poor crush at the LHBS. Sadly, I really have no way of guaranteeing consistency of the mill.
Today also represented two firsts for me in my homebrew adventures: the use of sugar in a brew and the use of a yeast starter. With my poor efficiency and an OG of only 1.068, a starter may not have been necessary, but at least it was a learning experience. Last week I purchased a growler with matching stopper and an airlock, along with a 3-lb package of light dry malt extract. I boiled 6 oz of extract in 2 quarts of water, cooled it, dumped it into the growler, aerated the wort and pitched the yeast on Tuesday evening. I then let it ferment until Thursday (fermentation activity was subtle and no big kräusen was formed), when I put the batch in the fridge so the yeast could flocculate out of solution. Today, before brewing, I decanted about 95% of the liquid from the growler and then swirled the yeast cake into the remaining small amount of solution and let the whole works come up to room temperature for a couple hours. I then pitched it like I normally would straight from the package ... we'll see if it works.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Yowza!
This morning I bottled Djibouti Smoked Porter. I got 24 bottles in total. It finished at a gravity of 1.008, unchanged from when I racked it two weeks ago; this makes it a nice solid 5% beer. The sample I tasted was really rather good, so I am optimistic in how it will be in a couple of weeks. I primed with 100g of corn sugar; hopefully it will carbonate as successfully as the Brevity Wit did. I don't want another Mulligan on my hands.
I also racked Procrastination Porter from the primary to the secondary. I took a gravity reading for giggles, and was astonished to find it had dropped to about 1.009. That's 86% attenuation already, bringing it to about 7.2% ABV. Yowza! I sincerely doubt that I'll get any more attenuation in the secondary, but dang, at 7.2% I hardly need to. The icing on the cake: it tastes pretty damn good, too! It's amazing how experience yields progressively better results.
I also racked Procrastination Porter from the primary to the secondary. I took a gravity reading for giggles, and was astonished to find it had dropped to about 1.009. That's 86% attenuation already, bringing it to about 7.2% ABV. Yowza! I sincerely doubt that I'll get any more attenuation in the secondary, but dang, at 7.2% I hardly need to. The icing on the cake: it tastes pretty damn good, too! It's amazing how experience yields progressively better results.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
A Fond Farewell
Yesterday I finished my last bottle of Blackacre Butte #2 and today I finished the last Foam Dome Stout. I only have one bottle of Seven-Eleven Porter left, so soon I (and my friends and family) will have consumed 4 batches of beer, about 17-18 gallons altogether. I feel my brewing pace is slowly picking up, so soon I should get a kegging system so that I don't have to spend so many dreary hours washing and filling bottles.
In other news, today I stopped at my LHBS after work and bought ingredients for Number Ten. I decided to go the way of the India Brown Ale clone, which I've decided to call Bangalore Brown. I plan on brewing that up on Saturday. Number ten! I can't believe it!
In other news, today I stopped at my LHBS after work and bought ingredients for Number Ten. I decided to go the way of the India Brown Ale clone, which I've decided to call Bangalore Brown. I plan on brewing that up on Saturday. Number ten! I can't believe it!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Yay Carbonation!
On Friday I broke out a bottle of Brevity Wit, which had been bottled the previous Saturday. I am pleased to announce that unlike Mulligan ESB, Brevity did indeed carbonate! I am excited by this because it means I again have drinkable homebrew on hand. I am also glad to say that it turned out pretty good; a nice, tasty, relatively light (4.7%) wit.
I am now contemplating what to make for the historic batch #10. I am torn between a tripel, a belgian strong pale ale and a Dogfish Head India Brown Ale semi-clone. All involve the use of sugar (either white or brown), and all have the possibility of being both very good or quite disappointing. In any case, it shall be interesting.
I am now contemplating what to make for the historic batch #10. I am torn between a tripel, a belgian strong pale ale and a Dogfish Head India Brown Ale semi-clone. All involve the use of sugar (either white or brown), and all have the possibility of being both very good or quite disappointing. In any case, it shall be interesting.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Blackacre IPA
Today I brewed an IPA designed to take advantage of my friend Eric's fresh hop harvest this year. I'm looking forward to seeing whether it works out.
The Recipe:
9 lb 2-row pale malt
1 lb crystal 20°
13.2 AAU (34g @ 11.1% AA) Chinook @ 60
4 AAU (32g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 30
4 AAU (32g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 20
4 AAU (32g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 5
135-140g fresh hops of unknown variety went into the primary fermenter.
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1272 - American Ale II
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 152° using 12 quarts; fly sparged with ~170-190° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.052
Est. IBU: 85.3
Brewing was mostly uneventful. I ended up with about 2% less grist than the grain bill indicates, as it ended up on the floor next to the grain mill because of poor receptacle placement on my part. Speaking of milling, I think the mill was well-adjusted today, as I got 76% efficiency; not as good as last week, but still way above average for me. I am thinking I might try a batch sparge next week and see if that improves efficiency at all.
There was one tiny mishap and that was that I intended to put the fresh hops in the fermenter and pour the wort on top of them; however, I forgot about them and ended up putting them in after filling the fermenter but before pitching the yeast. I don't know if this will even matter, but it should be interesting to see what happens.
The Recipe:
9 lb 2-row pale malt
1 lb crystal 20°
13.2 AAU (34g @ 11.1% AA) Chinook @ 60
4 AAU (32g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 30
4 AAU (32g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 20
4 AAU (32g @ 3.5% AA) Czech Saaz @ 5
135-140g fresh hops of unknown variety went into the primary fermenter.
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1272 - American Ale II
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 152° using 12 quarts; fly sparged with ~170-190° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.052
Est. IBU: 85.3
Brewing was mostly uneventful. I ended up with about 2% less grist than the grain bill indicates, as it ended up on the floor next to the grain mill because of poor receptacle placement on my part. Speaking of milling, I think the mill was well-adjusted today, as I got 76% efficiency; not as good as last week, but still way above average for me. I am thinking I might try a batch sparge next week and see if that improves efficiency at all.
There was one tiny mishap and that was that I intended to put the fresh hops in the fermenter and pour the wort on top of them; however, I forgot about them and ended up putting them in after filling the fermenter but before pitching the yeast. I don't know if this will even matter, but it should be interesting to see what happens.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Procrastination Oatmeal Porter
I brewed my oatmeal stout porter today while watching the Seahawks lose rather impressively to the Colts. It ended up being the strongest beer I've yet brewed, at least in terms of initial gravity. More on that later.
The Recipe:
9 lb 2-row pale malt
1 lb flaked oats
8 oz chocolate malt
8 oz crystal 60°
4 oz roated barley
5.5 AAU (39g @ 4% AA) Fuggles @ 60
3.5 AAU (20g @ 4.9% AA) East Kent Goldings @ 60
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1084 - Irish Ale
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 147° using 14 quarts; sparged with ~170-180° water until I had about 25.5 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.064
Est. IBU: 38
My pre-boil gravity was 1.052, which means I hit 79% efficiency, which, after the disappointing efficiency of Djibouti Smoked Porter, was quite heartening. Here's the deal: after milling my grain at my LHBS, the store guy looked at it and said "it's barely milled!" Well, it turns out, the nut holding the setting of the grain mill there is broken and the mill goes out of whack. He readjusted it and I milled again at the better setting and ... voilà! A huge increase in mash efficiency!
I also ended up mashing at 147° because I did not get my water hot enough for dough-in and thus could not reach my target of 151°. It will be interesting to see what kind of attenuation I get out of it; if my yeast aren't killed by all the sugars I expect to hit the 6.5-7% range. It will be a mega porter.
Speaking of porter, this recipe was originally designed as an oatmeal stout. It was based on some Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout clone recipes I found online. I tweaked it by upping the pale malt but not the specialty grains, mostly because of my historically weak mash efficiencies (I wanted to get at least 5% ABV ... looks like efficiency caught up with a vengeance). At the end of the boil, however, it was not that dark a beer, so I decided to rename it an oatmeal porter. Of course, I've been burned before by naming my beers before they are done (e.g. Mulligan ESB is really an APA), but hey, I'm just a lowly homebrewer with a measley 8 batches under his belt. I will do things wrong on occasion.
The Recipe:
9 lb 2-row pale malt
1 lb flaked oats
8 oz chocolate malt
8 oz crystal 60°
4 oz roated barley
5.5 AAU (39g @ 4% AA) Fuggles @ 60
3.5 AAU (20g @ 4.9% AA) East Kent Goldings @ 60
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1084 - Irish Ale
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 147° using 14 quarts; sparged with ~170-180° water until I had about 25.5 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.064
Est. IBU: 38
My pre-boil gravity was 1.052, which means I hit 79% efficiency, which, after the disappointing efficiency of Djibouti Smoked Porter, was quite heartening. Here's the deal: after milling my grain at my LHBS, the store guy looked at it and said "it's barely milled!" Well, it turns out, the nut holding the setting of the grain mill there is broken and the mill goes out of whack. He readjusted it and I milled again at the better setting and ... voilà! A huge increase in mash efficiency!
I also ended up mashing at 147° because I did not get my water hot enough for dough-in and thus could not reach my target of 151°. It will be interesting to see what kind of attenuation I get out of it; if my yeast aren't killed by all the sugars I expect to hit the 6.5-7% range. It will be a mega porter.
Speaking of porter, this recipe was originally designed as an oatmeal stout. It was based on some Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout clone recipes I found online. I tweaked it by upping the pale malt but not the specialty grains, mostly because of my historically weak mash efficiencies (I wanted to get at least 5% ABV ... looks like efficiency caught up with a vengeance). At the end of the boil, however, it was not that dark a beer, so I decided to rename it an oatmeal porter. Of course, I've been burned before by naming my beers before they are done (e.g. Mulligan ESB is really an APA), but hey, I'm just a lowly homebrewer with a measley 8 batches under his belt. I will do things wrong on occasion.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Finally
So, today I finally bottled Brevity Wit and racked Djibouti Smoked Porter to the secondary. I put it off last weekend so it really needed to be done; luckily, I think the extra time helped out.
Brevity Wit: I got 26 full bombers out of the batch. Final gravity was 1.004, which means I hit a preposterous 90% attenuation rate and a rough ABV of 4.7% ... not bad for a wit. Also, it doesn't taste half bad. I primed with 120g of corn sugar, about 20% more than usual, to see if I can get a nice creamy texture out of it. Or all the bottles will explode; one or the other.
Djibouti Smoked Porter: gravity read 1.008 when I racked it, so my attenuation at this point is about 83%; not bad at all. It tastes ... interesting. Emily says it would make great barbecue sauce. I look forward to bottling it next weekend and drinking it a few weeks hence.
Brevity Wit: I got 26 full bombers out of the batch. Final gravity was 1.004, which means I hit a preposterous 90% attenuation rate and a rough ABV of 4.7% ... not bad for a wit. Also, it doesn't taste half bad. I primed with 120g of corn sugar, about 20% more than usual, to see if I can get a nice creamy texture out of it. Or all the bottles will explode; one or the other.
Djibouti Smoked Porter: gravity read 1.008 when I racked it, so my attenuation at this point is about 83%; not bad at all. It tastes ... interesting. Emily says it would make great barbecue sauce. I look forward to bottling it next weekend and drinking it a few weeks hence.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Is Homebrewing Cost Effective?
I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations and have found that I'm currently running about $1.39 per 22-oz bomber in expendables (grain, hops, yeast, priming sugar, bottle caps and, for my first 4 batches, bottled spring water), and another $2.17 per bottle in capital goods (based on 7 batches at about 23 bottles per batch). I guess $3.56 isn't too horrible a price for a bomber of halfway decent beer.
I have already started purchasing my hops in bulk which, along with using tap water, is bringing my cost per bottle in ingredients down to $1.01, assuming I continue to make beer with the same average hop content. Plus, if I continue on-pace at 2 batches per month, after a year I'll have capital down to $0.63 per bottle; which means $1.64 for a bomber of beer. That *is* a price with which I can deal.
If I end up getting a kegging system, I worked out that if I average total capital costs (including kegs and small fridge) over the first year, I can have draught homebrew at $2 per pint. After the first year, I'll only be paying for ingredients, meaning $0.73 pints at home, which is probably about the price per pint of a keg of PBR.
I have already started purchasing my hops in bulk which, along with using tap water, is bringing my cost per bottle in ingredients down to $1.01, assuming I continue to make beer with the same average hop content. Plus, if I continue on-pace at 2 batches per month, after a year I'll have capital down to $0.63 per bottle; which means $1.64 for a bomber of beer. That *is* a price with which I can deal.
If I end up getting a kegging system, I worked out that if I average total capital costs (including kegs and small fridge) over the first year, I can have draught homebrew at $2 per pint. After the first year, I'll only be paying for ingredients, meaning $0.73 pints at home, which is probably about the price per pint of a keg of PBR.
Djibouti Smoked Porter
Yesterday I spent all day watching football and brewing beer. It's not a bad combination, really. My recipe for the day was a smoked porter, whose name is a very long story not worth reiterating here.
The Recipe:
9 lb 2-row pale malt
2.5 lb rauch malt
8 oz chocolate malt
4 oz black patent malt
8 AAU (20g @ 11.1% AA) Chinook hops @ 60
4 AAU (28g @ 4% AA) Fuggles @ 20
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1318 - London Ale III
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 152° using 14.5 quarts; sparged with ~180-190° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.046
Est. IBU: 44
My pre-boil gravity was a measly 1.040, which means I only got about 55% mash efficiency. I have no idea what went wrong: same grind as a I always get at the homebrew store, and I mashed with a little over one quart per pound, which is pretty typical for my mashes. At 80% attenuation I'd be looking at another 4.7-4.8% ABV porter, quite along the lines of Seven-Eleven Porter. I guess we'll just have to see.
I also racked Brevity Wit yesterday. Its gravity read 1.016, or only about 60% attenuation; however, I noticed after inserting the airlock in the secondary that there was still quite a lot of fermentation activity going on; I think agitating the yeast did something. I think I'll leave it in the secondary for two weeks, agitating periodically to make sure I get a complete fermentation (with no bottle bombs).
In other news, we cracked open a couple more bottles of Mulligan ESB and they were, still, pretty much flat. I shan't be carbonating with table sugar again soon, methinks.
The Recipe:
9 lb 2-row pale malt
2.5 lb rauch malt
8 oz chocolate malt
4 oz black patent malt
8 AAU (20g @ 11.1% AA) Chinook hops @ 60
4 AAU (28g @ 4% AA) Fuggles @ 20
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1318 - London Ale III
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 152° using 14.5 quarts; sparged with ~180-190° water until I had about 25 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.046
Est. IBU: 44
My pre-boil gravity was a measly 1.040, which means I only got about 55% mash efficiency. I have no idea what went wrong: same grind as a I always get at the homebrew store, and I mashed with a little over one quart per pound, which is pretty typical for my mashes. At 80% attenuation I'd be looking at another 4.7-4.8% ABV porter, quite along the lines of Seven-Eleven Porter. I guess we'll just have to see.
I also racked Brevity Wit yesterday. Its gravity read 1.016, or only about 60% attenuation; however, I noticed after inserting the airlock in the secondary that there was still quite a lot of fermentation activity going on; I think agitating the yeast did something. I think I'll leave it in the secondary for two weeks, agitating periodically to make sure I get a complete fermentation (with no bottle bombs).
In other news, we cracked open a couple more bottles of Mulligan ESB and they were, still, pretty much flat. I shan't be carbonating with table sugar again soon, methinks.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Starter Up!
I have been looking into making some slightly higher gravity brews, for which I will most likely need starters. Luckily, people on the Internet write articles explaining how to do such things:
Creating a yeast starter
Creating a yeast starter
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Your Attenuation, Please!
So, in an attempt to better understand my brewing process and to help me formulate recipes, I've gone through and calculated the attenuation rates for my first five brews. The results are interesting:
* This was hardly a "mash" in the traditional sense, really more of a long steep.
** These hydrometer readings do not account for temperature, so they may be off one or two points.
So, 152° appears to be the butter zone for creating fermentable sugars. I'll have to keep this in mind.
| Beer | Yeast | Mash Temp | OG | FG | Attenuation |
| Blackacre Butte #1 | 1318 London Ale III | 152°* | 1.030** | 1.006** | 80% |
| Blackacre Butte #2 | 1318 London Ale III | 152° | 1.050** | 1.008** | 84% |
| Seven-Eleven Porter | 1028 London Ale | 156° | 1.046** | 1.010** | 78% |
| Foam Dome Stout | 1084 Irish Ale | 154° | 1.051 | 1.009 | 82% |
| Mulligan ESB | 1968 London ESB | 148° | 1.056 | 1.012 | 79% |
* This was hardly a "mash" in the traditional sense, really more of a long steep.
** These hydrometer readings do not account for temperature, so they may be off one or two points.
So, 152° appears to be the butter zone for creating fermentable sugars. I'll have to keep this in mind.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Brevity Wit
Today I finally got around to brewing my Belgian witbier. Brewing was a piece of cake, now that I've got a few brew sessions under my belt and I'm using a wort chiller. I am thinking of maybe racking this guy onto cherries or something in the secondary ... not quite sure yet.
The Recipe:
4 lb 2-row pale malt
4 lb wheat malt
1 lb flaked wheat
5 AAU (29g @ 4.9% AA) Yakima goldings @ 60 min
1 oz ground coriander @ 5 min
zest from 1 orange @ 5 min
Wyeast 3944 - Belgian witbier
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 152° using about 9 quarts; sparged with ~180-190° water until I had about 26 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.040
Est. IBU: 22
I used tapwater again this time, so we'll see how well that works out. I haven't tried a properly conditioned Mulligan ESB yet (had one before its time and was not super impressed), so the jury's still out on tap water vs. bottled. My efficiency only ran to 68% this time around, likely because I did not get a finer grind at my LHBS as I had planned. C'est la vie.
One thing to remember for next time is that you don't get a lot of zest off an orange -- I only got about 5g. Depending on how this one turns out I may want to double or triple that amount for next time.
About 8 hours after pitching, I checked my carboy and my airlock was clogged with foam; I've never had such an active fermentation! Cleared it out, re-sanitized and re-placed; I'll check on it again before bed to see if it is still over the top. I shall probably need to invest in a blow-off tube to avoid this in future.
The Recipe:
4 lb 2-row pale malt
4 lb wheat malt
1 lb flaked wheat
5 AAU (29g @ 4.9% AA) Yakima goldings @ 60 min
1 oz ground coriander @ 5 min
zest from 1 orange @ 5 min
Wyeast 3944 - Belgian witbier
Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at about 152° using about 9 quarts; sparged with ~180-190° water until I had about 26 quarts for the boil.
O.G.: 1.040
Est. IBU: 22
I used tapwater again this time, so we'll see how well that works out. I haven't tried a properly conditioned Mulligan ESB yet (had one before its time and was not super impressed), so the jury's still out on tap water vs. bottled. My efficiency only ran to 68% this time around, likely because I did not get a finer grind at my LHBS as I had planned. C'est la vie.
One thing to remember for next time is that you don't get a lot of zest off an orange -- I only got about 5g. Depending on how this one turns out I may want to double or triple that amount for next time.
About 8 hours after pitching, I checked my carboy and my airlock was clogged with foam; I've never had such an active fermentation! Cleared it out, re-sanitized and re-placed; I'll check on it again before bed to see if it is still over the top. I shall probably need to invest in a blow-off tube to avoid this in future.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Foam Dome Tasting, &c.
Survey says ... not too bad! It is really a rather successful Irish-style stout that many of my relatives enjoyed while camping. Today, I think I'm going to bottle Mulligan ESB and fantasize about what to brew next weekend.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
ESB, APA: Who Really Knows?
Tonight I bottled Foam Dome Stout and managed to get just shy of 24 full bottles out of the batch (the last bottle is about 95% full). I was actually surprised and impressed by this, seeing as when I racked it from primary to secondary I walked away and the siphon broke without getting the last bit of beer from the carboy; who knows, maybe this was a good thing.
I also racked Mulligan ESB from the primary to secondary and tested/tasted it. Its final gravity after the primary was 1.012; with its OG of 1.056, that leaves it about 5.7-5.8% ABV. I think I'll take another reading after the secondary, because while that seems like pretty good attenuation, it tasted rather sweet so I think the yeast can squeeze a little more out of it.
One interesting thing that happened when I tasted Mulligan was that it rather tasted a lot more like an American pale ale than like an ESB. In fact, it was almost verging on IPA territory, at least in aroma and flavor. Had I gone a little heavier on bittering hops it might well have ended up a solid IPA. Nomenclature aside (I'm keeping the ESB appellation for now), I was rather impressed at how well it seemed to come out. I was really afraid this one would taste "homebrewey", or otherwise have off flavors from using tap water, but actually I think it turned out pretty well for my first-time non-dark-malt recipe. Could it be I had brew karma from having Cole around? The world may never know.
I also racked Mulligan ESB from the primary to secondary and tested/tasted it. Its final gravity after the primary was 1.012; with its OG of 1.056, that leaves it about 5.7-5.8% ABV. I think I'll take another reading after the secondary, because while that seems like pretty good attenuation, it tasted rather sweet so I think the yeast can squeeze a little more out of it.
One interesting thing that happened when I tasted Mulligan was that it rather tasted a lot more like an American pale ale than like an ESB. In fact, it was almost verging on IPA territory, at least in aroma and flavor. Had I gone a little heavier on bittering hops it might well have ended up a solid IPA. Nomenclature aside (I'm keeping the ESB appellation for now), I was rather impressed at how well it seemed to come out. I was really afraid this one would taste "homebrewey", or otherwise have off flavors from using tap water, but actually I think it turned out pretty well for my first-time non-dark-malt recipe. Could it be I had brew karma from having Cole around? The world may never know.
Monday, August 10, 2009
More Seven-Eleven Feedback
Well, it turns out most people seem to like Seven-Eleven Porter. It was discovered at poker last week that it is actually quite good when mixed with Blackacre Butte #2. I think for the future that if I pared back some of the darker malts a little bit I could get a less oppressive, but still good, flavor out of the Seven-Eleven; it also needs to be a little bit more hops to counteract some of those roasty flavors.
I want to try to bottle Foam Dome today or tomorrow so that it will be ready sometime during lake week. Space will be at a premium, but I want to try to get, say, 4 bottles each of #2, #3 and #4 to have a side-by-side-by-side comparison.
I didn't get to brew this weekend, but I have been thinking about my next project and I think I want to do a witbier -- and maybe, if I'm feeling like it, rack it onto a few pounds of cherries in the secondary. Could be interesting.
I want to try to bottle Foam Dome today or tomorrow so that it will be ready sometime during lake week. Space will be at a premium, but I want to try to get, say, 4 bottles each of #2, #3 and #4 to have a side-by-side-by-side comparison.
I didn't get to brew this weekend, but I have been thinking about my next project and I think I want to do a witbier -- and maybe, if I'm feeling like it, rack it onto a few pounds of cherries in the secondary. Could be interesting.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Tastings
I forgot to mention in my last post that Cole and I did a back-to-back tasting of Blackacre Buttes #1 and #2. As expected, #2 was considerably more flavorful, but #1 was lighter bodied and way more reasonable as a session beer. As an experiment, we tried mixing the two together, which yielded a pretty good result with the best qualities of each brew.
We also cracked open a Seven-Eleven Porter, though it had only been a week in the bottle. Roasty, dry, a little astringent; it really tastes more like a stout than a porter. With its body, it could probably use a little higher alcohol content to balance out its utter darkness. More time will probably help it, too.
We also cracked open a Seven-Eleven Porter, though it had only been a week in the bottle. Roasty, dry, a little astringent; it really tastes more like a stout than a porter. With its body, it could probably use a little higher alcohol content to balance out its utter darkness. More time will probably help it, too.
Mulligan ESB
On Saturday my buddy Cole came over and brewed with me. This was nice, as he has a wort chiller and it made the cooling process very simple. Perhaps next time I'll try going with *both* an ice bath and the wort chiller. In addition to the chiller, two more experiments were conducted with this beer: first, and probably foremost, I used tap water instead of bottled for this brew; second, I aerated the entire wort by agitating the carboy after pitching the yeast. It will be interesting to see the final results.
The Recipe:
10 lb 2-row pale malt
1 lb crystal 120°L
10.25 AAU (23g @ 12.5% AA) Galena hops @ 60 min
5 AAU (23g @ 6% AA) Cascade hops @ 15 min
2 AAU (10g @ 5.5% AA) Tettnanger hops @ 5 min
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1968 - London ESB
Single infusion mash for 60 mins at about 148° using about 13 qts and sparged with ~180-190° water until I had about 25 qts for the boil.
OG: 1.056
Est. IBU: 54.1
The only odd thing which happened was related to my quest to increase mash efficiency. I took a sample of the wort pre-boil and got a gravity reading of 1.026, which seemed extremely low. In hindsight, I think I just took a sample from the top of my kettle after sparging without actually mixing up the wort; this would mean I just got the tail end and none of the early-mash goodness. My boil took me from 25 qts to 20, so I'm guessing my pre-boil gravity was actually more along the lines of 1.045, based on my measured OG.
Using 1.045 for my pre-boil gravity, I would have got just over 69% mash efficiency, which is right in line with the numbers I've been getting. My sparging at between 180° and 190° was an attempt at better efficiency, but it's hard to say whether the temperature made much difference, seeing as my efficiency is getting marginally better with each brew session. I think my next attempt should include trying to get a finer crush at the homebrew store.
The Recipe:
10 lb 2-row pale malt
1 lb crystal 120°L
10.25 AAU (23g @ 12.5% AA) Galena hops @ 60 min
5 AAU (23g @ 6% AA) Cascade hops @ 15 min
2 AAU (10g @ 5.5% AA) Tettnanger hops @ 5 min
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1968 - London ESB
Single infusion mash for 60 mins at about 148° using about 13 qts and sparged with ~180-190° water until I had about 25 qts for the boil.
OG: 1.056
Est. IBU: 54.1
The only odd thing which happened was related to my quest to increase mash efficiency. I took a sample of the wort pre-boil and got a gravity reading of 1.026, which seemed extremely low. In hindsight, I think I just took a sample from the top of my kettle after sparging without actually mixing up the wort; this would mean I just got the tail end and none of the early-mash goodness. My boil took me from 25 qts to 20, so I'm guessing my pre-boil gravity was actually more along the lines of 1.045, based on my measured OG.
Using 1.045 for my pre-boil gravity, I would have got just over 69% mash efficiency, which is right in line with the numbers I've been getting. My sparging at between 180° and 190° was an attempt at better efficiency, but it's hard to say whether the temperature made much difference, seeing as my efficiency is getting marginally better with each brew session. I think my next attempt should include trying to get a finer crush at the homebrew store.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Another Success?
A busy weekend, so I didn't end up brewing anything. I learned, however, that my brewing buddy Cole has a wort chiller, so he will be brewing with me this coming Saturday. I did run by the homebrew store and pick up my grain and yeast for Mulligan ESB, so I will be red to go come Saturday.
Saturday morning I labeled the outside of my bottling bucket with a 1-gallon scale so that I can have at least a rough idea of how much I am bottling. I bottled #3 (Seven-Eleven Porter) and ended up with about 4.2 gallons altogether, which filled exactly 25 22oz bomber bottles. The taste was pretty good and had de-tarted a bit from when I racked it the previous week, so hopefully in a week or two I'll have another decent porter.
#2, Blackacre Butte, is getting pretty good reviews. I am very happy with how well it has been received all around.
I also racked #4, Foam Dome Stout, into the secondary. It actually tasted pretty good and stout-like; I'm optimistic about this one too. I have finally caught wise to the temperature effect on the hydrometer, so I am cooling any sample I take to 60° in the fridge before taking a reading. Doing this, my (mostly) final gravity was 1.009, with an estimated adjusted OG of 1.051 (original reading was 1.049 at about 75°), giving me about 5.5% ABV.
My biggest worry now is the temperature in the house, which will be getting into the nineties for the next week and a half, at least. I'm guessing this just means my beers will be a little fruity ... we'll just have to wait and see.
Saturday morning I labeled the outside of my bottling bucket with a 1-gallon scale so that I can have at least a rough idea of how much I am bottling. I bottled #3 (Seven-Eleven Porter) and ended up with about 4.2 gallons altogether, which filled exactly 25 22oz bomber bottles. The taste was pretty good and had de-tarted a bit from when I racked it the previous week, so hopefully in a week or two I'll have another decent porter.
#2, Blackacre Butte, is getting pretty good reviews. I am very happy with how well it has been received all around.
I also racked #4, Foam Dome Stout, into the secondary. It actually tasted pretty good and stout-like; I'm optimistic about this one too. I have finally caught wise to the temperature effect on the hydrometer, so I am cooling any sample I take to 60° in the fridge before taking a reading. Doing this, my (mostly) final gravity was 1.009, with an estimated adjusted OG of 1.051 (original reading was 1.049 at about 75°), giving me about 5.5% ABV.
My biggest worry now is the temperature in the house, which will be getting into the nineties for the next week and a half, at least. I'm guessing this just means my beers will be a little fruity ... we'll just have to wait and see.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Prime Time
This is a handy little calculator for figuring out how much priming sugar to use when bottling. I have been a little bit one-size-fits-all about this process (used 3/4 cup corn sugar both times) and would like to refine it a bit.
Seriously, I slay myself sometimes.
Priming Calculator
Seriously, I slay myself sometimes.
Priming Calculator
Monday, July 20, 2009
Efficiency
One thing I have not been doing is sampling the gravity of my wort after the mash, but before the boil. This statistic will allow me to compute my approximate mash efficiency. This value may not actually help me improve my efficiency, but it will be another number of which to keep track, and you know how I love numbers.
Some sample malt potentials
I have calculated some extremely rough efficiencies of my previous mashes based on an estimation of how much evaporation occurred during the boil:
#2 - 11.7lb, est. post-mash gravity of 1.042 - 60% eff
#3 - 10.3lb, est. post-mash gravity of 1.039 - 67% eff
#4 - 10lb, est. post-mash gravity of 1.041 - 68% eff
I don't want to rely too much on these because my estimates could be off significantly; however, they do provide a ballpark range and would seem to indicate that my experience is paying off.
As a humorous aside, applying the calculation to my extremely botched first batch gives me about 38% efficiency.
Some sample malt potentials
I have calculated some extremely rough efficiencies of my previous mashes based on an estimation of how much evaporation occurred during the boil:
#2 - 11.7lb, est. post-mash gravity of 1.042 - 60% eff
#3 - 10.3lb, est. post-mash gravity of 1.039 - 67% eff
#4 - 10lb, est. post-mash gravity of 1.041 - 68% eff
I don't want to rely too much on these because my estimates could be off significantly; however, they do provide a ballpark range and would seem to indicate that my experience is paying off.
As a humorous aside, applying the calculation to my extremely botched first batch gives me about 38% efficiency.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Foam Dome Stout
I just brewed up batch #4 and things went mostly very smoothly. The sparge was notably slow, about 1 hr 10 min, perhaps due to the flaked barley.
The Recipe:
7 lb 2-row pale malt
2 lb flaked barley
1 lb black barley
11.25 AAU (64g @ 4.9% AA) Yakima Kent Golding hops @ 60 min
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1084 - Irish Ale
Single infusion mash for 60 mins at about 154° using 13-14 qts and sparged with ~165-172° water until I had about 25 qts for the boil.
OG: 1.049
Est. IBU: 51.9
The only real problem I had other than the slow sparge was getting the mash to the correct temperature. I think I hadn't heated my water hot enough for dough-in (I was impatient and jumped the gun at around 165-168° or so instead of waiting to get it up over 170°), so there was a lot of futzing around to get it up to temperature. I also had a difficult time this week getting consistent temperature measurements in the mash -- whenever I moved the thermometer, I'd get something several degrees off.
The name of this batch is due to a volcanic eruption of foam when I poured the wort into the primary fermenter carboy. I had oxygenated about a quarter of it by vigorous shaking in the carboy which generated quite a lot of foam which I then underestimated when adding the rest of the wort. I wonder if it was due to extra proteins or something? My previous batches had relatively little foam.
The Recipe:
7 lb 2-row pale malt
2 lb flaked barley
1 lb black barley
11.25 AAU (64g @ 4.9% AA) Yakima Kent Golding hops @ 60 min
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1084 - Irish Ale
Single infusion mash for 60 mins at about 154° using 13-14 qts and sparged with ~165-172° water until I had about 25 qts for the boil.
OG: 1.049
Est. IBU: 51.9
The only real problem I had other than the slow sparge was getting the mash to the correct temperature. I think I hadn't heated my water hot enough for dough-in (I was impatient and jumped the gun at around 165-168° or so instead of waiting to get it up over 170°), so there was a lot of futzing around to get it up to temperature. I also had a difficult time this week getting consistent temperature measurements in the mash -- whenever I moved the thermometer, I'd get something several degrees off.
The name of this batch is due to a volcanic eruption of foam when I poured the wort into the primary fermenter carboy. I had oxygenated about a quarter of it by vigorous shaking in the carboy which generated quite a lot of foam which I then underestimated when adding the rest of the wort. I wonder if it was due to extra proteins or something? My previous batches had relatively little foam.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Preparing to Branch Out
Today I went and got ingredients to do a dry Irish stout, marking my first branch from the porter style. It may end up being not so dry after all, as I upped the 2-row pale a little bit from the base recipe because I didn't want to make another three-two beer. The original recipe only had 5 lbs of 2-row pale so I threw in 2 more to make sure my gravity gets up over 1.040. I'm gonna try to brew tomorrow morning.
I racked #3, Seven-Eleven Porter, and got a likely final gravity reading of 1.010, so it's relatively sweet and clocks in at about 4.7% ABV. It's a little tart at this point, but it's got a pretty prominent coffee aftertaste which I really like, so hopefully after a week in the secondary and a week or two in the bottle it will be A-OK.
I also just cracked open my first bottle of #2. This was the half-bottle of the 21.5 bombers I bottled last week. It actually tastes more or less like #1 except less watered down -- pretty much just what I'd expected. It has a pretty prominent caramel flavor and I'd say another week will do it wonders.
I racked #3, Seven-Eleven Porter, and got a likely final gravity reading of 1.010, so it's relatively sweet and clocks in at about 4.7% ABV. It's a little tart at this point, but it's got a pretty prominent coffee aftertaste which I really like, so hopefully after a week in the secondary and a week or two in the bottle it will be A-OK.
I also just cracked open my first bottle of #2. This was the half-bottle of the 21.5 bombers I bottled last week. It actually tastes more or less like #1 except less watered down -- pretty much just what I'd expected. It has a pretty prominent caramel flavor and I'd say another week will do it wonders.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Busy Brew Day
I engaged in brewing or brewing-related activities for nearly 9 hours yesterday, and it seriously wiped me out. Should a hobby be more work than your actual work?
Anyway, first I washed a bunch of bottles and bottled Blackacre Butte #2. The sample I tasted was pretty good, and I think the secondary helped it clear up a little. I only got 21.5 22oz bombers out of the batch, so I'm losing a pretty significant angel's share somewhere (5 gal = 640 oz, and I filled 473 oz-worth of bottles). Anyway, I'm saving my last Blackacre Butte #1 so I can do a side-by-side comparison at some point.
Speaking of #1, I've now consumed or given away 20 of the 21 bottles I had. The carbonation was highly inconsistent - some bottles entirely flat, some near exploding and some carbonated just right. I tried to make sure to stir in my bottling primer* a little more thoroughly when I bottled #2.
* 3/4 cup corn sugar disolved in about a pint of boiling water
The Main Event
The Recipe:
8 lb 2-row pale malt
12 oz crystal 90°L
8 oz black patent malt
9 oz black barley
8 oz chocolate malt
7 AAU (16g @ 12.5% AA) Galena hops @ 60 min
3 AAU (21g @ 4% AA) Fuggles hops @ 20 min
3 AAU (21g @ 4% AA) Fuggles hops @ 5 min
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1028 - London Ale
Single infusion mash for 60 mins at 156° using about 11 qts and sparged with ~172° water until I had about 26 qts for the boil.
OG: 1.046
Est. IBU: 42.4
In honor of the brewing date, I think I'll call this one Seven-Eleven Porter. As you can see from the use of the darker crystal malt and the 1.5 lbs of extremely dark malts I was going for a much darker, thicker beer than last time. Cutting back the pale malt from 10lbs to 8 and mashing at 156° left me with a slightly lower OG so I expect the alcohol on this one to be in the 4.6-4.8% range, but the body should be a lot thicker and have a lot more character than Blackacre Butte. A taste of the wort had quite a prominent hop aroma and was very sweet with a lot of interesting flavors.
As before, the new mash/lauter tun worked like a champ and only dropped about half a degree during the hour mash. The only real problem I had with this brewing session came right at the end when I went to pitch the yeast. I'm using the Wyeast Activator line, which has a little nutrient pouch inside which you can smack to get the yeast rolling before you inoculate the wort. This time, I apparently failed to sufficiently break the pouch, so I just cut it open and poured it in along with the yeast. Hopefully this won't be a problem.
Anyway, first I washed a bunch of bottles and bottled Blackacre Butte #2. The sample I tasted was pretty good, and I think the secondary helped it clear up a little. I only got 21.5 22oz bombers out of the batch, so I'm losing a pretty significant angel's share somewhere (5 gal = 640 oz, and I filled 473 oz-worth of bottles). Anyway, I'm saving my last Blackacre Butte #1 so I can do a side-by-side comparison at some point.
Speaking of #1, I've now consumed or given away 20 of the 21 bottles I had. The carbonation was highly inconsistent - some bottles entirely flat, some near exploding and some carbonated just right. I tried to make sure to stir in my bottling primer* a little more thoroughly when I bottled #2.
* 3/4 cup corn sugar disolved in about a pint of boiling water
The Main Event
The Recipe:
8 lb 2-row pale malt
12 oz crystal 90°L
8 oz black patent malt
9 oz black barley
8 oz chocolate malt
7 AAU (16g @ 12.5% AA) Galena hops @ 60 min
3 AAU (21g @ 4% AA) Fuggles hops @ 20 min
3 AAU (21g @ 4% AA) Fuggles hops @ 5 min
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1028 - London Ale
Single infusion mash for 60 mins at 156° using about 11 qts and sparged with ~172° water until I had about 26 qts for the boil.
OG: 1.046
Est. IBU: 42.4
In honor of the brewing date, I think I'll call this one Seven-Eleven Porter. As you can see from the use of the darker crystal malt and the 1.5 lbs of extremely dark malts I was going for a much darker, thicker beer than last time. Cutting back the pale malt from 10lbs to 8 and mashing at 156° left me with a slightly lower OG so I expect the alcohol on this one to be in the 4.6-4.8% range, but the body should be a lot thicker and have a lot more character than Blackacre Butte. A taste of the wort had quite a prominent hop aroma and was very sweet with a lot of interesting flavors.
As before, the new mash/lauter tun worked like a champ and only dropped about half a degree during the hour mash. The only real problem I had with this brewing session came right at the end when I went to pitch the yeast. I'm using the Wyeast Activator line, which has a little nutrient pouch inside which you can smack to get the yeast rolling before you inoculate the wort. This time, I apparently failed to sufficiently break the pouch, so I just cut it open and poured it in along with the yeast. Hopefully this won't be a problem.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Much Better
I racked Blackacre Butte #2 two days ago and things are much more promising than #1. The smell and taste were quite good, much fuller than #1 and, more importantly, the alcohol percentage came out to a much more reasonable 5.6% (OG 1.050; FG 1.008).
I went to my LHBS and picked up grain, yeast and hops for #3 but did not end up brewing it after all, as I forgot to get a second airlock (the secondary for #2 is using my only one right now). Since brewing takes 5 or 6 hours, I may just wait until the weekend before I brew again. D'oh. Actually, I'll probably just bottle #2 this weekend and get a second airlock the next time I go get ingredients. At some point I want to have a couple batches going at all times; that will be nice.
I went to my LHBS and picked up grain, yeast and hops for #3 but did not end up brewing it after all, as I forgot to get a second airlock (the secondary for #2 is using my only one right now). Since brewing takes 5 or 6 hours, I may just wait until the weekend before I brew again. D'oh. Actually, I'll probably just bottle #2 this weekend and get a second airlock the next time I go get ingredients. At some point I want to have a couple batches going at all times; that will be nice.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Some Results
I have tasted Blackacre Butte #1, and all in all am quite satisfied with the results. Others who have tasted it have said it wasn't too bad either. The flavor is good, but it does seem a tiny bit watered-down, which is about what I expected.
One thing I did not expect was the level of carbonation the beer attained. My guess on this is that since there was less total beer than normal, I may have used a bit more bottling sugar than necessary. I'll follow the same recipe again for #2, and we'll see if the carbonation is equally berzerk.
I'm thinking I'll rack Blackacre Butte #2 tomorrow and brew up experimental porter #3 on Saturday. I haven't bought the ingredients yet, but I think I am going to go a lot heavier on the darker specialty malts and then mash at a slightly higher temperature to get a fuller body; say, 156°.
One thing I did not expect was the level of carbonation the beer attained. My guess on this is that since there was less total beer than normal, I may have used a bit more bottling sugar than necessary. I'll follow the same recipe again for #2, and we'll see if the carbonation is equally berzerk.
I'm thinking I'll rack Blackacre Butte #2 tomorrow and brew up experimental porter #3 on Saturday. I haven't bought the ingredients yet, but I think I am going to go a lot heavier on the darker specialty malts and then mash at a slightly higher temperature to get a fuller body; say, 156°.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Some Useful Links
Some interesting and useful links:
IBU calculator
Grain profiles and other cheat sheets
Bonus Update!
Blackacre Butte #2 is bubbling every 2 seconds about 36 hours after brewing. Yay!
IBU calculator
Grain profiles and other cheat sheets
Bonus Update!
Blackacre Butte #2 is bubbling every 2 seconds about 36 hours after brewing. Yay!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Porter Redux
Yesterday I brewed with the exact same porter recipe again (we'll call it Blackacre Butte #2) to see the difference that just the brewing method made. And, boy howdy, will it be different.
For one thing, the original gravity of the wort was 1.050 this time, 67% higher than the last batch. This was due to the very successful use of my new mash/lauter tun, which did not leak at all and which made mashing and sparging a breeze. Secondly, I took about 1/4 of the wort and aerated it heavily before pouring the rest of the wort into the fermenter and pitching the yeast. I don't think skipping this really hurt me on the last batch, but I thought I'd at least try it.
This time around, I'm fermenting in a 6-gallon plastic carboy rather than the plastic bucket I used last time. The homebrew store was out of 6-gallon glass carboys and the guy there said the plastic ones were actually quite nice to use, so I went that route rather than wait for them to resupply with the glass ones.
Lessons learned:
- The filter that came with the funnel I used to pour the wort into the fermenter was too fine a mesh and easily clogged up with sediment. I ended up using a collander placed in the funnel for the last bit; I think I will just start with that piece of equipment next time.
- Cooling down 21 quarts of boiling wort takes a long freaking time. Before I get a wort chiller, I think I need to experiment with just getting a bunch of ice at the store to use in the ice bath I make for the wort.
For one thing, the original gravity of the wort was 1.050 this time, 67% higher than the last batch. This was due to the very successful use of my new mash/lauter tun, which did not leak at all and which made mashing and sparging a breeze. Secondly, I took about 1/4 of the wort and aerated it heavily before pouring the rest of the wort into the fermenter and pitching the yeast. I don't think skipping this really hurt me on the last batch, but I thought I'd at least try it.
This time around, I'm fermenting in a 6-gallon plastic carboy rather than the plastic bucket I used last time. The homebrew store was out of 6-gallon glass carboys and the guy there said the plastic ones were actually quite nice to use, so I went that route rather than wait for them to resupply with the glass ones.
Lessons learned:
- The filter that came with the funnel I used to pour the wort into the fermenter was too fine a mesh and easily clogged up with sediment. I ended up using a collander placed in the funnel for the last bit; I think I will just start with that piece of equipment next time.
- Cooling down 21 quarts of boiling wort takes a long freaking time. Before I get a wort chiller, I think I need to experiment with just getting a bunch of ice at the store to use in the ice bath I make for the wort.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
A Tun o' Fun
Yesterday Emily and I bottled the Blackacre Butte #1. It tasted the same as when we racked it and had the same final gravity of 1.006. Primed with 3/4 cup corn sugar dissolved into a pint of water and bottled; ended up with 21 22oz bottles. We'll see in a week or two how it has shaped up.
Today I built a mash tun using these instructions:
Cheap & Easy Mash Lauter Tun
I used a 5-gallon cooler rather than a 10-gallon; in hindsight, the 10 gallon should have been what I got. Also, the parts didn't fit together quite as well for me as they did for him, and after 30 minutes full of water it leaked a drop or two; I'm going to go ahead and brew with it once to see what happens, and then maybe update the design. I used the hose clamps which in his implementation corroded after a couple of uses; I'll have to see how they last for me.
Lesson learned: I need a Dremel kit. Using a hacksaw to cut apart that stainless steel braid sleeve was a big pain and left me with these insanely frayed edges. I think a rotary tool would have helped here.
Today I built a mash tun using these instructions:
Cheap & Easy Mash Lauter Tun
I used a 5-gallon cooler rather than a 10-gallon; in hindsight, the 10 gallon should have been what I got. Also, the parts didn't fit together quite as well for me as they did for him, and after 30 minutes full of water it leaked a drop or two; I'm going to go ahead and brew with it once to see what happens, and then maybe update the design. I used the hose clamps which in his implementation corroded after a couple of uses; I'll have to see how they last for me.
Lesson learned: I need a Dremel kit. Using a hacksaw to cut apart that stainless steel braid sleeve was a big pain and left me with these insanely frayed edges. I think a rotary tool would have helped here.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Survey Says...
It's not too bad!
Today I racked my porter clone (hereafter "Blackacre Butte Porter") into the secondary fermenter and sampled the results. For flat, warm beer, it was mighty tasty. The hops:malt ratio is a little higher than I sought, but this can be attributed to the incompetent mashing and sparging of last week. The gravity at this stage is 1.006, leaving me with about 3.2% ABV -- my beer is safe to drink in Utah!
The lesson I learned today was: don't ferment in a plastic bucket; ferment in a glass carboy. Why? Apparently when I sealed the lid on the bucket, I sealed it right tight, so when I went to open it I needed a pair of vice grips to bend the plastic lip of the lid to get the damn thing off. The glass will be a teeny tiny less convenient when filling the first time, but other than that it will be the same as the bucket.
Next week: bottling!
Today I racked my porter clone (hereafter "Blackacre Butte Porter") into the secondary fermenter and sampled the results. For flat, warm beer, it was mighty tasty. The hops:malt ratio is a little higher than I sought, but this can be attributed to the incompetent mashing and sparging of last week. The gravity at this stage is 1.006, leaving me with about 3.2% ABV -- my beer is safe to drink in Utah!
The lesson I learned today was: don't ferment in a plastic bucket; ferment in a glass carboy. Why? Apparently when I sealed the lid on the bucket, I sealed it right tight, so when I went to open it I needed a pair of vice grips to bend the plastic lip of the lid to get the damn thing off. The glass will be a teeny tiny less convenient when filling the first time, but other than that it will be the same as the bucket.
Next week: bottling!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Porter Disorder
Today my first brewing project went off despite several hitches. I started off with a recipe for a Black Butte Porter clone gleaned from a magazine at my local homebrew store, Homebrew Heaven. The guy there suggested a slight modification to make the beer darker, and based on the final color of the wort I think it was a good call. The final product tasted sweet and well-balanced before I put it into the fermenter, so I'm cautiously optimistic that it will turn out drinkable.
My first problem presented itself about halfway through steeping the grains. I noticed that there was a fair amount of grain floating around in the wort, which I initially attributed to the fact that I was sort of pushing on the bag with the stirring spoon when I stirred. However, when I pulled out the bag to sparge the remaining grain, Emily (who was my gracious brewing assistant today) noticed a gaping hole in the bottom. So, some jostling around and a large mess later, the bag and most of the grain were out of the kettle; I attempted to sparge some of it through a strainer but because I was distracted I used cold water rather than hot, thus reducing the potential sugars I could get from the malt.
My next problem was that I did not have enough water in the initial boil, so that by the time the hour boil was complete I only had about 12 quarts of wort left. To bring the total amount up to five gallons, I added two more gallons of water at about room temperature. This may have been too much, in light of how low the original gravity measurement ended up being (1.030). The cooler water may also have brought the total temperature down too low for the yeast to get a good start; the wort was about 75° when I put it in the fermenter, so I can't imagine the final temperature was much below about 68-70 (though I failed to take the temperature at this point).
So, in the end we'll see. My guess is that I will end up with a relatively low alcohol porter with a nice color and flavor. I recognize this is a best-case scenario, but I have hope.
The Recipe:
10 lb. 2-row pale malt
9 oz. chocolate malt
10 oz. crystal malt (60 °L)
8 oz. roasted barley*
4 AAU (9.1g @ 12.5% AA) Galena hops @ 60 min
4.25 AAU (19.9g @ 6% AA) Cascade hops @ 30 min
4.5 AAU (23.3g @ 5.5% AA) Tettnanger hops @ 5 min
Wyeast 1318 - London Ale III
I also used an Irish moss tablet at 15 minutes.
Lessons learned:
1. I bought 2 2.5 gal jugs of spring water so as to avoid municipal chlorine, fluoride, etc., but I really ought to have bought 3 as a safeguard. That third jug would be great for sparging.
2. Our current kitchen scale is a baker's scale and only resolves to 5-gram increments. This meant my hops measurements were not as accurate as I would have hoped.
3. The nylon bag method of steeping the grain doesn't seem to work for me. I need to either do a false-bottom bucket method or maybe use a double-boiler; I will have to think about this one.
* This was the change to the original recipe recommended by the beer store guy.
My first problem presented itself about halfway through steeping the grains. I noticed that there was a fair amount of grain floating around in the wort, which I initially attributed to the fact that I was sort of pushing on the bag with the stirring spoon when I stirred. However, when I pulled out the bag to sparge the remaining grain, Emily (who was my gracious brewing assistant today) noticed a gaping hole in the bottom. So, some jostling around and a large mess later, the bag and most of the grain were out of the kettle; I attempted to sparge some of it through a strainer but because I was distracted I used cold water rather than hot, thus reducing the potential sugars I could get from the malt.
My next problem was that I did not have enough water in the initial boil, so that by the time the hour boil was complete I only had about 12 quarts of wort left. To bring the total amount up to five gallons, I added two more gallons of water at about room temperature. This may have been too much, in light of how low the original gravity measurement ended up being (1.030). The cooler water may also have brought the total temperature down too low for the yeast to get a good start; the wort was about 75° when I put it in the fermenter, so I can't imagine the final temperature was much below about 68-70 (though I failed to take the temperature at this point).
So, in the end we'll see. My guess is that I will end up with a relatively low alcohol porter with a nice color and flavor. I recognize this is a best-case scenario, but I have hope.
The Recipe:
10 lb. 2-row pale malt
9 oz. chocolate malt
10 oz. crystal malt (60 °L)
8 oz. roasted barley*
4 AAU (9.1g @ 12.5% AA) Galena hops @ 60 min
4.25 AAU (19.9g @ 6% AA) Cascade hops @ 30 min
4.5 AAU (23.3g @ 5.5% AA) Tettnanger hops @ 5 min
Wyeast 1318 - London Ale III
I also used an Irish moss tablet at 15 minutes.
Lessons learned:
1. I bought 2 2.5 gal jugs of spring water so as to avoid municipal chlorine, fluoride, etc., but I really ought to have bought 3 as a safeguard. That third jug would be great for sparging.
2. Our current kitchen scale is a baker's scale and only resolves to 5-gram increments. This meant my hops measurements were not as accurate as I would have hoped.
3. The nylon bag method of steeping the grain doesn't seem to work for me. I need to either do a false-bottom bucket method or maybe use a double-boiler; I will have to think about this one.
* This was the change to the original recipe recommended by the beer store guy.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
An Odyssey Begins...
I've been batting around the idea of doing some homebrew for awhile now. A couple good friends of mine have made some really great beers in their kitchens and I admit I am kind of jealous. I have been a lover of good beers (and even not-so-good ones) for a long time now, so I think I am primed to take the plunge into crafting my own.
My main goal is to put together a really good porter that I can have on hand at all times; I want to start with a couple of basic recipes and then branch out into experimentation. My plan is to blog the whole process for my own edification so that I can see what I've done and decide where I'm going. I am very much looking forward to the point where I am putting together arcane formulae over my steaming cauldron of wort, worrying over a quarter ounce of this malt or a dash of those hops. Wish me luck!
My main goal is to put together a really good porter that I can have on hand at all times; I want to start with a couple of basic recipes and then branch out into experimentation. My plan is to blog the whole process for my own edification so that I can see what I've done and decide where I'm going. I am very much looking forward to the point where I am putting together arcane formulae over my steaming cauldron of wort, worrying over a quarter ounce of this malt or a dash of those hops. Wish me luck!
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