Yesterday I kegged up 24 Hour Mild for the 24-24-24 challenge coming up tomorrow. It finished at 1.003, or about 3.3% ABV. Nice and light in alcohol and relatively dark and flavorful; I'm looking forward to drinking a bunch of it.
On Wednesday I went to a local welding supply store and exchanged my CO2 tank for a fresh one, since I didn't know how much life my old tank had left. The regulator wasn't into the red "empty" range, but it was out of the green "full" range and I didn't want to risk losing pressure in the middle of the event. I'm pretty happy with how much use I got out of the old one: 3 kegs carbonated and fully dispensed, with 5 other kegs carbonated and partially dispensed. It should be noted that that CO2 tank was a little over half full when I bought it, so I'm thinking I'll get plenty of use out of this new full tank. The tank exchange is a little under $14, so if I get 10 kegs carbed and 5 dispensed, that's only about a dollar per operation. It's totally worth a buck to avoid bottling.
In preparation for kegging 24 Hour, I fully took apart and cleaned the keg I was going to use. I disassembled the posts, replaced the internal O-rings and inspected and washed the poppets, dip tubes and posts themselves. This was a valuable learning experience; the out-post on my keg of Ol' Smokey is somewhat leaky when the pressure is too high, and now I know how to find and replace the poppet. They're about $4.50 it seems, so I might buy a couple in order to have extras around just in case.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
A Kegging Odyssey
So, I came to a couple of conclusions today:
1) I brew way more beer than I drink;
2) I hate bottling now that I've gotten into kegging.
The result of this is that I bought two more Corny kegs today so that I could keg Blackacre American Stout and Ol' Smokey. Done and done; they came out to neat 5.4% and 5% ABV, respectively. Another week should tell me if they are any good.
My 24 Hour Mild, which I racked tonight, and which is planned for the 24-24-24 challenge, will have to get into the keg sometime before, say, Thursday, if I want to carb it up so it's ready to go. That means I have until then to finish up The Elder, the brew of which I have the least left in the keg. I growler'd up some tonight and poured a pint while I was at it; I think I probably have between one-half and one gallon left, but we shall see.
I also racked Backbreaker Wee Heavy tonight, and it read a nice 1.032. That means it's rocking about 9% ABV as well as having tons of body, flavor and caramelized sweetness. Finally, mashing high yields the expected results!
1) I brew way more beer than I drink;
2) I hate bottling now that I've gotten into kegging.
The result of this is that I bought two more Corny kegs today so that I could keg Blackacre American Stout and Ol' Smokey. Done and done; they came out to neat 5.4% and 5% ABV, respectively. Another week should tell me if they are any good.
My 24 Hour Mild, which I racked tonight, and which is planned for the 24-24-24 challenge, will have to get into the keg sometime before, say, Thursday, if I want to carb it up so it's ready to go. That means I have until then to finish up The Elder, the brew of which I have the least left in the keg. I growler'd up some tonight and poured a pint while I was at it; I think I probably have between one-half and one gallon left, but we shall see.
I also racked Backbreaker Wee Heavy tonight, and it read a nice 1.032. That means it's rocking about 9% ABV as well as having tons of body, flavor and caramelized sweetness. Finally, mashing high yields the expected results!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale vs. Bar-None Brown
Well, I have finally got around to comparing Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale with Bar-None Brown, my attempt at loosely cloning that delicious brew. Here are the results:
Appearance: Bar-None is ever so slightly darker, but really only by a few percent. They are nearly indistinguishable in color and clarity. Bar-None's head is pretty large, but I attribute that to bottle conditioning. Judgment: even.
Smell: Indian Brown Ale's aroma centers on a rich chocolatey malt flavor with just hints of coffee and a subtle earthy, vegetabley hop aroma. Bar-None's is extremely hoppy and doesn't have near the subtle roasted-malt aroma. It is strong and quite floral and vegetabley; a much lighter hand will be needed on the hops. Judgement: Indian Brown is much more malty and subtly complex.
Taste: Indian Brown has a nice complex hop flavor crowning a chocolatey, slightly caramelly malt base. Flavor spectrum tends toward the malt. Bar-None has coffee flavor but not much in the way of chocolate, and is not subtle or smooth at all; hops abound and are floral and rough-around-the-edges. Judgement: Indian Brown is exceptionally smooth and balanced, whereas Bar-None is too hop-centric and quite rough.
Mouthfeel: Indian Brown is extremely smooth; it has a medium to medium-thich body and a wonderfully smooth, silky texture, as well as a nice level of carbonation that renders this extremely creamy and fantastic. Easily one of my favorite mouthfeels. Bar-None is a little lighter in body but has a mega carbonation that yields mega creaminess; this is probably due to its bottle-conditioned nature. It is rare for me to think of a beer as over-carbonated, but over the months Bar-None has become so. Judgement: I prefer Indian Brown Ale to Bar-None, but this is a category in which Bar-None stands up pretty well.
Drinkability: Bar-None's rough hopping makes it notably less drinkable than Indian Brown. Indian Brown welcomes each and every sip, whereas Bar-None's bitterness and overdone, vegetabley hops challenge the palate in an unpleasant way. Judgement: Indian Brown, hands down.
If I do an Indian Brown Ale-insprired recipe again, I would drop the roasted barley and up the chocolate malt to 12 oz or maybe even a pound. Crystal would probably stay the same and victory malt might have to go, and I might want to go with Maris Otter rather than domestic 2-row. Bittering hops should come down to maybe 10 AAU and I might want to go with Fuggles and maybe a little Cascade for aroma and flavor, perhaps pared down to 4 AAU for each addition.
Appearance: Bar-None is ever so slightly darker, but really only by a few percent. They are nearly indistinguishable in color and clarity. Bar-None's head is pretty large, but I attribute that to bottle conditioning. Judgment: even.
Smell: Indian Brown Ale's aroma centers on a rich chocolatey malt flavor with just hints of coffee and a subtle earthy, vegetabley hop aroma. Bar-None's is extremely hoppy and doesn't have near the subtle roasted-malt aroma. It is strong and quite floral and vegetabley; a much lighter hand will be needed on the hops. Judgement: Indian Brown is much more malty and subtly complex.
Taste: Indian Brown has a nice complex hop flavor crowning a chocolatey, slightly caramelly malt base. Flavor spectrum tends toward the malt. Bar-None has coffee flavor but not much in the way of chocolate, and is not subtle or smooth at all; hops abound and are floral and rough-around-the-edges. Judgement: Indian Brown is exceptionally smooth and balanced, whereas Bar-None is too hop-centric and quite rough.
Mouthfeel: Indian Brown is extremely smooth; it has a medium to medium-thich body and a wonderfully smooth, silky texture, as well as a nice level of carbonation that renders this extremely creamy and fantastic. Easily one of my favorite mouthfeels. Bar-None is a little lighter in body but has a mega carbonation that yields mega creaminess; this is probably due to its bottle-conditioned nature. It is rare for me to think of a beer as over-carbonated, but over the months Bar-None has become so. Judgement: I prefer Indian Brown Ale to Bar-None, but this is a category in which Bar-None stands up pretty well.
Drinkability: Bar-None's rough hopping makes it notably less drinkable than Indian Brown. Indian Brown welcomes each and every sip, whereas Bar-None's bitterness and overdone, vegetabley hops challenge the palate in an unpleasant way. Judgement: Indian Brown, hands down.
If I do an Indian Brown Ale-insprired recipe again, I would drop the roasted barley and up the chocolate malt to 12 oz or maybe even a pound. Crystal would probably stay the same and victory malt might have to go, and I might want to go with Maris Otter rather than domestic 2-row. Bittering hops should come down to maybe 10 AAU and I might want to go with Fuggles and maybe a little Cascade for aroma and flavor, perhaps pared down to 4 AAU for each addition.
24 Hour Mild
Yesterday I brewed up a special brew for a special occasion. On Memorial Day weekend, a buddy of mine and I are attempting the epic 24-24-24 challenge: eat 24 Krispy Kreme doughnuts, drink 24 beers and walk 24 miles in a 24 hour period. Crazy? Certainly. But we plan to be drinking in style, if at a lower ABV than normal: thus, 24 Hour Mild, a dark English-style mild ale that might render this challenge possible.
The Recipe:
5 lb 2-row pale malt
4 oz Crystal 60°
4 oz chocolate malt
3 AAU (17g @ 5% AA) East Kent Goldings @ 60
1 AAU (6g @ 5% AA) East Kent Goldings @ 15
Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1028 - London Ale
Mashed at 152° for an hour using about 8 quarts of water. Fly-sparged with 170°-190° water.
O.G.: 1.028
Est. IBU: 11.7
Brewing was entirely uneventful with the exception of wort collection. I got distracted when collecting the final runnings and when I went to check my brew kettle, I had nearly 30 quarts of wort collected (I usually try to collect 26). So, I took a sample to measure the pre-boil gravity for my efficiency calculation (86% on this beer; I'm quite glad my LHBS has indeed fixed their grinder) and then disposed of 2-3 quarts of the wort before the boil. After the boil, I still had 24 quarts in my kettle so this just gets to be a 6-gallon batch.
I'm going to get this into the secondary after just a week and keg it probably after three or four days in the secondary. I know that in this case the secondary isn't exactly necessary, but it's part of my protocol so I'll do it. I need to get it carbed up and ready to go before the 29th, so this may be the shortest-fermented beer since my first batch. Wish me luck!
The Recipe:
5 lb 2-row pale malt
4 oz Crystal 60°
4 oz chocolate malt
3 AAU (17g @ 5% AA) East Kent Goldings @ 60
1 AAU (6g @ 5% AA) East Kent Goldings @ 15
Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1028 - London Ale
Mashed at 152° for an hour using about 8 quarts of water. Fly-sparged with 170°-190° water.
O.G.: 1.028
Est. IBU: 11.7
Brewing was entirely uneventful with the exception of wort collection. I got distracted when collecting the final runnings and when I went to check my brew kettle, I had nearly 30 quarts of wort collected (I usually try to collect 26). So, I took a sample to measure the pre-boil gravity for my efficiency calculation (86% on this beer; I'm quite glad my LHBS has indeed fixed their grinder) and then disposed of 2-3 quarts of the wort before the boil. After the boil, I still had 24 quarts in my kettle so this just gets to be a 6-gallon batch.
I'm going to get this into the secondary after just a week and keg it probably after three or four days in the secondary. I know that in this case the secondary isn't exactly necessary, but it's part of my protocol so I'll do it. I need to get it carbed up and ready to go before the 29th, so this may be the shortest-fermented beer since my first batch. Wish me luck!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Hops Inventory
Well, I decided to take a hops inventory today to figure out just what I have. I really like the cost savings when buying in bulk (up to 85%!), but I also don't really brew enough to use up bulk-bought hops. So, here's what I have laying around:
Stored in sealed-up freezer bags:
Cascade, 5.4% AA - 315g (11.1oz)
East Kent Goldings, 5% AA - 152g (5.4oz)
Hallertauer, 3% AA - 368g (13oz)
Nugget, 13% AA - 407g (14.4oz)
Saaz (Czech Republic), 3.5% AA - 296g (10.5oz)
Willamette, 4.5% AA - 176g (6.2oz)
Vaccuum-packed 1 pound bags from the wholesaler:
Cascade, 5.4% AA
Fuggles (US), 5.1% AA
Galena, 11% AA
Tettnanger (Germany), 3.2% AA
Willamette, 4.5% AA
All of these are pellet except for the EKGs, which are dried whole leaf hops. Note that the 1 pound bags seem to contain a lot more than 450g of hops -- anywhere from 490 to 530, it seems.
Some of these bags have been opened as long ago as October or November. I feel like I should be using these more, although at the wholesale prices I'm getting it actually is still cost effective even if I have to throw away hops after using just three ounces per one-pound bag.
I could burn up all my Nugget in a 460 IBU Imperial IPA, for instance. I'm also using my noble hops pretty slowly, so perhaps I could do what I did with EKG IPA and try brewing massive one-hop IPAs with them. Sadly, most of my brews on the horizon are relatively low-hop styles. I guess we'll just see; for now, though, I will simply try to brew styles within the confines of the hops I've already got open, rather than opening up those others.
Stored in sealed-up freezer bags:
Cascade, 5.4% AA - 315g (11.1oz)
East Kent Goldings, 5% AA - 152g (5.4oz)
Hallertauer, 3% AA - 368g (13oz)
Nugget, 13% AA - 407g (14.4oz)
Saaz (Czech Republic), 3.5% AA - 296g (10.5oz)
Willamette, 4.5% AA - 176g (6.2oz)
Vaccuum-packed 1 pound bags from the wholesaler:
Cascade, 5.4% AA
Fuggles (US), 5.1% AA
Galena, 11% AA
Tettnanger (Germany), 3.2% AA
Willamette, 4.5% AA
All of these are pellet except for the EKGs, which are dried whole leaf hops. Note that the 1 pound bags seem to contain a lot more than 450g of hops -- anywhere from 490 to 530, it seems.
Some of these bags have been opened as long ago as October or November. I feel like I should be using these more, although at the wholesale prices I'm getting it actually is still cost effective even if I have to throw away hops after using just three ounces per one-pound bag.
I could burn up all my Nugget in a 460 IBU Imperial IPA, for instance. I'm also using my noble hops pretty slowly, so perhaps I could do what I did with EKG IPA and try brewing massive one-hop IPAs with them. Sadly, most of my brews on the horizon are relatively low-hop styles. I guess we'll just see; for now, though, I will simply try to brew styles within the confines of the hops I've already got open, rather than opening up those others.
Backbreaker Wee Heavy
Yesterday was a long, long brewing day, but I got to make a new style and use my new mash tun, so it was well worth it.
The Recipe:
18 lb Maris Otter
10 AAU (56g @ 5% AA) East Kent Goldings @ 60
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1728 - Scottish Ale
Mashed at 158° for an hour using about 23 quarts of water. Batch-sparged with ~170° water (more details below).
O.G.: 1.101
Est. IBU: 26.5
This procedure for this recipe was a little different. After gathering 12 quarts of the first runnings, I boiled this down to about 4 quarts to caramelize the wort sugars. Never having done this before, I just let it boil on high for about 3 hours which brought the sugars to near burning; however, based on some tasting of the wort, I think it wasn't too badly affected. While that was boiling, I added 12 quarts of sparge water to the mash tun and sealed it back up. This resulted in essentially a 3-hour batch sparge (a bit more water was required at the end as well).
Unfortunately, the long duration of this process clashed with my band practice, so I heated up the gathered wort and left it in the brewkettle with the lid on for about four hours before commencing the boil; hopefully this doesn't end up hurting it.
The most exciting thing about this week's brewing, however, was that my new mash tun worked perfectly. Right at dough-in, there were maybe two or three drops that leaked from the seal, but after that it worked fantastically. Between the mash and the extended batch sparge, there were 18 lbs of grain and about five gallons of water in there for about four hours with no additional leakage of any kind. Woohoo!
The Recipe:
18 lb Maris Otter
10 AAU (56g @ 5% AA) East Kent Goldings @ 60
1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min
Wyeast 1728 - Scottish Ale
Mashed at 158° for an hour using about 23 quarts of water. Batch-sparged with ~170° water (more details below).
O.G.: 1.101
Est. IBU: 26.5
This procedure for this recipe was a little different. After gathering 12 quarts of the first runnings, I boiled this down to about 4 quarts to caramelize the wort sugars. Never having done this before, I just let it boil on high for about 3 hours which brought the sugars to near burning; however, based on some tasting of the wort, I think it wasn't too badly affected. While that was boiling, I added 12 quarts of sparge water to the mash tun and sealed it back up. This resulted in essentially a 3-hour batch sparge (a bit more water was required at the end as well).
Unfortunately, the long duration of this process clashed with my band practice, so I heated up the gathered wort and left it in the brewkettle with the lid on for about four hours before commencing the boil; hopefully this doesn't end up hurting it.
The most exciting thing about this week's brewing, however, was that my new mash tun worked perfectly. Right at dough-in, there were maybe two or three drops that leaked from the seal, but after that it worked fantastically. Between the mash and the extended batch sparge, there were 18 lbs of grain and about five gallons of water in there for about four hours with no additional leakage of any kind. Woohoo!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Big Evening
Lots of brewing activity tonight.
First, I went to the homebrew store on my way home from work and picked up 18 lbs of Maris Otter malt to make my Wee Heavy this weekend. Apparently, they have refurbished their grain mill so that it actually provides a decent crush now; reviewing a sample of the crushed malt seemed to bear this out. I also picked up two used corny kegs, because I now dread bottling.
When I got home, I cleaned up my new kegs and kegged my batches which were in secondary: Red Nose Amber and Northwest Not-So-Imperial IPA. They both tasted rather good; Red Nose is not terribly amber, but has an interesting apple flavor along with the bright, citrusy hops (this is probably due to the sugar I added). Its color tracks more with a pale ale, but it is reddish; perhaps I can call it a pale amber. Not-So-Imperial has a great layered hop flavor with the bright Cascades competing for the spotlight with the earthy and subtle Willamettes. Overall, it's a great effect.
I then racked Blackacre American Stout and Ol' Smokey to secondaries and harvested the yeast cake from Ol' Smokey to use with my Wee Heavy. The stout is balanced and somewhat earthy due to the Willamettes (which I'm growing to like quite a lot) and I think it will be a good beer when it is all done. Ol' Smokey basically tastes like someone threw a shot of Islay Scotch whiskey into a growler full of basic porter. Just the effect I wanted!
All in all, a great brewery maintenance day.
First, I went to the homebrew store on my way home from work and picked up 18 lbs of Maris Otter malt to make my Wee Heavy this weekend. Apparently, they have refurbished their grain mill so that it actually provides a decent crush now; reviewing a sample of the crushed malt seemed to bear this out. I also picked up two used corny kegs, because I now dread bottling.
When I got home, I cleaned up my new kegs and kegged my batches which were in secondary: Red Nose Amber and Northwest Not-So-Imperial IPA. They both tasted rather good; Red Nose is not terribly amber, but has an interesting apple flavor along with the bright, citrusy hops (this is probably due to the sugar I added). Its color tracks more with a pale ale, but it is reddish; perhaps I can call it a pale amber. Not-So-Imperial has a great layered hop flavor with the bright Cascades competing for the spotlight with the earthy and subtle Willamettes. Overall, it's a great effect.
I then racked Blackacre American Stout and Ol' Smokey to secondaries and harvested the yeast cake from Ol' Smokey to use with my Wee Heavy. The stout is balanced and somewhat earthy due to the Willamettes (which I'm growing to like quite a lot) and I think it will be a good beer when it is all done. Ol' Smokey basically tastes like someone threw a shot of Islay Scotch whiskey into a growler full of basic porter. Just the effect I wanted!
All in all, a great brewery maintenance day.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
A Mash Tun Odyssey
Well, it turns out that the sealant gel stuff does not actually bond well to either the plastic of the Rubbermaid container or the brass fittings. My next step was a couple of neat rubber washers held on with Krazy Glue, but that didn't bond to the plastic either. Design failures no. 2 and 3.
So, faced with the fact that nothing bonds to cylindrical coolers, I got a #5½ drilled stopper and experimented with that. Unfortunately, my brass and stainless steel fittings were just too heavy, it seemed, and tended to pull the stopper at a downward angle and cause leaks. Failure no. 4.
Yesterday, I went to my LHBS to see if they had perhaps a better-fitting stopper, which they did not. They did, however, have these little plastic ball valves with 3/8" hose barbs on each end. Aha! This fit perfectly into the stopper, so I stopped at Home Depot and got a 3/8" brass hose barb splicer, clamped my hose braid onto it, and stuck it in the other end of the stopper. Tested it, and though it did leak a little at first, it apparently eventually sealed itself. It lost maybe an ounce or so of water in 90 minutes, so really not bad.
So now I have 30 or 40 bucks' worth of brass and stainless pipe nipples, hose barbs, couplers and ball valves, and $6 of plumbing parts actually in use in the tun. Frankly, I'm just glad to be at the end of that adventure. Can't wait to brew this weekend with it!
So, faced with the fact that nothing bonds to cylindrical coolers, I got a #5½ drilled stopper and experimented with that. Unfortunately, my brass and stainless steel fittings were just too heavy, it seemed, and tended to pull the stopper at a downward angle and cause leaks. Failure no. 4.
Yesterday, I went to my LHBS to see if they had perhaps a better-fitting stopper, which they did not. They did, however, have these little plastic ball valves with 3/8" hose barbs on each end. Aha! This fit perfectly into the stopper, so I stopped at Home Depot and got a 3/8" brass hose barb splicer, clamped my hose braid onto it, and stuck it in the other end of the stopper. Tested it, and though it did leak a little at first, it apparently eventually sealed itself. It lost maybe an ounce or so of water in 90 minutes, so really not bad.
So now I have 30 or 40 bucks' worth of brass and stainless pipe nipples, hose barbs, couplers and ball valves, and $6 of plumbing parts actually in use in the tun. Frankly, I'm just glad to be at the end of that adventure. Can't wait to brew this weekend with it!
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