Saturday morning I brewed up a single-hop IPA to use up some Hallertauers that I opened quite a long time ago. Overall, I'm quite happy with how well hops keep in my deep freeze, but those were opened more than a year ago and I wanted to make sure to use them before they were past their prime.
The Recipe:
9 lb 2-row pale malt
12 oz Victory malt
8 oz Cara-Pils
9 AAU (84g @ 3% AA) Hallertauer @ 60
4 AAU (37g @ 3% AA) Hallertauer @ 20
4 AAU (37g @ 3% AA) Hallertauer @ 10
3 AAU (28g @ 3% AA) Hallertauer @ 5
3.75 AAU (35g @ 3% AA) Hallertauer @ 0 (flame-out)
Whirlfloc tablet @ 15
Wyeast 1099 - Whitbread Ale
Mashed at 155° for an hour using about 12.5 quarts of water. The mash was a little higher than I originally intended, but I thought I'd experiment with it rather than bringing it down to a more-typical 152°. Batch-sparged using 165-185° water and collected 6.5 gallons for the boil.
O.G.: 1.052
Est. IBU: 52.8
This was the first batch where I have had a chance to use my new grain mill. I got 74% efficiency, which is OK as long as I can maintain some kind of consistency. I could probably narrow the default gap on the mill to increase efficiency, but I want to establish a few batches' worth of baseline before I go futzing with it. I just used the hand-crank on the mill, but I think going forward I'm going to have to start using a drill or something to turn it -- it's a pretty serious workout.
On Friday I picked up a 50lb sack of 2-row pale malt plus 5 lbs each of Cara-Pils and Victory. I also grabbed four Wyeast smack packs, so now I have all the ingredients I need to brew without having to go to the homebrew shop. Of course, I'm pretty limited with my current grain selection, but I am going to build up a library of grains over the next few weeks so that I can brew pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want. So excited!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Kegging
So, in the last two days I've finished off Hoppy Hefeweizen and the award-winning Noble Mild. Both of these beers were lucky enough to have had every drop dispensed through the new kegerator, which I'm glad to report is still working quite well.
Tonight I kegged Bulldog Brown and Blackacre Special Bitter. Bulldog is really quite good even at this stage; perhaps I will enter it in the Puget Sound Pro-Am next month. Special Bitter is alright, if a little on the malty/sweet side, although it is drier than my last attempt at an ESB. Its malt bill is like 18% crystal-type malts, which really might have been a bit much. It's got a great color, though!
Tonight I kegged Bulldog Brown and Blackacre Special Bitter. Bulldog is really quite good even at this stage; perhaps I will enter it in the Puget Sound Pro-Am next month. Special Bitter is alright, if a little on the malty/sweet side, although it is drier than my last attempt at an ESB. Its malt bill is like 18% crystal-type malts, which really might have been a bit much. It's got a great color, though!
Honorable Mention
So, the Cascade Brewers Cup judging was on Saturday, and the results were released today. I ended up getting Honorable Mention (4th place) for Noble Mild, which isn't too bad. It was in a category with only 13 entries, but the beer which won 1st in my category went on to win Best in Show, so with that kind of competition I can't be too sore.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
It's Milling Time!
Today I took another equipment-related plunge and bought a grain mill. This should help me out in at least three areas: one, I will hopefully be able to attain better and more consistent mash efficiency when I am in control of my own crushing; two, I will be able to buy grain in bulk, which will hopefully save me a little cash; and three, I will be able to do things like toast or smoke my own grain prior to crushing.
Efficiency and convenience are what I'm really after, but it will be cool to have home-crushing ability so that I can brew styles like Grätzer (made from 100% smoked wheat -- definitely not available at my LHBS). I also dream for the day that I have enough ingredients at home so that if I decide to brew, I don't necessarily have to make a special trip to the store. I already have a huge stock of hops at home, so if I buy myself a couple bags of base malt and try to keep a couple varieties of yeast around, I should be golden!
Efficiency and convenience are what I'm really after, but it will be cool to have home-crushing ability so that I can brew styles like Grätzer (made from 100% smoked wheat -- definitely not available at my LHBS). I also dream for the day that I have enough ingredients at home so that if I decide to brew, I don't necessarily have to make a special trip to the store. I already have a huge stock of hops at home, so if I buy myself a couple bags of base malt and try to keep a couple varieties of yeast around, I should be golden!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Two Bails Cream Ale
On Sunday, while recovering from wisdom tooth removal, I mustered the energy to brew up a batch of cream ale. It is named in honor of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, which is going on right now.
The Recipe:
7 lb 6-row malt
1 lb flaked maize
3 AAU (6g @ 14.5% AA) Columbus @ 60
3 AAU (15g @ 5.6% AA) Challenger @ 20
3 AAU (8g @ 10.7% AA) Amarillo @ 5
Whirlfloc tablet @ 15
Wyeast 1056 - American Ale
Mashed at 148° for an hour using 10 quarts of water. Batch-sparged using 160-170° water and collected 6.5 gallons for the boil.
O.G.: 1.036
Est. IBU: 22.2
The idea was for this to be a pretty low-ABV cream ale, so I think I will end up using it as a starter and using its yeast in a couple of IPAs or something. One interesting thing with this brew is that, other than yeast and Irish moss, it is my first time using each of these ingredients. 6-row barley, flaked corn and each of the varieties of hops used are new to me, so hopefully it turns out OK.
In other news, batch #35, Noble Mild, took 4th place in the Cascade Brewers Cup. There is no prize for 4th, but I do get an honorable mention. So, that's something!
The Recipe:
7 lb 6-row malt
1 lb flaked maize
3 AAU (6g @ 14.5% AA) Columbus @ 60
3 AAU (15g @ 5.6% AA) Challenger @ 20
3 AAU (8g @ 10.7% AA) Amarillo @ 5
Whirlfloc tablet @ 15
Wyeast 1056 - American Ale
Mashed at 148° for an hour using 10 quarts of water. Batch-sparged using 160-170° water and collected 6.5 gallons for the boil.
O.G.: 1.036
Est. IBU: 22.2
The idea was for this to be a pretty low-ABV cream ale, so I think I will end up using it as a starter and using its yeast in a couple of IPAs or something. One interesting thing with this brew is that, other than yeast and Irish moss, it is my first time using each of these ingredients. 6-row barley, flaked corn and each of the varieties of hops used are new to me, so hopefully it turns out OK.
In other news, batch #35, Noble Mild, took 4th place in the Cascade Brewers Cup. There is no prize for 4th, but I do get an honorable mention. So, that's something!
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