Review: The Search for God and Guinness

Guinness has been one of the most popular beers in the world for over 250 years.  There have been many rumors and stories told about Arthur and his family about how they brewed to save the world from whiskey among other things.  Some of the legend is true, some of it is not (isn't that how most legends are?).

Stephen Mansfield takes us on a journey through Guinness history with the tilt of looking at how God and theology played a part in the Guinness story.  Mansfield looks at Arthur's Protestant faith in a county that was devoutly Catholic.  He shows us how his children went various ways, some into brewing and some into ministry.  He shows how the Guinness' faith always played a part in creating an atmosphere at the brewery of compassion, care, and rebuilding Dublin into the thriving world city it is today.

Mansfield does a solid job of telling the Guinness story and weaving it into their faith and beliefs.  While I would have liked to have found out more about the business, the brewing, and the backgrounds of Guinness, that was not Mansfield's goal.  He accomplishes his goal of showing how an unwavering faith in God is not only compatible, but also benefited with beer (in moderation of course).

You can buy a copy through Amazon here if you'd like.  Buying through this site supports me!  I received nothing for reviewing this book, but I can receive if you shop through the link.  Thanks!

New Feature

So I've added a link at to the right of the page which takes you to a store on Amazon.  I put some things on there that may be helpful when brewing, especially if you're just getting started.  I'll add stuff as I think of it or come across useful things.  I hope this is helpful!  Whenever you shop through this link or the Amazon link below, it costs you nothing extra and helps support me!  I appreciate it!

Oatmeal Stout

Man, I really like a good oatmeal stout.  Especially when it's winter and it's an oatmeal stout I made.  A side note...I found a couple bottles of the first oatmeal stout I brewed in the fridge at my in-laws on Thanksgiving from last February.  I figured they weren't going to be finishing them, so I took them and enjoyed one and gave one to a friend who may like it more than I do!  They were delicious!

This is my fourth time brewing a variant of this recipe now, and it keeps on tasting awesome!  This is by far my most recurring recipe, which is interesting since I'm usually not too big on stouts these days...I guess I come up with too many IPA recipe's that are totally awesome!

Recipe:
5.5 gallon

Grain:
12.65# GW 2-Row
.65# Crystal 120L
.65# Chocolate (dark patagonia again!)
.3# Bairds Roasted Barley
.85# Flaked Oats

Hops:
.75oz Cascade (10.2%) for 75m
.75oz Cascade (10.2%) for 60m
1oz Cascade (6%) for 30m
1oz Cascade (65) for 1m
(note the two different alpha percentages)

Yeast:
Wyeast Pacman Slurry

Notes:
First time brewing this where I didn't have any problems or issues.  Original gravity came in at 1.072 (target was 1.074-close enough).  This was the second of two batches that I brewed today.  I prefer doing it this way because I can brew two batches in one day in about 6-6 1/2 hours instead of doing two separate batches of 4-4 1/2 hours each.  Way better.  I think I'll do it this way from here out and not have to take as many days brewing.
Update 11/28/11: Nothing happening in the fermenter.  I'm going to pitch a 1056 slurry in there.  Not sure what happened to the Pacman slurry I used.
Update 12/16/11: Bottled.  FG was 1.016.  Got 18 22's and 23 12's.  Not too bad a haul.

Blind Pig Clone

So I really like Blind Pig.  My wife likes Blind Pig even more.  So, this is my attempt at making it.  I searched some recipes online and then came up with my own based on those and on the info on the Russian River site.  We'll see how this turns out...Hopefully it's awesome!

Recipe:
5.5 gallons

Grain:
10.5# GW 2-Row
1.2# Crystal 40L
.5# Briess White Wheat
.5# Carapils

Hops:
1.25oz CTZ @60m (16.7%)
1oz Cascade @ 30m (6%)
1oz Cascade @ 15m (6%)
1oz Centennial @ 2m (10%)
.5oz Simcoe @ 2m (13%)

1oz Simcoe for 7 Days Dry-hop
1oz Centennial for 7 Days Dry-hop
1oz Cascade for 7 Days Dry-hop

Yeast: 
1056 Slurry

Notes:
I brewed two batches today (this was the second) and things went well.  Partially sunny day as well (rare for Portland in November).  Hit my marks all around.  Originally Gravity was 1.062 (target was 1.063).
Update 11/28/11: Nothing happened for a couple days, but now there's a ton of foam on the surface and it's fermenting away.  I came closer to the 5.5 gallon amount this time (instead of the 6+ gallons I'd been getting lately) so it's not flowing out the top, which is nice not to have to clean.
Update 12/16/11: Racked to secondary and added the dry hops.  FG was 1.016.
Update 1/27/12: Holy Cow!  This was sooo goood.  Started enjoying this on Christmas Day, and finished it off probably in about 10 days.  Man oh Man, you should brew this!

Heavenly Storehouses Laden With Snow

Christmas Ale time!  This being the first Christmas I am brewing means that this will be my first attempt at a Christmas Ale. I'm not doing any spices in this though as I don't want to screw it up and ruin it.  I loosely based the recipe off Widmer's Brrrr, although I don't know if I've had that one at all.  I just liked the malts in their recipe and the hops used, so it seemed like a good route to go.

The name of the recipe comes from the song "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin, who got the lyric line from Job 38:22.  My wife thought that that was a really silly line before she found out it was from the Bible.  She still thinks it's silly, but at least it's biblical this way.  So since it refers to storehouses of snow and when I think of snow I think of Christmas, it seemed fitting.  Now if only it would snow here for Christmas...

Recipe:
5.5 Gallon

Grain:
9.5lb GW 2-Row
1.75lb Crystal 15L
1.5lb Crystal 75L
1.1lb Munich Light
1lb Carapils
.25lb Chocolate (Patagonia Light-a new tasty one they got at Brew Bros.)

Hops:
1.5oz Cascade (10.2%!!) for 90m
1oz Cascade (6%) for 30m
1oz Simcoe (13%) for 30m
1oz Cascade (6%) for 1m
1oz Simcoe (13%) for 1m

2oz Cascade (6%) for 7 days dry hop
1oz Simcoe (13%) for 7 days dry hop

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Notes:
Smooth brewing day.  Less that four hours from setup to cleanup.  Gravity came it right at 1.069, which was a little low, but I'm not overly worried.  If the FG comes in below 1.020 then I'll hit my marks just fine.  I'm really liking brewing on the porch as I don't feel so disconnected from my family when I do brew since they're usually in the front room so it's nice being able to play with the kids while brewing!
Update 11/20/11:  So the yeast I used from my yeast supply didn't do anything so after about three days I dumped the wort into another bucket, tried to keep out the bad yeast (I didn't try to hard though) and added the new 1968 Wyeast London Ale Yeast.  Fermentation is going well.  I'll transfer in a couple days.
Update 11/23/11: Gravity is at 1.030, so this needs a few more days.  I shook up the bucket so hopefully that will help.  Flavor was really good though.  Spicy, yet smooth.  This should be great!
Update 11/26/11: Racked to secondary and added the dry hops.  FG was 1.024.
Update 1/27/12: Bottled this a while back and kegged about 2 1/2 gallons.  I'll save some for the long haul so I can try this again in five or ten years.  Flavor was very complex.  It was great with food and pretty good on it's own.  I'll probably not brew this again, but it was very good.

Lagering Up For Winter

So now that the weather is cooler it's time to break into the lagers.  The cooler temps needed to ferment make this a great one to make in the fall/winter/early spring around here.  This is actually my first attempt at a lager, so I'm excited to see how this turns out.  I fashioned a recipe loosely based on a Kona Longboard Lager and gave it a go.  I plan on racking this to secondary in a week or two and then putting it on the back porch for a month or two (so long as it doesn't get below about 30 at night).

Recipe:

Grains:
7.5# GW 2-Row
2.2# Briess Red Wheat

Hops:
1oz Mt Hood for 60m
1oz Hallertau for 30m
1oz Hallertau for 1m

Yeast:
Wyeast California Lager from Old Dirty Randy.

Notes:
Nice and smooth brew day.  Getting my groove on here at the new house and it's nice to brew on the porch.  Free from rain and easy to watch football while I brew.  OG was 1.052.  FG should be about 1.015ish to make this about 5%.  Hopefully this will be ready for Christmas (although this isn't the holiday ale I'm planning on doing).
Update 11/20/11:  Racked to secondary and put it on the back porch.  I'll deal with it again in 6-8 weeks.  OG 1.014.  ABV is around 5%, right on target.  Flavor is good, although I know that the lagering process will add and age the flavor.
Update 12/16/11: Tasted.  Clear, crisp, and tasty.  I'll keg this once a keg opens up, probably in a couple weeks.
Update 1/7/12: Kegged plus 8 12oz bottles.  I can't wait to try this!
Update 1/27/12: This is ok.  Nothing great, however it is fantastic when mixed with an oatmeal stout (Othello at the Horse Brass anyone?).

The IPA Showdown

So the time has come to compare the two Experiment IPA's.  On the left is the Experiment #2 (referred to as "Dry Hop IPA") and on the right is Experiment #1 (referred to as "Non-Dry Hop IPA").  To refresh you these were two IPA's made with the same grain and hop ingredients.  The only difference was the addition of the hops.  One was all added during the boiling stage and the second has less boiling hops and added some dry hops.  Same amount of total hops used of the same varieties.  So here's the results:




Aroma/Smell:
#1: Pretty basic IPA smell.  Not overpowering, but not too light either.
#2: Much more aroma.  I can pick up some floral and piney aroma's.  Much more robust in it's smell (if it's possible to have more robust aroma?)

Taste:
#1: Smooth, classic IPA taste.  Very similar to what you would expect from a larger micro-brewery IPA.  Good mouthfeel.  Can pick up some of the aroma flavors.  Enjoyable.
#2: Much more flavor.  While a little less bitter, it has much more flavor and mouthfeel.  Reminds me of a Lagunitas IPA.  The floral and piney flavors come through much more.

The Bottom Lines:
#1: This is a classic tasting IPA.  Something you would expect from Deschutes or Widmer.  Great flavor, very enjoyable IPA.  If you're looking for a cheap great tasting IPA that will appeal to the masses, brew this.
#2: This has much more the flavor and aroma of a smaller micro-brewery IPA.  Think of Lagunitas IPA or a lighter version of a Green Flash IPA.  This adds a lot to the aroma and flavor of the IPA.

Which do I prefer?
Between the two I really prefer the second because of the aroma and extra flavors that come through in the Dry-Hop process.  They're very similar, but side by side, you can really pick up the dry-hop process and the extra flavor that comes from that.  Ideally I'll add more hops to the boil and then even more to the dry-hopping to really max out the hop flavor!

Bonus Section:
I combined the two to see how they would taste.  They taste much more like #2 so the Dry-Hops really do stand up among the competition!

Cascade Pale Ale

I've had way too many IPA's brewing lately (wait, is that even possible?) so I decided to scale back and brew up a classic Pale Ale.  This is loosely based on a Mirror Pond (similar grain and cascade hops) but it's a made up recipe from my head.  I really love me some Cascade hops, especially when I'm using some of the 5 pounds worth I got for $30.  In case you're wondering, that's less than half of what normal retail is for these.

I switched from brewing on the side of the house after my buddy Scott (www.beanbotbrew.blogspot.com) noticed that the ceiling on my porch looked like it was probably high enough to brew under.  After check that out, I agreed and moved to the porch.  Way better.  Plus I can watch college football from there while brewing.  Talk about living large!

So here's the details that you're dying to know:



Grains:
10lb GW 2-Row
1.65lb Crystal 60L
1lb Carapils

Hops:
1.5oz Cascade @ 60m
1.25oz Cascade @ 15m
1oz Cascade @ 1m

Yeast:
Recent slurry of Wyeast 1056

Notes:
Brewing on the porch is awesome, other than having to haul the brew tree from the backyard.  Great weather that day as well.  One of my propane tanks is busted now, the top valve is somehow not functioning properly, so that's a real bummer.  I also created a new airlock for my bucket fermenter.  I hate the overflow of yeast and stuff on the tops of my buckets so I reverted to a hose in a bucket of water method.  I simply added a hose to the stem of a busted airlock and put that into a bucket of water.  Works much better for primary fermenting than a regular airlock or just a hose.  Keeps the seal tighter.

Update 11/20/11: This turned out great.  Good crisp flavor and a smooth body.  Quite a tasty pale ale.

The IPA Experiment, Part 2

So this was the second round of the IPA Experiment.  Luckily my good buddy The Stokska came by today to hang out and help me brew.  Everything went pretty smooth.  I'm still getting used to brewing with the new setup, setup being the side of my house.

Today was the aroma emphasis IPA.  Pretty much the same as the last recipe, I'm just adjusting the hop additions.  Here's the details.

Grain:
12lb GW 2-Row
1.5lb Crystal 40L
1lb Carapils

Hops:
1oz CTZ @ 60m
.5oz CTZ @ 30m
1oz Simcoe @ 1m

Dryhop 1oz Simcoe for 7 days in secondary

Yeast:
New pack of Wyeast 1056

Notes:
Smooth brewing.  OG was 1.064, which I think was right on target.

The IPA Experiment, Part 1

So in brewing I usually finish the IPA's much faster than anything else in my supply, so I'm constantly brewing and giving away IPA's.  In the next couple batches I'm going to really test the ingredient process in my IPA's.  While I have a feeling and a hunch on how this will turn out, I figured I would try it anyways.  What I'm doing is brewing two IPA's with the same ingredients, but varying the hop addition times.  This first batch is the bitter version, the second will be the aroma addition.

This IPA has four ounces of hops, all put in during various times of the boil.  The second will have less bittering additions and more aroma/dry hop additions.  So here's the details on round one:

Grain:
12 lb GW 2-Row
1.5 lb Crystal 40L
1 lb Carapils

Hops:
1.5oz CTZ @ 60m
.5oz CTZ @ 30m
1oz Simcoe @ 5m
1oz Simcoe @ flameout

Yeast:
New packet of Wyeast 1056

Notes:
First brew day at the new house.  Not quite a luxurious as the old house (no garage at the new place), but still works well.  Took about 4 1/2 hours.  Only downside is I forgot to take a OG reading, but the pre boil was on target at 1.052, so I'm guessing final was probably about 1.062ish.  That's the one kink in my plan.  Oh well.  I'll try to brew the next batch this week.

Hop Harvest Part 2

The Bines at the Heitschmidt's.

So I went over to Ryan and Nikki's house to harvest the hops we planted out there.  Granted I had picked about 6oz of wet hops a couple weeks ago.  So the totals I got dried from our harvest this year is the following:

2 Hallertau Bines: .5oz
2 Centennial Bines: 1oz
2 Cascade Bines: 3oz

Next year we're going to plant another 6-12 bones to boost our numbers (plus Ryan and Nikki really love having the hops so they want to have more!).  Hopefully after a few years we'll start pulling the 1 pound or more per bine!

Hop Harvest Part One

The bounty on the trellises.

So my neighbors had planted hops to go over their trellises a few years ago and haven't ever used them for anything except shade and great aesthetics.  They had offered me free reign of them for brewing purposes so today I started the harvest.  I picked about 17 gallons today in about 2 hours.  There's probably another 50-70 gallons available to be picked.  I think they're mostly cascade, although we're not certain on that.  I put them on a couple screens in my blazing hot attic as well as in my grain dryer outside.  Hopefully they get good and dried out by tomorrow so I can pick more.  Now to just find someone with a vacuum sealer so I can package them.  Here's some pics of the harvest.

A portion of a bucket full.

Drying on the grain dryer.  

Tara-Dact-Ale round 2 and a bonus!

It was time for another IPA so I reverted to good old Tara-Dact-Ale since it was soooo good last time.  I had to modify the recipe since I messed up buying the hops.  I was trying to double the recipe in my head at the brewing store and I didn't buy enough hops.  Oh well, luckily I have a good supply in my freezer!

Recipe:
11 gallon batch (to split)

Grain:
22lb GW 2-Row
6.6lb Maris Otter
3.3lb Crystal 40L
2.2lb Carapils

Hops:
3.5oz CTZ for 75m
1.5oz Centennial for 75m
2oz Amarillo for 10m
2oz Simcoe for 10m
3oz Simcoe for 1m
.5oz Centennial for 1m

I'll do 2oz Simcoe and 2oz Centennial for 7 days dry hopped

Yeast:
1056 Slurry

Notes:
I ended up not being able to fit the entire grain amount and strike water in the mash so I used less water on the strike and then added water to the sparge.  It seemed to work out ok.  I still hit my gravities perfectly.  However I did end up with like 2 gallons extra from the sparge, so I added another gallon of water through the mash tun and got about 3 gallons.  I then added an ounce of Amarillo and boiled for about 45m.  I added an ounce of Simcoe towards the end for aroma.  Hopefully I get a couple gallons of bonus beer!  Original Gravity for main batch was 1.082, gravity for bonus batch was 1.042 (session beer!).
Update 9/13/11: Racked one bucket to secondary and added dry hops: 1oz Centennial and 2oz of Simcoe, cause more Simcoe is always better!  Gravity was 1.016 for an ABV of 8.7%!  The other bucket needed a few more days.  I think it was because of the warmer weather we had and the buckets were in the garage.  The Bonus Beer was also racked to secondary with an ounce of my neighbors hops thrown in for more flavor.  I'm pretty sure it's cascade.

Sierra Nevada Pale Round 2

So I tried the Sierra Nevada again today.  This time I dropped to Crystal 40L instead of the 60L to try to get the color a little closer.  I also used fresh Cascade hops for the flameout aroma addition.  Everything went smooth, although it took 6 hours since I was doing a double batch.  I ended up with close to 12.5 to 13 gallons fermenting.  This will nicely fill my keg, fill 48 bottles for my neighbor, and still leave me with a supply to give away to friends!

Recipe:
25lb GW 2-Row
1.65lb Crystal 40L

Hops:
1.5oz CTZ for 60m
.5oz Warrior for 30m
1oz Fresh Cascade for 10m
4oz Fresh Cascade at flameout for 10m

Yeast:
1056 Wyeast slurry that keeps on going!

Extras:
2tsp Irish Moss @10m

Notes:
Gravity came in at 1.062.  It was supposed to be 1.063, so I'll take it!  Smooth brewing day, other than ending up with about a gallon more than anticipated.  Maybe I need to lengthen my boils to 75m.
Update 9/4/11: Kegged my portion and got 12 12oz bottles with it.  It's pretty cloudy, but really tasty.  I also bottled my neighbors portion and got 48 12's for him and another 18 12's for me!  Nice thing about having too much, I get to give some away now! FG on my batch was 1.011, and 1.016 on the other half.

Black Eye PA

I ran out of stout after giving most of a keg to some friends for their housewarming party, so I needed to brew something dark to keep on tap.  I was really psyched on how this turned out last time, so I'm repeating that recipe.

RECIPE 
(click the link, I didn't feel like retyping it!)

Notes:
Brewed on August 4 in the afternoon.  A nice sunny warm day!  Gravity came in at about 1.061 (I think).  It was supposed to be a little higher, but oh well.  Close enough.  Everything went smooth, including drying the grain which will next move on to become chicken feed.  Fermenting was fast, it's probably almost ready for secondary.  I'll check it tonight or tomorrow.
Update 8/21/11: Racked to secondary and added 1oz of Centennial and 1oz of Simcoe.  Gravity was at 1.012, making this about 6.1% ABV.  While it was supposed to be a little higher, I prefer most of the brews I make to come in between 5% and 6%.

Workhorse IPA Clone

The other day I stopped into Belmont Station hoping they had Pliny the Elder (which they just happened to start selling five minutes before I got there-they only have it for about 3 hours a month before selling out so it really was a lucky stop for me).  I went to pay, but only had my debit card and there's a five dollar minimum, so I had to get something else.  I grabbed a bottle of Workhorse IPA from Laurelwood Brewing and bought that as well.  Since I ended up with a bottle of that, I figured I should brew it (recipe mostly from Old Dirty Randy) since I had close to what the grain bill was and had the hops on hand since I usually try to keep a large supply of hops (cheaper to buy in bulk).  So I'm brewing a clone of a beer I haven't had since I had a bottle of it, so I can compare the two afterwards.  Pretty good story huh?





Grain Bill:
14lb 2-Row
2lb Crystal 40L
1lb Carapils

Boil Hop Bill:
1.5oz CTZ for 60m
1.5oz Amarillo for 30m
2oz Cascade for 10m
2oz Simcoe for 5m

Dry Hops:
.5oz CTZ for 7 days
.5 Amarillo for 7 days
2oz Simcoe for 7 days

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 slurry that keeps on giving

Extras:
1tsp Irish Moss @ 15m

Notes:
Smooth brewing.  Gravity came in at 1.070 (should have been 1.080ish, oh well).  Fermentation is going crazy.  Good to brew again after over a month, especially on a nice 75 degree summer day.
Update 8/6/11: Racked to secondary and added the dry hops.  I ran out of Cascade though, so I upped the Amarillo.  FG 1.011.  Final ABV 7.5%.
Taste Update: Very tasty.  I'll do a side by side in about a week once this clears up a bit.  This is a nice florally hoppy beer that's smooth and enjoyable.
Side By Side: So I finally cracked open the 22 to see what this is supposed to taste like since I hadn't had it before.  So here's the breakdown:

Color: The Workhorse is a little lighter, but it's somewhat close.
Aroma: Very similar.  The Workhorse is a little hoppier smelling (probably since it's from the bottle).
Flavor:  Very, very similar.  The Workhorse it a little bit maltier, but it's really close.
The Bottom Line: I really nailed it.  Thanks Old Dirty!

Update 11/20/11: So Laurelwood is no longer brewing this.  This recipe really turned out close flavor wise, so if you're jonesing for a Workhorse, make this and enjoy!  I hope to make this again soon!

Bitter American 3.0

This is my third time brewing this.  I really like this brew.  I altered it some more after looking at 21A's webiste.  This is a strait up attempt at cloning their Bitter American Session Bitter Ale.  It's quite tasty.  I altered it quite a bit this time, so hopefully it's closer!  I wanted more of a malt taste this time so I upped the Golden Promise up quite a bit.  Also, Brew Brothers' new grain mill is working way better.  My efficiencies today were up to close to 80%!  I came in a couple points over expected gravity as opposed to being under like I have been for the last who knows how many batches.  So without further ado, here's the recipe:

5.5 Gallon Recipe

Grains:
6lb Simpsons Golden Promise
3lb GW 2-Row
2lb Munich Light
.5lb Crystal 40L

Hops:
1oz Warrior Pellet for 60m
.25oz Warrior Pellet for 30m
.5oz Cascade Leaf for 30m
1oz Cascade Leaf for 5m

1.5oz Centennial leaf  Dry Hop for 7 days in secondary
2oz Simcoe leaf Dry Hop for 7 days in secondary

Extras:
1tsp Irish Moss at 15m

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 Slurry

Notes: Brewing was super easy again.  I was able to get some reading done while waiting for each stage to finish.  Gravity was supposed to come in at 1.053, it was actually 1.056, so my efficiency is way better.  Must be that new grain mill.  This should get down to around 1.012 or so for a final ABV of around 5%.  This will be an awesome summer evening ale to sit on the patio and thank God for how good he is.
Update 7/2/11: Racked to secondary and added 2oz of Simcoe and about .5oz of Centennial.  It was supposed to have 1.5oz of Centennial, but I only had .5oz left.  I'm sure it will still taste awesome!  Final Gravity was 1.011 giving the final ABV of 5.8%.  That's a lot higher than I wanted, so next time I'll back off the Golden Promise by about a pound.  Oh well, so goes the brewing life.
Update 7/8/11: Kegged plus a 22.
Tasting Update: I really like this.  It has a bigger malt taste thanks to the increase in the Golden Promise.  My wife isn't as big of a fan, so more for me I guess.  Next time I'll scale back the Golden Promise to 4.5 or 5 pounds to lower the malt for my wife as well as to lower the ABV.  Overall, another successful brew!
Second Tasting Update:  This has aged very nicely.  This is a fantastic ale.  Highly recommend brewing this!

Trixie 2.0

So the Happy Birthday Aunt Trixie was a huge success, especially to my wife.  She was really psyched on it and started to give me some flack about giving it away, so I told her I would brew up some more.  So here it is.  I modified it a bit from the original, but it's pretty similar.

Recipe:

5.5 Gallons

Grain:

10 lb GW 2-Row

Hops:

.6oz Nugget Pellets from Old Dirty Randy for 60m

Yeast:

1056 Slurry that keeps on giving

Extras:

1tsp Irish Moss at 15m
I'll add 24oz of boiled and strained Raspberries when I rack to secondary.

Notes:

The new grain mill at Brew Brothers must be doing it's thing because I was back to 75% efficiency today.  That means that instead of 4.2ish % ABV, I got 5%.  Still a decent session summery ale, so I'm happy with that.  OG was 1.052.  FG should be about 1.013 for the 5% mark.  Everything went super smooth as well.  Total brew time was about 4 hours.  Sunny day as well.  Perfect Brew Day!
Update 6/25/11: Racked to secondary and added the raspberries.  I boiled 24oz for about 1/2 hour and then strained out the chunks and added the raspberry juice/extract to the brew.  Forgot to get a final gravity.  I'm assuming it was around 1.012ish.

Pliny the Elder Clone

So it's time to jump on the homebrewing bandwagon and brew up some Pliny.  This is definitely a great tasting IPA with a ton of hop flavor.  I'll hopefully pit it against the Tara-dact-Ale (supposing I have some left by the time the Pliny is done) and see which is better.  I'll be brewing this tomorrow which is supposed to be a great day and the start of a great weekend which means I'll be able to dry the grain and get it into some chickens who will turn it into eggs.

Pliny was the guy who first identified hops and gave them a scientific name back in the first century.  What a great guy!

Recipe:
5.5 gallons

Grain:
15lb GW 2-Row
.7lb Carapils
.7lb Crystal 40L (supposed to be 50L, but oh well)

Hops:
3oz CTZ for 90m
.75oz CTZ for 45m
1oz Simcoe for 30m
1oz Centennial for 0m
2.5oz Simcoe for 0m

1oz CTZ for 10 days in secondary
1oz Centennial for 10 days in secondary
1oz Simcoe for 10 days in secondary
.25 CTZ for 5 days in secondary
.25 Centennial for 5 days in secondary
.25 Simcoe for 5 days in secondary

Extras:
1lb Dextrose for 90m in boil
1tsp Irish Moss for 15m in boil

Yeast:
1056 Slurry

Anticipated Results:
OG: 1.084
FG: 1.021
ABV: 8.3%
IBU: 127

I'll post updates as stuff happens as usual.
Brewing Update: Gravity came in way too low.  Hopefully the new grain mill at BrewBros will help fix this problem.  Rumor is that the old one wasn't cracking the grain as well as the new one does.  OG is 1.062.  So this will come in way below the targets...oh well.  Everything else was nice and smooth.  Total time was about 4 1/2 hours, not too bad for a 90 minute boil.
Update 6/7/11: Gravity at 1.022.  I'll give it to the weekend to try to drop a little more.  I'd like it to end up in the 1.014-1.017 range.
Update 6/12/11: Racked to secondary and added first round of dry hops.  One ounce each of CTZ, Centennial, and Simcoe.  Gravity was at 1.011.  Super bitter flavor, this should be good!
Update 6/19/11: Added another .25oz of CTZ and Centennial.  I was also supposed to add .25 of Simcoe, but I added .5oz of Simcoe.  After all, what's better than .25oz of Simcoe?  .5 oz of Simcoe.
Update 6/22/11: Racked to keg.

Bachelor ESB Clone

I wanted to do another hop filled creation, but didn't want a full on IPA, so I went with it's distant cousin, the ESB.  I've enjoyed Bachelor ESB from Deschutes Brewing before, so I figured I'd give this a shot.  I screwed up the hop bill though and somehow bought Tettnanger instead of East Kent Goldings.  Not sure how I did that, but oh well.  Hopefully it turns out.

Recipe:
5.5 gallons

Grain Bill:
10lb      GW 2-Row
1.75lb   Crystal 40L
.85lb     Munich Light
.85lb     Carapils

Hops:
1.75oz  Amarillo @ 60m
1oz       Nugget @ 30m
2oz       Tettnanger @ 2m (should have done 1oz East Kent Goldings, but since I got the wrong one I got upset at myself and threw them all in).

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London Ale Slurry from Old Dirty Randy

Extras:
1tsp Irish Moss @ 15m

Details:
Anticipated OG: 1.062
Anticipated FG: 1.019
IBU: 65
SRM: 10.5
Strike: 5 gallons @ 165 (collected just over 3 gallons)
Sparge: 3.9 gallons @ 181 (collected just under 4 gallons)

Notes:
A smooth brewing day.  I racked the Black Beauty and my half of the Breakfast Stout (1056 version) to a keg while I finished off the Chico's Export from the keg.  Good timing on that.  Didn't hit my gravity again despite moving my calculations to 70% from 75%.  I'll have to research some more to figure that out.  OG: 1.052.
Update 6/2/11: Racked to secondary.  Gravity was 1.017.
Update 6/9/11: Bottled.  8 22's and 40 12's.
Update 6/22/11: Sampled a couple bottles last night with my wife.  It's really good.  Good hop flavor and a smooth body.  This is a great inbetween of a pale ale and an IPA.

Breakfast in a Bottle, Round 3.

So I really love this stout.  The oatmeal, the dark malt, the Cascade hops...everything is really good.  So I made another 11 gallon batch, half of it going to my buddy Scott who was jonesing for a dark beer for a good price.  That's where I come in.  So the recipe is pretty similar as the previous incarnation of this, however it's adjusted to account for 11 gallons instead of 10.  The 11 gives a more realistic target of four 24 packs.

Recipe:
11 Gallons.

Grain Bill:
25.3 lb GW 2-Row
1.65 lb Oatmeal (Flaked)
1.1 lb Crystal 120L
1.1 lb Chocolate Malt
.55 Barley (Roasted)

Hop Bill:
2.25 oz Cascade for 90m
2 oz Cacade for 60m
2.5 oz Cascade for 30m
2.25 oz Cascade for 0m

Yeast:
1056 Slurry in one
Pacman slurry in the other
(I'm hoping to see if there's a difference between the two)

Extras:
2tsp Irish Moss for 15m

Specs:
Pre-boil Gravity: 1.050
Post-boil Gravity: 1.061
IBU: 44

Mash: 11.1 gallons @ 163 for 60m
Sparge: 6.3 gallons @ 184-double sparged

Notes:
Everything we smoothly up until boil time.  I had sold my old boil keggle to my buddy since I had another keg I could convert.  I decided that the best time to convert it would be during the mash.  Great idea until the rubber seal broke on the new boil keggle and then I had to run to the hardware store to pick up some more.  But now it's working and working well!  But something about making this stout that leads to problems I guess.  Oh well, it's worth it.
Update 5/23/11: 1056 slurry is at 1.018 and the Pacman slurry is at 1.020.  No discernable taste difference that I can pick up.  I'll give this another couple days to ferment and then I'll bottle it (although I might do a secondary, but I'm not sure yet).
Update 5/27/11: Racked the 1056 to a keg and got 2 22's.  I'll bottle Scott's half in a day or two.
Update 5/29/11: Bottled the Pacman half for Scott.  Got 48 12's for him and 4 22's for me.  I always love it when there's more than 5 gallons in the batch!

Grain Dryer

I did a little research and found out that spent grain is pretty much perfect chicken feed.  I don't have chickens, but I do have a few friends with chickens so I built up a drying rack for the grain that I can leave outside and dry the grain.  It was rotting out before the chickens could eat it all, so hopefully this will do the trick.

I found a 4 foot by 8 foot frame on my sideyard (it's nice living somewhere where there's lots of free stuff!) and so I reinforced it and put some window mesh on the inside to allow airflow and drainage.  

Here's what it looks like.  The corners and frame was existing, so this was pretty easy.  We'll see how it works and hopefully the grain gets used up even more and turns into eggs.

Update: The chickens evidently love the grain.  I guess they may even have to separated when they eat cause one of them gets violent over it.  Good to know the grain is used again!

Black Beauty IPA

I've been wanting to brew up a black/cascade style IPA for a while now.  I've only had a couple different styles, but one that stood out was the Back in Black by 21st Amendment in San Francisco.  Looking at their website, I got a good idea of the recipe, but I figured I'd try to get some details so I emailed the brewery.  Luckily Nico, one of the founders and head brewers emailed me back with some more info.  So I'll list the grain in percentages instead of pounds since that's what Nico sent me.  So here's my take on a Back in Black clone recipe.  Nico, if you see this, thank you!








Recipe:
5.5 gallons

Grains:
78% 2-Row
12% Munich Light
6% Munich 45L
4% Carafa De-Husked Dark Malt

Mashed 5.3 gallons @ 163 and got 3.4 gallons
Sparged 3.7 gallons @ 182 and got 3.6 gallons

Hop Bill:
1.5oz Columbus for 60m
.5oz Columbus for 10m
1oz Centennial for 5m

Dry Hop 1oz Simcoe for 7 days in secondary
Dry Hop 1oz Centennial for 7 days in secondary

Extras:
1tsp Irish Moss for 15m

Notes:
Didn't quite hit my targets again.  I wanted to end up @ 1.070 and ended up at 1.056.  Hopefully the FG ends up lower so the ABV is closer to the target.  I'll figure it out eventually I reckon.  Easy brew day though.
Update 5/18/11: Gravity is at 1.020.  I'll give it another day or two and then rack to secondary and add the dry hops.
Update 5/21/11: Racked to secondary and added 1oz of Simcoe and 1.25oz of Centennial.  Free floating leaf hops.  Should be good.  FG: 1.014.
Update: 5/27/11: Racked to a keg.  I'll charge it and tap it tomorrow.  Update coming then on the flavor of this one.
Tasting Update: I think I got this really close to the original.  I still need to do a side by side, but this has a great flavor with that roasted aftertaste.  The hop flavor is strong, but smooth.  If you're wanting a Black IPA, then make this.  You won't regret it.
Side-By-Side Update: So I picked up a six pack of this to do a side by side comparison.  I've got to say, I really prefer the one I brewed.  But here's the rundown:

Taste: The 21A version has a very dark, smokey, and roasted flavor.  My version has those elements, although much more subdued.  This is the primary reason I prefer my version.

Hops: Almost identical.  I think I really nailed this part.

Color: Identical.

Body/Head: Better head on the 21A.  Same body/mouthfeel between the two.

The Bottom Line: If you want a real roasted, dark, smokey version then get 21A's. If you want a real smooth dark IPA, then come on over to my house before it's gone!

Tara-dact-Ale IPA

My super awesome wife has wanted a beer named after her, so here it is.  This is a slight revision from a previous recipe, the CBHC Double IPA.  She loved the CBHC, so I've revised it and changed the name to let people know how awesome my wife is.  I added some Maris Otter to try to up the maltiness to make it more of an imperial IPA and changed the hop bill slightly to go with what I had in the freezer.  Otherwise, this is very similar.

Recipe:
5.5 gallon

Grain Bill:
11 lb GW 2-Row
3.3lb Maris Otter
1.65 lb Crystal 40L
1.1lb Carapils

Mashed 6.4 gallons @ 163 for an hour
Triple Sparged 3 gallons @ 188
Got 4.3 gallons from mash and 3 gallons from sparge.
Boiled down almost perfectly to 5.5 gallons.
Broke my hydrometer the other day, so no gravity readings.
Theoretical Gravities (according to Brewpal):
OG: 1.085
FG: 1.021
IBU: 109


Hop Bill:
1.75oz Colombus for 60m
.75oz Centennial for 60m
1.25 Colombus for 10m
1.25 Centennial for 10m
1 oz Simcoe for 10m
1 oz Simcoe for 1m
2 oz Centennial for 1m

Dry hop for 7 days in secondary:
1.25 oz Centennial
1 oz Simcoe

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 slurry

Others:
Meant to put in 1tsp of Irish Moss, then forgot.

Notes:
Super easy brew day again.  4 1/2 hours start to finish, including clean up.  Other than not having a hydrometer, no problems.  Even Jack wasn't too hard to handle.  I have the grain drying on some old window screens so it won't rot in a bucket as it waits for Gregg's chickens to eat it.
So I got a hydrometer and measured this about 24 hours after fermentation started and it was at about 1.050, so I figure it was somewhere between 1.065 and 1.080 to start.  We'll never know though...
Update 5/15/11: Gravity at 1.018.  Still a ton of foam at the surface from the fermenting, so another couple days until I'll rack to secondary.
Update 5/18/11: Racked to secondary and added 1.25oz of Centennial and 1oz of Simcoe.  I skipped the bag again and I'm letting them free float.  FG: 1.016.
Update 5/23/11: Kegged and added 1oz of Simcoe to the keg.  Let's hope this is hopped to the max!  I'll let this chill until tomorrow and then quick charge it so I can hopefully tap the keg tomorrow night.
Update 5/25/11: Man, this is probably my best yet.  Super hoppy and lots of flavor.  I had to clean out the stem and the lid of loose hops that got stuck though...I may have to rethink that idea in the future.

Happy B-Day Aunt Trixie

I usually don't like to brew fruity beers, since I don't really like to drink fruity beers.  However, my little sister in law turns 21 in June, so I'm going to break down and brew her a McMenamin's Ruby Clone, which is a raspberry pale ale.  I should be brewing this tomorrow morning.

Recipe:
5.5 gallons

Grains:
8.8lbs GW 2-Row

Hops:
I think I'll use like .5oz of Colombus for 60minutes.

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 slurry that keeps on giving.

Anticipated Results:
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.036
Post-Boil Gravity: 1.044
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV: 4.4%
IBU: 21

Extras:
I'll boil about 2 pounds of raspberries and strain the extract and add to secondary.  That way it won't affect the gravity or add too much more fermentation.

Strike: 3 gallons @163
Sparge: 4.6 gallons @ 176

I'll post actual results as they occur as usual.

Brewing Update:  Man, five gallon batches are really easy!  Including cleanup the whole process took about 4 1/2 hours.  Everything went super smooth.  Possibly the smoothest brewing day yet.

Actual Results:
Pre-boil Gravity: 1.036
Post-boil Gravity: 1.040
Collected 1.85 gallons from strike and 4.5 gallons from sparge.
I think I'm missing my temps on the strike cause I'm not pulling the gravity's I'd like to be.  I'll raise them and see what happens.  Either way, this will be a good session beer gravity, which will be good for a 21 year old!
Update 5/13/11: Gravity down to 1.009.  Really good flavor too, and I don't even like beers like this!  I'm going to try to bottle this up tonight.
Update 5/15/11: Finally bottled this.  Got 35 12's and 9 22's.
Update 5/23/11: So my wife said this is her second favorite of anything I've made so far.  Looks like I'll be brewing this again to make her happy.  The raspberry is a nice subtle aftertaste.  This is probably a really good ale for the summer time.

Chico's Finest Export

or should I say Chico's only export?  Anyways, I'm pretty excited about this one.  Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is one of the first brews that I really liked, so I figure it's probably the best pale ale to start with.  I've done a few IPAs and some Bitter Ales, but no true pale ales, so here goes.  I found this recipe online somewhere a couple weeks ago and plugged it into my brewpal app on my phone.  Well worth the $.99 if you have an iphone.  I subbed out some Nugget (which I already had) for some Perle, but otherwise I guess this is straight from the brewer.

11 Gallon recipe so I'll hopefully fill a Cornie Keg and split the other half with someone.  5.5 gallons seems to end up at 5 gallons after losing the yeast cake and secondary transferring.  So here's the details.

Recipe:
11 Gallon Recipe

Grain:
25.3lb of GW 2-row
1.65lb of Crystal 60L

Hops:
1.5oz Columbus @ 60m
1oz Nugget @ 30m
2oz Cascade @
4oz Cascade @

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale Slurry

Extras:
2tsp Gypsum @ boil
2tsp Irish Moss @ 15m

Details:
Strike 10.1gal @ 163
Sparge 6.9gal @ 183
Anticipated Preboil Gravity 1.058
Anticipated OG 1.068
Anticipated FG 1.017
IBU 42
Anticipated ABV 6.6%

I'll post details and results tomorrow night or Saturday.  Cheers!

Brewing Update:
Everything went relatively smoothly.  The counter flow chiller continues to get dialed in a little better.  I got 7 gallons from the mash and another 7 from the sparge, which meant 14 gallons boiling to start in a 15.5 gallon keggle.  The pre-boil gravity was 1.046 adjusted (1.032 @ 132*) and finished up at only 1.054 adjusted.  I was really hoping to hit closer to my target of 1.068, although since I ended up with close to 12 gallons despite a 90 minute boil, I guess that's part of the problem.  Hopefully this at least gets down to 1.014 or so.  It's blowing off like crazy right now, so that should help.  So this may be a SNPA Session clone.  As long as it's tasty, I'm not too worried.

Brewing on the tree is super easy though.  If you're thinking about upgrading your system, I highly recommend building a tree.  The only problem is having to get out the ladder to fill the HLT, but that's not too big a deal.  The ease of everything else makes it totally worth it.

Once I figure out how to better hit my targets as far as the proper amount of wort to start the boil with, things should be better.  Also, I need to move the banjo burners closer to the keggles to speed up my heating and boiling times.  It's taking like 30-40 minutes to get my boil started.
Update 4/25/11: Gravity is down to 1.012.  I'll give it another day or two and then move to secondary.  Good taste.  Another winner.
Update 4/28/11: Racked to secondary.  Gravity was down to 1.010, so ABV should be about 6%.  Really smooth flavor.  I'm going to have to do a side by side with this one.  Also, I was able to split the two jars of yeast slurry I put into (one into each bucket) into four jars.  So now they should last even longer!
Update 5/7/11: Bottled half of it for my neighbor.  Got 48 12's for him, and 3 22's for me.  The stem that I got for my cornie (for my half of the batch) is too short, so I need to switch that out before I can keg it, otherwise I'll lose over 1/2 gallon of it at the bottom of the keg.
Update 5/9/11: Decided to just keg it and I'll pour the bottom dregs into a half gallon jug if need be once it gets down all the way.  I'll hopefully add the second tap to the kegerator in the next day or two.
Update 5/24/11: Really enjoying this one.  This is a tasty pale ale.  Brought my neighbor his half of the batch last night and he was super stoked.  I'm sure I'll brew this one again!

Update: 5/27/11: Did a side by side comparison with a SNPA.  Flavor was really really close as was the hop flavor/finish.  My color was much darker, but this was the dregs of the bottom of the keg.  Next time I brew this I'll do a comparison a little sooner.  Pretty good though!

Angry Canadian

This is a second take on the "Bitter American" clone I had previously brewed titled "Why Are You Yelling At Me?"  Bitter American is a session ale from 21st Amendment Brewing in San Francisco.  The first time I didn't get the efficiency I wanted from the first mash tun I had made, so I had to use some DME the next day to raise the gravity and try to save it.  Luckily it turned out awesome.  So awesome, I had to make more since I keep drinking it and giving it all away.  This time my buddy Gregg (with 3 G's) came over to help out and split the batch with me.  We did a ten gallon batch, so 5 gallons each coming our way!  This was a nice break in for the new Brew Tree.  Here's the important info you're dying to know...

Recipe:
Grain:
7.5lb GW 2 Row
8lb Golden Promise
1lb Crystal 40L

Hops:
2oz Centennial @ 60m
1.5oz Centennial @ 10m
1.5oz Colombus @ 10m
1.5oz Centennial @ 5m
1.5oz Colombus @ 5m

3oz Centennial for 7 days in secondary
4oz Simcoe for 7 days in secondary

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 Slurry (that thing keeps on giving!)

Extras:
I meant to add 2tsp Gypsum at boil and 2tsp Irish Moss at 15m, but I forgot.

6.2gallons Strike @ 163
8.3gallons Sparge @ 176
Collected 4 gallons from mash and 8.5 gallons from sparge.
Pre-boil gravity adjusted to 1.038 with temp at 140.
Post-boil gravity was 1.043
Anticipated post-boil gravity was 1.043, so I nailed it!
Anticipated final gravity: 1.011
IBU's: 68

Notes:

Gregg modeling the brew tree.  Very nice.

Brewing went super smooth.  The only hitches were forgetting to add the extras and we ran out of propane while trying to get the boil going.  So a quick run to the store down the street and we were back in business.  Otherwise using the Brew Tree is so nice.  Easy to transfer, easy to mash, the keggle mash tun works great, and I can boil 10 gallons and not have to move it to use the counter-flow-chiller.  The 100,000 btu burner's are pretty awesome.  I recommend them.
The counter-flow-chiller wasn't quite as efficient this time, but I still finished right around 75.  I think I need to get the counter-water flow dialed in.  But, the Canadian is fermenting away right now as I type....

Counter-Flow-Chiller in action. 

Update 4/14/11: Gravity is at 1.016 and 1.014 in the two fermenting buckets.  Another day or two and I'll move to secondary.

Update 4/16/11: Racked to secondary and added the dry hops.  However due to my cheapness I only added 2oz of Centennial and 2oz of Simcoe.

Update 4/25/11: I kegged 5 gallons a couple days ago and now I'm waiting for it to be fully carbonated.  Since this is my first keg set up, I'm still figuring it out.  Hopefully it'll be ready soon.  I'll be bottling the other five gallons with Gregg tonight...Bottled it up and got 12 22's and 29 12's.  Pretty good amount and everything went quite smoothly.

Brew Tree

So after coveting Randy and Scott's brew trees, I jumped on the banjowagon, ordered some banjo burners and welded me up a brew tree.  Well, by I welded I mean that me and Randy told our good buddy Dean-O-Rean-O how we wanted it and he made it happen.  It's good to have friends.  So anyways, it's about 90 inches tall including the caster wheels to make moving it easier.  The base 'H' is 42 long on each side and the center bar is 21 inside length, or 24 total.  It's super solid!

We welded each 'U' to the center vertical pole and gave it an extra support piece.  Under those we added banjo burners from agrisupply.com to each about 4.5 to 5 inches below the bottom of the keggle so I can be boiling/heating in a jiffy.  I had to cut the burner and pieces I could use from the base, but that was cheaper than ordering just the burner and then having to get regulator's and hoses.

The top tier is 22 inches below the top, and the next one is lower and the next one is lower.  If you want the specifics I can get them, I just don't want to get off the couch again.  We put the bottom tier high enough so I can fit my counter-flow-chiller under it and the fermenting bucket below that without having to lift up the keggle to something higher.  That way I can do 10 gallon batches for friends when they can't make it to help or be here for the whole time.

I still need to sand it and paint it.  I got some 2000 degree black paint so it'll look nice.  I'll probably do that next week.  Here's some more pics and close-ups of the details.

I'll break this thing in tomorrow with my buddy Gregg (with 3 G's, not 2).  We're going to make some more of the Bitter American Clone.  I'll post about that later....

Close up of the banjo beneath a keggle.

The extra support for one of the 'U's.

Easy Rollin!

Breakfast in a Bottle Stout

This is actually a recipe I've done already, well sort of.  I did this extract style a couple months ago and it was awesome.  So I'm going to do an all grain this time and break in the keggles.  This is pretty much a clone of Rogue's Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout.  Also, I'm going to do a 10 gallon batch this time since a couple guys want to go in on it with me, so hopefully the new equipment works well!





Recipe:
Grains:
22lb American 2-Row
1lb Crystal 120L
1lb Chocolate Malt
1.5lb Flaked Oats
.5lb Roasted Barley

Hops:
2oz Cascade @75min
2oz Cascade @ 60min
2oz Cascade @30min
2oz Cascade @flameout

Yeast:
Pacman Slurry from Poorhouse Brewing.  I plan to split the slurry when I return it, keeping half so I don't have to keep stealing Randys.

Extras:
2tsp Gypsum at boil
2tsp Irish Moss at 15min

Anticipated Post-boil gravity: 1.070
Anticipated Final gravity: 1.018
Anticipated ABV: 6.8%

I'll update after brewing tomorrow and add any notes.  Maybe some pictures as well.

Brewing Notes:
So I brewed this on Saturday, April 2.  I should have done this on the 1st, cause the day felt like a giant April Fools joke on me.  There were some good things though that I'll touch on first, then the bad things.

Wort draining from the Mash Tun.

The Good:
-The hot water keggle and the mash tun keggle both worked great.  I got good sugar out of the mash tun and it stayed plenty warm (after an hour it was still at 152 degrees, right on target).  It will be easier once it's all on the brew tree, which hopefully will be going down this week.
-The new Counter-Flow-Chiller worked great.  Dropped 10 gallons from boiling to 62 degrees perfectly.  The entire flow out for the 10 gallons to run through was about 25-30 minutes.  There was a tiny leak in the epoxy for the water, but I'll add some more and hopefully it will be good.
-The Hop Spider worked well.  Hopefully the hop flavor is increased in future brews.
-I got to brew.



The Bad:
-I still didn't get quite the targeted gravity, so I'll need to fine tune some more.  I wasn't off too much though, but more than I would have liked.
-The ball valve decided to start leaking on the boil keggle right when I added the wort.  That meant moving the wort to buckets while I ran to Home Depot to get a new rubber seal.  Works fine now though, but it added like an hour to the brewing day.
-I also managed to catch the propane hose on fire due to having it too close to the flame as well as wind coming at an inopportune time.  Luckily I was able to see it quickly and shut off the propane line.  That meant running to Home Depot again, and when they didn't have it nor the next place I checked, I resorted in buying a new burner so I could get the regulator and hose from it.  I guess at least I'll have three new burners on the brew tree (once my banjo burners arrive).  So I managed to not blow up my garage or kill myself, so that was good, but it made my 4-5 hour brew day turn into a 8-9 hour brew day.  I was rushing out the door to make it to our Saturday Night Service.  So I still actually have to clean the boil keggle and the hop strainer.

So I was able to save the brew and my life, but it was a stressful day.  Hopefully next weeks is better, supposing I get the brew tree finished.  I don't think I'll brew again until I build that, which will hopefully be this Thursday.

The Stats:
Pre-boil Gravity: 1.040
Post-boil Gravity: 1.062 (I wanted it to be 1.070)
Collected 6.25 gallons of wort from the strike.
Collected 5.75 gallons from the sparge.
Boiled 12 gallons, ended up with 10 after a 75 minute boil.

Update 4/6/11: Bottled this up.  Adam and Daniel came over to help out since they're splitting the batch with me.  We had a good time and got 93 bottles out of the 10 gallons.  They each took 24 leaving me with 45.  Final Gravity was 1.013.  ABV ended at 6.6%, pretty close to the target.
Update 4/11/11: Tried a bottle of this for fun.  Turns out it's pretty much ready!  Good body and flavor.  I can taste the oatmeal much better this time.  Quite enjoyable.

Keggles

One of the kegs before the conversion.

I've begun upgrading my brewing process.  Since a nice 15-20 gallon brew kettle with a ball valve was like $150, I opted to make my own.  So I picked up three 15.5 gallon kegs off craigslist in the last week and have cut the tops off of them.  I then drilled holes and installed weldless ball valves to all three and added thermometers to two of them.  Most of the techniques used were from Poorhouse Brewing.  Check the December 2010 posts to get the details.  The thermometers are sweet and way cheaper than ordering professional ones.  Next up I'll build a brew tree and add the burners to them.  I'm looking forward to better efficiency and an even better brew day.  Also, I've had quite a few people wanting me to brew them some batches, so now I can do a ten gallon batch and keep half and half can go to someone else.  Let me know if you want to go in on a batch!

I cut the lids off with my angle grinder and a steel cutting wheel.  I then polished them up with a polishing/sanding attachment that smoothed them out so I don't cut up my arms when reaching into the keggles to clean them.  I still need to pick up a lid or two from goodwill.

The three final products.

The ball valves I did were simple brass 1/2 inch ball valves from Lowes.  Each one cost like $7, plus a buck or two for each 1/2 thread to cpvc adapter.  I'm going to switch the boil keggle to a copper inside fitting that I can remove to clean.  I'm a little worried about boiling CPVC over and over.  I added a rubber stopper to each inside and outside (touching the keggles) of the ball valves to provide a better seal.  

A close up of the homemade ball valve.
This thing works great for like $12 each!

The thermometers were installed with a 1/2 inch to 3/4 step up rubber stopper.  I drilled a hole slightly smaller than the thermometer stem in the rubber and drilled a hole in the keg.  I then pushed the rubber stopper into the hole and hammered it in tight from the inside of the keg.  After pushing the thermometer through, I put a pin nail through the outside of the stopper to keep it from slipping back in.  They work great and were only like $6 or $7 apiece.  Nice and cheap!

The thermometer with a rubber stopper.  This only cost $7 total.  

This thermometer is nice and big and easy to read!

The not-so-false bottom is simply a steel braided water supply line with the rubber inside removed.  I  attached this to the CPVC Tee attached to the pipe.  I guess that this should work great, according to my buddy Randy.

The not-so-false bottom for the mash tun.  

The Hop Spider is something I saw on homebrewtalk.com  I pretty much copied the one I saw on there exactly.  I still need to add the mesh bag to the bottom of the PVC coupler, but that way the hops will float freely and hopefully give off even more flavor!  This thing cost like $7 so far, plus like the $4 mesh bag I still need to get.  No more muslin bags for me!  

My Homemade Hop Spider.

So there you have it.  My brewing upgrades done for way less that prefabricated stuff from well intentioned, but pricey, homebrew websites.  The bottom line, be creative and save money which can be used for better stuff.  As my dad always says, "what good is money if you spend it?"

God Gave Wine

This is a review of Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.'s book, God Gave Wine.  I'll start by saying that I highly recommend this book.  This is a straightforward biblical study of alcohol, what the Bible says about it, and how we should treat it.

Gentry breaks his book down into 6 main chapters, with an introductory chapter and a conclusion chapter.  His primary premise in his work is that God gave wine/beer/alcohol to mankind as a blessing, and when used in moderation is not only biblically permissible, but biblically encouraged.

He demonstrates thorough exegesis with the texts used, both in Hebrew and in Greek studies.  His use of context to explain passages and willingness to allow the text to speak for itself is refreshing when dealing with such a controversial topic.  In addition to addressing the Bible Gentry also deals with other works on the subject of alcohol.  His primary opponents are Stephen Reynolds and Jack Van Impe.  Both men are quite opposed to the use of alcohol and are willing to not only misuse scripture to argue their point, but will even distort the authorial intent of the Bible and change God's Word!  This is simply appalling to me.

Gentry is adept with his writing and this is a highly recommended book.  I originally came across this book while reading Mark Driscoll's, The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out without Selling Out.  This is another recommended book, which does bring up the subject of alcohol, but that's another review I reckon!  So do yourself a favor and pick up God Gave Wine.

St. Patrick's Day

So today is St. Paddy's day.  A day of corned beef and drinking, right?  Afterall, everyone's Irish on March 17th!  So here's a few bits of info to think about while enjoying you Irish (or non-Irish) ancestry...

St. Patrick's day is a religious holiday started by the Roman Catholic Church to celebrate St. Patrick, who was a Catholic priest and brought Christianity to Ireland.  While there were later, more successful missionaries to Ireland, St. Patrick was the first and got things going.  The clover was employed by Patrick to teach the locals the doctrine of the Trinity, and green wasn't the official color of the holiday until the 17th century.

One of the more popular beverages on St. Patrick's day is Guinness.  This is one of my favorites personally, so I thought a bit of history on Guinness would also be in order for today.  According to the book on the side bar here, Guinness began as a way for Arthur Guinness, who was a follower of Jesus,  to provide a better beverage for those who didn't have quality drinking water.  So the brewery was started after paying 100 pounds and signing a 9000 year lease for 45 pounds a year.  Talk about a great deal!  Guinness also has antioxidants in it which make it a good beer to drink for health reasons!  The translation of the Old Irish on the poster is "Guinness is good for you!"

So pour yourself a pint of Guinness and praise God that St. Patrick brought Jesus to Ireland back in the 400's!  God is Good!


(Please note that I haven't read this book yet, but I am looking forward to reading it!)

CBHC Double IPA

It's been over two weeks since I've brewed, so I'm itching to get back on the burner.  Hopefully this will end up in a Cornie Keg once I get the kegerator going next month.

So this will be my first time making up a recipe, so I figured I needed to go all out and make some high gravity, high hop IPA.  Hopefully this turns out well.  I plan to brew this on Friday or Saturday this week.  Here's the proposed recipe:

Malts:
12lbs American 2-Row
2lbs Crystal 40L
1lb Carapils

Hops:
Boil Hops:
.75oz Centennial (60m)
3oz Cascade (60m)
.5oz Simcoe (60m)
1oz Colombus (10m)
1oz Simcoe (10m)
.75oz Centennial (10m)
1oz Cascade (1m)
1oz Simcoe (1m)
1oz Colombus (1m)

Dry Hops:
2oz Colombus for 7 days
2oz Simcoe for 7 days

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 Slurry

Extras:
1tsp Gypsum at Boil
1tsp Irish Moss at 15m

Anticipated OG: 1.082
Anticipated FG: 1.020
Anticipated IBU's: 113
Color (SRM): 8.3
ABV: 8%

I'll update after brewing to give the details....

Brewing Update 3/18/11:  Brewing went quite smooth.  My Wort Chiller is awesome, it only takes about 7 minutes to chill from a boil to 68 degrees.  The only hitch I had was the same as last time...I can't get to the target Original Gravity.  I ended up at 1.060 instead of the 1.082.  This will just be a lower bodied ale I guess...oh well.  I had to make a few changes to the hop bill as well since Amarillo is out of stock at Brew Brothers.  I also added a little more hops to make it up to 113 IBU's instead of 108.  I was also able to enjoy a tasty Steam Face while brewing as well as a Cheerilee Scottish Ale.  Both were quite good.  Hopefully I can at least get this down to 1.010 to give it a decent body...
Update 3/22/11:  Gravity is has been at 1.016 for a couple days...decent flavor and body.  I'll rack to secondary, cold crash, and add the dry hops either tonight or tomorrow afternoon.  I'm going to dry hop it for at least a week with loose leaf hops and hope it strains out ok.
Update 3/29/11: I racked this to secondary last week and added 2oz of Simcoe, loose style in the beer.  Hope this will turn out.  After a few days I moved it to the garage for a cold crash.  I should be getting some cornie kegs this weekend, so I'll just keg this one then.
Update 4/3/11: Bottled this up after 10 days secondary with hops floating in it.  That was a little tricky.  Got 17 22's and 10 12's.  Not quite as much as I would have liked, but hopefully they are tasty.  We'll find out in a few weeks.
Update 4/9/11: Tasted this tonight...still a little flat, but a BIG HOP FLAVOR!  This turned out really well.  I can't wait for this to be fully ready.