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.