New Fermenter!

In my constant search for better homebrewing methods, I have come across a great tool.  Fermentation is such a key part of producing good beer and so easy to see go bad in a hurry.  Plus, I typically brew 10-11 gallon batches at a time, thus needing two buckets and two packs of yeast.
I've started using more starters with my brewing which greatly speeds up fermentation as well as reduces the opportunity for infection.  Enter, the new fermenter!

I recently ordered a Speidel Plastic Fermenter from MoreBeer.  This thing has been working great overall so far.  I got the 60L size, which allows me to ferment over 11 gallons at a time with a single vessel.  Here's the good and bad I've seen so far...



The Good:
-I can ferment over 11 gallons at a time (I bet I could do up to 14-15 gallons if I really pushed it).
-Super sturdy.  The handles and structure on this thing are solid!
-Wide open top for easy cleaning and hop additions.
-Valve on front allows for super easy keg filling.
-Way cheaper than a conical.

The Bad:
-Plastic, although I have never had an issue with fermenting in plastic and really more and more startup breweries are using plastic conicals until they can afford stainless steel.
-Not conical.

Overall, that's how it's doing.  I'm currently finishing up my second batch in it and it's awesome.  Easy to clean, works great, super sturdy and a good deal.  I would highly recommend one!  Check one through MoreBeer.com here.

How to Brew Series

In the coming weeks and months you'll be seeing more info on how to brew, convert kegs, and other general information appearing here.  My buddy Scott and I were thinking about how there's a lot of info on detailed brewing and info on extract brewing, but not as much easily accessible info on how to switch to all grain brewing or how to do basic DIY projects that will save you hundreds of dollars.

There are some websites and books out there that give great detailed info about what happens during the brewing process (chemistry) as well as recipe creation and how to brew (brewing).  We'll try to review some of those for you and post our thoughts on them.

So basically, expect a much wider variety of articles and information to come soon on this blog.  Hopefully we can turn this into a great free place to get down to earth info on brewing as well as recipes, ideas, and other various tidbits.

Cheers!

(Also, if you're looking, here's a couple classic brewing books that are indepth and incredible useful).

Behind the ball...

Man, I've been behind on this blog.  I've brewed a couple times since my last post.  I think I've made the Drop Top Amber clone again (for my sister-in-laws wedding which I also performed; I know, I'm a modern Friar Tuck), a ten gallon of a Total Domination variation, and my Black Eye PA.  The recipes can be accessed by following the links as they were remakes of prior brews.

I have a couple new beers I'm working on.  One is going to be a hopped up IPA (so unlike me, huh?) with Summit, Citra, and Amarillo.  I'm pretty excited about it.  I'll post the recipe once I brew it.  The other one is going to be a Westveleteren XII clone.  That one I found online and I'll probably brew at Bean's Brewhouse.  He's got a crazy electric system with super good efficiency and better temp control.  I'll post that as well once I brew it.

Anyways, thanks for being patient and I'll be back in the saddle here shortly.

Vinnie's Pliny

I've brewed Pliny the Elder several times now, each slightly different.  This one is also different.  However, this is the official recipe given out by Vinnie at Russian River for Pliny.  He's awesome, he gives out the recipe to one of the best commercially made beers in the world.  What other breweries do that?  Buttwiper sure doesn't, and their beer is crap.  So here is what you have been waiting for...

Recipe:
5.5 gallons (so you end up with 5)

Fermentables:
13.25 lb 2-Row
9.6oz CaraPils
9.6oz Crystal 40L
12oz Dextrose (Corn Sugar)

Anticipated OG: 1.078
Actual OG: 1.071
Anticipated FG: 1.018
Actual OG:
ABV%:

Hops:
3.5oz CTZ for 90m
.75oz CTZ for 45m
1oz Simcoe for 30m

1oz Centennial at Flameout
2.5oz Simcoe at Flameout

1oz Centennial for 14 days Dryhop
1oz CTZ for 14 days Dryhop
1oz Simcoe for 14 days Dryhop
.25oz Centennial for last 5 days of the 14 above Dryhop
.25oz CTZ for last 5 days of the 14 above Dryhop
.25oz Simcoe for the last 5 days of the 14 above Dryhop

Yeast:
White Labs California Ale WLP001

Notes:
Smooth brewing after giving a sermon. I'd say that's a productive Sunday.  I did substitute about 1oz Northern Brewer for 1 of the 2.5 ounces of Simcoe at Flameout.  Just couldn't afford too much more Simcoe.  Missed my OG by a touch, so hopefully it finishes a little lower than the 1.018 to balance that out.  I seriously can't wait to drink this.  This will probably be something I regularly do so I always have it available.  After all, why not spend a few hours a $30 to get $200 worth of a beer that is worth that.  It's $5 for a 16 ounce bottle here in Oregon, and it only comes once a month and you can only buy one.  So looks like I'll be brewing this a lot...
Update 11/30/12: Gravity is as 1.022, almost there.  Takes a while for these big brews to ferment all the way.  Taste is really good.  Probably the best IPA I will have brewed so far.  So stoked to get this on tap soon!

Hey Porter!

So in my two years of brewing I have yet to brew a porter.  So I picked up a basic recipe from Brew Brothers and went for it.  It turned out ok, but I was hoping for something closer to a Black Butte Porter.  I guess I should have just brewed one of those... The name is a nod to the great Johnny Cash and his song, "Hey Porter".  So heres the details (which you can get in a printed form from Brew Brothers).

Recipe:
5 gallons

Fermentables:
8.25 lb GW 2 Row
1 lb Crystal 10L
.25 lb Black Patent
.25 lb Chocolate

Anticipated OG: 1.052
Actual OG: 1.048
Anticipated FG: 1.017
Actual FG: 1.011
Actual ABV: 4.8%

Hops:
.75oz Fuggles for 60m
.5oz Fuggles for 10m
.75oz Fuggles at Flameout

Yeast:
WLP011 European Yeast

Notes:
Smooth brewing.  I did this one before we started our Cana meeting, so the two overlapped.  Always good to brew with friends!

Another Workhorse IPA Variation

Man, it had been a while since I brewed for myself.  So long in fact that I'm really close to running out (at least on tap).  It's also been a while since I've had an IPA on tap (meaning more than a few weeks) so I decided to brew up another Workhorse.  Since Amarillo is hard to come by, I switched it out for Summit.  I've had really good results with that before so I figured it was a good switch.  Here's the details:

Recipe:
5.5 gallons

Fermentables:
14 lb GW 2-Row
1.2 lb Carapils
1 lb Crystal 40L

Anticipated OG: 1.081
Actual OG: 1.075
Anticipated FG: 1.019
Actual FG:
Actual ABV:

Hops:
1.75oz CTZ for 60m
.5oz Summit for 30m
1oz Cascade for 10m
.5oz Summit for 5m

1oz Cascade in Hopback
1oz Summit in Hopback

1oz Cascade for 7 days in secondary dry-hop
.5oz CTZ for 7 days in secondary dry-hop
1oz Summit for 7 days in secondary dry-hop

88 IBU

Yeast:
White Labs 001 Slurry

Notes:
Everything went pretty smooth.  It took some trickery to get the hopback flowing well.  A chugger pump would help that quite a bit.  Perhaps someday.

Oatmeal Stout

The seasons are changing and so is my beer tastes.  Now that fall is here it's time to start kicking in some darker beers to tide the winter over.  Some will be stouts and porters, others will be Black IPA's, and there's always got to be some super hop bomb IPA's.  So to kick it off, here's an oatmeal stout that I have brewed before.  It's similar to a Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout from Rogue.

Recipe:
10 gallons

Fermentables:
23 lb GW 2-Row
1.18 lb Bairds Chocolate
1.18 lb Crystal 120L
8.73 oz Roasted Barley
1.55 lb Flaked Oats

Aniticpated OG: 1.074
Actual OG: 1.070
Anticipated FG: 1.019
Actual FG: 1.019
ABV%: 7.3%

Hops:
1.25oz Cascade for 75m
1.25oz Cascade for 60m
1.25oz Cascade for 30m
1.25oz Cascade for 1m

41 IBU

Yeasts:
5 gallons with White Labs WLP004-Irish Ale
5 gallons with Wyeast Pacman slurry

Notes:
Brewed last Sunday (9/16/12).  Smooth brewing.  Used a canopy to keep the leaves from falling into the boil.  Fermenting is coming along slow.
Update 10/7/12: Kegged the Irish Ale half.  Really tasty.  FG was 1.019.  It might have dropped a little lower, but I was in a rush to get it going for a party.  I'll keg the other half next week for the next party it's going to.

Cana's First Run

Rather than repost what we did, how bout you check this out!
http://canahomebrewclub.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-first-gathering.html

This is going to be sweet!

pTARAdactale

One of the many things I love about my wife is that she loves a super hoppy IPA.  She loves the IBU's cranked up.  She loves Pliny and so many other great IPA's.  So this IPA is named after her (and she loves dinosaurs, hence the name).







Recipe:
5.5 gallons

Fermentables:
14 lb GW 2-Row
1.6 lb CaraPils
1.2 lb Crystal 40L

Anticipated OG: 1.081
Actual OG: 1.070
Anticipated FG: 1.023
Actual FG: 1.018
ABV: 6.8%

Hops:
2oz CTZ for 60m
1oz Summit for 30m
1oz Cascade for 5m
1oz Centennial for 5m

2oz Cascade in Hopback (mash tun)
1oz Summit in Hopback (mash tun)

2oz Cascade for 7 days in secondary dryhop
1oz Centennial for 7 days in secondary dryhop

88 IBU's

Yeast:
White Labs WLP001 (new)

Notes:
Smooth brewing.  I need to get a pump so I don't have to move really hot kegs up a level on the brew tree.  Brewed on Friday, August 10.
Update 8/27/12: Racked to secondary last week and added 1.5oz Cascade and 1oz Centennial Dryhops.  I'll keg tomorrow probably.  FG was 1.018.
Update 9/13/12: Man, this is tasty!  Really good hop aroma and finish.  It's a little bit sweet due to the Crystal 40.  I'll revise that next time I think.  Otherwise another winning IPA!

Foster Art Night IPA

There's a street called Foster in SE Portland that has been long neglected and considered the bad part of town.  It's been referred to as "felony flats" amongst other bad terms.  Well, it's making a comeback and it's going to be awesome.  Part of what's happening is people are taking back the neighborhood and making stuff happen.  One of the groups working towards this is a creative group that is putting on a monthly event called "Foster Art Night".  This is essentially a moving party that happens on the third Saturday of the month from roughly 2p to late PM.

This month (as in a week and a half), The Southeast Church is going to host art and music as part of the event.  We're going to also offer free homebrew (a fairly limited amount though).  This IPA is going to go towards that (well, at least half of it).  Hence the name of the brew.  If you're in the Portland area and want to taste it, come to The Day Theatre on SE Foster at 55th Ave on Saturday the 18th between 4pm and 5pm and we'll be serving it up!



Recipe:
11 gallons

Fermentables:
17 lb GW 2-Row Base
5 lb Simpsons Golden Promise
3 lb GW Crystal 40L
2.4 lb CaraPils
8 oz Dextrose (corn Sugar)

Anticipated OG: 1.066
Actual OG: 1.071
Anticipated FG: 1.019
Actual OG:
ABV:

Hops:
3 oz CTZ for 60m
2 oz CTZ for 30m
2 oz Cascade for 10m
4 oz Cascade in Hopback (mash tun)

3oz Cascade for 7 days Dryhop
2oz CTZ for 7 days Dryhop

(total of 1 pound of hops!)

Yeasts:
Fermentis Safale 05 in one bucket
White Labs WLP001 California Ale in other bucket

Notes:
This brewday took a long time.  Everything was going smoothly until the boil time.  Instead of using the normal boiling station I moved the boil kettle up to the second tier so I could gravity feed to the mash tun that I was going to use for a hopback.  The only problem was that it took an hour and a half to get the wort up to boiling, then had to boil it for an hour, plus a long wort chilling since the screen would get a little plugged from the hops in the mash tun/hopback.  Time to get a pump I guess so I can use my actual boil burner for boiling.  Oh well, it's all part of the learning process...
Update 8/12/12: Racked the batch for Foster Art Night to secondary and added 1.5 oz of Cascade and 1oz of CTZ Dryhops.  Gravity was 1.018, so an ABV of roughly 6.9%.  Flavor was smooth, hoppy, and awesome.
Update 8/19/12: Unveiled this at Foster Art Night last night.  Response was really good, although there was a rather small crowd there (if 12-15 people is considered a crowd).  So the leftovers will go towards Cana.

Alaska Amber Clone

Another day, another amber ale.  This was originally going to be for Old Dirty Randy and his roofing crew, but he brewed one up himself instead.  So now I'll have an amber again.  Fine by me.  I found the recipe somewhere online I think (it's been a while since I wrote it up).  Here's the details...

Recipe:
5.5 Gallons

Fermentables:
7.5 lb GW 2-Row Base
8 oz CaraPils
5 oz Crystal 90L
5 oz Crystal 120L
2 oz Special B
1 oz Roaster Barley

Anticipated OG: 1.042
Actual OG: 1.043
Anticipated FG: 1.012
Actual FG: 1.010
ABV: 4.3%

Hops:
2 oz Fuggles for 60m
1 oz Mt Hood for 5m

1 oz Mt Hood Dry Hop for 7 Days

34 IBU

Yeast:
Fermentis Safale 05

Notes:
Smooth brewing on this batch on Monday August 6th.  Brewed 2 batches that day.
Update 8/13/12: Racked to secondary and added 1oz of Mt Hood Dryhop.
Update 8/17/12: Kegged.  I'll do a taste update next week.
Update 8/27/12: Tastes great and it is less filling.  I'll try to do a side by side sometime soon.

Cana

Some friends and I were passing around ideas like we always do about homebrewing and the furtherance of the gospel.  We thought, how could homebrewing lead to Jesus?  So we decided to try something out.  We're going to start a small community venture called Cana.  Why Cana?  Well, for starters Jesus turned the water into wine in the city of Cana at the start of His ministry.  This occurs in John 2.  You can read it here, which is also the site for our community ramblings, recipes, and other random tidbits.

Here is the blog address:  www.canahomebrewclub.blogspot.com

We'll likely be meeting on the first Saturday of each month at my house to start.  We'll brew a batch or two of beer, discuss and engage the Bible (probably to start by looking at everything the Bible has to say about alcohol, both good and bad), and enjoy being in community with one another.  Meetings will generally last about 4-5 hours (length of time to brew a batch of beer), although everyone is free to come and go as they wish.  Each meeting will also be the tasting of the previous meetings beer, so there's the incentive to come back!  Also, a suggested donation of $5 will help cover expenses and keep the venture going.  More details will come eventually, but all are invited (21+ that is due to US alcohol laws).

Widmer Drop Top Amber Clone

It's been a while since I've done an amber and I've always like Drop Top, so why not brew one!  I found a recipe for this from a commercial home brew supply store online and I just copied their recipe and then ordered the goods from Brew Brothers.  Half as much money that way and they delivered!  Seriously, if you don't go to Brew Brothers and you live within an hour of Hillsboro, Oregon, you're wasting your money.  Plus their selection is crazy good.  Anyways, here's what I did...

Recipe:
5.5 Gallons

Grains:
8.25 lb GW 2-Row
.5 lb Crystal 10L
.5 lb Honey Malt
.5 lb Special B Malt

8oz Lactose (Milk Sugar) added at the start of the boil

Mash:
Strike: 3.66gallons at 170 degrees.
Sparge: 4.19 gallons at 170 degrees.

Anticipated OG: 1.051
Actual OG: 1.054
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV: 5.4%

Hops:
.25oz CTZ for 60m
.5oz Magnum for 60m
1oz Northern Brewer for 10m

It was supposed to be Magnum for 1oz for a full hour, but I only had .5oz and didn't want to buy more that I wouldn't use right away.  Since I had so much CTZ, I figured for the bittering it would be close enough.

Yeast:
Safale 05.  This is my first time using this one.  Fermented fast even without a starter.

Notes:
Brewed back on June 22, but I forgot to post about it.  The mash/boil gave out less wort than I should have had, so I added about 3/4 a gallon of water after the boil.  This gave me the right gravity as well as enough wort.
Update 7/3/12: Racked to secondary and got the final gravity at 1.013.  Right on target.  The flavor is really close to Drop Top.  Probably a dead ringer.  If you want some Drop Top, then this will do the job nicely!  I'll update again after secondary and once it's on tap.

Mt Hood IPA

So this is stage two in my IPA journey. It's probably a journey of 10,000 batches (hopefully not literally), so hopefully the batches continue to turn out good. Here's the details: 

Recipe: 
5.5 Gallons

Grain: 
10 lb 2-Row
1.2 lb Carahell
1.2 lb Golden Promise


Mashed 4.65 gallons at 152. 
Sparged 3.5 gallons at 175. (Came out short so I added a gallon of water after the boil). 


Target OG: 1.063 
Actual OG: 1.065 
Final OG: 1.009
ABV: 7.3%


Hops: 
2oz CTZ for 60m 
1oz CTZ for 30m 
1oz Mount Hood for 5m 
1oz Mount Hood at flameout 2oz 


2oz Mount Hood for 7 days dry hop 


Yeast: 
White Labs WLB001 California Yeast Slurry 


Extras:
8oz Oak chips in secondary


Notes: Smooth like always. Gravity came in really high and amount of wort was low, so I added about 3/4 of a gallon of water. That seemed to fix the problem.

Update 7/7/12: Racked to secondary.  FG was at 1.009.  Really dry tasting so far.  I added 2oz of Mt Hood and 8oz of American Oak Chips.  Trying something new with the oak chips.  I guess Vinny at Russian River uses a lot of oak chips in his IPA's, which I consider to set the standard currently, so it seems worthwhile to give a shot to.  I'll let you know how it goes.
Taste Update 7/17/12:  This is easily the worst beer I have ever made.  The oak chips were smoked instead of plain and I didn't even think about that fact until I lifted the lid on the secondary bucket.  I'm going to give this to a neighbor who thinks he might be able to do something with it.  The picture at the left is probably a better name for this because this is what it tastes like!

Tricerahops IIPA Clone

I've come to the realization that of all the beers out there, I want to drink mainly IPA's.  It's not that other brews aren't as tasty, it's just that IPA's are really tasty.  So I've decided to spend a lot more time perfecting the IPA.  In fact, within the next five years I plan on making the greatest IPA that anyone has ever had.  I'll let you know when it happens.

For now though, I'll have to keep practicing.  So with this round of practice I present to you my take on Ninkasi's Tricerahops.  It's a double IPA, meaning more hops and a higher gravity.  I made up the recipe myself after looking at their ingredients and partially going off the Total Domination Clone I made that turned out really close.

Recipe:
5.5 Gallons

Grain:
14lb GW 2-Row
2lb Carahell
2lb Munich Light

Hops:
2oz Summit for 60m boil
1oz Amarillo for 30m boil
1oz Centennial for 5m boil
1oz Palisades for 5m boil
1oz Amarillo at flameout

1oz Centennial for 7 days dry hop
1oz Palisades for 7 days dry hop

Yeast:
Whitelabs WLP001 California Ale Slurry

Notes:
Brewed this a couple weeks ago, but forgot to post it.  I messed up when adding the grain and knocked my filter loose.  That caused the grain to flow out when I drained the mash.  I was able to strain it, but it killed my gravity.  It was supposed to come in about 1.085, but actually came in about 1.074.  The final gravity when I racked it to secondary and added the dry hops yesterday was 1.014, so I got 7.9ABV, which is just under the 8.5ABV listed on the website.  IBU's are about 102 according to BrewPal.  The flavor was really good when I checked it yesterday.  Nice and bitter with some good floral aroma's coming off it.  Should be quite good after a week of dry hops.
Taste Update:  I guess I forgot to update this one on secondary.  I added the hops listed above and let them sit for a week.  The flavor on this was outstanding.  I'll grab a 22 of Tricerahops tonight so I can do a side by side.  I'm actually almost out of this one already.  I've shared a bunch and brought a couple growlers to friends houses lately.  The taste is really smooth with a nice crisp hop finish.  I think using CO2 in the secondary bucket and in the keg really helped that out.  The body is has a nice mouthfeel and flavor.  This is definitely something I'll be brewing again.

Taste Comparison:
The one on the left is the homebrew, the right is the real Tricerahops.  You can see the color is darker in Ninkasi's, although that is about where the differences in the two end.  

Color: Ninkasi is a little darker, but they're pretty close.
Body: Really close.  I actually couldn't tell any difference in the body except that Ninkasi's was a little more carbonated (which is a relatively easy fix for me).
Hops: Again almost dead on.  Ninkasi's was a little more on the aroma since it was straight out of the bottle, but the aroma flavor was identical.
Overall: Outside of the color being lighter, this was pretty dang close to a dead ringer of a clone.  I'm confident to say that you will not be let down by using this recipe if you're looking for a Tricerahops clone.  Cheers!

Summer Fruit Beer Series

Summer is quickly arriving (as it's raining as I type this...).  Summer means warm weather (usually, this is Portland afterall...), BBQ's, and sitting on the porch in the evening enjoying life.  So to go with all three of those, I'll be brewing up some fruit flavored beer.  I typically don't really enjoy these too much, but a lot of other people do, so I'll brew them up to show good hospitality (and to keep their hands off my IPA's).  I decided to do the Trixie again that I did last year that turned out really well.  I also wanted to try something new, so I'll be splitting the batch (10 gallon) in half.  Half with be Trixie (raspberry flavored beer), and the other half will be halved again.  One (2.5 gallons) will be aged with whole strawberries on secondary, the other half will be grapefruit.  I think I'll throw in some amarillo or summit hops with the grapefruit to really try to highlight the grapefruit.  This will be an experiment.  It could be awesome, or it could be horrible, the good thing is that it's only 2.5 gallons and cost me all of $3 or so for the 2.5 gallons.  Total cost of this recipe to me is probably $2 for the beer ingredients (thanks to a kind gift of a 50 pound grain bag on my ledger at Brew Brothers from a good friend) and it'll be another $12 or so for the fruit I'm guessing?  I hope to use real Oregon Strawberries which will really up the quality!  So $14 cost to me isn't too shabby.

Recipe:
10 gallons

Grain:
20 lb GW 2-Row

Anticipated ABV: 5.0%
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.013
Strike Water: 7.5 gallons @ 163 degrees
Sparge Water: 9 gallons @ 183 degrees

Hops:
1oz CTZ (16.8%) for 60m

Yeast:
1056 slurries

Extras:
I'll boil 24oz of raspberries in 1/2 gallon of water for about 30 minutes, strain out the chunks, and add that to the secondary for the Trixie (Mcmenamins Ruby Clone) portion.
I'll add a half pound or so of whole strawberries to the 2.5 gallons of one of the experiment fruit beers.
I'll add a couple grapefruits cut into slices to the secondary of the other 2.5 gallons of experiment beers plus maybe an ounce or so of summit or amarillo (probably summit because it's way cheaper than amarillo).

Notes:
Brewed last weekend (5/26/12) and everything went fine.  Fermenting nicely.  Should be ready to transfer to secondary in about a week.  Also I was able to break out the grain dryer only to have it start pouring like I've never seen in Portland a few hours later.  Most of the grain dried pretty well though, so at least there will be something for the chickens!
Update 6/19/12: Sorry for the delay on the update.  I split one bucket into two buckets at secondary.  One I added a grapefruit cut into eighths with 1oz of Summit Hops.  The other got a pint of whole Oregon strawberries (so much better than California or anywhere else).  I let those sit for a week or so and then bottled them last night.  The other buckets I racked to secondary along with 24oz of frozen raspberries that I boiled for 30 minutes, then strained and chilled.  Those have been sitting about a week and will need to be bottled shortly.  I'll update again when I taste each of them.
Taste Update: The early tasting on the raspberry one is that there's a funky flavor.  It's one I've had come up before so it's got to be from the yeast.  Time to get rid of all the 1056 slurry's I have since it's definitely from that.  The flavor isn't bad, it's just not as good as it should be.

Total Domination (Warrior Edition)

So when I brewed the Total Domination from Ninkasi I had no idea how awesome that recipe was going to turn out.  The flavor was pretty spot on other than the aroma hop flavor, which I might say I "Totally Dominated" over Ninkasi's version.  So all that to say that I wanted to brew it again.  I headed down to Brew Brothers (the greatest homebrew store in the world and they will ship!) and reloaded on grain, hops, and some new yeast.  Grain, check.  Yeast, bought one new vial of White Labs California Ale WLP001. Hops, this is where the warrior comes in...they were out of Crystal, so I substituted Warrior since I like the flavor that gives.  We'll have to see how the end product comes out.  Here's the details...

Recipe:
11 gallon

Grain:
22 lb GW 2-Row
3.2 lb GW Munich Light
1.6 Weyerman's Carahell

Strike: 10.1 gallons @ 163 degrees F
Sparge: 6.8 gallons @ 182 degrees F
Based on 75% efficiency

Hops:
2 oz Summit (15.8%) for 60m
1 oz Summit (15.8%) for 30m
2 oz Cascade (6.2%) for 5m
2 oz Warrior (17%) for 1m

2 oz Cascade (6.2%) for 7 days in secondary
2 oz Warrior (17%) for 7 days in secondary

66 IBU

Yeast:
White Labs WLP001 California Ale in one bucket
White Labs WLP001 California Ale Slurry in the other bucket

Starting Gravity: 1.068
Final Gravity: TBD
ABV: TBD


Notes:
Smooth brewing, although it was a long day overall.  After brewing we had our church service so I had to go set up, preach, and then clean up afterwards.  That plus brewing takes more out of me that I had anticipated!  Once again, since I was brewing it had to rain.  I need to get some grain dried out for my friends who have chickens, so hopefully next time I brew it's dry for a few days to use the grain dryer again.  Gotta re-use as much as possible, especially if it means the chickens get great high protein food!
Update 5/30/12: I racked one of the buckets to a keg and added an ounce of Cascade and an ounce of Warrior Hops.  I would normally do that in secondary, but our IPA rations are really low and I couldn't wait to get it on tap.  I'll charge it today.  Hops were in a bag.  I also bottled 5 22's with what was left.  I'll rack the other bucket to secondary and do a proper dry hop in the next few days and I'll try to time it so that as the first keg runs out I can put the second on tap.

Bitter American Clone, Round 4

I'm a really big fan of 21st Amendment Brewing's Bitter American Ale.  The lighter body ale with a big hop flavor is quite good.  That plus the lower alcohol makes for a great spring/summer ale.  I'll most likely be bottling this one, so it should last quite a while (I hope!).  Here's the details.  I've altered the recipe again from previous attempts (1st, 2nd, 3rd).  Hopefully this one hits a little closer.  One problem is that Simcoe is in huge demand hence there's not too much around.  Luckily I still had some in the freezer, but this will use it all up.  Hope it's worth it!

Recipe:
5.5 Gallons

Grains:
5lb Golden Promise (Simpsons)
5lb 2-Row (GW)
.8lb Munich Light (Briess I think?)
.8lb Crystal 40L (GW)

Boil Hops:
.75oz Warrior (17%) for 60m
.25oz Warrior (17%) for 15m
.5oz Warrior (17%) for 5m
1oz Centennial (10%) for 5m
1oz Cascade (6%) for 5m

Dry-Hops:
1oz Centennial (10%) for 7 days
2oz Simcoe (13%) for 7 days
.5oz Warrior (17%) for 7 days

Yeast:
White Labs American Ale (WLP001)

Notes:
Brewed this last week actually along with an Espresso Stout, I've just been busy and pre-occupied with other things since to post.  Brewing went well, except for hitting my gravity.  I was targeting 1.054 (75% efficiency) but got 1.060 (82% efficiency).  Oh well.  That will lose some of the session ale quality, but that's how homebrewing goes sometimes!  Fermentation is still going strong and even overflowing at times (a week later).  Not sure what to think about that.
Update 4/24/12: Racked to secondary and added the dry hops.  FG was 1.014, so looks like about a 6% ABV, which is higher than my anticipated 5.5%.  Oh well.

Opening Day Pale Ale 2012

Opening Day, a national holiday at least in my household, is only three weeks away.  After a long winter of staring out the window waiting for spring, baseball is almost back!  Spring Training is already here, which means that it was time to brew up an Opening Day Ale.  Last year I did an amber ale, which was pretty good, but also an extract beer.  This year I decided to do a pale ale.  Here's the details...

Recipe:
5.5 gallons

Grain:
10lb GW 2-Row
.8lb White Wheat
.8lb Crystal 40L

Hops:
.75oz Chinook 14.2% for 60m
.50oz Chinook 14.2% for 15m
.25oz Chinook 14.2% for 1m
2oz Cascade 6.0% for 1m

Dry Hops:
2oz Cascade 6.0 % for 7 days
.50oz Chinook 14.2% for 7 days

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 Slurry

Notes:
Smooth brew day (brewed on 3/11/12).  I forgot to take the Original Gravity though, so I'll just assume that I hit my target of 1.056.  Fermentation is going well.  I'll hopefully move this to secondary soon.  I'll need to get a keg opened up by April 4th, so I can at least quick charge it in time for the game on the 5th.  Go Cubs Go!
Update 3/20/12: Racked to secondary and added the dry hops.  I put in 2oz of Cascade and .5oz of Chinook.  I saw some Summit in my fridge I was tempted to throw in as well, but decided to save that for something else down the road.  Can't wait for baseball to officially start again!

Pliny The Elder, again

Pliny the Elder has to be my favorite commercially produced beer.  The hop aroma, the flavor, everything about this beer is fantastic.  So the question is, why don't I always have this on hand?  I can brew this for about 1/6 the cost of buying it at Belmont Station, which only has it for about 6 hours a month until they're sold out usually, and you can only buy one bottle per adult at a time, so basically I get about a bottle of this a month.  So how I have 11 gallons of it to last me a while.  Here's the details that you're really after...

Recipe:
11 Gallon

Grain:
28# GW 2-Row
1.4# Crystal 40L
1.4# Carapils

2# Dextrose (Corn Sugar) added to the boil

Hops:
6oz CTZ for 90m
1.5oz CTZ for 45m
2oz Simcoe for 30m
5oz Simcoe for 1m
2oz Centennial for 1m

Dry hops:
2oz CTZ for 10 days
2oz Centennial for 10 days
2oz Simcoe for 10 days
.5oz Simcoe for 3 days
.5oz CTZ for 3 days
.5oz Centennial for 3 days

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 starter from Scott

Notes:
Smooth brewing.  No stuck mash this time since I cut a hole in a colander and put the mash screen through it (details to come later).  Gravity came in a little low (1.075-target was 1.085), but so long as it drops a little lower than the targeted 1.021.  Right now I have about 22 gallons of really tasty IPA's fermenting, so I feel like I'm living pretty large.  Plus I won't have to brew for a while!
Update 3/8/12: I've been really lagging on the Pliny.  I finally got one kegged this week and it is really tasty.  I have a bottle of Pliny that I'll compare it to probably next week.  I also got 6 bottles filled as well to save for later.  That plus the other 6 gallons that are on secondary right now and will get bottled next week!  I'll update again with the side by side results.