Brew #100 is in the works

I finally found some time to sit down and plan my brew 100. It will be an imperial stout aged over oak. I'm shooting for 10% ABV. I am going to model my beer after the John Courage Imperial Stout recipe found in Clone Brews.

Here is my planned recipe:

Partial Mash

2.5 lbs Marris Otter malt.

12 oz British crystal malt

10 oz British chocolate malt

3 oz roasted barley

3 oz black malt

Boil

3.3 lb dark liquid malt extract

1 lb cane sugar

5 lbs dry malt extract

1/3 lb molasses

Hops (61 IBU):

1 oz Target (12%) 60 mins

1 oz Northern Brewer (10%) 60 min

1 oz Willamette 15 mins

1 oz Fuggles 1 min

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale from a big starter with yeast nutrients.

During secondary fermentation, some steamed oak chips will be added. I'm not sure how much I will add.

Beer naming time again

Greetings. Let me introduce myself. I'm the author and custodian of this here blog. You haven't heard much from me lately because I've been preparing myself to receive a call from a lady or gentleman representing the world-famous Nobel prize organization.

OK, that's not true (duh!!!) but the combination of me being busy and pretty damn lazy has made posting around here a bit rare.

I busted my butt today getting a lot of things done so I could brew beer. And brewing beer is what I am doing.

I am brewing my 99th batch ever. It is my cream ale. I've brewed this several times and it has become quite popular in my immediate family. I think I have refined the recipe enough that it is ready for a name, AND I'm looking for suggestions. I have two beers with names right now: Metathesis Pale Ale and Carbon Black Oatmeal Stout. If you are astute enough (and I know you are) you will notice the strong connection to Organic Chemistry.

So, with that criteria, what should I call my cream ale. Here is the recipe if you need inspiration:

Partial Mash

3 lbs pale malt

1 lb honey malt

0.5 lb malted wheat

0.25 lb biscuit

Mash at 152° in 1.5 gallons for 90 minutes. Drain and sparge with 2 gallons at 168°

3.5 lb Extra light dry malt extract

1 oz Northern Brewer (7% a.a.) 60 minutes

1 oz Willamette (3.5% a.a.) 1 minute

Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Centennial brew plans

Recently, I mentioned that I was closing in on homebrew batch #100. Tomorrow I expect to do batch 99 (a cream ale). That means batch 100 is almost here.

So, what am I going to brew. Well, I asked for suggestions and I have decided to do a series of three special beers.

Here's the plan:

#100 Imperial Stout aged over oak

#101 101 minute IPA using locally grown hops (a friend of mine has some nugget and cascade hops). I will incorporate those and other hops.

#102 A style I have never brewed before. I'm still not sure what I am going to do, but I'm leaning towards a dark lager or a double bock.

None of these beers will be ready for a few months. I must first formulate the recipes. That could take some time. Then after I brew them, they will all require a certain amount of aging. I'll probably be drinking them in March of 2010.

Adventures in lager

Since I'm at the start of a lager beer temperature cycle, I decided to get another beer in the lagering fridge and take advantage of the cycle.

Alas, I have nothing that can be used to make a beer in the style of a lager.... or do I? Time for a pantry raid. Here is what I found in my supplies and here is my recipe:

Partial mash: 1.5 gallons H2O at 164°F added to the grains in a beverage cooler and mashed at 152°F for 90 minutes. Sparged with 1.5 gallons of H2O at 168°F (2 x 0.75 gal).

2 lb pilsner malt
10 oz Munich malt
10 oz Caramel 10°L

4 lb extra light dry malt extract

1 oz Northern Brewer leaf hops (8.5% a.a.) 60 minutes
0.75 oz Tettnang (4.5% a.a.) 15 minutes
0.75 Hallertau Select (1.5%) 5 minutes

2 packs of Saflager S-23 Fermentis dry yeast.

Fermentation at 54°F.

I'm pretty pleased with what I came up with considering I've never purchased anything with the intention of brewing a lager. In about 8 weeks, I will know what I have.

Lager beer

I am brewing a lager and will ferment at the appropriate temperatures for the first time ever using my newly acquired lagering fridge with a temperature controlling device.

I'm brewing a lager kit from Midwest supply. Here is the ingredient list:

6 lbs pilsner DME
2 oz. Munich
8 oz. Caramel 10°L
Saaz, Saaz, Saaz (3 ounces)
Wyeast 2001 Urquell Lager yeast

I'm boiling it right now.

For the fermentation, I'm going to start the temperature at 62°F for a day and then drop it down to 52°F for the bulk of the fermentation. After about 10 days, I will raise the temperature to 66°F for 2 days to drive off any diacetyl. After which, I will transfer to a secondary and lager it at 40°F for 6 weeks.

Wish me luck.

A chill is in the air

It is getting to be that time of the year. Time for stouts and porters. Time for beers that curl your toes. I plan on brewing a spiced winter ale for the..um...winter...(duh)! Here's what I did last year. I hope to make something a little more balanced with the spices.

So, brewers and people who know or pretend to know what you are talking about, what should I include in my spiced winter ale 2008? I hope to bottle it by Thanksgiving.

Last year I was amazed at how overpowering (or nearly so) 0.5 tsp of nutmeg can be in 5 gallons of beer. It wasn't bad, but it assaulted the palate a bit too much. Perhaps, too much spice....

Hop pantry raid!!!!

The hops one uses to make a certain style of beer are important. There are some hops that must be used to achieve a certain style. During the recent hop shortage some hops have been hard to find.

If you are a homebrewer like me, you have tried to experiment with certain hop varieties when your variety of choice is not available or costs too much. Sometimes, I have stockpiled some varieties that were readily available in case I needed them.

The good news is that due to disciplined usage and rationing, more hops are now available than was anticipated back in March. There are a lot of things not available, but many more things can be found.

I finally decided to get rid of the hop remnants sitting in my freezer. I decided to use them regardless of beer style. Beer snobs will be appalled.

I brewed two batches. A Guinness clone and a style of beer that has never been seen on the face of the earth.

First the Guinness. Here are the hops I used:
1 oz Willamette (4.6% aa)
1 oz Kent Goldings (4.5% aa)- that actually fits the style!
0.5 oz Saaz (2.3% aa)
0.6 oz Hallertau (1.5% aa)

The rest of the recipe was pretty standard. Maris otter, roasted barley, Mountmellick LME etc...

The second beer is... well, I'm not sure what the style is even close to. I decided to use some of the grains I had on hand. Here's the full recipe:
Partial mash
3lb 2-row pale malt
8oz biscuit
6 oz carapils
8 oz medium crystal

Boil
2 lb DME

and here are the hops:
Bittering (60 minutes):
1 oz German Tradition
0.3 oz Tettnang
Aroma (5 minutes):
1.3 oz Tettnang

Wyeast 1056 American Ale.

Pretty weird, eh? I agree, but so what?!?! I'm not trying to win a beer competition. I'm making beer. No matter how this turns out, it will be better than Clydesdale piss. Beer styles be damned (at least for now).

Brewers, any thoughts???

I live to brew again

If I had a dime for everytime a blogger wrote "sorry I haven't posted. I've been really busy" I'd be rich...

**clears throat**

Sorry I haven't posted. I've been really busy. Things are getting into a groove now, so I found some time to not only post, but to brew beer.

Tonight I brewed my Metathesis Pale Ale. Here's the most recent and most refined recipe (I'm still tweaking this one, but it never turns out bad).

Partial Mash:
2 lb Pale Malt
1 lb Briess Caramel malt (10°L)
8 oz Malted Wheat
1.25 gallons at 154°F for 90 minutes
Sparged with 2 gallons at 164°F
3 lbs DME
1 oz Cascade hops
Boil 45 minutes
1 oz Cascade hops
Boil 15 minutes
Chill, top to 5 gallons
Pitch Wyeast 1056, American Ale

When the time is right, dry hop with 1.5 oz Cascade hops

Next up, an Irish stout similar to Guinness.

Here's a picture of my porter I currently have on tap:

Time for brewing

Lately, the sporadic posts on this blog have been mostly about chemistry. I have seriously neglected posting anything about beer and brewing. How sad.

I plan on brewing tomorrow (I hope). I'm going to make what I call a summer ale. Here is my planned recipe:

Partial mash:
2 3.5 lb pale malt
0.5 lb honey malt
0.5 lb carapils

Boil:
3 lbs light dry malt extract (late addition)

Hops:
Columbus- bittering
Willamette- aroma and flavor

I'm shooting for something lighter in color. The hops are from what I have on hand. I think the Columbus will be nice for bittering. At 14% AA,it won't take much to bitter the beer. The Willamette should provide a nice herbal, earthy flavor that will taste good when I am digging in my garden[1].

Any thoughts?

[1] or trying to kill that stupid rabbit that's decimated my garden.

Stupid tree pollen and brewing Pale Ale

I hate tree pollen. I have very few allergies, but tree pollen gets me every year. Right now, the tree pollen levels are pretty high. Yesterday, they were very high. I really can't complain. A few days of a runny nose and sore throat are pretty mild compared to some people (including those I am related to).

My cure is to brew....

I'm brewing my Metathesis Pale Ale right now. I have 5 minutes of boil left. It is a very simple beer, but my favorite

Partial mash:
2 lb Rahr 2-row
1 lb crystal malt (usually 20°, tonight I only had 50°. It will be darker, but I had no choice)
0.5 lb wheat malt

Boil:
3lb DME
6 AAU Chinook hops (60 min)
6 AAU Cascade hops (15 min)

Wyeast 1056

Dry hop 10 AAU Cascade hops in secondary

oops... boil's done. gotta go

Hop crisis. This time it's personal.

I drove to one of my favorite homebrew supply stores today. Since I have to drive a total of 160 miles to get these supplies, I usually purchase enough supplies for 3-4 batches. Today, I was significantly hindered by the lack of hops.

My supply store is great. They ship all over the place. They are always well stocked, but their hop supply is currently limited. They are well supplied with Kent Goldings, Target and Amarillo. However, they are totally out of Cascade, Halltertau, Fuggles, Chinook, and Saaz. I had to do a lot of modifying of my recipes. They won't be hopped exactly as I would like, but necessity is the mother of invention... or so they say. They should still turn out, and who knows maybe they will be better.

Time will tell.

Perpetuated yeast

I racked my Spiced Winter Ale yesterday. It tasted pretty dang good. The gravity had only dropped to 1.022. So, my alcohol content may be a little lower than I was shooting (6% vs. 6.9%). Oh well, it was good. The spices were a bit strong but that should mellow in the secondary and then in the bottle.

I was pleased how it turned out because of the yeast I used. A month before I made this batch I stole some yeast (Wyeast 1056) from a yeast starter and capped it in a sanitized bottle. I stored this in my refrigerator for a month. When I was ready to use it again, I opened the bottle and made another starter from it. Fermentation took place and no weird flavors showed up. I'm pretty confident the yeast survived my manipulations and storage.

I plan on using this procedure regularly in the future to stretch my yeast a little further.

Winter Ale

With winter approaching (that son-of-a-bitch), I decided it is time brew a beer that makes the long cold Minnesota nights a bit shorter. I once again went to my brewing cupboard and took an inventory. With the help of The Beer Recipator, I crafted a recipe for a spiced Winter ale.

I've very proud of this batch because I took a lot of care crafting it, but I also paid a lot of attention to some specifics. For example, I actually took the time to calculate my mashing (partial) efficiency which turned out to be about 75%. I hope the extra care pays off.

Here's the details copied from the Recipator summary. I didn't include in the summary the spices I included. For the last 15 minutes of the boil I added 3 cinnamon sticks, 0.5 tsp nutmeg, 0.25 tsp ground cloves. During the last minute of boil I added one split vanilla bean. It smelled great.

spice

Brewer:	-		Email:	-
Beer:	spice		Style:	Robust Porter
Type:	Partial mash		Size:	5 gallons
Color:	51 HCU (~22 SRM)		Bitterness:	31 IBU
OG:	1.067		FG:	1.014
Alcohol:	6.9% v/v (5.4% w/w)
Grain:	1 lb. 11 oz. American 2-row 1 lb. Wheat malt .5 lb. American crystal 120L 11 oz. British crystal 50-60L 4 oz. British chocolate
Mash:	75% efficiency
Boil:	minutes	SG 1.112	3 gallons
	5 lb. Light dry malt extract
Hops:	1 oz. Cluster (5.7% AA, 60 min.) .5 oz. Kent Goldings (6.9% AA, 60 min.) .25 oz. Chinook (12.2% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Cascade (6.9% AA, 15 min.)

The yeast I used was Wyeast 1056, American Ale. I brewed with this yeast about a month ago. I saved a bit from the starter and placed it in a sanitized beer bottle and capped it. I stored it in my fridge for almost a month. I made another yeast starter and rejuvenated the yeast. Hopefully it is still healthy enough to make good beer. We will see.

Brew weekend

I brewed my Guinness Stout clone on Saturday night and bottled my Carbon Black Oatmeal stout. I have two batches to bottle during the next few days.

Here's my Guinness Stout recipe. It's from Clone Beers by Tess and Mark Szamatulski. Normally, when I clone a beer, I simply try to get close. If I get something I like, I do little to try to get it to be a perfect match. Cloning Guinness, however, is a different story. I want it to be as close as I can get it. Therefore, I try to follow the recipe as closely as possible. Here is the partial mash recipe I used:

Mash:
1.5 lb 2-row British pale malt
12 oz. roasted barley
4 oz. 55°L crystal malt
4 oz. flaked barley
3 oz acid malt
Boil:
4 lb Mountmellick LME
1 oz Target hops
0.5 oz Kent Golding hops
Pitch:
WYeast 1084 Irish ale

My Carbon Black Oatmeal
Partial Mash:
3 lb 2 Row British Pale Malt
1 lb flaked oats
8 oz. Munich malt
4 oz Belgian Special B malt
8 oz. roasted barley
Boil:
3 lb Dark DME
0.5 lb Light DME
1 oz Bullion hops (6 AAU) (60 minutes)
0.5 oz Willamette (4 AAU) (15 minutes)
Pitch:
WYeast 1098

This is a lot of stout, but it will all be ready for the cold of winter when a nice full bodied stout is just what the weather ordered.

My newest version of beer

What I really love about brewing is the independence on has over the ingredients in a batch. Sure, if I was to try to make a certain style, there are specific guidelines that I must meet.

However, I'm not brewing beer to be judged within the confines of a category (maybe someday, but not today). My only constraints are what ingredients I have in my Sterilite storage bin.

Today I brewed using two criteria:

1) I could only use what I had on hand
2) I had to use ALL of the specific ingredient I had on hand (except for my Cascade hops. I have about .75 pounds)

My biggest problem was the hops I had available. I had 0.4 oz of Target (10.0% AA), 0.55 oz Tettnang (4.3% AA) and a copious amount of Cascade hops (5.8% AA) I wanted to hit a bitterness of 40±5 IBU. So, I used a number of IBU calculators on the internet, but they all gave conflicting values. I need to look into this more deeply and understand my IBUs better.

Here is my recipe (I'm not sure what I made, but I bet it will be better than Bud Light):

4 oz flaked barley
8 oz Munich malt
8 oz Carapils
14 oz Crystal Malt (50-60°L)
3 lb Amber DME
3 lb Light DME
0.4 oz Target hop pellets (bittering, 60 minutes)
0.25 oz Cascade hop pellets (bittering, 60 minutes)
0.44 Tettnang hop pellets (aroma, 15 minutes)
0.5 oz Cascade hop pellets (aroma, 2 minutes)
Safale US-56 dry yeast

The barley, munich, carapils and crystal malt were mashed at 150°F for 60 minutes in 2.5 quarts of water. The liquid was strained through a plastic colander lined with a muslin bag. The grains were sparged with 1 gallon of water at 170°F. To the liquid the DME was added. The volume was increased to 3 gallons. The wort was brought to a boil and the Target and Cascade hops were added. With 15 minutes left, the Tettnang hops were added and finally the Cascade was added with 2 minutes left. The wort was cooled and diluted to 5 gallons. The dry yeast was added directly.

Only time will tell what I have made and if it is good.

Condition critical

I bottled my Experimental Ale #2 tonight (FG 1.018). It tasted quite good. A bit too bitter right now, but that should mellow out over time.

With this beer in the bottle, I find myself in a terrible situation. I have NO beer in any carboy. My beer pipeline is dry. I may try to scrounge up some ingredients for another experimental beer tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I have what I need.

The lack of brewing has been a result of being busy and not having the ingredients I want. I could order them, but I have grand plans and I'm afraid the shipping charges may be too high. I am going to get ingredients for 3-4 batches. In addition, I am going to buy dry malt extract (DME) in bulk. A 55 lb bag costs about $135. Since I use about 6 pounds in each batch, this will supply 9 batches. In addition to that, I plan on trying my hand at partial mash brewing. This requires more grains (and less DME so my 55 lbs will last longer).

The bottom line is, it will be cheaper for me to drive to the supply store instead of having it shipped. I just need to find the time to do so.

I also hope to get back to blogging about some brewing chemistry things as well.

Third time a charm?

I brewed a Fat Tire clone for the third time. I am hoping I get it right this time.

The first attempt was terrible. I blame that on lax attention to technique. When racking to a secondary (i.e. siphoning from the primary fermenter to a secondary fermenter) I ignored the fact that a lot of oxygen was getting sucked in through a loose tube connection. Result: crap!!!!

The second attempt was a little better, but still bad. Again, I am embarrassed to say, I had it coming. I believe a bacterial infection spoiled the batch. I'm not sure where it originated, but I believe it was from the spigot of my bottling bucket. That spigot has been given it's walking papers and co-mingled.

Third attempt: as Bullwinkle said, "this time for sure!!!" The fermentation is going crazy right now. The convection that results when the yeast gets a batch churning is a site to see.

I just cracked open my recent pale ale. OMG!!!! It is good. I love cascade hops. Maybe someday I'll write a poem about them. My pale ale is highly hopped with cascade and I love it.

Cream Stout

In a previous post, I implied that my cream stout recipe has been perfected. That is kind of true, but I continue to tweak it. That is what is fun about homebrewing. The constant experimentation.

But, I do have a recipe that really works. The result is just plain yummy. I have 5 gallons in a secondary right now. In a week I will bottle and in another week I will drink.

Here is the recipe:

4 lb. Mountmellick light malt syrup
2 lb Munton & Fison Dark DME
0.5 lb crystal malt
0.5 lb dextrin (Cara-pils)
0.5 lb roasted barley
1 oz. N. Brewer hop pellets (bittering)
1 oz. Stryian Goldings hop pellets (aroma)
1 lb lactose
Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale yeast

The grains were steeped in 1 gallon of water at 155°F for 30 minutes. Sparged with 0.5 gallons and added to the brew kettle. The malt extracts are added to the brew kettle and the volume is adjusted to 3 gallons. The wort is brought to a boil and the N. brewer hops are added. This is boiled for 45 minutes. The Styrian Goldings hops, lactose and some irish moss are added. This is boiled for another 15 minutes. Cool, dilute to 5 gallons, pitch yeast.... wait.

Tell me what you think.

Naming my beer

I realized tonight as I was updating my brewing status that I need to name my beers. Not the ones I clone, but the ones I have developed on my own. Of course, I am still in the R&D phase with most, but my cream stout is beyond development. I love it. The dark, roasted flavor that coats the back of your throat, and the hint of sweetness from the unfermented lactose that plays so nicely with the roasted barley leaving a bit of caramel sensation. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yum!!!

The problem is, it doesn't have a name.

The other beers in my recipe box are a pale ale that compares to Mirror Pond Pale Ale (it has lots of cascade hoppy goodness to it), And a brown ale that is in the vein of Newcastle. Neither of these beers has a name. I plan on perfecting the recipe before thinking of a name.

So, back to the cream stout.

Cream stouts are often made using lactose. The top fermenting ale yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, does not ferment lactose. This results in the creamy and subtle sweetness of the cream stout. There are some yeasts that ferment lactose, of course. There are some that are blamed for foamy cream, but I don't know of any that are used to make beer. There are some that make alcohol, but I'm not sure if the EtOH is meant for consumption.

Regardless, my cream stout still doesn't have a name. I found out today in MN, by law you must name your child within 60 days. I'm not sure what the penalty is if you don't. My cream stout has been without a name for almost 6 years now.

Update: Experimental Ale

I racked my Experimental Ale to a secondary. It tasted pretty good. Maybe a bit too bitter, but I was expecting that. I don't think it will be too bad. I also dry hopped with 0.5 oz of cascade hops to increase the flavor and aroma.

OG: 1.056, SG:1.018