It's hot outside.

Update 7/15 - Kegged. Primed with 3oz table sugar (~3+ vol CO2). Added peach flavoring.
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Easy drinkin' summer wheat beer time. I only used 1 vial of yeast and no starter. I know, high crimes... but I just plain ran out of time earlier in the week. I was trying to get WLP320 (Am Hefe) but couldn't get it in time for the brew day. The 060 is rumored to be a blend of WLP001 (Chico/Sierra Nevada), WLP051 (Anchor Liberty Ale), and probably also WLP810 (Anchor Steam). Thought I'd give it a try since White Labs boasts a good complexity from it and not quite as much hop emphasis as the WLP001.

The hop schedule is not my ideal, but I was cleaning out the freezer. That was all I had, and it's just barely enough. In a perfect world, I would have liked some nice noble hop aroma additions and a little more bitterness.

Batch #61
American Wheat, 5.5 gallons
--5.5lbs Wheat Malt
--4lbs German Pils
--1lb Maris Otter
--4oz Melanoidin
--4oz CaraFoam
--1oz Saaz 3%AA (60min, whole)
--0.125oz Willamette 4.8%AA (60min, whole)
--0.375oz Vanguard 5.8%AA (60min, whole)
--1/4 tsp supermoss (15min)
--1/4 tsp gypsum (mash)
--WLP060 American Ale Blend
--3oz table sugar (priming in keg)
--2oz peach flavoring (priming in keg)
OG: 1.053
FG: 1.010
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: ~15

Mashed in to 153°F in 4.25 gallons water and held for 60m. Batch sparged with 18.5qts at 185°F (raised mash temp to 168°F) and collected 29qts wort total. Boiled for 90m. Chilled and pitch yeast at 68-70°F. Probably get some fruit in secondary.

They don't allow you to have bees in here.

Update 8/2
Bottled lager yeast portion, final gravity 1.001.
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Update 7/8
Bottled mead yeast portion. Racked lager yeast portion, started lagering.
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Update 7/3
Water: 0.4+ Brix (I need a tiny screwdriver to calibrate properly)
Mead yeast: 5.5 Brix; (~13%abv) Dry, floral and perfume - almost medicinal.
Lager yeast: 8.4 Brix; (~11%abv) Sulfur aroma, slightly harsh. Might benefit from lagering.
Both have a nice hint of the source honey.
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More mead! This one's going to be a little lighter in alcohol.

Mead Batch #02
Wildflower Mead (5 gallons)
-12lbs Wildflower honey
-1/4tsp Fermaid K
Split yeast: WLP720 Sweet Mead yeast (1L starter), Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 (11.5g)
OG: ~1.082 (19.5°Brix) <--yep, bought a refractometer.
FG: 0.997 (WLP720), 1.001 (W-34/70)
ABV: ~11% (WLP720), 10.6% (W-34/70)

Boiled 4 gallons water with yeast nutrient, let it cool just a bit, and mixed in (almost) 12 lbs honey to reach (almost) 5 gallons. I spilled some on the way, which is why my shoe smells so good. Chilled and split the must into two 3-gallon carboys. Fermenting the WLP720 around 70F and the W-34/70 at 50F.

Yeasty experiments

Update 8/29 - It's all bottled now. The small batch was in bottles last week, and I finally had some time to rack the other 4 gallons today. It didn't taste sour, but the gravity sure reads like it.
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More Saisons today...this batch was split into two fermenters, ~4 gallons in one carboy, and the rest in a gallon jug. The idea is to compare WLP565 Saison with Wyeast 3711 French Saison. I also added the sugar during the boil to make less work for myself since I'll be bottling the scotch ale and making root beer this week, too.

Batch #42 (and 42.5)
The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything
--10.5lbs Ger. Pilsner
--1lb White Wheat Malt
--0.5lb Amer. Munich Malt (mostly, a little CaraPils to round out the half pound)
--1lb Cane Sugar (15min)
--2.25oz Hallertauer 3%AA (60min)
--0.75oz Hallertauer 3%AA (15min)
--1/4tsp supermoss (15min)
--1/4tsp gypsum (mash water addition)
--Wyeast 3711 French Saison, 1L starter (for carboy)
--WLP565 Saison Ale Yeast, vial saved from previous batch (for jug)
OG: 1.068
FG: 1.000+ (Read ~0.999, but hydrometer tube is unreliable below about 1.008)
ABV: ~8.5-9%
IBU: 20ish

Mash in 16qts at 150F, allow to fall as low as 145F over the course of 90min. Batch sparge to 7 gallons wort. Boil for 90 minutes. Ferment at 68F for 2-3 days, then allow to rise into mid to high 80s F.