Moonlighting

I am now part of the production team at a commercial brewery. That means I help make beer that people actually pay for. Or, so far, anyway, help make room for it by cleaning kegs and tanks and such.

Low gravity like the moon

Update 6/26/09 -- This is good. This is very good. It dried out a little too much...if I can get it to finish with a little more residual sugar (~1.012 maybe), it would be excellent. Mash at 154 next time...maybe a little more crystal.
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Got the idea from Nate Smith when he gave a talk for the Worts of Wisdom club about IPA/IIPA brewing. Figured it would be a good use for the little bit of grain I had left in the garage, or at least a good experiment. Kept the IBUs down (although my estimate is likely not quite accurate as I used a full 2oz of Centennial today...probably just error on the scale). Munich and 40L for some flavor, CaraPils for a little body. We'll see. Session IPAs are...not real common. I'm also new to Palisade.

Batch #38
iPA
--6.5lbs Golden Promise
--0.5lb CaraPils
--0.25lb Crystal 40L
--0.25lb Dark Munich
--0.5oz Cascade 7.5%AA (60min)
--0.5oz Centennial 8%AA (40min)
--0.5oz Cascade 7.5%AA (20min)
--1oz Palisade 8%AA (15min)
--0.5oz Centennial 8%AA (flameout)
--0.5oz Cascade 7.5%AA (flameout)
--1oz Palisade 8%AA (flameout)
--0.5oz Centennial, 0.5oz Cascade (dry hop)
--1/4tsp supermoss (15min)
--1/4tsp gypsum (mash water addition)
--WLP001 California Ale Yeast, 1+L starter (2nd generation).
OG: 1.040
FG: 1.008
ABV: 4.2%
IBU: 40ish

Mashed in 10qts to 120F, rest for 15min. Raised (using 1.5gal hot water) to 152F and held for 45min. Batch sparge - drained, added ~3.75gallons hot water to bring to mash out temp, drained. Collected about 6.75gal at 1.030SG for 74.5% efficiency.

Fill it with your mighty juice

Patience...75 minute mash, 45-50 minute lautering time (as opposed to my usual 15), and a 90+ minute boil. Cleaned out the freezer a bit with the hops. This is nominally an American amber, but the flavor and aroma hops might argue with you on that point.

Batch #37
American Amber Ale
--9.5lbs Golden Promise
--2lb Amer. Munich
--0.5lb Crystal 120L
--0.25lb Victory
--0.25lb Pale Chocolate
--1oz Columbus 12%AA (60min)
--1oz Willamette 4%AA (30min)
--0.5oz Willamette 4%AA (15min)
--0.5oz Willamette 4%AA (5min)
--1oz Liberty 5%AA (flameout)
--1/4tsp supermoss (15min)
--WLP001 California Ale Yeast, 1L starter.
OG: 1.065
FG: 1.015
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 40ish

Mash in 16qts water to 150F for 75min. Mash out to 168F for 10min. Sparge and lauter to 7 gallons of wort (SG~1.048 for 74% efficiency!). I used 1/4 tsp epsom salts and 1/2 tsp gypsum in the mash water - that's Burtonization, Kyle.

Cookin' with gas

Update - Yeah, it's tasty,...wheat, toast, banana, but I swear it's got acetaldehyde, too. That's what I get for rushing it to the keg.
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I brewed outside for the first time. Borrowed a propane tank and burner and set to work with a few more brewers. Good times. Having a tree was a mixed bag - ample shade, ample crap falling into EVERYTHING. I was a little worried that this batch wouldn't turn out quite right, but the grains had enough enzyme to do the conversion. My efficiency dragged a little bit, probably because I was using someone else's water and didn't - excuse me, it just foamed through the airlock...okay, problem solved for the moment - add any salts. Still, reasonable efficiency around 70%. I actually ended up using two burners and two kettles, which makes step mashing by multiple infusions a lot easier.

Batch #36
Dunkelweizen
--5lbs Ger. Light Munich
--5lb Ger. Dark Wheat Malt
--0.25lb Pale Chocolate
--1.25oz Liberty 4.5%AA (60min)
--1/4tsp supermoss (15min)
--WLP300 English Ale Yeast, 2L starter from ~1/2 vial saved from a Hefe starter.
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.014
ABV: 4.6%
IBU: ~20 or so

Mash in with 10qts to around 125-130 (lots going on, didn't take notes) for 20min. Add hot water to raise temp to 152 (or thereabouts, again...no notes on what actually happened) for 40min. Added rice hulls. Mash out to 168F (more water) for 15min. I undermeasured my water and ended up only pulling 6.5 gallons of wort, so only did a 60min boil. Ended with around 5.25gal of wort. Brought it home, pitched my yeast, and it is going like mad. After 6 hours, I had about an inch of kraeusen, it's out the top now.

Smooth

This one's another one for the lady. Should be ready in time for her younger brother and his WIFE to visit. The wort was slick from all the oil in the oats...flaked barley was my addition to try and get a little foam in the finished product. The rest (hop sub aside) is basically JZ's Oatmeal Stout recipe.

Batch #35
'bout Damn Time Oatmeal Stout
--9.5lbs Scot. Golden Promise
--1lb Flaked Oats
--1lb Flaked Barley
--0.75lb Pale Chocolate
--0.75lb Victory
--0.5lb Crystal 75L
--0.5lb Black Roasted Barley
--2oz Willamette 4.6%AA (60min)
--1/4tsp supermoss (15min)
--WLP002 English Ale Yeast, 1.5L starter
OG: 1.065
FG: 1.023
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: ~25

Single infusion mash, 17qts at 154F for 60min. I attempted a mash-out at 170, but my water wasn't quite ready. Instead of waiting the 5 extra minutes, I ended up only hitting about 160 or so for a 10 minute rest. Fly sparged 2.5gal to make 6.25...I guess flaked grains absorb more than I expected. Boiled for 60 minutes total. Mash efficiency just shy of 70%.

Haus Seeblick Hefeweizen

Another commission. Group ski trip this time, so something that will appeal to craft/home brew noobs and old pros alike.

Batch #34
Haus Seeblick Hefeweizen
--5lbs Ger. Pils
--4.5lbs Am. White Wheat Malt
--1lb Flaked Wheat
--4.5AAU Liberty (1oz 4.5%AA, 60min)
--2.25AAU Liberty (0.5oz 4.5%AA, 2min)
--WLP300 Hefeweizen Yeast, 1.1L starter
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.010
ABV: 5.25%
IBU: ~17

Single infusion mash, 16qts at 155F for 60min...let it fall a bit to around 152F. Batch sparged with 16qts to collect just under 6.75gal. Boiled for 90 minutes total. No clarifier. Mash efficiency just shy of 70%.

More beer for Les' money

Les volunteered to bankroll a couple brews since I'm not getting a paycheck and he's been drinking it up. So, this one's for him - literally, he bought it, he gets (most of) it. Based on the BYO recipe for a clone of Shiner Bock, it's an American dark lager. I subbed in brown sugar because I didn't have grits (or time for a cereal mash this week) and corn syrup just adds fermentable sugar and no flavor. I also used Pils instead of 6-row, and light munich malt since the Vienna was hiding until after I'd mixed my grains together. And I opted for German lager yeast since I couldn't find fresh Mexican. So maybe it's closer to a Dunkel. We'll see how it turns out.

Batch #33
Black Eye Lager
--4.5# German Pils
--1.5# Light Munich
--0.66# Crystal 60L
--1oz Brit Roast Barley
--0.7# Brown Sugar (15min)
--4.3AAU Willamette (1oz, 4.3%AA, 60min)
--1.3L starter of WLP830 German Lager Yeast
OG: 1.044
FG: 1.009
ABV: 4.6%
IBU: ~15

Mashed in to 152 in 7qts water, held for 60min. Attempted to mash-out to 168 with 3qts boiling water, but temp fell too fast. Sparged over ~45min with 5gal at 170F to collect 6.5gal wort at SG 1.030...80% efficiency. Half tsp gypsum in the mash water, another half in the sparge. Pitched at 60F, sitting in the garage.