Well, I've now brewed my first all-grain recipe. I built a mash/lauter tun out of a 5 gallon cylindrical water cooler, a stainless steel false bottom, and the following (inside to out):
3/8" hose barb to 1/2" MIP
1/2" FIP to 3/4" male hose
3/4" female hose to 3/4" MIP
(Cooler wall)
#17 rubber O-ring (#15 would have been better)
3/4" ID washer (2" OD, milled to 1.75" to fit the cooler)
3/4" FIP to 1/2" FIP reducer
1/2" x 1.5" MIP nipple
1/2" ball valve (threaded 1/2" FIP both sides)
3/8" hose barb to 1/2" MIP
Toss in some vinyl hose, teflon tape, and a trio of clamps, you've got yourself an all-grain setup. It's fun to build, but not really worth the time. I spent about $75 ($20 for a new cooler, $25 for the false bottom, $30 for other parts), which is only about $10 less than a new complete assembly from MoreBeer.
For my first recipe, I borrowed Jim Rossi's Honey Pale Ale from MoreBeer's library.
Batch #15
Jim Rossi's Honey Pale Ale
--7 lbs 2-Row American Pale Ale Malt
--8 oz Honey Malt (Crystal 25L)
--3 lbs Honey (15min)
--0.5 oz Cascade 7.4% AA (60min)
--0.5 oz Cascade 7.4% AA (1min)
--Whirlfloc (20min)
--White Labs WLP001 Calif. Ale Yeast
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.004!!!
ABV: 6.5%
Calc. IBU: 15ish
Mashed 1 hour at 152°F with 2 quarts per pound. Batch sparged to 6 gallons. Mash gravity was 1.035. My calculations bring that to about 74% efficiency. I used whole hop leaves for this one.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
For the Rogue in all of us.
I bought a cooler. My next batch will be all-grain. In the meantime...
Apparently, John Maier of Rogue is in cahoots with MoreBeer. He gave them the recipe for the I²PA. They claim he uses one of their brew sculptures (must resist...) for playing around with his own stuff, including this variant on one of Rogue's best, the Brutal Bitter.
Batch #14
Blackened Brutal Bitter (extract)
White Labs California Ale Yeast
--7 lbs Ultralight (LME)
--4 oz Maltodextrin
--2.5lbs Munich
--1.25lbs Crystal 60L
--11 oz Carafa Special II
--1.5 oz Newport 9.3%AA (90min)
--1 oz Newport 9.3%AA (60min)
--2 oz Amarillo 8.9%AA (1min)
--2 oz Amarillo 8.9%AA (1min at flame out)
--1 oz Amarillo (dry-hop in secondary)
--1 Whirlfloc tab (20min)
OG: 1.057
FG: 1.015
ABV: 5.5%
Calc. IBUs: ~90
Grains steeped for 30 minutes at 160F. My OG came out low for the recipe, so the alcohol will probably be around 5.5-6% instead of 7-8%. The low IBU rating is a result of weak bittering hops (tastybrew.com gives a typical Newport as 15.5%AA for 140IBU in this recipe).
Apparently, John Maier of Rogue is in cahoots with MoreBeer. He gave them the recipe for the I²PA. They claim he uses one of their brew sculptures (must resist...) for playing around with his own stuff, including this variant on one of Rogue's best, the Brutal Bitter.
Batch #14
Blackened Brutal Bitter (extract)
White Labs California Ale Yeast
--7 lbs Ultralight (LME)
--4 oz Maltodextrin
--2.5lbs Munich
--1.25lbs Crystal 60L
--11 oz Carafa Special II
--1.5 oz Newport 9.3%AA (90min)
--1 oz Newport 9.3%AA (60min)
--2 oz Amarillo 8.9%AA (1min)
--2 oz Amarillo 8.9%AA (1min at flame out)
--1 oz Amarillo (dry-hop in secondary)
--1 Whirlfloc tab (20min)
OG: 1.057
FG: 1.015
ABV: 5.5%
Calc. IBUs: ~90
Grains steeped for 30 minutes at 160F. My OG came out low for the recipe, so the alcohol will probably be around 5.5-6% instead of 7-8%. The low IBU rating is a result of weak bittering hops (tastybrew.com gives a typical Newport as 15.5%AA for 140IBU in this recipe).
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Kölsch Ale
Update 7/31 - After about 2 months of waiting I hit this with the CO2 and it's very nice. Light in body and alcohol. Has that German lager aroma.
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I think the first Kölsch I had was the Pyramid Curveball. It was light, refreshing, grassy, and delicious. Gordon-Biersch also makes a decent Kölsch, which I found a little odd since it's technically an ale, and they tend to stick to lagers. Cool fermentation and a lagering period makes the style a really clean session beer perfect for slow summer days. This one I picked up as a kit from MoreBeer. It should be pretty decent with mild bittering from the Glacier and a noble aroma from the Vanguard. I tweaked the boil time on the second hop addition for a little more bitterness to more closely match the style's profile.
Batch #13
Kölsch Ale (extract)
White Labs German Ale/Kölsch Yeast
--4 lbs German Pils (LME)
--2 lbs Light Malt (DME)
--4 oz Maltodextrin
--8 oz Crystal 15L
--0.5 oz Glacier 6.0%AA (60min)
--1 oz Vanguard 4.4%AA (5min)
--1 Whirlfloc tab (20min)
OG: 1.043
FG: 1.012
ABV: 4%
Calc. IBUs: 16
Grains steeped for 30min at 160±5F in ~4 gallons of water. Dry malt and dextrin added after steeping, along with additional 2 gallons water. LME added at boil. First hops after hot break. Cooled with wort chiller, yeast pitched at 65F.
--
I think the first Kölsch I had was the Pyramid Curveball. It was light, refreshing, grassy, and delicious. Gordon-Biersch also makes a decent Kölsch, which I found a little odd since it's technically an ale, and they tend to stick to lagers. Cool fermentation and a lagering period makes the style a really clean session beer perfect for slow summer days. This one I picked up as a kit from MoreBeer. It should be pretty decent with mild bittering from the Glacier and a noble aroma from the Vanguard. I tweaked the boil time on the second hop addition for a little more bitterness to more closely match the style's profile.
Batch #13
Kölsch Ale (extract)
White Labs German Ale/Kölsch Yeast
--4 lbs German Pils (LME)
--2 lbs Light Malt (DME)
--4 oz Maltodextrin
--8 oz Crystal 15L
--0.5 oz Glacier 6.0%AA (60min)
--1 oz Vanguard 4.4%AA (5min)
--1 Whirlfloc tab (20min)
OG: 1.043
FG: 1.012
ABV: 4%
Calc. IBUs: 16
Grains steeped for 30min at 160±5F in ~4 gallons of water. Dry malt and dextrin added after steeping, along with additional 2 gallons water. LME added at boil. First hops after hot break. Cooled with wort chiller, yeast pitched at 65F.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Hop to it.
Update, June 16th - This was a big hit with the hophead friends. Unfortunately, just a few days (seriously, 4 of 'em) after tapping the keg, it turned. We drank our way through most of it, so it might just be the dregs that I'm tasting, but I'll be doing a leak check on my lines just to play it safe. I don't think I'll make this one again soon just because I have too many other great IPAs to crank out (Hello, Ruination clone...thanks, BYO!)
--
It's IPA time!
Batch #12
Columbus IPA (extract)
White Labs California Ale V Yeast
--9 lbs Ultralight (LME)
--1.5 lbs Crystal 15L
--2 oz Magnum 13.1%AA (60min)
--2 oz Columbus 12.2%AA (5min)
--2 oz Columbus 12.2%AA (2min)
--2 oz Columbus (dry-hopped)
--1 Whirlfloc tab (20min)
OG: 1.062
FG: 1.017
ABV: 6%
Calc. IBUs: ~95
Steep the grains for 30 minutes in ~4 gallons water, bring to 6 and boil. Wort chiller knocked it down to ~65 in 45 minutes. Dry-hopped more Columbus in secondary after 10 days primary (slow fermentation around 60F). Vanguard whole hops?
I lost a lot of volume on this one. In the fermenter it's maybe only 4 gallons. Off to a slow start - the heater was off because it's been nice out. One should know California better...nights in the high 40s to low 50s. The heater is back on to keep the fermentarium nice and warm at 65ish through the night.
--
It's IPA time!
Batch #12
Columbus IPA (extract)
White Labs California Ale V Yeast
--9 lbs Ultralight (LME)
--1.5 lbs Crystal 15L
--2 oz Magnum 13.1%AA (60min)
--2 oz Columbus 12.2%AA (5min)
--2 oz Columbus 12.2%AA (2min)
--2 oz Columbus (dry-hopped)
--1 Whirlfloc tab (20min)
OG: 1.062
FG: 1.017
ABV: 6%
Calc. IBUs: ~95
Steep the grains for 30 minutes in ~4 gallons water, bring to 6 and boil. Wort chiller knocked it down to ~65 in 45 minutes. Dry-hopped more Columbus in secondary after 10 days primary (slow fermentation around 60F). Vanguard whole hops?
I lost a lot of volume on this one. In the fermenter it's maybe only 4 gallons. Off to a slow start - the heater was off because it's been nice out. One should know California better...nights in the high 40s to low 50s. The heater is back on to keep the fermentarium nice and warm at 65ish through the night.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Blackberry Stout the Second
Update: So tasty. So very, very tasty. Roasty toasty malt flavor with just enough berry flavor for it to be recognizable but not overpowering. Will definitely go for round 3 on this one.
---
The old blackberry stout was such a hit after it aged for a couple months that I thought I'd try it again. This time, instead of spending nye $30 to have the berry puree shipped from Maryland (seriously, it's the one berry that MoreBeer doesn't supply), I spent about $10 at Trader Joe's for berries. The stout kit I used as a base last time has changed a little (hop shortage, anyone?), and we left out the gypsum, since that just made the beer chalky and is primarily for mash water adjustment, anyway. The main difficulty of the method I used was that I didn't have a sanitized strainer on hand to scoop my berries out of the wort. This meant that I clogged the spout on my bucket and had to pour from the bucket into a funnel. That actually went surprisingly well with an extra pair of hands to help. The only other issue was the berries clogged the funnel at the end of the pour, and I had to hop (as in a grain hopper, not as in hops) the funnel so the berries would fall through.
Batch #11
Blackberry Stout 2 (extract), Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs 004)
--7+ lbs Ultralight Malt Extract
--1 lb Crystal 40L
--8 oz Black Roasted
--4 oz Black Patent
--4 oz Chocolate Malt
--1 oz Glacier 6.0%AA (60min)
--1 oz Glacier 6.0%AA (1min)
--5 lbs Frozen Blackberries (~10min)
--1 Whirlfloc tab (20min)
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.013
ABV: 5.4%
Calc. IBUs: ~25
Steep grains 30 minutes in 4 gallons water at 160±10ºF, add water to 6 gallons, bring to boil. Add extract and 1 oz Glacier. At 20 minutes, toss in clarifier. At 10 minutes, dunk in chiller and berries. I'd recommend bringing the berries up to at least room temp first, as the cold berries set my boil back about 10 minutes. More hops at 1 minute. Chill. Ferment. Secondary after 1 week to get the beer off the berries. After bottle/keg, give it one month to condition, drink within four months.
---
The old blackberry stout was such a hit after it aged for a couple months that I thought I'd try it again. This time, instead of spending nye $30 to have the berry puree shipped from Maryland (seriously, it's the one berry that MoreBeer doesn't supply), I spent about $10 at Trader Joe's for berries. The stout kit I used as a base last time has changed a little (hop shortage, anyone?), and we left out the gypsum, since that just made the beer chalky and is primarily for mash water adjustment, anyway. The main difficulty of the method I used was that I didn't have a sanitized strainer on hand to scoop my berries out of the wort. This meant that I clogged the spout on my bucket and had to pour from the bucket into a funnel. That actually went surprisingly well with an extra pair of hands to help. The only other issue was the berries clogged the funnel at the end of the pour, and I had to hop (as in a grain hopper, not as in hops) the funnel so the berries would fall through.
Batch #11
Blackberry Stout 2 (extract), Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs 004)
--7+ lbs Ultralight Malt Extract
--1 lb Crystal 40L
--8 oz Black Roasted
--4 oz Black Patent
--4 oz Chocolate Malt
--1 oz Glacier 6.0%AA (60min)
--1 oz Glacier 6.0%AA (1min)
--5 lbs Frozen Blackberries (~10min)
--1 Whirlfloc tab (20min)
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.013
ABV: 5.4%
Calc. IBUs: ~25
Steep grains 30 minutes in 4 gallons water at 160±10ºF, add water to 6 gallons, bring to boil. Add extract and 1 oz Glacier. At 20 minutes, toss in clarifier. At 10 minutes, dunk in chiller and berries. I'd recommend bringing the berries up to at least room temp first, as the cold berries set my boil back about 10 minutes. More hops at 1 minute. Chill. Ferment. Secondary after 1 week to get the beer off the berries. After bottle/keg, give it one month to condition, drink within four months.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Strong beer and sticky floors
Updated 8/14 - Bottled. Finally. After giving this one a swift kick in the pants with a new batch of yeast, it's finally in the bottles. Of course, now I'm paranoid about bottle bombs. Hopefully everything will survive and some of the weird flavors will settle down by October or November.
--
Updated 3/30 - Racked to secondary. SG still high (around 35), but I think once that falls some more, this will be tasty. I've put it back near the heater to try and keep the yeast active...will think about adding some more to give it a little shove. If it weren't so damn sticky, I'd be pretty happy with the 8+%ABV it's at now, but I want that 10%.
--
I brewed a big beer yesterday as a demo for a friend thinking about starting the habit. This is one a made up, so hopefully it'll be tasty. I plan to let it secondary for a while and then cellar in bottle for a few months.
Batch #10
"Decathalon" Barleywine (Partial mash)
Super High Gravity Ale Yeast (White Labs 099, two vials instead of a starter)
--11 lbs Ultralight LME
--~2.5 lbs Light DME
--1 lb Caravienne
--1 lb Crystal 75L
--1 lb CaraPils
--8 oz British Chocolate
--8 oz Orange Honey
--2 oz Newport 9.3% (60min)
--2 oz Simcoe 10.4% (10min)
--2 oz Columbus 12.2% (5min)
--1 Whirlfloc tablet (20 min)
OG: 1.098-1.100
FG: <1.030
ABV: 9+%
IBU: ~75-80
Mashed the grains around 165 for 45 minutes, sparged a little over two gallons to get a total of ~3 gallons wort at a gravity of about 20. Added water and DME, brought to a boil. Added 6lbs LME and Newport after hot break. Added the remaining LME and the Simcoe at 10 minutes, Columbus at 5, chilled to 70F or so in about 30 minutes. Fermenting at 65F, lag time was about 8-9 hours. It's cool enough so that I didn't lose any beer out the airlock. The yeast should bring this to about 10% ABV.
--
Updated 3/30 - Racked to secondary. SG still high (around 35), but I think once that falls some more, this will be tasty. I've put it back near the heater to try and keep the yeast active...will think about adding some more to give it a little shove. If it weren't so damn sticky, I'd be pretty happy with the 8+%ABV it's at now, but I want that 10%.
--
I brewed a big beer yesterday as a demo for a friend thinking about starting the habit. This is one a made up, so hopefully it'll be tasty. I plan to let it secondary for a while and then cellar in bottle for a few months.
Batch #10
"Decathalon" Barleywine (Partial mash)
Super High Gravity Ale Yeast (White Labs 099, two vials instead of a starter)
--11 lbs Ultralight LME
--~2.5 lbs Light DME
--1 lb Caravienne
--1 lb Crystal 75L
--1 lb CaraPils
--8 oz British Chocolate
--8 oz Orange Honey
--2 oz Newport 9.3% (60min)
--2 oz Simcoe 10.4% (10min)
--2 oz Columbus 12.2% (5min)
--1 Whirlfloc tablet (20 min)
OG: 1.098-1.100
FG: <1.030
ABV: 9+%
IBU: ~75-80
Mashed the grains around 165 for 45 minutes, sparged a little over two gallons to get a total of ~3 gallons wort at a gravity of about 20. Added water and DME, brought to a boil. Added 6lbs LME and Newport after hot break. Added the remaining LME and the Simcoe at 10 minutes, Columbus at 5, chilled to 70F or so in about 30 minutes. Fermenting at 65F, lag time was about 8-9 hours. It's cool enough so that I didn't lose any beer out the airlock. The yeast should bring this to about 10% ABV.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Where's a live grenade when you need one?
Updated 3/30 - Kegged. Strong, delicious. Can't wait for tapping time.
---
As revenge for doing an entry level brew last week, we did a partial mash last night. I still have yet to get the volume of water right for this process, as I ended up with far less than the target 3 gallons of wort from the mash. I know part of it is that the bottling bucket with a grain bag isn't the best lautering system in the world. I also don't have a spare kettle large enough to heat the 2+ gallons for sparging if I want a collection vessel. The centennial hops smelled pretty good, but I'm not so sure about the rye...I had my first rye beer a couple days ago and I wasn't that impressed. Hopefully it will be balanced well enough by everything else that's in...
Batch #9
"Fire in the Hole" (MoreBeer MiniMash Kit355)
English Ale Yeast (White Labs...1 L starter using 1 cup light DME)
--7 lbs Ultralight LME
--2 lbs 2-row
--1 lb Flaked Wheat
--1 lb Crystal 75L
--8 oz Rye
--8 oz Munich
--2.8 oz Carafa
--1 oz Magnum 13.1% (60min)
--2 oz Centennial 10.4% (5min)
--1 Whirlfloc tablet
OG: 1.067
FG: 1.015
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: ~56
The target gravity ranged up to 1.075, so I tried making a starter. Boiled 1 cup of light DME in 1 liter of water for 10 minutes, let it cool, and pitched my yeast with a teaspoon of fermaid K. It built up a nice layer of yeast at the bottom and was still active when I chilled it to knock the live cells out of solution so I could pour off the top half-liter or so before pitching to primary. I used an empty vodka bottle, largely because I felt I could skip sanitizing something that lived in the freezer and contained 40% alcohol. If I had any doubts, the batch is bubbling away right now.
As always, the Fonz was in for the last 10 minutes of the boil, and I still haven't tasted copper in any of my conditioned brews.
---
As revenge for doing an entry level brew last week, we did a partial mash last night. I still have yet to get the volume of water right for this process, as I ended up with far less than the target 3 gallons of wort from the mash. I know part of it is that the bottling bucket with a grain bag isn't the best lautering system in the world. I also don't have a spare kettle large enough to heat the 2+ gallons for sparging if I want a collection vessel. The centennial hops smelled pretty good, but I'm not so sure about the rye...I had my first rye beer a couple days ago and I wasn't that impressed. Hopefully it will be balanced well enough by everything else that's in...
Batch #9
"Fire in the Hole" (MoreBeer MiniMash Kit355)
English Ale Yeast (White Labs...1 L starter using 1 cup light DME)
--7 lbs Ultralight LME
--2 lbs 2-row
--1 lb Flaked Wheat
--1 lb Crystal 75L
--8 oz Rye
--8 oz Munich
--2.8 oz Carafa
--1 oz Magnum 13.1% (60min)
--2 oz Centennial 10.4% (5min)
--1 Whirlfloc tablet
OG: 1.067
FG: 1.015
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: ~56
The target gravity ranged up to 1.075, so I tried making a starter. Boiled 1 cup of light DME in 1 liter of water for 10 minutes, let it cool, and pitched my yeast with a teaspoon of fermaid K. It built up a nice layer of yeast at the bottom and was still active when I chilled it to knock the live cells out of solution so I could pour off the top half-liter or so before pitching to primary. I used an empty vodka bottle, largely because I felt I could skip sanitizing something that lived in the freezer and contained 40% alcohol. If I had any doubts, the batch is bubbling away right now.
As always, the Fonz was in for the last 10 minutes of the boil, and I still haven't tasted copper in any of my conditioned brews.
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