Watermelon Wheat - Summerfall Beer

I can't believe I missed brewing all of my favorite summer beers because of the move to the new house, so I have decided that I will just brew them for the fall.  It should work out well, since I don't really care for any of those pumpkin or spiced beers out there.  Give me an Oktoberfest any fall day but keep that pumpkin stuff in your pies.  Anyway, I decided to try an after work brew on my newly tweaked brewery.  It was a solid 5 hour session and I didn't turn in until after 1 am, but the automation of the system is really shining.  I probably only had to attend to the brewery for about 2 of the 5 hours, including cleanup.  I have never brewed on a dedicated system before and can't believe how much time I save not having to set up and break down the system each brew session.  I am loving it.   I hit 83.3% efficiency with a fly sparge.  I guess it takes a while to really understand the different sparging techniques and why some get higher numbers than others.  I think I am hooked on fly sparging for now.  It makes the water calculations so easy.

Grains                  Results
5.5# pils               6.8g at 1051
5.5# wheat           5.8g at 1061
.25# c-10
.25# c-20
mash at 154

Additions

60 min boil

1 oz Amarillo at 45 min                                                 

1oz Amarillo at flame out

1 dram watermelon Lorann candy oil at pitching

Notty at 66 for 30 days, keg and serve
OG-1056

fg-1010

Water Adjustments (tsp)

.6 Epsom Salt

.102 Chalk

Ca=36

SO4=61

Mg=17

Na=27

Cl=70

Carb=67

Hard=162

Alk=59

Brewery 2.0 - Blind Pig - Woot!

I can't believe it has been 6 months since my last brew.  We recently moved so I had to pack up my brewing gear until the new house was ready.  I had to run new electric and water lines and add a venting system to the basement before I could get back up and running.  I also added a new brew stand.  And then I had to find the time to brew.  That time came during a week off from work, thankfully.  I brewed Blind Pig again, I just can't get enough Russian River around here.  The new system worked flawlessly and I decided to fly sparge this one.  I hit 82.5% efficiency.  The venting is so aggressive that I got a little light-headed during the boil.  Still gotta add that make-up air system.  But all in all, it was a great brew day.  I can't wait to brew again.

Grain              Additions                                 Results

13 2-row         1.5 chinook at 60                    6.8 at 1064

.5 wheat          .5 cascade at 30                      5.8 at 1076

.5 c-40            1 cascade at 15                      

.5 carapils       Irish moss at 10                                  

                        .5 amarillo at 2                                  

                        .5 simcoe at 2             

mash at 151    .25 amarillo, .25 simcoe, .5 cascade, 1 centennial dry

s-05 at 66-68   target og 1066                                    

add dry hops to primary on day 7 (60 degrees), 32 degrees on day 12 and rack off on day 14