HOPS

I like Dale's Pale Ale.  It has just the right amount of hops to let you know you are drinking a hoppy beer but not too much to make you shudder.  It has a decent amount of ABV but not too much to make your throat burn.  It may just be the SNPA of the 2010's.  I made a Dale inspired beer for the first time and am excited to sample the results.  I hit 83% efficiency again with a fly sparge.  Loving my new counter-flow wort chiller as well.  It cut down my chill time significantly.  






Grain              Additions                                 Results

9# MO            1 NB at 60                               6.5 at 1062

3# Munich      1 cascade at 30                        5.4 at 1075

.75 c-40           Yeast fuel at 15                      

                        1 Columbus at 10                                  

                        .5 centennial at 0                                  

                                     

mash at 150    .5 centennial dry hop

2 vials WL Cali V at 66-68   og 1071      

Update 11/30-dry hopped and finished at 1020, a little high, but expected for Cali V.  Crash cooled it for 5 days and kegged.  It is pretty tasty and should round into form nicely in a few weeks.                            

Vista, CA Water Profile
Water Adjustments (tsp)	Ca=57
.854 Epsom Salt	SO4=136
.825 Baking Soda	Mg=22
.155 Canning Salt	Na=71
1.254 Gypsum	Cl=88
	Carb=147
	Hard=233
	Alk=122

   

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

Vienna Lager

Since I had room in my fermentation chamber I decided to brew another lager so that I could lager them both as the same time.  I brewed this beer two years ago and it was really tasty, very clean, with a nice malt character.  Last time fermentation took 3 days to start so I made a 1.5 L starter and things were kicking off by the next morning.  This was another after work brew and went flawlessly, hitting all of my numbers and getting 81% efficiency.  I used my single kettle e-BIAB setup.  I love brewing with a single vessel system, it is just so easy.  I stepped the mash from 120>137>152.

Grains		Additions			Results
7.7 Vienna		.175 Saaz FWH
2.25 Munich		2.1 Hallertau at 60			7 gal at	1.044
.45 Caravienne		.7 Saaz at 20			6 gal at	1.052
.07 choc malt		.525 Saaz at 0			81.49%	Efficiency
mash at 152		Munich Lager 2308 at 55 14 days, lager 6 weeks at 35
60 min boil		og 1050

Philly tap water, no adjustments Fermenting away

CAP

I really enjoy after work brewing.  It is a race against the clock to see if I can improve my process.  When I first began brewing I would stress every step of the way and try to write it all down.  Now, after many batches under my belt, my process is much more about feel and I adjust things on the fly.  This brew session was very fluid and fun, hopefully the beer will turn out that way as well.  I chose to brew a Classic American Pilsner with some New Zealand hops that I have never used before.  I am very excited to taste the results.  I used my single kettle e-BIAB setup and blew away my efficiency numbers hitting 92%.  I did a 90 min mash with 15 mins at 125, 15 mins at 144 and 60 mins at 152.  I made a 1.5L starter for 2 days and decanted.



Grains                       Additions                                   Results

 

9 pils		1 NZ Hallertau at 60
3 flaked maize		1 NZ Motueka at 30			8 gal at	1.050
1 rice hulls		1 NZ Motueka at 0			6.3 gal at	1.064
		1 Saaz at 0			92.40%	Efficiency
mash at 152		American Lager at 55 14 days, lager 6 weeks at 35
90 boil		og 1060 fg 1014
Poland Spring Water

  

Fermentation took off like a rocket

Gina's English Cider

Since I don't get to hang with my sister as much as I used to, I decided to pack as much into one brew day as possible.  We made another batch of her favorite recipe, an English cider, while Blind Pig was mashing.  She introduced me to English cider a few years ago and it was nothing like the stuff we used to call Woodchuck-only nights back in college.  This recipe is from another homebrewer on homebrewtalk and I take no credit for it, but it is near perfection.  The recipe is a dead ringer for Aspall's dry English cider.  This is batch #3, and I only make it once a year.  The cider finishes dry to off-dry, around 1.002, 6.4% abv.

Gina's English Cider
5 gallons store bought apple juice (I prefer the kosher apple juice)
5 black teabags (English or Irish Breakfast)
3 key limes (or one regular lime)
1 pack s-04 yeast
(yeast nutrients as needed)

Directions
Add juice of lime(s) to 4 cups of water, bring to a boil then turn off heat. Steep teabags for 7-10 mins, cool for a few mins then add to carboy. Add nutrients and juice into carboy with an aggressive pour to help aerate the juice. Add yeast, put an airlock on then place in a cool (60F-70F) environment.

Primary for one month, then rack to secondary, topping off with juice. Leave in secondary until crystal clear (usually 2-3 months or so from pitching) then bottle with 4oz priming sugar.

Takes about a month to carbonate, tastes good after 3 months, but just gets better with age. I usually start opening bottles about 5 months after pitching.

I made this recipe with really expensive fresh pressed cider a few years ago and it was terrible.  A word to the wise, stick with the store bought cheap stuff.   

Blind Pig - Experimental Partigyle

Almost a NYE brew, the Femme Fermental and I set aside the afternoon to brew up a batch of Blind Pig.  We are both raving fans of pretty much anything Russian River so I was very excited to brew the Pig.  I sourced the recipe from several different forums and decided to brew the current version, not the oak aged version that Vinnie originally brewed back in the day.  It was a really fun brew day because we also made a batch of English cider during the mash and an experimental partigyle batch from the second mash runnings.  The Femme Fermental handled the partigyle and she decided to go with a single hop all Centennial brew.  She continuously hopped it during the last 30 mins of the boil.  To keep with the experimental theme I used some S-33 yeast.  For some reason my mash efficiency was way down on the Blind Pig but spot on for the partigyle mash.  Maybe some dough balls, who knows.  I used my single kettle e-BIAB setup.  The beer will come in at 6.2% instead of 7.5%, so we will see.  I am sure it will be very tasty regardless.

1/27/12 - This beer is fantastic and I think it is my best tasting IPA yet.  Blind Pig is making its rounds at local bars right now and I happily sit at home drinking mine.  I am going to enter this in a competition to see how it scores.  It may be a bit young still, but it is darn tasty.

Grain              Additions                                 Results

13 2-row         1.5 chinook at 60                    6.8 at 1050

.5 wheat          .5 cascade at 30                      5.8 at 1058

.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   og 1066                                    

add dry hops to primary on day 7 (60 degrees), 32 degrees on day 12 and rack off on day 14
FG 1.012

All Centennial 2 gallon partigyle
.5 oz Centennial at 60
.5 oz continuously hopped from 30 to 0
1040 OG
S-33 yeast
fg 1.012

2/1-Sampled the partigyle and it certainly showcases the Centennial hop.  It is much more bitter than I thought it would be, but after the first few sips, that mellows.  Obviously, it lacks the hop complexity of its big brother, but makes for a nice session beer with some hop bite.

Vista, CA Water Profile
Water Adjustments (tsp)	Ca=57
.854 Epsom Salt	SO4=136
.825 Baking Soda	Mg=22
.155 Canning Salt	Na=71
1.254 Gypsum	Cl=88
	Carb=147
	Hard=233
	Alk=122