Spiced Winter Ale

I brewed a spiced winter ale at my wife's request Friday evening.  Hopefully it will turn out well.  I thought about making a winter warmer, but not being a fan of them, I thought this lower gravity recipe was a better choice.  The spice additions made the house smell wonderful.  I used my single kettle e-BIAB setup with a 2 gallon "dunk sparge" and it was perhaps my easiest brew day ever.  I hit all my numbers on the dot and could not have been more pleased.  S-04 took off like a rocket by the next morning.

Grains Additions Results 11# 2-row 1.2 oz EKG 5% at 60 7 g pre at 1050 .5# aromatic 1/2 tsp cinn at 1 min 5.9 g post at 1060 .5# c-40 1/4 tsp ginger at 1 min 77.8% efficiency .5# c-120 1/8 tsp allspice at 1 min 60 m boil  .25# special roast 1/8 tsp nutmeg at 1 min fg 1014 mash at 154 s-04 at 68 og 1056
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

Taddy Porter

With nothing in the pipeline, I needed to get something in a fermenter asap.  That meant some late night brewing.  I am a big fan of Taddy Porter and have really wanted to brew this recipe for some time.  I used my single kettle e-BIAB setup with a 2 gallon "dunk sparge" and overshot my intended pre-boil volume by almost a half gallon.  That meant for a longer boil off before my first addition and a fairly late night.  I pitched my Notty and unfortunately 48 hours later, nada.  I pitched another package and got some mild activity.  Notty is turning out to be rather spotty for me, either it takes off like a madman, or piddles along.

Update (11-20)-Did a side by side with the real thing and this beer is extremely close.  With a few more weeks, I think it will be perfect.  Very nice roasted coffee character, needs a little more head and mouthfeel right now though.

Update (12-12)-This beer just got amazing, a really, really good beer.  The strong roasted flavor has mellowed a bit from 11-20 and is now perfect.  The mouthfeel and head retention has developed and the lacing is spot on.  This is a great beer and I am going to submit it to a homebrew competition and see how it scores.

Grains		Additions			Results
9.5 2-row		1.25 oz fuggle 60 min			7.4 collected at 1040
1 brown malt		.5 oz fuggle 10 min			7.0 g pre at 1044
1 c-40					5.5 g post at 1055
10 oz choc malt		notty at 67			Efficiency 76.6%
mash 152		OG 1056			60 m boil

Mosher's Ideal Stout
.172 Epsom Salt		Ca=57
.608 Baking Soda		SO4=44
.113 Canning Salt		Mg=13
.596 Calcium Chloride		Na=69
.025 Gypsum		Cl=128
RA=69		Carb=143
Cl/Sulfate 2.91		Hard=194
Very Malty		Alky=118

Port Barrel Aged Belgian Brown

Being a fan of everything from Russian River Brewing Company, thanks to the influence of my sister, The Femme Fermental, I had been itching to brew something aged and funky.  Then she busted out a 3-year old De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserva, and that became the inspiration for my brew day.  I used my two-tier 3 kettle e-HERMS system with a single batch sparge and hit all of my target numbers.  I got extremely lucky that I did not lose power brewing this beer during the heart of hurricane Irene.  Now I just have to wait 5 months to see if this beer is worth the wait.

Grains

11.2# 2-row

2.75# carapils

Mash 151

           

Additions:      

1# Belgian Dark Candy Sugar 65 min          

1.5 oz EKG 60 min    

.5 oz Saaz 20 min      

1 tsp Irish Moss 20 min         

.5# Molasses 10 min 

Water adjustment: 2.5 tsp gypsum

OG 1068        

Wyeast 1388-Belgian Strong Ale - 2L stir plate starter       

Secondary yeast – Wyeast 5335 - lacto

Placed .25 lbs American Oak Chips medium toast in quart jar and added 6 oz Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Port and let sit for 3 weeks

Primary for 5 to 6 days, then pitched lacto into primary

Fermented for 3 weeks more

Transfered to secondary on top of chips

Age for 3 to 4 months in carboy on chips

Target 6.8% ABV      

Watermelon Wheat - Perfected

On a bar hopping tour with my sister last winter, we stopped in at the POPE and they had 21A Hell or Highwatermelon Wheat on tap.  I smirked, she smirked back, and then she said, I know, but you should try it.  On tap, it is a heck of a beer.  I became consumed with trying to replicate the beer and scoured my message boards for recipes.  Then I stumbled upon the magic ingredient suggested by another board member, Lorann candy oil.  I made a test batch and the flavor imparted by this little dram of candy oil was perfect.  I know 21A highly guards this recipe and say that they use real watermelon, but I would bet some good money that they use this flavoring in their beer.  This was my third batch and I have now declared it perfect.  I subbed pils for 2-row and Notty for S-05 and the tweaks were exactly what I wanted.  My wife has declared it the best beer that I make.  I used my single kettle e-BIAB setup with a full volume continuous recirculation.

Grains
5.5# pils
5.5# wheat
.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

Aprihop

I had a dram of Apricot Lorann candy oil lying around and wanted to experiment.  So, I decided to try something akin to DFH's Aprihop.  I used my two-tier 3 kettle e-HERMS system with a single batch sparge and hit my target numbers pretty spot on, getting into the 80s for efficiency for the first time.  I have never chased efficiency, but it was nice to see I could go higher if I really wanted to.  I struggled with lower efficiency when I first began all-grain brewing and it is nice to see I have stabilized my system and can get easily repeatable results, which has always been my goal.  This beer has needed a lot of conditioning and is finally presentable 4 months later.  I'm not sure I would make this one again.

Update (11/21)-This beer is finally coming into its own.  The apricot cuts the hop bitterness very nicely and lends a good aroma.  It took some time, but this beer now works and I would not be shy to serve it to anyone.

Grains:

9.75# 2-Row

3.00# Munich I

1.00# Caramel Pils

0.75# c-10

0.50# Wheat

mash 151

Additions:

75 min boil

0.50ozs. Magnum FWH

0.50ozs. Columbus 30

1.00ozs. Amarillo 15

0.50ozs. Columbus 10

1.00ozs. Columbus dry hop

1 dram Apricot Lorann candy oil at pitching

s-05 at 68

OG 1064

fg 1012

Mosher's Ideal Pale Ale

Water Adjustments (tsp)

.587 Epsom Salt

.066 Chalk

4.407 Gypsum

Ca=120

SO4=269

Mg=19

Na=27

Cl=70

Carb=65

Hard=377

Alk=57

Big Eye India Pale Ale

I had the desire to brew something on the 4th of July and wanted to have an IPA ready for late summer.  So, I decided to revisit a recipe that I had brewed a 3 gallon test batch with the year before.  My good friends at Ballast Point provided me with the below recipe, and it is one of the best IPAs that I brew.  I have great respect for the guys at Ballast Point and think they brew some of the best beer out there.  As evidenced by this recipe, simple is often better.  I used my two-tier 3 kettle e-HERMS system with a single batch sparge and hit all of my target numbers.  I have really dialed in my newly revamped system and love brewing with it.  However, I am not a fan of the big cleanup and the longer setup and breakdown of the 3 vessel system.  With smaller beers, I think I will go exclusively with my single vessel BIAB setup.  On tap this beer is fantastic, but I may modify my water adjustments when I brew it again.  I would go with my Vista, CA water profile instead of Mosher's ideal pale ale.  I am finding Mosher's slightly too bitter.

Grains

15.84# 2-row

.72# c-40

.72# carapils

.72# victory

Mash 151

Additions

1.5 oz columbus  at 60

.5 oz columbus at 10

2 oz centennial 10 day dry hop

s-05 ferment at 66      

OG 1068
fg 1010

Mosher's Ideal Pale Ale

Water Adjustments (tsp)

.587 Epsom Salt

.066 Chalk

4.407 Gypsum

Ca=120

SO4=269

Mg=19

Na=27

Cl=70

Carb=65

Hard=377

Alk=57

ESB

One of my best friends was having his first child and I wanted to brew something special for his new baby's arrival.  He and his wife decided not to find out whether it would be a boy or a girl so it made my style choice somewhat difficult.  I decided on an ESB because it was a pretty straight forward beer that appeals to most palates, and because I could play on the ESB name by making my label say "Extra Super Baby".  The label was awesome, and the beer turned out just great, just like my friend's new little girl.  I used my small batch single kettle e-BIAB and scaled down the below recipe to 3.5 gallons.

Grains:

14# 2-row

.50# c-40

.38# c-120

.25# Special Roast

.50# Aromatic Malt

Mash at 154

Additions:

90 min boil

1.5 oz EKG at 60

.5 oz EKG at 20

1 oz EKG at 1

S-04 at 68

OG 1063
fg1014