This brew was part of my segmented brewing experiment. I
used my single kettle e-BIAB setup with a full volume continuous
recirculation run off my Johnson Controls A419 temperature controller. I created a make-shift thermowell out of thermoplastic tubing and brass barbed connections and snaked the probe through the top of the kettle barbed fitting. It worked well in testing and during the mash. I then ran off the wort into a bucket to hold until the sparge was complete on the sister brew that was going through my HERMS system. Once the mash was complete over there I dumped the wort into the HERMS kettle, sanitized and waited for the next night to boil. 66.8% efficiency, which wasn't that bad considering it was no sparge and the grain had been around a while. Again, souring is the main enemy of segmented brewing and this one did smell a bit funky when I opened up the kettle before the boil. There was a lot of foam on top of the wort. I boiled off an extra 10 minutes before adding my first hop addition to drive it all off. It smelled fine going into the fermenter so only time will tell. This was an interesting brewing experience. Here is my time breakdown:
First night:
Measure water into kettles, measure and crush grain, test and prime pumps = 1hr
Second night:
Heat strike water, mash, mash out, sparge, clean mash tun = 3 hrs
Wednesday night:
Boil, chill, pitch and cleanup = 3 1/2 hrs
Total time was 7 1/2 hours. I really enjoyed splitting the time over several days so I did not feel rushed or that I was taking time away from the family. The bonus of two beers in one session is really appealing.
Grains:
5# 2-row 6.4 at 1040
5# wheat 5.4 at 1047
Mash at 149 66.8% Efficiency
Additions:
60 min boil
0.7 oz Citra First sign of boil, around 70 min mark
.65 oz Citra at 20 min
.65 oz Citra at 15 min
1 oz Amarillo at 10 min
1 oz Amarillo at 0 min
1 oz Amarillo Dry Hop 10 days
Notty at 65-68
OG 1047
Water Adjustments (tsp)
.6 Epsom Salt
.102 Chalk
Ca=36
SO4=61
Mg=17
Na=27
Cl=70
Carb=67
Hard=162
Alk=59
When I first started brewing I was very hesitant to enter homebrew competitions. I finally summoned up the courage to enter a local competition with a few extract brews that I thought were decent. The beers scored well, not award winning by any stretch, but respectable. I was much more focused on the overall score than the comments. As my brewing knowledge expanded, the reverse has now occurred. I am much more interested in the comments than the overall score.
I entered my Dale's Pale Ale, Chocolate Stout and English Cider into the 30th Annual Kansas City Bier Meisters Competition and all scored well, with the English Cider taking 2nd place in the cider category. I am still awaiting the score sheets so I am anxious to see the comments. The beers were the best beers I have produced, in my humble opinion. The 2nd place cider award is "my" first winner. I put "my" in quotes because the history of the cider is somewhat comical. My sister actually brewed this batch back on December 30, 2011. I racked it after a month and put it in the secondary as usual. However, we ended up selling our house and moving a month later so I had to decide whether to throw it out or throw it in a keg. I chose to put it in a keg and that keg ended up sitting in a storage locker for 6 months. A few months later I decided to put the keg in my kegerator and carb it up, not expecting it to be any good. Much to my surprise, the cider was excellent. So after almost 14 months of ageing, I entered the cider into the competition and took that 2nd place award. Funny how things turn out.
