Brews 18, 19, and 20

Got behind on this blog thing... Mainly because it's more for my own records than other people's amusement. It's not like I have a whole lot to teach others on here. The past month I brewed an American Imperial Stout, a Black Forest (chocolate and cherry) stout, and today, an ESB with some guys from my brewing club. I took my recipe and brewed it on Joe, a guy from my club's, system. It was a lot of fun, and we definitely had a hell of a time working out the kinks in his new equipment, but by some miracle, we hit all our numbers.

20 ESB
Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)


Type: All Grain
Date: 2/6/2010
Batch Size: 12.00 gal
Brewer: Evan
Asst Brewer: Joe and Keith
Boil Size: 14.61 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00


Ingredients

Grain
Amount Item Type % or IBU
26.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) 94.73 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) 3.64 %
0.45 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) 1.62 %

Hops
145.00 gm U.S. Goldings [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 34.4 IBU



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.13 %
Bitterness: 34.4 IBU
Est Color: 8.5 SRM


Mash Profile

Mash Name: My Mash Total Grain Weight: 27.45 lb
Sparge Water: 9.58 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

My Mash Step Time Name Description Step Temp
40 min Step Add 34.31 qt of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F


Millin the grains on Keith's grain crusher


The calm before the storm


BDawg Steve and I mashing in


Gettin my stir on


Joe, the guy who let me brew on his setup


Totally boiling


Took us a while to figure it out... but we figured out a way to hook the kettle up to the chiller

17 American Pale Ale: Take 3

This morning started off as a downer.... Dumped 4gal of Scottish 80/ down the drain. Mike (Shaky) Graham and I brewed it a few weeks ago, and it got infected. My theory is that a fruit fly made its way in to the fermenter during the transfer from the kettle. This set off a bacterial/wild yeast infection that made the beer unpleasant to say the least.

So now on to happier things! I'm running test batches of the beers that I plan on serving at my wedding. The first beer on the list of test batches is this American Pale Ale recipe I whipped up. I'm using a pretty basic pale ale malt bill, but opted to go overboard on aroma hopping from a few new hop varieties. I'm going 50/50 Sorachi Ace and Citra hops. Sorachi Ace is a Japanese hop with a pleasant, lemony aroma and flavor. Citra is a new high alpha American hop with a strong citrus punch character. This should give this beer a complex, aromatic, citrus character. Citra is one of my new favorites, and every Sorachi Ace hopped beer I've had has been fantastic... So this one should be bad ass to say the least.

17 Citrus Pale
American Pale Ale


Type: All Grain
Date: 12/18/2009
Batch Size: 3.00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Cooler (48 qt)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00


Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.25 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 75.00 %
1.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 14.29 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 7.14 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3.57 %


5.00 gm Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 15.6 IBU
5.00 gm Citra [10.00 %] (15 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
5.00 gm Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] (15 min) Hops 6.2 IBU
5.00 gm Citra [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 3.8 IBU
5.00 gm Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] (10 min) Hops 4.5 IBU
5.00 gm Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
5.00 gm Citra [10.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
10.00 gm Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
10.00 gm Citra [10.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -

Dry Hop
10.00 gm Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
10.00 gm Citra [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.055
Est Final Gravity: 1.014
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.29 %
Est Color: 6.1 SRM Color: Color

#16 Double IPA

Haven't updated in a while.... Since the Belgian Dark Strong, I brewed up the Gnarliday Ale 2009. I didn't post the reecipe because, well, that's priviledged information :) The recipe changes every year, and I like to have at least one (sort of) secret. Also in the last couple months, I got my results back from the Evergreen State Fair beer competition. I got a Blue Ribbon, and a score of 39 for my Brown Mild. Not a bad way to get back in to beer competitions I must say!

Also, for the Belgian Dark Strong that I brewed in September, I received the biggest compliment ever from a local beer/wine/food critic and former owner of a boutique beer and wine shop: "Flat-damn elegant, no kidding. Perfect balance, gorgeous malt, hops present but restrained, shocking complexity. You know what a critical SOB I am and I really can't find a damned thing wrong with it. One of the two or three best things in the liquid category I've tasted in YEARS."

Now on to today's brew. I was given a pound of Columbus Hops from a friend of my (future) brother in law. Had to make good use of them, and what better way than a big, obscenely hoppy double IPA? This recipe is inspired by Pliny the Elder, the end all be all of double IPA's.

Type: All Grain
Date: 10/31/2009
Batch Size: 4.50 gal
Brewer: Evan
Boil Size: 5.71 gal
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: Brew Pot (6+gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (5 Gal)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00


Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
13.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 83.04 %
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.80 %
0.65 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.16 %
0.25 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1.60 %
1.00 lb Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 6.40 %

Hops
28.30 gm Warrior [15.00 %] (90 min) Hops 50.6 IBU
28.30 gm Chinook [13.00 %] (90 min) Hops 43.8 IBU
10.00 gm Simcoe [13.00 %] (45 min) Hops 13.3 IBU
20.00 gm Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (30 min) Hops 24.0 IBU
15.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 4.6 IBU
15.00 gm Simcoe [13.00 %] (10 min) Hops 7.9 IBU
10.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (1 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
20.00 gm Centennial [10.00 %] (1 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
10.00 gm Simcoe [13.00 %] (1 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -

Dry Hops
20.00 gm Simcoe [12.20 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
20.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
20.00 gm Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops


Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.086 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.022 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.39 %
Est Color: 9.5 SRM Color: Color

This is going to be the hoppiest beer I've ever done. Here's the lineup of the kettle additions (dry hops not pictured) [blogspot's width limitations cut off the side of the picture. to see the full lineup, open the pic in a new window]


Crushing the grains, apartment style. The mill is clamped on to the railing. I often wonder what my neighbors think is going on over here when I'm brewing.

#14 Strong Dark Belgian

Not so much a belgian, but a belgian inspired ale. I got a hold of the limited release of Unibroue's yeast strain, so I'm doing a beer that's somewhat inspired by their trois pistoles ale. I switched things up by going with american hop varieties, so we'll see how this whole experiment turns out in a few weeks.

I was assisted today by my long time friend Joshua Sowards. He's up from Florida for a few days wishing he could move back (he lived here for a few months last year than had to go back to FL). So we're ending his stay with a brewing lesson.

Original Gravity: 1.086 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.41 %
Bitterness: 19.6 IBU
Est Color: 24.8 SRM

Batch size: 3.5gal


Grain:
7.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 61.21 %
2.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 21.86 %
0.45 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3.90 %
0.45 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 3.90 %
0.25 lb Black Barley (Stout) (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.19 %
0.16 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 1.39 %
0.64 lb Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 5.56 %

Hops:
7.50 gm Magnum [14.00 %] (90 min) Hops 15.5 IBU
4.00 gm Centennial [10.00 %] (15 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
3.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (5 min) Hops 0.7 IBU
0.08 tsp Anise, Star (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0.08 tsp Anise, Star (Boil 5.0 min) Misc

Yeast: Wyeast Belgian Canadian

#13 Dortmunder Export Lager

4th of July brewin! What better time to throw a few lagers in the chamber than the beginning of salmon season? These next two months are going to be very busy with all the visiting friends, and visiting salmon :) So since lagers take 3-4x or longer to finish out, I figured this is perfect timing.

This recipe was given to me by Mike McDole, some of you other homebrewers may have heard of him. He won the Sam Adams Longshot competition last year with his Double IPA, and is one of the most awarded homebrewers in the world. He gave me this recipe because it's his favorite to brew up for weddings, and since I'm brewing for Amber and I's wedding, I figured it'd be worthwhile to give it a run to see if we think it'd be a good fit.

This recipe differs from his ever so slightly. His recipe calls for Santiam hops for 60min, and Hallertauer for the finishing hop. I went with Liberty, because it's an american Hallertauer (I prefer to stick with American hops, I'm just weird like that), and I supplemented at the 60min boil with a a bit of Magnum (another hallertauer derivitive) to save myself from buying a whole other 2oz of Liberty (they sell in 2oz packs).

Batch Size: 4.00 gal
Boil Time: 90min
Original Gravity: 1.049 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.88 %
Bitterness: 21.1 IBU

Grain
64.00 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 48.00 %
21.33 oz Munich Malt (6.0 SRM) Grain 16.00 %
21.33 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 16.00 %
16.00 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 12.00 %
10.67 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 8.00 %

Hops
0.50 oz Liberty [4.30 %] (60 min) Hops 10.0 IBU
0.15 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 9.8 IBU
1.50 oz Liberty [4.30 %] (1 min) Hops 1.3 IBU

Munich Lager (Wyeast Labs #2308) Yeast-Lager

#12 American Brown Ale

So my system is almost all replaced since my last couple brews. I built a new mash tun capable of doing moderate gravity beers through 6gal batches if I please. I'm sticking with 3gal batches for a while. 1gal just isn't enough to really get an idea of how a beer turned out, and still have some left over to enjoy. And by my next brew, I'll be brewing on a propane burner on the deck... just waiting on my buddy to lend me some tanks :)

I have an American Brown Ale starting its journey today. I'm going to be doing smaller beers for a while here just so I can really tweak my process and perfect parts I'm not happy with. I'm giving myself a 6% ABV limit until I kick out several consecutive (relatively) flawless batches. And I'm going to abstain from excessive hopping. Just trying to stay away from things that will cover up the flaws.

Batch Size: 3.00 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
Est Original Gravity: 1.058 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.61 %
Bitterness: 29.0 IBU
Est Color: 20.9 SRM

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.21 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 82.63 %
0.43 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.78 %
0.31 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.14 %
0.31 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.14 %
0.25 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3.31 %

7gm Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 20.1 IBU
7gm Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (15 min) Hops 6.1 IBU
5gm Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 2.8 IBU
7gm Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -

#11 Summer Ale

Brewing for the second day in a row. Main reason being that I just stepped up a few pieces of equipment to be able to brew 3 gallon batches. So now I'll actually have enough to drink when I'm done! Brewing 1 gal is great for experimentation, but once you have some recipes you want on hand to have for dinner, you never have enough. I also would like a few extra bottles to share with friends for feedback.

So today I'm brewing a summer ale for Amber. It's basically a blond ale, but it will have a bit more flavor and mouthfeel than a blond. After fermentation, I plan on bottling 2gal, then racking the remaining 1gal off to one of my small 1gal fermenter jugs with some fruit, most likely raspberries or cherries, to sit for another week. I want to see how this recipe works as a base for girly, fruity beers. Blonds are definitely not my favorite style... but brewing these smaller, lighter flavor beers will make me a better brewer. It's certainly more challenging to brew lighter, more transparent beers.

(I substituted extract for my pale malt. I still need to build a bigger mash tun to hold enough grains for 3gal batches.)

3gal batch
Est Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.38 %
Bitterness: 24.3 IBU
Est Color: 5.1 SRM

Amount Item Type % or IBU
24.00 oz Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 33.33 %
30.00 oz Munich Malt (6.0 SRM) Grain 41.67 %
9.00 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 12.50 %
9.00 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 12.50 %

Hops
0.13 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 12.1 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (30 min) Hops 12.2 IBU

White Labs 001 California Ale Yeast