Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook

Sitemap · Our Recipe Book · Steven's Recipe Book · Ann's Recipe Book · Meal Ideas · Copied Recipes
Random · Random Links

Home > home_brewing

All for 'home_brewing'

All sub pages for /_tags/home_brewing

Beer Brewing Photos -- back to top

These are the photos to the Beer Brewing Post

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6449, 2013-08-08_203547

American/Belgium IPA Homebrew -- back to top

I am brewing beer. I will update this as I go. See 2013-08-18 Update, See See 2013-09-05 Update

2013-08-08 Brewing:

I am using [this recipe from Bull City Home Brew](<http://bullcityhomebrew.com/recipes.aspx?id=American%20IPA%20>(One%20Gallon).xml)(which I also saved as a PDF). I am following the recipe except I used WYESTStrain: 3787 | Trappist High Gravity. I chose a Belgium strain because I wanted a Belgium yeast for a fruitier beer and I chose_this_ strain because it can handle a bit higher fermentation temp and my apartment is around 78.

Standard Beer recipe style:

Batch Size: 1.25 gal

Estimated OG: 1.069

Measured OG: 1.059

FG: 1.012

ABV: 6.2%

IBUs: 55.2 (calculated, not measured)

2.10 lb 2-row American Malt (Rahr) (1.8 SRM) (64.6%)

0.74 lb Munich, Light (Weyermann) (6.0 SRM) (22.8 %)

0.27 lb Carared (Weyermann) (19.5 SRM) (8.4 %)

0.14 lb Caramunich I (Weyermann) (19.5 SRM) (4.2 %)

0.13 oz Columbus (US) Hop Pellets [13.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min 19.6 IBUs

0.20 oz Columbus (US) Hop Pellets [13.10 %] - Boil 30.0 min 22.6 IBUs

0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins) (Fining)

0.26 oz Cascade (US) Hop Pellets [6.20 %] - Boil 15.0 min 9.2 IBUs

0.13 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) (Boil 10.0 mins)

0.26 oz Cascade (US) Hop Pellets [6.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min 3.7 IBUs

0.5 (or 1.0) pkg WYEST Strain: 3787 | Trappist High Gravity

Photo Post (on aseparate post)

These are my WAY OVERLY DETAILED lab notes

Here are transcribed notes I took while I was working. A PDF "scan" is HERE. The transcribed notes are in the regular font. My comments as I am writing are in italics

• (4:15) All clean. Begin. Popped yeast activator
• Started. ~1.02 gal (1 gal, 1/2 cup) water to heat. Bottled.Heated on induction stove
• Heat water in saucepan to preheat cooler (mash tun)
• mixed cleanser (1 Tbsp to 1 gal water. Added to 1/2 the water, mixed, added other 1/2)
• mixed sanitizer (1/4 oz to 1 gal H20. " ")
• Set aside hot bottled water to adjust temp of mash tun
• Ugh. Digital thermometer broke. Switching to glass. (Only read high temp when probe fully immersed. Pulled on cord, pulled too hard. wires came out)
• Said to mash in at 163.7. Aimed high to 168 (Because when Wes and Ethan did it, they said to go high)
• End goal is 152
• (4:44) Dumped all strike water. Saw dirt floating in it_(fuck) Next time, I make sure this is cleaner._
• (4:57) Mashed in at 167. Measured temp at 160. Added a bit of bottled water and hit 155.
• Note: bag fully submerged_(Wes and Ethan weren't sure if that was the case for them)_
• (5:28) Agitated mashtun
• 5:35. Made cups for hopping schedule.See picture
• Note, grains weighed by shop
• Boiled additions (actually measured). Scale measures to 0.05 oz:
• 0.15 then 0.20 columbus. 0.25 cascade w/ 1/4 tsp irish moss. ~1/2 of 1/4 tsp (~1/8) tsp yeast nutrient. 0.30 cascade. (See pic)
• This sucks. With these small number, I need a more accurate scale!!!!
• Went out to buy more water. Didn't expect to dump a whole gallon. Have more extra next time
• (5:55) heated sparge water (1.07 gal= 1 gal, 1 cup). Aim 168
• (5:58) Pulled bag. (140 degrees). Note: the grains swelled and were a bit out.see picture.
• I need to research two things. (a) the bag swelling and being out of the water and (b) how to maintain the temperature better. 140 seems too low.That's a big drop
• (6:01) Started draining. Collected 11 1/2 cups
• Need a bigger strainer (Actually, I think this is fine. Bigger won't do anything)
• Aim to collect 1.7 gal = 27.2 cups. Need 15.7 more
• I collected by using the spout into a 4 cup measure. I sparged with water at the right temp on the induction. I used a different measure cup (2 cups but actually more) to pour batches over the grains. I poured about 2-6 cups at a time between draining
• Note: I put grain bag+strainer into another big bowl to keep draining while I tipped the cooler to get it all out. A small amount remained that looked rather cloudy. I guess that's good.
• (6:12) Turned on heat (high) while I was still sparging so it could start to heat
• _Added additional as I sparged (right word?) it._Collected 16 cups
• (6:20) All wort in pot
• As it approached boil (measured with temp) I lowered the heat
• (6:37) BOIL!!! Added #1
• Next add @ 7:07
• played with temp. ~1/2 way between med-high gives nice boil (maybe a bit closer to high)
• Actually, 3/4 of the way to high is better. I keep playing with it
• (7:07) Added addition #2. Next add at 7:22
• (7:22) Added #3. Next add @7:27
• ...Rest added by schedule
• (7:38) End of boil. Started cooling_in sink filled with ice and water._Rotatated pot every once in a while to stir. Temp-Times with gentle stir: 7:50 - 90F. 7:56 - 66F
• Sanitized fermenter + strainer (again) + measuring cup + yeast package
• _Poured__through strainer._Lots of trub...
• The trub clogged the strainer. I used a sanitized, slotted spoon to pull out some of the hops and let the rest drain i
• Pulled out the test tube to test OG. Couldn't get clear reading with all the foam. Will return back
• Pitched yeast. Did whole thing despite them calling for only half
• (8:02) Fermenter lid on
• (8:05) Air-lock on_(I forgot to sanitize it. Had to do that first...and ensure I was doing it right)_
• I took an OG reading. Hard to see w/ foam (Ask_ about how to deal with that_). ~1.059 (target 1.069). fuck
• Fermenter in closet. Done

A few notes. I liked setting a timer for the full boil so I could always tell what was left and I could respond accordingly. Also, pre-measured hop additions were nice.

The biggest question is why the low OG. I have two guesses. It could be the grain being exposed at the end and/or it could be the temperature drop. I will investigate these two issues as well as everything else I mentioned. Not sure how to deal with the temp drop but I could probably use more strike water and less sparge water to keep the grains covered

Ideas for next time (updated2013-08-08_230914)

I have been doing more reading, etc and I have a few things I think I will try next time:

1. Open the bag in the mashtun with the edges safely secured around the edges (bungee cord? rubber-band?). Keep the lid on lightly. Retie bag before sparge. Need to make sure to remind shop to tie off with a slip-know

2. Check the mash temperature often (maybe every 15 min?) with hot (but not too hot) water ready to add to bring it up. And stir (if it's too hot, it'll be the equivalent of a mash out)

3. Also add water to keep grains covered. This should go along well with the previous step.

Alternatively, since there isn't too much volume, I could do a full-volume, no-sparge mash. But from my reading, it_lowers_efficiency.

Also, I should start measuring (calculating) efficiency so I can calibrate

2013-08-18 Update:

**** Around 10:10 pm, I carefully moved the fermenter to the counter and let it sit while I sanitized everything else. The fermenter read 73F. When I opened it up, I saw a lot of stuff floating on the top. I do not know if that is yeast or hops. There looked like there was even more on the bottom. (see photo post)

At round 10:25, I used the auto siphon into the secondary and I did my best to keep it just below the liquid line. I got nervous since I didn't want to incorporate any air into the hose and I didn't want much trub. However, I also started to suck up some of the trub so I clamped it off and pulled the siphon. I then let out the clamp just enough to let most of the rest of the beer pour into the secondary.

I think I had it too low and/or chickened out and clamped way too soon. It looks like I only got about 1/2 a gallon into the secondary! That sucks! There was so much liquid left over. So, for next time, I will be more careful about where the siphon sits. I think I have a bit more room than I realize with the plastic piece on the end of the siphon. (see photos)

I wasn't planning on taking a gravity measurement since I didn't want to lose ~8oz of liquid but since I had so much left, I took a measure and saw 1.010. That is approx. 6.4% ABV. Not bad!

Also, with so much left, I think I will up the batch size a little bit. I still don't like the idea of wasting so much but at the very least, upping the batch size (maybe 1.5 gal or about 2 gal into the boil) will fix that. I'll also ask around about reducing the trub.

Photos: link

...

As I was cleaning up, I was playing with the siphon and realized I missed that there was an additional tip to prevent picking up sediment. I'll use that next time too. Oh well. (I guess this really is a learning experience)

2013-09-05 Update: Bottling

Below are a combination of my notes at the time and comments

• Aiming for 2.3 volumes of CO2
• Took temp of the beer to be 73 based on the Saison next to it (with it's thermometer strip)
• Used Norther Brewer Priming Calculator since it is more specific than others
• Palmer says 2 cups water for 3/4 cup of priming sugar. Also, based on playing with NB's tool, I found (6.47 cups sugar=45.67 oz). Therefore: (2 cups H20/ 3/4 cup sugar)*(6.47 cups sugar/45.67 oz sugar)=0.378 cups water/oz sugar
• ___Racked to the bottling bucket then get a measure. First filled the (sanitized) test jar_
• FG: 1.010 @ 73F. Hydrometer calibrated at 60 (I think) ==>1.012
• Covered. Measured height to 7.5cm ==> 0.60 gal
• ==> 0.49 oz corn sugar and 0.185 cups=2.96 Tbsp ~= 3 tbsp water
• Dissolved sugar in hot water. Cut heat at 150. Raised to 160 from element._Cooled in small bucket of ice water(why not?)__

_

• 7:48pm,_gently poured sugar down tilted edge._Gently stirred
• Sanitized bottles (see below)
• ~8:10 filled
• Filling with the siphon was hard. I had to try a few times to get it going and clamp quickly to lose as little as possible. I will definitely look into making a bottling bucket

To sanitize the bottles, I filled a measuring cup with enough sanitizer. I then filled the bottle and swirled. I then poured the bottle back into the measuring cup and, at a certain point, submerged the neck into the sanitizer. I then poured the rest into the cup, shook the bottle, and moved it to the sanitized rack.

OG: 1.059, FG: 1.012 ==> ABV 6.2% (197 calories)

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6441, 2013-08-08_210053

Photos for racking of American/Belgium IPA Homebrew -- back to top

These photos are for the 2013-08-18 update of my first homebrew

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6493, 2013-08-18_224412

Saison Home Brew -- back to top

Homebrew #2

2013-08-19 Brew Day:

I am going to try to brew a French Saison. The recipe is based on the one from [ Bull City Home Brew](<http://bullcityhomebrew.com/recipes.aspx?id=Fall%20on%20The%20Floor%20French%20Saison%20>(All%20Grain).xml)(PDF). I scaled it to 1.25 and I changed the hops a bit. I replaces 2/3 of the bittering AAUs with Columbus. (much less of it since Columbus is ~16% AA and strisselspalt is ~2.3%).

My recipe is attached as a PDF here. But, here is the recipe:

French Saison (from BCHB)

Method:

All Grain

Style:

Saison

Boil Time:

60 min

Batch Size:

1.25 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

1.7 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.047 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.063

Final Gravity:

1.013

ABV (standard):

6.66%

IBU (tinseth):

32.77

SRM (morey):

13.17

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

2.18 lb

American - Pilsner

37

1.8

72.7%

0.25 lb

Belgian - Munich

38

6

8.3%

0.25 lb

German - Wheat Malt

37

2

8.3%

0.07 lb

German - CaraMunich III

34

57

2.3%

0.25 lb

Belgian Candi Syrup - Dark

32

80

8.3%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

IBU

Type

Use

0.08 oz

Columbus

Pellet

16

Boil

60 min

20.06

0.3 oz

Strisselspalt

Leaf/Whole

2.3

Boil

60 min

9.83

0.44 oz

Strisselspalt

Leaf/Whole

2.3

Boil

5 min

2.87

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

4 qt

Strike at 159.5

Infusion

148 F

75 min

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

10 min

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

15 min

Yeast

Wyeast - French Saison 3711

Attenuation (avg):

80%

Flocculation:

Low

Optimum Temp:

65 - 77 F

Starter:

No

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Recipe Last Updated: 2013-08-29 15:20 UTC

My Notes:

(italics are comments added not at the time or not on paper)

• 4:31 pop yeast
• Made oxiclean solution at "line 3" to 1 gal hot water.I decided I'll still rinse since I'll be sanitizing too.
• Goal 159°F for a 148°F 75 min mash
• Overshot temp. Waiting for it to drop
• Put the ENTIRE bag in. No bit hanging out the top
• 4:57 Poured at 162
• Water went to 153 then quickly dropped to 149. I'll check it again in 5 min and add heat
• T-1:10 temp 147.Hold
• Put a towel on it while it was sitting (see photo)
• T-1:04. 140°F. Setting 5 for 3-4 min. Cut at 150. The bag billowed. Not sure if water is boiling under it
• T-0:52:30 139. Heat on 5 until 154 (took about 45 sec).This is fishy...
• T-44. 163°FWhat???
• maybe it hasn't been mixed well before
• Not a fan of this method
• Note ~1/2 of 1/4 tso yeast nutrient is ~0.035 oz
• T-38. Temp 158. Ok. Too much heat before. I'll go a bit before checking again
• T-28 152.I think this is holding temp better than I thought. I'll check again around T-20.
• I hope I didn't inadvertently mash" out" earlier
• T-18 149 (ish). I'll hold there for 10 min or so
• 5:58, started heating sparge water (heating 1 gal)
• T-11, 146. Heat on 3, constantly stirring_with the thermometer in._ Cut heat at 152 (~T-9)
• This (what I did above with stirring and the thermometer inside it) was much better
• I'll leave the mash there for the end but I'm interested in the final temp
• 6:13. Pulled bag. Temp 149
• 11 cups on first run. I need 27.2
• I pulled the bag out with tongs. Let it drip, then put it on the strainer. I let it sit for a min or so then moved the grains to a separate dish. Poured wort into measuring cup and then into pot.
• __Added 10 cups of sparge water_pouring through the bag then put the bag in the water._ let it sit ~5 min while stirring
• 9.5 cups on second run
• Added rest of the sparge water (~6 cups. I need 6.7 from this so we'll see. I may be able squeeze it really well)
• Sit 5 min (actually 7)
• Squeezed the bag with with another pair of tong. Pulled out 6 cups. 26.5 cups total into the boil
• 6:37. Stirred, pulled sample, heat on
• Sampled @120°F, Pre-boil (pre sugar) OG 1.040_(adjusted with this tool to 1.048)_
• 6:53. Very close to boil. Added syrup
• 6:55 Boil
• Using this tool, excluding the sugar, I get a 78% "Pre-Boil Efficiency"!
• Added hops/nutrients to schedule
• _7:56_Into the ice
• Temps:_8:04 - 120°F, 8:10 - 90F, 8:15 - 79F. _Pulled at 72F, Around 8:19
• Poured through the strainer into the fermentor. I also moved the strainer and poured about a cup and a half into a (sanitized) measuring cup. I used this liquid to take an OG reading. I then poured that sample into the fermentor minus a bit to taste. I pulled the strainer away and scraped out hop material then kept straining
• 8:25 pitched yeast
• Slid container and shook for ~2 min to aerate
• OG - 1.071 (wow!)
• Measured height in fermenter: 13.4 cm --> 19.8 cups / 1.23 gal. (calibration link)
• Based on the same efficiency calculator, my "Ending Kettle Brew House Efficiency "is: 78% Note though that I didn't measure the volume before draining so this is probably a bit low (due to loss for the sample, and what remained in the hop trub)

Thoughts:

I really do not know whether or not I want to go back to the cooler method. It was certainly simpler and I am sure my overshoot of the temp will have a small affect, but when I later added heat at the setting number 3, with the thermometer in, and stirring, then cutting it when I wanted, it was okay.

I was pretty close to spot on with the volume. So a pre-boil volume of 1.7 is pretty good for my system (I had a bit less).

It is obviously really hard to judge flavor from just wort, but this tastes like a sweet IPA. I wonder if the bitterness got out of hand somehow. This can obviously change wildly

I read more about the style and I may have an issue due to the high-temp swing. A low mash temp makes the sugars more fermentable and by going too high, I may have moved into the other regime. That_may_ also explain the high gravities I registered

... I'll come back and add more later

2013-09-08 Update: Bottling

I am a bit early but I wanted to bottle while I was brewing other stuff (clean kitchen, equipment out, etc)

I will use a lot of the process from the IPA

Notes:

• Aim for 3 volumes (Afraid to go higher)
• 74F, 1.002 (==> 1.003 @ 60F, ==>8.93% ABV)
• Spilled some when the tube came out of the bucket while racking
• pulled out when it started getting trub. Maybe too early. not sure. better than last time
• 11cm ==> 0.98 gal.
• Calculatorsays 1.17 oz corn sugar.
• 0.378 cup water/oz sugar (from last time) ==> 0.442 cups=7.072 Tbsp ~=7 Tbsp=1/4 cup + 3 tbsp
• (6:16pm) added sugar water when cooled to 75. Stirred gently
• 0.98 gal= ~12 bottles. Maybe have 12 ready and I'll drink whats left. Or try to use more 11.2 oz bottles(2013-09-13 note, this is wrong math. 1 gal is 10 bottles or so)
• Filled around 6:50 (see comments below)
• Made 9 normally and 1 with lots of bubbling, pouring, etc (tried to get another hydrometer read).May be infected. I noted this one with tape and I wrapped it in a towel so if it is infected and bombs, it won't shatter the others

I thought I was getting the hang of the siphon filling. I had the attachment on and pressed into a bottle to start the pump. I then was able to control it and, with the clip, filled the first 7-8 with no problem. Around then, I had to hold and tilt it which also picked up some settled trub (is it called trub when it's mostly flocculated yeast?). Anyway, I then lost a lot because the siphon stopped higher than the tip of the thing. I really want to make a bottling bucket. But, until then, maybe next time, I'll use the trub tip for bottling too (not just racking) and with that, I can tilt it more and better control what I've lost.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6508, 2013-08-19_210345

Dunkel Homebrew Photos -- back to top

Photos for theBanana Bread Dunkelweizen

Initial setup with water. Worried that the rack may be elevating too high but in the end I think it was fine:

Showing how I stir with thermometer in wort while adding heat. I keep a close eye on it

After stirring notice how it looks like some areas with more grain than others. Need to distribute it better

Brew dog likes (unhopped) wort. (reminder, Hops+Dog==Sick/Death)

My emergency backup chilling method. I'm glad the bag was waterproof.

You can see as I siphoned from the whirlpooled wort, I still had a lot of trub. Not sure if irish moss would have helped this.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6582, 2013-09-08_163911

Banana Bread Dunkelweizen -- back to top

2013-09-08 Main Brew Session:

Brew 003

I am brewing a banana bread dunkelweizen. As noted in the recipe, it is inspired by this but I tweaked it to a single hop and a few other things. The recipe is below, followed by pre-brew notes and then my brew notes:

Recipe:

(Brewers Friend Link) (PDF) (XML file saved locally)

Banana Bread Ale | Brewer's Friend

Banana Bread Ale

By (from HBT)

Method:

All Grain

Style:

Dunkelweizen

Boil Time:

60 min

Batch Size:

1.25 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

1.7 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.045 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.061

Final Gravity:

1.015

ABV (standard):

5.98%

IBU (tinseth):

22.18

SRM (morey):

15.45

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

1.5 lb

American - Wheat

38

1.8

51.1%

1 lb

United Kingdom - Munich

37

6

34%

0.25 lb

Flaked Oats

33

2.2

8.5%

1 oz

American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt)

33

1.8

2.1%

1 oz

American - Caramel / Crystal 40L

34

40

2.1%

1 oz

Chocolate (BCHB)

34

414

2.1%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

IBU

Type

Use

0.2 oz

East Kent Goldings

Pellet

5.8

Boil

60 min

18.5

0.2 oz

East Kent Goldings

Pellet

5.8

Boil

5 min

3.69

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

4.4 qt

Heat 4.4 qt to 166-167°F

Infusion

154 F

60 min

0 qt

Raise to 170, Mash Out 10 min

Temperature

170 F

10 min

3 qt

Dunk (Batch) Sparge

Sparge

170 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

10 min

Yeast

Wyeast - Weihenstephan Weizen 3068

Attenuation (avg):

75%

Flocculation:

Low

Optimum Temp:

64 - 75 F

Starter:

No

Notes

Original Source: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/banana-bread-ale-90074/ but I doubt their hop numbers. I replaced both with EKGs(used brew365 calculator for mash with minor adjustments)Note: Check the AA% on the hops and adjust as needed pitch only HALF of the yeast pack to keep the banana flavor.

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Date: 2013-09-08 15:23 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2013-09-08 15:23 UTC

Pre Brew Notes:

Yeast:

Target is to under pitch by a little to get more banana. I have 1.25 gal at 1.061 (estimated). According to Brewer's Friend, I need 53 billion cells. The yeast was manufactured 2013-08-15 so the above link estimates it has 83 billion. If I pitch half of it, I should be pitching about 41 billion which will under pitch by a little. I'll make sure to aerate well and maybe go a bit over half. I'll see the numbers when I put it into a measuring cup.

Process:

I'll update more with brew notes but my mash plan is as follows:

• -Mash at set temp for 60-90 min, 1.5 qt/lbs ratio
• Heat mash to 170 (while stirring and with the thermometer) and hold for 10 min. (Mash out)
• Dunk sparge with remaining water at 170 for 10 minutes
• Measure volume of both by transferring to big measuring cup
• Combine

Grains were double milled

I am also going to introduce a whirlpool. I'll get it started after it has cooled by stirring vigorously. I'll then put the (sanitized) lid and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. Then, using the sanitized siphon, I'll move it to the fermenter but first through the colander. Some will go into the test jar first for a hydrometer reading.

Brew Notes:

(Combined notes taken while brewing with comments around the same time. I'll try to denote added notes with italics)

• 12:04 (pm) popped yeast
• add 4.4 qt (1 gal 1.6 cups. 1.6 cups==379 ml)
• __added 1 gal, 1-2/3 cups
• 12:30 start heat
• aiming for 167
• Worried I may lose too much space to thing (canning rack) on the bottom
• 12:44, added grain
• stirred grain in pot breaking up dough balls
• temp equalized around 155°F
• Maybe want_to put the bag_ deeper next time
• Maybe more water next time
• Maybe add water at next heat check
• check again in ~10min
• Towel on pot
• Hops set up. (5 min ~0.205 oz, 60 min ~0.205oz, 10min ~1/2 of 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient)
• T-49 153°F. Hold for ~10min for check
• Note, thinner mash next time but I don't think I'll add water now
• T-37, Temp at 150
• Heat continuously on 3/10 stirring vigorously (with thermometer in)
• Temp at 157, Heat cut at T-35
• Note, came on on fast
• Forgot to note, Hops in vacuum seal to freezer
• I like that I can stir this bag as opposed to muslin
• t-19, Temp at 149. Heat on 3/10. T=156 F at t-16. Heat off
• (1:35) T-9, start sparge heating
• Not trusting numbers. We have 4.4 qts mash + 3 qt sparge = 7.4 qt =1.85 gal. Standard grain absorption is around 0.1 gal/lbs so we should absorb about 0.3 gal. That would give us 1.55 gal pre boil. We want 1.7 so 2 gal total. Up sparge to 3.6 qt
• Look into why this got messed up. Maybe I had said less grain absorption
• When I collect. Even if I have more than 1.7 gal, only use the 1.7 but note the extra to calc grain__absorption
• T-0, temp at 152°F
• Heat on 3/10 at 1:46pm
• I want a better thermometer
• 1:56 temp at 170
• Hold for 10, check sparge water. we want 170°F sparge.
• Pulled after 10 min
• Squeezed like all hell. (Note. I may not be able to get as much without Ethan's help)
• (2:11) grains added to sparge. Stirred
• 3.5 qt = 0.875 gal first runnings (measured by pouring into cup then other pot)
• Mashed in 4.4 qt, pulled 3.5 qt=0.9 qt = 0.225 gal absorbed. 0.225gal/2.95 lbs grain = 0.0748 gal/lbs absorption
• Note, very cloudy wort
• Hydrometer on first runnings, 1.605 first running (but didn't measure temp)
• Neet to collect 1.7-0.875 gal = 0.825 gal = 13.2 cups collected
• Note, bag did not burn or rip
• Hydrometer second runnings 1.010 (no temp read)
• collected sample
• Mixed runnings, 1043@112°F = 1.051 @ 60 (Hydrometer calibration)
• Collected 13.5 cups from sparge. 2 cups remain decidednot__to add the extra 2 cups. Not sure if this was a good idea.
• 2:33 heat on
• 27.5 cups = 1.719 gal.
• 1.051 with 1.1719 gal ==> 81% pre-boil efficiency (by Brewer's Friend)
• 2:55 boil. Skimming hot break
• 2:56 timer starter. First hot
• Played with heat, set to 9/10
• Sparged with 3.6 qt, collected (with extra) 15.5 cups=3.87 so we pulled more out. Need to squeeze first runnings better
• 3:56 into the ice (with lid off)
• Fuck, the sink stopper didn't hold. Lost water. Tried to fix and lost a lot of ice down the drain. Fuck. Quick thinking plan B. Took remaining ice plus all I had in the freezer and put it into my freezer bag (hoping it's waterproof...It was). Added water and then put the container into there. Added water up the edges. See photos
• Temps/times/comments: (4:04/142°F/Keep lid off), (4:10/106/lid on, no steam),(4:16/90/ All ice melted, will have to wait),(4:20/88/I may pull and start the whirlpool since it will keep cooling)
• 4:22 whirlpool started. Lid on, give it 20 min
• Sanitize, clean, get ready
• Plan: Siphon out of pot and pour through strainer into fermentor. May still get some sludge that I'll clean out.
• ~4:45, started siphoning through strainer. Still lots of trub. Filled test jar. Near the end, I saw that there was no cone and I was picking up the trub.
• Just poured the rest through the strainer. Whirlpool didn't work. Will investigate. Still picked up a lot of trub
• OG 1.070 @ 80F ==> 1.072 @ 60F (hydrometer calibrated)
• Returned sample
• Shook w/o yeast for two minutes
• Poured yeast into measuring cup. Measured 1/2 cup. Pitched 1/4 cup
• Shook, put airlock on
• 12.7 cm on fermenter ==> 1.16 gal @ 75 (guess after shaking) ==> 1.2 if temp corrected. To be conservative, I'll stick with 1.16
• Yield was lower than I would like. I should investigate
• Brewer's Friend says 77% efficiency. My guess is loss due to trub and trying to siphon.
• (side note, Ethan Hada helped brew. He left around the end of the boil. Thanks a bunch for all the help. It was great having someone to bounce ideas off of, help get things set, take notes, and chat with while waiting)

Thoughts:

(I'll keep updating this)

The process seemed to work very well. The new bags worked well (note that they were inside out) and were easy to clean. The whole thing took a bit longer than I'd hope (it's not 5:13) but it was fun and worth it.

Most of the technique (double mill, BAIB, mashout, dunk/batch sparge, etc) seemed to work well. I think I need to work on post-boil technique. Why did my brew-house efficiency come out lower than pre-kettle? Whirlpooling didn't work. I didn't like the time it took and there wasn't much hop matter spared. Maybe it would be better with irish moss? Or with a hoppier brew?

Additional Note:

I was unhappy/concerned about the measurement when I bottled the saisonso I decided to try a different measurement. I quickly took the airlock out (which was already bubbling BTW) and weighed it as 11 lbs 1/4 oz or 4997 g. I then weighed a different, empty bucket with lid at 1 lbs 7/8 oz or 478.4g. Therefore, I had 4518.6 grams. The density of water is 1000g/L but the density of this wort is 1072 g/L (OG*density of water). Therefore, there were (4516.6g/1072 g/L)=4.213L=1.113 gal. That is about 4% difference. I guess that's not too bad.

I like using the weight method but I need to be careful because my scale is supposed to max out at 11 lbs. Obviously it went above it there with the weight of the full fermentor, but there may be a loss of accuracy and/or it may just not work well.

Photos:

Photo link

2013-09-14 Update:

(Day 6) It fermented quickly but then seemed to stop bubbling after the first day, maybe even sooner. I gave it a small shake to try to re-ignite anything in there but it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

On2013-09-14, I racked it into a secondary so I could take a measurement (even though a secondary is not needed). At 73F, it read 1.021 which seems high.

However, Brewers Friends says that is 6.56% ABV and is 69.4% attenuation. That may be fine. I will investigate the typical FG of Dunkels and see what I find. I'll update if need be.

2013-09-22 Bottling:

I bottled the dunkel. Here are my notes:

• FG 1.022 (@73F)==>1.022 (Brewers Friend says 6.5% ABV)
• 9.5cm ==> 0.82 gal
• Lots of loss (look into this)
• Aim for 2.8 vol (supposed to be 3.5 or so but I am afraid of the bottles)
• Calculator says 0.89oz sugar
• 0.378 cups h2o/oz sugar ==>0.336 cups ~1/3 cup
• 0.89 gal = 113 oz or about 9.5 bottle
• (I got 8.5 bottles :-( )

I really need to look into the loss of so much. What can I do to prevent it? I drank that 1/2 bottle. It was okay. Definitely tasted like a wheat beer but no detectable banana flavor. May be more pronounced cold. Not sure

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6554, 2013-09-08_171629

Southern Tier Pumking Clone(ish) -- back to top

Meredith and I are brewing a clone (of sorts) of the ST Pumking beer. As noted in the recipe comments, it is a combination of a few different sources. This is beer 004. The recipe is below:

Recipe:

(PDF) (TXT) (XML stored locally)

ST Pumking Clone

By gwdlaw (HBT) and Bull City

Method:

All Grain

Style:

Holiday/Winter Special Spiced Beer

Boil Time:

90 min

Batch Size:

1.375 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

2.1 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.062 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.100

Final Gravity:

1.032

ABV (standard):

8.92%

IBU (tinseth):

32.64

SRM (morey):

24.19

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

3.5 lb

American - Pale 2-Row

37

1.8

62.9%

0.5 lb

American - Caramel / Crystal 80L

33

80

9%

0.5 lb

American - Victory

34

28

9%

3 oz

Lactose (Milk Sugar) - (late addition)

41

1

3.4%

3 oz

Turbinado

44

10

3.4%

2 oz

Belgian Candi Syrup - Dark

32

80

2.2%

1 oz

Brown Sugar

45

15

1.1%

0.5 lb

pumpkin

1.75

13

9%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

IBU

Type

Use

0.16 oz

Magnum

Pellet

15

Boil

60 min

29.83

0.13 oz

Saaz

Pellet

3.5

Boil

15 min

2.81

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

7.5 qt

Strike at 167-168 (7.5qt=1.875gal=30c)

Infusion

154 F

75 min

--

Mash Out

Temperature

170 F

10 min

3.15 qt

3.15qt=12.6 cups

Sparge

170 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

15 min

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

10 min

0.13 tsp

Allspice

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.5 tbsp

Chopped candied ginger

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.75 each

Cinnamon sticks

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.13 tsp

Nutmeg

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.13 tsp

Whole cloves

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.25 tsp

Pumpkin pie spice

Spice

Secondary

--

0.25 tsp

Capella water soluble Graham Cracker Extract (purchased online)

Spice

Secondary

--

1 each

Vanilla Bean vodka solution (see notes for exact quantities)

Spice

Secondary

--

Yeast

Ferments / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

Attenuation (avg):

72%

Flocculation:

Medium

Optimum Temp:

59 - 75 F

Starter:

No

Notes

Do not trust the FG numbers because of the lactose, etc---------------------------All grains and pumpkin go in the mash. If the pumpkin is in the boil you will most likely lose a gallon of water, and have a tough time straining the pumpkin out.The sugars go in at 60 min except that Lactose that goes at 15.The pumpkin should be cleaned and cut into small cubes and baked for 45 mins at 350, then mashed and coated with honey. Then baked for another 45 mins at 350. Let it cool to 154 and add to mash.For the vanilla bean vodka solution, 1/2 vanilla beans are cut in half. The seeds and goodies are then scraped into 1oz of vodka. Let the vodka sit for two weeks.----------------------Recipe from http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/southern-tier-pumking-clone-191381/index20.html (gwdlaw) and http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/16367/southern-tier-pumking-clone and http://bullcityhomebrew.com/recipes.aspx?id=Pumpkin%20Spiced%20Ale%20(All%20Grain).xml(all over the place)

--------------------

The mash numbers are a rough estimate. Adjust as needed

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Date: 2013-09-15 16:17 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2013-09-14 10:56 UTC

2013-09-14 (prep):

• 8 oz pumpkin + ~3/4 oz honey on top spread thin. Cook on non-stick Al foil in oven for 60min@350
• Came out a bit crusty and cooked. Refrigerated overnight

2013-09-15:

Brew Notes:

• Microwaved pumpkin stuff
• Heat 7.5 qt to 167-168 for a 154 mash
• Change mash to 60 minutes (we are at a higher temp so it should be fine)
• Nervous about the space in the pot with all the grain
• Put grain in metal bowl for easier mashing in
• (11:50) dough in at 167. Pumpkin at 192. Add a bit at a time and stir. Easier with 2 people
• Equalized around 158 (then rose to 160).
• Stirring with lid off aiming to bring it to 156
• Added a bit of cold water. Didn't measure how much (We estimate about 1/4 cup or so. Be more careful next time!!!!)
• T-58. 156-157 or so. Sit for 10-15
• T-46. 154. Hold
• T-25. 151. Add heat to 155 (Heat on 3/10 while stirring)
• T-12: 151°F, heat on to 155°F (cut at t-8)
• 12:44 start heating 3.15 qt sparge water to 170
• 12:52 T-0. temp 155. Heat on 3/10 to 170
• Note, need to calibrate/check thermometers. Lab and digital read ~5F difference. (Ice bath tests puts both at 34. Will investigate)
• 1:05 heat off, wait ~10
• 25 cups first running (Squeezed the bag A LOT)
• Need 2.1gal=33.6 cups
• Sparged, sit for ~10 min
• Collected 9 cups from sparge (leaving about 2 cups remain)
• 1:32 heat on
• Total 34 cups=2.125 gal=8.5 qt
• Pre-boil OG 1.051@122°F
• Brewers Friend says that's 1.062 at calibration and 80% Pre-boil efficiency
• 1:56. Boil started, T-90min
• Heat at 10 until rolling, will drop to 8 once starters
• Brought to 7/10. Back to 8/10
• For spices at 0.13tsp, measure 1/4 and cut in half by weight (Just Estimated 1/2 of 1/4)
• Adjust hops to %AA. Saaz to 0.14. Magnum change within precision of scale
• At 60 min add,, turned heat back to 10 to bring back to boil. Then back to 8
• Meredith chopped ginger pretty fine. Pressed into 1/2 Tbsp.
• T-5, Yeast in 1/2 cup of boiled water cooled to 107°F. NOT stirred. covered
• Palmer says to do 1 cup but usually smack packs are 1/2 so I did that
• At ~15 min later, stirred
• Temp=115°F, Not much steam. Covered
• 3:49, 77F.
• Poured into fermenter through strainer. Some poured through strainer into measuring cup, then test jar. OG taken
• 1.110 @ 77==> 1.112
• Shake Aerate for ~2 min. Yeast stirred then pitched
• Note on the gravity readings that I do not solely trust it for efficiency since there is unaccounted sugar in the ginger. Also, even for the initial pre-kettle, there was an unaccounted 3/4 oz of honey.
• 3:58, in swamp cooler. See pictures
• 14.4 cm ==> 1.35 gal
• Brewers Friend says 78% efficiency

Photos:

See HERE

Other Notes, etc:

It didn't start to really show some air lock activity for 18 hours. From my reading, that is not too abnormal. Furthermore, it is probably colder with the swamp cooler method

2013-09-22 Racking + Spices:

I racked the pumking beer and added the vodka mix. I racked into the gallon jug onto the vodka and also took a sample (before vodka). I got 1.031 (1.032 with temp) which Brewers Friend says is 10.5 ABV. I calculated that the vodka should add 0.3% to that but we'll see based on how much gets into the bottle.

I basically filled the gallon jug. That means I still lost a good amount to yeast/trub. But I do think I did a better job than ever before at getting just about all of the liquid off the yeast!

Also, no graham cracker extract was added.

2013-10-08 Bottling:

Here are my notes. Meredith was here for this too.

• Racked over to bucket_(still no spout for bottling. Will use the siphon)_
• No gravity measure. Use the one from racking before (1.032, 10.8% ABV_with_vodka)
• 11.1cm-->0.99gal
• Aim for 2.5 vol so calculator says 0.88 oz sugar
• Decided to make it 1 oz which is 2.71 vol (guess and check)
• 0.378 cups water per oz sugar so 0.378 cups water. About 1/3 plus a little
• Heated water, dissolved sugar, cooled with small ice bath
• Note that I sanitized the thermometer and check the temp but that really wasn't needed. As long as it isn't too hot, the tiny amount of water shouldn't affect anything. Next time, I'll just ice bath it for a bit then add it
• Added and stirred slowly
• 1 gal is about 10.5 bottles. I got 10 cleanly (no gurgle, etc on the siphon). Drank the last half bottle.

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6611, 2013-09-15_161210

Pumking Photos -- back to top

Photos for the Southern Tier Pumking Brewing

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6622, 2013-09-15_184743

An Old Warmer -- back to top

Homebrew number 005

Recipe:

(PDF) (TXT)

An Old Warmer

By Justin Winokur (Combined from Jamil's Recipes)

Method:

All Grain

Style:

Holiday/Winter Special Spiced Beer

Boil Time:

60 min

Batch Size:

1.35 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

1.9 gallons

Efficiency:

72% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.060 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.085

Final Gravity:

1.021

ABV (standard):

8.32%

IBU (tinseth):

40.2

SRM (morey):

28.46

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

1.75 lb

United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale

38

3.75

42.4%

5 oz

Molasses

36

80

7.6%

4 oz

American - Caramel / Crystal 80L

33

80

6.1%

1.75 lb

English Pale

38

3

42.4%

1 oz

Black Patent

25

680

1.5%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

IBU

Type

Use

0.25 oz

Horizon

Pellet

12.5

Boil

60 min

40.2

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

5.1 qt

Strike around 165

Infusion

152 F

60 min

--

Mash Out at 168

Temperature

168 F

10 min

3.1 qt

Sparge around 175

Sparge

168 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.33 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

10 min

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

10 min

0.25 each

Spices (see comments)

Spice

Boil

1 min

Yeast

Wyeast - London Ale 1028

Attenuation (avg):

75%

Flocculation:

Med-Low

Optimum Temp:

60 - 72 F

Starter:

No

Notes

--------------------------------------

Spice Mix. Note, you only want to use A QUARTER!:

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

--------------------------------------

This recipe is roughly based on Jamil's Old Ale and his Winter Ale. I also added half of the base as Morris Otter since it sounded interesting and worth trying

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Date: 2013-09-30 21:07 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2013-09-30 21:07 UTC

2013-09-30. Main:

Below are my notes. Again I use italics to try to differentiate between what I wrote at the time and comments

• 4:45 Start heating 5.1 qt
• 4:45, smack yeast
• Bag installed
• 4 cups water set aside for temp adjust and so I can measure
• 5:01 mash in when H2O at about 165. Stirred and settled at 158-160. Added 0.75 cups water (room temp) and brought to about 154-156.
• Total strike is 5.1+0.75/4=5.29 qt
• Oops, a tiny bit of the cooling water was distilled. Not worried about it
• ~T-40min (of 60), temp 150. Heat 3/10 to ~155 (took ~3 min). Hold for 20
• ~T-20 min, temp 150, heat 3/10 to ~155.
• Take 0.19qt out of sparge. 3.5qt-0.19qt=3.31qt=3 qt 1-1/4 cup
• 6:00. Begin mash out. (temp started at 152). Heat on 4/10
• Started at 4/10 but heard some bubbles. Brought it to 3/10
• Cut at 6:09. Hold for 10
• First runnings 4.25 qt. Needed 1.9*4-4.25=3.35 qt from sparge. Will have to squeeze.
• Sparge around 173 (water temp). Hold for 10
• 2nd runnings 3.5 qt (total 7.75qt around 160°F)
• Combined, stirred, pulled 1 cup for mini ice bath for grav
• Adjust 0.25oz *12.5 %AA/10.1%AA=0.31 oz hops
• 86F, SG: 1.059
• 6:52. Boil start. Set timer for 60
• Brewers friend says this is 7.6 qt at 1.062 for 82% pre-boil efficiency
• (dead on with volume when accounting for temp)
• Al spices weigh 0.080oz so keep 0.020 oz
• Note, the grain bag developed a small hole. I probably could get another brew out of it but I don't want to risk it
• 7:53. Into the ice
• Time/Temps: 7:57/122°F (little steam, lid on). 8:02/100°F, 8:12/76 -- Pull it
• OG: 1.089
• 8:25 away
• 15 cm ==> 1.42 gal
• Need to adjust boil off. That's too much!
• Brewers Friend says that is corrected to 1.40 gal, OG 1.091 ==> 81% Efficiency
• Put in into a swamp-cooler setup with the remaining ice water. Will add ice packs later

I will update this later and as I go. Maybe I'll come back and comment too

2013-10-22 Bottling:

Wes helped me bottle while we were also brewing an APA (Beer 7). So the timing on this was more spread out.

• Decided to just use 1/2 cup water for whatever sugar. It doesn't matter much
• FG 1.020 @ 70
• Messed up racking. I lost the siphon so I restarted it but that pumped a lot of air into the bottling bucket. Next time I will take the tube out, restart the siphon, and then put it back under the liquid. Hopefully it won't be too bad
• Measured 12.4cm --> 1.13 gal.
• Exactly 12.03 bottles. I'll just do 11 and not have to worry. It makes life easier
• Plan 2 volumes. Calculator says 0.73 oz
• Brewers Friend says that the FG corrects to 1.021 and 9.19=9.2% ABV (yeast had 76.9% Attenuation)
• 7:50, added priming sugar (it was probably still a bit too hot but should be fine with 1/2 cup into 1 gal of wort (beer?))
• Bottled 11 with extra to drink
• Tasted dry and a bit toasty. I didn't really taste the seasonings

2013-12-07 Tasting Notes:

I tried a bottle while I was brewing. I was actually pretty happy with it. I didn't taste any spice or molasses but it still had a nice flavor. A bit harsh in the throat but really not too bad. Especially since it is 9.2% ABV. I didn't get any aroma but it tasted kind of like a dark brown ale but there wasn't really any roasty-ness. I will come back with more notes next time I have one

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6720, 2013-09-30_205818

C01: Hard Apple Cider -- back to top

2013-10-14 Main:

I started a "brew" of hard cider. I used Whole Foods 365 Brand cider and Old Orchard Juice Concentrate. The general idea is from HowToMakeHardCider.com.

Here are my notes:

• Cut apple juice concentrate into a quarter or so and melted in the microwave (about 1/2 cup melted)
• Added about 1/4 tsp of yeast nutrient to concentrate
• Poured 1/2 cup out of juice
• Added concentrate (plus nutrient)
• Put back on lid and shook a lot
• Pulled 1 cup for grav reading. OG 1.051
• Added 2.5 grams (half pack) of Montrachet Dry Yeast
• Note, I didn't rehydrate but I added more yeast than needed.
• Shook with lid. Some stuck to jug but I am not worried about it
• Put sanitized bung and airlock on.
• Bung fell off. I need to really press that on I guess. Re sanitized and put on

That was all there was to it. It probably took about 30 minutes! I do not know about this yeast but it is what the shop recommended. I haven't decided about back sweetening and what else I want to do.

2013-11-23 Bottle

I decided for the sake of simplicity, I wouldn't back sweeten and I'd just bottle as is. I put it in the fridge 3 days earlier to cold crash. I had taken off the airlock and put sanitized foil over the bung so it would fit.

Here are my bottle notes:

• 1.001 @ 43 (according to thermometer strip) --> FG 1.000
• 11cm on bucket -->0.98 gal
• 10.4 bottles so plan for 10
• Not sure what temp to use for priming. It fermented around 74 but was bottled at 43. I am aiming for 2.25 volumes. I played around and decided on 0.65 oz corn sugar. If the beer is at 43, that is 2.53 vol. If the beer is at 74, that is 2.0
• ABV: 6.69=6.7%
• Used 1/3 cup (tap) water

Bottling went well. I cleanly bottled 10 bottles with some left to drink. It tasted very good. Very clean and dry. It reminded me of a very lightly carbonated and very unsweetened version of that alcohol apple cider. It also had a kind-of champagne smell to it. I do not think it needed any sweetener! I'm very excited to try it and I think I will buy more jugs of juice and do it again.

Side note:

This is batch C01.

2013-12-07 note: 3 weeks will be 2013-12-14

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6760, 2013-10-14_124120

Sour Scotch Ale -- back to top

Homebrew 006. See Photos (link later)

Note, still in progress

Goal:

This is based on the clone of Oskar Blues' Old Chub (slightly modified) but sour-mashed with about 24% of the grist. It is my first time sour-mashing so I am also testing out that method and equipment. I am also testing doing no-sparge on the soured part of the grains to get an idea of efficiency

Recipe:

(PDF) (TXT) (HTML) (xml stored locally)

Method:

All Grain

Style:

Strong Scotch Ale

Boil Time:

90 min

Batch Size:

1.375 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

2.15 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.050 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.078

Final Gravity:

1.022

ABV (standard):

7.36%

IBU (tinseth):

34.89

SRM (morey):

22.45

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

2.5 lb

American - Pale 2-Row

37

1.8

59.9%

3.5 oz

United Kingdom - Extra Dark Crystal 120L

33

120

5.2%

3.5 oz

German - Munich Light

37

6

5.2%

1 oz

United Kingdom - Chocolate

34

425

1.5%

1.5 oz

Belgian - Special B

34

115

2.2%

1.25 oz

American - Smoked Malt

37

5

1.9%

1 lb

American Pale 2 Row for Sour Mash (25%)

37

1.8

24%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

Use

Type

IBU

0.18 oz

Nugget

Pellet

14

Boil

60 min

34.89

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

2.3 qt

Full vol. mash sour with 162-163

Infusion

155 F

60 min

0 qt

Mash Out

Temperature

168 F

10 min

--

Cool to 120

Temperature

115 F

--

--

Innoculate with 2.5 oz grain. hold 4 days

--

115 F

999 min

4.22 qt

Mash In around168

Infusion

155 F

60 min

--

Mash Out

Temperature

168 F

10 min

2.9 qt

Dunk Sparge at 175

Sparge

168 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.33 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

2.5 oz

American Pale 2 Row (DO NOT MASH)

Other

Mash

--

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

10 min

0.13 tbsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

10 min

Yeast

Ferments / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

Attenuation (avg):

72%

Flocculation:

Medium

Optimum Temp:

59 - 75 F

Starter:

No

Fermentation Temp:

69 F

Pitch Rate:

-

Notes

Based on http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/oskar-blues-old-chub-clone-byo-303487/ but I tweaked the numbers a bit for round numbers. And I lowered the base malt to make it less strong.

-----------------------------

Boil Volume is 2.15 so for ~25%, it is about 2 quarts. With a grain absorption of 0.3 qt/lbs, that means sour with 2.3 qt and 1 lbs of grain

-----------------------------

The 1 lbs 2-row and the 2.5 oz can be ordered together but 2.5 ounces should be withheld

---------------------------

This recipe is souring about 24%

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Date: 2013-10-17 18:35 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2013-10-16 21:07 UTC

2013-10-16 Notes on Sour Mashing:

• Testing slow cooker with water and oxiclean in the jar
• When set at 46C, creeps to 46.5C
• Set diff to 0.3 clicked on at 45.7. Bottomed out at 45.3C. I will change it to a smaller difference so it goes on sooner (Nope, can't get below 0.3C diff)
• Final setting is 46C with 0.3C diff
• So with this test it is 45.3C-46.5C or 113.5F-115.7F
• Took out only 2.25 oz of the grain so mashing with 1 pound 0.25 oz
• Dough in at 7:58pm @162. Dropped to 158.
• Note, changed to the small pot since it was too shallow in the bigger one, especially with the rack. So, instead I decided to use the smaller pot with no bag. I will then pour it through the bag into the bigger pot which I can then use to squeeze the bag
• Measured test oxiclean test jar and it was a bit lower. This makes sense because there is a bit of the thing exposed. THis may be less of an issue with a towel over it but I'll change the setting to 47C.
• T-40. 150°F. Heat on 3/10 to 156.
• T-23 154°F. Add a bit of heat.
• T-10 At 150-152. Added heat to 156-158
• I am thinking of extending the mash an extra 15 min or so. (T+...... then). Just leave the temp.
• Added 10 min
• At t+10 (70 min into mash) temp was about 152.
• Mashed out to 168. Held there for a bit. (I am now realizing that I forgot to hold for a full 10. Oh well)
• Cooled to about 115
• Collected 7.5 cups or 1.875 qt (a bit low)
• Calculated grain absorption was 0.43 qt/lbs. I wonder why considering I felt like I could squeeze more with the smaller amount of grain.
• Anyway...
• 1.056 SG at 108°F for a calibrated 1.059
• 74.74% Pre-Kettle according to Brewers Friend. Not bad! (Note that I double crushed the grains)
• put into jar and added 2.25 oz grain to wort . Covered with cling wrap and put into hot water bath
• With insulation, it got to 47.7C which is too high (never mind, 47.7C=117.9. We want to stay below 120°F=48.8, but even then, as long as we don't hit 130°F=54.4C, we should be fine... See BYO link below)

• Spiked to 48. Set a bit lower to 46.5
  2013-10-17:

• Set lower to 46.3. I've been watching it. When it clicks on, it doesn't drop any further. It then stays there for a bit before rapidly rising past it's goal. (rose from 46C to 46.8C). Continues to rise slowly and peaked at 47.5

• I just read a few things in BYO. For one, I could have sealed the container. Two, I am fine on temperatures. See below:

The most common contaminant of a sour mash is Clostridium butyricum. This anaerobic bacteria produces butyric acid, a foul-smelling compound that turns the mash rancid. Sour mashes infected with Clostridium should be thrown out. Luckily, these bugs are inactive above 112 F. Keeping the sour mash above this temperature will inhibit Clostridium.

Acetobacter, an acetic acid-producing bacteria, can also infect sour mashes. These aerobic bacteria grow on the surface of the mash if oxygen is present and can convert alcohol to acetic acid at pH values as low as 4.5. Keeping the sour mash tun tightly closed to seal out oxygen will inhibit the growth of Acetobacter. It can also be inhibited by raising the temperature above 122 F. (Temperatures above 120 F will stun L. delbruckii, but they will survive unless temperature exceeds a high of 131 F.)

• Keeping the settings where they are for the remainder of the sour mashing

2013-10-20 Brew Day:

Here are my notes. I started around 11:15 or so. Normal procedure with_italics_

• Started heating 4.22 to 168. Changed to 4.25 qts (4 qts + 1 cup)
• (11:50) Mashed in at 165 (choose to try a bit lower). Stabilized around 155
• Cover and hold for 60 min
• T-43min. ~149. Heat on 3/10 to 156. Hold 15 min
• I want to go back to mashing thinner
• t-28. 155 Hold 15
• Just to note, the sourmash used 1.42 kWh
• t-14. T~148. Took a long time to 156. I wonder if I measured too soon before
• 12:40 pull sour. Smells like apple juice
• Tastes tart but flavorful. Very clean tasting
• SG of sour mash 1.051 @ 102°F (1.057 @ calibrated)
• Recovered 7 cups=1.75 qts
• t-0. T153. Heat 3/10 t0 168
• (1:01) @168. Hold 10 min
• (1:17) Into sparge. Hold 10min
• 3 qt+1/7 cups=3.425qt first run
• first run + sour=3.425+1.75 qt = 5.175 qt
• Need 2.15gal=8.6 qt for bol so 3.425 qt from sparge. Will have to squeeze well
• 3qt+0.5cup =3.125 qt from sparge
• Combined mash (_ONLY). _3.425+3.125=6.55 qt for today's mash
• SG: 1.059@82=1.061 for today's mash
• (Separatelyentered pre-boil efficiency is therefore) 86%
• Hop Adjust: 0.18oz *14%/13.5% == 0.1866 ~=0.19oz
• 1:57 Boil! Heat to 8/10
• Began rehydrating yeast based on Palmer's instructions (p 73). Boiled 1/2 cup in microwaved. At T=95-105, added about 5 g. Covered with star-sanned Al foil for 15 min then stir. Added at 2:53 (_took forever to cool)._stirred at 3:07
• 2:58. Into the ice. Time/Temps and notes: 3:05/109°F, 3:07/no steam. lid on, 3:09/95. 3:15/80F, 3:20/72
• SG: 1.079 (1.080)
• Shook for 2 min
• Added yeast. Shook again
• 3:27 all done
• Very hard to get good height measure (used flashlight the help but not very useful)
• I think 15.5 cm --> 1.47 gal or 5.89 qts
• May need to adjust boil-off, etc. May use a blowoff tube. Not sure
• Brewhouse efficiency (remember some went to the bacteria): 77%

Quick Note

Quick note later of brew day. I was looking over the recipe and realized that I accidentally did a 60 minute boil instead of 90. Oops. I do not think it will make much of a difference other than more volume (as I found). I still had great numbers but I may have been able to do better with a longer boil. I didn't use pilsner so I shouldn't have to worry about DMS.

2013-11-15:

Moved the whole bucket to the fridge for cold crash

2013-11-17 Bottling:

Note that while I was bottling, I was also brewing batch 008. Here is my log

• Racked over to bucket
• 1.0215 @46F ==> 1.021==> 7.74% ABV
• 13.4 cm --> 1.24 gal
• Aim for 2.1 vol with temp set to 65 (fermentation temp, not crash) --> 0.80oz corn sugar
• use 1/2 cup water
• 1.24 gal = 13.2 12oz bottle which may be cutting it close
• Instead, do 11 12oz and 1 22oz bottle
• Filled. Used the autosiphon but I was really able to control it well. I sacrificed a 6-pack holder and filled into them so that I could stand towards the end to tilt the bucket and hold the siphon
• Sprayed O2 absorbing caps with star san 6 at a time and covered bottles. Capped in 6 bottle batches
• Missed by about 1/3 bottle. I'll cap it and see what happens. May take longer to carb.
• Doing the bottles in the 6 pack may have cause me to loose a bit too much since I had to wait until they just overflowed to cut it. I'll work on my technique
• once capped, I rinsed the bottles and noted brew #6 on the top
  2013-12-07 Note: 3 weeks will be today, but I think it may need more time because of (a) the temp and (b) the cold-crash may leave less yeast

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6770, 2013-10-16_144254

APA from Brewing Classic Styles -- back to top

Homebrew 7. Wes helped me with this brew.

Recipe:

(PDF) (TXT) (HTML) (XML -- Stored locally)

By Brewing Classic Styles, p. 135

Method:

All Grain

Style:

American Pale Ale

Boil Time:

60 min

Batch Size:

1.375 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

1.9 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.045 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.062

Final Gravity:

1.017

ABV (standard):

5.85%

IBU (tinseth):

43.5

SRM (morey):

7.48

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

2.8125 lb

American - Pale 2-Row

37

1.8

84.9%

3 oz

American - Munich - Dark 20L

33

20

5.7%

3 oz

American - Victory

34

28

5.7%

2 oz

American - White Wheat

40

2.8

3.8%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

Use

Type

IBU

0.15 oz

Magnum

Pellet

15

Boil

60 min

32.58

0.13 oz

Cascade

Pellet

6

Boil

10 min

4.1

0.13 oz

Centennial

Pellet

10

Boil

10 min

6.83

0.13 oz

Cascade

Pellet

6

Boil

0 min

---

0.13 oz

Centennial

Pellet

10

Boil

0 min

---

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

4.6 qt

Strike at 164

Infusion

152 F

60 min

--

Mash out

Temperature

168 F

10 min

4.1 qt

Dunk Sparge (water at 175)

Sparge

168 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.4 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

10 min

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

10 min

Yeast

Ferments / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

Attenuation (avg):

72%

Flocculation:

Medium

Optimum Temp:

59 - 75 F

Starter:

Yes

Fermentation Temp:

66 F

Pitch Rate:

0.75 (M cells / ml / P)

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

__

2013-10-22 Brew Day:

Below are my notes

• (6:07pm) Strike calls for 4.6 qt=1 gal + 2.44 cups. Strike with 1 gal 2.5 cups
• Aim for 164°F for a 152°F mash
• (6:28) Mashed in. Stabilized at 154. Need to adjust calibration. Hold for 15-20min
• t-45min, 152°F. Hold 10min
• t-35min, 148°F. Heat 3/10 to 155°F
• t-16, T=152 Hold 6. I don;t think this will hold to the end
• Started heating sparge. 4.1qt=1gal 0.4 cups. Do 1gal+1/3 cup b/c of extra before
• t-8min, ~145 (_Why such a drop? Too early of a measure before at 16?)._Heat 3/10
• t-3min, Still heating. Will just bring to mash-out now.
• First runnings - Not cool runnings (thanks Wes!) 4qt (7:48)
• Adjust bittering hop: Note that the recipe in the book calls for Horizon. We used Magnum. Anyway: 0.15oz*15%AA (recipe)/14.6 %AA(actual)==0.154oz (so keep at 0.15oz)
• 4 qts second running_plus_ 1.5 cups left. Total of 8 qts (non-temp adjusted) in boil kettle
• SG 1.051 @80F (cooled with mini-ice bath) == 1.053.
• Brewer's Friend says 87% pre-kettle efficiency (but that does not temp-adjust the volume)
• Other hop adjustments (both 10 and 0 min require the same). Cascade: 0.13oz6%AA(recipe)/7.3%AA(actual) ==> 0.106 oz. Centennial: 0.13oz 10%AA(recipe)/8.7 %AA(actual) ==> 0.149oz ~=0.15 oz
• Realized we used distilled water by accident for sparge. Oops!
• (~8:18 or so, boil started. Didn't note it but I noted when it went to the ice)
• Missed 10 min addition. Added at 7min. We'll add 1min 30 seconds to boil. Shouldn't matter too much
• (9:15) yeast in boiled H20 cooled to 100°F
• (9:19) BK into ice
• Time/Temps: 9:30/98F (no more steam - lid on). 9:38/76F. Pull it
• 9:34 Stirred yeast
• OG: 1.071@~72 == 1.072
• 9:47 pitched.
• The yeast didn not really foam up like I would have expected and it has in the past. It should be fine, but I will check it tomorrow to see for activity. I can always run out and buy another pack to pict tomorrow
• 14.6cm -->1.37 gal = 5.49 qts.
• Brewer's Friend says 81% Brew House Efficiency
• Short brew day. Cool!
• Just to note, we bottled the Old Warmer (beer 5) while this was happening
• Also note, the yeast was half a packet, stored in the fridge, from brew 006 (Sour Scotch). That may have had an affect.

2013-10-23 morning update:

• Still no yeast activity. Will chicken the afternoon and possible have to re-pitch.

2013-10-23 Afternoon update:

• very, very little activity. SeeVIDEO. I think I am going to repitch
• ...
• Bought new yeast packet. Opened fermenter. There was a slight krausen but not much. It may have been fine but I decided to give it a shot. I opened the new packet (spilled a little all over the place too), added it, put the lid on, and gave it a slight shake to agitate it and get it down
• For all I know, it will now ferment but it will be oxidized. I guess only time will tell[

](/media/2013/10/IMG_7954.mov)

2013-11-20 Bottling:

I placed the bucket into the fridge on 2013-11-17 after I bottled the Sour Scotch Ale (#6). So it had about 3 days of cold crashing. Below are my notes

• I'm curious about the volumes before racking: (1.43 gal), Trub: 3.4 cm (0.20 gal)
• Racked
• FG 1.020 @ about 40-45 ( Later decided it was 43 from the strip on the bottling bucket)
• 12.3cm --> 1.12 gal (11.9 bottles so use 11 and be be sure)
• Calibrated, that is FG: 1.019 with an ABV of 6.96% and an attenuation of 73.6%
• Aiming for 2.4 vol (using 70F as the temp) which comes to 0.95 oz corn sugar
• Still used 1/2 cup water. Used tap water since it will be boiled anyway and isn't much

I bottled it which went well. I had almost another full beer which I just drank. I do recognize that it has extra sugar from the priming sugar but it was way too sweet. Probably from overshooting the efficiency by such large numbers making it too sweet. Had I known the OG was so high before racking it, I would have considered adding some sugar to try to bring it down. I really need to start updating my recipes for the higher efficiency. Or, go full BIAB and let the lack of sparge be the reason for the lower efficiency.

2013-12-07 Note: 3 weeks will be 2012-12-11 but may need more because of temp and cold-crash leaving less yeast

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6803, 2013-10-22_111815

Brew 08: Dirty Brown Ale -- back to top

Homebrew 008

Recipe:

(PDF) (TXT) (HTML) (xml local)

Dirty Brown (From Jamil)

By Brewing Classic Styles

Method:

All Grain

Style:

American Brown Ale

Boil Time:

60 min

Batch Size:

1.25 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

1.7 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.043 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.059

Final Gravity:

1.015

ABV (standard):

5.77%

IBU (tinseth):

41.2

SRM (morey):

23.02

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

2.5 lb

American - Pale 2-Row

37

1.8

87%

2 oz

American - Caramel / Crystal 40L

34

40

4.3%

2 oz

American - Dark Chocolate

29

420

4.3%

1 oz

American - Caramel / Crystal 60L

34

60

2.2%

1 oz

American - Victory

34

28

2.2%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

Use

Type

IBU

0.11 oz

Horizon

Pellet

13

Boil

60 min

23.14

0.25 oz

Amarillo

Pellet

9

Boil

15 min

18.06

0.44 oz

Amarillo

Pellet

9

Boil

0 min

---

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

3.7 qt

Heat to 165

Infusion

152 F

60 min

--

Mash Out

Temperature

168 F

10 min

4.4 qt

Dunk into 175

Sparge

168 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.3 qt/lb

Yeast

Wyeast - American Ale 1056

Attenuation (avg):

75%

Flocculation:

Med-Low

Optimum Temp:

60 - 72 F

Starter:

No

2013-11-17 Brew Day:

These are my notes. I was also bottling Brew 006 at the same time

• (3:16) Start heating 3.7qt=14.8 cups. Just did 14.75
• Heat to 165 for 152 mash
• 4 cups of room temp water ready to lower temp
• overshot temp to 174. Wait to cool. Pulled a few cups and replaced with room temp
• (3:38) Mashed in. Too thick in my opinion. Thinner next time!
• Hit 152 exactly. Hold 15
• T-45. Temp=149 but not consistent. Heat on 3/10 while stirring. Took a while to 150 then jumped to 156. Hold 20 or so (finally at T-40 min)
• I'm going to mix this up. I'll boil separately 1.6 qt to infuse to 168 (a according to Brewers Friend). Then sparge with 4.4-1.6=3.8qt.
• 1.6 qt=6.4 qt=1514ml
• T-18, Temp=152°F. Hold 10 or so
• T-9. Temp=148 then dropped as I stirred..Need to investigate why this is so inconsistent even with the heat.
• Infused the water. Still had to add some heat.Why didn't the formula work? My two guesses are that some of the water had steamed away when I was trying to boil it. And that it may not have been boiling when I added
• Used a newish technique to squeeze the bag. I used the silicon pot holders to push really hard against the screen. It seemed to work well as I got a lot more water out. I may need to retune my absorption.
• 4.4375 qt from first running (plus mashout infusion)
• Heat on first run (5:00)
• Hop Adjust: Horizon 0.11oz13% (recipe)/10.1%=14.1 oz. Amarillo: 0.25 oz9/10.1=0.22, 0.44==>0.39
• 3.75qt from second running
• Preboil OG 1/049@55 and 7.8125 qt ==> 91% pre-boil efficiency
• (5:23) boil!
• Missed the 15 by 45 seconds.Also added Irish Moss and Yeast Nutrient
• (6:24) Into Ice
• 6:37/95F. Lid on. Added more ice
• Going to pitch the whole packet despite knowing 1/2 or so will die. I have more than enough still and I don't want to save it
• 6:44 75F. Pull it
• 1.061 @75 --> 1.062
• Aerated. Sprinkled yeast. Stirred gently
• 15.6cm --1.48 gal
• __6:54. Put away. Most cleanup finished too
• BF says 88% efficiency
• I wonder if I am risking other problems with such high efficiency. Also, what caused it?

2013-12-07 Bottle Log:

I had put the fermenter in the fridge on Thursday Night to cold crash (about 48 hours)

• 1.016 @ ~43F --> 1.015 and 6.17% ABV
• 12.35 cm 00> 1.12 gal or 4.49 qt
• 11.9 12 oz bottles so aim for 11 with large safety margin
• Actually, with 4 oz H2O for priming could get 12ish. Plan for 12 in case
• Carb to 2.4 vol but still not sure on temp.
• If T=43F, 0.66oz dextrose, if T=68F, 0.93 oz dextrose
• Plan for 0.75 oz which is 2.55 vol at 43 and 2.1 vol at 68
• Filled 11 cleanly and just drank the last one.
• 3 weeks will be 2013-12-28

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6907, 2013-11-17_210518

Brew 09: Milk Stout -- back to top

Brew 2013:09 - Milk Stout (2013-12-07)

I brewed a milk/sweet/cream stout using the recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. The only thing I really tweaked was that it called for Black Patent 525L and my shop's Black Patent was 625. However, I read that Carafa III (525L) is also the same as black patent. So I used that.

The recipe and notes are below:

Recipe:

(PDF) (HTML) (TXT) (XML -- Stored Locally)

Milk Stout

By BCS with small changes

Method:

All Grain

Style:

Sweet Stout

Boil Time:

60 min

Batch Size:

1.5 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

2.1 gallons

Efficiency:

77% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.042 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.065

Final Gravity:

1.024

ABV (standard):

5.34%

IBU (tinseth):

28.02

SRM (morey):

39.98

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

2.5 lb

United Kingdom - Pale 2-Row

38

2.5

75.5%

4 oz

German - Carafa III

32

535

7.5%

4 oz

Lactose (Milk Sugar) - (late addition)

41

1

7.5%

3 oz

American - Caramel / Crystal 80L

33

80

5.7%

2 oz

United Kingdom - Pale Chocolate

33

207

3.8%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

Use

Type

Boil

0.41 oz

Kent Goldings

Pellet

5

Boil

60 min

28.02

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

4.4 qt

Heat to 162-163

Infusion

151 F

60 min

1.9 qt

Mash Out with boiling H20

Temperature

165 F

10 min

3.1 qt

Dunk / Batch Sparge

Sparge

168 F

10 min

Starting Mash Thickness: 1.45 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

12 min

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

12 min

Yeast

Wyeast - White bread Ale 1099

Attenuation (avg):

70%

Flocculation:

High

Optimum Temp:

64 - 75 F

Starter:

No

Priming

CO2 Level: 2 Volumes

Notes

Based on Brewing Classic Styles' Sweet Stout (Triple-X)

2013-12-07 Brew Log

Below are my notes. Note that I was also bottling the Brown Ale at the same time. Note that I did NOT have the grains double milled!

• 2:01 Start
• 4.4 qt to 162-163 for 151 mash
• 2 cups of water ready for cooling
• (2:22) @162.5. Dough in. Settled to 151.1F
• Note, new thermometer. Needs to be calibrated. It seems to be up about 1 degree (tolerance is +/- 0.9 so not too bad but could be brought in line). For today, I did the adjustment manually
• t-40min: T ~148-149. Stir with 3/10 to 151-152.
• Note: Temp jumped a lot. This thermometer is quicker. I wonder how not-mixed the temp was
• Also note, I had wrapped the pot in a towel in addition to the normal towels for better insulation
• t-18 min: Temp 149. Heat to 152. Hold
• Heat 1.9 qt to boil for mash out
• T-0; Temp ~149. Infused boiling water. Came to 162. Heat 4/10 to 165. Hold 10
• 3.1 qt sparge to 168
• 5.38qt first runnings+mashout.
• Hops AdjL 0.41 oz * 5 %AA(recipe)/5.8%AA(actual)=0.35oz
• 3.125 qt second running. Total 8.805 qt
• Pre kettle SG: 10.045@80--> 1.047 ==> 91% Efficiency
• 4:14 Boil
• Added the "Late addition" lactose at 10 along with the Irish Moss and Yeast Nutrient. (Actually did at 9)
• 5:13 Into Ice
• 5:26 @ 88.5F (lid on). 5:36 @68.5F (Pull it)
• 1.070 --> 1.071
• 17.5 cm (WTF! Way too much) for 1.7 gal
• Brewers Friend says 97% efficiency (now counting lactose)
• Shook for a minute or so. Pitched yeast. Stirred.
• Finished around 5:45

I need to figure out what is going on with my efficiency numbers. They really do not make sense. I checked the hydrometer and it reads correctly in water. I checked the volume and it is pretty darn close. Also, my boil-off was too low. I need to adjust these different things for next time.

Also, I am worried about the fermenter being so full but I couldn't get my tubing to work as a blow off so it'll have to do. Hopefully it won't make too much of a mess

2014-01-06 Bottling

It didn't seem to need the blow-off. When I went to bottle it, there was krausen on the lid but only in a few spots. I got really lucky! Anyway, below is my bottling notes

• Did not cold crash since it is such a dark beer and no real need
• FG 1.025 (hard to really see with the foam so I guessed high)
• Brewers Friend says 6.04%=6% ABV
• 14cm --> 1.30gal or 167 oz
• That is 13.9 12 oz bottles. Plan for 11x12 oz and 1x22 oz
• Aim for 2.5 vol with 60F as temp
• Calculator says 1.07oz corn sugar (and I used 1/2 cup tap water)

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6986, 2013-12-07_191047

Brew C2: Cider again -- back to top

I brewed cider like last time using the following:

• White House Apple Cider (From Walmart. No preservatives noted)
• Old Orchard 100% Apple Juice Frozen Concentrate
• Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast

My notes are below but I am filling in a lot of it (also note that the juice came in plastic so I was adding it to the glass)

• Defrosted juice concentrate. Poured 3/4 cup into glass jug (through funnel).
• Poured out 3/4 cup juice
• Added about 1/3 of the juice onto concentrate. Shook the whole thing
• Added another 1/3 and shook.
• Added the rest and shook.
• Took SG reading: 1.060
• added 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient
• added about 1/2 pack (actually, measured to 3.6 g so ~3/4 of the pack) yeast
• I again decided to add the yeast without rehydrating since I was over pitching by enough
• Shook the whole thing and put away

Took about 20-30 minutes. Would have been shorter had I not lost the yeast pack and had to find it

Out of curiosity, I took SG readings on the juice and the concentrate. The juice was 1.050 and the concentrate was off the reading by a huge margin.

2014-01-12 Bottling:

Note that this was also my first time using a refractometer so I used both that and the hydrometer. It has been 36 days since it was brewed.

• Hydrometer, 1.001 @ fridge temp so 1.000 by Brewers Friend
• Refractometer says 4.9 Brix
• OG was 1.060 which, according to this is 14.72 Brix
• When I plug into the Sean Terrill calculator, it says that it is 1.0048 but alsos ays that 14.72 is below 1.060. So, I played with Sean Terrill's calculator to set the OG Brix to 15.33==>1,060. Then, it says FG is 1.0042.
• Using 1.060-->1.000 I get 7.88% ABV. Using 1.060--->1.0042 in Brewers Friends gives 7.2% ABV. 15.33-->4.9 on Sean Terrill gives 7.35 % ABV
• 10.8cm so 0.95 gal. I'll do 8x12oz and 1x22 oz
• Carb to 2.75 vol with temp at 65
• 0.95oz dextrose and 0.86 oz sucrose. I used surcrose
• Had to stir more to get the sucrose to dissolve but not a big deal.
• Packaged all just fine. Ready on 2014-02-02

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6989, 2013-12-07_191646

HomeBrew 10: Irish Red Ale -- back to top

Batch 10: Irish Red Ale

I made an irish red ale off the recipe below. It is almost entirely based on the Brewing Classic Styles recipe except I switch to Maris Otter, added sugar (to dry it out and boost ABV). Finally, the roasted barley sold by my shop is 415L so it came out a lot darker too.

Also, this is my first time I did closer to regular BIAB. I did mostly full volume (~75%) with just some for a mash out withheld.

The recipe is below:

Jamil's Red

(PDF) (TXT) (HTML) (XML -- Stored Locally)

Jamil's Red

Date: 2014-01-26 20:41 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2014-01-26 20:41 UTC

2014-01-26 Brew Day Notes:

Here are my notes and again, my comments in italics if I remember

• (3:18) Popped the yeast
• water heating and 1 cup ready for dough in
• (3:27) Mash in in at 161°F. Settled on 154.9 but when I went to add some water (less than 1/4 cup), I checked again and it was 152.8F. Hold
• t-44 min. Temp is 148.5. Heat 3/10 for ~4 min to 153.5 (why such a drop?). Hold 15 minutes or so
• I have UK East Kent Goldings @ 7.2% AA. And older UK Kent Goldings at 5.8% AA. Used up the older stuff first. Need 0.31 oz x 5 AA%=1.55AAU. Used 0.235 of the older stuff for 1.363 AAU. Need 0.187 AAU/7.2%=0.0259~=0.03 oz
• t-24. T=150°F. Heat to 154
• 1.7 qt boiling and ready to go. total volume will be 8+1/16 qt ~= 8 qts.
• I'm just going to use the refractometer instead of the hydrometer
• t-0. T-150°F. Add boiling but only came to 159. Added heat to 163 or so and held a few minutes (but not 10)
• (4:42) Heat on. Measured 7qts.
• 11.1 on the refractometer
• Brewers Friend uses a "wort correction" of 1.000 which gives an SG 1.045. However Sean Terrill uses 1.040. I found online that it is usually 1.020-1.060 so I'll used 1.040 for an SG of 1.043
• That is 73% Pre-Kettle efficiency.
• That is much lower than the past. The sparge does usually really help. But this isn't too bad for BIAB
• (4:58) Boil
• t-20 Added Sugar
• t-13 added irish moss and yeast nutrient (normal amounts)
• (5:58) into the ice. (6:05) T=107°F. lid on. (6:10) 81F, (6:14) 69. Pull it
• 15.3 on the refractometer. Again with 1.040 correction. That is OG 1.060
• Playing with the new fridge. It keeps going a lot lower. So I set it to 18.9C=66.02F so that it will go low and stay around 65F where it is supposed ot be
• I taped the sensor to the side of the tub with a towel to insulate
• 15cm -->1.42 gal=5.67 qt
• Brewer's Friend says 76% efficiency
• This is below what I used to get but that is a fine number and I am happy with it. Hopefully it won't go too much lower with higher gravity

We'll see how the fridge works out. I'll probably add some notes later on it.

2014-02-23 Bottling

Note that this is been cold-crashing for the past 10 days!

• Refractometer says 7.2. With OG = 1.060 (and using 1.040 correction as discussed above), Brewers Friend says that is 1.013 with 6.38~=6.4% ABV (or 6.2 on the regular. This number is from the "alternative" calculator). 77% Attenuation
• 12.3 cm --> 1.12 gal. 11.9 12 oz bottles so plan out 12 but only expect 11. I'll drink the rest
• Aim for 2.8 volumes. Use 65F as temp ==> 1.04 oz sucrose (1.14 oz corn). I'll use sucrose in 1/2 cup water
• Only got 11 bottles.
• The color was more of a dark ale and less red. I'll need to investigate...

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7187, 2014-01-26_180910

Homebrew 11: Golden Strong Wheat -- back to top

The recipe for this beer is below. It is inspired by Uniboue Don De Dieu (oops, see note 1). I found some what of a clone HERE which I used as a base with a few changes. Most notably, I changed the yeast and I used cane sugar. The yeast I went to is the one from Duvel Brewery which is a classic golden strong.

My plan is to brew it and let it sit in primary for 6-8 weeks (at least 2-3 if not more in the chamber). I will then bottle and condition for another 6-8 weeks. I plan to ferment around 68.

Note 1: I_wanted_to do a Don De Dieu clone but I this recipe clones La Fin Du Monde. Oh well, it shouldn't matter. That is also a good beer.

Recipe

Golden Strong Wheat

Method:

BIAB

Style:

Belgian Golden Strong Ale

Boil Time:

90 min

Batch Size:

1.25 gallons (fermentor volume)

Boil Size:

2.1 gallons

Efficiency:

70% (brew house)

Boil Gravity:

1.039 (recipe based estimate)

Original Gravity:

1.083

Final Gravity:

1.020

ABV (standard):

8.31%

IBU (tinseth):

23.12

SRM (morey):

5.05

Fermentables

Amount

Fermentable

PPG

L

Bill %

2.5 lb

Belgian - Pilsner

37

1.6

69%

8 oz

American - Wheat

38

1.8

13.8%

2 oz

American - Aromatic Malt

35

20

3.4%

8 oz

Cane Sugar - (late addition)

46

0

13.8%

Hops

Amount

Variety

Time

AA

Use

Type

IBU

0.19 oz

Tettnanger

Pellet

4.5

Boil

60 min

14.4

0.19 oz

Tettnanger

Pellet

4.5

Boil

20 min

8.72

Mash Guidelines

Amount

Description

Type

Temp

Time

9.1 qt

Heat all volume to ~155 for 149 mash

Infusion

149 F

90 min

--

Mash out

Temperature

165 F

10 min

Other Ingredients

Amount

Name

Type

Use

Time

0.5 tsp

Coriander

Spice

Boil

5 min

1 tsp

Orange Zest

Spice

Boil

5 min

0.25 tsp

Irish Moss

Fining

Boil

13 min

0.13 tsp

Yeast Nutrient

Other

Boil

13 min

Yeast

Wyeast - Belgian Strong Ale 1388

Attenuation (avg):

76%

Flocculation:

Low

Optimum Temp:

64 - 80 F

Starter:

No

Fermentation Temp:

68 F

Pitch Rate:

-

Notes

Roughly based on: http://justbrewit.net/~dennis/LaDebutDuMonde/

Generated by Brewer's Friend - <http://www.brewersfriend.com/>

Date: 2014-03-03 23:33 UTC

Recipe Last Updated: 2014-03-03 23:32 UTC

2014-03-03Brew Day Notes:

I actually took these on the computer while I was going.

• 4:30 9 quarts on 10/10 aiming for 155
• 04:39: popped yeast
• The pot is pretty full. I am nervous about it all fitting. I guess we'll see. If it does seem like it will all fit. The plan is to pull out some water and I'll do a sparge.
• 5:11 Doughed in. It all fit. I was a bit too high temp wise at about 156.5. It settled around 151.4 but I do think that my thermometer is off by about 0.5 degree IIRC. I'll just hold there. Start 90 minutes. Check in 20-30
• t-1:02 T=146 and change. Added heat on 5/10 (lots more water than usual) while stirring to about 151. Hold for 20-30
• t-37. 149.2. Hold for 10
• t-27 147.7. Heat 5/10 to 151
• I am wondering if I should go a bit longer than 90 min. Jamil always seems to say 90 min when using 149 but many BIAB things say to go for 90 min always. Should I add more?
• I gave it a bit more time. Maybe 5-10 minutes.
• Heated to 165 and held for 5-10.
• Pulled bag and cooling rack. I started the heat while I squeezed the bag into a different pot to then be added to.
• Note, this is the first time that I used a freezer bag to insulate the pot. I think it worked very well. Much better than towels even when they were wrapped right around. I'll do it from now on!
• Just a thought, I hope I didn't overshoot on the volume. I seem to recall using 2.1 gal for 90 minutes before but I didn't look back. We'll see.
• The pot, when roughly measured from the outside is 83.2 cm or 32.76''. There is probably a bit of error there but I'll keep it. Therefore the diameter is 10.43 in. When I measure roughly from the top, it looks like 10.25''. I'll use 10.25 because my guess is that it is standard. Anyway, it was at the 15.6 cm line which means it is 30.6-15.6=15 cm or 5.91". V=pir^2h = pi/4d^2h = pi/4*(10.25"^2)(5.91") = 487.7 cubic inches. WA says that is 8.45 quarts.
• Pulled a tiny sample just as it was going to boil. It separated as it cooled but I stirred before I took the refractometer reading (note, need to look up if that is the way to do it!). Anyway, it was 11.1 Brix WRI which Brewers Friend, with the 1.040 correction (still not sure!?) says is 1.043 and 78% pre-kettle efficiency
• 7:22 Boil
• Both hop calls are for 0.19 oz at 4.5%AA or 0.855AAU . Mine German Tetttnang (which they said was the same as tettnanger) is 3.9. Therefore, I need 0.22
• I need to figure out the temperature control. My goal is 68F == 20C. I'll use a 0.5C =~= 1F. I'll also set a 7 minute compressor delay
• When I added the orange, I noticed about a minute later that it stayed in a clump. I used my hands to break it up. Hopefully I didn't loose too much...
• `8:53 Into the ice. Measured 20cm on ruler so 30.6-20=10.6cm = 4.17". V=pi/4d^2h = pi/4*(10.25"^2)(4.17") = 344.09 cubic inches == 5.96 qt (at boiling. Brewers friend converts that to 5.7 qt
• Measured 20 Brix WRI which BF (with 1.040) says is 1.080 for a 79% Ending kettle
• Time/temps: 9:04/92.1 (lid on). Pull at 9:15
• 18.2 Brix WRI (why did it drop?)
• 9:20. Pitched after using electric whisk to aerate
• 15.5 cm --> 5.89 qt. (This is higher than before. The temperature/volume conversion must be off). This is 1.072. Why so low? Anyway Brewers Friend gives 72%. I am not totally trusting all of these numbers. Especially the volume. And I need to use lower volumes pre-boil.

Photos:

Fermented at 68F until March 7th (I think). Then cold crashed at 1*C until2014-04-24

2014-04-24 Bottling:

• Cleaned and racked to bucket. Messed up and picked up some sediment in the process and probably a bit more aerated while trying to fix it (the sediment attached to the thing and I had to break the siphon and take it out to get it off). Oops. Hopefully it won't be too bad
• Measured 7.75 in the refractometer which (w/ 1.040 correction) gives 1.0040 and 94% attenuation!!!! I do not really trust those numbers but I have no other choice. 8.93% ABV
• 12.7 cm --> 1.16 gal or a clean 12 x 12 oz bottles. Actually, I'll do 10 12 oz and 1 22 to give enough clearance
• 1.16 gal at 68F aiming for 2.8 vols --> 1.10 oz sucrose (and 1.21 oz corn)
• Used a bit under 1/2 cup water
• I spilled a bit so the very final bottle was a tiny bit light. But it also picked up a ton of sediment. I noted this bottle

The final beer tasted rather awe-full. I do not know if it is doomed or if it just need more time given the high alcohol. The taste wasn't of the harsh alcohols but rather maybe a bit cidery (could be from the sugar). I guess we'll wait and see but I do not have high hopes

Original Wordpress ID and Date: 7541, 2014-03-03_213319