#110: ESB/Amber Ale

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted to this.  Maybe someday I'll fill the gaps.  And holy crap, I'm brewing!  That's somewhat infrequent these days. Super smooth, though adjusting process for 5 gal (from 3gal in the past) causes a bit of improvisation...  using Anova and turkey frier in conjunction to get to temp blows a fuse...  so 100yd extension to outside outlet and back in business!  Also decided as a last min audible to cut the 2 row bill in half and use extra light dme just to ease into bigger grain volumes in the fryer.

Based on ingredients on hand, putting an esb-ish, amber-ish on tap first to test out the setup.  Intended to go full ESB, but realized I only had US-05 on hand.

#110: ESB/Amber Ale

5 lb 2 row
1 lb Munich
1 lb crystal 60l
.33lb flaked corn

60 min mash, 154

Late additions
3 lb extra light dme
11oz Lyle's golden syrup
1 Whirlfloc

1oz Magnum 60 min
1oz Williamette 5 min
1 oz Williamette 1 min

US-05

Est OG:  1.056
Est FG:  1.014
Est ABV:  5.4%
IBU: 53
Color:  12


EDIT:
Actual OG: 1.068
New est FG:  1.017
New est ABV: 6.6%

EDIT: Nailed the above estimate for FG.  No problems kegging.  Taste was ESBish, which was the intent.  So, pretty happy with that.  Sitting in the keg on 12.  Pulled a sample tonight, and it's right on target.

#103 - White IPA

Wow, it's been a while. Six months since the last brew day. Ugh. Maybe I'll go back and fill the 2015-6 gap on this page at some point...

Time to burn some leftover ingredients (DME, older hops) by doing a partial mash with new grains and some new hops. Working with a cut of Conan yeast that I've been reharvesting/reusing since 2013, so I was fearing I might have to buy some new yeast, but after a good starter it is kicking butt on the ferment. Lowered the AA for the older hops (just an estimate based on online research), so who knows what I'll get from them. I used them primarily for bitter, and pushed the fresh citra up front. They smelled fine... what can possibly go wrong? Fun to be brewing again...

#103 White IPA
Method: Partial Mash 
Style: Specialty IPA: White IPA
Boil Time: 30 min 
Batch Size: 3 gallons 

Original Gravity: 1.073 
Final Gravity (est): 1.014 
ABV (standard): 7.7% 
Measured FG:  1.002
Measured ABV:  9.3%
IBU (tinseth): 71.3 
SRM (morey): 4.45

Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
3 lb American - Pale 2-Row 37 1.8 44.4%
3 lb Dry Malt Extract - Wheat 42 3 44.4%
0.75 lb Flaked Corn 40 0.5 11.1%
6.75 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
0.7 oz Simcoe Pellet 6 Boil 60 min 21.73
0.6 oz Warrior Pellet 8 Boil 60 min 24.83
0.7 oz Ahtanum Pellet 3 Boil 20 min 6.58
1 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 7 min 15.28
0.8 oz Saaz Pellet 3.5 Boil 5 min 2.89

Mash Guidelines
Amount Description Type Temp Time
3.5 gal Infusion 148 F 75 min

Yeast
Conan (harvested from Cool Springs Brewery in '13)
Attenuation (avg): 78.5%
Flocculation: Med/Low
Optimum Temp: 64 - 72 °F
Starter: Yes
Fermentation Temp: 65°F

#99: Quick Berliner Weiss

Easy Berliner Weiss

Berliner Weiss

 

Type: Extract	Date: 2/7/2016
Batch Size: 2.40 gal
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 1 lbs Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 60.61 % 10.4 oz Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 39.39 % 0.25 oz Ahtanum [6.00 %] (15 min) Hops 6.6 IBU
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.030 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.030 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.008 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 2.87 %
Bitterness: 6.6 IBU	Calories: 128 cal/pint
Est Color: 4.8 SRM

#88: Nashville Pre-Prohibition Ale

Way back when Gerst first came out, Linus posted the recipe breakdown as follows:

Yazoo Gerst Amber

50% Pale malt
31% Vienna malt
12% Cara 20 malt
7% Flaked maize

Bittered with Perle, flavor and aroma with Tettnanger 

OG: 11 Plato
FG: 2.5 Plato
IBUs: 11
SRM: 5.0


Fermented on the cool side with our house ale yeast, around 62 F for primary fermentation. 

From that post I went with the following recipe for a 3 gallon batch:

Nashville Pre-Prohibition Amber Ale

American Amber Ale

 

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 3.00 gal
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 3.00 lb 2-Row (2.0 SRM) Grain 49.05 % 2.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 32.70 % 0.70 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 11.50 % 0.41 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 6.75 % 0.17 oz Pearle [7.50 %] (55 min) Hops 6.7 IBU 0.16 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (20 min) Hops 2.3 IBU 0.16 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (7 min) Hops 1.0 IBU 1 Pkgs London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est OG: 1.047 SG	Measured OG: 1.065 SG
Est FG: 1.014 SG
Estimated AbV: 4.32 %	Est AbV: 6.40 %
Bitterness: 11.5 IBU	Calories: 294 cal/pint
Est Color: 6.8 SRM

#85: Smoked Maple Rye

#85: Smoked Maple Rye 
American Wheat or Rye Beer 


Type: Extract with grain steep
Date: 9/14/2014 
Batch Size: 2.40 gal

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU 
1.87 lb American Ale (3.4 SRM) Extract 37.55 % 
1.21 lb Kvass Concentrate (9.0 SRM) Extract 24.30 % 
0.75 lb Oats, Organic (Maple) (1.0 SRM) Grain 15.06 % 
0.50 lb Smoked Malt, Cherrywood (5.0 SRM) Grain 10.04 % 
0.40 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 8.03 % 
0.25 lb Dandelion Syrup (2.0 SRM) Sugar 5.02 % 
0.40 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (40 min) Hops 10.2 IBU 
0.40 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (40 min) Hops 14.0 IBU 
0.30 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (15 min) Hops 4.3 IBU 
0.30 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 5.9 IBU 
0.30 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (1 min) Hops 0.4 IBU 
0.30 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (1 min) Hops 0.5 IBU 
0.36 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc 
2 Pkgs Cooper Ale (Coopers #-) Yeast-Ale 



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.060 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.058 SG 
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG 
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.94 % 
Bitterness: 61.5 IBU 
Calories: 260 cal/pint 
Est Color: 6.9 SRM

#83: Oktoberfest

Started the 1 gallon recipe testing for Emma's recipe book today. Very smooth process, though not my normal process. New to me processes included using the oven for mashing, 2-step infusion mashing, and a different sparge technique (which worked great for this amount of grain, but wouldn't really work for me in a larger scale... basically using a metal strainer to suspend the grains, passing the wort through it multiple times between two vessels). I had a bit of a problem holding temps in the oven consistently, but it never really got far out of range. I did, however, have to pull the pot three times during the 90 minute mash to put it on the stovetop to bump the temps. Followed her processes, even when tempted to throw back to normal processes. 

Things learned:
- I was quickly reminded why I moved outside to the turkey fryer now. Slow to reach boils, testy wife due to aromas, etc.
- I really value my grain bags and/or wish I had a finer mesh strainer. Had to fish some grain out after the sparge. Also, I have an eight inch strainer, but would need to use a 12 inch strainer to do a larger batch.
- It was a really, really long brew day for only 1 gallon of wort

I had a fun time doing this little project, and I think it will be a fine brew. It was estimated 1.056 SG, and even though I overestimated the volumes (was maybe at 1.2 gallons or a bit less at the end), I hit 1.053, so I had good efficiency. I won't post the recipe here (as it doesn't belong to me... buy the book!), but it was a good mix of munich, vienna, and german pils, along with traditional hop varieties. The yeasties were happily forming a krausen at 52 degrees within hours of pitching.

While the book I'm testing for isn't due out until 2015, here's her first book: Amazon link

#81/82: Old Ale (yeast variants)

Some of the homebrew club guys in the area had started a multi-club barrel project that I have been following. Basically the project consisted of an old ale recipe, fermented with a local wild yeast and aged in a Beans Creek Winery Cynthiana wine barrel.  Though I wasn't participating in the project, I was given the opportunity to purchase a vial of the yeast and was given access to the recipe, so I decided to give it a go for my own purposes. I may get some oak cubes soaked in the Beans Creek wine, or I may do something else...  not sure yet.


My original plan, which I should have followed through on, was to order the ingredients as they devised it, but to split the ingredients into two.  I originally intended to have a 3 gallon brew day with the purchased yeast, and then later do the other 2 gallons with some S-04 that I need to use. The plan was to either simply bottle this second batch and be able to compare the differences the yeast varieties imparted, or to blend them at bottling time. The main reason I intended to do this plan was my uncertainty about doing a hi-grav 5 gallon brew on my equipment.  My equipment works great for 3 gallon brews of all types.  I've done a few 5 gallon batches, but always of the lo grav variety.  

This morning, however, I decided to go ahead and do both brews in conjunction, doing a 5 gallon brewday, but splitting it into two fermenters.  In hindsight I should have stuck to the original plan.  I ran into some issues related to the sheer volume of grain and wort that I was able to overcome (though with a hit to the OG), but it really would have been easier to do the two smaller brews.  No matter...  it will still be a tasty brew.

One issue was that I overestimated the boil off, and thus ended up with 5.5 gallons of wort. I know the boil off rates for 3 gallon pretty well, but really don't have the 5 gallon dialed in well. I also found that thevolume of grains didn't work well with my grain bag and my eBIAB pot for the mash. I normally get 65-70% efficiency with my BIAB, but in this case I only got 57ish% after taking into account the variation of wort volume.  I would surmise that that was simply because I couldn't stir well with the grain being packed more tightly than normal which led to the subpar efficiency.  The original recipe was set at 75% efficiency, so I already knew I wouldn't hit their 9% abv estimate, but I ended up with an estimate of 6% instead of my estimate of 7.5%.  I'm really not terribly concerned about this, as I'm not contributing my wort to the barrel and thus have a lot less concern about hitting their numbers.  Still, I likely would have done better doing this as three gallons.  Ah well... lesson learned.

Side note: I tried out the cold steeping technique for dark grains detailed on the AHA website. This may well have caused a bit of my efficiency problems as well.


The yeast used in the three gallon was HS2 blended with brett L from Southyeast Labs.  The HS2 is a yeast harvested from honeysuckle at Blackberry Farms.  It is said to have "an excellent red wine quality and peppery finish."  The addition of the brett will provide some farmhouse notes as well.  So the two gallon batch with S-04 should be a totally different beer.  Should be fun to compare.

I figure I'll bottle the S-04 batch in a few weeks, but I will likely let the HS2 batch set in a secondary for several months, likely on oak cubes (possibly ones soaked in the wine to emulate the main project if I'm able to secure them).
Base recipe, adjusted to account for the crappy efficiency:

Cynthiana Old Ale

Old Ale

 

Type: All Grain	Date: 2/10/2014
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Time: 115 min	Brewhouse Efficiency: 57.00
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 11.50 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 70.77 % 1.00 lb Amber Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 6.15 % 1.00 lb Crystal Dark - 77L (Crisp) (75.0 SRM) Grain 6.15 % 1.00 lb Special B (Dingemans) (147.5 SRM) Grain 6.15 % 0.75 lb Extra Special (Briess) (130.0 SRM) Grain 4.62 % 0.56 lb Carapils (Hoepfner) (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.45 % 0.44 lb Barley, Flaked (Thomas Fawcett) (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.71 % 1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 14.2 IBU 2.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (20 min) Hops 17.1 IBU 1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.062 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.062 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.00 %
Bitterness: 31.3 IBU	Calories: 279 cal/pint
Est Color: 27.2 SRM