Is the Boy Blond? Belgian Blonde Ale

Brew day: Jan. 2, 2015
#35 - 6 gal

Second batch of the day: A Belgian blonde ale. The recipe takes inspiration from this article in BYO.

Fermented 4.5 gal with the 1388 Belgian Strong yeast and 1.75 gal with the 3522 Belgian Ardennes yeast.

Ingredients:

• 11.25 lb Pale ale malt (German - Avangard)
• 0.5 lb Caramel 10L (Briess)
• 0.25 lb Flaked wheat (Briess)
• 0.5 lb Light Belgian candi rock sugar (10)
• 0.5 oz East Kent Goldings (7.2%, pellet) (60)
• 0.25 oz Liberty (4.5%, pellet) (60)
• 2 oz Saaz (3.6%, pellet) (15)
• 1 t Irish moss (10)
• Yeast nutrient
• 1 L Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong yeast starter
• Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes yeast, 2nd gen, Sept 2014
• 5 gal filtered water, 5 gal RO water

Target:

OG: 1.053

FG: 1.013

ABV: 5.26%

IBU: 24

Efficiency: 75%

Schedule:

• Mash in 6 gal @ 158F
• Sac rest @ 150 (60)
• Mash out (10)
• Batch sparge 3.75 gal
• Boil (60)

Observations:

1st runnings: 4 gal @ 1.057

2nd runnings: 3.5 gal @ 1.022

Pre-boil: 7.5 gal @ 1.040

OG: 1.055

Fermentation:

Chill to 68F and pitch

Ferment @ 63F room temp

Munchen Marzen by March

Brew day: Jan. 2, 2015
#34 - 6 gal

The plan: Ring in the New Year by brewing two batches of beer. What could be better?!

What actually happened: I spent all day quivering on my couch thanks to a wicked bout of food poisoning. (Pro tip: Check the expiration date on your olives before you make a martini. I had one to celebrate NYE. Instead, I got reacquainted with my bathroom floor.)

While illness ruined my initial plan, the wife gave me clearance to brew the following day. (No small feat since we were also dealing with a sick baby.)

Moderately cold, grey winter day. My dad and brother stopped by for a short time to hang out and watch the festivities.

First up: A marzen. One of the few good things about a Wisconsin winter is using the cold weather to lager. The floor in my laundry room is hovering around 53-55F, while my garage is around 35F. Perfect. The recipe takes inspiration from this BYO article, and two from the AHA website, Marzen and Oktoberfest.

Water chemistry: This beer also marks my first real foray into adjusting my water chemistry. Beer Tools Pro contains several listings, including one for Munich.

Best practice: Put five gallons of water in each of two coolers in the garage two days before brewing to super-cool the water for chilling. Add large bag of ice to chill for lagers.

Ingredients:

• 6 lb Pale ale malt (German - Avangard)
• 5 lb Munich malt (Dingemans)
• 1.5 lb Munich 10L (Briess)
• 1 lb Munich 20L (Briess)
• 2 oz Tettnanger (2.4%, pellet) (60)
• 1 oz Saaz (3.6%, pellet) (30)
• 0.75 oz Liberty (4.5%, pellet) (10)*
• 1 t Irish moss (10)
• 3.3 L Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager yeast starter

*Accidentally added 0.5 oz Liberty hops at 30 min. No Liberty aroma hop addition at 10 min to adjust for added bitterness.

Target:

OG: 1.056

FG: 1.014

ABV: 5.47%

IBU: 26.2

Efficiency: 75%

Water:

• 2.5 gal filtered water
• 7.5 gal RO water
• 7 g calcium chloride, 2 g baking soda, 1 g epsom salt

Schedule:

• Mash in 6 gal @ 128F
• Protein rest @ 122F (20)
• Sac rest @ 152F (60)
• Mash out
• Batch sparge 4 gal
• Boil 7.5 gal (60)

Observations:

1st runnings: 4 gal @ 1.066

2nd runnings: 3.5 gal @ 1.024

Pre-boil: 7.5 gal @ 1.046

OG: 5.75 gal @ 1.055

Fermentation:

Chill to 59F and pitch

Ferment at 57F for 24 hrs

Chill to 55/57F for two days

Hold at 54F for two weeks

Raise to 60F for three days before lagering in garage

Two Pops Christmas Ale [bottled]

Bottle date: Dec. 9, 2014

FG: 1.006

Ingredients:

• 98 g corn sugar
• 1.5 c filtered water

Desired CO2: 2.2 vol (5 gal @ 63F)

Two Pops Christmas Ale

Brewing date: Nov. 8, 2014

Dad stirring in the mash

#33 - 6 gal

Dad came over to brew, Mom to help the wife and see her grandson.

I had intended to brew a "winter ale." Something resembling Capital Brewing's Winter Skal (a lager) or Goose Island's Mild Winter or Sam Adam's Winter Warmer. And while the recipe draws inspiration from an article from BYO that mentions Capital Brewing's Winter Skal (one of my favorites) and Norther Brewer's winter warmer, that's not what this batch turned into.

If anything, this beer more closely resembles New Belgium's Abbey Belgian Double. Quite the departure, I know. But the character is so similar to that beer, and unlike the winter ale I was shooting for.

So what happened? In short: I succumbed to the temptation to add too many malts, my efficiency was much higher than expected, it fermented too warm, and is too sharply bitter. (Oh, is that all?!)

The ABV is way too high for a Winter Ale, closer to 8% (my efficiency was much better than anticipated) and the yeast fermented too warm (creating a beer with far more ester-characteristic and an alcoholic backbone). All in all, I'm calling this beer a Christmas Ale -- mostly because it's a somewhat more opaque descriptor.

For future reference, I would use a quarter of the honey malt that's in this recipe, or cut it out entirely. It's VERY pronounced in the final product. Probably reduce the victory malt too. I'll try to add some tasting notes soon. It's also too sharply bitter for this style for my taste.

I also think my strain of 1728 Scottish Ale yeast has seen it's last day. It's been washed and reused too many times  and has sufficiently mutated beyond it's original profile.

Ingredients:

• 13.25 lb Maris otter
• 1 lb Caramel 60L
• 10 oz Honey malt
• 10 oz Victory malt
• 6 oz Chocolate malt
• 6 oz Special B
• 2 oz Liberty (4.5%, pellet) (60 min)
• 0.25 oz Liberty (4.5%, pellet) (1 min)
• 2 t Irish moss (15 min)
• 1.2 L starter Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale

Target OG: 1.064

Target FG: 1.016

Target ABV: 6.3%

Target IBU: 26

Schedule:

• Mash in 6 gal @ 163F
• Rest @ 152F (60 min)
• Mash out @168F (10 min)
• Batch sparge 4 gal
• Boil (60 min)
• Chill to 66F and pitch

Observations:

• 1st running: 3.5 gal @ 1.079
• 2nd running: 3.5 gal
• Pre boil: 7 gal @ 1.059
• OG: 1.073
• Volume: 5.3 gal
• Efficiency: 73%

Fermentation:

• Pitch @ 66F
• Basement air temp 64F