Ingredients:
- 114g corn sugar
- 1.5 c filtered water
Desired CO2: 2.4 vol (5.25 gal @ 60F)
FG: 1.014
Monday, March 30, 2015
Munchen Marzen by March [bottled]
Bottle date: March 20, 2015
Ingredients:
FG: 1.014
Ingredients:
FG: 1.014
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Is the Boy Blond? Belgian Blonde Ale [bottled]
Bottle date: Jan. 23, 2015
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
- 92 g corn sugar
- 1.75 c filtered water
Desired CO2: 2.5 vol (4 gal @ 60F)
FG: 1.008
Belgian Ardennes Blonde
Ingredients:
- 34 g corn sugar
- 0.66 c filtered water
Desired CO2: 2.5 vol (1.5 gal @ 60F)
FG: 1.010
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Water Chemistry
In preparation for my imperial stout, I spent substantial time researching water chemistry. It's been on my homebrewing to-do list for quite some time, and if I was going to spend several hours outside in the dead of winter working on a big beer, I wanted it to knock my socks off -- no astringency, not too bitter, etc.
In the end, I decided to use the Brewer's Friend - Brewing Water Chemistry Calculator. It allows you to save your results via a link. Here's what I ultimately used for the stout: http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/?id=9MX44WZ. I input my water profile from the City of Madison's utility, then did a 50/50 split with filtered tap water and RO water from the store for both my mash and sparge.
Madison has very hard water, but I'm not exactly sure what my end profile is since I have an Aquasana filter that supposedly leaves in the important minerals, but strips out the chlorine and other harmful chemicals. The line also goes through my water softener. So, for now, it's all kind of an experiment.
In the end, I decided to use the Brewer's Friend - Brewing Water Chemistry Calculator. It allows you to save your results via a link. Here's what I ultimately used for the stout: http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/?id=9MX44WZ. I input my water profile from the City of Madison's utility, then did a 50/50 split with filtered tap water and RO water from the store for both my mash and sparge.
Madison has very hard water, but I'm not exactly sure what my end profile is since I have an Aquasana filter that supposedly leaves in the important minerals, but strips out the chlorine and other harmful chemicals. The line also goes through my water softener. So, for now, it's all kind of an experiment.
Although Beer Tools Pro does include the ability to adjust water chemistry, I opted not to use it because the program doesn't breakdown the necessary residual alkalinity range for beer styles or provide any information on the sulfate/chloride ratio -- which tells you if the beer is balanced, bitter, or malty.
I found dealing with pH the most confusing aspect. Mash pH and Residual Alkalinity.
Other Resources
Really handy, straight-forward information on the brewing salts, alkalinity range for beer styles, and how to emphasize certain characteristics, http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/03/14/all-grain-water-chemistry-brewing-information/.
Found Bobby from NJ's YouTube video to be helpful, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1n7-RjEJEM#t=323. He recommended downloading the water calculator from EZwatercalculator.com. However, the updated version 3.0 on the website doesn't seem to contain some of the handy options found in version 2.0.
Bru'n Water was recommended to me by my LHBS, https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/. It is extremely
Of course, there's information from John Palmer, http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-3.html.
And from the Beersmith Brewing Blog, http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/10/05/beer-ph-hard-water-treatment-for-brewing/.
Homebrewing.com also has some great info, http://www.homebrewing.com/articles/water-chemistry.php.
Brewing with Madison Water, https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0245/4467/files/BrewingWithMadisonWater.pdf.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
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:
#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:
#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
Monday, January 19, 2015
Two Pops Christmas Ale [bottled]
Bottle date: Dec. 9, 2014
FG: 1.006
Ingredients:
FG: 1.006
Ingredients:
- 98 g corn sugar
- 1.5 c filtered water
Desired CO2: 2.2 vol (5 gal @ 63F)
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Two Pops Christmas Ale
Brewing date: Nov. 8, 2014
#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.
 |
| Dad stirring in the mash |
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
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