Homegrown Hop Pale Ale

Brew date: Feb. 6, 2016
#48 - 6.25 gal

A mid-winter pale ale made with all homegrown hops -- cascade and chinook. Woo! Been waiting to take my hops for a real test drive since planting the rhizomes two summers ago. I was also able to pick up a pack of Wyeast 1217 West Coast IPA to ferment this batch out. Really excited to taste the results. The wort had a nice even bitterness by the end of the boil -- the dried hops, especially the chinook, smelled absolutely great.

At the last minute, I decided to switch from a flame out addition of cascade hops to a post-boil hop stand. In doing so, I'm hoping to preserve a slightly lower IBU while increasing the flavor and aroma of the finished beer.

At flame out, I continued whirlpooling using my pump, but allowed the wort to cool on its own to 180F, at which point I added the cascade leaf for the hop stand. I then let stand for 20 minutes, by which time the wort had cooled to approx. 160F. I then chilled as normal.

Thanks again to my friends the Foleys for the great housewarming gift! Hop rhizomes rock!

Ingredients:
8 lb 2-row (Briess)
5.75 lb Pale ale malt (Briess)
12 oz Light munich malt (Avangard)
4 oz Caramel 60L
3 oz Acidulated malt (Meussdoerffer)

1 oz Cascade (6% leaf) (FWH)
1 oz Chinook (13%, leaf) (FWH)
Fermcap-S (60)
1.5 t Irish moss (15)
2 oz Cascade (Hop stand - 180F-160F) (+20)
2 oz Cascade (Dry hop)
2 oz Chinook (Dry hop)
1.5 L Wyeast 1217 West Coast IPA (66F)

Water:
10 gal (50/50 filtered tap and RO)
8 g Gypsum
2 g Calcium chloride
1 g Epsom salt
Profile

Schedule:
Mash in 6 gal @ 162F
Sac rest @ 152F (60)
Mash out (10)
Batch sparge (15)
Boil (~75)
Hop stand (20)
Chill to 66F
Ferment 69F

Target:
OG 1.062
FG 1.016
SRM 9.21
ABV 6.15%
IBU 57
Efficiency 75%

Observations:
1st running 4 gal @ 1.072
2nd running 3.5 gal @ 1.023
Preboil 7.5 gal @ 1.053
OG 6.25 gal @ 1.068

Fermentation:
Chill to 66F and pitch
Continued cooling to ~62F
Warmed to 68F
Fermentation peaked to 73F within the first 48 hours
Chilled to 68F and maintain

Tripel split-batch

Brew date: Jan. 2, 2016
#46 & 47 - 6 gal

I wanted to brew a more monastic-style tripel. One that finishes dry and emphasizes the bready character of the malt, with only a subtle fruity yeastiness that often predominates this style. I'm not sure I succeeded here...

My first attempt working with acidulated malt in an attempt to lower my mash pH. I may have only succeeded in adding a light tang finish. Not unpleasant, but not what I was striving for. Will have to wait and see if this dissipates or recedes to the background when the bottles fully carbonate.

If I were to brew this again, I would also forgo the late hop additions entirely. Just let the yeast do it's thing and get out of the way.

As of today, this beer tastes more like a blonde or belgian golden strong, than a nuanced tripel. Using the Wyeast 3787 or White Labs 510 Bastogne Belgian ale would be a better choice.

The Gigayeast started very slow, but ultimately I think it hits closer to the mark of what a tripel should taste like. It also shows better flocculation than the Wyeast 1388, which is still cloudy to the point of being opaque.

I added gelatin in attempt to help clarify the finished batch of Wyeast 1388. But haven't seen much of an improvement. May just need more time in the bottle and chilling in the fridge.

Ingredients:
12 lb Pilsner malt (Dingemans)
2 lb 2-row malt (Briess)
0.5 lb Flaked wheat
0.5 lb Acidulated malt (Meussdoerffer)

0.5 oz Hallertau (2.7% pellet) (60)
0.5 oz Styrian goldings (3.7% pellet) (60)
2 oz Saaz (2.6% pellet) (60)
1.5 t Irish moss (15)
0.5 t Nutrient (10)
1.5 lb Candi sugar rocks, light (5)
0.5 oz East kent goldings (5.7% pellet) (5)
1 oz Hallertau (5)
1.5 L Wyeast 1388 Belgian strong (ferment 3.5 gal wort)
2 pk Gigayeast GY007 Belgian mix (ferment 2 gal wort)

Water:
9 gal (44/56 filtered tap and RO)
8 g Gypsum
4 g Calcium chloride

Schedule:
Mash in 6 gal @ 158F
Sac rest @148F (60)
Mash out (10)
Batch sparge 3 gal
Boil (60)
Chill to 60F

Target:
OG 1.079
FG 1.017
SRM 3.05
ABV 29.7
Efficiency 75%

Observations:
1st running: 4 gal @ 1.075
2nd running: 3 gal @ 1.035
Preboil: 7 gal @ 1.063
Pre-candi sugar: 6 gal @ 1.071
OG: 1.083 (added 0.5 gal filtered water)

Fermentation:
Chill to 60F
Air temp 64F

Russian Imperial Stout & Belgian-Brett version

Brew date: Dec. 21, 2015
#44 & 45 - 5.5 gal

Lord save me, I love this style.

Brewed over the Christmas holiday. Hoping for a richer, more velvety RIS than the one I brewed last April, also one that ups the roastiness of the finished product without becoming too bitter -- hence the kiln coffee malt. In a perfect world, it would taste like De Molen's Cease and Desist RIS, though I know it's the barrel aging that truly gives that beer it's amazing character.

Pitched the 1028 London ale into 4 gal wort.

Ingredients:
16.5 lb Maris Otter (Muntons)
18 oz Roasted barley (Briess)
18 oz Chocolate malt (Briess)
16 oz Caramel 120L
12 oz Caramel 40L
8 oz Special B (Dingemans)
8 oz Flaked oats
8 oz Kiln coffee malt (Franco-Belg)
5 oz Black malt (Briess)

1 oz Columbus (15.6% pellet) (60)
0.25 oz Cluster (6.8% pellet) (60)
1 oz Brambling cross (5.1% pellet) (15)
1 t Irish moss (15)
0.5 t Nutrient (10)
2L Wyeast 1028 London ale

Water:
10 gal (50/50 filtered tap and RO)
7 g Gypsum
7 g Calcium chloride
Profile

Schedule:
Mash in 6 gal @ 169F
Add 1 gal water to thin mash
Sac rest @ 154F (60)
Heat to 160F stirring continuously (10)
Batch sparge 3 gal (10)
Boil (60)
Chill to 64F

Target:
OG 1.101
FG 1.025
SRM 38
ABV 10%
IBU 67
Efficiency 72%

Observations:
1st running: 4 gal @ 1.100
2nd running: 3 gal @ 1.060
Preboil: 7 gal @ 1.086
OG: 6 gal @ 1.104

Fermentation:
Pitch @ 60F
Warm overnight to 66F
Begin chilling at 68/70F
Maintain at 66F

Belgian-Brett RIS

Pulled 1.5 gal wort for White Labs 645 Brettanomyces Claussenii slurry. Added 0.5 gal filtered water to reduce gravity to OG 1.080.

12/23/15:
Pitch 16 oz slurry of White Labs 500 Monastery ale and Wyeast 3787 Trappist high gravity.

Ferment at 64F.

Brewing Day Checklist

Set-by-step timeline for a typical brew day.

3-5 Days Before Brewing

• Yeast starter (pitch ratio of 1 g DME for every 10 ml water)
• Erlenmeyer flask
• DME
• Filtered water
• Fermcap-S (1-2 drops)
• Nutrient (1/8 t)
• Stir bar
• Funnel
• Sanitizer for spray bottle (1/4 t in 16 oz water)
• Check leftover hops
• Purchase malt, hops, yeast, etc
• Purchase RO water
• Purchase ice for chilling
• Set efficiency to 80% if ABV is <8%. Set to 70% if ABV is 8+%.
• Update recipe based on hops AA%
• Water chemistry adjustments, http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/?id=J5Y8FBP

Day Before Brewing

• Prep filtered water
• Water adjustments?
• Bring supplies upstairs
• Get scale, measuring spoons, plastic bowl (hops), small bowl (starch conversion test)
• Winter: Set out ~15 gal water in coolers in garage to super-cool overnight

Brewing Day

1. Set up stand, connect propane, and immediately begin heating strike water
2. Bring rest of supplies outside while water is heating up
3. Water adjustments?
4. Have breakfast
5. Mash in
6. At 35 min into mash, begin heating sparge water
7. At 60 min perform iodine conversion test
8. Mash out, stir continuously until 168F
9. Vorlauf 3-5 times
10. Lauter
11. First wort hop?
12. Begin heating first runnings in boil kettle
13. Batch sparge, stir, let sit for 10 min
14. Connect pump and lauter second runnings into boil kettle
15. Boil: Add bittering hops
16. Clean mash tun, tubing
17. 35 min: Prep chilling water
18. 45 min: Add Irish moss, hops?
19. 45 min: Connect pump and tubing
20. 50 min: Add immersion chiller, thermometer, mash paddle
21. 50 min: Whirlpool
22. 50 min: Add nutrient
23. 55-60 min: Add aroma hops
24. Cut heat, begin chilling
25. Runoff hot water to cleaning tub
26. Recirculate cool water
27. Get yeast starter
28. Add ice to chill
29. Cut pump, close valves, remove tubing
30. Use magnet on yeast starter stir bar
31. Pitch yeast
32. Runoff wort
33. Bring fermenter downstairs
34. General cleaning

SBW ESB

Brew date: Oct. 25, 2015
#43 - 7 gal

A full-flavored English style extra special bitters, brewed for a company charity raffle. Was hoping for something close to Bass or the delicious "Tower ESB" I had at the Bull & Bush brew pub in Denver earlier this summer.

Ingredients:
10 lb Maris otter (Muntons)
2 lb Munich malt (Dingemans)
1 lb Amber malt (Thomas Fawcett)
0.5 lb Caramel 60L (Briess)

1 oz Challenger (8.9% pellet) (60)
0.25 oz EKG (5.7% pellet) (60)
0.75 oz EKG (15)

Fermcap (60)
1 t Irish moss (15)
0.5 t Yeast nutrient (10)
1.5 L Wyeast 1968 London ESB yeast starter

Schedule:
Mash in 6 gal @ 164F
Sac rest @ 154F (60)
Mash out @ 168 (10)
Batch sparge 4 gal (10)
Boil (60)
Chill to 68F
Ferment 64-68F

Target:
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.014
IBU: 37
ABV: 5.56%
Efficiency: 75%

Water:
5 gal RO
5 gal Filtered
8 g Gypsum
5 g Calcium Chloride
Water profile

Observations:
1st run: 4 gal @ 1.073
2nd run: 4 gal @ 1.036
Preboil: 8 gal
OG: 6.25 gal @ 1.065
Add 0.75 gal
OG: 7 gal @ 1.056

Fermentation:
Chill to 68F
Place in laundry room. Approx. 64F air temp.
First 8 hrs - ~64F
Second 8 hrs - ~66F
24 hrs - ~68F

Hop Harvest 2015

Kraemer Brew experienced its first true hop harvest this fall. And what a harvest!

After losing two plants (R.I.P. willamette and magnum) and only reaping a few handfuls last year, I wasn't sure what to expect.

The cascade plant climbing up the western corner of the deck and the chinook plant along the western fence did spectacularly. Both were extremely prolific, especially the cascade.

Harvesting throughout early September -- and after drying the cones -- I pulled in nearly 2 lbs of cascade and just over 1 lb of chinook. Here are the exact weights:

• 1 lb 14 oz Cascade
• 1 lb 3 oz Chinook

I can't wait to use these in a mid-winter IPA or pale ale to really get a sense of their character!

Meanwhile, the centennial plant, climbing up the eastern corner of the deck, and the fuggle plant in the corner of the western fence, also did well. However, neither receive as much sunlight, so it's no surprise that they were not as bountiful.

The centennial cones were the first to be ready for picking. The fuggle were the last. Since both resulted in a limited supply of cones, I didn't bother weighing the finished product. Since then, I used both to dry-hop a cider in late November.

At that time -- after spending a few months in a freezer -- a had roughly 0.25 oz fuggle and 0.75 oz centennial.

Planting, Care, and Harvesting

Looking back through my notes, I see that I failed to blog about the initial planting and experience last year. Here's a quick summary to bring you up to speed.

I found this article by Brewing Techniques to be straightforward and helpful.

Planting. I located places along our fence line and deck to allow the hop shoots to climb and receive adequate sunlight. Since Madison's soil is largely thick clay, for each hop rhizome I dug out roughly a 2' x 1' hole and replaced it with a mix of compost and silt. This allows for proper drainage and space for the root to expand. After filling in the holes, I planted the rhizomes just below the top layer of soil, maybe an inch deep and gently patted the soil down, being careful not to compress.

I planted in late April and within 3 weeks had my first few shoots.

Care. Once the shoots were 6-12 inches in length, I assisted their climb by wrapping them around twine tied to the top of the fence or deck and staked near the plant. I then selected the 3 dominant shoots of each plant and prunes back the rest.

We had a warm summer last year, so I water every 2-3 days for the first month or so, until I felt that the plants were self sustaining. From there, I pinched off leaves near the ground to help prevent disease up the plant and continued to guide the vines by wrapping them up and along the fence and deck posts.

This past spring and summer, I did almost no watering. Aside from once again selecting 2-3 shoots, pruning back the rest, and assisting their climb up the twine, I did almost no work to care for the plants.

Harvesting. I waited until late August to begin regularly checking the cones to determine if they were ready for harvesting. The centennial hops began to feel dry and papery first, with a few turning a lighter shade of green to brown before I decided to pick.

Cascade and chinook came due in early September. Rather than cutting the bines, I methodically picked those cones that felt ready to harvest. I did this over the course of about a week. I then left the bines until later in the fall to cut them down to the ground.

The fuggle hops were the last to be ready to harvest.

Drying and Freezing. As I picked the hops, I moved them to our basement and spread them out over a few large window screens. I used a box fan to direct air across the hops to help them dry more quickly. After three or four days, the cones felt dry and papery enough to package.

I stuffed as many hops as possible into gallon sized ziplock freezer bags and then squeezed out the air by rolling the bags closed and using a straw. Not as effective for long term storage as a food saver vacuum sealer, but should keep the hops usable until I can make a hoppy beer this winter.

I packed the bags into our large chest freezer until then.

Final thoughts. Growing hops is easy. The plants require some loving care the first season as they establish themselves. But I did very little the second season to maintain them and still wound up with a nice harvest. Any homebrewer who has yard space should plant hops!

Belgian Quadruple | Meditation 32

Brew date: Sept. 18, 2015
#42 - 6 gal

I often find brewing to be a meditative experience. Spending the day outside, just enjoying the process and taking in the natural scene from my driveway. Apples quietly dropping from our tree. Birds chirping. The occasional passerby. Peaceful. A great way to kick off my birthday weekend and the perfect setting for this beer.

I've wanted to brew a Belgian quadruple ever since my first taste in 2007 at Brasserie V in Madison -- a great place for discovering Belgian and other European beers. The recipe is loosely inspired by several that I found, including clones for St. Bernardus Abt 12 and Westvleteren 12.

Brewing this batch did come with difficulties. The week leading up to brew day, I dutifully made a yeast starter, but to little visible effect. After a couple of days, I purchased another White Labs vial and added it to the starter, again with seemingly little effect. Finally, I pitched a pack of Wyeast 3787 Trappist yeast directly to the wort. It's now fermenting away, but I'm still not sure if that's due to the White Labs starter or the Wyeast pack.

Moreover, a hose slipped at the end of chilling and whirlpooling, causing a loss of almost a gallon of wort. Extremely unmeditative. I need to start using clamps to keep the hose in place.

Ingredients:
10 lb Pilsner malt (Avangard)
6 lb Pale ale malt (Briess)
8 oz Aromatic (Dingemans)
4 oz Special B (Dingemans)
4 oz Debittered black malt (Dingemans)

1 oz Northern brewer (7% pellet) (60)
0.25 oz Fuggle (5.3% pellet) (60)
1 t Irish moss (15)
1 lb Dark candi syrup 180L (10)
1 lb Medium candi syrup 90L (10)
0.5 lb Light candi sugar (10)
1 oz Styrian golding  (3.7% pellet) (3)
1 oz Hersbrucker (2% pellet) (3)

1.8L White Laps 500 Trappist ale starter w/ two vials
1 pack Wyeast 3787 Trappist high gravity

Water:
5.25 gal filtered
5 gal RO
4 g Gypsum
Profile calculator

Schedule:
Mash in 6.25 gal @ 130F
Protein rest @ 125F (15)
Sac rest @ 150F (30)
Sac rest @ 156F (30)
Mash out @ 168F (10)
Batch sparge 4 gal
Boil (75)

Target:
OG: 1.092
FG: 1.023
ABV: 9.15%
IBU: 28
Efficiency: 70%

Observation:
1st running: 4 gal @ 1.084
Preboil: 8 gal @ 1.069
OG: 5.5 gal @ 1.104
Add 1 gal sparge water to sac rest to cool to 156F
Lost ~1gal when hose slipped out of boil kettle during whirlpool

Fermentation:
Chill to 70F and pitch
Ferment at 66F
Keep below 72F and above 64F