Widmer Snowplow Clone

So...when I was in college, Widmer made an amazing beer around christmas time called Snowplow. It was freaking awesome. Then, for some unknown reason, they decided to discontinue the Snowplow and make a beer called Brrrr. Brrrr's not awful, but it's no Snowplow. On a side not, I had a friend that tried to tell me that the only difference between Snowplow (a dark malty beer) and Brrrr (a pale, spiced winter ale) is that the brewers add candy canes to the Brrrr....what a moron. Anywho, here's how I did a Snowplow clone:

Ingredients:
Grain:
7 lbs GW 2-row
2.1 lbs Briess Carapills
2.1 lbs GW crystal 60
2 lbs Red Wheat
1 lbs Flaked Oats
0.8 lbs Roasted Barley
0.4 lbs Patagonia Black

Hops:
0.5 oz CTZ @60
0.5 oz Cascade @5

Extras:
1 lbs Lactose @20 min.

Im back baby!

I took a break from the blog (reasons unknown) but I'm back and ready to brew. While I was gone I brewed a honey ale, an IPA, and a stout. Later today I'm brewing a Snowplow clone.

Reformation Day Pumpkin Ale

Halloween's coming up...I mean Harvest Day...I mean Reformation Day and Emilie has requested a pumpkin ale. Being the super masculine, ridiculously awesome, provider type I obliged. I'm bottling this half batch because Emilie never really drinks the beers she requests and I don't think I like pumpkins interfering with my beer. We'll see.

Ingredients:
Fermentables:
5 lbs GW 2-row
0.5 lbs GW crystal 60
0.5 lbs Briess Special Roast
1 medium sized pumpkin cooked at 400 for 60 minutes mashed in

Hops:
0.5 oz Hallertau @60
0.5 oz Hallertau @5

Extras:
0.5 lbs Brown Sugar @20
3/4 Tbs pumpkin pie spice @20 (That Emilie made...I think it's allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg)
Yeast Nutrient @15
Whirfloc @15


Water:
2.5 gallons strike @163
Collected 1.5 gallons
2.5 gallons sparge @173
Collected 2.25 gallons

Yeast:
Wyeast 1272 American Ale II

Notes:
10-22-2011--Brewed in around 4 hours, but about 30 minutes too long (screaming kid and a wife that left). No recirculation due to the half batch. Gravity was around 1.050+ but the bubbles in the wort made it so I couldn't get an accurate reading.
10-29-2011--Bottled. Gravity down to 1.010.

Hop in the Dark

Ingredients-

Grain:
20 lbs 2 Row Pale Malt
4 lbs Munich Malt
2 lbs 8 oz Flaked Oats
12 oz Crystal 120L
8 oz Chocolate Malt
8 oz Chocolate Wheat
4 oz Black Barley
10 oz Dark Belgian Candy

Hops: (all whole hops unless otherwise noted)
4 oz Nugget @ 60 (pellet)
2 oz Northern Brewer @ 60
2 oz Centennial @ 30
2 oz Cascade @ 15
2 oz Simcoe @ 1

Yeast:
Safale 04




Water:
9 gallons of strike @163
Collected
8 gallons of strike @172
Collected 2 gallons off the top and recirculated for 15 minutes with the rest.

Notes:
10-15-2011--
Brewed with my new recirculating pump that I got at the ReShop and it worked really well. Brewed at double batch at Scott's and we split it. Ended at 1.065, I pitched the Safale 04 and Scott pitched 1056.
10-25-2011--Gravity's down to 1.014. Time to keg.
10-29-2011--Kegged

Rye Ale Redo

Back in July, Scott and I brewed a rye ale that was supposed to be 10 gallons of a rye IPA, but we forgot to double the hops from a 5 gallons recipe...anyhoo, I wasn't too fond of it and I didn't want it to sit in a keg forevs so I bottled 2 gallons of it and soured the other 2-3 gallons. I pitched a wyeast pack of 3278, Lambic Blend and I'm gonna sit on it for 4-6 months.
I tossed in the yeast around 2 weeks ago, so I'll start the notes then.

Notes:
9-30-2011--Pitched yeast
10-9-2011--Tons of lambic "spiders webs" yeasty beasties building up. I took a sample, not very sour yet.

10-29-2011--Bottled.

Fresno Lager

It's getting cold out side which means....lager time. I scored 10 lbs of cascade (my favorite hop) so I decided to dry hop the crap out of this lager. We'll see. I'm using a new (to me) yeast, California Lager, and I'm naming this one after my birthplace. I'm going to probably rack this a couple times to insure clarity.

Ingredients:

Grain:
12 lbs GW 2-row
0.75 lbs GW Crystal 60 (I meant to get 40, but I grabbed the wrong one)

Hops:
1.3 oz Nugget @60
1 oz Cascade @0
5 oz Cascade Dry Hopped in fermenter for 14-21 days

Water:
4 gallons strike @165
Collected just over 2 gallons
4 gallons sparge--2 for 10 minutes and dumped into the kettle, 2 recirculated for 15ish minutes.
Collected another 3.75 gallons

Yeast:
Wyeast California Lager 2112

Extra:
Yeast Nutrient @ 15

Notes:

10-8-2011--Built a new sparge system (see pic) and it worked great! I also picked up another pump at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $3.75! It can handle liquid up to 190* so I'm going to use it for the recirculated and my Chugger for cooling. Ended up with about 4.75 gallons of 1.062 wort.

$9 Ale

I haven't brewed since the big 50 gallon brew weekend because I haven't had any kegs open. I'm calling this $9 ale because I used my home grown hops. I'm not really sure how hoppy it's going to be--they say wet hops are 5 times heavier then dried. I tried to dry them, but it didn't work very well. By the way, Poor Blend are the hops that, when I was trying to dry them, blew all over my yard. Anyhoo...here it is.

Ingredients:
Grain:
12 lbs GW 2-row
1 lbs GW Crystal 80
1 lbs GW Munich
1 lbs Briess Red Wheat

Hops:
2.5 oz  (semi-wet) Poor Blend @60
5 oz (semi-wet) Cascade @15
5 oz (semi-wet) Brewer's Gold @0

Extras:
Cap full of yeast nutrient @0

Water:
4 gallons of strike @ 165--> 158-->153
Collected 3.25 gallons
4 gallons of sparge @172
Collected 1 gallon off the top
Recirculated the rest for 10 minutes
Collected just under 3 gallons

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Notes:
10-1-2011--Pretty aggressive boil since I stated with 7 and a quarter gallons, still ended with over 5.5 gallons. Good brew day. I need to nail down my re-circulation process. Right now it's pretty janky and takes a lot of my attention. I'm going to try and get some quick disconnects, but they're kinda spendy.
10-4-2011--Krausen explosion!

Hop Harvest '11

Much better harvest than last year. As an added bonus, I found some slave labor to do most of the work. Life's good with a full quiver!!!

Bear Republic Red Rocket Clone

For our 8th anniversary, Emilie bought me a couple 22s, one of which was Red Rocket. It's another great beer from Bear Republic. I'm sure hope no one reads this blog, because I'm going to have to admit that Northern California just might have better beer than good ol' Or-y-gun. Not just might....they do: Bear Republic, Russian River, 21st Amendment, Lagunitas, Mendocino Brewing, Napa Smith, Firestone Walker, and Sierra Nevada--FRIG! Anyways, here's the description of the Red Rocket (Don't judge me, but I wonder if they meant anything phallic by the name. I'm not a gay or anything, but that name sure makes me think of a redheaded dude's....enough said). 
"Red Rocket Ale is a bastardized [oooooooo they said a swear word, they're soooo cool!] Schottish style red ale that traces it's origins to our homebrew roots. This full bodied and hoppy brew finishes on the palate with sweet, caramel malt flavors."


Jamil's recipe
Ingredients
Grain:
13 lbs GW 2-row (up from 12.4)
1 lbs GW Munich 10L
1 lbs Maltextro Carmel 38
0.5 lbs Briess Victory 
0.5 lbs GW Crystal 120
0.188 lbs Maltextro Chocolate


Hops:
1 oz Millennium @80
1 oz Cascade @ 10
1 oz CTZ @10
1 oz Cascade @ 0
1 oz CTZ @ 0


Extras:
I keep forgetting to add the yeast nutrient. I gotta remember next time


Water:
5 gallons strike @ 164
Collected 3.75 gallons
3.8 gallons sparge @ 175
~1.8 gallons runoff 
Collected 1.8 gallons
~2 gallons of recirculated (that's right...I got a pump!)
Collected 1.9 gallons


Notes:
8-26-2011--Well the pump worked freaking awesome! I was able to recirculate with the extra sparge water and didn't have to hork the boil kettle up to the 2nd tier. The only down side is, the pump shoots out so much liquid that I had to run it through the chiller twice. Small price to pay for not having to get hernia surgery. I must have had a really aggressive boil because I started with 7.5 gallons, boiled for 80 minutes, and ended with 4 gallons of 1.082 gravity. Anyways, I added a gallon of water to get the gravity to the recommended 1.066 (it actually was 1.070, but i don't think it'll get down to 1.011 like Jamil said).
9-3-2011--Gravity down to 1.018 so it should be right on target. Sample wasn't as hoppy as I was hoping, but we'll see. Kegged.
10-20-2011--Good red, not as hoppy as the Red Rocket though, but good.

Unemployed Artist IPA

I made up this recipe while tasting some malts I'd never used at brewbrothers. We'll see how it turns out.

Ingredients
Grain:
14 lbs GW 2row
3 lbs Bairds Marris Otter
1lbs MFB Kiln Amber
0.7 lbs Crisp Crystal Dark 77L
0.5 lbs Briess Carapils

Hops:
1 oz Nugget @ 60
1.5 oz Centennial @35
1 oz Cascade @15
1.5 oz Simcoe @3
0.5 oz Centennial dry hopped for 10 days
0.5 oz Cascade dry hopped for 10 days
0.5 oz Simcoe dry hopped for 10 days

Water:
4 gallons strike @165 for 60 min
1 gallon mash out @212 for 30 min
4 gallon double batch sparge @171

Notes:
8-10-2011--Brewing went fine, the kiln amber smells really nice. Gravity at 1.079
10-11-2011--Yummy. Bright grapefruity-simcoe taste.

Rye IPA the revenge

Emilie bought me a HUGE beer mug. That's my iPhone case next to the glass

Since this was accidently messed up when Scott and I brewed it, I thought it was only fitting that once a fermenter opened up (I kegged the 50 gallons in my garage), I give it another go.


Ingredients:
Grain:
11 lbs GW 2row
3 lbs GW Rye
2 lbs GW Munich 10L
2 lbs GW Crystal 15L
1 lbs Briess Red Wheat
0.5 lbs Grain Millers Flaked Wheat

Hops:
1.5 oz Chinook @ 60
1.5 oz Chinook @ 40
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 20
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 5
1.5 oz Simcoe Dry Hopped.

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056


Water:
4.2 gallons strike @ 162
Collected 2 gallons
4.3 gallons sparge @170
Collected 2 gallons on the first half and 2 gallons on the double batch


Notes:
7-28-2011--Small stuck mash. I redid my mash strainer and am going to rig something up to not have this happen again. OG was just under 1.090.
8-3-2011--Gravity at 1.011 and tasting great. I need to get to drinking to empty a keg. What a wonderful predicament.

Freaking Nuts IPA

Again, Scott brewed this one. We're not sure what hops were used when, nor do we know how much was used. We went a little nuts here (hence the name).
Ingredients:
Grain:
32 lbs GW 2row
3 lbs Briess Carapils
2 lbs GW Crystal 40

Hops: (again, total guess)
2 oz Millennium @120
2 oz Millennium @90
8 oz Mystery Hops (home grown in Scott's yard) @60
6 oz Mystery Hops @ 40
5 oz Willamette @30
2 oz Cascade @15
3 oz Willamette @0

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Notes:
7-4-2011--Gravity at 1.094.
7-27-2011--Kegged in two cornies. Gravity down to 1.019. I'm going to force carb both cornies and start drinking on one, for quality control purposes.
8-3-2011--Holy crap. Holy freaking crap.

Rye IPA 1.2

Scott brewed this but it was part of the epic 50 gallon brew weekend at my place :)

Ingredients:
Grain:
22 lbs GW 2row
6 lbs GW Rye
4 lbs GW Munich 10L
2 lbs Briess Red Wheat
1 lbs Grain Millers Flaked Wheat

Hops:
1.5 oz Chinook @ 60
1.5 oz Chinook @ 40
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 20
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 5
1.5 oz Simcoe Dry Hopped.

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056

Notes:
7-4-2011--Gravity at 1.074.
7-6-2011--Realized that we didn't do the right amount of hops for a 10 gallon batch, we used the 5 gallon amount. Lame.
7-13-2011--Gravity down to 1.021
7-26-2011--Kegged.

Paul's Stout

Batch #2
Ingredients
Grain
14 lbs GW 2row
2 lbs Maltextro Black Malt
2 lbs Briess Roasted Barley
1 lbs GW Crystal 30
1 lbs GW Crystal 120
1 lbs Maltextro Dark Chocolate

Hops:
.7 oz Millennium @60
1 oz Cascade @20
1 oz Cascade @5

Yeast:
Pacman Slurry

Notes:
7-4-2011--Everything went smoothly, gravity came out to 1.052.
7-6-2011--Gravity's already down to 1.012
7-11-2011--Gravity still at 1.012, kegged.

Last Red Cent Imperial NW Red Ale 2.3

Same recipe as before, except I bumped up the first hop addition. This was the first of a 45 gallon brew day.

Ingredients:
25 lbs GW 2-row
4 lbs GW Light Munich
1 lbs GW Crystal 30
1 lbs GW Crystal 50-60
1 lbs GW Crystal 120
0.5 lbs Simpsons Pale Chocolate

Hops:
3 oz Millennium @60
2 oz Nugget @30
1 oz Cascade @10
1 oz Cascade @0

Yeast:
Wyeast Irish Ale 1084 yeast slurry

Notes:
7-4-2011--Stuck mash. But I ended up with really good efficiency. Gravity ended up to be 1.080
7-13-2011--Gravity at 1.010. I need some kegs to open up fo' real!
7-26-2011--Kegged.

God Judge America Pale Ale

Scott and I are gearing up for a 40 gallon brew day for the 4th of July. What better way to get ready, then to brew early? We decided to do a pale ale so we adapted Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. If you're wondering what's up with the name, I got into an argument with a friend the other day as to whether God has blessed America or if he is storing up wrath on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. You'll never guess which side I'm on. Anyways, that and that it's almost America's birthday is the reason for the beer's name.

Ingredients:
Grain:
11.4 lbs GW 2-row
1.2 lbs GW Crystal 60

Hops:
.8 oz Milenium @60
.6 oz Chinook @30
1 oz Cascade @3
4 oz Willamette dry hopped 10 days

Yeast:
WLP 051 California V Ale slurry

Water:
4 gallons strike @ 162
Collected 2.25 gallons
4 gallons double batch sparge @170
Collected 1.25 gallons first sparge, 2.6 second sparge, then recirculated 3 times

Extra:
Whirfloc @20
Yeast Nutrient @20

Notes:
7-2-2011--I caved in and changed my sparge technique under Scott's recommendation. I used to heat my sparge water up to 180+ and recirculate (empty the sparge water and dump it back in again). I guess a true double batch sparge is sparging with half the water, dumping that in the kettle, then sparge the rest. I worked out well. Efficiency was around 80%.
7-17-2011--Bottled. FG was around 1.015+
8-1-2011--Had my first pint. Really, really tasty. Sort of a carmelly-hoppiness with a smooth finish. Yummy fo sho!

Jockey Box Build (and use)

Camping season in upon us my friends. And what is camping without beer? More than that, what is camping if you have to bring a crap load of growlers or bottles? Even more than that, who wants to bring a keg of homebrew and drink it warm? Not me.
The answer? Jockey Box.
The essential premise is kinda like a counter flow chiller, but colder. Beer goes in warm and comes out cold. And again, I don't actually want to spend good money on things like this. Dude, 350 bucks for that? I set out to spend less than $10. The picnic tap was $4 and the quick release was $5.95, so I had to call on some friends for the rest of the stuff :) My buddy Jon had an extra cooler and my buddy Andy had the coil. Throw in some spare line and BAM!,!, camping bliss.
Here's the finish product and a picture of it in action. 

Emilie Cider

6-26-2011--Made a cider for the wife. 4 gallons apple juice, a cup of sugar, and a packet of champagne yeast.
7-2-2011--Bottled.

You Bug Me!

My first shot using Brettanomyces. Everyone is mocking me because sour/bug beers are lame, I beg to differ. I'm using a basic amber ale recipe, fermenting in ale yeast, then gonna leave it in fermentation for 3-6 months with the brett.
Ingredients:
Grain:
7 lbs GW 2row
.75 lbs GW Crystal 60
.50 lbs Castle Special B

Hops:
1 oz Nugget @45
.5 oz Willamette @ 20
1 oz Willamette @1

Water:
2.9 gallons strike @ 165
1 gallon sparge @ 190

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB for the first 10 days
White Labs 645 Brettanomyces claussenii for 3-6 months

Notes:
6-22-2011--Well, I went to brewbrothers today and they were suuuuper busy putting stock away. I took that as an indication that they wanted me to weigh my grains and serve myself (just another reason I love going to brew bros). I brewed the next day and was pouring the grain into the mash when I realized I forgot to mill it. Lame. I went back and we tried to mill it semi-wet. That didn't work. I bought more grain, brewed, and everything turned out fine.
7-2-2011--Racked to sour bucket and pitched the brett with 10 oz of granulated sugar to sit and ferment/sour for 4-6 months.
8-1-2011--The whole 4-6 months was a pipe dream. Bottled today. Tasted...well, not good. We'll see how it conditions in the bottle

PoorHaus Dopplebock

I've wanted to do a bock forevs, but I never wanted to pony up for the German grain or buy a new yeast. I currently have like 80lbs of 2row on my ledger, so I decided to do an German/American Bock. But...why do a bock, when you can do dopplebock? I mean, there's really only two things better than beer: more beer, and beer that's higher in alcohol percentage. Now I know you'll probably throw the whole "hanging out with your wife" or "seeing your kids grow up" or something like that back in my face, but come on. This is beer we're talking about. Big, bold, two-pints-will-make-you-more-tipsy-than-is-Godly, German BEER!
Ingredients:
Grain:
14 lbs GW 2-row
1.75 lbs GW Munich 10L
1.75 lbs GW Pilsen
1 lbs GW Vienna
.25 Crisp Pale Chocolate

Hops:
0.5 oz Tettnanger @60
0.5 oz Saaz @0

Yeast:
WhiteLabs 833 German Bock Lager starter made around 18 hours prior

Water:
6.7 gallons @170
Collected 4.2 gallons
2.3 gallons @197
Collected 2.6 gallons

Extras:
Whirfloc tablet @20
Yeast Nutrient @20
0.5 lbs Rice Hulls

Notes:
6-17-2011--I usually cool the yeast starter in the freezer, well last night I forgot it was in there and fell asleep. I'll let the yeast propagate before I pitch. Maybe tomorrow. Ended with just about 6 gallons of 1.074 wort.
6-28-2011--Gravity down to 1.029. A week or two more.
7-2-2011--Kegged. I'll "lager" until a tap opens up. Man, lagar yeast STINKS!
7-11-2011--Took my first half pint. Tastes really German-yeast-fruity.

Racer 5 Clone 1.2

Which one's which?

It's funny. If you google "Racer 5 Clone" my post is the 3rd hit on the list. That means a crap load of people have seen my first attempt at a Racer 5 clone. Also, when I look at how people have come to see my blog, most of the time it's through searching for a Racer 5 Clone. It's funny because my first attempt at a Racer 5 clone kinda sucked. I think it was my 3rd or 4th attempt at all grain brewing, and I was drinking a bunch when I brewed it. Plus, now that I'm soooo experienced (I'm such a dork) I feel I owe it to the blogasphere to try again.
This is a 10 gallon batch. Half for me and half for a friend.
Ingredients:
Grain:
22.5 lbs GW 2-row
3.2 lbs Red Wheat
1.26 lbs GW Crystal 15
0.5 lbs Briess Carapills

Hops:
3 oz Chinook @ 90 min
3.5 oz Cascade @ 60
0.6 oz Galena dry hopped 10 days
0.6 oz Chinook dry hopped 10 days
0.6 oz Cascade dry hopped 10 days
0.6 oz Simcoe dry hopped 10 days

Water:
10.3 gallons strike @170
Collected 6.25 gallons
5.7 gallons sparge @ 185
Collected 5.5 gallons

Yeast:
WLP051 California V Ale in 5 gallons
Wyeast 1968 London ESB in 5 gallons

Extras:
Whirfloc @20
Yeast nutrient @20

Notes:
6-15-2011--The recipe from BYO calls for 1 oz of chinook @ 90 and 3 oz of cascade @ 60, but that only gives you an IBU of 48. I upped both because Bear Republic's website says the IBU is 75+. Finished with 5 gallons in one fermenter, 4.3 in the other due to a semi stuck mash. Very aggressive boil. Gravity at 1.072
6-27-2011--Kegged mine and bottled Ben's. My FG was a right on target 1.020 using the Cali V yeast, Ben's was 1.010 using the London ESB. Crazy.
6-29-2011--Did a side-by-side taste testing (see pic). Appearance: Mine's a little cloudier (first pint?) and a little darker (red wheat instead of regular wheat?). Aroma: Both smell wonderful, almost identical. Taste: Mine's a little more bitter, but that'll calm down in a couple days (again first pint). Overall, mine is really similar. I'm glad I upped the 90min and 60 min hop addition; I think BYO is definitely wrong. When I do it again, I'll go a tad less on those hop additions, but not much less. Great beer!

Summery Bullcrap

A coworker ask me to brew him and his girlfriend, "something summery, not too hoppy." My buddy Scott and I have talked about opening a brewpub but this is one of my hold ups. Scott thinks we'd need some lighter beer because when he and his wife go out, she likes having a beer, but she doesn't like hoppy/hardcore beers. This happens with Emilie and I too. So they end up only being able to go to pubs that can satisfy both their tastes. Now, I'm not sure if anyone who reads this blog (pffff, like anyone reads this) has ever seen the Seinfeld episode where George (Larry David) and Jerry are meeting with the NBC executives to pitch the pilot they're writing, but George flips out because they're messing with his "artistic integrity?" Thats sort of the same thing I feel about brewing some light bullcrap. I refuse to brew anything don't like. Most people will argue, that's how you make money....ARTISTIC INTEGRITY JERRY!
Anyways, when my coworker asked me to brew this, I told him I would, but I was going to make something that I liked. I hope he does too.

Ingredients:
Grain:
8.5 lbs GW 2row
1.5 lbs GW Vienna
.75 lbs GW Crystal 70
.50 lbs Briess Carapils
.15 lbs Maltextro Chocolate

Hops:
.8 oz Melinium @60
1 oz Cascade @ 25
1 oz Hallertau @0

Yeast:
Wyeast American II 1332

Water:
4.8 gallons strike @ 170
Collected 3 gallons
3.4 gallons sparge @190
Collected 3.2 gallons

Notes:
6-4-2011--I use a rain barel to store water so I can pump that through my counterflow chiller. It cools the wort and saves water (go me). Well, I brewed earlier in the day so the water was sort of warm. Sooo...when I "chilled" it this time, it didn't chill it down that low. This is a fact I learned about after I pitched the yeast and cleaned up. Oh well, I've always wondered if yeast can survive in temps higher than 80*. Hit my target gravity of 1.057
6-29-2011--Had two bottles today...well, I opened two bottles. The first bottle I opened was the last to be bottled and ERUPTED upon opening. The second foamed up, but I was able to get all the beer into the cup. I think I'll not use regular sugar without liquefying it first. The beer itself was good. Sort of like a mildly hoppy red, minus the big malt backbone.

Compound Stout

I found a guy on craigslist that wants to trade me a lefty compound bow for a case of stout. I figured I'd make him the Shakespeare Stout. I've made this a bunch of times now and have traded it twice.
I grow tired of posting the same recipe, so if you want to see what it is, look it up. I'm not a hunter, so learning to shoot is just going to be another hobby. I really like having hobbies. Emilie thinks I have too many, I just like being relatively decent at most things.

Notes:
6-4-2011--I over sparged so I could use the second pot technique. A gallon and a half went into a pot and boiled down to around a point or two on the stove, while the other 6 gallons boiled in the kettle. I ended with a little more than 5 gallons after topping with the yeast slurry. 1.075.

Cold War Stout

As I did the last time I Malted My Face Off, I did a 2nd runnings beer. This time, I srike/sparged with 3 gallons of hot water in the spent grain, boiled, cooled, and pitched some yeast (London ESB). I ended up with 4 growlers full to ferment. 

Ingredients:
Spent Grain:
19 lbs GW 2-row
1.2 lbs Weyermanns Carafa III (de-husked)
0.5 Gambrinus Honey Malt
0.5 Maltextro Dark Chocolate 500L
0.5 Briess Roasted Barley


Hops:
1 oz Zeus/Columbus/Tomohawk @ 60
0.5 oz Sterling @ 30
1 oz Mount Hood @ 10


Yeast:
1968 London ESB slurry


Notes:
5-30-2011--Gravity was around 1.054, should be a perfect session stout. I filled 5 growlers.
6-4-2011--Krausen brew all over a couple of the growlers. I think it's finished.
6-6-2011--Transfered to bottling bucket and bottled with 4.8 table spoons of sugar.
6-26-2011--Good. Carmel, malt, smoke, and smooth. A really nice stout.

Malt My Face Off 2.0

Here's the story on this one: I brewed this back in March for Jim Jones (hehe inside joke), but I saved three 12 ounce bottles. I really, really liked it so I figured I brew it again. As I often do, I toyed with the recipe using the brewpal iPhone app then finally settled on a one and brewed it. When I picked up my grain from brewbrothers I had what I thought was the same recipe; however, it was pretty far off. The biggest difference is that the one I brewed in March had 9 lbs 2-row and 6 lbs Maris Otter, the one I had in my phone was 19 lbs 2-row. The other was the amount of Carafa III. The first one had 0.25 lbs, this new one's checking in with 1.2 lbs. I wouldn't say I'm worried about the amount of Carafa, but I would have liked to had the same recipe. Oh well.


Ingredients:
Grain:
19 lbs GW 2-row
1.2 lbs Weyermanns Carafa III (de-husked)
0.5 Gambrinus Honey Malt
0.5 Maltextro Dark Chocolate 500L
0.5 Briess Roasted Barley


Hops:
Hops:
1 oz Millennium @ 60
0.5 oz Cascade @ 30
1 oz Cascade @ 2

Yeast:
PacMan yeast slurry


Water:
8.1 Gallons strike @ 168
Collected 4 gallons
3 Gallons triple batch sparge @ 190
Collected 2.8 gallons


Extras:
Yeast Nutrient @ 15
1 lbs Cane Sugar half @ 30 half @ 2
1 lbs Amber LME @ 30


Notes:
5-30-2011--I ended up doing a 6 gallons batch as opposed to a 5. I figured 9% is just as good as 11%. Anyways, I ended up with just under 1.10 gravity.
6-5-2011--Gravity's down to 1.025. If I don't have an open keg by this weekend, I'll bottle.
6-8-2011--Kegged 
6-23-2011--Pretty good. Really smokey (too much carafa?). Not as punchyouintheface malty as before, but still really good. 
6-29-2011--The BIG carafa taste has all but gone, which has made it a ton more smooth.

All Simcoe IPA

Everyone in town is out of Simcoe for the season, but my buddy Andy found somewhere online that is selling it by the pound. We split 2 pounds of it, which ended up to be about $25 each. I freaking love simcoe. For a while I wasn't using it because it was the new cool guy hop--I guess my rebellious tendencies don't like it when people tell me what hops to use. Anyhooo...I am fully drinking the kool-aid now (gross hoppy kool-aid). I used the same basic IPA recipe that I always use.

 Ingredients:
Grain:
14 lbs GW 2row
.6 lbs GW Crystal 60
.6 lbs Briess Carapills

Hops:
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 60
1 oz Simcoe @ 40
1 oz Simcoe @ 15
1.5 oz Simcoe @ 0

Water:
5.3 gallons sparge @ 165
Collected 3.5 gallons
3 gallons triple batch sparge @ 183
Collected 2.8 gallons

Extras:
Yeast nutrient @ 15
Wirfloc @ 15
1/2 lbs Belgian Candy @ 10

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 slurry

Notes:
5-25-2011--Brewing took about 4 hours. I only tasted a little of it because I have to be at a meeting and I didn't want to smell of beer.
5-28-2011--Gravity down to 1.014. Seems to be finished, but I need to empty a keg...Time to call over some friends!
5-31-2011--I have an empty keg. I'll keg it this weekend and force carb.
6-4-2011--Kegged. Big grapefruity taste.
6-7-2011--Just ran out of the Rye IPA so I have a sport opened in the kegerator. I'm stoked.
6-26-2011--This was carbed by the 20th and finished 6 days later. Of course, a three day camping trip helped consume this quickly.

Workhorse IPA Clone

Laurelwood calls this beer "an extremely well balanced yet super flavorful IPA brewed in the West Coast style. The over-the-top aroma comes from a heavy handed does of hops in the kettle, hop back, and 2 separate dry-hop additions. A slightly sweet finish helps balance the hop bitterness and creates an ale that is both big on flavor yet remains quite drinkable."
At 80 IBU, it isn't a super bitter IPA but it sure is good. This is another beer I'm making for the Thirsty Brawley's. My guess is that Elisabeth and Jon end up playing drinking games after they put their kids to bed, but I'd have to verify :)
I called up the brewery to chat with a brewer about my clone guess. The ingredients are on the website as well as the stats, so it doesn't seem like a hard beer to clone; however, the brewer generously gave me the hop schedule. I had to sub Northern Brewer for Simcoe as the whole freaking town is out. Ironically, later in the day a buddy sent me a text saying he found Simcoe online. I got myself a pound of it which should last a couple brew days. I love that stuff.


Ingredients:
Grain:
 13.5 lbs GW 2-row
1 lbs GW Crystal 40L
1 lbs Carapils


Hops:
1.5 oz Columbus @ 60
1.5 oz Amarillo @20
1 oz Cascade @5
1.5 oz Northern Brewer (should have been Simcoe, but they're done for the season) @0
.5 oz Columbus Dry Hopped for 7 days
.5 oz Amarillo Dry Hopped for 7 days
.5 oz Northern Brewer Dry Hopped for 7 days
.5 oz Cascade Dry Hopped for 7 days


Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB (I would normally use a NW yeast, but I pitched my slurry of 1056 on the Elisabeer)


Water:
5.8 Gallons strike @ 170
Collected
2.8 Gallons of tripple batch sparge @188


Extra:
Whirfloc Tablet @20
Yeast Nutrient @20


Notes:
5-16-2011--Everything went smoothly; however, I under sparged. I only ended up with 4.3 gallons. I think I'll steep some 2-row, boil, and toss that in tomorrow. 
6-1-2011--DUDE. This beer is good. I know I say that all the time, and most of the time I'm making it up to look better (just kidding), but this beer's good. 

Elisabeer Pale 1.2

I had just a little bit of this after I handed it over to Brawley, so I decided to make it for myself. Same recipe as before.


Ingredients
Grain:
12 lbs GW 2-row
1 lbs GW Cyrstal 80
0.75 lbs Bries Wheat
0.5 lbs GW Munich 10L


Hops: 37 IBU
1.5 oz Cascade @60
1 oz Cascade @20
3 oz Cascade @0


Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 slurry


Water:
5.3 gallons of strike @ 170--->154 in mash
Collected 3.2 gallons
3 gallons of sparge @190
Collected 3 gallons


Extras:
Yeast Nutrient @20
Whirfloc @20


Notes:
5-14-2011--Post boil gravity 1.064
5-20-2011--Down to 1.021 I'll wait another week.
5-25-2011--Kegged
6-1-2011--Man this is yummy. A lot hoppier than I thought it would be. I sure like cascade hops.

Breakfast in a Bottle

Brewed this National Homebrew Day aka Big Brew at Brew Brothers. I wanted to do something crazy so I thought about all my favorite breakfast foods and I put them on the recipe. It was an absolute blast hanging out and brewing with everyone. Everyone had a different system, which was nice because everyone had something to envy.

Ingredients:
Grain:
12 lbs GW 2-row pale
.75 lbs GW 120L Crystal
.5 lbs Maltextro chocolate
1 lbs Roast Barley
(this is where it gets interesting)
3 home made waffles
1 Box of Trader Joes High Fiber Os
1 lbs flaked oats
1.5 oz Grade A Maple Syrup @0

Hops:
1.5 oz Cascade @60
1.3 oz Cascade @20
1.5 oz Cascade @0

Extras:
Yeast Nutrient @20
1/2 lbs of Maple Cured Pork Bacon in secondary

Water:
5.5 gallons at 165
Collected just under 3 gallons
3.5 gallons of triple batch sparge at 190 (down from 212, oops)
Collected 3.25 gallons

Notes:
5-7-2011--Everything went well enough. When you brew with this many people (all with lots of beer samples on hand) you tend to forget some stuff. I boiled my sparge water and boiled for a lot longer than I should have. Oh well. I'll ferment for a week or so, and then I'll toss in the bacon!

5-14-2011--Gravity only down to 1.035. Tons of muck and sludge.
5-20-2011--Down to 1.023 I think it's finished. Really, really dry stout (waffles?) and a hint of oatmeal at the end. I'm gonna have my personal chef (wife) cook me up some bacon and I'll toss it in secondary.
5-28-2011--Kegged. Still at 1.020ish. The bacon grease was a little nasty looking.
7-1-2011--I've been waiting to let the taste on this settle. The plan is to drink the rest of the Malt My Face Off, then let this be the stout I have on hand. 
7-7-2011--This beer's getting really good.

Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool Clone (from Jamil)

I'm not a big fan of brown ales. I used to really like New Castle and Moose Drool was one of my first favorite beers. I'm not that into Newkies any longer, but I still love me some Moose Drool. I got this recipe from Jamil of Brew Your Own. Only thing I changed was I substituted Tettnanger for Liberty since brewbrothers didn't have it. Most of this batch is for the Brawleys, but I'm going to keep 4 or 5 bottles worth.
Ingredients:
Grain (anticipated OG of 1.052)
10.8 lbs GW 2-Row
5.5 oz Maltextro Chocolate Malt
1.25 lbs GW Crystal 75-80ºL
0.5 oz Maltextro Black Malt


Hops: (21 IBU)
1.4 oz EKG whole leaf 60min
0.6 oz Willamette pellet 10 min (of the full pound given to me by my buddy Scott)
0.6 oz Tettnanger whole leaf 3 min (also from Scott)


Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB


Extra:
Whirfloc @20
Yeast Nutrient @20


Water:
4.7 gallons strike @170
Collected 3 gallons
4.7 gallons triple batch sparge @180
Collected 4.5 gallons


Notes:
4-23-2011--Boiled for 90 minutes and ended up with around 5.5 gallons of 1.053 wort. Strike water temp was too high. I've been doing that lately, I don't think I lose as much heat in transferring from my HLT to my MLT as I originally believed. I'm going to start striking at around 163 and see how that goes.
While brewing this sketchy dude saw what I was doign and rode his fixy up to my garage. Quite frequently I'll have neighbors or passers by come up and ask me what I'm doing, holler something from their car, or wave. This guy came up to my front door while we were eating dinner and I was mashing and proceeded to let me know that he has cornys for sale. He said he "gets" free from work and that he "gets" around 30 a month. Anyway, he wanted to sell them to me for $30 a pop and he said he had like 40 in his garage. I offered him some suuuuper low ball offer for all 40, but he declined. Oh well.
4-27-2011--Gravity down to 1.024.
5-3-2011--Had a pint the other day at Brawley's house. It's good. Smooth and brown ale-y. I'm not sure I'm a big fan of brown ales, but it's good.

Gargoyle Smoked Ale

I went to brewbrothers looking for a beer to make and after thumbing through a couple magazines and books for around an hour, I came across this one. The recipe calls for 8 different grains which usually means there wont be a distinctly recognizable flavor, but I'm hoping the smoked malt comes through really well.


Ingredients:
Grain:
11 lbs GW 2-row
1 lbs GW Crystal 75
1 lbs Briess CaraPils
1 lbs Weyermann Smoked Malt
1 lbs Briess Carmel Munich 60
1 lbs Castle Biscuit
0.25 lbs Castle Special B
0.25 lbs Baird's Roasted Barley


Hops:
2 oz Hallertauer @60
2 oz Hallertauer @2


Yeast:
Safale S-04 European Ale Yeast


Extras:
Whirfloc Tablet @10
Wyeast Yeast Nutrient @10


Water:
6.2 gallons @168
Collected 3.25
2.6 gallons (single) batch sparge @190
Collected 2.75


Notes:
4-8-2011--I forgot to do the double or triple batch sparge but I've been wanting to do a single to see if the extra batch sparges help at all. Pre boil gravity was 1.040 but I can't adjust it anymore because I melted my digital thermometer when Emilie and I made the belgian candi...I also don't know what the post boil gravity is because I forgot to take one. Oh well.
4-15-2011--Gravity down to 1.020. I wouldn't say there's a smokey taste more than nutty. Rich, full and deep amber color. We'll see how it tastes carbed.
4-22-2011--Still at 1.020, I'll keg this weekend.
4-23-2011--Kegged. I'm trying a new kegging procedure. I've always just hooked up the keg to my pouring PSI, which is 15, and waited the 3 weeks for it to fully carb. I was told you can fully carb a beer by rolling it around while under pressure. I rolled this around my garage for 5-10 minutes while I was brewing. We'll see. I'll check tomorrow.
5-19-2011--Had a pint last night. I like it; however, I don't pick up the smokiness as much as I would have hoped.

Last Chance Porter

I'm making this mostly for a friend and coworker, but I'm going to bottle 2.5 gallons for myself. I've tried to make two previous porters and I messed up so badly and they turned out to be so horrible, I ended up dumping down the drain. Anyways, if this one doesn't turn out well, I'm banning porters permanently. This recipe is loosly based on a Deschutes Black Butte Porter clone I found online. I upped and changed the grain bill, switched the yeast, and changed the hop bill

7.5 gallon batch
Ingredients:
Grain:
16.5 lbs Great Western 2row
1.5 lbs Maltextro Crystal 60
2 lbs Maltextro Dark Chocolate

Hops:
1/2 oz Nugget @60
1 oz Cascade @30
1 oz Hallertau @2

Water:
6.5 gallons @ 168
Collected 3 gallons
5.6 gallons @185
Collected 5.5 gallons

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale

Extras:
Yeast Nutrient @2

Notes:
4-5-2011--I messed up the water calculations and ended up only getting 3 gallons. To make up for this, I upped the sparge water a gallon. I hit my temps and expected gravity (1.066) so I guess it was fine. Hop spider worked well.
4-8-2011--Gravity down to 1.026 I'll sit on it for another two days, bottle Sunday, and and most of it over on Monday. How sketchy is it to bring 5 gallons of bottled beer to a school to hand it off to another teacher?
4-9-2011--Bottled. I got twenty-four 22s for my buddy and twenty-four 12 ouncers plus a 22 for myself. I like it. Big roasty taste and nothing much else going on, a lot like Black Butte.
4-21-2011--Took the above picture. Hoppy aroma with roast. Big roasty foretaste with a hoppy finish. I'm not sure why it's so hoppy, maybe cut the bittering hop IBU in half next time. Pretty close to BBP but mine's probably more hoppy. I like it.
4-23-2011--Got this text from the buddy I brewed this for: "Paula (his girlfriend) says 'one of the best porters i've evr had, and i've had many.'" I guess they like it too.

Hop Spider for $11.29

A hop spider are useful because they allow you to have your hops roll int he boil, but you can still stain them by simply removing the bag. I've always used muslin bags for hop additions, but I decided the next time they wore out I would make a hop spider. So, when my buddy Andy called saying he'd beaten me to the punch, I ran over to Ace to pick up materials.
I used:
A 4 inch to 3 inch reducer ($2.99)
A 3 inch hose clamp ($1.29)
Two 20 inch lengths of 1/2 inch CPVC (from the 10 feet I already had)
a 24 inch nylon bag ($7)
I cut two 1/2 inch holes in the 4 inch to 3 inch reducer so I could put the 1/2 inch CPVC lengths through. Lastly, I put the nylon bag over the reducer and tightened the clamp. Getting the bag completely on the reducer took some bunching, but it's not hard.
There you go.

Rye IPA

Brew brothers was out of belgian candi so I had to make it myself.....if you know me at all, you know me doing something successful in the kitchen is next to impossible, so when I say "I had to make it" what I mean is: Emilie made it.

Full garage on this brew day. Fake uncle Luke (my brother-in-law's brother) and cousin Mike came over to lend a helping hand (read: drink all my beer).
I'm really excited about this recipe for two reasons; first, this will be the first time I use the hipster hop simcoe, and second I'm making what should be very similar to a Hop Rod Rye.
Ingredients:
Fermentables:
11 lbs 2-row
3 lbs Rye
2 lbs Munich
1 lbs Wheat
0.5 lbs Flaked Wheat
1.5 lbs Amber Belgian Candi @10

Hops: 113 IBU
1.5 oz Chinook @60
1.5 oz Chinook @40
1.5 oz Simcoe @20
1 oz Simcoe @2
1.5 oz Simcoe Dry Hopped for 7 days

Yeast:
Wyeast American Ale 1056 slurry from the Elisabeer

Extras:
Whirfloc tablet @20
Wyeast Yeast Nutrient @20

Water:
6.2 gallons strike @165
2.6 gallons (double) batch sparge @195


Notes:
3-26-2011--Turned out really well, gravity came out to 1.086, fermentation started before everyone left.
4-7-2011--Holy smokes. I think I understand why simcoe hops are the new hipster hop (huh huh...hip hop). Super smooth and bitter at the same time, BIG hoppy aroma, with a malty under-taste. I can't pick up the rye very well, but that doesn't take away from the complexity of this beer. Wowsers.
4-22-2011--Freaking awesome. Bittery smooth, this simcoe is worth every cent. Really, really good beer! Dare I say, best yet.

Elisabeer Pale

Beer number two for Jon...errrr....the Brawley Family. I was aiming for a refreshing pale ale with big hop aroma (but not too bitter) and a citrusy tinge. I came up with a basic pale ale recipe but I added 3/4 pounds of wheat. I also went with all cascade hops--with a large amount of finishing hops. We'll see.
I finished brewing in record time: just over 3.5 hours.

Ingredients
Grain:
12 lbs 2-row
1 lbs Cyrstal 80
0.75 lbs Wheat
0.5 lbs Munich

Hops: 37 IBU
1.5 oz Cascade @60
1 oz Cascade @25
2 oz Cascade @5

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 slurry

Water:
5.3 gallons of strike @ 170--->154 in mash
Collected 3.5 gallons
3.5 gallons of sparge @190
Collected 3.25 gallons

Notes:
3-19-2011--Ended with a little bit more than 5.5 gallons of 1.056 wort. I an iPhone app called brewpal to get my sparge amounts and I had it set for a 5.5 gallon batch but I didn't up the grain so I ended with a slightly lower OG than I was hoping for. I forgot to throw in the yeast nutrient and the whirfloc, but I've been meaning to not use them for a while now to see how well they even work.
3-26-2011--Kegged and sent off to the Brawley home. FG was 1.017.

Thanks Dave Stout

I used so much grain from the Melt My Face Off, I figured I'd try to do a third runnings ale. There's really only one way to get a big, high alcohol beer; use a lot of grain. This won't work in a normal beer, but I figure with nearly 18 pounds of grain there's bound to be more sugars that I wasn't able to get out in the first or second runnings. I heated up 2.5 gallons of water to around 180 and dumped it into the "spent" grain and I let it sit for 40 minutes.
After the mini mash, the pre-boil gravity was an adjusted gravity of 1.045. I boiled for just over 40 minutes, cooled and pitched some dregs of Wyeast 1056. I ended with right about 2 gallons of 1.059 wort. What this will mean is Pabster Dave will have paid for his batch and I get the 2 gallons for free. Free beer...thanks Dave.
UPDATE--I ended up with just over a gallon, which I bottled into two growlers.
UPDATE--Wow! This turned out to be really, really good. It's smokey with mapley sweetness. Not bad for a bunch of grain i was going to toss out anyways.

Malt My Face Off Russian Imperial Stout

Another beer for Pabster (Pastor) Dave. Brewed with the wife while we watched the NCAA tourney and I started working on cutting up my downed tree in the downtime. There may or may not be a small amount of pine sap in this brew.

Ingredients

Grain:
9 lbs 2-Row
6 lbs Maris Otter
0.25 lbs Carafa III
0.5 Crystal 60
0.5 lbs Chocolate
0.5 lbs Honey Malt
0.5 lbs Roasted Barley
1 lbs LME
1 lbs cane sugar

Hops:
1 oz Millennium @ 60
0.5 oz Cascade @ 30
1 oz Cascade @ 2

Yeast:
PacMan yeast slurry

Water:
6.5 gallons strike @ 170
2.3 gallons (triple) batch sparge @ 197

Notes:
3-18-2011--Everything went well. Adjusted pre-boil gravity was 1.069. Post boil (before the yeast) was 1.101. Fermentation started within the hour. I'm hoping this gets down to around 1.025 which will put this face malter right at 10%.
3-27-2011--Bottled twenty 22s and nine 12 ounce bottles. Tastes strong and smokey. I kept two of the 12 ounce bottles and I'll post a picture in a couple weeks when they're carbed and ready.
4-5-2-11--My face was officailly malted off tonight. I snagged two 12 ounce bottles for myself and split one with a friend today. Supper big beer. Syrupy, malty, smokey, and I can certainly taste the nearly 11%. I'm very happy with it. The only problem is I mostly bottled this in 22s, so I hope Dave finds a buddy to share these with nightly.

Taking a Break from Home Brew

I'm giving up drinking home brew for lent. A couple years ago I read a wonderful book by CJ Mahaney called The Idol Factory, the premis of which is that our hearts are unquenchable fires that can never be satisfied with anything but God. It was a wonderfully convicting book. It forced me to examine my heart to identify anything that is taking the place of God; namely, anything for which I am seeking out to receive pleasure from. Since God is the single greatest source of pleasure, we should only find joy in things when we are doing it for the Glory of the Lord. Drinking is not a sin, but if I drink to the glory of Randy or to beer, it is.
Anyways, I'm giving up drinking home brew, but I'm not giving up brewing (I'm also not giving up drinking beer, just home brew). I've got two more batch orders and more on the way. I might take this time to brew beers for myself that need a long time to condition or lager.