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.

Last Red Cent Imperial NW Red 2.2

I love this beer. I just ran out so I brewed it again. Same recipe as before but this time only 5 gallons

Ingredients:

12.28 lbs 2-row

2 lbs Light Munich

.5 lbs Crystal 30

.5 lbs Crystal 50-60

.5 lbs Crystal 120

0.24 lbs Pale Chocolate

Hops:

1 oz Millennium @60

1 oz Nugget @30

.5 oz Cascade @10

.5 oz Cascade @0

Yeast:

Wyeast Irish Ale 1084 yeast slurry

Water:

6 gallons strike at 175 for 60 min 

2.7 gallons double batch sparge at 190

Extra:

1/4 teaspoon Wyeast Yeast Nutrient

Notes:
3-6-2011--Brewing went quickly. Preboil gravity was an adjusted 1.063. I'm fairly certain the post boil gravity reading was off since the post boil (1.062) was lower than the adjusted preboil. Filled just over 5 gallons.

3-13-2011--I'm sure it's finished fermenting and I probably should keg it, but I'm a little busy right now with baseball (coaching two teams). I'll keg it this weekend.
4-4-2011--Really good. Just like the last one.

Spring Training IPA (Ninkasi Total Domination IPA Clone)

A very full boil

A beer to kick off the Dodgers Spring Training! A ten gallon batch I brewed with Scott; five are for me and the other five are for two friends Erik and Jeremy. This recipe is supposed to be close to a Ninkasi Total Domination IPA (65 ibu and 6.7%). I read somewhere that some dude went down there and talked to the brewer about what hops he uses, I guess he said Summit, Amarillo, and Crystal. Also that they use Wyeast 1968 yeast. Here's what I'm trying:

Ingredients:

Grain: Targeted OG/FG/ABV 1.064/1.023/6.7 

25lbs 2-row
4lbs Cyrstal 15
3lbs Munich

Hops: IBU-66
2.5 oz Summit @60 (I really did 2 oz Summit and a half oz of Nugget)
2 oz Amarillo @30
2 oz Crystal @2

Yeast:
Wyeast London ESB 1968, a 32 oz starter made a day prior

Water:
12 Gallons strike @ 170
Collected around 6 gallons
5.7 Gallons of (double batch) sparge @ 185
Collected around 5.3 or 5.4 gallons

Extras:
Wirflock @2
Yeast Nutrient @2

Notes:
2-26-2011--Forgot to do a pre-boil gravity. There was a LOT of wort. I almost filled the keggle. Post boil gravity was 1.062. Ninkasi's website has the Total Domination OG at 1.064 so I'd say i'm off to a good start. To hit the correct ABV I need this to get down to 1.012, so we'll see.
3-1-2011-Gravity down to 1.020.
3-6-2011--Both batches gravities are still at 1.020, I think it's fermented out. I must have the grain bill wrong if Ninkasi gets theirs to under 1.015. I bottled Erik and Jeremy's 5 gallons and I kegged mine. Since I adjusted the batch to be 11 gallons instead of 10, I ended up with a couple growlers full as well. I put three teaspoons of priming sugar and will try to condition in the growler.
4-3-2011--A good beer. I think Erik and Jeremy like it more than I do. It's kind of sweet with a small, small amount of bitterness. Emilie really likes it. I have a hard time calling it a IPA, but who cares about the stupid style descriptions anyways?

Brawl'n Stout

Brewing up another batch of Rogue Shakespeare Stout for a friend. I switched the roasted malt from Great Western to Simpsons and increased it from 6 to 10 ounces. I'm hoping for a little darker of a stout.

It was really cold out, Emilie's warming her hands

Ingredients: 
Grains:
11 lbs 2-row pale
.5 lbs 120L Crystal
.5 lbs chocolate
1 lbs flaked oats
10 oz Roast Barley

Hops:
2 oz Cascade @ 60
1 oz Cascade @ 30
.5 Cascade @ 2

Yeast:
Rogue's PacMan yeast

Water:
5.6 gallons of strike @ 170
Collected 3.5 gallons
3.5 gallons of (triple batch) sparge @ 185 (I accidently did 4.5 gallons geerrrrrr!)
Collected 4 gallons (oops)

Extra:
Yeast nutrient @ 2


Priming Sugar:
3/4 cup Dextrose


Notes:
2-25-2011--Well...my streak of 3 perfect brew days came to a close. I need to lower the thermometer on my HLT because I put up too high and I can't sparge under 4.5 gallons. What I've been doing is heating up 4.5 gallons and dumping the extra down till I have what I need. Well, this time I forgot. Pre-boil gravity was like 1.050. I ended up with an extra gallon of water so I boiled for 2 hours instead of 1. All said I finished with just over 5.5 gallons, which is what I was shooting for. Post-boil gravity was just shy of 1.060. Catastrophe avoided. 
3-1-2011--Gravity down to 1.015. Tastes good. I'll bottle it tonight or tomorrow.
3-13-2011--I got a text from Mr. Brawley himself stating he's very pleased with the stout, the he gave a bottle to a couple of his friends (more brewing for me) and that his wife was currently horking down a bottle.

Elderberry Beer

It's not what you think, I haven't decided to make fruity girl beers. I did; however, make another Pliny but this time for my Pastor (elder) Dave Berry. I have farmed out my services (at cost) to friends. I've already filled up the next three weekends brewing for buddies. I must really like to brew. Everything went fine--Andy came over an we finished in record time (3:45). Same recipe as before, but this time I strained the hops better so I ended up with 5.5 gallons in the fermenter.

Ingredients:

Grains:        

 14 lbs two row

.6 lbs Crystal 50

.6 lbs Carapils 

Hops:          

3.5 oz Millennium @ 90 min

.5 oz  Millennium @ 45 min

1 oz Nugget @ 30 min

2 oz Nugget @ 0 min

1 oz Chinook @ 0 min

1 oz Millennium dry hop after 6 days

1 oz Chinook dry hop after 6 days

1 oz Nugget dry hop after 6 days

Yeast:         

Safale 05

Misc:         

 1 lbs dextrose (calls for .75 lbs)

Water:

6 gallons of 165

Collected 4 gallons

3.5 gallons of triple batch sparged 180

Collected 3.5 gallons (it must have been more like 4)

Extra:
Wirflock @0

Yeast Nutrient @0

Notes: 

2-19-2011--Pre boil adjusted gravity 1.067. Post boil gravity was 1.07+ Same as before. I'm interested to see what the different yeast will do.
2-26-2011--Down to 1.012, perfect. Racked to (a short) secondary and simultaneously cold crashed.
3-1-2-11--Bottled and ready to send off.

Cheerilee Wee Heavy

St. Patty's day is right around the corner, so I figure I'd brew up a Wee Heavy (Scottish, I know) to go along with my wife's world famous corn beef and cabbage. I'm planning on bottling this unless a keg miraculously opens up. I asked Clarabelle to give me a name for the beer, she first answered, "Block Tree." I certainly liked the name, but I asked her to give me another. Her second try was "Cheerilee." For those of you not familiar with the world of My Little Poney, you're not going to get it; for those of you that are, you'll know that Cheerilee is the older sister of Scootaloo which, of course, makes Clarabelle Cheerilee and Adelaide Scootaloo. I supposed that's what you get when you ask a 3 year old to name a beer.

Ingredients

Grain:
15 lbs 2-row
.30 Special B
.30 Roasted Barley
.25 Crystal 60
.25 Carapils
.15 Peated Malt

Hops:
1 oz Centennial @60
.50 oz  Northern Brewer @5

Water:
6 gallons of strike @ 165
Collected 3.25 gallons
2.7 gallon (tripple) batch sparged @190
Collected 2.9 gallons

Yeast:
Safale-04 British

Priming Sugar:
3/4+ cup of liquified dextrose

Extra:
Whirflock @5
Wyeast Nutrient @5

Notes:
I collected a total of 6.15 gallons of 1.060 (pre boiled) wort and I collected 4.8 gallons post boil at 1.070. Brewing went really smoothly, but next time I'll up the sparge. I think I'm going to start calculating for 5.5 gallon batches so I wont be under anymore.
2-19-2011--I'm pretty sure it's finished fermenting and a keg opened up, but I'm out of CO2 so there's no reason to keg quite yet. I still may bottle, not sure yet.
2-21-2011--Cold crashed 4.6 gallons of 1.016 and racked to bottling bucket for more cold crash. I bottled 43 bottles with 1 gram of yeast per bottle to the bottling bucket to aid in carbonation.
4-1-2011--I've had a couple of these now. The first was really, really, REALLY peat malty which isn't the best flavor in the world. It's calmed down a bunch since then and I like it. It's certainly not a daily drinker, or a session beer, but it's good.

Holly Gratz Pilsner

Over Christmas I got to talking with Emilie's cousin about my blog. She said she often reads my posts to her coworkers. I was both shocked that someone actually reads my blog an embarrassed that someone actually reads my blog. I told her that I'd name the next beer I made up after her. So...Holly Gratz, this one's for you!
Pretty simple recipe. I was going to do Pilsen only, but Chris at brewbrothers.biz suggested I go with some Carafoam for head retention. Honestly, I'm not sure I know what head retention is (I sort of blushed when he said that...wink, wink). When I got to the brew shop, I had a $75 gift card waiting for me care of my parents for my birthday. I emptied out my ledger on the 10 gallon stout, so this was perfect timing. I've got 39 lbs of 2-row left on the ledger, which means the next two times I brew's going to cost like 4 bucks each!

Ingredients:
13 lbs Pilsen
0.50 lbs Carafoam

Hops:
2 oz Perle @60
1 oz Perle @45
1 oz Saaz @15
1 oz Saaz @0
1 oz Perle Dry Hopped

Yeast:
Wyeast 2001 Pilsner Urquell with a 1 quart starter made a day prior

Water:
5+ gallons strike water @165
collected around 3.5 gallons
3+ gallons (quadruple batch) sparge @190
collected another 3 gallons

Extras:
Whirfloc tablet @5ish
Wyeast yeast nutrient @5ish

Notes:
2-5-2011--Everything was going so well. I was speeding through with no hangups, I even told Emilie that I was about to have two straight perfect brew days; however, at the last sparge the innards separated and stopped filtering. I grabbed a strainer which worked pretty well. Clear wort (I thought) with a pre-boil gravity of 1.044.

Post boil was 1.064 but the wort was suuuper murky. I let it sit while I cleaned and racked the semi clear wort into a bucket, tossed the trub, and racked back to the carboy.

2-7-2011--Fermenting away. I'm shooting for an FG of less than 1.01 so I'll need to let this sit in primary for a week or so. I'm planning on doing a secondary (in the keg or out i'm not sure) for 3 weeks for clarity purposes.
2-13-2011--This is taking longer than I thought I would. It's still bubbling, but it's only at 1.030. I'm thinking of bringing it in the house, then again the word lager means to store or wait, so maybe I should do that.

2-19-2011--Down to 1.018. I'll rack to secondary as soon as a bucket opens up (but I'll rack back to glass).

2-24-2011--Down to 1.017. Racked to secondary.

2-25-2011--Kegged to cold condition for a while. Added the dry hops.

3-8-2011--Lagering blows. I'm over it. Started to carb

4-1-2011--Took the above picture. Pretty good. Sweeter than a Pilsner Urquell but still has the appropriate amount of pilsner skunky taste. I like it; however, I'm not going to do another lager for a while. I just don't think they're worth the wait.

Remember When Crap was a Bad Word Imperial Chocolate Oatmeal Breakfast Stout

I was having a brain storming session with Scott (Bean Bot Brew) about a new name for an IPA he was making. I came up with some real gems, or so I thought. "Remember When Crap was a Bad Word" seemed appropriate enough for my new flavor sensation stout. I'm taking a Founders recipe from BYO and modifying it a bit and doubling it since five gallons are for me and five I'm taking to the Eden Man Night. I need it to be ready in two weeks, so I'm hoping fermentation and carbonation go quickly.

Ingredients:
Grain
25lbs 2-row
1.5lbs Chocolate
1lbs Crystal 120
1lbs Black Patent
0.26lbs Roasted Barley
2.2lbs Flaked Oats

Hops
2 oz Nugget @60
1 oz Cascade @25
1 oz Cascade @0

Water:
11 gallons strike @ 170
Collected just under 7 gallons of first runnings
5 gallons (quadruple batch) sparge @ 190
Collected just under 5 gallons of second runnings

Yeast:
2 quart Pacman Yeast Slurry split into two 5 gallon batches

Extra:
3 oz Unsweetened Bakers Chocolate liquified in a couple ounces of wort @2
4 oz Bold Coffee @2
4 oz Mild Coffee Dry Hopped in keg

Notes:

Blackest of black wort

2-4-2011--Believe it or not; nothing went wrong on this glorious brew day. No leaks, no spills, no forgetting to install anything, nothing but smooth sailing for around 5 hours. I took off from work early so I got a quick jump today; I started around 2 pm and finished cleaning up around 7:30. I collected 5 gallons on the nose in both buckets. Really, really black wort with a pre boil gravity of 1.050+, post boil 1.070+ and a heavy coffee taste. I couldn't pick up on the chocolate, but I'm stoked on that, I was hoping it would be subtle. I'm looking for an FG of 1.017, but I'd take anything under 1.023 since it needs to be done fermenting in 4 days minimum so I can have it all carbed and ready for the Eden Man Night on the 18th. I enjoyed three wonderful birthday beers tonight: Anderson Valley Winter Solstice, Hair of the Dog Fred, and Alameda Brewing Yellow Wold IPA. All three were really good.

Coffee and chocolate ready for the boil

2-5-2011--One of the batches started to bubble within an hour the other hasn't started yet.
2-6-2-11--Checked the gravity on the one that hasn't started bubbling, 1.035. I guess fermentation's going fine.
2-7-2011--Kegged one of the 5 gallons with a final gravity of 1.018 which gives it an ABV of 7.1%. I'm pleased with that; however, I sort of wish I would have beefed it up a bit and gotten an ABV of 8-9%. I think beers with this much flavor should be balanced with a higher gravity. Oh well. I have 11 days for it to carb and be ready for the man night. I think it'll be just fine. I'll probably taste it before, although it would be pretty cool to have the first taste be with 35 of my buddies.
2-12-2011--Kegged the second 5 gallons, same final gravity. Big, big coffee taste with a balanced malty chocolaty finish. I really like it. The coffee taste is really prominent so I think I'm going to skip the dry hopped coffee.
2-13-2011--The first 5 gallons is carbed and ready. The first pint was mostly yeasty-coffeey-chocolatey grossness and uber foamy. I popped the seal and released the excess co2 and poured a second pint which was wonderful. I'm digging it big time.
I previewed a growler at Community Group tonight to grand success. I think I'll stay put on the coffee.
2-18-2011--The beer was warmly received to some shining reviews at man night. Good thing I have another 5 gallons to enjoy.

Hair of the Dog Adam Clone

I had a bottle of this one time when we were at New Seasons. It was love at first drink. Here's the description from the side of the bottle:

 

I picked up on the figs, smoke and leather. I got this recipe off of the Mad Fermentationist's website; it calls for a 3.5 hour boil which is turning the crazy amp to 11. One last thought, I spent $8.58 on this batch and was stoked the whole ride home until I realized that the base malt was paid for when I bought my bag. Oh well. It would have come to around 15 bucks, which is pretty good seeing as how a bottle of Adam is $4.99 for 12 ounces.

Here's how mine turned out

Ingredients:
13.00 lbs. 2-Row
0.63 lbs. Crystal 60L
0.55 lbs. Peated Malt
0.44 lbs. Munich Malt
0.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt
0.15 lbs. Black Malt

Hops:

(substituting hops with great liberties here)

Called for:

1.00 oz. Galena @ 90 min.

1.13 oz. Super Styrians @ 40 min.
0.75 oz. Tettnanger Tettnang @ 10 min.

I'm going to do:

1.00 oz. Nugget @ 90 min.

1 oz. Cascade @ 40 min

0.2 oz. Hallertau plus 0.3 oz. Cluster @ 2 min. 

Yeast:

Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale starter made 24 hours prior

Water:

1.25 quarts per pound of griss

4 gallons strike @ 170

mash for 60 min @150

3.5 gallons sparge @ 180

Extra:

1/4 tsp Wyeast yeast nutrient @ 2

Notes:

1-21-2011--Efficiency was good again, I'm beginning to think this is how it's going to be. Preboil gravity was 1.060 which is a full point higher than what it was supposed to be. Boiling for 3.5 hours is a little rough. Around two hours into it, I started thinking about knocking off early.

Post boil OG is...wait for it: 1.110. I took a sip of the sample; man oh man, it was like drinking syrup. Really molassesy-smokey-and BIG. I could smell the peated malt throughout the boil. I'm not sure I would say I like the smell of the malt, but I know it'll lessen in intensity with time. I ended up collecting just over 3 gallons. I think next time I'll sparge a full 4 gallons instead of 3.5. As it is, I'll end up with seventeen 22s. I think I'll drink a couple right away, but I'm gonna let these age for a year (maybe more).

Started bubbling about4 hours after yeast was pitched. 

1-24-2011--Bubbling is a ton less active than the first two days. Gravity down to 1.028+ The Mad Fermentationist said he bottled when it got down to 1.023, so I give it another couple of days then cold crash and bottle. Tasted really big, complex, and smokey. I upped the peat malt a bit, but didn't want to overdo it. Good thing too, because the peaty flavor is really there.

1-26-2011--Gravity is down to 1.022+. When I dropped the hydrometer in to the thief, the hydrometer sunk to 1.030 but then after a couple seconds, went down to 1.022+. I'm sure it's finished, but I'm gonna wait for a week then cold crash. I need to practice patience anyhow with this beer. I plan on boxing up the bottles and waiting on it at least a year or two. 

2-1-2011--Bottled. This is the first time I've bottled and I think I hate it. Emilie capped and I filled. I put the bottles in a diaper box; twenty-nine 12 ouncers and two 22s were tucked neatly away for two years. I think I'll have the first one on my 32nd birthday. The 22s I'm saving for my boys to split with me on their 21st birthday (16 and 20 years from now). I drank the 3 or 4 ounces that were extra. Big, big peaty and smoke with a HUGE alcoholic warming at the end.

2-6-2011--Emilie and I went to Hair of the Dog tasting room last night. The food expediter for our table just happened to be one of the brewers; he also happened to be Alan Sprints the founder and head brewer. We talked about brewing practices and I told him about my clone (which he was stoked on).

2-25-2011--So...I didn't wait 2 years, but I did wait 24 days, that's pretty good right? Man, I love this beer. It's really, really strong peat flavor. I can really pick up on the leathery-chocolatey-figgy taste. Super good and super strong. I think it ended at like 11%. I'm very, very pleased. Now, no more for at least 2 years (unless it's a special occasion)

Last Red Cent Imperial NW Red

First 10 gallon batch! Also, first use of Brew Brothers' grain ledger. They're letting me store my 50lbs bag of 2-row there and take it as I go. The cost breakdown is roughly $0.58 a lbs which is pretty freaking awesome.
Big twist on the last time I brewed this, first of all it's a 10 gallon batch that Scott and I are splitting, we're upping the base grain from 9 to 12, we're also going a little crazy on the hops, and we rounded out and changed the chocolate. Should be quite nice.

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

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

Yeast:
Wyeast Irish Ale 1084 in a 1 quart starter made about 20 hours earlier

Water:
12 gallons strike at 175 for 60 min (I would have done 170, but Scott said 175 would be better)
4.5 gallons double batch sparge at 190

Extra:
1/4 teaspoon Wyeast Yeast Nutrient

Notes:
1-15-2011--Good brew day, only a few things went wrong. I plugged the eye sight on the MLT because it's useless, but the plugged leaked and one of the hose clamps on the CFC broke, besides that everything went smoothly. With a little bit of play, Scott got the banjo burner cooking with some serious heat. Putting 12 gallons in with 30.5 lbs of grain just about fills the keggle.

Pre-boil gravity was 1.040, the post boil adjusted gravity was 1.085. Color looks good.
1-16-2011--Fermentation began before I fell asleep last night.
1-18-2011--Kegged. FG of 1.016. Big malt foretaste with a warming middle and a hop finish. Daddy likey.
1-25-2011--I really want to get this on tap. I am determined to drink the rest of the Happy 21 in the next two days. I think there might be like a gallon left
1-28-2011--Not fully carbed yet, but man oh man, I'm digging it big time! Big malty foundation with a nice hoppy punch.
2-1-2011--Had two pints today. Still not carbed enough to take a picture, but I really like it. Scott's was really cloudy, and I'm getting that a little, but only the first pint or two. Really, really good beer.
2-5-2011--A ton clearer. Took above picture and have been really enjoying it. This will be a PoorHouse favorite.

Pliny the Elder Clone (sort of)

Here we go. I'm pretty pumped up to make a Pliny clone. Named after Gaius Plinius Secundus (or Pliny the Elder) who created the botanical name for hops, "Lupus salictarius", meaning wolf among scrubs. It's big, hoppy, and smooth; Pliny is quickly becoming my favorite beer...too bad I don't live in Santa Rosa :)
Here's catch: I'm changing the hop bill to fit the hops I have. There actually a pretty close match, except the Simcoe. Those freaking hops are just so dang expensive!
Here's how I'm doing it:

Grains:        

 14 lbs two row

.6 lbs Crystal 50

.6 lbs Carapils 

Hops:          

3.5 oz Millennium @ 90 min

.5 oz  Millennium @ 45 min

1 oz Nugget @ 30 min

2 oz Nugget @ 0 min

1 oz Chinook @ 0 min

1 oz Millennium dry hop after 6 days

1 oz Chinook dry hop after 6 days

1 oz Nugget dry hop after 6 days

 

Yeast:         

Wyeast 1056 - 1.5 liter starter made a day prior

Misc:         

 1 lbs dextrose (calls for .75 lbs)

Water:
5 gallons strike water at 168. Mashed in at 151.
Don Osborn said he used a 10 quart boiling mash out, but I think it's a type-o. I did a 1 gallon mash out. Collected 3.5 gallons.
Double batch sparged with 4 gallons, collected another 3 gallons.

Notes:
1-3-2011--Seriously, brewing with a tier system is like cheating--it's so simple. Only problem was my new banjo burner. I had it on for around 15 minutes and was only at 176*.

I switched back to my old faithful burner and was boiling in no time :) Other issues I encountered today were: my CFC leaked again and I got an obscene amount of hop trub. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet (ferment it?)
 
As far as the Pliny, came out murky (hop trub?) but had a good color. Tasted unbelievable bitter. After the dry hop this is going to be a hop monster.
Came out with just under 5 gallons in the fermenter. Pre-boil gravity 1.035. Post boil 1.072. I'm a tad concerned with the amount of trub and how that's going to effect the yeast. To be honest, I've never seen that much. I'm gonna need to figure out a new straining technique. It's supposed to get down to 1.010ish. I'd be happy with 1.015

1-9-2011--Racked to secondary and added and ounce of each hop; gravity down to 1.010 oops. Tasted hoppy and smooth. No aroma as of now, so I'm expecting a lot out of the dry hops. I'm going to leave it in secondary for a couple days, then tertiary, then keg. Due to the hop trub, I was only able to get 4 gallons.
1-12-2011--Cold crash and racked to tertiary; no change in the gravity, but the taste is getting better and better. Big, vibrantly floral hop taste, it's the kind of hoppiness that stays with you. I lost another pint in the yeast trub that fell, but the clarity is much better.
1-13-2011--Kegged
1-15-2011--Wow. This is really bitter.
1-19-2011--Still really murky, but not as bad.
1-21-2011--A ton clearer. Time for the side-by-side.

Mines the one on the right.
Here's my taste breakdown:
Mine--A bit darker and less carbonated. Big bitterness hits you right away, that dissipates in the middle and comes back at the end.
Pliny--A clear and brilliant golden yellow. Big bitterness but a smoother bitter than mine. Finishes sort of oily.
I think the really big bitterness of mine will go away with time. I really like it. I would give the nod to the real Pliny in a taste test. I think if I would have used the Simcoe instead of the Nugget mine would have been smoother. I'm happy with it for sure though. I'm stoked to have 4 gallons of a beer I normally can only get once a year.

Tacoma and Kitsap County Brewery Tour

Christmas is a time for family...and brewery tours with said family. My brother, brother-in-law, and father-in-law and I went to a bunch of breweries in the Tacoma (in-laws) and Kitsap County (parents) areas. Here are some pics.

First stop was to Trade Route Brewing; a small, hard to find, and really cool environment. Beer was okay, but it was $6 pitcher night so all was well.

Next stop was Harmon Brewing. Their beer was great, the pub itself was a little too hip for my liking, but hey...they have a walk up beer window so I was all in!

Kitsap County is on across the sound from Seattle and has a pretty good cast brewery scene. We started off at Hood Canal Brewery. They had some good beer but the highlight was seeing the DIY bottling line. I'll go ahead and file that one away until PoorHouse gets a little bigger.

 Silver City Brewing had the best beer of all the places I went. The pub was super busy (on a Thursday night), loud, and a little obnoxious but the beer was worth the trip. The Whoopass IPA and was extremely good.

 Merry Christmas to me! 68 ounces of Pliny from my brother-in-law :)

 The winner of the best environment was Elk Head Brewing in Buckley, WA. This place corners the market on good ol' country feel. Uncle Mark, one of the two guys in the red and black flannel in the second picture, told us to meet him there at 5 (they're only open from 2-7 daily). We got their early and stuck out like...well, a college graduate in Buckley :) When Mark got their the party was ON. We had a BLAST! If any of my readers goes up toward the Seattle area, Elk Head Brewing on a Friday night is an absolute must.

 After Elk Head closed for the night, Uncle Mark told us about a bar down the road that has, "Dollar tacos...they're like around a buck a piece." Sunny's in Wilkerson, WA, terrible beer, but the tacos were good :)

 Gaaah. We also had to try the Wing Dome 7 Alarm Chicken Wing Challenge. My pride was on the line. I lost. Andy won. It sucked.
The fire in my mouth was only match by the fire in my belly that night; however, both paled in comparison to the fire in my nether regions when the chicken exited my body the next day. Every time I sat down on the porcelain perch, I wished I would have thrown up more than jus the milk and ice cream they gave us afterwords.

 Last stop was the Engine House No. 9 Brewing. We didn't spend much time there, but they had a great NW Red Ale.

Suuper fun time. I'd do it all again in a heart beat...well all except the Hot Wings. There was nothing redeemable about that experience.