On a whim, I purchased some New Zealand hops last summer, thinking I would make a New Zealand Pale Ale.
I finally got around to brewing it last week. Here is a link to the recipe:
http://hopville.com/recipe/1119492/imperial-ipa-recipes/ariki-imperial-pale-ale
Frankly, it is kind of a "kitchen sink" brew. I had a number of ingredients I was trying to get of -- rice and rye being two. So, I ended up throwing those into the mix.
I find that since I have switched to the "Brew In A Bag" method of all-grain brewing, the process appears to be very forgiving. Right now I have 4 all-grain sessions under my belt -- an APA, a belgian farm house ale, a lighter beer with hints of lemon (using pilsner as my base malt), and now this imperial ale. The first three have turned out quite nicely. At some point, I will put links to my recipes, should anyone be interested.
Improvements in my brewing -- My efficiency seemed to improve this time around. I didn't get a great original gravity reading (namely because of all of the solids in my sample) -- but I am very confident that this is going to be a really, really big beer. My best guess is that it will be between 10 and 11 % alcohol when all is said and done. I think I did a much better job of squeezing out my bag of grain this time around. I have a few ideas on how I want to improve on getting the wort out of the spent grains.
Always some issues -- It appears I picked the coldest day of the year to brew. The outside temperature was around 30. That lead to some difficulty in keeping my mash temperature stable. It went down about 5 degrees in the course of 90 minutes.
Additionally, I did not get the boil off I was anticipating. This may just be poor planning. Consequently, I ended up with about a gallon and a half of more wort than I was anticipating. So, I have my little 3 gallon carboy half way filled with the last of what was in my brew pot. So, there is 3 to 4 inches of trub at the bottom of that carboy. But hopefully I can get close to a gallon of additional beer out of the process.
Because of the anticipated high alcohol content, I ended up pitching 2 packages of yeast -- Nottingham to be exact. That yeast is a workhorse. But I would always rather pitch too much yeast than pitch too little yeast.
The beer has been in the fermenters for 9 days and fermentation has significantly slowed, bubbling once every 30 seconds to a minute. So, I will probably take a sample gravity reading tonight and prepare for the "dry hopping" stage. Perhaps I will even post what I find out and my initial reaction? But probably not.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
City of Muncie Water Analysis Report and Brewing Update
I have been awful in keeping up with this blog. For this, I apologize. Lots have been happening in my brewing life. To summarize:
1) I am now an all-grain brewer;
2) I am utilizing the "brew in a bag" method;
3) I have three all-grain beers under my belt -- an American pale ale, a Saison, and a light summer ale;
4) I have been very pleased pleased with all three beers;
5) My next beer will be a New Zealand Pale, utilizing some New Zealand hop varieties; and
6) I can never see me moving back to extract or partial grain brewing.
Muncie City Water
One of the big differences between all-grain and extract brewing is the importance water plays in the process. Water composition and chemistry can greatly effect the efficiency in which sugar is extracted from the malted barley and other grains during the "mash". To simplify (probably too much) water with high alkalinity (hard water) can inhibit the extraction of sugars and create an astringent final product. While there are a number of things a brewer can do to adjust the water before brewing, it is important for an all-grain brewer to get a good read on water chemistry prior to brewing.
One of the brewing message boards (Home Brew Talk, I believe) suggested Ward Laboratories out of Kearney, Nebraska as the place to get water tested. So, I forked over $16.50 to get an analysis of Muncie's water.
Since you can't simply attach a pdf to this blog, I had to upload the water report onto google docs. Additionally, I created a "tiny url" which, with any luck, opens up the water report for your use. Lets see if it works:
http://tinyurl.com/6g4o67o
If it works, then I hopefully just saved you $16.50 and gave you a solid foundation to make your brewing water adjustments to suit the type of beer you are brewing.
In the next couple of weeks/months I hope to gradually get my millions of readers up to speed on my brewing adventures.
If anyone is in the Muncie area and are interested in "Brew in a Bag" and would like to see the process in action, just drop me a message and I will let you know when I next intend to brew.
1) I am now an all-grain brewer;
2) I am utilizing the "brew in a bag" method;
3) I have three all-grain beers under my belt -- an American pale ale, a Saison, and a light summer ale;
4) I have been very pleased pleased with all three beers;
5) My next beer will be a New Zealand Pale, utilizing some New Zealand hop varieties; and
6) I can never see me moving back to extract or partial grain brewing.
Muncie City Water
One of the big differences between all-grain and extract brewing is the importance water plays in the process. Water composition and chemistry can greatly effect the efficiency in which sugar is extracted from the malted barley and other grains during the "mash". To simplify (probably too much) water with high alkalinity (hard water) can inhibit the extraction of sugars and create an astringent final product. While there are a number of things a brewer can do to adjust the water before brewing, it is important for an all-grain brewer to get a good read on water chemistry prior to brewing.
One of the brewing message boards (Home Brew Talk, I believe) suggested Ward Laboratories out of Kearney, Nebraska as the place to get water tested. So, I forked over $16.50 to get an analysis of Muncie's water.
Since you can't simply attach a pdf to this blog, I had to upload the water report onto google docs. Additionally, I created a "tiny url" which, with any luck, opens up the water report for your use. Lets see if it works:
http://tinyurl.com/6g4o67o
If it works, then I hopefully just saved you $16.50 and gave you a solid foundation to make your brewing water adjustments to suit the type of beer you are brewing.
In the next couple of weeks/months I hope to gradually get my millions of readers up to speed on my brewing adventures.
If anyone is in the Muncie area and are interested in "Brew in a Bag" and would like to see the process in action, just drop me a message and I will let you know when I next intend to brew.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Cover Crop Rye Ale - More of the Brewing Proccess
As my earlier post indicated, I brewed this beer on Monday, February 7. It was a "partial mash" with the grain bill consisting of Munich malt, crystal malt, rye Malt (3 lbs), Simpsons Naked Oats, carapils malt, and flaked wheat malt -- almost 6 pounds of grain.
I ended up using 3 gallons of water to steep the grain for about 45 - 60 minutes at close to 150 degrees (perhaps slightly higher). The recipe called for steeping for only 30 minutes, but I decided to up this, hoping to extract more sugars and complex flavors from the malt.
6 pounds of dry malt extract were then added to the boil, as well as the hops (Perle, Columbus, and Cascade). Perle and Columbus at the beginning; Cascade @ 30 and 55 minutes into the hour boil. After the boil I added 3 pounds of clover honey.
After cooling and aerating the wort, I took an original gravity reading. My reading? 1.090 YIKES! The recipe said for me to expect an OG of 1.065-69. Now I know I added the honey and steeped the grains longer than called for. But it appears that I extract way more sugar than I had anticipated. I was thinking I would test between 1.070 and 1.080.
Now I was concerned about blowing out my yeast with such a high potential alcohol content. I used the Wyeast 1056 American Ale strain and utilized a yest starter (.75 litres of wort) 2 days prior to brewing. I was hopeful that I now had a big enough batch of yeast to do the job on this bigger than expected beer.
So, I aerated the hell out of the wort, and pitched the yeast and the liquid starter into the fermenter (which I learned later was another mistake).
In the morning I had that wonderful bubbling sound coming from my air lock and a complaint from my wife that it smelled like a brewery in my brew room.
After 9 days, the activity has died down considerably. Now was the time to see if I had to deal with a stuck fermentation or if everything was A-OK. Drum roll please . . . .
A-OK! My gravity reading on Day 9 was 1.010. The recipe called for a final gravity between 1.015 and 1.018. So while there may be some lingering simple sugars waiting to be eaten by my yeast, for the most part the fermentation is complete. Time to dry hop with a combination of Columbus, Citra and Simcoe. My Citra and Simcoe have been sitting around for a while, so I hope they add to the flavor of the brew. The Columbus came with the kit (now, where did I put that half ounce of hops?)
The best news is that the beer is absolutely delicious. I ended up drinking the entire sample I tested. The late addition of honey really adds a flowery sweetness to the finish. I think that the dry hopping with all of the mango and citrus notes should play well against the honey and rye. Even flat and room temperature, I just loved the way this beer tastes.
If my readings are in the ball park, the beer should be right around 8% alcohol. According to Wyeast, their American Ale strain has a tolerance up to 11% alcohol. So I think I am okay on that end.
All in all, a good day with good news.
I ended up using 3 gallons of water to steep the grain for about 45 - 60 minutes at close to 150 degrees (perhaps slightly higher). The recipe called for steeping for only 30 minutes, but I decided to up this, hoping to extract more sugars and complex flavors from the malt.
6 pounds of dry malt extract were then added to the boil, as well as the hops (Perle, Columbus, and Cascade). Perle and Columbus at the beginning; Cascade @ 30 and 55 minutes into the hour boil. After the boil I added 3 pounds of clover honey.
After cooling and aerating the wort, I took an original gravity reading. My reading? 1.090 YIKES! The recipe said for me to expect an OG of 1.065-69. Now I know I added the honey and steeped the grains longer than called for. But it appears that I extract way more sugar than I had anticipated. I was thinking I would test between 1.070 and 1.080.
Now I was concerned about blowing out my yeast with such a high potential alcohol content. I used the Wyeast 1056 American Ale strain and utilized a yest starter (.75 litres of wort) 2 days prior to brewing. I was hopeful that I now had a big enough batch of yeast to do the job on this bigger than expected beer.
So, I aerated the hell out of the wort, and pitched the yeast and the liquid starter into the fermenter (which I learned later was another mistake).
In the morning I had that wonderful bubbling sound coming from my air lock and a complaint from my wife that it smelled like a brewery in my brew room.
After 9 days, the activity has died down considerably. Now was the time to see if I had to deal with a stuck fermentation or if everything was A-OK. Drum roll please . . . .
A-OK! My gravity reading on Day 9 was 1.010. The recipe called for a final gravity between 1.015 and 1.018. So while there may be some lingering simple sugars waiting to be eaten by my yeast, for the most part the fermentation is complete. Time to dry hop with a combination of Columbus, Citra and Simcoe. My Citra and Simcoe have been sitting around for a while, so I hope they add to the flavor of the brew. The Columbus came with the kit (now, where did I put that half ounce of hops?)
The best news is that the beer is absolutely delicious. I ended up drinking the entire sample I tested. The late addition of honey really adds a flowery sweetness to the finish. I think that the dry hopping with all of the mango and citrus notes should play well against the honey and rye. Even flat and room temperature, I just loved the way this beer tastes.
If my readings are in the ball park, the beer should be right around 8% alcohol. According to Wyeast, their American Ale strain has a tolerance up to 11% alcohol. So I think I am okay on that end.
All in all, a good day with good news.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Cover Crop Pale (?) Ale
Brewed my Cover Crop Pale (?) Ale on Monday. It is a rye ale with oats and clover honey. The name comes from the fact that farmers and gardeners use rye, oats, and clover at times as a cover crop to protect and enrich the soil. I expect that this ale will protect and enrich me when it is done. A write up of the brewing process is soon to come.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Brewing Update from Tuesday, January 25, 2011
1/25/2011
1 pound of Muntons Dry Malt Extract and .
5 oz of Centennial hops AA 9.1. 7:50 pm
25 oz Centennial hops @ 30 minute mark.
25 oz Citra hops 12.3 AA @ 55 min mark.
1 can Mr. Beer Bewitched Red Ale Hopped Malt Extract and
1 can of Mr. Beer Classic American Blonde Ale Hopped Malt Extract put in hot water bath.
Wyeast 1332 Northwest Yeast Slap Pack slapped @ 6:15 pm.
Brewing beverage: Fat Tire Amber Ale
.Add 1.5 lb of honey and the 2 cans of hopped malt extract at 60 minute mark.
Dry hop with .25 oz of Citra and .75 oz of Simcoe (12.2 AA) stir in hot wort.
Add cold water to bring up wort to appx 2.25 gal (perhaps just a little more)
Temperature of wort - 88.5. Put the wort out on the front porch to cool.
Yeast is ready to pitch when the wort is cool enough. I would like to get it cool enough so I can make a proper original gravity reading.
While the wort is cooling, it is time to clean up -- everyone’’s favorite part of the brewing process (besides bottling).
OG - 1.078 @ 70 degrees + .0016 = 1.079
Shooting for OG @ 1.080 - pretty darn close!
Whipped my wort with the wine whipper. I am hoping that with this big of a beer, that having a well aerated wort will assist in full fermentation. Lots of sugars to ferment.
I then pitched the yeast into the wort (wort at about 73 degrees at the time).
Concerns
1 - not a complete fermentation with this big of a beer.
2 - The amount of hops in this thing. Hopefully it is well balanced. I wanted really strong citris and tropical smells. I just hope that I didn’t overdo it.
3 - carbonation problems again.
Time will tell. Wrapping up at 10:30. Do your work, yeasts! Good night.
1/30/2011 -- Update - everything appears to be up and running. The yeast appear to be actively chewing away at the sugars. Since this is such a big beer, I am going to plan to keep it in the fermenter for at least 21 days. If I remember, I will check the fermentation and measure the specific gravity in 2 weeks to see where I am at. Then, wait another week to bottle. That is the game plan at this point.
1 pound of Muntons Dry Malt Extract and .
5 oz of Centennial hops AA 9.1. 7:50 pm
25 oz Centennial hops @ 30 minute mark.
25 oz Citra hops 12.3 AA @ 55 min mark.
1 can Mr. Beer Bewitched Red Ale Hopped Malt Extract and
1 can of Mr. Beer Classic American Blonde Ale Hopped Malt Extract put in hot water bath.
Wyeast 1332 Northwest Yeast Slap Pack slapped @ 6:15 pm.
Brewing beverage: Fat Tire Amber Ale
.Add 1.5 lb of honey and the 2 cans of hopped malt extract at 60 minute mark.
Dry hop with .25 oz of Citra and .75 oz of Simcoe (12.2 AA) stir in hot wort.
Add cold water to bring up wort to appx 2.25 gal (perhaps just a little more)
Temperature of wort - 88.5. Put the wort out on the front porch to cool.
Yeast is ready to pitch when the wort is cool enough. I would like to get it cool enough so I can make a proper original gravity reading.
While the wort is cooling, it is time to clean up -- everyone’’s favorite part of the brewing process (besides bottling).
OG - 1.078 @ 70 degrees + .0016 = 1.079
Shooting for OG @ 1.080 - pretty darn close!
Whipped my wort with the wine whipper. I am hoping that with this big of a beer, that having a well aerated wort will assist in full fermentation. Lots of sugars to ferment.
I then pitched the yeast into the wort (wort at about 73 degrees at the time).
Concerns
1 - not a complete fermentation with this big of a beer.
2 - The amount of hops in this thing. Hopefully it is well balanced. I wanted really strong citris and tropical smells. I just hope that I didn’t overdo it.
3 - carbonation problems again.
Time will tell. Wrapping up at 10:30. Do your work, yeasts! Good night.
1/30/2011 -- Update - everything appears to be up and running. The yeast appear to be actively chewing away at the sugars. Since this is such a big beer, I am going to plan to keep it in the fermenter for at least 21 days. If I remember, I will check the fermentation and measure the specific gravity in 2 weeks to see where I am at. Then, wait another week to bottle. That is the game plan at this point.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Why Am I Doing This?
Primarily, I am doing this to keep a record of when and what I brew. Every book that I have read about the art of home brewing suggests that you keep precise records of the brewing procedure -- for example, length of the boil, hops schedule, original gravity, etc.
To date, I have been spotty at keeping these records. So, I am hoping that by writing it down in a blog, I can keep track of what I do and when I do it. At least that is the primary reason why I have set this up. I may end up talking about additional stuff, but it will all probably be beer, brewing, or fermenting related.
What Is In The Hopper?
Well, I have approximately four gallons of beer currently being bottle-conditioned. I am attempting to save a really good beer (an old ale) which I could not get to carbonate in the bottle. From my best guess, I kind of blew out the yeast before bottling. Hence, there was not enough active yeast cells to bottle ferment the beer at the time of bottling. It is a really big beer, testing in at about 10% ABV. So, after consulting with the fine staff at Great Fermentations, I decided that my last and best chance to save this beer was to combine it with my Oatmeal Brown Ale (which is about a 6% ABV beer). I blended the two beers and then batch primed the entire 4 gallons with four ounces of corn sugar and some additional dry yeast. This was done a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps in another week or so I will test one to see if I was able to save the beer. Even the beer does not properly carbonate, it is still going to be a very tasty beer -- albeit one without carbonation.
Inspired by Bell's Hopslam Ale
Bell's Hopslam Ale just came out a couple of weeks ago. This is my favorite double India Pale Ale. The stong mango, citrus and pine notes in the hops are delightful. For a 9-10% ABV beer, it is really smooth and well-balanced with just a hint of alcohol burn when drinking it. The honey also adds a nice roundness at the end of the taste. I happen to agree with many of the other beer geeks out there who sing the praises of this beer. But at about $18 per six-pack -- yikes.
So my solution? Try to emulate Hopslam @ home. From what I can gather on-line, Bell's dry-hops with Simcoe and Amarillo hops. So, I went to The Brewer's Art in Fort Wayne and picked Simcoe, Centennial, and Citra hops (they were out of Amarillo and suggested that I substitute Citra). I plan to utilize the Centennial in the beginning of the boil. Then in the last ten minutes, I will again add some Centennial and some Citra. I will then dry-hop with a combination of the Simcoe and Citra hops.
This will be my last 2 gallon "Mr. Beer" batch for a while. With the wine making kit we recently purchased and with a few additions, I will once again be back to brewing 5 gallon batches. While 2 gallon batches are not all bad, for about the same amount of work I can brew 5 gallon batches. And since the entire home brewing industry is sort of predicated on the 5 gallon batch, this will open up my options.
So, later this week, my bastardized version of Hopslam will hit the fermenter.
To date, I have been spotty at keeping these records. So, I am hoping that by writing it down in a blog, I can keep track of what I do and when I do it. At least that is the primary reason why I have set this up. I may end up talking about additional stuff, but it will all probably be beer, brewing, or fermenting related.
What Is In The Hopper?
Well, I have approximately four gallons of beer currently being bottle-conditioned. I am attempting to save a really good beer (an old ale) which I could not get to carbonate in the bottle. From my best guess, I kind of blew out the yeast before bottling. Hence, there was not enough active yeast cells to bottle ferment the beer at the time of bottling. It is a really big beer, testing in at about 10% ABV. So, after consulting with the fine staff at Great Fermentations, I decided that my last and best chance to save this beer was to combine it with my Oatmeal Brown Ale (which is about a 6% ABV beer). I blended the two beers and then batch primed the entire 4 gallons with four ounces of corn sugar and some additional dry yeast. This was done a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps in another week or so I will test one to see if I was able to save the beer. Even the beer does not properly carbonate, it is still going to be a very tasty beer -- albeit one without carbonation.
Inspired by Bell's Hopslam Ale
Bell's Hopslam Ale just came out a couple of weeks ago. This is my favorite double India Pale Ale. The stong mango, citrus and pine notes in the hops are delightful. For a 9-10% ABV beer, it is really smooth and well-balanced with just a hint of alcohol burn when drinking it. The honey also adds a nice roundness at the end of the taste. I happen to agree with many of the other beer geeks out there who sing the praises of this beer. But at about $18 per six-pack -- yikes.
So my solution? Try to emulate Hopslam @ home. From what I can gather on-line, Bell's dry-hops with Simcoe and Amarillo hops. So, I went to The Brewer's Art in Fort Wayne and picked Simcoe, Centennial, and Citra hops (they were out of Amarillo and suggested that I substitute Citra). I plan to utilize the Centennial in the beginning of the boil. Then in the last ten minutes, I will again add some Centennial and some Citra. I will then dry-hop with a combination of the Simcoe and Citra hops.
This will be my last 2 gallon "Mr. Beer" batch for a while. With the wine making kit we recently purchased and with a few additions, I will once again be back to brewing 5 gallon batches. While 2 gallon batches are not all bad, for about the same amount of work I can brew 5 gallon batches. And since the entire home brewing industry is sort of predicated on the 5 gallon batch, this will open up my options.
So, later this week, my bastardized version of Hopslam will hit the fermenter.
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