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.
Monday, January 31, 2011
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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