Big One Barrel brew weekend!

This weekend was full of brewing activity. Over two days 1 barrel of beer was brewed!

First up was an all Simcoe IPA. It was Tim’s turn to come up with a recipe. He wanted a maltier IPA. Something more along the lines of the English style, but not quite. We brewed 20 gallons of this one. It will be an interesting experiment to see if the malt flavor can make it through the higher IBUs on this beer. I think we will also do some dry hopping in the kegs so we can try out using different types and amounts of hops.

I P Simcoe

Batch Size: 20.00 gal Style: American IPA (14B) Boil Size: 24.32 gal Style Guide: BJCP 2008 Color: 6.9 SRM Equipment: 26 Gal BCS system Bitterness: 72.1 IBUs Boil Time: 60 min Est OG: 1.060 (14.8° P) Mash Profile: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out Est FG: 1.016 SG (4.1° P) Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage ABV: 5.8% Ingredients Amount Name Type # 24 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 12 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 5 lbs Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 3 3 lbs Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.0 oz Simcoe [13.0%] - First Wort Hops 5 1.6 oz Simcoe [12.0%] - Boil 60 min Hops 6 2.0 oz Simcoe [13.0%] - Boil 20 min Hops 7 2.0 oz Simcoe [13.0%] - Boil 10 min Hops 8 2.0 oz Simcoe [13.0%] - Boil 5 min Hops 9 1.6 oz Simcoe (Hop Back) [12.8%] - Steep 30 min Hops 10 2 pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 11 2 pkgs Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 12 6.0 oz Simcoe [13.0%] - Dry Hop 0 days Hops 13

Next up was a little side project. I had a bunch of 4th or 5th year Cascade hops growing in my yard and I needed to get them picked and used as some were already starting to dry out on the bine.

This brew session was run by just me, although I got a lot of help from the family both on brew day, and picking the hops. 


I had some trouble with these hops. I pulled down the bines and should have worn long sleeves. The bines ended up being pretty brutal on the arms! 

Then I just dumped the hops in like a complete noob. This was not a smart move! I had a ton of problems with chilling, recirculating. I had to dump everything into my cleaned mash tun so I could use the false bottom to keep them out of the pump. I also had to open the wet end of my pump to get all of the wet hops out! Based on this I am calling this beer:

“When Hops Attack!” IPA

Batch Size: 11.50 gal Style: American IPA (14B) Boil Size: 15.25 gal Style Guide: BJCP 2008 Color: 11.1 SRM Equipment: Stainless Pots (26 gallons) -Brewtroller All Grain Bitterness: 89.7 IBUs Boil Time: 90 min Est OG: 1.068 (16.5° P) Mash Profile: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out Est FG: 1.017 SG (4.4° P) Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage ABV: 6.7% Taste Rating: 30.0 Ingredients Amount Name Type # 21 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 6 lbs Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)(ran out of US pale) Grain 2 3 lbs Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.5 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.5 lbs  Wheat - White Malt (Briess) (2.3 SRM) Grain 5 4.0 oz Midnight Wheat (550.0 SRM) (some color) Grain 6 12 ml Generic CO2-extracted hop resin [60 IBUs] 60 min  Hops 7 2.0 oz Amarillo Gold [8.9%] - Boil 15 min Hops 8 1.0 oz Citra [14.4%] - Boil 10 min Hops 9 8.0 oz Cascade (Wet Hops ) [?%] - Boil 5 min Hops 10 1.0 oz Citra [14.4%] - Boil 5 min Hops 11 2.0 oz Amarillo Gold (Hop Stand) [8.9%] - Steep 15 min Hops 12 2.0 oz Citra (Hop Stand) [14.4%] - Steep 15 min Hops 13 16 oz Cascade (Wet Hops)  [?%] - Steep until drained Hops 14 1 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 15 1 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 16 Notes: 2 Grams Chalk in mash and 2 in spagre. 8 ml Lactic in sparge water. Never dump wet hops without screen in place! Will dry hop with cascade.

2013 Beehive Brewoff Results

This year I entered 5 beers, but I also help judge the 600 entries. I had a great time judging and really learned a ton about the whole process. The first table I judged was Dark Lagers. Not a favorite style, but lucky almost every entry was a schwarzbier, which is one of the few lagers I can get into. The best part of that was I got to judge with Kevin Ely, head brewer at Uinta Brewing, Utah's best brewery. I learned a lot listening to his feedback and trying to find what he was tasting.

Even though I entered 5 beers, two were really for feedback and to help make a decision on what might be a lost cause.

Entries

Beer #1 American Pale Ale - A simcoe and cascade beer that I felt good about and thought would do ok, but realized it would face stiff competition.

Beer #2 Fruit Beer (Coconut Brown Ale) - I also felt good about this beer. I was somewhat worried as I only had enough in my keg to bottle 3 beers so I had no idea how well it would do from the bottle.

Beer #3 Specialty Ale- An all brett fermented beer. Very experimental in that it did not have any hops in the boil. Just flame out and dry hopped. Really good beer, but was unsure on how it would be received.

Beer #4 Wood aged beer- A Scottish Ale we fermented in a very used oak barrel from epic. This beer turned out nothing like what was planned. We did not plan on any brett, but there ended up being no way to stop the brett in the barrel from taking over. The base beer was also really flawed with a bad tannin issue. That said, I still wanted to enter it for feedback and to see if it might be worth holding onto the other 30 gallons I still have.

Beer #5 Oud Bruin - This was another sort of train wreck of a beer, but I was curious on how it would do. This started out as a herb'd honey brown ale for my wife. It never attenuated right and was super sweet. So I decided to throw a Belgian sour mix into it. It turned out almost good. The big issue with it was the finish. The herbs (heather, meadowsweet) had this overpowering bitter quality. I did not mention that the beer had any herbs in it.

Results

Beer 1 American Pale - Score 30 

Judge Comments

• Presents well, great aroma, Flavor a bit out of balance and oxidized aftertaste.
• Needs more hop aroma/flavor. Oxidation detracts from other flavors.

I have none of this beer left. I bottled only 3 beers from a keg. Based on the comments I have to assume it was oxidized pretty badly. Before that occurred this was a good solid pale ale, although probably a bit old for the style. I figured it would score around 35.

Beer 2 Fruit Beer - Coconut Brown Ale - Score 39 (3rd Place)

Judge Comments

• No base style specified but I am guessing brown porter. Aroma is very nice blend of chocolate, biscuit and coconut. Flavor features a drier chocolate and nice coconut character.
• Nice beer. I would really like to know the base beer. I have to ding it slightly for not specifying but this is nicely balanced.

I did mess up here by forgetting to call out the style. Maybe it might have cost it a few points, but I doubt it would have made a difference in the end. I think this beer was just awesome. I felt it would do the best of all my beers even though I know the fruit category is pretty big. I used about 10% brown malt in this beer and have just fallen in love with this malt. It really brings an amazing coffee aroma and flavor. When this beer was still really fresh it was like Kona coffee and coconut.

Beer 3 Specialty Ale - Wild Ale - Score 41 (1st Place)

Judge Comments 

• Well put together unique beer - nice work
• WOW! Technically perfect. The hop addition is spot on. Much earlier would have ruined it. 

I love this beer, but was really unsure how it would do since it is quite out of style in terms of the BJCP guide. I used some cool techniques in this beer. Instead of the standard hop additions that count down from the start of boil, I did no boil additions. Rather I did additions where I counted down post boil. Call it a hop stand if you like. I added Mosaic hops over a 30 minute time frame from flame out. I also dry hopped with more mosaic and some nelson. I purposely did not call out a style on this one since I felt it could harm it in the judging process. 

Beer 4 wood aged beer - Barrel aged Wee heavy - Score 23

Judge Comments

• I really like this beer. The only knock against it is I don't get much wood flavor. I think it might do better in a different category. I would order this at a bar, but for the sourness rather than the wood.
• Great idea & I could see what you were going for but the Brett stripped most flavor and body leaving this fairly bland.

To me this beer is pretty terrible. Sometimes I drink it and think it's passable as a decent brett beer, and othertimes I just dump it out. Overall there are a number of issues with this beer. The first one is that it no longer seems to fit in any style. I agree there is really no wood flavor going on in this one. I still have 30+ gallons of this so I really wanted to know if I should hang on to it for long term aging. I know both the judges, they like funk in their beers. Based on these comments I have decided this beer is not worth saving.

Beer 5 Oud Bruin - Score 34

Judge Comments

• A decent example that needs just a bit more tartness. There is some detectable hop flavor that is out of style.
• Great base beer but you way over hopped it. The bitterness steals the show in the end. Dial those back and your on your way.
• A nice malty, slightly toasty with a hint of sourness. Perhaps a bit too much hop but a well crafted brew.

If only that damn heather were not in this one! The high hop finish that was mentioned are not hops at all. It seems like that finishing flavor will not go away either! I have been sitting on this one for about 14-15 months and the flavor has only diminished very slightly. I am suprised it scored as high as it did. I don't have too much left so I will probably dump this one and try again with a true Oud Bruin in mind.

Scoring Guide
Outstanding - (45 - 50) - World-class example of style.
Excellent - (38 - 44) - Exemplifies style well, requires minor fine-tuning.
Very Good - (30 - 37) - Generally within style parameters, some minor flaws.
Good - (21 - 29) - Misses the mark on style and/or minor flaws.
Fair - (14 - 20) - Off flavors, aromas or major style deficiencies. Unpleasant.
Problematic - (0 - 13) - Major off flavors and aromas dominate. Hard to drink.

Smokin Oats Porter Brew Day

On this scorching July Saturday I brewed a Smoked Porter. A Smoked Porter seems like an odd choice of style to brew mid summer and I agree, it is. Reason? I have two people in the house who absolutely love this beer. One of them, my father in-law, is staying with us while he recovers from surgery. If possible I would like to try and keep him drunk. At least I think I do... we will see. On top of this, he said he would pay for a batch of porter. He didn't tell me the size ;) My wife is also a huge fan of the style.

Of the porter styles I have brewed, I most enjoy a coconut version and a smoked version. He opted for smoked. Fine by me.. let's brew a batch! a 20 gallon batch!

I changed up the recipe a bit. My LHBS is finally carrying naked oats. Its been several months since I have used these as I have have had to mail order them in the past. I absolutely love naked oats. The flavor they bring, at least in the proper amount is not really noticeable. But the body, oh the body. Don't beleive me? Ask Todd Haug, Brew master at Surly about them, and how much he uses them!

On top of the naked oats, which make up 3% of the grain bill, I added quick oats at a rate of 4% of the bill. This will be my first time adding any oats to this recipe. The recipe is solid and in my opinion the beer will benefit from the oat addition. We will see in a few weeks if I am right.

Also this week my wife wanted to get involved in the brewing. She helped out as well as learned some cool brewing terms and techniques!
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Smokin Oats

Robust Porter

Type: All Grain	Date: 7/28/2012
Batch Size (fermenter): 20.00 gal	Brewer:
Boil Size: 23.90 gal	Asst Brewer: Gabrielle
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Stainless Pots (26 gallons) - All Grain
End of Boil Volume 20.50 gal	Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
	Est Mash Efficiency 78.8 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 20 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 41.2 % 12 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 24.7 % 9 lbs Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 18.6 % 2 lbs Oats, Flaked (quick oats) (1.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.1 % 1 lbs 8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.1 % 1 lbs 8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (375.0 SRM) Grain 6 3.1 % 1 lbs 8.0 oz Golden Naked Oats (10.0 SRM) Grain 7 3.1 % 1 lbs Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 8 2.1 % 2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [17.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 9 28.8 IBUs 5.50 oz Sybilla [6.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 10 10.0 IBUs Re-Pitch SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04)  Yeast 11 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.065 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Est Final Gravity: ?	Measured Final Gravity: TBA
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.4 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: TBA
Bitterness: 38.8 IBUs
Est Color: 32.1 SRM
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge - 154 degrees	Total Grain Weight: 48 lbs 8.0 oz

100% Brett Trois IPA

I have always wanted to brew an all Brett fermented beer, but just never had gotten around to it. I guess one reason was I have always associated these beers with a fairly long turn around time. So I always seemed to put it off in favor of something else.

That recently changed. I was checking out a post from a fellow home brewer, Meta Brewing, on an all Brett fermented IPA. After reading the post and reading everything else I could find on the concept, I dove right in by moving this to the top of the brew schedule.

The beer itself is really two experiments in one for me. It is my first attempt at all-brett fermentation. And second it is my first beer to forgo any hops in the boil. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of hops in this brew, but all come at flame out and later.

Thanks to Luke (Meta Brewing) for the inspiration and tips. I used his grain bill, and ideas around hop schedule to come up with the following.

TROIS IPA (((¿0 IBU?)))

American IPA

Type: All Grain	Date: 6/19/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.50 gal	Brewer: Michael & Tim
Boil Size: 13.25 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min	Equipment: Stainless Pots (26 gallons) -BCS 460
End of Boil Volume 11.00 gal	Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 10.00 gal	Est Mash Efficiency 76.1 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 23 lbs 2.9 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.0 % 2 lbs 14.4 oz Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.0 % 1 lbs 7.2 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.0 % 1 lbs 7.2 oz Pale Wheat Malt (German) (2.3 SRM) Grain 4 5.0 % 2.00 oz Mosaic [12.20 %] - Flameout (Steep15.0 min) Hop 5 0.0 IBUs 7.00 oz Mosaic [12.20 %] - Aroma Steep 15 min (add 15 mins after flame out)  Hop 6 0.0 IBUs 2000ml starter BRETTANOMYCES BRUXELLENSIS TROIS (White Labs #WLP644) Yeast 7 - 7.00 oz Mosaic [12.20 %] - Dry Hop 14.0 Days Hop 8 0.0 IBUs 5.50 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs

Updates:

6/23  - Brew day went pretty smooth. OG was a little higher than expected, since we only got 11 gallons into the fermenter. We were expecting 1.064 and hit 1.068

Pitched the Trois from a 2000 ml starter that had been going 4 and a half days. I basically went about doing the same process I do for an ale starter except I did it for several more days than normal. It did not take long for the fermentation to take off.

6/28 - Gravity at 1.020 interesting flavor

7/2 - Things have really slowed down. Gravity is only down to 1.019. I would expect something lower than this. I guess I need some patience. Sample tasted amazing. No noticeable sweetness and just an in your face blast of mango and pineapple flavors. Can't wait to get the dry hops in!

7/4 - Added 7 oz of Mosaic hops to the fermenter. The smell that came out of the fermenter when I opened it was absolute tropical fruit heaven! Just floored me how fruity the smell was.

7/11 - Added 5.5 oz of Nelson

7/18 - Transfered to kegs. FG is 1.015

7/22 - Tasted a little yesterday. Still under carbed at this point. No bitterness at all. Tastes very fruity. I will do a full review in a week or so.

8/4 - I entered this beer into the Specialty Ale category (23) in Utah's 5th Annual Beehive Brew off. It took first place with a score of 41 in a field of 24 entrants.  In the special ingredients field I specified 100% Brett fermentation with Brux Trois. No boil additions and all hops at flameout or later. I also mentioned no fruit was in the beer. Even though I had an IPA in mind when I brewed this I did not call out a base beer. I felt it would probably be harmed in the judging if I did.

Judges were split on the hop schedule. One judge thought it needed more hops in the background to balance the beer. The other said it was spot on and an earlier hop addition would harm the beer.

After drinking this beer I tend to side with the argument for some boil addition hops. If for no other reason because I know what it tastes like without them. It would also push this beer into an amazing Brett beer that I could truly call an IPA.

80 Acre Hoppy Wheat Clone

About a week ago I came across Boulevard Brewing's 80 Acre Wheat beer. I immediately fell in love with it. I am not a big fan of wheat beers, but this one just tasted great to me. With a heat wave in full effect, the desire to brew something similar was high. I checked out some different threads as well as Boulevards website to come up with a clone recipe. It helps that Boulevard is pretty open about the beers ingredients.

It is a pretty simple recipe. There is only one small bittering addition. I used CTZ, but it really doesn't matter what is used as long as you get something like 12-16 IBUs (Boulevard lists this as a 20 IBU beer). All of the rest of the hops, and there are a ton, come at flame out or later.

The calculations below come from Beersmith. In my opinion that program doesn't handle flame-out hop additions well. I guarantee that you are going to pick up some IBUs from a large flame-out addition like the one below.

At flame out we added close to 14 oz of Cascade hops and let things stand for 15 minutes. When we started chilling the temp was 190.

The finishing touch to this beer will be a half pound more of Cascade and a half pound of Nelson Sauvin as dry hops. It will give this beer the aroma of a fine IPA, but will come off more or less like a slightly hoppy and quite citrusy wheat beer.

80 Acre Clone (Hoppy Wheat)

American Wheat or Rye Beer

Type: All Grain	Date: 6/30/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 20.00 gal	Brewer: Michael & Tim
Boil Size: 23.59 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 70 min	Equipment: Stainless Pots (26 gallons) -BCS 460
End of Boil Volume 21.00 gal	Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 20 gal	Est Mash Efficiency 75.6 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 24 lbs 10.4 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 62.2 % 8 lbs Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 20.2 % 7 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 3 17.7 % 1.25 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 16.3 IBUs 13.80 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 15.0 min Hop 5 0.0 IBUs 4.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 6 - 8.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 7 0.0 IBUs 8.00 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

Mash Profile
Mash Steps Name Description Step Temperature Step Time Saccharification Add 13.39 gal of water at 163.9 F 153.0 F 60 min
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 15.96gal) of 168.0 F water
UPDATE 7/10 -This beer has been in the fermenter for 10 days at a constant temp of 67. I did not check the gravity, but I am sure that fermentation is complete. I added a whole pound of hops to the fermenter today. 8 oz of Cascade and 8 Nelson Sauvin. I plan on letting it go 4-5 days before kegging. 7/14 - Kegged this one today. Tasted and looked a lot like grapefruit juice. I will give it a week of keg conditionaing before tasting again.

Operation: EZmash - Brewing with a tankless water heater

Have you ever wished you could just fill up your mash tun with water and mash in? Me too...

Well today we hooked up our newest completely non-essential piece of brewing equipment. A compact LPG tank-less water heater. With this thing we will be able to cut both time and propane out of normal brewing sessions. In our process I figure we will save about 60 minutes a session. I am not sure what the propane savings will be, but it should be pretty great too.

Mounted to the side of the brewing stand

The hook up should have been easy, but of course we had a small hick-up. It turned out our propane pressure was too great for this thing. After 30 minutes of messing with the thing and being unable to get it to light, we turned down the gas and poof... it lit up just like it should.

The stand still fits in it's storage spot

The results were beyond my expectations. According to the documentation, this unit can do a 77 degree rise at 1.8 GPM. I didn't test the temp of my ground water, but I know it is under 70 at this time. And it will only get warmer until about early fall. At the documented rate I should get a max of 144 (less if my ground water is < 70). In our first test we filled the mash tun with 9 gallons of 160 degree water in less than 10 minutes! EZ-mash!!!

To install we tee'ed off our existing gas plumbing. So now we have a single tank that services 3 burners and a tank-less water heater! We have a few changes to make. For example we will hard plumb the filters to the water inlet. However the initial test is very promising! More scientific tests to come!

7/22 Update: 

I have brewed a ton of beer using the water heater including two big group brews with 40 gallons brewed each time. All the mash water came out of the water heater. 

A couple of brew sessions ago I took the temp of my ground water. It came in at 62 degrees and we were filling the HLT with 165 degree water! So we were getting just over a 100 degree temperature rise! That is with an unmodified EZ-202. There is a check/safety valve that can be bypassed, but I see no need.   

We are very careful with both the flow of water and gas. It will shut off if the water GPM is too low. It will not light if the gas pressure is too high. It will also shut off if the water hits ~176. Even then we are still careful. It seems you can melt this thing if you get too aggressive with it. But pumping out 160-165 strike and sparge water at 1.5 GPM is no problem at all!

So far I would have to say this is probably the best brewing equipment investment I have made. Saving an hour on each brew day for a mere $200 investment is a big win in my book.