A Trifecta of Meads

I'm diverging from my usual beer post to make the LPR (if you have to ask please do look it up) of most Renaissance Festivals. Why it's mead of course! I'm making a Dry Mead, Cyser Apple Melomel and a Metheglin. The only bummer is that I'm going to have to wait at least 6 months before I can even taste it. Oh the pain.

Recipes will be posted at a later date.

When every little bit of beer is gone Saisons say so much!

You guessed it. Saison this week. Nothing to special, but it was a beautiful day to brew in South Texas.

A friend of mine told me that Saison loves the heat. Let's hope so. After it starts bubbling I'm sticking it in the garage.My fermenter is full.I need more room to brew.

Beer Nerd Stuff:

Beer Style: Saison

Batch Size: 5.5 Gallons

Grains:

• 7.76 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)
• 2.74 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
• 1.45 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
• 0.71 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
• 0.72 lb Dememera Sugar (2.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 0.75 oz Northern Brewer [8.00 %] (60 min)
• 1.00 oz Saaz [3.30 %] (30 min)
• 2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (5 min)
• 1.50 gm Grains of Paradise (Boil 5.0 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs Belgian Saison I Ale (White Labs #WLP565)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body

OG: 1.072 SG

Look out! She's going to blow!

I won a gold medal at a major homebrew competition in Texas this year. The style of beer stout and the name of the beer was...well, maybe I should start from the beginning.

Before the year of beer I was making mostly extract beers. Think of extract beers as a "Mr. Beer" kit taken to the next level. That week I was making my first stout. I was really looking forward to it. I've been a big old stout fan for quite some time and I really didn't want to screw this beer up. I carefully measured all my ingredients, was disciplined in keeping the temperature to within one degree on my mini-mash, and carefully grew my yeast for pitching into the wort.

I went to bed that night thinking everything went great and that I should have a good beer within a few weeks.

I woke up the next morning to find my stout wasn't fermenting! Yikes! What did I do wrong? I think I called my wife from work about five time that day to ask if the brew started fermenting yet. Later that afternoon I finally saw my first fermentation bubbles. Whew! I went to bed that night relieved that the beer was fermenting away with dreams of chocolate and coffee beer in my head.

My wife woke up first the next day. She came in to wake me and said,"Honey, you beer is hissing and foaming over."

Panic.

Fear.

Oh the humanity, I'm losing beer to the foam.

I knew that first thing I had to do was to change out the bubbler since the current one was encrusted with beer gunk. I took off the bubbler and was head toward the sink...oh crap...there's stout on the ceiling.

As soon as I took off the bubbler the stout shot out of the carboy like Texas crude and made a distinctive pattern on the ceiling. The pattern was like what you would see in a CSI episode when they check out a cheap motel room. Just think blacklight and you will get the picture. I cleaned up the mess and headed to work

6 weeks later I had a yummy and chewy stout. All that work (and cleaning) was so worth it.

My buddy Bob came over for a pint and I told him the story. He said,"Dude! You should call it the Load Blower!"

The beer has lived up to it's name. The second time it was proud enough to shootout the bubbler on its own. The same thing happened on the third. (That time I was smart enough to put the brew in a bathtub. Tile is so much easier to clean than carpet.)

Load Blower 3 won a Gold Medal at the Lunar Rendezbrew in the Stout category. Thank you, Bob for naming the beer.

Oh yeah, back to what I brewing. Load Blower 4 is in the carboy. May it forever blow its load.

Another weekend another two brew

This weekend I brewed an Imperial Pale Ale with a ridiculous amount of hops. I had help from my local brewclub. At our monthly meeting it was asked "Are you brewing this weekend?" I said, "Hell yes I am!" I then became the happy owner of fresh Simcoe hops.

The hops were so thick after the boil that I had to pour the wort pitcher by pitcher through a strainer and scoop out the hops ever few minutes. A tried a  hop kettle screen screen, but it failed. Is was then my wife and I said in unison in our best Jack Nicholson impersonation, "You can't handle the hops."

I also managed to make a small beer. Mmmm beer. It's what's for dinner. That and the steak my wife picked up at Costco.

Beer Nerd Stuff:

Beer Style: American Amber

Batch Size: 5 Gallons

Grains:

• 18.25 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
• 1.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
• 0.06 lb Carafa III (525.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 3.50 oz Brewer's Gold [9.70 %] (90 min)
• 1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [7.20 %] (5 min)
• 1.00 oz Simcoe [12.20 %] (5 min)
• 1.00 oz Amarillo Gold (Dry Hop 3 Days In Secondary) [7.20 %] (0 min)
• 1.00 oz Simcoe (dry Hop 3 Days In Secondary) [12.20 %] (0 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body

OG: 1.095 SG

A change of heart on ciders and meads

Way back when I decided not to include ciders and meads in the year of beer. I'm happy to say I was so wrong not to include them. A friend of mine convinced me to give them a go. Well, not just any friend. He happens to hold a few national championship medals. Among those medals are winners for cider. I asked John if he wouldn't mind teaching me a couple of things on Cider making. He was happy to oblige.

Cider Nerd Stuff:

Cider Style: Common Cider

Batch Size: 4 Gallons

Juice:

• 4 gallons organic cider
  

Yeast:

• 2Pkgs Red Star Pasteur Champagne

Cider Style: English Cider

Batch Size: 4 Gallons

Juice:

• 4 gallons organic cider

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs English Cider Yeast (White Labs #WLP775)

Teach a Spouse to Brew Day

Today was a significant milestone in the year of beer. My wife made her first all grain beer today with a mash tun we both built together. There was a stuck sparge and all those great things that go wrong making beer. We even tried a new wort ice water pump chiller. It took her a full 8 hours from start to finish. I am so proud of her. I think I've created a monster. Ain't it great!

Beer Nerd Stuff:

Beer Style: American Amber

Batch Size: 4 Gallons

Grains:

• 6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM)
• 1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
• 0.38 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)
• 0.13 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 0.50 oz Centennial [9.00 %] (60 min)
• 0.50 oz Cascade [7.50 %] (15 min)
• 0.50 oz Cascade [7.50 %] (5 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body

OG: 1.054 SG

Even More Bourbon Barrel Belgian Dark Strong

A couple of folks didn't manage to brew their share for the Belgian Dark Strong. Leave it to guy going through the year of beer to brew some more.

Beer Nerd Stuff:

Beer Style: Bourbon Barrel Belgian Dark Strong

Batch Size: 12 Gallons

Grains:

• 4.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM)
• 22.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
• 10.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
• 1.50 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)
• 0.50 lb Carafa II (412.0 SRM)
• 4.00 lb Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 12.00 oz Northern Brewer [10.60 %] (60 min)
• 1.50 oz Styrian Goldings [3.50 %] (20 min)
• 0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [3.50 %] (10 min)

Yeast:

• 2 Pkgs Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP550)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body

OG: 1.097 SG

Rye In My Eye

Rye Beer this week. I took my American Wheat recipe and added rye to give it a twist. I had a huge (above 85%) efficiency with the wort, so I decided to make a small beer with a different yeast in addition to the rye. Once again, two beers in one.

Beer Nerd Stuff:

Beer Style: American Rye

Batch Size: 6.6 Gallons

Grains:

• 0.50 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM)
• 5.20 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
• 4.50 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
• 1.50 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM)

Hops:

• 1.00 oz Saaz [6.80 %](60 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) 

Mash Type:

• Double Infusion, Medium Body
  

OG: 1.051 SG

My Pale Ale

Here's a recipe that is truly my own. Up until now I've tweaked existing recipes giving them my own twist. It's the first time I've come up with my own original recipe. I hope it turns out well.


Beer Nerd Stuff:   


Beer Style: American Pale Ale 


Batch Size: 5.3 Gallons 


Grains: 

• 11.50 lb      Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
• 0.68 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
• 0.52 lb       Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)
• 0.29 lb       Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz       Centennial [8.50 %]  (60 min)
• 0.40 oz       Cascade [7.50 %]  (20 min)
• 0.40 oz       Cascade [7.50 %]  (15 min)
• 0.75 oz       Cascade [7.50 %]  (5 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs        American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out

OG: 

• 1.065 SG

Year of beer short cut. It's two beers in one.

Two beers this week from the same wort. One is a Weissbier while the other is an American Wheat.

You might ask what's the difference in the two beers. Well that's simple. One my wife will drink (the American Wheat) and the other will most likely be drunk by a bunch of farting and belching men. I have a fishing trip coming up soon. I'm sure the Weissbier will make an appearance.


Beer Nerd Stuff:

Beer Style: American Wheat/Weissbier

Batch Size: 11.0 Gallons

Grains: 

• 0.25 lb       Rice Hulls
• 12.00 lb      Wheat Malt, Belgian
• 10.60 lb      Pale Malt (2 Row) US

Hops

• 2.00 oz       Saaz [4.00 %]  (80 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs        American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)
• 1 Pkgs        Bavarian Weizen Yeast (White Labs #WLP351)

Mash Type:

• Double Infusion, Medium Body

OG: 

• 1.051 SG

Notes:

Batch was split into 2 batches with a different yeast added to each batch.

Halfway through the year of beer

Who would have thought I would be able to keep up with it. I'm halfway through and I've made 27 distinct brews. For those of you keeping track here's a list:

1. German Pils
2. Vienna Lager
3. Munich Helles
4. Schwarzbier
5. Traditional Bock
6. Mailbock/Helles Bock
7. Extra Special/Strong Bitter
8. Doppelbock
9. Small Dopple
10. Eisbock
11. Ordinary Bitter
12. 60 Shilling Ale
13. 70 Shilling Heavy
14. 80 Shilling Heavy
15. Irish Red Ale
16. 90 Wee Heavy
17. Standard/Ordinary Bitter (Different Hops)
18. Southern English Brown Ale
19. Southern English Brown Ale (Different Recipe)
20. Belgian Dark Strong Ale
21. Small Belgian Dark
22. Mild
23. American Brown Ale
24. Northern English Brown Ale
25. Belgian Wit
26. Belgian Wit (with Blueberries)
27. Small Belgian Wit

Wow! I never thought I'd get this far. Over the course of the next few months I'll be sharing some of the beer stories that have resulted from the making of so many beers. Cheers.

My pot runneth over

This weeks brew is called a "Belgian Wit." It should really be called, "Next time brew with a buddy."

I originally started out this day thinking I was going to brew a 10 gallon recipe and split it in 2. It turned out to be 12 gallon recipe and a smidgen more.

If you folks have been keeping up you might know about my brew equipment issues as of late.I decided to make a couple of changes for this brew. The first thing was the replacement of my ring manifold for the mash tun. It was pretty easy to do. Besides, the blood I lost from dealing with the steel braid was like a badge of honor.

The second thing was to mill my own grain. The Mrs got me a grain mill for my B-Day, so it seemed like the perfect time to try it out.

I had no idea what I was getting into and it was a beatiful thing.

My efficiencies went through the roof. I never had such a high efficiency out of my brew equipment. A small problem ensued. The OG I was reading before the boil was too high for the style. No biggie, I'll just add a little more water and a little more hop to correct for it.

Let me say this, I thought my brew pot was pretty big. It can hold 15 gallons of water/wort. It just barely held my wort for the boil.

For the uninformed, when you boil water you increase it's volume by 4 percent. I had 14.82 gallons of wort in a 15 gallon pot and I was trying to get it to a boil. During the boil I lost a little wort, but that wasn't the worse part.

I had no idea how truly heavy it is to move 15 gallons of beer around. Anyone who has ever moved a beer keg will know what I'm talking about. The one nice thing about a beer keg is that you can roll it. You can't roll a brew pot that's full. Even worse, I had to lift the brewpot full of wort 4 ft off the ground to fill my carboys with wort. Can you say, "Owe!" My back hurt for two days after it was all over.

Shockingly, there was still more wort to recover from the grain. I was able to make a small beer from the second runnings bringing my year of beer total to 27 beers.

Truly, my pot runoff over.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Wit

Batch Size: 12.0 Gallons

Grains:

• 0.25 lb       Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM)
• 11.00 lb      Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.2 SRM)
• 11.00 lb      Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)

Hops

• 2.00 oz       Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %]  (60 min)
• 1.00 oz       Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min)
• 1.00 oz       Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min)

Yeast:

• 2 Pkgs        Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400)      Yeast-Wheat

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.053 SG

Notes:

This recipe after boil was split in two. One will be left as is. The other will have blueberries added to the secondary fermentor. 

Don't speaka the English

Northern English Brown Ale this week.

I thought I fixed my mash tun ring mainfold last week, but it's looks like I didn't. My efficiency (sugars I extracted from the wort) were really low. Time to bite the bullet and make a new manifold.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Northern English Brown Ale

Batch Size: 4.18 Gallons

Grains:

• 1.00 lb       Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) 
• 7.00 lb       Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
• 1.00 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
• 0.25 lb       Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)

Hops

• 0.50 oz       Challenger [7.00 %]  (60 min)
• 0.50 oz       Fuggles [4.50 %]  (30 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs        British Ale (Wyeast Labs #1098)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.048 SG

Beer Good, Maple Beer Better

Not much to say about this brew day. Nice weather and everything went according to plan for a change.

A simple recipe for an American Brown Ale with maple syrup for the secondary. Add some pancakes and what a breakfast this would make. Yum.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: American Brown Ale

Batch Size: 5.0 Gallons

Grains:

• 7.00 lb       Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
• 0.50 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
• 0.25 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)
• 0.25 lb       Special Roast (50.0 SRM)
• 1.00 lb       Maple Syrup (35.0 SRM) (Put in secondary)

Hops

• 1.00 oz       Centennial [8.50 %]  (60 min)
• 0.50 oz       Williamette [5.80 %]  (30 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs         American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.042 SG

Mild In Flavor, Not In Labor

English Mild this week. For such a simple beer it was a true pain in the butt.

I had a horrendous stuck sparge with this beer. There was nothing that I could do to get the wort following. I tried hot water (172 degrees Fahrenheit), stirring the mash...nothing worked. Finally, with the help of the Mrs. we did it the hard way using colanders and plastic buckets. Can you say that wort is, ouch, hot! Nothing like first degree wort burns. I tasted the wort and it was somewhat astringent, but I knew there was nothing I could really do about it.

I found out later that the ring manifold in my mash tun had a couple of really big dents in it that caused the stuck sparge. This was probably the same culprit that caused the lack of sugar in my wort the previous brew. I never even considered that I would have to do periodic maintenance with my brew system during the year of beer. It gives me that much more respect for the microbreweries that are out there cranking through beer on a weekly basis. I'll be paying much more attention to equipment maintenance as the year goes on. It also makes the beer I produce that much sweeter.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Mild

Batch Size: 5.0 Gallons

Grains:

• 5.00 lb       Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
• 0.50 lb       Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)
• 0.08 lb       Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)
• 1.00 lb       Turbinado (10.0 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz       Goldings, B.C. [5.00 %]  (60 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs        American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.032 SG

Pour Some Belgian On Me

It's been a long time since I've brewed, but I'm making up for it. Two brews were done today. One a Belgian Dark Strong and the other...well, I'll get to that one later.

The local homebrew club I belong to (Bexar Brewers) is planning on putting a Belgian Dark Strong into a bourbon barrel.. As you may have guessed, this particular brew I'm brewing is going into the bourbon barrel.

The brewclub is going by a specific recipe, so the gravity and IBUs on this have to be pretty spot on. There really isn't a whole lot of room for error.

Enter brother Murphy. You may have heard of him.He's that rogue Belgian monk that loves to mess with what the other monks are brewing. He takes particular glee when there are home brewers around.

I follow the recipe like I normally do and then take a reading on the gravity just prior to the boil.  Darn it, it was too low. I add some dry malt extract. Damn. It was still to low. More malt extract, still to low. Panic sets in. The local homebrew store is closed. I had a full blown homebrew emergency on my hands. Then I remember, don't monks like to use sugar in their beer? Thankfully, I had some extra brown sugar to use in the recipe. All is saved for the Belgium Dark Strong. Huzzah!

Remember folks. This was a two brew day. I still had the small beer to contend with.

For the small beer I  planned on using dry malt extract in addition to the second runnings from the first beer, but I has already used all the dry malt extract for the Belgian Dark Strong. For those of you who have ever made some form of soup from whatever you had laying around in your pantry you may find this next part interesting.

I still needed sugar to get my gravity up on the small beer. I scavenged the pantry for whatever was left. I found honey, light brown sugar, dark brown sugar and maple syrup. I didn't measure anything. I just keep putting stuff in until, get this, I think the raw wort tastes right. I throw in leftover hops from the last couple of brews for bittering and flavor. We'll see what this mystery beer tastes like in a few weeks.

Truly exhausted from a extra long brew day, I go to bed smelling of wort and dreaming of a river of bourbon barrel Belgian beer.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Batch Size: 5.5 Gallons

Grains and Sugars:

• 1.75 lb       Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM)
• 11.00 lb      Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
• 5.00 lb       Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
• 0.75 lb       Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)
• 0.25 lb       Carafa II (412.0 SRM)
• 2.25 lb       Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz       Northern Brewer [10.60 %]  (60 min)
• 0.75 oz       Styrian Goldings [3.50 %]  (20 min)
• 0.25 oz       Styrian Goldings [3.50 %]  (10 min)      
  

Yeast:

• 
  
  
  

  1 Pkgs        Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP550)

Mash Type:

• Double Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.095 SG

The Brew Day That Went Boom!

(Got it all together, don't you, baby)
Murphy's Law, sure out to get you
(Got it all together, don't you, baby)
Murphy's Law, sure out to get you

Cheri - Murphy's Law

Murphy's law was in full effect on this brew day.

It started with water and ended with a, "Big bada boom!"

After having a successful double brew day last week I thought I'd tempt fate and try to do it again.

I needed to get two simple things to get this brew day started. Water and invert sugar.

"Yo, homeboy! You must be kidding." - MC Hammer

Invert sugar. What diabolical bastard invented invert sugar! I looked everywhere. Three different grocery stores, foreign food aisles, asking little old ladies...nothing. 1 1/2 hours in my journey I gave up and decided to get plain old cane sugar syrup.

Ha!

I had even worse luck finding the cane syrup. Oh, I found it alright. It was $4.50 for 11 ounces of the stuff. Imported no less.I needed two pounds. I finally just called the Mrs and asked her to look up a recipe for cane syrup.

Finally, one last stop. Two five gallons jugs of water from the Glacier water machine. You might see where this one is going.

Yeap, it was out of order.

After traveling another five miles I found another water machine. Two hours (in what was supposed to be a 30 minute trip) I headed home.

Okay, It's only 1PM. I still might manage to salvage this day and get two brews in.

I make my way back into my brew storage room (the room formally known as our game room.) I started moving stuff around and noticed there was a good deal of glass on the bottom of one the shelves.

At this point I would like to say I, "Had a Coke and a smile." I can't say that. This is because most of my homemade cola had decided to go ballistic the night before. Glass was everywhere. Despite the cola being in an enclosed plastic container shreds of glass had rocketed to the other side of the room. The explosion even blew a half dollar size hole into the side of the container.

I cleaned up all the glass and gently move the plastic container where the rest of the cola bottles that didn't explode to the garage.

There were still about 8 cola bottles that had decided it was not their time to explode. I knew I had to relieve the pressure on the bottles. Since they didn't explode, I figured it would be reasonably safe to open the bottles with a bottle opener.

Note to self. Bottle bombs will always and forever be bottle bombs.

I popped the top of the first bottle. It was like a shotgun going off. Shards of glass and the bottle top zoomed by my head. I sat down for a couple of minutes. I could have have been killed by cola. The headline would have read, "Man killed by yeast, water and sugar. Film at 11."

I covered the top of the container and very gently moved the whole thing outdoors. I tried to detonate the cola over a distance by tossing it on the concrete, but all that did was create even more shrapnel. Over the course of the next hour the Mrs and I became a miniature bomb squad. We filled up a plastic tub with water and opened the bottles one by one in the tub. I used a metal pan as a shield over the tub just in case one the bottles got airborne. Since the Mrs had leather gloves she became the detonation expert.

I cleaned up the remaining mess and finally got on with the brew day.

I learned a few valuable lessons today:

• Sugar, water and yeast are dangerous when not used in the right proportion.
• Stick to plastic when making soda. I know it's not environmentally friendly, but in the end you'll live longer.
• Listen to your wife when she asks you to not make any more soda in glass bottles.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Southern English Brown Ale #2

Batch Size: 5.0 Gallons

Grains:

• 5.50 lb       Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
• 1.33 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
• 0.66 lb       Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)
• 0.40 lb       Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)
• 0.84 lb       Turbinado (10.0 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz       Fuggles [4.00 %]  (60 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs        London Ale (Wyeast Labs #1028)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.044 SG

Double Brew Day

It's been a whole two weeks since my last brew. Time to catch up if I plan on still hitting 52 brews in one year. It's a good thing I was already one ahead of schedule. Time to rock and roll.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Southern English Brown Ale

Batch Size: 6.0 Gallons

Grains:

• 7.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
• 0.69 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
• 0.31 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -150L (150.0 SRM)
• 0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
• 0.13 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (60 min))

Yeast:

• English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.036 SG

Beer Style: Standard/Ordinary Bitter

Batch Size: 6.0 Gallons

Grains:

• 6.38 lb Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM)
• 0.81 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)
• 0.31 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min)
• 1.00 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (20 min)

Yeast:

• English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.039 SG

I forgot to drink again

Yeap. I can't believe is myself. I forgot to drink a beer yet again while I was brewing. I can rest easy though. It is the first time I have ever hit my target OG.

It was a long brew day. It was also the most satisfying I have ever had.

I worked so hard today, but it didn't feel like work. I wish it could be like that every day.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Scottish 90 Wee Heavy

Batch Size: 5.0 Gallons

Grains:

• 7.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK
• 0.33 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)
• 4.50 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz Phoenix [10.00 %] (60 min)

Yeast:

• Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028) (Yeast Starter was used)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.072 SG

Getting My Irish Out

Another week and another homebrew.

I did an Irish beer today. The fun was not so much making it, but having a bud over while I was brewing.

It was the first time I explained the process of brew making while having someone else there . It was fun.  The bourbon barrel aged stout I was drinking while brewing also helped in the process.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Irish Red Ale

Batch Size: 4.5 Gallons

Grains:

• 6.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK
• 1.50 lb Biscuit Malt
• 1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
• 0.25 lb Special B Malt

Hops

• 0.50 oz Goldings, Kent [4.50 %] (60 min)
• 1.00 oz Pearle [7.10 %] (15 min) 

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.046 SG

Spit is out you wee little bastards

Another Scottish ale this week. Spring is in full force in south Texas. Apparently gnats like the sweet smell of wort, but here's the surprising thing. When I was brewing today they stayed away from the wort and went straight toward the beer I was drinking. Before I knew it I had 3 gnats drunk on the pilsner I made a few weeks ago.

Considering I'm down to the last few bottles of that tasty pils I  took drastic action. I promptly kicked the gnats out of my beer, cursed them for a little bit and defiantly drank the rest of my beer.

Beer is life.  Don't let nature drink your life.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Scottish Light 80

Batch Size: 5 Gallons

Grains:

• 8.25 lb Pale Malt(2.0 SRM)
• 0.33 lb Roasted Barley(300.0 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz First Gold [7.70 %] (45 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.041 SG

Root Beer...hopefully not Root Bombs

I made root beer instead of beer today. It wasn't the first time I made root beer, but it's the first time I bottled it.

I'm a little concerned about it. I've heard so many stories of folks doing a reenactment of the finale to the "Star and Stripes Forever", so I've taken some precautions. I've placed most of the bottles in a plastic bin and some others in a plastic bag, while the carbonation does it thing.

The one thing I haven't figured out is, when is the root beer at greatest risk for going kaboom?

I gave my wife a little warning. If for some reason it sounds like gunfire in the house she shouldn't panic. Besides hitting the floor, she might want to determine if the shots are coming from the guest bathroom.

If all goes well we might find ourselves quoting Marvin the Martian.

Sleepy Scottish Ale

Nice day in south Texas.  It was so nice in fact I fell asleep during the brewing process.  No harm done. I just needed the nap.

The nap was needed because I had four cases of Landshark bottles to clean and remove the labels off of yesterday

Next time I'll just buy the bottles I need. For the four cases I cleaned it took close to 8 hours.  4 cases of new bottles from a wholesaler would have run me about 20 bucks. I got to get better with this economy of scale thing.

OG is a little low for the style. Oh well.  It's a good thing I liked the previous Scottish Light 60.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Scottish Light 70

Batch Size: 5 Gallons

Grains: 

• 5.75 lb Pale Malt(2.0 SRM)
• 1.5 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
• 0.33 lb Roasted Barley(300.0 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (60 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.033 SG

Beer Word Wednesday

Today's beer word is:

Propane

Propane is what you use during you boil, so your natural gas bill doesn't get stupid.

Hank Hill would approve.


Here's a pic.

If I'm making a Scottish Light, why is everything so heavy?

Top of the morning to you!

I think this is the earliest I've ever done a brew.  I was up this morning before even the sun came up.

This week's beer is a Scottish Light 60 Shilling Ale. I'm grateful to the Scot's as their beer recipes do not involve long processes to get a brew done.

Everything feels a little more heavy getting it done early in the morning. It might have something to do with the fact I've usually had one or more beers before I start to brew.  Go figure.

I have high hopes for this brew. I believe I managed to get the water chemistry right for the first time ever.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Scottish Light 60

Batch Size: 5 Gallons

Grains: 

• 5.00 lb Pale Malt(2.0 SRM)
• 0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
• 0.33 lb Roasted Barley(300.0 SRM)

Hops

• 1.00 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (60 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.030 SG

Late Bitter

While the Mrs was out of town I decided to get a beer done. Just a plain old ordinary English bitter this time. For once I actually hit above my OG. Thank you Maris Otter. That's all cause it's late and I'm kinda tired.


Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Ordinary Bitter
 
Batch Size: 5 Gallons

Grains: 

• 5.75 lb Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM)
• 0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)
• 0.25 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min)
• 1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (20 min)
• 1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)
• 1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (Dry Hopped)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion, Medium Body
  

OG:

• 1.042 SG

Beer Word Wednesday

Today's beer word is:

Wort Chiller

It's a copper coil filled with cool water that circulates to cool down you wort before you add yeast.

Here's a pic.

Beer Word Wednesday

Today beer word is:

Bottles

Here's how to use it in a sentence.

I'm gonna need a boatload of bottles since I making 52 brews in one year.

Here's a pic.

Eis bock baby

Behold! The last beer I'll have to lager this year. Hooray. I'll finally get my kegerator back. Woo-hoo! I've been using my kegerator to lager beer and I'll be so happy having a cold brew flow through it's taps again.

My kegerator's last challenge will be to freeze my Eisbock...you know...to flavor the Eisbock. Nod. Nod. Wink. Wink.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Eisbock
 
Batch Size: 5 Gallons

Grains: 

• 8.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
• 3.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)
• 2.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
• 1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)
• 1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
• 0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 1.75 oz Hallertauer [3.80 %] (90 min)
• 0.50 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (30 min)
• 0.50 oz Saaz [2.60 %] (30 min)
• 0.50 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (5 min)
• 0.50 oz Saaz [2.60 %] (5 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs Bavarian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2206)

Mash Type:

• Temperature Mash
  

OG:

• 1.090 SG

Beer Word Wednesday

This week's word is: Brewpot

It's what you brew beer in.  You may also cook gumbo, but be sure to clean it before you brew beer the next time.

Here's a pic:

My Doppleback is hurting me

Beautiful day in south Texas to make beer. Too bad it didn't come out right.

Today was the first time I tried to figure out the water profile for me beer. I delicately measured every single water additive down to the gram to try and get a match for the water in the region of the would I was trying to make the beer.

Always check the legs on your collapsible table. Always.

The cooler I was using to store all of that lovely water caused the table to collapse on one side. All the time prep to make the water went to naught and I left having to partially use my local area water.

I even missed the OG for the beer. Ouch! That hurts.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: Dopplebock
 
Batch Size: 5 Gallons

Grains: 

• 11.25 lb     Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
• 1.75 lb     Lager Malt (2.0 SRM)
• 0.50 lb     Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)
• 0.50 lb     Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
• 0.13 lb     Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 0.15 oz Hallertauer [4.50 %] (90 min)
• 1.00 oz Tradition [5.80 %] (90 min)
• 0.25 oz Hallertauer [4.50 %] (20 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkg German Bock Lager (White Labs #WLP833)

Mash Type:

• Double Infusion, Medium Body (90 Minutes)
  

OG:

• 1.078 SG

Beer Word Wednesday

This week's word is: Hops

A bitter and flavor component of beer.  It also acts as a preservative.  It comes in three forms leaf, whole or pellet.  Most home brewer's use pellet.

Here's a pic.

Big Old ESB

I took a break from brewing lagers this week. The Mrs loves her some bitter, so I brewed a big batch (10 gallons worth) of Extra Special Bitter. This was the first time I ever brewed a 10 gallon batch. Boy was this heavy to move around in the brewpot. I was so worried about sloshing it all over the place.  It took two carboys for all the wort. That some bitter baby!

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: 8C Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
 
Batch Size: 10 Gallons

Grains: 

• 18.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 
• 2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
• 1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 3.00 oz Kent Goldings (USA) [4.90 %] (90 min)
• 2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (15 min)
• 1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent (Dry Hopped 7 Days) [5.00 %] (0 min)
  

Yeast:

• 2 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04)
  

Mash Type:

• Single Infusion (90 minute)
  

OG:

• 1.053 SG

Beer Word Wednesday

This week's word is: Mash Tun

A container using in the process of mashing your grain.

At some point I'll define what mashing is, but if you can't wait here's a link.

A pic of my mash tun. Aren't Igloo cooler high tech?

Not Mai(My)-Bock Enough...Don't brew after work

Just when you think you are really starting to get a handle at this home brewing thing the brew throws you a curve.

Okay, unlike last week I finally got a hold of the right type of grains for a Maibock. All was going good until...well here's what happened.

My normal brew days, up to this point, have been on the weekend, but my back felt a little whacked out over the weekend, so I put it off a couple days.  I figured brewing on a Monday would give my back a little rest and give me something to do while the Mrs. was out of town on business. I was so wrong.

I made a lot more mistakes this time round. The mistakes I made was simple stuff too.  I spilled water while adding it to the grain in the mash tun. I over compensated and added more water than the water I lost. I even missed my mark on the temp for the protein rest.  It was like that all night.

The end result of this is that I missed the OG on the Maibock

Don't brew tired after work.  That's all I'm saying.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: 5A Maibock/Helles Bock
 
Batch Size: 5.5 Gallons

Grains:

• 9.25 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)
• 2.75 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
• 0.25 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2.04 %

Hops:

• 1.00 oz Hallertauer * Noble [3.00 %] (90 min) Hops 10.2 IBU
• 0.63 oz Magnum {LC} [13.10 %] (90 min) Hops 27.8 IBU

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs German Bock Lager (White Labs #WLP833)
  

Mash Type:

• Double Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.060 SG

Beer Word Wednesday

This week's word is: Carboy

A big old jug used in the fermentation of beer.

Here's a pic.

Not Mai(My)-Bock

Took a while to get this week's post.  I'm making this quick cause I got work tomorrow.

I was originally going to make a Maibock out a recipe inspired from the book "Bock" by Darryl Richman. I was all set to make it until...I found out his recipe wasn't exactly to style for a Maibock. So now I had ingredients but not for a Maibock. Quick adjustments to my planned beer were in order. I wound up making a traditional Bock instead of the Maibock.

The lesson learned: pre plan the ingredients for the projected style you are trying to make, so that you make sure the ingredients you have on hand will make the style. Sounds simple.  It wasn't. I spent almost an hour making adjustments to the recipe, so it would come out as a bock rather than a Maibock.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: 5B Traditional Bock
 
Batch Size: 4.5 Gallons

Grains:

• 5.50 lb Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) 
• 5.50 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)
• 1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 1.00 oz Hallertauer [3.80 %] (90 min)
• 0.62 oz Hallertauer [3.80 %] (30 min)
• 1.00 oz Saaz [2.60 %] (0 min)

Yeast:

• 1 Pkgs German Lager (White Labs #WLP830)
  

Mash Type:

• Double Infusion, Full Body
  

OG:

• 1.070 SG

Big Lou's

Too full of beer and pizza from Big Lou's to blog about the new beer. More tomorrow.

Early Brew Morning

Had to get up early this morning for the brew day.  Mrs and I are meeting friends for pizza and beer at Big Lou's later today.  Go figure.

Storage problem

In my bottles post I thought I had it covered,but I forgot something.  Where in the world am I gonna store all this beer? The Mrs and I went on a trip to Home Depot today. I'll have more once I reorganize the brew room tomorrow.

Beer Word Wednesday

I'm starting something new this week.  In order to give me buds a more clear understanding of beer terminology I plan on explain a word related to beer brewing every Wednesday.

This week's word is: Wort


Wikipedia defines it here.

My definition is a little less intense. Wort is the ingredients of beer in liquid form (kinda like a soup) before it's fermented into beer.  It's that simple.

Bottles and bottles and bottles. Oh my!

A friend of mine figured out that if I'm going to complete this goal of 52 brews in a year I'm going to need about 2,700 12 oz bottles.

Houston. We have a problem. I don't have 2,700 bottles.  I don't even have time to sing "Twenty seven hundred bottles of beer on the wall', but I do have lots of friends who drink beer.

Thanks to the generosity of my beer drinking buddies I now have a somewhat steady supply of bottles coming in. This may be due to the fact that I negotiated homebrew for bottles.  More on that in a later post. I still had to clean the bottles and strip the labels before I can use them.

Okay, a word to the breweries of the world.  What's is up with your label glue?

Some labels come off easy (thank you Sam Adams), other labels you gotta scrap to get off (Dos Equis), and yet some labels you can get off, but the glue will remain to the end of time (Heineken).

Brewery dudes. Get a grip. We will drink your beer.  But please have some mercy on the home brewers of the world. Make a label that is easy to get off. There's gotta be a happy balance between marketing and adhesiveness.

Long Brew Day

Beer number 4 of 52 and what turned out to be the longest brew day I've had so far.  From beginning to end it took over 7 hours. No bees this time. I did find out out that traditional Celtic music is great for a long brew day.  It was then the Mrs reminded me that, "...Celtic music is all about places, drinking and women..."  I'll brew to that!

Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: 4C Schwarzbier
 
Batch Size: 5.75 Gallons

Grains:

• 6.50 lb Pilsner (1.7 SRM) 
• 2.00 lb Munich Malt I (5.6 SRM)
  
• 1.00 lbCarafa Special III (470 SRM)
  
• 0.25 lb Aromatic Malt (26 SRM)
• 0.25 lb Munich Malt 20L (20 SRM)
  

Hops:

• 0.50 oz Northern Brewer [10.60 %] (90 min)
• 0.75 oz Hallertauer [3.8 %] (90 min)
• 0.50 oz Hallertauer [3.8 %] (30 min) 
• 0.25 oz Hallertauer [3.8 %] (5 min) 

Misc:

• 0.58 oz Burton Water Salts (Mash 90 min)
  

Yeast:

• SafLager West European Lager (DCL Yeast #S-23)
  

Mash Type:

• Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Medium Body
  

OG:

• 1.047 SG

Comments:

Sparging took forever. Wort tasted so good the Mrs would have been willing to have a full glass before fermentation. Wow! First time I did a temperature mash.

Helles Bees

Munich Helles this week. I burned a rubber hose on my wort chiller this week in a most perculiar way.

It's pretty dead here in south Texas. The only things alive during the winter months are weeds and the occasional hovering insect. I think that why I was surprised to see bees.  Yes bees...and they were big honking muthas.

I was at the end of my boil about ready to start chilling the wort and then...they came.  I guess with nothing blooming my wort seemed like a delicate flower ready to be pollinated. I wasn't about to have a couple of bees ruin my wort, so I did what any self respecting beer maker would do.  I grabbed my brewpot and moved with a purpose to save my beer, at all costs. Hmmm, what's that smell?  It nothing. I have to save my beer!

The hose from the exit side of the wort chiller melted in half. Luckily, it didn't melt on me. No real harm done except for about a buck worth of rubber hose. It could have been much worse. The bees could have hurt the beer.


Beer Nerd Stuff: 

Beer Style: 1D Munich Helles
 
Batch Size: 5 Gallons

Grains:

• 8.75 lb Pilsner (1.7 SRM) 

Hops:

• 0.50 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.80 %] (60 min)
• 0.63 oz Hallertauer [4.50 %] (60 min)
• 0.50 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.80 %] (30 min)

Yeast:

• Pilsner Urqell (Wyeast Labs #2001)

Misc:

• 14 grams of Gypsum (Mash 60 min)
  
• 6 grams Epsom Salt (Mash 60 min)
  

Mash Type:

• Double Infusion

OG:

• 1.047 SG

Comments:


Good on style. I added a couple of things to try and match the water profile for Munich.

Not Feeling My German

Okay, the German Pils is turning out alright, but my venture into a Vienna Lager was somewhat of a disappointment. I did learn a couple of things though.  First, you really gotta watch your temperatures in your mash.  I didn't get all the sugars out and I believe it's because my temps were too low in the mash. I must be more patient with my beer, in both drinking it and making it.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 


Beer Style: 3A Vienna Lager
 

Batch Size: 5 Gallons


Grains:

• 5.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) 
• 3.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) (2.0 SRM) 
• 0.75 lb CaraMunich Malt (75.0 SRM)  
• 0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt 20L (20.0 SRM)

Hops:

• 1.38 oz Hallertauer [4.50 %] (60 min)

Yeast:

• Bavarian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2206)
  

Mash Type:

• Double Infusion

OG:

• 1.041 SG

Comments:

Temp too low at saccrification. Not enough sparge water. Both resulted in a not to style OG. Darn it. Had to brew inside today. Too cold outdoors.  The gas company is gonna love me.

I Forgot to Drink a Beer

Okay, for those of you who are following.  Anytime I make a new beer I'll be posting the beer nerd related stuff (recipe, OG, ABV, tasting notes, etc.) down below my blog post. I think it'll make for a more interesting read, plus, once you see one OG reading you've seen them all.

My lovely, wonderful, and beer loving Mrs decided to get me all grain brewing equipment this Christmas. Today was the first day I got to try it out.

First lesson...all grain brewing is time intensive especially when making your first lager.

Second lesson...when brewing on a cool day outside you will always need more hot water. Always.

Third lesson...I forgot to drink beer while I was brewing.  No really. During the creation of all my other batches I always had time for a cold one. I was so concerned on how the batch would turn out I forgot to grab a cold one. Oh, how one suffers for the arts.

Beer Nerd Stuff: 


Beer Style: 2A German Pilsner
 

Batch Size: 5 Gallons


Grains:

• 5.00 lb Lager Malt (2.0 SRM) 
• 3.30 lb Pilsner (1.7 SRM)

Hops:

• 1.00 oz Tettnang [5.10 %] (60 min)
• 1.00 oz Crystal [2.72 %] (30 min)
• 1.00 oz Crystal [2.72 %] (10 min)

Yeast:

• Pilsner Urqell (Wyeast Labs #2001)
  

Mash Type:

• Double Infusion

OG:

• 1.045 SG

Comments:

OG and IBU were spot on for the style. We'll see how everything does after the lagering.