Monday, May 25, 2009

Batch No. 15 - Hop 99

Hop 99

Brewed - March 7, 2009

Style - IPA (originally)
Source - misguided variation of Batch No. 10

Ingredients:
  • 9.15 lbs. Gold LME
  • 2.0 lbs. Golden Light DME - why, why???
  • 2.0 lbs. Briess Caramel 40L
  • 2.0 lbs. Simpson's Golden Promise
  • 1.0 oz. Amarillo (60)
  • 1.0 oz. Amarillo (15)
  • 1.5 oz. Amarillo (5)
  • 1.0 oz. Amarillo (0)
  • 1.0 oz. Amarillo (dry)
  • Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale
OG - 1.094 (!!)
Primary - 13 days
Secondary - 20 days

Bottled - April 8, 2009

FG - 1.030
Attenuation - 68.1%
ABV - 8.4%

Notes:
- added the 2.0 lbs. of DME in a momentary lapse of reason
- OG is super high
- no yeast starter and only one pack of yeast on hand
- quite worried about attenuation, resulting sweetness or general mess
- originally intended to be a semi-imperial IPA, but not really sure how it will turn out

Batch No. 14 - Russian Lullaby

Russian Lullaby

Brewed - February 1, 2009

Style - Belgian Strong Golden Ale
Source - Variation from Vinnie's recipe in Brew Like a Monk

Ingredients:
  • 6.0 lbs. Pilsen LME (Northern Brewer)
  • 1.0 lbs. Pilsen Light DME (Briess)
  • 0.75 lbs. Dextrose
  • 1.0 lbs. Aromatic Malt
  • 1.0 lbs. Munich Malt
  • 1.0 lbs. Wheat Malt
  • 1.0 oz. Sterling 6% AA (90)
  • 1.0 oz. Sterling 6% AA (30)
  • 1.0 oz. Czech Saaz (0)
  • 1.0 tsp. Irish Moss (10)
  • Wyeast #1214 Belgian Ale
OG - 1.073
Primary - 10 days
Secondary - 61 days

Bottled - April 13, 2009

FG - 1.016
Attenuation - 78.1%
ABV - 7.5%

Notes:
- 90 min. boil
- recipe called for Styrian Goldings
- decided not to use 1.0 lbs. of clear Belgian Candi Sugar
- best attenuation yet; stored carboy next to heater during primary to keep the temp close to 75
- very excited about this beer!!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Batch No. 13 - Liquid Karma v2

Liquid Karma v2

I loved my first batch of Liquid Karma so much that I brewed another w/ some small changes. Tried to time this so that with a few months in the bottle, it would be ready for submitting to the 2009 Pro-Am in June.

Brewed - January 18, 2009

Style - Coffee Porter
Source - Tastybrew.com variation / Northern Brewer / Bob's HBS

Ingredients:
  • 7.0 lbs. Light LME
  • 0.75 lbs. Dextrose
  • 6.0 oz. Sugar in the Raw (new)
  • 1.0 lbs. American Crystal 80
  • 1.0 lbs. American Munich Light
  • 1.5 lbs. Chocolate Grain (inc. by 0.5 lbs.)
  • 1.5 lbs. Flaked Oats (inc. by 0.5 lbs.)
  • 0.5 lbs. American Black Patent (inc. by 0.25 lbs.)
  • 1.5 oz. Fuggles (75)
  • 1.5 oz. Fuggles (15)
  • 5 cups strong coffee (DH)
  • Wyeast #1025 London Ale
OG - 1.072
Primary - 9 days
Secondary - 40 days

Bottled - March 8, 2009

FG - 1.022
Attenuation - 69.4%
ABV - 6.6%

Notes:
- 75 minute boil (didn't do that first time)
- Ryan Brother's Coffee Broadway Blues
- 13 days longer in secondary

Batch No. 12 - Bamboozled

Bamboozled Smoked Porter

Brewed - October 26, 2008

Style - Smoked Porter
Source - Northern Brewer kit (Peat Smoked Porter)

Ingredients:
  • 1.0 lbs. Black Malt
  • 0.25 lbs. Briess Caramel 80
  • 0.25 lbs. Peated Malt
  • 6.0 lbs. Dark LME
  • 2.0 lbs. Dark DME
  • 1.0 oz. Nugget (60)
  • 1.0 oz. Willamette (40)
  • 1.0 oz. Willamette (15)
  • Wyeast #1056 American Ale
OG - 1.070
Primary - 13 days
Secondary - 31 days

Bottled - December 10, 2008

FG - 1.028
Attenuation - 60%
ABV - 5.5%

Notes:
- recipe called for 1.062 OG, but got 1.070
- attenuation was pretty low
- mild smoke and chalkiness
- turned out great and will revisit

Batch No. 11 - Kinza Imperial Wit

Kinza Imperial Wit

Brewed - October 5, 2008

Style - Imperial Wit
Source - Northern Brewer kit

Ingredients:
  • 9.15 lbs. Wheat LME
  • 1.0 lbs. Honey
  • 0.5 oz. Summit (60)
  • 1.0 oz. Saaz (1)
  • 1.0 oz. Corriander (10)
  • 2 grams Paradise Seeds
  • Wyeast #3463 Forbidden Fruit
OG - 1.072
Primary - 10 days
Secondary - 56 days

Bottled - December 10, 2008

FG - 1.022
Attenuation - 69.4%
ABV - 6.6%

Notes:
- first brew using a belgian yeast
- crush paradise / coridaner floated
- ran chiller before inserting / ice cold copper / seemed to help
- don't like using wheat LME / gives a stale taste

First Taste - Midland Pale Ale

May 2008

Side by side tasting of my Midland Pale Ale (on the left) and Mikkeller's All Others Pale.

I didn't take any notes on this and while the Midland Pale was a solid brew, it was expectedly crushed by the Mikkeller is every way besides appearance. Something to shoot for!!




Sad Sight

May 2008

I was in the middle of my floor project and snapped this photo of my empty carboys. Such a sad sight!!!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Batch No. 10 - Stop Making Cents

Stop Making Cents IPA

Brewed - May 3, 2008

Style - Centennial IPA
Source - Northern Brewer kit (Three Hearted IPA)

Ingredients:
  • 1.0 lbs. Briess Caramel 40
  • 9.15 lbs. Gold LME
  • 1.0 oz. Centennial (60)
  • 1.0 oz. Centennial (20)
  • 1.0 oz. Centennial (5)
  • 1.0 oz. Centennial (DH)
  • Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale
OG - 1.064
Primary - 9 days
Secondary - 19 days

Bottled - May 31, 2008

FG - 1.018
Attenuation - 71.9%
ABV - 6.0%

Notes:
- 100% centennial hops

Batch No. 9 - Moonshiner

Moonshiner

Brewer - March 29, 2008

Style - Bourbon Porter
Source - Northern Brewer kit

Ingredients:
  • 1.0 lbs. Simpson's Chocolate
  • 0.5 lbs. Simpson's Dark Crystal
  • 0.5 lbs. Simpson's Dark Malt
  • 2.0 lbs. Wheat DME (60)
  • 6.3 lbs. Dark LME (15)
  • 1.0 oz. Chinook (60)
  • 0.5 oz. Argentina Cascade (15)
  • 0.5 oz. Argentina Cascade (5)
  • 2.0 oz. Oak Cubes (DH)
  • 16 oz. Makers Mark (DH)
OG - 1.064
Primary - 8 days
Secondary - 54 days

Bottled - May 30, 2008

FG - 1.020
Attenuation - 68.8%
ABV - 5.8%

Notes:
- 3.25 lbs. LME went in at 60 min by mistake
- Makers Mark - soak w/ chips for one week
- Dumped into secondary



Wood chips & bourbon in bottom of carboy

Batch No. 8 - Senior Moment

Senior Moment

Brewed - March 22, 2008

Style - Old Ale
Source - Northern Brewer kit

Ingredients:
  • 2.0 lbs. Golden Light DME
  • 6.0 lbs. Gold LME (15)
  • 0.5 lbs. Simpson's Dark Crystal
  • 0.5 lbs. Golden Flaked Oats
  • 1.0 lbs. Dark Candi Sugar / rocks (0)
  • 1.0 oz. Argentina Cascade (60)
  • Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale
OG - 1.066
Primary - 7 days
Secondary - 61 days

Bottled - May 29, 2008

FG - 1.022
Attenuation - 66.7%
ABV - 5.8%

Notes:
- candi sugar took a while to disolve / stuck to chiller
- 5.5 gal in primary / too watery??
- LME actually went in @ 60 instead of 15

Batch No. 7 - Shredded Wheat

Shredded Wheat

Brewed - March 8, 2008

Style - German Hefeweizen
Source - Mountain Homebrew / Siren!!

Ingredients:
  • 6.0 lbs. wheat LME
  • 1.0 lbs. Wheat DME
  • Misc. grain from all-grain kit
  • 1.0 oz. Hallertau / Leaf (60)
  • Dry Yeast - Safale us-05
OG - 1.051
Primary - 9 days
Secondary - 19 days

Bottled - April 5, 2008

FG - 1.012
Attenuation - 76.5%
ABV - 5.1%

Notes:
- first time using dry yeast
- high attenuation with dry yeast
- all grain kit / picked up LME / used most of grain
- old wheat LME?
- first time using leaf hops

This was an ok beer overall, but didn't really turn out to style. I think I've brewed two beers now with wheat LME and I don't like it. Leaves a strange texture and I think it's the quickest of LME's to turn.



Leaf hops added to the boil

Batch No. 6 - Midland Pale Ale

Midland Pale Ale

Brewed - December 30, 2007

Style - American Pale Ale
Source - Tastybrew.com / Bob's HBS

Ingredients:
  • 7.0 lbs. LME
  • 1.0 lbs. Crystal 40L
  • 1.0 lbs. Munich Light
  • 1.0 lbs. Golden Promise
  • 1.0 lbs. British Two-row Pale
  • 1.0 lbs. Flaked Barley
  • 1.0 oz. Domestic Gaiena (60)
  • 0.5 oz. Domestic Gaiena (15)
  • 0.5 oz. Domestic Gaiena (DH)
  • Wyeast #1056 American Ale

OG - 1.060
Primary - 14 days
Seconday - 14 days

Bottled - January 27, 2008

FG - 1.018
Attenuation - 70%
ABV - 5.5%



At capacity once again - BW, Coffee Porter & new Pale Ale

Batch No. 5 - Liquid Karma

Liquid Karma - Coffee Porter

Brewed - December 23, 2007

Style - Coffee Porter
Source - Tastybrew.com / Bob's HBS

Ingredients:
  • 7.0 lbs. LME
  • 1.0 lbs. American Crystal 80L
  • 1.0 lbs. American Munich Light
  • 1.0 lbs. Chocolate Grain
  • 1.0 lbs. Flaked Oats
  • 1.0 lbs. Corn Sugar
  • o.25 lbs. American Black Patent
  • 1.5 oz. Fuggles (60)
  • 1.5 oz. Fuggles (15)
  • 4 cups strong coffee (DH)
  • Wyeast #1028 London Ale

OG - 1.068
Primary - 7 days
Secondary - 27 days

Bottled - January 26, 2008

FG - 1.020
Attenuation - 70.6%
ABV - 6.3%

Notes:
- 4 cups strong coffee (Organic Sumatra)
- cooled in fridge; dumped in secondary
- named after my fav Ballard coffee shop, the now defunct Karma Coffee

I love coffee, I love porters and I love the combo, so this was a natural one to try. Found a nice looking recipe on Tastybrew.com and this was my first time following a recipe and picking up all my supplies at a homebrew shop. That process made it all more real b/c as opposed to receive a complete kit via FedEx, I had to measure out and crush all the needed grains. More expensive, but something is said for smelling all those grains and having a more organic experience.

This turned out to be one of my fav batches to date and really took off after 3 months in the bottle with flavor and texture taking some time to meld together. Brewed again in early 2009 w/ some minor changes.


After coffee dumped into secondary

Labels - Clean Sweep IPA

December 18, 2007

With my first brew a success, I was excited to share with friends and send some bottles back home to my family...and fellow Red Sox fans!! I took some copyright liberties and made a nice label using Photoshop with the team logo and comments about how it was brewed on the same day as the clinching game. The labels turned out great and went on easy (printed on regular copy paper and attached via glue stick).

Labeling is fun and makes for great presentation, but I spend time messing with irrelevant details like a brewery name and stuff like that. In 2008 I did three different brews that I bottled in green, 750 ml bottles and took some to a pre-wedding party. I have been doing them less and less these days, but will post the other ones I have later.






First Taste - Clean Sweep IPA

Date - December 8, 2007

After patiently letting my first batch carbonate it was time to taste the finished product. Sounded like a beer, looked like a beer and sure enough tasted like a beer! Crisp, clean, sweet and hoppy. Lovely nose from the dry hopping. I didn't take much notes beyond that, but for being my first beer I was very pleased. The only complaint, which would continue for most beers, was that the thin body and overall lacking texture.

From what I had read, clarity is sometimes had to come by but mine was crystal clear. That was one of the reasons I went with the glass secondary and let it rest longer so that everything drops out. Another concern during the was the possibility of bottle bombs, but that never came to be (and hasn't yet).

For research purposes, I decided it would be best to have my IPA against a lineup of commercial brews - Stone IPA, Lazy Boy IPA and Left Hand Warrior IPA. Mine stood up very well against these three.

Hey now, homebrewing rocks!!!!!



Carbonation....check!



Clear.....check!



IPA lineup (mine of the far left)

Batch No. 4 - PITA Barely Wine

PITA Barley Wine

Brewed - December 2, 2007

Style - Barley Wine
Source - Northern Brewer Kit

Ingredients:
  • 0.5 lbs. Briess Caramel 90
  • 3.0 lbs. Amber LME (60)
  • 9.0 lbs. Amber LME (15)
  • 1.0 oz. Target (60)
  • 1.0 oz. Cascade (30)
  • 1.0 oz. Fuggles (0)
  • Wyeast #1056 American Ale
OG - 1.082
Primary - 11 days
Secondary - 150 days!!

Bottled - May 11, 2008

FG - 1.025
Attenuation - 69.5%
ABV - 7.47%


Notes:
- full boil
- put all LME in at 60 min - doh!
- secondary for 5 months!
- should have made a starter?
- named for a horribly messy bottling day
- submitted in 2008 Pro-Am



Finished w/ sample



My young brewery at capacity

Batch No. 3 - Breakfast Stout

Breakfast Stout

Brewed - November 24, 2007

Style - Stout
Source - Northern Brewer Kit

Ingredients:
  • 1.5 lbs. Flaked Oats
  • 0.5 lbs. Simpson's Roasted Barley
  • 3.15 lbs. Dark LME
  • 1.0 lbs. Lactose
  • 1.0 oz. Willamette (60)
  • Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale

OG - 1.031
Primary - 8 days
Seconday - 16 days

Bottled - December 18, 2007

FG - 1.020
Attenuation - 35.5%
ABV - 1.44%

Notes:
- full boil
- very low OG
- super thin, almost no flavor
- horrible attenuation
- too high pitching temp?
- lame beer overall; most was poured out

This was my first (and only so far) total failure. I think the first mistake was misreading the temp before I pitched the yeast. Attenuation was only 36%, so clearly the yeast didn't do it's job. Ended up dumping most of this as it was just like brown water. It was a really low OG to begin with and I will likely avoid recipes that low in the future (unless intended by me for a mild or something - certainly not a stout!!).