I've Got Gas

After borrowing tanks for a few months to carbonate all my beers, I finally picked up my own CO2 tank, regulator and hoses. Not only do I have several kegs (up to 10 now), but carbonating with CO2 takes ~ 3 days versus ~ 3 weeks for natural carbonating with yeast/sugar. Kegs are also easier for storage and a secondary rest phase before drinking.

Kegging continues to be a learning process though with getting the desired amount of carbonation, limiting excessive foaming inside the keg (annoying when trying to bottle), cleaning, sealing and adventures with used keg posts not closing quite right (one beer lost its carbonation and head pressure, while another slowly leaked out more than a gallon of beer).

Batch No. 35 - The White Rabbit

The White Rabbit

Brewed - July 9, 2011

Style - Belgian Witbier

Ingredients:

• 10.0 lbs. Weyermann Pilsner
• 10.0 lbs. White Wheat
  
• 1.0 lbs. Flaked Wheat
  

• 2.00 oz. Hallertauer (60)
  
• 0.75 oz. Hallertauer (5)
• 1.5 oz. Coriander (5)
• 1.0 oz. Dried Orange Peel (5)
• 1.0 oz. Dried Bitter Grapefruit Peel (5)
• 0.5 oz. Grains of Paradise (5)
• 0.2 oz. Lavender (5)
  

• Wyeast #3944 Belgian Witbier (3 packs / 1500 ml starter)

OG – 1.048
Primary – 14 days
Secondary - 9 days

Kegged - August 1, 2011


FG - 1.008
Attenuation - 83%
ABV - 5.24%


Notes:

• Mash 154° for 60 minutes
• Sparge at ~ 175°

Batch No. 34 - Loving Cup Saison

Loving Cup Saison

"Oh, what a beautiful buzz, what a beautiful buzzzzz"

Brewed - July 9, 2011

Style - Saison

Ingredients:

• 20.0 lbs. Weyermann Pilsner
• 2.0 lbs. Table Sugar (added into the boil @ 25 mins.)
  
• 1.0 lbs. Belgian CaraVienne
  
• 0.5 lbs. Belgian Aromatic
  
• 0.5 lbs. Carapils
  

• 1.25 oz. Styrian Golding (60)
  
• 1.54 oz. Hallertauer (60)
• 2.0 oz. Czech Saaz (10)
• 2.0 oz. Czech Saaz (5)
• 1.0 oz. Coriander (5)
• 1.0 oz. Orange Peel (5)
  

• Wyeast #3726 Farmhouse Ale (slurry from Adam / 1500 ml starter)

OG – 1.072
Primary – 14 days
Secondary - 32 days

Kegged - August 24, 2011


FG - 1.010
Attenuation - 86%
ABV - 8.12%


Notes:

• Mash 152° for 60 minutes
• Sparge at ~ 175°
• 90 min boil
• lower mash temp and thinner mash volume to help attenuation

• 1/2 of this batch was dumped into the uncleaned keg of the Scrizzel Berliner Weiss, which has leftover brett dregs coating the keg
• part of the reason was that it was during of a long day and frankly I didn't want to clean the keg, but also of course I was curious how much flavor the brett dregs would impart on the beer esp. after it had already from the berliner weiss
• I carbonated that keg up for Adam's wedding
  
• the second 1/2 is still sitting in the keg at the brewspace and I haven't even carbonated it yet, but will do so soon; no brett in that one
  

Batch No. 33 - Black-Eyed Katy

Black-Eyed Katy

Brewed - June 26, 2011

Style - Imperial CDA (Cascadian Dark Ale) aka Black IPA

She came strutting onto the stage at the opening show of the 1997 fall tour and has not looked back – other than to watch her own rump shaking, that is. The new queen of the Phish funk scene, she who would spawn the dance craze of the next millennium (no, not the “Meatstick” dance), the lovely “Black-Eyed Katy” was born in the Thomas & Mack Center on 11/13/97.

Sadly the life of this funky momma appears to have been cut short. During her time with Phish she showed her never-ending stamina, her sizzling raunch, her breathtaking peaks, and put the fun back in funk. Typically she consisted of two runs through a tight yet gelatinous funk groove followed by a jam (usually similar to the original theme), which at its longest duration approached ten minutes. The jam was followed by a short reprise of the original theme as an outro. “Katy” made appearances in both first and second sets and an encore during the 1997 fall tour and looked like a mainstay.

However, by the time the summer 1998 tour began in Europe she had undergone a makeover. With the addition of lyrics during the recording of Story of the Ghost, “Black-Eyed Katy” was transformed into "The Moma Dance.” In the dance her spirit lives on. To know “Katy” is to love her, to know all her moods listen to the following versions: 11/13/97 Las Vegas (her birth), 11/22/97 Hampton (in a delightful “Tweezer,” “Piper” sandwich), 11/28/97 Worcester (dark and sloppy), 12/5/97 Cleveland (tight and playful), and 12/30/97 MSG (short and strange with a lumpy head).

Ingredients:

• 28.0 lbs. Gambrinus 2-Row
  
• 2.0 lbs. Crystal 60L
  
• 2.0 lbs. Carafa Special
  
• 0.25 lbs. Chocolate
  

• 5.0 oz. Cascade (90)
• 1.50 oz. Simcoe (5)
• 1.50 oz. Amarillo (5)
• 1.25 oz. Simcoe (1)
• 1.25 oz. Amarillo (1)
• Keg #1: 1.00 oz. Simcoe (dry hop)
• Keg #1: 1.00 oz. Amarillo (dry hop)
• Keg #2: 2.00 oz. Citra (dry hop)
  

• Yeast: Wyeast #1056 American Ale (3 packs / 1800 ml starter)

OG – 1.088
Primary – 13 days
Secondary - 20 days

Dry Hopped - July 13, 2011

Kegged - July 29, 2011

FG - 1.016
Attenuation - 81.8%
ABV - 9.4%



Notes:

• Mash 155° for 60 minutes
• Sparge at ~ 175°
• 90 minute boil
  
• Went with a super slow sparge (75 mins!!) this time to help my efficiency and I nailed my target OG of 1.088
  
• One keg will be dry hopped with a combo of Simcoe and Amarillo and the second keg will be dry hopped with Citra
  

Fraternal Order of the Wayward Brewers

The Fraternal Order of the Wayward Brewers has been taking shape over the last several months and is filling up with tons of gear, fridges, barrels, chest freezers, kegerators, broken carboys and tons of corny kegs. Next projects on the horizon are new shelving and organization of the fermentation room and a big group brew for the first barrel filling.

Full Photo Set

Jerome's sweet poster

Exterior shots & neighbors

Interior Door

20 gallons of Saison fermenting away!!

Oaked SODO'D Malt Liquor

May 18, 2011

After years of drunken discussions, the first ever series of "Bum Wine" malt liquor treatments is finally a reality.

5 gals of SODO'D Malt Liquor went untreated and is carbonating now. The remaining 5 gals was split for the two treatments.

Treatment #1: Cisco Blue Raspberry

Treatment #2: Wild Irish Rose

I took an oak spiral and soaked 1/2 of it in ~ 14 oz. of each wine for 5 days. I'll let them age for a week or two before carbonating.

Tasting notes in a few weeks. And be on the look out for a super limited bottle release of corked and caged 750's wrapped in paper bags.

Batch No. 32 - Divided Rye

Divided Rye Saison

Brewed - May 14, 2011

Style - Saison

Ingredients:

• 13.0 lbs. Weyermann Pilsner
• 3.0 lbs. Rye
• 3.0 lbs. Weyermann Vienna
• 1.0 lbs. White Wheat
• 1.0 lbs. Dextrose (added into the boil)
  
• 0.75 lbs. Chocolate
  

• 2.0 oz. Hallertauer (60)
• 1.0 oz. Czech Saaz (40)
• 1.0 oz. Czech Saaz (10)
  

• Yeast #1: Wyeast #3711 French Saison (1 packs / 800 ml starter)
• Yeast #2: Wyeast #3522 Belgian Ardennes (1 packs / 800 ml starter)

OG – 1.054
Primary – 14 days
Secondary - 11 days

Kegged - June 11, 2011


Wyeast #3711 French Saison:
FG - 1.004
Attenuation - 92.6%
ABV - 6.6%


Wyeast #3522 Belgian Ardennes:
FG - 1.007
Attenuation - 87%
ABV - 6.2%


Notes:

• Mash 154° for 60 minutes
• Sparge at ~ 178°
• Estimated OG was 1.061 and I measured at 1.054
• Used a different yeast in each 5 gal. carboy so I can see the difference in fermentability, flavor impact, etc.