Beer Name: German Pils (with Weyermann Bohemian Pils malt)
Click on pic for larger version.
Click HERE for video of brew day and tasting.
Grains: 10 lbs Weyermann Bohemian Pils
Hops: 1 oz German Tradition 5.9% 60 min
.5 oz German Tradition 5.9% 30 min
.5 oz German Tradition 5.9% 0 min
Yeast: Wyeast 2124 Bohemian lager. Made 1 liter starter 20 hours prior.
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 01/14/17 01/25/17 02/04/17
Gravity: 1.054 1.009 1.009
% Alcohol: 7.1 1.1 1.1
% Sugar: 13.5 2.1 2.1
Temp of reading: 60 60 60
Notes:
Beer Name: India Pale Lager (with some Chevallier malt)
Click on either pic for larger version.
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Grains: 6 lbs Chevallier
4.5 lbs Rahr Old World Pils (had some left)
2 lbs Rahr Pils
.5 lbs Carapils 6L
.5 lbs Carastan 30-40L
Hops: HX30 Hop shot 5ml 60 min
1 oz Columbus 14.1 % AA 30 min
1 oz Warrior 18.3% AA hop stand 30 min
1 oz Chinook 9.4% AA hop stand 30 min
1 oz Citra 13.6% AA hop stand 15 min
1 oz Amarillo 8.0% AA hop stand 15 min
Yeast: Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager washed from above. Starter made day prior.
Misc: 2 cups (~1 lb) white sugar, 30 min.
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 02/11/17 03/01/17 03/05/17
Gravity: 1.068 1.010 1.010
% Alcohol: 9 1.2 1.2
% Sugar: 17 2.5 2.5
Temp of reading: 60 60 60
Notes:
- Attempting to see if the Chevallier sweet character is less if it is only half the grain bill instead of just about all of it.
- 17 qts 168 > 155 > ice > 151. After 1 hour > 151.
- added 8 qts boiling > 163. Collected 4.25 gallons of 16 brix.
- added 3 gallons of 177 > 166. 2nd runnings 8.5 brix.
- 7.4 gallons of 13 brix before boiling (took about 3/4 qt for yeast starter for Surly beer).
- boiled 1 gallon on stove for 45 min.
- ended with 5.25 gallons before adding yeast starter.
Beer Name: AHA Surly Wort Rally (beer brewed by Surly, see below for description)
Click on pic for larger version. Mine is at left, Surly's Whalezbrah at right.
Grains: see below.
Hops:
Yeast: Wyeast 2124 washed from above. Starter made (with IPL wort) day prior.
Misc:
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 02/13/17 03/02/17 03/30/17
Gravity: 1.064 1.015 1.013
% Alcohol: 8.2 2 1.9
% Sugar: 16 4 3.5
Temp of reading: 60 60
Notes:
Click on pic for larger version.
Grains: 4.5 lbs Chevallier
5.5 lbs Weyermann Bohemian Pils
.5 lbs Carapils
.5 lbs Munich
Hops: .5 oz German Tradition 9.8% AA 60 min
.5 oz German Tradition 9.8% AA 45 min
Yeast: Wyeast 2124, Bavarian lager, washed from above, starter made 14 hours prior.
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 03/11/17 03/25/17 05/29/17
Gravity: 1.055 1.009 1.009
% Alcohol: 7.3 1.1 1.1
% Sugar: 14 2.4 2.4
Notes:
Beer Name: Two Track Pale Chinook
Grains: 10 lbs of Two Track Okefenokee Pale malt
Hops: 1 oz Chinook 9.4% AA 60 min
1 oz Chinook 9.4% AA 0 min
Yeast: Omega Yeast labs New Jersey Ale OYL-045. starter made night before.
Misc:
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 04/08/17 04/16/17 04/25/17
Gravity: 1.045 1.008 1.008
% Alcohol: 5.8 1.1 1.1
% Sugar: 11.2 2 2
Notes:
- boiled for 60 min and ended with about 4.95 gallons before adding yeast.
- fermenting around 65 deg. Temp range of yeast is 66-72.
04/16/17 Lower attenuation from this yeast? Huh. Not super clear. Fairly light in color. Aroma? Somewhat sweet initially but finishes kind of bitter. Chinook flavor? It's ok, kind of like a session ipa sort of thing. Should have mashed higher? Should be an easy drinker.
04/25/17 Pretty clear now. Light in color. Taste is not especially complex. Little bitterness and pepper flavor from Chinook. It might be an ok thirst quencher. But the malt? Kind of light? Or is that because it fermented so low. We'll see.
Click on pic for larger version.
Grains: 10 lbs Two Track Bandlands Sunset (~Pils)
3 lbs Dakota M6 (~Munich)
2 lbs Denhoff
Hops: HX Hop Shot 5ml 60 min
1 oz Columbus 13.1% AA 30 min
1 oz Chinook 9.4% AA hop stand 30 min
1 oz Amarillo (older crop) hop stand 30 min
1 oz Motueka 7.0% AA hop stnad after cooled a bit. 15 min
1 oz Mosaic 12.1% AA hop stand after cooled a bit 15 min
Yeast: Washed from above Omega New Jersey ale
Misc: 2 cups white sugar
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 05/06/17 05/18/17 05/28/17
Gravity: 1.071 1.011 1.010
% Alcohol: 9.5 1.5 1.2
% Sugar: 18 3 2.5
Notes:
-19 qts 167 > 156 > ice > 152. After 1 hour 151.
- add 2 gallons boil > 162. Collect 3.7 gallons of 15 brix.
- (took .5 qt of first runnings for starter, added another .5 qts water to dillute)
- add 3 gallons of 180 > 167. 2nd runnings were 8.5 brix.
- 7.2 gallons of 12 brix
- ended with 5 gallons before adding liter starter
-fermenting 65-66 deg range
05/18/17 Mango, juicy orange, pine aroma. Taste is bitter but malt is there. Malt flavor? Kind of muted still. Decent balance and start.
05/28/17 Will cool overnight in fridge and add gelatin tomorrow. Kind of dank aroma but also tropical fruit. Denhoff malt? Maybe bit of toasted nuttiness? Hydrometer sample is clear but the Two Track Pale was too (so chill haze on that one)? The hop schedule worked great in this and it's an interesting slight roast flavored malt profile with great hop flavor.
07/10/17 Keg kicked recently. This beer ended up pretty tasty. The hop bill works well. I'm still not completely sold on the malt, but I did like the additional character from the Denhoff. It hadded a bit of a lightly burnt, toasted character that reminded me of either Brown Malt or that Ashburne Mild I used.
Beer Name: Two Track Warrior Pale
Click for larger version.
Grains: 12 lbs Two Track Badlands Sunset Pils
3 lbs Two Track Dakota M6 (Munich)
Hops: .5 oz Warrior 18.3% AA 60 min
.5 oz Warrior 18.3% AA 30 min
1 oz Warrior 18.3% AA 0 min
Yeast: Omega New Jersey yeast (washed from above). Starter made night before.
Misc:
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 06/03/17 06/11/17 06/27/17
Gravity: 1.060 1.011 1.009
% Alcohol: 8 1.5 1.2
% Sugar: 15 2.6 2.5
Notes:
06/03 This grain has been harder to crush than most of the other malts I buy. I noticed that for sure this time around.
-19 qts 172 > 157 > ice > 154. After 65 min was 154. Mashed higher to see if the final gravity might be a couple points higher to give more malt character. Also dialed back the hop additions to lower bitterness a little.
-took 1 pint of first runnings (15.5 brix) for yeast starter. Collected 3.8 gallons.
-Add 3 gallons of 176 > 166. 2nd runnings were 8 brix. Had 7.3 gallons or so of 12.5.
-Boiled 1.5 gallons on pot down to about .5 gallons.
-Ended with 5 gallons of wort before adding starter. Fermenting now around 65 deg.
06/11 1 point higher than previous, from mash temp? Not clear. Yeasty aroma. Warrior hop? Looks like NE IPA. Taste is not bad. less bitterness than Two Track Pale Chinook. More malt presence. Need yeast to drop.Some Munich sweetness I think. Finishes a little bitter (hops? yeast?) Should be fair enough.
06/27 Clearer. Nice light color. Hint of orange or copper color. Tastes pretty nice. More malt flavor with M6 than the single malt. Should be decent. See it fermented low again anyway.
08/14/17 This beer has not cleared! Weird. Must be the yeast, or is it the malt? It tastes Ok but I would not seek to repeat it.
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06/04/17 Propane tank filled.
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Click on pic for larger version.
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Grains: 5.75 lbs Rahr two row pale
.25 lbs Aromatic
3 lbs floor malted pale wheat (Weyermann, I think)
1.5 lbs flaked wheat.
.5 lbs rice hulls to help with lautering
Hops: 1 oz German Tradition 3.8% AA 60 min
Yeast: Wyeast 3944 Witbier - starter made night before.
Misc: .5 oz bitter orange peel 15 min
1 tsp crushed coriander seeds 15 min
.5 oz bitter orange peel 0 min
1 tsp crushed coriander seeds 0 min
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 07/08/17 skipped 07/20/17
Gravity: 1.047 1.009
% Alcohol: 6.1 1.1
% Sugar: 12 2.1
Notes:
- 13 qts 167 > 155 > stir > 154. After 1 hour > 154. Added rice hulls after 1 hour.
- add 2 qts boiling > 168. First runnings 13.5 brix. Collected about 3.3 gallons.
- add 12 qts 170 > 167. 2nd runnings were 7 brix.
- had 6.5 gallons of 11 brix. After boil had 5 gallons.
- fermenting 70-72. Added fermcap but still am having some blowoff (maybe not as much as I would have).
07/20/17 - Color is perfect. Light murky orange. Aroma is orange and coriander (maybe) and witbier yeast. Taste is all that too. Low bitterness. Pretty yummy. Cooled and carbonated and it should be good. Washed yeast for possible future use.
Beer Name: Slightly Smoked Stout (tweaked Foreign Extra Stout)
VIDEO on this beer.
Click on pic for larger version.
Grains: 9 lbs pale
3 lbs oak smoked wheat malt
10 oz Crystal 80
10 oz Crystal 50-60 (Crystal 40 not available)
8 oz Chocolate
12 oz Roast
Hops: 1.5 oz Magnum 12.6% AA 60 min
.5 oz Magnum 12.6% AA 0 min
Yeast: Omega New Jersey yeast (washed from above). Starter made night before.
Misc:
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 08/12/17 skipped 08/20/17
Gravity: 1.061 1.013
% Alcohol: 8.1 1.9
% Sugar: 15.5 3.5
Notes:
- 18 qts 165 > 154 > ice > 152. After 1 hour > 152.
- add 2 qts boiling > 165.
- first runnings were 16.5 brix, collected 3.9 gallons
- add 3 gallons 169 > 163 (? not sure how this happened. Maybe thermom in kitchen is off).
- 2nd runnings were 9.5 brix. Stopped collecting at 7 gallons. 13 brix.
- boiled some on stove for an hour.
- ended with 5.2 gallons before adding starter so over shot volume a little and got a little lower gravity.
- fermenting ~ 70 deg.
08/20/17 - Some light smoke aroma, roast and chocolate malt too. Taste is a little smokey. Kind of a little harsh or sharp. Lots of yeast still in suspension which I could see even though the beer is dark. Needs a couple of weeks and it should be good. BWCA in a couple days so I wanted to get this kegged.
01/18 Wanted to update this. This lasted until Jan and drank nice until the end. Most people felt it was a nice amount of smoke flavor and despite what I say in the video above, I tend to agree. It's just noticeable and the smoke flavor goes with the roast, coffee and chocolate flavors of the base stout. It turned out to be a nice twist on the regular, excellent FES recipe.
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09/31/17 got CO2 tank filled. $10.76 or something
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Beer Name: Vertical Malt IPA (made up recipe using Vertical malt)
VIDEO of making and tasting this beer.
Click on pic for larger version.
Grains: 13 lbs Vertical malt two row
1 lb Vertical malt Crystal 40
Hops: 1 oz hops Grapefruit Experimental 17.1% 2014 Yakima Valley Hops 60 min
1 oz hops Grapefruit Experimental 17.1% 2014 Yakima Valley Hops 30 min
2 oz Comet 9.6 % AA 0 min
Yeast: Washed Wyeast Witbier yeast from above. Pitched captured yeast from 2 quart jars. No starter.
Misc:
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 09/03/17 09/17/17 09/24/17
Gravity: 1.070 1.011 1.011
% Alcohol: 9.1 1.5 1.5
Notes:
- 18qts 164 > 155 > ice > 152. After 1 hour > 151.
- add 8 qts boiling > 164.
- collect 4.5 gallons of 16 brix.
- add 2.75 gallons 173 > 164 (must have lost some heat during run off).
- 2nd runnings were 9 brix. Had to boil some off before storing. Boiled 1.5 gallons for 1.5 hours down to .5 gallons.
- then had 6.8 gallons of 13 brix, before starting main boil later.
- boiled another gallon on stove for 45 min or so down to about .5 gallons and added back in to main boil with 15m remaining.
-ended with about 4.95 gallons before adding yeast.
-fermenting 68 deg.
- even w/o starter, because I pitched washed yeast in 2 quart jars it was actively fermenting 12 hours later.
09/17/17 Murky deep orange color. Lemon rind in nose. Taste is... pretty sweet. Some hop flavor. Bitterness is not there at first but then comes in. Balances the sweet character. Wonder if base malt is this sweet or if I used too much crystal.
09/24/17 Added gelatin to try and make clear. Not super bitter. Only a little. Mostly sweet I guess. Crystal goes a long way. Should be OK drinker. Later: the more I drank it the more the Comet hops came to the front. Focused on that in the above video.
Beer Name: Plum and Raspberry Mead
Pic of first hydrometer samples, early on. At right, bottled meads. Click on pic for larger version.
VIDEO of this entire project.
Honey: 18 lbs Wildflower honey from Northern Brewer.
Yeast: Red Star Cotes de Blancs - 4 packets
Misc: Nutriferm Energy (12g) to get yeast going while proofing
BSG Fermax yeast Nutrient (nutrient and energizer). Followed amount advice on package and split it into 4 additions.
9 lbs plums (frozen, depitted)
12 lbs raspberries (frozen)
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Bottle Date:
Date: 10/01/17 10/28/17 03/03/18
Gravity: 1.122 1.001 (both meads) rasp 1.025, plum 1.024 (after sweetening, see below)
% Alcohol: 16 0 ?
Notes:
- 10/01/17 Softened honey in warm water before pouring into cold St. Paul water from tap. Used sanitized whip and drill to mix honey and water well. Took gravity reading and it was slightly higher than I wanted so I diluted with a tiny bit of water to get it down to 1.122. Aerated with pure O2 for maybe 90 seconds.
- took a small amount of water, heated to 110 deg, put 12g Nutriferm Energy, stirred, let sit momentarily until it was 104. Added 4 packets of Cotes de Blancs yeast, let sit about 15 min. Stir with sanitized spoon and pitched into 5.5 gallons must. Was fermenting in the upper 60s.
10/02 degas with whip. Add heaping tsp Fermax nutrient.
10/03 degas. Added Fermax nutrient.
10/04 Added fruit. Degas first. Racked 2.5 gallons into another bucket. Depitted 9 lbs plums from my plum tree (frozen). Sanitized cloth bag. Put plums into 2.5 gallon bucket. Gravity reading of must: 1.090 (30 points in 3 days). Added 12 lbs raspberries into the other 3 gallon bucket. NOTE: I didn't thaw the raspberries fully and this lowered the temperature down so that it stopped bubbling. I ended up adding a couple more packets of yeast, this time Narbonne 71B. Then it kicked off. I was worried I made the yeast go dormant, possibly. Next time: thaw fruit better ahead of time.
10/05 Punched down fruit in am. In that evening is when I added the mentioned packets of 71B. Started bubbling again that night.
10/06 Punch down in am. In pm added nutrient, degas, punch down.
10/07 am punch down. Plum gravity 1.030. Juicy ripe plum aroma and flavor, good start. Raspberry gravity 1.014. Kind of acidic and a little sharp. Wow. Where will it end? Might need back sweetening.
10/08 punch down.
10/09 am punch down. pm punch down.
10/10, 10/11 just punching once a day. Fermentation slowing.
10/21 Removed fruit. Fruit was in for 2.5 weeks.
10/28 Racked both into 3 gallon carboys. Raspberry filled its carboy with a little left over. There is maybe around 2.6 gallons of plum mead or so. BOTH gravities were at about 1.001! Damn. Paul Fowler says they are tasting good at this point, and that back sweetening will make the fruit character pop. It's a little subdued now with how thin and dry they are.
Plum: not very clear. Decent flavor. Some fruit flavor but wish it was sweeter. Will have to back sweeten.
Raspberry: Both down to same gravity. Huh. decent raspberry flavor. Nice color, clearer than plum. Needs some sweetness to make it pop a bit.
02/15/18 Stabilized meads. Did ratio of .4g campden tablets/gallon for both, and sorbate per bottle (.5 tsp/gallon). Plum (1.002) was estimated at 2.5 gallon and Raspberry (1.001) at 3 gallons. Dissolved chemicals in water and put in bottom of fermenter before racking onto them.
02/17/18 Paul came and helped with getting samples to taste. We took some mead out, sweetened it to a high level, took gravity reading, poured a sample into a cup, then diluted remaining, took reading, poured into cup, etc. Eventually decided for both to be around 1.025.
Next day I added 2 lbs honey into 2 cups warm water and dissolved well. Siphoned into Raspberry (had to pull some out of carboy so I had enough room). Stirred up and was 1.025!
For Plum I added 1.35 lb (1 lb 6 oz) to just under 1.5 cups warm water and did same thing. Came in at 1.024.
02/25/18 Both remained at same gravity all week, so that is good. But raspberry is not super clear, and plum has some sediment at bottom. So I think I will add super kleer to both, let sit, and then rack again before bottling.
02/27/18 Added Super Kleer to meads (split it up as best as I could).
03/03/18 Bottled. No change in gravity. I am really happy with the raspberry because of the great balance between the tartness of the fruit and the amount of back sweetening. The strength of the mead plays well with the complexity of the flavors. At this point of only 5 months old it is very nice. The plum is really nice too but the actual plum character does not come across quite as much as the raspberry. I'll see how my opinion is of this over time. Need to do a tasting with Paul and then finish the epic video.
Beer Name: Scottish-ish Lager (slight tweaks on last time I made this)
Click on pic for larger version.
Grains: 9.5 lbs Plumage Archer malt supplied by BSG Craft
12 oz Simpson Double Roasted Crystal (used 1 lb other time)
4 oz Chocolate malt 375-450L
12 oz Munich 8.3L
4 oz Special B 140-145L
8 oz Weyermann Rauchmalt
=12 lbs total
Hops: 1 oz Nugget 13.9% AA 60 min
1 oz Centennial 9.9% AA 30 min
1 oz Centennial 9.9% AA 0 min
Yeast: Imperial Organic L17 Harvest - starter made with some of wort night before brewing.
Misc:
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 10/29/17 skipped 11/06/17
Gravity: 1.062 1.014
% Alcohol: 8.1 1.8
Notes:
- 15 qts 166 > 154 > ice > 151. After 1 hour > 150.
- add 2 qts boiling > 163. Collect 3.9 gallons of 16 brix. (took ~16 oz to make yeast starter)
- add 3 gallons 178 > 170.
- 2nd runnings were 7 brix. had 7 gallons so boiled 1 gallon down to .5 gallon
- 6.5 gallons of 13 brix. Got 5 gallons in fermenter before pitching yeast.
- was fermenting within a couple hours, so maybe there is more yeast in these Imp Organic packages (switching soon from cans to something else). Fermenting around 62 initially which is just above the recommended range but room is about 56 and it should be fine.
11/06/17 Kind of rushing this but the Wit ran out and I was home sick a day. Plus I want to wash the yeast and brew again this weekend. Beer is not clear at this point. Not as dark as before either. Reddish brown. I'm sick but taste seems to be ok. Little bitterness. Sweet malt. Should be ok.
**new bottling wand and racking tubing**
01/18 Bitterness has lessened but not gone away. This beer has gotten better with some time and I still have a lot of it left. I think next time maybe I'd go back to the original Scottish-ish if I wanted that sweet, malty result.
Fermentables: 5 gallons cider from MN Homebrewers club cider buy
Yeast: 2 packets Lalvin 71B
Misc: 1 lb white sugar
1 lb dark brown sugar
Brew Date:
First Rack: Second Rack:
Keg Date:
Date: 11/04/17 11/25/17 03/15/18 11/03/18
Gravity: 1.060 .993 .993 .993
% Alcohol: 8 -.8
Notes:
11/04 gravity before adding sugar: 1.050. Pulled some cider, heated a little on stove, stirred in sugar to dissolved, added back into rest of cider, stirred well, pulled hydrometer sample from each cider.
11/25/17 Damn. Not clear yet. Three weeks since brew day. Even drier than they often are. Will need back sweetening for sure.
03/15/18 Noticed a lot of sediment, even in secondary, so thought I'd rack again. Not as clear as raspberry? Whew, almost a bit alcoholic. Probably just as well I let this sit a while longer. This year's juice seems a little different. Sedmient is one thing and the attenuation (with same yeast and sugar as usual) was different. Lower FG's. Hopefully the taste will be OK.
11/03/18 added sorbate and 3 cans apple juice concentrate. Tasted about like usual.
Cider Name: Raspberry Cider (experimental fruit cider attempt)
Fermentables: 5 gallons cider from MN Homebrewers club cider buy
Yeast: 2 packets Lalvin 71B
Misc: 1 lb white sugar
1 lb dark brown sugar
Brew Date:
First Rack: Second Rack:
Keg Date:
Date: 11/04/17 11/25/17 03/15/18 07/06/18
Gravity: 1.063 .998 .997 .997
% Alcohol: 8.25 -.4
Notes:
11/04 gravity before adding sugar: 1.050. Pulled some cider, heated a little on stove, stirred in sugar to dissolved, added back into rest of cider, stirred well, pulled hydrometer sample from each cider.
11/08 Added 10 lbs raspberries. Wanted it to ferment for a few days to get some alcohol present. Made sure raspberries were about same temp as cider. Put in sanitized bag and added to bucket. Punch down a couple times in following few days.
11/19 pulled fruit.
11/25/17 Dry and tart but also raspberry tartness. Not bad but will need sweetening. I see there is apple/raspberry juice concentrate and I might back sweeten with that.
03/15/18 Somewhat clear. Nice color. Some typical dry tart cider character along with tart raspberries. Not bad but needs back sweetening to make it pop.
07/06 Added 3 cans of "apple raspberry" frozen concentrate. Also added sorbate at recommended rate. Clear, lovely red tint. Raspberry in aroma and even in flavor. Apple flavor is underneath but rasp is dominant. Will be fun to see how it turns out. Update: it is carbonated and people are liking it quite a lot. It's very nice and easy to drink. It's slightly more interesting than the straight apple cider because of the raspberry component. I could see doing this again. It turned out as well as I could have hoped.
11/18 The keg kicked! People simply loved this. Everyone who tried thought it was flavorful, unique, balanced and very enjoyable. Nice raspberry character which was probably helped by the raspberry apple concentrate. Decided to just do 1 batch at the end of 2018 and decided to make it a fruit one (since I have this plain one to go on tap).
Click on pic for larger version.
Grains: 10 lbs Weyermann Pils
Hops: .5 oz German Perle 8.8% AA 60 min
.5 oz German Perle 8.8% AA 30 min
1 oz German Perle 8.8% AA 0 min (tried to add after cooling to ~170 but missed it and added at 150 deg).
Yeast: Imperial Organic L17 Harvest - washed from above. Starter made night before.
Misc:
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 11/11/17 11/25/17 12/02/17
Gravity: 1.050 1.006 1.005
% Alcohol: 6.8 .8
Notes:
- 12.5 qts 164 > 151. After 1 hr > 150.
- added 2 gallons boiling > 166. 15 brix. Collected 3.2 gallons (took 1/2 qt for starter).
- add 3 gallons 174 > 167. 6.5 brix. Ended up with 6.6 gallons of 11 brix.
- 5 gallons even in fermenter before pitching yeast. Fermenting 52-54 deg.
11/25/17 Light in color. Not super clear. Taste seems decent. Should be good. Some bitterness. Kind of dry. Will use gelatin when kegging.
12/02/17 Hydrometer sample was clear. Added gelatin. Not much aroma. Taste is very nice. Great malt flavor from Weyermann Pils. Bready, clean, some hop bitterness. Yum.
01/18 It has cleared and tastes great. It might even be better than my regular Pilsners which makes me wonder if it has anything to do with the yeast. There is a certain flavor that is in a lot of my lagers that is not in this one, and it might be better for it.
02/26/18 Turned out great. Took above pic.
Beer Name: Neck Tattoo that Says EVIL Black IPA (recipe from Dawson Mashmaker book, wort brewed by Bad Weather Brewing
Click on pic for larger version.
VIDEO of tasting beer with Dawson.
Grains:
Hops:
Yeast: I used the Imperial Organic L17 Harvest lager. Made starter way ahead of time, put in fridge for like 5 days, decanted off spent wort.
Misc:
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 11/24/17 12/06/17 12/29/17
Gravity: 1.062 1.017 1.014
% Alcohol: 8.1 n/a 2
Notes:
- did not do additional aeration figuring they would have at the brewery. Fermented ~55 deg. Brought to 62 or so for several days at end.
12/06/17 Brown murky color. Not a Black IPA by color. Some hop in aroma. Taste is nice. Brown ale with some bitterness. Coffee? Hmm. light on that. But tasty so far. (After racking to secondary it is apparently still fermenting, even with a little krausen.)
12/29/17 Clear. Light brown, orange color. Taste is nice. Some hop bitterness and flavor. pine? Good malt character. Nice tasting beer. Hoppy amber or Brown IPA?
02/26/18 Not black, but a mighty tasty beer. Bad Weather did a fine job. I've been giving a fair amount of this away but also drinking quite a bit of it.
Beer Name: White Stout Lager (based on this (their tasting notes) and this recipe)
Grains: 5lb 10oz Plumage Archer
6lb 6oz Vertical Malt two row (use 12 lbs of your chosen base malt)
~7 oz Vertical Malt Crystal 40
1 lb flaked oats
1 lb flaked barely
Hops: 1 oz Magnum 10.8% 60 min
1 oz US Fuggle 3.4% 0 min
Yeast: Imperial Organic L17 Harvest lager washed from above. Starter made night before.
Misc: 3 oz cacao nibs in 6 oz vodka for 6 days. Strain nibs out of vodka. Then strained result through coffee filter. Add at packaging.
4 oz whole coffee bean in secondary ~48 hours before kegging. (Tasted at 24 hours and was not strong enough yet).
Brew Date:
Rack to Secondary:
Keg Date:
Date: 12/28/17 01/13/18 02/09/18
Gravity: 1.062 1.012 1.012
% Alcohol: 8.1 1.8 1.8
Notes:
- 18 qts 169 > 155 > ice > 153. After 60 min > 151.
- add 8 qts boil > 163. Collected 3.5 gallons 16 brix.
- add 3 gallons 178 > 166. 9 brix. Had 6.7 gallons of 13.5 brix. Boiled 10 min before adding hops.
- had little over 5 gallons before pitching yeast. Would have been higher if not over collected but no big deal.
1/13/18 Somewhat clear. Just a decent clean beer with very small amt of bitterness at this point. Unique character will come from cacao tincture and coffee beans.
01/13/18 Somewhat clear. Just a decent clean beer with very small amt of bitterness.
02/09/18 What an experiment this turned out to be. After drinking it a little now the coffee flavor is just about right. But it's not really a 'stout.' It's a blonde coffee beer. The cacao nibs do not seem to be coming through much yet. I'm going to see if they come to the forefront more if/when the coffee mellows. But overall I like this beer. This is an interesting and easy way to get coffee aroma and flavor into a beer, that's for sure.
04/02/18 Still have this around. The coffee character has diminished some which makes it more balanced. I think I might have even been (finally) getting some of the chocolate. But if a person wanted more chocolate they could increase it from what I did this time around.
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