Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Batch 151, Oktoberfest

Not too late, but finally getting around to brewing an Oktoberfest. This is similar to last year's recipe, with some modifications from notes from that batch -- slightly lighter color, add some wheat for head retention, and use a bigger yeast pitch.

I used the Bohemian Lager again, same as last year, but bought 2 new packs and made a starter.

This was an after-work brewday, I got started around 5 pm and wrapped up around 10 pm. Pretty smooth brewday, nothing out of the ordinary, everything went well except for missing the mash-in temperature.


Vital statistics:

OG: 1.063, 1062 actual
FG: 1.015
SRM: 12
IBU: 23
ABV: 6.1%

10 gallon batch


Mash:

15 lbs Munich
10 lbs 2-row
1.5 lbs wheat
1.0 lbs crystal 60

Single infusion mash at 154F for 60 minutes. Used BrewTarget again, and was off on the infusion temp, actually hit 148F. I didn't bother to adjust since I tend to like Oktoberfest on the dry side anyway. As has become usual, and not always mentioned, I adjusted the pH to 5.3 using lactic acid.


Hops schedule:

I changed up the hops a little also. I thought the Magnum for finishing was a little odd last year, so I was going to go with a more traditional Hallertau, but didn't have enough, so I used some Mt Hood also.

90 minute boil

1 oz Magnum, 60 minutes
2 tsp Irish Moss, 15 minutes
2 oz Hallertau, 5 minutes
2 oz Mt Hood, 5 minutes


Fermentation schedule:

Wyeast 2124, Bohemian Lager yeast. Used two new smack packs, made a 1/2 gallon starter.


Pitch at 65F, then reduce temp to 50F.
Hold for 10 - 14 days, or until gravity is at 1.027.
I got 1.027 like this:
    62 (OG) - 15 (expected FG) = 47
    47 x 25% = 12
    15 (expected FG) + 12 = 27
Raise temp to 65F for diacetyl rest, hold for 1 - 2 days. Should drop gravity to close to FG.
Cold-crash to 35F, hold for 3 - 4 days.
Rack to kegs for lagering at 35F for 2 - 3 months.

I have a few bottles of last year's Oktoberfest in the fridge, so I poured one while brewing. Still pretty tasty!




Update, April 7, 2014 (12 days): gravity is at 1.027, so raised fermenter temp to 65F for diacetyl rest. Hold for 2 days.

Update, April 9, 2014: gravity is now at 1.016, cold-crashing to 35F for 3 or 4 days.


Monday, March 17, 2014

Brewday Pictures, March 15, 2014

I took a few pictures while brewing on Saturday.

I found a couple of unlabeled bottles in the back of the beer fridge, it turns out one was the Scotch Ale and the other was the Bourbon Barrel Stout. Score!

Grinding grain

The brewery


Really cloudy Sculpin clone, even after a 1 micron filter

First wort hops are Magnum

Scotch ale

Scotch ale

Racking an amber ale to kegs

The Scotch ale, compare this to the Sculpin

Boil

Listening to old hippy music while brewing

Bourbon barrel stout

Amber is kegged

Bucket fermenter before cleaning

A nice quart of 1272, American Ale II

Pre-boil gravity



























Whirlpool with hops turds

Fermenters are cleaned, bag in one

Wort is bagged, oxygenated, yeast added

OG, looks like about 1.058

Hops turds again

Next day a the Edge




Saturday, March 15, 2014

Batch 150, Hop Burst IPA

I ran across this recipe in Zymurgy a while back, and as it happened, I scored a bunch of free hops yesterday (Thanks Niko!) I had intended to brew an ESB, but with the sudden acquisition of a bunch of nice hops, this recipe came to mind. I have made a few changes to the recipe in Zymurgy -- the original had Simcoe and Sterling, and I didn't have any of those, but I did have some Meridian, so I used that instead, and compensated for the quantities by adding 2 oz of Citra and Meridian.

"Hops burst" is a process of using all late addition hops and no early/bittering additions. I did do a FWH since that was recommended in the recipe, but all of the rest of the hops are at 15 minutes, during whirlpool, and later some dry hops. It sure smelled good!

I'm also doing an experiment on this batch. I want to increase my fermentation capacity, but I really don't have room for another fridge or freezer. So I'm thinking to ferment in plastic bags. I should be able to ferment two 10 gallon batches in the same freezer since the bags will fit in the freezer better than the buckets, less wasted space. The experiment is I'm using Costco trash compactor bags. As far as I can tell, these should be food grade, but they've never been tested for compliance with the FDA rules since they aren't intended for food storage. I'm fermenting half of this batch in a bag, half in a regular bucket fermenter. I'll post some brewday pictures in another post.



Batch Size 10.061 gal Boil Size 12.561 gal
Boil Time 90.000 min Efficiency 70%
OG 1.059 FG 1.016
ABV 5.6% Bitterness 43.8 IBU (Tinseth)
Color 8.8 srm (Morey) Calories (per 12 oz.) 194

Fermentables

Total grain: 25.250 lb
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 20.000 lb Yes No 79% 2.0 srm
Munich Malt - 10L Grain 2.000 lb Yes No 77% 10.0 srm
White Wheat Malt Grain 1.250 lb Yes No 86% 2.0 srm
Biscuit Malt Grain 1.000 lb Yes No 79% 23.0 srm
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L Grain 1.000 lb Yes No 74% 60.0 srm

Hops

Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Magnum 13.5% 0.500 oz First Wort 90.000 min Pellet 11.3
Amarillo 9.5% 1.500 oz Boil 15.000 min Pellet 10.1
Centennial 10.5% 3.000 oz Boil 15.000 min Pellet 22.3
Amarillo 9.5% 1.500 oz Aroma 0.000 s Pellet 0.0
Centennial 10.5% 1.500 oz Aroma 0.000 s Pellet 0.0
Citra 12.0% 2.000 oz Aroma 0.000 s Pellet 0.0
Meridian 6.7% 2.000 oz Aroma 0.000 s Pellet 0.0

Misc

Name Type Use Amount Time
pH 5.2 Stabilizer Water Agent Mash 2.029 tsp 0.000 s

Yeast

Name Type Form Amount Stage
Wyeast - London Ale III Ale Liquid 0.528 cup Primary

Mash

Name Type Amount Temp Target Temp Time
Conversion Step, 68C Infusion 8.344 gal 164.983 F 154.400 F 60.000 min
Final Batch Sparge Infusion 7.500 gal 181.376 F 165.200 F 15.000 min

Instructions

  1. Add 20.000 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US, 2.000 lb Munich Malt - 10L, 1.000 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L, 1.250 lb White Wheat Malt, 1.000 lb Biscuit Malt to the mash tun.
  2. Bring 8.344 gal water to 164.983 F, 7.500 gal water to 181.376 F for upcoming infusions.
  3. Add 8.344 gal water at 164.983 F to mash to bring it to 154.400 F (152F actual). Hold for 60.000 min. Added 1.5 tsp lactic acid to bring pH to 5.4.
  4. Add 7.500 gal water at 181.376 F to mash to bring it to 165.200 F. Hold for 15.000 min.
  5. Do first wort hopping with 0.500 oz Magnum,.
  6. Bring the wort to a boil and hold for 60.000 min.
  7. Put 1.500 oz Amarillo into boil for 15.000 min.
  8. Put 3.000 oz Centennial into boil for 15.000 min.
  9. Stop boiling the wort.
  10. Steep 1.500 oz Citra in wort for 0.000 s.
  11. Steep 1.500 oz Meridian in wort for 0.000 s.
  12. Steep 1.500 oz Centennial in wort for 0.000 s.
  13. Steep 1.500 oz Amarillo in wort for 0.000 s.
  14. You should have 11.061 gal wort post-boil. You anticipate losing 1.000 gal to trub and chiller loss. The final volume in the primary is 10.061 gal.
  15. Cool wort and pitch Wyeast - London Ale III Ale yeast, to the primary.
  16. Let ferment until FG is 1.016.
  17. Transfer beer to secondary.

Dry hopping will be with 1 oz Amarillo, 1.5 oz Centennial, and 2 oz Citra.

March 24, 2014, racked to secondary. Harvested about 3 pints of the yeast, which always looks great. After 1272, I think this London Ale III is my next favorite ale yeast. The experiment with fermenting in a bag seems fine so far. No off-flavors that I could detect from the hydrometer sample. I'm actually a little disappointed in the flavor, not a lot of hop flavor and very little bitterness. Since there is a crapload of hops in this recipe, I expected more. I did add dry hops to the secondary:

1 oz Amarillo
1.5 oz Centennial
2 oz Citra


Saturday, March 1, 2014

Batch 149, Idaho Red

Haven't brewed in quite a while, and kegs are getting empty. I cleaned 6 today while brewing. My backlog is getting low. Probably need to brew again next weekend and get some supply built up.  This is a new recipe, I started with the Panama Red grain bill, traded out some of the 2-row for Munich to add a little more maltiness, and worked the hops so this comes out a very balanced beer.
 

Idaho Red - American Amber Ale (10B)

Batch Size 10.000 gal Boil Size 12.500 gal
Boil Time 90.000 min Efficiency 75%
OG 1.053 FG 1.014
ABV 5.1% Bitterness 29.5 IBU (Tinseth)
Color 13.9 srm (Morey) Calories (per 12 oz.) 175

Fermentables

Total grain: 22.523 lb
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 14.000 lb Yes No 79% 2.0 srm
Munich Malt - 10L Grain 5.000 lb Yes No 77% 10.0 srm
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L Grain 2.000 lb Yes No 74% 60.0 srm
Briess - Wheat Malt, White Grain 1.250 lb Yes No 86% 2.6 srm
Chocolate Malt (US) Grain 4.375 oz Yes No 60% 350.0 srm

Hops

Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Galena 12.0% 1.750 oz Boil 60.000 min Leaf 26.7
Mount Hood 5.5% 2.000 oz Boil 5.000 min Leaf 2.8

Misc

Name Type Use Amount Time
Irish Moss Fining Boil 1.000 tsp 15.000 min

Yeast

Name Type Form Amount Stage
Wyeast - American Ale II Ale Liquid 2.000 cups Primary

Mash

Name Type Amount Temp Target Temp Time
Conversion Step, 68C Infusion 8.446 gal 168.613 F 154.400 F 60.000 min
Final Batch Sparge Infusion 6.982 gal 184.353 F 165.200 F 15.000 min

Instructions

  1. Add 14.000 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US, 4.375 oz Chocolate Malt (US), 2.000 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L, 1.250 lb Briess - Wheat Malt, White, 5.000 lb Munich Malt - 10L to the mash tun.
  2. Bring 8.446 gal water to 168.613 F, 6.982 gal water to 184.353 F for upcoming infusions.
  3. Add 8.446 gal water at 168.613 F to mash to bring it to 154.400 F. Hold for 60.000 min.
  4. Add 6.982 gal water at 184.353 F to mash to bring it to 165.200 F. Hold for 15.000 min.
  5. Bring the wort to a boil and hold for 90.000 min.
  6. Put 1.750 oz Galena into boil for 60.000 min.
  7. Put 1.000 tsp Irish Moss into boil for 15.000 min.
  8. Put 2.000 oz Mount Hood into boil for 5.000 min.
  9. Stop boiling the wort.
  10. You should have 11.000 gal wort post-boil. You anticipate losing 4.000 qt to trub and chiller loss. The final volume in the primary is 10.000 gal.
  11. Cool wort and pitch Wyeast - American Ale II Ale yeast, to the primary.
  12. Let ferment until FG is 1.014.
  13. Transfer beer to secondary.