Tuesday, August 28, 2018

batch 216, Mosaic IPA

A friend got some fresh Mosaic hops from right down the road on Sunday, I dried them on Monday and brewed with them today. Really fresh, awesome smell from the brew shed today!

10 Gallon batch

25 lb 2-row
1.5 lb Biscuit malt
1.5 lb white wheat
1.5 OUNCES Chocolate malt, this is just for color

Mashed low, I forgot to look at the temp, but I'm guessing around 149F or 150F. 60 minutes, long vorlauf, 5.2 pH, etc.

90 minute boil

2 oz brand new super fresh Mosiac, FWH
2 oz Magnum, 60 min, only because I didn't have quite enough Mosaic
2 tsp Irish moss, 15 min
4 oz of that same super fresh Mosaic at 0 min, plus a 30 min hop stand before kicking on the chiller.

Wyeast 1272, the usual 2 quarts of recycled yeast

That is all, I've been drinking  raspberry cider all day, so nothing more.
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Wait, there was a picture:

Those! Those are super fresh Mosaic hops!

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Batch 215, Berry Cider

The berry cider I made earlier this year turned out to be a big hit, so I made another batch. The process was a little different this time, instead of making beer and running off an extra gallon of wort, I soaked 4 lb 2-row in 1 gallon of water. I didn't think about it and didn't do the math, but 4 lb of crushed grain will absorb 4 pints of water, so I ended up with just a half gallon of wort. Duh! So I batch sparged with another half gallon to get a full gallon of wort.

Fermentables:

1 gallon of wort, more or less
11 cans of Winco frozen apple cider juice

Put that into the fermenter, add 2 gallons of water to make 4 gallons, pitched a quart of thick slurry of Wyeast 1272. Another gallon of liquid gets added later to make a 5 gallon batch.

Like last time, the plan is to let this ferment out, then heat 4 lbs of berries (raspberry, strawberry, blueberry mix) in 1 gallon of water, and add it to the fermenter. The sugar from the berries should cause fermentation to restart, let it go for another week, then rack and keg. The idea here is by adding the fruit later on, the fermentation is less likely to drive off the fruit flavors, which worked well last time.

As usual, I don't have an OG for this, but it's tasty and definitely has some alcohol in it. I'd guess around 5%, but that's just a guess.

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Batch 214, a pale ale

I just sort of made this up on the spot. I was going to rerun the Arrogant Bastard sort of clone that I did earlier this summer, but it's hot, so I thought a nice pale ale would be better. Just some grain and some C hops, should be good!

10 gallon batch

22 lb 2-row
1.5 lb white wheat
1 lb biscuit, just because I wanted a little malt flavor to show through

Mashed in with 8 gallons at 165F, hit mash temp of 150F, so this should have a somewhat dry finish, at least, that's what I'm aiming for. Adjusted pH to 5.25.

90 minute boil, since I think that helps with clarity.

2 oz Chinook, 60 min
2 oz Cascade, 30 min
2 1/8 oz Cascade, 5 min
1 7/8 oz Centennial, 5 min

I was going to go 2 and 2 on the 5 minute addition, but I didn't quite have enough Centennial. I don't think it will make a difference.

Oxygenated, pitched 2 quarts Wyeast 1272 from a previous batch at 72F, fermenting at 65F.

OG: 1.054 est, 1.058 actual, I think I boiled a little harder than usual
FG: 1.014 est
IBU: 60.7
SRM: 5.2
ABV: 5.4%

It was a real easy brew day, in spite of the temperatures hitting 100F today. Made a couple of gallons of salsa at the same time using tomatoes, peppers, and onions from our garden.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Batch 213, Panama Red, of course

Just another batch of Panama Red.

10 gallon batch

22.5 lb 2-row
1.5 lb crystal 60
4 oz chocolate malt
1.5 lb white wheat

Mashed in with 7.5 gallons at 168F to hit mash temp at 154F. Adjusted pH to 5.29. Collected 12.5 gallons in the boil kettle

90 minute boil

2 oz Mt Hood, FWH
2 oz Centennial, 60 min
2 oz Cascade, 30 min
2 oz Cascade, 5 min
2 oz Mt Hoos, 5 min

2 tsp Irish Moss, 15 min

2 quarts Wyeast 1272 from previous batch, pitched at 72F, ferment at 65F

OG: 1.063 actual
FG: 1.016 (est)
ABV: 6.4%
IBU: 66
SRM 11.8