Batch 233, Guava IPA

I'm continuing to brew to get beer on all my taps again. At the moment, I have one empty, but 2 are repeats, I have the Oktoberfest on 2 taps and the Panama Red on 2 taps. This is sort of a double batch day, I made this Guava IPA, same as last time, and another berry cider, again, like last time.

10 gallon batch

OG: 1.058, 1.056 actual
FG: 1.015
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 82.6
SRM: 9.7

20 lb 2-row
2.5 lb white wheat
1 kg guava paste, added at end of primary fermentation

Mashed at 154F, adjusted pH to 5.25, recirc 10 minutes each batch. Ran off 13 gallons into the boil kettle, and another 1/2 gallon into a fermenter for the cider.

1.75 oz Citra, FWH
2 oz Magnum, 60 minutes
1 tsp Irish Moss, 15 minutes
3 oz Citra, 5 minutes

90 minute boil.

2 quarts Wyeast 1272 from batch 231. No starter since this is very fresh yeast.

Update,  22 April 2020 -- primary fermentation is done, it's at 1.014. Added the guava. I prepared the guava paste by cutting it into ~1" cubes, put half in the blender, covered with hot water (~105F), blend until smooth, repeat with the other half, then add it all directly to the fermenter.

Berry Cider

I always seem to forget to write down the details of the ciders. For this one, I ran off 1/2 gallon of wort into a fermenter, strained another 1/2 gallon out of the left over mash, so

1 gallon wort
11 cans Winco frozen 100% apple cider
~2 gallons water to make 4 gallons total

Mix it all together in the fermenter, added 1 quart Wyeast 1318 from batch 232, which I harvested today when I kegged that batch. At the end of fermentation, I'll add 4 lbs of frozen mixed berries that have been blended in a food processor plus enough water to make another gallon.

Update, 22 April 2020 -- primary fermentation is done, it's at 1.010. Added the berries. I prepared the berries by pouring half a bag into the blender, covering with hot water (~105F), blend until smooth, repeat for the other 3 half bags, then add it all directly to the fermenter.

Update, 28 April 2020 -- siphoned to a keg, then filtered to make sure there isn't any berry parts (skins, seeds, whatever) to clog things up later on.

Filtering the berry cider. It's a very pink color in the hose, it's very red in the glass.

Batch 232, Mosaic IPA

I'm using up the last of the Mosaic that I've accumulated over the past couple of years. This is following the same process as Batch 194 and Batch 70, that is, adding hops every 10 minutes for 90 minutes.

10 gallon batch

OG: 1.066

FG: 1.018

ABV: 6.6%

SRM: 7.9

IBU: 181

20 lb 2-row
1.5 lb white wheat

Mashed at 154F for 45 minutes, recirculated for 15 minutes, repeat for second batch. Adjusted pH to 5.25.

Hops are all Mosiac:
2 oz FWH
1 oz at 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5.
2 oz at flameout
1 tsp Irish moss at 10 minutes

Wyeast 1318, reusing yeast from last fall, so I made a good starter.

All the hops measured out and ready to go.

This is a shot of the Panama Red that I brewed on April 1, it's still going like crazy. It's close to done, right now it's at 1.020, it needs to drop another couple of points.

Update 16 April 2020 -- cold crashed on the 14th, kegged it today.
Update 19 April 2020 -- it's been sitting cold for a few days, transferred to clean kegs and added gelatin.

Batch 231, Panama Red

We got back from Mexico last week and are doing the quarantine thing like everyone else. We were pretty much in isolation for a week prior, our only contact with other people was paying at a toll booth and the customs officer at the border. So we're two weeks into self-isolation, it's a good time to take care of beer stuff, like getting a batch of Panama Red going.

It's mostly the usual recipe:

10 gallon batch

The grain bill is a little different since I was short on 2-row and used some pilsner to make up the difference.

22.5 lb 2-row + pilsner, roughly 50/50
1.5 lb Crystal 60
1.5 lb white wheat
4 oz Chocolate malt

Mashed at 150F for 60 minutes. I had meant to mash at around 155F, but it's cold and I hate turning on the burner under the mash tun since it always seems to burn. Adjusted pH to 5.2. Recirculated for 15 minutes each batch. Ran off 12.5 gallons to the boil kettle.

2 oz Mt Hood, FWH
2 oz Centennial, 60 min
2 oz Cascade, 30 min
1 tsp Irish moss, 15 min
2 oz Cascade, 5 min
2 oz Mt Hood, 5 min

Wyeast American Ale II. This yeast came from the Panama Red I made in Batch 225, so it's fairly old, but it was only used once. I built up a starter over a couple of days, and today (April 2) the fermenter is looking good, lots of activity.

OG: 1.066, actual is 1.064
FG: 1.016
SRM: 11.8
IBU: 66
ABV: 6.4%

Not a bad brew day. The pump is still causing problems, so I disassembled it and reassembled and now it seems to be okay. I think it's just getting old, the post and the rotor don't fit tight anymore, which is probably the cause of the occasional squealing sound.