Beer Recap for 2012
2012 was a good year for brewing. I stepped away from attempting to conquer cloning Lost Coast Tangerine wheat beer and focused on some other ales. My brewing buddies Chris & Janet and I made several double-batches this year and it was fun brewing with them. Early on this year I made an IPA clone of a local brewery beer called McMenamins Hammerhead Ale that turned out very good. I also made a couple of Bavarian Hefeweizen beers based on information obtained from the Franzikaner and Paulanner breweries in Bavaria Germany. They both turned out very nice. I also made a Irish Red Ale for a Mash-Fest. I am sure I will get into another batch of Tangerine wheat beer in 2013 but for now I am going to enjoy my most recent achievements; Bourbon Vanilla Porter and Pliny the Elder clone.
Bad Hooch:
OK...I should start out with my failures... (yes, even us masters of brewing have some experiments go bad...). Actually I shouldn’t consider these batches as failures as much as I should chalk them up to scrumming to bad advice. Either way, I learned that from now on I will trust my instincts and stick to what I have proven as good.
Lesson Leaned:
I have always used Reverse Osmosis (RO) water from a local grocery store for all my brews. That is a process to purify tap water of solutes, like Chlorine, by forcing the water through a semipermeable membrane. Basically speaking this process takes out unwanted chemicals in the water but leaves the basic minerals and salts. However, I went ahead and took some advice from a fellow brewer to simply use tap water and get the same beer results. Well, I learned my lesson on a batch of Nut Brown ale and Belgian Triple that turned out really bad tasting. Never again will I use tap water for my brewing and stick to RO water from my local grocery store. Besides the RO water only cost 30 cents a gallon. So $3.00 for 10 gallons is such a small amount to try to cut corners on. Unfortunately I had to throw the two batches into the drain because they were so bad.
Now for the Good Hooch:
OK...now for my successes! WOOHOO!!! I made several wheat beers and amber ales early on in 2012 that turned out quite good. I made a Irish Red Ale in the fall I called Carnage Red Ale for a Mash-Fest put on by our local home brew club that turned out really nice. It didn’t win an prizes but many people came back for 2nd, 3rd and 4th tastes. I have that recipe on the back burner and will make it again early in 2013. Also the Hammerhead Ale was outstanding as well.
But I have to say the two batches later in the year were exceptional. A Bourbon Vanilla Porter and a clone of a Russian River Brewery beer called Pliny the Elder. The 1st batch of each was excellent and I surprised myself on how good they tasted. I am in the process of making a second batch of each with some small changes.
I call the Bourbon Vanilla Porter Arachna Negra (Black Widow Spider) because it is very dark in color, has a little oak, 2 vanilla beans and Jim Beam bourbon. So, along with vanilla and bourbon flavors, it has some chocolate and subtle smoke oak flavors as well. For this second batch I lightened up on the oak little and added an additional 1/4 cup (12oz in all) of bourbon to the mix. That one is definitely a winner in my book. It is currently aging in a keg waiting for December 21, 2012 to help us celebrate the end of the Mayan (Aztec) calendar.
For the Pliny the Elder clone I moved all bittering hops to the last 20min of the boil vs. adding at the beginning (60min). I am trying to achieve a smother bitter flavor but a bolder hop flavor and aroma. The Pliny is currently fermenting and the hop smell is outrageous!! The Russian River brewery beer flavor has a distinct “pine” flavor and aroma so I am hoping I can achieve that with the late hop addition method. This one too will be ready by December 21st.
Well, all in all, it was a great brewing year and I am looking forward to next year brews. As my buddy Armando and I use to say when we toasted the start of our Friday night drinking extravaganzas... “Hasta los Huevos Amigo..”
dB
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
2nd batch of Arachna Negra Bourbon Vanilla porter
Two weekends ago I brewed my second batch of Arachna Negra (Black Widow) Bourbon Vanilla Porter. There were some minor changes to the grain bill so here are the particulars on the recipe:
Grain Bill:
8lb 6oz Maris Otter malt 3L *( change base malt and reduced amount from last batch )
2lb 5oz Munich Malt 10L
1lb 8oz Brown malt 65L *( additional malt not used in first batch )
2lb Crystal Malt 40L
1lb Crystal Malt 80L *( additional malt not used in first batch )
7oz Chocolate Malt 350L *(upped from 5oz )
3oz Black Patent Malt 500L *(upped form 2oz )
Hops:
.5 oz Magnum 15.3% Alpha 60min *( new hop profile, added Magnum and removed Fuggles)
1.5 oz Kent Goldings 5% Alpha 15min
.5 oz Kent Goldings 5% Alpha 5min
Yeast:
Fermentis #5 dry ale yesat
Winfroc Tablet @ 15min
Adjuncts:
2 Vanilla Beans (split in half, scraped and quartered. These were small beans)
8 smoked oak cubes *( reduced from 20 cubes )
1.5 cup Jim Beam Bourbon *( increased amount from 1cup )
Step-by-Step: The usual single infusion mash process; 5gal 164F water to attain mash temp of 153F for 60 min. After 60min mash run wart back to mash until clear then runout to boiling pot. 1st batch sparge with 170F water (approx. 2gal) while gently stirring grains to release attached sugars. Run wart back to mash until clear then run out to boiling pot. 2nd batch sparge with 170F water (approx. 2gal) attain 7.25gal kettle volume. Boil 15min through hot break then add yeast according to schedule above. Boil 60min then rapid cool to 90F and run out to sanitized carboy. Let stand 2 hours then agitate well and pitch yeast.
While wart is fermenting make your bourbon extract by adding the adjuncts into a 16oz jar so you can shake it often to saturate the oak. Keep shaking each day until fermentation is complete. When fermentation is complete (bubbling over a minute or FG is 1.012) rack wart to sanitized carboy. Add the bourbon extract, including oak cubes and vanilla beans, to the beer. Let the beer set for a couple of days before cold conditioning.
The beer finished fermenting in 4 days. Cold conditioning lasted another 4 days and the beer is now in the keg under 30psi CO2. One more day at this pressure and it should be nicely carbonated. Pressure will be reduced to 10psi and aged until Dec 21, 2012 to celebrate the end of the Mayan ((Aztec) calendar...
dB
Grain Bill:
8lb 6oz Maris Otter malt 3L *( change base malt and reduced amount from last batch )
2lb 5oz Munich Malt 10L
1lb 8oz Brown malt 65L *( additional malt not used in first batch )
2lb Crystal Malt 40L
1lb Crystal Malt 80L *( additional malt not used in first batch )
7oz Chocolate Malt 350L *(upped from 5oz )
3oz Black Patent Malt 500L *(upped form 2oz )
Hops:
.5 oz Magnum 15.3% Alpha 60min *( new hop profile, added Magnum and removed Fuggles)
1.5 oz Kent Goldings 5% Alpha 15min
.5 oz Kent Goldings 5% Alpha 5min
Yeast:
Fermentis #5 dry ale yesat
Winfroc Tablet @ 15min
Adjuncts:
2 Vanilla Beans (split in half, scraped and quartered. These were small beans)
8 smoked oak cubes *( reduced from 20 cubes )
1.5 cup Jim Beam Bourbon *( increased amount from 1cup )
Step-by-Step: The usual single infusion mash process; 5gal 164F water to attain mash temp of 153F for 60 min. After 60min mash run wart back to mash until clear then runout to boiling pot. 1st batch sparge with 170F water (approx. 2gal) while gently stirring grains to release attached sugars. Run wart back to mash until clear then run out to boiling pot. 2nd batch sparge with 170F water (approx. 2gal) attain 7.25gal kettle volume. Boil 15min through hot break then add yeast according to schedule above. Boil 60min then rapid cool to 90F and run out to sanitized carboy. Let stand 2 hours then agitate well and pitch yeast.
While wart is fermenting make your bourbon extract by adding the adjuncts into a 16oz jar so you can shake it often to saturate the oak. Keep shaking each day until fermentation is complete. When fermentation is complete (bubbling over a minute or FG is 1.012) rack wart to sanitized carboy. Add the bourbon extract, including oak cubes and vanilla beans, to the beer. Let the beer set for a couple of days before cold conditioning.
The beer finished fermenting in 4 days. Cold conditioning lasted another 4 days and the beer is now in the keg under 30psi CO2. One more day at this pressure and it should be nicely carbonated. Pressure will be reduced to 10psi and aged until Dec 21, 2012 to celebrate the end of the Mayan ((Aztec) calendar...
dB
2nd batch of Pliny the Elder clone beer.
Brewed a another batch of Pliny the Elder clone this weekend. But, I completely changed the hop profile based on an article I read recently that mentioned how to attain high aroma and flavor with smother, or less harsh, bitterness in the beer by late hopping the wort starting with 20 min remaining in the boil. Since I really don’t care to much for high bitterness in my bears, we shall see how this new hop profile works out.
Here are the particulars: (pretty much like the first batch with a few changes)
Single Infusion – Double Sparge method
(5 gallons - All grains)
Target OG 1.070
IBU - ~81
FG 1.012
Ingredients
10 lbs 11oz Pale 2-Row malt
2 lbs Crystal (20L) malt - *(changed from Crystal 40L for a lighter color)
1 lbs 8oz Munich 10L malt
1 oz – Amerillo 10.5% (bittering hop) 20 min
1 oz – Columbus 13% (bittering hop) 15 min
1.5 oz - Simcoe 13% (flavor hop) 10 min
1.5oz - Semcoe 13% (aroma hop) 5 min
1 oz - Centennial 9.5% (aroma hop) 5 min
Irish moss (Winfloc tablets – 1 tablet)
California Ale dry (#005) yeast
Step by step
Brewing Process:
Bring 1gal water to 160F and pour into mash tun and swash around to set the temperature environment before mashing (10 min). Bring 4.0 gal of water to 165 degrees; add to your mash tun. Add grains slowly while stirring lightly to ensure good saturation and even temperature ranges among the grain bed. Keep mash temperature at 152F for 60 min. Gently stir the grains at 20 min and 40 min. While you are waiting start boiling enough sparge water to 170 deg.
After the 60 min mash, run out a few quarts of wart back onto the grain bed.. Do not disturb the grain bed. Once a clean run out is attained, drain all the wort from the tun into boil pot. Add sparge water to grain (pore water to grain bed slowly), stir grain lightly to loosen sugars. Add enough spare water to just cover the grains. Run out back to the tun after 5min, using same run out process mentioned above. Continue the second batch sparge in the same manner as the first until you collect 7.25gal wort or wort SG reaches 1.010 (my run out never got below 1.015 before reaching 7.25 gal kettle volume). Boil the wort for 70min before adding hops as stated above.
Once the wort has been boiled for 90 min, rapid cool to 90F and rack to a clean and sanitized carboy. Seal and allow the wart to settle for 2-3 hours, agitate wort and pitch yeast when temp is between 70F- 75F. After fermentation takes on a vigorous nature, raise temperature to 70deg, if necessary, until Specific Gravity (SG) gets between 1.013 - 1.015 then rack off sediment into clean and sanitized carboy for cold conditioning.
The actual SG after rapid cooling the wart was 1.066 (90F), adjusted for temp, SG - 1.070. BrewHouse Efficiency was approx. 75% and ABV @ FG of 1.013 should be around 7.39%.
Here are the particulars: (pretty much like the first batch with a few changes)
Single Infusion – Double Sparge method
(5 gallons - All grains)
Target OG 1.070
IBU - ~81
FG 1.012
Ingredients
10 lbs 11oz Pale 2-Row malt
2 lbs Crystal (20L) malt - *(changed from Crystal 40L for a lighter color)
1 lbs 8oz Munich 10L malt
1 oz – Amerillo 10.5% (bittering hop) 20 min
1 oz – Columbus 13% (bittering hop) 15 min
1.5 oz - Simcoe 13% (flavor hop) 10 min
1.5oz - Semcoe 13% (aroma hop) 5 min
1 oz - Centennial 9.5% (aroma hop) 5 min
Irish moss (Winfloc tablets – 1 tablet)
California Ale dry (#005) yeast
Step by step
Brewing Process:
Bring 1gal water to 160F and pour into mash tun and swash around to set the temperature environment before mashing (10 min). Bring 4.0 gal of water to 165 degrees; add to your mash tun. Add grains slowly while stirring lightly to ensure good saturation and even temperature ranges among the grain bed. Keep mash temperature at 152F for 60 min. Gently stir the grains at 20 min and 40 min. While you are waiting start boiling enough sparge water to 170 deg.
After the 60 min mash, run out a few quarts of wart back onto the grain bed.. Do not disturb the grain bed. Once a clean run out is attained, drain all the wort from the tun into boil pot. Add sparge water to grain (pore water to grain bed slowly), stir grain lightly to loosen sugars. Add enough spare water to just cover the grains. Run out back to the tun after 5min, using same run out process mentioned above. Continue the second batch sparge in the same manner as the first until you collect 7.25gal wort or wort SG reaches 1.010 (my run out never got below 1.015 before reaching 7.25 gal kettle volume). Boil the wort for 70min before adding hops as stated above.
Once the wort has been boiled for 90 min, rapid cool to 90F and rack to a clean and sanitized carboy. Seal and allow the wart to settle for 2-3 hours, agitate wort and pitch yeast when temp is between 70F- 75F. After fermentation takes on a vigorous nature, raise temperature to 70deg, if necessary, until Specific Gravity (SG) gets between 1.013 - 1.015 then rack off sediment into clean and sanitized carboy for cold conditioning.
The actual SG after rapid cooling the wart was 1.066 (90F), adjusted for temp, SG - 1.070. BrewHouse Efficiency was approx. 75% and ABV @ FG of 1.013 should be around 7.39%.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Pliny The Elder Clone
Brewed a Pliny the Elder clone beer this weekend. I got a lot the hops used from the Russian River brewery website and got ideas about the malts from fellow brewers as well as the hop profile. Here is the process I used.
Pliny The Elder Clone
Single Infusion – Double Sparge method
(5 gallons - All grains)
Target OG 1.070
IBU - high
FG 1.012
Ingredients
10 lbs 11oz Pale 2-Row malt
2 lbs Crystal (40L) malt
1 lbs 8oz Munich 10L malt
1oz – Amerillo 14% (bittering hop) 90 min
.5oz – Magnum 15% (bittering hop) 90 min
1oz - Columbus 9% (bittering hop) 60 min
1.5oz - Semcoe 13% (flavor hop) 15 min
1 oz - Centennial 10% (aroma hop) 3 min
.5oz – Semcoe 9% (aroma hops) Flame Out
Irish moss (Winfloc tablets – 1 tablet)
California Ale dry yeast
Step by step
Brewing Process:
Bring 1gal water to 175F and pour into mash tun and swash around to set the temperature environment before mashing (10 min). Bring 4.5 gal of water to 165 degrees; add to your mash tun. Add grains slowly while stirring lightly to ensure good saturation and even temperature ranges among the grain bed. Keep mash temperature at 152F for 60 min. Gently stir the grains at 20 min and 40 min. While you are waiting start boiling enough sparge water to 170 deg.
After the 60 min mash is finished, run out a few quarts of wart back onto the grain bed.. Do not disturb the grain bed. Once a clean run out is attained, drain all the wort from the tun into boil pot and measure run out. Add sparge water to grain (pore water to grain bed slowly), stir grain lightly to loosen sugars. Add enough spare water to just cover the grains. Run out back to the tun after 5min, using same run out process mentioned above. Continue the second batch sparge in the same manner as the first until you collect 7.25gal wort or wort SG reaches 1.010 (my run out never got below 1.020 before reaching 7.25 gal kettle volume). Bring your wort to a boil to past the hot break for 15min then add the hops as described above.
Once the wort has been boiled for 90 min, rapid cool to 90F and rack to a clean and sanitized carboy. Seal and allow the wart to settle for 2-3 hours then pitch yeast when temp is between 70F- 75F. After fermentation takes on a vigorous nature, raise temperature to 70deg, if necessary, until Specific Gravity (SG) gets between 1.015 - 1.020 then rack off sediment into clean and sanitized carboy. When SG gets to 1.012 rack off sediment to clean and sanitized keg or bottle as normal.
Our actual SG after rapid cooling the wart was 1.065 (90F), adjusted for temp, SG - 1.069. BrewHouse Efficiency was approx. 76% and ABV @ FG of 1.012 should be around 7.47%.
By the way, I used water from a Reverse Osmosis dispenser at WinCo Foods at 30 cents a gal. That water has always given ma a PH of between 5.2 - 5.4 in the mash and I have not had to add any water salts. Vancouver, WA has the best brewing water I have used anywhere.
-dave
Pliny The Elder Clone
Single Infusion – Double Sparge method
(5 gallons - All grains)
Target OG 1.070
IBU - high
FG 1.012
Ingredients
10 lbs 11oz Pale 2-Row malt
2 lbs Crystal (40L) malt
1 lbs 8oz Munich 10L malt
1oz – Amerillo 14% (bittering hop) 90 min
.5oz – Magnum 15% (bittering hop) 90 min
1oz - Columbus 9% (bittering hop) 60 min
1.5oz - Semcoe 13% (flavor hop) 15 min
1 oz - Centennial 10% (aroma hop) 3 min
.5oz – Semcoe 9% (aroma hops) Flame Out
Irish moss (Winfloc tablets – 1 tablet)
California Ale dry yeast
Step by step
Brewing Process:
Bring 1gal water to 175F and pour into mash tun and swash around to set the temperature environment before mashing (10 min). Bring 4.5 gal of water to 165 degrees; add to your mash tun. Add grains slowly while stirring lightly to ensure good saturation and even temperature ranges among the grain bed. Keep mash temperature at 152F for 60 min. Gently stir the grains at 20 min and 40 min. While you are waiting start boiling enough sparge water to 170 deg.
After the 60 min mash is finished, run out a few quarts of wart back onto the grain bed.. Do not disturb the grain bed. Once a clean run out is attained, drain all the wort from the tun into boil pot and measure run out. Add sparge water to grain (pore water to grain bed slowly), stir grain lightly to loosen sugars. Add enough spare water to just cover the grains. Run out back to the tun after 5min, using same run out process mentioned above. Continue the second batch sparge in the same manner as the first until you collect 7.25gal wort or wort SG reaches 1.010 (my run out never got below 1.020 before reaching 7.25 gal kettle volume). Bring your wort to a boil to past the hot break for 15min then add the hops as described above.
Once the wort has been boiled for 90 min, rapid cool to 90F and rack to a clean and sanitized carboy. Seal and allow the wart to settle for 2-3 hours then pitch yeast when temp is between 70F- 75F. After fermentation takes on a vigorous nature, raise temperature to 70deg, if necessary, until Specific Gravity (SG) gets between 1.015 - 1.020 then rack off sediment into clean and sanitized carboy. When SG gets to 1.012 rack off sediment to clean and sanitized keg or bottle as normal.
Our actual SG after rapid cooling the wart was 1.065 (90F), adjusted for temp, SG - 1.069. BrewHouse Efficiency was approx. 76% and ABV @ FG of 1.012 should be around 7.47%.
By the way, I used water from a Reverse Osmosis dispenser at WinCo Foods at 30 cents a gal. That water has always given ma a PH of between 5.2 - 5.4 in the mash and I have not had to add any water salts. Vancouver, WA has the best brewing water I have used anywhere.
-dave
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Arachna Negra Bourbon Vanilla Porter
Well, it’s been a while since I posted on my beer blog so let me start by saying...Oh well! I have been a little busy with other things but I am having more time now to brew more beer so I thought I would post my latest...Arachna Negra (Black Widow) Bourbon Vanilla Porter.
Here is a brief on the recipe:
Grain Bill:
9lb 8oz German 2-row Pilsner malt
2lb 4oz Munich Malt 10L
2lb Chrystal Malt 20L
5oz Chocolate Malt
2oz Black Patent Malt
Hops: 1.5oz Kent Goldings 5.3% Alpha 60min
1oz Fuggle 6.3% Alpha 15min
5oz Kent Goldings 5.3% Alpha at flame out
Yeast:
Fermentis #5 dry ale yesat
Adjuncts:
2 Vanilla Beans (split in half, scraped and quartered)
20 smoked oak cubes
1 cup Wild Turkey Bourbon
Step-by-Step: The usual single infusion mash process; 5gal 164F water to attain mash temp of 153F for 60 min. Approx 2.5gal near boiling water to mash out at 168F. Run wart back to mash until clear then runout to boiling pot. Batch sparge with 170F water (approx. 1.25gal) while gently stirring grains to release attached sugars. Run wart back to mash until clear then runout to attain 7gal kettle volume. Boil 15min then add yeast according to schedule above. Boil 60min then rapid cool to 90F and runout to sanitized carboy. Let stand 2 hours then rack off lees then pitch yeast and aerate well.
While wart is fermenting make your bourbon extract by adding the adjuncts into a 16oz kerr jar so you can shake it often to saturate the oak. Keep shaking each day until fermentation is complete.
When fermentation is complete (bubbling over a minute) rack wart to sanitized carboy, strain the oak cubes and vanilla beans but keep the extract. Place the solids into a small hop bag and suspend the bad into the carboy and add 1/4 the extract. Occasionally stir the beer for a week then taste and add up to al the extract to taste. Spritz the carboy with CO2 once in a while to keep the O2 out. After one more week, rack to sanitized carboy (spritz with CO2) and set in keg-orator to cold condition. Depending on taste, you can keep the oak and vanilla solids suspended in the carboy or remove them all together...your choice. Bottle as usual.
As of today, the beer is fermenting and will continue for a couple more days. I will post again as the adventure progresses.
dB
Grain Bill:
9lb 8oz German 2-row Pilsner malt
2lb 4oz Munich Malt 10L
2lb Chrystal Malt 20L
5oz Chocolate Malt
2oz Black Patent Malt
Hops: 1.5oz Kent Goldings 5.3% Alpha 60min
1oz Fuggle 6.3% Alpha 15min
5oz Kent Goldings 5.3% Alpha at flame out
Yeast:
Fermentis #5 dry ale yesat
Adjuncts:
2 Vanilla Beans (split in half, scraped and quartered)
20 smoked oak cubes
1 cup Wild Turkey Bourbon
Step-by-Step: The usual single infusion mash process; 5gal 164F water to attain mash temp of 153F for 60 min. Approx 2.5gal near boiling water to mash out at 168F. Run wart back to mash until clear then runout to boiling pot. Batch sparge with 170F water (approx. 1.25gal) while gently stirring grains to release attached sugars. Run wart back to mash until clear then runout to attain 7gal kettle volume. Boil 15min then add yeast according to schedule above. Boil 60min then rapid cool to 90F and runout to sanitized carboy. Let stand 2 hours then rack off lees then pitch yeast and aerate well.
While wart is fermenting make your bourbon extract by adding the adjuncts into a 16oz kerr jar so you can shake it often to saturate the oak. Keep shaking each day until fermentation is complete.
When fermentation is complete (bubbling over a minute) rack wart to sanitized carboy, strain the oak cubes and vanilla beans but keep the extract. Place the solids into a small hop bag and suspend the bad into the carboy and add 1/4 the extract. Occasionally stir the beer for a week then taste and add up to al the extract to taste. Spritz the carboy with CO2 once in a while to keep the O2 out. After one more week, rack to sanitized carboy (spritz with CO2) and set in keg-orator to cold condition. Depending on taste, you can keep the oak and vanilla solids suspended in the carboy or remove them all together...your choice. Bottle as usual.
As of today, the beer is fermenting and will continue for a couple more days. I will post again as the adventure progresses.
dB
Friday, December 16, 2011
Tangerine Wheat attempt #6
Hi, Dave here again.
Sorry for not posting sooner...I have simply been lazy..HA
Well, yet another attempt to clone Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat beer has not gotten any better. I think I will leave that beer to the real brewer in Eureka, CA and I will simply buy it. :) So no more attempts to clone the beer. However, there has been a lot of activity in 2011 that I will blog later.
Until then,
Have a Marry Christmas and Hoppy (Hic!) New Year.
Sorry for not posting sooner...I have simply been lazy..HA
Well, yet another attempt to clone Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat beer has not gotten any better. I think I will leave that beer to the real brewer in Eureka, CA and I will simply buy it. :) So no more attempts to clone the beer. However, there has been a lot of activity in 2011 that I will blog later.
Until then,
Have a Marry Christmas and Hoppy (Hic!) New Year.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat Clone - busted
Hi, Dave here again...
Well...this was a good experiment and I learned a lot.
There will be another attempt at cloning this beer in the spring 2011.
Until then...
Well...this was a good experiment and I learned a lot.
There will be another attempt at cloning this beer in the spring 2011.
Until then...
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