I'm So Bitter

Sticke #1:

OG 1.095 FG 1.022 Bitterness approx 63 IBUs Kolsch Ale yeast used WLP029

Sticke #2:

Additional pound of munich malt and added a pound of turbinado to Sticke #1 recipe.

OG 1.088 (efficiency issue - too much sparge water) FG 1.018 Bitterness approx 73 IBUs Kolsch Ale yeast used WLP029 & Champagne yeast used #4021


Sticke #1 is malty sweet (love the complexity just too sweet) and Sticke #2 is much drier and tastes similar to what you would get if you can imagine a double IPA without the hop aroma and flavor. B3...bitter, bitter and more bitter! Not terribly thrilled with #2 and I definitely hope this one benefits from a couple of months of cold conditioning. Though I'm not optimistic. Now, in terms of recipe formulation, I have to contemplate where to go from here for #3...

The traditional (shower) bock is still doing well. It's currently sitting at just over 50 degrees in the fermentation chiller. The fermentation has subsided subtantially since pitching almost two weeks ago. I was changing ice at a minimum of every 8 hours for the first week (ambient temperatures 50-52). Now I can change ice once every 48 hours and maintain a solid 50-51 degrees. I wonder if having to change ice every 8 hours was the result of me not cooling the wort to below fermenting temp (50) prior to pitching. We'll test the idea the next time I use the fermentation chiller. I'm hoping another week or so before I can get this bad boy lagering.

I have a Sudzer club meeting tonight and am looking forward to getting constructive feedback on my Russian Imperial Stout and "European" Cream Ale. In addition, I'm planning on bringing a Port Brewing High Tide (Fresh Hop) IPA. Should be fun!

No major beery things planned for this weekend other than bottling a dozen or so of the cream ale and RIS for competition purposes.

Hope everyone enjoys the Super Bowl and parties this weekend.

Cheers.

Beer Tasting

Was fortunate to be able to have a beer tasting over the weekend. Good folks and good beer, always a great combination.

The Fantome flight included:

Saison - sour and undercarbonated, people liked this one
Hiver - funky and a touch of horse blanket, apparently I'm the only one liking this beer
La Dalmatienne - everyone loved

The Russian Imperial Stout flight included:

Stone RIS (2007) (thanks Todd!)
Stone RIS (2008)
Lagunitas RIS - I think it's off...fine upfront but something wrong in the aftertaste. Not sure entirely of what.
Ballast Point Sea Monster RIS - big winner of the flight, awesome.
Firehouse Brewing RIS - one of my favorites, excellent
Drake's RIS - solid
Dark Day RIS (my homebrew) - I know I'm partial and I like it!
From Russia With Love RIS (coffee RIS - Todd and I homebrew) - coffee has mellowed. Nice.

Others:

New Belgium La Folie - sour, very similar to a Rodenbach Grand Cru, everyone loved (thanks Brent!)
Russian River Beatification (batch 003) - very sour, people liked this one (thanks Adam!)
Cream ale (my homebrew) - comments included "very clean" and hopefully this isn't polite code for "not that great"

Miscellaneous Updates & Hopprehension IPA (All Grain Version)

Miscellaneous Updates:

The shower bock is fermenting strong at 50 degrees. May have started a little high at 54 but by the second day, right at 50.

Apple cherry cider has been transferred to secondary. It appears the FG will be at or near 0.994. ABV will be a shade over 10% (not counting the additional sugar added by the fruit). The 4.5 pounds of sour cherries have added a nice red hue to the cider as well as a subtle nose and flavor. I'll be adding some Ceylon cinnamon at kegging. Really looking forward to see how this tastes after extended aging.

Lastly, I think I'm pretty happy with the IPA recipe. Now...if only I could find the time to brew it.

Maybe I should do a 4L yeast starter or step up a smaller one to 4L? Planning on fermenting at 66.

Or here's a thought...maybe I could do a 20 minute continuously hopped beer with the Centennial and Amarillo?

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Hopprehension Imperial IPA All Grain (14C.2)
Brewer: Daniel L. Rosbrugh
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (0.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.05 gal
Estimated OG: 1.105 SG
Estimated Color: 8.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 126.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.92 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (15.0 SRM) Grain 5.13 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 5.13 %
2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 14 days) Hops -
3.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [11.90 %] (60 min) Hops 86.5 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (20 min) Hops 14.7 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (15 min) Hops 10.2 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 8.8 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (5 min) Hops 4.1 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (2 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
0.25 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2.00 lb Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 10.26 %
0.50 lb Turbinado (10.0 SRM) Sugar 2.56 %
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [StartYeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 17.00 lb
----------------------------
Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Light Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
75 min Saccharification Add 21.25 qt of water and heat to 149.0 F
10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F


Notes:
------
Dry hop for two weeks.

For discussion on "hop bursting" or late hop additions, see http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hopprehension Imperial IPA recipe

Thoughts? Comments?

Looking to do extract as free time is in short supply. Attempting a pseudo-hop burst type of hopping schedule for big flavor and aroma. Fermenting at 66. Dry hopping for two weeks. Will the additions of sugars be enough to get the FG at or below 1.020? Too much sugar?



BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Hopprehension Imperial IPA (14C.2)
Brewer: Daniel L. Rosbrugh
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: Extract
Taste: (0.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.05 gal
Estimated OG: 1.102 SG
Estimated Color: 8.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 127.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
11.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 70.97 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (15.0 SRM) Grain 6.45 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6.45 %
2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 14 days) Hops -
3.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [11.90 %] (60 min) Hops 88.4 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (20 min) Hops 15.0 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (15 min) Hops 10.4 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 9.0 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (5 min) Hops 4.2 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
0.25 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2.00 lb Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 12.90 %
0.50 lb Turbinado (10.0 SRM) Sugar 3.23 %
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [StartYeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: None
Total Grain Weight: 2.00 lb
----------------------------
Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)


Notes:
------
Steep the 2 crushed grains in 3 gallons of water at 149 'F for 30 minutes. Remove grains from wort, add DME and sugars, 4.25 gallons of water and bring to a boil.

Cool the wort, aerate the beer and pitch yeast.

Dry hop for two weeks.

For discussion on "hop bursting" or late hop additions, see http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.htm

Steeping grains are those used in the Ruination clone recipe (Zymurgy).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good Head

The "European" cream ale has been kegged, tapped and (almost) carbonated. I think it's pretty good. Though my opinion probably doesn't mean all that much since I've never had any cream ales other than mine...

I'm currently zeroing in on the proper carbonation level and it should be there in the next day or so. In the meantime, check out the lace on this bad boy.

Hankering For Some Hops

Recently, on our way up to Tahoe for our annual family trip to the snow, I forced everyone to stop off in Concord so that I could visit Monument Wines & Spirits. The spoils of such a visit were vast. And let me put it this way, for the three nights we were in Tahoe, I had Pliny The Elder every night.

Today I've received news that Russian River beers (Blind Pig IPA and Pliny The Elder are the two I care about) are now available at Cosentino's in my neck of the woods. Finally!

It got me thinking about the last truly hoppy beer I made. In looking at my records, the last one brewed, a standard American IPA, was in August of 2008. This is far too long...

So I'm thinking I need a big beer with a tremendous amount of IBUs. Is 1.100 OG and 120 IBUs too nuts? Can such a big beer be attenuated enough? As far as aroma/flavor hop selection, I'm a huge fan of Centennial. And it's got to be dry hopped with a couple of ounces of Centennial as well. I'm thinking Columbus will be a good bet for bittering. Maybe Cascade or Amarillo in there for fun too. Any thoughts or ideas please let me know.

"My mind is aglow with whirling transient nods of thought, careening through a cosmic vapor of invention."

Traditional Bock

The traditional bock I got wrangled into brewing yesterday (thanks LN!) is currently sitting in the shower of our main bathroom fermenting away. Not only do I have a carboy full of beer in the shower, but I've got the entire fermentation chiller in there as well. Garage temps have recently been too far below the 50 degree fermentation temperature I'm shooting for and the upcoming weather appears to be cooling off. Thus, into the shower (the only place on the ground floor with space and "hidden") it goes!

Now, the big money question. If I want the beer to be at 50 degrees during the height of fermentation activity, do I need to get the ambient temperature down to say 47 degrees? Cooler? Warmer? It's probably one of those things that "it depends" and I'll just have to wing it a couple of times before I figure it out...

0-2 & Champagne Yeast

Heard through the grapevine that neither of my two entries into the 2009 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival Homebrew Competition in Vail, CO placed in their respective categories. I entered the Old Ale that has been showing recent success at a number of competitions as well as the first sticke altbier that I brewed. I had a bit of hope for the Old Ale doing well and was not surprised whatsoever about the sticke. In fact, I really just entered the sticke because I was looking for unbiased constructive feedback. Ah well. Perhaps the third time, next year's competition, will be the charm?

Speaking of the sticke, my second version of the beer (brewed 9 days ago) is still bubbling away happily at 65 degrees. Before I go on, a quick back story.

I received a bit of inspiration on trying to dry out the sticke a touch while reading Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione. (I felt the first version was too sweet...we'll see if competition comments reflect this sentiment. FG 1.022) Well, I guess technically, reading Sam's directions for making an extreme barleywine made me recall the instructions provided with the first barleywine I ever brewed.

An online supply store, Homebrew Heaven, offered an extract beer kit called Death By Barleywine. As I recall, a decent enough barleywine. But what was unusual to me (as a newbie brewer) about the kit was that after active primary fermentation was over with whatever strain of typical beer yeast came with the kit, champagne yeast was supposed to be added to the beer. The general thought is that beer yeast sputter out when dealing with such big beers and can't totally complete the fermentation process. This leaves a sweet beer or off flavors behind. Champagne yeast has a significantly higher alcohol tolerance and can munch through quite a bit more than your typical beer yeasts.

In Sam's barleywine recipe, he too mentioned using champagne yeast after 4- 5 days of primary fermentation. Presumably to achieve the same goal of helping to fully ferment the beer. He never addresses specifically why he uses it. I had forgotten that I once used this method and it never occurred to me, until reading through Extreme Brewing, that it may be worth a shot doing it with the sticke.

So to continue with the story, unfortunately, due to a scheduled trip to Tahoe on Thursday, I couldn't really wait to pitch my champagne yeast a full five days after pitching my beer yeast. I had to pitch Thursday morning before heading out, whether the sticke was ready for it or not.

Lake Tahoe at sunrise 01.11.09:


When I got home Sunday afternoon, substantial fermentation activity was noted in the airlock. The temperature of the beer was 65 degrees and everything appeared fine. Hopefully the slightly early pitching of the champagne yeast doesn't adversely affect anything. Even better would be if it accomplishes what I hope it will!

Oh, and I should point out that brewers seem to disagree about whether or not champagne yeast really makes much of a difference when used in this manner. With the quality of today's beer yeasts, especially the highly alcohol tolerant strains, champagne yeast can be viewed as unnecessary provided you aerate your wort sufficiently ahead of time and pitch the proper amount of beer yeast.

I guess we'll see.

Cheers.

Miscellaneous Updates

Wort Cooling:

Over the weekend I was finally able to brew the sticke altbier. It was the first time I had the opportunity to try a new wort cooling method using a submersible pump. To briefly restate the process:

Faucet water is run through an immersion chiller (IC) placed in a tub of ice water. The water flows through the IC to another IC in the boil kettle and then out into the lawn/garden. Then, once the wort is cooled to 85-90 degrees, a submersible pump is substituted in for the IC in the tub of ice water and hooked up to the IC in the boil kettle. Ice water is then pumped through the IC in the boil kettle and then recirculated back into the tub until pitching temperatures are reached. In this case, I was shooting for 60-65.

I'm pleased to say that getting down from boiling to 85-90 took approximately 10 minutes and then getting down to 60-65 using the submersible pump took less than 10 mintes. After pitching, temp of the (now) beer was 63. Active bubbling is currently going on at 65. Perfect! I'm very pleased with the results.

For the next time I brew and then ferment in the concial, I think I'll hook the submersible pump up to the counterflow chiller from the start (bypass all ICs) and see how low I can get the wort temperature. Using faucet water in the summer time, and controlling the flow rate of the wort being transferred, I can generally get the wort into the high 70s.

Apple Cherry Cider:

8 days after making, still actively fermenting on the countertop. I'm very curious to see how this one turns out given the honey, sour cherries, ceylon cinnamon and turbinado sugar. Prior to pitching sweet mead yeast, I mixed the turbinado with enough water to dissolve and simmered until half of it evaporated...essentially creating a turbinado syrup. The unfermented cider tasted really good. Though I'm anticipating having to backsweeten with apple juice concentrate prior to kegging. Can't wait!

Traditional Bock:

Ellen and I sampled a hombrewed bock at a beer tasting over the weekend that was quite good. Ellen really liked it and as such, a traditional bock (not a fine ale!) is apparently now on my list of beers to brew. I have most of the necessary ingredients already. I ordered the yeast and some specialty grain, melanoidin malt, in order to get this bock going. Current brew date is scheduled as the 18th.

Lightning Brewing:

My brother-in-law, Todd, was nice enough to bring by a beer (I believe it was a porter) from this new brewing company located down south in Poway. I'm not entirely sure of what this was supposed to taste like, but near as we could tell, it was infected something awful. Dumped.

Bottling From a Keg:

Todd and I bottled up a dozen 12 oz bottles (primarily for competition purposes) and four 22 oz bottles of our Coffee Russian Imperial Stout over the weekend. This beer has really started to shine after almost 7 months of aging. The bottling went extremely smooth and it's hard to imagine that I used to bottle from a keg any other way. No mess or waste, fast, and easy setup/cleanup. We entered this beer into the 2009 Doug King Competition sponsored by the Maltose Falcons Homebrew Club. Judging takes place at the end of the month. Hopefully we place in the specialty category. Though we did blend the coffee to out tastes and not the judges...

Monument Wines & Spirits:

I plan on hitting up this phenomenal store in Concord on Thursday. Looking to pick up beers from Port Brewing, Russian River, Lost Abbey and Fantome primarily. This is where I get to be a kid in a candy store.

Dark Day Russian Imperial Stout:

I recently tapped my RIS brewed in mid-November. A bit early I know, I just couldn't wait. As it turns out, I am really liking this (young) beer. Wonderful chocolate nose, no hop aroma or significant flavor, lots of roastiness, clean bitterness with a tremendously creamy mouthfeel. I can only hope this beer continues to improve with age. At this point, I plan on entering this into a couple of competitions including the national competition.

Wicked Sensitive Red Ale:

I also recently tapped the red ale I brewed as an homage to a great band, the Dropkick Murphys. It seems to taste like a fairly standard red ale with a touch of roastiness. Colorwise it's pretty dark and I'm not sure what happened there. Much too dark for the style guidelines. Too much roasted barley apparently. Hold a glass up to the light and you'll see a touch of red...All in all, it's a decent ale and unoffensive.

Brewing Efficiency:

Still having a slight efficiency problem. I think I'm in the final stretch of figuring out and nailing down all my numbers. At this point I believe my issue is that I'm using too much sparge water. Ballpark a gallon too much. We'll see if I'm right on the 18th.

Cheers.