I've been considering what kind of beer I should break in the cooler mash tun with (see Denny Conn's Cheap 'n' Easy Batch Sparge Brewing below) and I've finally decided on a weizen. The nut brown ale will have to wait. Spring is here, summer is on the way, and Ellen loves her weizens.
I kept the recipe simple. I plan on fermenting 10 gallons in the conical at 62 and 5 gallons in the fermentation chiller at 67. Hopefully Ellen likes one of the batches. She wasn't terribly fond of the last weizen I made back in April 2008.
Given the boil size of 21 gallons, I have a feeling that I'll be boiling on the sculpture, on my extra propane burner and probably on the stove top for the first 30 minutes.
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 15.00 gal
Boil Size: 21.04 gal
Estimated OG: 1.049 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.00 %
15.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.00 %
3.00 oz Hallertauer [4.00 %] (60 min) Hops 15.4 IBU
3.00 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) [StartYeast-Wheat
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 30.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 37.50 qt of water at 167.3 F 152.0 F
Wait...do I need a protein rest for the wheat? Guess it depends on how well modified it is. If the rest is a necessity, I may have to go with the nut brown ale instead and save the weizen for the sculpture where it's easier to step mash. Wonder if rice hulls would be helpful for the runoff as well...
Friday, March 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Miscellaneous Updates
The Cream Ale, brewed on March 14th, seems to almost be done fermenting. Bubbles in the airlock are very infrequent. Gravity reading showed 1.011. At this stage, it tastes quite different from the batch I was hoping to duplicate. It's slightly sweeter, with a touch of sulfer (will fade) and less hop bite at this point. It will hopefully turn out to be a great lawnmower beer in the next few weeks.
The bock has been lagering now for almost five weeks. Tapped it last night. Not quite at the appropriate carbonation level yet but the taste is pretty good. Really malty and smooth. Ellen enjoyed it so much that for the first time she said about a beer "I could drink this flat no problem." Good enough for me. I hadn't initially planned to, but I will be entering this into the national competition as well as the Longshot. I consider this to be the first successful lager that I've ever brewed.
Being busy at work these days has led me to ponder ideas on procrastination. I've settled on Denny Conn's Cheap 'n' Easy Batch Sparge Brewing to help me avoid what I'm supposed to be doing in the office. I figure that his batch sparge brewing has some nice advantages including being cheap (equipment cost minimal), taking less time than my current all grain brewing method, using less water (mandatory rationing coming this summer), getting better efficiency from the grains, and being much more of a mobile brewing method. I can't really fit a brewing sculpture into my teeny car to attend brew-ins... I'll be looking to pick up all parts in the next week or so and will have to give batch sparging a test run shortly after April 15th.
Cheers.
The bock has been lagering now for almost five weeks. Tapped it last night. Not quite at the appropriate carbonation level yet but the taste is pretty good. Really malty and smooth. Ellen enjoyed it so much that for the first time she said about a beer "I could drink this flat no problem." Good enough for me. I hadn't initially planned to, but I will be entering this into the national competition as well as the Longshot. I consider this to be the first successful lager that I've ever brewed.
Being busy at work these days has led me to ponder ideas on procrastination. I've settled on Denny Conn's Cheap 'n' Easy Batch Sparge Brewing to help me avoid what I'm supposed to be doing in the office. I figure that his batch sparge brewing has some nice advantages including being cheap (equipment cost minimal), taking less time than my current all grain brewing method, using less water (mandatory rationing coming this summer), getting better efficiency from the grains, and being much more of a mobile brewing method. I can't really fit a brewing sculpture into my teeny car to attend brew-ins... I'll be looking to pick up all parts in the next week or so and will have to give batch sparging a test run shortly after April 15th.
Cheers.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Now On Tap...
Hopprehension Imperial IPA. Pretty good. Disappointed in the (lack of) aroma, but I think it's to be expected when rushing a beer for competition purposes. I was hoping for much more in your face. LN tells me my nose is off but I'm not so sure...
Also recently on tap, and soon to make a reappearance, a sticke altbier blend. The ratio (for my taste) seems to be about 2/3rds dry to 1/3 sweet. The nice thing about having a keg of the sweet and a keg of the dry on tap at the same time is that it allows each person to customize the blend to their liking. I'm tempted to enter a blend into some upcoming competitions as well for constructive feedback.
Also recently on tap, and soon to make a reappearance, a sticke altbier blend. The ratio (for my taste) seems to be about 2/3rds dry to 1/3 sweet. The nice thing about having a keg of the sweet and a keg of the dry on tap at the same time is that it allows each person to customize the blend to their liking. I'm tempted to enter a blend into some upcoming competitions as well for constructive feedback.
Friday, March 6, 2009
American Barleywine
Given that spare time is a luxury I no longer have, I made a quicky extract batch of barleywine on February 15th. Two ounces of Warrior were used for bittering. Four ounces of Cascade were added in the last twenty minutes and two ounces of Amarillo were added at flameout. I've been having good success lately with my pseudo-"hop burst" technique providing strong hop flavor. The boil was 2.5 hours long. OG on the (just shy of) 5 gallon batch was 1.133. 94 IBUs.
On 03/01/09, the yeast I used for primary fermentation (US-05) were absolutely pooped out. Gravity reading at the time was 1.040. So out came the champage yeast. I dissolved half a pound of brown sugar into a cup and a half of water, added yeast nutrient and pitched that and the champagne yeast into the primary fermenter. Last night (03/05/09), now that bubbling has again slowed, I took another gravity reading. 1.035. I'm hoping with more time that another couple of points will drop off. I'll rouse the yeast daily and keep at 68 degrees for another week or two. Probably should have added the champagne yeast earlier but didn't know if it would be necessary...
Right now the barleywine is 13% ABV and wonderfully hoppy. There's no harshness as I kept the ambient temps at 61-63 (fermentation temps 64-65) throughout the majority of primary. The hops will most certainly fade with aging and I expect it to turn out pretty decent in the end. Waiting will be the hardest part.
But at least I'll have time to come up with a clever name. Which as everyone knows is the most important thing...
Oh, and sorry to crowbar this in, but my cream ale received a high score of 43 from one judge in the 2009 QUAFF AFC. It's the highest score any beer I've brewed has ever received. The other judge gave it a 40 for an average score of 41.5 (the highest score any beer received in the category).
On 03/01/09, the yeast I used for primary fermentation (US-05) were absolutely pooped out. Gravity reading at the time was 1.040. So out came the champage yeast. I dissolved half a pound of brown sugar into a cup and a half of water, added yeast nutrient and pitched that and the champagne yeast into the primary fermenter. Last night (03/05/09), now that bubbling has again slowed, I took another gravity reading. 1.035. I'm hoping with more time that another couple of points will drop off. I'll rouse the yeast daily and keep at 68 degrees for another week or two. Probably should have added the champagne yeast earlier but didn't know if it would be necessary...
Right now the barleywine is 13% ABV and wonderfully hoppy. There's no harshness as I kept the ambient temps at 61-63 (fermentation temps 64-65) throughout the majority of primary. The hops will most certainly fade with aging and I expect it to turn out pretty decent in the end. Waiting will be the hardest part.
But at least I'll have time to come up with a clever name. Which as everyone knows is the most important thing...
Oh, and sorry to crowbar this in, but my cream ale received a high score of 43 from one judge in the 2009 QUAFF AFC. It's the highest score any beer I've brewed has ever received. The other judge gave it a 40 for an average score of 41.5 (the highest score any beer received in the category).
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