by | June 3, 2016 · 2:37 pm

SumoCitrusV – American IPA

SumoCitrusV American IPA
Grains:
12lbs Pale Malt
.5 lbs Carapils
.15 lbs Caramel Malt (30L)

Hops:
1 oz Centennial Leaf 10% AA (60 minutes)
1 oz Cascade Leaf 5.50% AA (45 minutes)
1 oz Centennial Leaf 10% AA (30 minutes)
1 oz Cascade Leaf 5.50% AA (15 minutes)
2 oz Simcoe 13% AA (0 Minutes)
2 oz Citra Leaf (Dry Hop 5 Days)

Yeast: Wyeast American Ale II yeast 1272 – one smack pack initially, added another on day 5 in the primary.

Misc:
1 tab Whirlfloc (10 Minutes)
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 Minutes)
10g Gypsum in the water pre-mash

Fermentation Temperature: 66 F

Notes:
All my big IPAs have had a soapiness to them that I have not been able to get rid of. A couple of homebrewer frieds recommended adding Gypsum to my water and it worked. The soapiness is gone – but I should have added more bittering hops (or just added them earlier in the boil). This beer turned out fine and has a great nose, but it’s a little too malty and sweet for me.

I didn’t have time to make a starter and fermentation got off to a really slow start.  90 Minute Boil. 60 Minute Mash at 151 degrees. Brewed 5 Gallons.

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.061
Original Gravity: 1.072
Gravity at Rack: 1.022
Final Gravity:1.021
Final ABV:7.8%
IBUS (est): 69

SumoCitrysV American IPA pre-pitch

Whirfloc doing its thing.

SumoCitrusV American IPA - Pre-rack

Primary complete – pre-rack.

SumoCitrusV American IPA, Racked and Dry-hopped with 2oz Citra leaf

Racked and Dry-hopped with 2oz Citra leaf

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by | April 10, 2016 · 3:05 pm

Andy Mitchell Sour Barrel Project – Base beer

I was thrilled when I was invited to participate in this project. It was my first turbid mash and my first time using unmalted wheat. This was a 5 gallon batch and joined 55 more gallons of beer from a group of other brewers that went in on old oak souring barrel with loads of good bugs. Cannot wait to see how this tastes in 9-12 months.

Malt / Adjuncts:
7 lb Pilsner / Pale
5 lb unmalted wheat
1 lb Munich
0.5 lb rice hulls

Hops:
3 oz aged hops (I used some Saaz hops that I’d had in the freezer for over a year)

Yeast:
Safale 05 (Starter)

Turbid Mash Steps:
Mash in with 1 gal 150 F hot liquor – target temp 113 F ( Beta Glucan Rest – going to be super thick ~0.3 qt / lb)
Rest 10 min
Bring hot liquor to a boil
Infuse mash with hot liquor to bring to 126 F (Protein Rest)
Rest 10 min
Remove 50% of the liquid and heat to 190 F in smaller pot
Infuse mash with hot liquor to bring to 158 F
Rest 45 min
Remove 50% of liquid, add to smaller pot, and heat to 190 F
Add contents of smaller pot to mash tun to raise mash to mashout temp (hopefully around 170F)
Vourlauf to remove bits
Sparge with 190F water until collecting pre-boil volume

Boil:
120 min boil adding all hops at the beginning

Notes:
Pre-boil Gravity: 1.049
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.016

Cheers,

Steve

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by | November 1, 2015 · 7:38 pm

TCB ElderHop IPA

Grains:
12lbs 2 Row
.5 lbs Carapils
.5 lbs Caramel Malt (40L)

Hops:
2 oz Columbus Leaf 17.8% AA (60 minutes)
1 oz Centennial Leaf 10% AA (0 minutes)
2 oz Simcoe Leaf 13% AA (0 minutes)
1 oz Centennial Leaf (Dry Hop 2 days)
1 oz Simcoe Leaf (Dry Hop 2 Days)
1 oz Columbus Leaf (Dry Hop 2 days)

Yeast: Wyeast American Ale yeast 1056 – two smack packs

Misc:
1 tab Whirlfloc (10 Minutes)
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 Minutes)

Fermentation Temperature: 64 F

Notes:
Estimated brewhouse efficiency at 72% – ended up more like 78.8%. 90 Minute Boil. 60 Minute Mash at 151 degrees. Brewed 5 Gallons.
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.054
Original Gravity: 1.074
Gravity at Rack:
Final Gravity:
EST ABV: 7.8%
Final ABV:
IBUS (est): 110

Brewed: Nov 1, 2015
Racked: Nov 8, 2015
Kegged: Nov 10, 2015

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by | June 24, 2015 · 2:22 pm

Pellicle forming on the Dark Wheat

This little baby is coming along nicely. Tasted it earlier in the week and it needs quite a bit more souring time, but it’s starting to shape up.

pellicle

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What should I drink?

sixPoint what shoudl you drink

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by | June 19, 2015 · 7:41 pm
by | April 15, 2015 · 5:37 pm

SumoCitrus V IPA

Grains:
20 lbs Pale (77%)
3lbs 2 Row (11.5%)
3lbs Caramel Malt (30L) (11.5%)

Hops:
2 oz Centennial Leaf 11% AA (60 minutes)
2 oz Centennial Leaf 11% AA (50 minutes)
4 oz Cascade Leaf 7.7% AA (45 minutes)
1 oz Centennial Leaf 11% AA (45 minutes)
1 oz Cascade Leaf 7.7% AA (10 minutes)
1 oz Centennial Leaf 11% AA (5 minutes)
1 oz Cascade Leaf 7.7% AA (0 minutes)
2 oz Cascade Leaf – one fermenter (Dry Hop 5 days)

Yeast: Wyeast American Ale yeast 1056 – two smack packs

Misc:
1 tab Whirlfloc (10 Minutes)
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 Minutes)

Fermentation Temperature: 68 F

Notes:
Estimated brewhouse efficiency at 72% – ended up more like 85%. 90 Minute Boil. 90 Minute Mash. 10 gallons split and fermented in one 16 gallon SS Brewtech Stainless Steel Conical.

Original Gravity: 1.080
Gravity at Rack: 1.024
Final Gravity: 10.20
ABV: 7.9%
IBUS (est): 126

Brewed: April 3, 2015
Racked: April 15, 2015
Kegged: April 20, 2015

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by | February 26, 2015 · 10:31 pm

TCB Everyday IPA

Recipe by: Taft Canyon Brewers
10 Gallon Batch

Grains:
22 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row)
1.5 lbs Acidulated Malt 10L
1lb Biscuit Malt
1lb Vienna Malt
.5lbs Honey Malt

Hops:
2 oz Nugget Whole Leaf 13%AA (60 minutes)
2 oz Nugget Whole Leaf 13%AA (10 minutes)
2 oz Centennial Whole Leaf 9.5%AA (15 minutes)
2 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) Mt. 6.3%AA (5 minutes)
2 oz Citra Whole Leaf (Dry Hop) – to base beer (3 days in fermenter)
1 Tsp Hop Tech Cascade hop oil  – to batch with Clarity Ferm

Yeast: Equinox Brewing Company American Ale Yeast (fresh)

Misc:
Did not add Whirfloc, instead split the batch into two 5-gallon batches and added Clarity Ferm (White Labs) to 1.2 to see what happens.

Mash Steps:

 151 degrees for 60 minutes

90 Minute Boil

Fermentation Temperature: 68 degrees

Original Gravity: 1.062 (I missed my target of 1.068)
IBUs: 66
Final Gravity:1.012
Final ABV: 6.6%

Notes: Nugget hops were acquired by a friend from New Belgium Brewing Company – AA% is based on default in BeerSmith. Grain bill in recipe is identical to the CBB HopRocket IPA recipe from Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine’s Spring 2014 issue. I mixed up the hops and did not use a hop rocket for this batch. Primary fermentation took forever on this (8 days). Neither version of the beer was clear going into the secondary fermenters.

Brewed: February 26, 2015
Racked: March 23, 2015 (Dry-hopped)
Kegged: April 2, 2015

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by | December 27, 2014 · 10:42 am

TCB Baltic Porter

Recipe by: Taft Canyon Brewers
10 Gallon Batch

Grains:
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row)
6 lbs Munich 10L
6lbs Vienna Malt
2lbs Caramel/Crystal 80L
2 lbs Munich 20L
1lb Chocolate Malt (450SRM)
.5lbs Black Patent Malt (500 SRM)

Hops:
3 oz Perle Whoel Leaf 5.7%AA (60 minutes)
1 oz Mt. Hood 6.5%AA (15 minutes)
1 oz Mt. Hood 6.5%AA (5 minutes)

Yeast: German Lager Yeast (White Labs #WLP830)

Misc:
2 tabs Whirlfloc (15 Minutes)

Mash Steps:

 151 degrees for 60 minutes

90 Minute Boil

Fermentation Temperature: 55 F in Keezer

Original Gravity: 1.052 (I missed my target of 1.070)
IBUs: 33
Gravity at Rack: 1.018
Final Gravity: 1.010
Final ABV: 5.5%

Notes: Grain volume adjusted for Brew House Efficiency of 72%. Did not achieve my target efficiency due to issues with the RIMS tube and pump, which caused the mash temp to dip too low for too long, I believe. Beer tasted great, however, and fared well as the style of the month for Liquid Poets Society December meeting. Made two kegs and bottled some with the beer gun after force carbonation.

Brewed: October 19, 2014
Racked: October 26, 2014
Kegged: November 30, 2014

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by | November 27, 2014 · 10:59 am

TCB Dark Heart Russian Imperial Stout (1/2 with cacao nibs and bourbon oak)

Recipe by: Taft Canyon Brewers
10 Gallon Batch

Grains:
19 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row)
3.25 lbs Flaked Oats
2lbs Caramel/Crystal 30L
2lbs Caramel/Crystal 80L
1.25lbs Chocolate Malt (350SRM)
1.25lbs Vienna Malt
.5lbs Black Patent Malt (500 SRM)
1lb Rice Hulls
2lbs Brown Sugar (10 minutes)
2lbs Black Strap Molasses (10 minutes)

Hops:
3.5 oz Columbus Whole Leaf 17.4%AA (60 minutes)

Yeast: TCB House American Ale yeast (third use, originally from Equinox brewing company fermenter). Would have used White Labs Dry English Ale yeast (#WLP007) if house yeast wasn’t viable.

Misc:
2 tabs Whirlfloc (15 Minutes)

Mash Steps:

 151 degrees for 60 minutes

120 Minute Boil

Fermentation Temperature: 70 F (too high)

Original Gravity: 1.100
IBUs: 82.5
Final Gravity: 1.009
Final ABV: 12.1%

Notes: Fermented at too high a temperature and ended up getting way more dark fruit notes than we wanted. But it’s still pretty good. Needs 9-12 months int he bottle to cool down a little, I think.. The version with the cacao nibs and bourbon oak (I soaked a 3 inch spiral in Jim Beam for two days and let is sit in the secondary with 1oz of cacao nibs for a week) has nice depth and should age nicely. This recipe was strongly based on the Anastasia’s Dark Heart RIS recipe by Cy Bevenger that appeared in Craft Beer & Brewing magazine in 2014.

Brewed: September 1, 2014
Racked: September  14, 2014
Base version bottled (bottle conditioned): November 14, 2014
Cacao Nib & Bourbon version kegged: 3/3/2015

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by | September 22, 2014 · 5:18 pm

Things are really starting to go sour.

Barrel Aged Flanders Red Sour Ale Bottles

We nerded out on this one and made cheesy labels.

Last December, we had the privilege of joining a handful of fellow hombrewers in filling a Leopold Brothers Blackberry Whiskey Barrel with Flanders Red Ale. This wasn’t just any normal barrel, though. This beautiful barrel was previously use for creating New Belgium Brewing Company‘s award-winning sour beers (La Folie, Le Terroir, e.g.). Loaded with all-star bacteria, the barrel still resides at New Belgium, watched over lovingly by Lauren Salazar and her team of experienced sour-makers. Two weeks ago we pulled the beer out of the barrel and this weekend we finally tasted and bottled it. I’m not going to lie – it’s damn good.

Flanders Red Ale goes into the barrel at New Belgium

Filling the barrel in New Belgium’s Foeder Forest, December 2013

This was only our second sour beer attempt (we have two more fermenting  – one on cherries, and a dark sour wheat) and the entire process is still a little new for us.  For me, one of the craziest things about souring beer is that you intentionally infect them. I supposed it’s a little like cheese, but somehow it feels weirder. Anyway, this is how the top of our beer looked in the carboy before we bottled:

Pellicle formation on a Flanders Red Sour Ale

A beautiful pellicle on the top of the ale.

 

I know a handful of homebrewers who do not take part in their local homebrew clubs and, honestly, I just don’t understand it. The staggering amount I have learned from my fellow brewers, the opportunities the club presents (like the one at New Belgium), and the friends I’ve made by regularly attending meetings, brew days, competitions and events make it one of the most valuable memberships I’ve ever had. Thank you, Liquid Poets Society!

We’re looking forward to cracking on these bottles open every couple of months to see how they age – and we’re already scheming on how we can make more.

Cheers,

Steve

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