How To Brew Beer

So a couple months ago I posted about my 1120 IPA recipe I crafted.  I know the world is eagerly awaiting the report, so how was it?  Ok, no one is dying to know, but if you were curious here’s the report.  Enjoy!

Like I said in my previous reports, my racking cane got clogged so my volume was a bit light and my efficiency was a bit off being my first batch with my new water supply, so this is a high end APA or a low-end IPA, either way a damn tasty beer!

I was a bit concerned about the slow performance of the Nottingham yeast, but like I said I was fermenting this rather cool, in the 56/57F range.  Well the beer turned out great, this was the first time I used Amarillo hops and really enjoy them, I prefer this Amarillo/Cascade blend over soley Cascade.  I’ll stop rambling about the beer, here’s my review with a picture of the beer!  Try the recipe out, if you like hops, you’ll love this!

At a couple months age (and even at just over one month) this beer is fantastic. It pours fairly clear golden-orange color with a moderate white head. The aroma is quite hoppy, lemon-citrus qualities from Amarillo and Cascade hops. The flavor is moderately hoppy with a noticeable, yet not tongue splitting hop bitterness. The beer finishes with a nice linger of hop flavor and a bit of sweet, nutty malt. The carbonation is moderate and body medium.This beer turned out wonderful, a refreshing, very flavorful pale ale!

Last Sunday I was able to brew up the 1120 IPA recipe I shared a couple weeks ago.  The brew day went well and my primary fermentation is winding down, 7 days later.  I will be adding my dry hops to the primary fermenter in the next day or two.  I’ll let those sit for about a week and then I’ll transfer the beer to the secondary.  At that point I’ll let it clear further and age for another week or two and then bottle the batch.  The only slight problem with the brew day was my auto-siphon got clogged at the end with hop flowers, so my final volume ended up a bit short, I only got about 5 gallons into the primary, I usually shoot for between 5.25 and 5.5 gallons.

Oh, and if you were curious I ended up going with Nottingham Ale yeast for this batch.  I fermented at 57F, it took a full 24 hours to see action from the yeast at this cool temperature, but once it got going it fermented slowly and steadily through much of the week.  It will be interesting to see how this beer tastes, I never have fermented an ale at this low of a temperature.  I’ll post back in a couple months with a tasting.  Here are a few pictures I thought you may enjoy from my brew day last Sunday.

1120 IPA Grains

Here is the grain bill mixed throughly before adding to the mash tun.  The non-barley specs are flaked barley, which I think will give this IPA just a bit of a creamy mouthfeel.

Bittering Addition

The bittering addition, added at the beginning of the boil.  The whole hops are Amarillo and the pellets are Cascades.

Mash after draining

Here is the mash after draining, before the first sparge, smells SO good!

Draining into brew kettle

Draining the first runnings from the mash tun into the kettle.  I have the burner on low after running off to stop any further enzyme action that may be going on.

Rolling boil

Ah, a full rolling boil, you can see the whole hop flower pieces if you look closely.

Well there you have it, another enjoyable brew day!  I can’t wait until this one is ready!  Are you brewing anything soon?

So I’ve finally got the time to brew up my next batch.  My next batch is going to be a celebratory brew, a rather strong, very hoppy IPA but with enough malt to keep it from being one dimensional.  I’ll be brewing next Sunday.  Here’s the recipe I’ve worked out so far.

Beer Name: 1120 IPA

OG: 1.061

FG: 1.012

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: 53

Grains:

10# Maris Otter

1 # Flaked Barley

0.5# Victory

0.5# Crystal 40L

Hops:

0.50 oz Amarillo - 60 min

1.25 oz Cascade - 60 min

0.5 0z Amarillo - 15 min

0.5 oz Cascade - 15 min

0.5 oz Amarillo - 2 min

0.5 oz Amarillo - 2 min

0.5 oz Amarillo - dry hop

0.5 oz Cascade - dry hop

So I wanted to have a subtle, yet noticeable nutty/toasted malt flavor hiding beneath the all those citrusy hops, so the addition Victory malt seems reasonable.  To give the beer a silky mouthfeel I thought a pound of flaked barley would fit nicely, this is what they do in a beer like Guinness to give the creamy mouthfeel.

Now the yeast and here enters my problem.  Our new basement is quite a bit colder than our old one, I have moved my thermometers around and the basement ranges from 50F to 58F.  I wanted to use a British ale yeast, but most varieties recommend mid 60sF to low 70sF for fermentation temperatures, my basement is much too cold for that.  I could use Nottingham dry ale yeast or a clean American ale yeast, but I’m hoping for something different.  I’m thinking of going with an altbier yeast, it will be a bit different, still relatively clean and dry enough.  Although a Scottish ale yeast sounds good too.  I have a feeling this yeast selection will be a game time decision.  So do you have any comments about the yeast or anything else on the recipe?  If you brew it up, drop me a line.

Justin

So I decided to writeup how my Beamish Irish Stout I brewed turned out.  I did a side by side taste test, one beer from the fridge that had a temperature in the mid 30sF and another from the cellar in the mid 50sF.  I compared how they tasted and then I go on to show how I may typically assess one of my brews, making careful notes of what I may want to change for the next I brew the beer.  First the review.

The beer on the left is the beer from the fridge and the beer on the right is the cellar temperature beer.  The cellar temperature beer held a frothier head than the cold beer, I can’t say why.  The pours were equally agressive and glasses were both clean.  Anyway, the aroma of the cellar temperature beer was much roastier than the cold beer, I think part of that was due to temperature differences as well as the fact the cellar beer had a much larger head.  A larger head delivers a more intense punch of aroma.  The color of the beers were the same, very dark brown, not quite black.

The taste of the these two beers were (not surprisingly) very similar.  Both have a moderately roasted flavor, medium/light body and low carbonation.  The finish is rather dry, but not too dry.  There may be a hint of hop flavor in there as well, tough to say.

So what do I think?  I think it’s a good beer, not a great a beer.  The next time I make this brew there are some changes I want to make.  Here is a key part of making great homebrew.  Take great notes.  Note what you like, what you don’t like, and how you would change things.  You won’t remember 6 or 9 months from now!

I purposely went for low carbonation since too high of carbonation on a dry stout can overly accentuate the dry/acrid nature of the beer to a point where it is overwhelming.  Next time I’d prefer just a bit more carbonation, ideally I’d have a nitrogren beer engine, but I’d settle for just a bit more carbonation.

The body is purposely lighter bodied since this is not supposed to be a big thick beer, but rather a beer you enjoy through the night of playing cards.  To me it still needs something a bit more.  Next time I will mash at a slightly higher temperature.  The slightly higher mash temperature will give the beer a higher finishing gravity, and hence a bit more sweetness and more body.

I wouldn’t mind a bit darker color and bit more roasted flavor.  So I think I will increase the roasted barley a bit and maybe try pulverizing the roasted barley.  I have read that pulverizing roasted barley can darken the color and slightly change the flavor profile.

So there you have it.  The Beamish Irish Stout turned out pretty good.  There is room for improvement, but until next time, I’ve got a little over a case of tasty dry stout left to drink.

Good luck with your brewing

Well it sure has been a while since I’ve last posted.  Buying a house and painting sure has taken up a lot of my time!  After moving work took me to Phoenix, Arizona.  Let me say, it was great to get away from the bitter cold -20F temperatures we were having in Wisconsin in exchange for sunshine and 70s!  While in Phoenix I spent some evenings with co-workers at local watering holes, enjoying local brews on the patio.  My favorite of the trip was by Four Peaks Brewing Company, the beer they call Kiltlifter.

Kiltlifter is Scottish Style Ale that has a slightly hazy orangeish-amber color and a nice fluffy off-white head.  The aroma is quite malty, sweet and bready.  The flavor is, as expected, rather malty, just a bit of hop in there and finishes dry with some lingering bready/nuttyness.  If you’re in the western US or can find Four Peaks in store by you, pick up a 6 pack, it’s a tasty brew!

Check back again soon!  I hope to get back on the brewing horse at my new house soon!  I’ll probably update my Beamish Irish Stout with a review and some pictures.

It’s been a while since I chimed in with my latest thoughts.  I meant to share this sooner, but better late than never right?  Here is the other beer leg of my vacation earlier this fall.

So after stopping in Chippewa Falls for the Leinenkugel’s Brewery Tour we reached our vacation spot of Duluth, Minnesota.  The Duluth-Superior area has some great hiking trails in state parks (Pattison State Park in northwestern Wisconsin has the 3rd highest waterfall in the US east of the Rockies), the shipping canal and harbor in Duluth is a great place to spend some time as well, especially if you’re interested by the Great Lakes shipping industry like I am.  There are some great restaurants in Duluth, Blackwoods and Pizza Luce are two favorites, but Fitger’s Brewhouse is by far my favorite Duluth watering hole and restaurant.

Fitger’s typically has at least 10 beers on tap, sometimes even more!  My favorites would be their Double Hopped El Nino IPA and their Big Boat Oatmeal Stout.  But seriously you can’t go wrong with anything you order.  I always get a sampler tray and follow that up with another pint or two of something that wasn’t on the sampler.  Hungry?  Well kill two birds with one stone.  Their food is awesome!  The hard part will be picking something off the large menu.  Also check out some live music during the evenings, with the University of Minnesota-Duluth campus nearby it has a fun, young vibe.  So your typical travels will probably not take you through Duluth, but if you’re ever around plan on stopping for at least a few pints, hell stay the night.

So I was on vacation on the way to Duluth, Minnesota and that took me through Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  Chippewa Falls is small town, a few thousand people, but home of the Leinenkugel’s Brewery.  My favorite Leinenkugel’s beers are their Oktoberfest, Creamy Dark, Red and Honey Weiss.  I really don’t like some of their latest ‘beers’.  I don’t care for Sunset Wheat, Summer Shandy or the new Fireside Nut Brown.  But enough of my preferences on to the brewery tour!

Since we were going on a Saturday we made a reservation since tours are limited to rather small groups.  The tour starts at check-in in the new Leinie’s Lodge.  After check-in you are given two coupons for a free 7oz sample, you can sample before or after your tour.  The lodge is pretty big, with a nice fireplace, lots of merchandise to purchase and a lot of nostalgic Leinie’s stuff.

The brewery begins outside around all the buildings, some of the buildings on the brewery grounds are the original from the mid 1800s!  The tour then proceeds through where the mash is performed, then you follow where the wort is chilled and finally to the huge fermentation room.  The fermentation room has a lot of tanks, I believe each holds 400 some barrels of beer!  In homebrew terms, that’s about 2500 5 gallon batches!  After the fermentation room, we got to see the bottling line and finally warehouse area, where there were thousands of cases of beer, truly a delightful experience.

Overall I enjoyed the tour.  It wasn’t overly informative, the tour guide knew their stuff as long as your followed the lines, anything out of the ordinary was given the typical ‘I can check for your response’.  Also production only runs Monday-Friday, so if I did it again I would try to stop by on a weekday to see some of the stuff in action.

http://www.leinie.com/tour.html

I’ve got a couple beer related places I recently visited on vacation that I want to share with everyone.  Recently I went to the Leinenkugel’s Brewery Tour in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and also had some great beer and food at Fitger’s Brew Pub in Duluth, Minnesota.  I think I’ll post some on those things this weekend, but first I’ve got some Beer Ingredient resources I thought most brewers would find useful, I hope you do.

So you’re ready to make that next recipe but want to try a new kind of malt.  Or you’re worried the variety of hop you’ve used for years isn’t available with the ongoing hop shortage.  What about yeast strains?  You want to branch out, but want the variety to be appropriate for the style you’re brewing.

A great one place stop for malt, hop and yeast strain guides is the Brew Your Own website.  Brew Your Own is a magazine for the hombrewer.  I have subscribed for years and always look forward to the next issue.  Issues typical have reader questions answered, a different beer style profiled with recipes for all-grain and extract brewers, a few DIY projects and an advanced brewer’s article.  These very useful style guides are free and posted on their website.  You’ll also find a sample of a few articles from the latest issue.  I hope you find these links useful!

Justin

Brew Your Own Hop Guide

Brew Your Own Malt Guide

Brew Your Own Yeast Strain Guide

As promised I’d share some more details about my Beamish Irish Stout brew from Friday.  I brewed the recipe given in Brew Your Own magazine from September 2008.  The recipe looked like this, which is very close to the recipe in the magainze.

6.0 lbs Maris Otter Malt

1.75 lbs Flaked Barley

1.0 lbs Roasted Barley

1.0 lbs Rice Hulls (for easier sparge)

1.0 oz Challenger Hop Pellets 7.6% AA - 60 minutes

0.5 oz Kent Goldings Hop Pellets 5.6% AA - 60 minutes

0.5 oz Kent Goldings Hop Pellets 5.6% AA - 15 minutes

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale Yeast Smack Pack.

The mash went well, I got 82% efficiency on my mash and mashed at 152F.  The OG of my wort was 1.043 and calculated IBUs was 40.  I oxygenated the 5.5 gallons of wort in my fermentor for 45 seconds and pitched the yeast into wort at 71F.

Here are some photos I think a lot of you may enjoy.  Next week I’ll share a few photos of the fermentation process.  But now to the brew day photos!

Justin

Here is a photo of the grains before adding to the mash tun.  The white specks are barley endosperm, the whiteish flakes are the flaked barley, the dark specs is roasted barley and you can see a great deal of barley husk and rice hulls.

Here is a photo of the mash shortly after doughing-in.

This is the mash after 60 minutes. Notice how the top watery portion of the mash has become clear compared to after doughing-in.  This is one sign of complete starch to sugar conversion.

Here is my boil setup.  The collected wort with a propane tank fueling the boil.  You can also see the big pot in the background, that’s what I use to heat my water for mash and sparges.

Not that is picture is especially exciting, but I thought it was neat with the steam rising.  It is the spent grain in a trash bag.

A wonderful photo of the boil.  You can see some flecks of protein and hop in the clear portion of the wort, lots of steam and on the left is protein hot break.  Occasionally I’ll skim some of this out and dispose.

……And finally the chilled, oxygened and yeast pitched wort.  I’ve got a blow-off tube in there just in case.  I’ll leave this post here for now.  I’ll post a few pictures of the fermentation process during the week.  An early update: fermentation is going well, I have a krausen head developing about 8 hours after pitching my yeast.

What better to do with a vacation day before a trip?  Well after getting stuff done around the house, the answer is definitely to brew!

Today I brewed up a clone recipe from the September 2008 issue of Brew Your Own magazine, this recipe is for Beamish Irish Stout (I think I said Murphy’s Stout in the video clip, but this was the one for Beamish Stout.  Too many recipes too little time I guess!).

Beamish and Guiness are similar beers, although I like Beamish a little bit more.  It as a bit of hop flavor/aroma that isn’t in Guiness.  Anyway here’s a short video clip of the rolling boil.  It smelled wonderful, if only your monitor was scratch and sniff.  I’ll post some pictures and a some more details later in the weekend.

Anyone else brewing up a batch this weekend?  Enjoy the video!