Chillindamos Homebrewing

B3 2050 BrewSculpture is Here!

2012-02-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

The new system has arrived and homebrewing has elevated to a new level. The MoreBeer 2050 BrewSculpture was ready ahead of time and it was difficult to wait through the holidays for the opportunity to fire it up.

The first of many homebrews, B3 2050 BrewSculpture.

As with any upgrade or new location, I anticipated a rough start. I wasn't even sure if the BrewSculpture would fit through the doorway since specs slightly exceeded the width of our garage door. I decided that I would test and scrub everything on one day before committing to a brew day. Luckily, it fit through the door and was moderately manageable to move the stand to my existing brewing location. With the kettles and everything loaded, the weight is insane. Just the stand, moving around is quite easy.
After a thorough scrub and testing of all systems (pumps, float switches, temp gauges, gas lines, digital burner, probes), it was a GO for Inaugural Pale Ale. Here's the homebrew recipe:
Chillindamos Homebrew Recipe

Inaugural Pale Ale

American Pale Ale

BJCP: 10A

Date: 01/14/2012

Type: All Grain

Brewer: Sean

Batch Size: 10.00 gal

Asst Brewer:

Boil Time: 90 min

Equipment: B3 2050

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG

Measured Original Gravity: 1.057 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG

Measured Final Gravity: 1.007 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.0 %

Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.6 %

IBUs (Tinseth’s): 42.9 IBUs

Est Color: 5.9 SRM

Total Hop Weight: 8.00 oz

Calories: 187.8 kcal/12oz

Description:

Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
17.30 gal	SD/RO 70/30	Water	1	-
1.00 tbsp	pH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 mins)	Water Agent	2	-
17 lbs	Rahr 2 Row Malt (2.0 SRM)	Grain	3	81.0 %
2 lbs	Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)	Grain	4	9.5 %
1 lbs	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)	Grain	5	4.8 %
1 lbs	White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)	Grain	6	4.8 %
1.00 oz	Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min	Hop	7	22.1 IBUs
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	8	-
0.50 tsp	Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)	Fining	9	-
2.00 oz	Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min	Hop	10	12.3 IBUs
1.00 oz	Cascade [6.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min	Hop	11	4.1 IBUs
1.00 Items	Servomyces (Boil 10.0 mins)	Other	12	-
2.00 oz	Cascade [6.60 %] - Boil 5.0 min	Hop	13	4.5 IBUs
2.00 oz	Cascade [6.60 %] - Boil 0.0 min	Hop	14	0.0 IBUs
2.0 pkg	California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml]	Yeast	15	-

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Mash In	Add 27.30 qt of water at 165.3 F	152.0 F	60 min
Mash Out	Heat to 162.0 F over 10 min	162.0 F	0 min

Mash Type: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out

Total Grain Weight: 21 lbs

Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F

Pre-boil Volume: 11.15 gal

Days in Primary: 4.00

Primary Temperature: 66.0 F

Days in Secondary: 10.00

Secondary Temperature: 60.0 F

Days in Tertiary: 7.00

Tertiary Temperature: 65.0 F

Carbonation Type: Keg

Volumes of CO2: 2.3

Pressure/Weight: 12.54 PSI

Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.54 PSI

Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F

Storage Temperature: 45.0 F

Notes: Pale Ale, such an under appreciated style these days. Especially in San Diego, where I like to tell people that IPA flows out of drinking fountains, pale ale just sounds ordinary. As one of my favorite beers styles, I haven't brewed a pale ale in such a long time. I wanted to brew a great first beer on the new MoreBeer B2050 BrewSculpture and pale ale was very appropriate.
Suprisingly, the brew day went very smooth. Over a decade of homebrewing enabled a fairly easy transition. Hops at 0 minutes were used in a Hop Rocket. Nugget and part of the Cascade hops were homegrown by Travis. Centennial from my farm.

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There were a few minor hiccups during the first brew but nothing that hindered the bulk of the process. I was having way too much fun to really care about the details. The second batch had to wait a few weeks but by then all the kinks were worked out.

Getting ready to heat up the mash liquor.

California Common was next on the homebrew list. An observer on this day would have probably noted that it would have appeared that I had been using this system for years. Everything went extremely well. I don't even think we spilled any grain during the tippy clean-up. Clean-up is a bit more involved than before but luckily Kara helped out both brews. After this batch, I'm ready to ramp up the production if needed for sheer quantity and experimentation.

Chillindamos Homebrew Recipe

Start Your Steam Engines

California Common Beer

BJCP: 7B

Date: 02/02/2012

Type: All Grain

Brewer: Sean

Batch Size: 10.00 gal

Asst Brewer:

Boil Time: 90 min

Equipment: B3 2050

Est Original Gravity: 1.066 SG

Measured Original Gravity: 1.065 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.021 SG

Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.0 %

Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.7 %

IBUs (Tinseth’s): 32.6 IBUs

Est Color: 12.0 SRM

Total Hop Weight: 6.00 oz

Calories: 219.2 kcal/12oz

Description:

Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
23.50 gal	SD/RO 70/30	Water	1	-
0.50 tbsp	pH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 mins)	Water Agent	2	-
17 lbs 16.0 oz	Rahr Malting 2-Row (1.8 SRM)	Grain	3	71.6 %
4 lbs	Belgian Munich (9.0 SRM)	Grain	4	15.9 %
1 lbs	British Crystal Malt (70.0 SRM)	Grain	5	4.0 %
1 lbs	Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)	Grain	6	4.0 %
1 lbs	Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)	Grain	7	4.0 %
2.1 oz	Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)	Grain	8	0.5 %
1.50 oz	Northern Brewer [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min	Hop	9	18.0 IBUs
1.00 tsp	Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	10	-
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	11	-
2.25 oz	Northern Brewer [7.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min	Hop	12	13.4 IBUs
1.00 Items	Servomyces (Boil 10.0 mins)	Other	13	-
2.25 oz	Northern Brewer [7.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min	Hop	14	1.2 IBUs
1.0 pkg	San Francisco Lager (White Labs #WLP810) [35.49 ml]	Yeast	15	-

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Infusion	Add 43.47 qt of water at 167.7 F	154.0 F	60 min
Mash Step	Heat to 168.0 F over 20 min	168.0 F	5 min

Mash Type: SMART 154 and Mash Out

Total Grain Weight: 25 lbs 2.1 oz

Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F

Pre-boil Volume: 12.56 gal

Days in Primary: 14.00

Primary Temperature: 60.0 F

Days in Secondary: 10.00

Secondary Temperature: 65.0 F

Days in Tertiary: 7.00

Tertiary Temperature: 65.0 F

Carbonation Type: Keg

Volumes of CO2: 2.5

Pressure/Weight: 12.27 PSI

Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.27 PSI

Keg/Bottling Temperature: 40.0 F

Storage Temperature: 40.0 F

Notes: This time of year, from a combination of old plaster walls and wood floors, the house fermentation area maintains a consistent 58-60°F. Too cold for ales and too warm for lagers but close enough for a hybrid yeast strain such as White Labs WLP810 San Francisco Lager to thrive. Recipe formulation started with Jamil's recipe shared during his Brewing Network podcast on brewing California Common.

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Puna Noni Sour

2011-12-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

Time for some Radical Brewing! When Bryan came to visit us from Oahu I asked him to bring an interesting and wild Hawaiian ingredient. Noni juice is what arrived. The noni fruit is loaded with carbs, dietary fiber, and a host of other micronutrients and phytochemicals. The Puna Noni juice label describes the product as a nutrient supplement with a suggested daily dose of about 1oz (should be about an ounce per serving of beer in the final product). Searching the web, you can find several noni homeopathic applications none of which have been thoroughly investigated. From urinary tract infections to cancer inhibitors, noni juice seems to have a number of health benefits. This beer might be the cure you're looking for! Apparently, the juice is already fermented prior to bottling so there might already be some interesting critters in the juice. This would also explain why I didn't see a jump in OG after adding the juice. For better or worse, I applied the juice after the boil so as not to disrupt the funkiness already present in this concoction.

Puna Noni Juice

This has got to be radical brewing, right Randy Mosher? This fruit develops a strong odor as it ripens that give it nicknames like "cheese fruit" and "vomit fruit". You'd never think that this species is in the coffee family! According to the noni Wikipedia article, people will only eat this fruit during times of famine. Well, let's see how it does in a homebrew. Should be an interesting experiment and I have several glass carboys that are screaming for long-term projects.

Noni Fruit, Morinda citrifolia

Chillindamos Homebrew Recipe

Puna Noni Sour

Specialty Beer

BJCP: 23A

Date: 12/20/2011

Type: All Grain

Brewer: Sean

Batch Size: 5.00 gal

Asst Brewer:

Boil Time: 90 min

Equipment: Chillindamos Brewhaus

Est Original Gravity: 1.061 SG

Measured Original Gravity: 1.059 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG

Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.9 %

Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.4 %

IBUs (Tinseth’s): 38.1 IBUs

Est Color: 14.3 SRM

Total Hop Weight: 3.80 oz

Calories: 196.2 kcal/12oz

Description: The noni juice is dark brown and very aromatic. The flavor and aroma are hard to describe since I haven't had anything like this before. Definitely funky! Should put most recipes found in "Radical Brewing" in the tame category.
I'll categorize this brew in BJCP Category 23 - Specialty Brew for its unusual and exotic fermented fruit ingredient and no definitive baseline style.

Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
8.40 gal	SD/RO 50/50	Water	1	-
0.50 tbsp	pH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 90.0 mins)	Water Agent	2	-
8 lbs	Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)	Grain	3	65.6 %
4 lbs	Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)	Grain	4	32.8 %
3.2 oz	Carafa II (412.0 SRM)	Grain	5	1.6 %
1.60 oz	Tettnang [4.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min	Hop	6	24.5 IBUs
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	7	-
1.20 oz	Saaz [3.80 %] - Boil 15.0 min	Hop	8	8.4 IBUs
1.00 oz	Saaz [3.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min	Hop	9	5.1 IBUs
1.0 pkg	Belgian Saison I Ale (White Labs #WLP565) [35.49 ml]	Yeast	10	-
3.00 qt	Puna Noni Juice (Primary 0.0 mins)	Flavor	11	-
2.0 pkg	Belgian Sour Mix 1 (White Labs #WLP655) [50.28 ml] [Add to Secondary]	Yeast	12	-

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Mash In	Add 13.42 qt of water at 173.8 F	152.0 F	90 min

Mash Type: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out

Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 3.2 oz

Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F

Pre-boil Volume: 5.95 gal

Days in Primary: 14.00

Primary Temperature: 65.0 F

Days in Secondary: 365.00

Secondary Temperature: 60.0 F

Days in Tertiary: 7.00

Tertiary Temperature: 65.0 F

Carbonation Type: Keg

Volumes of CO2: 2.3

Pressure/Weight: 12.54 PSI

Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.54 PSI

Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F

Storage Temperature: 60.0 F

Notes: Added noni juice directly to the primary just before pitching WLP565. Saison I yeast was choosen for its known ability as an underachiever leaving food behind for the sour blend to do its work. 60 seconds of oxygen via diffusion stone also applied prior to pitching. No yeast starter used, single vial only. Started ferment at 65°F and insulated well to allow free-rise. I will not ramp up the temperature like most saison fermentation profiles. Instead, I will let 565 do what it can before racking to secondary and pitching two vials of WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix I. Then, it will sit for a year.

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Image Source:
Rodríguez, Wilfredo. Noni Fruit (Morinda Citrifolia).jpg. 2008. Photograph. Morinda Citrifolia. Wikipedia.org, 15 Oct. 2008. Web. 21 Dec. 2011. .

Lilikoi Wheat

2011-12-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

This is my first writings about working with Hawaiian passion fruit but this is the third brew working with the fruit. I also made a semi-sweet mead with lilikoi juice on national mead day this past August. The lilikoi fruit is sourced from a great friend's backyard on Oahu. Lilikoi is the Hawaiian word for passion fruit. He crushes and strains the juice. The juice looks like an intense orange juice. The aroma is amazing and the flavor is very tart, citrusy, and tropical. Huge props to Bryan who readily processes and ships this across the pond.

This past summer, I brewed a similar batch to this one as well as a Belgian Wit. Personally, I think it does very well in an American Wheat but others at my homebrew club liked the wit better. While the wit was more tart, I feel the fruit flavor and aromas were in better marriage with the malt and yeast profile in the American Wheat I brewed. Part of me also thinks that beer fans are also more partial to any Belgian style over a style like American Wheat which can have a bad reputation as a "blonde ale".

I'm getting better with BeerSmith 2. Like with most software, it has had its learning curve. I still see calculated values that don't match my brew day. Since the Chillindamos Brewhaus will experience a major upgrade in the future, I will invest the time at a later date to match the software with my brewing process. I'm wondering if anyone else uses the software with MoreBeer!s SMART system? Here's a description of the mashing process I'm adopting:

SMART is a method of maintaining orraising the temperature of your Mash. SMARTstands for Step Mash Adjusted RecirculationTemperature. While the acronym is a bit of astretch, it is a smart way of adjusting your Mashtemperature without the concerns of scorchingthat can be associated with applying directflame or use electric heating elements.

The way it works: By using a pump, youmove liquid wort out the bottom of the MashTun through a heat exchanger (a copper coil)located in your Hot Liquor Tank andthen gently return it to the top of the grainbed. This heat exchange is very gentle andwill not have any caramelizing effects on thewort.Another advantage of SMART systems iswort clarity. When you are doing recirculationyou are using the grain bed as a filter to removeparticulate from the recirculating wort.This allows you to transfer already cleared wortinto the Boil Kettle.

Passiflora edulis, the flower of lilikoi.

Chillindamos Homebrew Recipe

Lilikoi Wheat

American Wheat or Rye Beer

BJCP: 6D

Date: 12/04/2011

Type: All Grain

Brewer: Sean

Batch Size: 5.00 gal

Asst Brewer:

Boil Time: 90 min

Equipment: Chillindamos Brewhaus

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG

Measured Original Gravity: 1.059 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG

Measured Final Gravity: 1.006 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.0 %

Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.0 %

IBUs (Tinseth’s): 15.4 IBUs

Est Color: 4.5 SRM

Total Hop Weight: 1.00 oz

Calories: 194.3 kcal/12oz

Description: Bryan shipped a gallon of fresh lilikoi from his backyard. He crushed and lightly pasteurized the fruit. This batch is not as intensely aromatic and flavorful as the last two arrivals. Another good friend, ALF, says the acidity is so high that pasteurization is not necessary.
I typically do a 70/30% grist ratio with my American Wheat recipes but stepped this up a bit in the pale malt along with a slightly higher mash temp to cut just a bit off the tart.
This is the 3rd homebrew using Lilikoi juice and I also have a mead in progress as well. In my opinion, this is an outstanding fruit to work with for its aromatics, flavor, tartness, and hue contribution (a saturated orange juice color).

Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
8.03 gal	SD Alvarado	Water	1	-
7 lbs	White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)	Grain	2	63.6 %
4 lbs	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	3	36.4 %
1.00 oz	Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min	Hop	4	15.4 IBUs
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	5	-
1.0 pkg	California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml]	Yeast	6	-
1.00 pt	Lilikoi Juice (Primary 0.0 mins)	Flavor	7	-
0.50 pt	Lilikoi Juice (Bottling 0.0 mins)	Flavor	8	-

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Mash In	Add 12.10 qt of water at 174.5 F	152.0 F	60 min

Mash Type: Single Infusion, Medium-Light Body, No Mash Out

Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs

Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F

Pre-boil Volume: 5.95 gal

Days in Primary: 13.00

Primary Temperature: 65.0 F

Days in Secondary: 10.00

Secondary Temperature: 67.0 F

Days in Tertiary: 7.00

Tertiary Temperature: 65.0 F

Carbonation Type: Keg

Volumes of CO2: 2.5

Pressure/Weight: 12.27 PSI

Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.27 PSI

Keg/Bottling Temperature: 40.0 F

Storage Temperature: 40.0 F

Notes: At kegging, it was determined by Michelle (my senses were ruined by a recent cold) to add more lilikoi juice to increase aromatics, flavor, and tartness. 1/2 pint of juice was added directly to the keg. No secondary fermentation, went straight to keg. White Labs WLP001 used directly from vial, no starter. By the look at the bottom of the primary after racking, the yeast bed looked very frothy white and healthy. Certainly cleaner than most yeast beds after primary though could be due to lower trub amounts in primary.
Lilikoi Juice likely added sugar content that contributes to the OG. It also changes the pH at each addition.

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If this beer is remotely the hit it was when served at Andrew's engagement party, should prove to be a solid performer at our Annual New Year's Big Bear Bash.

Sources:

MoreBeer! "Analog S.M.A.R.T | MoreBeer." Beer Making Kits and Home Brewing Supplies | MoreBeer. MoreBeer! Web. 18 Dec. 2011.

Passiflora Edulis Forma Flavicarpa. Photograph. Passiflora Edulis Forma Flavicarpa. By Agricultural Research Service, USDA. Wikipedia,org, 13 Aug. 2006. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. .

Big Bear Fest Ale

2011-12-10T13:16:00.001-08:00

I've brewed at least a dozen batches since my last recipe post (April). While I've been trying to use software (BeerTools Pro and BeerSmith 2) to drive my planning and record keeping, parenting has only yielded occasional opportunities to brew, not to sit at the computer for hours beyond the brew day. I have found myself returning to the days of scribbling my recipe ideas on sticky notes, scratching in amendments as I go, and piling the stickies at the computer for (possible) future data entry.
Using brewing software has been time consuming. I started playing around with BeerSmith 2 this past summer and found the learning curve about the same as with BeerTools Pro. Instead of the software informing my brewing process, I have spent more time trying to train the software to match my measurements on brew day. Overall, it has been a good experience that does lend to better planning but at the cost of blogging time, very un-chillindamos!

Using BeerSmith 2 for Recipe Formulation

One of the things I like using this blog for is posting my recipes. I found that BeerSmith 2 has some built in reports for exporting and printing. I also like that I was able to create my own custom report for specifically exporting to HTML for my blog. At this point, the custom report is limited to specified variables but there's lots to work from. Below is my working custom report that exported the recipe below:

BeerSmith 2 Custom Report

On to the homebrew. This year is our 18th Annual Big Bear New Year's party and I wanted to brew something more extensive. I have listened to a number of podcasts while brewing, working on the hop farm, and chillindamos. On the Sunday Session, there's a great interview with Steve Dresler of Sierra Nevada who shares the recipe for Celebration Ale. There's also a recipe podcast on the Jamil Show, Can You Brew It: Sierra Celebration. This homebrew is inspired by these podcasts but as I always do in brewing, I wandered off to find my own celebration.
Chillindamos Homebrew Recipe

Big Bear Fest Ale

American Amber Ale

BJCP: 6B

Date: 11/19/2011

Type: All Grain

Brewer: Sean

Batch Size: 5.00 gal

Asst Brewer:

Boil Time: 90 min

Equipment: Chillindamos Brewhaus

Est Original Gravity: 1.072 SG

Measured Original Gravity: 1.060 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.018 SG

Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.2 %

Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.1 %

IBUs (Tinseth’s): 83.3 IBUs

Est Color: 13.9 SRM

Total Hop Weight: 7.90 oz

Calories: 201.6 kcal/12oz

Description: Inspired by Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, here's my take on a special amber ale.

Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
8.70 gal	SD Alvarado	Water	1	-
0.50 tbsp	pH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 mins)	Water Agent	2	-
12 lbs 4.0 oz	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	3	83.0 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)	Grain	4	10.2 %
8.0 oz	Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)	Grain	5	3.4 %
8.0 oz	Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM)	Grain	6	3.4 %
1.60 oz	Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min	Hop	7	54.2 IBUs
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	8	-
1.00 oz	Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min	Hop	9	7.8 IBUs
1.00 oz	Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min	Hop	10	18.1 IBUs
1.00 Items	Servomyces (Boil 10.0 mins)	Other	11	-
1.00 oz	Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min	Hop	12	3.1 IBUs
0.80 oz	Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min	Hop	13	0.0 IBUs
0.75 oz	Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min	Hop	14	0.0 IBUs
0.60 oz	Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min	Hop	15	0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg	American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 ml]	Yeast	16	-
1.0 pkg	California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml]	Yeast	17	-
0.65 oz	Centennial [10.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days	Hop	18	0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz	Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days	Hop	19	0.0 IBUs

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Mash In	Add 14.79 qt of water at 168.9 F	154.0 F	60 min

Mash Type: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out

Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs 12.0 oz

Sparge Temperature: 165.0 F

Pre-boil Volume: 6.93 gal

Days in Primary: 10.00

Primary Temperature: 60.0 F

Days in Secondary: 10.00

Secondary Temperature: 58.0 F

Days in Tertiary: 7.00

Tertiary Temperature: 65.0 F

Carbonation Type: Keg

Volumes of CO2: 2.3

Pressure/Weight: 12.54 PSI

Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.54 PSI

Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F

Storage Temperature: 38.0 F

Notes: Used homegrown hops, cascade was from Travis. Hops at 0 min were added to a Blichmann Hop Rocket used in the recirculation loop. I made two 5-gallon batches of this beer with an attempt to keep most variables identical. One batch was fermented with Wyeast 1056 and the other with White Labs WLP001. No starters, only original packaging (and process, smack pack) from the yeast manufacturer. Oxygen added for 60 seconds prior to pitching.

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I borrowed a Blichmann Engineering Hop Rocket from a QUAFF buddy to give it a try and now it is on my list of must-have brewing gadgets. I filled the rocket with homegrown hops at the end of the boil, connecting it to my recirculation pump. I found it to be perfect for utilizing my homegrown hops. I should also mention that MoreBeer!s metal shop has been employed!

Hop Rocket in action!

Is it time to employ the metal shop!?

2011-09-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, please!

Oh beer! I've been neglecting my beloved homebrew blog. While daddy daycare has taken its' toll on blogging, my homebrewing didn't fall off the deep end. This summer I did manage to have an insane hop harvest, fill all 10 of my corny kegs with homebrew, attend NHC, and host two beer events. All this while taking care of the little one while my wife returns to work; I'd say mission accomplished.

Like many other obsessed homebrews, I've had a MoreBeer! BrewSculpture on my agenda since they were first available. The budget seems to be closing in and any given incentive discount could trigger a call to MoreBeer's metal shop (there's typically a discount for the base sculpture during fall).

Stringing Your Trellis and Training Your Hop Vines

2011-05-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of great videos from HopsTV for all you hop growers out there. HopsDirect has been making videos on their farming process. Farmer, Stacy Puterbaugh, provides a number of tips to the homebrew grower.

Check out how fast these guys are stringing the hop yard! A very simple knot is tied to the top guide wire at Boy Scout competition speed. Additional crew anchor the lines to the hop mound. Hops TV Episode 10: Stringing Hop Yard:

Stacy's soil is VERY different than what I have. Looks so soft compared to the intensely hard and rocky soil that I have to work with. Goes to show that hops can grow in a variety of soil conditions. Stacy shares very important information about the amount of water needed. Hops TV Episode 2: Training Hops and General Care:

Happy Hop Growing! I'm heading to my farm tomorrow for general maintenance.

Grow Some Hops!

2011-05-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

Information Presentation on Growing Hops
Last month I gave a presentation to my homebrew club, QUAFF, on the basics of growing your own hops. Several have asked for the presentation to be available for reference. Here's the general presentation on growing your own hops at home. Post any questions in the comments. There were several good questions at the end of the presentation.

How do I see the speaker notes!?

I have speaker notes added to much of the presentation slides but in order to see them, you need to view full window and select Actions, View speaker notes. Leave open the pop-up, it will change when you move through the presentation. Enjoy!

To see the speaker notes, you need to view the presentation in a full window.

At the bottom, select Actions then Show speaker notes

Homebrewers' Rhizome Swap Next Year!
This season, I think I was able to provide rhizomes to about 20 homebrewers with the hope that our local homebrewing community also becomes a hop growing community. If you missed it, I will have plenty again next year! Fellow QUAFFer, homebrewer, blogger, and hop grower, Jeff Crane, suggests we declare an official rhizome swap every spring. Should be a great way to kick off the season each year and recruit more homebrewers to be hop growers.

BetterBottle Volume Levels and More

2011-04-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

5 Gallon BetterBottle Volume Levels

6 Gallon BetterBottle Volume Levels

I really need to just mark my BetterBottles for volume levels with tape or stickers. The website for BetterBottles shows the volume levels (select "Carboys" from the left-side navigation). Linked here is the volume levels for the 5 and 6 gallon carboys.
An even better BetterBottle would have volume levels already marked for the end user. Just sayin! It would have been really awesome if the volume levels were stamped in the actual locations with gallon (at least 0.5 gallon accuracy) and liter markers.
Product information on their website also indicates the nominal volume (5 or 6 gallons) reached at the bottom of the neck.
Overall, I really wish I would have thoroughly navigated BetterBottle's website before using the bottles for the first time. I initially only looked at information for cleaning and sanitizing since my method cleaning glass carboys would end up scratching the internal surfaces (some use a brush anyway). I really didn't look beyond their suggestions for cleaning and sanitizing.
There's some other great information on the website that I would have also found very useful. One immediate discovery one gains when using a BetterBottle for the first time is that the flexible walls create back pressure on standard 3-piece airlocks. I typically use a bit of Star-San solution in my airlocks and really don't want this in my beer. Lifting or moving a full BetterBottle can squeeze the internal volume causing positive pressure to be released by the airlock. Once you put down the bottle, the pressure is reversed, creating a negative pressure internally. 3-piece airlocks are designed to only expel positive pressure from the bottle so when there's negative pressure, the liquid inside the airlock gets sucked into the bottle. Very unchillindamos! Better Bottle's website shows what happens:


Effects of positive and negative pressure on 3-piece airlocks using BetterBottles.

I've quickly learned to carefully use 3-piece airlocks with my BetterBottles and try to use bungs or vented silicon stoppers when moving the carboys. BetterBottle has a product called a DryTap (select "DryTap Air Lock on the left-hand side navigation) that also avoids the situation above.
Another really cool use of their DryTap is for oxygen-free transferring. Check this out:

Similar to using a Carboy Cap, BetterBottle's DryTap can also be used for oxygen-free transferring.

More applications or transferring can be found on their website, click "How-To Tips" on the left-side navigation of the site.
After using BetterBottles for a while now, I'm a fan. Strong, extremely light, safe, and fairly easy to clean, homebrewers and home wine makers can't go wrong. Of course, I'd rather have a stainless steel conical but for 5 gallon purposes, the BetterBottle is the best choice out there.
Speaking of cleaning these things, I'm likely going to get this Carboy Cleaner to get out the stubborn yeast build-up when PBW doesn't seem to be enough. I'm simply going to buy the replacement pads and bolt them on my lees stirrer since it only gets occasional use. Hopefully, using the Carboy Cleaner will make using BetterBottles even better.

Image Sources:
BetterBottle Product Images. Digital image. Better-Bottle Bottles, Better-Bottle Carboys, and Better-Bottle Fermenters for Home Winemaking and Home Brewing. High-Q, Inc. Web. 16 Apr. 2011. .

Some Like it Hoppy IPA, April 10 2011

2011-04-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

The past three weeks have been amazing. Our first child arrived and with it, an insane amount of excitement and a number of adjustments. While my wife, Michelle, has taken the brunt of changes, I have found myself in a state of awe and chillindamos. Knox will grow up in a homebrewery that I'm sure will also dabble in homemade sodas when the time comes.

Parenting skills harmonizing with chillindamos.

Homebrewing has slowed down a tad but today I'm back in the game! I made some subtle modifications to the last IPA batch, Stay Classy IPA. I eliminated the 20°L crystal malt to add more to the German special malts, Vienna and Munich. I also upped the whole hop Centennial addition and Amarillo to bring the flavor and aroma just a notch up (eleven).

Grain bags make great swaddles.

Everything else remained identical to the previous IPA. Stay Classy IPA is still on tap and is great. I bottled out a few for NHC but am a bit weary of how it will travel considering my inexperience with counter-filling bottling. I bottled out a few extras to see how it will hold up come judging time. Though I tried to blow out a pint or so of the trub at the bottom of the keg, some chunks are showing in the other bottles. I suppose I'll find out in a couple of weeks when I get the judging sheets.

Knox's first homebrewing session!

Some Like it Hoppy IPA
BJCP Category 14-B American IPA
Author: Chillindamos
Date: 4/10/11

Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 72.55%
Attenuation: 78.5%
Calories: 219.23 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.066 (1.056 - 1.075)
|================#===============|

Terminal Gravity: 1.014 (1.010 - 1.018)
|================#===============|

Color: 5.64 (6.0 - 15.0)
|=======#========================|

Alcohol: 6.81% (5.5% - 7.5%)
|==================#=============|

Bitterness: 121.3 (40.0 - 70.0)
|================================|

Ingredients:

9.3 lb 2-Row Brewers Malt
1.4 lb German Vienna
0.8 lb Belgian Munich
3.0 tsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer - added during mash
1.0 lb Rice Extract
1.0 oz Chinook (11.0%) - added first wort, boiled 90.0 min
1.0 oz Magnum (10.6%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1 tsp Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 oz Chinook (11.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.6 oz Centennial (10.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.0 tsp Servomyces - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
0.1 tsp Anti-Foam - added during boil, boiled 1.0 min
0.5 oz Simcoe (12.3%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
0.5 oz Citra (14.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
1.0 ea White Labs WLP001 California Ale (will change later)
0.5 oz Simcoe (12.3%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Citra (14.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 60.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:14:30 Mash-In - Liquor: 3.44 gal; Strike: 172.11 °F; Target: 152.0 °F
01:14:30 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 147.5 °F
01:24:30 Vorlauf, bitches! - Rest: 10.0 min; Final: 146.7 °F
02:24:30 Fly Sparge - Sparge Volume: 5.33 gal; Sparge Temperature: 168.0 °F; Runoff: 6.0 gal

Notes

Small changes from last IPA, Stay Classy IPA. 70% dilution rate. 4 grams Gypsum, 1 gram Epsom Salt, and 1 gram of Baking Soda added to the mash. Chinook and Centennial hops are grown at our hop farm (IBUs estimated). Mash dilution ratio: 1.04 Tap, 2.41 Water Lady (3.44 gallons total). HLT dilution ratio: 1.51 tap, 3.59 Water Lady (5.1 gallons total). Oxygen added for 60 seconds. OG 1.066 @ 68°F. 1 vial to 900ml yeast starter. Will likely share this keg for NHC (unless thirsty for more IPA).

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.15

Anyone ever seen an ale yeast do this after fallen krausen?

Above shows an interesting phenotype from fermentation of the last batch of IPA. I was planning on racking the new IPA on the yeast bed of the last batch when I saw this happen and delayed the brew. No off flavors, nothing suspicious, just likely characteristic of this particular strain. I'll know for sure if it does it again this batch.

Mark's Keg and Carboy Washer

2011-03-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

There's a new gadget out there that essentially cleans-in-place carboys, kegs, and lines (transfer, pump, beverage, gas, chilling). It's called Mark's Keg Washer. The homebrew DIYer can build such a gadget for a fraction of the cost using an immersion pump and common plumbing hardware. Check out these videos of Mark's Keg Washer in action:

Keg & Carboy Washer Part 1 from Olin Schultz on Vimeo.

Keg & Carboy Washer Part 2 from Olin Schultz on Vimeo.

Keg & Carboy Washer Part 3 from Olin Schultz on Vimeo.

Has Anyone Used This: Video - Carboy Cleaner

2011-03-11T06:46:00.000-08:00

Using Better Bottles makes the old carboy-brush relatively useless since the plastic is susceptible to scratching. While PBW mostly eliminates fermentation build-up on the inside of the Better Bottle, I've had two instances where a chemical clean was not good enough. I needed to attach a small rag to my lees stirrer to gently rub away the stubborn gunk that PBW was unable to remove. Perhaps this would be a better solution for every cleaning!?

Stay Classy IPA, February 27, 2011

2011-02-27T22:08:00.000-08:00

I'm getting a bit excited for this year's AHA Conference here in San Diego. The conference is hosted by a different city each year and usually it's too far to travel. This will be my first National Homebrewers' Conference and I'm looking forward to all the fun other members in my homebrew club, QUAFF, talk about each year (yes, some go every year!).

Want to go!? Better register soon, the conference is selling out fast!

One of the famed events during the conference is club night. I know I can count on QUAFF to fully represent with a great showcase of homebrews and energy. I haven't heard an announcement yet but I know that QUAFF will soon be asking us to contribute kegs for club night. While hoppy is something I've always enjoyed, I haven't brewed hoppy in quite some time (probably since IPA pours out of drinking fountains around here!). Here's to my renewed adventures in homebrews drenched in IBUs and contributing to the masses of hop heads at NHC. Not sure if this beer will be around by then but you can count on this brew to be good learning ground.

Vessel Calibration in BeerTools Pro
One of the key draws to using brewing software is the ability to calculate strike and target temperatures during the mash. It would enable you to better hit your temps when variables such as volume, time, and temperature change. In BeerTools Pro, it allows you to run basic experiments to establish heating parameters for your brewing equipment. Basically, calibration involves pouring a selected volume of heated water in each your mash tun, hot liquor tank, and kettle to measure the amount of heat loss over a specific amount of time. The software also allows you to test your heating element to measure how fast you can heat a selected volume (useful for estimating heating times).

Kettle calibration in BeerTools Pro to determine heat properties.

Before the software, it has been a bit of art and skill to hit desired mash temperatures. A homebrewer gets to know his/her equipment with experience and eventually, it gets easier to hit your target temps. The problem was that I can sometimes be a couple of degrees off. Seems to not be a very big deal but enzyme activity can be very temperature specific. If you ever want to recreate the conditions that made that great beer, it's imperative to know how to hit your desired temperatures every time.
I would be very happy if I can trust the software to guided me to my mash temperatures every time. After today's batch, it is apparent that I have a bit of tweaking to do. I'm not sure if I should go through the calibration process again (for the mash tun only) or simply tweak the time point temperatures to match the observed temperatures during a brew day. Oh, I should also verify/calibrate my thermometer before doing so (or would it an unknown thermometer provide acceptable relative values?) and for future brews.

Today's Mash Schedule with calculated strike temperatures in the Temp column.

Looking above, I heated my 3.44 (or close to that) gallons to 171.5°F for mash-in. After 3 minutes of stirring and stabilizing, the mash was moderately consistent at 153°F. Close enough for me and I was pretty excited. At the end of the saccharification rest, BeerTools shows that I should have lost enough heat to have a final temp of 147.4°F. My actual ending temperature was 152°F (only a loss of 1°). Perhaps if I simply adjust my Mash Tun Calibration parameters for "Temp. After 5 Minutes" to lose 1° less and "Temp. After 65 Minutes" to show a total loss of also just 1°, I might be able to make this work.
On to the beer, check out that ingredient list! Insane. I used to try and simplify as much as possible (less is more) and now my homebrews are practically including the kitchen sink. The ingredient list doesn't even include the adjusted water profile and salts. As for the IBUs, doesn't the calculated 112.3 seem to be just too far out there for this hop schedule!? I'll save that issue for another time, I need to chillindamos!

Stay Classy IPA

14-B American IPA
Author: Chillindamos
Date: 2/27/11

Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 74.78%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 217.06 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.065 (1.056 - 1.075)
|===============#================|

Terminal Gravity: 1.016 (1.010 - 1.018)
|====================#===========|

Color: 6.85 (6.0 - 15.0)
|=========#======================|

Alcohol: 6.41% (5.5% - 7.5%)
|===============#================|

Bitterness: 112.3 (40.0 - 70.0)
|================================|

Ingredients:

9.0 lb 2-Row Brewers Malt
1.0 lb German Vienna
0.5 lb Belgian Munich
0.5 lb Crystal Malt 20°L
3.0 tsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer - added during mash
1.0 lb Dried Rice Extract
1.0 oz Homegrown Chinook (11.0%) - added first wort, boiled 90.0 min
1.0 oz Magnum (10.6%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1 tsp Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 oz Homegrown Chinook (11.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.0 oz Homegrown Centennial (10.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.0 tsp Servomyces - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
0.1 tsp Anti-Foam - added during boil, boiled 1.0 min
0.5 oz Simcoe (12.3%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
0.5 oz Citra (14.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
0.5 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
1.0 ea White Labs WLP001 California Ale (update later)
0.5 oz Simcoe (12.3%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Citra (14.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
0.5 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 60.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:14:26 Mash-In - Liquor: 3.44 gal; Strike: 171.48 °F; Target: 152.0 °F
01:14:26 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 147.4 °F
01:24:26 Vorlauf, bitches! - Rest: 10.0 min; Final: 146.7 °F
02:24:26 Fly Sparge - Sparge Volume: 5.1 gal; Sparge Temperature: 168.0 °F; Runoff: 5.74 gal

Notes

70% dilution rate. 4 grams Gypsum, 1 gram Epsom Salt, and 1 gram of Baking Soda added to the mash. Chinook and Centennial hops are grown at our hop farm (IBUs estimated). Mash dilution ratio: 1.04 Tap, 2.41 Water Lady (3.44 gallons total). HLT dilution ratio: 1.51 tap, 3.59 Water Lady (5.1 gallons total). Oxygen added for 60 seconds. OG 1.065 @ 66°F. 1 vial to 800ml yeast starter (used dark malt extract which should have a small impact on resulting SRM). Recently finished calibrating all vessels and mostly was able to use BeerTools software to predict target temperatures. Mash-in was over my 1°F which is close enough that I simply continued to stir the mash for a few more minutes. The calculated final temperature for the saccharification rest was the most off, about 5°F lower.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

Turned out to be an awesome IPA. Kara tested for IBUs: 84.5. This value is actually higher than what I expected and certainly more than what is perceived. If I were to guess, I would say that it's around 65 IBUs. The next IPA brewed has some minor changes and more hops. Will be nice to also have that tested to see if the value is a tad higher than 84.5 IBUs.

Back in Black Schwarzbier, February 21, 2011

2011-02-26T16:20:00.000-08:00

In November I brewed a Schwarzbier that I really liked. It was on tap at our annual New Year's Big Bear Bash. As a dark colored beer, some of our drinking crowd steered clear while others wanted to compare it to a stout or porter. I feel this style is a hidden gem. Possibly with educating drinkers and the right breweries making it, Schwarzbier could easily become another great addition to a craft beer pub's tap lineup.
After some more research and thinking about the last batch, I wanted to give this style another try. I ordered Sinamar from William's Brewing as a suggested means to darken the beer without adding too much roasted character to the beer. The goal was to darken just enough to get in the truly dark range while adding very little roasted flavor.

Sinamar Beer Coloring. Each ounce adds 5 SRM.

My mash was calculated to be 14 SRM and 2 ounces of Sinamar picked up another 10 SRM to fall right in the BJCP Category 4C color range for Schwarzbier. Sinamar is derived from a process using Carafa yielding a lower bitter flavor than you'd otherwise expect from mashing with roasted grains (Black Patent, Roasted Barley, Chocolate, etc). I finally spotted it at my local homebrew store yesterday so I'd imagine that Sinamar is becoming readily available.

Sinamar pours thick! Consistency of a thick syrup. Tastes lightly roasted.

Outside of using Sinamar, I will be slightly breaking the category boundaries of hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma. I'm thinking that a month of lagering will likely bring the hop profile down to an acceptable level. This is also the first time using Charlie Papazian's yeast strain, Cry Havoc. This is a very versatile yeast strain (ales and lagers) and Charlie has used this for a breadth of styles. As always, I will update this post with finishing details at a later time. Cheers!

Back in Black Schwarzbier

4-C Schwarzbier (Black Beer)
Author: Chillindamos
Date: 2/21/11

Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 167.46 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.050 (1.046 - 1.052)
|===================#============|

Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 - 1.016)
|==============#=================|

Color: 24.25 (17.0 - 30.0)
|====================#===========|

Alcohol: 4.95% (4.4% - 5.4%)
|================#===============|

Bitterness: 34.8 (22.0 - 32.0)
|============================#===|

Ingredients:

5.0 lb Belgian Munich
3.0 lb Pilsner Malt
1.5 lb Vienna Malt
2 oz German Carafa II
3.0 tsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer - added during mash
2 oz Sinamar - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
0.25 oz Magnum (14.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
0.5 oz Czech Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1.0 tsp Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 oz Czech Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.0 oz Spalt Spalter (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 3.0 min
1.0 oz Czech Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 3.0 min
2.0 ea White Labs WLP862 Cry Havoc

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:08:24 Mash-In - Liquor: 2.17 gal; Strike: 140.41 °F; Target: 124.0 °F
00:13:24 Protein Rest - Rest: 5.0 min; Final: 123.7 °F
00:15:24 Second Infusion - Water: 1.2 gal; Temperature: 211.8 °F; Target: 150 °F
01:15:24 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 146.0 °F
01:25:24 Vorlauf, bitches! - Rest: 10.0 min; Final: 145.3 °F
02:25:24 Fly Sparge - Sparge Volume: 5.1 gal; Sparge Temperature: 170.0 °F; Runoff: 5.66 gal

Notes

Sinamar adds 10 SRM (5 SRM per ounce in a 5 gallon batch). 70% dilution rate of San Diego Alvarado Water. 1 gram of Calcium Carbonate and 2 grams of Gypsum added to the mash. OG 1.052 65°F. Oxygen added for 1 minute via aeration stone. Lager cave temperature at 55°F.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

Using Sinamar with BeerTools Pro

I needed to modify the SRM from the BeerTools Pro exporter above. The Sinamar was a custom ingredient entered into the database under special ingredients. There's no details to input other than the name, origin, description, and cost. I also changed the jpg displayed to the correct SRM image. Not a big deal but another item on my list to suggest as a feature, coloring ingredients.

Hop Farm Season 2011 Begins!

2011-02-23T17:38:00.000-08:00

Around this time of year, it's usually a good idea to start getting ready for the upcoming hop growing season. My hop farm is located in sun drenched San Diego North County. I have three terraced rows on a north-facing slope. Each row is setup to accommodate ten mounds (for a total of 30 mounds) which seems more than enough to handle on a casual basis. Here's several images to show the preseason hop farm:

Hop Farm from the top of the mulch hill.

Hop Farm from the east.

Detail of the terraces with lots of weeds to pull.

Hop Farm from the lower east slope.

Hop Farm from the lower west slope. Avocado tree to the right.

Today, Michelle and I set out mostly to start weeding and mulching. The ground was nicely wet from recent rains so the weeds were easy to pull. While we worked for quite some time, we were only able to take care of the top row (Chinook and Centennial). Next weekend we will try to recruit Kara to come and help with the bottom two rows (although the outlook looks like rain again).

My wife, Michelle, taking out those weeds!

After the weed pulling (which never stops) and mulching, we'll need another work day to prune the mounds. Essentially, this involves shoveling and cutting around the mound to trim down the roots to prevent the plants from popping up away from the mound. This should also present opportunities to find rhizomes to share with others. I have a few QUAFF buddies already signed up for Chinook and Centennial rhizomes.

Hop Farm Row 1 (Chinook and Centennial) weeded and mulched.

Beyond pruning comes trellis maintenance and restringing. All of my posts seem to be in good condition this year. I will need to re-anchor the end-posts of each row to help keep the top guide-line taut. A small buried cement block might do the trick. I know that hop farms restring each year with twine but I have been using wire. I'm finding the wire tends to rust out after one or two season so perhaps I should also look into finding a better solution for this as well.

Row 1 from the west, after weeding and mulching.

Another concern, I need to find better solutions for the problem with rabbits and gophers chewing on the vines. In some cases, these wascal wabbits have chewed mature cone bearing vines that essentially put an early season stop to some of my mounds. Possibly a simple chicken-wire cage will keep the nasty gnawers at bay. See some of my previous hops seasons' blog posts on this topic and more.

One Chinook hop mound seems to already be breaking soil.

As for this year's last planning element, I want to replace all the mounds in the middle row with two new varieties of "C" hops. While the former two varieties, Magnum and Vojvodina, had a good running, last year had a significant decrease in viability and yield. It's time to get rid of these and move on. Considering the success of my Chinook and Centennial mounds, I believe other "C" hops will likely do as well. I recently pre-ordered Columbus hops and am crossing my fingers for Cluster or Citra to be available this year. Even Simcoe (we'll write it "Cimcoe" to keep with the theme) would be desirable.

Here's a couple of links for buying rhizomes directly from the source. As of now, no rhizome source has a list of what will be available this year. Several homebrew suppliers and stores will also have rhizomes available beginning next month. I got really excited when More Beer! announced their rhizome pre-order a couple of weeks ago and jumped at the chance to order Columbus hops. Their pre-sale deal is only good until March 1st.
Rhizomes from Hops Direct
Rhizomes from Northwest Hops

Hops Direct made a YouTube video series last season to show the hop farming process. They're great if you haven't seen them yet. Hop farmer guru at Hops Direct, Stacy Puterbaugh, shows you how to plant hops and even what a large scale hop harvest looks like. I'll share some of these videos here as the season moves on.

Hops TV, Episode 1: Planting Hops

Belgian Lager, February 6, 2011

2011-02-20T11:42:00.000-08:00

White Labs has a new platinum yeast strain available right now (January-February) that I want to try out: White Labs WLP815 Belgian Lager Yeast. I thought I'd try busting the BJCP guidelines for a generously hopped lager using this strain. Hoppy lagers are rare and it this brew should be a great testament to using water adjustments to match the lighter malts while accentuating the bitterness. Here's White Lab's description of WLP815:

WLP815 Belgian Lager Yeast
Clean, crisp European lager yeast with low sulfur production. The strain originates from a very old brewery in West Belgium. Great for European style pilsners, dark lagers, Vienna lager, and American style lagers.
Attenuation: 72-78%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 50-55°F (10-12°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: 5-10%

Water Chemistry Planning:
With water chemistry for this batch, playing with the numbers landed me with blending 20/80% of my tap water with purified drinking water from The Water Lady. I also added to the mash 2 grams of gypsum to give a gentle boost to the calcium and sulfate concentrations. (Note to self - 1 teaspoon of Gypsum is 4 grams.)

Adjusted mash chemistry after blending water sources and gypsum.

Above and below are snapshots of my Step 7 from Palmer's water calculator (Version 2). Maybe someone out there can help me understand this, why do I often see negative values for residual alkalinity? Even with this mystery, looks like I'm in the ballpark. According to Jamil and John in Brew Strong's Waterganza podcast series on The Brewing Network, getting in the the desired range is good enough. The calculator shows that my target residual alkalinity range for an 8 SRM beer should be in the range from -25 to 34. Again, what do negative values mean!?

Why do I keep seeing negative values for residual alkalinity?

Creating a Mashing Schedule Using BeerTools Pro:
Along with my new experiences with water adjustments, I'm also trying to tailor BeerTools Pro to my brewing process. My latest challenge using this brewing software is with calculating mash volumes and resulting temperatures. With this beer, I wanted to do a multi-step infusion involving a short protein rest. My experience with my equipment led me to my target temperatures for the protein and saccharification rests but I really want the software to do work for me!

Mashing Schedule snapshot from BeerTools Pro.

For my next batch, I need to pay attention more to volumes since I'm certain that I collect more than 5.51 gallons in my kettle after the sparge. To get the above values, I had to do lots of tweaking with numbers. Maybe since I was working backwards (actual values of water infusions and temperatures) rather than forward planning? I'll document temps and volumes a bit more closely next time and see if can better calibrate the software to my process.

Quick Protein Rest:
With lagers, especially when using pilsner malt, I have been doing a quick protein rest (between 122-124°F) at the start of my mash. Previously, I was doing the rest for about 20 minutes but a discussion with an esteemed QUAFF colleague, Harold Gulbransen, convinced me to to shorten the rest as much as possible. Here's my refined protein rest procedure that gets me in and out of a protein rest within about 7 minutes:
Using 0.9 quarts per pound of grain, raise water to 135°F and pour into mash tun. Add any salts and grain. Stir to break up and clumps and distribute temperature. Simultaneously heat additional water to boil at a rate of 0.5 quarts per pound of grain. After about 2 minutes of stirring, I check the mash temperature (usually hits 122°F). In less than 5 minutes, my second infusion water is at a boil. When boiling, I add this infusion to the mash tun and stir for about 2-3 minutes to distribute the heat evenly. After stirring, check temperature (usually 148-152°F).

Hey BeerTools Pro, as for the HTML export below, I find myself editing the code to clean up the "look" quite a bit. I would really like the ability to create an export template to customize the elements and appearance. Could you please consider this feature for future updates!?

Will update actual Final Gravity and finishing details later!

Belgian Lager

BJCP Category 23-A Specialty Beer
Author: Chillindamos
Date: 2/6/11

Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 70.04%
Attenuation: 77.8%
Calories: 178.9 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.054 (1.026 - 1.120)
|============#===================|

Terminal Gravity: 1.012 (0.995 - 1.035)
|==============#=================|

Color: 7.9 (1.0 - 50.0)
|==========#=====================|

Alcohol: 5.51% (2.5% - 14.5%)
|============#===================|

Bitterness: 82.0 (0.0 - 100.0)
|=====================#==========|

Ingredients:

7.0 lb Belgian Pils
3.0 lb Belgian Munich
1.0 lb Vienna Malt
1.0 tsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer - added during mash
1.0 tsp Anti-foam - added during boil, boiled 90.0 min
1.0 oz Magnum (14.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1.5 oz Czech Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.5 oz Spalt (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 oz Czech Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 1.0 min
1.0 oz Spalt (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 1.0 min
1.0 tsp Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
2.0 ea White Labs WLP815 Belgian Lager Yeast

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F

00:07:57 Mash-In - Liquor: 2.47 gal; Strike: 138.5 °F; Target: 123 °F
00:12:57 Protein Rest - Rest: 5.0 min; Final: 122.7 °F
00:14:57 Second Infusion - Water: 1.35 gal; Temperature: 212.0 °F; Target: 149.2 °F
01:12:57 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 58.0 min; Final: 145.8 °F
01:15:57 Mash-Out Infusion - Water: 1.28 gal; Temperature: 170 °F; Target: 151.1 °F
01:25:57 Vorlauf, bitches! - Rest: 10.0 min; Final: 150.6 °F
02:55:57 Fly Sparge - Sparge Volume: 5.1 gal; Sparge Temperature: 170.0 °F; Runoff: 5.82 gal

Notes

OG 1.054 @ 68°F. Uses 77% premium drinking water from The Water Lady and 33% filtered San Diego Alvarado water. 2 grams of Gypsum added to the mash. Primary ferment in the lager cave at 52°F fin a 6 gallon better bottle for 2 weeks. Rack to secondary for 4 weeks at primary temps before stepping down 2°F per day to lagering temps at 38°F. Update 2/20, racked over to a secondary but didn't have my hydrometer at the lager cave to take a gravity reading. Will ramp up to 60's next week.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

Chillin' The Most

2011-02-19T15:08:00.000-08:00

Just did a quick search to find these gems:

My kind of shirt. Have one already!

My kind of flag. Need one.

My kind of boat. Can't afford.

Burton Ale, January 30, 2011

2011-02-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

In this past issue of Zymurgy, Martyn Cornell and Antony Hayes outlined the ultimate English comfort beer, Burton Ale. With Kara of White Labs also wanting to try out White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast, we decided to give this style a try. I don't recall ever having a Burton Ale nor do I believe it's available in our very rich beer community of San Diego. I suppose in the earlier days of homebrewing of Dave Line and Charlie Papazian, you would simply need to make a style just to be able to try it.

Burton Ale: A British Comfort Beer - Article from Zymurgy Vol. 34 No. 1

I would like to do more long term projects like this one. In the article, Cornell and Hayes explain that aging is an important component to Burton Ales and suggest a year to 18 months. I will do just that. My only limitation is that our house tends to warm up quite a bit towards the end of summer. At this time, I will transfer the beer to a Cornelius keg and continue aging in my kegerator or the lager cave.

As for using water adjustments as per my Brew Year's Resolution, I tried to follow the suggested recipe guidelines for this beer. Total Alkalinity (as Calcium Carbonate) between 100-120ppm and free calcium between 180-220ppm. Using the Palmer's water calculator, I determined that my San Diego water would be a good starting point. I played with salt adjustments and decided to add Gypsum and Epsom Salts to the mash water. Calculated based on annual average analysis of my tap water, the additions will give an adjusted calcium of 183ppm and a residual alkalinity as calcium carbonate at 124ppm. Sulfates are in the red (565ppm) from these additions though it seems acceptable to the Burton on Trent water profile that this beer is based on.

Could have used some anti-foam or a blow-out tube for this Burton Ale.

I will follow up with details here as the year progresses though as with any long-term project, it's best to just forget about it! I have two other long-term beers in progress: American Barley Wine and an Oud Bruin. Forget about those too!

Burton Ale

BJCP Category 19-A Old Ale

Author: Chillindamos
Date: 1/30/11

Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 69.7%
Attenuation: 78.7%
Calories: 266.52 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.080 (1.060 - 1.090)
|==================#=============|

Terminal Gravity: 1.017 (1.015 - 1.022)
|============#===================|

Color: 17.82 (10.0 - 22.0)
|==================#=============|

Alcohol: 8.32% (6.0% - 9.0%)
|====================#===========|

Bitterness: 112.3 (30.0 - 60.0)
|================================|

Ingredients:

13.0 lb Maris Otter Pale
1.0 lb Belgian Munich
4.0 oz American Chocolate Malt
1.0 tsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer - added during mash
1.0 lb Light Brown Sugar
6.0 oz East Kent Goldings (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
2.0 oz East Kent Goldings (5.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 tsp Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 ea White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:14:54 Mash-In - Liquor: 3.56 gal; Strike: 172.25 °F; Target: 152.0 °F
01:14:54 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60 min; Final: 148.2 °F
01:24:54 Vorlauf, bitches! - Rest: 10.0 min; Final: 147.6 °F
02:34:54 Fly Sparge - Sparge Volume: 5.1 gal; Sparge Temperature: 170.0 °F; Runoff: 7.02 gal

Notes

Added 7 grams of Gypsum and 3 grams of Epsom Salts to the mash tun using 100% San Diego Alvarado filtered water. OG: 1.080 @ 68°F Used two vials of WLP023 to make a 900ml starter the night before. Stir plate used. Oxygenated wort for 60 seconds. Primary ferment in 6 gallon Better Bottle at ambient household temperatures (60-63°F). Blow out for nearly two days! Will age in secondary for at least 5 months before kegging. Cold age in the keg for another 6 months or so. Dry hop with 2oz. East Kent Goldings two week prior to full carbonating pressure for serving. Update 2/23: Racked the Burton Ale over to secondary. Current gravity is 1.017 @ 58°F. It will age here until my cellaring location in the house warms up too much.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

BeerTools Pro Needed Features

Hey, BeerTools Pro! I'd like to customize a template for exporting to HTML. Could you do this please!? In this template, I'd like to have the option to turn on/off components and stylize the way I want it to display. I would like to be able to add water chemistry and fermentation details (including aeration/oxygen) to the export. Other stuff - adjusted gravity based on an input temperature, water and salts as ingredients, fermentation details (vessels, temps, racking, time), adding dry hopping along with its' time and method, yeast pitching rate calculator for starters etc. based on OG and yeast type as on Jamil's website (Jamil's Yeast Pitching Rate Calculator).

References:
Cornell, Martyn, and Antony Hayes. "Burton Ale: A British Comfort Beer." Zymurgy 34.1 (2011): 22-25. Print.

Blueberry Wheat, Special Edition, February 10, 2011

2011-02-13T18:19:00.000-08:00

Alas! It has been way to long. I've been spending a huge chunk of time focusing on my Brew Year's resolution to make brewing water adjustments and to use software for planning and process documentation. In doing so, I've missed blogging two other brewing sessions besides this one. Those two future blog entries, Burton Ale and Belgian Lager, will be posted very soon. I've seemed to finally grasp the basics of using John Palmer's water RA spreadsheet and using BeerTools Pro for Mac.

As for making water adjustments, I've taken the recommendation from several homebrewers to use John Palmer's Mash Residual Alkalinity Spreadsheet. Here's the download link to the Excel spreadsheet if you want to try it out: Palmers_Mash_RA_ver2.xls. There's also a very recent update but I haven't checked it out yet: Palmers_Mash_RA_ver3ptO.xls. If you do some reading about Palmer's spreadsheet and water calculations, you'll find that there's a great discussion happening about technical/chemical issues with his calculations, hence version 3. Even with the new version, there still seems to be some unanswered questions and potential issues.

Using the spreadsheet takes some initial learning but I found no harm done playing with several scenarios before trying it out for actual planning purposes. I found it very useful to listen to the Brew Strong Waterganza podcast series on The Brewing Network: Podcast 1 - Why Adjust Your Water - Podcast 2 - How to Adjust Your Water - Podcast 3 - Adjusting Water to Styles - Podcast 4 - The Final Answers After picking up a small variety of brewing salts and starting to utilize a local purified drinking water source, it has been exciting to add water adjustments to my homebrewing repertoire.

Here's the spreadsheet for this brew. Simply dilutions. No salts were needed.

This is a learning process and while this brew's water profile needs further adjustment (could have used calcium chloride), I'm excited to use water as the basis for future experimentation. Notice that the chloride to sulfate ratio determines that hop perception will be "Bitter". With a tad of calcium chloride, the ratio would be more "Malty" focused and better suited to the profile I'm looking for in my Blueberry Wheat. As I said, it will be a process, and a fun one at that.

As for using BeerTools Pro for Mac, I'm finding it easy to use and frustrating at the same time. Time will tell if I can become acclimated and work around its' nuances. I've found their documentation to be very useful and the calculations to be fairly accurate. I particularly enjoyed running the experiments on my equipment to determine heat capacity and their coefficients. Here's a quick snapshot of using BeerTools Pro with the Blueberry Wheat Ale:

BeerTools Pro snapshot showing Special Ingredients and Mashing Schedule.

One of the end products I truly desire is exporting the details for blogging purposes. BeerTools can export straight to HTML and the results are copied below. A couple of complaints I have are the inability to document fermentation details and that water adjustments and profiles used in their calculators can't be exported along with the other details seen below. Perhaps these features are there!? I haven't looked really far into these issues yet and so it seems the only way to make this happen is using the "Notes" feature.

On to the beer! I've made a few small changes to this favorite homebrew of mine. It's really not MY favorite, but many of my great friends absolutely love this homebrew. I will admit that it is truly a great drinker and even an experienced beer judge has said that a previous edition was one of the best fruit beers he's ever had. So why would I even consider changing it, you ask!? For the fun of it, of course! Why settle for good when great is within reach? In this case, why settle for great when I hear water adjustments can send a beer to outstanding!?

One of my truly best friends and favorite peops, Andrew, just got engaged and this beer is for him. The Blueberry Wheat has been his favorite homebrew and beer. I'm plugging for an engagement party to feature this beer. Andrew also has an amazing food blog, check it out: Eating Rules. Cheers!

Here's the brewing details from BeerTools Pro. I will update at a later date with finishing details. Two other blog posts for Burton Ale and Belgian Lager coming soon as well. Oh, and I've making some Chianti from a kit and will also write about that process too!

Blueberry Wheat, Special Edition

BJCP Category 20-A Fruit Beer
Author: Chillindamos
Date: 2/10/11

Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 70.0%
Attenuation: 88.1%
Calories: 159.42 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.049 (1.026 - 1.120)
|===========#====================|

Terminal Gravity: 1.006 (0.995 - 1.035)
|============#===================|

Color: 4.2 (1.0 - 50.0)
|=========#======================|

Alcohol: 5.65% (2.5% - 14.5%)
|============#===================|

Bitterness: 16.4 (0.0 - 100.0)
|==========#=====================|

Ingredients:

6.08 lb Red Wheat Malt
2.93 lb 2-Row Brewers Malt
0.98 lb Belgian Pils
2.9 tsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer - added during mash
1.46 oz German Spalt (3.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1.0 tsp Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2. ea White Labs WLP001 California Ale
0.1 tsp Anti-Foam - added during boil, boiled 90.0 min
0.1 tsp Anti-Foam - added during boil, boiled 1.0 min
2.0 oz Blueberry Extract

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 65.0 °F
Source Water: 58.0 °F
00:11:31 Mashing-In - Liquor: 2.49 gal; Strike: 169.49 °F; Target: 148.0 °F
01:11:31 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60 min; Final: 142.7 °F
01:14:31 Mash Out Infusion - Water: 1.54 gal; Temperature: 170.0 °F; Target: 151.7 °F
01:24:31 Vorlauf, bitches! - Rest: 10.0 min; Final: 151.0 °F
02:34:31 Sparge - Sparge Volume: 4.88 gal; Sparge Temperature: 170.0 °F; Runoff: 5.83 gal

Notes

OG: 1.050 @ 66°F Oxygen aeration for 60 seconds. Pitched two vials of WLP001 California Ale. Fermenting at 63-66°F for two weeks in the primary. After 48 hours, the Anti-Foam seems to be keeping the krausen under control. I typically have a fermentation blowout with this type of grain bill (using wheat). Water was diluted 72% using RO water. On 2/23: Racked over to secondary. Current gravity is 1.006 @ 58°F.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

Happy Brew Year's

2010-12-31T10:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Brew Year's!

2010 was a great year of homebrewing. My primary focus was brewing to style and in doing so, I certainly expanded my brewing horizons. Previously, I typically brewed to my heart's content. My recipe formulation followed only rough parameters, inspired mostly by my current stock of ingredients. Using the BJCP guidelines, I have tried to stay within target of a particular style. Another goal was to begin participating in evaluations and competitions to gain honest feedback. This past year, I entered a few beers in competition and sought out evaluations of my homebrew. Honest and experienced feedback has been critical to developing my craft.
Speaking of competition! Up until this fall, I was hoping to unleash a large handful of beers in this coming year's competition season, mostly our club-sponsored AFC competition and NHC. With my wife's company shutting down and a little brewer on the way (end of March), we have since had to eliminate any unnecessary expenses. Unfortunately, this means no competition entries this year. We simply can't justify $10-$15 entry fees. Bummer, huh? Homebrewing on the other hand is decidedly cheaper than purchasing one of the household staples, beer. Despite rough times, I'm just lucky to continue brewing to some extent!

Our latest "brew". Some say it looks like he already has a beer in hand.

The New Year's brings resolutions and I have a two to address. The first being to adjust brewing water. At over 90% of beer volume, water takes a primary role. The last time I considered adjusting my brewing water, I think I simply focused on the fact that many good homebrewers and some pro brewers use only their local tap water. I've always filtered my water but haven't considered the rest of the details. The second resolution is using brewing software. I decided to start using Beer Tools. I would have considered ProMash or Beer Smith and actually downloaded their trials. I use a desktop Mac at home for all of my homebrewing digital needs: research, brewing related email, images, beer labels, calculations, blogging, and now Twitter. Since Beer Tools is the only choice on a Mac, it was a no brainer.

My Brew Year's Resolution: Brewing Water and Software

Brew Year's Resolution #1 - Adjust Brewing Water
After 10 years of homebrewing, considering water critically as a brewing ingredient is long overdue. At this point, I'm in the research phase. I've asked my homebrew club's email listserv to see if there's a definitive guide for adjusting water. This simple answer was, no. Adjusting brewing water seems to have the same range of involvement as brewing beer itself. You can simply use tap water (or a homebrew kit) or become insanely involved. As a science teacher with some background in chemistry, how hard can it be!? Here's the collection of links from my QUAFF buddies:

John Palmer's How to Brew Chapter 15 - Understanding the Mash pH
Chapter 15.0 - What Kind of Water Do I Need? Chapter 15.1 - Reading a Water Report Chapter 15.2 - Balancing the Malts and Minerals Chapter 15.3 - Residual Alkalinity and Mash pH Chapter 15.4 - Using Salts for Brewing Water Adjustment

From Kai at BrauKaiser.com - Various Water Recipes - Beer color, alkalinity, and mash pH - effect off water and grist on mash pH (PDF)
Thanks Joe!

Another QUAFF member, Kim, wrote an interesting reply that I will simply quote:

Hi Sean,

I think John Palmer's How To Brew 3rd ed, chapter 15 is a great starting point for water chemistry.

In addition to Joe's links, AJ Delange has a site with a lot of technical depth (and things about Newfoundland dogs)
http://ajdel.wetnewf.org:81/ His spreadsheet is a beast! It has a 66 page users' manual for how to use it! (No, I haven't read it all.) Presumably a lot of that is theory... The alkalinity and water recipe documents may be of interest, and there are other goodies in there too.

AJ also contributes a lot on the brewnetwork's forums, especially with respect to water. Here's a (very!) recent thread about errors in John Palmer's water spreadsheet, but also about how it's not as disastrous as the bad math makes it seem: http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=23205 I'm hoping that the math/chemistry in the book is just fine, and that the errors are really in the formulas in the spreadsheet.

As far as I can tell, there isn't a single definitive resource for water chemistry. The lesson I get form it is that there are general correlations in the amounts of our brewing ions and the outcomes, but it's not as cut-and-dried as the formulas indicate. For example, 20ppm sulfate to 10 ppm chloride won't have the same effect as 200ppm to 100ppm. And Kai "Braukaiser" Troester's research (Joe linked to it) indicates that pound-for-pound, crystal malts actually acidify the
mash more than roasted malts, the opposite of what I had learned. You know, Dublin's classic style is stout, with generous use of roasted malts to counter the high carbonate water. Still, they are good starting points for later tweaking, just like pretty much everything else in brewing ;)

Cheers,
Kim

4-Part Podcast on Brewing Water:

On the Brewing Network, the podcast show, Brew Strong, has a four-part series on brewing water. If you're a beer-brewing geek and haven't already found Jamil and John's awesome Brew Strong podcasts, I'd highly recommend subscribing and perusing the archives. I've found that these podcasts are a go-to resource for exploring different aspects of brewing beer. Here's the link to subscribe to the Brew Strong podcasts.
Another QUAFF buddy, Brian, reminded me of this "Waterganza" series on Brew Strong:
Podcast 1 - Why Adjust Your Water - Podcast 2 - How to Adjust Your Water - Podcast 3 - Adjusting Water to Styles - Podcast 4 - The Final Answers

While I'm hoping that Beer Tools will have some practical calculations or at least have the ability to document brewing water adjustments, it seems there's a good spreadsheet available that's based on John Palmer's brewing water calculations. There's a link to the spreadsheet on the forums over at Homebrew Talk. I know at least two other members in my homebrew club use this spreadsheet. Here it is: EZ Water Adjustment spreadsheet

Last, I'm wondering if anyone has tested our local water. A few searches led me to a lab that can do water analysis.

Brew Year's Resolution #2 - Brewing Software
As for my other Brew Year's Resolution, Beer Tools it is! There's some users out there that have described it as a steeper learning curve than ProMash or Beer Smith but have also explained its utility as an equivalent for brewing software.

Beer Tools Software

Beer Tools had an end-of-year deal to those that signed-up for the 30-Day Trial. That seemed to seal the deal! Here's a link to their Overview of Beer Tools Pro 1.5.

I will certainly outline my adventures in brewing water and using Beer Tools here throughout the year. Homebrewing has been, at foremost, a hobby. For a handful of us, its an obsession. I dream in homebrew! Cheers to all and Happy Brew Year's!

Smoked Porter, November 23, 2010

2010-11-25T10:26:00.000-08:00

I've brewed up a couple of Smoked Porters earlier this year with great success. The first was an Agave Smoked Porter utilizing the agave as an adjunct, great beer. The second time, I tried a different approach on Smoked Porter with fantastic results. Although I felt the second beer was nearly my ideal Smoked Porter, I changed it up based on my current holdings. As with many beers, recipe formulation is often limited to what's in stock at home and/or what's available at my local homebrew store. The one element we didn't like from the last Smoked Porter was the flavor profile imparted by the yeast, WLP007 Dry English Ale. In my opinion, you simply can't go wrong with WLP001 California Ale and I always feel that most ale recipes need a try with this strain (here's just another good reason I'd like to upgrade to a 10 gallon system, experimenting side-by-side [same wort split into two carboys each fermenting with different yeast strains] would be insanely fun!).
As far as competition is concerned, luckily I don't really need to follow any specific guidelines. Quoted below is the category guidelines for smoked beer. Since this homebrew recipe does not follow any classic styles, I can easily blanket the underlying style as a "Porter".

IF THIS BEER IS BASED ON A CLASSIC STYLE (E.G., ROBUST PORTER) THEN THE SPECIFIC STYLE MUST BE SPECIFIED. CLASSIC STYLES DO NOT HAVE TO BE CITED (E.G., “PORTER” OR “BROWN ALE” IS ACCEPTABLE). THE TYPE OF WOOD OR OTHER SOURCE OF SMOKE MUST BE SPECIFIED IF A “VARIETAL” CHARACTER IS NOTICEABLE.

On another note, I've been having a great time utilizing the Wort Chiller with Recirculation Combination. With cooler weather in San Diego, there has also been a significant drop in tap water temperatures. Today, I was able to reduce a boiling wort to 63°F in 20 minutes using slightly less than 20 gallons of water (I use this hot/warm/cool effluent for washing and rinsing). At the end of chilling, I pump out the wort rather quickly to a carboy. Check it:

After chillindamos, the March Pump and recirculation arm quickly transfer the wort to a carboy.

Pumping wort is not only fast, it seems to do a fairly decent job of aerating as well.

Smoked Porter
BJCP 22B. Other Smoked Beer
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

9 lbs. Domestic 2-Row
2 lbs. Red Wheat
2 lbs. German Rauch Malt
0.7 lbs. UK Chocolate Malt
0.75 lbs. Crystal 20
0.25 lbs. Crystal 60
4.5 oz. Carafa II
2.5 oz. Dark British Crystal

Single Infusion Mash
(1 qt./lb. raised to 167°F)
Saccharification Rest at 148-150°F for 70 minutes
Fly-sparged 5.5 gallons at 170°F

1.5 oz. Homegrown Chinook 60 min.
0.75 oz. Spalt 20 min.
1 Whirlfloc Tab 20 min.
0.5 oz. Spalt 10 min.

White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast 2 vials (thanks Kara)

OG: 1.063 @ 62°F
FG: 1.013 @ 66°F
ABV: 6.7%

Blueberry Wheat, November 20, 2010

2010-11-25T10:25:00.000-08:00

I know what you're thinking, Blueberry? Really? Let me tell you. This beer is the gateway homebrew for so many of my friends. It leads to more drunkeness and debauchery than any other of my brews. Really.
This is my classic Blueberry Wheat. Very simple recipe and a huge crowd pleaser. I've tried a few other fruity combinations but this is the true winner. It is requested every year for our New Year's Bash up in Big Bear and certainly fuels our annual Winter Games.

Andrew floats blueberries on the top of last year's Blueberry Wheat.

This time I followed some advice and it seemed to potentially have a negative effect (I'm probably overreacting). Of course, this is my perception on original gravity only (1.050 vs. previous 1.058-1.060) but typically there are many other variables that could have contributed to a change. One variable is that I used Red Wheat malt instead of White Wheat (probably very minor). This was simply a matter of availability at my local homebrew supplier. The difference of their effect in the mash tun is likely small since they seem to be identical malts in so many ways. Anyone got a maltster profile of these two wheat malts?
My underline issue here is consistency. I believe this is the ONLY brew I've ever made more than twice. Getting more than one gravity result (again, 1.050 vs. previous batches 1.058-1.060) makes you realize how much each beer brewed depends on the execution of a specific process. Also, you have to accept that ingredients may also change, even year to year. On my equipment, I know there's a great deal of human variability (another argument to get a brew sculpture with more control over the process, any sponsors?). While a change in ingredients is the first major variable, I decided to reduce my mash time to 60 minutes from a suggestion by Harold during a beer evaluation session. While the evaluation committee didn't evaluate this particular beer, Harold discussed the importance of not extending the mash time to 90 minutes.
Why change a thing that's worked really well in the past? Well, I can't tell what affected my gravity target: malt or a change in mash times. Of course, there can be other variables in play that are not quite as obvious. Many of us homebrewers evolve our process over time. I am likely not the same brewer I was when this beer was last made.
So here's the big question: 60 minute single infusion or 90 minutes? I've previously heard and read that 90 minutes is essential to ensure a full conversion and others have been convincing that time beyond 60 minutes can break down essential final products (don't remember their specifics here). In a month, I'll have the verdict whether or not this basic grain bill has an improved flavor and body profile at the expense of potential alcohol. I would be interested in doing a full experiment but that's hard to do without good controls (again, any takers?). I doubt the guy below has an answer, anyone else?

Saw this guy in SF. He's got it wrong, should read, "Why lie, I need a homebrew".

Blueberry Wheat
BJCP Category 20. Fruit Beet
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

7 lbs. Red Wheat
4 lbs. Domestic 2-Row

Single Infusion Mash
(1 qt./lb. raised to 167°F)
Saccharification Rest at 148°F for 70 minutes
Fly-sparged 5.5 gallons at 170°F

1 oz. Hallertauer 60 min.

White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast 2 vials (thanks Kara)

2 oz. Blueberry Flavoring added at kegging

OG: 1.050 @ 68°F
FG: 1.006 @ 66°F
ABV: 5.9%

Doppelbock, November 14 2010

2010-11-15T07:02:00.000-08:00

Contemplating the frustration of having limitations with my mash tun, it occurred to me that I really don't need to make 5 gallons every time I brew (what I really want is 10). I decided to give a try making a 4 gallon batch with a reasonable capacity of about 13.5 pounds. A grain bill that size is easy enough to manage (stirring without spilling all over the place) but is about a pound or so too big for a multi-infusion mash. I'll opt for a single-infusion to see what's possible with a lower final yield. Turns out that I'm just within the Doppelbock range of starting gravities (1.072-1.112) with this brew. I figured that if I missed the mark, I would still have a Traditional Bock.

13.5 lbs. of grain in a 5-gallon Rubbermaid cooler is easy to work with.

After adding today's batch, looks like plenty of room for 2 more primaries.

Doppelbock
BJCP Category 5C. Doppelbock
4 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

5.2 lbs. Vienna
5 lbs. Belgian Pilsner
1.2 lbs. Munich
1 lb. Caramunich
1 lb. Caravienne
1 oz. Dark British Crystal
1 oz. Melanoidan
1 oz. Carafa II

Single Infusion Mash
(1 qt./lb. raised to 168°F)
Saccharification Rest at 152°F for 70 minutes
Fly-sparged 4.5 gallons at 170°F

1 oz. Tettnanger 60 min.
0.5 oz. Spalt 20 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 15 min.

White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast 200ml of leftover slurry from previous week's brewing
Currently in ferment at 52°Fin the Lager Cave

OG: 1.076 @ 68°F
FG: 1.022 @ 39°F
ABV: 7.3%

German Bock, November 11, 2010

2010-11-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

I've avoided this style considering that its on the secondary brewing list planned for lagers to be ready for Oktoberfest (priorities are typically Oktoberfest, Pilsner, Helles, and a Vienna or amber-like lager) and two, bock requires a large grain bill, beyond my mash tun's capacity. The Lager Cave has eliminated the first barricade and with a 15 lb. limit tested during the Barley Wine brew, it was worth the shot to try to hit the target original gravity of Traditional Bock. I settled for a grain bill of 14.5 lbs. which eliminated any possibility of doing a multi-step infusion mash. Just 1/2 pound more and my 5-gallon Rubbermaid mash tun is busting out its plastic seams.

14.5 lbs. has its toll but at least its manageable.

After the brew day, we drove the bock over to the Lager Cave at Ed's and as you can see below, there's still room to spare (hmm, what to brew next!?).

The Lager Cave has insane space!

German Bock
BJCP Category 5B. Traditional Bock
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

9 lbs. Munich
4 lbs. Belgian Pilsner
12 oz. Caramunich
4 oz. Dark British Crystal
4 oz. Caravienne
4 oz. Melanoidan

Single Infusion Mash
(0.95 qts/lb. raised to 166°F)
Saccharification Rest at 148°F for 60 minutes
Fly-sparged 5.75 gallons at 170°F

0.45 oz. Magnum 60 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 15 min.

Combination of 135ml of White Labs WLP833 German Bock Lager Yeast and 50 ml
White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast (Fresh slurry thanks to Kara!)
Currently in ferment at 52°F

OG: 1.062 @ 70°F
FG: 1.015 @ 38°F
ABV: 6.5%

Reminder: Glass Breaks!

2010-11-11T13:16:00.000-08:00


Who wants some!?

Luckily, no one was hurt during this mishap. It does, however, remind me that I should warn all who come over to help with brewing that glass carboys are extremely dangerous. I should always tell a few stories of severed toes, explosive impaling shards, and the worst - spilled beer. While we didn't experience any of that, knock knock, the truth is that many have. Time to replace the fermentation fleet with Better Bottles! On the lighter side, we were able to take this image of Andrew, clearly threatening! As for Matty, sorry I didn't tell you those stories first!

Vienna Lager, November 7, 2010

2010-11-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

The last Vienna Lager I made was great! I also brewed up an interesting Vienna Agave Lager last year that was well received. I'm hoping that this beer will be an instant hit with our New Year's party crowd and I'd like to bottle out some for evaluation.
On another note, I'm still dialing in the recirculation immersion wort chiller. The biggest problem was with the Quick Disconnects (QDs) which were clogging the pump system. In both sides of the QD components, a cross-hair structure would collect hop matter and slow the March pump to a trickle.

QD's for the March Pump.

Shown is the tubing end of the QD but there's also two other components that are attached to the pump. They also have the same structure imposing on the flow. A total of four blocking points have been reeking havoc on the recirculation flow during wort chilling. Using a Dremel tool, I drilled and sanded out all four flow restrictions.

Left QD shows the original "hop blocker". Right, rough drilling.

After cleaning them up with a sanding bit, I could easily tell the flow rate will have significantly less interruption. The only restriction points are now the 1/2" barbs. After testing this out today, no small hop matter and trub was locked up at any point along the recirculation route. I'm chillindamos again.

Using a dremel, both QD's are opened up for business!

The only other frustration, and restriction point, on the recirculation pump system has been with the kettle spigot. I took the spigot over to Home Depot and Lowe's during the summer to try and find a replacement with no avail. It seems the threading was not standard. Larry over at Home Brew Mart and Ballast Point Brewing identified the pot with the spigot to be an Italian design with its own spec. He suggested some options including simply taking out the spigot tip (I had managed to squeeze in a narrow barb that hasn't been working very well - the tightest restriction point at the moment) and finding some 1/2" ID tubing to stretch right over it. We also talked about drilling a new hole and replacing the spigot.

With heat left over from the boil, the tubing molded easily to the Italian spigot.

Since the contours of the kettle spigot are thicker on the end, the tubing seemed to create a good seal without the use of any clamps.

Tubing leaving the kettle to the March Pump.

I thought this tubing was high temp and originally thought I might have to leave it on the kettle at all times. I had to remove it when it started showing signs of melting, yikes! At least I was able to cut off that section and found that it was really easy to remove and reinstall the tubing with a tight seal whenever I wanted.

Immersion Chiller combined with Wort Recirculation.

Further modifications have led to even more chillindamos! The circulation happening in the pot was significant compared to before the dremel work and tubing makeover. I went through even less water and reduced more time to chill the wort. Now back to beer.

Vienna Lager
BJCP Category 3A. Vienna Lager
5 Gallons, All Grain, Step Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

6 lbs. Vienna
3 lbs. Munich
3 lbs. Belgian Pilsner
4 oz. Caramunich
4 oz. Caravienne

Protein Rest at 122°F for 7 minutes
(0.9 qts/lb. raised to 135°F)
Saccharification Rest at 148°F for 60 minutes
(0.5 qts/lb. raised to 212°F)
Fly-sparged at 170°F

1.5 oz. Tettnanger 60 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.
1 oz. Spalt 10 min.

White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast (100ml of fresh slurry thanks to Kara!)
Currently in ferment at 52°F

OG: 1.053 @ 73°F
FG: 1.013 @ 40°F
ABV: 5.6%

Schwarzbier, November 6, 2010

2010-11-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

BLACK BEER

"Smell the Beer" in honor of Spinal Tap.

I've wanted to make a Schwarzbier for quite some time. With the Lager Cave in full effect, how can I not brew everything and anything requiring lower fermentation temperatures? While I've had a few Black Beers in the past, I was not quite sure where to start in recipe formulation. My intuition told me I should make a dry stout and simply use a lager yeast instead of ale yeast. As with several other planning sessions, I used Jamil Zainasheff's recipe as a general guideline from his book, Brewing Classic Styles. I've found this book and Jamil's style-based podcasts a great starting point when formulating many brewing recipes and would recommend other brewers to do the same.

Schwarzbier
BJCP Category 4C. Schwarzbier (Black Beer)
5 Gallons, All Grain, Step Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

8 lbs. Beligan Pilsner
2 lbs. Munich
8 oz. Carafa II
4 oz. Caramunich
4 oz. Chocolate
2 oz. Black Roasted

Protein Rest at 122°F for 10 minutes
(0.9 qts/lb. raised to 135°F)
Saccharification Rest at 149°F for 60 minutes
(0.5 qts/lb. raised to 212°F)
Fly-sparged at 170°F

1.5 oz. Hallertauer 60 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 22 min.
0.5 oz. Spalt 22 min.
0.7 oz. Hallertauer KO

White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast (100ml Fresh slurry thanks to Kara!)
Currently in ferment at 52°F

OG: 1.052 @ 74°F
FG: 1.013 @ 40°F
ABV: 5.5%

East Coast Lager, 10-10-10

2010-10-13T19:02:00.000-07:00

East Coast Lager, 10-10-10

Chillin Chillin Chillin, can't you see? Sometimes your homebrews just hypnotize me!

Damn, busted the style guidelines again. This lager doesn't seem to fit in any of the categories but would likely float between a Dortmunder Export and a Vienna Lager. I'd like to call it an East Coast Lager since a like grain bill I've brewed before more resembled a Boston Lager than any of the style categories. I have no idea what category a Sam Adams Boston Lager would even fall into (maybe a new category is needed?). For now, I'll just blanket this in BJCP Category 3 which covers Vienna Lager and Oktoberfest. Amber Lager is something you definitely see on tap and on the shelves around here since Karl Strauss seems to distribute this beer as their flagship. Their Amber Lager is a crowd pleaser with its sweeter malt and low hop profile.
The East Coast Lager will be ready for our annual New Year's Big Bear Bash where I plan to have four lagers on tap. Biggie, this one's for you!

East Coast Lager
BJCP Category 3. European Amber Lager
5 Gallons, All Grain, Step Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

9.5 lbs. Beligan Pilsner
0.5 lbs. Caramunich
0.25 lbs. Crystal 20

Protein Rest at 124°F for 20 minutes
(0.9 qts/lb. raised to 135°F)
Saccharification Rest at 148°F for 60 minutes
(0.5 qts/lb. raised to 212°F)
Fly-sparged at 170°F

2 oz. Tettnanger 60 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 15 min.
1 oz. Hallertauer 10 min.

White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast (Fresh slurry thanks to Kara!)
Currently in ferment at 52°F

OG: 1.052 @ 79°F
FG: 1.011 @ 38°F
ABV: 5.9%

New Year's Pilsener, October 9 2010

2010-10-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

SAAZ!!!

A field of dreams.

A pilsener with Magnum bittering and a flavor profile of Saaz IS where its at. With the new Lager Cave, I can be in lager production year round. I just pulled out 5 batches from the cave sitting at around 40°F and can now return to Saccharomyces pastorianus fermentation temperatures around 52°F. This is simply great! My kegerator is now full but I can still make lagers for our annual New Year's bash up at Big Bear. Usually I brew a variety of ales to satisfy the masses but I have to admit, this one's for me! I might just hide this in the corner for me, Kara, and other hoppy lager fiends. SAAZ!!!

Bohemian Pilsner

BJCP Category 2B. Bohemian Pilsener
5 Gallons, All Grain, Step Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

9.5 lbs. Beligan Pilsner
0.5 lbs. Vienna

Protein Rest at 124°F for 20 minutes
(0.9 qts/lb. raised to 135°F)
Saccharification Rest at 148°F for 60 minutes
(0.5 qts/lb. raised to 212°F)
Fly-sparged at 170°F

1 oz. Homegrown Magnum 60 min.
0.5 oz. Saaz 20 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 15 min.
0.5 oz. Saaz 10 min.
0.5 oz. Saaz 5 min.
0.5 oz. Saaz 1 min.

White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast (Fresh slurry thanks to Kara!)
Currently in ferment at 52°F

OG: 1.052 @ 79°F
FG: 1.008 @ 38°F
ABV: 6.3%

Image Source:
Marti. Hopfengarten. Digital image. Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hops. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 14 Jan. 2007. Web. 9 Oct. 2010.

Free the Shine

2010-10-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

Wish I could join the art. Local distiller and brewer featured in the video. Check it.

Oktoberfest, August 27 2010

2010-10-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

Oktoberfest, August 27 2010

Another year goes by and yet I don't fly.

While many homebrewers would find Belgium as a premium beercation, I would prefer an extended intoxication at Oktoberfest in Germany. As an educator, October is not a practical time for a vacation. The fall is typically a teacher's tax season, leaving virtually no window of opportunity for a distant beer binge. For now, I've got to make this happen locally (always replicated and never duplicated as far as I know). I'm running a bit late this summer but hopefully this will turn out just fine for a fine Oktoberfest brew towards Halloween time.
I changed a few aspects from last year's batch that I hope will solve some of the judging issues where the beer fell shy. To toot my horn, last year's Oktoberfest won our club-only competition and was sent to nationals where it went to second-round. Nationals were in the mid-west and the judging comments described the beer as being flawless but slightly lacking in a bigger malt profile and hops. My guess, this is simply the fact of competition; you gotta make your beer stand out. Another well established homebrewer in my club remarked that they haven't had an Oktoberfest like this since he was in Germany. I gotta be doing something right here!

BJCP Category 3B. Oktoberfest
5 Gallons, All Grain, Step Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

4 lbs. German Pilsner
5.5 lbs. Vienna
1.5 lbs. Munch
1 lb. Caramunich
0.75 lb. Caravienne
4 oz. Melanoidan

Protein Rest at 126°F for 20 minutes
Saccharification Rest at 149°F for 60 minutes
1g Calcium Carbonate added to 5 gallons of 170°F sparge water
Fly-sparged at 165°F for about 50 minutes

1 oz. Hallertauer 60 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.
0.25 oz. Hallertauer 10 min.

White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast Vial (Thanks, Kara!) to 900ml starter

Currently in ferment at 52°F

OG: 1.061 @ 68°F
FG: 1.013 @46°F
ABV: 6.5% (temperature corrected)

Image Source:
User: Senator86. Mass Krug. Digital image. Oktoberfest. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 24 Sept. 2006. Web. 3 Oct. 2010.

Evaluation: Took this beer to the QUAFF evaluation panel last night. It needs a bit more body to accentuate the malt profile. It was suggested to keep the protein rest under 10 minutes to avoid the breakdown of body-building proteins. Since my last visit with the panel, I've already employed this strategy.

Dortmunder Export, August 24 2010

2010-10-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Dortmunder Export, August 24 2010

Despite the style, I'm not exporting this beer anywhere! (except maybe to my belly)

BJCP Category 1E. Dortmunder Export
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

7 lbs. German Pilsner
3.5 lbs. Munich
7 oz. Vienna
2 oz. Melanoidan

60 Minute Single Infusion Mash 149°F
Fly-sparged at 165°F for about 50 minutes

1.55 oz. Hallertauer 60 min.
0.5 oz. Spalt 20 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.
1 oz. Spalt KO
Primary fermentation at 52°F Lagering for one month at 38°F.

Racked on yeast bed of Munich Helles using White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast

OG: 1.058 @ 77°F
FG: 1.014 @ 46°F
ABV: 6.1% (temperature corrected)

Image Source:
Hormats, Robert D. National Export Initiative. Digital image. National Export Initiative. US Department of State Official Blog, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 3 Oct. 2010.

Evaluation: I took this beer to QUAFF's evaluation panel on November 17th. Since I poured bottles straight from draft, I believe I didn't clear out the beverage line enough (mental note) and while this beer has poured very clean for several weeks now, the most noticeable character when pouring was diacetyl. I suspect a bit of oxygen is the cause. Otherwise, we noted that is was under-attenuated but otherwise a fair export.

Anchor Brewing Company Tour

2010-10-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

Early August, I did a bit of a road trip visiting friends and stopping at some locations where liquid chillindamos is made. Amongst numerous wineries in the Russian River areas, a visit was also made to Moylan's Brewing, Russian River Brewing, and Anchor Brewing. I love Anchor Steam. Its been on my top 10 since I had it for the first time in the late 90's. I really enjoy brewing the beer style, California Common, and think my interpretation holds very well in a side-by-side. Needless to say, I was really excited to see this historic brewery.

A tour at Anchor Brewing is free but you'll need to schedule an appointment in advance. Its fairly easy to call them and find out their availability. I made reservation about a month out for a Tuesday morning in August. They seemed to be booked solid during the summer so plan accordingly.

Anchor Brewing houses their entire operation in this building. Turns out that Fritz Maytag (former owner and brewmaster) had his last official day at the brewery the Friday before I was here. Darn, it would have been great to get a picture with this brewing hero. Our guide told us that the new owners and management arrive the following day to ensure the continuation of the Anchor tradition.

Their brewing room and tasting area are the only allowable locations to take photos but there are lots of videos out there, including ones on the Anchor Brewing website, that show what takes place beyond these images. Their brewing system is classic and elegant. The office space in the back houses their laboratory equipment. I took notes on a handful of details such as the temps in their open fermentation room and the varieties spotted in the hop room. Turns out that videos describe those details too!

The tour doesn't take long and our guide didn't flourish on any details of their quintessential California Common flagship, Anchor Steam. I asked for lagering temps and times and even the guide wasn't aware of the details. Last, they bring the group back to the above tasting area for some generous samples of their entire flight.

Anchor Brewing Company: A conversation with craft beer pioneer Fritz Maytag

Classic American Pilsner

2010-08-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a style I've never brewed before and have only had one example of from Lighting Brewery, their Ionizer Lager. Lightning's brewer, Jim Crute, brought this lager to one of our QUAFF meetings quite some time ago and brewing a similar beer was since slated on my to-do list. Ionizer Lager is a bit out of style for a Classic American Pilsner and so is this recipe. Instead of sticking with either corn or rice, I decided to use both (simply out of excitement). Like Ionizer, I also decided to exceed the defined limit of a 6% ABV to shoot for something a bit more on the stronger side.

Classic American Pilsner, August 12 2010

BJCP Category 2C. Classic American Pilsner
5 Gallons, Grain/Extract, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

4 lbs. Domestic 2-Row
3 lbs. German Pilsner
3 lbs. Flaked Maize

30 Minute Corn Steep at 160°F
90 Minute Single Infusion Mash 148°F

1 lb. Dried Rice Extract

1 oz. Northern Brewer 8.8% 60 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.

White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast (thanks, Kara!), Vial to 900ml Starter
Fermented at 52°F primary for over 2 weeks then racked to secondary (with a diacetyl rest) for another 3 weeks before stepping down to 40°F for lagering.

OG: 1.060 @ 76°F
FG: 1.009 @ 44°F
ABV: 7.1%

Tapped and bottled out a few on 10/21. Very clean tasting with subtle hints of corn, mostly dry. Hops are nicely balanced and the increased ABV is hidden fairly well.

Evaluation: I brought this beer to QUAFF's evaluation panel on November 17th. Clarity was brilliant and many thought the flavor was great. Harold suggested to try a cereal mash with corn meal to truly achieve the aroma and flavor profile that is often a signature of the style.

Dehydrating-damos Hop Oast

2010-08-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

With the volume of hops I've been growing these days, I've long been needing a better system for dehydrating larger volumes of freshly picked hops. According to Wikipedia, freshly picked hops can have a moisture content of 80%. Prior to modern methods of dehydrating and making pellet hops, growers built a hop oast house to remove moisture from whole hops. The purpose of the oast was to take the moisture content down to about 6%. Without dehydrating, hops can quickly turn brown and eventually spoil. You could potentially refrigerate or freeze wet hops but the moisture content can significantly shorten storage longevity. Some like to use wet hops for brewing or dry-hopping but I find this imparts vegetable-like flavors and aromas.

Sissinghurst Oast House in Southeast England (source below)

Oast houses had several perforated floors where hops were spread out. At the bottom of the oast house was a kiln that applied heat through the hop laden floors. Moisture escaped out those chimney-like rooftops.

My Former System for Dehydrating Hops
Ever since I've been growing hops, I used a common household dehydrator to do the bulk of the work. Unfortunately, I could only dehydrate 4 square feet of hops at a time. Considering the volume that we have typically picked off the vines at our hop farm, this simply was not enough space.

Former household dehydrator used to dry hops.

Every time we picked hops, it was always enough to fill two of these dehydrators. We only have one! The excess was spread out on a table at our apartment or house on paper towels. We also turned on a fan to keep the air moving across the surface of the table. When the hops were finished in the dehydrator (typically about 48 hours), we would transfer the table hops to the dehydrator to finish them (another 24 hours).

Dehydrating hops on a table in our old apartment.

Obviously this method of drying hops, though doable, wasn't very practical. It limited us to how much hops we can truly pick, lengthened the time and work needed, consumed living space, and overall unchillindamos. It did, however, make the house very aromatic. If you want to live in an IPA, this is the way to do it!

Building a Hop Oast
The idea for the new Dehydrating-damos Hop Oast came from Food Network's show "Good Eats" hosted by Alton Brown. The segment on the show is embedded below for you to see. Basically, he uses common household furnace filters and a box fan to dehydrate meat and make beef jerky.

Last year, I acquired a box fan that a friend was planning on getting rid of with the intention of building a similar dehydrator for hops, the Chillindamos Dehydrating-damos Hop Oast.

The newly built oast hop tray frame.

I purchased some nicer lumber that has been sanded and has round edges (let me know if anyone wants specifics here). Round edges make it easier when stretching the screen material. I sized pieces to the box fan's dimensions.

Hop oast tray frame, simple construction.

There's no need to do anything fancy. The frame for each of the hop oast trays were built using a hand saw, nails, and wood glue.

Screen material stapled to the hop oast tray frame.

In the screen door section of the hardware store I found this heavy duty plastic-like screening that would work just right. I used a staple gun with 1/4" staples.

Screening material stretched and stapled on the sides of the oast tray frame.

The trick to a nice taut screen is to start in the center and work your way to the corners, rotating sides each time. This is the same technique painters use when stretching canvas on a frame. It also works best if you have help to pull while you staple (thanks Michelle).

Dehydrating-damos Hop Oast
Building four trays and screening three of them for the latest harvest took under two hours. After, it was a matter of dumping hops in the trays, spreading them out, stacking, and applying the box fan.

Hops dump easily into the hop oast trays.

While the heavily loaded top tray dehydrated in less than 48 hours, I plan to add two more trays (for a total of 6) to decrease the density of hops per tray, encouraging a more effective flow of air.

Hop oast trays stacked easily.

Similar to Alton Brown's dehydrator, the trays are stacked and a box fan is used to keep air flowing around the hops. From now on, I will dehydrate my hops in the garage considering that its a dry warm environment and away from our usable living space in our house.

Box fan blows air down through the oast trays.

The trays are not directly on the garage floor, I used some wood scraps to put underneath the stack of trays. This allows air flow to exit out the bottom. I put the box fan on top of the trays to blow air down. Even with one of the trays packed tight with hops, air seemed to readily flow out the bottom of the stack. For the past two harvests, I've only kept the box fan on its lowest speed and the hops were dehydrated in less than a day and a half or about 36 hours. (I'm thinking that if I decrease the density of the hops in each tray, I might get this process under 24 hours.)

Dehydrated hops are light and papery.

36 hours later, I opened the garage door with aromas of chinook and centennial pouring out. The hops are light and paper-like, ready for long-term storage prep by vacuum sealing and freezing. The trays are very easy to carry the hops to the kitchen and to shake clean. If you need a cheap and simple system to dry a decent volume of homegrown hops, this is working out very well for me. Let me know if you have any comments or questions! Cheers.

More Hops = More Chillindamos

Image Source:
Bishop, Rob. Sissinghurst Oast House. Digital image. Geograph, Sissinghurst Oast House. Geograph Britain and Ireland, 18 Feb. 2006. Web. 12 Aug. 2010. .

German Pils, August 11 2010

2010-08-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge fan of German Pilseners. This is one style that I simply have to brew it the way I want it. The ABV of this brew will exceed the style limits for sure and I'm pretty sure I'll hit the upper limits or higher in IBUs. Cause that's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it!
The great part about brewing a pilsener is its simplicity. German Pilsner malt and some noble hops is all it takes. Despite the basic ingredients, there's lots of variety out there. Some pilsners are light and sweet while others can be very dry and hoppy. Some great pilsners I've had are Bitburger, Warsteiner, and Spaten Pils. In the recent spirit of doing "research", I picked up a couple of new pilsners to try.
The first is from Allgäuer Brauhaus, their Teutsch Pils. Allgäuer Brauhaus is in Southern Germany and so it was expected to be small in the hop department (Pilsners, I've read, tend to get drier and hoppier to the north). I forgot to take a snapshot of the poured beers this round but the Teutsch Pils was golden pale in color with little head retention. It was more malty than dry and had a light yet balanced hop bitterness and flavor.

Allgäuer Brauhaus Teutsch Pils from Southern Germany.

I'm digging on these German bottle neck labels!

Gotta sport the Reinheitsgebot.

The other pils I picked up was brewed by König Ludwig in Bulgaria. Their Kaltenberg Pils was much more of a Bavarian Pilsener style with a sweeter malt flavor and bigger body. Hop bittering seemed very low and only subtle in the aroma and flavor.
Tasting these more uncommon bottles makes me wonder how fresh these beers truly are. I couldn't find this particular label on the König Ludwig's website so this must be adapted or relabeled for export. It might be time to consider a beer-cation to drink these European gems at their source.

König Ludwig's Kaltenberg Pils from Bulgaria.

König Ludwig uses more of a standard neck label.

German Pilsener, August 11 2010

BJCP Category 2A. German Pilsener (Pils)
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

11 lbs. German Pilsner

90 Minute Single Infusion Mash 148°F

0.65 oz. Magnum 60 min.
0.5 oz. Saaz 30 min.
0.5 oz. Spalt 20 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.
0.35 oz. Tettnanger 10 min.
0.25 oz. Saaz 1 min.

White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast (thanks, Kara!), Vial to 900ml Starter

OG: 1.063 @ 73°F
FG: 1.010 @ 46°F
ABV: 7.3%

Update 8/26: Racked to secondary. Current gravity is 1.013 @ 75°F (diacetyl rest). It will be a couple of weeks until I start lagering.

Evaluation: I took this beer to QUAFF's evaluation panel on November 17th. I poured this towards the end of the evening so the panel was a bit spent. While the malt profile was there, it was the hops that needed to go bigger. I don't think I mentioned gravities and the ABV because those are a tad high as well. A word of caution was discussed about using Magnum for bittering since its easy to overdo the bittering. We also talked about loading more noble hops at the end of the hopping schedule.

Munich Helles, 8-9-10

2010-08-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, helles yeah! Time to break-in our new Lager Cave with a number of brews where chillindamos is a necessity. I'm stocked in German malts and hops right now and would like to get 6 lagers underway by the end of the month. I'm hoping to use September as a lagering month with kegging and dispensing ready for Oktoberfest. I've never brewed this style before but got a fairly decent scope of the beer design from some reading and a focused podcast on the style (The Jamil Show - Munich Helles).
As with any new brewing adventures, I like to do thorough "research". I picked up a couple of commercial examples of the style and damn, this beer is awesome. I could truly drink Munich Helles all day! The bready, toasty, malt profile is just my thing. The flavor is balanced with a nice noble hop bittering and subtle flavor. It dries gently, demanding your palette to beg for more. Dangerously, I can drink lots of this and that's probably why the German's drink this beer style by the liter. I first had the Weihenstephaner, their Original Premium. They claim to be the world's oldest brewery with a date on the bottle "Siet 1040". Obviously, they had plenty of time to perfect this brew.

Weihenstephaner Original Premium, a commercial example of Munich Helles.

Weihenstephaner, the world's oldest brewery, since 1040.

Weihenstephaner Original Premium Munich Helles. Awesome looking beer! Not all fizzy-yellow-stuff is bad.

I also had a Paulaner Original Munich. Paulaner and Spaten both claim the title to have brewed the first lagers. The profile of this beer was similar to that of the Weihenstephaner though more focused on the slightly sweet pilsner malt flavors. Very balanced and extremely drinkable. I certainly enjoyed the Weihenstephaner more but would readily go through a few liters of either of these fantastic brews.

Paulaner Original Munich, a commercial example of Munich Helles.

I'm digging the neck labels of these two beers. Their shapes are similar. Any reason?

Another great looking Munich Helles, Paulaner Original Munich.

Munich Helles, 8-9-10

BJCP Category 1D. Munich Helles
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

9 lbs. German Pilsner
0.75 lbs. Munich
2 oz. Melanoidin

90 Minute Single Infusion Mash 150°F

1.35 oz. Hallertauer 60 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.

White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast (thanks, Kara!), Vial to 900ml Starter
Primary Ferment at 52°F

OG: 1.050 @ 68°F
FG: 1.010 @ 46°F
ABV: 5.5% (temperature corrected)

Update 8/24: Racked to secondary. Current gravity is 1.0105 @ 71°F (diacetyl rest). Lagering will begin in a couple of weeks.

Evaluation: I took this to QUAFF's evaluation panel on November 17th. Of the 5 beers I brought for feedback, this one seemed to be the best example of the style. Harold searched for signs of improvement but only suggested to re-brew this in January for NHC first round. That was good news to hear!

American Barley Wine, August 6 2010

2010-08-07T11:22:00.000-07:00

Challenges of Brewing BIG Beer

While most of my brews are fairly moderate in alcohol (6-8%), I tend to stray away from big beers for a handful of reasons: mash tun size, expensive ingredient list, and its difficult to achieve a balanced beer.

Big Beers Necessitate a Large Mash Tun
My mash tun simply can't handle the quantity of grain needed to brew an alcoholic monster. My current mash tun uses a 5 gallon Rubbermaid Water Cooler and I know they also come in 7 and 10 gallon sizes. I could easily upgrade just my mash tun to accommodate larger grain bills. As far as fitting a false bottom to a new mash tun, those come in a number of sizes as well. Northern Brewer carries a number of False Bottom sizes and types. MoreBeer also has a decent collection of False Bottoms. Making 5 gallons of strong ale styles such as barley wines needs about 20-30 lbs. of grain. I find that my 5 gallon cooler is maxed out at 15 pounds of grain. Potentially, I could squeeze in a few more pounds at the expense of potentially losing yield but I like to keep the mash bed light and fluffy during sparging (see images below). I can either find a larger solution or just hold out a bit longer to upgrade to a brewing sculpture with a double sized mash tun. My vote is for the later!

5 Gallon Rubbermaid Water Cooler holding just over 15 lbs. of mash during vorlauf.

Just enough room to use a Phil's Sparger, my 5 gallon mash tun seems maxed out at 15 pounds of grain.

If you don't quite have the capacity to make a big gravity beer using grain, there's a couple of options for you to try. First is to do two mashes and use only about 1/3 of your normal sparge volume. Most of what you will collect during each mash is high gravity first runnings, or the sweetest collection of wort. You'll get low efficiency and increase your brew day by a few hours but it works! Second, you can just add malt extract to the kettle. This is what I did today. In a big beer like a barley wine, using extract to boost the gravity of your grain batch will not be noticeable in the final beer. The downside is that extract is always damn expensive!

Big Beers are Expensive and Difficult
Making bigger beer styles is really like making two beers in one. In doing so, you can expect to double your costs. If you're using any quantity of extract, you can nearly triple the cost. Compared to a basic style such as pale ale, a barley wine needs more than twice the base and specialty malts and could use 2-3 times more hops. The goal in big beers is balance. I find that even pro brewers have difficulty finding balance in their bigger beers. Balancing alcohol with the right amount of residual malt sweetness, bitterness, and hop flavor is very challenging. You need to plan for more than just the final bottled or kegged beer; planning for profile changes during longer-term storage should also be a consideration. Knowing how your beer is going to change over 6 months to 3 years adds another level of complexity.
Fermentation and attenuation can also be problematic. With a large fermentation task at hand, big beers require lots of attention to yeast. This means a large pitching rate of healthy yeast, well oxygenated wort, and maintaining steady fermentation temperatures. Worse case scenario, your yeast craps out and you get a stuck fermentation leaving you with a sweet, partially fermented, beer that will just make you cry. For the level of cost investment and time needed to mature a big beer, its a science and an art to get good results with high gravity brewing.
Time to flush all that worry out with a good beer and chillindamos. Every new brewing adventure mandates some "research". One of the best Barley Wines I've had recently was made by Alaskan Brewing Company. I had their 2009 Alaskan Barley Wine Ale this past winter. Thought I would age this bottle for a year but made the mistake of not hiding it! Earlier this week, I was in San Francisco and toured Anchor Brewing Company (more on that later). I had their Old Foghorn Ale which was also a great barley wine.

2009 Alaskan Barley Wine Ale

American Barley Wine, August 6 2010

BJCP Category 19C. American Barley Wine
5 Gallons, Grain and Extract, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

12.5 lbs. Domestic Pale 2-Row
1 lb. Crystal 60
10.3 oz. Red Wheat
8 oz. Caravienne
5.25 oz. Crystal 20
2 oz. Chocolate

90 Minute Single Infusion Mash *152°F
*difficult to keep temps consistent in the mash tun with this much grain so a little over half of the bed sat at the warmest of 152°F while the coolest layer (top) rested at 148°F

5.2 lbs. Liquid Malt Extract added to the kettle

1 oz. Simcoe 60 min.
1 oz. Simcoe 40 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.
1 oz. Amarillo 20 min.
0.9 oz. Homegrown Chinook 10 min.
0.75 oz. Homegrown Centennial 10 min.

Dry Hop: 0.65 oz. Amarillo

Racked on yeast bed of Flanders Brown Ale/Oud Bruin using White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast

OG: 1.105 @ 68°F
FG:1.020 @ 66°F
ABV: 11.3%

Update 8/26: Racked to secondary. Current gravity is 1.018 @ 75°F. Added dry hop.

Update 11/7: Racked to 3 gallon tertiary on 1oz. American Oak Chips. Other 2 gallons went in a keg for carbonation to be bottled on 11/11. I will be submitting a bottle of this to our Club Only Strong Ale competition. Tasting the hydrometer sample was very promising. The oaked split will sit for another month before bottling that portion. I plan to submit that to the Wood Aged Competition next year (two beers with one brew!).

Update 11/27: This beer won 1st place in our club-only strong ale competition. Shipping out for the AHA Club-Only competition hosted by Greater Everett Brewers League in Washington.

Flanders Brown Ale, July 25 2010

2010-07-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

I'm not really into sour beer but this style, BJCP Category 17C. Flanders Brown Ale/Oud Bruin, seems to be a good compromise for this fall's club-only competition. An Oud Bruin has a sour component but doesn't necessarily overpower the rest of the beer. Balance between sweet malt and sour is the goal. Based on readings, brettanomyces and other souring critters take time to sour a beer. The Flanders that I brewed today is highly likely not going to be ready for the club-only sour competition this fall (I'll submit it anyway) but may have potential during AFC and NHC next year. Many sours can take a year to develop. As a first, there's lots to be learned about funky beer.

After harvesting at our hop farm yesterday, we stopped at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido to pick up some "research" for some upcoming brew sessions. While there were a number of sours in stock, I couldn't find an exact match for an Oud Bruin or Flanders Brown Ale. I think I picked up something close however, Ichtegem's Grand Cru, Flemish Red Ale, matured in oak barrels, Oud Bruin gerijpt in eiken vaten, 6.5% ABV. The BeerAdvocate lists the style of Ichtegem's Grand Cru to be a Flanders Red Ale. We'll sample this Monday. Most likely, I'll give it a try and pass the rest over to Kara who loves sours.

Ichtegem's Grand Cru - an Oud Bruin matured in oak

Flanders Brown Ale, July 25 2010

5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

9 lbs. German Pilsener
1.5 lbs. Vienna
1.5 lbs. Munich
1 lb. Red Wheat
0.75 lb. Crystal 20
0.5 lb. Caravienne
2 oz. Chocolate
2 oz. Black Roasted Barely

Single Infusion Mash 152°F

1 oz. Tettnanger 60 min.
0.3 oz. Spalt 60 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.

White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast (vial to quick starter) Thanks, Kara!
White Labs WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix 1 added to secondary
WLP655 Includes Brettanomyces, Saccharomyces, and the bacterial strains Lactobacillus and Pediococcus.

OG: 1.072 @ 73°F
FG:
ABV:

With a grain bill this size, I thought I'd be nearing capacity. Looks like room for a couple more L.B.s!

Update 8/6: Racked to secondary, current gravity is 1.0125. Pitched the vial of WLP655 in the secondary. I'm worried that WLP001 chewed away much of the sugar, not leaving a whole lot for the Belgian Sour Mix to chew on.
After brewing a barley wine today with 15 lbs. of grain and truly trying to keep the grain bed light and fluffy, it looks like this grain bed at 14.5 lbs. was a bit compressed. I suppose it really depends on the type of malt and the thickness of the mash to determine how much grain a 5 gallon Rubbermaid Cooler can effectively hold.

Hop Harvest, First Pickings

2010-07-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

Me harvesting the Chinook Hops. This trio of vines always has a high yield with multiple harvests.

At last, fresh homegrown hops are here! Today we pulled a few weeds, trimmed back rogue hop vines, and harvested our first batch of Chinook and Centennial hops. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Michelle, posing at our hop farm in Escondido, CA.

During the summer, there's typically little to do at the hop farm besides harvesting. There are 30 mounds yet we had a number of them that didn't do well this year. This is mainly my fault for not visiting the farm more often early in the season. This year, I need to tag or map mounds that never climbed or didn't even sprout so that I can give them attention next late winter.

Our bottom row of hops has finally produced. We planted Centennial (near) and Chinook (far) last year.

Third time's a charm and our added bottom row is finally taking off. I tried planting Cascade and Tettnanger when we first added this row a few years ago. They failed maybe due to soil conditions, too dry, or the killer rabbits. During the second year, we mirrored our successful top row by splitting rhizomes and planting Chinook and Centennial on the bottom row. That year, mounds were brutally attacked by killer gnawing rabbits and while a handful were able to make the climb, yield was nearly negligible. This year, we've increased the water flow rate, heavily mulched and fertilized, and ensured to allow plants to grow as full as possible at the base to deter those wascal wabbits from the main vines.

Many of the Chinook cones are papery and light, ready for picking. Many others will be ready in 2 weeks.

Today was just the first harvest and you can tell when the hop cones are ready to pick. They get drier or papery and become much lighter in weight. You may also see some light browning on some cones beginning to develop. This is when they are ready to pick. In the early days, we used clippers and cut each one carefully off the vine. Now, we just pull. We try to eliminate the stem by pinching at the base. After picking, my hands are sticky with a yellowish dirt color from all of the lupulin. The smell, however, is hoptastic!

Chinook hops do very well here, lush full leaves with hop flowers growing at every opportunity.

Healthy, happy, and full, the Chinook trio of vines on our top row never fails to just go crazy!

The Chinook trio is loaded with hops. Some are ready now yet we'll be be able to pick cones for many weeks.

As you can see from the above picture, the cones are in different stages. I know the big hop growers choose an optimal timing for their vines and cut them down for a single harvest. What do they do with underdeveloped hops or ones that have turned all brown. My guess is that they make pellets!

Big ones! Most Chinook hops that are ready to pick are fairly large cones.

Cone sizes and shapes vary with variety. Hopefully, my hand gives you an idea about the size of the chinook hop cones.

Centennial hops at the top of the wire. A terminating cone at the right.

When hops reach the top of the guide line, they often continue growing horizontally. When a branch or vine ends, it always terminates with a cone. When it does this, it will grow no further. Also, if a climbing vine tip gets cut or damaged, it will no longer continue to grow.

A couple of our Centennial hop mounds don't always grow as thick and lush as the Chinook trio.

Many hop plants are not successful until the second season. I think the above vine was a mound that needed to be replanted. Regardless, some mounds only have one or two vines that climb and yield is fairly low.

These cones are moist and heavy and will likely be ready in 2 weeks.

Time to fire up the dehydrator! I need to build the box fan dehydrator I've sketched out in my mind a few years back. If anyone wants to see how I have been dehydrating and storing my homegrown hops, click here for dehydrating hops or storing hops. Cheers!

Recirculation Immersion Chilller

2010-07-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

...and now, for some chilling. Literally.

I got this idea from Jamil Zainasheff on his website MrMalty.com. Jamil shows his Whilpool/Immersion Chiller in great detail on his site. He's also discussed this modification to his homebrewing system on his internet radio show, The Jamil Show. While many others go to fancy counterflow chillers or plate chillers, there's actually some good benefits to using an immersion chiller (see Jamil's website for a good discussion on the pros and cons). The biggest downsides, however, is that it takes longer and uses lots more water. Adding a recirculation element or whirlpool allows the wort to constantly be moving inside the kettle while the chiller is in the process of heat exchanging. This increases the surface contact of wort to the chiller, effectively improving chilling time and water efficiency. Adding a recirculation element to an immersion chiller can bank on the benefits while strongly chiseling away the downers. Today, I improved upon my wort chilling system to increase water efficiency and to decrease the time needed to take wort from 212°F to less than 80°F.

I made a bigger wort chiller about 2 years ago with 50 feet of 3/8" OD copper. While it looks like a job well done, I've had some minor issues. First, 50 feet is a long distance and you need to have decent pressure to push water through that much restriction (maybe 50 feet of 1/2" OD would have made this better?). I've attempted to use a pump to recirculate ice water through the chiller with limited success (works for several minutes at a time but stalls often). The pump simply experienced too much back pressure. Second, while I attempted to make good bends in the copper using a spring bender, I ended up making a few kinks which drastically increased restriction on an already overly distant length of 3/8" copper. Here's a couple of pictures when I had just finished building a larger chiller. Notice the kinks from too sharp of bends on the upper image.

Immersion Chiller built 2 years ago.

The new chiller keeps hop trub in the center while cooling much of the column of wort.

So the first order of business before adopting Jamil's whirlpool idea is to remove those kinks! With a pipe cutter, I was able to remove the kinked locations and ended up taking off about 3-4 feet of copper. Even though only a few feet, every little bit of restriction helps.

Several of my previous bends caused kinks in the copper pipe that limited the flow of water.

After a couple of chops, all kinks were eliminated.

After cutting out the kinks, the next challenge was to carefully bend the pipe to meet the kettle lid's notch without creating too sharp of angles or additional pipe.

Spring pipe benders are really useful for creating the curves on your wort chiller.

I found using a spring pipe bender (available at hardware stores near the copper tubing) useful to avoid making kinks. You simply need to be patient and have enough pipe for leverage when bending. Over bend each time and bend back to desired position. Bends close to one another can be very challenging. Just know that its tough to make different curves in a close sequence.

Refurbished and kink-free immersion wort chiller.

After trying this out with today's Kölsch, it works so much better. At the end of chilling, I usually blow out the excess water and it was drastically easier to blow it out this time. Also, the back-pressure on the tubing usually causes a leak on the IN-tube. This didn't occur! I suppose I can try pumping ice water again with my March Pump.

Onward to adding the recirculator/whirlpool:

I took about a foot section of the removed copper pipe and worked some angles so that beer can be pumped from the kettle spigot, through the kettle lid notch, and directed to flow alongside the immersion wort chiller.

This length was cut from my wort chiller and reshaped to direct circulating wort flow.

Using the spring pipe bender makes bending easier on the most part. At least, it help you avoid kinking. I would suggest working with pipe sections several inches longer than you anticipate. Otherwise, its nearly impossible to bend near the end of the pipe. You can always cut off excess later using a pipe cutter (about $10 at the hardware store). Also, you should keep some sand paper on hand (220 grit sandpaper and a 400 sanding sponge seemed to do the job well) for sanding down those rough edges after cutting. Don't forget to wash and rinse well before using!

Immersion wort chiller with recirculation arm to move hot wort circular around the immersion chiller.

Here's how I do my wort chilling. At the end of my brewing session, I stir the wort with a large spoon and get the wort moving fairly quickly in a circular fashion. While stirring, I slowly move the stirrer towards the center of the kettle to create a whirlpool. After waiting several minutes to allow the whirlpool to come to a halt whilst center settling the hop and trub, I slowly add the clean wort chiller to the center of the pot (most of the hop trub will remain in the center of the chiller's coils). I allow the chiller to "bake" for several minutes for sanitation purposes. At the same time, I arrange the pump to draw from the spigot and return to the kettle via the recirculation arm. You can see this crafty shaped piece in the picture above. As soon as possible, I begin recirculation prior to chilling to also "bake" the high-temp lines, pump (this pump handles high-temps), and copper pipe. After sanitation is complete, I turn on the chiller using hose water. Today, I think I cut my chilling time and water usage in half. Not bad considering that summer temperatures have increased the temps of tap water and my black hose soaking up the summer heat isn't helping either.

Here, you can see the pump setup. The bucket collects heated water from the immersion chiller.

During the summer months around here, the process of chilling the wort can take longer than the rest of the year and a better solution is needed. I bought this pump towards the end of last season so that I can recirculate ice water through my immersion chiller. It seems that the recirculator arm is more useful. If I had two pumps, I could do both recirculation of wort and utilizing ice water.
Jamil's setup has two exit points for the wort though I'm not sure its necessary for a 5 gallon setup. Click Here to see Jamil's Whirlpool/Immersion Chiller for some more info.
Only one potential issue to address. I did notice that some hop fragments managed to collect at the incoming pump connection. I have a QD here (quick disconnect) that has a plastic + going through the center of where the wort flows. This cross hair of plastic picked up some hop matter and likely slowed the flow at some point. I might need to add a filter element in the kettle or along the line to deal with this.
The pump was very easy to clean. While the pump was running, I slowly closed the kettle valve and slid off the tubing. The pump returned the remains to the kettle and then the pump was shut off. I removed the recirculator arm. I put the incoming tubing in the water bucket and pumped fresh water through the system. I took off the QDs and dipped them in water to remove the hop matter that collected. Last, I put the incoming tubing in a bucket of sanitizer (StarSan) and pumped that through for just a bit. Finally, I removed the tubing for air drying. Very minimal effort for a huge increase in chillindamos!

Kölsch, July 23 2010

2010-07-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

After feeling the guilt of breaking the Reinheitsgebot last week, I decided to brew a proper Kölsch.

Change in Focus - Follow Those Guidelines!

After a written pep talk by Harold Gulbransen, I've decided to focus on BJCP style guidelines. My fantastic homebrew club, QUAFF, has started a monthly beer evaluation opportunity. The goal being to provide ample analysis and feedback to brewers in time to re-brew a better beer for the upcoming competition season. This is actually a very generous offer since its immediate feedback from experienced beer judges. Unfortunately, I missed out the opportunity this month since my kegs were licked dry a couple of weeks ago. Next month, I'm taking advantage of the offer.
Many of us QUAFFers want the club to do very well this coming homebrew competition season especially considering that NHC is in our hometown, San Diego. Not long ago, QUAFF was the AHA National Champion or Homebrew Club of the Year. They earned this title 6 years in a row! I believe this was accomplished by just a few dedicated brewers that consistently submitted numerous outstanding beers. Since 2006, no one really stepped up to the plate.
I would hear the competition announcements at every club meeting but never really considered entering in any of my homebrews. Its time to give this competition thing a try. I know I'll learn lots, maybe get a certificate or two, it can only help my brewing get better, and hopefully, I can help my club.

Kölsch, July 23 2010

BJCP Category 6C. Kölsch
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

9 lbs. German Pilsener
0.75 lb. Vienna
0.25 lb. Red Wheat malt
Single Infusion Mash 148°F

1.25 oz. Hallertauer 60 min.
0.25 oz. Saaz 1 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.

White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch Yeast (racked to yeast bed of Honey Kölsch)
Fermented at 66°F

OG: 1.056 @ 72°F
FG: 1.012 @ 56°F
ABV: 6.1% (temp corrected)

Update 7/29: Racked to secondary, current gravity is 1.0115
Update 8/16: Kegged after 2 weeks of lagering at 45°F. Has a bit of residual sulfur aroma which is acceptable in the aroma BJCP guidelines. I went a little far on ABV, style guidelines range from 4.4-5.2%.

Seconds, Please Saison July 17 2010

2010-07-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

After a successful release of my first Belgian Saison last weekend, I had to have another go. The recipe formulation is different this time. I'm out of pilsener malt, added Vienna malt to the grain bill, added honey to the sugar adjuncts, and finished the hopping schedule with an addition of Saaz. Ah, Saaz! The last change will be fermentation temperature. The previous Saison fermented around 70°F and this one will experience temps around 80°F. Kara was here to help today :-) Its always nice to have my apprentice here!

A pour of Saison Dupont (source below)

My experience with drinking Saison is still fairly limited. I've had Saison Dupont on one occasion and have had a few homebrewed by QUAFFers and other brew buddies. Probably the most notable of all Saisons in San Diego is Brother Levonian, a Saison brewed in honor of Dave Levonian, a great homebrewer and friend to all in our homebrew club, QUAFF.

Seconds, Please Saison July 17 2010
BJCP Category 16C. Saison
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 75 Minute Boil

8.5 lbs. Domestic 2-Row
1 lb. Red Wheat
1 lb. Vienna
0.5 lb. Munich
Single Infusion Mash 148°F

0.5 lb. Cane Sugar (Trader Joe's Organic)
1/2 Cup of Sage Blossom Honey added at KO

1.5 oz. Hallertauer 60 min.
0.25 oz. Hallertauer 15 min.
0.25 oz. Hallertauer 5 min.
0.25 oz. Saaz 1 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.

White Labs WLP566 Belgian Saison II (2 Vials), thanks Kara!
Fermented at 70°F

OG: 1.065 @ 76°F
FG: 1.0045 @ 68°F
ABV: 8.2% (temp corrected)

Image Source: User: Jmcstrav. Saison Dupont. Image. Dupont Brewery. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 1 Oct. 2007. Web. 17 July 2010.

Update 8/6: Racked to secondary, current gravity is 1.006 and its tasting mighty fine!
Update 8/16: Kegged! Michelle commented that it tastes very Belgian-y. Excellent! A week ago, I had Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont. Damn it was good! So much better than their standard Saison Dupont.

Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont

Update 8/25: Now on tap! This is a great beer. I took this to our club's beer evaluation committee last week headed up by Harold Gulbransen. While all seemed to feel this beer would do very well (Harold said he could drink this all day), they suggested to dry it up a bit more. I explained that by measurements of final gravity at 1.0045, its very dry. There's certainly a perceived sweetness that makes the value of the final gravity hard to believe. Harold suggested to check my hydrometers for accuracy.
So I tested my hydrometers when I got home. Turns out I had four hydrometers at home, two triple scales and two Brewer's Edge (one standard, one bottling). The triple scales both read 1.000 and the Brewer's Edge hydrometers both at 0.999. They checked out for acceptable accuracy.
Kara decided to take this beer and two others in to White Labs for analysis. The results: 8.21% with a Specific Gravity 1.00624. I think that's pretty damn close to my measurements.
Harold suggested to change out the honey and use sugar such as turbinado to really dry it out. I'm thinking the honey really left behind the sweetness. When it comes to using honey, it really doesn't take much to sweeten up a beer. I think I learned my lesson when it comes to using honey in beer. From now on, I'll stick with saving the honey for meads.

Coming Soon: The Lager Cave

2010-07-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

Utilizing space in my kegerator for lager fermentation and lagering has long been detrimental to the necessary activity of dispensing and consuming homebrew. The kegerator simply does not have room for both activities. Even if you combine both fermentation/lagering and dispensing of kegs, the kegerator spends a large portion of time at about 52°F. That's not ideal dispensing temperature, very unchillindamos.
My brother-in-law, Ed, recently purchased a condo in the neighborhood. He's a few blocks from Toronado to boot! As a fellow homebrewer, he shares the like desires for making lagers. We went halfzies on a new 24.9 cu. ft. chest freezer that will thrive in his garage. I purchased this Kenmore Elite Chest Freezer online with Sears through a partner link; timing a sale for a great deal. We should be picking this up within a week and will Christen it, The Lager Cave. Very chillindamos!

Coming Soon: The Lager Cave

Update 7/21/10: We picked up The Lager Cave and delivered to its new home yesterday evening. We need to wire a new electrical box and better seal Ed's garage, planned for this weekend. A Temperature Controller II is on its way. The Honey Kolsch is nearly ready and I have a fury of lagers planned.

Honey Kölsch, July 16 2010

2010-07-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

The weather is here and I'm about to switch into high gear for brewing this summer. Kara suggested that we brew a Kölsch and here's the first of two. When this finishes primary, I'll brew another to rack on to the yeast cake. Adding honey was a bit more of a stretch from style but that's what happens around here. If I remember correctly, Kölsch is defined by the Kölsch-Konvention and can't be brewed outside the German city of Cologne. Also, this brew violates the Reinheitsgebot or the German Beer Purity Law which states that you can only produce beer with water, barley, and hops.
Jonathan stopped by today during the boil and brought a bottle to share from the Hook Norton Brewery. Hooky Gold is listed as a Traditional English Ale at 4.2% ABV. We noted it to be bready, nutty, and fairly well balanced. The hop flavor was reminiscent of East Kent Goldings but after viewing their website, apparently this English Ale uses American hops. Overall, it was a pleasant beer. Thanks for sharing, Jonathan!
Jonathan talked me into upping my honey addition from 1/2 cup to a full cup. We debated how many gravity points this would equate to but I agreed that a full cup will impart more of a honey note. In it went!

A smirk of Breaking the Law!

Honey Kölsch, July 16 2010

5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 75 Minute Boil

9.5 lbs. Domestic 2-Row
0.5 lb. Vienna
Single Infusion Mash 150°F

1 cup of Sage Blossom Honey added at KO

1.25 oz. Hallertauer 60 min.
0.25 oz. Saaz 1 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.

White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch Yeast (vial to quick starter), thanks Kara!

OG: 1.062 @ 78°F
FG: 1.012 @ 56°F
ABV: 7% (temp corrected)

Update 7/23: Racked to secondary. Current gravity is 1.013.
Update 8/16: Kegged after 2 weeks of lagering at 45°F. Great flavor profile so far.
Update 8/25: Now on tap! Last week, I took this beer to an evaluation committee headed up by Harold Gulbransen. We decided that this beer would best be categorized as a Belgian Blonde. Its great with lots of malt character, easy drinking with a very hidden alcohol content, there's a hint of sweetness imparted by the honey, and overall a pleasant drinker. Kara tested this beer for me over at White Labs this past weekend for gravity and ABV. The results: 7.03% with a Specific Gravity 1.01195. Looks like my measurements were spot on.