Mayahuel Mild, January 10 2010

There's an upcoming session challenge for BJCP Category 11: Mild, Southern, and Northern English Brown. QUAFF has a club-only competition prior to an AHA national category competition. QUAFF chooses the best brew from the club and offers the winner reimbursement for shipping and entering the nationals. Shocked that my Oktoberfest was chosen in the fall during the club-only, I decided that it would be fun to participate in such events more often. In the spirit of my recent agave exploration and knowing that mild recipes may contain adjuncts, I'm throwing out a Mexican twist to this English category of beer by adding agave nectar.
When brewing a low gravity low alcohol beer, I feel that efficiency (of time and space) is compromised. Traditionally, brewers employed the parti-gyle strategy to essentially complete two beers in one session. This yields one strong beer and a more diluted mild beer from one grain bill. Seanywonton recently did this for brewing his mild, 2 Stouts, 1 Mash. You still need to boil twice but at least you only need to go through the time consuming process of mashing just once. I decided to to this with a twist by using a grain bill that would probably make a strong English ESB. I then split the runnings collected after sparging and brewed two milds in one day. Rather than making a strong and a mild using parti-gyle, I resorted to a more simple approach with two milds. I'm not even sure if a parti-gyle would work with my system since my mash tun has a limited carrying capacity. Brewing two nearly identical milds allowed me to experiment with a different hop amount and quantities of agave. While the first batch was in the kettle, the second half was stored in my insulated hot liquor tank.
I have to remember that entries are due to AleSmith by Friday, January 29th. Can someone remind me!?
The beer is named after the pre-columbian Aztec goddess of agave, Mayahuel, and our local tequilera, Cantina Mayahuel. Larry at the cantina hooked me up with a bottle of premium, secret sourced, agave nectar and I feel I've put it to good use (though I'm now empty and need to beg for more).

Mayahuel, the goddess of agave.

Mayahuel Mild, January 10 2010
10 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 60 Minute Boil

10lbs. Maris Otter Pale
1lb. Crystal 60
1lb. Crystal 20
1/2lb. Biscuit
1/4lb. Chocolate
Single Infusion Mash at 152°F

0.75 oz. East Kent Goldings 5.1% AA for 60 min. (2nd batch - 1 oz.)
1 Whirlfloc tab 15 min.
4 oz. Secret Source Agave Nectar at KO (2nd batch - 8 oz.)

White Labs WLP002 English Ale (vial to starter)

1st 5-Gallons OG: 1.036 @ 72°F FG: 1.012 @ 38°F ABV: 3.5%
2nd 5-Gallons OG: 1.038 @ 72°F FG: 1.011 @ 38°F ABV: 3.9%

Bottled out on 1/28 for the QUAFF club-only competition and to share with Larry at the Cantina.

Image Source:
Seler, Eduard. Mayahuel. Digital image. Mayahuel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 27 Aug. 2006. Web. 10 Jan. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayahuel.

Agave Smoked Porter

After having my Agave Vienna Lager, Larry at our favorite tequileria, Cantina Mayahuel, hooked me up with some high quality agave nectar for my next batch. He was excited the beer featured agave but nearly was appalled that I used a grocery store branded agave source. Michelle and I did a taste test comparing Trader Joe's Organic Agave Nectar with the Cantina's secret source. Larry's agave nectar was sweeter, richer, more aromatic, and much darker than Trader Joe's.


Left: The cantina packages their agave nectar in used Los Abuelos Tequila bottles.
Right: Agave nectar pours like syrup in viscosity and color.

I will maintain the same amount of agave nectar used in the Agave Vienna (8 fluid ounces) since that volume seemed to do very well (my first attempt brewing with agave nectar was a tad over ambitious). I'm considering when to add the nectar. Knowing that heat destroys aroma and flavor when working with honey in mead, I'm considering adding the nectar at the end of the boil (just enough time to sanitize) or take the risk and add it in the primary fermenter (post chilling - not the same as chillindamos).

On another note, this will be my first attempt in brewing a smoked beer. I'm not sure why I haven't tried to do this yet. I've done some "research" on the style. Stone Brewing's Smoked Porter and Alaskan Brewing's Smoked Porter set the bar very high. I have several beer buddies that rank these beers high on their list and for good reason! Outside of drinking the research is listening to the Jamil Show's podcast on Smoked Beer (downloads mp3 of podcast) available from The Brewing Network. Jamil shares a number of insights and his award winning Smoked Robust Porter recipe using either extract or all grain.

2009 Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter

(notice the fine etching on that pint glass!)

There are a number of considerations when using and/or smoking your own malt. I decided to go moderately on the smoked malt using 2lbs. of German Rauch malt. Jamil Zainasheff's recipe calls for 2.25lbs. of rauch malt and though I don't want to hinder the subtle flavors and aromas that the agave may also contribute, I hear the smoke flavors and aromas will mellow over time. He also suggests going easy on the smoked malt the first time, then adjusting the amount in future brews. Since his recipe calls for 2.25 pounds of rauch malt, I figure that 2 pounds is a good amount to start with.

Roasting agave piñas to develop sugars (source below).

I would love to be able to find out what the above image of roasting agave piñas would smell like. Someday, I'll make a chillindamos trip down to Tequila to find out.

Agave Smoked Porter, Brewed November 29 2009
5 Gallons, Grain/Adjunct, Single Infusion, 90 Minute Boil

7lbs. Domestic 2-Row
2lbs. German Rauch Malt
1lb. Chocolate Malt
0.25lb. Crystal Malt 60°L
0.125lb. Black Roasted Barley

Mash:
152-154°F for 60min.
Raised to 165°F for Mashout

Added at the end of boil:
8 fl. ounces Secret Sourced Premium Agave Nectar

1oz. Homegrown Chinook 60min.
Whirlfloc tab 20min.
0.25oz. Hallertauer 5min.
0.25oz. Saaz 5min.
Racked on yeast bed of Winter Warmer (White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast)

Fermentation will take place below the lower end of WLP001's optimal range. The current house temperature ranges from 58-65°F.

Update 12/12: Racked to secondary. Current gravity is 1.012 at 66°F.

OG: 1.067 at 76°F
FG: 1.012 at 60°F
ABV: 7.5%

Image Source:
Hesse, Tobias. PICT1311.JPG. Digital image. Tequila - Wikipedia. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 28 Jan. 2006. Web. 27 Nov. 2009. .

Vienna Agave Lager, July 13 2009

This should be ready by Oktoberfest with the rest of the lagers. I've been wanting to try making another beer with agave nectar. Two summers ago I brewed up a lager featuring agave with some success. The ferment turned out to be very slow and the flavor was certainly off in my book. Others really enjoyed it. Personally, I think I went too far with the agave nectar last time and so, will try a lighter approach today.

Blue Agave

Vienna Agave Lager

5 Gallons, Grain/Nectar/Extract, 90 Minute Boil, Outstanding San Diego Weather

4lbs. Vienna
2lbs. Pilsner
2lbs. Domestic 2-Row
1lb. Munich
0.25lb. Caravienne

Mash:
122°F for 30 minutes
146°F for 30 minutes
154°F for 15 minutes
Raised to 166°F for mashout

Bring to a boil and add:
8 ounces (1 Cup) of Organic Blue Agave Nectar
1lb. DRE (Dried Rice Extract)

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

Racked on Pilsner yeast bed

OG: 1.060 @ 76°F - Corrected 1.062
FG: 1.012 @ 38°F - Corrected 1.011
ABV: 6.69%

UPDATE July 31: Racked to secondary, current gravity is 1.010 @ 65°F, raised to 65°F for 3 days for diacetyl rest

Kegged 9/27