Falcon's Eye Blonde 2.0

First brew in the new house in California! Re-brew of one of my favorite recipes with a couple tweaks to the mash bill based on what I had available.

Recipe:

• 5.0 lb 2-row Malt
• 2.5 lb Optic Malt
• 0.5 lb Carmel 10L
• 0.5 oz Cascade 5.5% @ 60 ml
• 0.5 oz Falconers Flight 10.5% @ 15 min
• 0.5 oz Falconers Flight 10.5% @ 5 min
• 1 oz Falconers Flight 10.5% @ 1 min
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) @ 10 min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss @ 10 min
• 10 drops FermcapS before boil
• 1.0 L yeast starter of Second generation Wyeast 1450

• OG: 1044 (Beersmith)
• 24.9  IBU
• 3.7 SRM

The new house has a gas stove so I can heat up the mash water inside in comfort. I can also mash inside as long as the wife doesn't give me too much grief.

Mashing at 148 for 75 minutes, preheating the MLT with 3.5 gallons of 175 degree water and grains are going in at 158. Mash was at 148 as planned.

First runnings, 17.6% Brix and 2.75 gallons, 12.7% and 5 gallons with the second runnings, 10.8% (1042) and 6.8 gallons pre-boil. We also have a sweet sun room where I can boil with all of the screened in windows open to keep the bugs and dust out. Makes brew day a lot more enjoyable to me.

Finished at 12.0% Brix (1046) and something close to 5 gallons in the new fermenter. It doesn't have graduation markings that I could see at night when I was transferring at least.

The fermentation chamber is going to be set at 55 F (15.5 C) for at least the first few days then I might bump it up to 60 F to finish off. The temperature sensor is not in the beer and not very well insulated to the new fermenter either so I am guessing 5-7 degrees warmer in the beer than the chamber.

Cane and Ebel Clone

I have been wanting to brew this beer for a while now. I found the recipe on HomeBrewTalk.com (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/cane-ebel-clone-help-212740/) and I like the original beer a lot so I figured it was worth a shot.

Recipe:

• 9.5 lb 2-row
• 1.5 lb Rye Malt
• 1 lb Crystal 10
• 0.5 lb Aromatic
• 0.5 lb Crystal Rye
• 0.5 lb Munich
• 2 oz Roasted Barley
• 1 lb Thai Palm Sugar @ 75 min
• 0.25 oz Warrior 13.7% @ 60 min
• 0.25 oz Columbus 14 % @ 60 min
• 0.5 oz Warrior 13.7% @ 30 min
• 0.5 oz Columbus 14% @ 25 min
• 0.5 oz Simcoe 13% @ 20 min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss @ 15 min
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) @ 10 min
• 10 drops FermcapS before boil
• 2 packets of Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale in a 1.5L starter

• OG: 1071 (7.2% ABV est)
• 64.9 IBU
• 13.7 SRM 

Mashed at 153 F for 60 minutes, I was planning for 154 but was a bit low. Everything else went smoothly except for a few uninvited yellow jackets. Both yeast packets had inadvertently been left out at room temperature for a couple days at different times so that is the reason for the large over-pitch. The starter appeared to get going though so I think it will be ok.

1st Runnings: 2.5 gallons 21.7%

Sparge 1: 4.75 gallons 16.2%

Sparge 2 (pre-boil): 6.75 gallons 14%

Efficiency was ~75%, 75 minute boil and chilled it down before pouring it into the fermenter and pitching the yeast. 18.7%, 1074 OG. Fermenting at 12.5 C (54.5 F) on the temperature controller

American Stout

The smokey start stout turned out great so I am doing another one with some changes and without the benefit of happy yeast from a Rauchbier. To make up for it I added in a bit of smoked malt and I was out of chocolate but had some midnight wheat so we will see how it goes.

In fact the smokey start stout got a 36 at the Indiana state fair homebrew competition which is my best score so far. They recommended some more hop presence in the flavor so I am adding Cascade at 15 minutes and swapping out for warrior to bitter since my cascade supply is lower than usual.

Recipe:

• 8.5 lb 2-row
• 12 oz Roasted Barley (~400L ish)
• 8 oz Crystal 120L
• 4 oz Midnight Wheat (450L)
• 2 oz Smoked Malt (guessing cherry wood, smells like bacon)
• 0.75 oz Warrior 13.7% @ 60 min
• 1.0 oz Cascade 6.2% @ 15 min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss @ 15 min
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) @ 10 min
• 10 drops FermcapS before boil
• 1 packet of Re-hydrated US-05

• OG: 1049 (5.2% ABV est)
• 45.4 IBU
• 34 SRM 

1st Runnings: 1.75 gallons 21%

Sparge 1: 4.25 gallons 15%

Sparge 2 (pre-boil): 6.4 gallons 10.9%

Efficiency was ~80% (1043 pre-boil). 60 minute boil and chilled it down before pouring it into the fermenter and pitching the yeast. 13.5%, 1054 OG. Fermenting at 12.5 C (54.5 F) on the temperature controller

PartE SB

Making an ESB that may be used for a group party in about a month. Similar recipe to the previous 2.5 gallon BIAB ESB I did but making a few changes and brewing this one in my normal all grain setup.

Recipe:

• 8.5 lb 2-row Malt
• 0.5 lb Crystal 40L
• 4 oz pale chocolate (200L)
• 1.0 oz US Goldings 5.0% FWH
• 1.0 oz US Goldings 5.0% @ 60 min
• 1.0 oz US Goldings 5.0% @ 5 min
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) @ 10 min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss @ 10 min
• 10 drops FermcapS before boil
• 1 packet of Danstar Nottingham rehydrated

• OG: 12.4% (1050) (Beersmith)
• 39.9  IBU
• 9.6 SRM

Mashing at 152 for 60 minutes, preheating the MLT with 3 gallons of 175 degree water and grains are going in at 166.

First: 1.5 gal 21%.
Second: 4.2 gal 13.5%
Pre-boil: 6.5 gal 11%

Boil went fine, and ended up at 12.3% (1048) before pitching the yeast. Fermenting at 14.5 C until it is done.

Cascade/Citra IPA Update

Dry hopped the Cascade/Citra IPA and transferred it to a keg 6/10/14. Tasted pretty darn good to me despite the low IBU's and it finished on the Beersmith prediction of ~1014. I will update this once it is carbonated and pouring.

Ellie kicked cancer's ass again (again) Cascade/Citra IPA

Clare's (our) friend Ellie just passed her 2 year scan after beating cancer for the third time so this beer is in honor of her! Clare will have to come up with a good name for it so I will update it with that when it is ready to drink.

I was intending to re-brewing an old favorite with some additions but it ended up being a totally different beer since I screwed up a few things. It was a cascade and citra pale ale. I am adding some crystal 30 for more depth (it is old crushed grain so I am going with a bit more than usual) as well as a dry hop for 5 days with citra and cascade. I also bumped up the base malt by 3 lb on accident so it is a bigger beer than intended.

Recipe:

• 10 lb 2-row Malt
• 2 lb Vienna Malt
• 1 lb Crystal 30L
• 0.9 oz Cascade 6.2% @ 60 min
• 1.0 oz Citra 14.1%  @ 15 min (supposed to be 10 min but I screwed up)
• 1.0 oz Citra 14.1% @ 1 min
• 0.5 oz Citra 14.1% Dry hop for 5 days
• 0.5 oz Cascade 6.2% Dry hop for 5 days
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) @ 10 min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss @ 10 min
• 10 drops FermcapS before boil
• 1000 ml yeast starter of third generation Wyeast 1450

• OG: 10.0% (1066) (Beersmith)
• 40.4  IBU
• 7.2 SRM

Mashing at 150 for 60 minutes, preheating the MLT with 3.125 gallons of 175 degree water and grains are going in at 164. Mash was at 149-150 and was really thick which is unusual. I added just a bit more water and got it moving more fluid but we will see how it ends up.

First: 1.25 gal 24.3%.
Second: 3.5 gal 18.2%
Pre-boil: 6.5 gal 14.2%

Boiled for 60 minutes, messed up the 10 minute citra addition (added it at 15 minutes instead, but whatever), ate some delicious dinner from the wife

and pitched the yeast. Fermenting in the fermentation chamber at 12.5 C and will dry hop in the primary when it slows down in a week or so. Original gravity was 15.9% Brix (1069) so the numbers were close on the efficiency. I had to update this since apparently I didn't pay any attention to how much base malt I was supposed to use in my recipe. The recipe actually called for 7 lb of 2-row and I used 10 soooo, it is more of a low bitterness IPA than pale ale but I am sure it will still be good.

Smokey Start Stout

Never done a stout and from what I read they can be done with lager yeast. I just happen to have a lot of happy lager yeast from the rauchbeir that is tasting awesome and lagering now. I am going to pull it off the yeast cake and pitch some of the cake for this stout.

Also we are FINALLY getting some spring weather here in Indiana and just in time too since Clare and I are getting married in less than a month. Unfortunately Barack and Michelle can't make it but they sent a nice card at least;

 

Recipe:

• 9 lb 2-row
• 12 oz Roasted Barley (~400L ish)
• 8 oz Crystal 120L
• 8 oz Chocolate malt (pale 200L)
• 2.0 oz Cascade 13.7% @ 60 min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss @ 15 min
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) @ 10 min
• 10 drops FermcapS before boil
• Yeast cake of wyeast 2633 octoberfest

• OG: 1056 (5.3% ABV est)
• 41.1 IBU
• 33 SRM (probably low)

1st Runnings: 1.5 gallons 23.4%
Sparge 1: 4.0 gallons 16.2%

Sparge 2 (pre-boil): 6.4 gallons 12.5%

Clare wanted to take a picture of me taking the gravity reading with the refractometer, so here it is...

Efficiency is back to 75% (1050 pre-boil), it seems like a good long stir and rest for a few minutes really helps. Getting ready to boil and looking awesome, the color is a nice deep black. 60 minute booil and chil it down before pouring it onto the yeast cake. I would be worried about over-pitching if this wasnt lager yeast but I still may take a bit out of the fermenter.

Ended up not taking any yeast out of the fermenter because I was lazy. The OG ended up at 1060 so the efficiency overall was around 82%. I am going to try to keep consistent and see if I can keep that number or at least settle to something repeatable. Not a big deal here but it is a 6% ABV stout rather than a 5%, I can deal with that.

Rauchbier!

People's Brewing Company here in Lafayette has had a fantastic Rauchbier on tap for a while now and it inspired me to make my own. By the time this is lagered it will be spring and it should make a nice compliment to the cooler nights instead of the bitter cold we have had all winter.

The recipe:

• Grain:
• 5 lb Pale Malt
• 5 lb Smoked Malt (not peat smoked)
• 0.5 lb Caramunich
• 0.25 lb Crystal-120
• 0.125 lb Midnight wheat
• Hops
• 1.7 oz Hallertauer Hersbruker 2.8% @ 60 min
• 0.5 oz Tettnang 6.1% @ 60 min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
• 10 drops FermcapS
• Starter of Wyeast 2633 Octoberfest (2 L decanted and restarted with 0.8 L or wort)
• Beersmith Specs:
• OG: 1055
• 25.6 IBU
• 14.8 SRM
• 5.5% ABV

The plan was to mash with 3.5 gallons of water at 152 F for 60 minutes and boil for 60 minutes. Preheated with 175 degree water and doughed in at 165 degrees.

First runnings 2.0 gallons at 22.3%. 4.0 gallons total after second runnings at 16%, 6.25 gallons at 12.8%. Pre-boil looks to be spot on assuming 70% efficiency, I guess I just need Clare to help sparge to keep that number up.

Boiling away now, all I can smell is the hops though. I expected to have a lot more smoked smell since it has 5 lbs of smoked malt in it. Hopefully the smoke comes through in the end. Ended up with 5 gallons of 16.0% Brix (1065). I am not sure if the cooler temperatures increased the boil-off or id Clare's stirring is just really really effective but I am going to have to try to be more consistent. It is fermenting at 50 degreees F (10 C) and I will bump it up as the bubbling slows down to try to get it to finish out and clean up. Then lagering in the keg for a few weeks.

Blow-off!

Never had this happen before but the lid for Super Tripel fermenter decided it was tired of being attached overnight. I guess the 3787 strain is rather aggressive even with the Fermcap S in the boil. I scooped out a bit of the krausen to make some room and put the lid back on since I did not have the stuff to do a blow off hose. I dropped the temperature down to 68 as well to keep it under control and hopefully all will be well now.

 

Clare's Super Tripel

Clare requested a Belgian Tripel as my next beer and I am a big fan so I agreed. Of course she didn't want it to be a traditional tripel so we are changing it up a bit at her request. I also got some brewing spices from my brother and his wife so coriander and orange peel get to join the party that is already off style with Belma as the only hop. It is also Super Bowl Sunday so it is a "Super Tripel"!

The recipe:

• Grain:
• 13 lb Pale Malt
• 0.5 lb Caravienna 20L
• 1 lb Candi syrup 5L @15 min
• Hops
• 0.75 oz Belma @ 60
• 0.5 oz Belma@ 20 min
• 0.75 oz Belma @1min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
• 10 drops FermcapS
• Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity 1.8 L starter 
• Beersmith Specs:
• OG: 1080
• 32.8 IBU
• 7.0 SRM
• 9.1% ABV

 

Pretty simple grain bill but I added the caravienna for some complexity, downside is it will darken it up a bit more than I want it to be. Also the candi sugar is not clear it is actually 5L so again a bit darker but I am adding it late to avoid it caramelizing more.

The plan was to mash at 148 F for 75 minutes and boil for 60 minutes. The mash started at 149 which is fine since the garage is a cold 32 degrees and the mash tun will drop a bit during the 75 minutes.

First runnings: 2.5 gallons at 22.7%. 
Second: 4.75 gallons total, 17.0%
Pre-boil: 6.75 @ 14.4%

A bit low on the pre-boil gravity but I am just going to boil for 5 minutes before the first hop addition to make up for it. A fellow homebrewer told us about a "hot scotchie" which is scotch and the wort from the mash tun before you add any hops. Pretty tasty I must say.

Here are the coriander and orange peel before they went in. I am interested to see how they come through in the final beer.

Final gravity was low unfortunately at 1069 (17%). It will be good I am sure but it may be balanced too far to the hop side in the end. Yeast was pitched and I am going to try to ferment it at 70 degrees to keep the yeast going and get some good esters in it. I need to adjust my equipment profile down to 65% efficient or so to make sure I am not undershooting these bigger beers so badly. I had it at 75% after I had some really high batches around the Ryerish Red but it seems lower now again.

Winter Storm Nelson/Simcoe Pale Ale

We are up to about 6 inches of snow and it keeps coming so what else is there to do but brew some beer . I am trying to do this all inside since it is nasty outside and there is no place to put my car to free up the garage. It is also holiday cookie day so Clare and I are sharing the kitchen.

I am going to try out a hop I bought a while back but never tried, Nelson Sauvin, in a pale ale. It is supposed to have a grape like fruity character that sounds like a love it or hate it type of thing. After looking online I decided to pair it up with some Simcoe to keep it interesting.

The recipe:

• Grain:
• 8 lb Pale Malt
• 1 lb Crystal-15
• 0.5 lb White Wheat
• 0.125 lb Crystal-120
• Hops
• 0.25 oz Warrior @ FWH
• 0.5 oz Simcoe @ 10  min
• 0.5 oz Nelson Sauvin @10 min
• 1 oz Simcoe @ 1 min
• 1 oz Nelson Sauvin @ 1 min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
• 10 drops FermcapS
• Beersmith Specs:
• OG: 1052
• 33.3 IBU
• 7.0 SRM
• 5.2% ABV

The plan was to mash at 152 F for 60 minutes and boil for 60 minutes. First runnings 2.9 gallons at 19.2%. 4.5 gallons total after second runnings at 14.9%. Forgot to check the pre-boil gravity but the original gravity ended up at right on at 1052 (13.6%). This is what it looked like outside, I have no idea where the animation came from, I think Google did it for me. Pretty cool but also kinda scary, how did it know...

I chilled it with the pump and a snow bank since it was available. Ended up getting it down to 54 before pitching the yeast. Tasted good going in, fermenting at 15.5 C until I get back from Arizona for the holidays.

A couple updates

Just a quick update on the Hop Burst IPA. It finished up at 1010 which puts it at about 6.2% ABV. Not too shabby but next time I would like it to start a bit higher to balance the hops more. This is a hop bomb, but in a good way. There is a ton of good juicy hop flavor but the malt is a bit subdued. It is still clearing up which is understandable since there was a ton of hop junk in the fermenter after it finished. Next time I want to make sure the OG is a bit higher, I might scale back the flameout hops slightly, and I will also probably dry hop it to get a bit more aroma out of it.

The dragons milk is tasting pretty good so far but still needs to age a bit more. I wanted a bit more body our of it so they next time I may add some flaked oat or maltodextrine to the recipe. The bourbon flavor could have been a bit more pronounced too. I think I may go for an imperial stout with the next bourbon barrel beer when the time comes.

Hop Burst IPA

I have been lurking on the email list for the Tippecanoe Homebrew Circle for a while now but never participated at all. Recently some emails started going out about a brew day at People's Brewing Company here in Lafayette. I love the beer there so I figured why not go brew some beer and meet some people. I have read a bit about hop bursting (or late hopping) beer so I wanted to give it a shot. It should provide a huge amount of hop aroma and flavor with pleasant bitterness. The recipe:

• Grain:
• 10 lb Pale Malt
• 1 lb Crystal-30
• 1 lb Vienna Malt
• 0.75 lb Cara-pils
• 0.25 lb Crystal-120
• Hops
• 0.35 oz Warrior @ FWH
• 0.5 oz Simcoe @ 15, 10 and 5 min
• 0.5 oz Cascade @ 15, 10 and 5 min
• 0.5 oz Columbus @ 10 and 5 min
• 0.5 oz Citra @ 10 and 5 min
• 1. oz Citra @ 1 min
• 0.5 oz Galaxy @ 1 min
• 1.0 oz Cascade @ 1 min
• 0.75 oz Simcoe @ 1 min
• 1 tsp Irish Moss
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
• 10 drops FermcapS
• Beersmith Specs:
• OG: 1070
• 72.1 IBU
• 9.5 SRM
• 7.3% ABV

The plan was to mash at 152 F for 60 minutes and boil for 60 minutes.

I got all of the stuff packed up in the car which was no small feat and makes the whole brewing not at home thing a bit of a pain. It all fit though and everything made it back in one piece too.

The brewers at People's offered to provide base malt and yeast for free so I got my 10 lb of pale malt from them and crushed it up then mixed in the specialty grains. I also set up right next to one of the former brewers at People's who now works at Flat12 in Indianapolis. He had a pretty nice set-up with a multi-tier system.

   

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Mash went pretty well, but it was cold and windy and I had to adjust temp to get the mash to 152 F. The first 5 minutes were probably more like 149 F. After the mash I tossed in the FWH and sparged ending up with 7 gallons of wort but I forgot to write down the Brix on it. 

Clare came along and helped with the brewing, she stirs the mash like a champ and really likes the spent grain a lot...

 

The boil went pretty well but keeping the burner lit in the wind was a challenge. It probably didn't stay as hot and boil off was lower than usual. This was a ton of hops, the bag below is the 1 minute addition. The 4 doses are in the images below that.

   

 People's gives the spent grain to local farmers so the mash tun was emptied into the grain tub

 After the boil I cooled a bit differently than usual. I picked up a 1/4 HP submersible pump and got it hooked up to my wort chiller. I started with cool tap water and recirculated that until it was hot. Then I switched to a new bucket of cool water and started adding ice to keep it cold. Clare helped stir the wort with the chiller and we got it cooled down with 4 buckets in 20 minutes. Much less water wasted than how I do it at home but it did take a bit longer. 

The wort ended up at 14.7% Brix (1057), much lower than planned. It is possible that the base malt weight was off from the hand scale or the efficiency just went down from the temps and boil. All in all it was a successful brew and a good time. The wort smelled amazing going into the fermentation chamber at 15.5 C and the CO2 bubbles coming out smell like hop heaven.

Dragon's Milk Bottling

I pulled a sample from the Dragon's Milk with the bourbon soaked oak chips and tried it on 10/28. It tasted fantastic with a bit of alcoholic heat in the finish and is still at 1.016. I didn't want it to get too oaked so I went ahead and transferred it to the bottling bucket and put it in storage at ~50 F. Normally I keg my beer but this one will benefit from some additional conditioning and I also don't want to blow through a keg of an 8% beer. This one will be good for the cold winter months ahead.

I bottled it yesterday (11/6) with 3.5 ounces of corn sugar and am really happy with what went into the bottle. I tried a new way to prep the priming sugar that I read somewhere online. I filled a standard mason jar with water, boiled it in the microwave, added the sugar and dissolved it, then re-boiled in the microwave. Once it was done I put the lid on and made sure that everything came in contact with the boiling water. The jar went in the fridge until it was cooled enough to add to the beer.

All of the bottles filled and capped below, hopefully they get even better with age!

Dragon's Milk Update

Checked the gravity on the Dragon's Milk yesterday and it was ~1.018. Not too shabby in my opinion and it tasted great. A bit alcoholic but that should mellow a bit and play well with the bourbon soaked oak chips I added. I soaked 2 ounces of medium toast oak in some vodka for 24 hours to get rid of some of the fresh oakiness. Then I added 4 ounces of Larceny bourbon (because I had it laying around) and soaked them for a week. Dumped it all in the primary last night and will let it go for about a week before tasting it. This one is going to be bottled since I don't want to tie up keezer space while it ages and it might make some nice Christmas presents if it turns out well.

Dragon's Milk Attempt

An update on the Coopers Australian Pale Ale, it is way too cidery. I am not sure what happened. At this point my only option is to try to de-carbonate it, let it warm up and maybe dry hop it. Not sure if it is worth it though... The dark ale should go in the keg today and hopefully it turned out better.

I have never really made a big beer and I have really grown to love New Holland Dragon's Milk. Something about a beer that is aged in a bourbon barrel that then gets the bourbon put back in it is amazing to me. Anyway the recipe was adapted from a couple that I fund online.

Recipe:

• 13 lb 2-row
• 12 oz Chocolate malt
• 8 oz Crystal 75L
• 8 oz Crystal 120L
• 8 oz Flaked oats
• 4 oz Roasted Barley
• 4 oz White Wheat
• 0.75 oz Warrior 13.7% @ 60 min
• 0.5 oz Columbus 15.2% @ 20 min
• 0.75 tsp Irish Moss @ 15 min
• 0.75 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) @ 10 min
• 15 drops FermcapS before boil
• 1.6 L Starter of Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale
• 4 oz medium toast oak chips soaked in bourbon added to fermenter after fermentation stops leave for 7 days

• OG: 21% (1084) (Beersmith)
• 39.3 IBU
• 34.2 SRM

Whole lotta grain on this one.

Trying to mash at 156 for this batch so I am going to put the grains in at 168 since there is so much more, after stirring it was right at 156 so it may loose a couple degrees during the rest which is fine. Medium body should be more than adequate with the amount of sugar in there to ferment. Supposed to be a 45 minute mash but I might let it go an hour since it is going to be more like 154 for the temperature. This is first time the mass tun has ever been this full.

First runnings were just over 2 gallons at 26.2%. Second got it up to 4.75 gallons and a total of 19.4% and third took us to 6.75 gallon and 16.5%.

60 Minute boil starting with FermcapS doing its magic.

Finished it up and it looks like 19.2% Brix, 1077. A bit lower than intended but everything went well. My efficiency looks like it took a hit (down to 70%) from the higher grain mass but I can account for that on the next big batch I do. Yeast was pitched and it is starting fermentation at 14.5 C to try to avoid any rapid fermentation issues.

Some quick notes

The Falcon's Eye blonde is tasting great and turned out crystal clear. I also am in the process of shortening the beer lines on the keezer to 9 ft to improve my pours.

The Coopers Australian Pale Ale is done but finished pretty high on the gravity, about 1.014. It also has a pretty cidery flavor but is in the keg since it needs to be ready for this Friday. It is beer and it will be consumed but I am surprised by how high it finished. The yeast packet I used may not have been totally viable or the maltodextrine was too much. I also brewed up the Coopers Dark Ale for him which is fermenting now and hopefully can be quick carbonated for Friday as well.

The next beer I am hoping to make is a bourbon RIS for the winter months and maybe a clone of Hop Knot from one of my favorite breweries, Four Peaks, in Tempe, Az.

Falcon's Eye Blonde follow up and Cooper's Australian Pale Ale

I kegged the Falcon's Eye Blonde yesterday and it finished at 1.004 according to the hydrometer which seemed awful low. I checked the hydrometer with distilled water though and it read 0.996 so it is off by about 0.004. The actual final gravity is probably closer to 1.008 which I am happy with.

I also have a friend here at Purdue from Australia/Germany and he wanted some beer from his home brewery in Adelaide,Australia. He picked up three of the extract kits so I brewed up the first one, an Australian Pale Ale.

It was supposed to also use Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 which after some googleing I figured out was a mixture of 500g dextrose, 250g maltodextrin and 250g of light DME. Fortunately I had all of those ingredients so away we went. The brew is super easy with these kits, just get about 0.75 gallon of water up to boiling, add all of the ingredients and hold it high enough to kill anything for a few minutes. The extract is already hopped, so we will see how good the hop flavor is when it is finished. I diluted the high gravity wort down to 5 gallons total and got it to 72 degrees before pitching the yeast and setting the fermentation chamber to 20 C.

We also had an interesting pizza in Wichita at Wichita Brewing Company. It was a hopperoni pizza which used pepperoni which was stored with hops giving it a crazy dry-hop aroma. It was surprisingly good, so Clare had to try it herself. We will see how it turns out...

Falcon's Eye Blonde

Since Clare is a major optics nerd, when she saw Optic malt she wanted me to make a beer with it. Then she read the description of Falconers Flight hops and that had to go in their too, so here we go. I am making a Blonde ale with those two ingredients in addition to a few others.

Recipe:

• 5 lb 2-row Malt
• 2 lb Optic Malt
• 0.25 lb Carapils
• 0.25 lb Carmel 30L
• 0.5 oz Cascade 5.5% @ 60 ml
• 0.5 oz Falconers Flight 10.5% @ 15 min
• 0.5 oz Falconers Flight 10.5% @ 5 min
• 1 oz Falconers Flight 10.5% @ 0 min
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) @ 10 min
• 0.5 tsp Irish Moss @ 10 min
• 10 drops FermcapS before boil
• 800 ml yeast starter of Second generation Wyeast 1450

• OG: 10.0% (1038) (Beersmith)
• 24.4  IBU
• 3.9 SRM

I used some old vacuum packed milled grain from northern brewer for the 2 row, carapils and caramel 30. I ordered a few things before I got my mill so I would like to use them but may just end up tossing them or making a milled grain weird batch.

Mashing at 148 for 75 minutes, preheating the MLT with 3.5 gallons of 175 degree water and grains are going in at 164. Mash was at 153 had to stir a bit and add a bit of cool water but got it down to 149 with help from Clare

I have all of the additions prepped and ready to go for the boil, the Falconer's Flight smells orangey according to Clare.

I am also cheating a bit on my no beer while brewing rule but the hoppy hefe is tasting mighty good today. I think I overpitched both of the hefes since they finished at 1.005 and could use a bit more yeast character but they are still drinkable and the hoppy one is quite tasty. I pulled off some slurry to try again later.

First runnings, 16.4% Brix and 2.5 gallons, 7.0% in second runnings, total volume now 4.9 gallon at 11.2%, 3.9% in third runnings and 9.5% (1036) and 6.8 gallons pre-boil.

The new Keezer is completed and the old chest freezer is now the fermentation chamber.

I want to add two more taps but that requires Clare's approval since those Perlick faucets are a bit pricey.

The Smokey Scott which turned out to be VERY smokey initially despite only 3 oz of peated malt is also now mellowing out nicely.

The fermentation chamber is going to be set at 60 F (15.5 C) for at least the first few days then I might bump it up to 65 F to finish off.

Boiled and ended up at 11% according to the refactometer but I am dubious of the measurements after the boil with all of the hop junk in there. Hydrometer read 1041 after chilling down which is pretty darn close to what I wanted.

Hoppy Wheat

Round two for the weekend, this time a slightly hoppy wheat beer with some of the Belma hop that was released this year. I wanted to use up the 150 ml of Wyeast 3068 that didn't volcano out of the container yesterday so here it is (same grain bill as yesterday with about twice as much rice hulls.

Recipe:

• 5 lb White Wheat
• 4 lb Pale Malt
• 0.25 lb rice hulls
• 0.25 oz Belma leaf 12.1% FWH
• 0.5 oz Belma leaf 12.1% @ 5 min
• 0.5 oz Cascade leaf 4.7% @ 5 min
• 1.25 oz Belma leaf 12.1% @ 0 min
• 1 oz Cascade leaf 4.7% @ 0 min
• 0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) @ 10 min
• 10 drops FermcapS before boil
• 100 ml of Wyeast 3068 slurry according to Mrmalty

• OG: 12.3% (1048) (Beersmith)
• 16.5 IBU
• 4.0 SRM

Milled grains just like before and the drill battery from yesterday powered through just fine. 

Mashing at 154 for 60 minutes, preheating the MLT with 3.5 gallons of 180 degree water and grains are going in at 166. Mash was at 155 had to stir a bit but got it down to 154.

First runnings, 19.2% Brix and 2.25 gallons, 8.4% in second runnings, total volume now 4.9 gallon at 14.2%, 5.0% in third runnings and 11.2% (1043) and 6.8 gallons pre-boil. pretty darn repeatable from yesterday. First wort hops went in before emptying the MLT. I am nopt really a fan of brewing with whole leaf hops but I have another 1.5 lbs of whole Belma to get through so I am using it this time.

The rest of the ingredients ready to go in.

And the boil up and running.

A side project is a new kegerator I am starting to work on. It is currently the fermentation chamber but the old kegerator will get swapped into that role once I have the collar done for the new on.

Added the flame out hops and remembered again why I don't like whole hops.

Boiled and ended up at 1047 after chilling down. Pitched 120 ml ish of yeast slurry and put it in with the other fermenter at 63F (17C).