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.