What's Brewing, August 2017 Sweaty Edition

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Phischy1

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It's hot out, so a double brewday is in order. Nothing beats a 100F+ day than by spending it outside with 3 burners going at once.

Sat I'll be working on a pre-prohibition lager and my RIS. Make a bad day worse by adding extra boil times for each.

Who done a pre-prohibition lager? I'm starting to research now.
 
Made 3 gallons to put in the cannonball keg.

100% Pils DME
Belle Saison
Goodbelly
house cultures (yeast and bacteria)

All co-pitched at 75*f. Dry-hopped after 24 hours so the acidity is going to be super light. I'll keg 2 gallons and do a few bottles. All in all it took about an hour to brew and clean up on the stovetop.

 
No brewing in July for me due to moving but I'm hoping to get a batched brewed on Friday. I'm thinking a hoppy pale ale with Kolsch yeast.
I made a German IPA recently using Kolsch yeast, the newer high alpha German hops and I think Kolsch grain bill that i amped up to get to 7% abv. Was really tasty and on the rebrew list.
 
And my RIS was switched to a Dopplebock. Trying to get one done in time for a German only beer comp. And of course it'll be a 12 batch of which I intend to Eis 1/2 of it.
 
I've been adding dried elderflower, dried heather and orange zest to a 1 & 2 old wild ale blend. Right now the aroma is very floral and the taste has some nice orange. Should be ready to bottle soon. I have another gallon of the blend that I set aside that I might just straight up add red wine to.
 
Was really craving a Uerige the other day, think I may brew an altbier soon.
 
Yikes, what happened?
  • I have a 3 basin sink. The basin holding PBW solution lost its seal and dumped 10 gallons on the floor. Had to pull it apart and fix it.
  • I have 3 propane tanks, a big 40 and 2 20's. They almost all kicked.
  • Refractometer was off by 5 points, driving me nuts until Midway through batch 2 I read the hydrometer reading of batch 1 and figured it out. I have no idea how it was off by that much.
  • Compounding that problem is my 9 years old mill has worn down rollers and has issues keeping the set gap. The fixed side is way worse and even though I double crushed my efficiency sucks. Time to buy a double adjustable mill with case hardened rollers. I thought the issue was something else so I had modified the mill before these batches but now I realize I've just worn it out. Sangster did the same with his years ago and now I'll buy a better version. I'm sticking with the JSP Malt Mill though.
  • Cooling down to lager temps in the Texas heat was way harder than expected. For ale temps i I usually use 40lbs for 2 12g batches, I used over 100lbs. 2 trips to the store. Probably time I went to double plate chillers vs immersion chiller with recirculating ice bath.
Was a long day with a lot of unneeded distractions.
 
  • I have a 3 basin sink. The basin holding PBW solution lost its seal and dumped 10 gallons on the floor. Had to pull it apart and fix it.
  • I have 3 propane tanks, a big 40 and 2 20's. They almost all kicked.
  • Refractometer was off by 5 points, driving me nuts until Midway through batch 2 I read the hydrometer reading of batch 1 and figured it out. I have no idea how it was off by that much.
  • Compounding that problem is my 9 years old mill has worn down rollers and has issues keeping the set gap. The fixed side is way worse and even though I double crushed my efficiency sucks. Time to buy a double adjustable mill with case hardened rollers. I thought the issue was something else so I had modified the mill before these batches but now I realize I've just worn it out. Sangster did the same with his years ago and now I'll buy a better version. I'm sticking with the JSP Malt Mill though.
  • Cooling down to lager temps in the Texas heat was way harder than expected. For ale temps i I usually use 40lbs for 2 12g batches, I used over 100lbs. 2 trips to the store. Probably time I went to double plate chillers vs immersion chiller with recirculating ice bath.
Was a long day with a lot of unneeded distractions.

I had issues with my mill as well. I think the grain I had were larger kernels and the gap was too tight. Or something like that. Took an adjustment just to get it to mill. In the process of figuring that out my paper bag got a hole in it and lost probably half a pound of the 13.5 lbs of grain I had. Ended up high on mash temp since my strike water got hotter than I wanted while figuring this all out.

I almost flooded out the house badly after leaving water on to fill a bucket while I was searching for my scale.
 
If I can ever drag myself back to a homebrew shop to buy some extract I can finish building up this starter of sour culture to brew a refill for my barrel. I had planned to do that this weekend but got lazy.

I also need to brew this pre-pro pils I've had on deck for too long.
 
Hoping to brew a quick-turnaround Maerzen this weekend. Going to try 34/70 at warmer temperatures, which is what the Brulosophy guys have been having luck with in some of their lagers recently.

5lbs Vienna
2.75 Munich
2.5 Pils
0.5 Crystal 60
0.5 Honey
0.2 Special B

1oz of Saaz at 60 and 15

34/70 at 66 degrees
 
Hoping to brew a quick-turnaround Maerzen this weekend. Going to try 34/70 at warmer temperatures, which is what the Brulosophy guys have been having luck with in some of their lagers recently.

5lbs Vienna
2.75 Munich
2.5 Pils
0.5 Crystal 60
0.5 Honey
0.2 Special B

1oz of Saaz at 60 and 15

34/70 at 66 degrees

Tastes identical to 34/70 fermented at cooler temperatures.
 
I'm going to hold off in lagers until I figure a way to optimize my cooling system. Ales no problem but lagers, can't get it cold enough.
 
I'm gearing up for my 3rd all grain saison tomorrow (Belgian Pils/Wheat). I have a starter going with some reused White Labs French Saison and JK dregs. I'm aiming for 6g of wort with an OG ~.065 so I can split it into two 3g carboys for secondary to run some more experiments (maybe a blend if I **** things up). Peaches seem fitting for one batch, maybe dry hop the **** out of the second 4 months down the line before I bottle it. Any recommendations?
 
It was already so ****ing hot when I started at 10am today. **** you Texas. Thankfully it's a saison with zero ho addition except at the beginning of the boil. I'm really enjoying the break inside.


60 - Belgian Pils
20 - white wheat
10 - acid malt
10 - flaked oats
1oz Saaz


I'm going to pull 1g and out some old wlp400 in it and another 1g for just straight Brett C. The rest gets 3711.
 
It was a busy weekend for me. Bottled a case of gueuze and racked a couple gallons of lambic on to tart cherry puree Thursday night. Mashed, briefly boiled, and began souring what will be a passionfruit berliner Friday night. Once I had recovered enough from a hangover Sunday I knocked out a batch of DIPA and finished the berliner I started on Friday night.
 
Drinking my Bourbon County clone attempt, 14.5%. Brewed June 2016, eight months on oak cubes, Elijah Craig, four months of keg conditioning. Turned out better than I ever expected. I'll be using this recipe and this oaking technique again again for sure.

FGNfGEh.jpg
 
After not brewing since end of May, I finally found time to get a batch in. Used my grain mill, and while the gap is a little tight my efficiency has been pretty awesome so not sure I want to monkey around with it. Thought I was making a ESB but over shot the gravity so now I'm going to dry hop it and call it an English IPA.
Hogan's Snarl
 
I'm going to brew a little NEIPA/Milkshake experiment on Sunday... The wort will consist of 2Row, oats, tor wheat, and a touch of honey malt. I have Azacca, Mosaic, and Citra hops on hand and I'll be using wyeast 1318. After primary I'm going to split it and drop a vanilla bean and some diced peaches (possibly blueberries) in half. I'm also open to suggestions or tips since this is definitely my firs time trying anything like this.
 
I'm going to brew a little NEIPA/Milkshake experiment on Sunday... The wort will consist of 2Row, oats, tor wheat, and a touch of honey malt. I have Azacca, Mosaic, and Citra hops on hand and I'll be using wyeast 1318. After primary I'm going to split it and drop a vanilla bean and some diced peaches (possibly blueberries) in half. I'm also open to suggestions or tips since this is definitely my firs time trying anything like this.


Milkshake? Probably want to add lactose as well.
 
I'm going to brew a little NEIPA/Milkshake experiment on Sunday... The wort will consist of 2Row, oats, tor wheat, and a touch of honey malt. I have Azacca, Mosaic, and Citra hops on hand and I'll be using wyeast 1318. After primary I'm going to split it and drop a vanilla bean and some diced peaches (possibly blueberries) in half. I'm also open to suggestions or tips since this is definitely my firs time trying anything like this.

Apple chunks for pectins is called for in the boil in many of the recipes that I have seen. I did 3 green apples cut up in the milkshake IPA I did. What it added I have no idea but it tasted fantastic.
 
Apple chunks for pectins is called for in the boil in many of the recipes that I have seen. I did 3 green apples cut up in the milkshake IPA I did. What it added I have no idea but it tasted fantastic.
How long in the boil? Full 60 or just the last ten minutes or so?
 
How long in the boil? Full 60 or just the last ten minutes or so?

I threw them in at the 30min mark. By the end of the boil only the skins remained. The Apple skins made transferring to a fermenter a *****.

Pro tip: remove the apple skins before they go into the boil.
 
Made 3 gallons to put in the cannonball keg.

100% Pils DME
Belle Saison
Goodbelly
house cultures (yeast and bacteria)

All co-pitched at 75*f. Dry-hopped after 24 hours so the acidity is going to be super light. I'll keg 2 gallons and do a few bottles. All in all it took about an hour to brew and clean up on the stovetop.



Dry hopped and keg hopped with German Blanc and Mandarina Bavaria. I definitely dry hopped too early, I'd like a little more acidity.

 
I threw them in at the 30min mark. By the end of the boil only the skins remained. The Apple skins made transferring to a fermenter a *****.

Pro tip: remove the apple skins before they go into the boil.

The Apples are just used to add haze from the pectin.

Removing the skin will reduce the effect. Pectin is mostly found in the pomace. (skins, core, pulp, seeds, etc)

Get some Granny Smith Apples (or unripe ones if you have a tree nearby), puree them (whole, seeds n all) and toss them in the boil for 30-15min. Using a muslin bag would reduce the transfer issues as well.
 
I didn't read comments before I started Sunday, so I diced a pound and a half of apples and threw them in at 45. Added a .5# of lactose in the last 10 minutes and hopped with 4 oz each of mosaic and citra (mainly during the last 10-0).

I split it into 2 x 3G carboys, plan to do a half a Bourbon vanilla bean in each, then peach and blueberries as the two different fruits. Any recommendations on amount to use? Should I mascerate or purée the fruit, or smash/chop it?


I also did a second running with my leftover sparge water and grains and pulled a gallon... pitched some funky ass saison yeast in it and 7g of mosaic. No real intention for this, except to have something lower abv and drinkable.
 
Anyone here an expert on gelatinous **** in kegs?

I kegged a stout and throw in a mesh bag of flaked coconut. Tasted fine, all was well until the keg stopped pouring (weeks later, nothing immediate). Wasn't the line bc other kegs worked. I said **** it and let it sit there because I was too busy/lazy to play with it anymore.

I popped it open today and racked to a new keg. Took everything apart and there is this gelatinous **** that was blocking the output tube. Like lots. Fat from the coconut? Should I taste? FT if anyone else is interested.
 
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