What's brewing: March '19 edition

[smithj21541]

Well three for three so far this year. Mashing in on my first Brut IPA ever. 30min at 139* with alpha amylase, then raised to 151* for 20min to help conversion and mash out. Going to add some more alpha amylase to the wort pre-boil at 130* and hold there for 30ish min. Did a small hop charge at 151* for my bittering addition, no hops until flameout (citra and mosaic). Really hoping with a big pitch this will finish up at 1.000. Cross your fingers for me.

 

[smithj21541]

Over shot my gravity a bit. 14.4P if it fully ferments as I hope, I guess it'll be a Brut DIPA.

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

Not actual brewing but I have my first attempt to make amaro that I am blending down this weekend. So far it is surprisingly good and in no way like a vodka and salad.

Hopefully later in the month I can squeeze in another brew day. I'd like to get a second spontaneous beer going before it gets much warmer but I'm not sure I have an entire weekend day to devote to a turbid mash this month. If I blow a keg I might have to settle for another clean beer.

 

[smithj21541]

Not actual brewing but I have my first attempt to make amaro that I am blending down this weekend. So far it is surprisingly good and in no way like a vodka and salad.

Hopefully later in the month I can squeeze in another brew day. I'd like to get a second spontaneous beer going before it gets much warmer but I'm not sure I have an entire weekend day to devote to a turbid mash this month. If I blow a keg I might have to settle for another clean beer.

I really want to do a turbid mash at some point. The time involved has scared me away. It's hard enough for me to dedicate a couple hours for a normal batch.

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

I really want to do a turbid mash at some point. The time involved has scared me away. It's hard enough for me to dedicate a couple hours for a normal batch.

Having done a few I can knock one out in about three or four hours but by the time you add boil and cooling outside it's still an all day affair to get the wort in a fermenter. The first time I did a turbid mash I think the mash alone took like six hours because I never had water at the right temperature to add during the early stages. You definitely want to set aside an entire day and several heat sources before attempting it.

 

[ncaudle]

then raised to 151* for 20min to help conversion and mash out. Going to add some more alpha amylase to the wort pre-boil at 130* and hold there for 30ish min

me confused....
you mashed out at 151 but then added alpha amylase at 130; am I missing a heat exchange step between these?
how much temp drop are you experiencing during your lauter?

 

[ncaudle]

mental note for future: 30% is way too high a percentage for buckwheat in a grist

10% may even be too high...

 

[smithj21541]

me confused....
you mashed out at 151 but then added alpha amylase at 130; am I missing a heat exchange step between these?
how much temp drop are you experiencing during your lauter?

Sorry, I'm not sparging. So what I did was raise to 151 and then let it rest before running off. So my runnings were in the mid 140's. Then I let the wort drop before adding the additional enzyme and rested again before bringing to a boil. It was definitely a longer "mash" prices than I'm used to but it wasn't too bad as it was a pretty cool morning and I kept the garage door open the whole time.

 

[ncaudle]

Sorry, I'm not sparging. So what I did was raise to 151 and then let it rest before running off. So my runnings were in the mid 140's. Then I let the wort drop before adding the additional enzyme and rested again before bringing to a boil. It was definitely a longer "mash" prices than I'm used to but it wasn't too bad as it was a pretty cool morning and I kept the garage door open the whole time.

gotcha. now things make sense, lol

 

[smithj21541]

Did a little overdue cellar work today. Transferred all my sour primaries to their respective bulk aging carboys. Also final tried the CO2 orange cap transfer and once I put a clamp on the CO2 line into the hood it will be my go to method.

 

[rcubed1]

Got an unhopped rye porter brewed up on Friday for our club distilling project. First time using Amylo 300 and now I have plenty so I'll have to try a Brut IPA in the future. Also kegged my Belgian pale ale for nationals. I really like the Imperial Precious yeast character and I'm saving some for a Belgian quad (probably my next batch since I already have some D-180 syrup on hand.

Also finally cleaned the lines in my keezer and got some bottles de-labeled for a bottling run on Tuesday. I must admit I really slack on draft line maintenance. But now that I have an extra 3 gallon keg sitting around I haven't put into use, I'm now going to use it for line cleaner and flushing out the lines with hot water.

 

[smithj21541]

Boy slow month here, eh??

Just finished a 3 month fermentation of a saison / grisette using Omega Yeast Labs C2C American Farmhouse. Its Hill Farmstead yeast with Logsdon Brett. Really impressed by it... didn't even change the water profile as I wanted to keep all things constant to see how it performed but it really tastes like a HF beer.

65% Pale Malt
25% White Wheat
10% Flaked Oats
Saaz @ FWH
Citra @ 10
Wish I would've dry hopped though

Not fully carbed yet in this photo

Mashing in on a recipe I made eerily similar to this one from the HF Saison thread. Last year I wanted to create a version of Dorothy that I could make on the regular. Hoping this first crack goes well.

Also started ice distilling my BIL Matt inspired beer. Got it down to 7.7'p before the eis treatment.

Finally dry hopped my Brut IPA for my Homebrew club presentation.

 

[anteater1]

Boy slow month here, eh??

Mashing in on a recipe I made eerily similar to this one from the HF Saison thread. Last year I wanted to create a version of Dorothy that I could make on the regular. Hoping this first crack goes well.

Also started ice distilling my BIL Matt inspired beer. Got it down to 7.7'p before the eis treatment.

Finally dry hopped my Brut IPA for my Homebrew club presentation.

I definitely want to hear how your Brut turns out. If it's good, I'd like to steal your recipe because its a style I really want to brew.

 

[anteater1]

My Grapefruit IPA is almost carbed and ready. It does not taste like grapefruit was added, but it is extremely citrusy in the hop profile and tasting great which I am very ok with.

I've got a Red Rocket clone with WY1450 Denny's Favorite fermenting away, which will be ready to keg in a week.

Planning my next NEIPA for this weekend or next, which will be Citra/Mosaic/Idaho 7 inspired by an amazing beer by a new brewery in Portland called Threshold.

Finally I'm trying to kick a keg of my 14.1% Apple Brandy Stout, so that I can keg my 15% or 16% Barleywine that I'm sort of afraid of.

 

[smithj21541]

I definitely want to hear how your Brut turns out. If it's good, I'd like to steal your recipe because its a style I really want to brew.

Spoiler alert...

I don't think it's going to be that good. *Sad trombone gif here*

 

[axeman91821]

Mashed in on a double IPA. Still haven't decided on a hop bill, currently thinking maybe 2:1:1 Citra:Nelson:Simcoe

 

[meatst1ck]

So after last month's misstep, I'm gonna finally get around to brewing my next mixed culture beer tomorrow! Making some slight changes though...

5gal
65% Pils
25% Spelt
10% Flaked Wheat

Mash @149 for 90min

1 oz Aged (2016) Sterling @90 (might actually boil for 2 hours, they smell pretty cheesy, and read that longer boils help to volatilize those odors?)
1.5 oz each Crystal/Grungeist in the whirlpool
Targeting ~18 IBUs

Maniacal Farmhouse Fever @80F and hold for primary
Then 5-7 days into primary, pitch a little Belle saison (to help ensure this dries out in a timely manner) and 3F/tilquin/girardin dregs

 

[rcubed1]

So after last month's misstep, I'm gonna finally get around to brewing my next mixed culture beer tomorrow! Making some slight changes though...

5gal
65% Pils
25% Spelt
10% Flaked Wheat

Mash @149 for 90min

1 oz Aged (2016) Sterling @90 (might actually boil for 2 hours, they smell pretty cheesy, and read that longer boils help to volatilize those odors?)
1.5 oz each Crystal/Grungeist in the whirlpool
Targeting ~18 IBUs

Maniacal Farmhouse Fever @80F and hold for primary
Then 5-7 days into primary, pitch a little Belle saison (to help ensure this dries out in a timely manner) and 3F/tilquin/girardin dregs

Let those cheesy hops age longer and just add a tiny addition of fresh hops.

 

[meatst1ck]

Let those cheesy hops age longer and just add a tiny addition of fresh hops.

yea I was thinking that too... I really wanted to get some aged hops into this to play with the Pichia in the blend, but its probably safer to just wait on them a while longer

 

[smithj21541]

Kegged my Brut IPA. Finished at 1.006 found out my problem was I had amylase formula from bsg which is less than 10% actual enzymes, the rest is just dextrose. Sample tasted ok and it is the driest IPA I've made now I know I need to order the real deal enzymes. Contemplating using in Fermentor next time but we'll see.

 

[mjohnson171]

Bottled my “Gueuze” in sexy green bottle 750s with cork and cap.

This beer was 4 years in the making. Brewed a “traditional” turbid mash “lambic” every season starting in fall 2015. Used aged hops from my garden. Yeast varied by brew but it was always a combination of spontaneous & dregs from various lambic (Boon, Cantillon, 3F). Then took the 4 brews (2015-2018) and blended to create I guess what could be similar to a grand cru Gueuze in that there’s 4 brews of 4 different ages. Carbonated with a combo of champagne yeast and some bottling sugar.

Blending was very difficult to pick a favorite blend. But a very fun leaning experience.
Bottles should be carbonated soon.

 

[rcubed1]

View attachment 5691
Bottled my “Gueuze” in sexy green bottle 750s with cork and cap.

This beer was 4 years in the making. Brewed a “traditional” turbid mash “lambic” every season starting in fall 2015. Used aged hops from my garden. Yeast varied by brew but it was always a combination of spontaneous & dregs from various lambic (Boon, Cantillon, 3F). Then took the 4 brews (2015-2018) and blended to create I guess what could be similar to a grand cru Gueuze in that there’s 4 brews of 4 different ages. Carbonated with a combo of champagne yeast and some bottling sugar.

Blending was very difficult to pick a favorite blend. But a very fun leaning experience.
Bottles should be carbonated soon.

Just try not to drink too many of them so quickly. I bet that will develop even further in the bottle.

Blending is always the fun part, it's the bottling that sucks.

 

[mjohnson171]

Just try not to drink too many of them so quickly. I bet that will develop even further in the bottle.

Blending is always the fun part, it's the bottling that sucks.

Trust me, i'm going to try not too. Thankfully I have 4 cases (about 100 bottles). so it should be easy to hide away a case or two. Plus I still have about 5 gallons left over for another blend with a fresh wort i'll brew next year. The idea is to continue brewing and making a blend every year.

 

[More Betterness]

View attachment 5691
Bottled my “Gueuze” in sexy green bottle 750s with cork and cap.

This beer was 4 years in the making. Brewed a “traditional” turbid mash “lambic” every season starting in fall 2015. Used aged hops from my garden. Yeast varied by brew but it was always a combination of spontaneous & dregs from various lambic (Boon, Cantillon, 3F). Then took the 4 brews (2015-2018) and blended to create I guess what could be similar to a grand cru Gueuze in that there’s 4 brews of 4 different ages. Carbonated with a combo of champagne yeast and some bottling sugar.

Blending was very difficult to pick a favorite blend. But a very fun leaning experience.
Bottles should be carbonated soon.

ISO

 

[agrippin]

Finally a clear weekend in the 50s Brewing Saturday and Sunday. Same saison, might change up the hops to see the difference they have on the house mixed culture.

Recipe is pretty simple:
7lbs Pils
3lbs Munich 10
2lb White wheat
2lb Flaked red wheat

Have some good hops options: citra, amarillo, azacca, saaz, crystal, some experimental south african. Shooting for about 30ibus. Culture seems to be pretty strong in acid production at lower hopping rates, so I'd like that to be more subtle.

Also bottling a blackberry saison. Flavor has been incredible and gravity is stable, not sure how much I want to carb it. Thinking around 2-2.5. But 3 would be really fun.

Stoked for all the cleaning that is about to happen

 

[mjohnson171]

It’s carbonated nicely!

View attachment 5691
Bottled my “Gueuze” in sexy green bottle 750s with cork and cap.

This beer was 4 years in the making. Brewed a “traditional” turbid mash “lambic” every season starting in fall 2015. Used aged hops from my garden. Yeast varied by brew but it was always a combination of spontaneous & dregs from various lambic (Boon, Cantillon, 3F). Then took the 4 brews (2015-2018) and blended to create I guess what could be similar to a grand cru Gueuze in that there’s 4 brews of 4 different ages. Carbonated with a combo of champagne yeast and some bottling sugar.

Blending was very difficult to pick a favorite blend. But a very fun leaning experience.
Bottles should be carbonated soon.

 

[smithj21541]

View attachment 5750
It’s carbonated nicely!

Wow that champagne yeast went quick! Enjoy, cheers!

 

[mjohnson171]

Wow that champagne yeast went quick! Enjoy, cheers!

Also dried it out a bit, which I wasn’t expecting or accounting for. It’s lost a bit of that lemon character that the flat version had.

 

[rcubed1]

Brewing up a Belgian quad today. Been awhile since I’ve brewed one.

 

[smithj21541]

Brewing up a Belgian quad today. Been awhile since I’ve brewed one.

What sugar are you using?

 

[rcubed1]

What sugar are you using?

1 lb. of corn sugar and bag of D-180 (I believe that's a 1 lb. as well).

 

[smithj21541]

I like those Candi sugar pouches. They are easy to use and store forever.

 

[rcubed1]

I like those Candi sugar pouches. They are easy to use and store forever.

Yep! I bought it when Mother Earth closed up their shop.

 

[wuntrikpony]

View attachment 5750
It’s carbonated nicely!

Very cool...tasting notes?

 

[agrippin]

Finally a clear weekend in the 50s Brewing Saturday and Sunday. Same saison, might change up the hops to see the difference they have on the house mixed culture.

Recipe is pretty simple:
7lbs Pils
3lbs Munich 10
2lb White wheat
2lb Flaked red wheat

Have some good hops options: citra, amarillo, azacca, saaz, crystal, some experimental south african. Shooting for about 30ibus. Culture seems to be pretty strong in acid production at lower hopping rates, so I'd like that to be more subtle.

Also bottling a blackberry saison. Flavor has been incredible and gravity is stable, not sure how much I want to carb it. Thinking around 2-2.5. But 3 would be really fun.

Stoked for all the cleaning that is about to happen

Hell of a weekend. Both brews went very smoothly but didn't hit my target OG, figuring it's from the mill from the store I did it at that I usually never go to. Bottling went so great, a little over two cases of blackberry saison is now conditioning, very excited for this one.

Decided to check in on a south african u1/108 dry hopped mixed culture saison.

Came out absolutely incredible. Great carbonation and head retention. Finally a saison that hit my floofy foam goal! Flavor is insane, a bit of pepper, then guava, mango, peach rings, and lychee. Too easy to crush.

 

[agrippin]

Saw real signs of fermentation yesterday and I know this culture takes of to a rocking start and dries out extremely quickly. So I threw them both infront of a space heater this morning and came home to a bit of blow off on both! Was so worried I wasted like $80 hahah.

 

[meatst1ck]

Bottled up another mixed culture saison today!

OG: 1.056. Kettle hopped with strisselspalt, hallertau blanc, and motueka to ~18 IBUs total. Primary fermented with a blend of TYB Wallonian Farmhouse II + WY3726. Then added TYB261 + TYB415 + 3F/Tilquin dregs after about a week. Aged in secondary on semi-dry riesling soaked French oak cubes (~0.3 oz/gal) for about 5 months. Carbed to ~2.7 vol with champagne yeast.

Super excited about this one. Sample has a light acidity with notes of peaches/apricots, white wine, berries, and a subtle earthiness.

 

[wuntrikpony]

Bottled up another mixed culture saison today!

OG: 1.056. Kettle hopped with strisselspalt, hallertau blanc, and motueka to ~18 IBUs total. Primary fermented with a blend of TYB Wallonian Farmhouse II + WY3726. Then added TYB261 + TYB415 + 3F/Tilquin dregs after about a week. Aged in secondary on semi-dry riesling soaked French oak cubes (~0.3 oz/gal) for about 5 months. Carbed to ~2.7 vol with champagne yeast.

Super excited about this one. Sample has a light acidity with notes of peaches/apricots, white wine, berries, and a subtle earthiness.

Got any to trade?

 

[meatst1ck]

Got any to trade?

haha I might! Ill reach out once its done conditioning

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

Double brewday today. Brewed a small batch doppelbock that I am going to sour earlier. Wrapping up an oud bruin to refill a barrel. I'm not happy with the fermentation character of the barrel's residents so I steamed the barrel and pitching a new culture and primary fermenting in the barrel.

I was going to try to squeeze in a third brew today but I don't think I'll have time for the lengthy turbid mash and outdoor cooling tonight. I might try to fit that in tomorrow.