Coffee Porter 2, Helles Bock

After cold steeping a half pound of French roast coffee, I added 750 ml to the keg, then racked the porter. Not thinking, I didn't do anything to the coffee from a sanitation standpoint, but 21 days after there is no sign of infection (knock on wood). Bottled 6 for archival purposes.

Last weekend I brewed another batch of the Helles bock I had such success with. Unfortunately, I had a friend over whom I hadn't seen in quite some time, so I wasn't very mindful of the brew session. Either my hydrometer is way off or this session totally sucked as the OG was way low. Only time will tell.

Shout out to our buddy Bill Hartley, who is on the mend. Get well soon, Billy!

Coffee Porter

It's been a while and I've been busy (but who hasn't, right?). I'll get that out of the way right now. Since my Double IPA back in August, I've only done one other batch, a Pre-Prohibition Lager that seems to be doing pretty well. Ended up with about 6.5 gallons total, force carbonated, and knocked out the 1.5 gallon overflow keg pretty quickly. It's clarifying with time, and there seem to be very few traces of DMS and no trace of diacetyl as of yet.

This weekend my wife was out of town with the girls, which gave me ample opportunity to put up the Halloween decorations and knock out another batch. Since we picked up a Toddy cold brew coffee maker, we thought a brew with coffee would be in order. This batch is based on Northern Brewer's St. Paul Porter, but I made a few adjustments to the recipe. It's also my first use of Ringwood Ale Yeast, WYeast 1187. I did a starter with it and stepped it once, but only pitched a total volume of 1000 ml. I don't know if it was the starter or the yeast, but you can kind of see the fermentation I got from it. A whisper under 5 gallons of beer in the 14 gallon conical, but a krausen that went ALL THE WAY TO THE 12.5 GALLON MARK!!! I am just completely blown away by this as I've never experienced this kind of fermentation before. If it turns out that it IS the yeast, I may use this yeast for all of my English-styled beers.

Speaking of the English, my college mate Timm has graciously offered to host my wife and myself for a number of nights in Brixton, so we will finally get to troll about to some of the pubs I've read about for so long and get a taste of lots of cask ales. We don't get a whole lot of that over here, so we're really looking forward to the trip.

10-25-2009 Coffee Porter

A ProMash Brewing Session Report

--------------------------------

Brewing Date: Sunday October 25, 2009

Head Brewer: Mike Ring

Recipe: Coffee Porter

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines

-------------------------------

12-B Porter, Robust Porter

Min OG: 1.048 Max OG: 1.065

Min IBU: 25 Max IBU: 60

Min Clr: 22 Max Clr: 42 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics

----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00

Total Grain (Lbs): 10.63

Anticipated OG: 1.057 Plato: 14.04

Anticipated SRM: 23.1

Anticipated IBU: 45.2

Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %

Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.072 Plato: 17.51

Actual Mash System Efficiency: 99 %

Anticipated Points From Mash: 57.00

Actual Points From Mash: 75.31

Pre-Boil Amounts

----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour

Raw Pre-Boil Amounts - only targeted volume/gravity and evaporation

rate taken into account:

Pre-Boil Wort Size: 5.88 Gal

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.048 SG 12.02 Plato

With sparge water, mash water, additional infusions, vessel losses, top-up

water and evaporation rate recorded in the Water Needed Calculator:

Water Needed Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.46 Gal

Water Needed Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.044 SG 10.99 Plato

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

89.4 9.50 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2

1.2 0.13 lbs. CaraVienne Malt Belgium 1.034 22

2.4 0.25 lbs. CaraPils Malt America 1.033 1

2.4 0.25 lbs. Crystal 55L Great Britian 1.034 55

4.7 0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt Great Britain 1.034 475

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.00 oz. Columbus Pellet 14.20 45.2 60 min.

1.00 oz. Cascade Whole 3.20 0.0 1 min.

Extras

Amount Name Type Time

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

0.00 Cup(s) Black Cat Espresso Coffee 0 Days(fermenter)

Yeast

-----

WYeast 1187 Ringwood Ale

Mash Schedule

-------------

Mash Name: Single Infusion Mash

Total Grain Lbs: 10.63

Total Water Qts: 12.65 - Before Additional Infusions

Total Water Gal: 3.16 - Before Additional Infusions

Tun Thermal Mass: 0.25

Grain Temp: 68 F

Step Rest Start Stop Heat Infuse Infuse Infuse

Step Name Time Time Temp Temp Type Temp Amount Ratio

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Single Infusion 5 60 153 153 Infuse 175 12.65 1.19

Mashout 1 10 170 170 Infuse 210 6.28 1.78

Total Water Qts: 18.93 - After Additional Infusions

Total Water Gal: 4.73 - After Additional Infusions

Total Mash Volume Gal: 5.58 - After Additional Infusions

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.

All infusion amounts are in Quarts.

All infusion ratios are Quarts/Lbs.

Water Needed For Brewing Session

--------------------------------

Sparge Amount: 3.00 Sparge Deadspace: 0.00 Total Into Mash: 3.00

Total Grain Lbs: 10.63 Qts Per Lbs: 1.78 Total From Mash: 3.46

Mash Gallons: 4.73

Grain Absorption: 1.27

Amount Lost in Lauter Tun Deadspace,

Grant and Misc. to Kettle: 0.00

Top Up Water Added to Kettle: 0.00

Amount into Kettle: 6.46

Boil Time (min): 60.00 Evaporation Rate: 15.00

Amount after Boil: 5.49

Left in Kettle Deadspace: 0.00

Left in Hopback: 0.00

Left in Counterflow Chiller: 0.25

Left in Other Equipment / Other Absorption: 0.25

Amount to Chillers: 4.99

Amount After Cooling (4 perc.): 4.79

Grain absorption rate is: 0.12 (Gallons Per Lbs)

Evaporation rate is Percent per Hour

This formulation will yield 4.79 gallons of fermentable wort.

You will need 7.73 gallons of water for the complete brewing session.

Hop Harvest 2009

I did considerably better this year than last, about quadrupling (eyball estimate) last year's output of Cascades and Nuggets, and a fairly decent first year for the Willies. I've got a double IPA conditioning and am going to run it through a Randall; my only question at this point is do I use the year-old Cascades that I bought in bulk or go with the homegrown?

Quick Hops Update

Looks like the Cascades will be ready to come down this weekend. Just judging by a quick visual, I'd say I'll have wuadrupled last year's crop. I'll likely give the Nuggets and Willamettes a little more time unless the look as ready as the Cascades. Hard to tell as the Cascades are a bit hardier and seem to engulf everything else.

Double IPA Part 2

After 19 days in my conical and the gravity not about to drop any lower than 1.020, I finally decided that it was time to move the beer. I tried numerous times to rouse the yeast to keep the fermentation going, but there just wasn't anything left in it, I guess. I was using 2 old sachets of Safale US56, and the fermentation took off like a rocket, but just couldn't finish the deal. Attenuation at older age may be a drawback of this yeast.

At any rate, 5 gallons into the carboy, and 2 ounces of 6.6% AA whole Cascade hops to dry hop. Based on the dry hopping experience I've had in the past, about 5 days should do it, then I'll transfer to a keg for conditioning.

The whirlpooling I've been doing prior to chilling has has a profound effect on the clarity of thebeer. Most of the samples I've been drawing have been crystal clear within about 5 minutes of decanting, and after transfering twice and conditioning, this beer should brighten up nicely.

I finally worked my way through Barry's selection of German beers for

me, and I've got one thing to say to him: THANK YOU! I saved the Andechser Dunkel for last, although there were plenty of the good ones along the way. The Schlenkerla Rauschbier was a smoked malt delight. Lots of alder smoke, great maltiness, well carbonated and not overly bacon-y, as some smoked beers can be. The Dunkel was amazing, with a great head and clarity more likely found in a filtered wheat. Still had a bit of the banana and clove you'd expect from a German weiss, but a bit of malt in there as well.

Since my wife was downtown at the Playboy Brunch with our friend Patrick, I figured I'd use the afternoon (after moving box upon box of old papers) to hit the brewery tour at Two Brothers in Warrenville. They've been in their new facility just about a year now and brew mainly farmhouse and bier de garde style beers, but they also have some other styles that are killer: Red Eye Porter made with coffee from Intelligentsia Coffee; Hop Juice, a killer imperial/double IPA; Dog Days Dortmunder and recently Moaten, an oaked Flemish Red, which is a collaboration with Urthel Brewery in Belgium. It is a great beer for those who like sour beer.

Double IPA

I have yet to come up with a name for this, but I've still got time. This brew went pretty smoothly, and given that I used almost 17 pounds of grain for a 5 gallon batch, I had surprisingly high efficiency at almost 80%. I've also hopped the bejeezus out of this with 8 ounces of whole 6.6% AA Cascades in the boil for 75 IBU. I'm going to dry hop with 2 to 3 more ounces, and then wet hop in my Randall, but I don't know if I want to stick with the Cascades or use the home-grown version. I guess I can always change if I don't like it.

Hops 2.1

I've often heard that the second year for a plant is exponentially better than the first. It appears that this will hold true for my hops crop. The plants are doing FAR better than last year, taking into account the destruction of a Willamette bine that was a fair trade for the removal of a pesky mulberry tree.

They started to get to the point where I was constantly having to untangle them at the top to keep the varieties separated, but I decided why bother? I can separate them by variety at the lower levels and will have a blend of Cascade, Nugget and Willamette from the top of the heap. Unless there are very different physical characteristics in the cones (which I doubt), there's really no way to tell them apart.

The burrs - which will eventually turn to cones - are starting to appear everywhere. It seems I've got at least double the number I had last year, but I'll have to go back and see if I actually recorded the yields. I know I had a higher percentage of Cascades than Nugget, but Cascades traditionally do much better their first year.

I already have plans for these hops. Next week I'm going to brew a Double IPA, and with what I have in the freezer already I should have enough to hop and dry hop the brew. The guys on the bine, however, I am going to use to either wet-hop or fresh-hop through the use of an organoleptic hops transducer, otherwise known as a Randall. By the time the IPA is ready to drink, these hops should be ready to use.

Finally A New Post!

Yes, I realize that it's been almost two months since I last posted. Around that time, there were questions as to our company's viability and things were very tenuous. Without getting into the details, I will just say that things are back on track at work and I've been very busy the last 6 weeks.

First, the kolsch. Things went very well with this brew, and it finished nicely at just under 4% ABV. I had a good amount of lagering time on it, in addition to getting my whirlpooling technique down to prevent excessive trub in the fermenter, so it's cleared up nicely. The carbonation could be a bit higher, but it'll suffice for now. The first keg is almost empty and I've been using a carbonation stone on the second, so we'll see how that one turns out.

Memorial Day weekend was brew day for my Bell's Oberon clone, which has been dubbed "Mikeron" by some, and in honor of those fallen, "MemoriAle" by me. I did a side-by-side tasting (early on, I might add) and it was pretty darn close. The color turned out a bit more orange than the commercial (mine is on the right), and my wife thought (again, early on) that mine was a bit grainy, but over the 4th of July weekend, we attended a barbeque in Carbondale and brought some along. Those wo sampled it remarked that mine was actually better than the commercial version. That could have just been kind words, or they could have been the truth. Either way, I think it turned out pretty damn well, and I am looking to make this a regular brew.

The wife and I attended AleFest Chicago yesterday at Soldier Field Stadium Green, which was sponsored by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild and had representatives from Unibroue, Two Brothers, Metropolitan, Left Hand, Rogue, Brooklyn, and so many others I could fill a page alone. There were about 50 tables, so there were roughly 50 breweries.

A nice feature of this event was the Replicale, where a dozen different members of the ICBG created their own version of one style beer. This year's was the Belgian-style wit, one of my wife's favorites (she LOVES Hoegaarden), and while they were all very similar, there were distinctions between them. I thought this was a great introduction to the subtle differences between beers of the same style, and really made the differences noticable. We were also able to join IMBIBE (I'm a Big Illinois Beer Enthusiast) as charter members. In all, it was a great event, low-key, but worthwhile and pretty well organized.

Hopefully I'll begin posting on a more regular basis going forward. This year's hops are growing like mad, and I've finally planned an IPA to make use of all of the hops I plan on harvesting in addition to making use of my Randall as well. The Mikeon/MemoriAle stats follow below. By the way, HOW am I getting these insane efficiency numbers?

05-25-2009 Mikeron/MemoriAle

A ProMash Brewing Session Report

--------------------------------

Brewing Date: Monday May 25, 2009

Head Brewer: Mike Ring

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines

-------------------------------

06-D Light Hybrid Beer, American Wheat or Rye Beer

Min OG: 1.040 Max OG: 1.055

Min IBU: 15 Max IBU: 30

Min Clr: 3 Max Clr: 6 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics

----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 6.80 Wort Size (Gal): 8.16

Total Grain (Lbs): 12.72

Anticipated OG: 1.053 Plato: 12.98

Anticipated SRM: 5.3

Anticipated IBU: 15.1

Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %

Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.058 Plato: 14.16

Actual FG: 1.016 Plato: 4.08

Alc by Weight: 4.27 by Volume: 5.48 From Measured Gravities.

ADF: 71.2 RDF 59.5 Apparent & Real Degree of Fermentation.

Actual Mash System Efficiency: 94 %

Anticipated Points From Mash: 52.50

Actual Points From Mash: 66.09

Pre-Boil Amounts

----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour

Pre-Boil Wort Size: 9.60 Gal

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.037 SG 9.31 Plato

Water Needed Pre-Boil Wort Size: 9.26 Gal

Water Needed Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.039 SG 9.65 Plato

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

37.9 4.83 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2

50.0 6.36 lbs. Wheat Malt Germany 1.039 2

5.2 0.66 lbs. Munich Malt Great Britain 1.037 6

6.9 0.88 lbs. CaraVienne Malt Belgium 1.034 22

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

0.61 oz. Czech Saaz Pellet 2.50 3.3 First WH

0.44 oz. Hallertau Hersbrucker Pellet 2.40 2.3 First WH

1.56 oz. Hallertau Hersbrucker Pellet 2.40 9.1 60 min.

0.61 oz. Czech Saaz Pellet 2.50 0.4 15 min.

0.78 oz. Czech Saaz Pellet 2.50 0.0 0 min.

Yeast

-----

WYeast 1272 American Ale II

Mash Schedule

-------------

Mash Type: Multi Step

Heat Type: HERMS

Grain Lbs: 12.72

Water Qts: 18.13 - Before Additional Infusions

Water Gal: 4.53 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.43

Tun Thermal Mass: 0.25

Grain Temp: 68 F

Dough In Temp: 157 Time: 0

Intermediate Rest Temp: 140 Time: 30

Saccharification Rest Temp: 158 Time: 30

Mash-out Rest Temp: 176 Time: 10

Sparge Temp: 176 Time: 30

Runnings Stopped At: 1.010 SG 2.56 Plato

Total Mash Volume Gal: 5.55 - After Additional Infusions

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.

Water Needed For Brewing Session

--------------------------------

Sparge Amount: 7.50 Sparge Deadspace: 0.25 Total Into Mash: 7.25

Total Grain Lbs: 12.72 Qts Per Lbs: 1.43 Total From Mash: 3.01

Mash Gallons: 4.53

Grain Absorption: 1.53

Amount Lost in Lauter Tun Deadspace,

Grant and Misc. to Kettle: 1.00

Top Up Water Added to Kettle: 0.00

Amount into Kettle: 9.26

Boil Time (min): 60.00 Evaporation Rate: 15.00

Amount after Boil: 7.87

Left in Kettle Deadspace: 0.50

Left in Hopback: 0.25

Left in Counterflow Chiller: 0.25

Left in Other Equipment / Other Absorption: 0.30

Amount to Chillers: 6.57

Amount After Cooling (4 perc.): 6.30

Grain absorption rate is: 0.12 (Gallons Per Lbs)

Evaporation rate is Percent per Hour

This formulation will yield 6.30 gallons of fermentable wort.

You will need 12.03 gallons of water for the complete brewing session.

Efficiency Specifics

--------------------

Recipe Efficiency Setting: 75 %

With sparge water, mash water, additional infusions, vessel losses, top-up

water and evaporation rate recorded in the Water Needed Calculator:

Target Volume (Gal): 9.26

Estimated OG: 1.039 Plato: 9.65

Raw Pre-Boil Targets - only targeted volume/gravity and evaporation

rate taken into account:

Target Volume (Gal): 9.60

Estimated OG: 1.037 Plato: 9.31

Post-Boil Targets:

Target Volume (Gal): 6.80

Estimated OG: 1.053 Plato: 12.98

Recorded Actuals - Measurement Taken In Ferementer:

Recorded Volume (Gal): 6.50

+Losses (Gal): 1.25

Total Volume (Gal): 7.75

Recorded OG: 1.058 Plato: 14.27

At 100 percent extraction from the maximum mash potential:

Total Points: 70.00

Points From Mash: 70.00

Points From Extract/Sugar: 0.00

With the recipe efficiency setting, you should have achieved:

Total Points: 52.50

Points From Mash: 52.50

Points From Extract/Sugar: 0.00

Actuals achieved were:

Actual Points From Mash: 66.09

Actual Mash System Efficiency: 94

Fermentation Specifics

----------------------

Pitched From: Starter

Amount Pitched: 1200 mL

Lag Time: 0.00 hours

Primary Fermenter: Plastic

Primary Type: Closed

Days In Primary: 7

Primary Temperature: 68 degrees F

Black Coal Kolsch

This session went pretty well. As you can see from the ProMash report, I was somehow able to get 100% efficiency from my system. Based on what I know of the scientific method and what I ended up with in my Advanced Chemistry class in high school (how was I able to extract caffeine from 7-Up? Answer: I wasn't.) it must have been an error in measurement somewhere. 

At any rate, most of the variables were held pretty consistent: mash temperature was good, fermentation temperature was pretty close to optimum, lag time was minimized by a monster 3-step starter. I think I had one of the biggest fermentations to date, and after a week in the conical with 4 days of consistent gravity readings, I moved the beer into carboys to lager. 

The timing of this beer couldn't have been better as Jamil Zainasheff has an article on kolsch in the May-June issue of BYO. I'm holding the beer at around 40°F and will keep it there for about a month as recommended in the article. I do have more airlock activity, so I may be able to drop the beer a bit further and get better attenuation from the yeast. It is, however, about 3 years old, hence the 3-step starter to get it going again. I have not yet resorted to the second addition of yeast to finish a beer, but that day may soon come.

Next up is the Oberon clone. Maybe Memorial Day weekend will be the time to do that so it's ready with the kolsch.

05-09-2009 Black Coal Kolsch 

A ProMash Brewing Session Report
Brewing Date: Saturday May 09, 2009
Head Brewer: Mike Ring
Recipe: Black Coal Kolsch

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
08-A Koelsch & Altbier, Koelsch-Style Ale
Min OG: 1.040 Max OG: 1.048
Min IBU: 16 Max IBU: 30
Min Clr: 4 Max Clr: 5 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 7.00 Wort Size (Gal): 7.44
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.38
Anticipated OG: 1.044 Plato: 10.98
Anticipated SRM: 3.3
Anticipated IBU: 21.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.044 Plato: 10.98
Actual FG: 1.014 Plato: 3.57
Alc by Weight: 3.09 by Volume: 3.96 From Measured Gravities.
ADF: 67.5 RDF: 56.2 Apparent & Real Degree of Fermentation.

Actual Mash System Efficiency: 100 %
Anticipated Points From Mash: 44.11
Actual Points From Mash: 59.05

Raw Pre-Boil Amounts - only targeted volume/gravity and evaporation
rate taken into account:
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 8.75 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.035 SG 8.85 Plato

With sparge water, mash water, additional infusions, vessel losses, top-up
water and evaporation rate recorded in the Water Needed Calculator:
Water Needed Pre-Boil Wort Size: 9.77 Gal
Water Needed Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.032 SG 7.95 Plato

Formulas Used
Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
% Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.

Additional Utilization Used For Plug Hops: 2 %
Additional Utilization Used For Pellet Hops: 10 %

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
68.8 7.82 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
12.5 1.42 lbs. Wheat Malt Belgium 1.038 2
12.5 1.42 lbs. Vienna Malt Germany 1.037 3
6.3 0.71 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.
Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
1.17 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfruh Pellet 5.20 14.3 60 min
0.67 oz. Spalter Select Whole 5.00 3.9 30 min
1.17 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfruh Pellet 5.20 3.6 20 min
0.66 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfruh Pellet 5.20 0.0 0 min

Yeast
WYeast 2565 Kolsch

Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Single Step
Heat Type: Heat Exchanger/HERMS 
Grain Lbs: 11.38
Water Qts: 19.54 Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 4.89 Before Additional Infusions
Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.72 Before Additional Infusions
Tun Thermal Mass: 0.25
Grain Temp: 68 F Before Additional Infusions

Rest Temp Time
Dough In: 166 0 Min
Saccharification Rest: 150 60 Min
Mash-out Rest: 168 10 Min
Sparge: 170 0 Min

Total Mash Volume Gal: 5.80 - After Additional Infusions

Runnings Stopped At: 1.010 SG 2.56 Plato

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.







Generated with ProMash Brewing Software

Railing Against Stupidity

I don't know if any of you folks on the other side of the pond have been subjected to this stupidity, but apparently the people at SAB Miller think we're all a bunch of uneducated buffoons who will take anything that's fed to us by way of the telly as gospel. The first thing to really get my goat was their claim to a special process called "Triple Hops Brewing", which according to their web site, does the following: 1) The first hop addition gives a "clean, distinctive Pilsner flavor and aroma". Okay, STOP RIGHT THERE. Flavor AND AROMA? The majority of the flavor comes from the water (ESPECIALLY in the case of a Pils/Pilsner/Pilsener - I don't know which style they claim to be brewing), malt and yeast. I was always under the impression that the last hop addition was the aroma hop. Maybe that's been my problem all along. 

2) The second addition gives "balance: perfect body and hop taste". HOP TASTE? IN MILLER LITE? Come on, has anyone ever really tasted hops in Miller Lite? 

3) The third addition the hops "add to Miller Lite's perfect head and locks in its great taste". Wow. What a steaming pile of crap. Another ad asks "Does the fact that we add hops at three times during the brewing process, instead of all at once, ever cross your mind?" Of course it doesn't because I would be shocked to think they'd use more than a smattering of hops in any given batch. Divide that smattering into three different additions and you've got, well, what's the technical term for a third of a smattering? A skosh? A pinch? A dash?

The latest insult was their claim that they use "the best hops in the world - Idaho hops." HUH? Idaho hops? I always thought that the noble hops were the best for classic european styles, and if one was brewing something that needed to be big and hoppy, you would probably go with cascades.  But Idaho? Hell, I didn't even know they GROW hops in Idaho.

I can't wait until their next attempt to shove misinformation and marketing down our throats comes when I'm having a really bad day, because it may just be enough to make me snap. They've even gone so far as to have trademarked the term "Triple Hops Brewing". Anyone ever think to trademark the term "potable drinking water"?

Hops v2.0.2

I've been doing a bit more reading, especially about commercial hop growing and some of the techniques that can be applied to small-scale hop produciton. I think one of the things I've been misinformed about is multiple bines on one line. Last year I had trimmed back the plants to one bine per line, but I read recently from Glen Fuller, an organic hops grower in Colorado (and also the supplier of hops to New Belgium for their Century Ale) that he lets three to four bines go per line, which increases yields. I'm guessing that this is also the number at which if you exceed the number of bines per line you'll begin to experience adverse issues, such as mildew or rot. I am going to give this a try this year and see how things go.

On a related note, here's a link to New Belgium's Century Ale. 

Hops v2.0.1

nugget1 042709
Originally uploaded by midwtech

Hops are coming along pretty well, and with all of the rain we've had in the past week or so, I haven't had to worry about watering them - yet. Once the warmer weather kicks in it'll start drying up. I'm amazed at how robust these plants are for being only second year plants. The Cascades are pretty bushy, the Nuggets (one pictured here) are sending off shoots left and right, and the Willamettes are both productive with the shoots and foliage. Hopefully I can avoid any of the mildews this year and have a bountiful crop with which to brew. One more step towards self-sustaining brewing.

Dark Lord Giveth....

...but in this case he did not take away. The weather today in Munster, IN was a bit spotty, and we encountered plenty of rain on the way there, but for the most part the rain held off until we left, laden with a dozen bottles of 2009 Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout. There are still 2 bottles of 2007 and one from last year in the cellar and I suspect that they will remain there until we can come up with a good reason to open them.

The Floyds had a good system going this year with the Golden Tickets, and the line moved pretty well. We got to sample the Three Floyds/Dogfish Head collaboration "Popskull" (it was really good, by the way) as well as a few others we'd brought/purchased/swapped with others in line. Good time, and the wee one was very well behaved given that it was an adult event.

Dark Lord Day Eve...

Quick note here. Tomorrow will be my third trek to Dark Lord Day at Three Floyds in Munster, Indiana (sort of the doppelganger of Muenster, Germany, eh Barry?). This year I think we are far better prepared as we have our Golden Tickets, which will guarantee I don't know how many bottles. We plan on bringing coolers, grills and the wee one, but at least the weather is supposed to be nice - 80s and partly cloudy - which beats the 40 degree temps and 30 mph winds of last year. Looking forward to it, and we'll see how much beer we come back with. Check it out here.

Hops v2.0

Spring has finally sprung here (for a day, at least) which means that the hops rhizomes I planted last year should be coming back, and like the voracious plants they are (they're not called Humulus lupus for nothing) they are back at it, with the Cascades appearing to have come back strongest. From what I've read, Cascades will grow pretty much anywhere, so they were an obvious choice. The Nuggets are coming back nicely (I still have some left in the freezer from last year's crop) and the Wilamettes I didn't get to harvest look like they'll do well. My neighbor stepped on the bine, breaking it at the ground, which toasted the crop. I'd have been upset, but he was in my garden to rid us both of the pesky mulberry trees along our common line, so he gets a pass and a hearty thanks. Those trees suck. Hopefully this year I'll get some greater yield being a) my second season, and therefore stronger plants, and b) more sunlight with the removal of that damn tree.

Thanks, Tom, and I'll brew a fresh hop beer in your honor if it works out that way.

Oatmeal Stout and Danke Schön

You know what they say about the cat being away? The girls (all three of them) are gone for the weekend, which leaves me with time to brew. As I've recently had some disasters due to inattentiveness, I made sure to pay particular attention to my process for this session. Strike temp hit the mash-in dead on, mash temp was consistent throughout, I made sure to have a vigorous boil the full 60 minutes, whirlpooled after the boil and quickly cooled on the way to the fermenter. I started the yeast about 2 weeks ago, so it should be rarin' to go by now, and I gave the beer a good 30 minutes of aeration prior to pitching. Gravities were good, volumes were good and the cleanup went well. In fact, this session went so well I feel like I've just cursed myself for something I overlooked to happen, and happen badly. I guess time will tell.

Thanks to Adeptus, who came through on his end of the deal with a good assortment of German beer. Some I've had, others I've never heard of. But that's the beauty of it, innit? I'll post some notes once I break into them.

Also, just a reminder that Dark Lord Day is right around the corner - April 25th to be exact. Those who are fans of Russian Imperial Stouts and Three Floyds should not miss this event. The wife and I plan on going, and perhaps bringing the girls as well.

Bavarian Helles - Day 1

Things went fairly well yesterday, all things considered. I made certain to clean every possible item I could think of, and then cleaned others as I went along that I had forgotten about. In fact, I probably ended up cleaning everything twice, but that's better than none at all.

I was a bit shy on my finishing volume (as you can see by the picture) so I'm certain that the alcohol content will be a bit higher than expected. How MUCH higher, however, I won't be certain of because at some point while taking my starting gravity I managed to break my hydrometer, and not having a spare on hand, have no idea of the starting gravity.

After getting the beer into the carboy and into the cooler to ferment away at about 50°F, I had everything addressed. Or so I thought. Nothing like waking up at 5am to the realization that I had stuck an airlock on the carboy instead of a blowoff tube. I normally ferment in my 14 gallon conical, so I never really think about it, and I don't often do lagers. I ran downstairs HOPING that the fermentation hadn't yet started (after all, it had only been about 10 hours since I pitched), and luckily it hadn't. I grabbed my blowoff hose, doused it in sanitizer and rigged a bucket of sanitizer for the output side. When I got home today the bucket was full of bubbles and a nice yeast head had started, so I"m knocking wood that I haven't forgotten something else.

I Guess Sometimes Garbage is Good

Well, I finally got around to brewing another batch, this time a Bavarian Helles. Since it's a lager, I needed to free up carboy space, so I decided to clear out the Roggenbier. As it had a nasty looking pellicle on it, I thought "what they heck, I'll at least try it and see how bad it is". Turns out it's really not bad at all. Tastes a lot like some of the commercial Dunkels I've had lately. Kegged about 4.5 gallons of it and we'll see what happens, I guess.

Just goes to show you never know what you've got.

Priorities are a pain sometimes....

Wanted to get going on the Helles bock this weekend, but SWMBO reminded me that we need to start setting up the seed boxes and grow lights to get the seedlings going for our garden. As I had promised this last weekend and forgotten, I can't tell her no, but maybe I can still squeeze a brew session in tomorrow.

Since the Roggenbier debacle, I've been a bit discouraged about brewing. I thought I had a pretty good sanitation process down, but now I'm starting to doubt that process and wonder if there isn't another possible source of contamination I'm going to overlook. I think it's just going to be a case of having to get going again and being as conscientious as possible about the sanitation procedures. Removing all valves, fitting, hoses, etc., and making sure they're all clean. I haven't had the heart to touch this beer since I noticed the infection because it's just such a letdown, but I guess now is the time. If this were a Brett beer I'd call that a great pellicle, but as it isn't, I'll call it what it is: garbage.

Winter Doldrums

Here in the Midwest, the weather is something that you just accept as being screwed up. For example, back when I was in high school, one day the temp was 90°F, and the next day it snowed. At least that's how I remember it. Anyway, brewing here in the winter is kind of something that you just accept as only happening when the weather gets crazy warm and everything falls into place - kids are off doing something, no errands to run or places to be, SWMBO doesn't mind...and lately, the weather has just been downright cold. Last time I brewed in the winter my chill water froze - in the hose!

As such, I've finally commenced on something I've been meaning to do for at least a year - put a collar on my chest freezer. Things have been so downright depressing of late that I needed to actually get something going that I've really wanted to do, and the best part is that the cost was really almost nothing (okay, that doesn't include the cost of the freezer, but that aside...) - the wood cost MAYBE $10 tops. Screws and such are a few dollars, so basically under $20.



I haven't finished with the gas and faucet connections, but plan on having my home brewed root beer on one tap (for the kids, of course), and two other taps to go along with the two on the mini fridge kegerator. Just killed off two kegs of Two Brothers weiss - one Ebel's Weiss, one Bonfire Dunkel - so it's looking like I need to get brewing again. If only the weather would cooperate....

Quick Note

Just a quick note here. Sorry for the delay between posts but had a few issues arise over the past 6 weeks between the holidays, my DSL router dying on me and my computer crapping out. One bit of advice if you build your own computers: RTFM! Know the difference between RAID 1 and RAID 10. I didn't read enough, and due to a hard drive failure I lost ALL of my data, including brew sessions and recipes. I should know better than to not back things up in multiple places.

Having learned my lesson, I've now converted my 7-year old computer to a Linux box and am running Windows XP and 7 using Virtual Box, and reloaded XP on the beast, code name: Dirk. I'm also working on writing a backup script once I get Samba installed on the Linux box.

Oh, and I think I've got an infected batch of beer on top of everything else.