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