Sunday, July 13, 2014

SMASH American Session Ale and Saison de la Perle

The kids are away so I finally have time to brew, and decided to make up for lost time quickly, running a SMASH Session Ale and Saison on back to back weekends. Having been so long since I last brewed, I knew there would be issues with the first brew of the year, but they were mainly of the efficiency kind.

06-29-2014 SMASH American Session Ale


Brewing Date:Sunday June 29, 2014
Head Brewer:Mike Ring
Asst Brewer:  
Recipe:SMASH American Session Ale


BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
10-A American Ales, American Pale Ale
Min OG:1.045Max OG:1.060  
Min IBU:30Max IBU:45  
Min Clr:5Max Clr:14 Color in SRM, Lovibond


Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal):5.00Wort Size (Gal):6.00
Total Grain (Lbs):7.75    
Anticipated OG:1.042Plato:10.44
Anticipated SRM:3.0      
Anticipated IBU:53.7    
Brewhouse Efficiency:75 %  
Wort Boil Time:60 Minutes  

Actual OG:1.052Plato:12.39  
Actual FG:1.014Plato:3.57  
Alc by Weight:3.70by Volume:4.74From Measured Gravities.
ADF:71.1RDF:59.3Apparent & Real Degree of Fermentation.

Actual Mash System Efficiency:76 %
Anticipated Points From Mash:41.85
Actual Points From Mash:42.48


Pre-Boil Amounts
Evaporation Rate:15.00Percent Per Hour


Pre-Boil Wort Size:7.06Gal    
Pre-Boil Gravity:1.030SG7.47Plato

Water Needed Pre-Boil Wort Size:7.93Gal    
Water Needed Pre-Boil Gravity:1.026SG6.66Plato


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.

Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: TinsethTinseth Concentration Factor: 1.30

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



Grain/Extract/Sugar
%AmountNameOriginPotentialSRM
100.07.75 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row)America1.0362

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops
AmountNameFormAlphaIBUBoil Time
0.50 oz. SimcoePellet12.7028.360 min
0.50 oz. SimcoePellet12.7014.115 min
1.00 oz. SimcoePellet12.7011.35 min
1.00 oz. SimcoePellet12.700.010 days


Yeast
White Labs WLP051 California Ale V
Fermentis US-05 added after 24-hour lag (added dry to wort)



Mash Schedule
Mash Type:Single Step  
Heat Type:HERMS  
Grain Lbs:7.75  
Water Qts:10.46Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal:2.62Before Additional Infusions
Qts Water Per Lbs Grain:1.35Before Additional Infusions
Tun Thermal Mass:0.25  
Grain Temp:68 FBefore Additional Infusions

RestTempTime
Dough In:1690 Min
Saccharification Rest:14960 Min
Mash-out Rest:17010 Min
Sparge:1700 Min

Total Mash Volume Gal: 3.24 - After Additional Infusions
Runnings Stopped At: 1.004 SG
All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.

Mash Schedule

Water Needed For Brewing Session
Sparge Amount:7.50Sparge Deadspace:0.25Total Into Mash:7.25
Total Grain Lbs:7.75Qts Per Lbs:1.35Total From Mash:1.68
    Mash Gallons:2.62    
    Grain Absorption:0.93    
Amount Lost in Lauter Tun Deadspace, Grant and Misc. to Kettle:1.00
    
Top Up Water Added to Kettle:0.00
Amount into Kettle:7.93
    
Boil Time (min):60
Evaporation Rate:15.00
Amount after Boil:6.74
    
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:5.44
Amount After Cooling (4 perc.):5.23

Grain absorption rate is: 0.12 (Gallons Per Lbs)
Evaporation rate is Percent per Hour
This formulation will yield 5.23 gallons of fermentable wort.
You will need 10.11 gallons of water for the complete brewing session.
Generated with ProMash Brewing Software

My first issue came during the sparge. After taking the first runnings and sparging, I ended up well short of my target volume in the boil kettle. Consequently, I ended up stopping the sparge runnings at 1.004 in order to get close to the volume required. I was still short, and ended up with only 3 gallons in the fermenter after chilling. Checking along the way, it seems to be coming along and I added the dry hops 10 days after brewing. It'll likely sit another week in the carboy before transfer to a keg.

The saison, however, seems to be right on track to be another magnificent beer. 

07-05-2014 Saison de la Perle


Brewing Date:Saturday July 05, 2014
Head Brewer:Mike Ring
Asst Brewer:  
Recipe:Saison de la Perle


BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
16-C Belgian & French Ale, Saison

Min OG:1.048Max OG:1.065  
Min IBU:20Max IBU:35  
Min Clr:5Max Clr:14 Color in SRM, Lovibond


Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal):6.50Wort Size (Gal):9.10
Total Grain (Lbs):18.52    
Anticipated OG:1.079Plato:19.17
Anticipated SRM:5.3      
Anticipated IBU:49.2    
Brewhouse Efficiency:75 %  
Wort Boil Time:90 Minutes  

Actual OG:1.080Plato:19.33  
Actual FG:1.054Plato:13.33  
Alc by Weight:2.60by Volume:3.47From Measured Gravities.
ADF:31.0RDF:27.1Apparent & Real Degree of Fermentation.

Actual Mash System Efficiency:96 %
Anticipated Points From Mash:79.31
Actual Points From Mash:101.51


Pre-Boil Amounts
Evaporation Rate:15.00Percent Per Hour

Pre-Boil Wort Size:11.74Gal    
Pre-Boil Gravity:1.044SG10.93Plato

Water Needed Pre-Boil Wort Size:11.39Gal    
Water Needed Pre-Boil Gravity:1.045SG11.26Plato


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.

Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: TinsethTinseth Concentration Factor: 1.30



Grain/Extract/Sugar
%AmountNameOriginPotentialSRM
87.716.25 lbs. PilsenerBelgium1.0372
5.30.98 lbs. Wheat MaltGermany1.0392
7.01.30 lbs. Munich MaltGermany1.0378

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops
AmountNameFormAlphaIBUBoil Time
4.00 oz. FuggleWhole4.5045.375 min
3.00 oz. TettnangerWhole2.703.95 min


Yeast
WYeast 3724 Belgian Saison
WLP 565 Belgian Saison (harvested from last year's saison)
Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces Bruxellenis


Mash Schedule
Mash Type:Single Step  
Heat Type:HERMS  
Grain Lbs:18.52  
Water Qts:29.45Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal:7.36Before Additional Infusions
Qts Water Per Lbs Grain:1.59Before Additional Infusions
Tun Thermal Mass:0.25  
Grain Temp:68 FBefore Additional Infusions

RestTempTime
Dough In:1610 Min
Saccharification Rest:14590 Min
Mash-out Rest:17010 Min
Sparge:00 Min

Total Mash Volume Gal: 8.84 - After Additional Infusions

Runnings Stopped At: 1.010 SG 2.56 Plato

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.


Mash Schedule


Water Needed For Brewing Session
Sparge Amount:7.50Sparge Deadspace:0.25Total Into Mash:7.25
Total Grain Lbs:18.52Qts Per Lbs:1.59Total From Mash:5.14
    Mash Gallons:7.36    
    Grain Absorption:2.22    
Amount Lost in Lauter Tun Deadspace, Grant and Misc. to Kettle:1.00
    
Top Up Water Added to Kettle:0.00
Amount into Kettle:11.39
    
Boil Time (min):90
Evaporation Rate:15.00
Amount after Boil:8.83
    
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:7.53
Amount After Cooling (4 perc.):7.23

Grain absorption rate is: 0.12 (Gallons Per Lbs)
Evaporation rate is Percent per Hour
This formulation will yield 7.23 gallons of fermentable wort.
You will need 14.86 gallons of water for the complete brewing session.

Generated with ProMash Brewing Software
You can see from the grain bill on the saison this is ONE BIG BEER. ProMash is reporting a current ABV of 3.5%, but if this ferments out to 1.010 it'll be a little above 9%. Coincidentally, Zymurgy had an article on saisons in the July/August 2014 issue, which offered some insightful bits:
  • Saisons should by dry, so they need to ferment out. The standard saison yeasts can't do this by themselves, and attenuation is usually only around 70%. One of the recommendations was to add a "helper yeast" in the way of another saison strain.
  • Use Brett to finish it out. This will also help when aging the beer and developing the saison in the bottle. For this beer I added an entire pack of Wyeast 5112, Brettanomyces Bruxellenis. In the tasting I've done at a week in, there's a slight note of the Brett, and the beer has gone from 1.080 to 1.054.
The efficiency on this brew was far superior to the SMASH, coming in at 96% efficiency vs. 76% on the SMASH. 

I've seen sneak previews of the new Blichmann electric heating elements, and they've got me intrigued. I'm hoping to convert my system from propane burners to full electric soon in order to keep brewing suring the winter months. This past winter was significantly brutal here, and it would have been nice to be able to brew during some of that down time.

No comments: