Mild Review

My second "normal" homebrew batch size was a Mild, following JZ's recipe for that style. With a low alcohol level but a nice flavor, why not brew 5 gallons?

Appearance: Mahogany brown color. A little hazy but nearly transparent. Very small, off-white head on top. Obviously low carbonation.

Aroma: Malty, bready, biscuity aroma. I would say it's grainy - a bit like grain before I mash in. Caramel and light roasty or nutty aroma as well. I don't get hop aroma although I might get a tiny bit of dark fruit aroma, like raisins or so.

Taste: Malty, caramel and toasty, maybe nutty. It doesn't seem too sweet. Low bitterness at the end. Certainly not a very strong taste but nevertheless satisfying.

Mouthfeel: Low carbonation. Thin body but it's not like water. Improves as it warms up.

Overall: I think it. I think it serves its purpose as the kind of beer one could drink without having to worry about the effects of alcohol. But it does have a good flavor. A good beer to drink at a party and serve to people who normally drink crappy beer.

Mild Brew Day

My significant other is very busy these days with studying as she is in grad school. That's left me with some time on my hands, which, naturally, I've chosen to spend brewing over the last few weekends. Friday night she told me that she'd be busy all Saturday, so I decided to brew a nice easy drinking session beer - an English mild. And, since I had limited time to formulate the recipe, I basically copied it out of Brewing Classic Styles and finally did another 5 gallon batch. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly except that I didn't have the right hops so the IBUs are probably going to be a bit off. I kind of guesstimated. Hopefully it won't be overly bitter or cloyingly sweet but somewhere in the acceptable zone for the style.


Mild
5 gallons

7# Maris Otter
8oz Crystal 60
6oz Crystal 120
4oz Chocolate Malt
2oz Black Patent

All hops 60 min
.2oz Kent Goldings, 5.6%
.2oz Tettnanger, 4.5%
.1oz Warrior, 15% 

Union Jacks M07 Yeast

Expected OG/FG/IBUs/ABV: 1.03 / 1.011 / ?? / 3.2%

Brewed 10/13
Brewday went well, but my efficiency was high, I ended up with about 5.25 gallons of 11.2B / 1.045 SG beer.

Split into two 3-gallon carboys. And pitched at about 65F. By the next day, one carboy was going pretty well with quite some krausen, though the other had only slight krausen. Perhaps one carboy got more yeast than the other.

On 10/13 the second carboy was developing a full head of krausen. 

Rye Porter Review

Someday I ought to brew a 5-gallon batch exactly as it appears on the recipe.  This porter is a scaled version of the one from Brewing Classic Styles but also with some grain substitutions. I guess one never knows how the altered recipes compare to JZ's award-winning recipes, although of course every brewer has a slightly different system and technique, so even with unaltered recipes your mileage may vary. In any case, let's see how this one turned out.

Appearance: Dark brown with tan head. Not completely opaque but pretty close. The head lasts.

Aroma: Pretty subdued by I get some roasty and chocolate notes. Coffee-like aroma, with no hop character. The aroma becomes more bready and grainy as the beer warms to proper serving temperature.

Taste: Stronger than the smell, again, roasty and chocolatey, and a little bit acrid. Sweetness is there but minimal. Bitterness is low. I think it should be a little bit sweeter.

Mouthfeel: The first thing I notice is that this beer seems to have a creamy texture without feeling heavy. It's kind of like Guiness in texture. Carbonation is on the low end of medium.

Overall: Pretty good, although I could do without the slight acrid note and I think it should be a little bit sweeter. My wife really like it. I may enter this into an upcoming competition.

 

Brett IPA #2

 My last Brett IPA turned out well enough to share 1st place in a club-only competition. Turns out there's another competition coming up, and the 3 best beers in that one will be brewed professionally and ultimately judged by their sales in the brewery's tasting room. So why not try again?

The only change for this recipe is that I added 2oz of acid malt to try to encourage the brett to produce some nice tropical fruit esters.

Brett IPA
6# Breiss 2-Row
6oz Munich Malt
4oz Victory Malt
4oz White Wheat
2oz Acid Malt

Mash at 152F

.375oz Nugget, 13%, 60min
.5oz Cascade, 6%, 10 min
.5oz Centennial, 10.5%, 10 min
.5oz Cascade, 6%, 5 min
.5oz Centennial, 10.5%, 10 min
1oz Nelson Sauvin, 12%, 1 min

1oz Nelson Sauvin, 12% - Hopstand, 5min @ 210F, 30min @ 180-140F

.5oz Nelson Sauvin, .5oz CTZ, .5oz Centenial, dry, 7 days

WLP644

Expected OG/FG/IBUs/ABV: 1.062, 1.016 (or less as Brett is highly attenuative), 54, 5.9% (or slightly more depending on attenuation).

Starter made on 10/4 with 50g DME and 500ml water, lightly hopped. The yeast was washed from my previous batch of Brett IPA.

Brewed 10/5/14
Brew day went well - not much to say except that I hit my numbers pretty well including gravity and volume. The whirlpool step did seem to be quite a bit cooler than last time, dropping into the 150F - 140F range over the course of 30 minutes of whirlpooling.

I got the beer to about 90F before putting the kettle in the basement to cool to pitching temps.

Pitched when the wort was around 65F, a bit colder than last time but I hope that will not be a problem. Did not aerate, as per last time.

10/6/14, 6pm - Beer was fermenting nicely at 64F, which is on the cool side, but tomorrow I will move it upstairs for a temperature boost.