Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Oaky Smokey Porter Review

Aroma: A combination of oak chips and smoke, but dominated by oak. A bit one dimensional. Some toasty Munich malt in the background. Hop aroma is none. Sweetness is low.

Appearance: Very dark with some ruby highlights. Thick, persistent head with small bubbles.

Taste: Starts with some toasty and bready malt notes, crystal sweetness, and surprisingly only a hint  of smoke. Dark coffee or chocolate note as well. At the end, an oaky quality. Not super tannic or tart. The oaky quality is one dimensional, I find. Bitterness is moderate with some earthy hop character.

Mouthfeel: Pretty thick and chewy. Carbonation is low to moderate. Oak leaves a dry impression on the aftertaste.

Overall: OK. I wish the smoke came through more and that the oak character was more complex and subtle.Next time will use cubes of varying toast instead of chips.


Monday, November 13, 2017

Brett Saison Review

This review is for the 3 gallon part of the Sour 6 gallon brewed on March 19, 2017.

Aroma: Light bretty funk notes. Grainy pils in the background. Surprisingly doesn't have much in the way of fruity Belgian esters. Hop aroma absent.

Appearance: Billowing white head with very thick texture, clear straw body.

Taste: Dry, bretty funk notes. Pils malt mostly hidden by brett character.  Some tannic quality from the wood. Slight tartness. Bitterness seems moderate but could be confusing it with the tannic  dryness.

Mouthfeel: Surprisingly full bodied but also effervescent. Weird.

Overall: Ok, not great. Lacks brightness and the refreshing lemony character of some brett beers.


Wheatwine 2 Brewday

Recipe: BJCP Wheatwine
Style: Wheatwine
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.64 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.51 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal 
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.116 SG
Estimated Color: 12.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 73.9 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU       
5.50 gal              Boston, MA                               Water         1        -           
8.00 g                Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent   2        -           
5.00 g                Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins)        Water Agent   3        -           
2 lbs                 Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM)                     Adjunct       4        7.3 %       
6 lbs                 Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)                Grain         5        22.0 %      
4 lbs                 Triticale (3.0 SRM)                      Grain         6        14.7 %      
4 lbs                 Wheat Malt, Dark (9.0 SRM)               Grain         7        14.7 %      
3 lbs                 Munich (BestMälz) (7.6 SRM)              Grain         8        11.0 %      
3 lbs                 Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)            Grain         9        11.0 %      
1 lbs                 Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)    Grain         10       3.7 %       
1 lbs                 Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)                    Grain         11       3.7 %       
1 lbs                 Wheat - Red Malt (Briess) (2.3 SRM)      Grain         12       3.7 %       
8.0 oz                Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)                  Grain         13       1.8 %       
4.0 oz                Acid Malt (3.0 SRM)                      Grain         14       0.9 %       
1 lbs 8.0 oz          Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM)         Sugar         15       5.5 %       
0.25 oz               Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 45.0 min        Hop           16       7.0 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Cascade [9.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min         Hop           17       6.8 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Centennial [9.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min      Hop           18       6.6 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Pacifica [5.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min        Hop           19       3.8 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Cascade [9.30 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           20       3.8 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Centennial [9.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min       Hop           21       3.6 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Pacifica [5.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min         Hop           22       2.1 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Cascade [9.30 %] - Boil 1.0 min          Hop           23       0.8 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Centennial [9.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min       Hop           24       0.8 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Pacifica [5.20 %] - Boil 1.0 min         Hop           25       0.5 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Cascade [9.30 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  15.0 Hop           26       4.7 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Centennial [9.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  1 Hop           27       4.5 IBUs    
1.00 oz               Pacifica [5.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  15. Hop           28       2.6 IBUs    
2.0 pkg               California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast         29       -           
1.0 pkg               Safale American  (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)  Yeast         30       -           


Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 27 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name                    Description                                          Step Temperat Step Time   
Mash Step               Add 31.61 qt of water at 108.7 F                     104.0 F       10 min      
Mash Step               Add 0.00 qt of water and heat to 131.0 F over 10 min 131.0 F       15 min      
Mash Step               Heat to 146.0 F over 10 min                          146.0 F       40 min      
Mash Step               Heat to 158.0 F over 10 min                          158.0 F       15 min      
Mash Step               Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min                          168.0 F       15 min      

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 4.07gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11/8/17: 2L starter with the liquid yeast/

Brewed 11/11/17

Direct heat on oven, constantly recirculating with March pump. Some problems w/ clogging pump. Problematic in terms of keeping the entire mash at the right temperature, stirred occasionally with mash paddle. But more or less seemed to hit temps within a couple of degrees after stirring the mash. This is a time consuming process.

Collected 7.4 gallons of pre-boil wort, 1.077 SG, before sugar addition.

Began boil, added sugar after 45 min.

At knockout, my counterflow chiller got clogged with the large volume of hops. Stirred the wort a bit with my big spoon, then went to Plan B - using my immersion cooler. Chilled to 80F by using near freezing cooling water.

Racked about 5.25 gallons to carboy. Wort looked kind of ruddy brown color - not appealing. May have gotten some darkening from the direct heat mash and / or the long boil. Or maybe the triticale gives the beer a grayish color.

OG was ~ 1.106. So, not great efficiency. Brew day did not go well.

Allowed to cool to 62F. Around 10pm, oxygenated 90s, pitched decanted starter and rehydrated dry yeast.

11/10/17: 8am, fermentation starting. By the morning of 11/11, very active fermentation.

1/5/18: Wheatwine has been in secondary for about a month, with about .75 gal of headspace. Brewed a 1.25 gallon top up with a similar grain bill and pitched some champagne yeast and US-05. Once the fermentation on that was slowing, racked it on to the wheatwine, leaving very little headspace. There was some continuing fermentation as the fresh and alcohol tolerant yeast consumed the remaining simple sugars.

1/19/18: Gravity was 1.020. Sample had a wheaty, malty taste, with thick body, definite alcohol bite, moderately sweet taste balanced by alcohol. I found the booze a bit sharp. Hoping it will melow as the beer ages.

Partigyle Meta-Hefeweissen:

Added 3.25 gallons of 155F water to the mash, collected ~ 3 gallons. Boiled 30 minutes, adding .25 oz of Cascade at start of boil.

Naturally cooled in the winter air overnight. Oxygenated 30s, pitched recycled WLP380 yeast directly from the decanted mason jar.