No Quarter Smoked Porter Review

Appearance: Deep mahogany body with thick tan head, which persists nicely and sticks to the side of the glass. Opaque.

Aroma: Smoky but not the smack in the face of smoke that a classic rauchbier could have. It's mixed in with some sweet maltiness and earthy hops. Overall moderately intense aroma.

Taste: Sweet malty, smoke seems subdued to me. Kind of some bready, roasty notes, mixed with smoke. Quite bitter in the aftertaste but the bitterness does not taste as strong as a DIPA. The bitterness blends well with the other flavors, perhaps surprisingly. Not too removed from a more normal robust porter.

Mouthfeel: Thick and chewy. Low-moderate carbonation.

Overall: It's very good, but I don't think it's as smokey as some of my previous smoked beers. The flavors blend surprisingly well, since I didn't think a the smoke would go well with the high bitterness.

I am beginning to think that flavors in beer are often more about the balance of flavors than their strength. Here, although it's very bitter, my tongue cannot simultaneously perceive very bitter and very smoky - instead the kind of blend into one. This same recipe but with less bitterness probably would taste smokier. You cannot turn everything to 11.

RIS + Parti-Gyle Brew Day

I recently bough two sacks of bulk grain (GW-2ROW and BZ-PILS) but I still had around 30 pounds of Maris Otter malt around. Wanting to use up the MO, and hoping to brew a high-gravity beer that could occupy a fermenter for a long time, I decided to re-brew the BCS RIS. And I figured, why not, let's parti-gyle to get some type of "small" experimental beer. It was pretty improvisational and experimental so I am very curious how the "small" beer will turn out.


BCS Russian Stout #2
Brewed 4/22/15

Batch Size: 5gal
75 min boil

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                                        Type          #        %/IBU        
19 lbs                Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM)           Grain         1        82.6 %       
1 lbs 8.0 oz        Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)                  Grain         2        6.5 %        
1 lbs                 Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)                    Grain         3        4.3 %        
8.0 oz                Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)                Grain         4        2.2 %        
8.0 oz                Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)                 Grain         5        2.2 %        
8.0 oz                Pale Chocolate Malt (200.0 SRM)          Grain         6        2.2 %        
1.60 oz               Magnum [13.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min         Hop           7        53.9 IBUs    
2.00 oz               Fuggle [5.00 %] - Boil Hop                                        8        8.9 IBUs     
2.00 oz               East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil Hop           9        1.1 IBUs     
1.0 pkg               Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007) [35 Yeast         10       -            
.5 pkg               SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast         11       -    

Starter made on 3/19. Got just over 5 gal into the fermenter, including starter and trub. Slightly under volume. Pre-boil OG was 1.08. Added .75# DME to increase to this OG.

Cooled to 65F, pitched entire starter, and added ~.5 packet of S-04 to make sure everything would completely ferment. Pitched around 3:45. Placed in 65F ambient.

Parti-Gyle Meta Session Porter or Something ??

Batch Size: 3gal
60 min boil

Mash Efficiency Expected ~ 30%

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                                        Type          #        %/IBU        
19 lbs                Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM)           Grain         1        82.6 %       
1 lbs 8.0 oz        Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)                  Grain         2        6.5 %        
1 lbs                 Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)                    Grain         3        4.3 %        
8.0 oz                Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)                Grain         4        2.2 %        
8.0 oz                Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)                 Grain         5        2.2 %        
8.0 oz                Pale Chocolate Malt (200.0 SRM)          Grain         6        2.2 %        
.25oz                 Centenial, 15%, Boil 45 min
.25oz                 CTZ 15%, Boil 10 min
.25oz                 Centenial, 15%, Boil 5 min
.25oz                 CTZ, 15%, Boil 1 min 
.25oz                 Centenial, 15%, Boil 45 min 
.5oz                   CTZ, 15%,  Steep
.5oz                   Centenial, 15%, Steep

 Mash: Add ~ 4.25 gallons of boiling water to completely drained RIS mash. 

I'm a bit afraid that with the large volume of dark grains, high "mash" temp and potential for tannin extraction with the low expected gravity of the parti-gyle, I am afraid of getting some nasty astringency, which I might be able to cover up with some hopiness. This beer is experimental.

Pre-boil OG ~1.030. Got 3.25 gallons into the fermenter.  

Cooled to ~70F. Pitched .5 packet of S-04 around 5pm. Placed in ambient air of ~65F. 

Brewday Note: Not too exhausting if planned well and 2 burners (1 outside, 1 stove, in my case) are used. Do not attempt parti-gyle unless you have your brew day down fairly well. I had two batches boiling at once and I was running around like a monkey to manage everything. 

3/23/15 - RIS had a good but not huge krausen, session-porter no krausen but a few bubbles.

4/23/15 (Approx.) - Racked RIS to secondary.

10/31/15 - Began soaking 1.5oz Medium-Heavy Toast American Oak cubes in ~ 1/2 cup of "Benchmark Old No. 8" whiskey. Oak was boiled for a few minutes to sanitize. Will add to secondary soon.

11/10/15 - Added oak and whiskey to the RIS. Plan to keg, force carbonate and then transfer to bottles in early January.

1/5/16 - Racked to keg. Purged head space and began force carb. Plan to bottle with my new "Last Straw" counter-pressure filler.

King Titus II Review

Appearance: Dark mahogany, not quite black. with a nice tan head that dissipates a little too quickly but leaves a thin coating of bubbles on the surface of the beer.

Aroma: I get the fruity smell of Columbus hops and a malty-sweet aroma. An interesting mix. Gets maltier as it warms.

Taste: Hoppy up front, mixed with sweet, chocolate, roasty flavors. Bitter at the end. The flavors may not meld together super smoothly, but overall it works. In the taste I would say the roasty quality dominates over the hops.

Mouthfeel: Thick and chewy. Moderate carbonation

Overall: A pretty complex porter with a significant hop character, lots of roasty-chocolatey malt flavors, and a thick body. N

Not sure how closely it matches the real King Titus at this point, but nevertheless a pretty enjoyable brew.

Double Brew Day - Smoky Beers

Double Brew Day
I did my first double brewday this weekend, brewing a Classic Rauchbier using the Brewing Classic Styles recipe and the other a scaled version of the No Quarter Smoked Porter  recipe that I found on the AHA's website. The experience was pretty fun since I was with two buddies who were also brewing, but also a bit hectic. Not to mention that I was moderately hungover in the morning.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Classic Rauch, 5 Gal BCS
Style: Classic Rauchbier
TYPE: All Grain

--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.74 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.62 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal  
Bottling Volume: 4.85 gal
Estimated OG: 1.063 SG
Estimated Color: 16.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.1 IBUs
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type       
5 lbs 9.6 oz          Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)                 
4 lbs 8.0 oz          Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM)                           
1 lbs 12.0 oz         Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)                        
12.0 oz               Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)                  
4.0 oz                Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM)                      
2.0 oz                Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)      
       
1.50 oz               Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min        
0.50 oz               Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min 

1.0 pkg               German Lager (White Labs #WLP830)            


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 15.6 oz
----------------------------
Name                    Description                             Step Temp Step Time    
Mash In                 Add 16.22 qt of water at 168.5 F        156.0 F       45 min       
Mash Out                Add 6.49 qt of water at 202.4 F         168.0 F       10 min       

Sparge: Batch sparge with 3 steps (Drain mash tun , 1.31gal, 1.31gal) of 168.0 F water

4/11/15 - Bottled today. I must have really fucked up the volumes since I ended up w/ 4 gallons in the bottling bucket, and I added priming sugar for 5 gallons. I will likely release some of the gas by cracking over the bottles slightly in order to avoid over carbonation and bottle bombs.Yikes!!

Brewed 2/28/15
Made starter with WLP830 saved from my Schwarzbier on 2/25/30.

Didn't take gravity readings. Boiled for 90mins. It went smoothly. Cooling was fast with the cold weather and ice-cold cooling water.

I believe I undersparged, and ended up with about 4.25 gallons in the fermenter. Cooled to about 50F, blasted with 30 sec Oxygen, then pitched. Placed in fermenting fridge pre-programmed for a lagering schedule, at about 10pm. The following morning, no activity, but good fermentation by Monday evening.

Topped off with 1 gallon boiled and cooled water to reach correct volume. 

No Quarter Smoked Porter - 3 Gal
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 4.71 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.59 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 3.25 gal  
Estimated OG: 1.085 SG
Estimated Color: 50.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 118.3 IBUs

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                 
7 lbs 4.0 oz       Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)             
2 lbs 6.0 oz          Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM)                       
1 lbs 4.0 oz          Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)                
14.0 oz               Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)
       
1.21 oz               Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min           
1.21 oz               Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min           
1.21 oz               Willamette [5.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  6 Hop   
    
1 pkg               Safale American  (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)  Yeast    


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name                    Description                             Step Temperat Step Time    
Mash In                 Add 14.69 qt of water at 168.2 F        156.0 F       45 min       
Mash Out                Add 5.88 qt of water at 202.4 F         168.0 F       10 min       

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 0.98gal) of 168.0 F water

Brewed 2/28/15
Mashing and sparging went well, hit my temps OK and got the right volume of wort, though my MLT was quite full and drained slowly. I suspect I may need to adjust my mill for a slightly coarser grind.

Pre-boil gravity was about 1.072, so pretty good.

Cooled to 110F, racked to better bottle, and allowed to cool overnight to ~60F. Pitched on Sunday morning.

By Monday afternoon, good activity, in 65F ambient air.

Celebration Clone Review

This beer was brewed so that the brew club I'm it could have a clone competition with another brew club in the region. The competition was supposed to have been this last weekend but was delayed to due a series of snowstorms that set a record for most snow in shortest time, so this review was written without being biased by the results of the competition.

Appearance: Hazy dark orange. Moderate head that sticks to the side of the glass but dissipates fairly quickly, leaving a thin coating of bubbles over the surface of the beer.


Aroma: Pretty decent hop aroma. Classic aroma of Cascade and Centennial combination, similar to beers I've made before with those two hops. Fruity, peachy, mango-y. Not much dankness or piney quality in the aroma. I don't detect a malt backbone since it's overshadowed by the hops.

Taste: Follows the hop smell but adds a moderate bitterness at the finish, with some dankness in the flavor. Malty sweetness is there too but moderate. Good hop flavor.

Mouthfeel: Full mouthfeel but with moderate-low carbonation. Aftertaste is bitter but not overpoweringly so. Nice malty sweetness balances the bitterness pretty well.

Overall: I'm happy with both the hop aroma and flavor. This is a very pleasant IPA that has great Cascade / Centennial hoppiness. Bitterness is appropriate for the style but on the low to moderate range. It's not a bone-dry West-coast IPA but veers towards and East-Coast IPA, as was intended. Usually the hop aroma and flavor of my beers deteriorates pretty quickly, but for this one I may put them all in my beer / lager fridge, which currently I'm not using for any fermenting or lagering beers.

Compare and Contrast: As I recall the Celebration, my homebrew is more aromatic, more bitter, and less sweet. The color is nearly correct though mine is cloudy, while the Celebration is clear. Unfortunately I could not find any Celebration Ale at the local beer stores, since it's a seasonal brew that presumably won't be available until the end of 2015.

Review of Meads

Normally, beer is my fermented beverage of choice. But variety is good. So, I made a mead about a year ago, and let it age for some time, splitting it up into a "traditional" batch and a "fruit" batch. Since it was my first attempt at this beverage and I wanted to keep my costs down, I used mainly ingredients from Costco, with the expectation of making a drinkable but not great product. Here are my tasting notes, although I've been consuming this product slowly since maybe June 2014.

Traditional Mead
Appearance: Translucent light yellow. Crystal clear.

Aroma: White wine like. Floral, sweet, not completely like honey. Prominent but not intense. Some alcohol in the nose.

Taste: Initial taste is like the nose: sweet, floral, white wine. The honey comes in later, while definitely there it lacks the very strong taste of pure honey. Alcohol notes in the finish but fortunately it doesn't have a nasty alcohol burn.

Mouthfeel: Body is medium to medium full, smooth. Zero carbonation. Sweetness adds to perception of body.

Overall: A pretty wine-like mead, with subdued honey characteristics and medium-low sweetness. Pleasant, but I wish it had more of a distinct



Fruit Mead
Appearance: Crystal clear red, almost purple color.

Aroma: Huge sweet fruit aroma. Mainly raspberries but perhaps some darker fruits like blackberries. Honey aroma is overpowered by the fruit.

Taste: Fruity, but less so than the nose. I get a definite tannic quality from the skins of the fruits, which helps to give the mead a dry red-wine like character. Sweetness is lower than in the traditional mead. Sadly I really don't get much if any honey character. Alcohol is muted by the strong taste of the fruit and tannins.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full. Tannins give it some body. Zero carbonation. Leaves a tannic-dry aftertaste.

Overall: Pleasant, wine-like mead with an interesting mix of fruit and tannic. Lacks significant honey taste or aroma.

Overall
Next time I make mead, I think I will use better quality honey and yeast specifically made for mead. These drinks are tasty but are too wine like in my view.

King Titus Clone Re-Brew

This is a rebrew of my King Titus clone attempt, but with a couple of small changes.

King Titus Clone Attempt #2
6.250# US 2-Row
1# Munich 10L
1# Flaked Oats
8oz US Crystal 40
8oz Chocolate Malt
8oz US Crystal 80
3oz Light Chocolate Malt
3oz Roast Barley

Mash at 152F, 75minutes

5/8oz Warrior, 13.7% AA, 60min
1/4oz Columbus, 15.2% AA, 15min
1/4oz Columbus, 15.2% AA, 5min
1/4oz Columbus, 15.2% AA, 1 min

US-05

 Expected FG/OG/IBUs/ABV: 1.076, 1.017, 46, 7%

2/6/15
Made a started w/ washed US-05. Didn't get much activity from the starter but by the time I pitched into the wort it was picking up a bit. 


Brew Day 2/8/15
Prepped a starter from some washed yeast the day before the brewday. By the time I started heating the strike water the starter was slowly fermenting.

Actual mash temp was 152F.


Got about 4.5 gallons pre-boil at 1.066 gravity. Boiled for 95 minutes.

Cooling went slowly because my stupid submersible pump thought there was an electrical fault, so I used the ice-bath method.

Oxygenated with my new oxygenation wand. Cool!

Pitched when the wort was at 65F at around 3:30pm.

2/9/15, 1pm. No signs of activity yet. 63F ambient.