Raspberry-Brett Saison

Originally planned as a cherry-brett saison, this one transformed into a raspberry beer since I could not find fresh sour cherries. In any case this beer is now a few months old and ready to drink.

Appearance: Medium pink in color with thin white head. Nearly clear but slight haze. Stunning body color, with hings of yellow pils malt color at the bottom of the glass. Lots of bubbles are rising to the surface from the bottom of the glass.
 
Aroma: Pronounced raspberry essence with bretty funk in the nose. A bit of a dry acidic quality. The raspberry aroma is not overpowering of the bretty funk - leaving a pretty balanced aroma. Not clear how much of the aroma is bretty fruit esters or raspberry.

Taste: Again good mix of raspberry taste with some acidic and tannic quality, but mixed with bretty funk. Dry. Bitterness is medium and it is a herbal, floral character. Fortunately the flavors all meld pretty well together. Malt flavors are very low as the fruit, yeast, and hops are the stars here.

Mouthfeel: Dry, a little tannic and fairly light and well carbonated.

Overall: This turned out very well. It's well balanced between the different flavor elements involved. The raspberry blends well with the brett and the bitterness. I may bottle a bit more of this to see how it ages, but otherwise I like it fresh. Will bring bottles to the brew club meetings to see what the club members have to say.

Oktoberfest 2 Brewday

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: BCS Oktoberfest 2
Style: Märzen
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

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: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 11.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 73.9 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
5.50 gal              Boston, MA                               Water         1        -            
2.00 g                Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins)        Water Agent   2        -            
2.00 g                Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent   3        -            
5 lbs                 Caramel Pils (BestMälz) (2.5 SRM)        Grain         4        38.5 %       
3 lbs                 Vienna Malt (Briess) (3.5 SRM)           Grain         5        23.1 %       
2 lbs                 Munich I (Weyermann) (7.1 SRM)           Grain         6        15.4 %       
2 lbs                 Munich II (Weyermann) (8.5 SRM)          Grain         7        15.4 %       
1 lbs                 Caramunich II (Weyermann) (63.0 SRM)     Grain         8        7.7 %        
1.50 oz               Tettnang [2.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min        Hop           9        9.6 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Sterling [7.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min        Hop           10       11.2 IBUs    
0.50 oz               Tettnang [2.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min        Hop           11       1.6 IBUs     
1.0 pkg               Old Bavarian Lager (White Labs #WLP920)  Yeast         12       -            


Mash Schedule: 150F, Mash Out, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs
----------------------------
Name                    Description                                          Step Temperat Step Time    
Mash Step               Add 17.25 qt of water at 162.8 F                     150.0 F       60 min       
Mash Step               Add 10.40 qt of water at 203.6 F                     168.0 F       10 min       

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 2.53gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
-----

Brewed 8/14/16. OG was 1.061, a bit too high. Got ~5.5 gallons. Cooled to 45F overnight.

Pitched decanted starter on 8/15/16, 7pm. Aerated by shaking carboy as oxygen regulator was not working. May pitch a packet of S-34/70. The beer will slowly rise to 50F over a 24-hr period.

8/16/16, 7pm, about 24 hours after pitching, no visible signs of fermentation. Beer was close to the 50F fermentation temp.

8/17/16: About 48 hours after pitching, beer had been at 50F for ~24 hours, and despite lack of proper oxygenation there was a decent krausen and airlock activity going. Nevertheless to ensure complete and fast fermentation I pitched 1 packet of S-34/70 yeast after rehydrating it first in boiled water.

Sculpish IPA Review

Well this is now my 2nd beer designed at least partly to blow through some old hops. Granted in this case the hops were still in sealed bags that had been cold-stored, but they were fairly old. As this results of this brew demonstrate, fresh ingredients are very important, especially for hops. And, there are probably some other problems with the recipe.

Appearance: Deep orange body. Hazy, but not unappealing. Slightly tan off-white head with good persistence and decent lacing. Carbonation bubbles stick to side of glass.

Aroma: Low intensity classic American hop mix. Well-balanced between dankness and fruit. But does not jump out of the glass like it should.

Taste: Eh. Mix of bitterness, with kind of weird crystal malt character. Not offensive but not great. Maybe a little bit of diacetyl. Dry, but the crystal malt comes through.

Mouthfeel: Good body, carbonation a little high for IPA. Dry. Leaves a fairly clean bitterness in the aftertaste.

Overall: It does not approach the Sculpin' IPA. It's OK. Need more hop oomph. Probably I would not use crystal malt but rather Munich and maybe some Carapils.

Sculpish IPA Clone Attempt

Continuing on my purge of rather old hops, I decided to make something like the great Sclupin IPA. A clone recipe was posted in the latest issue of Zymurgy, but I made some ingredient substitutions. Also the hops are from several years ago. (Sadly my proclivity to buy them was greater than my proclivity to brew with them). In any case they probably have less AA and overall hoppy goodness than would be optimal, even though they have been stored in the freezer the whole time and are in unopened vacuum-sealed bags.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Sculpish IPA
Style: American IPA

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal  
Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.074 SG
Estimated Color: 10.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 67.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 76.7 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
14 lbs                Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM)   Grain         1        92.6 %       
10.0 oz               Caramel/Crystal Malt - 75 (Bairds) (75.0 Grain         2        4.1 %        
8.0 oz                RedX (BestMälz)  (15.2 SRM)              Grain         3        3.3 %    
    
0.75 oz               Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.50 %] - FWH     4        37.4 IBUs    
0.50 oz               Chinook [9.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min         Hop           5        8.0 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Crystal [2.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min         Hop           6        1.8 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Chinook [9.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min         Hop           7        5.0 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Chinook [9.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           8        2.6 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Crystal [2.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           9        0.6 IBUs     
1.00 oz               Amarillo [7.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  15. Hop           10       5.1 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Chinook [13.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  15. Hop           11       4.7 IBUs     
0.25 oz               Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [14.00 %] - Hop           12       2.5 IBUs      

1.0 pkg               Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Trois (White  Yeast         13       -    
        
1.00 oz               Amarillo [8.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days     Hop           14       0.0 IBUs     
1.00 oz               Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.50 %] - Hop           15       0.0 IBUs     
1.00 oz               Crystal [2.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days      Hop           16       0.0 IBUs     


Mash Schedule: 150F, Mash Out, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 2.0 oz
----------------------------
Name                    Description                                          Step Temp Step Time    
Mash Step               Add 4.73 gal of water at 162.9 F                     150.0 F       60 min       
Sparge            Drain tun Add 2 gal of water at 170 F                     168.0 F       10 min       
Sparge            Drain tun Add 2 gal of water at 170 F                     168.0 F       10 min    
 Notes:

AA% are approximate, likely to be lower than stated. 

Boston Water, 1/2 g CaCl and 1g gypsum per 5 gal of brewing water.
--------- 

7/2 - Starter with re-used Sac. Trois. 1L.

7/4 - Brewed. A little high (152F) on the mash temp.
 Split my sparging into 2 equal-sized batches instead of 1 big one. Preboil OG was ~1.057. Post-boil was 1.068.
Got ~5.5 gal into fermenter, leaving about 3/4 gallon of hoppy trub in the kettle. 
Cooled to 60F. Oxygenated 60 seconds, pitched decanted starter. Placed carboy in 66F ambient basement.

7/5 - Good fermentation activity. Lots of krausen. 

7/6 - Moved to 70F ambient area. Still good airlock activity and krausen.

 

Decoction Hefeweizen

Hefeweizen is a wonderful style for the summer but it's not one I've managed to get quite right so far. Besides from controlling the temp of the fermentation well, some people suggest a decoction is essential to the style. This recipe calls for a single 30 minute decoction to raise the temp of the mash to mashout temps. It's slightly lower in ABV than a normal hefe, so as to be sessionable.

Decoction. Looks great.

Recipe: Session Hefeweizen
Style: Weizen/Weissbier


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.88 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal 
Bottling Volume: 5.23 gal
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 3.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 8.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 71.9 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU       
5 lbs 8.0 oz          Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)                Grain         1        61.1 %      
3 lbs 8.0 oz          Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)            Grain         2        38.9 %      
0.25 oz               Sterling [8.20 %] - Boil 75.0 min        Hop           3        8.2 IBUs    
1.0 pkg               Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) Yeast         4        -           


Mash Schedule: Med Body, False Decoction
Total Grain Weight: 9 lbs
----------------------------
Name                    Description                                          Step Temperat Step Time   
Sach I                  Add 11.25 qt of water at 175.2 F                     154.0 F       30 min      
Mash Step               Decoct 3.73 qt of mash and boil it                   168.0 F       25 min      

Sparge: Batch sparge with 3 steps (Drain mash tun , 2.63gal, 2.63gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
1/2 tsp Gypsum, 1/2 tsp CaSO4 in brewing water. No starter.
------

6/26/16: Brewed.

Brewday went OK. I didn't really measure the volume of wort quite right and ended up under volume. Hit my mash temps and boil OG ok, but not sure where I ended up after adding the decoction back.

The decoction may have not been quite wet enough for some of the time. It also had this kind of gross looking brown color. We'll see.

Cooled to 61F, oxygenated ~25 seconds, and pitched yeast packet, which was fully swolen.

6/27/16: Fairly active fermentation, with temp controller set at 61F (the temp inside the vessel will be higher because fermentation generates some heat.) Oddly, there was little krausen even though the surface of the beer was kind of bubbling and high airlock activity. Weird.

7/4/15: Crash cooled to 35F.

7/6/15: Kegged with 2.5 oz sugar, for ~3 volumes. Moved keg to 74F ambient air.

Hop Smosh Review

Can a beer with a mish-mash of old hops from opened bags be any good? Probably not. Such is the case with the beer I brewed a few weeks ago to finally get rid of some old hops.

Appearance: Dense, fluffy and persistent white head. Light orange body, with significant haze. Carbonation bubbles visibly moving up through the beer.

Aroma: Not intense. Piney, minerally, lacks fruity quality or intensity.

Taste: Eh. Plain malt, spicey bitterness, minerally quality. I do get a little bit of fruity taste, but not much.

Mouthfeel: Light, moderately carbed, a little thin. Could use some crystal malt or a more flavorful base like MO or Munich.

Overall: Eh. I was going for quantity and not quality on this one. But it's not terrible - it's just not good. I wouldn't pay for this beer but I would drink it.

Hop Stew Pale Ale

I had a bunch of opened hop baggies in the freezer and I wanted to use them. They're old, probably not great, but eh... I could at least see what happens. I don't have high hopes for this one but we'll see how it goes. This is a pale ale style beer with fruity Sacc-Trois yeast.

Hop AA% and amounts are approximate. This whole brew day was improvisational in nature.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Hop Stew
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.88 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.88 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal  
Bottling Volume: 4.85 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 5.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 35.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.3 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
8 lbs                 Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM)    Grain         1        82.1 %       
10.0 oz               Munich Light                                            Grain         2        6.4 %        
10.0 oz               Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)                  Grain         3        6.4 %        
8.0 oz                Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)                Grain         4        5.1 %        
1.00 oz               Sterling [8.00 %] - Boil 25.0 min        Hop           5        20.5 IBUs    
0.50 oz               Tettnang (Tettnang Tettnager) [4.00 %] - Hop           6        1.5 IBUs     
1.00 oz               Amarillo [7.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min         Hop           7        1.2 IBUs     
0.75 oz               Centennial [8.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min       Hop           8        1.0 IBUs     
0.25 oz               Chinook [11.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min         Hop           9        0.4 IBUs     
1.00 oz               Lemon Drop [4.60 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  2 Hop           10       5.1 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Simcoe [11.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  20.0 Hop           11       6.1 IBUs     
1.0 pkg               Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Trois (White  Yeast         12       -            


Mash Schedule: 154F, Batch Sparge, Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 9 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name                    Description                                          Step Temperat Step Time    
Mash Step               Add 16.19 qt of water at 165.5 F                     154.0 F       60 min       
Mash Step               Add 7.80 qt of water at 202.0 F                      168.0 F       10 min       

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 3.05gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes: Water adjustments - Boston, balanced.
------

5/12/16: Starter with leftover WLP644 from my previous batch.

5/15/16: Brewed. Starter had fermented out.

Brewday went OK. Slightly below desired mash temp.

Whirlpooled ~ 25 minnutes, 210F for a few minutes, coooled to 180F, held for 10 mins, then 10 mins @ 160F-140F. Smell was OK - hoppy but not super intense.

Got only 5 gallons of wort into fermenter. Cooled to about 67F then pitched decanted starter. Shook carboy a little to aerate slightly.

OG was 1.049, so not bad, but below desired volume. 

5/16/16, 5pm: Fermentation going well. Nice krausen. Ramped temps to 69F to get tropical esters from yeast.