Category ArchiveBeer Brewing



Beer Brewing 07 Oct 2009 08:24 pm

Tuesday Night Dubbel (v0.1)

Hang in there – I’m trying to get a decent structure here for posting recipes and getting salient updates as I keg, taste, etc.

For now, here is the Dubbel I did recently. The recipe is mostly from BLAM, but some changes from BCS too. The name is a throwback to Penn and the Tuesday night half-priced pitchers at the White Dog. Our brew of choice: Flying Fish Abbey Dubbel. I’m pretty sure we didn’t miss a single non-holiday Tuesday night for over a year…good times!

Coming Soon: Actual data from brew day.


Recipe: Tuesday Night Dubbel
Brewer: Nicholas Henke
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Belgian Dubbel
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (40.0) Bottling: very nice, clean, dark fruits starting to show, bit of yeasty nose

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.25 gal      
Boil Size: 7.70 gal
Estimated OG: 1.070 SG
Estimated Color: 16.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 23.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
9.25 lb       Pilsen (Dingemans) (1.6 SRM)              Grain        71.15 %       
1.00 lb       Munich (Dingemans) (5.5 SRM)              Grain        7.69 %        
0.40 lb       Aromatic Malt (Dingemans) (19.0 SRM)      Grain        3.08 %        
0.40 lb       Biscuit (Dingemans) (22.5 SRM)            Grain        3.08 %        
0.40 lb       Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)                Grain        3.08 %        
0.40 lb       Special B (Dingemans) (147.5 SRM)         Grain        3.08 %        
42.00 gm      Tettnang [3.70 %]  (90 min)               Hops         23.1 IBU      
0.65 lb       Candi Syrup, Dark (80.0 SRM)              Sugar        5.00 %        
0.50 lb       Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM)               Sugar        3.85 %              
1 Pkgs        Belgian Style Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs 575)

Mash Schedule: Double Infusion, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 11.85 lb
----------------------------
Double Infusion, Light Body
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp     
30 min        Protein Rest       Add 10.67 qt of water at 142.8 F    130.0 F       
60 min        Saccrification     Add 9.48 qt of water at 176.6 F     149.0 F       

Notes:
------
More brew notes coming soon...

Bottled 2009-10-07 with 52g Dark Candy Syrup and 122g Corn Sugar - volume was 2" below top bar on 5g carboy, estimating 4.75 gallons. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beer Brewing 09 Sep 2009 03:23 pm

Tractor Brau #1

Here is the recipe and brewing notes for Tractor Brau #1 — my first whack at an American Wheat Ale.


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Tractor Brau
Brewer: Nicholas Henke
Asst Brewer: 
Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 3.00 gal      
Boil Size: 4.53 gal
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
3.00 lb       Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM)     Grain        50.00 %       
3.00 lb       Wheat - White Malt (Rahr) (2.3 SRM)       Grain        50.00 %       
17.23 gm      Williamette [5.50 %]  (60 min)            Hops         25.0 IBU      
4.50 gm       Centennial [10.00 %]  (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SHops          -            
4.50 gm       Williamette [5.50 %]  (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SHops          -            
1.00 items    Campden Tablet (Mash 60.0 min)            Misc                       
1.00 items    Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min)          Misc                       
1 Pkgs        American Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP32Yeast-Wheat                

Mash Schedule: Double Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 6.00 lb
----------------------------
Double Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp     
30 min        Protein Rest       Add 5.40 qt of water at 134.8 F     122.0 F       
30 min        Saccrification     Add 3.60 qt of water at 209.8 F     152.0 F       
10 min        Mash Out           Add 4.20 qt of water at 208.8 F     168.0 F       

Notes:
------
Mash was a bit low - 150F. Chilling took forever (1hr?) - 2 hop cones in chiller. Suck.  Otherwise great - crush seemed a bit fine. Pitched tube at 74F directly to fermenter. Fermented at 69F, krausen nuclear for 2 days (8"), then 4" until 7 days. Color is nice, maybe hint darker so far.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 2009-09-09: Tasting notes so far. OK- was a huge pineapple flavor initially, but seems to be taming down. Good yeast/wheaty flavor – nice cloudy and light. OK. Getting Better with age.

Beer Brewing 19 Jul 2009 07:26 pm

first yeast starter

So my first yeast starter… a few notes:

  • Palmer rocks and has a nice calculator for pitching rates for various starter types (with O2, with stir plate, etc)

  • Working with the stainless diffuser stone is a PITA – just time consuming with the 15min boils to clean/sanitize it.

  • I am too cheap to buy a stir plate yet – I’m saving for my very keezer. From Palmer’s calc it just seemed to increase the amount of starter I needed by ~.5L. The starter seemed to turn out just fine.

  • @#$@# is boiling in an Erlenmeyer flask touchy – friggin boilovers are a constant problem. I’m not sure if this is due to our asstastic smooth top electric stove or if it is just the nature of the beast. I think some foam control might be in order. Other folks seem to love the stuff.

  • It did seem to start to fade (bubble activity) after 18hrs, next time need to get it into the fermenter before that.

  • Lag time: 2hrs. That’s right bitches.

Beer Brewing 18 Jul 2009 01:15 pm

Is this what shoe shopping makes women feel ?

I just returned from the not so local HBS Midwest Supplies, with a bag of goodies for tomorrow’s brew. I’m a fan of their store – more than Northernbrewer – larger and they ship their mail-order catalog supplies from the same location. It seems they have quite a high turnover – for instance, the yeast I got was dated July 14th.

Anyhoo – picked up a 2L Erlenmeyer and oxygenation kit. This will be the first starter and I’m going off of Palmer’s Pitching Calculator. It should be interesting.

BTW – Is this how women feel after hitting a shoe store sale ? If so, I think I get it now…

Below is the recipe I’m brewing tomorrow:
Continue Reading »