Tasting Notes

for Eaties for my Wheates v0.1

I had a tough time with this one…particulars were failing me a bit. I’ll probably update in the near future.

• Appearance – Pours very fizzy small white head, base beer is quite cloudy and adding yeast from bottle makes it a bit more. Head disappears pretty quickly to small ring of bubbles around the edge. Color is dark honey.
• Smell – bananas and all-spice, a faint light citrus on the end.
• Taste – hint of graininess and sweet with a good carbonic bite, finishes with a bit of the light fruit/bananas and german yeasty flavors. Finish is on the dry side.
• Mouthfeel – A bit of a bite up front, then pretty creamy from the carbonation. The finish is dry, but I can’t tell if that is the carbonation or hops.
• Drinkability & Notes – Not bad for the first whack on the new system. Definitive German Wheat beer flavor. Head retention is a problem, likely from the lack of proper mash temps.

Tasting Notes

for Twisted Enkel Blonde (extract)

• Appearance – foamy white head, pours 2 fingers deep. nice lacing, after 5 min ends up as chunky foam on top of beer. Color is light golden, quite hazy.
• Smell – big yeasty phenols, light fruits in background.
• Taste – definitely get light fruit flavors – apple/pears. yeasty phenols back it up, almost spicy. Slight hop flavor and a very dry finish, the hops and dryness balance the initial fruits nicely.
• Mouthfeel – Big creamy carbonation and then a very dry finish. Leaves the roof of your mouth dry, and begs you to drink more of it.
• Drinkability & Notes – Friggin Yummy. I am bummed it was a VSS yeast, as I’d do this one again in a heartbeat. The balance is there, but this might be a touch dry. It is a fairly complex beer for being fairly low gravity. It is certainly fun to drink pint after pint on a nice summers night. I think this yeast would be a good choice for Belgian Trippel or Golden Strong.

I’m baaaack! I’ve got a lot of writing to do to catch things up – a new brewroom and construction, new brewing system and a lot of beer ‘learning’ done in the last few years.

Pleasantries dispensed, on with the brewing. This was the first brew on the new system. Temperatures be damned…

Recipe

Eaties For My Wheaties

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------
15-A  German Wheat and Rye Beer, Weizen/Weissbier

Min OG:  1.044   Max OG:  1.052
Min IBU:     8   Max IBU:    15
Min Clr:     2   Max Clr:     8  Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal):         6.00    Wort Size (Gal):    6.00
Total Grain (Lbs):       10.68
Anticipated OG:         1.0471    Plato:            11.702
Anticipated SRM:           5.2
Anticipated IBU:          14.4
Brewhouse Efficiency:       70 %
Wort Boil Time:             60    Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

   %     Amount     Name                          Origin        Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 56.2     6.00 lbs. Weyermann Pale Wheat          Germany        1.0380      2
 34.3     3.66 lbs. Pilsener                      Germany        1.0380      2
  7.2     0.77 lbs. Munich Malt                   Germany        1.0370      8
  2.3     0.24 lbs. CaraMunich 60                 France         1.0340     60

Hops

   Amount     Name                              Form    Alpha  IBU  Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 16.00 g.     Hallertauer Tradition             Pellet   6.24  14.4  60 min.

Extras

  Amount      Name                           Type      Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  0.50 Tsp    Yeast Nutrient                 Other     15 Min.(boil) 

Yeast
-----
WYeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen

Mash Schedule
-------------
Mash Name: Fix_40_60_70

Total Grain Lbs:   10.68
Total Water Qts:    8.52 - Before Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal:    2.13 - Before Additional Infusions

Tun Thermal Mass:   0.22
Grain Temp:        65.00 F

                     Step   Rest   Start   Stop  Heat     Infuse   Infuse  Infuse
Step Name            Time   Time   Temp    Temp  Type     Temp     Amount  Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glucan/Enzyme Prep     2     15    113     113   Infuse   130        8.52   0.80
Beta Amylase           3     10    122     122   Infuse   208        1.12   0.90
Alpha Amylase          5     45    152     152   Infuse   208        6.31   1.49
Mashout               10     15    172     172   Decoc    210        6.69   1.50 (Decoc Thickness)

Total Water Qts:           15.94 - After Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal:            3.99 - After Additional Infusions
Total Mash Volume Gal:      4.84 - After Additional Infusions

Notes
-----
Need 1.04L starter with 1 pk yeast 

Crack lid on bucket for primary, skim nasty crap.

Brew Day Notes

• Brewed 2010-06-13

• Hops Loss is 8mo @5F, original 6.9%AA.

• Mash was a big ol’ hot mess. Here is the actuals I ended up with:

  
  Mash Schedule
  -------------
  Mash Name: Fix_40_60_70
  
  Total Grain Lbs:   10.68
  Total Water Qts:    8.52 - Before Additional Infusions
  Total Water Gal:    2.13 - Before Additional Infusions
  
  Tun Thermal Mass:   0.22
  Grain Temp:        68.00 F
  
                       Step   Rest   Start   Stop  Heat     Infuse   Infuse  Infuse
  Step Name            Time   Time   Temp    Temp  Type     Temp     Amount  Ratio
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Glucan/Enzyme Prep     2     15    113     113   Infuse   129        8.52   0.80
  Beta Amylase           3     10    127     127   Infuse   201        2.02   0.99
  Alpha Amylase          5     45    146     146   Infuse   173        8.92   1.82
  foo                    5     30    152     152   Decoc    212        2.12   1.34 (Decoc Thickness)
  Mashout               10     15    172     172   Decoc    210        8.00   1.50 (Decoc Thickness)
  
  Total Water Qts:           19.45 - After Additional Infusions
  Total Water Gal:            4.86 - After Additional Infusions
  Total Mash Volume Gal:      5.72 - After Additional Infusions
  

• First runnings @ 11.6°B

• Run off after plate chiller very cloudy

• Collected 5.5 gal @ 12.3°B (1.048) into fermenter. No starter, pitched two smack-packs after 60s O₂

Fermentation Notes

• Fermented at 64F
• +16hrs scraped foam from primary

• +18hrs foam through blow off, really hammering along

• Tues night: most airlock activity stopped

• 2010-06-23 – FG 1.012. ADF 78.4%, bumped to 68F to ensure finished.

• 2010-07-09 Bottled, still 1.012. Added 202g Corn Sugar for 3.5 volumes CO₂.

Tasting Notes

• 2010-07-24: First Tasting

I am a big fan of beer fit for the current season. Summertime for me means fairly light and refreshing brews – lots of lawnmower beers as it were. One style I’ve started poking around is American Wheat. There are a lot of crap ones out there, but I consistently enjoy Widmer Hefeweizen. To me it is a nice beer with some actual backbone and character, not like its style-mates. Oh yeah, my sisters both like this style too — so I’m going to give them each a case for their belated birthday presents.

Besides that, trying to clone a commercial beer is a good technical challenge. Widmer has pretty good info on their website, so it is just a matter of trying to put the pieces together, brew it, taste it side-by-side, then tweak and redo.

If that weren’t enough fun, I wanted to benchmark my all-grain process against consistent and known materials like DME and LME. I’ll brew the “same” recipe in both extract and all-grain, then compare the results. It should give me a good benchmark to shoot for….

Recipe

Widmer Hefe Extract Clone v0.1

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal):         6.00    Wort Size (Gal):    6.00
Total Grain (Lbs):        8.17
Anticipated OG:         1.0485    Plato:            12.035
Anticipated SRM:           6.4
Anticipated IBU:          31.3
Brewhouse Efficiency:       70 %
Wort Boil Time:             60    Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

   %     Amount     Name                          Origin        Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 14.7     1.20 lbs. Briess DME- Weizen            America        1.0430      8
 73.4     6.00 lbs. Briess LME- Weizen            America        1.0360      4
  8.0     0.65 lbs. Munich Malt(2-row)            America        1.0350      6
  3.9     0.32 lbs. Crystal 40L                   America        1.0340     40

Hops

   Amount     Name                              Form    Alpha  IBU  Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  7.00 g.     Warrior                           Pellet  13.43  13.6  60 min.
  8.00 g.     Nugget                            Pellet  12.11  14.0  60 min.
 18.00 g.     Cascade                           Whole    4.22   1.7  1 min.
 18.00 g.     Willamette                        Pellet   4.63   2.0  1 min.

Extras

  Amount      Name                           Type      Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  0.50 Tsp    Yeast Nutrient                 Other     15 Min.(boil) 

Yeast
-----
WYeast 1007 German Ale

Mash Schedule
-------------
Total Grain Lbs:    0.97
Total Water Qts:    2.50 - Before Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal:    0.63 - Before Additional Infusions

                     Step   Rest   Start   Stop  Heat     Infuse   Infuse  Infuse
Step Name            Time   Time   Temp    Temp  Type     Temp     Amount  Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mash Out               5     10    169     169   Infuse   183        2.50   2.58

Total Water Qts:            2.50 - After Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal:            0.63 - After Additional Infusions
Total Mash Volume Gal:      0.70 - After Additional Infusions

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.
All infusion amounts are in Quarts.
All infusion ratios are Quarts/Lbs.

Brew Day Notes

• Brewed 2010-07-06
• Extract brew in the morning, all-grain in the afternoon.
• Warm bastard – ran 5k early that morning and never quit sweating…but still beats going to work on a Tuesday!
• Used Meusdoerffer Munich
• Held ~3lbs of LME until last 15min of boil.
• I couldn’t find Millennium or German Magnum hops, so I went with Nugget.
• Whole Cascade hops are from 2007 – still nice and green in the FoodSaver vaccuum bags.
• Collected 6gal @ 12.5B (1.0495)

Fermentation Notes

• 1.2L starter made night before. Just O2 and intermittent shake, no stir plate. I needed more time – should have done this 5 days before to give the poor flocc’ing yeast time to drop. Decanted ~0.5L, pitched rest.
• Fermented at 64F
• Needed a blow off tube – blew huge foam the first few days, then slow and steady for 2 weeks.
• 2010-07-13: 1.016. Huge tropical fruit nose and taste
• 2010-07-17: 1.012. Done – 74.5% ADF, 4.94% ABV. Cleaned up nicely, this one should be good.
• 2010-07-17: kegged, put into kegerator at 11PSI and 42F to carbonate.
• 2010-07-30: Bottled 24x 12oz bottles for sisters.
• 2010-08-04: Keg kicked while sister was here.

Tasting Notes

• 2010-07-27: First Tasting

I brewed this extract kit beer as the first beer on the new system. I wanted something extract based to limit the amount of new equipment to get used to…and to get some damn beer on tap! With winter and construction, it had been 6 months since I brewed last. Thankfully the kegs of Helles and Dunkel held out until very nearly the end.

This was one of the special Northern Brewer kits. Links to their legacy site recipe and PDF. I added cane sugar to make sure it dried out.

Anyways, here we go…

Recipe

Twisted Enkel Blonde

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal):         6.00    Wort Size (Gal):    6.00
Total Extract (Lbs):      6.85
Anticipated OG:         1.0431    Plato:            10.735
Anticipated SRM:           4.0
Anticipated IBU:          21.5
Wort Boil Time:             60    Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

   %     Amount     Name                          Origin        Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 45.3     3.10 lbs. Northern Brewer Pilsen LME                   1.0360      2
 29.2     2.00 lbs. Briess DME- Pilsen            America        1.0430      2
  3.6     0.25 lbs. Biscuit Malt                  Great Britain  1.0350     35
 10.9     0.75 lbs. CaraPilsner                   France         1.0350      8
 10.9     0.75 lbs. Cane Sugar                    Generic        1.0462      0

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

   Amount     Name                              Form    Alpha  IBU  Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 28.34 g.     Hallertau Hersbrucker             Pellet   2.80  11.5  60 min.
 17.00 g.     Czech Saaz                        Pellet   3.56   8.8  60 min.
 14.00 g.     Czech Saaz                        Pellet   3.56   1.2  5 min.

Extras

  Amount      Name                           Type      Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1.00 Unit(s)Whirfloc Tablet                Fining    10 Min.(boil) 
  0.50 Tsp    Yeast Nutrient                 Other     10 Min.(boil) 

Yeast
-----
WYeast 3864 Canadian/Belgian ale (Wyeast Private Collection Strain)

Brew Day Notes

• Brewed 2010-05-31
• Brew day was a breeze – really no major problems with all new equipment.
• DME left out until last 15min – no need to boil it all again.
• Forgot to add whirfloc. This is what happens when you get lazy.
• Collected 5.5gal at 11.2°B (1.044), pitched yeast at 68F on 60s O2.

Fermentation Notes

• Fermented at 67F
• 2010-06-07 @ 6°B
• 2010-06-09 @ 5.5°B
• 2010-06-13 @ 5.5°B (1.008), ADF 80.8%, 4.72% ABV
• 2010-06-17: kegged at 19PSI and 42F for 3.0 vol CO2.

Tasting Notes

• 2010-07-19: First Tasting
• 2010-07-24: Keg kicked during a fun night of friends and fire pit. All agreed it was pretty darn good, too bad the yeast is out of stock now. I might try this one again with one of the other Belgian yeasts.

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. 

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

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.