Primary fermentation of the Belgian Pale Ale appeared to be finished last Thursday. The airlock was inactive so I gave it one more day (for a total of seven). When I returned home from work on Friday I racked the brew to a 6.5 gallon carboy for secondary fermentation.
I was nervous that with all of the little glitches I had on brew day that it may be undrinkable. Fortunately at the time of racking everything appeared to be great. The aroma, flavor, and color all were spot on. The attenuation wasn't as high as I would have liked to see. Specific gravity hadn't fallen as much as I had hoped (the sample that I measured was 1.021 @ 73 degrees). This leaves the ABV hovering right around 3%.
Of course this has just as much to do with the original gravity as it does the current gravity. I had trouble maintaining a high enough temp while mashing which in turn didn't allow me to reach the target original gravity of 1.050. This is the weak link in the process right now but I have a few ideas to improve the situation next time around. Hopefully the gravity will drop further. I would like to reach an ABV of around 4.5%, if not it should prove to be a very drinkable session beer that I'll enjoy in this warm weather.
For the first time in over six months I had the opportunity to brew. I had all of my equipment rounded up, the sight glass and thermometer installed in my kettle (thanks Kevin), the ingredients, and most importantly the time needed. So when I got home from work this past Friday afternoon I went straight to it. For my first batch in Texas I decided on a Belgian Pale Ale (one of my favorite styles). The recipe is my own and is loosely based on Ommegangs BPA. Here is what I came up with:
2.25lbs Belgian Pale Ale malt
0.5lbs Caravienne malt
0.5lbs Caramunich malt
0.25lbs Aromatic malt 0.125lbs Biscuit malt
3.625lbs Total
4.00lbs Extra Pale liquid extract 1.00lbs Munich liquid extract
5.00lbs Total
I've decided to step back from All Grain brewing for a bit. Now that I'm on my own the already time consuming all grain method is compounded by not having a second (or third) set of hands to help. Yet extract brewing just isn't challenging enough anymore. So this leaves me in the partial mash neighborhood. The brew in a bag method just doesn't appeal to me. It feels too close to steeping specialty grains for an extract brew. I know that it is an actual mash but I need more control.
I have spent much of my free time (of which there has been plenty) since moving to Texas researching and developing a process for partial mash brewing. So after weeks of reading and picking the brains of co-workers I developed a method of mashing in a 5 gallon converted igloo cooler and doing a single batch sparge. Here is the process:
Day before:
Filter and pre-boil 7 gallons of H2O
Record ph of water (adjust if necessary for the style)
Create yeast starter
Brew day:
Sanitize all equipment
Heat up liquid extract to improve viscosity
Preheat mash tun
Heat mash water to 168 degrees
Mash in in at 166 degrees at ratio of 1.5 qts / 1lb of grain (target temp is 152 degrees)
Stir to insure that there are no dry pockets
Mash for 60 minutes stirring every 20 minutes record temp each time
Heat sparge water to 170 degrees
Batch sparge a single time with a ratio of 1.75 qts / 1lb of grain
Vorlauf
Drain to boil kettle
Add H2O to bring boil volume to 6 gallons
Add liquid extract and stir for several minutes
Increase temp and bring to a boil
Boil for 90 minutes
Add bittering hops at boil
Add flavor hops at 15 minutes left
Add aroma hops at 5 minutes left
Chill wort to < 78 degrees
Transfer to primary fermenter
Aerate for 20 minutes
Pitch yeast
Seeing as this was the first time that I brewed this recipe, the first time using my partial mash method, and the first time I used 90% of my equipment, I was expecting a few hiccups. Well, I got them.
The first issue was difficulty maintaining mash temperature. When I checked the temp after 20 minutes it has dropped down to 139 degrees. Much lower than I was aiming for. Mashing in any higher wasn't an option either. Next time I may mash out doors the entire time instead of starting in my kitchen where it is 72 degrees.
The next issue I ran into was the newly installed sight glass on my boil kettle kept boiling over even though the kettle itself never even came close to doing so. There was also a minor leak in the sight glass compression fitting. Should be a simple fix. I have to take it apart to clean it anyway.
The last real issue I had was scorching the wort. I thought that I was stirring frequently enough but Clearly I wasn't. I fished out as much of the scorched extract that was floating in the wort as I could and the rest was filter out by the strainer as I transferred to my primary fermenter. So hopefully it doesn't cause a terrible off flavor.
Some of the scorched extract from the bottom of the kettle.
Despite the issues I really enjoyed myself. I think that the process is solid and only needs a few minor tweaks. The biggest issue was reaching my target original gravity of 1.050. The actual O.G. was 1.044. I'm not terribly disappointed with that number but I know that it can be improved. Maintaing a higher mash temp and not losing fermentable sugars by burning them to the bottom of the kettle should do the trick. The yeast seems to be very healthy, the airlock is bubbling away at a vigorous rate.
It was a blast using all of my new toys. I especially like my new refractometer and 30' Immersion chiller. Both worked exceptionally well. I was able to cool the wort down to 75 degrees from 218 in under 25 minutes with an ambient air temp of 80 degrees.
I'll have an update in a few weeks once this batch has finished fermenting. I'm dying to try it so I can brew another batch and refine the recipe (and technique). I have a ton of styles lined up and am looking forward to brewing them all but I'm not in a race. I'm really concentrating on the quality of both the brew and the process. So the next batch I brew will be another BPA. After that I'm going to cover Amercan and English pale ales.
As always I'm open to any feedback so feel free to post comments or questions.
So, I've finally gathered enough equipment to brew my first batch since making the move to Texas (Working at Austin Homebrew Supply for the past month has definitely helped the cause). I have been debating about which style to brew first. With summer on the way and temperatures already climbing into the mid 90's here in central Texas I don't want to brew anything that would be to big and heavy. I want to keep it refreshing. So I have decide to brew a series of Pale Ales. The first being a Belgian Pale Ale, with English and American styles to follow.
My new low-tech equipment and work table in the garage.
I've picked next Saturday (5/14/11) as my brew date for my first batch of BPA. I've spent the past few weeks developing a partial mash process that I am extremely excited to try out. I've also been pouring over several BPA recipes and weighing their strong and weak points against what I enjoy about the style. More on all of this in a few days.
My favorite example of a Belgian Pale Ale is Ommegang Belgian-style Pale Ale (even though it is brewed in Cooperstown, New York about 4 1/2 hours drive east of Buffalo). Not only is it a great example of the BJCP style (16B) it is a great beer in general, one of my favorites in fact. So today I'm going to spend some time with Ommegang BPA as it is the bench mark for my own brew.
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: Unknown
Vessel: Nonic (poured from an 12 oz bottle)
Appearance: The first thing that grabs your attention is the tremendous fluffy bone white head (which has impressive retention). As you drink the glass down there is a moderate amount of lacing left behind. This brew pours a clear golden color which appears to me to be around the 7 -8 SRM. Clarity is very good. It's a handsome pint. (5/5)
Flavor: Fruity with just a hint of peppery flavor as I first sip brew. Orange and grape fruit flavors begin sweet and finish just slightly sour. Smooth, sweet and toasty malt that finishes with a strong biscuit flavor that lingers on the palate. There is little hop flavor ( a taste a bit of cascade citrus likely from their addition as a dry hop). A nice hoppy bitterness finishes the sip and balances the malt perfectly(4.5/5)
Mouth Feel: Medium-light bodied. Perfect carbonation level for the style. Ever so slightly warming but no detectable alcohol. Clean and refreshing.(4.5/5)
Overall: I love this beer. Its balanced perfectly which is a rare treat. I can't wait to cool down with this in the July heat of central Texas. Usually I'm not a fan of lingering flavors but the biscuit left between sips is really nice. It's just sweet enough, just bitter enough and has a wonderful mouth feel. It is one handsome fellow when poured into a glass. (18/20) 90%
I'm excited to put my skills as a home brewer to the test next weekend. This isn't a big beer or anything off the wall. In fact Belgian Pale Ale is a wonderful style that is just the opposite. It is balanced in a way that is uncommon and that is where the challenge lies. Its takes a steady and light hand to create a delicately balanced beer. By using Ommergangs BPA as a benchmark I feel that over the course of a few batches I will be able to create an outstanding beer. Stay tuned for a post about the brew session, recipe and techniques next week.
This past saturday Mr. Joe White hosted the Texas Carboys club Brew-in at his home in Leander, TX. Three 7 gallon all-grain batches in 6 hours. Everything was brewed in preparation for the club picnic on May 21st. The brews were a Pale Ale, Porter, and a Weiss beer.
I arrived a bit late and ended up having more to do with the clean up than the brewing but I enjoyed myself all the same. I don't have the recipies to share but I will try to get them in time for my post about the club picnic.
44 quart stainless steel kettle with spigot and 55,000 btu propane burner with 16" frame. Both from Bayouclassiccooking.com shipped to me for under $170 in only three days.
If you're interested the kettles with spigots are available in two sizes 36qt and 44qt. There are also many sizes available with out spigots and a wide variety of propane burners to choose from. I did alot of shopping and this kettle is definately the best value that I could find. Its a nice thick gauge steel and feel much nicer than others I have seen and cost less than half of what Blichman or Polarware kettles go for. Use discount code bcc10 for 10% off of your entire order.
Earlier this year I wrote about the AHA sanctioned competition Amber Waves of Grain. The competition took place this past weekend. well unfortunately I was unable to attend due to the 1600 miles between the competiton venue and myself but Aaron did on saturday.
Aaron entered several beers that brewed on his own since I moved, along with the Bavarian Dunkelweizen and Fruit Cake Ale that we brewed last autumn. I knew that he was going to enter the Dunkelweizen but I just found out today that he also enter our Fruit Cake Ale when he called to tell me that it took first place in the Holiday Beers catagory! Click here to view the competition results page. If you scroll about half way down you'll find the Holiday Beers catagory. All of the beers were entered together under Aarons name (less mine) so that is the way it appears in the results.
This is a compete suprise. I was unaware that it was even entered and I haven't even had the opportunity to taste it yet (it was not finished fermenting at the time I left NY). My In-laws (Aarons parents) are coming to visit my wife and I in a few weeks and they are going to bring a few bottles down. I'm really honored to have done so well in an AHA sanctioned competition. This makes me miss brewing with Aaron even more.
I do not yet have all of the equipment I need to begin brewing again. Aaron and I shared what we had and most of what we used stayed with him in Buffalo. Until I purchase some new carboys and a burner I can't brew again. So this left me thinking about alternatives like wine and mead. When I typed "mead" into the You Tube search engine one of the first videos I came across was the band Amon Amarth conducting a how to session. The video is pretty humorus and some of their methods are questionable. I got a kick out of it.
We've kept ourselves busy lately, creating some new gadgets and brewing regularly. Aaron put converted two igloo coolers into lauter and mash tuns. He found a great way to make the lauter tun in the newest issue of Zymurgy. It involved using two braided stainless steel plumbing hoses by cutting off the ends and removing the rubber lining. Then they were looped and secured to a brass T fitting which is attached to a ball valve. This will allow the wort to flow out but none of the grains. The other conversion simply involved removing the plastic spout the cooler originally came with and adding a brass ball valve.
The Barley wine and Stout have both finished fermenting and have been transferred to 5 gallon soda kegs. I was nervous about the Barley wine because it sat in secondary fermentation for a while longer than I would have liked after the airlock stopped bubbling. I also read after the fact that dry hopping should only be done 3 to 4 days before bottling. We dry hopped (and added oak chips) for almost 3 weeks. Upon tasting at the transfer from secondary fermentation to the kegs Aaron we both pleasantly surprised. The Barley wine was awesome. I can wait to taste it once it has aged for 9 months. It was hoppy but not too much, nor was it bitter or astringent. The flavor from the oak chips was nice as well. I'm glad we took the liberties that we did with this recipe. We plan on bottling both batches this week. For the barley wine we plan on using 22oz bottles.
Here's a few quick specs on both.
Gene, Aaron and I brewed a bock this past Thursday evening. This was the first lager that any of has brewed. So naturally we needed to refresh ourselves. It may be March but it's still cold outside and brewing beer and eating pizza is hard work. I picked up a 22oz bottle of Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale that I had heard good things about on the Hopry. I was satisfied with it and it was a great value for the $4.79 I paid for it at Wegmans. On that note I was not exactly blown way (its no imperial double IPA) but I would pick it up again. I poured a nice amber color and had a good hop flavor but it was not very floral or aromatic. It did hold a decent head for an IPA.
So now that I've got myself thirsty I guess I can talk about the Bock brew. This was not only the first time that we have brewed a lager it was also the first time that we used tap water. I purchased an on-the-faucet Brita filter to get rid of all the impurities in the water. I also tested the ph level which was 5.6. We made no modifications to the water other than filtering it.
The recipe called for a whopping 8lbs of powdered malt extract! We started by boiling the specialty grains in 1 1/2 gallons of water. We then used a 1/2 gallon of water to do a bit of a pseudo sparge to extract as much as we could for the grains. I say pseudo sparge because we used the water at temperature, we did not heat it.
More first time methods on this brew included using the stainless steel conical fermenter and an aquarium air pump to aerate the wort before pitching the yeast.
First things first. It's hard to get the job done with out refreshments. Klumbacher Mönchshof Schawarbier filled the pints this evening. This was the first time that I have had a Schwarz beer. It takes some getting used to. I found it off putting at first. It has a strong maltly aroma, it's dry for a lager and mildly hoppy. The ABV is 4.9% which may be why I found this so odd at first it has the heft and maltyness of an Imperial porter or a Dopplebock yet is not particularly strong. The flavor reminded me of some strange combination of a pretzel, an oatmeal stout and pumpernickle bread. Although we consumed it by itself it seems it would pair nicely with a hearty earthy meal. All of this sounds strange but as I drank I grew to enjoy it more and more. By the time the pint was empty I found myself wishing there was more. I am looking forward to trying this style from other breweries.
One side note is that the three of us are now official members of the American Homebrewers Association.
Aaron and I brewed up the first two in a series of five 1 gallon batches maple beer last night. Three of the five recipes are from Sacred and herbal healing beers (Buhner). The fourth is a recipe that I found on http://www.beerrecipes.org/ . The plan is to brew the four recipes that we have, take notes on what worked well and what we liked and then use what we learn to formulate our own recipe. Both recipes that we brewed last night came from Sacred and herbal healing beers (Buhner). Each was simple and used few ingredients and no malt whatsoever. One of the recipes called for spruce extract, which when mixed with maple syrup has an intoxicating, earthy-sweet aroma.
Testing the PH of the water (which was 5.2)
The next two recipes are a bit more complex and should be challenging. One uses wheat malt extract and is more of a beer in the traditional sense than the other recipes. Once the first four batches are ready we'll taste and take notes. Aaron will be posting detailed reviews of each brew along with the recipes to follow. Then it's on to the fun part, formulating our own recipe!
We transfered the Barley Wine to secondary fermentation. Dry hopped and added oak chips (first time using that tecnique). Fermentation started up again after a short while. Hopefully the gravity will drop and so will the problems with this one.
It was also the first time that we used the new grain mill which works awesome when used with an electric drill.
Aaron (reading) and Gene (stirring) in my driveway while we brewed a Murpheys stout clone on sunday afternoon. I don't have any technical data about the brew at hand. Aaron is going to write a review of the recipe shortly, so I'll leave that to him.
