Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Pints: Blonde Ale #1

Most of the beers I brewed last year where somewhere dark.  Nothing really lighter than an amber.  So by the fall, I was interested in brewing something a little lighter.  I ended up brewing a blonde ale based off of the very popular Centennial Blonde recipe (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=42841).  I simplified the recipe a bit so I wouldn't have to measure anything too precisely, and the end result was enjoyable even to people who like the really light beers. 

Ingredients/Basic Process
  • 4# Maris otter
  • .25# crystal 10
  • .25# Vienna malt
  • 60 minute boil
  • .25oz centennial @ 30minutes
  • .25oz centennial @ 15 minutes
  • .5oz centennial @ 0 minutes
  • 1 package rehydrated Nottingham yeast
  • Single infusion mash at 149F for 60 minutes.
  • Mash out at 170F for 20 minutes
This was my first all grain batch where I actually hit my expected efficiency.  The secret was campden treated city water.  Brew day was nothing special otherwise.   I was a little concerned with the fermentation though.  It took a couple days before it started showing signs of life, but once the nottingham got going, it fermented it all the down.  Towards the end of fermentation, after checking the gravity, I forgot to screw the lid all the way back on.  Fortunately, it didn't hurt anything. 


Shortly after being put on gas
I won't be brewing it exactly this way again.  I will probably change up the base malts a bit; use some standard two row with the maris otter.  Also, I might try to incorporate some cascade hops like the original recipe has.  But all in all, it was great; something I will brew if I know (far) in advance that visitors will be drinking my beer.  After the pictures are my notes.

On tap with stout #1 and the pumpkin ale

Towards the end of the keg.  Very tasty
HERE BE MY NOTES
10/17/2015: brew day.  Used bigger mash bag, still kept anova directly in the water.  Treated about 3.5 gallons of city water with campden.  Strained out larger particles with fine mesh bag.  Gravity after mash was brix 10.5.  Gravity going into fermentor was 1.05.  Starting fermentation at 60F.  Hit the gravity properly.  Recipe predicted 1.051 for 2.5 gallon batch size.  It seems that the water was the problem.

10/20/2015:  finally got a krausen this morning...

10/22/2015: gravity is about 1.013.  Removed from temperature control.

10/25/2015:  gravity is 1.01.

10/29/2015: kegged?  Realized the lid had been mostly unscrewed since the last gravity check.  Hopefully not screwed up too bad.  Gravity was about 1.009.

11/18/2015: put on gas

11/19/2015: tasting.  A little darker than I would have liked.  A hazy golden color.   Maybe it was oxidation?  Floral smell with a hint of skunkiness and honey.  Decent head retention and lacing.  Fairly dry and crisp.  Bit of sweetness perceived.  Some breadiness in the flavor.  Pretty good overall.

12/4/2015: tasting.  Toast like aftertaste.  Crisp, and it has cleared nicely.  Hops contribute a slightly lemony flavor.  Will be brewing again, maybe with different hops.  Is a crowd pleaser though, as Joe likes it.

12/5/2015: keg kicked.  264oz served.

Pints: W00tstout Clone Kit

For christmas in 2014 I was given the Wil Wheaton W00tstout kit from Northern Brewer.  Its a big beer with a big ingredient list; loads of LME and DME, toasted pecans, cocoa powder, and aged on bourbon soaked oak cubes with a starting gravity of 1.108.  After reading about it I had to brew it; it just sounded so damn tasty.

The brew day was fairly uneventful.  The only real issue I had was that I used a steeping bag for the grain that was too small; I don’t think I got as much of the color out of it as I could have, and it ended a little lighter than I thought it would.  I made a starter for it to make sure I had enough yeast for a strong fermentation, and I made the full 5 gallons in one go, splitting it between my two fermentors.  I would later regret this a bit...4 gallons of 12-13% beer takes a long, long time to drink. 

After 3 months I hooked the keg up to gas, force carbed it, and had a taste.  It was...a little rough around the edges.  Very flavorful, and no hints of rubbing alcohol or other nastiness.  Almost syrupy, as there was a fair bit of residual sweetness in it.  For the rest of the year I would slowly drink it, and it gradually got better and better.  My tasting notes throughout that time are at the bottom.  In August I was able to taste the genuine article at the Flying Saucer in Nashville.  The clone I brewed was pretty close, but the real thing was a lot better.  The flavors just meshed better and were a lot richer.

Towards the end of the keg I bottled about a half gallon of it to age for longer.  I popped the first of these one year after it was brewed (Feb 2015).  Let's just say I look forward to the last two bottles.
An early shot of it.  The head lasted quite a long time.

A pour from the aged bottle.  I think its pretty.
HERE BE MY NOTES:
1/28/2015:  made a starter.  2L of water, 8oz of LME.  Two packets of US05.  Should yield approximately 2x as many yeast cells as are needed for beer of this gravity.  Gravity of the starter is about 11brix.

1/31/2015:  brew day.  Made in one large batch.  Followed the recipe.  Didn't turn out very dark; looks more like an amber...  Split between the fermenters and split the starter.  Theoretically pitched about 200billion cells apiece.  Starting fermentation at 62°F.  Pitched at 4pm.

2/5/2015:  fermentation continues.  god damn does it taste bad right now.  Upped temperature set-point to 66F to keep fermentation going strong.

2/7/2015:  gravity is about 1.042.  Concerned about stalling.  Raised temp to room temperature.

2/24/2015:  gravity is steady in the low 1.02 range.  Its a little high, but it is an extract batch. Brix is really high, around 13.  Not fermenting any more.  Going to cold crash for several days in preparation for ageing in a keg.

3/5/2015:  started bourboning the oak cubes.  Used Jim Beam Black bourbon.

3/6/2015:  incidentally, the bourbon got better tasting after only a day on oak.  Will need to experiment with this.  Kegged the w00tstout into the 5 gallon keg and dumped the bourbon and oak cubes into a mesh sack so they can be retrieved easily.  The sample I took before kegging tasted pretty good.  Still green, but I think its going to be really good.  Might be a bit sweet though, I don't think it fully attenuated.

8/9/2015:  tasting.  Finally carbed up.  Took a long time and had to shake it.  Head falls after a few minutes.  Smells slightly boozy.  Maybe a touch of vanilla and roastiness.  Bit of dried fruit as well.  Looks like a porter, some light can get through.  A deep brown.  Thick mouthfeel, sweet.  Touch of bourbon and vanilla.  Gentle bitterness. Tastes rich, but not overly boozy.  Some spiciness on the tongue.  Very good for sipping.  Not as good as the real thing though.  Burns a bit on the way down.

8/11/2015:took off of gas and am moving to storage for a while.  Was starting to get good, wonder what a few months will do.  272oz consumed/bottled so far.

10/22/2015: put back on gas.  keg was still well pressurized (no leaks, yay).  Tastes better now.  Still too sweet, but the flavors are developing.

11/18/2015: 94oz consumed.

11/29/2015:  tasting.  Pruny dark fruit smell.  Very mellow, slight buttery impression.  Bit of flavor from the oak cubes.  Very good at this point.  The sweetness has balanced a bit.

12/16/2015: keg kicked.  Bottled 2 22oz bombers.  Served 534oz total

2/26/2016:  opened bottle that's been aged for one year.  Has taken a buttery flavor that many bourbon beers seems to have.  The sweetness has faded a little bit, or maybe it's blended better.  Some nuttiness is apparent as well.  Smoother, no weird flavors anymore.  Mouthfeel has thinned slightly as well.