Acid Malt vs Lactic Acid Solution

The actual lactic acid content of Acidulated malt, is ~2% (by weight).

The rule of thumb is for each 45.5kg (100lb) of grain, 1% or 455g (1lb) Acid malt will drop mash pH 0.1.  The actual amount of lactic acid present on 455g of Acid malt would be 455g x 2% = 9.1g.

To use a 88% solution for a similar quantity of lactic acid, you would need (9.1g/.88) 10.34g of solution.  At a density of 1.21g/cc, 10.34g/1.21, amounts to 8.54ml/45.5kg

For beers without roasted malts, the HomeBrewTalk "water primer" recommends your grist include 2% Acid malt.

For 45.5kg of grain, 2*8.54ml = 17.08ml lactic acid solution or 0.38ml/kg.  At the recommended dosage, a typical 8.5kg grist would include  170g of Acid malt or about 3.25ml of lactic acid solution.

Source: ajdelange

Update:

Using the noted calculations, I mashed 8kg of Weyermann Pale Ale Malt and 0.5kg of Domestic Flaked Barley with 3.25ml of lactic acid.  The water:grist ratio was 1.3qt/lb.  Important note, my baseline city water is extremely soft.  Also, the CaC03 alkalinity is below 35ppm (~28).  It's great water to build on.  I treated the entire volume of hot liquor (50l) with 12 grams Gypsum and 8.4 grams of Calcium Chloride, the resulting mash pH was 5.6 @ room temperature.    An additional 2ml of lactic acid, total 5.25ml in the mash, resulted in the idea room temperature pH of 5.4.  I actually took a reading at mash temperature as well, hard on the meter I am told, the pH read 5.1-5.2.

100% Amarillo Pale Ale

100% Amarillo, hops @ 15 minutes or less

Fred Bonjour's Amarillo Pale Ale, I subbed Victory and Pacman yeast.  The Amarillo had a distinct funk at first, the orange tangerine notes have only started to come forward after a few weeks in the keg.

Revisited - Pigskin American Brown

Pint from 2nd Keg of Pigskin Brown Ale

So, I likely rushed through the first keg and my initial review doesn't do this beer justice.  It's reeeeally come into it's own, truly.

For the 2nd keg, I opted to forgo the dry hopping, this was most certainly the right call.  It's made a world of difference.  What was once a dank, bitter hop forward beer (with no real character to speak of), has now become a malty goddess.  The Munich and Pale Chocolate malts are playing so well off each other.  Along with the biscuity Pale Ale Malt... what  can I say, a match made in heaven.

I must say however, the Willamette hops added during the boil, are not lost.  There's a supremely balanced floral bitterness which I absolutely adore.  Maybe the First Wort Hops?  Pacman is also glorious.  The beer is all sorts of chewy, beautiful mouth feel, incredible.  All I attribute to this amazing yeast.  What a few extra weeks of conditioning can do to a beer!  I can't wait to make it again!

3rd Rock Pale Ale and Jamil's BCS Scottish 70/-

Pictured left is a Scottish 70/- from Jamil's "Brewing Classic Styles".  In the book he offers two recipes on the same style, one more traditional, the other a modern take on the classic.

I opted the modern version which includes 2-Row, Munich, Honey Malt, both medium and dark Crystal.  Finally Pale Chocolate Malt.

I brewed to an OG of 1040 with a single addition of Target @ 60 minutes for 13 IBU.  I mashed as prescribed @ 158F, fermentation stopped at an FG of 1.014-1.016.  I fermented with 4th gen Pacman yeast harvested from a bottle of Rogue Brutal Bitter.

The beer is excellent!  Lots of character for such a small beer.  Nice body, head retention, great colour.  Could see this becoming a house style.  Easy drinking, satisfying and you can drink two or three and feel fine.  Great social brew for sure.

Pictured right is a late hopped APA.  I call it "3rd Rock".  2-Row, Munich, CaraPils, and a touch of CaraAroma for colour.  OG about 1060.  I followed this with an insane hopping schedule!  Follow me here:

Chinook/Cascade/ Columbus @ 25 min, 15 min, 5 min and 1 min.  IBU count of ~ 36.  Each addition featured a 2:1:1 ratio.  Example 2:1:1 Chinook:Cascade:Columbus followed by 2:1:1 Cascade:Chinook:Columbus followed by 2:1:1 Columbus: Cascade:Chinook.   I then did the same for two dry hops, each 4 days long.  A total 240g for 20 Litres of beer!

First off, the beer drinks nothing like 36 IBU, more like 50 or 60.  It's clear with decent head retention.  Love the colour, classic IPA.  I am picking up some slight oxidation.  I dry hopped this in a secondary which I might not do again.  I have had better success hopping in the keg.  Intense grapefruit and pine flavours.  It's very nice but could do with some more body.  I used 8% CaraPils so perhaps a slightly higher mash temp might be in order.  Nice aroma but not as pungent as I was expecting.  I am getting little from the Columbus.  The Cascade and Chinook shine.  Fermented with Pacman, finishes quite dry.  Drinks like an IPA not the intended APA.

Pigskin American Brown Ale

Brewed on Superbowl XLVIII

45% Dark Munich, 5%ea Crystal 60 and Pale Chocolate Malt.  The Chocolate added late during vorlauf. Target 1060, hit 1057

FWH w/ Willamette, Chinook @ 60 for 20 IBU.  Big hit of Willamette and a smaller amount of Simcoe @ 5 minutes remaining.  45g Keg hop 3:1 w/Willamette:Simcoe.  43 IBU's total

Pacman yeast, fermented ambient (18c), finished high @ 1018.

Great head retention.  Sticky lacing evident.  Medium body, could use more.  Doesn't taste overly sweet contrary to the high finishing gravity (not sure what happened there).  Nicely bittered.  Subtle floral, earthy flavours and aroma.  Hints of roast, loving Pale Chocolate malt.  Could use perhaps another few percentage points of crystal malt.  Nice beer!

Pigskin American Brown Ale

Garbage Porter

Not going into too much detail about this brew.  Basically it was thrown together last moment as a brewing opportunity presented itself.  I used up some bits of malt here and there, a closet cleaner of sorts.

Base malt was mainly Domestic 2-Row (2kg) with some Light Munich (1.5kg) and Maris Otter (1kg) thrown in.  Special grains were Flaked Barley (1kg), Crystal 60 (600g), Chocolate (500g) and Roast Barley (100g).  I had planed for the gravity to be in the 1.060 range but over sparged and ended with 1.050 after the boil.

Hops were Challenger @ 60m (40g) and Target at flame-out (40g).  Supposedly ~45 IBU.

A thin 500ml slurry of BRY-97 pitched @ 17c, fermenting at 18c now.

Update Sept. 14th

Recipe Brewed

Update Sept. 15th

Yeast Pitched @ 9am

Update Sept. 17th

High Krausen last evening, 36hrs from pitch.  Temperatures hitting 18c.
As of 4pm this evening, the Krausen has started to fall (55hrs from pitch), increased the controller temperature to 20c.

Update Sept. 22nd

FG measuring 1.020 @ 68F, primary moved to ambient.

Update Oct. 10th

Kegged and sampled my first pint.  Very nice!  Can use more conditioning time to mellow out the Chocolate malt a touch.

LowTech Honey Ale v1

My wife rarely requests I brew, let alone brew her a certain recipe.  When she does, I listen.  After some R&R on the East Coast this past August, she took a liking to a certain Quebec brewery's Honey Ale.  She asked me to make one so even though it's not my favorite style, how could I say no?

Plan of attack:

• Lower OG (1.046) with Honey addition during Secondary fermentation boosting ABV to 5%
• Add a healthy amount of Crystal and Wheat malts to the mash for body and head retention.  The Crystal malt (CaraMunich I) will hopefully help retain some dextrins and prevent it from going too dry and thin.  Standard mash temperature of 62c/152.6F for 60 minutes.
• As noted, Honey added during secondary.  I top crop yeast from the primary and want to keep the strain as original as possible.  Don't want the yeast to be comfortable with anything other than maltose sugars
• I decided on WLP023 - Burton Ale which has been described as having a slight honey, clover character.  I plan to pitch @ 17c and hold @18c for 72hrs before allowing the beer to free rise and fully attenuate.
• I plan to brew on Saturday

LowTech Honey Ale v1

OG 1.046/ IBU ~20/ SRM ~ 8/ ~23L

80.0% OiO Domestic 2-Row
10.0% OiO Wheat Malt
10.0% Weyermann CaraMunich I

10g of Willamette @ 60 minutes
50g of Willamette @ whirlpool (IBU's calculated as a 15m addition)
500g Wild Blossom Honey during secondary

WLP023 - Burton Ale

Update Sept. 12th

YeastCalc.com

Since the yeast culture was getting long in the tooth (harvested June 24th, 2013), I've pitched the 75ml of compacted slurry to a stater.  At an estimated 10% viability, the original ~ 300B cells is likely down below 30B.  1.2L's should build this back to 190B or so.  Enough for 23L @ 1.046.

Update Sept. 14th

Brewed

Update Sept. 15th

Pitched BRY-97 @ 9am

Update Sept. 16th

Well, that didn't quite work out as planned!  So first off, the WLP023 failed to start.  LowTech IPA v4 had fully attenuated so I move it to secondary with dry hops and re-pitched the BRY-97 yeast to the Blonde Ale.

I missed my gravity (again, Grrr) and this one came out too strong @ 1.050'sih.  Probably a good thing about the WLP023 because I don't think I would have had enough yeast anyways.  I pitched 500ml of very thin slurry which accordingly to Mr. Malty might have even been too much.  I cooled the batch to 17c before pitching the yeast.  Temperature controller set for 18c.  In a couple more days I'll let it free rise and finish off before moving to secondary and adding the honey.

Finally, I had some extra time and decided to brew a batch of Porter.


Update Sept. 17th

High Krausen last evening, 36hrs from pitch.  Temperatures hitting 18c.
As of 4pm this evening, the Krausen has started to fall (55hrs from pitch), increased the controller temperature to 20c.

Update Sept 22nd

FG measuring 1.012 @ 68F, moved to ambient.

Update Sept 24th

FG measured 1.010 @ 68F, primary moved to freezer set for 4c (9 days since pitch)

Update Oct. 10th

This one has been sitting in the keg for a couple of weeks, still seems to have a permanent haze.  There's a flavour I am detecting that I don't quite care for, sorta belgian?  Not sure, needs more time.

LowTech IPA v4 - Whirlpool Hopping

1st Year Centennial Hops

A run of the mill American IPA with hop additions at 60 minutes and flame-out/whirlpool only.  Inspired by the Avery recipes for Homebrewers, I really wanted to find out what kind of bittering, flavour and aroma I could get out of my whirlpool setup.

Brewday wasn't smooth at all.  I missed my target mash temperature (or so I thought) of 65c/149F.  Turns out the calibration on my thermometer is off once again and my attempts to correct, what I thought to be a low mash temperature, were unneeded.

During the correction attempts, I depleted the water reserved for sparging.  Since I don't use a sight glass, I rely on accurate strike and sparge water measurements to correctly predict final volumes into the primary (x-in, y-out).  I didn't want to mess up my pre-measured water and opted to not replace the sparge water (used for mash temp correction as noted above).  Since I didn't rinse the grains as well as I would have liked, the resulting pre-boil SG was lower than anticipated.  I increase the boil time and strength slightly but still fell short of the desired OG (1.055 vs 1.059) and volume (22L vs 23L).

A cam-lock fitting and adapter was added to my MLT.  The intent was to recirculate the wort through a pump and back over top of the grain bed to improve run-off clarity.  Well, the electric leads on the pump must be poorly connected because the power would cut in and out intermittently.  A frustrating experience.  Troubleshooting lead to loss of temperature and wort.  Given these issues, I thought it prudent to conduct a starch conversion test which proved successful.  Apparently, it's really hard to mess up a mash although I gave it my best shot!  To cap it off, I forgot to treat the strike water with Campden.  If I have band-aid beer, I'll know why...

So, what does the recipe look like?

LowTech IPA v4

OG 1.059/ IBU ~75/ SRM ~ 5/ ~23L

84.0% OiO Domestic 2-Row
16.0% Gambrinus Vienna

30g of Columbus @ 60 minutes
120g of Cascade @ whirlpool (IBU's calculated as a 15m addition)
I plan to dry hop with a mix of Centennial, Columbus and Chinook.

BRY-97 America West Coast Ale Yeast (used 1x, making this the 2nd pitch)

I treated my mash water with 3ml of 88% Lactic Acid, 4g of Gypsum, 3.4g of Calcium Chloride and 4.5g of Epsom Salt.  EZWater projected a room temp mash pH of 5.41.  Sparge water was treated with Campden to remove Chloramine from the municipal water.  8g's of additional Gypsum added to the boil. Whirlfloc @ 5m to help precipitate cold break proteins.  Final water numbers: Ca 100, Cl 50, S04 250

At flame-out, the pump/whirlpool was started and 120g of Cascade dumped into the near boiling wort.  The intent was to whirlpool (hot) for 20m but in going with the theme of the brewday... I was distracted when a neighbour popped by for a visit, misread my timer and started the chill water @ 10m (10 minutes too early).  As a result, the flame-out hops had half the hot wort contact time than I would have liked.  After an additional 10m, the whirlpool was shut down and the chiller continued to drop the temperature to around 25c.  At this point the BK was drained to my fermenter.

The primary was placed into the fermentation chamber, STC-1000 set for 17c.  Once at 17c, the wort was well aerated with a Fizz-x for 2-3 minutes before pitching 250ml of cold, compacted BRY-97 slurry.  Based on the age of the yeast (claimed Aug 1, 33% viability), Mr Malty recommends 200ml of slurry.  I didn't use a starter.   STC-1000 controller raised to 18c/~65F where I plan to ferment for 1 day at full krausen before ramping to 20c/68F through completion.

If this beer turns out, I am not to blame.  Ha!

Update Sept. 9th

Light krausen @ 24hrs, full krausen inside 36hrs.  Wort temperature peaking at 18.2c before the freezer drops it back to 17.5c.

Update Sept. 10th

The IPA has been at full krausen for 24hrs, fermentation controller set to allow IPA to free rise to 20c.  Attempted to top crop the krausen/yeast

Update Sept. 11th

Temperatures rose rather quickly.  At 11pm last evening the controller was reading 19.5c.  Today it continues to hover around 20c.  I top cropped the yeast a final time, collecting a total of 200ml of slurry.  I placed my sanitized hydrometer into the pail and it sits at 1.030, would have thought it would have been further along?  Perhaps something to do with the lag time after pitch and the fact the yeast had been sitting in the fridge for a month.

Update Sept 15th

Moved to secondary @ ambient, added dry hops

Update Sept 22nd

Moved back to freezer to crash cool to 1c,  FG measures 1.010.

Update Sept 24th

Racked to keg, added an additional 30g of homegrown whole leaf nugget hops.

SMaSH Series

Chinook/OiO SMaSH

After the 120L brew weekend, I've noted some discrepancies in my efficiency numbers, both to the kettle as well as the fermenter. To better dial in my system, a series of Single Malt and Single hop beers would be suitable.  The series will feature English hops and Maris Otter.  I have a fresh, unopened sack of MO and the following English hops at my disposal:

• Bramling Cross
• Challenger
• East Kent Goldings
• Stryian Goldings
• Target
• Northern Brewer

The idea will be to use the same amount of malt (4kg) to produce the same volume for consecutive brews.  Ensuring I measure out my water volumes accurately as well as follow the same mashing/sparging/boiling routine, the resulting gravity should be within a point from beer to beer.  I am mainly interested in the sum of all part, aka the "Brewhouse Efficiency"

LowTech IPA v3

I loved the IPA brewed for BSB2013.   Couldn't wait to get another in the pipeline.  Not to mention I have an incredible inventory of hops at the moment.  First order of business... Amarillo/Simcoe IPA.  WLP023 should be an interesting twist to the standard American IPA.  Hoping a lower mash temperature and sugar addition will aid to fully attenuate the beer.  If this could finish lower than 1.013, I'd be happy.

LowTech IPA v3

LowTech IPA v1

OG 1.060/ IBU ~77/ SRM ~ 6/ ~21L

65.0% OiO Domestic 2-Row
32.0% Gambrinus Vienna
03.0% Corn Sugar (added to the boil)

2 tsp of Gypsum
25g of Columbus @ 60 minutes
25g of Cascade @ 30 minutes
30g of Simcoe @ 10 minutes
70g of Amarillo @ 10 minutes

Dry Hop (keg):
60g Citra

WLP023 (2nd gen, cropped from Mild v2)

Brewed July 2nd

I decided to revert back to my standard batch sparging method, this time using the newly converted turkey fryer pot and manifold as my MLT (rather than the old coleman cooler).

Preheated MLT and striked at 71.2c.  After a good stir with the paint mixer, this settled to 66c which is 1c hotter than brew software projected.  Would have liked 65c for better attenuation.  Held temp at 66c for the entire 1hr mash. I didn't need to adjust temp or anything, held rock steady.  Sparged with 88c water which only raised the temp to 71c.

After collecting 30L pre-boil, a quick gravity reading with the refractometer showed a pre-boil gravity of 1.047-48 which equates to a mash efficiency around 80%.  1/2tsp Gypsum, 1tsp Epsom, 2tsp Calcium Chloride and 40g of Acid malt added to mash for a pH of 5.50.  2 tsp of Gypsum added to the boil for final water numbers:

Ca 119, Mg 14, Na 18, Cl 93, S04 221

Proceeded with boil for 70 minutes adding hops and sugar as scheduled above.  After chilling to 25c, wort was transferred to primary and aerated with a Fizz-x wine degasser for a couple minutes.  The pail was then placed into the fermentation freezer and chilled to 17c.  

I had intended to collect 21L but due to a low boil-off rate (10%/hr), 23L made it into the pail.  This meant my OG was slightly lower than anticipated, 14.6 brix (actual reading) = 1.057 (14.04°P)

Update July 3rd

After chilling for the night, I woke this morning @ 6:30am and pitched 100ml of 2nd gen WLP023 slurry to 17c wort.  The temperature controller was then set to 20c.  The wort will free rise to this temperature.

@3pm - Light Krausen 
@7pm - Krausen has completely covered the surface and starting to rise 
@11pm - First (dirty) skim 

Update July 4th

Temperature controller raised to 21c

Update July 5th

I wasn't able to tend to the skim yesterday and today I find the yeast krausen has breached the pail.  After cleanup, I skimmed again. 

Update July 6th

Skimmed again 

Update July 7th

Skimmed again, likely a final time 

Update July 8th

Skimmed yet again.  FG reading 1.0132 (3.38°P)

Update July 9th

...and again

Update July 10th

... again

Update July 14th

Returned home from vacation, light krausen has once again covered the surface of the beer.  At this point I will rack from under the Krausen to either secondary or keg for dry hopping and further conditioning.

Update July 16th 

First taste test.  Nice bitterness.  Colour is awesome.  Aroma and hop flavour lacking.  FG measured
1.0126 (3.23°P).  Racked to keg and made an split decision, added 60g of Citra

LowTech Mild v2

Having recently brewed a couple of strongly bittered APA's followed by a light Blonde ale, it's time to brew a milder, darker alternative for the pipeline.  Brewed relatively soon, I project it to be ready for August, just in time for our family's annual camping trip.  Great timing!

My low gravity Dark Mild recipe relies on a heavy helping of crystal malt for body and WLP023 (Burton Ale Yeast) for character.  Maris Otter provides a solid base, blends of both English crystal and higher kilned malts round out the grist.

For hops, Bramling Cross.  I am intrigued by descriptions of Berries, Lemons, Pears and Black Currants.  I hope they go well in the Mild.  WLP023 is said to have a honey, pear flavour as well... they should match up well.

LowTech Mild v2

OG 1.035/ IBU ~15/ SRM ~ 15/ ~23L

80.0% Muntons MO
13.0% Muntons Medium Crystal 150 (60L)
02.0% Dingemans Special-B (155L)
03.0% TF&S Brown Malt
02.0% Muntons Chocolate Malt

25g of Bramling Cross @ 30 minutes
15g of Bramling Cross @ 5 minutes

WLP023 (Fresh Pitch)

Update June 19th 

Prepared 2L starter from saved (frozen) wort.  After thaw, wort measured 15+ brix, diluted to 9.0 brix (1.035) and boiled for 15 minutes.  Final gravity of starter, 9.8 Brix (1.037).  Chilled in ice bath to room temperature and pitched one vial of Whitelabs WLP023, expiry June 20th, 2013.  Erlenmeyer flask placed on stir plate @ 12 midnight.

Update June 20th

Starter shows light krausen @ 1:40pm, almost blowing off @ 4pm, blow off @ 6pm.  Decanted 1/3 of the starter to a separate mason jar, starter continued to blow off throughout the evening.

Update June 21st

Stir plate shut down this morning.  Starter moved to fridge to await brewday.

Brewed June 22nd

Some weird efficiency numbers.  I had expected around 70% based on my experience with the Blonde Ale.  I ended with 23-24L in the fermenter at a higher than expected gravity  (1.038) and still manage to leave behind 2L in the BK.  By my estimates this would mean the mash efficiency was closer to 80% which is considered quite high for this type of brew system.  Perhaps the increase in efficiency can be attributed to the lower starting gravity target?  Or perhaps it might have something to do with the short, 30m mash "stand" before I started the recirculation?  Mash details below...

Water treated with Campden, 2tsp of Calcium Chloride, 1tsp of Epsom and 1/2tsp of Gypsum for a mash pH of 5.44.

Strike temperature 73c, dough in, mash settled out at 67c.  Added some cold water from the  sparge colume, settled at 66c.  Left at ~2.9L/kg water to grain ratio for 30 minutes before beginning to vorlauf and starting the recirculation.  During the recirc, fired the propane burner, very low heat, to maintain mash temp of 66c.  Began a mash-out at the 45 min mark.  Over 10 minutes I increased the mash temperature until I hit 76c.  Recirculation was stopped and the MLT was allowed to fully drain.  Preboil gravity was higher than I expected so I diluted with 1L of straight water.  Boil for a total of 50m adding hops as above + whirlfloc @ 5 min.  

Chilled to 23c before draining to fermenter.  Fermenter placed in ferm freezer and dropped temps to 16c before pitching my starter.  Decanted about 1L of starter before shaking up into slurry.  Ferm temp controller set to 20c.

Update June 23rd

15hrs since pitch, Mild showing signs of light krausen.  Dirty skim @ 24h from pitch.

Update June 24th

Cropped krausen into pint size mason jar (x2).

Update June 25th

Cropped krausen a 4th time in the last 24hrs.  Krausen has not returned with the same vigor.  Some light patches on the surface and that is all.

Update June 26th

FG measures 1.0122 (3.11°P) 

Update July 3rd 

Kegged.  Pressure set to 12psi.  FG 1.0115 (2.94°P).  Samples from the fermenter are very promising!

LowTech Blonde Ale v4 - Inaugural Two Vessel Brew

Inaugural Run 

My first brew on the two vessel recirculating system.  Wasn't perfectly smooth, requires tuning but otherwise I'd deem it a success.  You can find more information on my trials and tribulations in the Brewery Update post.

LowTech Blonde Ale v4

OG 1.040/ IBU ~25/ SRM ~3/ ~23L

85.0% OiO Domestic 2-Row
10.0% Gambrinus Vienna
05.0% OiO Wheat Malt

10g of Centennial @ 60 minutes
10g of Centennial @ 30 minutes
10g of Cascade @ 10 minutes
10g of Cascade @ 0 minutes

WLP007 Slurry (Used 3x - 4th re-pitch)

Brewed June 9th

Mash @ 66c for 45 min before firing the HLT  raising temperatures to a 76c  mash-out.  Collected 30L pre-boil volume.  

Boiled for 70 minutes adding hops as scheduled above.  Whirlfoc at 1 min remaining in boil (lost track of time messing with my pump).  Gravity measured 1.040.  Chilled to ~20c.  Collected ~23L into the fermenter.  

Pitched 100ml of  WLP007 (from LowTech Pale Ale v4), this will be the yeast's 3rd re-pitch.

1/2 tsp Gypsum, 2  tsp Calcium Chloride, 1 tsp Epsom Salts, 80g Acid malt, added to mash for a pH of 5.50.  Final water numbers: 
Ca 74, Mg 14, Na 18, Cl 98, SO4  108

Update June 12th

Fermenter moved from cold room (~18c) to warmer room (21c).   Strong airlock activity.   Liquid crystal thermometer on the side of the pail reads 18c

Update June 18th

Tested 1.0137 (3.5°P) ~ 67% attenuation (likely due to the cold fermentation). 

Update June 26th

FG Measures 1.0131 (3.34°P), racked to keg.

BSB 2013 - IPA

Our gracious sponsors for BSB 2013 provided most of the malt in this recipe.  We used whole leaf flowers for all the late hops.

BSB 2013 - IPA

OG 1.060/ IBU ~83/ SRM ~6/ ~41L

53.0% OiO Domestic 2-Row
42.0% Muntons Maris Otter
03.0% OiO Wheat Malt
02.0% Weyermann Carabohemian

2oz of Warrior @ 60 minutes
1oz of Warrior @ 30 minutes
2oz ea Centennial/Cascade @ 5 minutes
1oz ea Centennial/Cascade @ 0 minutes

WLP007

Brewed June 1st

Mashed in at 150F.  Mashed for 60 minutes before collecting 46L pre-boil volume.  Boiled for 70 minutes adding hops as scheduled above.  Whirlfoc at 5 min remaining in boil.  Gravity measured 1.060.  Chilled to ~80F.  Collected ~32-34L into two fermenters.  Had a bit of an issue with chill water on site, BK sat for 20 min (hot) while waiting for water.

2 tsp Gypsum, 2  tsp Calcium Chloride, 1 tsp Epsom Salts, 150g Acid malt, added to mash for a pH of 5.48.  1tsp Gypsum added to the boil. Final water numbers: 
Ca 89, Mg 10, Na 18, Cl 63, SO4  174

Update June 2nd 

Gave the fermenter a quick shake but most of the aeration was done yesterday while racking the beer to the pail.  Re-pitched WLP007 from one of the LowTech APA v4 carboys.   This is the yeast's 3rd pitch (3rd gen).  Full Krausen within 5hrs.

Update June 3rd

Fermenting strong.  Used my cold room to keep temps down, ambient 18c.

Update June 6th

Ambient in the cold room down to 16c.  I checked on the IPA this morning and it appears to have completely fermented out.  Fermenter has been moved to a warmer room, will give it a few days to clean up before dry hopping.

Update June 8th

Added a whack load of whole leaf dry hops to the primary

Update June 16th

Racked off hops and to secondary for further conditioning .  Gravity measured 1.015.

Update June 18th

Racked to keg, pressure set to 12psi

BSB 2013 - Bohemian Pilsner

Our gracious sponsors for BSB 2013 provided an absurd amount of Saaz as well as a solid amount of Weyermann Pils Malt.

BSB 2013 - Bohemian Pilsner

OG 1.050/ IBU ~42/ SRM ~3/ ~41L

99.0% Weyermann Pils Malt
01.0% Weyermann Melanoidin Malt

1.5oz of Saaz @ 60 minutes
2oz of Saaz @ 30 minutes
2oz of Saaz @ 15 minutes
2oz of Saaz @ 0 minutes

Fermentis SafLager S-23

Brewed June 1st

Mashed in at 152F.  Mashed for 60 minutes before collecting 46L pre-boil volume.  Boiled for 70 minutes adding hops as scheduled above.  Forgot to add Whirlfoc at 5 min remaining in boil.  Gravity measured 1.050.  Chilled to ~80F.  Collected ~36-38L into two fermenters.

2  tsp Calcium Chloride, 1 tsp Epsom Salts, 120g Acid malt, added to mash for a pH of 5.55.  Final water numbers: 
Ca 44, Mg 9, Na 18, Cl 66, SO4  56

Update June 2nd 

Gave the fermenter a quick shake but most of the aeration was done yesterday while racking the beer to the pail.  Pitched two packets of S-23 @ 18c,  Fermentation freezer set to 16c (60F).

Update June 3rd 

Temperature set to 16c, freezer doing a decent job keeping thing cool.  Cool cycle does tend to over-cool a touch so the wort is bouncing between 15c and 16c.  Pils showing Krausen.

Update June 6th

Temperature steady @ 15-16c.  Pils is full steam ahead.  Will keep my eye on fermentation of the next few days, don't want to miss my chance at a diacetyl  rest.

Update June 9th

It would appear the fermentation is beginning to whine down.  I turned off the temperature controller to allow the wort to free-rise for a Diacetyl rest.

Update June 11th

Temperature has risen to 20c.  I sampled the wort and I like where this is heading.  Bitter and quite dry.  I am not getting any of the dreaded S-23 "Passion Fruit" nor Diacetyl.   FG reading 7% brix which corrects to 1.0137 (3.49°P), 74% attenuation. 

Update June 12th

Temperature down to 3.5c. 

Update June 13th

Temp probe removed from fermenter and placed in a jar of water which had been also sitting in the freezer, this allowed me to snap down the lid of the fermenter.  Not sure if this was necessary or not?  Going to be racking beer to carboy or keg for more lagering. 

Update June 18th

Racked to keg for further lagering.

LowTech Pale Ale v5 - "Filter Test"

Sunday past, I brewed up a batch of APA (v4) using a new hop screen attached to the boil kettle's dip tube.  Between the hops and cold break, the filter clogged real fast, pump lost prime, I lost wort and finally resorted to racking each fermenter via auto-siphon.  I deemed the project and perhaps the brewday to be a failure.  However, I am not willing to give up so easily.

After discussions with my local brew club,  I mocked up a new filter design.  A Stainless Steel mesh "pocket" which will be placed in the center of the immersion chiller during the last 15 minutes of the boil (to sanitize).  The pocket is roughly 12" high, perhaps 8" across.  The recirculated/whirlpool wort would be pumped into the pocket which hopefully contains a large amount of trub while allowing the dip tube to continue feeding the pump unobstructed.   Results?  SUCCESS!

LowTech Pale Ale v5

OG 1.048/ IBU ~40/ SRM ~7/ 23L

82% OiO 2-Row 
11% Weyermann Light Munich
07% Muntons Dark Crystal 240 (91L)

4.45 AAU (10g) Chinook @ 60 minutes
2.91 AAU (15g) Willamette @ 20 minutes
17.9 AAU (50g) Northern Brewer @ 10 minutes
3.54 AAU (10g) Northern Brewer @ 1minutes
4.45 AAU (10g) Chinook @ 1 minutes

Primary dry hop TBD

Fermentis Safale S-04

Brewed  May 27th

Mashed in at 152F for 45 minutes before sparging to collect ~29L pre-boil volume.  Boiled for 70 minutes adding hops as scheduled above.  1/2 tab Whirlfoc added at 5 min remaining in boil.  Chilled to ~22c.  Transferred ~23L to a pail.  Pitched one packet of S-04 (dry).  1 tsp Gypsum, 1.5 tsp Calcium Chloride, 1 tsp Epsom Salts added to mash for a pH of 5.49.  Final water numbers: 
Ca 78, Mg 15, Na 18, Cl 79, SO4 145 

Brewday observations:
- Hop pocket worked perfectly
- Pump flow was awesome, never transferred to fermenter so fast!
- Directed the flow through a mesh strainer as well, didn't see any accumulation of break or hops.  Hop pocket did a great job (see photo's above)
- Again efficiency is high than expected, SG = 1.0489 (12.12°P).  4.4kg of malt at noted gravity with ~23L in the fermenter = 87% Brewhouse efficiency.
- Love brewing these smaller batch sizes!  No threat of boilovers + 3.5hr brewday from start to finish (including clean up).

Update May 28th 

Airlock movement in the morning.  Temperature has raised slightly to 67F.  Very active by the evening.

Update May 30th

Airlock movement complete.  Gravity tested 1.0129 (3.29°P) = 73% attenuation.  1oz of Chinook, 1/2 oz of Nothern Brewer and 1/2oz of Amarillo added to the primary.

Update June 8th

Racked beer to keg, pressure set to 12psi

LowTech Pale Ale v4

Been a while since I brewed up some LowTech APA.  I am fresh out of Cascade so I have decided to sub in something interesting...  Nelson Sauvin.  I'll be pairing it along side Willamette (for which I have a major surplus) and finishing up with Amarillo which I deeply love.  I am awaiting receipt of more wheat malt and have a touch of Light Munich which I'd like to use up, so I'll be straying slightly from my house recipe.  I present...

LowTech Pale Ale v4

LowTech Pale Ale v3

OG 1.046/ IBU ~40/ SRM ~7/ 41L

80% OiO 2-Row
13% Weyermann Light Munich
07% Muntons Dark Crystal 240

6.35 AAU (1/2oz) Chinook @ 60 minutes
5.60 AAU (1.0oz) Willamette @ 20 minutes
24.6 AAU (2.0oz) Nelson Sauvin @ 10 minutes
8.00 AAU (1.0oz) Amarillo @ 10 minutes
2.80 AAU (1/2oz) Willamette @ 1minutes
6.15 AAU (1/2oz) Nelson Sauvin @ 1 minutes

Dry hop with 1/2oz of each Chinook & Amarillo for 7 days

WLP007

Brewed  May 26th

Mashed in at 152F, mashed for 70 minutes before collecting 44L pre-boil volume.  Topped up with 2L of straight water for a final pre-boil volume of 46L.  Boiled for 70 minutes adding hops as scheduled above.  Whirlfoc added at 5 min remaining in boil.  Chilled to ~19c.  Was attempting to use a new hop screen which failed miserably.  Part way through the transfer to fermenters, I lost prime.  After losing a few liters of wort attempting to reprime my pump, I opted to use my auto-siphon for the remaining wort.  Two fermenters filled with about 19L in each.  Each fermenter received half the cake reserved from LowTech Blonde v3 (making this yeast pitch 2nd generation or 2nd time used).  Yeast was about 2 weeks removed from the Blonde, no starter used.  Removed from fridge, partially decanted and pitched cold to new home.  2 tsp Gypsum, 2 tsp Calcium Chloride, 1 tsp Epsom Salts added to mash for a pH of 5.49.  Final water numbers: 
Ca 77, Mg 10, Na 18, Cl 66, SO4 141 

Brewday observations:
- Don't use a hop screen with my setup, doesn't work.
- The crystal malt is much darker than I expected. This wort appears more amber in colour.
- During the mess up with the pump and prime, I had way too much direct contact with the wort, infection a possibility.
- Used carboys as opposed to pails for the first time in a while, not sure why.
- Not sure if my efficiency is high than expected or perhaps due to my loses, SG = 1.0481 (11.92°P) which is about ~86% mash efficiency.

Update May 27th

Woke this morning to find the airlock on both fermenters in the "up position".  A light layer of Krausen present on both carboys.  Wort temperature  ~18.5c (65F)

Update May 28th

Both carboys showing high Krausen.  Steady movement on each airlock.  Wort temperature has hit 21c.

Update June 2nd

One carboy racked to secondary with 1oz of Nelson Sauvin.  Decided to use up the little that was left.  I sampled and it's very hoppy!  I might not even dry hop the second carboy. 

Update June 3rd 

Racked the fermenter which didn't have the dry hops to keg.

Update June 5th

Co2 pressure bumped to 40psi.  Samples are bitter and hoppy.  Looking forward to trying this carbonated.

Update June 8th

Second fermenter racked beer to keg, pressure set to 12psi

LowTech IPA v2

LowTech IPA v1

For a style that I love so much, it's really surprising how little I brew it.  This recipe has been inspired by Avery's Recipes for Homebrewers.  I've intentionally kept the OG on the low end of the IPA style so the beer will finish drier.  I plan to use a big pitch of 2nd generation WLP007, 80% attenuation is likely.  I like my IPA's bitter, hoppy and dry.  Subbing in some Rye malt for a twist, otherwise I'd use Wheat malt.  I am going to try skipping the secondary and dry hopping directly in the serving keg.

LowTech IPA v2

OG 1.059/ IBU ~70/ SRM ~3.5/ ~41L

90.0% Pils Malt
05.0% Gambrinus Vienna Malt
05.0% Weyermann Rye Malt

10.15 AAU (.7oz) of Columbus @ 60 minutes
10.15 AAU (.7oz) of Columbus @ 30 minutes
25.40 AAU (2oz) of Chinook @ 12 minutes
21.80 AAU (2oz) of Centennial @ 12 minutes
13.60 AAU (2oz) of Cascade @ 12 minutes
Dry hop 1 oz (ea) Chinook/Centennial/Cascade for each 19L keg

WLP007

Brewed Apr 28th

Mashed in at 143F (mistake, too low),  boiled  water and infused to raise mash temperature to 146F (attempt to correct).  Mashed for 60 minutes before collecting 46L pre-boil volume.  Boiled for 70 minutes adding hops as scheduled above.  Whirlfoc added at 5 min remaining in boil.   I forgot to sanitize the pump so I ended up extending the boil time by 5 minutes.  Gravity measured higher than anticipated, 1.063, may have collected slightly less than I had hoped for.  Chilled to ~72F.  Collected ~36-38L into two fermenters.  Pitched 8 fl oz of thick yeast slurry into each fermenter.  This is the second  pitch on this yeast.  

1.5 tsp Gypsum, 1.5 tsp Calcium Chloride, 1 tsp Epsom Salts, 210g Acid malt, added to mash for a pH of 5.48.  1 tsp Gypsum added to the boil.  Final water numbers: 
Ca 74, Mg 10, Na 18, Cl 50, SO4  157

Update Apr 29th

Both pails have significant Krausen.

Update May 8th

Airlock activity has completely stopped.  Awaiting availability of a keg.  Will dry hop directly in the keg this time.  No secondary.

Update May 13th 

FG 1.015.  Both fermenters racked to keg.  Dry hops added.  Pressure set to 38psi.

Update May 15th 

Pressure dropped to 12psi.   Bagged dry hops caught in the Bev tube on both kegs.  Beer is very turbid... something's wrong.

Update May 21st 

Well, first failed batch in a while .  Couple things went wrong, first and foremost, dry hopping in the keg with bagged pellets was a big mistake.  I ended up racking out of the keg into another (losing 1/2 the batch in the process).  In the future I will certainly stick to my secondary or primary dry hopping.

Secondly, I didn't get near the attenuation I was hopping for, the balance towards bitter, isn't where I want it to be.  Too malty sweet for a good IPA.   Back to the drawing board on this one, likely won't even do tasting notes as I've likely oxidized the beer pretty bad with on the racking and tickering.

LowTech Blonde v3

A summertime fav.  At the Missus request (!),  I brewed up a batch of Blonde Ale.  Based on BierMunchers Centennial Blonde recipe, this light ale goes down easy with just the right amount of hop profile to keep things interesting.

LowTech Blonde v3

OG 1.040/ IBU ~22/ SRM ~3.5/ ~41L

76.9% CMC Superior Pilsner
15.4% Gambrinus Vienna Malt
07.7% Weyermann CaraHell (11L)

4.55 AAU of Centennial @ 60 minutes
4.55 AAU of Centennial @ 30 minutes
6.40 AAU of Cascade @ 12 minutes
6.40 AAU of Cascade @ 3 minutes

WLP007

Brewed April 14th

Mashed in at 150F, mashed for 60 minutes before collecting 46L pre-boil volume.  Boiled for 70 minutes adding hops as scheduled above.  Whirlfoc added at 5 min remaining in boil.  Chilled to ~72F.  Collected 38L into two fermenters.  Pitched 8 fl oz of thin yeast slurry (~60ml solid cake) into each fermenter.  This is the first pitch on this yeast.  Brought it out of storage on April 1, added to 1L starter, chilled decanted and pitched to a 2L starter which fermented out on April 4th before being added to a mason jar with boiled and cooled water.  Returned to fridge to await use.  1 tsp Gypsum, 2 tsp Calcium Chloride, 1 tsp Epsom Salts, 65g Acid malt, added to mash for a pH of 5.48.  Final water numbers: 
Ca 60, Mg 10, Na 18, Cl 66, SO4 100 

Update April 15th

Both fermenters have krausen. Ambient temperature 17c, fermenter temp probe reads 17.3c

Update April 16th

Both fermenter showing high krausen.  Ambient temperature 16c, fermenter temp probe reads 18c

Update April 17th

Fermentation is wrapping up.  Temperatures have dropped back to ambient, Krausen has fallen.  Gravity reads 1.011.

Update April 24th

First 20L racked to keg, pressure set to 36psi.  Second 20L placed in lager freezer set to 4c

Update April 25th

First pint served, gets a satisfying nod from the Missus.  Beer need more carbonation but it otherwise very drinkable.  Surprisingly clear as well.  Tasting notes to come.

Update May 16th 

After 20+ days of cold conditioning, the second fermenter was racked to keg.  Pressure set to 38psi.  Yeast reserved for future repitch (now used 1x).

Update May 17th 

Keg vented, pressure set to 12psi (serving).  Nicely carbed, great clarity!  Tasty. 

New Malts! Amber, Brown and Pale Chocolate

I've received some unique malts, Amber, Brown and Pale Chocolate, all Thomas Fawcett & Sons.  I am really anxious to put them to use.  Here's what the Maltser has to say...

Amber	90 - 110	Bitters - Pale Mild
Brown	110 - 140	Milds and Darker Bitters
Pale Chocolate	500 - 600	Dark Milds - Stouts Small quantities used for flavour and colour enhancement on dark beers

Not a heck of a lot to go on.  I turn to OBK for a more info...

Amber Malt

Colour test.  Amber Left, Brown Right.

Amber Malt. This is a very rounded, biscuit like malt. Warm, pleasant, toffee, biscuit, bready notes with subtle coffee undertones. Great addition to red ales, Belgian ales, porters, IPA's, etc.

Brown

Brown Malt. Adds a mild roastiness flavour and bitterness to a beer. Great for use in many English ales, brown ales, porters, milds, stouts.

Pale Chocolate

Pale Chocolate Malt. A milder roasted grain than the typical chocolate malt. Adds colour and smooth chocolate, coffee, and nutty flavours to your beer. Great for use in milds, porters, stouts, brown ales, barleywines.

...  Looks like I'll have some Porters, Milds and Stouts in the upcoming rotation!  With summer fast approaching, I am not sure I want to have so many dark beers on tap, I may need to work in an IPA and a Red as well.

First order of business, Dark(ish) Mild.  Here's what the recipe is looking like.

OG 1.036 / IBU 13 / SRM ~20 / ~41L

69.0% Maris Otter - Muntons

08.6% Crystal 240 (90L) - Muntons

08.6% Flaked Barley

05.2% Amber Malt - Thomas Fawcett

05.2% Pale Chocolate Malt - Thomas Fawcett

03.4% Carafa II Sp - Weyermann

4.8 AAU of Willamette @ 45 min

3.9 AAU of Styrian Goldings @ 12 min  

WLP022 Essex Ale yeast

I really want to play on the bready/biscuit flavours from the Amber and Maris Otter malts and incorporate some nutty chocolate without going roasty (ie. Pale vs standard Chocolate  Carafa vs Black Malt).  The yeast should do well to further develop bready flavours.

Flavorful British style yeast. Drier finish than many British ale yeast. Produces slightly fruity and bready character.   

While my intent is a malt driven ale, the hop selection should bring a subtle spice and earthiness to the party.

I'll use a medium-high mash temperature, perhaps somewhere in the 153-154F range since there is quite a bit of unfermentables in the purposed grist.  The WLP022 is a decent attenuator, if I can get it to finish somewhere in the 1.012-1.013 range (~3% ABV), I think that would work really nicely.  

The hop schedule isn't completely locked in, I may decide to move the Goldings closer to flame-out which would mean a slight increase to the bittering addition or perhaps an additional charge somewhere in the middle of the boil.