Brewday - "Wheat on Rye"

Notes
My spin on a typical American Wheat beer.  I've added a touch of Rye malt for some spice (hopefully).

This is the first time I've performed a step mash.  It was somewhat difficult given my low tech setup.  Infusing hot water to the thick mash was a real crap shoot but it worked... more or less.  I decided to use a Beta Glucan and Protein rest to assist with lautering.  I suppose I could have just gone with a single infusion and some rice hulls but what's the fun in that!

American Wheat or Rye Beer (6D)

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Fermentis Safale S-04
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Nope
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.012 (est)
IBU: 24
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 3.5 (est)
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 @ 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): N/A
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

60.0% Canadian 2-Row (OiO)
30.0% Canadian Malted Wheat (OiO)
10.0% Rye Malt (Weyermann)

24.0 IBU Warrior (16g @ 60 min)

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

Acid Malt, Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salt added, pH 5.50

Ca-74/Mg-14/Na-18/Cl-97/S04-107

Mash Instructions
Step Mash, 20 minutes (110F), 1qt/lb - Thick Mash
Infuse hot water and bring mash to conversion temp, 60 minutes (150F)
Double batch sparge (170F), collected ~30L into the boil kettle

*** Update June 12, 2012***
10 days since pitching a fresh packet of S-04, hydro sample reads 1.016.  If complete, that's definitely on the low end of the yeasts projected attenuation (70.4%).  Will measure a second time later in the week and if it reads the same, into the bottle.  Sample was pleasant albeit slightly sweeter than desired.    I mashed low (150F) so I am surprised I didn't get a more fermentable beer?  Perhaps something to do with my stepped mash?  Oh well, live and learn I suppose, beer still tastes great!  Will go single infusion with rice hulls next time.

Favorites - "Moose Tracks"

Mild (11A)

For a nice change of pace, I thought to have a session beer available.  After an unsuccessful attempt at an Ordinary Bitter, I formulated this recipe, a Dark Mild.  I find it very chocolatey, semi-sweet and extremely quaffable.  Galaxy hops are not to style but this beer isn't about hops.  You may also notice the insane mash schedule, I mashed in then went to work.  Came home, sparged and boiled.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Fermentis Safale S-04
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Nope
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.038
Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 27.3
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 20

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 @ 64-70F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 @ 64F
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

70.0% Maris Otter (Muntons)
09.5% Crystal 110 (Muntons)

09.5% CaraAroma (Weyermann)

05.1% Flaked Barley (OiO)

03.8% Chocolate Malt (Muntons)

0.20% Roast Barley (Muntons)

27.3 IBU Galaxy @ 60min

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

Chalk, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salt added

Mash
Single infusion,  8hrs (156F to 138F)
Mash-out (170F) , double batch sparge, collected ~30L into the boil kettle

Grain Storage

I blow through my base malt at a good clip, I don't worry too much about it going soft or stale.  For the special malts, I've found my local baker is a fantastic source for free icing pails which happen to come in sizes perfect for 1/8 or quarter sack storage.

Brewday - "BSB 2012"

For my homebrew club's annual meet and collective brew day, I've designed the following Centennial IPA recipe...will let you know how it goes!

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Fermentis Safale US-05
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Nope
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.066
Final Gravity: 1.015

IBU: 64
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 6

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 15 @ 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 12 @ 68F
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

93.5% Marris Otter (Muntons)
05.0% CaraFoam (Weyermann)

38.7 IBU Centennial @ 60 min
57g Centennial @ 15 min
57g Centennial @ Flame-out

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

100g Acid Malt, Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salt added, Mash pH 5.5
Ca-83/Mg-14/Na-18/Cl-93/S04-133 
 
Mash
Single infusion,  60 minutes (151F)
Mash-out (170F) , double batch sparge, collected ~30L into the boil kettle

FAIL - "Humulous Galaxy IPA"

You never really here about the failed recipes.  I have a few and thought I'd share some of my brewing disasters.

I picked up a half pound of this wonderful new, somewhat rare, hop called "Galaxy".  I got an idea to brew my first ever IPA using nothing but these Galaxy hops... all of them.  The result was a dirty, not quite pale muddy brown ale with no hop bite, burning alcohol warmth and an after-taste of mushroomed candy.  Nasty!

Ingredients/Mistakes
I've deleted the recipe from my brew software long ago, I recall using OiO Canadian 2-row, Light Munich, Crystal 110 and Chocolate Malts to the tune of almost 8% ABV.  Approximately 1.078 OG.  More IIPA territory now that I think of it.  In hindsight, the grain bill was far too complex for an IPA.  It totally masked the hops.

As stated, for hops I used all Galaxy.  A pathetic, completely overwhelmed bittering charge at 60 minutes left the beer with virtually no hop bite.  Something I crave in an IPA.  I believe I may have dabbled with a FWH addition as well.  The remaining 5oz or so were added sub-20 minutes, I believe 1oz each 5 min.  I finished off with an added 2oz dry-hop.  I recall thinking that this "hop busting" technique would give me a true sense of what the hop was about. Boy was I wrong.  All I got was this nasty, super sweet, mushroom tasting hop flavour.  Surprisingly, the brew had almost no aroma to speak of.  Maybe it was infected?  Maybe Galaxy hops taste of mushroom?  Either way, when I now hear "Galaxy hops", I shudder.

The yeast attenuated well, however it was into it's 7th or 8th re-pitch.  The process of reclaiming and washing after primary fermentations had rendered it some kind of super flocculator.  The yeast would floc out so quick, there was nearly none left to do the job of bottle conditioning.  The results left me with about 21L of flat mushroom beer.  The beer spent months in the bottle and never did get much better.

Lessons Learned
When brewing an IPA, keep it simple!  Less is more.  At least when it comes to the grain bill.  The hops need to shine.  This means a supporting malt back-bone with an assertive hop bitterness.  Don't skimp on the 60 minute addition, it should account for at least half (or more) of the recipes total IBU's.  The multi-award winning SSOS recipe uses an incredible 3oz Chinook bittering addition!   That's a lot!

The remaining IBU's should come in at the flavour charge.  Again, KISS.  One or two significant hop additions for flavour will be enough.  As stated in my post on hop schedules,  I feel a homebrewer's flame-out addition can and will contribute a fair amount of flavour.  Consider a single flavour addition at the traditional range of 10-20 min, with a supporting aroma/flavour addition at flame-out. 

Support the aroma with some additional dry-hopping and Bob's your uncle, you've got a solid IPA.

Favorites - "Janet's Brown"

American Brown Ale (10C)

Notes
Based on Mike McDole's world famous, award winning recipe.  Janet's Brown is a huge American Brown Ale clocking in at 7% ABV.  The brew uses a copious amount of Northern Brewer hops for balance, is very hop forward yet remains incredible balanced for a beer of this magnitude.  It's awesome!

For my interpretation, I supplemented a donated supply of Northern Brewer (Thanks Deric!) with Columbus.  I did so because McDole (aka Tasty) is on record stating Columbus as a suitable sub.  I didn't use the recommended Chico liquid yeast and instead opted for a cheaper US-05 alternative; again Tasty approved.  I experimented with dry-hopping in the primary post fermentation, I was unhappy with the result. When I brew this again I will dry-hop longer, perhaps 10-12 days and use a secondary.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Fermentis Safale US-05
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Nope
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.068
Final Gravity: 1.015
IBU: 60.8
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 16

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 9 @ 64-70F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 9 @ 64F
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

75.0% Canadian 2-Row (OiO)
07.8% Crystal 110 (Muntons)

07.8% CaraFoam (Weyermann)

06.3% Wheat Malt (OiO)

03.1% Chocolate Malt (Muntons)

1.0oz Northern Brewer (8.5% AA) @ Mash Hop

0.2oz Columbus  (13.9% AA) @ Mash Hop

1.5oz Northern Brewer (8.5% AA) @ 60min

0.2oz Columbus (13.9% AA) @ 60min

1.0oz Northern Brewer  (8.5% AA) @ 15min

0.2oz Columbus  (13.9% AA) @ 15min

1.5oz Cascade  (5.5% AA) @10min

2.0oz Cascade (5.5% AA) @ 0min

2.0oz Centennial (11.1% AA), Dry-hop, 5 days

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salt added
Ca-81/Mg-13/Na-18/Cl-91/S04-130
1 tsp extra of Gypsum added to the boil

Mash
Single infusion,  60 minutes (154F)
Mash-out (170F) , double batch sparge, collected ~30L into the boil kettle

Techniques - Hop Schedules

I've always laughed at recipes with strange, hyper precise hop schedules.  I mean what's the difference between a 1 and a 2 minute hop addition?  I certainly don't have the pallet to tell the difference, I don't think many do.  Now I believe these are the creator's attempt at understanding hop aroma/flavour.  Is there a magical time for a Flavour additions? Aroma?  Not sure but at least Bittering is easy... but then there's First Wort Hopping... but wait, is that for bittering or flavour?

Not long ago, in the interest of simplicity and efficiency (perhaps a blog mantra), I decided to try and nail down a hop schedule which would utilize 4 additions (or less depending on the style) in all my recipes.  We'll start with an easy one, bittering.

(60 minutes)  Widely accepted as the ideal time for a bittering addition.  A 60 minute addition will achieve near maximum Alpha Acid isomerization from any hop, any longer the improvements are negligible.  I've used a 60 minute addition in every one of my batches, never fails to deliver.  I wasn't going to screw around with this one.  60 minute stays.

(30 minutes)   Old school flavour addition.  Pickup any brew book dating pre-2008, I'm pretty sure the majority of recipes contain at least some hops at 30 minutes.  Lately however, the 30 minute addition has fallen out of favour mainly because we are developing a better understanding of hop chemistry.  The science is well above my head, I won't pretend to know everything about the subject, the gist is, flavour compounds and hop oils are far too volatile to withstand 30 minutes of boiling.  Most agree a 30 minute addition can be used as more of a bittering addition and because this serves my purpose of simplifying the hop schedule, cut!

(20 - 10 minutes)  A balancing act.  We're into flavour territory.  The mythical "FWH flavour" complicates things, more on that later.  I imagine different hops will impart flavour differently.  Unfortunately, I don't believe there's any one size fits all.  Most texts I've read on the subject suggest one or more flavour additions at some point in this range.  I gather this time range is ideal for the flavour compounds to bond with the boiling wort, but not so long that the alpha acids fully isomerize. I suppose the easiest thing to do would be decide on a flavour profile for any given recipe, determine the amount of hops required to achieve that profile and divide the amount in three, adding hops at 20-15-10.  Damn, I've locked myself into a maximum 4 additions!  Alright, lets split the difference and call the flavour addition @15 minutes.

I've tried  FWH instead of a flavour addition and all I got was bitterness.  Some suggest only certain, low AA hops are appropriate of FWH.  Other suggest the FWH isn't a flavour addition at all and should be used in lieu of a bittering charge.  Bah!  I've leave the FWH QA testing to someone with more time and money. 15 min seems a simple route to desired flavour results.

(10 - 0 minutes)  Aroma addition, no one trick pony!  I'm sure aroma additions impart a fair amount of flavour (and bittering) as well.  I saw a chart once that suggested "maximum aroma at 7 minutes".  I can tell you that I brewed an ale with an aroma addition @ 7 minutes remaining in the boil, no dry-hopping, it was not very aromatic.  The most aromatic and flavorful beer I have produced thus far has been the Sleepy Time Porter in which I dumped 57g of Willamette hops at flame-out and dry-hopped with an additional 57g.  I don't know if the aroma was a result of the flame-out or dry-hop, but I suspect the secret to ultimate aroma and flavour lies somewhere in the combination of the two.

I was reading some analysis on the aforementioned chart and someone suggested it could be interpreted as 7 minutes total time, from addition to pitching temp.  This makes more sense.  With my wort chiller, this would mean a hop addition, after flame-out, while chilling (since it takes me about 20 minutes to hit pitching temps).  I believe this would be a homebrewer's equivalent to a commercial breweries "hop-back" or "whirlpool" addition.   

Using the noted chart as a point of reference,  assuming the 7 minute mark was intended to mean from addition to pitching temp,  my Sleepy Time's flame-out addition would have actually been in wort greater than pitching temperature for ~25 minutes.  Perhaps if I move this final hop addition to sometime during the chill, I would achieve even bigger hop aroma?  But then would I lose some of the flavour?  The flavour compounds wouldn't be able to react to the wort in the same way as during the boil.   There must be a sweet spot as far as temps go for maximum aroma extraction but I suspect this may be at the expense of flavour.

For my third hop addition, I think the flame-out or 0 min addition is a nice compromise.  Maximum flavour with some residual aroma.  The remaining aroma can be made up with dry-hopping, my fourth and final hop addition.

To summarize, appropriate to style, I would implement the following hop schedule:

1) Bittering @ 60
2) Flavour @ 15
3) Flavour/Aroma @ 0
4) Aroma @ Dry-hop

Techniques - Batch Sparging

The single stainless steel filter/braid in my low budget Mash/Lauter Tun (MLT) doesn't lend itself to Fly-sparging.  I've read this type of filter design will cause channeling and thus a poor extraction efficiency.  Solution, "Batch Sparging".

I first read about the method (and MLT design) in Denny Conn's Cheap 'n' Easy Batch Sparge Brewing article.  A super simple concept which fit well with my low tech brewery.  The idea, mash at desired thickness for desired length of time.  Drain mash tun completely.  Add a larger volume of hot water back into the MLT and rinse residual mash sugars by stirring and draining a second time.  Done.

Through trail and error, I've managed to fine-tune my Batch Sparging technique, it works very well for me.  Let me share...

I use my brew software to play around with mash thickness until I get a nice round water volume # to strike with. My mash thickness ranges between 1.2qt/lb and 1.35qt/lb.  Side note, this is strange, I formulate recipes in Metric but use Imperial for mash thickness and temperature readings.  I don't know why.  Anyways,  I strike and wait (mash) for 1hr.  Strike temps are dependent on a desired mash profile (Thin, Medium, Malty), again determined by my brewing software.

When the hour is up, I mash-out with a volume of hot (boiling) water equal to the grain absorption which occurred during the 1hr mash.  This mash-out volume is, you guessed it, determined by my brewing software.  The strike volume - grain absorption + mash-out volume = half my desired total volume into the boil kettle.

I drain around 2-3, sometimes 4-5 litres from the MLT and pour this back on top of the grain in the MLT.  This recirculation is called "Vorlaufing".  You're essentially setting or slightly compacting the grain bed inside the MTL so that it, as well as the stainless steel line, can filter the grain from sugary water now called "wort", as it exists the MLT.

When the recirculation becomes somewhat clear, the flow of wort is directed to collect in the boil kettle.  The MLT is drained completely, this process is called "Lautering".  The collected volume is called your "First Runnings".  Your first runnings should be roughly half your desired pre-boil volume.

With the drain valve shut (LOL! Made that mistake more than once!), the MLT is filled with sparge (rinse) water.  Since the grain bed is quite warm at this point, the sparge water doesn't need to be boiling.  I find around 185F results in a grain bed temp of 170'ish; perfect for dissolving remaining sugars into the water solution.  This quantity of sparge water is equal to roughly the second half of your total desired pre-boil volume.  The mash won't really absorb much more at this point.  Stir the mash well.  Recirculate (again) and drain the MLT (again).  This is called your "Second Runnings".

I have found that if I split my second runnings in two, adding the sparge water in two parts with another good stir and a third recirculation in between, my extraction efficiency jumps about 5%.  If you think this more bother than it's worth, add an extra handful or two of malt to your grain bill.

That's it!  Easy stuff.  Cheap, low tech and efficient... that's how I role.

You can watch Don complete the process: Here

Favorites - SNPA Clone

(Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone)
American Pale Ale (10A)

Notes
Originally found on Hoptomology, I was immediately drawn to the recipe's simplicity.  Having no Perle or Magnum, I had to make do with "internet accepted" subs.  In went Columbus for bittering and Challenger at the 30 minute flavour/bittering charge.  I was very pleased with the results.

Fermentation went very well.  Even without a secondary, brew bottled very clear.  Aroma wasn't "slap you in the face", but noticeable.  Overall the beer was incredibly balanced, flavourful and very easy to drink.  I was amazed this simple recipe could provide such a pleasing brew.  KISS in full effect!  Will make again (soon).

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Fermentis Safale US-05
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Nope
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.011
IBU: 35.7
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 6.5
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 15 @ 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): N/A
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

90.9% Canadian 2-Row (OiO)
09.1% Crystal 110 (Muntons)
19.1 IBU Columbus @ 60 min
10.5 IBU Challenger @ 30 min
06.1 IBU Cascade @ 10min
57g Cascade @ Flame-out

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salt added

Mash
Single infusion,  60 minutes (153F)
Mash-out (170F) , double batch sparge, collected ~30L into the boil kettle

Favorites - "Trick or Treat"

(Halloween Pumpkin Ale)
Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer (21A)

Notes

A Christmas 2011 submission to my local homebrew club exchange, I'll let the feedback speak for itself...

"Nice head. Dark brown colour. good mix of spice and pumpkin aroma. Overall its a very fin balance of malts, pumpkin and spices. So far this is the best pumpkin ale I have tried. Well done."

"Nice subtle pumpkin aroma, nice spice profile with the nice moderate pumpkin flavour.  Less body than expected, so pumpkin was really nice, but a bit light on malty supporting flavours.  Really tasty pumpkin pie beer!  Light body actually makes it easy drinkin'.  Nice fruity flavour, in the good way.  Actually, being such a light body, this is a pumpkin beer I could sit down and drink a few."

"Very nice inviting aroma. Nice carbonation, just enough. Velvety mouth feel which I enjoyed very much. Low spice blend flavor BUT goes really well with the style, actually I love your spice tone, subtle but all there. No aftertaste and no off flavor detected. Low head retention but doesnt affect the quality of the beer. Great beer very nice job Craig! That's a keeper! DELICIOUS!"

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Bottle Harvested Pacman (Rogue Brewery)
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Nope
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.054
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU: 34.4
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 13
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7-10 @ 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7-10 @ 68F
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

53.3% Canadian 2-Row (OiO)
25.3% Roasted Pumpkin (2h @ 300F or until soft and caramelized)
09.3% Light Munich (Weyermann)
06.7% Crystal 110 (Muntons)
03.3% CaraFoam (Weyermann)
02.0% Chocolate Malt (Muntons)
27.6 IBU Warrior @ 60 min
07.0 IBU Mt. Hood @ 20 min
1.0 tsp ground Nutmeg @ 5min
0.5 tsp Cloves @ 5 min
1.25 tsp ground Cinnamon @ 5 min
0.5 tsp ground All Spice @ 5 min
6(ea) All Spice Berries @ 5 min

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

No Salt additions
Mash
Single infusion,  60 minutes (154F).  Pumpkin added directly to mash.  I mashed it up like potatoes first.
Mash-out (170F) , double batch sparge, collected ~30L into the boil kettle

Techniques - Brew Software

I use Strange Brew for recipe design, mash calculations and inventory control:
http://strangebrew.ca/

For water chemistry and pH estimations, I use the EZ Water Calculator:
http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/

For accurately measuring and estimating bottle priming carbonation levels, Kaiser Carbonation Calculator:
http://braukaiser.com/documents/Kaiser_carbonation_calculator_metric.xls

(My) Low Tech Brewery

Converted 48qt cooler
(article to come maybe?)
Basically a Coleman camping cooler with a stainless steel toilet supply line, some 7/16" vinyl tube and a picnic valve.

Pots 34L, 18L, 10L
Really you just need the 34L pot.  I use the smaller two for heating strike and sparge water.  The 34L  pot for my full volume boil.

Cast iron propane burner
Came with the 34L pot as part of a Turkey Fryer kit.

Corona grain (corn) mill
The cheapest grain mill out there!  Tons on eBay.  Requires lots of fine tuning but once set, provides a decent crush.  No stuck sparges yet.    

Plastic 29L primary w/ air-lock
Any food grade plastic pail will do.  Larger is better, head-space needed to accommodate krausen during primary stage of fermentation.

Glass 23L secondary w/ air-lock
Nice to have but not required for basic ales.  You can get away with a longer primary and then straight to bottle.  I use a secondary when dry-hopping or conditioning beer.

Auto-siphon w/ bottle filler
After struggling with a siphon once, I quickly bought an auto-siphon.  I believe this is only piece of brewing equipment that I actually bought new!  The bottle filler required if you choose to bottle condition your beers.  I can't afford kegging.

Bottle Tree w/ Ferrari Vinator
Thanks Kevin!  A really usefully, albeit unnecessary, tool when bottling.  The Vinator makes bottle sanitizing a dream.

Hydrometer w/ turkey baster
Determines Original gravity, Final Gravity (ie alcohol content).  The baster is to draw samples from the fermentation vessel.  Cheaper than a wine thief. 

Thermometer
Needed to monitor strike water, mash temps, mash-out and sparge temps.

Immersion wort chiller
25ft of flexible 3/8" copper refrigeration tubing.  Bends made by coiling tube around a paint can.  Stainless clamps, vinyl tubing and a garden hose connector complete the piece.  Needed to quickly cool the wort post-boil.

Calibrated measuring bucket
Very high-tech piece.  23L plastic bucket with a masking tape strip down the side.  Using a measuring cup, made a mark on the tape after each 2L addition.  I use this bucket to measure out strike and sparge water.  Also doubles as my bottling bucket.

Digital scale
Ok, I lied, I bought this one new (on sale) as well.  I use it to measure out grains and hops for my recipes.

Favorites - "Sleepy Time Porter"

Robust Porter (12B)

Notes

Without question my best brew to-date.  Chewy mouth feel, huge floral hop aroma, chocolatey flavor with some back-end bitterness to balance things out.  Head lasts and last, you can't shake it out of the glass.  My inspiration was Flying Monkey's "Netherworld Cascadian Ale"  So good I don't want to drink it!

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Fermentis Safale US-05
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Nope
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.067
Final Gravity: 1.017
IBU: 48
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 29
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7-10 @ 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 @ 68F
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

80.9% Canadian 2-Row (OiO)
5.9% Crystal 110 (Muntons)
5.9% Chocolate (Muntons)

4.8% CaraFoam (Weyermann)

2.6% Black Patent (Muntons)

39.1 IBU Summit (25g @ 60 min)

4.6 IBU Willamette (14g @ 30 min)

4.3 IBU Willamette (28g @ 10 min)

57g Willamette @ Flame-out

57g Cascade (dry, secondary 5 days)

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

Chalk, Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salt added, pH 5.52

Ca-106/Mg-13/Na-18/Cl-91/S04-102

Mash
Single infusion,  60 minutes (152F)
Mash-out (170F) , double batch sparge, collected ~30L into the boil kettle

Home Grown Hops

A friend graciously provided three hop rhizomes.  Nugget, Mt. Hood and Centennial.

The Centennial hasn't done much.  The Nugget and Mt. Hood are off to a good start!

Mt Hood

Nugget

Brewday - "The Drama"

(My son's nickname)
American IPA (14B)

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Fermentis Safale S-04
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Racked onto cake from previous APA (1.055)
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.061
Final Gravity: 1.016
IBU: 50.2
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 6.5
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7-10 @ 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 12 @ 68F
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

92% Canadian 2-Row (OiO)
5.1% CaraMunich I (Weyermann)
2.9% Melanoidin (Weyermann)

41.9 IBU Columbus (40g @ 60 min)

07.3 IBU Cascade (50g @ 10 min)
0.9 IBU Cascade (50g @ 1 min)
50g Cascade  (dry, secondary 12 days)
50g Columbus (dry, secondary 12 days)

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

Acid Malt, Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salt added, pH 5.47

Ca-83/Mg-14/Na-18/Cl-93/S04-133

Anticipated Mash Instructions:
Single infusion,  60 minutes (151F)
Mash-out (170F) , double batch sparge, collected ~30L into the boil kettle

Anticipated Boil Instructions:
Heat wort, once hot break is controlled, add 1 tsp of Gypsum
Hops @ 60 min
Immersion chiller (IC) @ 15 min
Hops @ 10 min
1/2 tablet of Whirfloc @ 5 min
Hops @ 1 min
Flame-out, cool to 70F, rack onto S-04 cake

***Brew Day Update (5/15/2012)***

I was playing around with motorizing my Corona grain mill before brew day, I loosened the crush a touch and dropped my mash efficiency by 2%.  OG ended up being 1.061.  After testing my pre-boil gravity, I decided to lower the initial 60 min hop addition.  I've updated the numbers above accordingly.

I also tried a new method for transferring the wort from boil kettle to primary.  I dumped the entire contents, trub, hops and all through a sanitized strainer.  The results was a slightly better brew house efficiency and a larger volume into the primary.  Wort cooled to 70-75F before dumping to yeast cake.  Wort aerated with a Fizz-X for about 5 minutes. Numbers above have been updated accordingly.

Finally, I forgot my Gypsum boil addition, the final water numbers have been updated accordingly.

***Update June 12, 2012***


I always try to bottle a regular old 6-pack, I use these to test the carbonation.  I admit, I've sampled this brew as soon as two days in the bottle... damn!  Aroma will knock you socks off!  I guess that's what near 4oz of hops will get ya.  I've got to keep my hands off this stuff for another 2 weeks!