Brew Night - RyePA

It's Brew Night!  I have a liter starter of Wyeast American Ale ready to rock and roll.  It's been sitting in some 1.045 wort for about 36 hours now.  I purchased the NB RyePA kit that features their new Rye Malt Extract.  I still enjoy doing some extract brewing here and again.  It's very simple, and typically takes me a couple of hours from start to finish.

The recipe for the RyePA is available to the right.  I will pop the info into beer tools later this week, and post the pretty recipe breakdown to my blog tomorrow.

On the stir plate front, I've collected the following parts.

1.) Wooden Box - Pipe Puffers in Greenwood sells used cigar shipping boxes for $1.
2.) CPU Fan - Harvested from a 1999 Gateway 2000 computer
3.) Rare Earth Magnet - Harvested from 1999 WD Caviar 2GB hard drive
4.) Potentiomter (25 Ohm) - RadioShack - $2
5.) Toggle Switch - Radio Shack - $2
6.) Power Supply - I have a 5v Blackberry charger I was thinking about using.  More to come on this item.
7.) Quick Disconnects - For the inside wiring - RadioShack - $1.50

Not too shabby for $6.50 in total spend.  I also had to get a new $10 soldering iron.  Mine bit the farm.

New Project - Building a Stir Plate

I have a new homebrew project to occupy the next couple of weeks.

I am going to try my hand at building my own stir plate. I've seen nice commercial versions all over the web from $50 to over a $100 bucks depending on all of the bells and whistles that you have. I've started putting together my requirements, and what I think I need as far as a parts list. From looking over several posts in zymurgy, and a great walkthrough on www.donosborn.com, I think I should be able to do this pretty easily. So here it goes.

Requirements:
1.) Must be able to hold a 2 liter Erlmeyer flask.
2.) Must have an on/off switch
3.) Must have speed variability
4.) Must be aesthetically pleasing as possible.

Parts List:
1.) 6 Volt Power Supply - I think I have a few of these at the house.
2.) CPU Fan - I know I have at least ten of these!
3.) Wood Box w/ lid - I'm budgeting $10 for one of these at the local cigar shop
4.) Wire Quick Disconnects - $3 at Ace or Radio Shack
5.) 25 Ohm Potentiometer - $4 at Radio Shack
6.) 4 bolts
7.) 4 neoprene spacers - $1 at Radio Shack (So I can have room above the fan for the magnet)
8.) 4 neoprene washers - $1 at Radio Shack (Absorb vibration)
9.) Control knobs - $2 at Radio Shack
10.) Switch - $3 at Radio Shack (I want one I can mount nicely to the box)
11.) Rare Earth Magnet - I should be able to scavenge one from a dead hard drive at home.
12.) Stir Bar - $5 at Northern Brewer

So.  As I take this project on, I will take some photos, and put together a how-to blog post.  I hope to get it done by the end of November, and have it cranking away at building some great yeast populations by new years!

Empty Fermenters and a possible Attenuation issue

Well, Both of my fermenters are now empty. I kegged up both my Dunkelweizen and the CDA (Black IPA). The first task was doing a double keg clean out. I will fill one keg up with 5 gallons of easy clean, and then push that through my beer lines into keg 2. I then push it from keg 2 into a bottling bucket that has the tubing I plan to use while siphoning out the beer from the fermenters. The next step is to repeat the process with Star San.

It looks like I may have had my first brewing anomaly with the Dunkelweizen batch. The OG was 1.052 when I put it into the carboy. Last night when testing with my refractometer it finished at 1.028. Not even close to the 1.013 that I was expecting. The only thing that I can think of is that perhaps my Wyeast smack pack got too warm in shipping, and when I did the smack, I didn't have the proper number of yeast cells at pitching time. I think that from this point forward, even with the smack packs, I am going to get at least a 1 liter starter going the day before brew day. This is the first batch that I have ever missed my finishing gravity on. I do recall however that all three ice packs that were in the shipping container had melted by the time I got home and brought the package in the house. I always immediately refrigerate my yeast, so that may have saved enough to get to where it actually finished at.

I did take a quick taste of the dunkel, and I have to say, the sweetness lends pretty well to the roastiness of the dark wheat malt. It's going to be quite sessionable at the 3.18% ABV mark.

As for the CDA, it finished at 1.020 just as I had hoped. It's still got quite a bit of HOP AA zing, and should be quite a good beer. I'll be serving both of these beers at an upcoming Knights of Columbus fundraising dinners supporting the Holy Rosary Pro-Life group.

Special Thanks to Carlos for bringing me an extra Keg! Also, to my wonderful wife and brew assistant. Without her, nothing is possible.

This is the Dunkelweizen that is currently in my primary. I plan on serving this beer at a Knights of Columbus dinner in November.

IndyBuell Dunkelweizen

15-B Dunkelweizen
Author: Andrew Murrey
Date: 8/22/11

Size: 5.04 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 173.83 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.052 (1.044 - 1.056)
|===================#============|

Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 - 1.014)
|====================#===========|

Color: 15.62 (14.0 - 23.0)
|==========#=====================|

Alcohol: 5.14% (4.3% - 5.6%)
|==================#=============|

Bitterness: 16.7 (10.0 - 18.0)
|=====================#==========|

Ingredients:

5 lb Dark Wheat Malt
3.5 lb Pilsner Malt
1 lb Munich Malt Dark
.5 lb German CaraMunich II
.25 lb Belgian Special B
1 oz Tettnanger (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 ea WYeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen™

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.17

My Cascadian Dark Ale (Black IPA)

I placed this in Beer Tools as a Specialty Beer. I do believe that a BJCP category for CDA or Black IPA is in the works, or may have already been published.

Cascadian Dark Ale

23-A Specialty Beer
Author: Andrew Murrey

Size: 4.8 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 263.71 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.079 (1.026 - 1.120)
|================#===============|

Terminal Gravity: 1.020 (0.995 - 1.035)
|=================#==============|

Color: 26.55 (1.0 - 50.0)
|================#===============|

Alcohol: 7.8% (2.5% - 14.5%)
|===============#================|

Bitterness: 110.5 (0.0 - 100.0)
|=========================#======|

Ingredients:

11.5 lb Standard 2-Row
.5 lb 2-Row Caramel Malt 80L
.38 lb Carafa® TYPE III
.38 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb Corn Sugar
1 oz Summit™ (17.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 oz Chinook (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1 oz Centennial (10.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
1 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min
1 oz Centennial (10.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0 min
1 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1 ea WYeast 1272 American Ale II™

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.17

New addition to my beer Fridge

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Andy's Scottish Heavy 70/- (70 Schilling)

Here's my recipe, based on the NB 60 schilling kit.  I changed the yeast out to an Irish Ale.

Andy's Scottish 70/-

9-B Scottish Heavy 70/-

Author: Andrew Murrey

Date: 7/31/11

Size: 5.0 gal

Efficiency: 75.0%

Attenuation: 73.0%

Calories: 121.77 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.037 (1.035 - 1.040)

|=============#==================|

Terminal Gravity: 1.010 (1.010 - 1.015)

|=======#========================|

Color: 13.83 (9.0 - 17.0)

|=================#==============|

Alcohol: 3.5% (3.2% - 3.9%)

|==============#=================|

Bitterness: 8.4 (10.0 - 25.0)

|======#=========================|

Ingredients:

6 lb Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt

1 lb Crystal Malt 80°L

.5 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min

1 ea WYeast 1084 Irish Ale™

1 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 5 min

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 70.0 °F

Source Water: 60.0 °F

Elevation: 0.0 m

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.17

It's Here!!

My first All Grain kit from Northern Brewer has arrived today!  I can't hold my excitement for much longer.  The only downside is that my job has me out of state until late Friday night!  I guess that means I need to finally get this mash tun kit put together that I bought from a fellow home brewer, and get ready hopefully for a Sunday brew session!

All for Brew, Brew for All!

First AG kit on the way

Yes! My first All Grain kit has shipped from Northern Brewer! I can hardly contain myself!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Review: Sam Adams Rustic Saison

First, not at all what I was expecting. It was a very crisp, and great finishing beer. Extremely thirst quenching, as well as satisfying of that wheat beer need. I loved it, and wish it had a six pack of it's own! Today in my area it's only available in the summer style's variety pack. I rate it 4.5 mugs out of 5.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Indiana Brewer's Cup Entry

Today I entered my first contest. I know that I like the beer that I brew, but I wanted to start getting some opinions from folks that have been doing this a while. Not so much for recognition, but more for ways that I can improve my brews.

I entered my Tasty Witbier. I brewed it with coriander and bitter orange peel as to style. My only issue in entering the contest was getting the beer from the keg to the bottles without foaming everywhere. Thanks to another homebrew friend, I was able to get a good 10oz in each bottle, I think!

I will enter a followup post when I get my score sheets back!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Northern Brewer Weizenboch Recipe

This week, I brewed the "Advantageous Weizenboch" recipe from Northern Brewer.  It's an extract kit with some specialty grains.  This is my fourth homebrew this year, and I've really started to get the hang of the process.  I have brewed exclusively wheat beers since taking the hobby back up in mid February.  I've had really good luck so far with the Wheat LME from Northern Brewer, as well as the Bavarian Wheat LME from Briess at our local homebrew shop.  
This recipe called for 6lbs of Munich LME, as well as 6lbs of Wheat LME.  I used a CaraAroma (German) specialty grain that I steeped for 20 minutes at 160 degrees along with my first ever "First Wort" Hop addition of 1oz of Perle (German) hops.  See below for an analysis outputted by Beer Tools Pro of the recipe as I performed it.  This is also the first brew that I have used a yeast cake scavenged from a previous brew.  I used the WYeast 3638 on a Bavarian Witbier two brews ago, and made a starter from my slurry, and it fired right up.  That pocketed me about $7 in savings on this particular brew.  But don't get me wrong, this hobby is not a cost savings effort.  I really enjoy fresh beer, and this is the best way to take care of that craving :)

NB Weizenboch

15-C Weizenbock
Brew Date: 6/20/11

Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 280.72 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.084 (1.064 - 1.090)
|====================#===========|

Terminal Gravity: 1.021 (1.015 - 1.022)
|=====================#==========|

Color: 15.26 (12.0 - 25.0)
|============#===================|

Alcohol: 8.3% (6.5% - 8.0%)
|===========================#====|

Bitterness: 40.1 (15.0 - 30.0)
|================================|

Ingredients:

.5 lb German CaraAroma
6 lb Munich Liquid
6 lb CBW® Bavarian Wheat Liquid (Malt Extract)
1 oz Perle (9.4%) - added first wort, boiled 60 min
1 oz Hersbrucker (2.7%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1 ea WYeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat™

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.16