Author Archive
Rhubarb Saison FTW
I finally got down to brewing up some more beer. I was spurred on by the latest issue of BYO. There is a new yeast out. It is amazing.
I haven’t even finished a beer with it and I am already drooling. White Labs 670 – American Farmhouse Ale – is a Saison yeast with a surprise. It’s spiked with Brettanomyces. I made a yeast starter on this bad boy and the yeast starter beer was awesome! Just Light DME and yeast – and I was loving it! I can’t wait to see what it can do for a proper beer.
Just to make things interesting, I went down to my parent’s house and picked a couple pounds of rhubarb to kick up the tartness. I’m pretty sure this will be a noble experiment.
Rhubarb Saison
Style: Saison OG: 1.043
Type: All Grain FG: 1.009
ABV: 4.45 %
IBU’s: 23.24
Efficiency: 85 % Boil Size: 11.19 Gal
Color: 3.9 SRM Batch Size: 10.00 Gal
Boil Time: 60 minutes
Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
Primary 5 days @ 72.0°F
Secondary 7 days @ 69.0°F
Bottle/Keg 4 days @ 48.0°F
Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
14.25 lbs 84.60 % Gambrinus Pilsener Malt 60 mins 1.037
1.75 lbs 10.39 % Gambrinus Wheat Malt 60 mins 1.037
13.50 ozs 5.01 % Briess CaraVienne 20L 60 mins 1.034
Hops
Amount IBU’s Name Time AA %
1.00 ozs 8.41 Goldings 60 mins 4.40
1.00 ozs 9.74 Williamette 60 mins 5.10
1.00 ozs 5.09 Goldings 20 mins 4.40
Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.00 pkg American Farmhouse Ale Wyeast Labs 0670
Additions
Amount Name Time Stage
2.00 lb Rhubarb Primary
Mash Profile
Light Body Infusion 60 min @ 152.0°F
Add 26.95 qt ( 1.60 qt/lb ) water @ 166.8°F
Mashout 1 min @ 170.0°F
Heat to 170.0°F over 9 mins
Sparge
Batch Sparge 27.16 qt of 170.0°F water over 20 mins
Carbonation
Amount Type Beer Temp CO2 Vols
15.3 psi Force Carbonation 48.0°F 2.40
———————————————————-
Notes (07/27/2011)
I’ve had the Rhubarb Saison on tap for about a week now. It’s a deliciously refreshing, sweet n’ tart beer that I am really in love with. The yeast gives just a nice solid hint of sour, the rhubarb kicks in it’s signature taste (and I swear a bit of a strawberry flavor as well), but none of it is overwhelming in any way. In fact, they whole thing can taste like a budmillercoors if you’re not thinking too carefully about it (it did end up at 1.004 after all).
I can’t wait to try some variation on this – maybe with some roasted grains for a dark/sour/rhubarb crazy. Mmm. I’ll throw in the 10 pie cherries my tree has waiting for me as well.
The Brewery is Finally Operational!
My dad is up at Overlake Hospital right now. I took my brand new iPod Mega (I refuse to call e product by its trade name…) up to show off. He snapped the picture here and said “this is how I fell right now.”
Anyway, it has been over 6 months since the last brew, so I finally unpacked the rest of the brewing equipment and am making some beer. In honor of dad’s recent surgery – we get Twisted Intestines Ale. Here’s the recipe:
TWISTED INTESTINES ALE
Based off of Nightengale’s Honey Ale
Style: Kolsch
Type: All Grain Calories: 206
Rating: 4.0 Efficiency: 85 %
IBU’s: 17.52 Boil Size: 11.19 Gal
Color: 5.4 SRM Batch Size: 10.00 Gal
Boil Time: 60 minutes
Estimated Actual
Brew Date: - 05/07/2011
OG: 1.063 1.061
FG: 1.016 -
ABV: 6.16 % – %
Serve Date: 05/28/2011 / /
Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp Estimated Actual
Primary 7 days @ 68.0°F 05/07/2011 05/07/2011
Bottle/Keg 14 days @ 54.0°F 05/14/2011 -
Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Gravity Color
10.40 lbs 53.61 % Pale Malt (2 Row) US 1.036 2.0
1.40 lbs 7.22 % Honey Malt 1.037 25.0
1.60 lbs 8.25 % White Wheat Malt 1.040 2.4
6.00 lbs 30.93 % Honey 1.035 1.0
Hops
Amount IBU’s Name Time AA %
2.00 ozs 17.52 Cascade 54 mins 5.50
Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg Kolsch Yeast Wyeast Labs 2565
Additions
(none)
Mash Profile
Medium Body Infusion In 80 min @ 154.0°F
Add 16.75 qt ( 1.25 qt/lb ) water @ 171.9°F
Sparge
Sparge 35.57 qt of 170.0°F water over 60 mins
Notes
The water was at 172 deg. When I dumped the grain in, it settled out to about 159. 5 degrees too high. Added cold water to get to 156.
www.iBrewMaster.com Version: 1.440
—————————————————–
The boil is at 30 minutes, I’m wrapping up pretty early today, pretty awesome considering I had to give everything a good scrub before I used any of it.
The Big Move
It’s been a few months since the last post. It turns out that having your own house is a lot of work…who knew? But the brewery is finally taking shape. I plan to do the Inaugural 610 brew this coming week. I haven’t decided what it will be yet, but most likely it will be in the porter/stout region – because those are the beers I have been craving lately. I’ve gotten my all time favorite beer, Angel’s Share, a couple of times in the last month (which is awesome!) and that really makes me want to produce a complex and flavorful chocolate/coffee/grainy beer with infinite complexities. But I don’t want an imperial either, but more of a sessionable beer. We’ll see what I come up with.
Once there is a little more order, I will post some pictures of the new brew space. But for now, I am off to drink some beer.
Crooked Rooster 2010
| Crooked Rooster Pumpkin Saison 2010 |
| Saison |
| Type: All Grain | Date: 10/24/2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batch Size: 10.00 gal | Brewer: Alex Shafer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Size: 12.27 gal | Asst Brewer: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Time: 60 min | Equipment: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 | Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste Notes: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ingredients | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beer Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Original Gravity: 1.058 SG | Measured Original Gravity: 1.055 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG | Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.99 % | Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.35 % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bitterness: 18.7 IBU | Calories: 246 cal/pint | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Color: 12.2 SRM | Color:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body | Total Grain Weight: 17.75 lb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Water: 7.99 gal | Grain Temperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F | TunTemperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE | Mash PH: 5.4 PH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carbonation and Storage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) | Volumes of CO2: 2.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pressure/Weight: 17.2 PSI | Carbonation Used: - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Keg/Bottling Temperature: 41.0 F | Age for: 28.0 days | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Storage Temperature: 52.0 F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Like this:
Chama River Brewing
Walk out the door of this establishment in early October and you will see 100 hot air balloons hovering peacefully over your head. Inside it is attractive with a copper bar and pleasing curved taps sponging from the bar top.
I am enjoying a Broken Spoke Honey Wheat Ale. Surprisingly, it tastes a lot like my honey ale. Crisp and light with a small yet lingering honey aftertaste. Also it has a nice cirtrus tinge to help balance out the sweetness.
On to Smokey the Beer (clever). A smoked Porter that delivers a nice campfire smoke taste on the first sip that fades as the pint wears on. Dark chocolate with a hint of bitter, this is a pretty easy drinking Porter.
Chama offers your standard lineup with some interesting seasonals. Glad I gave it a try!
Double The Pleasure! Double the Fun!
Double brew day today! I’m doing a 10 gallon batch where I will boil 10 gallons for an hour, drain half of the wort, and boil the remaining wort for another hour.
It’s going to be a 60-/ Scottish Ale for the lighter bit and a Wee Heavy for the stronger version. I also took the first two gallons off before boiling and refrigerated them. I will boil that down into a syrup and add it to the wee heavy on Saturday. I’m pretty excited to see if this works out. I am always making 10 gallons, so they might as well be a couple of different beers. I got inspired by a Zymrugy article on the subject.
Here is the stats:
| Smoked Wee Heavy/Light Scotch Ale |
| Strong Scotch Ale |
| Type: All Grain | Date: 9/15/2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batch Size: 11.00 gal | Brewer: Alex Shafer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Size: 17.08 gal | Asst Brewer: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Time: 120 min | Equipment: Shafer Lab Setup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 | Brewhouse Efficiency: 82.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste Notes: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ingredients | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beer Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Original Gravity: 1.083 SG | Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Final Gravity: 1.021 SG | Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.11 % | Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bitterness: 26.2 IBU | Calories: 43 cal/pint | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Color: 8.6 SRM | Color:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Name: My Mash | Total Grain Weight: 32.25 lb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Water: 11.12 gal | Grain Temperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F | TunTemperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE | Mash PH: 5.4 PH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 120 min boil, and the first two gallons collected were set aside to boil down and put into the wee heavy later. Will drain 5 gallons at 60 minutes and continue the boil the additional hour.
Light scotch: 16.25 Brix OG Cheers to double beers!! |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Double High Pumpkin Pie Ale
| Double High Pumpkin Pie Wit |
| Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer |
| Type: All Grain | Date: 9/12/2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batch Size: 11.00 gal | Brewer: Alex Shafer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Size: 13.44 gal | Asst Brewer: Mike Allen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Time: 60 min | Equipment: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 | Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste Notes: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ingredients | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beer Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Original Gravity: 1.059 SG | Measured Original Gravity: 1.057 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG | Measured Final Gravity: 1.000 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.80 % | Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.43 % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bitterness: 15.9 IBU | Calories: 246 cal/pint | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Color: 14.1 SRM | Color:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body | Total Grain Weight: 20.25 lb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Water: 8.53 gal | Grain Temperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F | TunTemperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE | Mash PH: 5.4 PH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monk’y Tripel
Monks are awesome. The first thing that comes to my head when I think about monks is Monty Python, when they are walking through the city chanting, and whacking themselves on the head with a big plank. Probably not an image blessed by the pope, but…what are you going to do. Well, the images of people whacking themselves on the head is good inspiration in my book, and it lead me to this simple tripel recipe. Probably a shade too dark to actually call a tripel, yet too light to call a dark strong, this one lies in purgatory, waiting for its time to be drank. Recipe after the break… (more…)
Summer Time Calls for Summer Beer
It’s been up in the 90′s in Seattle which means that Summertime has officially hit (although it was terribly late this year…) Therefore, it was time to break ou the old standby: Nightengale’s Honey Ale. This beer is the epitome of lawnmower beers – light and refreshing with a hint of honey o make it special. This isn’t quite a session beer however, it rings in at about 5.5% ABV and can knock you off balance quickly if you’re not careful.
I didn’t modify the recipe too much except that I used Citra hops instead of Cascade. Here’s the recipe:
| Nightingale’s Honey Ale |
| Specialty Beer |
| Type: All Grain | Date: 7/11/2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batch Size: 11.00 gal | Brewer: Alex Shafer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Size: 13.14 gal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Time: 60 min | Equipment: Alex’s Setup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brewhouse Efficiency: 81 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ingredients | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beer Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Original Gravity: 1.054 SG | Measured Original Gravity: 1.060 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG | Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.32 % | Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.52 % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bitterness: 26.2 IBU | Calories: 266 cal/pint | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Color: 5.0 SRM | Color:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge | Total Grain Weight: 13.00 lb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Water: 11.44 gal | Grain Temperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F | TunTemperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE | Mash PH: 5.4 PH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carbonation and Storage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) | Volumes of CO2: 2.4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pressure/Weight: 21.6 PSI | Carbonation Used: - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
I’m hoping to have this fermented and on tap for Saturday. We’ll see how that goes. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
About Propane as it applies to Brewing Beer
I recently built a brewstand, if you are interested, check it out here: Brewstand. For the stand, I had initially thought that I would have a separate propane tank for each burner. This was mostly for simplicity’s sake, but also because I knew that if you drive one propane tank too hard, it cannot keep up. If you have ever been hitting a tank on full blast, you’ll notice condensation build up, and eventually freezing to the side of the tank. This is the result of a reaction in which the propane turns from liquid (in the tank) to gas (in the burner). The byproduct of this conversion is heat loss. The propane will drop from room temperature to below zero fairly quickly if you are using a large amount of it. As the temperature of the liquid drops, the pressure of the tank goes down and down, until you can no longer get the pressure you need to adequately keep the burners flowing. This is why I had initially though I would do a separate tank for each burner, so that this would not be an issue.
But 3 tanks seems a bit over the top, so after some though, I decided I would do two: one for the boil kettle (BK), and another for the mash tun (MT) and the hot liquor tank (HLT). I decided this because I know that I will never have a full burner going for the HLT and the MT at the same time, or if I do, it would be for a breif period of time (never over 10 minutes). Therefore, I decided that one propane tank would be sufficient.
The next step was to figure out how to get two burners to draw from the same propane cylinder. I had seen a couple of brewstands that use black steel pipe, so I decided that was the way to go. I went down to Lowes, and talked to the dude in the piping section (always a bad idea), and he sent me away to a propane specialty store. I went there, and they weren’t able to help much. So I decided to head back to Lowes and try to put it together myself. And it turns out your local box store is going to have eveything you need to put this thing together. Basically, this is what my manifold was comprised of:
- The first (and most important) piece is the propane regulator. This is the hose that goes from the propane tank to the piping. I made the mistake of buying one at the box store, only to find out that a normal barbecue regulator only delivers 0.5 PSI. This is not nearly enough to drive two burners! You need to find a regulator that is 20-30 PSI to run two high BTU burners. I am running 70,000 BTU burners, and so 20PSI was plenty for me. You’ll want to check, but the most common connection on the end of these is a 3/8″ male flare fitting. I got mine on amazon.
- So you need an adapter from 3/8″ flare to 1/2″ MIP. This will plug the regulator into the black steel pipe.
- From there you will need a ‘T’ fitting, followed by two 1/2″ valves rated for use with gas.
- After the valve (which you want as close to the burners as you can get them), you will need another adapter that goes from 1/2″ MIP to 3/8″ flare fittings again.
- Again, check on this one, but the adapter that my burners came with are 3/8″ flare. You do need propane specific adapters for the connection to the burner, otherwise you won’t get a proper flow. These adapters have a very narrow tube so that the propane is pushed out forcefully so that it makes it around your burner. I initially tried to use 1/4″ black steel pipe into the burners, and that did not work, you must have the proper propane fitting here. Mine came with the burners when I bought them. I got these from Agrisupply.com. I bought the BURNER CAST LOW PRESURE MULTI-HOLE 6″ which work great, but I would actually recommend you buy the CAST IRON HIGH PRESSURE BURNER because it has a higher BTU output for less money.
The most important part of working with black steel piping is to make sure that you wrench down the pipe really well. When you get it all put together, turn on the propane full blast and then spray on soapy water (I used my kid’s bubble mix) on all the joints and make sure there are no leaks.
All the black steel piping you could want is available at your local box store, just don’t ask anyone that works there, unless you’ve had success with that person in the past. Anyway, I just fired up my burners for the first time tonight after working out all of the leaks:
