HoppinAle — The Craft of Beer

Journal of Homebrewing and Craft Beer

Archive for category Homebrewing

Brewing Hiatus

Jul 13

Posted by Jeff in Homebrewing | No Comments

Well, I have decided to put brewing on hiatus.

Why?

  • 3 kids, house, job, other hobbies all demanding of my time
  • I have greatly reduced my consumption (and waste line)
  • Variety – since I don’t drink that much, a single batch of beer will now probably last me 6 mos. or longer. I would rather buy good craft beer on occasion and have greater variety on hand.

So I will also be allowing this site to expire. I may still make my annual christmas brew, and maybe try a mead or two. Those activities will be instead be posted on my other blog baxafamily.com, so please feel free to check it out and subscribe.

Thanks to those who have visited and followed.

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Back in the Swing

Aug 2

Posted by Jeff in Homebrewing | 1 Comment

The brewing drought is over. The Centennial IPA is bottled and ready – see review in upcoming post. I also have the Red Eye Rye and the Commuter ESB bottled and should be ready soon, and Nut-O-Brown in the primary. I will review and post recipes for these when they are ready for consumption.

August will be a month of many brews, as I will be starting to brew the IBVP – Imperial Bourbon Vanilla Porter for the holidays. A grand total of 4 batches of this bad boy. I also want to get the Belgian Dubbel I have been itching to make done this month to try and take advantage of the warmer temps for fermenting. Time and weather will tell if I can get 5 brews started in one month, with only 3 fermenters.

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Busy Spring = Brew Delay

Jun 16

Posted by Jeff in General, Homebrewing | 2 Comments

Still here, just been too busy with spring things, kids, yard work, family gatherings – all leaves little time for brewing. Just around the corner I will be brewing again. In the meantime, I have been doing some recipe research and catching up on some Basic Brewing podcasts during my commute.

I do have my centennial IPA fermenting away and will be dry hopping next week. I ended up having to make this on a weekday evening due to rain-out on the one open weekend day I had planned to brew on. I am not too keen on brewing on a weekday evening – it takes the entire evening and with 3 kids – I can’t do it that often. So in the next couple of weeks I plan on getting a couple more brews going. Stay tuned.

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Darn Those Peaches

Apr 16

Posted by Jeff in Homebrewing | No Comments

Bottling day proved to be quite the challenge for Tammy’s Peache Blonde Ale. First, siphoning into the bottling bucket – had some challenges with bits of peaches clogging the bottom of the auto-siphon. More peach remnants got into the bottling bucket than I thought would. Second, peach remnants clog up the bottling wand too. Had to stop more than once to clean it out, hoping the starting and stopping didn’t cause to much oxygen to get into the beer. Time will tell. Glad Tammy was filling while I capped – I wouldn’t have been as patient as she was.

Lesson learned – if using peaches (or any other fruits) in fermenter, put them in a muslin bag, or put a bag over the siphon tube.

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Clementine Hefeweizen

Apr 15

Posted by Jeff in Homebrewing | 2 Comments

This last Saturday I brewed up a clementine hefeweizen. It was very nice out and the kids were my helpers when they weren’t playing.

This is my first time brewing a wheat beer, and first time using citrus as well. All went well, except it was very difficult to zest the clementines because the are not as firm as an orange – did the best I could and zested an orange too. I am also trying to make use of the yeast properties by adjusting my fermentation temps to try and get a good balance of banana and clove – technique described to me by one of the B.O.S.S members. Anxious for this one – short ferment time and short condition time – a brew best when young.

Clementine Hefeweizen – Brew Day Pics 2010

Here are the details:
Batch size 6 gallons
Boil size 7.2 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 9.03 pounds
Efficiency 75%
Original gravity 1.043
Final gravity 1.011 (est.)
Alcohol (by volume) 4.2%
Bitterness (IBU) 15
Color (SRM) 2.8°L
Yeast
Yeast
Wyeast
3068		 Weihenstephan
Weizen
Grains/Extracts/Sugars
9.03 pounds
2 Row Base
37ppg, 1.5°L		 5.55 pounds
61.5%
Wheat
38ppg, 2°L		 3.48 pounds
38.5%
Hops
1.64 ounces
Hallertauer hops
4.5%, Pellet		 1.09 ounces
Saaz hops
4.3%, Pellet		 0.55 ounce
Additions
48.05 ounces
Clementine
Flavor		 Zest of 3 and meat of 5
Irish moss
Fining		 1 teaspoon
Mash
60 minutes, 8.9 gallons
Strike
Target 152°F		 3.4 gallons
164°F
60 minutes (+0)
Sparge
Target 170°F		 5.5 gallons
175°F
Boil
60 minutes, 7.2 gallons
Hallertauer hops
4.5%, Pellet		 0.55 ounce
60 minutes (+0)
Saaz hops
4.3%, Pellet		 0.55 ounce
20 minutes (+0)
Irish moss
Fining		 1 teaspoon
15 minutes (+45)
Wort chiller 15 minutes (+45)
Hallertauer hops
4.5%, Pellet		 0.55 ounce
10 minutes (+0)
Ferment
14 days @ 64-75°F
Clementines
Flavor		 Zest of 3 meat of 5
14 days

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Beer for the Wife

Mar 29

Posted by Jeff in Homebrewing | 1 Comment

So the Mrs. requested I make something she would enjoy – a.k.a. – light and fruity. I decided to try making a Peach Blonde Ale. Brewday was this past Saturday.

This is based off an apricot blonde ale recipe I found. I am substituting peaches for the apricots, and I am leaving out the fruit extract addition called for at bottling. I would rather the fruit flavor be too subtle than too much. I can always increase it for the next time it is made. The peaches will be added on Tuesday.

Since this is such a light ale, I opted to use bottled water for this to avoid any off-flavors my high bicarbonate water could impart. The only other potential issue is that my temperatures during the mash dropped more than I anticipated – 4 degrees. I think the smaller grain amount left more head-space in the mash tun and as a result – heat loss. I will have to get some foam to fill that space up prior to the hefeweizen being brewed this upcoming Saturday.

Here are the details:
Batch size 5 gallons
Boil size 6.1 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 8 pounds
Efficiency 75%
Original gravity 1.051
Final gravity 1.010 (est.)
Alcohol (by volume) 5.4%
Bitterness (IBU) 11
Color (SRM) 3.9°L
Yeast
Dry Yeast
Fermentis
S-04		 English Ale
Grains/Extracts/Sugars
8 pounds
2 Row Base
37ppg, 1.5°L		 7 pounds
85.7%
Crystal 10L
35ppg, 10°L		 1 pounds
12.5%
Hops
1 ounce
Cascade hops
3.2%, Pellet		 1 ounce
Additions
48.05 ounces
Peaches
Flavor		 48 ounces
Irish moss
Fining		 1 teaspoon
Mash
60 minutes, 7.6 gallons
Strike
Target 154°F		 3 gallons
166°F
60 minutes (+0)
Sparge
Target 170°F		 4.6 gallons
175°F
Boil
60 minutes, 6.1 gallons
Cascade hops
3.2%, Pellet		 1 ounce
60 minutes (+0)
Irish moss
Fining		 1 teaspoon
15 minutes (+45)
Wort chiller 15 minutes (+45)
Ferment
14 days @ 60-72°F
Peaches
Flavor		 48 ounces
11 days (+3)

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Double Brew Weekend – Day 2

Mar 11

Posted by Jeff in Homebrewing | No Comments

With 3 kids if there is a gap in the schedule and you can brew, then brew. It had been a few months since the last time I brewed, so why not take advantage of the time and get 2 out of the way in one weekend. Also, I was fortunate to have a brew helper.

Day 2: Ed Wort’s Bee Cave Brewery Haus Pale Ale

This recipe came from one of the brewers on the Homebrew Talk forums. I did add a 1/4 oz. of carapils since it was sent by mistake, and won’t have any taste effect, but should help improve head retention a little. I adjusted the grain mill a little to be a little courser crush. Also for this batch, I used bottled water instead of my tap water. I am leery of the high bicarbonate levels in Chicago’s municipal water in this pale of a beer, and I don’t know enough about water chemistry and brewing yet to feel confident in trying to dilute and make adjustments.

For the most part, everything went fine. It was a little bit colder than the previous day, and I did have a 3 degree drop in the temperature of my mash, but I don’t expect it to have a significant effect.

Here are the details:
Batch size 5.5 gallons
Boil size 6.7 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 10.75 pounds
Efficiency 75%
Original gravity 1.057
Final gravity 1.012 (est.)
Alcohol (by volume) 5.9%
Bitterness (IBU) 28
Color (SRM) 4.3°L
Yeast
23 dry grams (2 packs)
Dry
Fermentis		 Safale US-05
Grains/Extracts/Sugars
10.75 pounds
2 Row Base
37ppg, 1.5°L		 8 pounds
74.4%
Vienna
35ppg, 4°L		 2 pounds
18.6%
Crystal 10L
35ppg, 10°L		 0.5 pounds
4.7%
CaraPils
33ppg, 1.5°L		 0.25 pounds
2.3%
Hops
2 ounces
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet		 2 ounces
Additions
0.25 ounces
Irish moss
Fining		 0.25 ounces
Mash
60 minutes, 8.6 gallons
Strike
Target 152°F		 4.0 gallons
165°F
60 minutes (+0)
Sparge
Target 170°F		 4.5 gallons
178°F
Boil
60 minutes, 6.7 gallons
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet		 1 ounce
60 minutes (+0)
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet		 0.5 ounces
30 minutes (+30)
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet		 0.25 ounces
15 minutes (+45)
Irish moss
Fining		 0.25 ounces
15 minutes (+45)
Wort chiller 15 minutes (+45)
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet		 0.25 ounces
5 minutes (+55)
Ferment
22 days @ 60-72°F

Should be bottling around March 20th.

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Double Brew Weekend – Day 1

Mar 10

Posted by Jeff in Homebrewing | No Comments

I finally received my Barley Crusher, and decided to do a double brew weekend to celebrate the new toy…I mean equipment.

Day 1: Irish Red Ale

This was an all-grain kit I ordered from Midwest Supplies. A fellow brewer, Bob, stopped by to help and see how I do the all-grain process.

The crusher worked great – but took a longer than I thought to hand crank the grain bill through the mill. Need to make sure my cordless drill is charged up next time. I think the grain may have been crushed a little too fine, and I did adjust it for the next time. Will have to wait and see. I also used my tap water for the first time. Chicago municipal water is high in bicarbonates – which should be good for Amber and Red ales. I did set out 10 gallons overnight with half of a campden tablet to remove the chlorine.

Here are the details:
Batch size 5.5 gallons
Boil size 6.7 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 10.5 pounds
Efficiency 75%
Original gravity 1.059
Final gravity 1.013 (est.)
Alcohol (by volume) 6.0%
Bitterness (IBU) 19
Color (SRM) 17.8°L
Yeast
2 liter starter
Wyeast
1056		 American Ale
Grains/Extracts/Sugars
10.5 pounds
2 Row Base
37ppg, 1.5°L		 9 pounds
85.7%
Crystal 40L
34ppg, 40°L		 0.75 pounds
7.1%
CaraPils
33ppg, 1.5°L		 0.25 pounds
2.4%
Barley (Roasted)
28ppg, 500°L		 0.25 pounds
2.4%
Special B
30ppg, 140°L		 0.25 pounds
2.4%
Hops
2 ounces
Fuggles hops
5%, Pellet		 1 ounce
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet		 1 ounce
Additions
0.25 ounces
Irish moss
Fining		 0.25 ounces
Mash
57 minutes, 8.5 gallons
Strike
Target 152°F		 3.9 gallons
165°F
57 minutes (+0)
Sparge
Target 170°F		 4.6 gallons
177°F
Boil
60 minutes, 6.7 gallons
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet		 1 ounce
60 minutes (+0)
Irish moss
Fining		 0.25 ounces
15 minutes (+45)
Wort chiller 15 minutes (+45)
Fuggles hops
5%, Pellet		 1 ounce
2 minutes (+58)
Ferment
22 days @ 60-72°F

Should be bottling around March 20th. Stay tuned. Next post – Day 2.

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The Step Up to All-Grain Brewing

Mar 8

Posted by Jeff in Homebrewing | No Comments

Imperial Bourbon Vanilla Porter

My first all-grain—Imperial Bourbon Vanilla Porter

After making 6 extract brews, I decided to jump up to all-grain brewing, and I went big. That first recipe was an imperial bourbon vanilla porter (Thanks Denny Conn – recipe can be found here).

I ordered the grains crushed, since I didn’t have a grain mill. My homemade mash-tun did pretty good. It kept my temperature for the entire hour. Not bad for a cooler on clearance for $20.00 and some parts from HD or Lowes.

The beer came out very good – but did come up short on efficiency – about 65% and the recipe was for 75%. I will be brewing this again this fall so it is ready for the holiday season – only this time I will make 10 gallons. I shared at the family events and it disappeared too quickly.

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