Hefeweizen and other brew work

I decided at the last minute this week, to do a week night brew session. I've been leery of doing one, since I assumed it would take me all night. I set up some things last night and was pretty prepared. I managed to get everything done in just about 4 hours. I was sweating and the bugs were driving me nuts, but I got done before dark, so that's a good thing.

Hefeweizen (Rye)
- Still haven't decided what to call this beer. It's semi in BJCP range for the style, a tad bit over on the IBU's, perfect on the SRM's and, we'll see on the ABV's.. I got the recipe from Jamil's book, but changed it up a bit with the hops.

Fermentables:

6 lb. American 2-row
3 lb. German Wheat
3.75 lb. Rye

Hops:

1 oz. Hallertau (60 min.)
.70 oz. (0 min.)

Yeast:
WLP 320 (reusing yeast from my American Wheat - raspberry)

Brew went well, target OG was 1.068, I ended at 1.059 - so I think this kind of puts it back into style range - 1.068 is a bit too high for this style. Regardless, it went smooth and I'm using a blow-off tube for this one - just to be on the safe side!

Other brew work tonight: I racked my wheat onto 5 lbs. of raspberry puree. The wheat by itself came out to 5.5% ABV. I'm going to do another reading after about 10 days when I keg it, but this is about what I was shooting for. The wheat before the raspberry tasted pretty good. Very clean and a nice clear looking beer.
I also racked the 36th anniversary IPA tonight. This beer came to a 6.3% ABV and looks and tastes excellent. This is going to be a nice light IPA, perfect for a party. I'm pretty excited this turned out so well, I've never made a batch of beer specifically for a party, so I'm happy this tastes and looks so great.

All that in 4 hours! I'm getting pretty good at staying one step ahead of everything while I brew. I guess tonight proves I can brew during a week night! Honestly, it helps when I don't turn brewing into a party (which is fun sometimes!) and only have a beer or two while I brew. Makes things go much faster/smoother when I keep focused.

Last week I also kegged the second batch of the Gumball Head clone. I'm going to take it easy on this keg and try to enjoy it for another month. I'd like to have it on tap at the same time I have the Raspberry Wheat, and maybe even the hefe. Be a nice line up of beers to choose from @ The DRB. :)

The rest of my week is booked up solid, but I realized I do have some time Saturday morning. If I can get my wife to stop at Adventures in Homebrewing for me, I'm going to make a Belgian Wit for my sister. She's been bugging me to make another one since last year, so, this one will be dedicated to her. I'll post the recipe if nothing else comes up and I can squeeze in a brew session.

36th Anniversary IPA

This year, our good friend Aaron turns 36 years old. His favorite beer is a hoppy beer. He has a summer party every year around his birthday, so we chatted and decided Dayton Road Brewing would supply 5 gallons of a hop bomb for the festivities.

Here's the recipe:

12.75 lb. American 2-row
1 lb. Crystal 10
1/2 lb. German Wheat (head retention)
.25 lb. Crystal 40

Hops:
1. Magnum 14% - 60 min.
2. Centenial 7% - 10 min.
3. Simcoe - 12% - 5 min.
4. Amarillo - 9% - flame out

Yeast: Reusing the yeast cake from the Gumball Head - California Ale White Labs

OG: 1.057 - this should work out to my advantage. The expected OG for this beer was around 1.073, which was guessing this beer would turn out around a 7%. I wanted a lower ABV than that, so I'm hoping we get around the low 6 range.

The brew session went well. I did this the same time as I did the wheat. I really don't like doing two beers at once. It reminds me of having to watch two kids at once who are running around getting into things. I was sparging the grains, and forgot to close the faucet on the keg.. so I look over and wort is leaking all over my driveway. I fixed that, then I realized, I forgot to put my bazooka screen tube in, to keep the hops from siphoning into the carboy. A few other things went wrong this brew session, but overall, it went OK. The best part - the beer is fermenting like crazy and smells awesome. I plan to rack this beer to a secondary, where it will sit until I keg it - probably a week before the party. If you know me, and are reading this.. and you ask nicely, you may get to sample this prior to the party. Just, whatever you do, do NOT tell Aaron. Luckily, he doesn't read this blog. :) We'll be sure to save enough for his party.. but come on, we've gotta sample it!!

So, happy birthday in advance AJ. In celebration of your 36th year on this planet, this beers for you!

Blowin' Raspberries Wheat

My daughter Madalyn, started this thing we call "blowin' raspberries" a few weeks ago. She sticks her tongue out, clenches her lips tight and blows as hard as she can, spraying spit all over anyone close to her. I don't think there's any harm in it, and at 5 months old, I guess it can be considered cute. Anyhow, we've been saying it so much, it inspired the name for my next beer.

Now, a lot of guys say "Oh, fruit beers are ok, but I can't drink a lot of them." I used to say that myself, not wanting to sound like a sissy. Last week, I went to Andersons and picked out a few Raspberry Wheat beers to try. I chilled them all, only planning on tasting one. I admit, I loved them so much, I drank all of them that night. They are a perfect beer for a hot summers day.

I bought a 55 lb. bag of wheat in spring proclaiming this to be the "Summer of Wheats." I've done a few recipes using wheat now, and there's still a huge bag left, so I need to get brewing and do more of them! I took the base of this recipe from Jamil/Palmers Brewing Classic Styles book. Here's the quick run down:

5.6 lb. German Wheat
5.6 lb. American 2-Row
1/2 lb. Crystal 10

Hops: 1 oz. Willamette 5% AA
Yeast: White Labs WLP 320 - American Hefeweizen Ale
Expected ABV 5.8%

I've done wheat type beers before, and I know they ferment like crazy. Like an idiot, I didn't use a blowoff tube, and came home to a mess. Luckily, the airlock stayed somewhat intact and I think the beer is salvageable. It's still fermenting like mad and smells great.

Post fermentation, I'm going to rack it to a secondary, where I'll be adding 5 lbs. of Oregon Raspberry Puree. I'll let that sit for 7-10 days. I'll probably strain that to a keg and let it carbonate from there.

When we tap this beer, I'm have Madalyn lead the DRB in a chorus of "Blowin' Raspberries" the entire evening.. or, at least until bed time. :)

Gumball Head Clone

If you ever get a chance to pick one of these beers up, I'd strongly suggest it. Gumball Head is an American Wheat recipe, loaded with hops and fermented with California Ale yeast. It has a smooth crisp hop bite to it, but it goes down like a summer wheat beer. A fantastic summer beer for the hop head. I made this beer a few weeks back. I kegged the first 5 gallons and dry hopped right in the keg, by tying a string onto a hop bag and letting it sit for a week. The beer smells and tastes fantastic. As I write this, I'm drooling for a pint. :)

Anyhow, here's the recipe. This is a 10 gallon batch, which I'd suggest making because the first 5 gallons is going to be gone before you know it. The next 5, I plan on keeping to myself!

Three Floyds Gumball Head Clone (Hopped up Wheat Ale)

US White Wheat Malt - 13.50 lb
US 2-Row Malt - 8.50 lb
US Caramel Vienne 20L Malt - 1.50 lb

US Amarillo 9.4 % 1.50 oz - First Wort Hopped
US Amarillo 9.4 % 1.50 oz - 30 Min From End
US Amarillo 9.4 % 1.50 oz - 15 Min From End
US Amarillo 9.4 % 1.50 oz - 5 Min From End
US Amarillo 9.4 % 2.00 oz - Dry-Hopped

Yeast: White Labs WLP051-California Ale V

OG: 1.062 - 6.6% ABV.

Belgian Dubbel

Brewed this last Saturday May 2nd. I started with the recipe from Jamil/Palmers book and just kind of built on that. The recent edition of Zymurgy has a really nice write up on Belgian dubbels, so I picked up some tips from that. I changed things up a bit, but kept it pretty basic. Most dubbel recipes that I found were all fairly similar. The yeast differs, but ranges between a few of them. After brewing this, I racked it right on top of the yeast cake from my Belgian Pale. I love doing that, fermentation started in 3 hours. :)

Here's the recipe:

Fementables:
10.60 lbs. German Pilsnger
1 lb. Belgian Munich
.50 lb. Belgian Aromatic
.50 lb. Belgian Cara 60
.50 lb. Crystal 120
.50 lb. Wheat malt (head retention)
1 lb. Dark rock candy (last 10 mins. of boil)
.50 lb corn sugar (drying) - end of boil

Hops:
1.5 oz. Tettnang 4.5% - 60 min.

Yeast:
WLP500 Trappist Ale (from Belgian Pale)

OG/FG - OG was: 1.080, final is expected to be around 1.013, bringing this to a whopping 9.3% abv's.

90 min. boil (Pilsner). Everything else went great with this brew. I just checked it, and it looks like there is still some airlock activity. I'm going to let this one age in a secondary, maybe until fall or winter.

Belgian Pale Ale

I often hear Jamil talk about some of the best beers he's made, comes from re-using yeast. Often in Belgian beers, he mentions what yeast to use, and suggests building off the yeast used from another batch. I decided to do just that with this batch. I did a regular Belgain Pale and used WLP500 - Belgian Trappist blend. This is one of the few people use in Belgian Pales, probably not as popular as others, but my goal was to reuse the yeast in a Dubble recipe.
I actually brewed this on April 17th (yeah I'm getting lazy about blogging). The brew went well. I racked this to a secondary last week when I did the Dubble and had a taste.. it tastes fantastic. It has that "Belgian" taste to it from the yeast, and I can tell it's going to be very drinkable. I'm a bit unsure of the gravity reading, I'll take another when I keg it this weekend. My reading I logged said 1.008, with a OG of 1.066. I'm thinking I typed this in wrong, it probably should be 1.018 - which would bring it to the 6-7% abv range, which is what I was shooting for. Gravity readings and a few beers never mix!

Anyhow, here's the recipe - it's out of Jamils book, but I changed some things up a bit and used a different yeast. I think his is called something Antwerp Ale..

Fermentables
10lb. German Pilsner
.75lb. Belgian Cara 60
.25lb. Biscuit
.50 lb. Corn sugar (drying) - end of boil

Hops:
1 oz. Golding 4.5% - 60 min.
1oz. Golding 4.5% - 20 min.
1 oz. Tettnang 3.0% - 15 min.
1 oz. Tettnang 3.0% - 0 min.

Yeast:
WLP500 - Trappist Ale

90 minute boil (reduce DMS from Pilsner grains). Fermented good for about a week, then I let it sit another week. I was fairly close to a BJCP style on this one, my IBU's are a couple points higher as is the ABV. SRM's are right in line. Can't wait to try this one!!

The picture? I have no idea. I just googled Belgium and she came up.. I figured what the hell. I'll toast to her when I tap this beer. :)

Beer report - Maibock gone!

Well, my very first lager was a huge success. It was very drinkable and had a very nice kick to it. Maibocks are generally high in alcohol, up to 8% for the style.. mine came in between 8 and 10. I say that because I really didn't taste a strong "alcohol-ness" to it. My readings had it coming in at 10.2%. I question it, because it was so drinkable. So much so, that it lasted 6 days. Drinkable yes, kicked me in the arse = FOR SURE. So, it very well could of been that high, it had a powerful kick to it after just a few of them. I didn't secondary this one, I just threw it in the keg and let it sit for a week. Upon first tasting it had a bit of a yeast taste to it. After the week of sitting, it was pretty awesome. We finished it off last night. I sure had my share of it! I will probably repeat this same recipe for next year. The lagering went very well in my garage, the temp of the carboy stayed in the high 30's to 40's.

The photo shown is the Maibock tapping day, which happened to be a Sunday Redwing playoff party. I enjoyed so many Maibocks, it took me until Wednesday until I was feeling better. :p