Razzle Dazzle (Raspberry Wheat 2.0)

Last, but certainly not least, here is the final recipe in the super awesome Wedding Series selection.  This is the second time I've brewed this recipe.  Last summer this was brewed for a friend who had just given birth.  This time it is being brewed for my sisters wedding in Oregon.  You'll notice a pattern here, women seem to enjoy this beer (a lot).  The first time I brewed this recipe I split the batch using an american wheat yeast for half and the other I used champagne yeast.  Naturally, the champagne version was drier.  As requested by the bride, I'm sticking with strictly the american wheat yeast for this batch.

Finally, in the previous batch I used about 10 oz of raspberry puree per gallon of beer.  That resulted in what I called "floaties" in the final product (floaties....a highly technical term).  This time I used slightly less puree per gallon (about 9 oz raspberry puree per gallon).  Additionally, when transferring between fermentations & kegging I made extra efforts to leave the trub in the bottom of the fermenter.  I also reduced the hops based on the smaller batch size.  Other than those minor modifications, the recipe is very similar to the original.

Brew Day: June 15, 2014

Batch Size: 5.5 gallons

Grains:

5.0 lbs US 2 row pale malt
6.0 lbs White wheat malt
1.0 lbs rice hulls
5.0 oz honey malt

Hops:

1.25 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker @ 60 minutes remaining

Yeast:

Wyeast American Wheat Ale

Other Additions:

1.25 tsp coriander seed @ 15 minutes remaining

0.25 oz bitter orange peel @ 15 minutes remaining

1.25 tsp coriander seed @ 1 minute remaining

0.25 oz bitter orange peel @ 1 minutes remaining

3 lbs 1 oz of Vintners Harvest Red Raspberry Puree 

Mash & Sparge:

Mash 3.8 gallons of water at 150 degree F for 90 minutes (strike temperature of 167 degrees F).  I've been using a longer mash lately to ensure full sugar conversion.  See my post on low OG readings for more discussion on this topic.

Sparge 4.6 gallons of water at 170 degree F for 60 minutes.  Collect approximately 7 gallons of wort and boil for one hour.  You may need to adjust how much wort is collected based on your system.

OG = 1.050

FG = 1.012

Of the three wedding series beers (Courtney Chaos Saison, Simcoe Session IPA, Razzle Dazzle), the Razzle Dazzle was the first to disappear at the event.  I'm not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure the bridal party played a significant role in that happening.  All three beers were a huge success at the wedding.  The Saison was both fruity/spicy and the piney, hoppy-ness of the IPA really stood out.  My personal favorite was the IPA, but everyone had their own favorite.  My only regret is that there wasn't enough to go around.  Maybe I need to start brewing 10 gallon batches.....

Simcoe Session IPA

Here is recipe #2 in the super official Wedding Series.  I created this recipe on my own with the inspiration of a summer wedding in Oregon.  I wanted something lighter for the summer months, but strong in hops.  The piney aromas and flavors of the Simcoe seemed to be perfect match.  If I were to do this batch again, I would "spice" up the grain bill a bit (literally).  The beer is nicely done, but needs a little something.  I'm think replacing some of the base malt (about 1 or 2 lbs) with either a rye or vienna malt would bring out a little more character.

BJCP Style Category: 14B American IPA

Batch Size: 5.50 gallons
ABV: 4.5%
IBU's: 73

Grains:
10.00 lbs US 2-Row Pale Malt 
0.60 lbs Crystal 40L

Hops:
0.50 oz Simcoe - First Wort Hops (FWH, see below for instructions)
0.50 oz Simcoe - 45 minutes remaining in the boil
1.00 oz Simcoe - 20 minutes remaining in the boil
1.00 oz Simcoe - 1 minutes remaining in the boil
2.00 oz Simcoe - Dry hop for 14 days in the secondary

Yeast:
California Ale Yeast - White Labs WLP001 (also consider using WLP005, a british ale yeast.  I've used this with success for IPA's in the past)

Mash the grains at 151 deg F (strike temp 170 deg F) for 60 minutes using 2.9 gallons of water.

Prior to sparging you'll need to prepare your first wort hops.  I use my hop sock and tie it off to my kettle like I would during the boil.  During the sparge I like to filter my wort run off directly through the hop sock, so I put my tubing directly through the top of the sock.  

Sparge at 170 deg F using 5.3 gallons of water.  Boil for 1 hour and add the hops per the recipe.  

Pretty simple recipe, but there is some room for improvement.  Looking forward to trying to batch again soon in the next few months.  Still planning to tap this batch at the wedding.

Look for the final recipe in the wedding series later this week!

Low OG Reading and Evaporation During the Boil

I recently posted a short article on how to install a thermometer on the side of your mash tun.  I mentioned in that article that I had been struggling to hit my original gravity (OG) for my last three batches.  At first I considered it an aberration, however, after another two batches I started to become concerned.  My OG readings were consistently low by about 10 points (or 0.01).  This was concerning to me because I had a pretty successful track record of being within a few points (plus or minus) of my target OG.

Before the first batch with the low OG reading I had added a Chugger brew pump and a counterflow wort chiller.  These two items replaced my old immersion style wort chiller and racking cane for both cooling and transferring wort after the boil.  Both items worked fantastic and my brew chilled to groundwater temp quickly and efficiently.  Only problem was that my OG reading was low.

My gut told me that the pump and counterflow chiller addition was somehow related to the low OG reading.  At the time this made no sense since I couldn't figure out how the chiller could impact the OG.

I went about two more batches with the same results.  The beer was turning out fine all along so I wasn't hugely concerned, but I did want to know why I couldn't reach the expected OG readings with any consistency.

I turned to the internet and posted a thread on Homebrew Talk on the topic.  I got back some great, technical responses (thanks RM-MN and IslandLizard).  Their theory was that I wasn't getting a quality milling on the grain.  I always mill my grain at the homebrew shop and that hadn't changed in the last few batches so I doubted this could be the problem.

Finally, I was preparing to brew another batch and consulted the folks at MoreBeer!.  After discussing the problem and my brew process we concluded that I was collecting too much wort during the sparge.

When I had my immersion chiller I would let the sparge run dry and I would always end up with 7.5-8 gallons of wort to boil.  With the immersion chiller it used to take 30-45 minutes for my wort to cool to the point where it was no longer steaming, but with the new counterflow chiller that entire process happened in 5 minutes or less.  With the new chiller I wasn't allowing the wort to continue to evaporate during the cooling process.  In other words the same volume of wort cooled through the counterflow chiller would results in a lower OG!

I realized I needed to monitor my sparge more closely and only collect as much wort as I needed.  After doing some research online and reviewing beer apps like BeerSmith and iBrewMaster, I concluded that for a 5.50 gallon batch, 7 gallons of wort would be appropriate.  I've brewed two batches now with the idea of collecting 7 gallons of wort and my OG readings have been corrected.

These figures work well for my system, but may not work well for others.  I would suggest testing your system to figure out what will work well for you.  You can perform this testing using the following process:

1.  Place 7 gallons of water into your brew pot and bring to a boil.

2.  Boil for 1 hour.

3.  Cool water as you would normally cool your wort after boiling.

4.  Measure the amount of water remaining to determine how much boiled off.

5.  Adjust the initial volume of water (or wort, more importantly) you start with to reached your desired final volume.

Pretty simple process.  Good luck!

Courtney Chaos Saison

This is the first recipe in a series of three for my sister's wedding.   The wedding is at the end of July, so I'll be posting one recipe a week until the wedding.  To make it sound super official, I'm calling this the Wedding Series.

Last year over Thanksgiving and couple of homebrews I suggested to my sister that I brew a few batches for her wedding.  The following month I picked up a variety of Belgian style ales for a tasting.  Styles included blonde, dubbel, tripel, quadrupel, saison, and a sour ale.  The saison was Saison Dupont (one of my personal favorite beers) and was my sisters favorite from the flight of beers as well.  She chose the name Courtney Chaos.  I don't really consider saison to be a particularly chaotic style, but it's her wedding so Courtney Chaos it is.  Here's my attempt at brewing a delicious saison for the wedding.

Brew Day: 4/20/2014

BJCP Style Category: 16C Saison

Batch Size: 5.50 gallons
ABV: 6.3%
IBU's: 25

Grains:
8.80 lbs Belgian 2-Row Pale Malt 
1.70 lbs White Wheat
1.00 lbs Clear Belgian Candi Sugar
0.60 lbs Flaked Oats
0.30 lbs Munich Malt
0.30 lbs Rye Malt

Hops:
0.62 oz Pearle - 60 minutes remaining in the boil
0.62 oz Willamette - 60 minutes remaining in the boil

Other Additions:
1.12 oz dried, fresh orange peel - 5 minutes remaining in the boil.

Yeast:
French Saison Yeast - Wyeast Labs 3711

Before you brew pick up a fresh orange from your preferred source of oranges (backyard tree, local farmers market, grocery store, neighbors fridge, etc.).  Peel the orange before you begin brewing and place them in a sunny spot outside and allow them to dry.

Mash the grains at 150 deg F (strike temp 167 deg F) for 90 minutes using 3.9 gallons of water.  Sparge at 170 deg F using 4.5 gallons of water.  Boil for 1 hour and add the hops per the recipe.  With 5 minutes remaining in the boil toss the dried orange peel into the boil.  Cool your wort and pitch your yeast as you normally would.  

FERMENTATION NOTES:  The last time I brewed a saison style ale the beer did not fully ferment after the first week and I needed to pitch an additional yeast starter for the secondary fermentation.  When I pitched into the secondary I used a champagne yeast, which really dried out the beer.  Saison's do typically have some dryness, but I felt the champagne yeast was a little overwhelming.  Based on this, I let this beer ferment for a full two weeks in the primary to fully ferment.  Finally, I aged the beer another two weeks in the secondary before kegging.  By the time the beer is tapped the first time it will have been in the keg for about 7 weeks.

This beer will debut at the wedding.  Look for pictures on Twitter at the end of the month!

How To: Install a Thermometer on Your Mash Tun

Over my last few batches I've been struggling getting consistent original gravity (OG) results.  I'm going to discuss my struggles and changes I've made in a bit more length in a future post, but one of the issues I considered was that I wasn't properly maintaining my mash temperature.  Controlling temperature (both during the mash and fermentation) is one of the challenges of home brewing.  Placing your strike water and grains in a cooler for an hour isn't an exact science and most home brewers don't have access to the same sophisticated equipment that a commercial brewery would use.

The simplest way to monitor your mash temperature would be to just drop your floating thermometer in your mash and check the temperature every so often.  The disadvantage of that process is losing heat each time you open your cooler.  I decided that I want to be able to monitor my mash temperature more closely to have a better idea of the temperatures during the mash.

Here's the process I used to install a thermometer on the outside of my mash tun (credits to John A who posted this procedure on a MoreBeer review of the stainless weld less thermometer kit).  The only challenge of this procedure is to not damage the interior cooler liner when you drill the larger hole for the thermometer bulkhead.  The procedure is very simple and could be done in less than 20 minutes as long as you don't have any leaks.

What you'll need:

Cooler mash tun
Stainless weld less thermometer (I used the 6 in variety, but the 2 in would probably work ok)
Drill
1" spade drill bit
1 1/2" spade drill bit

1.  Decide where to drill your hole for the thermometer.  Obviously this needs to be within the mash so you definitely want it below the 5 gallon mark on your cooler.  Also, don't place the hole too low to avoid trouble removing your false bottom.  I placed my hole about 4 3/4" above the ball valve at the bottom of my cooler.

2.  Drill a 1" hole with your spade bit.

3.  Drill a 1 1/2" hole with your spade bit.  This is part where you need to be careful.  The threads on the bulkhead are designed to fit through a 1" hole, but the depth of the threads is too short to fit through the entire wall of the cooler.  The 1 1/2" hole should go through the exterior liner and insulation only.  Do not damage the interior liner.

You can see from the photo that I mangled the exterior liner a bit.  If I were doing this again I would probably drill the larger hole first.

4.  Insert the thermometer and bulkhead through the new hole.  Sandwich the interior liner between the red rubber washer (this should go outside the liner) and stainless steel washer (inside the cooler).

5.  Tighten all your fittings, test for leaks and you're ready to get your mash on!

Legion of Boom (LOB) Pale Ale

This recipe is, sadly, the result of a lost Super Bowl bet.  My friend Joel and I bet a bottled & labeled batch of home brew on the game.  Joel and I have a long history of competitive spirit (sometimes good natured) and the Super Bowl back in February gave us the chance to talk trash for two solid weeks.  I'm still shocked at how badly my Broncos were crushed.  As named by my good friend Joel, I give you Legion of Boom Pale Ale.

This recipe turned out nicely, but if I were to brew it again I would probably up the hop additions at the 10 and 20 minute marks to get some more hop flavor.  Additionally, as a side note, I used gypsum, epsom salt, and table salt to increase the hardness of my water to better match traditional English pales.  I was please with the way it turned out, but you should consult your local water report before modifying your water composition.

BJCP Style Category: 8C Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)

Batch Size: 5 gallons

Grains:
9.50 lbs UK 2-Row 
0.75 lbs Crystal 60
0.75 lbs Crystal 80 

Hops:
1.25 oz Cascade - 60 minutes remaining in the boil
0.88 oz Cascade - 20 minutes remaining in the boil
0.50 oz Cascade - 10 minutes remaining in the boil
0.50 oz Cascade - 2 minutes remaining in the boil

Other Additions:
1 - Whirlfloc Tablet @ 15 mins remaining in the boil
20 g Gypsum @ 15 min remaining in the mash
5 g Epsom Salt @ 15 min remaining in the mash
0.13 tsp Salt @ 15 min remaining in the mash

Yeast:
English Ale Yeast - While Labs 002


Mash the grains at 150 deg F (strike temp 170 deg F) for 75 minutes using 2.75 gallons of water.  This is a thicker mash than I usually work with.  I decided to use a thicker mash in for this recipe after reading about brewing pale ales in Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels.  This book recommended using a thicker mash for pale ales, about (0.9 to 1 quart per pound of great).  I typically mash at 1.33 qts per pound of grain.

Sparge at 170 deg F using 4.6 gallons of water.  Boil for 1 hour, cool, and ferment.  I kegged half of this batch and bottled the other half to pay my super bowl debt.

Resurrection

One post in six months.....not exactly a great track record.  Going to make a run at resurrecting my activity on this blog over the next couple of weeks here.

I will say that my activity on the blog doesn't reflect, my home brewing activity.  I've got quite a few items to post here including recipes for Legion of Boom ESB (regretfully related to the Seahawks super bowl win), Courtney Chaos Saison, and a Simcoe Session IPA.  Also I've got a few new pieces of equipment that I've been working with including a March brew pump and a counterflow wort chiller.  Finally, I've been working through some brew problems in my own head on why my OG's have been low lately and how to better maintain mash temperatures without an elegant brew system.

More to come soon.....stay tuned.

Chai Spiced Brown Ale

After being a major slacker on this blog for the last two months, I'm happy to be posting a recipe again.  I may not have been posting, but I definitely kept brewing over the holiday season.  I'm going to try to keep things more consistent in 2014.  Here's a recipe that I brewed towards the end of 2013 (exact dates unknown).  This has turned out to be one of the more enjoyable recipes I brewed last year and I'd definitely recommend this batch to anyone who enjoys a smooth brown ale with a hint of spice!

I found this recipe inspiration in Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher (see page 170).  I didn't follow Gordon Strong's recipe exactly since I want my brown ale to be a little stronger than the recipe in the book, though I did use chai spices as directed.

BJCP Style Category: 11C Northern English Brown Ale or 21A Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer

Batch Size: 5 gallons

Grains:
4.75 lbs UK 2-Row
2.50 lbs Vienna Malt
1.25 lbs Munich Malt
1.00 lbs Caravienne Malt
0.75 lbs Crystal 80
0.25 lbs Chocolate Malt
0.25 lbs Flaked Oats

Hops:
1.50 oz Saaz - 60 minutes remaining in boil


Yeast:
British Ale Yeast - White Labs WLP 005

Chai Tea Spices:
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2" ginger, peeled, sliced
1 star anise
1 black cardamom pod, split
1/2 whole nutmeg, roughly chopped
2 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
18 green cardamom pods, split
2 tsp black peppercorns
0.25 tsp fennel seeds

I mashed 3.6 gallons of water with the grains at 147 deg F (strike temp 163 deg F) for 60 minutes.  Sparge with 4.2 gallons of water at 170 deg F for about 60 minutes.

Sparging beautiful brown ale...

Once you've collected your wort, bring the batch to a boil and add the Saaz hops once you reach boiling.  Boil for 60 minutes.  Cool and transfer your wort to the primary fermenter, pitch yeast, and ferment for one week.

After the primary fermentation is complete you're ready to add the spices.  Gather all your spices ahead of time and prepare as noted above.  

Chai Tea Spice Blend!

Bring one quart of water to a boil and pour the water over your spices.  Allow the spices to steep for 15 minutes in the water.  Strain to remove the spices and chill until you are ready to use.

Transfer your fermented beer to the secondary fermenter.  Add the chai tea to your taste.  I ended up adding the entire tea blend and did not find it to be overwhelming.  Leave the batch in the secondary fermenter until you're ready to bottle or keg.  The final product is delicious.  Enjoy!