Brazilian Beaver (Coffee Porter)

Here's a coffee port recipe I brewed in late fall/early winter 2014.  This beer was tasty all through winter and spring of 2015.  If you're into coffee style, I suggest you give this recipe a try!

Grains:

11.75 lbs US 2-Row
1.50 lbs Munich Malt
1.0 lbs Crystal 40
1.0 lbs Chocolate Malt
0.25 Black Patent

Hops:

1-7/8 oz E.K. Goldings @ 5.7% AA @ 60 min
3/4 oz Fuggles @ 4.7% AA @ 15 min
3/4 oz E.K. Goldings @ 5.7% AA @ 1 min

Additions:

8 oz Brazilian Mediam Roast Coffee in secondary fermenter for 2 weeks using cold extraction method.  You can use any variety of coffee you choose for this extraction method!

1.  Clean and sanitize 32 oz container (I used a Nalgene!)
2.  Add 8 oz of coffee grind to 24 oz water.  Mix well.
3.  Refrigerate for 24 hours.
4.  Strain blend through coffee filter and add to bottom of secondary fermenter.
5.  Transfer wort from primary fermenter on top of coffee extraction into secondary fermenter.

Yeast:

White Labs WLP 001 California Ale (I would also recommend trying WLP 023 Burton Ale Yeast or other English style yeast)

Mash & Sparge:

Mash 5.2 gallons water @ 153 degrees F for 90 minutes.  (Strike temperature = 170 degree F)

Sparge 3.7 gallons water @ 170 degree F for 60 minutes

Efficiency:  70%
Batch Size:  5.5 Gallons
OG:  1.064
FG:  1.015
ABV: 6.4%
IBU: 36
Color: 35 SRM

Smokey Bear (Session Smoked Porter)

A few months back I was introduced to smoked malts during a trip to my local home brew shop.  If you enjoy BBQ then the taste and smell of smoked malts is fantastic.  I recommend two malts from Briess if you want to try a smoked beer, Mesquite Smoked Malt and Cherry Wood Smoked Malt.  This recipe used the Cherry Wood Smoked Malt and I'm pleased with the results.  You could easily substitute the Mesquite Smoked Malt if you prefer that flavor.

A quick note on session beers before we get to the recipe.  When brewing a session style beer (> 5% ABV) it can be difficult to have enough flavor and mouthfeel for the beer to taste and feel like beer.  Nobody likes a watered down ale!  I recommend a a few different approaches to combat the issue.

First for taste, try using additives, fruit, or unique malts to bring additional flavor to your beer.  A little bit of fruit, rye, or smoked malt can go a long ways towards making your beer more palatable.  Pick your additive based on the style of beer your brewing.  If I was brewing a session wheat beer I'd probably choose some kind of fruit to add, or if I was brewing a session IPA I'd probably try substituting about 1 pound of rye malt for some of the base malt.

Secondly, mouth feel is an important consideration for session beers.  You want your session beer to have some body so it doesn't feel like drinking a glass of mildly flavored water.  I've targeted a final gravity in the 1.013 and above range.  To start with, use a mash temperature in the mid to upper 150s.  This will help keep you final gravity higher.  You can also use a yeast strain with a lower attenuation.

Lastly, I'm serving this session smoked porter at the upcoming NorCal Session Fest on May 23, 2015.  Look for this at the Bay Area Mashers tent!

Grains:

7.0 lbs US 2-Row
2.25 lbs Cherry Wood Smoked Malt
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt
8.0 oz Crystal 40
8.0 oz Crystal 75

(If I were to brew this recipe again, I would try to add some roasted barley in search of a little bit of a roast bite.  Maybe try reducing the chocolate malt to 6.0 oz and adding 6.0 oz of roasted barley)

Hops:

2.0 oz East Kent Goldings @ 4.5% AA @ 60 minutes remaining
0.75 oz Styrian Goldings @ 4.5% AA @ 15 minutes remaining
0.75 oz East Kent Goldings @ 4.5% AA @ 1 minute remaining

Yeast:

White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale

Mash & Sparge:

Mash 3.7 gallons of water at 156 degree F for 90 minutes (strike temperature of 173 degrees F). 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. 

Efficiency = 73%
Batch Size = 5.50 gal
OG = 1.048
FG = 1.015
ABV = 4.3%
IBU = 36
Color = 25.5 SRM

Keiffer Summer Ale

Here's another great recipe from the summer of 2014.  Last year I picked up a six pack of New Belgium Skinny Dip for a camping trip.  It was the perfect beer for drinking at the campsite and relaxing after a long hike.  I decided I needed to find a great clone recipe.  Below is the recipe I used to brew my Skinny Dip clone.  The beer was delicious and its a recipe I plan to brew again soon for some more summer camping.  Enjoy! 

Grains:

9.50 lbs US 2 row Pale Malt
12.0 oz Crystal 10 
4.0 oz Victory Malt

Hops:

0.75 oz Cascade @ 5.5% AA @ 45 minutes remaining
1.0 oz Willamette @ 5.5% AA @ 5 minutes remaining

Additions:

1 Whirlfloc Tablet @ 15 minutes remaining
1 oz Keiffer Lime Leaf @ 0 minutes remaining 

Note:  I used fresh Keiffer lime leaf's since my awesome wife bought a young knifer lime tree.  Keiffer lime leaves can usually be found at an Asian specialty market.

Yeast:

White Labs WLP001 California Ale

Mash & Sparge:

Mash 3.5 gallons of water at 150 degree F for 90 minutes (strike temperature of 167 degrees F).
 
Sparge 4.7 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. 

Efficiency = 70%
Batch Size = 5.50 gal
OG = 1.044
FG = 1.010
ABV = 4.45%
IBU = 17
Color = 5.1 SRM

Always October IPA

Here's great IPA recipe I brewed late last summer.  This was a favorite of mine during the San Francisco Giants postseason run to a World Series victory last fall.  I can remember my keg running empty during game 5 of the World Series thinking, "well, I hope my empty keg doesn't have any impact on the Giants winning this World Series".  Turns out the Giants got crushed in game 6 and then took care of business in game 7.  Apparently the "fullness" of my keg had nothing to do with the Giants postseason mojo.

Grains:

13.50 lbs US 2 row pale malt
0.60 lbs Crystal 20

Hops:

0.50 oz Citra @ 13.2% AA First Wort Hops
1.50 oz Citra @ 13.2% AA @ 45 minutes remaining
2.0 oz Citra @ 13.2% AA @ 20 minutes remaining
2.0 oz Citra @ 13.2% AA @ 1 minutes remaining
2.0 oz Citra @ 13.2% AA @ dry hop secondary

Additions:

1 Whirlfloc Tablet @ 15 minutes remaining

Yeast:

White Labs WLP 005 British Ale

Mash & Sparge:

Mash 3.9 gallons of water at 150 degree F for 90 minutes (strike temperature of 169 degrees F).  

Sparge 4.8 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. 

Efficiency = 70%

Batch Size = 5.50 gal

OG = 1.059

FG = 1.017

ABV = 5.5%

IBU = 127

Color = 5.7 SRM

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!

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!

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.

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!

East Bay Special Bitter (EBSB!)

This is a pretty straight forward recipe than the past few that I've posted here.  With the holidays coming soon I have spice beer on tap and spice beer planned to be brewed next weekend (Winter Chai Brown Ale!).  I thought it would be nice to have something on tap that was easy drinking and pull me away from the awesome Harvest Pumpkin Ale.  Also, we are expecting a few Thanksgiving guests who aren't into spiced beers (my Dad....see you at Thanksgiving!).  After debating for some time where to go this weekend, I remembered a nice batch of ESB I brewed a few years ago.  I'm sure this isn't the same recipe, but I whipped this one up Saturday night and headed to MoreBeer! in Concord on Sunday morning.  Without further BS-ing, enjoy!

Brew Day: 11/3/2013

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

Batch Size: 6 gallons

Grains:
11.50 lbs American 2-Row (looking back on this now; I probably should used UK 2-row; relax have a homebrew)
1.1 lbs Crystal 40 
0.4 lbs Crystal 60 (I had an extra 0.4 lbs of Crystal 60 which I substituted; otherwise I would've used 1.5 lbs of Crystal 40)
0.5 lbs CaraRed

Hops:
1.00 oz Northern Brewer - 60 minutes remaining in the boil
0.50 oz Northern Brewer - 30 minutes remaining in the boil
1.00 oz East Kent Goldings - 15 minutes remaining in the boil
0.50 oz East Kent Goldings - 1 minutes remaining in the boil

Yeast:
British Ale Yeast - White Labs WLP 005

Mash the grains at 151 deg F (strike temp 168 deg F) for 60 minutes using 4.5 gallons of water.  Sparge at 170 deg F using 4.6 gallons of water.

Brew Day - 11/3/2013

Sparging!

Fermentation:  

As always, I carbonate at room temperature until I convince my wife to let me convert our garage into a temperature controlled fermentation chamber (not happening....).  If you do have the ability to fine tune your fermentation temperature, I'd recommend 68 to 72 deg F.  That seems to be a pretty common range for ESB's from my Clone Brews book.

11/4/2013 - 7:00 am

11/4/2013 - 6:30 pm - LIFT OFF!

OG = 1.056 (actual 1.062)

FG = 1.018
ABV = 5.0% (projecting 5.8%)

RYE-toberfest

It's my first post here in the last few weeks.  I didn't mean to go dark on everyone, but I've been experiencing the joys of home ownership.  Between renting chainsaws, building garden boxes, and brewing beer I didn't have too many opportunities to post.  Here's the latest recipe I brewed two weeks ago now.  This is a Roggenbier (German Rye Ale) that I've brewed in honor of Oktoberfest.  Naturally, the recipe follows Reinheitsgebot (the German Purity Law) which only allows water, barley, and hops as beer ingredients.  The recipe is from one of my favorite recipe books, Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer.  I'll be serving this beer at small neighborhood Oktoberfest celebration at the end of this month with my friend Justin in Sacramento.

Batch Size: 6 gallons

Grains:
6.25 lbs Rye Malt
3.50 lbs Munich Malt
3.00 lbs German Pilsners Malt
1.00 lbs Caramunich Malt
2.00 ozs Carafa II


Hops:
1.00 oz Tetnang - 60 minutes remaining in the boil
0.30 oz Czech Saaz - 15 minutes remaining in the boil

Yeast:
Hefeweizen Ale - White Labs WLP 300

Hefeweizen Ale Yeast Starter

Mash, Sparge, and Boil:

Bring 4.6 gallons of water to a strike temperature of 171 degrees F.  I use a water to grain ratio of 1.33 qts per pound of grain.  Mash at 154 degrees F for 60 minutes.  

Mashing time....its so hot right now!

This recipe recommended increasing the pre-boil volume to allow for a 90 minutes boil to help reduce the DMS.  

Side note:  DMS is dimethyl sulfide and is produced during the boil.  This will usually be boiled off, but sometimes it may dissolve back into the beer and will give a cooked vegetable off flavor.

I sparged 5.2 gallons of water at 170 degrees F.  Once the wort was collected I boiled for 90 minutes, added hops per the recipe, cooled, and pitched my yeast starter.

Wort collection

Fermentation:  

The recipe recommends a fermentation temperature of 62 degrees F.  If you have the ability to control your fermentation that low, then try it out.  I fermented in my closet at room temperature and the fermentation went great.

OG = 1.054 (actual 1.056)
FG = 1..014 (actual 1.016)
ABV = 5.2%

Pumpkin Spice Saison

EastbayBrewing.blogspot.com made it possible for me to brew my first Pumpkin Spice Saison!  Happy upcoming Holidays everyone!

Cheers,

Justin

Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Here's a recipe that I brewed over the Labor Day weekend (I don't like the name....please post both awesome and terrible suggestions in the comments section).  This recipe is from the September/October edition of Zymurgy.  I'm really excited about this recipe!!  I've been wanting to brew a pumpkin ale for a few years and I finally found a recipe at the right time so that the brew will be ready for Halloween & Thanksgiving.  

There are a few minor differences between my recipe below and the recipe in Zymurgy.  First, the brew store I went to did not have White Labs East Coast Ale Yeast, so I substituted White Labs California Ale.  Secondly, the talented brewer who wrote the article had the ability to fine tune their mash temperature and used a protein rest at 120 degrees F during the mash (my 10 gallon orange cooler is awesome, but unfortunately only supports single temperature infusion mashing).  Lastly, this recipe can double as a Pumpkin Saison by using East Coast Yeast Saison Brasserie Blend.  I did not brew the Saison version of this recipe, but I'm tempted to brew another batch in a few weeks!

Batch Size: 6 gallons

Grains:

11.4 lbs 6-Row Pale Malt
0.75 lbs Melanoiden Malt
0.6 lbs Crystal 60
0.6 lbs Victory Malt
0.6 lbs Rice Hulls

Hops:

0.6 oz Magnum Hops - 90 minutes remaining in the boil

Other Additions:

3.6 lbs Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin (add during the mash)
1.2 lbs Maple Syrup (add at the end of the boil)
1.2 lbs Honey (add at the end of the boil)
1 tbs Pumpkin Pie Spice

Here's a look a few of my ingredients.

Yeast:

White Lab California Ale WLP 001 (Zymurgy recommended using White Labs East Coast Ale WLP 008)

Mash & Sparge:

Bring 5.8 gallons of water to a strike temperature of 168 degrees F.  While the water is heating up, add the 3.6 lbs of pumpkin to the strike water.  Stir throughly to dissolve pumpkin into the strike water.  Target mash temperature is 154 degrees F.  You might notice that the water to grain ratio is about 1.75 quarts per pound.  I normally mash at 1.33 quarts per pound.  The higher water to grain ratio will help keep the pumpkin suspended and prevent a stuck sparge.  Mash for 60 minutes.

Strike water with pumpkin

My actual strike temperature was about 172 degrees F and actual mash temperature was about 158 degrees F.

Heat 3.4 gallons of sparge water to 170 degrees F.  Due to the pumpkin, you'll want to sparge as slowly as possible to prevent a stuck sparge.  Collect wort until the grain bed settles.  This should be approximately 8 gallons of wort.

Sparging!!

Sparging in progress....cool wort color

Bring wort to a boil and boil for 90 minutes.  Add 0.6 oz of Magnum hops at the beginning of the boil.  
If I were to brew this recipe again, I would probably scale this down to five gallons instead of six gallons.  Normally, I like to brew six because it gives me some flexibility to leave some beer behind in my fermenters as I rack from one stage to the next.  Unfortunately, for this batch I had several boil overs that created somewhat of a mess.  I had about 8 gallons of wort in my 9.5 gallon pot.

Orange Boil!

At the end of the boil add the maple syrup, honey, and pumpkin pie spice.  Cool the wort to about 75 degrees F and transfer to your fermentation vessel.  Aerate wort and pitch your yeast!

If possible ferment at 68 degrees F for two weeks in your primary vessel.  Transfer this batch to your secondary fermentation vessel for a least another two weeks to help the batch clear.  Add an additional teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice when you keg or bottle.  

OG = 1.070 (my actual was 1.060, this recipe assumed an efficiency of 85%.  I usually only reach 75-80%.  This could account for the lower OG reading, but this sounds like a separate post.)
FG = 1..014
ABV = 7.4%

Trudging Across the Tundra (Mile Afte Mile) White IPA

While at Central Coast Brewing in San Luis Obispo last weekend, I stumbled into a copy of Southwest Brewing News (August/September 2013).  White IPA has been a style I've enjoyed in the past (see My Favorite Beers: Chainbreaker White IPA).  I wanted to post this recipe here since it's one that I'll definitely brew in the next few months, but probably won't get to very soon.  If you're able to brew this one in the meantime, let us know how it turns out!

This is a relatively new style of IPA.  According to beeroftomorrow.com, the style was first introduced to the craft beer world in 2010 when Deschutes and Boulevard Brewing (Kansas City) brewed a collaboration batch that went by the name Conflux No. 2.  Apparently, the beer was a huge success and was very difficult to find.  Several craft breweries are now brewing their own variations of a White IPA including Sam Adams (technically a craft brewery), Deschutes, Sarnac (New York), and Anchorage Brewing.  Additionally, Founders Brewing (Grand Rapids, MI) and Green Flashing Brewing (San Diego) have created a collaboration batch in this style.  I personally enjoy the balance between bitter and spiciness that this style offers thanks to the Belgian style yeast

Here's the recipe!  Enjoy!

Batch Size: 5 gallons

Grains:

6 lbs Belgian Pale Ale or Pilsner Malt
6 lbs Unmalted Wheat
1/2 lb Oatmeal
1/2 lb Cara-Pils
1/2 lb Rice Hulls

Hops:

1 oz Centennial - First Wort Hops (FWH)
3/4 oz Citra - 10 minutes
1/2 oz Cascade - 0 minutes
1/2 oz Cascade - Dry hop in secondary fermenter
1/4 oz Citra - Dry hop in secondary fermenter

Other Additions:

1/2 oz Orange peel (sweet, bitter, or fresh dehydrated on top of your AC unit) - 2 minutes
1/2 teaspoon crushed coridander - 2 minutes
1 package Burton Water Salts (I have never used these before, but I'm not a big fan of changing your water unless it tastes bad....proceed at your own risk!)

Yeast:

White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit or Wyeast #3944

Mash & Sparge:

Mash 4.0 gallons of water at 152 degrees F (strike temperature 168 degrees F).  Sparge at 170 degrees F to collect 6.5 to 7 gallons of wort.

Fermentation:

Ferment at 70 - 75 degrees F until fermentation slows.  Transfer to the secondary fermenter and add the dry hops.

OG = 1.063
FG = 1.015
ABV = 6.3%