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!