Just finished brewing the second Porter experiment. I had to boil a little longer to get down to a gallon, which was a little weird, because I was right on with the pre-boil gravity. I probably have to turn up the heat during the boil. It is cooling in the bathtub as I write this.
The recipe was:
-2lbs Maris Otter
-0.1Lb Flaked Barley
-0.05Lb Black Patent
-0.1Lb Chocolate
-0.1Lb Crystal 120L
MASHED AT 152F FOR 60 MIN
-0.3oz Fuggles hops @ 70 min (should have been 60)
-0.2oz Fuggles hops @ 30 min (should have been 20)
0.1Lb Dark Brown Sugar @ 20 min (should have been 10)
I'm using the Safale US-05 yeast to ferment this one, 5 grams to be exact.
I bottled the Wheat as well, and it had not fermented down as far as I wanted, even though it got an extra week. This is the second, separate beer this has happened with, so I have to look at my fermentation process. I am going to try a warmer place first, trying to stay at or above 65 degrees F, or 19 C. The overpitching with a very attenuative yeast should help as well.
I also bought the barleywine ingredients, and I'm brewing that ASAP, so I can set aside some bottles to age.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
The Porter
I get a chance to taste the porter tonight...FINALLY! After opening three of them, all with different carbonation levels, I've decided the one with the five tabs has the most appropriate level of carbonation. I'll use this in each one from here on out.
The porter pours a deep black with a thick, tan head. The hops are present in the nose, as are the dark malts. No sourness or alcohols are present in the aroma. The flavor is clean, with a slightly burnt aftertaste. There is a definite alcoholic warmth to the beer, bordering on downright heat. The head dissipates quickly.
I like the subtle aroma, so the late hop addition seems to work well. The bitterness level is spot on, and I'm not changing that either for the next iteration. What I will try to work on for that one is the flavor. While the beer is good, I feel some dark fruit notes may help combat the harshness of the black patent, which seems to dominate.
To accomplish this, I will take some of the black patent out, and add in some dark Crystal 120 malt. I'm also switching yeasts to the Safeale US-05, both to attenuate further, and to create a more American style ale.
The porter pours a deep black with a thick, tan head. The hops are present in the nose, as are the dark malts. No sourness or alcohols are present in the aroma. The flavor is clean, with a slightly burnt aftertaste. There is a definite alcoholic warmth to the beer, bordering on downright heat. The head dissipates quickly.
I like the subtle aroma, so the late hop addition seems to work well. The bitterness level is spot on, and I'm not changing that either for the next iteration. What I will try to work on for that one is the flavor. While the beer is good, I feel some dark fruit notes may help combat the harshness of the black patent, which seems to dominate.
To accomplish this, I will take some of the black patent out, and add in some dark Crystal 120 malt. I'm also switching yeasts to the Safeale US-05, both to attenuate further, and to create a more American style ale.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tons of Ideas in My Downtime
In the past few weeks as I wait to taste the Porter (Saturday) and bottle the Wheat (Friday), I've had a some time to think up a few more experiments, and an overall theme for my resulting beers.
I intend on going for a collection of American-style ales based on the seasons in which they are served. So far, I've designed a Double IPA, a Stout, a Pale Ale, a Brown, and a Barleywine in addition to the Porter, Wheat, and of course my IPA. They are all made according to their respective style profiles on the BJCP website. Obviously, as the experiments progress, they all have the potential to deviate from the standards, but I think they provide a good starting point.
This means, however, that the yeasts I have to use will change for the porter and wheat to reflect the clean character of American beer styles, but its something I'm willing to try in order to keep with the theme...at least to start with.
I have ideas for the individual beers as well, such as using spruce tips in the Brown, and cherries in the Barleywine (a la Mad Elf). I am also looking at specific hop profiles for some of them, designing the Pale with 100% Willamette hops.
I will probably be making one gallon batches for at least the next 2 years before I finish all of these, running multiple experiments at a time as I am now. I will also have to do a lot of research on these styles to see what those who have brewed them before have learned from their experiences.
Most likely, since barleywines take a year or more to age properly, I will make a batch of that soon. I don't have anything to brew this week, so I could do it this weekend, but I may not have enough time to get to the store for ingredients by then...work, school, and responsibilities in general kind of suck.
I intend on going for a collection of American-style ales based on the seasons in which they are served. So far, I've designed a Double IPA, a Stout, a Pale Ale, a Brown, and a Barleywine in addition to the Porter, Wheat, and of course my IPA. They are all made according to their respective style profiles on the BJCP website. Obviously, as the experiments progress, they all have the potential to deviate from the standards, but I think they provide a good starting point.
This means, however, that the yeasts I have to use will change for the porter and wheat to reflect the clean character of American beer styles, but its something I'm willing to try in order to keep with the theme...at least to start with.
I have ideas for the individual beers as well, such as using spruce tips in the Brown, and cherries in the Barleywine (a la Mad Elf). I am also looking at specific hop profiles for some of them, designing the Pale with 100% Willamette hops.
I will probably be making one gallon batches for at least the next 2 years before I finish all of these, running multiple experiments at a time as I am now. I will also have to do a lot of research on these styles to see what those who have brewed them before have learned from their experiences.
Most likely, since barleywines take a year or more to age properly, I will make a batch of that soon. I don't have anything to brew this week, so I could do it this weekend, but I may not have enough time to get to the store for ingredients by then...work, school, and responsibilities in general kind of suck.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Odd Hiccup
The bewday went well, but there were a few little problems I will have to correct.
First, my Robust Porter experiment finished higher in gravity than I was expecting. I was looking for a final gravity if 1.014, but ended up with 1.020. It looks like i will need a more attenuative yeast for this beer. Maybe I should try a full packet of the US-04 as opposed the just a half. Also, The Wheat experiment I did ended up at a lower gravity, so I had to boil off a significant amount to meet my original gravity reached with the award winning batch,
What I did, was bottle the porter as is, and try different carbonation levels by adding 3, 4, or 5 carb tabs to each bottle (two of each) to give me an idea of the best way to carbonate the experiment. At the very least, I'll have an idea of that aspect of the beer.
Also, I boiled down the wheat to my expected original gravity, and started the boil time from there, adding the tettanger hops at 7 brix (1.028) and then .20 grams of crushed coriander at 10 minutes left in the boil. What I ended up with was 3 quarts of the original,award winning recipe for the spice beer, and a full six pack of 16oz bottles of the base Robust Porter with differring levels of carbonation,
The yeast I pitched was more than was called for in the original beer, so I will have to see how this affects the final result. I have a few weeks to wait to find out. Meanwhile, there's only two weeks before i get to taste the Robust Porter.
First, my Robust Porter experiment finished higher in gravity than I was expecting. I was looking for a final gravity if 1.014, but ended up with 1.020. It looks like i will need a more attenuative yeast for this beer. Maybe I should try a full packet of the US-04 as opposed the just a half. Also, The Wheat experiment I did ended up at a lower gravity, so I had to boil off a significant amount to meet my original gravity reached with the award winning batch,
What I did, was bottle the porter as is, and try different carbonation levels by adding 3, 4, or 5 carb tabs to each bottle (two of each) to give me an idea of the best way to carbonate the experiment. At the very least, I'll have an idea of that aspect of the beer.
Also, I boiled down the wheat to my expected original gravity, and started the boil time from there, adding the tettanger hops at 7 brix (1.028) and then .20 grams of crushed coriander at 10 minutes left in the boil. What I ended up with was 3 quarts of the original,award winning recipe for the spice beer, and a full six pack of 16oz bottles of the base Robust Porter with differring levels of carbonation,
The yeast I pitched was more than was called for in the original beer, so I will have to see how this affects the final result. I have a few weeks to wait to find out. Meanwhile, there's only two weeks before i get to taste the Robust Porter.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
A Second Experiment
Since I have to wait a month to try my porter experiments, I decided to run a separate experiment concurrently. My brewing partner and I placed in a local competition with a spiced wheat beer, and it was suggested by a chef friend of mine that I do what he does with his recipes, and work to perfect that beer.
It was your basic American style wheat, containing 50% 2-row, and 50% malted wheat, Tettnanger hops, and crushed coriander. We used a Hefeweizen yeast to ferment. I am going to make one gallon batches of this, again trying some little changes, until its perfect.
Tomorrow is bottling day for the porter, so what better time to start than that? I'll start with the original recipe as a calibration, and go from there. The only problem I can foresee is that the Hef yeasts only come in liquid form, so it will be tough to get the right pitching rate. I'm furiously searching the internet for suggestions.
It was your basic American style wheat, containing 50% 2-row, and 50% malted wheat, Tettnanger hops, and crushed coriander. We used a Hefeweizen yeast to ferment. I am going to make one gallon batches of this, again trying some little changes, until its perfect.
Tomorrow is bottling day for the porter, so what better time to start than that? I'll start with the original recipe as a calibration, and go from there. The only problem I can foresee is that the Hef yeasts only come in liquid form, so it will be tough to get the right pitching rate. I'm furiously searching the internet for suggestions.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Winner
Of the seven beers I bought to sample yesterday, the bomber of Allagash Black really stands out. I saved this one for tonight, as the first six were enough to have me feeling pretty good.
The beer pours nicely with a strong fluffy head, and leaves an attractive lacing as it creeps down the glass. The taste of Belgian style yeast is prominent, as is the strong malt backbone. It reminds me of the type of flavors I'm looking for in my robust porter.
It looks like I will have to try a Trappist or Abbey yeast in my finished beer once I dial in the base recipe. It also seems as if I would want to add some sweetness to my porter if it's not present. It will be a challenge to add the right malts and stay within the style guidelines since I am already against the ceiling for alcohol content.
The beer pours nicely with a strong fluffy head, and leaves an attractive lacing as it creeps down the glass. The taste of Belgian style yeast is prominent, as is the strong malt backbone. It reminds me of the type of flavors I'm looking for in my robust porter.
It looks like I will have to try a Trappist or Abbey yeast in my finished beer once I dial in the base recipe. It also seems as if I would want to add some sweetness to my porter if it's not present. It will be a challenge to add the right malts and stay within the style guidelines since I am already against the ceiling for alcohol content.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Sampling While I Wait
As I sit here, impatiently waiting for the yeast to finish its job in Robust Porter: Experiment 1, I figured, since SWMBO is out at a sneak preview of The Hunger Games, that I had some time to sample some commercial brews. Some are rather common beers that I have never had for one reason or another, while others are some brand new brews by some of my favorite craft breweries. I got a six pack and a bomber from a local Italian restaurant that has an impressive beer fridge.
I picked up Leffe Blonde, a Belgian Blonde Ale, Pilsner Urquell, a Czech Pilsner, and Anchor Steam, a California Common. Those are the more well known of the 7 examples.
I also have Weyerbacher Heresy, Allagash Black (that's the bomber), Magic Hat Single Chair, and Brooklyn Brewery Monster Ale. The Monster may have to wait, since it's a barleywine and I may have to work tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
Not that its that popular, but I use Pintley.com to track and log all of the beers I try on for size. It's one of the most used apps on my iPhone.
I picked up Leffe Blonde, a Belgian Blonde Ale, Pilsner Urquell, a Czech Pilsner, and Anchor Steam, a California Common. Those are the more well known of the 7 examples.
I also have Weyerbacher Heresy, Allagash Black (that's the bomber), Magic Hat Single Chair, and Brooklyn Brewery Monster Ale. The Monster may have to wait, since it's a barleywine and I may have to work tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
Not that its that popular, but I use Pintley.com to track and log all of the beers I try on for size. It's one of the most used apps on my iPhone.
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