MO/Fuggles SMaSH

Grains
17 lbs Marris Otter Pale     x      38ppg     =     646 points

Hops
2oz Fuggles @ FWH
1oz Fuggles @ 45
1oz Fuggles @ 30
1oz Fuggles @ 15
1oz Fuggles @ 0
1oz Fuggles @ DH

Brewing
7 gallons of water at 158° to reach 148°

The Numbers
Total Points:  646

Expected Pre-Boil Gravity:1.099 (1.065 @ 65%)
Actual Pre-Boil Gravity:
Efficiency:

Expected Post-Boil Gravity: 1.107 (1.070 @ 65%)
Actual Post-Boil Gravity:
Efficiency:

Expected Final Gravity:
Acual Final Gravity:
% ABV:
Attenuation:

The Verdict

Oatmeal Cream Stout

Grains 
10lbs Marris Otter Pale      x     38ppg      =          380 points
2lbs White Wheat               x     40ppg      =          80 points
1lb Crystal 60L                  x     34ppg      =          34 points
1lb Roasted Barley             x     33ppg      =          33 points
0.75lb Chocolate                x     29ppg      =          21 points
0.5lbs Flaked Oats             x     33ppg      =          16 points
0.5lbs Milk Sugar               x     35ppg      =          17points  *added to boil*

Hops
2 oz EKG @ 60m

Yeast
Wyeast 1028 - London Ale Yeast

Boil Additions
0.5lbs Milk Sugar @ 10m 

Brewing
5 gallons of water at 170° to reach 155°

The Numbers
Total Points:  581

Expected Pre-Boil Gravity:1.089 (1.058 @ 65%)
Actual Pre-Boil Gravity:
Efficiency:

Expected Post-Boil Gravity: 1.097 (1.063 @ 65%)
Actual Post-Boil Gravity:
Efficiency:

Expected Final Gravity:
Acual Final Gravity:
% ABV:
Attenuation:

The Verdict

Oktoberfestivus

Grains
8 lbs Pale 2-Row      x        37ppg      =      296 points
2.0 lbs Vienna           x        37ppg      =      37 points
2 lbs Munich Dark    x        33ppg      =      66 points  
1 lbs Aromatic          x        35ppg      =      35 points
1 lbs Crystal 20L      x        35ppg      =      35 points
1 lb Carapils             x        33ppg      =      33 points
0.5 lb Crystal 40L     x        34ppg      =      17 points

Hops:
2 oz Tettnang @ 60m
1 oz Tettnang @ 45m
1 oz Tettnang @ 30m

Yeast:
Wyeast German Ale Yeast

Brewing:
15.5lbs @ 1.25q/lb = 19.3q or 5gallons
Mash at 157°

The Numbers:
Total: 519 points
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.087
Actual Pre-Boil:1.052
Efficiency: 60%

Expected Post-Boil Gravity = 1.094
Actual Post-Boil: 1.055
Efficiency: 59%

Final: 1.022
ABV: 4.3%
Attenuation: 60%

The Verdict:
Oh man. This is by-far the worst beer we've made. I'm not sure I can even drink it. The SUPER low attenuation means it is like drinking sweet, beer-flavored tea. Not what I'm looking for. We've got no idea what went wrong but this did not turn out like it should have. Wow its awful.

Its slightly better in the bottle. Maybe we should learn more about aging our beers. But they're so tasty, I just want to drink them!

Nut Brown

Grains
9.00 lb 2 Row            x     37ppg     =     333
1.00 lb Crystal 60L   x     34ppg      =    34
0.50 lb Victory          x     34ppg      =    17
0.25 lb Chocolate      x     29ppg     =     10

Hops
1oz Fuggles @ 60m
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 15

Yeast
Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast - Started 2 days prior in 1 quart water with 1 cup DME

The Numbers

Added 4 Gallons of water at 169° to reach a Mash Temp of 156°. Decreased to 153° over 1 hour. 

Total Points: 394

Expected Pre-Boil: 1.061
Actual Pre-Boil: 1.044
Efficiency: 72%

Expected Post-Boil: 1.066
Actual Post-Boil: 1.059

Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV: 6.2%
Attenuation: 95.5%

The Verdict
This was much better than our first Nut Brown. I'm actually kind of surprised our efficiency so high, its been a lot lower since. I still wish it was a bit Nuttier though. Its a bit too smooth still and needs more of a bite. I'm not sure what that means though, in terms of what to change in the recipe. 

Simple Hefewissen

For our next brew, we decided to make a simple hefewissen. Until L decided he loved hops more, wheats were his favorite type of beer. I really enjoy them too, so we decided to take on the challenge before the prime summer wheat-drinking time ended. The recipe came from the Home Brew Talk recipe database and apparently has won a bunch of awards. We didn't really want to alter the flavor of the beer too much with something like honey or orange so we just stuck pretty much with the original recipe.

Some folks say wheat beers are harder to brew, but I don't believe that's exactly the case. The reason that water flows so well through a barley mash is because barley grains have an exterior casing that essentially supports the weight of the rest of the barley grain. The casing prevents the mash from setting so tightly that water cannot pass through.  Wheat naturally does not have any casing on it's grains, so when you mix it with warm water it turns to mush a lot like oatmeal without any holes or pathways for water to flow through. Rice hulls are essentially the casings from rice that are incorporated into the mash to add structural support for the grain bed. Before you actually add the rice hulls, they should be rinsed and soaked so they don't mess up your water amount calculations.

This was actually our cheapest beer yet. It cost about $31 including the yeast. We might have folks over to help us drink this one since it was so cheap! 

Grains
7 lbs White Wheat
4 lbs German Pilsner
~0.5 lbs Rice Hulls

Hops
0.75 oz Tellertau at 45 min
0.25 oz Tellertau at 15 min

Yeast
Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen - Started 5 days prior in 1 cup DME and 1 quart water.

Brewing
Protein Rest at ~132° for 20 min
Saccrification rest at ~154° for 90 min
Fly Sparge to collect 6.5 gallons
Boil for 60 min

The Numbers
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity:1.072
Actual Pre-Boil Gravity:1.048
Efficiency: 67%

Expected Post-Boil Gravity:1.079
Actual Post-Boil Gravity:1.053
Efficiency: 67%

Expected Final Gravity:
Acual Final Gravity: 1.010
% ABV: 5.63
Attenuation:81%

The Verdict

This was DELICIOUS!!!! It was super banana-y but didn't have a super awesome head. We had folk from Southeast over and they loved it too! We fermented it a room temperature because the fermentation chiller still isn't done so that might have affected the yeasties some. 

ILM Imperial IPA

L's favorite beer that we've brewed so far, and one of his favorite beers ever, was the IPA kit we got from Wilmington Homebrew. Seriously, if you're bored in ILM, go hang out. They're awesome. L wanted to brew the IPA again but all grain style so I converted the recipe and we brewed.

This was probably our most challenging brew day yet. It was miserable. I couldn't walk the next day. No, really. I slept with a heating pad wrapped around each foot.

The previous weekend, we went by my parents house to raid their garden. My mom had a ridiculous garden. We brought home enough produce to feed a small country. Monday I made 4 pints of squash pickles. Tuesday, 4 quarts of pickled jalapeno peppers. Wednesday, we went to the Slightly Stoopid/311 concert. Thursday, we brewed and made 2 quarts of dill pickles, pasta salad, sirracha hummus, and zucchini bread. All after work. Friday, we got up early and went to the beach. It was worth it.

Grains
14lbs 2-Row
1.5lb Vienna Malt
0.5lb Biscuit Malt
0.5lb Crystal-40L

Hops
1oz Warrior at 60 min
1oz Columbus at 40 min
1oz Citra at 20 min
1oz Chinook at 20 min
1oz Chinook at 0 min
1oz Columbus at 0 min
2oz Simcoe Dry Whole Cone at Secondary.

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale - started 2 days before.

Brewing
Mashed at 154° for 60 minutes.
Fly Sparge to collect 6.5 Gallons.
60 minute Boil.

The Numbers
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.101 (1.071 @ 70%)
Actual Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.065ish*
Efficiency: 64.4%*

Expected Post-Boil Gravity:1.110 (1.077 at 70%)
Actual Post-Boil Gravity: 1.072*

Expected Final Gravity:
Acual Final Gravity:
% ABV:
Attenuation:

* So we didn't do a very good job of keeping track of our data this time. I guess we were just distracted by all the other crap going on. We didn't actually write down either of the original gravities. But this is what we think they were. I know the pre-boil gave us a mid-60s efficiency but the post-boil was slightly better.

We also didn't take ANY pictures. Lame.

For the mash, we started out with 4.5 gallons at 169° which got us to 151°. Then I found this handy dandy calculator to figure out the temperature we should get the other 2 gallons to achieve the right temperature and thickness. We added the two gallons at 162° and ended up at 154° right where we wanted to be.

After we brewed, I even mopped the kitchen. It was a late night. While I do think its a good idea to multitask while brewing, I don't recommend doing quite this much!

The Verdict
L LOVES this beer. He thinks it is fabulous. I think it is wayyy to hoppy. But, it does smell amazing. Those Simcoe hops are phenomenal!!  

Dry Hopping

2 ounces of Simcoe Leaf Hops take up a lot of space!

Bourbon Vanilla Porter

This is by far the darkest beer we've brewed. And it had better be delicious. I'm excited.

Grains
11lb 2-Row
2.5lb Munich Malt
1.5lb Brown Malt
1.0lb Crystal-120L
0.5lb Crystal-40L
0.5lb Chocolate Malt

Hops
0.8oz Magnum (14.6% AA) at 60 min
0.5oz Syrian Golding (4.75% AA) at 10 min

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale - Started 5 days before in 1Q water with 1 cup DME.

Brewing
Mashed at 154° for 60 minutes.
Fly Spage at 185° to collect 6.5 gallons
60 Minute Boil.

Post-Boil Additions
When racked to secondary on July 23, 4 chopped Madagascar Vanilla Beans, soaking in about 1/4 cup vanilla vodka were added.
When bottle, 400ml Maker's Mark Bourbon was added.

The Numbers
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.092 (1.069 @ 75%)
Actual Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.064
Efficiency: 69.5%

Expected Post-Boil Gravity: 1.100 (1.075 @ 75%)
Actual Post-Boil Gravity:1.072

Expected Final Gravity:1.027 @ 75% Attenuation
Actual Final Gravity: 1.018
% ABV: 7.2
Attenuation: 96%

This time we tried to be a little more precise with the mash temperature. We were shooting for 154°. We started with 4.5 gallons at 168° which brought us to 149°. Then we added a gallon at 100° then a gallon at 168° and were still only at 147°. We added one more gallon at boiling to bring us to 155°. That didn't last long and it was at 154° within 10 minutes of mashing. After an hour mash, it was at 152°. The big problem with this batch was that it was much thinner than we planned because we had to add so much boiling water. Next time, I'll find a calculator that does temperature change so we'll be better prepared.

Otherwise, this was a pretty standard brew. All-Grain really isn't all that hard. It just takes a long time. The upside to that, though is that it doesn't require a whole lot of babysitting so you can get other stuff done while you're waiting for the next step.

The Verdict

Excellent Porter. I don't remember what it was like in the keg, but bottled its excellent. I think the balance of vanilla and bourbon is perfect but L thinks there is way too much vanilla. Maybe next time we shouldn't use 4 whole beans. That was twice what Denny's recipe called for. Oops :)

Collecting Water - the black thing is the cup holder from our 5-gallon water cooler.

Madagascar Vanilla Beans

Soaking in Vodka for sanitization

Beans in the Carboy

It's so DARK!

Cottage House Saison

Wow! We've been so busy and I've gotten SO behind on updating this blog. We brewed our first All Grain batch on July 14! And then did it again on July 15! It was a busy weekend, to say the least.

So, initially, we were planning on doing a Vanilla Bourbon Porter for our first all grain. We actually got the yeast early and made a starter the Tuesday before brewing and everything. Doing a darker beer, supposedly, is one way to off-set the potential off flavors that occur from bad processes and bad water. Then, we got ambitious. I really wanted to do a summer beer, and we were getting low on our stored beer so we decided to do a Saison instead. I found this recipe on Home Brew Talk and it had so many good reviews, I couldn't pass it up. We decided to do the Saison first because we wanted the yeast for the porter to start for an extra day and the Saison yeast is apparently super-freakin-awesome.

Grains
8.5lb 2-Row
1.5lb White Wheat
0.5lb CaraMunich II
0.5lb Flaked Oats
1.0lb Honey (added at 5 min)

Hops
0.5oz Sorachi Ace  (12.1% AA) at First Wort Hop
0.5oz Fuggles (4.2% AA) at First Wort Hop
0.5oz Fuggles (4.2% AA) at 30 min
1.0oz Fuggles (4.2% AA) at 15 min

Yeast
Wyeast 3711 French Saison

Brewing
Mashed at 147° for 60 minutes. (supposed to be 148°, but whatevs)
Fly Sparge to collect 6.5 Gallons.
60 minute Boil.

So, because I am a scientist by training, we collected a decent amount of data throughout the process. I figured out how to calculated all of our expected gravities throughout the process and did some temperature calculations too. I think that doing this type of thing is by no means necessary for brewing (because, really, you're going to end up with beer no matter what) but if you want to get a better sense of what's going on then looking at the numbers really helps.

The Numbers
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.061 (1.046 @ 75%)
Actual Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.037*
Efficiency: 60.6% 

Expected Post-Boil Gravity: 1.088 (1.066 @ 75%)
Actual Post-Boil Gravity: 1.060

Expected Final Gravity: 1.013
Acual Final Gravity: 1.004
% ABV: 7.336 %
Attenuation: 95%!!!!!

*I'm about 90% sure this isn't the actual measurement. I think this is the one I took right after we finished sparging but before the sample came to room temperature. I think the numbers were more like 1.41 and 70% efficiency.

One of the processes we used that I think really helped was adding the mash water in two parts to a pre-heated cooler. First, we added about a gallon of water at something like 170°, then poured it out. Then, we added about 3/4 of the water at the temperature appropriate for that volume (calculated using brewer's friend). For this recipe that was 3 gallons at 163°. Then, we stirred in the grains and checked the temperature. It was 149°. So we added a gallon at 142° then another quart at 163°. The final temperature stabilized at 147° and fell to 145° during the mash.

Our sparge water was 174°. I think this was a little bit low and we'll use warmer water next time. We did not mash out either, and I think we'll try that too.

We kegged this beer on August 2 with 30lb of CO2 and will be drinking it when we get back from the beach this weekend!!

**This beer is DELICIOUS! You can only drink like 2 though. It's so sweet, it's bad about causing headaches.

Our Setup

All-Grain takes a lot of water.

And a lot of grain.

A little malt, a little milk, and a little honey. Mmm.

Starting the Mash.

Brewer's Assistant #1

Brewer's Assistant #2

The Voularf

The whole setup

First Wort Hops.

First All-Grain Batch

I'm so EXCITED!!

We're doing our first all grain batch this weekend. We're brewing up Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Porter. We had some Breckenridge Vanilla Porter last night to firm up that decision and it was so tasty that we've to to make some of our own. We're actually going to go all out DIY this weekend and make an MLT and a fermentation chamber. I'm also doing a yeast starter for the first time and collecting yeast from our English Pale that finishes up this weekend.

English Pale Ale

Because we haven't been down to the beach (or even to the mountains) in a few weeks, we had to buy our latest recipe in Raleigh. It was a busy day and I wasn't up for driving all the way to American Brewmasters so I picked up a Brewer's Best kit from Fifth Season around the corner. I picked this one because I'm in the mood for some Boddington's. I know it won't be the same because Boddington's uses nitrogen but it'll be okay. The kit only came with a half pound of grains so I modified the recipe and added another half pound of Maris Otter grains. I had read a bunch of English Pale recipes and that was the most used grain. Also, I thought it could use a bit more hops. I wanted to add an oz of Kent Goldings but they only had US Goldings so we used that. The hops package ended up being not full and only weighed a half ounce. We used it anyways but from now on I'll be sure to check the package before I buy. L thought it was going to be a little weak so he ended up running to ABM anyways. Our final recipe ended up being:

So cool how this stuff turns into such a tasty beverage.

3.375 lb Light DME
3.3 lb  Light LME
.5 lb Marris Otter Pale
.5 lb American Crystal / Caramel 60L

1 oz Fuggle at 60m
1/2 oz US Golding at 45m
3/4 oz Tettnang at 20m
1 oz Stynan Bobek at 5m

We're planning on converting to All-Grain for our next brew so I wanted to try to do more chemistry and math calculations with this batch. I used online calculators to figure out that our expected Original Gravity should be 1.055. Because I don't know the actual points per pound per gallon, I can't replicate the measurements exactly. When we do all grain, I will definitely make sure we collect that information.

The actual original gravity was 1.054 so the calculations were pretty accurate. 

Alpha Acids:

Alpha Acids are the chemical component in hops that give the beer bitterness. AAUs aren't necessarily the best way to calculate bitterness, however, because they don't take into account the length of the boil or the volume and gravity of the wort. They are used in the calculation for IBUs, though, which does account for those variables.

AAU = AA% x weight in ounces
Fuggle = 5.3% x 1 = 5.3 AAU
US Golding = 4.9% x 1/2 = 2.45 AAU
Tettnang = 4.8% x 3/4 = 3.6 AAU
Stynan Bobek = 3.8% x 1 = 3.8 AAU
TOTAL = 15.15 AAU

International Bittering Units:

International Bittering Units, or IBUs, include a utilization variable and a volume variable essentially quantifying the bitterness of a beer that can be compared on a scale with other beers of completely different profiles. The utilization variable is a combination of boil time and specific gravity. Now, you could measure the gravity at each hop addition to make the calculation even more accurate, but we're just using the original gravity. To find the utilization, I used the table in John Palmer's How to Brew and intepolated between the given values.

Utilization Values:
Fuggle: 1.054 for 60m --> .223
US Golding: 1.054 for 45m --> .205
Tettnang: 1.054 for 20m --> .135

Stynan Bobek: 1.054 for 5m --> .044

IBU = AAU x U x 75 / Vrecipe

Fuggle = 5.3 x .223 x 75 / 6 = 15

US Golding = 2.45 x .205 x 75 / 6 = 6

Tetnang = 3.6 x .135 x 75 / 6 = 9

Stynan Bobek = 3.8 x .044 x 75 / 6 = 2

TOTAL: 32 IBU 

So that's great right?! Well, not so fast. The problem with IBUs is that there isn't an industry standard for the calculation. There are a plethora of different calculators online that utilize about 4 different formulas to come up with an IBU measure. Your best bet is to pick a calculator/formula and stick with that through all of your brewing so that you can compare apples to apples. Of course, you'll need to keep that in mind if you're comparing to someone elses numbers who may not use the same formula as you.

Looks like more than it was.

Yeasties!

So, that's pretty much how we did this English Pale. I'll add pictures when I get home, and let you know how it is later! Also, the grains made AWESOME bread!!!

Good way to thaw grains for the bread -- this recipe didn't have quite enough for 2 loaves.

Best Yet.

American Amber Ale

L's aunt is turning 50 this year and they're having a week-long celebration over the Fourth of July. Now, I was a college student for about 7 years and I've known so pretty professional drinkers but that's nothing compared to the Mackey's. The last time I drank with them was at Little Man's first birthday and I failed miserably to keep up. It was pretty embarrassing. Anyways. The point is, we'd need to bring A LOT of beer for the 1/2 week we'll be joining the festivities. They also don't drink crap beer, so we would need a lot of good beer which equals a lot of money. Instead, we decided to buy a new keg from Wilmington Homebrew and the necessary attachments to run it without a keggerator. We also got a kit for an American Amber Ale because its a good tasting but not too hoppy beer that most folks will enjoy.

We steeped .5lb Crystal 70, .25lb Munich, and .25lb Biscuit for an hour in 6 gallons of water. Like the Nut Brown, it was pretty dark after just steeping. Then, we added 6.6lb Golden Light LME and 1lb Sparkling Amber DME. During the boil, we added 1 oz each of Magnum (60), Northern Brewer (20), and Hallertau Hersbrucher (0) hops.

After Steeping.

The LME is easier to get out if its warm.

The Queen keeping an eye on things.

Original Gravity

This was our second time using liquid yeast and we were much more successful and didn't potentially contaminate the batch. This was probably our smoothest brewing session yet. Our Original Gravity was 1.055 which should give us a decently strong beer when the yeasties are done eating!

Also, for future reference, these grains made AWESOME bread!! See the Spent Grain II Post for the recipe.

British Nut Brown

We spent Memorial Day up in the mountains at my family's cabin. While we were there, we decided to check out Appalachian Homebrewing Supply in Boone. We bought her British Nut Brown Ale kit. We also collected water while were at the cabin because it is AMAZING. The water from the cabin comes from a natural spring about 100 feet from the back door, next to a small creek. The family always jokes that we could get rich selling cabin water, cabin tea, and cabin ice. L and I decided to take advantage of that for our next beer.

It's rustic, but we love it.

In the snow.

Since Father's Day was coming up, we decided to do something my Dad would like. He's not really into hoppy beers and really like Carolina Nut Brown so we decided to pick up a British Nut Brown kit for him.

The family, at Biltmore Estates, Thanksgiving 2011

Ridiculous amount of water we toted home.

 So, on to the beer. First, we steeped 1/2 lb Caramel 40 and 1/4 lb Chocolate in 6 gallons of water for an hour. After the steep, the wort was already REALLY dark! The AHB recipe really wasn't very clear (or good) so we just went with our standard procedure. It only had 6 lbs of LME so we were expecting a rather weak beer. L was busy bottling the Imperial IPA when the wort came up to a boil so I had to add the LME all by myself! It was somewhat intimidating at first but the key is to just take your time. There is no reason to get it over with as fast as possible.

Tiny grain bag at the end of the Steep.

The hops included in the kit were pretty good. 1 oz of Kent Golding for bittering (60m) and 1 oz fuggle for flavoring (20m), so it shouldn't be very hoppy. The recipe also called for 1 tablespoon of Irish Moss. Irish Moss is actually a red atlantic seaweed that helps with clarity by convincing the small yeast particles to clump together and for bigger particles that fall out of solution more easily.

Irish Moss. Misleading Name.

Nobby and Bird really enjoy when we're home on the weekend, but they aren't too fond of brew days because it requires that our attention be taken away from them for most of the day. Nobby, however, loves the towels we put on the floor to prevent slipping. She loves anything that smells funky.

Nobby <3 Towel.

After the boil, we chilled the wort with our awesome immersion cooler and pitched the re-hydrated yeast.
 

Happy Yeasties.

After a week in primary and two in secondary, we bottled the Nut Brown. We did a dozen bottles for my dad and six for us. Then, we kegged the rest. It should be ready tomorrow! Bottling is such a pain. Especially when trying to use Lone Rider Bottles. The labels are WAY to sticky. Just don't try.

Bottling Blows!

The original gravity we wrote down for this beer was 1.068. The final gravity was 1.013 giving a ABV of 7.22%. Now, this doesn't really make sense with the amount of malt in the beer. According to this calculator, our OG should have been 1.046 which would give an ABV of 4.33%. I think that makes much more sense, but L is pretty sure he read the hydrometer correctly. We'll find out tomorrow when one beer either gets me tipsy or doesn't!

Imperial IPA Kegging/Bottling and Tasting!

L has a new favorite beer! The Imperial IPA kit from Wilmington Homebrew with high gravity and hop modifications is DELICIOUS! It is extremely hoppy and very well balanced. We ended up bottling about half of it because we didn't think we would be able to drink 5 gallon in three-ish weeks because it was going to be so hoppy. I'm pretty sure L is very disappointed that we didn't keg more. It was gone in about a week.

This was our first significant bottling experience. I can definitely understand why a lot of people brew one batch and quit. The bottling process, between cleaning, sanitizing, filling, capping, cleaning again, labeling, and aging, is a bit ridiculous. Definitely not something we want to do on the regular. One thing we learned is that you CAN NOT reuse Stella Artois bottles! It will break your capper!

Cleaning the bottles - if you're lucky, the labels come off here too.

Filling bottles.

Capping bottles, not a fun task for a 6'4" dude with back problems.

Opps. Stella bottles don't work.

Lots of Imperial IPA!

Our awesome logo I designed on the labels L designed.

"Dude, this is awesome!"

It is quite pretty.

We took it IPA over to L's parents house for a taste test along side Harpoon IPA and Sweetwater IPA. The Harpoon really wasn't very hoppy at all and tasted more like a regular American Pale. It was my favorite. The Sweetwater was just really, really hoppy, but didn't have enough of a malty flavor to balance it out. L like ours the best as it was both hoppy and balanced.

Spent Grain Bread II

I'm currently at work (!!) but I wanted to go ahead and write down the recipe I used for spent grain bread last night. I think I might be getting close to a final product and I don't want to forget it!

Sponge:
1/3c honey, warmed
1/2c water, warmed
1c whole wheat flour
1c spent grains
4tsp active dry yeast

Dough: 
1 egg
1/4c olive oil (or butter)
2c spent grains (food processed)
2c whole wheat flour
1c bread flour (plus extra)
2tsp salt
5tbs vital wheat gluten

Start by warming 1/3c honey and 1/2c water (or milk, if you're not on an alpha-gal diet like me) to around 100-110°. Don't go over 120° or you'll kill the yeast. Add that to 1c whole wheat flour and 1c spent grains, mix well. Then add the yeast. You'll need something crazy like 4tsp because of all the grains. Let this sit somewhere warm for about an hour. I usually turn my oven on for about a minute then turn it off and let it sit inside.

After the sponge has fluffed up, add 1 egg, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 cups proceed grains, 2 cups sifted whole grain flour, 1 cup sifted bread flour, 2tsp salt, and 4tbs vital wheat gluten. Mix in the wet ingredients, then the dry. Start kneeding the dough and add more sifted bread flour until the consistency is right. I think this recipe ends up with a slightly-too-sticky dough and I always want to add more flour, but it would end up too dense.

The dough should kneed for 10 minutes on speed 2 in a mixer. Can't say how long you should kneed by hand because I don't do it that way. Once the dough is kneeded, roll it in a ball, and place it in a greased bowl to rise. I also put wet paper towels over the top to prevent drying. Again, I warm my oven slightly and let it rise inside.

It should rise for about an hour before you punch it down. Divide the dough into two even loaves. If you like free-form bread, shape as desired, set on greased pan and let rise. If you like nice, sandwich-shaped bread, pat the dough out into a rectangle about 9" by 12". Roll the dough into a pipe type shape then tuck the ends under. This will give you a nicely-shaped loaf.

Again, let the dough rise in a slightly warm oven for AT LEAST an hour. The dough won't rise much more during baking so you should essentially let it rise all the way to the size you want your loaf to be before cooking. Bake the bread at 375° for about 45 minutes. Because it's a pretty hardy bread, you'll want the internal temperature to reach 205° to 210°.

One important consideration for the whole wheat to bread flour ratio is the type of grains used in your beer. When I made bread out of the British Nut Brown grains, the bread was MUCH heavier and darker and really couldn't handle a 3:1 ratio. Essentially, the lighter the color of the beer, the more whole grain flour you can use. But, when you have darker malts, like the chocolate malt in the Nut Brown, you need to decrease the amount of whole wheat flour in favor of bread flour to compensate for the grains.

Pictures will be up shortly!

Spent Grain Bread

For the past six months or so, I've been experimenting with making the bread we eat on a regular basis. I like the idea of healthy, preservative free bread that actually ends up being cheaper than a loaf of the same quality. First, I played around with this recipe -- just a basic mostly whole wheat bread. Then, I upped the game a bit and moved on to ten-grain bread with this recipe but with a higher ratio of whole wheat flour.

I really hate to see all of our steeping grains go to waste so I did some research and incorporated the grains from our Belgian Caramel Wit into some bread! I used this recipe as a baseline because it was the only recipe I could find that incorporated whole wheat flour.

How could I let this go to waste?!

The first time I made it, I replaced ALL the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I also added 3T of vital wheat gluten.  I put the spent grains through the food processor to break them down some. They should also be wet when you use them and you should measure after they are processed.

Processing the grains.

The bread came out DELICIOUS! It was a bit too moist though and I didn't quite let it cook enough. It was also extremely dense and didn't rise very well. It really wasn't very pretty, but the taste made up for it.

Whole Wheat Spent Grain Bread

Super Dense

The second time I made it, I used 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour along with the spent grains from our IPA. I still added 3T of vital wheat gluten and doubled the amount of yeast. It came out beautiful! It was perfectly cooked and much lighter than the first version. I didn't get to take pictures of the final product because we were late for Mother's Day dinner with L's mom. We took one loaf over to L's mom and she said I should sell it on Carolina Grown!

While this version was definitely a step in the right direction, there are still a few improvements I want to make. First, it needs to be a bit more chunkier so I won't process the grains quite as much next time. Also, I think it could handle a bit more whole wheat flour and a slightly nuttier/fuller flavor.

When we brew this weekend, I plan on making these changes and figuring out a way to store the grain that doesn't get used in the first batch of bread. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a recipe next week that is a bit more final than these.

Imperial IPA

We found a new home brew shop that we are in love with! Wilmington Homebrew just opened off College Rd. in Wilmington and I think we'll be buying ingredients from them whenever we pass through on the way to the beach. They are extremely knowledgeable but also fun to hang out around. They offer free tastings on Fridays and demonstrations on Saturdays.

Since our last beer was sweet and mild, we decided to go hoppy this time. We got the High-Gravity Imperial IPA kit developed by the WHB folks and we upgraded some of our equipment.

There weren't a whole lot of steeping grains in this batch but we steeped in the full 6 gallons of water because we got an AWESOME NEW POT!We also had much better temperature control because we got an AWESOME NEW DIGITAL THERMOMETER!

8 Gallon Aluminum Stock/Steamer Pot

One of the advertised uses for the pot is steaming lobsters, so the pot came with a shelf, basically that sits about 2 inches above the bottom of the pot. We converted a coat hanger into a handle for the shelf so we could remove it post-steeping. We can also rest the thermometer on the shelf to get a more accurate reading than if it was touching the bottom or sides of the pot. There are pots you can get that have spigots near the bottom for easy removal of the liquid inside, but those are much more expensive. We decided to get the cheapest large pot we could find to make sure we liked brewing with it and our stove (thankfully gas) is capable of heating that much water.

Shelf with thermometer and coat hanger handle.

One thing we learned from this first 6 gallon batch is to measure and filter the water the day before brewing-- especially if you're brewing on a week day. I think we'll try to plan better in the future to avoid  weekday brewing. The IPA recipe called for the smallest batch of steeping grains we have used and it looked really miniscule in the huge new pot!

.75 lb Vienna, .25 lb Biscuit, .25 lb Crystal 40

We steeped the grains for 1 hour at 155° and were able to keep the temperature very steady due to both the new thermometer and the higher volume of water (that doesn't change temperature as easily). Then, we brought the water up to a boil but turned off the heat prior to adding the malt.

Lots of Malt!!

We added all the liquid malt (6.6 lb Golden Light Liquid Malt Extract) easily then hoped and prayed while we added the dry malt (4 lb Golden Light Dry Malt Extract). John, at Wilmington Homebrew, said the best way to add the dry malt was to put it in a bowl first then slide the entire amount in quickly before the steam can make it clump to the bowl. Then, STIR and STIR some more! John also added in the extra 4 lb Golden Light DME to make the recipe super High Gravity. It should come out somewhere around 8.5 - 9% ABV!

It looks like milk for a while!

This IPA is going to be extremely Hoppy. We added 5 ounces of various kinds of hops throughout the boil:

• 1 oz Warrior at 60m for Bittering
• 1 oz Columbus at 40m for Bittering and Flavoring
• 1oz Simca at 20m for Flavoring
• 1oz Chinook and 1 oz Columbus at 0m for Aroma 

That is a lot of hops. During the boil, we actually had to keep the pot covered to keep it boiling. We definitely couldn't boil any higher volume than 6 gallons!

Lots of hops. Lots.

 We again used the wort chiller to drop the temperature of the wort down to about 70°. Its still SO much faster than trying to use an ice bath. We also used the digital thermometer which was a huge help!

So easy and fast!

We tried liquid yeast for the first time with this batch. Unfortunately, it sort of exploded when L opened it and when I yelled he reflexively moved the yeast over the bucket. As it spewed out of the vial, it ran down the outside of both the vial and his hand before dropping into the bucket. We could have our first contamination!!

Because this is such a high gravity recipe, we actually stuffed a large tube over the bottom part of our three piece air lock to prevent any spillage. The other end of the tube rested in a pitcher filled with sanitizer water. It stayed in primary fermentation for two full weeks and will be in secondary for another week.

We're actually planning on bottling a lot more of this batch than we normally would because its going to be so hoppy. We went to the mountains this weekend and L, my brother, Z, and I had some really tasty craft beer and kept the bottles for the IPA. We also stole some of Z's roommates empty bottles, which is pretty gross. 3 boys in one house is not a sanitary thing. We've got quite the collection of bottles now and about 12 full ones in the fridge so we should be set for this weekend. To clean the bottles, we generally dishwasher them twice, scraping the labels after the first cycle.

Cleaning the bottles.

We're bottling the IPA this weekend and brewing a British Nut Brown from Appalachian Homebrew. We're also contemplating brewing again the following weekend as a present for L's Aunt's Birthday/4th of July so watch out for some exciting more posts!! ha.