Sunday, July 20, 2008

Brew #60: Rye IPA

This is an adaptation of Denny Conn's popular Rye IPA. I had to change the recipe somewhat as I did not have some of the ingredients.

The batch is already kegged, but as the CO2 tank ran out yesterday I have not yet been able to taste it carbonated. Will have to get it refilled on Monday. It tastes promising though.

As this was the first time that I used the outdoor brewery this year the brew day was ridden with errors on my part. I had problems with a leakage close to the pump, so that air got sucked into the pump causing the pump to stall. I spent about half an hour trying to locate where the leakage was. In the end I realized that the silicone tubing was torn near the hose clamp. This extra time lowered the mash temperature to about 63C. Fortunately the beer did not dry out as much as I had thought. I have struggled with the pump before, but next time this problem should have been elimiated.

The batch was brewed 2008-06-16.

Style:
Rye IPA
Type:
40 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
30 EBC (Copper)
Bitterness:
62 IBU
Malts:
9200g Maris Otter malt, Thomas Fawcett
2000g Rye malt, Weyermann
1500g Wheat malt extract 55%, Muntons
900g Carahell malt, Weyermann
500g Dark Crystal malt 300 EBC, Thomas Fawcett
Mash:
65C, 60 min
50% efficiency
Hops:
150g Cascade whole, 6.8%, 60 min
100g Cascade whole, 6.8%, 10 min
80g Simcoe whole 13.0%, 1 min
15g Amarillo whole 8.0%, 1 min
Yeast:
2 packs Wyeast 2450 Denny’s Favorite 50, 2.5 liter starter
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
21 C

OG: 1.063 FG: 1.013 abv: 6.6%

Brew #59: Weissbier

I have not been very happy with the Weissbiers that I have made from all-grain, so I decided to make a quick malt extract batch as I have been successful with extract wheat beers before.

Unfortunately the fermentation stopped a little too early making the beer a little too sweet. I forgot to add yeast nutrient, so I suspect that that might have something to do with it. Another thing is that this beer was made in the middle of a (minor) heat wave, so the fermentation temperature fluctuated quite a bit. For this reason there is quite a bit of flavour. Doh.

The batch was brewed 2008-06-12.

Style:
Weissbier
Type:
25 liters. Extract, batch sparge
Colour:
15 EBC (Amber)
Bitterness:
10 IBU
Malts:
3800g Wheat malt extract 55%, Brewferm
Hops:
50g Saaz pellets, 2.0%, 45 min
20g Hallertauer Mittelfrüh pellets, 2.1%, 15 min
Yeast:
1 pack Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan yeast, 1.5 liter starter
Boil:
60 min
Fermentation:
22 C

OG: 1.055 FG: 1.015 abv: 5.2%