Brew #62: Traditional Bock

Last year I made a spiced Christmas. This year I wanted to drop the spices and make something more plain, so I ended up with an attempt at a traditional bock. The result is very drinkable, but I feel that it has little bitterness. Next time, I'll add more bittering hops and a little flavouring hops to cut the malty dullness. A higher alcohol content would not have hurt it either. I'll drop the mineral additions as well.

Added 2/3ts NaCl (salt) and 1/3ts NaHCO3 (baking soda) to enhance maltiness.

The batch was brewed 2008-09-24.

Style:
Traditional Bock
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
26 EBC (Deep amber)
Bitterness:
22 IBU
Malts:
4600g Münchener malt, Weyermann
2200g Pilsener malt, Castle
400g Cara Münich malt, Weyermann
200g Dark Crystal malt 300 EBC, Thomas Fawcett
200g Melanoidin malt, Weyermann
Mash:
68C, 60 min
74% efficiency
Hops:
20g Magnum pellets, 13.5%, 60 min
Yeast:
2 packs Wyeast 2663 Octoberfest, 2.5 liter starter
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
9.5 C

OG: 1.066 FG: 1.016 abv: 6.5%

Brew #61: Extra Special Bitter

This beer was made for an event at work. I was hoping for something easily drinkable. As I had little time to make it I had to skip the yeast starter and throw in some dry yeast. In the end I think that the recipe worked out well. The beer was light and refreshing with a crisp dry EKG hop bitterness. It was far from complex, but it had a dry and grainy mouthfeel with a crisp bitterness. Not really what I would consider an ESB, but rather more like a really dry Special Bitter.

The batch was brewed 2008-09-10.

Style:
Extra Special Bitter
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
26 EBC (Deep amber)
Bitterness:
45 IBU
Malts:
4500g Golden Promise malt, Thomas Fawcett
350g Aromatic malt, Dingemans
200g Cara Amber, Dingemans
200g Carapils, Weyermann
150g Dark Crystal malt 300 EBC, Thomas Fawcett
Mash:
67C, 60 min
70% efficiency
Hops:
60g Challenger pellets, 6.7%, 60 min
40g East Kent Goldings pellets, 4.8%, 10 min
60g East Kent Goldings pellets, 4.8%, 1 min
Yeast:
1 pack Safale S-04, rehydrated dry yeast
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
21 C

OG: 1.048 FG: 1.012 abv: 4.7%

Interesting use of Randall at the Blind Tiger

There is a really cool event at the Blind Tiger, NYC, this evening. They are serving Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA through six different Randalls. What is interesting is that it is not just hops in the Randalls this time. Instead they are going to serve the beer through a lot of different things that'll lend flavour to the beers.

Here's the list:

Simple Thai: lemongrass
Mint Julep: mint & bourbon balls
Summer Fresco: melon & assorted fruits
Northern Winter: pine & spruce
Italian Seasoning: pine nuts & dried oregano
Hoppy Giant: warrior & columbus hops

I wish I could be there, but as its on the other side of the pond its going to be difficult for me to get there in time. I'll have to try something like this myself sometime.

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%

Brew #58: American Brown Ale

I have always enjoyed the impressively rich and malty beers from American microbreweries. I've so far only found that kind of malt flavours in American beers. Some of them have an incredible maltiness. I have so far not been able to get even close in my own beers. This beer is hopefully a step towards something more resembling. There is a whopping 21% specialty malts in this recipe, of which most of them are very aromatic and flavourful malts. Lets just hope that is doesn't come out too cloying. There is also a bit of bittering hops in there to cut some of the sweetness. The mashing efficiency came out a little low this time. Not sure why. It could of course have something to do with the specialty malts.

I have not found any information on the attenuation of the Fat Tire yeast, but Brew #57 came out at 80%, so it is pretty high.

The batch was brewed 2008-04-13.

Style:
American Brown Ale
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
44 EBC (Dark brown)
Bitterness:
36 IBU
Malts:
3000g Maris Otter malt, Thomas Fawcett
2300g Münchener malt
500g Biscuit malt, Dingemans
300g Aromatic malt, Dingemans
300g Special B, Dingemans
200g Dark Crystal malt 300 EBC, Thomas Fawcett
100g Pale Chocolate, Thomas Fawcett
Mash:
66C, 60 min
69% efficiency
Hops:
65g Cascade pellets, 5.8%, 60 min
30g Styrian Goldings pellets, 3.2%, 10 min
Yeast:
Wyeast Fat Tire yeast, on Brew #57's yeast cake
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
19 C

OG: 1.056 FG: 1.013 abv: 5.6%

Brew #57: American Pale Ale

This is the first brew of the year, an American Pale ale. It actually ended up more like an India Pale ale as the mash efficency came out at 78%, something I'm really happy about. I used a new batch sparging technique, which I'll say something about in a future post.

The batch was brewed 2008-03-27.

Style:
American Pale Ale
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
15 EBC (Amber)
Bitterness:
40 IBU
Malts:
5400g Maris Otter malt, Thomas Fawcett
270g Crystal malt 80 EBC, Dingemans
230g Caraamber, Weyermann
200g Biscuit malt, Dingemans
Mash:
66C, 60 min
78% efficiency
Hops:
30g Simcoe whole, 13.2%, 60 min
30g Cascade pellets, 5.8%, 10 min
60g Cascade pellets, 5.8%, 1 min
Yeast:
Wyeast Fat Tire yeast, 2.7 liter starter on magnetic stirrer
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
19 C

OG: 1.060 FG: 1.012 abv: 6.3%

Norwegian Homebrew Competition 2008

What: The annual festival where homebrewers serve their own beers to the public, which get to vote for their favourite beers of the evening. Homebrewers also compete in five other categories (bottled entries submitted earlier). The winners are announced towards the end of the evening.

When: Saturday April 5th 2008, 19:00-00:30 CET
Where: Studentersamfunnet Bislet, Pilestredet 52, Oslo, Norway.
Cost: 130 NOK (100 NOK if you're a member of Norbrygg)


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I'll be there, but I won't be serving any beers this year as I'm judging the finals of the five other competition categories (light lager, dark lager, light ale, dark ale and strong beers). For the same reason I won't be able to partake in any of the competitions either (doh).

A brewing tip from Norway's Julia Child

"Kjøkkentips", a book by Ingrid Espelid Hovig and Scott Givot contains a lot of practical tips about doing smart things in your kitchen. One of the tips that caught my eye that might be useful to brewers is how one can cool down a pot of hot liquid in the sink. They say that if you place a spoon upside down beneath the pot that would allow it too cool down quicker. Simple, and just brilliant, as this would expose the pot to more surface. If you chill your hot wort in the sink then this might help you cool down your wort faster.

Getting the temperature right

You may remember that I have had some issues with mashing at too low a temperature. Because the beers were mashed too low they were thin bodied as this produced more fermentable sugars. I recently bought a new thermometer (the one on the right), and that helped a little. The recent beers have had more body, but the doppelbock I brewed just before Christmas still was a little thinner than expected. It meant that I still had some problems with the mash temperatures.

Interestingly, I was offered to have my thermometers calibrated at a local brewery using professional calibration equipment. That was exactly what I needed as this would let me know exactly by how much the thermometers were off.


The temperature calibrator system that was used was a Tek Know TC2000 from Scan-Sense. The results from calibrating the two thermometers at 55C, 65C, 70C and 80C can be seen below. Click the thumbnails to see the full-sized photos.



The digital thermometer on the right is clearly the most exact of the two as its readings are the most consistent, but they are still off by 1.5C or so. It was this thermometer that I used for the last few brews, so the dobbelbock was mashed at 67.5C instead of 69C. The old white digital thermometer (now broken) must have been off by at least 3.5C as it read 2C lower than the new one. That is a quite significant difference.

In all this is very useful information to me and it will allow me to hit the mash temperatures much more precisely than before. If you have doubts about the readings from your thermometer then having it calibrated is much recommended. Even small variances on the readings in the mashing range can lead to significant differences in fermentability.