Bastian Brewing

American IPA 2011 v2.0

2011-03-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

I blogged earlier about 2011 being the Year of the IPA for me. Basic plan is to brew 4 IPAs in 2011 and change the recipe sligtly based on feedback from the local homebrew competitions I enter (there are 4 major ones). My American IPA 2011 v1.0 did pretty well at this years War of the Worts homebrew competition, placing 2nd out of 54 entries. I got some useful feedback (probalby got more from my friends, but oh well). Decided that maybe a touch more maltiness, an increase in bitterness and a touch more aroma hops might do the trick. This time around I switched the bittering hops from Citra to Warrior pushing the IBUs to 105. I also threw in a lb of Melanoidin malt which might help add a little malt flavor and body. Tossed in an extra ounce of Citra into the dry hop as well. All minor changes, so I guess we will see how it turns out. ,

Here is the recipe as it stands. I plan to brew this Sunday, April 3rd so if you read this and are interested in stopping by just contact me. 10 Gallon Batch
60 Minute Boil Based on 80% Mash Efficiency

Grain
14 lbs of American 2 Row
5 lbs of Maris Otter
2 lbs of Crystal 20
1.5 lbs of Carapils
1 lb of Melanoidin

Hops
3 oz of Warrior (15.8% AA) for 60 Minutes
1 oz of Centennial (13.4% AA) for 30 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo (10.7% AA) and Citra (13.4% AA) for 10 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra for 5 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra at KO

2 oz of Amarillo and 3 oz of Citra Dry Hop for 12 days
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra Dry Hop for 5 days

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale – 2 packs with large starter

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.057
OG = 1.069
FG = 1.010
ABV = 7.9 %
IBU = 105

Mash
7.5 gallons @ 152 for 60 minutes

Sparge
Fly sparge with 9.5 gallons of water

Sour Cherry Bock

2011-03-05T08:35:00.001-08:00

Well I decided to enter into the world of Lagers. Although half of this batch is going to have quite a twist. Since I have been brewing mostly 10 gallon batches lately I have been trying to do something "different" with "other" half of each batch. This time around I decided to brew a fairly traditional Bock beer. First thought was to brew a Doppelbock, however I set out to create a recipe that would fall on the "lower end" of the Doppelbock category in order to keep the abv under 8% (didn't want to kill the souring bugs). This recipe turned out to be more in line with the Traditional Bock category. Here is the recipe.

10.5 Gallon Batch
90 Minute Boil

Grains
20 lbs of Munich Malt
5 lb of Pilsner Malt
3.5 lbs of CaraMunich
0.5 lb of Melanodin

Hops
3 oz of Hallertauer (3.8% AA) for 60 minutes
1 oz of Hallertauer for 30 minutes

Yeast
WLP833 German Bock Lager – 2 vials with 2,000 ML Starter (built up three times)

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.052-1.055
OG = 1.070
FG = 1.016
ABV = ~7 %
IBU = 20

Mash
9 gallons @ 155 for 60 minutes (might not fit the whole 9 gallons, start with 8)

Sparge
Fly sparge with 10 gallons of water

Fermentation
Ferment at 50 degrees F for up to a month.

The Sour Half
Second half with be soured with Lacto, Pedio and Brett along with 2 cans of Oregon Cherry Puree over the course of the extended souring secondary. Once the original beer has finished I plan to transfer to a carboy and start out with one pack of Wyeast 5335 Lactobacillus and one pack of Wyeast 5733 Pediococus for the first three months along with one can of the pureee. After approximately 3 months I will add another can of cherries and a pack of Wyeast 5526 Brettanomyces lambicus. Let sit until ready (at least 10 months to a year). For those of you who are a little more experience in sour beer fermentation please let me know if you have any thoughts on this plan.

Year of the IPA

2011-01-14T06:01:00.000-08:00

Well in 2010 I was all about the Double (or like some like to say Imperial) IPA. I brewed my Double IPA about 4 times last year and used that as my focus for the local homebrew competitions. This year I decided to change gears (although just slightly). "Regular" American IPA's it is. The American IPA category gets a considerable higher number of entries in homebrew competitions making for stiffer competition. Plus I purchased a new 14 gallon conical fermentor so I'll be brewing mostly 10 gallon batches this year and well...my mash tun just can't handle the grain bill of the Double IPA's. I plan to brew tomorrow AM (1/15/11), getting started around 9. Feel free to swing by the garage.

Here is the first version of my 2011 IPA's.

2011 IPA Version 1.0

11 Gallon Batch
60 Minute Boil

Grain
17 lbs of American 2 Row
5 lbs of Maris Otter
2 lbs of Crystal 20
1.5 lbs of Carapils

1 lb of Corn Sugar (added last 5 minutes of the boil)

Hops
3 oz of Citra for 60 Minutes
1 oz of Centennial for 30 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra for 10 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra for 5 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra at KO

2 oz of Amarillo and Citra Dry Hop for 12 days
1 oz of Amarillo and Citra Dry Hop for 5 days

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale – 2 packs with large starter

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity (without sugar) = 1.049
OG = 1.064
FG = 1.010
ABV = 7.2 %
IBU = 83

Mash
8 gallons @ 152 for 60 minutes

Sparge
Fly sparge with 10 gallons of water

*Photo has nothing to do with an IPA. I just thought it looks cool. Actually not even sure what beer that was.

American Stout

2010-12-21T11:01:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I brewed up an Amerian Stout. I wanted to push the limits of my all grain system to see how big of a beer I could mash in my current 10 gallon cooler system. Well it looks like 27 lbs is about the max. That adds up to around a 6% abv all grain beer. I recently upgraded to a 14 gallon conical fermentor (will post more on that in another blog post) so I'm going to be focused more on doing 10-11 gallon batches. Wishing my mash tun was just a littler larger, guess it might be time to work on perfecting the lower ABV session beers. I made a few changes to my brew stand as well. Basically raised the two horizontal pieces so I can go directly from my mash tun into my boil kettle while it's on the burner (lifting 13-14 gallones of wort from the floor onto a burner didn't sound fun).

11 Gallon Batch
60 Minute Boil

Grain
20 lbs of American 2 Row
2 lbs of Roasted Barley
1.5 lbs of Pale Chocolate Malt
1.5 lbs of Crystal 40
2 lbs of Flaked Oats

Hops
2 oz of Simcoe for 60 Minutes
2 oz of Centennial for 30 Minutes
2 oz of Amarillo at KO

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale – 2 packs with large starter

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.050
OG = 1.061
FG = 1.014
ABV = 6.1%
IBU = 57

Mash
8.5 gallons @ 152 for 60 minutes

Sparge
Fly sparge with 10 gallons of water

I plan to keg 5 gallons of this beer. I may even try out dry hopping it in the keg depending on how the hop aroma is. I like my stouts to have a bit of a citrusy hop aroma to them. The other 5 gallons I plan to transfer into a secondary fermentor no cocoa nibs. I may even try to incorporate some Dogfish Head Peanut Butter Vodka into a few of the chocolate stout bottles. We shall see...

The Barrel Has Arrived

2010-12-06T05:51:00.001-08:00

The Jack Daniel bourbon barrel has arrived. Just need to wait out the fermentation of everyones Russian Imperial Stout and then it will be time to head back over to Vince to fill this sucker up!

Bourbon Barrel Russian Imperial Stout

2010-12-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

My friend and neighbor Vince is on a barrel kick lately. A few months back we got together with a group of brewers and brewed Belgian Blonde that went into a 60 or so gallon wine barrel. This time around Vince acquired a Jack Daniels Bourbon barrel which we brewed up a nice big Russian Imperial Stout to throw in it. Here is the recipe and photos from the brew day.

6 Gallons

90 Minute Boil

Grains

17.5 lbs of American 2 Row

3 lbs of Flaked Oats

1 lb of Black Patent

1 lb of Crystal 120

1 lb of Chocolate

1 lb of Roasted Barley

Hops

3 oz of Columbus - 60 minutes

1 oz of Williamette - 30 Minutes

1 oz of Williamette - KO

Mash

7 gallons of water, mash at 153 for 60 minutes and fly sparge with 5 gallons of water for 60 minutes.

Yeast

American Ale Yeast (Wyeast 1056 or White Labs 001)

Targets

Pre-Boil Gravity - 1.073

OG - 1.100

FG - 1.020

ABV - 10.5%

Citra IPA

2010-11-21T10:48:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I brewed an IPA using all Citra hops. I had about 8 ounces of Citra hops from the 2009 crop and figured I would use them up in an IPA. Here is the recipe.

7 Gallon Batch

60 Minute Boil

Grain/Sugar

11 lbs of American Two Row

2 lbs of Maris Otter

1 lb of Wheat Malt

1 lb of Crystal 20

½ lb of Carapils

1/2 lb of Corn Sugar

Hops

1.5 oz of Citra [11%] (60 min)

1 oz of Citra [11%] (30 min)

1 oz of Citra [11%] (10 min)

1 oz of Citra [11%] (5 min)

1 oz of Citra [11%] (0 min)

2 oz Dry Hop for 12 days

1 oz Dry Hop for 5 days

Yeast

White Labs WLP001 (1 vial with a starter)

Targets

Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.045 (takes into account just the grain bill)

OG = 1.063

FG = 1.010

ABV = 7.1 %

IBU = 69

Mash

5 gallons @ 152 for 60 minutes

Sparge

fly sparge with 7 gallons

Sour Belgian Dubbel Project

2010-10-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

For the past three years I have been getting together with my friend Jesse to brew some sort of sour beer. We always brew some sort of a 10 gallon batch of Belgian Ale, and then split the batch. One half ferments out with a standard Belgian ale strain, the second half we then transfer to a secondary and send it through some sort of extended fermentation to sour the beer.

Today we got together and bottled last years version. See the summary here. In addition we brewed this years batch. A more traditional style Belgian Dubbel. For the "sour" half we plan to transfer into secondary in about 7-10 days and sour using Wyeast 3763 Roselare Blend yeast. In addition we plan to incorporate some sort of oak into the process, potentially Cabernet soaked french oak...but we are still working out those details. Well here is the recipe.

10 Gallon Batch
90 Minute Boil

Grains
21 lbs of Belgian Pilsner Malt
2 lbs of Munich Malt
2 lbs of Weyerman Pale Wheat Malt
1 lb Aromatic Malt
1 lb Caravienne Malt
1 lb Special B Malt

Hop/Sugar Additions:
2.5 oz Styrian Goldings [4.6% ] (60 min)
0.5 oz Sytrian Goldings [4.6% ] (30 min)
1 oz Saaz, Czech [3.2 %] (15 min)
1 oz Saaz, Czech [3.2 %] (0 min) Hops
2.00 lb Candi Sugar (Dark Candi Inc Liquid) - end of boil

Yeast
Wyeast 1762 (2 packs with starter)

Numbers

Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.050 (takes into account just the grain bill)
OG = 1.082
FG = 1.015
ABV = 9%
IBU = 22

We had a little better efficiency than I was expecting and our OG was a little higher then expected. Might put the ABV just outside of the style guidelines, although a 9% Belgian Dubbel should be fine especially since we will be controlling the initial fermentation temp below 70.

Mash
8 gallons @ 152 for 90 minutes. As you can see from the picture above...we were pushing the limit on my all grain cooler system with 28 lbs of grain. If I brewed this again I would probably cut back the Pilsner malt to 18 lbs.

Sparge
10 gallons @ 200 for 60 minutes

Below is a photo of our Belgian Single Project (...which we were saying today is more like a Belgian Sour Blonde project). Will have to see what some carbonation does to the final soured version of the beer. My initial thought is the brett is certainly there, the beer is as dry as a bone, it just didn't turn out super sour/funky. I still think it's going to be one nice tasting beer though.

Christmas Ale 2010

2010-10-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post about the annual Christmas Ale I have brewed with my good friend Tommy G for the past 5 years. This years version has been brewed, fermented and is currently bottle conditioning. The brew day went pretty well, with one kind of somewhat major mistake. Hopefully that mistake doesn't have too much impact on the final beer. So, what was the mistake you ask? Well the recipe we designed calls for 2 lbs of brown sugar. I typically I buy 1 lb bags of brown sugar. This time around I didn't realize the bags I picked up were actually 2 lb bags. So we go ahead and empty the two bags into the last 10 minutes of the boil and then sit back to relax while the boil finishes. I'm sitting there a glance over at the bags we just put in the trash...2 lb value pack! Ughhh, oh well. So this years version has 4 lbs of brown sugar (in a 10 gallon batch). Initial taste shows that the beer dried out some more and may be a little thinner then we typically like. Our efficiency was a little off though so somehow the OG ended up around the same, with the FG dropping a little lower then expected. So who knows, could make for a fun Christmas.

Grains

22 lb of American Two Row
1 lb of Wheat Malt
1 lb of Crystal 20
1 lb of Crystal 80
1 lb of Victory
1/2 lb of Chocolate Malt
2 lb of Brown Sugar (Beet Sugar) (made a mistake and 4 lbs ended up in the kettle). Added the last 10 minutes of the boil.

3 lbs of Extra Light DME

Hops
1.5 oz of Tomahawk @ 60 minutes
1 oz of Amarillo @ 30 minutes
2 oz of Simcoe @ 15 minutes
2 oz of Simcoe @ KO

Spices
6 sticks of Cinnamon
2 Vanilla Bean Split
3 tsp of Nutmeg (Whole ground on brew day)
3 tsp of All Spice (Ground)
1 tsp of Madagascar Clove (Ground)
Zest of 6 Navel Oranges
All added at 1 minute left in boil.

Yeast

Wyeast 1028 London Ale Yeast – large starter. 2 packs

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.051 (takes into account just the grain bill)
OG = 1.081
FG = 1.010-1-020
ABV = 8.2-9.5%
IBU = 34

All Grain Steps

Mash with 8 Gallons of Water @ 152 degrees. Hold as close to 152 as possible for one hour. Keep 1 gallon of cold water around to adjust temp.

Sparge with 10 Gallons of Water @ 200 degrees.

Final Numbers
OG = 1.079
FG = 1.015
ABV = 8.3%

Death Metal Malt Bill

2010-09-04T05:42:00.001-07:00

Just the malt alone for this one looks great. Excited to brew it and even more excited to try it. Off to Wegmans for some Orange Blossom honey.

Death Metal Russian Imperial Stout

2010-09-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

I'm brewing one of my favorite beers this weekend. One I haven't brewed in probably close to two years. A beer I have been calling "Death Metal"…a big bold Russian Imperial Stout. A beer that incorporates a bunch of American hops, honey, molasses, vanilla beans and coffee. I plan to brew on Sunday, starting early in the AM so if anyone is around and wants to stop by, feel free to.

6 Gallon batch

Malt
14 lbs of (2 Row) American
3 lbs of Maris Otter Pale Malt
1.5 lbs of Roasted Barley
0.5 lb of Black Patent
1 lb of Chocolate Malt
1 lb of Crystal 120
1 lb of Wheat Malt
1 lb of Flaked Oats

Adjuncts (added to boil kettle, last 5 minutes)
1 lb of Orange Blossom Honey
0.5 lb of Blackstrap Molasses

Hops
90 Minute Boil
4 oz of Columbus @ 60 minutes
2 oz of Citra @ 15 minutes (might use Centennial instead)
2 oz of Simcoe @ 5 minutes
2 oz of Amarillo @ 1 minute

Extras
1 Vanilla Bean 7 days in Fermenter
5 cups of ground coffee beans – cold pressed (see notes below)

Yeast
WLP001 – Large Starter using 2 vials

Mash/Sparge
90 Minutes at 152 Degrees F

Mash with 7.5 gallons of water
Fly Sparge with 5 gallons of water

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.070
OG = 1.105
FG = 1.021
ABV = 11 %
IBU = 121

Fermentation Plan
Allow to ferment for two weeks as close to 68 degrees as possible. After 2 weeks add vanilla beans for an additional week. Should be ready to keg after 3 weeks. Check gravity and if in 1.020 range keg.

Transfer out of primary into keg and add coffee. Force carb and bottle.

Coffee Plan
Take 4-5 cups of Coffee Roasters Ethiopian Yrgacheffe coffee and do a course grind. Take a sanitized pot and added 3 quarts of water. Using a sanitized spoon mixed in coffee grinds. Covered pot and let sit in fridge for 24 hours. Using a sanitized French press to remove the grinds and poured the cold pressed coffee into the keg.

Sour Blonde Barrel Brew

2010-08-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend was a brewing first for me (actually quite a number of firsts). Around 7am on Sunday I loaded up most of my brewing equipment onto a cart and pushed it up the street to my friend Vinces place. For a few months he had been talking about and working on obtaining a 55 gallon wine barrel. I have to admit when I first heard of the plan I was a bit skeptical but told him I would be in for helping fill it if he tracked down a useable barrel and was able to find the people to help fill it. Vince indeed tracked down a used red wine barrel from Manatawny Creek Winery in Douglassville, PA and organized for a group brew day.

Between a mix of 4 various all-grain brew systems we set out to brew 60+ gallons of a Belgian Blonde. Considering we brewed 60+ gallons of beer using a mix of the 4 systems the brew day went off without much of a hitch. A few moments of trouble shooting but considering the task at hand things went about a smoothly as we could have asked for. All said and done we had 45 gallons in a 55 gallon food grade plastic drum and 10+ gallons in two 14 gallon stainless steel conical fermentors in about 12 hours (also had most of the equipment cleaned up as well).

As for the recipe, each 10 gallon batch called for the following.

11 Gallon Batch
90 Minute Boil

Grain
22 lbs of Pilsner Malt
5 lbs of Wheat Malt
1 lb of Crystal 20
(yes that’s 160+ lbs of grain when you add up all the batches)

Hops
2 oz of Nelson Sauvin for 60 minutes (12% aa)

Yeast
Nate scored a huge pitch of what I believe is the Chimay yeast strain from Jean at Iron Hill Brewery in West Chester (they used it for a Belgian Quad).

Targets
OG = 1.065
FG = 1.005 (or lower)
IBUs = 33
ABV = ~ 8%

Barrel
As for the barrel, we plan to check the gravity in a week or two and see where we are at. The barrel will be filled when the beer gets in the 1.015-1.020 range since we want to make sure there is still a considerable amount of sugar around for the wild yeast to do it's job. The wild yeast…basically a slurry that was grown up from some Russian River barrel chips.

I brewed another DIPA about three weeks ago. Forgot to post a blog about it, will get some info up on it if it turns out. Up next I plan to brew my Death Metal Russian Imperial Stout and Christmas Ale 2010 in September.

Saison Recipe

2010-07-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month…close to two months since I have been able to get a brew day in, I hope to change that this Saturday. This time around I plan to brew a Saison using some Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops in the finish. I'm going to brew a 10 gallon batch. Keg half of it and then bottle the other half. With the bottled version I plan to either bottle with Brettanomyces bruxellensis or I might add peaches and use the White Labs Belgian Sour Mix 1 although I'm not sure I'm willing to sit on this one for a year or two to let the magic happen.

Here is the recipe so far. If you have any feedback let me know. Also if you are around on Saturday and want to swing by just drop me an email.

Grains
20 lbs of Pilsner Malt (77.7%)
1.75 lbs of Wheat Malt (6.8%)
1.25 lbs of Munich Malt (4.9%)
0.25 lbs of Caramunich (1%)

2.5 lbs of Corn Sugar (9.7%)

Hops
4 oz of Styrian Goldings (5.2% AA) for 60 Minutes
1 oz of Citra at KO
1 oz of Nelson Sauvin at KO

Yeast
WLP568 Belgian Style Saison Ale Yeast Blend (2 vials and large starter)

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.042
OG = 1.063
FG = 1.018
ABV = 5.9%
IBU = 29

Mash
147 F for 90 minutes

Boil
90 Minute Boil

Beer Travels May 2010

2010-06-29T16:58:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, been a busy few months and I haven't been doing a whole lot of brewing. I did bring home a few medals at the local homebrew competition BUZZ OFF held at the Iron Hill in West Chester PA. I plan to eventually get a quick summary of that event up shortly. Also plan to get back to some brewing in August and well into the Fall.

However I did want to share is a bunch of photo albums from a few breweries I was able to visit recent. A family vacation brought me to Southern California and a work conference brought me to Denver Colorado. So of course I worked in a number of brewery tours while traveling and here are the photo albums. Enjoy!

Stone Brewery - Escondido, CA

Ballast Point Brewery - San Diego, CA

The Lost Abbey - San Marcos, CA

The Bruery - Placentia, CA

New Belgium Brewery - Fort Collins, CO

Odell Brewing - Fort Collins, CO

Left Hand Brewery - Longmont, CO

Oskar Blues - Lyons, CO - The original Oskar Blues location

Oskar Blues - Longmont, CO - New restaurant and Production Brewery

Avery Brewery - Boulder, CO

Great Divide - Denver, CO

Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn, NY - Yes I somehow even managed a trip to Brooklyn in.

21A Bitter American

2010-05-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

As a fan of craft beer in a can I was excited to see that the 21st Amendment Brewery out of San Francisco has plans to brew and can their Bitter American. A nice hoppy session beer just in time for the summer!

Rye Pale Ale Recipe

2010-04-30T05:39:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of Terrapin Beer Company out of Athens Georgia and have always wanted to try to brew their popular Rye Pale Ale. The Brewing Network recently interviewed the folks at Terrapin as part of their "Can you Brew It" program and I decided to give the beer a try. As I usually do I put my own twist on the recipe so here it is (main difference is my use of Citra hops in this recipe). I plan to brew the beer this Saturday so if you are around feel free to swing by after all it is National Homebrew Day (and yes it is an officially recognized holiday).

6 Gallon Batch

Brew Day = 5/1/10

Grains
11 lbs of American Pale 2 Row
1.5 lbs of Rye Malt
1 lb of Munich
.5 lbs of Victory Malt
.5 lbs of Honey Malt

Hops
1 ounce of Magnum for 60 minutes (10.4% AA)
1 ounce of Fuggles for 30 minutes (4% AA)
.5 ounce of EK Golding for 20 minutes (5% AA)
.5 ounce of EK Golding for 10 minutes (5% AA)
.5 ounce of Citra for 3 minutes
1 ounce of Citra @ KO

Dry Hops
1.5 ounce of Amarillo for 5 days

Yeast
Wyeast 1272 1 pack with a starter

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.044
OG = 1.060
FG = 1.014
ABV = 6%
IBUs = 43

Mash
4.5 gallons of water @ 154 degrees for 1 hour

Sparge
7 gallons of water for 1 hour

Belgian Honey Pale Ale Recipe

2010-04-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

I'm a member of the local homebrew club Bruclear that meets every first Tuesday at the Craft Ale House in Limerick PA. Every quarter the club does a "club only" competition. The 2nd Quarter 2010 comp is being referred to as the "Iron Chef" Competition. Basically there is a set list of ingredients that we have to choose from and one specialty ingredient that everyone has to use. In this case that ingredient is honey. I decided to brew up a Belgian Honey Pale Ale for the competition. If you live in the area and feel like stopping by I plan to brew on Saturday afternoon. Here is the recipe.

6 Gallon Batch

Brew Day = 4/17/10

Grains
10 lbs of 2-Row
1 lb of Crystal 40
½ lb of CaraPils

.75 lb of Wildflower Honey

Hops
0.75 oz of Chinook for 60 Minutes
1 oz of Saaz for 15 Minutes
1 oz of Cascade @ KO
.25 oz of Chinook @ KO

Yeast
Wyeast 1214 and 3522 (this is the Chimay and AChouffe strains, heard they go well together so going to give the whole pitching two yeast strains idea a go)

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.038
OG = 1.054
FG = 1.013
ABV = 5.5%
IBU = 33

Double IPA Recipe V2.0

2010-04-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

Planning to brew a new version of my Double IPA this weekend. This time around I'm going to go with all Columbus for bittering, using Citra instead of Centennial and plan to introduce some Carapils malt into the mix. I broke my collar bone this past weekend (bike accident) so hopefully that won't impact things too much, could be interesting.

6 Gallon Batch

Grains
16.5 lbs of American 2 Row
1 lb of Wheat Malt
½ lb of Crystal 40
½ lb of Carapils
1.25 lbs of Corn Sugar

Hops
1 oz of Columbus (14.2 % AA) – FWH
3 oz of Columbus (14.2 % AA) – 90 Minutes
1 oz of Simcoe (12.3% AA) – 45 Minutes
1 oz of Columbus (14.2% AA) – 30 Minutes
2 oz of Citra (9.1% AA) – KO
1 oz of Simcoe (12.3% AA) – KO

Dry Hops
2 oz of Amarillo for 12 days
1 oz of Citra for 12 days
1.5 oz of Simcoe for 12 days
0.25 oz of Citra for 5 days
0.75 oz of Amarillo for 5 days
0.5 oz of Simcoe for 5 days

Yeast
WLP 001 – American Ale Yeast (2 vials with starter)

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.064
OG = 1.088
FG = 1.018
ABV = 9.3%
IBU = 156

Amercian Style Tripel Recipe (Golden Xtra)

2010-02-23T06:24:00.001-08:00

This Saturday (Feb 27, 2010) I plan to brew an American Style Tripel. The recipe is based on Captain Lawrence Brewing Company's Xtra Gold American Style Tripel. Recently the owner/head brewer from Captain Lawrence, Scott Vaccaro appeared on The Brewing Networks online radio show The Jamil Show Can You Brew It. The show archive can be found here. While this recipe is close to the one discussed on the show, I did make a few minor adjustments. Does anyone have an extra bottle of Xtra Gold? I would love to try some side by side with this clone once the beer is done. Also wouldn't mind having some on Saturday during brewing, so if anyone does feel free to stop by on Saturday!

5.5 Gallon Batch

Brew Day = 2/27/10

Grains
16 lbs of Belgian Pilsner Malt
2 lbs of Clear Candi Syrup

Hops
¼ oz of Simcoe – during sparge (First Wort Hop addition)
1 oz of Simcoe – 80 minutes
3/4 oz of Simcoe – 15 Minutes
1 oz of Cascade – KO
¼ oz of Simcoe - KO

3 oz of Amarillo for 12 days dry hop

Yeast
Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity (ordered two packs and will make a starter)

Targets
OG = 1.085
FG = 1.010 to 1.012
ABV = 9.8% - 10.1%
IBU = 53

Mash
5 gallons of water at 151-152 for 90 minutes.

Sparge
6 gallons of 192 water for 60 minutes. Add the .25 oz of Simcoe at this time (FWH)

Boil
80 Minute Boil

Fermentation
Allow to naturally rise for first day but keep under 74 F. After first day or two bring fermentation temp up to 85 F and let it go at 85F for at least a week if not longer. Dry hop when initial fermentation slows and keep dry hops in for 10 to 14 days.

War of the Worts Summary and Results

2010-02-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in my blog post from Friday I had a few beers entered in this years War of the Worts XV homebrew competition and also helped out at the event as a steward. While it made for a long day, roughly 8am until around 8pm it was certainly as worthwhile experience. The competition had a total of 816 entries which were judged at 35 different tables made up of a total of 85 judges. I was one of probably 20 or so stewards for the day. Basically a stewards job is to make sure the beers get out to the correct tables, the judges have whatever they need and last but not least everything gets cleaned up, paperwork gets filed and organized and basically the event runs smoothly. I was on my feet all day and while it was close to a 12 hour day it certainly didn't feel that long (they certainly kept us busy). I have pictures from the event posted over here.

Here is how my beers faired. The results for the competition are posted here. Homebrew competitions judge beers on a scale of 1 to 50. The scoring guidelines are as follows: 45 to 50 is Outstanding, 38-44 is Excellent, 30-37 is Very Good, 21-29 is Good, 14 - 20 is Fair and a score of 0-13 is Problematic. It's very difficult if not impossible to score a 50 and anything over 35 is certainly a nice score.

Death Metal Imperial Stout – 13F Russian Imperial Stout - This beer took a third place out of 24 entries and finished with a final score of 42.5. I should note that this beer was brewed over a year ago with my friend Tom Giachero. Kind of crazy that a 42.5 took third place but that is how competitions like this go with the mini-best in show voting at the end for each table.

Pop's Winter Wit – 16A Witbier - This beer didn't fair so well. It ended up with a total score of 19 which obviously did not place. I didn't have high hopes for this one though since it finished out as a slightly higher ABV beer for the style and I felt had some fermentation issues. Oh well, good to get some feedback on it. There were 13 entries in this category.

Belgian Chocolate Stout – 16E Belgian Speciality Ale - This beer did not take a top three ribbon but scored a 34. This beer and the Cherry Chocolate Stout were brewed with my friend Jesse Keenan

Belgian Cherry Chocolate Stout – 16E Belgian Speciality Ale - This beer did not take ribbon either but scored a 38. There was a total of 40 entries in the Belgian Specialty Ale category.

Belgian Single – 16E Belgian Speciality and also entered it in 18D Belgian Golden Strong Ale - This beer scored a total of 37 points as a Belgian Golden Strong and took a 2nd place ribbon out of 31 entries. It received a total of 34 points in the Belgian Specialty category. One good thing about being a steward is you have the opportunity to listen in on some of the discussions that the judges have. At the Belgian Specialty table the judges ended up with around 6 beers in the final round where they determine the mini-best in show for that category (that is how the award the ribbons at each table). This beer made it to the final 4 and was thrown out at the very end. I knew they were discussing this beer since it was the only beer in that category which had Nelson Sauvin hops listed as the "specialty ingredient". It didn't sound like any of the judges were familiar with the hop and I think they weren't exactly sure why it was entered in the Belgian Specialty category. Plus it was up against a Flanders Pale Ale, a Saison which I believe had brett in it and Blonde with brett. I'm happy to have witnessed that mini-best in show conversation though.

Double IPA – 14C Imperial IPA - This beer scored a total of 39 points and placed 2nd out of 25 entries. I was beat out by my friend and co-worker Blake Morris. I also had the opportunity to listen in on the discussions between the judges at this table and spoke with one of the head judges at the table after the competition. It came down to two Imperial IPAs and there was quite a bit of discussion. Mostly around wether the more malty and "imperial" IPA or the more hoppy, citrusy, dryer IIPA should be awarded the blue ribbon. Well on this day maltier and bigger won out over hoppy, aromatic and dry. Congrats Blake, that was certainly an awesome conversation to witness and pretty amazing that it came down to our two beers. Was also fun going up to accept the 1st and 2nd place ribbon in the same category. The challenge is on for next year! Blakes Imperial IPA did score a total of 44.5 points, which I believe was one of the highest scores of the day. I still have a bottle of each in my fridge, might have to have a blind tasting soon before these beers start to lose their edge. Anyone game?

War of the Worts XV

2010-02-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

The War of the Worts XV Homebrew Competition is being held this Saturday February 20th, 2010 at the Iron Hill Brewery in North Wales PA. This is one of the biggest if not the biggest homebrew competitions in the Tri-State area. This year the competition has over 800 entries. Like many homebrew competitions this one follows the BJCP Guidelines and all judges are BJCP certified. I'm not a certified judge but I signed up to help steward this event. I'm interested in finding out what goes into running one of these competitions and will try to provide a summary here in case anyone is interested.

Judging starts at 9am and is closed to the public. The public is invited to the awards ceremony which is scheduled to begin at the Iron Hill North Wales location around 5pm. So if you are in the area and feel like hanging out come on over and I'll buy you a beer while we wait for the awards to be presented.

I have a total of 6 beers entered (one was entered in two categories). Here they are:
Death Metal Imperial Stout – 13F Russian Imperial Stout
Pop's Winter Wit – 16A Witbier
Belgian Chocolate Stout – 16E Belgian Speciality Ale
Belgian Cherry Chocolate Stout – 16E Belgian Speciality Ale
Belgian Single – 16E Belgian Speciality and also entered it in 18D Belgian Golden Strong Ale
Double IPA – 14C Imperial IPA

Cigar City Brewery

2010-02-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

So our recent trip to Florida was cold, rainy and I was sick for three days with a stomach virus but we still managed to have a great time (and we somehow avoided two PA blizzards). I had to cut a bunch of the beer and food related activities out of our vacation, however I did manage to make it over to Cigar City Brewery. We drove from the Orlando area down to Tampa on a cold and rainy Friday afternoon. There was a rather nice local mall that my wife and son spent some time at while I headed over to Cigar City Brewery to check out one of the most talked about new breweries in the USA.

The brewery is basically a medium size warehouse in an industrial park in Tampa, FL. Think Weyerbacher but on a smaller scale. The tasting room is basically a sectioned off area in the warehouse, but it works. They had about 6 beers on tap when I stopped in to visit at noon on a Friday afternoon. I was the only one there for about an hour and then a few others showed up. I was able to get a quick tour and sample all their beers before it was time for me to move on. I have posted a bunch of pictures here if you want to check them out.

Time for a Vacation

2010-02-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted anything lately and not a whole lot going on with the homebrewing. The Jolly Pumpkin beer is in bottles and should be ready in a week or two. The final gravity came in at 1.013 and it's tasting good. Looking forward to sharing it.

Will be heading to Florida in a few days and plan to pay a visit to Cigar City Brewery in Tampa as well as Orlando Brewing. Orlando brewing is a certified organic brewery and they offer weekday tours so I'll try to take some pictures and write about both breweries when I return. Until then, cheers!

Chocolate Coffee Stout Chili

2010-01-17T12:26:00.000-08:00

So I made my first attempt at a chili today. I wanted to make a chili that incorporated beer into the recipe and thanks to my friend Eric I was able to find a recipe which uses beer, chocolate and coffee to make a chili. Can't beat that, probably three of my favorite foods/beverages. I used the recipe he passed on as a backbone for the recipe I have included here.

Ingredients

2 tsp of olive oil

2 chopped onions

3 gloves of garlic minced

1 lb of lean ground beef

3/4 lb of beef sirloin cubed

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 12 oz can of tomatoe paste

1 can of beef broth

2 15 oz cans of kidney beans

1 bottle of Terrapin Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout

1 cup of strong coffee (home roasted Ethiopian Yirgacheffe)

1/4 cup of dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons of chili powder

1 tablespoon of cumin

1 tsp of oregano

1 tsp of cayenne pepper

1 tsp of coriander

1 tsp of salt

1 jalapeno pepper finely diced (seeds removed)

1 habanero pepper finely diced (seeds removed)

1 serranos pepper finely diced (seeds removed)

1 Green & Blacks 70% dark chocolate bar

Directions

Prepare onions and garlic and brown in a pan with the oil. Once browned pour into a crock pot.

Cube sirloin, brown and pour into the crock pot.

Brown ground beef and add to crock pot.

Open all cans and pour into crock pot. Hold onto one can of the beans for later. Also add the beer and 1 cup of coffee.

Break chocolate bar into small piece, eat a few of them and throw most of them into the crock pot.

Add all spices and brown sugar to crock pot.

Stir

Set crock pot on high and let simmer for an hour and a half.

After an hour and a half add last can of beans and let simmer for another half hour.

Enjoy

Brown ground beef and pour into the crock pot.

Double IPA on Tap

2010-01-10T18:56:00.001-08:00

The Double IPA (Pliny the Elder type clone) that I brewed a few weeks back is on tap and tasting great. If you live in the area you will have to stop by for a pint or two.

I also bottled the Belgian Cherry Chocolate Stout this weekend and had a successful brew day with the Jolly Pumpkin yeast experiment batch. I hit all my target numbers and this yeast took off fast. It literally started bubbling within two hours of pitching the yeast and fermentation temperature is currently sitting nicely at 70 degrees so while it's a strong fermentation it's not going out of control too early.

Jolly Pumpkin Experimental Batch

2010-01-07T07:32:00.000-08:00

For my next batch I decided to venture into the world of culturing up yeast from the bottle of a non-filtered commerical beer. I figured what better yeast to culture then the house strain from Jolly Pumpkin (if they really even have one specific house strain). I have always loved the aroma and flavor their yeast provides the Noel de Calabaza so I decided to use the dregs from two bottles of that beer to get this one going. I started the processing of growing up the yeast about a month ago and I'm at the point where I have a really healthy batch of yeast. I'm sure the character of the yeast and ratio of regular "Belgian yeast" to wild yeast has change over the course of building this starter up but it's still smelling and tasting great. If you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about take a look at this article. I can't wait to get this beer brewed and in bottles. Here is the recipe.

5 Gallon Batch

Brew Day = 09 Jan 2010

Grains
6 lbs of German Pilsner Malt
4 lbs of American two row
1.5 lb of raw wheat
.5 lb Barley (Flaked)
.25 Crystal 80

Hops
60 Minute – 0.5 oz of Nelson Sauvin (11.5 AA)
30 Minute – 0.5 oz of Simcoe
KO – 1 oz of Centennial and 1 oz of Amarillo
Dry – 1 oz of Centennial and 1 oz of Amarillo

Yeast
Used the dregs from a 2007 Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza bottle. Did an initial starter on the 2007 bottle and then a second step up and added the dregs from the 2009 bottle. Grew it up 4 times and then will do a starter before using.

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.041
OG = 1.057
FG = 1.012
ABV = 5.8%
IBU = 32

Mash
Mash at 149 degrees F with 3.8 gallons of water

Sparge
6.7 gallons

Boil
90 Minute Boil

I'm still tossing around the idea of adding some fruit to the secondary or maybe even some honey and letting it sit in the secondary fermentor for a month or two. Does anyone have any thoughts on that? I know the Jolly Pumpkin culture has some brett and other wild yeast in it and want to make sure some of that character comes through. Although I'm also dosing this with a nice aroma addition of some American hops. Basically this recipe is roughly based on Jolly Pumpkins Bam Bier. Open to suggestions. Let it take it's course of a regular 3 week fermentation. Or let it sit through a longer secondary process and introduce some fruit and/or honey into the secondary?

Chatoe Rogue Wet Hop Ale

2009-12-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

Rogue Ales of Newport, OR has a new line of beers which will be released under the Chatoe Rogue "Grow the Revolution" series. The Chatoe Rogue products will be using hops grown and harvested by Rogues own Micro Farm in Independence, OR.

The first in the series of Chatoe Rogue beers is their First Growth Wet Hop Ale using their Indepedent and Revolution hops. The raw hops were picked, thrown into burlap bags, driven 77 miles to the brewery and tossed into the brew kettle. The brewery has a summary of the process posted here. They brewed 200 barrels of the beer and used over 3,000 lbs of wet hops. The other Chatoe releases will include Pinot Envy Ale, Dirtoir Ale, Single Malt Ale and OREgasmic Ale.

Tasting Notes: 22 oz bottle purchased at Capones in Norristown PA. Pours a deep orange/amber with a smaller bubbly off white head that left some spotty lacing. Aroma of sweet citrusy hop notes, mostly getting orange, some light caramel and Munich malt notes, light grassy notes are still present although starting to fade away (this beer has probably been in the bottle for at least 3-4 months at this point. The flavor is fresh and hoppy. Getting mostly pine, grapefruit, lemon and grass out of the hop flavors. Bitterness is exactly where I like in for an IPA (aggresive yet not over the top). The malts to help to balance this beer with some caramel, nuts and cereal characeter. The classic Rogue Pacman yeast strain is present in both aroma and flavor.

21A Monk's Blood

2009-12-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

For any of you who know me (which is probably everyone reading this blog) you probably already know that I'm quite the fan of great craft beer in cans. I won't go on about my reasoning in this post but I will mention that I was very happy when the San Francisco based, 21st Amendment Brewery started sending their Brew Free or Die IPA and Hell or High Watermelon Wheat to Pennsylvania this summer. Just this past week cases of their brand new offering Monk's Blood have started to hit Eastern PA bottle shop and distributors shelves.

Monk's Blood is an oak-aged Belgian-style Dark Ale (along the lines of a Belgian Quad) brewed with cinnamon sticks in the mash, dark candy sugar, vanilla beans and dried black mission figs in the boil. It's packed in a nifty looking 4 pack box and is part of their new line of beers they are referring to as The Insurrection Series. The box states the following… “Legend has it that in the evenings, the monks would retire to their chambers & settle in with a few passages from the Good Book. But Brothers Nicolas and O’Sullivan had other plans. Working in the brewhouse all day, they were forced to repeat the same old recipes the elder monks had invented years before. They needed a little diversion. And found it in the cellar of the monastery with a fresh twist they put on the beer and the way they enjoyed it. Brother Nicolas (or Nico to his close friend) brought some hand-rolled cigars. O’Sullivan, the outspoken one, broke the vow of silence by spinning a remix of some Gregorian chants. Together, they’d throw down a couple nice hands of Texas Hold’Em and savor the handcrafted brew they created in secrecy. Everyday was good. Or so it seemed. But deep in his heart, Nico knew they were driving into the dark side of beer. Next thing you know they’d be skipping Lent. Then on night they’d face the Judgment for their actions with a hard knock at the door. Outside, the Abbots and elders would be holding stone in the air. A threat the brothers were sure would lead to the spilling of Monk’s Blood.”

Tasting Notes - Pours a deep ruby chestnut/amber with a medium bubbly off white head that left some lacing. Aroma of various fruits, dark fruits, vanilla, light oak, maybe a touch of the cinnamon, some fresh hop notes and chestnuts. Flavor of dark fruits, vanilla, oak, light cinnamon, figs, light roasted malt and some fresh hops poking through. This was well done. Not overly sweet or sticky, ABV well hidden and it’s in a can!

Picture stole from Shaun O'Sullivans Facebook site (forgot to take my own picture of the cool four pack)

Double IPA Brew Session

2009-12-21T10:58:00.000-08:00

This weekend the Philadelphia area got what was the 2nd worst December snow storm ever since they started tracking that stuff (something like a 100 year record). Since I ordered the ingredients for the Double IPA online and already had the yeast starter going I had no other choice but to brew. It actually turned out to be a really great brew session overall and the snow really only impacted some of my cleaning and sanitation activities (I ended up cleaning the brew kettle inside and the mash tun probably didn't get as good of a cleaning as I usually give it, but it should be fine).

I got the brew day started around 10am. My winter brew house setup, while maybe not the "safest" certainly keeps me somewhat warm. I do take some safety precautions though, yes I make sure the garage doors are cracked and I also set up a carbon monoxide detector in the garage and ask Steph or Elliott to come check on my every so often. That system seems to work well so far. With using an outdoor burner in a garage and a propane heater as well, just want to make sure I don’t burn up all the O2.

This recipe called for a total of 9 ounces in the boil so I decided to use hop bags for the first time ever and they seemed to work out well. The boil really kept the bags bouncing around in the brew kettle so hopefully I was able to get the same amount or close to the same amount of extraction out of them. The only snag I had was when I added the final 3 ounces at flameout. That hop bag opened up so I still ended up with a little bit of a mess in the kettle. As long as the beer turns out and I get the right hop aroma and flavor out of the beer I will probably start using hop bags for any of my beers which call for a heavy dose of hops. Thanks for letting me borrow the hop bags Vince, they worked well!

My target OG (at least based on the BrewPal iPhone app software) was 1.090. I ended up around 1.079 though, which put me at about 60% efficiency. I think I may have had a little bit too much water in the mash/sparge which turned out to be a good thing and left me with about 8 gallons of wort pre-boil. The recipe in Jamil's book actually calls for an OG of 1.080 so this beer should be just about right as far as the gravity and ABV goes (ABV should come in around 8.5%). The extra liquid in the kettle helped out since this was a 90 minute boil and there was a good bit of hop batter and break material in the bottom of the kettle after I chilled the work down.

So the aroma and bitterness from this beer after the boil was complete was pretty amazing. The hop bitterness is very aggressive and will only be complimented by the alcohol and carbonation. Fermentation has begun and the blow off tube is aggressively bubbling. I currently have the fermentor set at 67 degrees and plan to slowly bring it up to 70 degrees to finish out the beer. I'm hoping to dry hop at about 7 days in and let the dry hops sit in there for about 7-10 days.

Double IPA Recipe

2009-12-17T05:31:00.000-08:00

For my next batch of beer I plan to brew a big Double IPA. The beer is based on Russian Rivers Pliny the Elder clone recipes that have been floating around online in addition to the Double IPA recipe in Jamil Zainesheff's Brewing Classic Styles book. Actually the only real change up is some additional malt (resulting in higher ABV) and the use of the Amarillo in the dry hop.

For this batch I decided to order my supplies online through Northern Brewer. I have ordered from them in the past (mostly equipment and liquid malt extract) and have always been pleased with their service. They also have great catalogs and just seem like a really cool, well run company. Unfortunately when I received the order and crack into the box I noticed grain all over the inside of the box. This was certainly alarming and my original thought was that I would not be able to save enough of the grain to brew with. I had also ordered a ball valve and they didn't do so great of a job at securing it in the box resulting in the valve punching a huge whole in the bag that held 17 lbs of base malt. Luckily I was able to save most of the grain, I threw it on a scale and confirmed that I still had about 17 pounds of base malt. I did call Northern Brewer to let them know what happened. They appreciated the feedback, although I was hoping they would throw a gift certificate my way or something like that. Basically they just said thanks and that they were happy I was able to salvage the grain. It did make quite the mess all over our kitchen floor though…

Here is the recipe and brew day plan for the Double IPA. I plan to brew on Sunday December 20th so if anyone is around and wants go hang out in the garage/give a helping hand/drink some homebrews let me know. Would like to get things going around 9am.

6 Gallon Batch (going with a 6 gallons batch to help make up for the loss of liquid to all those hops)

Grains
17 lbs of American 2 Row
1 lb of Wheat Malt
½ lb of Crystal 40
1.5 lbs of Corn Sugar

Hops
2 oz of Warrior (15.8% AA) – 90 Minutes
2 oz of Chinook (11.4% AA) – 90 Minutes
1 oz of Simcoe (12.3% AA) – 45 Minutes
1 oz of Columbus (14.2% AA) – 30 Minutes
2 oz of Centennial (9.1% AA) – KO
1 oz of Simcoe (12.3% AA) – KO

3 oz of Amarillo (Dry Hop) – 10 days
1.75 oz of Centennial (Dry Hop) – 10 days
1.75 oz of Simcoe (Dry Hop) – 10 days

Yeast
WLP 001 – American Ale Yeast (2 vials with starter)

Targets
Pre-Boil Gravity = 1.066
OG = 1.090
FG = 1.018
ABV = 9.5%
IBU = 161

Mash
6 gallons of water to mash – try to hold around 150 degrees for 1 hour.

Sparge
Fly sparge with 6 gallons of 200 degree water for close to one hour.

Home Coffee Roasting

2009-12-08T16:30:00.001-08:00

So my other liquid love is coffee. After a long and hard search for quality/fresh locally roasted coffee I finally gave up (at least for the most part). I have a few friends who have tried out home coffee roasting and I was impressed with the quality of coffee they were roasting so I finally decided to give home roasting a try. I spent some time researching various roasters and finally ended up purchasing the Nesco Professional Coffee Roaster (still not sure why they call it a professional roaster considering it only roasts about 6-9 oz of coffee beans at a time). The machine which was formally called Zach and Dani's retails for about $150 to $200. I ended up purchasing the machine through Williams Brewing for $155. Since they threw in 2 lbs of Sumatra and Columbian green coffee beans it seemed to be the best online deal I could find on the machine.

One of the main issues I read about when research coffee roasters was the excessive smoke which is generate. Considering I would be roasting in my kitchen and figuring that my wife and 6 year old wouldn't be a big fan of the whole smoking coffee bean aroma the Nesco certainly caught my eye since it's the only roaster on the market with a patented catalytic converter. While it does seem to cut down on the excessive smoke that could be generated, I still end up activating the kitchen smoke alarm about 50% of the time that I roast.

Overall the machine is very easy to use. It consists of removable lid (makes cleaning much easier), a roasting chamber with built in auger, chaff cup, screen and two rubber seals (one goes around the roasting chamber the other around the catalytic converter). All removable parts can be easily cleaned in the dishwasher.

Roasting times are roughly 20 to 25 minutes depending on the roast you are going for. There is also a 5 minute cool down period after the roast is complete. Typically when

roasting coffee you are listening for the "cracks" but with the Nesco roaster you are more or less keep an eye on the color of the roast. There is a bit of a science or art to roasting using the machine but after a few roasts you will figure it out and overall it becomes a pretty easy machine to use.

The photos I have included kind of outline the process. First the lid of the machine are opened and the green coffee beans are loaded into the machine. The beans I

used during this roasting session were Hawaii Kona XF beans from Greenfield Farms purchased online through Sweet Marias. The roasting chamber is marked with a full line in addition to a dark roast fill line. A digital display allows you to set the roasting time (for this roast I used a 23 minute roasting time).

Once done roasting the lid is opened and the roast chamber screen chaff cup can be removed (warming it will be hot) chaff can be disposed of. The machine does a decent job at collecting the chaff although some typically still remains

in the beans. The instructions state to allow the roaster to cool for about 5 to 15 minutes but after doing some research online I had read that it is best to transfer the beans out of the roaster chamber sooner since the chamber does retain some heat and the beans would continue to roast. As with brewing the quicker you cool the better!

I typically let my beans sit for one to two days with the lid loosely in place to allow for proper off gassing. As I roast more and learn more about the process I will be sure to share via this blog. I just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce the concept and let you know the a little bit about the home roasting machine I have been using for about the past two months. There are certainly plenty of topics to explore when it comes to home roasting and brewing. Also if anyone would like to offer any suggestions for quality/fresh locally roasted coffee please feel free to share. I just haven't really had any luck over the past year or so. Sweet Marias and Roast Masters have done a much better job at summarizing how to use the machine in addition to providing detailed feedback so make sure you check out both of those links if you plan to explore the use of this roaster a bit more. Oh and in case you noticed the Coffee-Mate in the first photo...no I don't use that, it's strictly for guests who cannot yet handle their coffee black.

Belgian Chocolate Stout Brew Day

2009-11-22T07:08:00.001-08:00

I forgot to snap some pictures fromm the brew day so no pictures to go along with this post. Jesse came over yesterday so we could bottle up our Belgian Single (we realized it's probalby more of a Belgian Imperial Single if there is such a thing since it ended up at 7% abv). That beer was tasting good and it will be nice to see what the carbonation brings to it. We also decided that we should try to re-use the yeast from the batch and figured a nice Belgian Chocolate Stout would be the perfect beer to experiment with. Here is the recipe and notes from the day.

10 Gallon Batch

Target OG = 1.074
Target FG = 1.019
Target ABV = 7.3%
Target IBU = 31

Grains
26 lbs of 2-Row
2 lb of Carafa II
1.5 lb of Chocolate Malt
1 lb of Roasted Barley
1 lb of Flaked Oats

1 bottle of Dark Belgian Candy Sugar – 10 minutes
1 lb of Hershey Cocoa Powder Unsweetened – 0 Minutes

Hops
1.75 oz of Simcoe @ 60 Minutes
1 oz of Amarillo @ 5 Minutes

Yeast
Wyeast 1214 Belgian Ale (re-pitch)

Mash
We mashed with 8 gallons of spring water. Held the mash for about an hour at 151-152 degrees F.

Sparge
Fly Sparge with 10 gallons of water of 200 degree water. Sparged for about an hour.

ActualOG = 19 brix or 1.073

We split the batch into two 6 gallon ferementors and plan to keep one half "normal" and then for the other half we plan to use three pounds of cherry puree and let that sit for about a month in secondary.

Christmas Ale Brings Home a Silver

2009-11-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

Sure it's not the GABF, heck it's not even the Sam Adams Long Shot Competition or the AHA Nationals (those can maybe be long term goals...yeah right), but it is still my first award winning beer. After some much needed encouragement from my friend and co-worker Blake I decided to enter some of my beers into a local homebrew competition. The 2nd Annual Stoney Creek Homebrewers Amateur Brewing Championship was held on Saturday November 14th at the General Lafayette Inn & Brewery and was the only local competition that would be judging in the next few months. I had entered a total of 3 beers and came away with 2 ribbons. A second place finish in the Spice, Herb/Christmas Winter Speciality beer category with Rock City Christmas Ale and a third place in the Belgian Specialty category with my Chouffe de Sauvin (pilsner malt, Chouffe yeast and Nelson Sauvin hops). The Russian Imperial Stout I entered got good feedback from the judges but did not walk away with a ribbon. I entered it into the Specialty Beer category due to the use of vanilla beans, molasses and coffee but should have just stuck with the RIS category based on the feedback I got on the beer.

I'm typically not one to brag but I have to admit it's kind of cool to get the email from a local homebrew competition letting you know your beers took home some awards. Plus I'm writing up a blog primarily focused on my various adventures in homebrewing and thought I would share. Most likely if you are reading this you will be getting a bottle of the Christmas Ale to try out. Another interesting fact about the Christmas Ale. This is the 2nd beer I ever brewed and I have been brewing it each year with my good friend Tom. 2009 will be the 4th version of this beer and to be honest...we haven't changed a whole lot since that original recipe.

My friend Jesse is coming up tomorrow and we plan to bottle our Belgian Single and brew a Belgian Chocolate Stout (reusing the yeast from the Single). If you are in the area and want to hang out in the garage, give a hand and share some beers feel free to stop by.

Belgian Wit Brew Day

2009-11-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

This Saturday I brewed the Belgian Wit that I wrote about in my previous blog post. This was the first time that I brewed an all grain batch 100% solo. I usually have someone or multiple guests stop by during a brew session, but not this time around. All in all things went well. This was also my first time brewing a beer in which over 50% of the grain bill was wheat or oats. I heard the "rumors" of stuck sparges with this amount of wheat/oats and thought I had planned ahead enough and introduced enough rice hulls into the mash to help avoid this. Turns out that was not the case. I struggled with a stuck sparge for about 30-40 minutes. Finally got things figured out, basically just stirred the whole mash about again and added more rice hulls. Hopefully the stuck sparge and time spent messing around with it doesn't have a negative impact on the finished product.

In my previous post I mentioned that I had ordered all my supplies from the Brewmasters Warehouse, a new online homebrew shop out of Georgia. I have to say I was very pleased with their service. The ingredients were ordered on a Saturday, they shipped on a Tuesday and the package was on my front porch when I got in from work on Friday. The ice packs were still cold helping to keep the yeast/hops at about fridge temps. This probably won't be the case in the middle of the summer but for this time of the year it seemed to work out well. Everything was packaged nicely in the box, appropriately labeled and ready to be used on brew day. I will be using the Brewmasters Warehouse in the future for sure.

As for the recipe, I kept it the same as outlined in the previous post, with one minor adjustment. As I mentioned before this beer was being brewed for my Dad for Christmas. He is a big fan of Wit beers and also really likes the orange notes in them. I decided to go a little heavy on the orange zest. About 2 ounce of freshly zested navel oranges went into this one (9 oranges).

One other thing to note. Since this my first time going solo on an all grain brew sessions, one other challenged I came across was transferring the wort from the brew kettle to the fermentator. I'll let the picture explain how I accomplished that.

Belgian Wit Recipe

2009-11-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

My dad is a big fan of Belgian Witbier. He enjoys Hoegaarden, but is more of a fan of some of the locally brewed Wit's that you can't always find fresh during the winter months. I always have a hard time figuring out what to get him for Christmas so I figured I would attempt my first Belgian Witbier and give it to him as a Christmas present this year. The recipe is largerly based on Jamil Zainasheffs Belgian Wit recipe that is found is his amazing book Brewing Classic Styles.

5 Gallon Batch
90 Minute Boil

Brew Day = 11/14/09

Grains
6.5 lbs of Belgian Pilsner Malt
6 lbs of Briess Flaked Wheat
¼ lb of Weyerman Light Munich Malt
1 lb of Flaked Oats

Hops
2 oz of German Hallertau Hops (3% AA) for 60 minutes

Yeast
Wyeast 3944 Belgian Witbier

Spice Additions (at 5 minutes remaining in boil)
Zest from 6 oranges (might adjust this still)
1.2 ounce of crushed Coriander

Target OG = 1.058
Target FG = 1.105
Target ABV = 5.6%
Target IBU's = 16

I also decided to order all my supplies from a new online homebrew supply company called the Brewmasters Warehouse. Their website is pretty cool, they use what they refer to as a Brew Builder which allows you to go in and build your own recipe or view various base recipes and then make changes to those recipes. They are based out of Marietta Georgia so hopefully they will get the shipment quicker to me than some of the West Coast based homebrew supply shops. I put my order in on Saturday and hope to have the package by Friday so that I can get the yeast starter going. Fingers are crossed and I'll post another blog update once I see how things go. They offer $6.99 flat rate shipping and are currently offering a 10% discount if you use the passcode BN ARMY at checkout.

If you don't have any plans for this Saturday and feel like hanging out in the garage, lending a hand with the brewing activities and sharing a few beers feel free to stop by. I plan to get this one started early (around 8-9 am).

Belgian Single/Sour Brewed & 2 Year Sour Bottled

2009-11-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

Jesse came up today and we got the Belgian Single/Sour split batched brewed and our two year old sour finally in bottles. The above picture is from our fly sparge for the Belgian Single. Our mash and sparge went well. We ended up fitting about 28 lbs of grain along with 8 gallons of water into my 10 gallon cooler mash tun. Our one hour plus mash started out around 152 degrees F and ended around 149 which is right around where we wanted to be. Our fly sparge took about 1 hour and used roughly 10 gallons of water, our pre-boil gravity came in at 1.063.

With the 10 lbs of Pilsner malt we decide to go with a 90 minute boil to burn off any DMS that might have stuck around with a shorter boil. The original recipe was based on a 60 minute boil so we held the bittering hops until 30 minutes into the boil and the only other adjust we had to make was to add some additional water to the boil at around 10 minutes. We didn't exaclty know how to go about making the calculations to make up the difference and just decided to wing it and go with adding an extra gallon of water. It turns out that decision was the right one since our OG ended up at 1.072 (I'll take it since our original target original gravity was 1.067). While this new Belgian Single was brewing we were also busy bottling the two year old sour along with two other sour beers that my friend Eric stopped by to bottle. I'll go into more detail about the 2 year old sour beer in a future blog post once it's all carbonated and I'm able to post some tasting notes.

We plan to ferment the Belgian Single in two seperate Better Bottle carboys. The "regular" version will spend about three weeks under temperature control (approx 68 degrees F) at which point we will bottle as long as we hit our target FG (roughly 1.016). The "sour" version will spend about a week in a Better Bottle carboy (primary fermentation) at which point we will transfer the beer into a glass carboy and pitch a vial of White Labs Belgian Sour Mix (WLP 655). It will remain in that glass carboy for at least a year if not longer. Here are a few more pictures from the day.

Belgian Single Sour Split Batch

2009-10-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

Two years ago my friend Jesse came by and we brewed what I guess would be best described as a Belgian style IPA with coriander. It was an extract batch that we ended up splitting and we soured half of it. Well that sour half has been in a glass carboy for two years and we figured it was time to bottle that up. So this Sunday that 3-4 gallons of beer will finally go into bottles. Should be interesting.

Since Jesse is coming up to bottle the two year old sour we decided to brew up another batch of beer. This time we are brewing which I guess would be considered a Belgian Single. 5 gallons we are going to ferment out "normal" and the other 5 gallons we are going to sour. If anyone is around on Sunday feel free to stop by while we brew. I'm sure there will be plenty of tasty beers shared and a full day of brewing and bottling. My friend Eric is coming by to bottle about 6 gallons of two of his sour beers he has been aging for at least a year. So if you come by, bring a sour beer to share…or two. Also any of you homebrewers out there feel free to provide some feedback on the recipe. Most of the ingredients won't be picked up until Saturday so changes can be made.

Belgian Single Sour Split Batch

10 Gallon Batch

Grains
14 lbs of 2-Row
10 lbs of Belgian Pilsner Malt
2 lb of wheat malt
1 lb of acidulated malt
1 lb of Vienna malt

Hops
3 oz of Styrian Goldings (3.8% AA) @ 60 minutes
1 oz of Nelson Sauvin (11% AA) at 10 minutes
1 oz of Nelson Sauvin (11% AA) at KO

Yeast
Wyeast 1214 Belgian Ale (starter) – 2 packs
WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix for half – 1 vial

Target OG = 1.063
Target IBUs = 21
Target ABV = 6.2%

Iron Hill Gathering of the Gourds

2009-10-26T05:04:00.000-07:00

The original plan was to head out to this event on my bike with the Beer by Bike crew but based on some scheduling conflicts in addition to a rather wet forecast the ride did not occur. Despite the ride being cancelled I wasn't even sure I would be able to make it based on other conflicts, but luckily I was able to get over to Iron Hill in West Chester for a couple of hours. The Gathering of the Gourds is a festival of pumpkin based beer and food that Larry Horwitz (head brewer at IH West Chester) has been putting on the past few years (previously at IH North Wales).

Iron Hill West Chester is the perfect Iron Hill location for events like this. Between the free parking in West Chester on the weekends in addition to the larger "private" bar area in the back it just works out really nicely. There was a total of 5 Iron Hill pumpkin based beers on tap in addition to 6 guest beers on tap. You could get a sampler which included 10 of the beers, 5 oz pours of each for $15. The Iron Hill beers included their 9.5% Ichabod Imperial Belgian Pumpkin Ale, Punktoberfest which was a strong version of their Oktoberfest beer brewed with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices, Boom Sticke Pumpkin Alt a 7.5% Sticke Alt which was brewed with German pumpkins and seasonal spices. They also took their Imperial Belgian Pumpkin Ale and aged it in a Heaven Hill bourbon barrels, they were calling this one Bruce Camp-Ale. The 5th Iron Hill beer of the event was not on the menu and was not included in the sampler. It was their Imperial Belgian Pumpkin Ale that they aged in an oak barrel along with some brett to create their Funkin Punkin. The beer they were referring to as their "secret keg" but all you had to do was hear about it...and ask for a sample at the bar. They also filled up a pumpkin with their Ichabod which they tapped around 5pm and handed out free samples to everyone.

The guest beers included four beers from Elysian, a brewery that specializes in pumpkin based beers. They brought along their The Great Pumpkin, Dark o' the Moon Pumpkin Stout, Hansel and Gretel Ginger Pumpkin Pilsner as well as their Kaiser Kurbis (a wheat based pumpkin ale). Stewarts Brewery out of Bear, DE sent up their Mischief Night Pumpkin Ale and Cambridge Brewing Company provided their Great Pumpkin Ale.

Out of all the pumpkin based beers I had I was surprised by which beer took top honors in my opinion...Iron Hills Punktoberfest. Probably the beer I was most skeptical about turned out to be the top beer of the day for me. The strong malty notes of the Oktoberfest beer complimented the vanilla and cinnamon that was really coming through as well. The beer reminded me of a pumpkin spice cookie. The Bruce Camp-Ale was a bit too heavy on the bourbon for my taste, but was getting a lot of attention from the folks that really dig over the top bourbon barrel aged beers. The Ichabod is a solid beer as well. Out of the guest taps the only one that stood out to me was The Great Pumpkin from Elysian, a very solid more traditional Pumpkin Ale. The description said they use toasted pumpkin seeds in the mash so maybe that gave this beer a little bit more to help set it apart.

The food really helped to make this event stand out. In generally I'm a fan of the food at Iron Hill, especially their specials so going into this I had a feeling they would really pull off some great pumpkin based dishes. What I wasn't expecting was all the food (and plenty of it) to be free! Pumpkin and Chiorizo Chili served from a pumpkin, sweet potato croquettes with some sort of maple and nut based glaze, pumpkin hummus and the highlight as far as the food goes...teriyaki glazed wings with jalapenos and a pumpkin curry sauce to cover them in! Yes the food was amazing. Thanks to Iron Hill West Chester for a great food spread, a solid selection of pumpkin beers and an event that I'll be sure to make it back out to in years to come.

Union Jacks Barrel Aged Fest

2009-10-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

9am on a brisk fall morning in early October...15 barrel aged beers on tap at Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny in Oley, PA...makes for one heck of a morning. I picked up my friend Eric around 8:30 and we were on our way to enjoy a breakfast from the barrel.

To our surprise we were the first ones there when we rolled in at 9. It's crazy how 30 miles west can make this big of a difference on the turnout. Heck Capones had Russian River Consecration on tap a couple of months ago and the line was about 50 deep just to get into the place. I'm not complaining though, prefer the setting a Union Jacks and the laid back atmosphere.

The tap list for this event was probably the best I have seen in our area in quite some time. It went something like this...

-Stone Red Wine Barrel Aged Old Guardian
-Allagash Interlude
-Ommegang Rouge
-Pennichuck Pozharnik
-Founders Maple Mountain Brown
-Saint Somewhere Lectio Du Chene
-Founders Backwood Bastard 2007
-Terrapin Substance Abuse
-Terrapin Big Sloppy Monster
-New Holland Dragons Milk 2007
-Left Hand Oaked Imperial Stout
-Russian River Consecration
-Founders Hand of Doom
-Le Trou Du Diable La Claymore Cerise
-Le Trou Du Diable Brandy Barrel La Buteuse

Highlights included Stone Old Guardian, the beer was perfectly smoothed out and the wine barrels added a nice complexity that complemented this already great barley wine. This was the first time I had a chance to try Allagash Interlude and I was impressed by how much tart cherry, tropical fruits and funky sourness was present in both the flavor and aroma. Really liking the Brett strain that Allagash has going on. The 2007 Backwoods was a welcome surprise, not sure how UJ's got ahold of that one and both Terrapin beers were holding up nicely as well. I believe both beers were from 2006. The Big Sloppy Monster was tasting much more like a barrel aged barley wine at this point as opposed to the huge imperial IPA it once was.

Union Jacks certainly put some time into planning this event and tracking down all these BA kegs. I was happy to see that they were offering samplers, five 6 oz beers per sampler tray for around $15. A reasonable price considering what was on those trays. The only downside was that the flights were already pre-defined by UJ's which certainly makes it easier on them but not as convienent for those patrons who had certain beers in mind to try out.

If you haven't had a chance to get out to Union Jacks I would certainly encourage you to do so. Even if they are not having a special event you can always find a great tap selection, very large bottle selection and solid pub food. The location is charming as well and their patio area is a great place to hang out on a nice spring, summer or fall afternoon or evening.

Terrapin Gamma Ray

2009-10-09T17:21:00.001-07:00

So those Deadheads over at Terrapin Beer Company out of Athens, GA have finally started to send their tasty creations up to PA. The brewery certainly brews some amazing beers and for the most part those dancing turtles are a welcome edition to a region already blessed with what some would say the best beer selection in the US. From their Wake and Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout to their Rye Squared Imperial Pale Ale Terrapin is certainly a welcome addition to the Philadelphia beer market.

For a few years Terrapin has been releasing a series of one off beers known as their Side Project. Gamma Ray Wheat Wine was originally released as part of that series and it looks like it's now considered a seasonal release from the brewery. A 10+% wheat wine featuring locally grown honey from the Savannah Bee Company has been popping up in the Philadelphia market with it's new label for the past month or two.

The beer pours a hazy orange with a bubbly off white head that goes away to nothing quickly. The aroma initially features dark fruits but is quickly followed up by an almost mead like honey sweetness. There are some light floral and citrus hop notes but this beer is dominated by the honey. The flavor is also dominated by the honey and is a bit on the sweet, yet thin side. The alcohol is well hidden but this wheat malt meets honey combination just doesn't do it for me. Too much like mead and a thin not so good version of it. Terrapin misses the mark on this one.

$4.50 at Capones in Norristown, PA for a 12oz bottle...skip this one and buy the Wake and Bake.

The Duck-Rabbit Schwarzbier

2009-10-08T16:06:00.001-07:00

The Duck-Rabbit Brewery out of Farmville, North Carolina is one of the most consistant and reliable American craft breweries. They claim to be the "The Dark Beer Specialist" and that they specialize in beautiful, delicious, full flavored dark beers. In my experience those claims hold true. From their 2009 GABF gold medal winning robust Baltic Porter to their rich and malty Russian Imperial Stout The Duck-Rabbit knows how to make an amazing dark beer. Even their more "sessionable" beers like their hoppy American Brown Ale and medium bodied caramel malty Amber Ale are some of the top beers in their respective categories. Oh and their Barleywine and some of the barrel aged beers...the list goes on.

For their latest offering the brewery has attempted the often overlooked (at least by American craft breweries) Schwartzbier. The German style dark lager or "black beer" that has it's origin pointing back to Middle Ages in Braunschweig Germany. Not really a surprise pick from a brewery that specializes in "dark" beers and certainly one I was excited to hear about when beernews.org broke the news.

They have held pretty true to style with their offering. Dark brown in color, almost pushing black with a medium creamy/bubbly deep tan head that left sticky lacing down the sides of my glass. The aroma showcased a rich toasted almost roasty malt character complimented by toasted nuts, some light coffee and milk chocolate. The hops were probably a little more pronounced than some traditional representations of the style, but I liked that. Floral, light citrus and noble hop spiciness. The flavor featured much of the same with more if the bready malt, hard pretzels and brewing grains coming through. Hop flavor and bitterness was there and pronounced. I have heard the Schwartzbiers referred to as a German Pilsner...but black and while this beer certainly has some roasted malt and light coffe and chocolate notes, it's still a rather accurate explaination.

Here is to The Duck-Rabbit continueing to pump out great beers that have yet to really dissapoint -- Cheers!

On a side note...for those of you in the Lansdale, PA area. The Blue Dog Pub is selling this beer for $2 a bottle. Not a bad price for a single bottle.

Christmas Ale in Bottles

2009-10-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

As of 9pm last night Christmas Ale 2009 is officially in bottles. The final gravity came in at 1.019, which puts the beer at just over 7% ABV. Was shooting for around 8%, but based on how it's tasting we can live with 7%. We ended up with a total of 8 12 oz bottles and 46 22 oz bottles. Sound like just enough to share with all our friends and family during the holidays. Now we just have to wait for the priming sugar to do it's magic and carbonate the beer. We like to get this one in bottles early so that the beer has plenty of time to fully carbonate and also for the spices to blend and settle down a bit. Will crack one open in a couple weeks to check on the carbonation.

Christmas Ale 2009

2009-10-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

Since 2006 I have been brewing a holiday spiced ale with my good friend Tommy G (aka Tom Tom also known as Big Brother to my son Elliott). As a matter of fact this beer was the second beer we ever brewed and the first beer that actually turned out ok (we tried to do a Double IPA for our first ever homebrew batch...not a good idea for a first batch). So on September 13th, 2009 we set out to brew Christmas Ale 2009.

Lets start with the recipe for this 10 gallon batch of Christmas in a bottle.

Malt Bill

28 lb of American Two Row
1 lb of Wheat Malt
1 lb of Crystal 20
1 lb of Crystal 80
1 lb of Victory
1/2 lb of Chocolate Malt
2 lb of Granulated Belgian Brown Sugar (Beet Sugar)

Hop/Sugar Additions:
1 oz of Tomahawk (Columbus) (15% AA) @ 60 minutes
1 oz of Amarillo @ 30 minutes
2 oz of Simcoe @ 15 minutes
2 lb of Brown Belgian Sugar @ 10 Minutes
2 oz of Simcoe @ KO

Spices:
6 sticks of Cinnamon
2 Vanilla Bean Split (Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean)
3 tsp of Nutmeg (Whole ground on brew day)
3 tsp of All Spice (Ground)
1 tsp of Madagascar Clove (Ground)
Zest of 6 Navel Oranges
All added at 1 minute left in boil

Yeast

Wyeast 1028 London Ale Yeast – large starter

Brew Day

With most of the beers I brew I try to do a starter at least the night before brew day. With this beer I really should have gotten the starter going earlier since the yeast was a couple months old, but didn't notice that until I was about to make my starter. In the end it seemed to still work out fine.

With 32+ lbs of grain I figured we were going to have a hard time getting it all into the 10 gallon cooler that I use for a mash tun, but somehow we managed to get all 32 lbs of grain in along with about 7 gallons of water. The mash was a bit on the thick side and the temperature dropped a bit more than I would have liked, but all in all it worked out. Target mash temp was suppose to be around 152 and we were more in the 149 to 150 range.

The sparge took over an hour and didn't really give us any trouble. I typically use a fly sparging method and that was the case for this batch as well.

I have a 15 gallon brew kettle and we probably ended up with roughly 13 gallons of pre-boiled wort. So while this might have been pushing the limits of the boil kettle we made it through without any major upsets or boil overs.

While the boil was going Tommy G (with a little help from Elliott) got all the spices together and oranges grated.

Adding the brown sugar.

The wort boiled for about 60 minutes and it took us close to an hour to bring the beer down to yeast pitching temperature.

The OG came in around 1.073 which was just about right on target. Fermentation seems to be going well and we should be set to bottle this tonight. When finished the beer should come in around 8% abv.