Batch #11: It's a Great Pumpkin Ale Charlie Brown!

OK! Time for my second attempt at an Autumn seasonal. Last year, in celebration of the harvest, I attempted a pumpkin stout.  This year, I am going for a less aggressive and more traditional Ale style.  Secondly, since my last attempt I have upgraded to an all grain system.

Technique: All Grain Brew in a Bag

Recipe:
10 lbs 2 row American pale malt
.5 lb chocolate malt

hops: Magnum
.25oz @60 mins
.25oz @ 30min

60 oz pumpkin in a can. Baked for 1.5 hrs @ 350F

Spices: McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice. 3 tsp at 5 min.

1 cup of molasses after mash but before boil (flame OUT to avoid charring at the bottom)
1 cup of brown sugar after mash but before boil (flame OUT to avoid charring at the bottom)

Yeast: Mad River House yeast

fermented at 68F in keezer in Ale Pail bucket.

Boiled in both turkey fryer and 3 gal. stock pot on stove.  Produced around 6-6.5 gallons.

Forgot to take a gravity reading but I predict it will be around 6%

Batch #10: Round 2 APA

Brew Day 6/29/2012

Recipe:
10 lb 2 Row Pale Ale
4oz Willamette

Used a new technique more suited for my gear setup. I prepared two separate mashes to begin simultaneously. One in the turkey fryer 30 L and the other in the 3 gal. stovetop setup.

Mash 1: 5 Gal. @ 7 lbs grain
Mash 2: 2 Gal @ 3 lbs grain
Hop Additions:
60 min: 2oz Willamette
30 min: 1oz Willamette
5 min: 1 oz Willamette

Mash start 9:42 am

Topped off both mashes w/ 160 ish F. of water shortly after Mash start.(1.25 Gal split among both vessels.) Recommended to top off before mash temps are attained next time to avoid having to heat extra water in separate pots.

After mash I topped the 30 L kettle off with the stove contents.  This brought the big kettle up to 6 gal. (maybe a bit much for my capacity but it worked)

Started boil w/ 6 gal + 1.25 gal extra on stove.  This extra was boiled separately along with the main batch.

OG using refractometer @ room temp = 1.044


Gravity Check 7/2/2012 1.011  Added yeast nutrient 5 tsp (1tsp per gal)

Batch #9: American Pale Ale

6/27/2012

Recipe:
10 lbs 2 Row Pale Ale
Summit and Chinook Hops

Steeped @ 5 Gal
Had another 2.5 gals on hand (steep temp)

2:15 - turned propane cooker onto highest settings. Waited for 150 F
2:35 hit 175
Began steep of 10 lbs grain

Once done: Poured 2 gals of hot water over grains to extract more sugars.


4:00 Began boil with 6 gal:
Hops - 4 oz Summit, 2oz Chinook



60 min 2oz Summit
30 min 2oz Summit
5  min  2oz Chinook


5:00 Flame out @ 5.25 gal
Original Gravity: (hydrometer) 1.034 with a pot abv of 4.9


This batch was steeped at 200 F for almost half the mash.  There was some difficulty maintaining the 150-175 range with the flame on.  Next time will cut the flame, cover the pot, and let sit while stirring and watching the temp. This may have released some undesirable flavors.

Batch #8 Blueberry Jalepeno Mead

3/17/12 - Michael and I set off to make our very first mead.  Two gallons in total were made split between the two of us.  I decided to boil up some jalepenos to add to primary to give it that capsaicin kick on the back taste.

We brought two distilled gallons of water to a near boil (not entirely boil). On hindsight I don't believe we will boil again as I have read not to do this.
Then we added about 3-3.5 lbs of honey per gallon.  Continual stirring ensured the honey would not char on the bottom of the pot.  Once entire honey mixture was dissolved we introduced 24oz of lightly crushed fresh blueberries using a colander to keep separate from the must.  They were kept in until the must had a pleasant purplish hue.  After clearing out the blueberries we placed the pot into an ice bath. After room temperature was achieved we took a gravity reading (1.082 or a pot. abv of apprx 11%).  We racked onto a split bag of frozen blueberries, pitched our starter yeast (grocery store active yeast) and used a balloon as an airlock.

3/23/12 - A couple more ounces of honey in both mead batches to increase the abv.  Introducing the honey gradually increases the chance of not killing off the yeast.

*note:  Today I shopped at the Cake and Hobby store for some supplies. I picked up a 1 gallon jug for secondary and some pectic enzyme.  The enzyme will help in clarification.

For a still mead you will need to add potassium sorbate to stabilize.

Batch #7: Blonde Ale

11/19/11 - Brew Day
Michelle expressed interest in creating her own beer so we went to Homebrew USA and I walked her through the steps.
This was also the day I kegged Batch #6 - Hurricane IPA.  We were able to rack Michelle's finished wort on top of the fresh yeast cake left by the newly kegged Hurricane.
The result was remarkable fermentation within 4 hours of racking.  We were able to save about 9 dollars (not needing to buy additional yeast) and attained a cleaner and fuller conversion of sugar to alcohol.

 

 

Batch #6 Hurricane IPA

11/5/11 - Brew Day

Today, Michael and I got together at my house to brew our IPAs.  This was our second time brewing our beers together and his third time brewing with me. I would say it was a complete success. I had a rolling boil the entire 60 minutes on the stove. I also used timing software on my desktop to make the hop additions as accurate as possible.
Our sink is the perfect vessel for dual wort cooling. I was down to room temperature in about 10 minutes with the use of ice and an addition of water while wort was still piping hot.

11/6/11 - Fermentation has started very slowly. It definitely did not need the blow off tube despite having a potential abv of 10%.

11/7/11 - Before heading to work this morning I checked on the beer. Upon opening the door I was greeted with a very hoppy scent.  The krausen has since risen drastically, bubbling is now steady. I have switched back to the blow off tube for fear of another blow out.

11/19/11 - Michelle and I got the inspiration to brew another beer today (A Blonde Ale) so I thought it would be the perfect time to not only keg the Hurricane but also try out a new technique.  Racking wort for a new beer onto a fresh yeast cake from a finished beer.  Kegging the Hurricane today officially opened up this opportunity.


Tasting notes:

It starts off with a strong floral hoppy aroma with a sweet front note. Finishes with a spicy hop flavor. There are almost no "off flavors" commonly associated with homebrewing. I took exceptional precaution against infection and could not be more happy with the end product. This is my most drinkable project yet. If you've ever had Heavy Sea's Loose Cannon, you've had my Hurricane IPA.
Ingredient list:

• 4 lbs light LME
• 4lbs amber lme
• 1/2 lb Crystal Malt (steeped)
• 1/2 lb Cara Pils malt (steeped)
• 1lb Munich malt (steeped)

Hops:

• 1oz Chinook (60)
• 1oz Pearl (30)
• 1oz Cascade (20)
• 1oz Cascade (5)

Yeast: WLP001 California Ale Yeast
OG - 1.066
IBU - 83
ABV 6.5%

Batch #5: Very Merry Chocolate Cherry Christmas Stout Brainstorm

Start with a good Stout base (reuse Up and Over Oatmeal? Smooth and silky)
Use cherry puree instead of cherry extract (would taste like cough syrup)
Used 2/3rd of a cherry concentrate bottle.  From Harris Teeter
Use lactose sugars 1lb bag
Use chocolate coco powder (1/3rd at 60 min 1/3rd at 10 min)
-Will use last 1/3rd during 3rd week
Good thread for base recipe
Stop hop addition around 30 min mark. Don't want to overpower the chocolate/cherry aspect.
Get a yeast to accentuate the fruit aspect.

Wyeast 2450PC
Denny’s Favorite 50

A mainstay of one of our local homebrewers, Mr. Denny Conn, this terrific all-round yeast can be used for almost any style beer. It is unique in that it produces a big mouthfeel and helps accentuate the malt, caramel, or fruit character of a beer without being sweet or under-attenuating. A great yeast for extract brewers and for fruit beers.

Attenuation 74-76%
Alc. Tolerance 10%
Flocculation low
Temperature Range 60-70ºF (15-21ºC)

Consider cinnamon and or nutmeg for Christmasy flavor

9/17/11 - 
Using a swamp cooler and T-Shirt this time around for some semblance of temp control.
Also made sure to use a blow off tube in anticipation of a hellacious fermentation.
Hydrometer reading at apprx 6 gal was 10%. I think the lactose factors out as it is unfermentable.

10/07/11 -
OG 1.080
Gravity as of 10/07/11 - 1.030

11/12/11 - 
FG 1.030

	Temp Corrected	Scale	UnCorrected
Original:	1.081	Specific Gravity	1.08
Final:	1.031	Specific Gravity	1.03
Alcohol By Weight:	5.4 %
Alcohol By Volume:	6.7 %

First time I kegged into a CO2 rich keg environment. Hopefully this will cut down on air bubbles.
Tastes exactly the way I wanted it to. Smells heavy of chocolate, tastes a hint of chocolate and sweet cherries. No off tastes of note!
Putting away till Dec. 1st with tastes along the way to see how it matures.