Wee Weizenbock 11.02.15

This one was thrown together on a whim, inspired by Schneider Aventinus, but more of a dunkelweizen than a weizenbock due to brewery restrictions (lauter tun size) and my refusal to make two recipes in a row that require iterated mashing. The grain bill should hopefully give it some nice body and complexity. The only weizen yeast available at the LHBS was WLP351, which seems to be something of a mystery. Internet hearsay suggests it’s the black sheep of the weizen yeast family, producing more than just the banana/clove ester combo typical of the style. The vial was a bit old, so I made a small starter to get a higher cell count before pitching.

The mill gap was set a little wider than usual, because of the significant portion of wheat malt in the recipe, and extraction numbers suffered a little bit, presumably for this reason.

During extraction, a special guest photographer appeared. Hence the action shots below, in which I’m vorlaufing and taking the first runnings gravity sample, draining the first runnings into the boil pot, setting up the fly sparge, and then taking the first runnings gravity reading.

After sparging, I ended up at 72% extraction efficiency. As I mentioned earlier, this is a bit low, but not unexpected given the wider mill gap. It’s interesting to note that the use of wheat malt makes a significant difference in the volume of the mash. In past batches with 2.4kg of grain, the lauter tun was overflowing, but I had room to spare here.

You can see the pre-boil hot break and the heat exchanger at work post-boil above, as well a small part of the aftermath of brew day below. The photos don’t typically document it at all, but any brewer will tell you that brew day consists of 90% washing and 10% everything else.

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size: 9L
Boil Time: 75 min
Estimated OG (brewtoad): 1.058
Measured OG: 1055
Estimated FG: (brewtoad) 1.015
Estimated IBU (brewtoad): 27
Estimated SRM (brewtoad): 14
Estimated Extract Efficiency: 75%
Measured Extract Efficiency: 72%

Grain Bill
1400g Wheat Malt
500g Pilsner Malt
400g Munich I (6L)
100g Pale Chocolate
50g Crystal 120

Mash Schedule
Rest for 60 min at 67C, 2.7L/kg, heat to 74C for 5 min mashout, drain then sparge to 11L, top up to 13.5L.

Hops
25g Hallertau 3.5% AA @ 75 min
25g Hallertau 3.5% AA @ 10 min

Yeast
WLP351 Bavarian Weizen @ ~10 Million Cells/mL

Fermentation Notes:
11.02.15: Decanted starter wort and pitched yeast, water bath at 17C.
12.02.15: Water bath got above 18.5C, nice looking small krausen, notable sulphur.
13.02.15: Airlock still active, but krausen gone by the end of the day.
15.02.15: Not much activity, water bath temp held at 18-18.5C by upping ambient.
17.02.15: Airlock activity slow, water bath temp steady at 18.5C.
25.02.15: Bottled 7.8L with 68g of table sugar (3.1 Volumes).

Powrót Maji Baltic Porter II 10.01.15

It’s that time of year again; time for more baltic porter. I used last year’s recipe and process completely unchanged since it turned out so well. If you’re interested in seeing the process you can check out last year’s recipe.

I milled the two dark grains on their own using a very narrow mill gap, essentially turning them into flour. This should help to get as much colour and flavour from them as possible. I had better extraction numbers this time (I think the mill gap used for the base grains was also narrower than last time). I ended up with a little bit higher OG, a bit more wort in the fermentor, and a bit more wort left in the kettle. The larger total volume, relative to last year, was due to a slightly shorter and less vigorous boil, and the use of pellet hops in place of whole hops.

I didn’t make a starter this time around, instead opting to purchase two vials of yeast to get a high enough viable cell count. Pitched the yeast at 18C, and raised to 19C over 24 hours. The longer lag time after pitching was notable and expected, but I’m not convinced this means the beer will finish any sweeter. I wouldn’t be surprised if the longer adaptation phase in a more sugar-rich environment helps the yeast attenuate. Hearsay would suggest that more ester production will occur, which isn’t so desirable in this recipe, but WLP001 is known for its low ester production.  We’ll see what happens in the tasting notes.

Powrót Maji Baltic Porter

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size: 9L
Boil Time: 65 min
Estimated OG (brewtoad): 1.078
Measured OG: 1.080
Estimated FG: (brewtoad) 1.018
Measured FG: 1.017
Estimated IBU (brewtoad): 31
Estimated SRM (brewtoad): 36
Estimated Extract Efficiency: 65%
Measured Extract Efficiency: 74%

Grain Bill
1600g Maris Otter (Baird’s)
1600g Munich I (Weyermann)
200g Smoked Malt (Weyermann)
200g Crystal 80 (Baird’s)
200g Pale Chocolate (Fawcett)
100g Carafa Special III (Weyermann)

Mash Schedule
Mash I (1700g MO/Munich Mix, 200g Smoked, 200g Crystal):
Rest for 30 min at 67.5C, 2.5L/kg, drain then sparge to 8L.
Mash II (1500g MO/Munich Mix, 200g Chocolate, 100g Carafa):
Rest for 50 min at 67.5C, 4.2L/kg, drain then sparge to 13.3L.

Hops
10g Magnum 10% AA @ 60 min
15g Northern Brewer 7.7% AA @ 15 min

Yeast
WLP001 California Ale @ ~15 Million Cells/mL

Fermentation Notes:
10.01.15: Yeast pitched, temperature at 18C. No activity.
11.01.15: Oxygenated once more 12 hours after pitching, temp at 18.5C. Still no activity.
11.01.15: Blowoff active with an inch of krausen, temp at 19C.
12.01.15: Blowoff active with two inches of krausen, temp at 19C.
14.01.15: Almost blew krausen out the top yesterday (see image above), temp at 19C.
15.01.15: Activity slowing, krausen down to reasonable level, temp raised to 20C.
25.01.15: Persistent krauseny goo. Just yeast? Possible infection? Temp at 19C.
31.01.15: Swirled carboy to rouse yeast. Still waiting to bottle. Temp at 18C.
08.02.15: Bottled 8L with 56g of table sugar (2.7 Volumes). Tasted Great.

Tasting Notes: Fall Dry Stout 13.10.14

Appearance: Yep. Looks like stout. Very very dark brown with thick, persistent tan coloured head kicked up using the syringe trick.

Smell: Very mild, slightly sweet, with no detectable hops. This yeast seems quite subdued, in terms of the aroma. (Guest taster describes slight milky/vanilla/marshmallow)

Taste: Again subdued. Slightly roasty, but I would have liked more oomph. Imagine a very mild vanilla-choco-frappucino. Some classic british ale type sweetness in there, though no dark crystal flavours.

Overall: No flaws, but there’s just not enough there to be great. This probably goes back to the milling issue on brew day. I wouldn’t change the proportions in the grain bill at all, but I would scale it up by a factor of 1.2 or 1.3, and mill the dark grains separately using an extremely tight gap.

Fall Dry Stout 13.10.14

Saison season is over, so any ale is game for the next seven months or so.  This one is very similar to last winter’s dry stout, but with with the dark grains consisting of both roasted barley as well as some chocolate malt, and a real significant proportion of flaked barley in the grain bill. Intended to be served at a lower carbonation level, and with the aid of the syringe trick.

Fell a little bit short of efficiency targets, which was surprising given the consistent efficiency numbers I’ve had in the past. While brewing, I figured that the thicker than usual mash was likely responsible, at least in part. A few days later, I discovered one of the mill gap setscrews in my grain mill was loose the next time I used it, and I recall the milling being bumpier than usual, so I’m now pretty confident that was the culprit.

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size: 9L
Boil Time: 60 min
Estimated OG (brewtoad): 1.044
Measured OG: 1.039
Estimated FG (brewtoad): 1.011
Measured FG: 1.009
Estimated IBU (brewtoad): 37
Estimated SRM (brewtoad): 32
Estimated Extract Efficiency: 75%
Measured Extract Efficiency: 69%

Grain Bill
1500g Maris Otter
500g Flaked Barley
150g Roasted Barley
100g Chocolate Malt

Mash Schedule
Rest for 60 min at 65.5C, 2.6L/kg, raise to 72C for mash out, sparge to 10.5L, top up to 13L.

Hops
40g Fuggles 3.9% AA @ 60 mins

Yeast
WLP007 Dry English @ ~7.5 Million Cells/mL (bit of an overpitch I suppose)

Fermentation Notes:
13.10.14: Yeast pitched, temperature at 18C.
18.10.14: Temperature gradually raised up to 21C over the first five days of fermentation.
20.10.14: Yeast has really flocced out, essentially no activity.
26.10.14: Fermentor still occasionally burps. Giving it a few more days before bottling.
30.10.14: Bottled 7.5L with 48g of table sugar (2.5 Volumes).

Tasting Notes: Ommegawd Belgian Amber Ale 04.08.14

Appearance: Amber colour; a bit lighter than it appears above. Not much haze (I’m sure there will be none after another six weeks in the fridge). Head retention a little lacking by my usual standards, much like Saison des Pluies.

Smell: Nice balance between sweet fresh grain, phenolic belgian yeast that’s not too assertive, and just a hint of the spices.

Taste: Spices much more apparent. Peppery and slightly citrusy coriander like flavours. Fairly high carbonation as intended. Velvety texture with medium body. Slightly bitter aftertaste with just a hint of pepper heat.

Overall: Quite good, but I would call this a spice beer. The spice level is not overpowering, but it does undeniably take center stage, which I did not intend. For that reason, I wouldn’t consider this recipe a success. It’s certainly not a good Rare Vos clone. Next time, I’d cut the spice addition in half, and pitch a yeast that produces more fruity esters.

Ommegawd Belgian Amber Ale 04.08.14

This recipe is essentially a clone of Ommegang’s Rare Vos. Many details of the recipe are easily available, as Rare Vos was featured on the can you brew it podcast, which includes a rather awkward interview with a brewer at Ommegang. There were a few modifications I needed to make because of availability issues, the yeast strain being the most significant.

I stuck with the same mash schedule I’ve used for other Belgian styles this summer. A one hour 64.5C beta-amylase rest, followed by a short alpha-amylase rest at 70C.

The spice additions make me a bit uneasy. Spices in beer tend to be either undetectable or completely dominant. In this case, I scaled down the numbers used in the can you brew it clone recipe, which was reported to be a convincing clone. By the way, grains of paradise smell fantastic.

The groundwater was quite warm, and I was only able to chill the wort down to 23C before racking it to the carboy to ferment. To further cool the wort I immersed the filled carboy in a water bath held at 20C (ice packs) for an hour and a half before oxygenating and pitching the yeast. The yeast had to go through the ordeal of being taken out of the fridge and gradually heating up to the ambient temperature in the apartment, about 28C, and then being pitched into wort that was only around 21C. Twelve hours later the krausen is forming up, as you can in the picture above, and it seems to be doing fine.

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size: 9L
Boil Time: 80 min
Estimated OG (brewtoad): 1.054
Measured OG: 1.053
Estimated FG (brewtoad): 1.013
Measured FG: 1.008
Estimated IBU (brewtoad): 21
Estimated SRM (brewtoad): 5
Estimated Extract Efficiency: 75%
Measured Extract Efficiency: 76%

Grain Bill
2000g Pilsner Malt (Weyermann)
150g Belgian Aromatic Malt (Dingeman’s)
150g CaraHell (Weyermann)

Mash Schedule
Rest for 60 min at 64.5C, 3.1L/kg, raise to 70C for 15min, sparge to 11L, top up to 13.5L.

Hops
20g Styrian Goldings 3.6% AA @ 75 mins
20g Styrian Goldings 3.6% AA @ 5 mins
10g Styrian Goldings 3.6% AA @ 0 mins

Extras
2g Coriander Seed (Smashed) @ 15 mins
4g Grains Of Paradise (Smashed) @ 15 mins
Zest of one Navel Orange @ 15 mins

Yeast
WLP575 Belgian Ale Blend @ ~7.7 Million Cells/mL

Fermentation Notes:
04.08.14: Yeast pitched, temperature at 20.5C.
05.08.14: Airlock active, krausen forming, temperature up to 21C.
06.08.14: Nice fluffy krausen, temperature up to 22C.
07.08.14: Fermentation slowing, temperature up to 23C.
11.08.14: Away for the weekend, temp got to almost 26C. Oh well.
17.08.14: Bottled 7.1L with 63g of table sugar (3.0 Volumes).

Homebrew Aging Experiment 03.08.14

What effect does storage temperature have on the aging of bottle conditioned homebrew? At the beginning of August in 2013 I put a bottle of oatmeal stout, brewed in June, into the fridge, and another into the coat closet. One year later, I chilled the closet bottle for a day, and opened both for comparison.

First stage: the triangle test. Both my special guest taster and I were able to correctly identify the odd one out. You might guess, based on the picture below, that the sample on the left is the correct choice, but in fact, it’s the sample on the right. There was a slight difference in appearance, but it isn’t captured well in the photo below (the difference was more clear when a full glass was poured). The difference in taste was much more apparent.

The beer that aged in the closet was clearly sweeter and boozier, with lower carbonation and head retention. It had notable prune and sweet dried fruit flavours, while the fridge aged beer retained roasty coffee flavours that were almost absent in the closet beer. This is conventional wisdom confirmed, as you’ll frequently see ‘sherry-like’ in descriptions of the effects of oxidation on dark beers. Moreover, this change is attributed to the oxidation of melanoidins, which also fits with the disappearance of the roast grain flavours.

So, one year is enough time for a room temperature aged dark beer to lose much of its original character, which could have been retained quite well had it been in the fridge. I’d like to do a similar comparison after only a few months of aging, and check if the effect is already noticable. It would be very interesting to taste the fridge aged beer alongside itself prior to aging, but that’s an experiment which is essentially impossible for a homebrewer, as the same recipe will never produce exactly the same beer.

Tasting Notes: Saison De Seigle 24.06.14

Appearance: Apricot coloured, quite hazy (note that two months later it was brilliantly clear, this seems to be the case in general with everything I brew) and highly effervescent. Dense and creamy white head, more in line with my expectations than the head on the last saison was.

Smell:  Very much like last summer’s Saison De La Mer. A little bit peppery, but yeasty fruity citrus and orange aromas are quite prominent. The hops are certainly making a significant contribution here.

Taste: Initially sweeter and more full bodied than you would expect given the 1.006 FG. There’s a mild earthy flavour and some tartness, with a dry finish. The spicy sweet rye comes through well, and I expect that’s what’s making it seem bigger than the numbers suggest.

Overall: Fruity, yeasty, and refreshing. The light body and dryness typical of a saison was exaggerated in the peppery, crisp, and clear Saison Des Pluies. This one has more hints of fruit and a touch of earthiness to it, and the carbonation level is perfect. I’m not sure which I like more.

Saison De Seigle 24.06.14

‘Tis the saison for even more saison. This one is made with a newer Polish hop cultivar and a nice dose of rye malt. As with the last batch, I kept the OG quite low. Again, WLP 566 was unavailable, but I wanted this batch to finish up reasonably fast, so I opted for the saison blend (568) over the Dupont strain (565) I used last time. It would have been interesting to compare 565 and 566 side by side, but 565 vs 568 will have to do.

The process on brew day was no different from 04.05.14. Long low temperature sacc rest at around 64.5C, short dextrinization rest at 70C. Long boil to deal with DMS. Pitch at 20C and ramp up the temperature over a few days. I think that’s really the way to go with anything Belgian. Lately it’s been quite toasty in Montreal, so this batch saw a reasonable amount of temperature fluctuation between 24 and 27C over the course of fermentation.

Below you can see the newest piece of gear, a stainless steel immersion chiller that just fits into the boil pot.

Saison de Seigle

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size: 9L
Boil Time: 90 min
Estimated OG (brewtoad): 1.046
Measured OG: 1.046
Estimated FG (brewtoad): 1.010
Measured OG: 1.006
Estimated IBU (brewtoad): 26
Estimated SRM (brewtoad): 3
Estimated Extract Efficiency: 75%
Measured Extract Efficiency: 77%

Grain Bill
1200g Belgian Pilsner Malt
400g Rye Malt
200g Munich Malt (Light)
100g Table Sugar

Mash Schedule
Rest for 70 min at 64.5C, 3L/kg, raise to 70C for 15min, sparge to 9L, top up to 13.5L.

Hops
15g Sybilla 6.5% AA @ 60 min
15g Sybilla 6.5% AA @ 1 min

Yeast
WLP568 Saison Blend @ ~8 Million Cells/mL

Fermentation Notes:
24.06.14: Yeast pitched, temperature at 21C.
26.06.14: Airlock active, temperature up to 25C.
02.07.14: Hot weather, temperature up to almost 27C.
07.07.14: Was away for a few days, expect temperature stayed between 24 and 27C.
07.07.14: Bottled 7.5L with 72g of table sugar (3.2 Volumes)

Tasting Notes: Saison Des Pluies 04.05.14

Appearance: Straw coloured and almost transparent; just a little haze. Foamy white head made of big bubbles that subsides a bit faster than I’d like it to.

Smell:  Very unique yeasty smell. Tart citrus and pepper are probably the best descriptors, maybe pear and straw are in there as well. Smells like a saison ought to.

Taste: Balanced bitterness and maltiness. Light bodied with a dry, tart, and peppery finish.

Overall: I think this is a very true to style saison.  Light, yeasty, citrusy, tart, and dry. The low FG is clearly evident, and my glass tends to empty out quite quickly. The lower than expected head retention is interesting. I’m not sure what to pin it on. My first guesses are the new aeration method (direct oxygen instead of aeration by agitating), and the low FG. If I could change anything, I think a little more carbonation would make it even more true to style.

I entered this beer in the Montreal Ales and Lagers Throwdown, and it won second place in the saison category.