Home Brew Beer Fest

Yes. Homebrew at church. Another reason why my church, Hope Community Church in Minneapolis, is awesome.

The men's group at church is putting together a homebrew fest in January, hosted at the pastor's house. I have entered my Scottish Spiced Ale in the fest. I would've entered the hefeweizen, but it's so good we may not have any left by late January. I'll be working on a Nut Brown Ale in the next few weeks, which might almost make an appearance at the event.

Scottish Spiced Ale

Brew day: 11/06/15

5 gal kit from Northern Brewer.

Heated 4 gal in the kettle to 160. Added steeping grains brought it down to 156. Steeped for 30 mins while we ate dinner. Down to 151; it was chilly in the garage (about 48), so it came down more than I expected. Pulled the grain bag out and let it drip while bringing heat back up to boil. 

Steeping grains: 1 lb UK Crystal 60L

3.25 lb Gold LME - 60 mins

1 oz US Goldings hop pellets 4.6% AA - 60 mins
3.25 lb Gold LME - 30 mins (trying to keep the coloring lighter)
1 tablet Whirlfloc - 15 mins
0.5 oz Mulling spices - 0 mins

Killed the heat, whirlpooled, and set kettle in metal bucket for ice bath. Took a 20 bag of ice to get down to 80 in about 20 mins (cold garage). Poured wort through the double-mesh strainer into a 6.5 gallon Big Mouth glass carboy. Lost a lot of volume due to hop sludge and boil off. Topped with about 2 gal of cold water to bring volume up to 5 gal. 

**Made an error in procedure. Took gravity reading after bringing volume up to 5 gal, so I diluted too much and found out it was 1.036. Was shooting for 1.046. Crap. Pitched a 1.2L starter of Wyeast Scottish Ale 1728, which I'd made the day before. Might end up with a pretty low ABV. Or maybe the yeast starter will eat through more sugar and end up with a lower FG. Only time will tell.

Put carboy in father-in-law's basement where the ambient temp is consistent around 65. My apartment has too many temp fluctuations during the day. I knew the yeast would be a vigorous foamer, so I attached the blowoff tube and instructed my father-in-law in what to do when blow off stops (sanitize and attach airlock). Total brewday time ~ 3.5 hrs.

After 48 hours, I was sent this photo of the ferm temp. Bits of yeast are seen floating in suspension while they do their business. 68 is right where I wanted it (65-70).

The recipe calls for 2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks bottle conditioning. 


Bottling: 11/21/15

Final gravity got down to 1.009, so all that hungry yeast didn't mind the low OG. Ended up with 41 12-oz bottles and 3 20-oz bomber bottles. Had two different cap types, so I used up the remainder of what I had. Might make opening the bottles into a game of beer roulette. I used the B caps on the hefeweizen as well, but who doesn't enjoy an adventure?! Tasted the hydrometer sample, and it is super malty with a slight sweet finish. This will be our Christmas session beer.

The Numbers:

Target OG: 1.046
Actual OG: 1.036
est IBU: 16.26
est FG: 1.013
Actual FG: 1.009
est SRM: 13.42
Final ABV: 3.54%

Hoppy Halloween Competition Results

I entered my Session American Pale Ale in the Hoppy Halloween Competition in Fargo, ND over Halloween weekend. I did not win, as the pale ale catagory (10A) was a tough one. Due to so many entries, there was only a 3% chance of winning. I did however receive MY BEST COMPETITION SCORE TO DATE, 32!!! 

Two judges tasted my brew and had similar, yet often conflicting, experiences. Example, one said it was astringent, the other said it wasn't; one liked the bitterness, one didn't. Both said more of a malt presence would help to balance out the beer better. I've posted a link to their scoresheets below. I followed the kit to the letter, how could I have added more of a malt presence? Let me know in the comments.

Judge #1

Judge #2

Pic from first tasting night. Wrong glassware for the

style, but it's all my father-in-law had at hand.