Chinook IPA

Brew Day: 1/27/15

1 gallon extract kit from Northern Brewer.

3/4 gal in the kettle

0.15 lb Belgian Carapils
0.05 lb Crystal 120L

Steeped grains at 160. Down to 152 after 20 mins. Added 1/2 gal to bring total pre-boil volume to 1.25 gals. Turned heat back on. 45 min boil. 

1.5 lb Light LME - 45 mins
3.5 gram Chinook hops 13% AA - 45 mins
1/4 tsp Irish Moss - 15 mins
3.5 gram Chinook hops 13% AA - 10 mins
7 gram Chinook hops 13% AA - 0 mins

Killed the heat. Whirlpooled and set kettle in sink for ice bath. Siphoned out of kettle (to leave hops behind) through the double-mesh strainer into a 2 gal bucket. Pitched half a packet of Safale US-05 at 69. Gonna shoot for a fermentation temp of 68 using ambient temp in the apartment. Under shot the gravity a bit, hoping for 1.057, ended up with 1.050. Maybe should've boiled off a bit more, though my volume was right at 1 gal in the fermentation bucket.

The recipe calls for 2 weeks in primary, then 2-4 weeks in secondary, then about 2 weeks to bottle condition.

OG: 1.050 (12.5 brix) 

est IBU: 40.58

est FG: 1.016
est SRM: 7.7

Racked to secondary: 2/11/15

Racked the beer into a 1 gal glass jug, and put in the fermentation chamber where it's 60. I've got a lot of bottles from previous batches in there. It's turning into more of a cellar than a fermentation chamber. It makes a good case to go to kegs, less space requirements, but I don't have a good place to keep the kegs cool once fermentation is complete. So bottles will have to continue for now.

It bottomed out at 1.015, so it should be about 4.59% abv. It still tastes/smells very sweet. This is my second attempt at this recipe, cause the first one was too sweet. I hurried the last batch for a party and didn't give it enough time, and that was my downfall. So I'm taking my time now. We'll have to wait and see.

Added gelatin: 2/25/15

Trying to get a nice clear beer. Added 1/8th of a tsp to 2/3 cup of cold water. Heated up the mixture in the microwave in 15 second bursts until it got to 150 deg. Stirred mixture and dumped it into the beer which had been in the fridge for a week at 38 deg. 

Packaged: 3/16/15

After over a month in the fridge clarifying, I ended up with 1 22oz bottle & 6 12oz bottles. This was my first gelatin experiment, so we'll see how clear it is after carbonating. 

Black IPA

Brew Day: 1/12/15

1 gallon extract kit from Northern Brewer.

3/4 gal in the kettle

0.1 lb Briess Crystal 80L0.05 lb Weyermann Carafa III
0.05 lb Chocolate malt

Steeped grains at 160. Down to 132 after 30 mins. Added 3/4 gal to bring total pre-boil volume to 1.5 gals. Turned heat back on, it took 18 mins to bring to a boil. 45 min boil. 

1.5 lb Gold LME - 45 mins (waited to get past hot break before adding hops)
7 gram Centennial hops 10.4% AA - 45 mins
3.5 gram Chinook hops 11.8% AA - 15 mins
1 tsp Irish Moss - 15 mins
3.5 gram Centennial hops 10.4% AA - 10 mins
3.5 gram Cascade hops 6.5% AA - 5 mins
7 gram Centennial hops 10.4% AA - 0 mins
7 gram Cascade hops 6.5% AA - 0 mins
5 oz Corn Sugar - 0 mins

Killed the heat. Whirlpooled and set kettle in sink for ice bath. Took 11 mins to cool down to 91. It's winter here in Minnesota so I took the opportunity to cool it the rest of the way out on the patio at 0 degrees, and that made me come up with a clever corny name for the beer. Black I(ce)PA.

I'm not lying. It was seriously 0 degrees.

Overshot the projected gravity of 1.071 and ended up at 1.077. I'm okay with it. Dumped the wort out of the kettle, through the double-mesh strainer, into a 1 gal jug to aerate. There were a lot of hops left over in the kettle too. 

Then cleaned the strainer and dumped out of the jug into a 2 gal bucket. Pitched yeast at 69. Safale US-05. Most of the Northern Brewer 1 gal kits call for only 1/2 of the dry yeast packet, but this is a pretty high OG so I used the whole thing. Once it's done it's job, it'll fall out anyway. Attached blowoff tube just in case the extra headroom on the bucket isn't enough. Fermenting at 67.

The recipe calls for 2 weeks in primary, then 2-4 weeks in secondary, then about 2 weeks to bottle condition.

OG: 1.077 (18.8 brix) 

est IBU: 66

est FG: 1.020
est SRM: 23.64

Racked to secondary: 1/26/15

Two weeks and now time to rack the beer off the yeast. It smells great. Plenty of hops in the bottom of the bucket, even with straining the wort twice before pitching the yeast. I tasted the sample I pulled off and it was what a black IPA should taste like. I just used the ambient temp in the apartment to ferment this one. It swayed a bit between 64-72 so it didn't get the consistency it probably should've gotten, but we were gone for a bit down to St. Louis to visit family/friends. Which I think is probably ok since it fermented down further than I'd estimated. It got down to 1.014, instead of the 1.020 I was expecting. Guess that extra 1/2 packet of yeast did the trick on the high original gravity. So I should end up about 8.27% abv. 

I'll give it a few days in secondary then bottle. Don't want to wait too long to bottle, cause I want all those amazing hop aromas and oils to be super fresh. I'm debating using gelatin on this to clear it up, but it's so black it may not make a difference. Have you used gelatin to clear your beer? Let me know your process and results in the comments.\

Bottled: 2/10/15

Due to the hops, my wort loss was pretty dramatic. I only got four 22 oz bottles filled. Now to sit and condition.

Battle of the IPA kits

In an attempt to keep a variety of different beers around the house, I've decided to brew more small batch kits. It should also cut down on the amount of time it takes to brew and bottle as opposed to 5 gallon kits. So I picked up two IPA kits from Northern Brewer, and want your help to choose which one I should make first. Click the link below to cast your vote.

Chinook IPA

Black IPA

>>>>> go to my Instagram picture here to vote <<<<<

Milk Stout

Brew Day: 11/18/14

5 gallon extract kit from Northern Brewer.

2.5 gals in the kettle. 

0.5 lb UK Chocolate
0.5 lb Carafa III

Steeped grains at 152 for 20 mins. Raised temp to 170. Rinsed grains with 1 gal of 165 water. Total pre-boil volume of 3.5 gals. 60 min boil. 

3 lb Amber LME - 60 mins
1 lb Lactose (milk sugar) - 60 mins
1 oz Willamette hops 4.7% AA - 60 mins
3 lb Amber LME - 15 mins
1 tsp Irish Moss - 15 mins

Killed the heat. Whirlpooled and set kettle in sink for ice bath. Took 30 mins to cool down to 80. Siphoned out of kettle through double mesh strainer into 6 gal glass carboy. Topped up to with cold water to 5.25 gal. Didn't evaporate as much as I'd intended during the boil, which means I added a bit more cold water than I'd planned. Brought my OG down a bit, but I'd undershot it anyway. Not sure how. Pitched yeast at 70. Wyeast British Ale 1098. Added 1.5 tsp of yeast energizer, since the smack pack didn't expand all the way by the time I was ready to pitch. Attached blowoff tube just in case the extra headroom on the carboy isn't enough. Fermenting at 68.

Forgot to take pictures. But I do have this instagram video from the boil.

The recipe calls for 2 weeks in primary, then 2-4 weeks in secondary, then about 2-3 weeks to bottle condition. Should be drinking it by mid January.

OG: 1.042 (10.2 brix)

est IBU: 19

est FG: 1.019
est SRM: 37

Racked to secondary: 12/09/14

This brew has been rather fickle. First, I undershot my gravity on brewday. Then, I gave it an extra week in the fermenter and it still didn't get down to the est gravity. It bottomed out at 1.023, which coupled with the low OG only puts this beer at 2.49% abv. Session stout anyone?

I decided to split the batch in half and put some coffee in one carboy. I used 2/3 of a French press of the LaCosecha City Limits Line from back home in St. Louis, MO. My buddy Gregory Lowe is a coffee guru and hooked me up with this awesome blend. 

Have you done any coffee additions? Tell me about it in the comments.



Update: 4/09/15

Popped a Coffee Milk Stout open today. Very large head, but it faded very quickly with some residual bubbles around the edge of the glass. I've done some reading about how the steeping temp can affect the head retention. If I can nail down this carbonation, it'll be a great beer. Wondering how it will age with the low abv and the low carbonation. I think the sooner I drink this, the better.

Used some of the Milk Stout to make a roast in the slow-cooker. Toss in some veggies, and let it sit for 5-8 hrs. It made the apartment smell amazing all day. Have you ever cooked with beer? Let me know in the comments. 

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English Bitter

Brew Day: 11/11/14

5 gallon extract kit from Northern Brewer.

2.5 gals in the kettle. 

0.25 lb Crystal 120L
0.25 lb Belgian Biscuit

Steeped grains at 165 for 20 mins. Rinsed grains with 1 gal of 165 water. Total pre-boil volume of 3.5 gals.

Brought to boil and started timer. 60 min boil. During the boil, I read up on the style in Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles book. A good read with a recipe for every style in the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) Style Guidebook.

1 lb Pilsen DME - 60 mins

3.15 lb Marris Otter LME - 60 mins

1 lb Corn Sugar - 60 mins

1 oz Fuggles hops 5% AA - 60 mins

1 oz Kent Goldings hops 6.47% AA - 45 mins

1 Whirfloc tablet - 15 mins

1 oz Styrian Goldings hops 3.2% AA - 5 mins

Killed the heat. Whirlpooled and set kettle outside on patio. Outside temp of 25. Packed snow around kettle, which melted pretty quick. Took 30 mins to cool down to 80.

Siphoned out of kettle through double-mesh strainer into sanitized 5 gal bucket, topped off to 5 gals, then poured through funnel into carboy. Undershot my gravity a bit. Estimated OG was 1.041; I ended up at 1.035 but I'm not too worried. Pitched 1 packet of Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast at 72 and rocked carboy to mix. Attached blowoff tube. Fermenting at 65. 

The recipe calls for 2 weeks in primary, then 2-3 bottle conditioning. Every review I read on the NB forum said it doesn't need a secondary and that it tastes great fresh as well as aged a month or two.

OG: 1.035 (8.6 brix)

est IBU: 41

est FG: 1.009

est SRM: 9.1

Update: 11/24/14

Checked the gravity today and it's down to 1.008. Tomorrow I'll be bottling it. Very excited that it'll be ready to drink for Christmas.

Bottling Day: 12/01/14

Didn't get to it last week like I'd hoped, but today my wife helped me bottle up 35 12 oz. bottles and 4 20 oz. bottles. Total volume bottled is 3.91 gal. The gravity stayed at 1.008, so according to my Brewer's Friend app, it is 3.54% abv. Nice to have a session ale around for the holidays. I'll let it carb up for 2-3 weeks and be enjoying by Christmas.

Honey Pilsner

Brew Day: 11/04/14

Small batch extract kit from Northern Brewer.

1.25 gals in the kettle, pre-boil volume.

Brought to boil and started timer. 60 min boil.

1 lb Pilsen DME - 60 mins

7 grams Willamette hops 4.7% AA - 45 mins

7 grams Willamette hops 4.7% AA - 20 mins

*put both hop additions in a nylon hop bag to keep wort clear*

1/4 tsp of Irish Moss - 15 mins

2 oz Ames Farm Single Source Honey - 0 mins

Cooled with ice water bath in sink. Down to 80 in 10 mins. Siphoned out of brew kettle through double mesh strainer into fermentation bucket to aerate and get any hop sludge or Irish Moss out. Fermentor volume approximately 1 gal. Put lid on and shook for 30 seconds to help aerate further. Pitched yeast at 66. Sprinkled 1/2 packet of Safale W-34/70 German Lager Yeast, then added 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient. First time doing a lager and want to make sure the dry yeast has enough "umph" to take care of it. Put in fermentation chamber, set at 54.

It'll sit for 2 weeks in primary, then I'll rack it to secondary and drop the temp to around 36 for 4 more weeks to lager before bottling. As I'm typing this, I realize my next brew is an English Bitter and my fermentation chamber will be too cold. I guess I'll have to clean out the bottom of my closet to put the carboy whenever I brew next. It's in the mid 60's in the apartment so that'll be just fine for the bitter. 

OG: 1.053 (13 brix)
est IBU: 39
est FG: 1.012
est SRM: 2.4

Racked to secondary: 11/18/14

Got it down to 1.013 after 2 weeks. My brewers friend app says it's about 5.25% abv. Racked it to a secondary fermentor, and it's lagering in the fridge as we speak. This is by far the lightest beer I've ever made, even more than the German Blonde Ale I brewed last spring (before the blog, sorry no notes). In the siphon tube, it was a light straw color. I'll leave it 3 weeks in the fridge before bottling.

Bottling Day: 12/09/14

Bottled it up after 3 weeks of lagering in the fridge at 40 deg. Got 8 12 oz bottles filled. Tastes pretty nice, always interesting to see what it'll be like with carbonation. Very clear.