Saturday, April 9, 2011

Brew day results

So things didn't go quite as planned. I winged it more than I usually do (copious amounts of homebrew probably helped with this). I didn't hit my mash temps as well as I should. The extra grain (20 pounds) through me for a loop and I should have used a calculator instead of intuition. The result is I mashed at a lower temp than I wanted with a thinner mash for less time so efficiency really went down the tubes. I ended up with a 1.065 big beer with only about 4 gallons. The small beer was 1.033 which was pretty much on target but was a little short too at about 4.5 gallons.

The mash kept setting in the 144 temp range and I kept pulling some small decoctions to try and get the temp up and eventually got it to 152. I didn't calculate efficiency as I'm a little afraid of the number but that's ok, we'll see how it goes.

I ended up boiling 0.5oz of Hallertauer (4.7%AA) in a 15 minute decoction to give it a few IBUs. The big beer got the other 0.5oz for a 60 minute boil.

The big beer  got a packet of US-05 and the small got a lacto starter I made with a quart of apple juice and the dregs from a Jolly Pumpkin. Tomorrow night if things look good, I'll add some yeast.

Since I didn't work up a formal recipe I won't post one but I did end up with 50/50 malted wheat and pilsner. The small amount of hops and nothing else went in except for the bugs.

For the lead up to the brew day, read this post.

*** UPDATE April 15 ***
After a couple of days in the kitchen, the temperatures were getting a little on the high side (78F) and I was getting some sulfur smells so I moved both fermenters to the basement. Today I checked on things; both are still slowly bubbling the air locks and the temperature is holding about 61F (ideal range for both yeasts is 59F-75F). The big beer is reading 1.020 (apparent attenuation at 68%) and the little beer is about at 1.010 (apparent attenuation at 69%). The big beer was reasonably tasty with some noticeable alcohol and still a fair amount of residual sweetness. The small beer was a little thin tasting but was getting a pleasant lactic sourness. There was definitely some sulfur taste but nothing that shouldn't disappear with a couple of months lagering.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Berliner-gyle This Weekend

Ok, I'm doing the Berliner-gyle this weekend. (anybody want to come to a brew day?) Here's the recipes I worked. Since this is a partigyle I'm guessing at some numbers so I expect to adjust a lot during the brew day. Here's my starting point.

10 lbs German Pilsner
14 lbs German Wheat Malt

Mash in at 133°F for 15 a minute protein rest then add an infusion up to 151°F for a mixed beta/alpha rest for 30 minutes. Pull a decoction and add 0.5oz Hallertauer and boil for 15 minutes. Add the decoction to mash out at 168°F.


First runnings of 6 gallons or so to hit a target post boil OG of 1.084-1.090. I'm guessing a first runnings efficiency of 46% but this is a total guess so we'll see how it goes. This boils for 60 minutes with an ounce of Hallertauer (although I might substitute something I've got in the freezer). This cools and goes in a fermenter with a packet of Safbrew WB-06. Ferment this complete in the primary and bottle age for a few months.


Second runnings of 6.5 gallons with a target post boild OG of 1.032 and an estimated efficiency of 23%. Since this was mash hopped to about 3 IBU and is a no-boil it gets no additions and heads to the brew pot for a 180°F sanitation for 15 minutes or so. Into a fermentor with some US-05 for a few days then into a secondary with a lacto starter to age for a couple of months. Bottle and age further.