Bottling the berlinerguile

I finally bottled the small beer from my wheat partiguile. 37 twelve ounce bottles went in with about five punches of table sugar, I'm hoping for nearly 3.5 volumes. The final gravity was 1.008 for an AA of 75% and an ABV of 3.2%.

Initial impressions show some rubber hose and a little DMS but both should clear. It is very sour and I didn't have any rasberry or woodruff syrup but a touch of mint syrup calmed the acid and made for a tasty glass.


I'm thinking of bottling the big beer next weekend and maybe there will be enough carbonation for a real tasting of the berliner.

Derby day and the BBC

Yesterday I went to my first Derby day in the infield. An interesting experience to say the least. I did manage to get some Bourbon past security in a booze sandwich.

After to Derby, we headed into Louisville for some dinner and ended up at the Bluegrass Brewing Company. Jenn had her favorite; the nut brown and I had one of their seasonals, a dark saison which was quite nice. Slightly malty with just a hint of sour and bret funk. A little sweater and sturdier than a standard saison and quite a nice drink.

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.

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.

Berliner-gyle

It's been a little while since I've posted. Winter has been cold and brewing has ceased but now things are warming up and it's time to plan some summer beers. I've wanted to brew a Berliner weiss for a while but I'm also planning on having a brew party where we were going to do a parti-gyle. So, I'm thinking about doing a 2 batch parti-gyle and making a doppleweiss and a Berliner weiss.

Here's my thought, 50% malted wheat and 50% pils. I'll do a single decoction starting with a low beta rest then decocting up to 158 or so for a short alpha rest to try and give a little body. I'll add a small amount of German hops in the decoction for a little bitterness. I"ll do a 1/2-1/2 split and shoot for a post boil target on the big beer in the 1.090-1.100 range and a run off target on the small beer of 1.028 or so.

The little beer goes right into a fermenter with either a WLP630 starter (if I can get it at the store) or a good apple juice starter of lacto and some US-05. Throw in a Jolly Pumpkin dregs for a little brett to balance the lacto and start fermenting.

Meanwhile, boil the big beer and add some more bittering hops. That goes in with a heffeweizen or Bavarian wheat yeast (whichever is available at Brewtensils).

The Berliner gets a short primary and a secondary for a couple of months in the bottles. The dobbleweiss get a longer primary to make sure it ferments out completely, then a few weeks in bottles to condition. I'm thinking of dry hopping a couple of bottles of each with some citra as an experiment.

Thoughts?

Merry Festivus

It's Festivus time again, the grievances have been aired, and not it's time for this year's Feats of Strength.

Appearance: A deep red with a thick and creamy white head that hangs around for a few minutes. This is exactly what I'm looking for in a holiday ale - dark but not too dark and oh so inviting.


Aroma: Malty and slightly spicy. A small amount of banana, oranges, and black pepper are detectable. Not an overwhelming aroma with very little hop which is entirely old world British and spicy.


Taste: A little bit too bitter without enough malt to balance. Also a bit tannic; it seems I may have added the spices a little early. It's not too bad, just a little off. The complexity of spices is a bit overwhelming and it's tough to pick anything out. I think I need to adjust the spice bill again, maybe less coriander and a little more on the sweeter spices like clove. I may even add some juniper berries next time.


Mouthfeel: A little watery and thin for a holiday ale. The conversion to all grain needs some adjustment. Probably a higher OG and a hotter mash.


Impression: Overall, not too bad but not great. The conversion to all grain didn't quite hit the mark and the spices were a little muddy. I'd give it a B- and I'll sit on a few bottles to see how they age. I've got some ideas for adjustments next year and that's half the fun; changing the beer a little every year and watching it evolve.

As of yet unnamed coffee porter

First order of business...this still doesn't have a name and I'm open to suggestions!

Second order of business, it has been tasted. I actually had some last weekend but I didn't take pictures, etc. so I'm just writing up the tasting notes now. In short; fantastic!

Appearance: A nice pour in an English pint glass. A thick, slightly caramel head lingered for quite a while. My initial pour in an American style pint glass saw the head fade quickly and I expect it either needed a little more age or the glassware was to blame. The color is quite dark but when held to the light takes on a wonderful deep mahogany.


Aroma: Roasty and malty with a mild, pleasant coffee aroma. There's a slight spice likely from the hops but it is barely detectable.


Taste: Malty flavors mix well with a extremely smooth coffee undertones. The balanced bitterness is definitely a coffee dominated bitterness with just enough hops to hold back much sweetness. There's some nice chocolate in the finish after the roasty flavors settle down.

Mouthfeel: Nice body but not syrupy. It holds well on the palette when swished around.

Impression: An absolutely fabulous beer. Some folks have said this is my best beer to date. I'd say it's on par with the citra pale ale. The cold brewed, lighter roasted coffee was certainly the right decision. I'd brew up a keg of this and drink it all winter long.