Recipe: Let's Partigyle (2nd Runnings Best Bitter)

When making a beer as large as the Callen you inevitably end up with sugars left in the mash tun even after pulling 8.5 gallons of wort to boil.  Adding more sparge water to the mash and running off the additional sugars to make a smaller beer is a great way to get the best bang for your buck as well as getting another beer out of all that work.  Back in the day this method (partigyle) was used quite a bit, and some English breweries still use it to make their classic beers such as Fuller's.

Honestly I was expecting more that 16% efficiency, but then again, I did sparge with 120*F water.  Seeing that the OG was lower than I expected, I added a little bit of sugar as well as what DME I had on hand (not much), and dropped back the bittering hops drastically.  One difficulty with these beers is that the bulk of the body and flavor ended up in the main beer leaving the second beer flabby and thin.  To compensate for this I added a quart of the first runnings to the kettle as well as topping off the mash with a half pound of British Dark Crystal for a boost of body and fresh crystal flavor.  I also added 1/2 oz of American Oak to alter the mouthfeel slightly and add another layer of depth to the beer (and for a little throw back to when English beers were fermented in oak barrels).

Last year I brewed a Scottish 80- for the small beer, but this year I have been itching to brew another Bitter and I have quite a bit of Challenger and Fuggle hops so I went with a Bitter as my second beer.

Stats:

4.5 gallons

1.036 OG

1.012 Est Fg

3.5% Est ABV

39 IBUs

14 SRM

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Fermentables:

11.0#  Great Western Pale Malt

9.5#  Crisp Maris Otter
2.0# MFB Munich

0.75# MFB CaraMunich 40L
0.75# MFB CaraMunich 120L
0.75# Crisp British Dark Crystal
0.12# Crisp Roast Barley
0.50# Crisp British Dark Crystal 75/85L
0.50# Table Sugar
0.26# DME

65 Minutes @ 158*F

16% Extract Efficiency

15% Brewhouse Efficiency

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75 Minute Boil:

60 mins - 0.80 oz Home Grown Challenger ~ 7.5AA%
15 mins - 0.80 oz Home Grown Challenger ~ 7.5AA%
15 mins - 0.80 oz Home Grown Fuggles ~ 6.7AA%
2 mins - 0.80 oz Home Grown Challenger ~ 7.5AA%
2 mins - 0.80 oz Home Grown Fuggles ~ 6.7AA%
DH - 0.80 oz Home Grown Challenger ~ 7.5AA%
DH - 0.80 oz Home Grown Fuggles ~ 6.7AA%

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Fermentation:

Chilled to 65*F

5 gallon glass carboy

1469 West Yorkshire & 1056 American Ale - 1/4 pint of slurry from Brown Ale
5 Days @ 62-64*F

2 Days @ 68*F
7 Days @ Ambient Garage - Dry Hopping

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Additional:

Gypsum 5/8 t (mash), 3/4 t (boil)

Calcium Chloride 3/4 t (mash), 1/2 t (boil)

3 Taps Yeast Nutrient
0.50 oz American Oak (primary)

Fermentation took a little longer to kick off than the Wee Heavy due to the lower pitch rate and sleepy yeast.  By 36 hours signs were starting to show, and by 50 hours the beer had a 1/2" of soapy foam on top with a layer of brown sludge.  The soapy foam dissipated later that day, and on the next morning there was a huge krausen that threatened a blow off.  I am hoping that this is due to the 2 yeast strains since this is the same thing that happened with my 2 Lambics.

Review: Leaf Turner - Fresh Hop Brown Ale

Fall is quickly setting in here in Eugene.  The temps are dropping, sunlight fades, massive cloud cover the sky, rain pours down, the leaves change to brilliant hues of reds and yellows.  As it is clear that the warmth and vibrancy of Summer is gone, much of the desire for a crisp, dry, light, pale beer, and this beer does a great job of quenching the thirst of a shifted palate.  Smokey, fruity, mild chocolate, full, sweetish, balanced, malty, just enough alcohol to help warm you on a cool night.  The name is truly fitting.

Look: Thick creamy super sticky beige head sits atop a clear brown beer with ruby highlights.  Sticky lace.

Aroma: Smoky wood and campfire present themselves first with milk chocolate following close behind. They lead into pecans, biscuits, and fruits, figs & plums as well as peaches.  Citrus rind and light pine finish off the nose, very subtle and fruity.

Flavor: Much like the nose the flavor begins with smokey chocolate leading quickly to sweet caramel and toffee, toasted biscuity malt, nuts.  Fruitiness hits as well with more peaches, followed by Christmas tree and sweet breads.  As it warms there is a distinct roasty bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Big creamy mouthfeel like Nitro, balanced.  Lightly astringent finish when cold, not sure if it is from the roasted grains or the Pickling Lime.  Carbonation cleanses the palate.  Bitterness is perfect.

Overall: For a Wet Hop beer the hops are subdued, but it actually works perfect for this balanced Brown.  The smoke malt is more pronounced in my beer than in Sierra Nevada's Tumbler who I stole the malt bill from, bringing a pronounced smokiness up front.  The yeast plays very nice in this beer keeping it malty, nutty, fully attenuated and yet full and creamy.  Lots of layers in this beer.  The finish is off though, the astringency takes away from an otherwise great beer.  Definitely want to re-brew this one next year.

The Callen's Killer Krausen

Came home tonight to find this awaiting me in the ferm fridge.  Only 4.8 gallons of wort in this 6 gallon Better Bottle and I'm still in danger of a blow off.  Man this beer is ripping like mad.  Glad that I didn't top off with that 1/2 gallon of water already.

Recipe: The Callen 2012

Glug, glug, glug goes the wort in the kettle.  Honestly I was shocked at the syrupy string that pulled off of the tubing when I moved it from the container I vorlauf into, but the noise in the kettle during the last hour of the 2.5 hour boil was like a sound effect used for a tar pit in a cartoon.   What more should I expect form a 1.105 OG Wee Heavy?

Last year about this time I brewed a Scottish Wee Heavy that didn't turn out right.  First off, I used American Caramel malts that were too dark as well as 1056 which is not known for making a malty beer.  Then the beer got infected.  Lots of cherry notes present themselves in last year's version.  This year I went for a brand new recipe from the bottom up.  New base malts, new character malts, new yeast, new hopping regimen, new beer.  I started with a base split between Great Western Pale and Maris Otter for a nice toasty/biscuity English feel.  Next I added in some MFB Munich malt for a little more malt character.  On top of this I did a 3 way split of MFB CaraMunich 40, 120, and British Dark Crystal 75 for a deep caramel and toffee layer with some burnt sugar and a hint of dark fruits, with a touch of Roast Barley for color and to help dry out the finish some so it won't be too cloyingly sweet.  Pulled enough for a 2 1/2 hour boil for a little more kettle caramelization and better efficiency.  Tossed in some Fuggles for a touch of bitterness to balance it out.  Fermented it with a mixed yeast culture of Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire and 1056 American Ale that came from my Brown Ale that turned out quite nice.  The Yorkshire strain should give me some nutty and slight dark fruit character as well as a full mouth feel, lots of malt character, and the American Ale should help it stay clean and finish the fermentation up completely.  Even with the 158*F mash I am hoping for a good 75% attenuation putting me in the 1.026 FG range for 10.0% ABV.  With the controlled temp on the ferment I am hoping to be drinking this bad boy by Christmas.

Stats:

4.5 gallons

1.105 OG

1.035 Fg

9.5% Est ABV

24 IBUs

19 SRM

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Fermentables:

11.0#  Great Western Pale Malt

9.5#  Crisp Maris Otter
2.0# MFB Munich

0.75# MFB CaraMunich 40L
0.75# MFB CaraMunich 120L
0.75# Crisp British Dark Crystal 75/85L
0.12# Crisp roast Barley

65 Minutes @ 158*F

60% Extract Efficiency

56% Brewhouse Efficiency

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150 Minute Boil:

90 mins - 2.0 oz Home Grown Fuggles ~ 6.7AA%

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Fermentation:

Chilled to 65*F

6 gallon Better Bottle

1469 West Yorkshire & 1056 American Ale - 3/4 pint of slurry from Brown Ale
15 mins of aeration with pump 

5 Days @ 62-64*F
9 Days @ 68*F
4 Days @ 82*F
5 Days @ 72*F
14 Days @ Ambient Garage Temps

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Additional:

Gypsum 5/8 t (mash), 3/8 t (boil)

Calcium Chloride 3/4 t (mash), 1/2 t (boil)

6 Taps Yeast Nutrient
1 Whirfloc Tab


Boil off was slightly more than I thought and I got slightly less volume and a higher OG which worked since my FG was higher than I wanted due to a higher mash temp.  I factored my strike temp for all the grains but left out the crystal and roast until the end and hit 158*F instead of the 155*F I wanted and just went with it since last time I tried to cool off my mash I over cooled.  Aerated with pump for 15 mins.  Signs of fermentation started to show with in 12 hours, krausen building at 24.  High Krausen after 48 hours, fermentation is cranking along nicely.

Down to 1.049 after 7 days.

Down to 1.039 after 2 weeks

Down to 1.035 after 2.5 weeks

Recipe: Leaf Turner - Wet Hop Brown Ale

Wet Hop brew # 3 in 3 days... should I do a Black IPa, or Brown Ale... hmm... I already have a Red IPA, and a White IPA, so the Black IPA would work.  But then again, it is headed into Fall, and a Brown sounds pretty good.  Brown it is, and seeing as I am loving Sierra Nevada's Tumbler right now, I decided to use their malt bill for my batch, just boosting the gravity with more base malt.  Of course I switched up the hops and went with what I have in terms of Wet Hops, lots of Chinook and some Cascade.  Much of what I have read on American Browns is that you want a present American citrus hop nose and flavor, so the grapefruit and citrus from the hops will work well, and the pine from the Chinook will help add some depth and bite to it so it isn't so bright, bringing it back to more of a Fall flavor.  Giving it an addition of Pickling Lime (first time using it) to keep the pH up from the dark malts, and balance it out some.  Finishing it off with West Yorkshire yeast as it "produces ales with a full chewy malt flavor and character, but finishes dry, producing famously balanced beers. Expect moderate nutty and stone-fruit esters." (Wyeast).  Chewy mouthfeel, yet dry finish, nutty, and moderate fruity esters, along with a citrusy hop nose, caramel and chocolate malt, sounds like the description of an American Brown to me, starter wort from the Red IPA tasted great too!

This beer was, again (the third beer now), to suffer an unexpected drop in efficiency (extract).  Everything is the same, the only things that might have changed are the water (tap) or the "illegal" to adjust the gap grain mill at the home brew shop was adjusted.  Hopefully I get it figured out soon, constant jumps in efficiency is not an option when you have a specific beer in mind to make.

Stats:

5.5 gallons (5.875 gallons, only added 5.5 to fermenter, the rest is getting soured... go figure)

1.067 OG

1.014 Fg

6.9% ABV

45 IBUs

24 SRM

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Fermentables:

12.75#  GW Pale Malt

1.0#  Crisp Crystal 55/65L

0.75# Briess Chocolate Malt

0.50#  Weyermann Rauchmalt

0.25# Rice Hulls

45 Minutes @ 152*F

74% Extract Efficiency

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45 Minute Boil:

45 mins - 0.5 oz Zeus 16.4AA% (Commercial)

WP @ 150 20 mins - 12.0oz Chinook (Wet) 

WP @ 150 20 mins - 4.0oz Cascade (Wet) 

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Fermentation:

WY 1469 West Yorkshire - 1L Starter (a little 001 as well for good measure)

Aerated 25 minutes

6 gallon Better Bottle

3 days @ 66-67

11 days @ 70

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Additional:

Gypsum 3/8 t (mash), 1/2 t (boil)

Calcium Chloride 1/2 t (mash), 1/2 t (boil)
Pickling Lime 3/4 t (mash)

Whirfloc Tab (15 mins)

Review: Heart Murmur - Ventricle

I honestly am very impressed with this brew. The more I drink it, the more I think it needs to become my house beer. It's simple, light, balanced, and delicious. It's actually quite complex for being only one malt and one hop. I will be posting a second review of "this beer" soon. I brewed 8 gallons of this wort and split it to 2 different Better Bottles and pitched 2 different yeast strains. This beer is all Great Western Pale Malt (3L) to 1.052, mashed for 1 hour @ 147*F. It has a bittering charge of 1oz Magnums for 60 minutes, and an ounce each of EKGs @ 15, 5, and FO (8 gallons). FG was 1.009 for an ABV of 5.7%. This batch was fermented w/ WY 1469 West Yorkshire. During an EKG for my blood pressure spike a few months ago, there was a flutter in the test called a Heart Murmur, which triggered some more tests; seeing as I was using all EKG hops, I decided to run with that as the name. Ventricle comes from the location of the heart, the ventricle is in the lower section of the heart as is West Yorkshire in England when compared to London (London ESB was the yeast for the other half of the beer).

Appearance: Pours a hazy golden-orange with a tight, pure white 1/2 finger head that persists and fades to a thick cap on top. Lacing is thick and sticks nice along the top.

Aroma: Smells of peaches, nectarines, and bananas, floral hops, faint citrus fruits, grassy, white pepper, bread dough, yeast, honey, herbal.

Taste: Taste mirrors the nose, floral hops, fruity, not yet ripe apricots, spicy, grassy hops, bread dough and yeast, floral alcohol, honey.

Mouthfeel: Medium-Light body, light on the tongue but not thin, dry finish, lingering bitterness in the back of the throat. Crisp and refreshing. Carbonation is light.

Overall: Very impressed. Great marriage of malt and hops, complex hop and malt character for a SmAsH brew, yeast creates an amazing fruity bouquet and draws out a depth to the malt, the bitterness is subdued, yet balances well with the dry finish. Very refreshing. The yeast haze is not to style, but I could care less about clarity.