Recipe #47: Iron Patriot (New School American Pilsner)

I have a knack for maximizing my output when I brew.  Pilsner and Saison split batch, Wit and American Wheat split batch, West Coast Red and Oud Bruin split batch, partigyles, etc.  When I do get to brew it is just easier to brew a double batch than to do a single 5 gallon batch, and then try to find another brew day to do another 5 gallons.  It is not much more effort to do 10 gallons instead of 5, and I only have to clean the equipment once.  So when I decided to make my Classic American Pilsner, I had to find another beer I could do with the same mash. Why not do the same beer with a huge twist?  Same grain bill (and mash), same brewing salts, same hopping schedule, but swapping out Old World noble hops (or American knock offs) with New World American varietals.  I swapped out the Saaz, Liberty, and Sterling for Simcoe, Mosaic, and Calypso.  The IBUs will be much different.  And I will be using the Munich Lager yeast for this batch instead of the Budvar which will slightly alter the profile, but shouldn't be much.

Brewday turned out to be a fiasco as I awoke to a broken water heater spewing boiling water on the floor of the garage and had to help a buddy replace it during the brew session, and had to fix a broken shower during this particular batch.  After a grueling day, having the propane kick mid boil, not getting the wort down to lager temps due to the heat, the fermentation went fairly well and smoothly.  Ramped up the temp a few times to ensure complete attenuation and let it sit on the yeast for awhile to ensure no diacetyl.  Once I finally kegged it though, I really wanted more hop character, so I figured why not dry hop it for fun.  I mean, this is the Iron Patriot, a nod to Captain America (the Classic American Pils), but with all the fire power of Iron Man.  I had to do something to make this one blow you away.  Tossed in the dry hops in doubled preboiled paint strainer bags (pellet hops) attached with plain dental floss and allowed them to sit in the beer at lager temps while serving.

Recipe: BANGARANG - The Twins (3rd Place - German Pilsner & Saison)

Last year I started a category of beers for my brewing called the BANGARANG series.  Of course BANGARANG is from the movie Hook and this term expresses delight and enjoyment.  As the second and third beers in this installment, I went with the twins.  It seemed fitting since I was brewing up a 10 gallon batch and splitting it into 2 fermenters with two separate yeasts.  Same wort, different fermentations.  After brewing my Dopplebock I wanted to continue using the lager yeast while the weather was still fitting for it.  I have tried a few Pilsners lately and have really enjoyed them so I decided to brew one up (but failed).  I can't see why I would just brew 5 gallons of beer when I can easily brew 2, so I decided to do a 10 gallon batch and ferment the other 5 on a different yeast.  I don't have any Saisons right now, and I love them, and warmer weather will be here in a few months, so I thought this would be the best way to split it.  Both beers work well with a Pilsner Malt base, a firm bitterness, and a medium Noble hopping.  So that's exactly what I did.  

Recipe: Thud Butt - Double IPA -- BANGARANG SERIES

BANGARANG... The term used by the Lost Boys in the movie Hook as a statement of enjoyment, agreement, and delight.  It could be a battle cry or an adjective.  One thing was for sure, if you liked it, it was Bangarang!  Thus starts a new series of recipes, the Bangarang Series, featuring beers that make you wanna Bangarang!  And this beer definitely fits the bill' named after Thud Butt, a big, bold, gentle yet powerful character, the name is an apt fit for a 9.2% ABV, 92 IBU, Double IPA that finishes dry with a noticeable alcohol, yet not solventy, and a huge hop punch.

On to the beer; recently a fellow brewer hooked me up with rhyzomes for my hop yard - 7 varietals (of his nearly 20).  While I was there we were chatting about the types of beers I brew and how the hops will compliment my brewing.  I told him that I'd love to brew IPAs but the cost of hops can just be outrageous which is why I was planting a few big IPA hops (Cascade, Chinook, Blisk).  He was extremely generous and, unprompted, dug into his hop locker and filled a grocery sack with nearly 2# of hops.  Some were the odd varieties that I got to plant so that I can get a feel for their character.  The bulk were Cascades, along with some Zeus as well.  While I was still at his place I brought up Zeus as a bittering hop and he said that it is a great flavor and aroma hop and poured me a sample of a double IPA with Cascade and Zeus.  I was hooked.  And, well, since I had those hops now, and quite a bit at that, I decided to brew one up myself.  I also tossed in some Galaxy as well since I've heard some great things about them and happen to have a few ounces.  I'm targeting a big back bone that still has some maltiness as well as some character, but remains very fermentable, thus dry and drinkable.  I've got some Munich in there for a good maltiness, as well as some Caramalt 10/15L for a light graham cracker note, and some CaraFoam for a little bit of body with the 12% Sugar.   Lots of late hopping for aroma and flavor, and dry hopped to boot, 1# total.

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Stats

5.70 gallon batch

OG 1.084

FG 1.014

ABV 9.2%

IBUs 92

SRM 16

84% Efficiency

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Fermentables

9.5# Pale Malt

3.0# Munich 10L

0.75# Carafoam

0.75# Caramalt 10/15L

0.06# Carafa III (Color)

2.0 # Table Sugar

1/2 tsp Gypsum

3/8 tsp Calcium Chloride

60 min single infusion @ 153*F

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Boil (60 min):

FW 1.00 oz Zeus 15.4 AA%

15 1.00 oz Galaxy  13 AA%

15 1.00 oz Cascade ~ 6.6 AA%

KO w/ 15 min WP 1.00 oz Galaxy  13 AA%

KO w/ 15 min WP 1.00 oz Zeus ~ 16 AA%

KO w/ 15 min WP 1.00 oz Cascade ~ 6.6 AA%

Post KO @ 130*F  1.00 oz Galaxy  13 AA%

Post KO @ 130*F 1.00 oz Cascade  ~ 6.6 AA%

Post KO @ 130*F  2.00 oz Zeus  ~ 16 AA%

DH 9 days 2.00 oz Zeus

DH 9 days 1.00 oz Galaxy

DH 9 days 2.00 oz Cascade

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Kettle Additions:

5/8 tsp Gypsum

3/8 tsp Calcium Chloride

1/4 tsp Yeast Nutrient

1 tab Whirfloc

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Fermentation:

1056 American Ale - Pint of Slurry from Oakshire

65*F 3 days

68*F 2 days

71*F 7 days

45*F 2 days (to clear)

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Put the FW hops into the kettle directly instead of in a bag and had to fish them out and put them into a hop sack.  I missed a few which caused the pick-up tube to clog after the boil.  My refractometer went on the fritz, and kept jumping around on the reading so I had to crash cool a sample and use the hydrometer.  Ended up overcooling the wort before my post chill hops (was aiming for 150*F and cooled to 130*F).  The hydro sample was super sweet and bitter, smelled and tasted great.  Had to rack via auto-siphon due to clog.  Aerated for ~15-20 minutes, pitched a pint of slurry.  Fermentation was rocking by 5 hours.  Woke up the next morning to find my stopper missing and a thick krausen and sludge around the neck of the carboy... had my first blow-off.  Cleaned it up (before taking a picture of course), sanitized my siphon and a glass gallon jug and transferred 1/2 gallon to increase the head space.  Temp got up to 70*F for a few hours maybe when the temp probe popped loose from the side.   Seems like a lot of issues, but a good brew.

Day 3 took sample, tastes and smells great, down to 1.034, ramped up temp to 68*F to encourage continued ferm as it appears to have slowed.

Day 5 took another sample, down to 1.021.  Ramped up to 71*F to finish strong.

Day 7 took a sample, down to 1.014, remains the same as of day 10.

Day 10 dropped to 45*F until bottling.

Day 12 removed from fridge and shoved (difficultly) full of hops & marbles

Day 14 moved back to ferm fridge at 40*F for cooler/longer DH

Day 21 bottled to 2.3 vols CO2.