RECIPE: #55 The Callen 3.0 (2nd place Oaked Wee Heavy)

Wee Heavy.  The one style I have brewed 2 other times before and failed at.  One was in the middle of a repitched yeast off a used plastic conical that infected nearly 8 batches of beer.  That Wee Heavy, even without being an infected gusher, had way too much cherry and no caramel at all.  The next one was a semi-descent beer except for the autolysis which made the beer taste like pot roast... but it works great in chili or to braise beef.  

I enjoy a good Wee Heavy on a cold Winter night when I want a big, heavy, malty, sweet desert in a glass.  It is a very hard style to get right too.  Too much bitterness and a lower FG you have more of a Strong Ale.  Too little bitterness and a higher FG and it is too sweet.  Balancing the mouthfeel, the FG, the bitterness, and the flavor profile is absolutely key.  This of course becomes even harder as you go bigger.  More alcohol changes the mouthfeel, adds sweetness, but makes it finish a little dryer than the FG can make you think it will.  Then toss in the cellaring factor which will inevitably lower the IBUs as isomerized Alpha Acids drop out of solution.

RECIPE: 1st Place KLCC #52 The Caleb (Imperial Stout on Elijah Craig Bourbon)

I really enjoy an Imperial Stout.  I really enjoy a Bourbon aged Imperial Stout.  What I don't enjoy is the outrageous prices that most breweries charge for such beers.  I realize that there are some world class BA Imperial Stouts, I have had a few, Firestone Walker Porabola and Velvit Merkin, Deschutes' Abyss (I have a 4 year vertical in my cellar), Block 15 Super Nebulat, even a Goose Island BCS a long time ago.  But when I look at my checking account logically, it becomes very difficult to spend the money.  For the cost of 2-3 22oz bottles of a world class beer I can create my own BA Imperial Stout and have 52 12oz bottles (a better format for a big beer anyways!). 

RECIPE: Feed the Machine (AutumnIPA)

Autumn, that time of year when the leaves change color, the sun hides behind the clouds, the darkness arrives earlier and stays around later than before, and a chill sets in throughout the day.  That time of year when the light, crisp, fruity lager, or Witbier just aint cutting it anymore.  That time of year when you are looking for something richer, maltier, bolder, packed with warm malts, resiny and piney hops, and flavors of Fall.  Couple this with the fresh harvest of hops that are begging to be used, and it is time for an Autumn IPA.  

Recipe: BANGARANG Rufio (Imperial Red IPA)

In continuing with my BANGARANG series, I have to move to many people's favorite Lost Boy, and mine as well, RUFIO.  I am currently sitting on a large volume of hops in my freezer, including Chinook, Simcoe, and a new 1# of CTZ.  Sounds perfect for a big, bold, dank, piney Red IPA.  I have also been meaning to use Vienna as a base malt to get a feel for it some.  I realize a big hoppy red is not the best place to get a feel for a malt, but that's what I am doing.  Added in a touch of Munich, a sprinkle of Black Malt for color and dryness, and a hefty dose of sugar to increase drinkability, up the fermentability, drop the FG, and up the OG, perfect for an Imperial IPA.

This beer was also done as an overnight mash for 10.5 gallons, split before the boil into 2 seperate batches.  This batch received a steep of the Black Malt and the addition of sugar while awaiting the boil.  This will also be my first run with my new hop strainer for the ball valve (replacing all the failed hop tacos).

1st Place Recipe: Procrastinator (Dopplebock)

Lagers… the difficult beers of brewing… temp control, larger pitching rates, clean beers, a showcase for brewing flaws.  Some brewers never make the move.  I have avoided these beers for the 2 years I have been brewing for 2 reasons: 1) pitching rates, 2) I don’t care for very many lagers.  My tastes don’t mesh well with many of the pale lagers I have tried, thus far I have enjoyed a few Munich Dunkels, a Schwarzbier or two, and a good, dark Dopplebock, but if the Dopple is lighter, I tend to not care for it much.  Add to this the lack of drive to build up a 7 liter starter (not too mention the lack of equipment for it) and there hasn't been much push to brew a lager.

Recently I was at a brewing friend’s house discussing and crushing hops when the topic switched over to lagers.  He loves to brew them and has a refined palate for critiquing them from his time in Germany.  He has consulted with some of our local Breweries on their lagers and helped them to reach a much better level in brewing these beers.  When I voiced my concerns about pitch rates he, surprisingly, said that too much emphasis is given to the whole giant pitch thing.  He stated that a 2L starter is more than adequate to brew a great lager, but too many people are fermenting them at the higher end of the temp range and then taking them off of the yeast prematurely.  With this encouragement, I finally decided to take the plunge (with a 4L starter to be safe).  I have been procrastinating long enough, and now it is time to brew my Dopplebock.

Recipe: The Becca 2012 - Third Trimester Tripel: When Things Get Funky (Tripel w/ Brett)

Last year I made an Imperial Stout with Cherries, Smoke Malt, and Chipotles named for my wife, Becca, A Smokin Hot Mother Of A Stout.  The beer didn't really suit her much since she can't stand to drink it.  I had been looking for a beer she would really enjoy to become the new Becca.  One of my first beers, batch 3 to be exact, was a Belgian Golden Strong, and my wife loved it, and I have wanted to rebrew to what I originally wanted.  The original turned out much darker than gold, and much sweeter than I had wanted; many people likened it to a sweet Tripel.  I had originally taken 1 gallon of that beer and put it on Brett like Matilda.  The Brett never really took hold (Reinhardt's Flemish Wild and Matilda dregs), so I hit it with Supplication dregs and turned it decent sour.  I have longed to make another beer like it again.  Enter the perfect solution to my delimma.

I used basically the same recipe as before, just All Grain instead of partial mash.  A 50/50 blend of Continental Pilsner malt and Domestic Pale Malt forms my base, along with about 20% White Wheat Malt.  Add a little Belgian Aromatic for some maltiness and touch of depth, and roughly 15% sugar to dry it out as well as boosting the gravity.  In the original recipe I used clear candi sugar which is expensive table sugar when it comes to the flavor contributions, so I just used table sugar.  The original recipe had Sterling hops, but I went with Santiam on this batch since I have a good 5oz in the fridge already.  I took some of the final runnings of my Wee heavy  and boiled it up for an 1800ml starter that I ran for a few days and then put in the fridge to stop the growth of the Brett from continuing too much.  I had snagged a package of the Wyeast PC Trappist Blend strain not knowing that it had Brett in it, and had needed a beer to brew with it so it seems the Lord's providence worked in my favor.

This beer seemed apt to become the new Becca since she loved the original, and she enjoys funky beers.  Seeing as she is in her third trimester with our second child, this year's rendition is The Becca - Third Trimester Tripel: When Things Get Funky.  Now I only needed a day to brew it... enter in the email from Denny Conn... our brew club needed one more brewer for Teach A Friend to Brew Day, and I jumped on it quick.  An easy brew, single rest, low mash temp, simple malt bill, sugar to boost the OG and dry it out, 2 hop additions, chill and pitch.  

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Stats:

5.75 gallons

1.079 OG

1.007 Est Fg

9.4% Est ABV

32 IBUs

5 SRM

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Fermentables:

4.25#  Weyermann Pils

4.25# Great Western Pale

3.0#  White Wheat Malt

0.75# Belgian Aromatic Malt
2.25# Table Sugar

75 Minutes @ 148*F

82% Extract Efficiency

82% Brewhouse Efficiency

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90 Minute Boil:

FW - 2.0 oz Santiam ~ 6.0AA% (Home Grown)

10 mins - 1.0 oz Santiam ~ 6.0AA% (Home Grown)

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Fermentation:

6 gallon Better Bottle

15 mins Aeration

Wyeast PC 3789 Trappist Blend - 1.8L Starter 

36 Hours @ 68*F

24 Hours @ 70*F
14 Days @ 75*F
1 Week @ 55*F

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Additional:

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

Calcium Chloride 5/8 t (mash), 1/2 t (boil)

Whirfloc - 1 tab

Nutrient
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Brewed @ Oakshire.  Brewday went smoothly.  Got slightly higher efficiency than I expected and ended up with extra wort.  Racked into 6 gallon Better Bottle and pitched yeast @ 3:00pm. Drove home and aerated with pump for 15 minutes.  Placed in ferm fridge @ 68, transfered 3/4 gallon out into sanitized 1 gallon jug.

At 7 the next morning (16 hours) there was a 4" krausen already.  This yeast is ripping through the wort and is a true top-cropper.  Attached a blow off to both fermenters.  Jumped temp up later that night to get a little more fruity expression from the yeast since the Trappist High Gravity is known for a subtle and spicy character at lower temps and I want a balance between esters and phenols.  Bumped up temp gradually over the coarse of a few days to restrain fusel alcohols and promote yeast expression.

After 4 days the gravity was down to 1.025.  After 1 week it was down to 1.010.  After 2 weeks the FG is down to 1.007, tastes of clove and pepper with hints of pear and strawberries, light banana.  This yeast is ferocious.

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: 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.