July 2008
Thursday July 3, 2008. Today we brewed a British Bitter Ale. The brew was an all grain 5 gallon batch. The grain bill consisted of a mixture of 6 pounds of 2 row Crisp Maris Otter, and .75 pounds of Simpson's CaraMalt malts. The target original gravity was 1.035, which makes this a nice middle of the road session ale. We achieved 1.038 as we experienced a little more of a boil off than anticipated. The hop additions were 1 oz. of Kent Goldings @ 60 minutes and 1 oz. of Goldings @ 1 minute. The yeast we used is British Ale yeast # 1098 from Wyeast. Active fermentation began within twelve hours and after 7 days it was down to 1.010.
Thursday July 10, 2008. The beer was racked to a secondary fermenter where it sat for two weeks.
Friday July 25, 2008. Kegged into a 5 gallon corny and force carbonated.
Thursday July 10, 2008. The beer was racked to a secondary fermenter where it sat for two weeks.
Friday July 25, 2008. Kegged into a 5 gallon corny and force carbonated.
Saturday, August 16, 2008. Today we brewed an American Amber Ale. The brew was an all grain 5 gallon batch. The grain bill consisted of a mixture of 9 pounds of Rahr 2-row Pale, 1 pound of Caramel 60 and 1 pound of Munich malts. The target original gravity was 1.047, we achieved 1.046 so that was good. The hop additions were both Cascade, 2 oz. @ 60 minutes and 1 oz. @ 15 minutes. The yeast we used is American Ale yeast # 1056 from Wyeast. Active fermentation began within twelve hours.
August 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008. Today's brew is a Black IPA. The brew was an all grain 5 gallon batch. The grain bill consisted of a mixture of 11.5 pounds of Rahr 2-row Pale, and 1 pound of Briess Caramel 40 malts. The target original gravity was 1.064, our wort was measured at 1.060 so we ended up a little low but it should still be ok. Being an American IPA, there are many hop additions. Centennial hops were used exclusively for this beer. 1 oz. @ 60 minutes, 1 oz. @ 20 minutes and 2 oz. @ 1 minute. The unique twist to this brew is the addition of 8 oz. of Sinamar, which is a liquid extract made from dehusked black malt. The Sinamar does not affect the flavor at all, it just adds color, so the beer tastes exactly the same but it is black in color. The yeast we used is Irish Ale yeast # 1084 from Wyeast instead of an American ale yeast for something a little different. Active fermentation began within twelve hours. Hopheads (Glen), when I head down the basement, I can smell the hops within 20 feet of the fermenter as it bubbles away.
Sunday August 31, 2008. A Pumpkin Nut Brown Ale is the brew for this Sunday. This Nut Brown Ale has a nice copper color with slight caramelly flavors in addition to toasty and chocolate notes. The other addition to this beer is about 60 oz. of pure pumpkin and 2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spices. This will be an all grain 5 gallon batch. The grain bill consisted of a mixture of 7.5 pounds of Crisp Maris Otter, .25 pounds of Simpson's Chocolate, .25 pounds of Dingemans Special B, .25 pounds of Dingemans Biscuit, and .25 pounds of Briess Special Roast malts. The pumpkin and the pumpkin pie spices were added at 30 minutes left in the boil. The original gravity we were going for was 1.044, and we ended up with a reading of 1.042 on the hydrometer. The only hop addition was 1 oz. of Glacier @ 60 minutes. The yeast we used is London Ale yeast # 1028 from Wyeast. After primary fermentation is complete, the beer will be racked into a secondary fermenter on top of 3 Madagascar vanilla beans and aged about 2 weeks.
Tuesday September 23, 2008. Today we transferred the Amber Ale and the Black IPA to kegs. The Amber Ale finished out at 1.006, and the Black IPA ended up at 1.010. Both should be on tap by the weekend. The Pumpkin Nut Brown Ale was put into the secondary to clear for a while and 2 more tablespoons of pumpkin pie spices were added to the carboy.
September 2008