No fixed plans. Not intent upon arriving.
Beer Recipe of the Week: Ettonante on Homebrewers Association:
Ettonante is French for "amazing," which describes this Belgian dark strong ale perfectly. Taking silver in the 2001 National Homebrew Competition, this ale has a big fruity palate with a nice touch of alcoholic warming.
In Stores Now on Shoebox:
Inside: You being born, yet another great moment.
Why College Binge Drinkers Are Happier, Have High Status | Healthland | TIME.com
Surprisingly little research is conducted on the positive effects sought by drug users and what they actually achieve via their drug consumption; the assumption is that alcohol and other drugs are always bad and their users are irrational. But until more studies like this are conducted, prevention programs are unlikely to improve. We can’t prevent what we don’t understand.
Beer Recipe of the Week: Licorice Ale on Homebrewers Association:
Licorice Ale is a rendition of 400-year-old recipe that was given to Native Americans by settlers to appease cold symptoms. There might not be any hops on the ingredients list, but there are plenty of herbs and spices to keep things interesting!
Gretchen and I went to the 2012 State College Brew Expo on Saturday. Mike Kauffman was nice enough to snap our picture. You can see Mount Nittany in the background.
Beer Recipe of the Week: Amarillo Pale Ale on Homebrewers Association:
This gold medal recipe uses only Amarillo hops in just about every step of the brewing process. First wort, boil, and dry-hop additions instills spicy-citrus aroma and flavors that balances well with the malt profile.
The neighborhood turkey family was out in force while I brewed today.
14B-India Pale Ale(IPA)-American IPA
| Minimum OG: | 1.056 SG | Maximum OG: | 1.075 SG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum FG: | 1.010 SG | Maximum FG: | 1.018 SG |
| Minimum IBU: | 40 IBU | Maximum IBU: | 70 IBU |
| Minimum Color: | 6.0 SRM | Maximum Color: | 15.0 SRM |
| Wort Volume Before Boil: | 7.00 US gals | Wort Volume After Boil: | 6.00 US gals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume Transferred: | 5.50 US gals | Water Added To Fermenter: | 0.00 US gals |
| Volume At Pitching: | 5.50 US gals | Volume Of Finished Beer: | 5.00 US gals |
| Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: | 1.060 SG | Expected OG: | 1.070 SG |
| Expected FG: | 1.017 SG | Apparent Attenuation: | 75.0 % |
| Expected ABV: | 7.1 % | Expected ABW: | 5.5 % |
| Expected IBU (using Rager): | 157.5 IBU | Expected Color (using Morey): | 5.2 SRM |
| BU:GU ratio: | 2.25 | ||
| Mash Efficiency: | 71.0 % | ||
| Boil Duration: | 60.0 mins | ||
| Fermentation Temperature: | 68 degF |
| Ingredient | Amount | % | MCU | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 2-Row Malt | 15lb 0oz | 93.8 % | 4.5 | In Mash/Steeped |
| US Caramel 10L Malt | 1lb 0oz | 6.2 % | 1.7 | In Mash/Steeped |
| Variety | Alpha | Amount | IBU | Form | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Cascade | 5.0 % | 1.75 oz | 11.0 | Loose Pellet Hops | First Wort Hopped |
| US Magnum | 12.0 % | 3.00 oz | 145.2 | Loose Pellet Hops | 60 Min From End |
| US Cascade | 5.0 % | 0.25 oz | 1.3 | Loose Pellet Hops | 15 Min From End |
| US Cascade | 5.0 % | 2.00 oz | 0.0 | Loose Pellet Hops | Dry-Hopped |
| Ingredient | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Irish Moss | 0.10 oz | In Boil |
| Yeast Nutrient | 0.10 oz | In Boil |
Wyeast 1056-American Ale
| Target Profile: | No Water Profile Chosen |
|---|---|
| Mash pH: | 5.2 |
| pH Adjusted with: | Unadjusted |
| Total Calcium (ppm): | 103 | Total Magnesium (ppm): | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Sodium (ppm): | 34 | Total Sulfate (ppm): | 338 |
| Total Chloride(ppm): | 30 | Total Bicarbonate (ppm): | 36 |
| Mash Type: | Full Mash |
|---|---|
| Schedule Name: | Single Step Infusion (65C/149F) |
| Step Type | Temperature | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Rest at | 149 degF | 60 |
“Only low alpha finishing hops should be used for [first wort hopping (FWH)], and the amount should be no less than 30% of the total amount of hops used in the boil. This FWH addition therefore should be taken from the hops intended for finishing additions.” — John Palmer, How to Brew
This recipe calls for 5.75 total ounces of hops. 30% of that corresponds to 1.725 ounces. That would correspond to moving the entire 15 minute addition and a quarter ounce of the dry hops to the first wort.
Conveniently, hops come in bags containing whole ounces, so we actually have 4 ounces of Cascade to work with.
We will use 1.75 ounces at FWH and 0.25 ounces at 15 minutes.
Stone’s FG suggests the apparent attenuation will actually be 82.5%. Their ABV suggests something between 78-79%.
Today I’m doing a Stone inspired beer. I was going to do the BYO Ruination clone, but my LHBS didn’t have any centennial hops. I changed it up with cascades and I’m going to first wort hop to accentuate the flavor characteristics. I was going to build the water up to Mosher’s ideal pale ale profile, but I didn’t get out to the store to buy water, so I will just use my well water and not adjust.
9:26 Got a late start. Water is on to boil. Probably started around 9:00. The yeast is all from July 16. According to Mr Malty, that means I’ve got 83% viability. Since I’ve got 3 packs, that’s about 249B cells.
9:53 Kettle strike temperature is 172.6 °F. Transferring to the mash tun. Grain temperature is 77 °F.
10:00 Transferred. Mash tun strike temperature is 163.5 °F. Waiting for it to cool.
10:05 Strike temperature is 160.3 °F. Doughing in.
10:14 Initial mash temperature was 146 °F. Added two dippers of boiling water to raise it to 149.2 °F. Mashing.
11:14 Mash ended at 148.8 °F. Vorlauff and lauter. First wort hops are in the kettle. The gravity of the first runnings was 1.074 SG (1.066 SG at 111 °F).
11:26 Transferred. Kettle sparge water temperature was 170.5 °F. Sparge temperature was 155.5 °F. Collected just shy of 3.75 gallons.
11:33 Sparging. The gravity of the second runnings was 1.034 SG (1.020 SG at 134 °F). Collected 3 gallons. 6.75 total.
11:46 Flame on. The boil gravity was 1.052 SG (1.040 SG at 125 °F). Target was 1.060 SG. WTF? I only managed to get 58% efficiency!
12:30 I’m saying I’m at the boil. Waiting for hot break.
12:34 Break wasn’t as intense as I expected. Adding bittering hops.
1:19 Adding flavor hops, chiller, yeast nutrient, and Irish moss.
1:34 Flame out and chilling.
2:17 Chilled. Settling.
2:37 Draining. Original gravity volume was 5.75 gallons. Original gravity was 1.061 SG (1.060 SG at 73 °F).
3:37 Drained.
3:59 Aerated and pitched. In fermentation chamber at 68 °F.
4:39 Everything cleaned and put away.
Monday morning, August 6th When I woke up this morning, the entire airspace in the carboy was filled with what looked like Great Stuff™. By the time I was ready to go to work, it was coming out of the airlock. I affixed a blow off tube and tried to button up the fermentation chamber as well as I could. The wort was fermenting at 67 °F.
Wednesday evening, August 8th The fermentation has calmed down enough that I was able to replace the blow off tube with a normal airlock. I also took the opportunity to add the first ounce of dry hops.
Monday evening, August 13th I added the second ounce of dry hops.
Sunday morning, August 19th I moved the carboy into the fermentation fridge to crash the yeast.
Sunday morning, August 26th Kegged. Final gravity 1.007 SG (1.007 SG at 57 °F). The hydrometer sample was wonderful. Slight alcohol warmth. Subtle candy sweetness. Smooth bitterness. Dry finish. Carbonating to 2.3 volumes CO₂ (15 PSI at 50 °F).
Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine – Story Index – Brewing History – Archaeobeer
The key ingredient that seems to anchor the switch from hunting and gathering to gardening, herding and farming, is the domestication of starchy staple foods. The first of these were grains — particularly wheat and barley — domesticated in the Near East and Asia Minor beginning around 12,000–10,000 years ago. Wheat and rice were largely responsible for fueling similar cultural evolution in Asia. Likewise, sorghum and yams were domesticated in Africa; as were maize, potatoes and cassava in the Americas.
Domesticated starchy staples revolutionized life because they provided huge amounts of energy and, especially, because they could be stored to feed folks even through lean seasons. As I noted, wheat and barley were among the very first domesticated plant foods. And what do we do with wheat and barley? Well, we make beer, of course, and for that reason some archaeologists have argued that beer was the reason that people settled down and began to farm in the first place.
Mike McDole…Brew System…Recipes?
We often use flameout and knockout interchangeably, since flameout and initiation of chilling usually occur back to back, but I believe knockout actually refers to the chilling step, which would usually coincide with transferring the beer to the fermenter.
Mead Recipe of the Week: Adore on Homebrewers Association:
Adore, a semi-sweet standard melomel, was awarded Best in Show at the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference and gained creator, Monique Scovil, the title of 2011's Meadmaker of the Year.
