Failed Experiment

That Irish Red ale I have spoken of is a failure. I gave it time to mature, and it did. The color cleared up nicely and turned into a nice rusty red. But the flavor was just never there. In an attempt to dress it up I decided to add some oak cubes in hopes that they would add something to it, giving the beer some character. I added 1 oz for one week, removed the oak, upped the carbonation levels a twinge, and waited a few more weeks. And still it is unpleasant. Now the oak character is overwhelming. It's too sweet still and lacking any hop balance whatsoever. I'm very disappointed and will most likely end up tossing this batch as soon as I need the keg space.

On a more positive note, the 3 gal batch of Crop Circle came out nicely. Ron, who I was brewing it for, came over two weeks ago to help bottle it, then took it home. It's now sitting in his basement as he and his family are in Australia for three weeks (perfect timing). I then brewed up a 5.5 gal batch of the same for me and my wife, which is now ready to bottle as well. Speaking of bottling, we also bottled up the Wee Heavy and it's just sitting in y basement, staring at me. I'm finding it very hard walking past it and not trying one. I know they're extremely young and won't be too pleasant yet, so I shall control myself and wait until fall to try the first one.

In an attempt to conserve costs, I reused the batch of yeast from the first crop circle batch in ferment the second one. Soon I will be pitching a third batch on the yeast (well, only a portion of it). A Roggenbier. It's a German style rye beer. Just as wheat beers are made with 50% wheat, Roggenbier is made with 50% rye (yummy!). I'm very interested to see how this will turn out. The recipe looks delicious, and I am a big fan of rye flavor. Using a hefe yeast for a beer like this make peaks my interest even more. This will be a 3 gal batch, at about 60% efficiency:

3.5 lb Rye Malt
1 lb 2 oz. Pilsner Malt
1 lb 2 oz. Vienna Malt
0.75 lb Munich Malt
6 oz Caravienna Malt
1.5 oz Carafa I
1.5 oz Chocolate Malt

0.25 oz Tettnang hops - first wort hop for about 3 IBU
0.25 oz Hallertauer hops @ 60 min for 7 IBU
0.25 oz Saaz hops @ 5 min for 1.5 IBU

Mash at 150 for 75 min, or until conversion.

So Much for Trying

Last weekend I tried to make a three gallon batch on my stove top, but sadly my range couldn't bring four gallons of wort to a boil. After waiting and hoping for 15 min after it started showing promising signs, I had to move it outside to a real burner. Rather than using m garage like I had been, I took advantage of the gorgeous weather we were having and brewed in the yard. I was still within ten feet for combustibles but at least I was concealed from nosy neighbors.
The good news is that I can go back to making full 5.5-6 gallon batches. The bad news is I am no weather bound. I cannot brew during active rain or snow. Both of which come around a lot here in Wisconsin.

Booo!

I woke up Sunday morning and picked up a voice mail from the head of our condo association. The message said something to the affect of "people have noticed you brewing... something in your garage. And we're concerned that it's a fire hazard and would like you to stop immediately." I had to wait until Monday to speak with someone from the Fire Department, and indeed, in multi-unit dwellings (we live in a town home), open flames are not permitted within ten feet of constructed walls.
OK, I get it, I was violating the law, and I'm fine with the fact that I can't do that anymore. It's a huge bummer because it means I can't brew outdoors anymore, which means I have to limit myself to 3 gallon batches as opposed to 5.5 or 11. What bugs me though, is that the person who called to complain didn't bother to come talk to me. We do have one set of neighbors that have seen me brewing and have asked and were intrigued to find out what it was. I wish more people were like them.
I've been told that I should just skirt the law and brew with the garage door closed (open the yard door for ventilation). But I don't want to get in trouble, and I know the person who called it in and it's beneath him to call the police if he thinks I'm still violating code.
So, until the day we move, I'll be brewing small batches. Hey, at least that means I can experiment more with unique or strange brews.

Yippee!

Just last week I learned that my oatmeal stout took second place in the category of Dry/Sweet/Oatmeal stouts at the 2009 Babble Brew-Off! This was only my second entry in a competition, and my first place. I got some very nice reviews and look forward to brewing and entering this recipe again.
I should also mention that I entered my Ordinary Bitter in to the English Bitter category and placed 11 out of, you guessed it, 11! The notes from this beer were actually much more telling for me and gave me some very good insight into what I had done wrong, and what to look for next time.

Finally, a Wee Heavy

I finally got around to brewing up that wee heavy. I ended up switching recipes at the last minute and going with one that I know has been tested, as opposed to the trial run I was going for originally. I missed my starting gravity by 8 pts (got 1.087), which isn't bad at all for that sized beer. I had to ferment it in the utility sink immersed in cold water to keep the temp in the low 60's, and it worked.
I got the recipe from the Jamil Show on The Brewing Network.

19 lb 9 oz Maris Otter
1 lb 3 oz Crystal 40L
9 oz Special B
2 oz Roast Barley

1.2 oz Norther Brewer @ 60 min (25 IBU)
Scottish Ale yeast with a 5 qt starter.

Updates

Not a lot has been happening around here lately. I've been sick and am on antibiotics so I have slowed down on my consumption of beer (read: stopped). I finally transferred the Rye IPA to a keg and set it outside in the fridge to cold crash. Smelled fantastic! I also submitted my Oatmeal Stout and Ordinary Bitter in to the Babble Brew-Off Homebrew competition. I have high hopes for the stout, but am a little concerned for the bitter since I bottled it from off the tap, a method which has been known to have oxidation issues (leads to pretty off-putting flavors).

I haven't gotten around to brewing the Scottish Wee Heavy since I've been sick. But now I also want to wait until I get my fermentation fridge moved from the garage to the basement so I can properly control fermentation temp on that brew. It's pretty important the yeast doesn't produce any esthery/fruity flavors, so a low (64 deg) fermentation is pretty key.

All's Well

Although I didn't really want to brew yesterday, I muscled up and got to it. I managed to hit all my numbers (mash temp, OG, volumes) spot on, so I'm pleased with that. I transferred the "red" to a secondary and racked the stout onto the yeast cake I had used for the "red". It started fermenting within a matter of hours, and has a nice creamy head of krausen at this moment. It's fermenting at a steady 68, although I would have preferred 64-65. Oh well, a little more ester production never hurt.

My next brew is a big one, and I'm really looking forward to it. A Scottish Wee Heavy. Five gallons of approximately 10% ABV Scotch Ale, mmm mmm! 19 lb of grain, a one gallon starter, and nearly one year of aging.

St. Patty's Day Preps

I've gotten started on my St. Pat's Day brewing. I cooked up the "Irish Red" a couple weeks ago (see recipe and link below), and am getting ready to brew up the stout tomorrow. I put Irish Red in quotations because this didn't come out very Irish, or Red. Everything went according to plan, mash went well, and I even hit my original and final gravities dead on. But a first sampling was a bit disappointing. This tasted more like a cross between a brown and pale ale. The color is one of a dark caramel wheat, a slight fruit note in the nose (fermented a bit high, around 67), and a decent balance between malt and bitter, tending toward the bitter end. This is not at all what I wanted, and am pretty disappointed. I know it's still very young and will surly improve with some again, but it will not transform into what I was expecting to have brewed. It's not that close. I'm considering passing this off to someone if they want it and making a fresh batch from a different recipe. But I don't have time to brew. This weekend is set for the stout, next weekend I'm away, and brewing on the 14th only gives me a month to age. That's not quite enough (it wouldn't be awful, but I'm certain it wouldn't be great either).

In the meantime I've been procrastinating kegging my Ordinary Bitter even though I've been looking forward to drinking this since I first tried it. And have also been lazy about bottling the Rye IPA. So much work, never enough time.

A Brew Year

With the new year comes brew resolutions. I don't typically believe in resolutions because they are more often than not goals we tend to break. But these are resolutions I feel I can live up to, and if I don't, no big deal.

1) be more consistent with my technique
2) keep better notes on tasting, etc
3) better planning/execution
4) make a 9% or higher
5) make a lager

As for the brew-off, my brew day went pretty well. No big surprises, or accidents, or anything. Very smooth, just the way I like it. I tasted the beer for the first time the other day. It was still young, and I don't think it was completely fermented (FG is supposed to be 1.010, it was around 1.016), but it was mighty tasty! Very smooth caramel flavor with a very nice hop balance. I was originally going to bottle this and put the Rye IPA on tap, but I think those plans will have to be switched. I'd really like an easy drinker like this on tap about now.

It's also about time to get started on my St. Patty's Day brews - a red and a stout. I was goingto start this past weekend but just didn't get around to it. So I'll get the red started next weekend before we go on vacation, then brew up the stout a week after we get back. That way I can get a good couple weeks of the red on the yeast, plus pitch the stout right onto the same cake. Hooray for planning!


Rolf's Irish Red
6.5 lb Marris Otter
1 lb Brown Sugar
0.5 lb Dextrine
0.25 lb Chocolate malt
0.25 lb Flaked Oats
1 oz Challenger hops (60)

Anticipated OG 1.051
Anticipated FG 1.013
IBU 22
SRM 16

Guiness Clone
6.75 lb Marris Otter
2.5 lb Flaked Barley
1.12 lb Roasted Barley
2 oz Acid Malt
2 oz East Kent Golding hops (60)

Anticipated OG 1.044
Anticipated FG 1.012
IBU 32
SRM 25