Rice Paddy Lager (Japanese Lager)

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My Grandmother's Hanko

My Grandmother’s Hanko

Japan is a part of my heritage. Quick version, my paternal grandmother and grandfather married in Japan and then moved back to the states. I have always been a little interested in the Japanese culture, but never really delved into it. Going through some of my grandmother’s belongings I found where she signed some documents and then there was a red stamp beside her signature. This was her seal, or hanko. I wasn’t quite sure of this, but it intrigued me. And I was able to find her Hanko. Which that was a very surreal moment for me. I never knew her maiden name until I saw the documents. Yamada.  A quite common surname in Japan. It’s meaning mountain rice paddy or mountain field. I found one site to say yama meaning mountain and ta meaning field, rice paddy. I decided to set sail and brew myself a rice lager, this is where I came up with the name, Rice Paddy Lager. I admit, I don’t know the Japanese culture very well. Just scratched the surface. So if I have things wrong. I apologize. The internet is my only source now.

Now onto the recipe development. I worked hard on this, seriously. I watched a YouTube video. If you guys aren’t watching the Clawhammer Supply YouTube channel, I’d highly suggest it. Their care free attitude towards brewing is what makes this hobby great. You can either go all out and be super nerdy with it, or you could just brew what you like and how you want it. It’s your choice. I pretty much just followed their recipe. See their video on brewing a Japanese Rice Lager. 

The main difference I did is that I used a medium grain rice. It’s my go to rice, rarely will you find a long grain rice in my house, unless we’re making a Cajun dish. Also I just used 1 ounce total of Sorachi Ace. This high alpha acid hop, I didn’t want to accidently introduce that much bitterness to it.

Also, this wasn’t my typical brew day. We one of those 20 year ice storms heading our way. I gathered everything I could to brew this beer inside my house, because I didn’t want to try to run my heater, and vent the beer in the brew shed, because once I turn on the vent, bye bye heat that my heater worked so hard to warm up.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 18.1 IBUs 2.7821558 1.043 1.010 4.3 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
International Pale Lager 2 A 1.042 - 1.05 1.008 - 1.012 18 - 25 2 - 6 2.5 - 3.2 4.6 - 6 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 5 lbs 52.63
Rice, Flaked 4 lbs 42.11
Acid Malt 8 oz 5.26

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Sorachi Ace 0.4 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 13.4
Sorachi Ace 0.6 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 13.4

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 4.20 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 1.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 1.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Saflager Lager (W-34/70) DCL/Fermentis 75% 48°F - 59°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 152.1°F 75 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes

Used nishiki rice. 4 pounds. Was approximately 8 cups of rice. Used 12 cups of water. Rice was pretty much cooked all the way through, there were some crunchy bits though. Volumes were a bit high because the rice was already saturated with water. Will need to reduce the water down a touch. Used approx 8 gallons of water, got 7.5 pre boil volume. Since I was using a 7 gallon pot, I boiled roughtly 1.5 gallons another pot until I can get enough boiled out of the big pot to add them. I will add the 60 minute hop addition once I can combine the two worts together for a full volume boil.

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Rice Paddy Lager

Tasting Notes

Aroma

Doughy and cracker like malt character. Moderately-low lemon and low herbal hop notes. No esters present. Ever slight note of DMS. 

Appearance


Straw in color, fairly clear (it is now as I am reviewing it, I know the pic is quite hazy. haha), poured a white head that is lasting. Beer leaves a lacing on the glass as I enjoy the beer. 

Flavor

Cracker and doughy malt character. Hop flavor is lemony and herbal that is of a moderate level. Fairly well balanced that finishes very dry. 

Overall Impression

I have really enjoyed this beer. There are a few small tweaks I would like to do next time. I want to drop the acidulated malt down to probably 4 ounces instead of 8 ounces. I was following Clawhammer’s recipe as a base. All in all I am really pleased with this beer. I will brew again. 

kentucky common in glass

Common Drive, a Kentucky Common

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The Kentucky Common is a historical style showed up on my radar after the release of the 2015 BJCP Guidelines. I am thankful for the research that has been done on historical styles. Especially knowing that there are southern historical styles. Here lately I’ve been naming beers by way of occurrence in everyday life. Common Drive is what we call a network drive at work. Kentucky Common, Common Drive, they share 1 word. Therefore, this is how a name is born in these parts. Now onto the rest of the story.

You need a backstory don’t you?

Remember the C’s of Amber I brewed for our intra-club competition in May? Well, I was fortunate enough to be able to brew in the next round. The style assigned for the next round was Kentucky Common. Oh boy. A style no one in the club has even brewed (that I am aware of). With this batch I bought Epiphany Craft Malts. I’m really enjoying the nuance of the malts that these small maltsters can produce. It’s amazing. To note, when the corn was ordered, it was malted whole corn and a spice grinder was used to mill it. Just imagine how my dull 2 roller mill just reacted when I tried to mill this stuff. Should have grabbed a before pic.

I have only had one commercial example of a Kentucky Common and that is when I visited Ten Mile Brewing in Long Beach California in July 2019. While in Long Beach for a conference, I reached out to a few beer peeops on recommendations on breweries to visit. Ten Mile was on multiple lists. It probably helped that he was a guest on the Experimental Brewing Podcast at one time talking about this Kentucky Common. This experience piqued my interest in the style. Did it intrigue me enough to go brew the style. Unfortunately it did not. This activity forced me to brew the style. It will end up on my rotation again to brew again.

I followed Josh Wiekert’s Make Your Best column for his rendition of a Kentucky Common. I thought a half pound of chocolate rye was a bit steep and would make it more on the brown side instead of being amber, and believe it will make it a touch sweeter than it should be.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Grainy, cracker, pilsner-like malt aromas, with a slight note of corn sweetness in the background. Caramel notes are moderately low. Low floral notes that appear to be coming from the hops.

Appearance: Brown in color, pours a tan head that appears to retain very well. Has a slight haze.

Flavor: Grainy, cracker, pilsner-like malt like flavors. Moderate caramel and toffee notes that has a background of chocolate into the finish. Finishes medium dry that is balanced to the malt profile. Low bitterness. Hop flavor is fleeting, but is floral when detected.

My Impression: Do I like this beer? YES! Do I want to brew it again. YES! What would I change. I would back off the chocolate rye to maybe 6 ounces, and drop the caramel to 2 ounces, I believe those notes are too dominating the palate. Therefor, I second guessed myself when I was putting together the grain bill for this recipe. Thinking 8 ounces sure was a lot of chocolate rye for such a light bodied beer but these speciality malts are contributing to the body of the beer. I really enjoy the little nuances of the base malts and corn notes.

My Kentucky Common Recipe

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 16.6 IBUs 14.9 SRM 1.046 1.009 4.8 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Kentucky Common 27 1.044 - 1.055 1.01 - 1.018 15 - 30 11 - 20 2.5 - 3 4 - 5.5 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Epiphany Foundation Malt 7 lbs 71.79
Ephiphany Corn Malt 2 lbs 20.51
Chocolate Rye (Weyermann) 8 oz 5.13
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 4 oz 2.56

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Cluster 1 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 7.4

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 4.50 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 2.30 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
SafAle German Ale (K-97) DCL/Fermentis 73% 59°F - 75.2°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 147.9°F 90 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

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Threat Actor NEIPA

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I am a software guy by trade. I am not a hacker, but I am facinated with what people can do with computers, networks, or even friggin blenders. Listening to my favoriate non-beer podcast, Darknet Diaries, he had mentioned something as being a threat actor and immediately I think, that is a great name. Especially for an easy drinking NEIPA, because this NEIPA could be responsible for something later in the evening if you happen to have a few too many.

And let me admit it. Sometimes I really hate on NEIPAs and sometimes I really just want one. Yeah, I’m brewing one. Don’t @ me. Well you can, I don’t really mind, it’s just that I have noticed a trend with a lot of the high ABV NEIPAs. If the alcohol isn’t controlled properly it tastes like paint thinner, then combine that with the hop burn that I tend perceive, tat really turns me off. This grain bill I swiped from my buddy that has a tiny brew pub in Jackson, MS. His brewing is not on social media. He sells a lot of beer out of the beer store in which he brews in the back parking lot. Remember, I said tiny brew pub. Oh, but you can find him on Untappd. That’s social media. Take a look for Bicentennial Beer Company, you’ll only find his beers at LD’s in Jackson, MS.

I went nuts the past couple months and have purchased a few too many hops. I am going to play around with my grain bill and hop blends to really nail down what I hope to be an awesome NEIPA. This is my first iteration. I know the percentages of flaked grains in this bill is a touch high if you were to read Scott Janish’s IPA book. This is what I wanted to do this time. I have oat malt and golden naked oats to play around with the next iteration to take the flaked oats out.

I do want to note. All my 20 minute additions in the following recipe details is in the whirlpool. I wonder if Beer XML allows for whirlpool additions. I might have to move to something else for adding beer recipes to the blog. I just wanted to mention this. **EDIT** I have sorta made a fix for this. I’m sure my other blog posts where I added hops to a whirlpool might not reflect my process. **

I also did the cold dry hop on this beer. I did not dry hop during primary fermentation (remember, don’t @ me, but you really can). Here is my fingers being crossed that cold side oxidation didn’t occur and I will not have a brown beer when this is ready to imbibe.

Cheers, y’all.

Recipe

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 38.3 IBUs 5.3 SRM 1.065 1.016 6.5 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American IPA 21 A 1.056 - 1.07 1.008 - 1.014 40 - 70 6 - 14 2.4 - 2.9 5.5 - 7.5 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Southern Select 7.5 lbs 53.57
Oats, Flaked 2.5 lbs 17.86
White Wheat Malt 2 lbs 14.29
Barley, Flaked 1.5 lbs 10.71
Oats, Golden Naked®™ (Simpsons) 8 oz 3.57

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Citra 3 oz 20 min Whirlpool Pellet 13.3
Mosaic (HBC 369) 1.5 oz 20 min Whirlpool Pellet 12.5
Galaxy 1 oz 20 min Whirlpool Pellet 13.4
Citra 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 14.1
Galaxy 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 14
Mosaic (HBC 369) 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12.3

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 7.78 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 5.42 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 3.79 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Baking Soda 2.05 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Salt 0.75 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
SafAle English Ale (S-04) DCL/Fermentis 73% 59°F - 75.2°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 152.1°F 75 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

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Tasting Notes

Aroma
Moderately-high hop aromas that are citrusy (mainly orange), and tropical like passion fruit, with a slight tinge of floral in the background. Malts are muted and hidden behind the hop aromas.

Flavor
Moderately-high hop flavors that mimic the fruity notes that are listed in aromas. Orange, tropical, passion fruit. Very slight cracker note in the background that are just wanting to punch through that hop character. Ever slight note of fruity esters (mainly pear). Finishes medium-dry.

Mouthfeel
Pillowy, not quite chewy texture that has a moderate creaminess.

Overall Impression
Not my favorite. I would like more of a hop punch in the aroma. The hops that I saved from the dry hop, I put into a freezer bag and I have frozen them. That is an experiment for later. I believe I am going to brew a saison soon and throw those in the whirlpool. The aromas were just too good to throw out in the wood.

What would I change in this beer? I’d back off the flaked grains a touch. I believe I am going to go 80% pale malt, 10% oat malt/golden naked oats, 10% flaked wheat with my next grain bill. The stupid amount of haze in this beer was from the grain bill its self. I do like S-04 on the yeast. It’s just English enough to have a touch of esters that doesn’t screw around with the hops. I’ll dry hop the next batch 24 hours after pitch next time, to see if that makes a difference. I’m running low on citra, so it may just be a mosaic/galaxy hop blend. I haven’t decided yet.

C’s of Amber (American Amber Ale)

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My homebrew club decided to do an intra-club competition this year that we has been named Last Brewer Standing. It is a tournament style bracket and each matchup receives a different style to brew. Yeah, we planned this prior to COVID-19 uprooting our lives, but as far as we know, we’re still going to forge on with this little competition, just one month later than we anticipated. Good thing, because I totally forgot to brew this beer for our May meeting. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Luckily the style I drew was American Amber Ale, which we should drink fresh-ish.

It’s been a hot minute since I brewed an American Amber Ale. With all the hatred of caramel malt in hoppier beer styles these days, it just hasn’t really crossed my mind. But after brewing it and trying it. I have missed it. Takes me back to 2012. I don’t know why I picked 2012, but that was just 8 years ago when NEIPAs and fruited sours didn’t dominate the market. Yes, IPAs were popular, but you wouldn’t walk into breweries back then and see over 50% of their taps full of NEIPA with different hop blends, etc.

Here is my take on this version of my American Amber. I used to keep my bittering charge on the low side because of how long it used to take me to chill my wort therefore I would have higher IBUs in my finished beer. Since I’ve purchased a Jaded Hydra Chiller my chilling time has decreased quite a bit my perceived IBUs have decreased. I did not have a traditional bittering charge with this batch, I relied on my bittering to come from the 10 minute additions I added. Beersmith told me 20.7 IBUs, I would rather have this in the 30-35 range. But you know what? I still have a very drinkable beer in my kegerator.

In the recipe you’ll see Southern Select as my base malt. This malt is from Riverbend Malt House in Asheville, NC. I’ve been trying to use smaller maltsters to see what kind of flavors I can coax out of my beers.

Recipe

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 20.9 IBUs 11.9 SRM 1.051 1.011 5.3 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Amber Ale 6 B 1.045 - 1.056 1.01 - 1.015 20 - 40 11 - 18 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 5.7 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Southern Select 9 lbs 80.9
Borlander Munich Malt (Briess) 1 lbs 8.99
Victory Malt 12 oz 6.74
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L 4 oz 2.25
Chocolate (Briess) 2 oz 1.12

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Cascade 1 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 4.4
Centennial 1 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 6
Cascade 1 oz 20 min Aroma Pellet 4.4
Centennial 1 oz 20 min Aroma Pellet 6
Comet 1 oz 20 min Aroma Pellet 9.4

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 4.48 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 3.64 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 2.97 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Baking Soda 2.07 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Safale American (US-05) DCL/Fermentis 77% 59°F - 75°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 152.1°F 75 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

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The Single Monk

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I’ve been brewing more sessionable beers these days and this is a style that I have tasted at homebrew competitions and I really wanted to brew this style for some time. I’m glad I finally took the plunge and did it because I am very pleased of the results.

Also with this beer I used pilsner malt from Riverbend Malt House out of Asheville, NC. When I tried a few of the grains while I milled the malt, and oh my gosh, this stuff was tasty! I was super anxious to try this beer after snacking on the malts during the brew day. Just to note, I believe using a quality flavorful malt enhanced this beer from good to great.

Tasting Notes: Abbey Yeast (WLP 530)
Aroma: Light grainy pilsner malt aromas that also include a faint hint of grass, light spice and floral hop aromas, fruity esters are moderate that are reminiscent of pears. Low levels of the phenolics (clove). Delicate aroma that the fruity esters and hops sort of mingle together with the malt background.

Flavor: Cracker-like with a touch of grass pilsner-like malt flavors. Hop flavor is low with some floral notes. Moderately-low bitterness. Fruity esters are moderate with pears dominating. Finished dry with a slight spice and pear notes throughout the finish.

Tasting Notes: Belgian Ale Yeast (WLP 550)
Aroma: Light grainy pilsner malt aroma, moderately light spice and floral hop aromas. Moderate phenolics that include clove and black pepper. A very faint honey characteristic.

Flavor: Moderate clove and black pepper phenolics dominate the flavor. The malt background is cracker-like with a touch of grass. Hop flavors are low and floral. Finished dry with a lingering clove and spice component through the finish of the drink.

Since I’ve been doing mostly 10 gallon batches, a good percentage of my beers have been how about I pitch different yeasts to see what different characteristics I’ll get out of each beer. I didn’t think this one would be drastically different, but since I’ve been drinking these two beers side by side quite a bit, I do prefer the Abbey Ale yeast over the Belgian Ale yeast. This is not saying that I do not like the Belgian Ale yeast, I just prefer the ester profile of the Abbey Ale over the Belgian Ale in this beer. Trust me, neither of these beers are going to “water” my flowers anytime soon.

Cheers!

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
11 gal 60 min 26.7 IBUs 4.6 SRM 1.046 1.006 5.3 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Trappist Single 26 A 1.044 - 1.054 1.004 - 1.01 25 - 45 3 - 5 2.4 - 3.4 4.8 - 6 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Riverbend Pilsner 18 lbs 90
Biscuit (Dingemans) 1 lbs 5
Sugar, Table (Sucrose) 1 lbs 5

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertau 3 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 3.4
Hallertau 1 oz 15 min Boil Pellet 3.4
Willamette 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 4.2

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 7.47 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 5.91 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 4.81 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Lactic Acid 2.50 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Salt 0.74 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Abbey Ale (WLP530) White Labs 78% 66°F - 72°F
Belgian Ale (WLP550) White Labs 82% 68°F - 78°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 147.9°F 90 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes

9.7g epsom salt….whoops

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Cloud Shadow Hefeweizen

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This past fall I taught a personal enrichment class that focused on beer and food pairings. I brewed a hefe for this class and I also brined my Thanksgiving turkey in this beer as well (which turned out phenomenal by the way). I also baked bread using this beer. Yes, this is a basic hefe recipe, well pretty much a basic hefe recipe. I thought I had more wheat malt on hand that I actually did, so I supplemented the wheat malt with some flaked wheat. I thin it added a little more body to the beer and I don’t believe it really hurt the beer. I also used Hallertau Blanc to bitter as I didn’t want to buy an ounce of Hallertau since I had this variety around.

This beer was just a solid beer and might have a presence in my kegerator on the regular. Mainly because this is one of the top 5 styles that the wife likes, it’s good to have beer on tap that she can appreciate as well.

After you see the pictures below of the turkeys and bread, I am sure you might want to know where I got the recipes. Well you’re in luck because I want to share those with you because you deserve it.

Honey Hefeweizen Boule Loaf

Beer Brined Turkey

  • Mashing the hefeweizen
    Mashing the Hefeweizen
  • Kitty finding a warm blanket to lay on while I brew the hefe.
    Kitty finding a warm blanket to lay on while I brew the hefe.
  • Fermenting the Hefe
    Fermenting the Hefe
  • Hefe Brined Turkey Oven Roasted
    Hefe Brined Turkey Oven Roasted
  • Hefe brined Turkey smoked
    Hefe brined Turkey smoked
  • Hefeweizen Honey Boule
    Hefeweizen Honey Boule

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
11 gal 60 min 13.7 IBUs 3.4 SRM 1.050 1.012 5.1 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Weissbier 10 A 1.044 - 1.052 1.01 - 1.014 8 - 15 2 - 6 2.9 - 4.5 4.3 - 5.6 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner Malt (Rahr) 11 lbs 51.16
Wheat, Flaked 8.5 lbs 39.53
Wheat Malt, White (Rahr) 2 lbs 9.3

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertau Blanc 0.8 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 9.7

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 6.60 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 5.27 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 4.16 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Lactic Acid 2.00 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Salt 0.75 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Weihenstephan Weizen (3068) Wyeast Labs 75% 64°F - 75°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 152.1°F 75 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

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Summer of Pilsner

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At least for me, and my brewing as of late, I’ve been brewing lagers. Yes I’ve been following the Brulosophy way of “warm-fermented” lagers. I probably will get some haters, it’s all good. But being able to pump out some delicious lagers in approximately three weeks has been what this summer has needed. It’s mid-October and I still break out in a sweat when I walk outside. This has been a ridiculously hot summer. What is better than drinking a cold and crispy Pilsner with a little bit of hop flavor in there to refresh the palate? Not too much.

Now will these lagers win awards if I submitted them into a homebrew competition. I don’t think so. Take this with a grain of salt here, These are pleasing to me, but they might not be award winners, I’m not entering that many competitions lately. Hell, I received the BJCP rank of National and I haven’t even judged a competition lately.

Onto the beers. The first recipe I used the yellow bitter water profile. I did enjoy the beer, but I felt the beer was just a touch too bitter. When I brewed the second pilsner, I went with the yellow dry profile and I believe I enjoyed this one the best. I did use a different yeast for the wedding pilsner. But apparently both of the these yeasts are the Weihenstephaner strain. They both produce a lot of sulfur during fermentation, and they both left the beer pretty dry. The bitterness profile is the difference between the two. But if you were to give them to me blindly, I know I couldn’t tell the difference.

Now you may ask, why the second recipe is called the wedding pilsner. It is because I brewed this beer to be served at two wedding showers. I could have called it the Mandarina Bavaria Pilsner, but Wedding Pilsner is easier to say.

Huell Melon Pilsner

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
11 gal 60 min 32.7 IBUs 2.6 SRM 1.053 1.010 5.8 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
German Pils 5 D 1.044 - 1.05 1.008 - 1.013 22 - 40 2 - 5 2.5 - 3.2 4.4 - 5.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) 20 lbs 90.91
Vienna Malt (Briess) 2 lbs 9.09

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Warrior 1 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 16.7
Huell Melon 4 oz 20 min Aroma Pellet 7.2

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 14.67 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 4.45 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Phosphoric Acid 10% 3.00 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 2.88 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Salt 1.54 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Global (L13) Imperial Yeast 75% 46°F - 56°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 147.9°F 90 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

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Wedding Pilsner

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
11 gal 60 min 41.0 IBUs 2.6 SRM 1.050 1.009 5.4 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
German Pils 5 D 1.044 - 1.05 1.008 - 1.013 22 - 40 2 - 5 2.5 - 3.2 4.4 - 5.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) 20 lbs 90.91
Vienna Malt (Briess) 2 lbs 9.09

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Warrior 1 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 16.7
Mandarina Bavaria 4 oz 20 min Aroma Pellet 10.7

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 7.52 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 5.95 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 4.84 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Lactic Acid 2.20 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent
Salt 0.74 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Saflager Lager (W-34/70) DCL/Fermentis 75% 48°F - 59°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 147.9°F 90 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

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Cryo Hops vs T-90 Pellet Hops

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Now if you were like me I never knew what the term T-90 pellet hops stood for. After a quick Google, I found it is the way the hop was processed and pelletized. If you want more details about this, you came to the wrong place.

Now, I’ve wanted to pull the trigger on the cryo hops. I’ve had them in my shopping cart multiple times and just never could go ahead and take the plunge. When I saw this experiment come down the pipe, I quickly jumped on it. This way I can try both versions and see if the cryo hops are worth my while. I will say this, I only have 1 hop spider. To make things as similar as they both can be, I didn’t use the hop spider. The clean up on the T-90 hops took almost 4 times the effort because of all of the vegetal matter that was left behind. Will this alone be worth it? Well the hop spider makes this much easier for me, so this isn’t too much of a big deal.

I’m beating myself up because I didn’t take pictures of my dual chilling setup. I split the wort into two pots. I must say that I was quite proud of what I did. Luckily I have two immersion chillers, two pumps, therefore I was able to rig a way to whirlpool the extra pot so I could treat each beer the same.

I ended up doing two tasting sessions with each participant taking a triangle test. One session had 13 participants, the other had 14. I was super surprised at the results. I only had 4 total tasters out of the 27 correctly guess the correct cup. This was very interesting, during the first session I thought it was it was a no brainer. The second session which was 9 days later, I don’t think I could tell the difference.

After I told the participants what the odd cup out was, a good majority said it was down to the odd cup out and the one they actually selected. Another interesting not is that I setup a jockey box at an event (where I had the 2nd session) and a couple of them tried the beers before hand without my knowledge and asked me if those beers were different. I gave some non committal answer to them and proceeded went on my way onto something else. When I gave the triangle test, they could not distinguish the odd beer out.

I really thought the cryo hops would give the beer a brighter and more hop flavor/aroma, but I believe the beers are very similar. Not much difference. Even with me knowing the variable, I don’t think I could pick out the odd sample.

This was a very cool experiment and I am glad I participated in it. Will I buy cryo hops from now on when doing my hoppier style beers? Probably not unless I find them on sale. It’s an awesome idea and yay technology, but in my opinion, I don’t see a huge benefit to it.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
12 gal 60 min 72.7 IBUs 7.0 SRM 1.050 1.011 5.1 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 18 B 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 50 5 - 10 2.3 - 3 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) US 20 lbs 86.96
Munich Malt - 10L 2 lbs 8.7
Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) 1 lbs 4.35

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertau Magnum 1.8 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 11.8
Citra 1 oz 20 min Aroma Pellet 13.8
Citra - LupuLN2 1 oz 20 min Aroma Pellet 25.2
Mosaic (HBC 369) 1 oz 20 min Aroma Pellet 14.9
Mosaic - LupuLN2 1 oz 20 min Aroma Pellet 23.2
Cascade 1 oz 7 days Dry Hop Pellet 7.8
Cascade - LupuLN2 1 oz 7 days Dry Hop Pellet 12.8

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 17.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 17.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Phosphoric Acid 10% 1.00 tsp 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Safale American (US-05) DCL/Fermentis 77% 59°F - 75°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 152.1°F 75 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes

Moved half of the wort into the Anvil Kettle. Chilled both worts to ~160 degress. Turned off wort chillers and recirculated for 20 minutes, then started chilling again. Both worts were around 120-130 when I started chilling again. Then it took approximately 30 minutes to chill to 68 degrees. Each carboy was pitched with US-05.

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Triple Hopped Hazy Double IPA

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I just brewed this triple hopped, hazy Double IPA, y’all! I’m just taking a silly jab there. I really don’t know what to call this beer. It’s hazy, it’s hoppy, it’s got a slight warming to it. Hey it’s beer! Brewed this beer with Henry and Brian. Henry found a recipe he liked and he tweaked it to his liking (mainly because we couldn’t find Galaxy hops that weren’t stupid expensive). Am I happy with it? It’s drinkable, and has become more drinkable everyday I pull some off the tap. When I first kegged it and pulled a sample a few days after kegging and dry hopping, but before it was carbonated, I was really concerned. I did some research on dry hopping in the keg and of course the Internet is right, am I right? You know since this post is on the Internet everything I write is true </sarcasm>. Ok, I’m done there, but anyways, I found that some people would get vegetal and grassy characters from dry hopping in the keg. By the way this is what I was perceiving I was not pleased at all. I pulled the keg out for about a week to hopefully extract some of those wonderful lupulin oils into the beer. Those qualities have seemed to have faded into the distance (whew!).

A few tasting notes on the beer. I think we have the malt profile down with this recipe. I want to put something other than 6 oz of Columbus into the whirlpool though. It is super earthy and dank, not the quality I was looking for in this beer. I wanted more fruit flavors in it. If I am to re-brew this I may use the same hop profile I used in the Wit Gone Indie recipe. Or another option is that I did buy a pound of Azaaca recently. It’s pretty bitter, as BeerSmith tells me it’s 110 IBUs. Woah! It’s not offensively bitter though and there isn’t too much malt sweetness to balance it out. The aroma of the beer is fantastic though. But how would you learn if you didn’t brew something you thought you couldn’t improve upon. Lesson learned. But this is not a bad lesson.

And another reason I’m having a bad relationship with this beer is oh my, what a brew day we had! Read my notes below on the massacre of a brew day it was. Not all brew days go well, do they? This one, well I was ready to break up once we were done.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
11 gal 60 min 110.0 IBUs 6.4 SRM 1.090 1.023 9.0 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Double IPA 22 A 1.065 - 1.085 1.008 - 1.018 60 - 120 6 - 14 2.4 - 2.9 7.5 - 10 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner Malt (Rahr) 26 lbs 68.42
Oats, Flaked 4 lbs 10.53
Wheat, Flaked 4 lbs 10.53
Caramel Malt - 20L (Briess) 2 lbs 5.26
Carapils (Briess) 2 lbs 5.26

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Columbus (Tomahawk) 2 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 17.8
Columbus (Tomahawk) 2 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 17.8
Columbus (Tomahawk) 6 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 17.8
Nelson Sauvin 8 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12
Citra 4 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 14.1
Mosaic (HBC 369) 4 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12.3
Columbus (Tomahawk) 2 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 14

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 17.75 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 11.13 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 7.81 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Baking Soda 3.33 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
London Ale III (1318) Wyeast Labs 73% 64°F - 74°F
SafAle English Ale (S-04) DCL/Fermentis 73% 59°F - 75.2°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 152.1°F 75 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes

What an eventful brew day. Mashed in and there was absolutely no flow coming out of the mash tun. I back flush it with water. I got some flow, and then all of the sudden the flow stops. I try to get going again, let the wort settle down, no dice. We move the mash into one of the old igloo cooler mash tuns. Well, it doesn’t fit in the 10 gallon mash tun. AND! No flow out of that mash tun either!! UGH! I take apart the keggle converted mash tun to find that there is a HUGE amount of grain in the dip tube. UGH!! I see that the false bottom is bent pretty badly. I took a hammer to that thing and attempted to flatten it out. We then move the mash back into the keggle mash tun. BOOM WE HAVE FLOW! Then it comes to a dragging halt. WTF! Ok, Well, I throw my hands up. We’re at roughly 1.065, WAY off the 1.080 we should have been. I start draining the mash tun, then I put in all of the DME I had on hand which is roughly 21 ounces. After the pump seems to have finally pooped out, we scooped out all of the grain for Troy to use to make crackers with. I notice there is STILL a bunch of wort left in the bottom. I use a paint strainer bag in a 5 gallon bucket and we dump all of the wort and left over grain into it. Boom, we got roughly 2 more gallons of wort ouf of the mash that I wouldn’t have thought I got because the pump quit flowing.

Beer finished at 18 brix with 11 gallons of total wort

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Biotransformation Experiment – The Transformed Ale

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Looks like I’m in this whole experimental thing for the long haul. This time the Experimental Brewing Podcast is testing Biotransformation.

Question: Does Dry Hopping a Beer During High Krausen Produce a Organoleptic Difference. Note: If you’re like me, you had the confused puppy look with Organoleptic. Let me help ya, being, affecting, or relating to qualities (as taste, color, odor, and feel) of a substance (as a food or drug) that stimulate the sense organs. That helped me, hopefully that’ll help you also.

This one was an interesting experiment. The difference in the two carboys was the dry hopping schedule. As you can see in my notes. A trip interfered with dry hopping my second carboy, which I think threw it off a touch. But all in all the beers turned out reasonably well and it was not easy to distinguish between the two beers. I am afraid I wasn’t able to have the taste panel I really wanted to have, but you know that happens. I still have plenty of beer left, maybe I can update this post if I can get some other tasters on board.

Here is the tasting panel I held. Nine total testers, three of them picked the odd sample. One of the testers was determined to get it correct so she asked for another triangle test. Well unfortunately, she could not pick the odd sample on her second go around. After the opaque cups were tested, I gave each one a sample in a clear plastic cups. It was interesting to see how the difference in preference was when the samples were given in clear glasses.

Notes on yellow cup (odd sample):

  • Slightly more hop forward
  • Very Bitter, hop flavor astringent
  • firm flavor

Notes on green cup:

  • hint of hops, very similar to purple
  • Strongest flavor of the three
  • lighter, smells off

Notes on purple cup:

  • hint of hops
  • smooth, mild flavor

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
11 gal 60 min 40.6 IBUs 5.8 SRM 1.053 1.013 5.2 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 18 B 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 50 5 - 10 2.3 - 3 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) US 10 lbs 45.45
Pale Malt, Maris Otter 8 lbs 36.36
Munich 10L (Briess) 4 lbs 18.18

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Centennial 1.5 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 10
Centennial 2 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 10
Mosaic (HBC 369) 2 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 12.7
Centennial 2 oz 14 days Dry Hop Pellet 10
Mosaic (HBC 369) 2 oz 14 days Dry Hop Pellet 12.7

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 16.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 16.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
London Ale III (1318) Wyeast Labs 73% 64°F - 74°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Notes

Will dry hop carboy A when it reaches high krausen. Record length from dry hop until terminal gravity is reached. Note number of days until terminal gravity reached. Rack to a keg and keep cold.
Dry hop carboy B when terminal gravity is reached for the same amount of days that carboy A was dry hopped.

Purchased 2 packes of Wyeast 1318, dated April 17, 2017. Each pack of yeast was put into 1000 mL of wort for a SNS starter.

Since the IBU experiment I particpated in, I have been timing my chilling.
10 minutes - 133F
20 minutes - 103F
30 minutes - 90F

Each carboy got 30 seconds of O2. Pitched yeast approximately 7 hours after brew sessions was finished.

Dry hopped Carboy A - 5/15/2017
Kegged Carboy A - 5/25/2017

Dry hopped Carboy B - 6/7/2017
Kegged Carboy B - 6/17/2017

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