Helles Hath No Fury 2

One more go at the helles. The last helles I did, Hell Hath No Fury, was quite tasty for my first attempt. Same recipe for the exception of slightly different hops with Magnum as bittering. Still a full charge of Hersbrucker for aroma. I love these noble hops – such subtle flavors that complement the yeast and malt so well – let’s hope the next wave of “craft” is towards rediscovering the classics once again and charging a reasonable price for them. Going to ferment colder this time to see if I can subdue any sulfur, although the Hürlimann strain was quite low in sulfur. Somehow I ordered Caramunich that’s 50 SRM instead of Carahell. Wort was a bit coppery so for you style Nazi’s it’s out of style.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.053
Estimated FG: 1.011
Estimated Color: 7.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.5%

Grain
12 lbs Wyermann Pilsner(1.7 SRM) 92.3%
1 lb Wyermann Caramunich(50 SRM) 7.7%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
7.00g Magnum [14.4%] – First wort 6.7 IBUs
28.00g Hersbrucker [3%] 30 min 6.4 IBUs
7.00g Magnum [8%] – 10 min 3.9 IBU

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% RO water
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
1g Gypsum added to mash water
2g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
Mash in 5 gallons water 157F and let stabilize to 148F for 30 min
Raise temp to 165 and let settle at 160 for 30 minutes.
Batch sparge 4.5 gallons cold

Yeast
Saflager S-189 Dry Yeast (Hürlimann strain)

Fermentation
Ferment at 55F 5 days
Raise temp to 62 1 day
Raise temp to 65 1 day
Add gelatin(optional) and rack to keg
Lager at near freezing as possible at least 2 weeks
(Optional) force transfer to new keg
Force carbonate

Inveralmond

Finally back in the brewing saddle again. Can’t quite remember where I got the inspiration for this recipe that I wrote back in July but looking up Inveralmond its a place in Scotland with a a few breweries so maybe I was inspired by one of those beers. I’m guessing you could say this is in the realm of a standard bitter. Pale ale malt and some Munich for color and some body. Kept hopping pretty low but was generous with the flavor hops. EKGs are around 5% and Styrian Goldings are coming in at a measly 2.7% these days so IBUs should be in lower range which I find you kind of have to do with these weaker beers since I really dislike most “session IPAs” as being astringent. I found a few times I was over hopping some of my bitters like a session IPA.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.039
Estimated FG: 1.008
Estimated Color: 5.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 19.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 4.1%

Grain
8 lbs Viking Pale Ale Malt (3.5 SRM) 80%
2 lb Wyermann Munich (10 SRM) 20%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
28.00g East Kent Goldings [5%] – 60 min 16.8 IBUs
28.00g Styrian Goldings [2.7%] – 15 min 4.5 IBUs
28.00g Styrian Goldings [2.7%] – Dry hop 2 days

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% filtered tap water
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
2g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
Mash in 4 gallons water 157F and let stabilize to 148F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 5.25 gallons cold

Yeast
Safale S-04 English Ale Dry Yeast

Fermentation
Ferment at 64F 5 days
Dry hop as yeast begins to slow (usually day 2-3 on weaker beers)
Rack to keg and add 1/2 teaspoon gelatin to fine
Force carbonate

February Fest

I might have a case of IPA fatigue. I’m finding myself gravitating more and more towards more “classic ” styles these days when available in stores – lagers, stouts and porters particularly. I really loved Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest brewed in partnership with Weihenstephan this past September. Delicious! Problem is beer is long gone. So after racking the helles off the yeast cake I kept an inch or so of beer on the yeast instead of racking it off to a growler to let settle for sampling. I then decided to brew something a bit darker than another helles seeing that there was a lot of trub in the yeast and fearing that it wouldn’t be “clean” enough for a helles where there is no place to hide any discrepancies in recipe.

Next was deciding on a recipe. Look up Oktoberfest or Marzen on the internet and you’ll see a huge variation on recipe formula. There was no way I was going to use crystal malt which a lot of recipes called for. So went with I hope a more Gereman recipe consisting of pils, munich, vienna blend.

The beer on top of yeast left at 45F in fermentation chamber for a week smelled a bit oxidized but I hoped for the best using a sanitized wet measuring cup to pull 250ml of slurry. Fermentation started within 8 hours and smelled clean so I think that was a success but next time I’ll rack some slurry to a sanitized growler instead to keep oxidation and chance of acetobacter to a minimum.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.053
Estimated FG: 1.011
Estimated Color: 6.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 36 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.6%

Grain
5 lbs Wyermann Pilsner(1.7 SRM) 38.5%
5 lb Wyermann Munich (7 SRM) 38.5%
3 lb Wyermann Vienna (3 SRM) 23.1%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
14.00g Perle [8%] – 60 min 12.1 IBUs
28.00g Perle [8%] – 30 min 18.6 IBUs
14.00g Perle [8%] – 15 min 6 IBU

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% RO water
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
1g Gypsum added to mash water
2g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
1g Gypsum added to sparge water
Mash in 5 gallons water 157F and let stabilize to 148F for 30 min
Bring mash up to 160F and let rest 30 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4.75 gallons cold

Yeast
250ml slurry Saflager S-189 Dry Yeast (Hürlimann strain)

Fermentation
Ferment at 54F 5 days
Raise temp to 60 1 day
Raise temp to 63 1 day
Lager at near freezing as possible at least 2 weeks
(Optional) force transfer to new keg
Force carbonate

Helles Hath No Fury

I spent a few days in Munich this summer and I drank a ton of helles. Augustiner, Paulaner, and Hofbrau were the main culprits. Such a beautiful beer by the Maß when fresh from the source. Knowing you just can’t get those beers here in California in good condition I finally decided to bite the bullet and brew my own.

Let’s be honest, most homebrewers don’t have the patience for lagers in general when you can pump out really great tasting ales from grain to glass in 2 weeks. I have tried the two week lager method with decent results and rapid lagering also with good results. By no means nothing stellar however, with my guess is that the beer could use a bit longer lagering. So, with that in mind I set out to create a helles that uses the ideas of rapid lager fermentation with a bit longer lagering period and using 100% RO water to keep the profile soft. S-189 seemed a good choice for low sulphur output and optimal fermentation temperature on the high side for a lager yeast which fits the bill perfectly for a rapid lager fermentation.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.053
Estimated FG: 1.011
Estimated Color: 4.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 23 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.5%

Grain
12 lbs Wyermann Pilsner(1.7 SRM) 92.3%
1 lb Wyermann Carahell (13 SRM) 7.7

Schedule
60 minute Boil
7.00g Perle [8%] – First wort 6.7 IBUs
7.00g Perle [8%] – 45 min 5.6 IBU
28.00g Hersbrucker [3%] 30 min 6.4 IBUs
14.00g Perle [8%] – 10 min 4.4 IBU

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Yeast
Saflager S-189 Dry Yeast (Hürlimann strain)

Fermentation
Ferment at 58F 5 days
Raise temp to 62 1 day
Raise temp to 65 1 day
Add gelatin(optional) and rack to keg
Lager at near freezing as possible at least 2 weeks
(Optional) force transfer to new keg
Force carbonate

London Porter Revisited

I love porter and stouts. Problem is you just don’t see them very often in the store. Deschutes and Sierra Nevada I believe are the only large breweries that have one in their regular offerings. One local brewery creates a nice porter on nitro but I’m not too into paying $22 for a growler fill.

I first made this beer years ago and remember it being one of my favorites. Didn’t tweak the recipe much beside substituting EKGs for Fuggles in the last hop addition and using more RO water since I was out of acid and to take down that dry minerality of the local water.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.059
Estimated FG: 1.015
Estimated Color: 32.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 37.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.9%

Grain
10 lbs Marris Otter (3.0 SRM) 66.7%
2 lb Crystal 60 (60 SRM) 13.3%
1 lb Brown Malt (65 SRM) 6.7%
1 lb Chocolate Malt (350 SRM) 6.7%
1 lb Munich Malt (9 SRM) 6.7%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
56.00g Fuggles [5.5%] – 60 min 31.8 IBUs
28.00g EKG [6%] – 10 min 7.3 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
80% RO water
20% Ventura water (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
3g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
3g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
Mash in 6 gallons water 162F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4 gallons cold

Yeast
Safale S-04 English Ale Dry Yeast

Fermentation
Ferment until done 65F
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

Bitter No. 1

I’ve been on a brewing hiatus for almost 6 months due to circumstances out of my control. I won’t bore you with the issues we have had with our rental after returning from vacation to a flooded house but needless to say I haven’t had the room in the garage until recently after a huge reorganization. Anyhow, focusing on my passion for English bitters I have been trying to narrow down how to best achieve them with my equipment, processes, and local water.

Mouthfeel is really important in a bitter and a beer that is really dry detracts from that in a bitter. I’ll reiterate a few things I’ve posted before about beer dryness and a few more observations on dryness I’ve gleaned going back through my older recipes and notes:

Unless using 100% RO water it’s a waste of time cutting tap with RO.
Unless you’re good at discerning when to stop a fermentation a mash temperature below 154F will give you a pretty dry beer with sugar in the grist.
If using sugar, invert leaves a silkier mouthfeel but is a hassle to make.
If your beers are still becoming too dry with a high mash temp and using sugar in the grist skip the sugar and use more malt.
Still having dryness issues? Try 100% RO. It’s either an added expense or a hassle though.
Still having dryness issues? Substitute a pound of wheat for barely.
Scale back the bittering hops and add them as late additions.
Keep carbonation medium to low.

This one is all malt. The recipe is based more on a pale ale that I have had success with but with a scaled back gravity and 100% EKGs.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.047
Estimated FG: 1.012
Estimated Color: 6.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 33 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 4.6%

Grain
10 lbs Pale Ale Malt (3.5 SRM) 83.3%
1 lb Crystal 20 (20 SRM) 8.3%
1 lb White Wheat (3.2 SRM) 8.3%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
14.00g EKG [6%] – 60 min 9.5 IBUs
14.00g EKG [6%] – 30 min 7.3 IBUs
28.00g EKG [6%] – 15 min 9.4 IBUs
56.00g EKG [6%] – Steep 10 min 6.9 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
3g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
2ml lactic acid added to mash water
3g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
2ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 4.75 gallons water 162F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4.75 gallons cold

Yeast
Safale S-04 English Ale Dry Yeast

Fermentation
Ferment until done 65F
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

Grove Bitter

This beer is kind of a culmination of me trying to nail down the creation of a well balanced highly drinkable bitter. There’s a couple of take aways I’ve noticed over the years:

Unless using 100% RO water it’s a waste of time cutting tap with RO.
Dry yeast is just as good as liquid if your willing to have less choice.
When dry hopping in a airlock sealed fermenter you need to use A LOT of hops to have a noticeable effect.
Unless your good at discerning when to stop a fermentation a mash temperature below 154F will give you a pretty dry beer with sugar in the grist.
Aurora, Bobek, Celia, Stryian Goldings, and East Kent Goldings are all really great underappreciated hops. You can use each interchangeably for aroma but for taste I still think EKGs are the best – that beautiful marmalade flavor is unique.

For this beer I’m starting with Magnum which is clean and high alpha so trying to reduce the hop trub. After smelling this batch of Magnum I thought I’d split it up in the schedule to capture more of its flavor and aroma. Late additions are all Styrian Goldings. I moved an ounce to 15 minutes to try to capture more flavor than aroma. I’ve been doing 2 ounces at flame out and it seems to add wonderful aroma but with a lot of that aroma getting scrubbed out during fermentation unfortunately. 20 – 10 minutes seems to be the sweet spot for flavor and aroma being captured for me. I have no idea why and it’s purely anecdotal. Also I tried mashing a bit higher to get a tad more mouthfeel. Only lost 1 gravity point by mashing higher. I will be interested to see how all these subtle tweaks will work out!

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.048
Estimated FG: 1.011
Estimated Color: 5.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 39.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 4.9%

Grain
10 lbs Maris Otter (3 SRM) 90.9%
1 lb Turbinado sugar (20 SRM) 9.1%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
7.00g Magnum [12%] – 60 min 9.4 IBUs
7.00g Magnum [12%] – 45 min 8.6 IBUs
14.00g Magnum [12%] – 30 min 14.4 IBUs
28.00g Styrian Goldings [3.3%] – 15 min 5.1 IBUs
28.00g Styrian Goldings [3.3%] – Whirlpool 10 min 1.9 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
3g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
4ml lactic acid added to mash water
3g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
3ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 4.25 gallons water 166F and let stabilize to 156F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 5 gallons cold

Yeast
Safale S-04 English Ale Dry Yeast

Fermentation
Ferment until done 65F
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

Belgian Pale

A beer that is barely even a blip on the scene in the US. I tried brewing this 5 or 6 years ago with mixed results. Too much orange peel made for a wonderful Grand Marnier flavor. Thanks Mr. Mosher. Keeping it a bit simpler. Some Maris Otter and Munich malt with a a little sugar to lighten the body. Clean bittering hop and a lot of Styrian Goldings late addition should be a nice Marmalade touch to go with the Munich.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.047
Estimated FG: 1.008
Estimated Color: 8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.1%

Grain
5 lbs Maris Otter (3 SRM) 45.5%
5 lbs Munich Malt (10 SRM) 45.5%
1 lb Turbinado sugar (20 SRM) 9.1%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
14.00g Magnum [12%] – 60 min 19 IBUs
14.00g Magnum [12%] – 15 min 19.4 IBUs
56.00g Styrian Goldings [3.3%] – Whirlpool 10 min 3.8 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
4ml lactic acid added to mash water
2g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
2ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 4.25 gallons water 161F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 5 gallons cold

Yeast
Safale BE-256 Belgian Abbaye Dry Yeast

Fermentation
Ferment until done 70F
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

Export Porter

I’ve been on quite a brewing hiatus. Decided to make something you just can’t find in the stores – a nice export porter. Roasty and toasty but smooth as velvet. A good fall beer if we ever get some fall weather around here. Turned out beautifully with a lingering tight tan head leaving lace down the glass.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.056
Estimated FG: 1.011
Estimated Color: 45.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 33 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 6%

Grain
10 lbs Maris Otter (3 SRM) 71.4%
1 lbs Brown Malt (65 SRM) 7.1%
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350 SRM) 7.1%
1 lbs Black Prinz (debittered black malt) (500 SRM) 7.1%
1 lb Turbinado sugar (20 SRM) 7.1%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
28.00g East Kent Goldings [5%] – First Wort (90 min) 17.4 IBUs
28.00g East Kent Goldings [5%] – 15 min 7.3 IBUs
28.00g East Kent Goldings [5%] – 10 min 5.4 IBUs
28.00g East Kent Goldings [5%] – 5 min 2.9 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
2.5g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
2.5ml lactic acid added to mash water
2.5g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
2.5ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 5.125 gallons water 161F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4.45 gallons cold

Yeast
Safale S-04 Ale Dry Yeast

Fermentation
Ferment until done 67F
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

Apollo

It’s been awhile since I brewed and I was not too sure how I was going to procure my ingredients since Surf Brewery jettisoned the home brew shop. I understand that brewing supplies have thin margins but when you have s shop already set up that draws people into your establishment where you will at least have a beer or two, I don’t understand the economics, unless the shop was just hemorrhaging money. Anyhow, I looked into a few alternatives. One was driving to Simi Valley Home Brew. It’s a great shop but just too far away. Two, Northern Brewer, but since they were bought out by ABInbev I’ve noticed that the prices are just not all that great. Three, was using MoreBeer. I used them a really long time ago ordering a false bottom from them and hadn’t really checked out the site in a quite some time. Prices were pretty reasonable for grain and hops and although shipping isn’t going to be free unless you spend over 50 bucks it still ended up being around $33 for a six gallon batch with shipping.

Decided on doing a pale ale and trying the Apollo hop this time around for some bittering and late additions with a tad of Centennial. I like the juicy IPA’s but I think I like the dank ones better and Apollo has a reputation for dankness. We shall see. Also my first time using he Safale S-04 Ale Dry Yeast which is similar to WLP002 – the Whitbread strain. As of report time was performing really well so no complaints there.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.051
Estimated FG: 1.009
Estimated Color: 4.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 44.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.5%

Grain
10 lbs Pale Two Row (2 SRM) 83.3%
1 lbs White Wheat (2.4 SRM) 8.3%
1 lb Turbinado sugar (20 SRM) 8.3%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
7.00g Apollo [17%] – 60 min 13.1 IBUs
7.00g Apollo [17%] – 30 min 10.0 IBUs
7.00g Apollo [17%] – 15 min 6.5 IBUs
28.00g Apollo [17%] – steep 10 min 9.5 IBUs
28.00g Centennial [9.00%] – steep10 min 5 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
2ml lactic acid added to mash water
3g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
2ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 4.375 gallons water 161F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 5 gallons cold

Yeast
Safale S-04 Ale Dry Yeast

Fermentation
Ferment until done 64F
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method