I’ve basically hit upon a go to grain bill for my IPAs. Basically 88% 2 row, 8% Cara-pils(for mouthfeel), and 4% sugar(for dryness). I like my IPA’s dry with no caramel in them. You could make this more “English” by substituting a bit of two row with Crystal. Anyhow, now I’m trying out some different hops in the beer for aroma and dry hopping. This time will be using Summit, Galena, and Amarillo. Changed my mashing to a thinner mash. Tried going to 1.25 qt per pound grain but was getting poor efficiency. 1.5 qt per pound seems to work best with my equipment. When mashing low it’s always good to bring the mash temp up to mash out, so after an hour fire up tun and bring up to 168F slowly. This will make sure all the sugars convert.

5 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.069
Estimated FG: 1.013
Estimated Color: 4.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 101 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 7.7%

Grain
12 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US  88.2 %
1 lbs 2.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine 7.9 %
8.8 oz Cane Sugar 3.9 %

Schedule
21 g Summit [17.00 %] – First Wort 30.0 min
28 g Galena [12.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min
38 g Amarillo [8.50 %] – Boil 30.0
39 g Galena [12.00 %] – Boil 0.0 min
18 g Amarillo [8.50 %] – Dry Hop
35 g Summit [17.00 %] – Dry Hop
53 g Galena [12.00%] – Dry Hop

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

Mash and Sparge
Half RO water no additions
Half Ventura water(high bicarbonates and sulfates)
Mash in 5.3875 gallons 157F and let stabilize to 148F for 75 min
Mash out 168F
Batch Sparge 3.5 gallons 180F

Yeast
Cal Ale

This beer is based loosely on an ancient Egyptian recipe. The recipe calls for what seems to be a lot of spice but with the wheat and the Belgian yeast it all works very well together. There are no hops in this beer with the juniper acting as the bittering and preservative agent. If you must have hops I think a small amount of something piney or citrusy would be interesting. If your feeling gun shy about the spices add them at flame out. What seems overpowering at the time mellows out quite a bit through fermentation and conditioning. Try using fresh orange peel. Its far superior to the dried out stuff with the pith. Two small oranges would do for this. The honey adds yet another layer of complexity and aroma so add it after high krausen so you don’t lose any of those wonderful honey flavors and aromatics. Because of the honey, this beer will age really well, almost it giving it a champagne like quality. I would recommend  aging taking place as a cold conditioning after the beer is carbonated which will clear it brilliantly.

5 gallons

OG = 1.060 (14.7 °P)
FG = 1.014 (3.6 °P)
SRM = 4–5
ABV = 6.0%

Grain
5.5 lbs. white wheat malt
7.0 lbs. pale 2-row malt
0.5 lbs rice hulls
12 oz.  wildflower honey (add honey after high krausen)

Spices (all at 10 minutes)
10 g coriander seeds
10 g juniper berries
5.5 g grains of paradise
4.0 g rose hips
7.0 g bitter orange peel

Yeast
White Labs WLP500 (Trappist Ale) or Wyeast 1214 (Belgian Abbey) yeast

Mash and Sparge
Mash in 4.875 gallons 161.7 F and let stabilize to 152.0 F for 60 minutes.
Sparge 3.11gallons of 168.0 F water

Special Instructions
Boil for just 30 minutes.

A classic IPA based on Pizza Port’s The Jetty IPA. Hop substitutions – Summit for Simcoe, Columbus for Chinook, and Cascade for Amarillo – so it definitely will be different. Used aeration stone and fermentation started 2 hours after pitching starter. Pretty impressive results justifying the use of the aeration stone.

5 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.069
Estimated FG: 1.013
Estimated Color: 4.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 96 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 7.6%

Grain
12 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US  88.2 %
1 lbs 2.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine 7.9 %
8.8 oz Cane Sugar 3.9 %

Schedule
0.75 oz Summit [17.00 %] – First Wort 30.0 min
1.00 oz Columbus [14.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min
1.33 oz Cascade [5.50 %] – Boil 30.0
1.38 oz Columbus [13.00 %] – Boil 0.0 min
1.86 oz Columbus [13.00 %] – Dry Hop
1.86 oz Summit [17.00 %] – Dry Hop

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

Mash and Sparge
Half RO water no additions
Mash in 4.25 gallons 159F and let stabilize to 148F for 75 min
Batch Sparge 4.25 gallons 180F

Yeast
Cal Ale

Got this recipe from The Mad Fermentationist. Check out his site. Its a treasure trove of information especially if your into sour beers. I’m totally onboard with the latest trend in brewing regular to mild strength, or as the English call them, session beers. For too many years anything with flavor had been in the 6 – 8% range that will frankly get you loaded if you have more than four. Lower gravity beers can be good and flavorful and have less alcohol allowing you to enjoy more. Instead of using a lot of base malt the recipe calls for Vienna which has a bit more flavor and color. A little Cara Munich rounds it out. I also added quarter pound of Oats for a little mouth-feel which he suggests after tasting his own version. There’s a silly amount of hops in this beer. Almost all are late addition and dry hops so this should have an over the top hop aroma which I love more than the bitterness of hops.

As with any recipe I get, I find it almost impossible to get the hops that are exact so I did some substitutions using Cascade for Amarillo, and Summit for Simcoe. Luckily I was able to source a good amount of Columbus. The recipe calls for a no sparge but I decided to sparge and boil down. No sparge will give you a very malty taste because your not extracting as many tannins as when you sparge. I decided to get my moneys worth and boost the ABV a small amount by sparging. Hopefully it will be malty enough.

5 gallons all grain

OG 1.048
FG 1.012
IBU 37
SRM 7.5
ABV 4.8%

Grain
7 lbs 4.0 oz Vienna Malt
2 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt
8.0 oz Caramunich Malt
4.0 oz Oats, Flaked

Hops
Cascade 3.5 oz
Summit 4.0 oz
Tomahawk 3.0 oz

Hop Schedule
15 minutes
.5 oz Summit
.25 oz Tomahawk
10 minutes
.75 oz Cascade
5 minutes
.75 oz Summit
Flame out
1.5 oz Cascade
1.5 oz Tomahawk
1.5 oz Summit
Dry Hops
1.25 oz Cascade
1.25 oz Summit
1.25 oz Tomahawk

Mash and Sparge
Mash in add 4.5 gal of water at 162 F and let stabilize to 154.0 F for 60 min
Batch sparge 4 gal of 168.0 F water

Yeast
Washed California ale yeast

Saw this recipe on Shut up about Barclay Perkins website the other day and said to myself this beer sounds awesome. Adjuncts and spicing based on a real turn of the century recipe. Sweet! Porters used to be brewed quite commonly with licorice root which adds a bitter somewhat anise flavor and a non fermenetable sugar that is intensely sweet. There was also quite a bit of salt in it – almost a teaspoon per 5 gallon – probably to help balance out the sweetness of the licorice root. I have to admit I chickened out a bit and scaled back the licorice root and salt by about a third, because I have never used these ingredients before and I am always a little sketchy on spicing having had a really bad experience a few years back trying to clone Het Ankers Cuvée Van De Keizer Blauw. Used way too much cinnamon and it was a gag fest although some people really liked it.

A very small amount grains of paradise and hot pepper should add just a faint hint of heat. Flaked corn and sugar will give you the cheap ABV. A lot of my schedule is winging it except for the hops. When do you add the licorice? All sorts of differing info out there. Some say 60, 30, 10 minutes in the boil. I went for the lower side with 15 minutes.

This beer traditionally didn’t get great attenuation. It started at 1.072 and ended at 1.025. I mashed high so maybe it will quit maybe around 1.020 to give it a full body. We’ll see it – hasn’t even been 24 hours and thing is ripping and looking to come to high krausen.

Amsdell Porter

5 gallon all grain

1.072 SG (1.070 actual)
1.025 FG (shooting for 1.020)
6.5% ABV (hoping for 6.9%)
42.9 SRM
40.6 IBUs

Grain
9 lbs oz Pale Malt (2 Row)
2 lbs Corn, Flaked
1 lbs 4 oz Black (Patent) Malt
2oz Roasted Barley
1 lbs 2 oz Sugar, Table
11 oz Brown Sugar, Dark (panella/piconillo)

Hops
2oz Fuggles
1oz Tettnanger

Spices
3.61 g salt (about a teaspoon)
8 g licorice
.5 g hot pepper (1/8 teaspoon)
.5 g grains of paradise (1/8 teaspoon)

Schedule
90 minute
2oz Fuggles
30 minute
1oz Tettnanger
15 minute
licorice root
yeast nutrient
moss
5 minute
salt
hot pepper
grains of paradise

Yeast
California Ale or London Ale or British Ale

Mash and Sparge
Mash in add 4.5 gallons of water at 166.2 F let stabilize to 156.0 F for 45 min
Sparge 4 gallons at 168.0F

Same XPA recipe but changing the hop bill so I can see the differences in the flame out and dry hops. Had some Northern Brewer left over and on some advise going to try some New Zealand Hallertau to get some limey notes. I am going to taste the first XPA tonight and will give tasting notes tomorrow.

5 gallon all grain

SG 1.052
SRM 7
36 IBU
5.6% ABV

Grain
11.5 lbs two row
8 oz carapils

Hops
1 oz Northern Brewer
1 oz Sorachi Ace
2 oz Cascade
1 oz New Zealand Hallertau

Yeast
American or California ale yeast

Hop schedule
60 minute
1 oz Sorachi Ace
Flame out
1 oz Cascade
1 oz Northern Brewer
Dry hop
1.0 oz Cascade
1.0oz New Zealand Hallertau

Mash and Sparge
Mash in 4.5 gallons at 162 for 152 for 60 min
Sparge 3.25 gallons 168

Pitch 64 free rise to 68

This recipe is based on Eagle Rock Revolution XPA. But seeing its almost impossible to find the hops you need for a recipe these days I had to do all sorts of substitutions,  nix an ounce of acidulated malt, and use carapils instead of carafom, so basically its my recipe. First time using Sorachi Ace. Have heard mixed things about it. People either love or hate this hop. Using it sparingly besides the bittering additon because of its apparent lemon like aroma.

5 gallons all grain

SG 1.050
SRM 7
36 IBU
5.6% ABV

Grain
11.5 lbs two row
7 oz carapils

Hops
1 oz Nugget
1 oz Sorachi Ace
2 oz Cascade

Yeast
American or California ale yeast

Hop schedule
60 minute
.33 oz (9g) Nugget
.5 oz Sorachi Ace
Flame out
.5 oz Cascade
.42 oz  (12g) Nugget
.25 oz Sorachi Ace
Dry hop
1.5 oz Cascade
.25 oz Sorachi Ace
.25 oz Nugget

Mash and Sparge
Mash 4.5 gallons at 162 for 152 for 60 min
Sparge 3.25 gallons 168

Pitch 64 free rise to 68

This will be my first foray into the Belgian pale ale style. Took this recipe from Randy Mosher’s Radical Brewing. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves beer and brewing. I’ve never used spices in a beer of this structure. I’ve made saison and wits with coriander and orange but a pale ale should be interesting especially since this beer looks to be pretty malty flavored but also dry from the sugar. He recommends zesting a couple of oranges instead of using the dried peel you get at homebrew shops because they have the pith which is bitter. Makes sense plus how insanely aromatic is fresh zest?

Belgian Pale Ale
5 gallons all grain

1.055 SG
1.012 FG
ABV 5.7%

Grain
4lb Belgian Pale Ale Malt
3lb Belgian Munich Malt
1lb Aromatic Malt
6.0oz Caramunich Belgian
1.5lb sugar

Hops
1oz northern brewer 90min
.67oz(19g) Saaz 90 min
1oz Saaz 15 min

Spices
2 oranges zested
.5 oz coriander
2g grains of paradise

Schedule
90 minutes
1oz Northern Brewer
.67 oz (19g) Saaz
15 minutes
1oz Saaz
Flame out
Orange Peel
Coriander
Grains of Paradise

Yeast
Belgain Pale ale yeast or White Labs Abbey Ale

Mash and Sparge
Mash In Add 12.57 qt of water at 163.9 F let stabilize 152.0 F for 60 min
Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.10gal, 3.23gal) of 168.0 F water

I’m not a very political person anymore seeing that both parties suck ass but I thought it was interesting that Obama had his chefs home brewing and using the honey from the White House garden. I plopped their recipe into BeerSmith to make it all grain. The interesting thing was the hop schedule –  there really wasn’t one and it gave 10 HBUs for hop addition and  it gave Hallertau as the aroma hop. So, I added an ounce of Centennial for full boil which if the hops were 10% alpha x 1oz = 10 HBUs(correct me if I’m wrong). Do yourself a favor and add the honey at high krausen. This will  keep all those beautiful aromatics from the honey intact. Honey is anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral so if you’re paranoid about it infecting your beer put it in a little bit of boiled water to make a slurry but I wouldn’t. If you don’t like dry yeast I would recommend the White Labs London Ale.

Check out the original recipe at the White House site.

Ale to the Chief

Honey Porter 5 gallons

Est Original Gravity: 1.063
Est Final Gravity: 1.014
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.5 %
Bitterness: 34.6 IBUs
Est Color: 25.5 SRM

Mash In Add 22.44 qt of water at 163.4 F 156.0 F 45 min
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 3.36gal) of 168.0 F water

A classic in simplicity. It’s really hard to screw up this beer. If you don’t have a false bottom throw in the rice hulls. The last thing you need is a stuck sparge. This is one of those beers you can actually let rip as long as it doesn’t get to 80° or something ridiculous, Higher the temp the more banana flavors you will get.  I ferment at 65° to try to keep it balanced. You can bottle after a week and then drink after a week of conditioning but check to make sure before you bottle that the yeast has flocculated or you will have too much yeast in suspension to be pleasant to drink. If you do bottle right away definitely cold condition bottles for a couple days before you drink to make sure the yeast flocs. You’ll know by a good thick layer of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. I’ve heard of the 7 day hefe but you will have to cold crash the fermenter at the end of fermentation and keg it.

5 gallon all grain

OG 1.047
FG 1.014
ABV 4.33%

Grain
5 lb wheat 2L
5 lb pilsner 2L
.5 lb rice hulls

Hops
28g (1 oz) Hallertau 60 min

Mash and Sparge
Masin in 3.75 at 162F to stabilize at 151F for 60 min
Batch Sparge 5 gallons 170
Boil volume 6.5 gallons

Yeast
Hefeweizen