Saison No. 4

Brew #: 30
Brew Date: September 07, 2013

Ingredients

2.0 lbs German Vienna malt

1.0 lb flaked wheat

0.5 lb flaked oats

12.0 oz sugar

6 lbs light dry malt extract
3.0 oz Vanguard (5.4% AA) hop pellets @ 60 min. (bittering)

0.75 oz. Styrian Goldings hop pellets @ 30 min.  (flavor)

0.75 oz Styrian Goldings hop pellets @ 5 min. (aroma + flavor)

1.0 oz Vanguard hops hop pellets @ 0 min. (aroma)

8.0 oz honey, @ 0 min.

0.5 oz dried sweet orange peel @ 0 min

0.25 tsp black pepper @ 0 min

0.25 tsp turmeric @ 0 min

1 vial of White Labs WLP568 Belgian Style Saison Blend Ale Yeast

0.5 oz Styrian Goldings hop pellets, @ dry hopping

Procedure

Poured grains into 1.3 gals of 162°F water.  Held at 150°F-153°F range for 60 mins.
Strained grain liquor into kettle containing 2 gals of water.  Added bittering hops, sugar, and DME. Brought to boil.
Added aroma hops at 30 mins from end of boil.
Added aroma & flavor hops at 5 mins from end of boil.
Added aroma hops, spices, orange peel, and honey at 1 min. from end of boil, and turned off burner.
Strained into fermenter holding 2 gals of cool water, and added enough water to bring level up to aprox. 5.5 gals.

Fermentation notes
9/8 Pitched yeast at 78°F
9/9  am temp 76°F, pm temp 76°F
9/10 am temp 75°F pm temp 76°F
9/14 am temp 71°F
9/17 pm temp 75°F
9/26 pm temp 70°F
9/26 Racked to secondary fermenter, with addition of 0.5 oz Styrian Goldings (4% AA) hop pellets
10/05 Added 7/8 cup of corn sugar dissolved in 16 oz. water.  Bottled some and kegged the remainder.

Gals in fermenter:  5½

Gals. in Keg: 2.5

O.G.: 1.071

F.G.: 1.005

A.B.V.:  8.6%

Tidying up

Yesterday I undertook the long-postponed, and long-overdue, task of cleaning and reorganizing my "brewhouse", or as we call it around here, the beer closet.

The first step, of course, was to empty it out, and clean up the space with anti-septic wipes.

Then, I sorted through the stuff, identifying items that needed to simply be tossed out, and putting those that were to be retained together with similar items.

Two boxes of empty bottles were set aside for storage elsewhere, thus providing a lot more room in the closet.

Another useful addition was the purchase of a small, 16-drawer organizer, that'll keep me from having to dig around in the deep drawer for small parts, such as fermentation locks, rubber bungs, hose clamps, bottle caps, and so on.

It took a while, but it will make things much, much easier.

West Coast Red Ale

Brew #: 29


9 lbs. light LME
1 lb. Crystal 40L malt
1 lb Crystal 75L malt
5 oz Pale Chocolate malt
3 oz Chocolate malt
2 oz Carafa II malt
1 oz. Magnum 14.5%AA hop pellets (60 min.; bittering)
1 oz. Cascade 6.2%AA hop pellets (10 min; flavor)
1 oz. Columbus 15.2%AA hop pellets (10 min; flavor)
1 oz. Cascade 6.2%AA hop pellets (0 min; aroma)
1 oz. Columbus15.2%AA hop pellets (0 min; aroma)
3 vials White Labs WPL001 California Ale Yeast


1. Steeped grains in 1.5 gals water until reached 160F.
2. Sparged into 4.5 gals in kettle, with enough water to bring kettle level to 6 gals (24 qts).
3.  Brought to boil.  Turned off heat and added LME, bringing kettle level to 7 gals.
4. Brough back to boil, added bittering hops, and started clock.
5. At 10 mins to end of boil added flavouring hops
6. At end of boil, removed from heat and added aroma hops.
7.  Transfered to fermenter at 75F.

Vol. at start of boil: 7 gals.
Vol. at end of boil: 5.5 gals.
Vol. in fermenter: aprox. 4.75 gals.
Vol. in keg: aprox. 4.7 gals.
Pitching Temp: 75F
O.G: 1.067
FG: 1.022
PABV: 5.9%


Nov. 19: Racked off of sediment and into secondary fermenter.

Dec. 5th: Racked to keg and set to carbonate in kegerator.

DOZE booth at the Bay Area Craft Beer Festival

"Joe Hill" West Coast Red

#28:

9 lbs. light LME
1 lb. Crystal 40L malt
0.5 lb. British Crystal 135/165L malt
0.5 Pale Chocolate malt
0.5 Victory malt
1 oz. Citra 13.9%AA hop pellets (60 min.; bittering)
1 oz. Cascade 6.0%AA hop pellets (10 min; flavor)
1 oz. Centennial 10.5%AA hop pellets (10 min; flavor)
1 oz. Cascade 6.0%AA hop pellets (0 min; aroma)
1 oz. Centennial 10.5%AA hop pellets (0 min; aroma)
2 vials White Labs WPL001 California Ale Yeast


1. Placed grains in 1.5 gals cold water and brought to 154F.
2. Strained grain wort and added wort (yield 1 gal.) to 3 gals of cold water in kettle (yielding 20 qts/5 gals. of preboil volume), and brought to boil.
3. Once boil achieved, added LME and returned to boil.
4. Added bittering hops.
5. Boiled 50 minutes, and added flavoring hops.
6. Boiled 10 more minutes and added aroma hops, and removed kettle from heat.
7. Cooled and added to 1.5 gals. cold water in fermenter.

4/18/12: Kegged beer.

Gals. in Fermenter: 5.25
Gals. in keg: 4.75
O.G.: 1.067
F.G.:  1.016
A.B.V: 6.7%

Tis the Holiday Saison (2011)

Brew #: 27
Brew Date: October 16, 2011

Recipe based on that developed for the mini-mash version of Brother Levonian saison ale.

Ingredients

6 lbs extra-light dry malt extract

2.0 lbs Vienna malt

1.0 lb flaked wheat

0.5 lb flaked oats

12.0 oz sugar

3.0 oz Saaz hops @ 60 min. (bittering)

0.5 oz Glacier hops @ 60 min  (bittering)

22 g. (0.67 oz) Glacier hops @ 30 min.  (flavor)

0.75 oz Glacier hops @ 5 min. (aroma + flavor)

1.0 oz Saaz hops @ 0 min. (aroma)

8.0 oz honey, @ 0 min.

0.5 oz fresh tangerine peel @ 0 min

0.25 tsp black pepper @ 0 min

0.25 tsp turmeric @ 0 min

2 vials of White Labs WLP565 Saison Ale Yeast

0.5 oz Kent Goldings, @ dry hopping

Procedure

Placed grains in 1.0 gals of 165F water and held at between 148F and 162F for about 1 hr.  Sparged into boiling kettle to make 6 gals in boil.

Added malt extract and sugar, and brought to boil.

Added 60-minute hops, and proceeded to add hops at times indicated above.

At minute 0, turned off heat and added the honey, 1.0 oz Saaz hops, tumeric, pepper, and tangerine peel.

Cooled wort to 85F, racked to fermenter and pitched yeast.

Gals in fermenter:  5

Gals. in Keg:

O.G.: 1.076

F.G.: 1.010

A.B.V.:  8.6


Fermentation Notes:
10/17 attached FermWrap heater
10/2* evident fermentation subsided.  Unplugged FermWrap.
11/12 transfered to secondary fermenter with addition of 0.5oz of Kent Goldings pellets
11/20 Racked to keg and connected CO2

Tasting notes:
Background off-flavor, described as "slightly medical" .   Has persisted despite aging.

Next time brew earlier in year (Aug. or Sept.) and eliminate artificial heating during fermentattion altogether.

Mild Ale

Brew #: 26

This recipe takes off using Charlie Papazian's Righteous American Real Ale, from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, as a starting point.   The primary variations are use of California ale yeast instead of an English-style yeast, and the addition of grains to add a reddish tint.

5 lbs amber DME
6 oz. Carafa III malt
1.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets (6.4% AAU) - bittering
0.5 oz. Kent Goldings hop pellets - aroma
1 tablet Whirfloc clarifying agent
6 gals. Arrowhead bottled water
2 vials of White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001)


Brought 1 gal water to 110*F. Added Carafa malt to it and raised temp and held to ~170*F for more or less 10 mins.

Brought 5 gals of water to boil in pot, sparged grain water into this.  Returned to boil, and added DME and bittering hops.    At 1 to end of boil, added aroma hops and clarifier.  Removed from heat at 45 min. mark.

Cooled wort and racked to fermenter.   Pitched yeast at 77*F.

Gals. in boil: 5
Gals. in fermenter: 4.75
Boil: 45 mins
OG: 1.044
FG: 1.010
ABV: 4.5%
IBUs: 35.3 - 38.8

10/15: Racked to secondary fermenter.
           Tasted beer.  Initial impression: light, refreshing, nice bitterness.
10/18 Transferred to keg for carbonation stage.