#177 Fawkes Bitter

I dig a good English bitter, particular a nice low-ABV ordinary bitter when I can find it. Brewed on the fifth of November, it only seemed appropriate to name this session beer after Guy Fawkes.

The recipe for this beer was very simple, though I had to sub in WLP002--the über flocculator--for my preferred WY1469. Mash temp turned out to be extra low, leading to a thin, overly attenuated beer. Things also got tough with dry hopping; I'd planned to go just a few days before bottling, but a cold postponed bottling day until after a trip, leading to sixteen days of contact time. The aromatics were lost and the extra hops may have contributed a harsher vegetal character to the bittering. Add to that the fact that this beer hasn't properly carbonated and we have a fairly unappetizing tipple. Hoping a bit more time in the bottle will add carbonation that will lift it just a bit.

Check out my Nov 5, 2019 instagram post to see a few brewday pics.

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#177 Fawkes Bitter

Batch size: 4 gallons
Projected OG: 1.039
Projected SRM: 6.8
Projected IBU: 28.3
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 87%   

Grains/Fermentables
83.3% - 5 lb Golden Promise
16.7% - 1 lb Carastan

Hops
.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria (10.7%) (30 min)
1 oz Styrian Celeja (3.0%) (5 min)
.5 oz Cryo Loral (22.7%) (5 min)
1 oz Styrian Celeja (dry hop - 3 days)
.5 oz Cryo Loral (dry hop - 3 days)

Yeast
WLP002 - no starter

Extras
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (5 min)
1/2 tab Whirlfloc

Water (mash)
Profile: Denver (brewersfriend ID: 2CZ8J00)
5 g Gypsum
2 g Epsom salts

Brewday: 5 November 2019
Mash: 11 qts @ 149F for 60 minutes
Sparge: 8 qts @ 212F
Sparge: 8 qts @ 212F
Pre-boil volume: 6 gallons

Transferred 4.75 gallons to fermenter.
Fermented in swamp cooler. Day 1 - 65F; 2 - 66F; 3 - 68F; 4 - 70F; 5 - 72F; 6 - 73F

Dry hop: 7 November 2019
Agitated fermenter several times/day to get yeast back in suspension.

Bottled: 23 November 2019
FG: 1.010
ABV: 3.8%
Bottled with 2.3 oz table sugar.

Sample tasted neutral with a firm bitterness. Not getting a lot of standout malt/yeast/hop characters.

#176 Hoppy Brown Ale

This was the "small beer" from my RIS IV mash. Since the RIS mash was done in two parts, I followed the same reiterated mashing technique for the brown: I resparged the "spent" first RIS mash for my initial brewing liquor for the brown, then used this liquor to resparge the spent second RIS mash portion. Confusing and overly complicated to execute, but it yielded a decent small beer.

The hops ended up relatively muddled; the final beer was firmly bitter with just a general "hoppy" aroma. This read more like a black IPA than a real brown ale, but was still overall enjoyable.

Sorry, no extant pictures of this one!

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#176 Hoppy Brown (RIS IV final runnings small beer - American Brown)

Batch size: 3 gallons
Projected OG: 1.041
Projected SRM: 43.6
Projected IBU: 40.6
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 17.5%

Grains/Fermentables
59.6% - 17 lb 2-row
17.5% - 5 lb Munich I
14.0% - 4 lb Flaked oats
3.5% - 1 lb Roasted barley
3.5% - 1 lb Special B
1.8% - 8 oz Chocolate

Hops
.2 oz El Dorado (13.4%) (60 min)
.2 oz Centennial (9.1%) (10 min)
.2 oz Hallertau Blanc (9.7%) (10 min)
.8 oz El Dorado (hop steep - 30 min)
.3 oz Centennial (hop steep - 30 min)
1.5 oz Centennial (dry hop - 4 days)
1.3 oz Hallertau Blanc (dry hop - 4 days)

Yeast
1 pkg WLP066 London Fog - .5 l starter

Extras
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (5 min)
1/2 tab Whirlfloc

Water (mash)
Profile: Denver (brewersfriend ID: 2CZ8J00)

Brewday: 22 July 2019
Mash #1 (15 lb 2-row): 20 qts @ 170F
    Short rest & runoff following RIS mash #1 lauter
Mash #2 (remainder of grain bill): Mash #1 liquor @ 170F
    Short rest & runoff following RIS mash #2 lauter
Pre-boil volume: 5.5 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 9.2P (1.036)

Transferred 3.9 gallons to fermenter.
Fermented in swamp cooler at 67F ambient.


29 July 2019: It seems like active fermentation has probably ceased, but the krauesen is still sitting on top of the beer (much like with WY1469). Removed from swamp cooler to rest at 70F ambient.

Dry hop: 1 August 2019
Krauesen layer still present; breaks up momentarily but doesn’t sink with agitation.

Bottled: 5 August 2019
FG: 1.010
ABV: 4.1%
Bottled with 3.4 oz table sugar.

#175 RIS IV

...and we're back! Fell out of the blogging habit for quite a while there. As this blog was meant mostly to document my brewing and record my thoughts on the results, these posts will probably slim down (unless there's a good reason to really get into the weeds on ingredients, process, etc.). Onward!

My latest quarter-century batch came up in July; time for my fourth Russian imperial stout! Double reiterated mash, per usual. Grain bill accentuating rich maltiness and a blend of dark/roasty characters. I didn't notice a lot of impact from the four months it spent on oak cubes, but it went to bottle tasting very nice: lots of dark chocolate, roasty/almost smoky aroma, formidable body. One gallon will sit on Seville orange peel and cassia cinnamon bark for a while to see what they might add.

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#175 RIS IV

Batch size: 5 gallons
Projected OG: 1.106
Projected SRM: 36.5
Projected IBU: 61.8
Boil time: 90 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 56%   

Grains/Fermentables
59.6% - 17 lb 2-row
17.5% - 5 lb Munich I
14.0% - 4 lb Flaked oats
3.5% - 1 lb Roast barley
3.5% - 1 lb Special B
1.8% - 8 oz Chocolate

Hops
2 oz El Dorado (13.4%) (90 min)

Yeast
2 pkg US-05

Extras
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (5 min)
1/2 tab Whirlfloc
5 g Seville orange peel (tertiary)
2 g Saigon cassia cinnamon (tertiary)

Water (mash)
Profile: Denver (brewersfriend ID: 2CZ8J00)
Mash #1:
    2 g Gypsum
    5 g CaCl
    3 g Citric acid
Mash #2 (ended up in sparge water - d’oh!):
    2 g Epsom salts
    5 g CaCl
    2 g Chalk (dissolved in carbonated water)

Brewday: 22 July 2019
Mash #1 (15lb 2-row): 19 qts @ 150F for 20 minutes
Sparge: 18.5 qts @ 150F
SG: 13.8P (1.055)
Volume: 7.5 gallons - hold at 150F
Mash #2 (remainder of grain bill): Mash #1 liquor @ 140F for 90 minutes
Sparge: 10 qts @ 175F
Draw off & boil 1 gallon, add back to raise temp to 148F
Draw off & boil 1.25 gallons, add back to raise temp to 161F
Pre-boil volume: 7.5 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 21.3P (1.087)

Transferred 5.5 gallons to fermenter.
Fermented in swamp cooler at 67F ambient.

29 July 2019: Active fermentation has ceased; krauesen has fallen. Taken out of swamp cooler to rest at 70F ambient.


Secondary: 5 August 2019
SG: 1.024
Added 1.1 oz home toasted American oak

Bottled: 5 December 2019
FG: 1.025
ABV: 9.9%
Bottled 3.9 gallons with 2.9 oz table sugar and rehydrated US-05.
Transferred 1 gallon to tertiary with rye-soaked Seville orange peel and Saigon cassia cinnamon.