Brown Malt Porter

Brown malt has fascinated me since I learned of its prominent place in brewing historical porter. Originally comprising up to one hundred percent of porter grists, it was eventually replaced by black malt, coupled with a simple pale malt base. This type of brown malt has now disappeared, but the product now available under this name--and I'm unsure of exactly what separates it from the original--adds a wonderfully roasty, not-too-burnt character to dark beers. While I haven't geeked out on it as hard as I have on rye malt, brown malt has definitely captured my imagination.

About a year ago I started listening regularly to the Brewing Network, particularly the Session, picking and choosing my way through the archives. In the fall, I was taken by an interview they did with a pro brewer (from Round Guys, maybe?) who used forty percent brown malt in his brown porter. This sounded like nothing so much as a gauntlet thrown down, daring me to load up a sessionable porter with brown malt. I dutifully took up that challenge.

This beer pretty much topped out the original gravity of the BJCP guidelines for the smallest porter category (for those who are incredibly concerned about such metrics), but it included in a full four-tenths proportion of Crisp's brown malt. Aside from a bit of pale chocolate malt to round out the roast profile, the rest of the grist was pale malt. A simple low bittering addition of Phoenix, a newer British hop varietal, was all that went into (most of) this recipe. Wyeast's West Yorkshire Ale yeast gave it a particularly British character. This batch also received a dosing of Clarity-Ferm prior to fermentation to break down the gluten and make it suitable for DeAunn's gluten-intolerant consumption. While it seemed to help initially, eventually we found that this product still left too much gluten in the final beer for her to enjoy without experiencing gluten-related side effects. Back to messing around with cider, mead, and sorghum, then.

Further experimenting with this batch, one gallon went into a cubitainer with dry hops for cask conditioning (with which I've experimented before) and another gallon into a 5-liter mini keg, for which my father constructed a tap system, based on this design. Unfortunately, these innovations didn't work out quite as planned, either. I never have quite the luck I'd like with the cubitainers; this time, it began to leak when the internal pressure exceeded what the container would take. In addition, all the dry hops seemed to add--loose in the cubitainer as they were--was a bit of plant material that got stuck in one's teeth while taking a drink. The kegging setup had me a bit flummoxed, as I have little experience with force carbonation. I tried
to use high pressure (30 psi) carb method for a short period, combined with shaking, to get CO2 into solution, as one would do with a corny keg. The tap setup for the mini keg did not allow for as tight a seal as a corny, so attempting this carbonation method ended up with me hosed down with porter and emptying both

disposable CO2 cartridges I had without reaching proper carbonation. Next time, I'll use a lower pressure for a longer time. After letting the keg sit for better than a month in the fridge, figuring I'd oxidized the hell out of it with all the shaking, I dumped it; upon sampling what came out of the bung, not only was it partially carbonated--and kind of at a perfect cask carb--but it was still in great shape. Live and learn.

Fortunately, I had a number of bottles of this porter that were naturally carbonated. They're all gone now, but the best descriptor for this beer was "luscious." It was an easy drinking, sturdy porter with great chocolate and roast notes. This fall I'll probably brew this one again just as the recipe stands; especially now that I have a better handle on how the mini keg functions, this will be a great beer to have around once the weather turns cold again.

Brown Malt Porter

Batch size: 6 gallons
Projected OG: 1.052
Projected SRM: 25.3
Projected IBU: 21.4
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 89%

Grains
55.0% - 5.5 lbs Malteurop 2-row
40.0% - 4 lbs Crisp Brown malt
5.0% - 8 oz Crisp Pale chocolate

Hops
.7 oz Phoenix (10.2%) (60 min)
.3 oz Phoenix (10.2%) (dry hop in 1-gal cubitainer - 5 days)

Yeast
WY1469 - harvested from Wet Hop ‘13, 1.2 qt starter

Extras
1 vial Clarity Ferm (post chilling, pre yeast)

Water additions (mash)
9 qts distilled water
1 g Epsom salts
1 g Baking soda
1 g CaCl

Brewday: 4 January 2014
Mash: 154F for 60 minutes

Pre-boil volume: 7 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 10.8P (1.044)

Fermented at 60F ambient for 4 days, then moved to 70F ambient to free rise.  Active fermentation mostly finished by that point.

Bottled: 1 February 2014
FG: 1.019
ABV: 4.3%

Bottled 5l in mini keg, 1 gallon in cubitainer with .5 oz table sugar and dry hops; and remainder with 2.8 oz table sugar.

RIS III

As of last week, I am now a Doctor of Musical Arts. What does this have to do with homebrewing and/or blogging? It means I've now finished my terminal degree, so

1) I now have time to brew again.

2) I now have time to catch up on writing about what I've managed to brew in the last few months.

This first post back brings us to a special beer in my brewing calendar: Russian imperial stout. I designated every quarter-century brew as a gargantuan dark beer; while the "even-numbered" ones (#50 and #100, so far) have been imperial porters, this batch (#125) marks my third foray into the biggest entries of the stout family. The previous two iterations (the first predating this blog) have been immensely satisfying, and I'm down to my last bottle of each; after giving this latest batch a few months to age, I'll plan a vertical tasting.

This time around, the aim was for an even bigger, roastier stout. I eliminated all crystal malt, limiting non-base grains to roasted malts. Using a reiterated mash boosted efficiency well above what I expected based on the previous batches; I'd planned to add a pound of turbinado to raise the gravity and drive down the final gravity, but found it entirely unnecessary given the high

OG. It finished out higher than intended, but the high percentage of roasted grains really helped balance this beer. Next time around, I'll work toward an even lower FG and increase the bittering hops to help maintain balance over an even longer term.

I'm sampling my first bottle now; unfortunately it hasn't yet carbonated, but I'll happily reyeast these bottles if the need arises. I'm still working through technical issues with some of my other recipes (more on that soon), but in terms of this series, thing are going well. This beer almost makes me look forward to next winter already.

RIS III

Batch size: 5 gallons
Projected OG: 1.118
Projected SRM: 65.2
Projected IBU: 68.0
Boil time: 120 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 70.5%

Grains/Fermentables
79.2% - 19 lb Malteurop 2-row
12.5% - 3 lb Crisp Brown malt
8.3% - 2 lb Crisp Roasted Barley
1 lb Turbinado sugar (5 days into primary)

Hops
1 oz Phoenix (10.2%) (120 min)
1 oz Columbus (14.5%) (120 min)
1 oz Sterling (7.0%) (15 min)

Yeast
2 pkg US-05, rehydrated

Extras
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (10 min)
1 vial Clarity Ferm (post chilling, pre yeast)

Water additions
15 qts distilled water (mash #1)
1 g Epsom salts (mash #2)
1 g Salt (mash #2)
1 g Baking soda (mash #2)
1 g Chalk (mash #2)

Brewday: 30 November 2013

Reiterated mash
Mash #1 (12 lb 2-row): 150F for 20 minutes
Volume: 7.5 gallons
Run off to secondary pots; hold at 150F
Mash #2 (remainder of grist): Mash #1 liquor @ 145F for 90 minutes - dropped to 141F
pH: 5.0
Draw off & boil 1 gallon, add back to raise mash temp to 154F for 15 minutes
    Only raised it to 145F; drew off 2 more gallons & boiled, reaching 156F
Mashout - draw off & boil 2.5 gallons, add back to raise mash temp to 168F for 5 minutes
Pre-boil volume: 7.5 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 19.8P (1.083)

Aerated for 1 hour prior to pitching yeast, then again 6 hours after pitching.
Fermented in swamp cooler at 61F.
SNA: added additional 1 tsp yeast nutrient (boiled & cooled) at 24 hours, then 48 hours  into active fermentation.

After active fermentation slowed, pulled from swamp cooler & brought to 65F ambient to continue working. Agitated daily to keep yeast in suspension.

Secondary: 31 December 2013
SG: 1.032
Bulk age for at least 2 months.

Dry hop: 12 April 2014
Accidentally used the 2 oz EKG intended for the Burton ale. Will give it a week or so, then bottle.

Bottled: 23 April 2014
FG: 1.032
ABV: 11.3%
Bottled with 3.5 oz table sugar and rehydrated champagne yeast.

State of the Brew 2014

To say it's been a while would be a gross understatement. I'd always resolved to skip posts lamenting lack of updates, as they almost inevitably seem to sound the death knell for that blog. The last few months have been some of the busiest of my life; finishing this doctoral degree will be a real accomplishment, and it will happen this spring. Of course, to guarantee that, other aspects of life have gone by the wayside. Things like, oh, brewing and blogging. I'm very much looking forward to having time to come back to both more strongly, though once school's out the job search gains further momentum (it never stopped).

For now, I'll make a few quick notes on the past year of brewing, based only on my current recollection:

- I would've loved to have brewed more. The class/homework/project/dissertation schedule kept the kettles in the closet, mostly.

- Beers tended to sit much longer than intended before bottling. E.g., the Burton ale is now the best part of two years old, and I'm only now considering the dry hop. Still haven't even tasted it. Guess we'll see what kind of havoc the massive amount of oak cubes--probably 5 oz total?!--have wrought.

- More tasting notes are in order. Still working on that one.

- Utah low-point beer isn't terrible, and the brewers here work their asses off to pack as much flavour as possible into that small amount of alcohol. That being said, I won't be sad if our next home is somewhere outside the state, where full-strength beer is a bit easier to come by.

Right now, I have the Burton ale, a Belgian "amber" strong, and a pale ale in the fermenters. The APA will get the end of last year's locally-picked hops for dry hop in the next couple days, and the Burton will finally get its final dosing of Goldings soon. I look forward to writing all about each of these beers as soon as possible. Til then, prosit.

Local Cider '13

In the fall of 2012, DeAunn and I managed quite a haul from harvesting fruit, mostly apples along with some pears, and produced a few mini-batches of cider and perry.  The straight cider turned out decently; the other batches picked up infections and were dumped.  While we exerted a lot of energy grinding and pressing the fruit on our own for a very small yield, it was an experience that brought a connection to the ingredients that's hard to get otherwise.

This fall, a friend pointed me toward a different source from which to gather fruit straight from the trees.  They were all culinary apples, but in several varieties; the diversity was definitely welcome.  In addition, I was also able to gather some crabapples from the same plot.  After last year I did a little bit of cider homework, looking to enhance the flavour of what had turned out to be, after fermentation removed the simple sugars, a dry, somewhat bland beverage.  Adding crabapples to the mix seemed like a good way to introduce the acidic and tannic characters culinary apples lack.  Before getting down to juicing, the apples were also allowed to sit for the better part of three weeks to "sweat"; the natural yeast begins to ferment the fruit sugars, breaking down the cell structure and making the apples easier to process.

And so, one November weekend when DeAunn was out of town, I pulled a solo all-nighter preparing and juicing the apples...with our small consumer-grade juicer.  Yes, it took all night and into the early morning, but the juicer actually did a pretty good job.  My hands were a wreck by the end from being constantly wet for hours on end; gloves would've been a good move.  In the end, I had almost three gallons of cider ready for fermentation.  Since it had sat out in the open air all night, I gently heat pasteurized the batch before pitching.  After about three weeks in the fermenter, it was ready for bottling.

I cannot say enough nice things about how this cider turned out.  The crabapples were definitely a good idea; their acidity and tannins gave the cider real heft and character, and balanced well with the touch of residual sweetness left after fermentation.  While it was much more work than ciders I've made from store- (or orchard-) bought juice, the final quality was much greater, and my enmeshment in the process was much deeper.

As homebrewers, we have to really work to connect with our ingredients; while we can grow our own hops, isolating suitable yeast cultures on our own requires a substantial amount of work (which a number of folks admirably put in), and growing and malting enough of our own grain to sustain this as a year-round habit is pretty much out of the question for anyone living in an urban or suburban setting.  Working on the fruit for this cider allowed me to really get in on the ground level of the ingredients in a way that I probably will never be able to do with barley malt and saccharomyces.  It made the final product that much more enjoyable.  My next cider will undoubtedly come from store-bought juice, and I'd still encourage anyone looking to try cider making to go this route.  If one day the opportunity to pick your own apples and choose the balance of fruit going into the cider presents itself, though, go for it; it takes the "easy" out of making cider, but we're not really doing this because it's easy, are we?

NB: After making this cider, I came across a couple very recent resources that may interest those looking to take their own steps into fermenting pomme fruit.  The first is an article in the Nov/Dec issue of Zymurgy that covered a side-by-side comparison of different brewing yeasts for making cider.  The results suggested using British strains for suitable ester character and favourable residual sweetness; WLP002 or 004 may be what I try next.  The second resource is Drew Beechum's recent book, The Everything Hard Cider Book, about which I learned from an interview with the author on the Brewing Network's The Session podcast.  Drew's book focuses on how to make good cider with readily available juices and other materials, as well as how to use this type of cider as a basis for experimentation.  It's one I'm planning to pick up before too long.  Hope these help.

Local Cider ‘13 - From apples & crabapples picked in residential SLC

Batch size: 2.8 gallons
OG: 13.2P (1.052)

3 ½ buckets various varieties of apples & crabapples
WLP775 English Cider yeast

Brewday: 2 November 2013
Let apples sit for 2 ½ weeks after picking.
Processed apples with home juicer; VERY labour-intensive process.
Strained, pasteurized at 160F for ~10 minutes, chilled, pitched.
Fermented at ~65F ambient.

Bottled: 22 November 2013
FG: 1.005
ABV: 6.4%
Bottled with 2.7 oz table sugar and rehydrated champagne yeast.

Munich Dunkel

I still remember my first experiences with lager.  The very first was a sip of my dad's Old Milwaukee when I was eight; I can't say it agreed with me.  In college in Boston, Sam Adams frequently showed up at parties, and while it was one of my first welcome introductions to craft beer, I can't say I was really taken with it.  And at the tender age of twenty one, I was offered my first Bud by the drummer of a band for whom I was working merch; the fact that it had about the same taste as a glass of water did not make a great impression.  Following experiences like this, my initial homebrewing instinct was to stick to ales; they were by far what I preferred to drink.  While I've had a few decent craft lagers over the years, I was never swayed to try making one myself.

That was, until I spent a week in Santiago, Chile last October.  Chilean beer is currently experiencing a craft renaissance, but the traditional beers of the country (and many other South American countries) are German lagers.  I had a number of really exceptional lagers while there, but the one that really nailed it for me is the one pictured here: deeply malty and supremely drinkable.  It wasn't too hard a sell sitting in an outdoor cafe in downtown Santiago, enjoying the Southern Hemisphere's early spring weather.  Unfortunately, I can't remember the brewery that produced it, so I couldn't look into it further.  But it was the beer that finally inspired me to really give lager a shot at home.

Lacking a lot of lager knowledge, I couldn't decide if the beer from my memories of Chile was a Vienna lager or a Munich dunkel.  Digging on darker beers for the winter months, I decided to follow the road to München.  (Looks like the inspiration is more a Vienna, though; that may be the next up, then.)  Nearly entirely Munich malt, with just a pinch of dehusked Carafa for deeper colour.  A very light brush of neutral bittering hops, with Hallertauer to finish.  Not knowing my lager yeasts, Wyeast's Munich Lager strain seemed like an easy go-to for the style; building a proper starter took some time, but was well worth it to have a good pitch of yeast.

Brewday went smoothly, leaving my only other big worry being my ability to actually lager, which I did in my swamp cooler with water along with a bunch of ice and ice packs.  I was shocked when I realized I'd made it a full month keeping the beer at a fairly constant low- to mid-30s F with this method.  While it's not perfect--I could stand even more malt character--this could be the start of a long, positive relationship of lager in my homebrewery.

Primavera en Santiago - Munich Dunkel

Batch size: 5.5 gallons
Projected OG: 1.059
Projected SRM: 13.8
Projected IBU: 25.4
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 87%

Grains
98.8% - 10 lb Weyermann Organic Munich
1.2% - 2 oz Carafa Special II

Hops
.3 oz Magnum (13.5%) (60 min)
2 oz Hallertauer (3.9%) (15 min)

Yeast

WY2308 Munich Lager - 4l, 3-stage starter on stirplate

Extras
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (10 min)
1 tsp Irish moss (10 min)

Water additions (mash)
3 gal distilled water
1 g Gypsum
1 g Salt

Brewday: 21 September 2013 
Mash: 152F for 60 minutes.
Pre-boil volume: 7 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 12P (1.048)

Fermented in swamp cooler at 50F.

24 September 2013: Definite smell of active fermentation.  No sulphur yet, just yeast churning away.  Give it two weeks, then pull from swamp cooler for diacetyl rest.

9 October 2013: Diacetyl rest at ambient (65-70F).

16 October 2013: Lagered with ice bath in swamp cooler for 4 weeks.
FG:1.016
ABV: 5.6%

Bottled: 21 November 2013
Warmed to room temperature for several days before bottling.
Bottled with 4.1 oz table sugar and rehydrated champagne yeast.

Wet-Hopped Ordinary Bitter

I feel lucky to have next-door neighbours who are avid beer drinkers, particularly living where we do.  The husband prefers his tipple light and balanced, while the wife likes hers all over the map, strength and style wise.  They've reacted very enthusiastically to everything I've shared with them, and have returned in kind with some of their local commercial favourites.  This summer they generously volunteered to water my hop bines in our long absence.  I was able to give the hops one pruning before we left; I wasn't going to further burden friends who were already doing me such a big favour.

Upon returning to town, we found the hops in prime shape, ready to be picked.  The thing was, I couldn't tell what was what; the three separate plants had spent the summer growing up and out, tangling together inextricably.  That's what happens, obviously, when you're not on hand to continually prune and sort out the bines as they grow; I just wasn't expecting this level of entanglement, as last year they weren't too tough to separate.  I'd planned on doing an ordinary bitter with the wet Goldings and Willamettes, but since it was impossible to separate them from the Centennials, DeAunn and I picked them all together and into the brewpot they went.

With the success of the ultra-simple recipe for this summer's best bitter, I went much the same route with this English-style beer.  All Maris Otter base, with under a pound of British crystal for residual sweetness.  A little bit of UK bittering hops at the start of the boil, then all those fresh, wet hops at the end.  It's always enjoyable to see all of those green cones swimming in the kettle.  Last year's dry Willamettes went in for dry hop.

Starting so small, this bitter didn't take long to ferment, and I was pouring it under a month from brewday.  This turned out to be another reminder of why I should brew more session beers: the first glass begs for the next, and at 3.3% that doesn't become a problem.  It turned out maybe a little drier that I would've liked, so I'll increase the crystal or raise the mash temp a couple degrees next time.  I can't complain about the drinkability, though, with a bit of crackery malt meshing well with the slight mineral flavour from the yeast.  The one letdown was the lack of hop presence; the bittering is nicely balanced, but for all of that vegetable matter that went in late, there's not a lot going on in the nose.  That being said, it's an exceptionally fine, restrained beer that I've pretty much decimated by this point.  And I got the reaction I'd hoped to receive from my neighbours; while they're always appreciative, this beer went over VERY well, especially with the husband.  I won't lie: it's nice to hit the bullseye.

Wet Hop ‘13 - Ordinary bitter with all the hops straight off the bines

Batch size: 6 gallons
Projected OG: 1.036
Projected SRM: 7.5
Projected IBU: 30.8
Boil time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 85%

Grains
90.3% - 6 lb Maris Otter
9.7% - 12 oz British medium crystal

Hops
.5 oz Phoenix (10.2%) (60 min)
11.1 oz Wet homegrown 2013 hops (Willamette/Centennial/Goldings) (10 min)
4.7 oz Homegown 2012 Willamette (dry hop - 10 days)

Yeast
WY1469 West Yorkshire Ale - 1 qt starter on stirplate

Extras

Irish moss (10 min)

Water additions (mash)
10 qts RO water
1 g Gypsum
1 g Baking soda
1 g CaCl

Brewday: 25 August 2013
Mash: 154F for 60 minutes
Pre-boil volume: 7.3 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 7.2P (1.029)

Fermented in swamp cooler; started at 65F, rose to 67F.

28 August 2013: Visible (via airlock) fermentation complete; removed from swamp cooler & left at ambient temp (~70F) to finish.  Krausen still present the next day; agitated fermenter to encourage flocculation.

Dry hop: 2 September 2013
Took some work to get the whole-cone hops wetted and working on submerged.  Sample I snuck tasted excellent.

Bottled: 12 September 2013
FG: 1.010
ABV: 3.3%

Bottled with 3.2 oz table sugar.

Kölsch

My first experience attempting to brew a kölsch was within my first couple years of homebrewing, when I didn't necessarily have a solid handle on process, and definitely not on fermentation temperatures.  I produced two small batches, about two gallons each; one was mostly pils, the other principally Global kölsch malt.  Giving them too little attention during fermentation and my faux-lagering phase (sitting on a bag of ice for a couple weeks), neither ended up being drinkable.  It was a lesson in paying attention to the beer as it ferments, providing the yeast with a suitably temperate environment, and a number of other brewing issues.  While I wanted to have another go at this singular German ale, interest in brewing other styles and wariness about having a setup to ferment and lager at proper temperatures for the yeast kept me from pulling the trigger.  Years passed.

At long last, the proper confluence of events took place, thanks to my dad's new brewhouse: the starter was finished out and the yeast washed, the grist and proper fermentation temp control were in place, and the fermenters were cleaned and at the ready.  It was finally time again to brew a kölsch, but to do it RIGHT this time, dammit.  Long had I anticipated this day.

A very simple grist, a bit more pils than Vienna, and a single noble hop addition at the start of the boil were all

that went into this wort (along with a couple Whirlfloc tablets).  My dad's ample fridge room easily allowed for the fermentation temp to be kept in the mid 50s for primary.  That same setup permitted this beer to receive a proper lagering as well.

The only unfortunate part to this story is that I won't taste the final product; packaging day came after we headed back to Utah.  It should've been just last week, in fact, if everything went well.  I'll certainly look forward to hearing about how it came out, however; with further experience brewing and much more high-tech fermentation management, I certainly hope this version comes out better than my initial attempt.

Kölsch

Batch size: 12 gallons
Projected OG: 1.046
Projected SRM: 4.2
Projected IBU: 22.0
Boil time: 90 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 73%

Grains
61.5% - 12.75 lb Weyerman Pils
38.5% - 8 lb Weyermann Vienna

Hops
3 oz Hallertauer (4.3%) (90 min)

Yeast
WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch (3.5 gal regular starter)

Extras
2 tablets Whirlfloc (10 min)

Brewday: 13 July 2013
Mash: 150F for 90 minutes
Mashout @ 168F
Fly sparge
Pre-boil volume: 14.5 gallons

Fermented at 55F ambient for 2 weeks, then allowed to free rise to mid 70s ambient for diacetyl rest.
Lagered for 4-6 weeks in low-mid 30s F.