I don't have a picture yet, for some reason... but I have broken into the Dragon King Pale Ale.
It pours a very light golden color, with a pretty good sized head. It is still pretty cloudy. The initial aroma is lemony, which I guess comes from Ahtanum hops. Then there's a big whiff of phenol in there, like band aids, still. Where the hell is this coming from?! All new buckets and stuff, so it's not that... Overall, it's not too hard to get past the phenolic smell. The taste doesn't carry it. This beer is an easy drinking 7.8% ABV. The 40 IBU aren't quite enough to achieve a deep bitterness, but there's enough to keep it interesting. The lemon zinger finish makes me anticipate that this will be a nice refreshing summer beer. Refreshing and nearly 8%. Phenols or not, that's not too bad.
Just today I got an email that had included the AHA forum daily email in it. They're having a discussion on phenols over there. Once you get past all the talk of "good phenols" that come from yeast, like Hefes and Belgians and things, I found a new bit of information. Many said that the band-aid phenol could come from high pH sparge water/wort runoff. I am pretty sure that my water is alkiline. The water report indicates it has a high pH, which I always thought didn't matter, as long as the other stuff was OK. Not that I've tested it...
But I also notice that my very dark beers don't seem to have a problem. In fact, before I started brewing, I didn't think I really liked dark beers like stouts and porters. Now I love them. Mine always come out really well. This would make sense with high alkilinity water, since the dark grains have a lot of acidity to them. It might be starting to come together.
2.15.2008
2.05.2008
America Makes the Best Beer
It's official! My poll got a whopping seven votes to determine that the best beer comes from home. I think there's a person from a different country that logged in and voted for Imports. But I can't argue with numbers. What a landslide! If only I knew what the real elections of today resulted in, I could make a political analogy, but I don't, so I can't.
All I can say, in my best redneck Red-State voice "Whooooo! USA friggin rules man!" But seriously, I do think that we have the best beer culture in the world here. Where else does every brewery make a RIS and IIPA? There are some British breweries that make like ten beers under 5% ABV.
Thanks to everyone who voted here!
All I can say, in my best redneck Red-State voice "Whooooo! USA friggin rules man!" But seriously, I do think that we have the best beer culture in the world here. Where else does every brewery make a RIS and IIPA? There are some British breweries that make like ten beers under 5% ABV.
Thanks to everyone who voted here!
Dragon King and Marynka Porter Bottled
On January 26th, I brewed two beers on the same day. Dragon King Pale Ale was intended to be a 1.055, 40 IBU basic pale ale. Marynka Porter was meant to be a 1.047, 33 IBU basic porter, featuring Marynka hops.
This being my first batches with my new grain mill, I got unheard of efficiency, and ended up with a pair of 1.070 beers. That makes a really low IBU American IPA and a midrange Baltic Porter. Unfortunately, I didn't measure pre-boil gravity, so I didn't boost the hops accordingly. Both beers are expected to be a bit malt-leaning.
Today I bottled the two. Marynka's been done for a few days. Dragon King didn't seem as far along, but I figured now's the time.
Marynka ended up at 1.016. One point lower than BeerSmith predicted, even mashing at 155. There's just no stopping that dry yeast! And I didn't even rehydrate it. The beer has a nice dark grain aroma, with the taste to go along with it. The hops are subtle, as expected, and perhaps to style. Marynka is said to have a cedar, rootlike, licorice thing going on, and I can sort of pick up on that. I figured this would be a really nice complement to a Porter's dark malts. Now that it's a baltic porter, the Polish hops only make more sense. I am really happy with this one. There's a slight tang, and the body is a little light. I think I need to use more dark malts to get past that dark malt tang, and that will also deepen the body. I'll just have to ignore the SRM specs for dark beers that I make. Mean Giant RIS proves I love tons of dark malts.
Dragon King came out weird. I used two hops I don't normally use: Brewer's Gold and Ahtanum. Brewer's Gold was a 60 and 30 minute addition. It turns out that Brewer's Gold is sort of like a low alpha Chinook, which I am learning that I don't like too much. It has a real pukey smell to me, which might be more objectively described as intensely resiny and spicy. Big Slick IIPA has a lot of Chinook in it, and it is worse off for it. Maybe Columbus next time? Or Simcoe? Or ?? But Dragon King is no IIPA. With 40 IBU and 1.070, it is very mildly hopped. To say the least. But the Chinook makes a decent bitterness when you don't catch a whiff of them. The Ahtanum is said to contribute a distinctive sweet, citrus-zest character. Making the recipe, I thought "grapefruit" and thought maybe I had a Cascade option here. But it is more like lemon. The lemon zest impression from a 30 minute and flameout addition of Ahtanum is big. Almost like actual lemon zest. This is a summer beer. A huge one. Coming out at 1.010, it is 7.8% ABV. The alcohol is pretty well hidden, and the overwhelming character is my negative impression of Chinook and a big lemon tang finish. It doesn't help that it is dry as hell, finishing at 1.010 and all. But I think the big ABV will help this one keep for a few months until it's warm enough to enjoy a refreshing beer. Plus there's something to be said for a nearly 8% beer that's anything close to refreshing. This just might end up being a regular summer brew for me, and for my eventual brewery. The concept is perfect for today's beer market.
So there you have it, two beers, twins, born in the same day, but not identical. Both are good in their own way. You can never choose a favorite child. But I feel a preference for Marynka right now, based off this tasting. Of course, come warmer days, I just might change my mind. Sort of like the kids. One day, Iris is the fave. Then the next day, Boden is best.
Another nice thing was saving some time by bottling two batches at once. The original intent of brewing two in one day was to save several hours by parallel brewing. The same thing paid off today in bottling. It's been taking me two-and-a-half to three hours to bottle one batch, but I did two today in probably four hours. I was able to sanitize the bottles for batch two while bottling batch one. And I did a bunch of other ad-hoc multitasking as I went along.
This is also amazing considering this was my first bottling with Iodophor. I am on a 15-minute soak schedule with Iodophor for now (although I hear that it doesn't need that much, that's just what Zok said to do). So if I have to do four rounds of sanitation in my bottling bucket to handle two cases of bottles, that's an extra half hour right there.
In the end, it's awesomely cool to bottle four cases of beer in one day. I feel like a farmer that just sowed all the seeds for the season. I just can't wait until this abundant feast of beer is ready to harvest. They say you reap what you sow, but I can't wait to reap this!
This being my first batches with my new grain mill, I got unheard of efficiency, and ended up with a pair of 1.070 beers. That makes a really low IBU American IPA and a midrange Baltic Porter. Unfortunately, I didn't measure pre-boil gravity, so I didn't boost the hops accordingly. Both beers are expected to be a bit malt-leaning.
Today I bottled the two. Marynka's been done for a few days. Dragon King didn't seem as far along, but I figured now's the time.
Marynka ended up at 1.016. One point lower than BeerSmith predicted, even mashing at 155. There's just no stopping that dry yeast! And I didn't even rehydrate it. The beer has a nice dark grain aroma, with the taste to go along with it. The hops are subtle, as expected, and perhaps to style. Marynka is said to have a cedar, rootlike, licorice thing going on, and I can sort of pick up on that. I figured this would be a really nice complement to a Porter's dark malts. Now that it's a baltic porter, the Polish hops only make more sense. I am really happy with this one. There's a slight tang, and the body is a little light. I think I need to use more dark malts to get past that dark malt tang, and that will also deepen the body. I'll just have to ignore the SRM specs for dark beers that I make. Mean Giant RIS proves I love tons of dark malts.
Dragon King came out weird. I used two hops I don't normally use: Brewer's Gold and Ahtanum. Brewer's Gold was a 60 and 30 minute addition. It turns out that Brewer's Gold is sort of like a low alpha Chinook, which I am learning that I don't like too much. It has a real pukey smell to me, which might be more objectively described as intensely resiny and spicy. Big Slick IIPA has a lot of Chinook in it, and it is worse off for it. Maybe Columbus next time? Or Simcoe? Or ?? But Dragon King is no IIPA. With 40 IBU and 1.070, it is very mildly hopped. To say the least. But the Chinook makes a decent bitterness when you don't catch a whiff of them. The Ahtanum is said to contribute a distinctive sweet, citrus-zest character. Making the recipe, I thought "grapefruit" and thought maybe I had a Cascade option here. But it is more like lemon. The lemon zest impression from a 30 minute and flameout addition of Ahtanum is big. Almost like actual lemon zest. This is a summer beer. A huge one. Coming out at 1.010, it is 7.8% ABV. The alcohol is pretty well hidden, and the overwhelming character is my negative impression of Chinook and a big lemon tang finish. It doesn't help that it is dry as hell, finishing at 1.010 and all. But I think the big ABV will help this one keep for a few months until it's warm enough to enjoy a refreshing beer. Plus there's something to be said for a nearly 8% beer that's anything close to refreshing. This just might end up being a regular summer brew for me, and for my eventual brewery. The concept is perfect for today's beer market.
So there you have it, two beers, twins, born in the same day, but not identical. Both are good in their own way. You can never choose a favorite child. But I feel a preference for Marynka right now, based off this tasting. Of course, come warmer days, I just might change my mind. Sort of like the kids. One day, Iris is the fave. Then the next day, Boden is best.
Another nice thing was saving some time by bottling two batches at once. The original intent of brewing two in one day was to save several hours by parallel brewing. The same thing paid off today in bottling. It's been taking me two-and-a-half to three hours to bottle one batch, but I did two today in probably four hours. I was able to sanitize the bottles for batch two while bottling batch one. And I did a bunch of other ad-hoc multitasking as I went along.
This is also amazing considering this was my first bottling with Iodophor. I am on a 15-minute soak schedule with Iodophor for now (although I hear that it doesn't need that much, that's just what Zok said to do). So if I have to do four rounds of sanitation in my bottling bucket to handle two cases of bottles, that's an extra half hour right there.
In the end, it's awesomely cool to bottle four cases of beer in one day. I feel like a farmer that just sowed all the seeds for the season. I just can't wait until this abundant feast of beer is ready to harvest. They say you reap what you sow, but I can't wait to reap this!
2.02.2008
Gemini Alpha Update
A week ago, I had my first dual brew day. Gemini Series is the name of the two-beers-made-on-the-same-day thing. Alpha is my name for the first of this series. They were made together, pitched just hours apart, but not progressing at the same rate.
Marynka Porter had an OG of 1.070 for 5 gallons. It's pretty much done fermenting now. I haven't seen a bubble all day. Though I see evidence of bubbling when I go down there. I figure it's to the point where it's just expressing the CO2 from the beer that's now made in the bucket.
Dragon King Pale Ale had an OG of 1.070 for 5.5 gallons (total coincidence on the same OG). It's still going. It bubbles every ten seconds or even more frequently. It is probably still scrubbing those last few points of gravity off the beer. Interesting, and even expected, since I mashed it four degrees cooler than Marynka (151 vs. 155). Plus, it's obviously lighter, and thus, to a certain extent, more fermentable by nature.
I could probably bottle Marynka right now. And God is it tempting. But I want to wait. I want to bottle them together. Two for one. Both on the same day. So in all likelihood, I'll be making the move on Tuesday or so next week. Of course, I'll post about it when the time comes. I'm eager to taste these latest creations. I expect both to be excellent. I think Dragon King might end up a little under-hopped, since the gravity came in 15 points higher than planned. But I'll be happy with clean-tasting, contaminant-free beer right now. Hopefully new buckets and tubes means no band-aid phenols.
Marynka Porter had an OG of 1.070 for 5 gallons. It's pretty much done fermenting now. I haven't seen a bubble all day. Though I see evidence of bubbling when I go down there. I figure it's to the point where it's just expressing the CO2 from the beer that's now made in the bucket.
Dragon King Pale Ale had an OG of 1.070 for 5.5 gallons (total coincidence on the same OG). It's still going. It bubbles every ten seconds or even more frequently. It is probably still scrubbing those last few points of gravity off the beer. Interesting, and even expected, since I mashed it four degrees cooler than Marynka (151 vs. 155). Plus, it's obviously lighter, and thus, to a certain extent, more fermentable by nature.
I could probably bottle Marynka right now. And God is it tempting. But I want to wait. I want to bottle them together. Two for one. Both on the same day. So in all likelihood, I'll be making the move on Tuesday or so next week. Of course, I'll post about it when the time comes. I'm eager to taste these latest creations. I expect both to be excellent. I think Dragon King might end up a little under-hopped, since the gravity came in 15 points higher than planned. But I'll be happy with clean-tasting, contaminant-free beer right now. Hopefully new buckets and tubes means no band-aid phenols.
1.28.2008
Gemini Series Alpha Project Fermenting
Gemini Series is my fancy/cheesy name for making two batches of beer in the same day. Great time savings. Alpha Project is my fancier/cheesier (downright geeky in every sense of the word) name for my first attempt at making two beers at once (not counting the two partigyles I've done). If you're reading this, you presumably know that fermenting is what we call it when yeast consumes sugar and creates alcohol and CO2.
Finally, after a nearly 24-hour lag time, my two beers are fermenting. They're going pretty good right now. I am almost ready to switch the fridge over to cool mode to keep the temps from raising too much as fermentation creates heat in the becoming-beer.
It is strange, though. The two beers are fermenting differently. One is steady, like a normal beer. But the other one is really burst-y, no activity for a second, then three bubbles all in a row. It was so compelling to me, I filmed it (with my digital camera - the one that I take still photos with) and put it on YouTube. Here it is:
Finally, after a nearly 24-hour lag time, my two beers are fermenting. They're going pretty good right now. I am almost ready to switch the fridge over to cool mode to keep the temps from raising too much as fermentation creates heat in the becoming-beer.
It is strange, though. The two beers are fermenting differently. One is steady, like a normal beer. But the other one is really burst-y, no activity for a second, then three bubbles all in a row. It was so compelling to me, I filmed it (with my digital camera - the one that I take still photos with) and put it on YouTube. Here it is:
1.26.2008
Brew Day
Today I did the first in my "Gemini Series" - that's twin batches; two batches in one day. Today was fraternal twins - a Pale Ale and a Porter. Actually more like a Double Pale Ale and a Baltic Porter. My new grain mill bumped my efficiency to 90%. I still can't believe it, and I've got to make sure I'm measuring everything correctly.
But the hydrometer read 1.070 for both batches. Maybe today is a "70" day somehow. So much for the session beers at 4.8% and 5.5%. I'll have to deal with two 7% beers. Can you tell I'm disappointed? ;)
I tried to be time-efficient. I mashed Dragon King Pale Ale first. Then, my intention was to time the heating of the mash water for Marynka Porter such that as soon as the mash tun was free from Dragon King, I could take it over with Marynka. I had sparge slowness, so it took a bit longer, but in the end, it all came out OK. I'll skip the play-by-play. Because I am lazy right now.
But the hydrometer read 1.070 for both batches. Maybe today is a "70" day somehow. So much for the session beers at 4.8% and 5.5%. I'll have to deal with two 7% beers. Can you tell I'm disappointed? ;)
I tried to be time-efficient. I mashed Dragon King Pale Ale first. Then, my intention was to time the heating of the mash water for Marynka Porter such that as soon as the mash tun was free from Dragon King, I could take it over with Marynka. I had sparge slowness, so it took a bit longer, but in the end, it all came out OK. I'll skip the play-by-play. Because I am lazy right now.
Marynka Porter
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Marynka Porter
Brewer: Keith Brainard
Asst Brewer:
Style: Brown Porter
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.72 gal
Estimated OG: 1.070 SG
Estimated Color: 30.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 31.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 90.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt (Pearl) (3.0 SRM) Grain 90.91 %
0.50 lb Black (Patent) Malt - Light (478.5 SRM) Grain 4.55 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -150L (150.0 SRM) Grain 2.27 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt - Medium (385.0 SRM) Grain 2.27 %
0.50 oz Marynka [6.50 %] (90 min) (First Wort HopHops 12.3 IBU
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.60 %] (60 min) Hops 14.9 IBU
0.25 oz Marynka [6.50 %] (30 min) Hops 4.0 IBU
0.25 oz Marynka [6.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 items Immersion Chiller (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs US-05/US-56 (Safale #1056) Yeast-Ale
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 11.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 13.75 qt of water at 167.1 F 155.0 F
Notes:
------
Gemini Series - Alpha Two.
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