Nelson's Beer Homebrew Log

This page logs my most recent homebrews.

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Be sure to also check out my main Beer Ratings page. If you need to do some calculations to work on a recipe for beer, try out my Brew Calculator which will help you estimate the amount of hops for various varieties (including the boiling time), and does malt calculations that will help estimate the color, gravity, and other parameters of your grain bill.

• Previous brewing in Colorado (1970-1972, 1982-1984) - no written records available - includes a small batch of stout (one bottle blew the cap and spattered my room at my parents house), and also 8-10 batches of fresh fruit wines (mostly from "Art of Making Wine": Anderson/Hull) including (from memory and from notes in the book): Orange, Banana, Banana/Raisin (a favorite because it was drinkable within a month), Rhubarb (my only batch that went bad), Dandelion, and Concord Grape (from a concentrate).
• Previous brewing in Kansas (1991-1996 - 25 batches: 13 beer, 7 wine, 3 cider/cyser, 2 mead):
  • 3/23/1991 - Coopers Ale - 5 gallons - from a can kit
  • 11/8/1991 - Coopers Stout - 5 gallons - from a can kit
  • 2/9/1992 - Guinness Stout clone - 5 gallons - from "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy": Dave Line - Edme yeast - a bottle exploded - had to drink ALL the rest immediately - bummer ;)
  • 3/15/1992 - Apple Cider - from "Art of Making Wine": Anderson/Hull - refreshing, champagne-like, Caroline likes it
  • 3/15/1992 - Banana/Raisin Wine - 5 gallons - from "Art of Making Wine": Anderson/Hull
  • 3/29/1992 - Raisin Wine - 5 gallons - from "Art of Making Wine": Anderson/Hull
  • 4/9/1992 - Coopers Lager - 6 gallons - from a can kit
  • 6/15/1992 - Fullers ESB clone - 5 gallons - from "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy": Dave Line
  • 7/11/1992 - Cabernet Sauvignon Wine - 5 gallons - from Alexanders "Sun Country" can, Lalvin KIV-1116 yeast
  • 8/2/1992 - Johannisberg Riesling Wine - 2.5 gallons - from Alexanders "Sun Country" can, 2 pkg Red Star Prise de Mousse yeast
  • 9/27/1992 - Apple Cider - 5 gallons - from "Art of Making Wine": Anderson/Hull - 2 pkg Lalvin KIV-1116 Blue wine yeast - repeat of 3/15/1992 - needed more!
  • 9/29/1992 - Apple Cyser - 1 gallon - from "Art of Making Beer": Anderson/Hull - Town House apple juice, Osage (brand) honey (0.75lb), Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast
  • 10/4/1992 - Gewurztraminer Wine - 2.5 gallons - from Alexanders "Sun Country" can, 2 pkg Red Star Prise de Mousse yeast
  • 10/24/1992 - Dry Mead - from "Making Mead": Acton - 3lb Barkmans Busy Bee Premium Clover Blend honey, 2 pkg Lalvin green champagne yeast
  • 12/12/1992 - Zinfandel Wine - 2.5 gallons - from Alexanders "Sun Country" can, 2pkg Red Star Mentrachet yeast
  • 12/12/1992 - Kwoffit Bitter - 5 gallons - from can kit - added Edme yeast in addition to supplied yeast
  • 12/?/1992 - Orange Mead - 1.5 gallons - from "Art of Making Beer": Anderson/Hull - 2lb honey, 48 oz sterilized fresh squeezed orange juice (20 oranges), Vierka wine yeast ("mead") - yeast didn't start so I added Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast (made starter) - Caroline likes it
  • 1/17/1993 - Watney Mann Special Bitter - 5 gallons - from "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy": Dave Line - used Alexanders Amber malt extract, yeast starter with Edme yeast, C&H "raw" sugar
  • 5/4/1993 - Pinot Noir Wine - kit? - 2 pkg Lalvin 71B-1122 (maroon) yeast
  • 11/15/1992 - Muntons Nut Brown Ale - 5 gallons - from kit - used Muntons Fison yeast and Edme yeast
  • 11/16/1993 - Brewferm Kriek - 2.5 gallons - from kit - used provided yeast and Edme yeast
  • 3/6/1994 - Steam Beer - 5 gallons - from "New Complete Joy of Homebrewing": Papazian - used 2 plugs of Yeast Lab Amsterdam lager yeast
  • 10/8/1994 - Kwoffit Irish Stout - 5 gallons - from can kit - added supplied yeast plus Edme yeast
  • 10/15/1995 - Samuel Smiths Tadcaster Old Brewery Bitter Ale - 5 gallons - from "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy": Dave Line - used Edme yeast - primed with brown sugar
  • 7/20/1996 - Cherry Beer - 3kg Ireks(?) Original bavarian Malt Extract Munich Light Unhopped, 1/2oz Northern Brewer pellets (7.1%aa), Edme yeast, 10lb fresh bing cherries boiled until soft then crushed and frozen
• FLORIDA brewing:
• Pale Ale 13 November 2004 - extract
• India Pale Ale 13 November 2004 - extract
  DBG 3rd place January 05 (score 30.5)
• English Brown Ale 18 December 2004 - mini mash
  DBG 2nd place February 05 (score 37)
• Sweet Stout 30 January 2005 - extract/steeped
• Scottish Export Ale 5 February 2005 - extract/steeped
• California Common 27 February 2005 - mini mash
  DBG 1st place May 05 (score 35.5)
• Belgian Wit 10 April 2005 - extract
• Belgian Tripel 8 May 2005 - mini mash
  DBG 1st place December 05 (score 37)
  Best Florida Beer Competition 2006 1st place February 06 (score 34)
• Weizenbock 30 May 2005 - extract/steeped/micro-mash
  DBG 3rd place July 05 (score 35)
  Hogtown 2nd place November 05 (score 37.5)
• American Pale Ale 18 June 2005 - all grain
  DBG 2nd place September 05 (score 38)
• Smoked Porter 23 July 2005 - mini mash
• Imperial Amber 27 August 2005 - extract/steeped
  DBG 1st place April 2006 (score 38) (entered as Scottish 80/-)
• Pepper Amber 18 September 2005 - all grain
• Hard Apple Cider 18 September 2005
  Best Florida Beer Competition 2006 2nd place February 06 (score 35)
• Pumpkin Ale 30 October 2005 - all grain
• Bière de Garde 25 November 2005 - all grain
• Baltic Porter 4 December 2005 - extract/steeped
  National Homebrewers Competition First Round 2nd place April 2006
• English Brown Ale 27 December 2005 - all grain
  DBG 1st place February 2006 (score 37.5)
• American Pale Ale 19 February 2006 - all grain
  DBG 3rd place March 2006 (score 32.5)
  Hurricane Blowoff 2nd place March 2006
• Sweet Stout 19 February 2006 - all grain
  DBG 2nd place September 2006
• Belgian Tripel NHC 2006 8 April 2006 - mini mash
  SAAZ 2nd place September 2006
  DBG 3rd place December 2006
  SAAZ 1st place September 2007
  Walk The Line On Barleywine 1st place December 2007
• Smoked Cranberry Brown 30 April 2006 - all grain
  Best Florida Beer Competition 2007 1st place February 2006 (score 44.5)
• Czech It Out Bohemian Pilsner 7 May 2006 - all grain
• Dunediner Hefe-Weizen 13 May 2006 - mini mash
  DBG 2nd place June 2006
• Rye Knot? Roggenbier 10 June 2006 - all grain
  Hogtown 2nd place May 2007
  DBG 2nd place May 2007
• Belgian Tall, Dark, and Strong 2 July 2006 - partial mash
• London Brown 22 July 2006 - mini mash
  DBG 2nd place August 2006
• Biscuit Barley Braggot 13 August 2006 - all grain
  Best Florida Beer Competition 2008 3rd place March 2008
• Beach Ball Blonde 2 September 2006 - all grain
  DBG 2nd place January 2007
• JPs Imperial Porter 16 September 2006 - all grain
• JPs Imperial Cherry Porter 16 September 2006 - all grain
• 70 Scottish Beers On The Wall 8 October 2006 - all grain
  DBG 2nd place November 2006
• Egbert IPA (reclassified as ESB) 11 November 2006 - all grain
• Sake 23 November 2006
• Cabernet Sauvignon Wine 1 January 2007 - kit
• Edens Nectar Mead 7 January 2007
• Ethelwulf IPA 21 January 2007 - all grain
  DBG 1st place April 2007
  SAAZ 2nd place September 2007
• Marzen Oonyo 24 February 2007 - all grain
  NHC first round 2nd place May 2007
  SAAZ 3rd place September 2007
  Sunshine Challenge 1st place October 2007
  DBG 3rd place October 2007
• Holy Smokes, Chipotle! 25 March 2007 - all grain
  DBG 3rd place November 2007
• Big Ben Barleywine 15 April 2007 - all grain
  Sunshine Challenge 1st place October 2007
  DBG 2nd place December 2007
• Be Bop Beachy Brown 28 April 2007 - all grain
• Griffin Spit IPA 5 May 2007 - extract only
• Pom Pom Cider 3 June 2007
  Sunshine Challenge 3rd place October 2007
• Cherokee Pale IPA 9 June 2007 - all grain
• Lucky Lepruchan 22 July 2007 - all grain
• Gallberry Mead 5 August 2007
• California Steamin' 7 October (?) 2007 - partial mash
  MCAB-X 2nd place February 2008
  Coconut Cup 2nd place February 2008
• Hoppy Dayz Geronimo Ale 23 November 2007 - all grain
• Koji Sake 24 November 2007
• Cramber Jack Cranberry Amber 9 December 2007 - all grain
• Belgian Tripel MCAB X 29 December 2007 - all grain
• Saison Amour 29 December 2007 - all grain
• Lumberjack Maple Brown 20 April 2008 - all grain
• Ball Ticker Baltic Porter 26 April 2008 - all grain
• Crafted Artisanal Pilsner 28 June 2008 - all grain
• Ahhh-So Spud Sake 28 June 2008 - all grain
• Rhyme In A Bottle 4 July 2008 - all grain
• Richey-on-Pithlachascotee Mild 19 July 2008 - all grain

• Barons Premium Pale Ale wort concentrate
• Bentonite
• WYeast 1098 British Ale yeast, mfg 3 Aug 2004 (did not use Barons supplied dry yeast)
• 3 gallons Zephyr Hills distilled water
• Dry hop pellets (from Barons)
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• Started yeast ("smacked") 11/13/04 at 9AM, was fully expanded by 8PM - air temp 80°F
• Distributed bentonite in 1/2 gallon of distilled water in primary (6.5 gallon plastic)
• Added Barons wort concentrate and rinsed wort bag
• Topped up to 5 gallons (total water needed was 3 gallons)
• Stirred vigorously to aereate for healthy yeast growth
• At 80°F wort temp, pitched yeast 11/13/04, Original Gravity 1.064
• Added dry-hop pellets 11/13/04
• Fermentation started actively in 12 hours
• Did not skim krausen or use blow-off tube
• Racked to secondary on 11/18/04 - NOTE - this was a 5-gallon batch, which I split up into two half-batches to experiment with late hopping
• Specific gravity 1.012 (probably 1.014 - misread the liquid curve), ratings (1-5): Overall 3+, Malt 2+, Hops 3, Sweet 2, Bitter 2, Body 2+.
• Watched activity, dry hops continued to move slightly up and down near top of beer until 12/2/04, and was ready to bottle
• Bottled 12/4/04, primed with 5/8 cups DME boiled 2 minutes in 1 pint distilled water
• Final gravity was 1.016 after adding priming DME (due to a process glitch)
• Produced 23.5 12-oz bottles
• First tasting (of "test" bottle that was partially filled) 12/15/04 - nice creamy longlasting head, just a tad light on the malt, excellent first-effort (for relearning the whole brewing process), ratings (1-5): Overall 4, Malt 3, Hops 4, Sweet 2, Bitter 2, Body 3-.
• 12/26/04 rating: Overall 4+, Malt 3+, Hops 4-, Sweet 3, Bitter 2, Body 3, copper color, bright and clear

• First time using smack-pack yeast - much preferred over the previous dry yeasts I have used
• In the future, do not use distilled water. Although this time the yeast did fine, according to published literature, distilled water does not provide some minerals and ions needed by the yeast - and plan to use bottled "drinking" water in the future. I don't use tap water because we have a water softener.
• This being my first homebrew since moving to Florida 3 years ago, there were a few kinks in the process. Reading the hydrometer was probably incorrect when racked to the secondary - probably misread the curve in the water due to surface tension. Later readings for bottling are correct. The whole process was a bit clunky as I "remembered" things to do. For the second half of this batch (see IPA below), it went much more smoothly.
• I had previously used Sodium Metabisulfite for sanitation. I much prefer the One-Step because it has no smell that might affect the beer.
• Air temperature during fermentation was generally about 80°F

• 1/2 oz Cascade whole hops (about 1 cup), Crosby&Baker, Alpha 6.0%
• 1/4 oz Willamette whole hops (about 1/2 cup), Carlson, Alpha 5.1%

• Split above Pale Ale batch when racking to secondary
• Created a "hop tea" by boiling Cascade hops for 20 minutes in 2 cups distilled water, adding Willamette hops for last 3 minutes, then strained and "squeezed" by pressing with spoon on strainer, and added 1 cup cold distilled water to bring the temperature down
• Racked to secondary on 11/18/04 and added the hop tea
• Specific gravity 1.012 (probably 1.014 - misread the liquid curve), ratings (1-5): Overall 3+, Malt 2+, Hops 4, Sweet 2, Bitter 3, Body 2+.
• Watched activity, dry hops continued to move slightly up and down near top of beer until 12/2/04, and was ready to bottle
• Bottled 12/4/04, primed with 11/16 cups DME (leftover from splitting 1 1/4 cups with above Pale Ale batch), boiled 2 minutes in 1 pint distilled water
• Final gravity was 1.014 before adding priming DME
• Produced 22.5 12-oz bottles

• Tasting at time of bottling is fresh fruity hoppy, very nice
• Experiment here was to see whether I could hop-up the Pale Ale by using the hop tea
• Air temperature during fermentation was generally about 80°F
• First tasting (of "test" bottle that was partially filled) 12/15/04 - nice creamy longlasting head, just a tad light on the malt, excellent first-effort (for relearning the whole brewing process), ratings (1-5): Overall 4, Malt 3, Hops 4+, Sweet 2, Bitter 3, Body 3-.
• 12/26/04 rating: Overall 4-, Malt 3+, Hops 4+, Sweet 3, Bitter 3, Body 3, some green hops, nice copper color, nice head, very clear
• Entered IPA in Dunedin Brewers Guild 20 January 2005 competition as a Category 14B American IPA. Results (3rd Place):
  • Judge #1 (certified)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:3 out of 5
  • Technical Merit:3 out of 5
  • Intangibles:3 out of 5
  • Bottle Inspection:not given
  • Aroma: 9 out of 12 : Great hops aroma, some maltiness
  • Appearance: 2 out of 3 : Great color - big creamy head - really too creamy
  • Flavor: 12 out of 20 : Malt and alcohol flavor present. Low in hop flavor. Malt, alcohol and hops should be stepped up for this style.
  • Mouthfeel: 3 out of 5 : Good carbonation - creamy, body a bit thin
  • Overall Impression: 5 out of 10: Great aroma - but hop flavor falls short. Needs to be bigger for an IPA, but you are off to a good start.
  • Total: 31 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)
  • Judge #2 (experienced but not BJCP)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:not given
  • Technical Merit:not given
  • Intangibles:not given
  • Bottle Inspection:OK
  • Aroma: 9 out of 12 : Citrusy nose with some faint maltiness
  • Appearance: 3 out of 3 : Med to dark gold, consistent head
  • Flavor: 11 out of 20 : Low to medium hop bitterness. Some grapefruit notes. Some sour apple flavor, but not overpowering. Low to no maltiness.
  • Mouthfeel: 2 out of 5 : Good carbonation, light body, a little thin
  • Overall Impression: 5 out of 10: Good beer but needs more body. Hop flavor and bitterness nice, but needs more substance. Yeast strain could cause acetaldehyde.
  • Total: 30 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)

• 1 lb Briess pale malt
• 2 oz 2-row Muntons crystal malt, 49-64° Lovibond
• 4 oz 6-row Briess non-malted roasted barley, 300° Lovibond
• 2 lb Extra Light Muntons DME, 1.8° Lovibond
• 3 AAU Northern Brewers Hops (alpha 8%) = 3/8 oz weight (was 3/4 c volume) (45 minutes)
• 2 AAU Northern Brewers Hops (alpha 8%) = 1/4 oz weight (1/2 c volume) (15 minutes)
• WYeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast, mfg 22 Nov 2004
• 3 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water (and finished a bit of distilled too)
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.049
• Color 35 SRM
• IBU 26
• FG 1.012
• Alcohol 4.85% abv

• Heated 1 gallon of Drinking water to 164° in 6 qt Teflon stock pot
• Added crushed grain - total grain volume 5.5 c, temp 71°
• Temp of mash 160°F, so added 1 c 71° Drinking water to bring temp to 155°F. In future, suggest to use 3/4 gallon at 164° of water to start - since we cut the batch size in half, 1 gallon was too much. The volume of water should be proportional to the weight of grain to be mashed (see Dave Line book).
• Temp at 30 min was 140° - added 3 c water at 176° to get temp up to 142° - still not enough - stock pot loses too much heat. Put stock pot on stove on medium-high, stirred continuously until temp reached 158°, then removed. In future, suggest to either mash in better insulated tun, or to add more heat (which appeared to work fine, as long as mash was stirred continuously to prevent scorching), NOT more water - or to add smaller amounts of water (infusion), but at a higher temp.
• Temp at 45 min was 136° - stirred and added heat.
• Temp at 60 min was 154°.
• Temp at 75 min was 150° - added heat to 160°.
• Temp at 90 min was 160°. Drop of iodine - no color change - starch conversion complete.
• Preheated sparge water (I had 2.5 qt left in jug) to 178°.
• Strained through "shower cap" mesh into 12 qt stainless steel boiler. Color is dark brown.
• Put boiler on medium high heat, no cover.
• Stirred grain bag (shower cap) in 1 qt 178° sparge water. See note below about grain bed. Stirred 1 minute in sparge water, let sit for 5 minutes, drained into boiler. Color = brown (in shot glass).
• Same sparging procedure again, color = copper.
• Same sparging procedure again (only 2 c water), color - amber
• Added DME to boiler, at 200°.
• Heat to High, 30 min rolling boil, and kept on High after first 20 min when foam had settled.
• Added 3/8 oz Northern Brewers hops. (total boil time will be 45 min)
• Boiled 30 min.
• Added 1/4 oz Northern Brewers hops. (total boil time will be 15 min)
• Boiled 15 min.
• Strained to primary, total volume 1 1/4 gallons.
• Topped with chilled (40°) Walmart Distilled water (just using it up, will use all Drinking water in the future) to 2 3/4 gal. Temp 102°.
• Waited for wort to reach 75° and trub cold break. (took about 4 hours - may want to consider wort chilling in the future)
• Siphoned wort off trub into 3-gal glass carboy - yield 2 3/8 gal.
• Pitched yeast (comes in a squeeze-tube, does not require smacking or creating a starter, but had been sitting at 71° room temp for 15 hours, as per instructions). Note - I used the full yeast pack (typically for 5-gal) for the 2.5 gal batch.
• Stirred with handle side of plastic stirrer to aereate the wort.
• Attached airlock modified to be a blow-off tube. Future note - 2.5 gal in a 3-gal carboy seems to give enough room to just use an airlock.
• Starting gravity = 1.050.
• Light layer of foam starting on top of wort after 4 hours.
• 1 1/2 inches of foam and active fermentation after 12 hours, replaced blow-off tube with airlock.
• At 24 hours, krausen starting to fall, so attempted (not too successfully) to remove the floating black specks in a sanitary manner, including using the back end of stir spoon, and sanitized chopsticks (?!?). Problem was inability to reach flecks toward the edges of the carboy, through the small hole. Able to remove about half the flecks. Also was able to get more stuck to carboy wall above foam, so it will be removed when racking, and won't fall back into the beer. Max foam was about 2 inches, currently about 3/4 inch.
• Air temp 68-72° during fermentation.
• At 48 hours, foam all gone, all remaining is thin layer of bubbles. Air temp 68°.
• At 4 days, racked to secondary (also 3-gal glass carboy), Specific Gravity 1.020. Rating: overall 3+, malt 4, hops 3, sweet 3, bitter 2, body 3+, color hazy brown. Comment - light color for a stout.
• At 14 days (31 Dec), racked off sediment, Specific Gravity 1.015 (recipe target was 1.014), added 1/2 c Light DME in 1 c 200° Drinking Water to prime, bottled. Yield 24 bottles plus good sampler for rating.
• Rating (at bottling): overall 3+, malt 3+, hops 3, sweet 2, bitter 1, body 3+, color very dark brown, slightly smoky. Light bodied but nicely balanced, more like a brown ale - rating overall as brown ale would be 4.
• Rating 1/7/05 (1 week after bottling): overall 3+, malt 3, hops 3, sweet 2, bitter 2, body 3, color very dark brown, slightly smoky, slightly watery. Carbonation 2, very little head - need more time in the bottle.
• Rating 1/19/05 (2.5 weeks after bottling): overall 4-, malt 4, hops 3, sweet 2, bitter 2, body 3+, dark brown, roasted malt. Carbonation 3.
• Rating 1/28/05 (4 weeks after bottling): overall 4-, malt 3+, hops 4, sweet 2, bitter 2, body 3, mahogany, roasted malt. Carbonation 3.
• Rating 2/15/05 (6.5 weeks after bottling): overall 4, malt 4, hops 3, sweet 2, bitter 2, body 3+, dark mahogany, carbonation 3.

• Changes in recipe: Crystal malt should have been 90°L, DME should have been Amber
• Based on these changes, and taste testing, this beer more fits a category 11C (Northern English Brown Ale), so I changed the description and name from Stout to English Brown Ale
• Heat consistency control during mashing was poor. As suggested above, two solutions are to use a better insulated mash tun, or to add heat on stove while stirring.
• Sparging by stirring grain bag in sparge water does extract additional sugars from grain, but does NOT provide any grain bed filtering benefit. Future sparging - considering purchase of bucket and false-bottom to set up a grain bed.
• Build-A-Beer notes: the IBU value is calculated with SG 1.049, but a more correct value might be calculated by noticing that the wort of the boil was more like 1.098, diluted out to 1.049 SG with cold water after the boil, so hops utilization would be less, giving an IBU calculated value of 16. Also note that SRM would calculate to 44 if using the original recipe Amber DME instead of the Extra Light DME (added 7 SRM), and using 90° crystal malt instead of 50° (added 2 SRM).
• Bottling was smoother this time (although I crushed one cap) - the whole process was much smoother - as my previous homebrewing experiences start to kick back in.
• Entered in Dunedin Brewers Guild 17 February 2005 competition. Results (2nd place):
  • Judge #1 (experienced but not BJCP)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:3 out of 5
  • Technical Merit:3 out of 5
  • Intangibles:3 out of 5
  • Bottle Inspection:not given
  • Aroma: 10 out of 12 : Nice malt fruitiness & complexity. I get carmel and faint nutty aromas. Low hop aroma.
  • Appearance: 3 out of 3 : Dark reddish brown color with mediium low white head. Large bubbles.
  • Flavor: 13 out of 20 : Medium hop bitterness, low hop flavor. Malt profile is mild but has complexity. A faint spiciness is detected, probably from hop.
  • Mouthfeel: 3 out of 5 : Medium to med-low carbonation, dry finish. A little thin.
  • Overall Impression: 7 out of 10: Good beer! Would like a little more malt to offset bitterness.
  • Total: 36 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)
  • Judge #2 (Apprentice/Novice)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:not given
  • Technical Merit:not given
  • Intangibles:not given
  • Bottle Inspection:Appropriate checked
  • Aroma: 8 out of 12 : Malty, fruity, grassy (from hops)
  • Appearance: 3 out of 3 : Reddish brown color, low head retention - big bubbles.
  • Flavor: 15 out of 20 : Medium malt profiles, slight bitterness, low hop flavor, good balance.
  • Mouthfeel: 5 out of 5 : Good carbonation - dry finish.
  • Overall Impression: 7 out of 10: Good beer. Could use more malt. Overall pretty close to style.
  • Total: 38 out of 50 ("Excellent" in scoring guide)

• 4.1 oz Chocolate malt
• 3.7 oz Roasted malt (removed a couple of hop leaf contaminants)
• 8.0 oz Crystal malt, 60° Lovibond
• 8.2 oz Crystal malt, 120° Lovibond
• 2.5 lb Dark Muntons DME
• 5 AAU Kent Goldings hop pellets (alpha 5%) = 1.0 oz (60 minutes)
• 1/4 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1338 European Ale smack-pack yeast, mfg 3 Nov 2004
• 3 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.055
• Color 132 SRM
• IBU 34
• FG 1.016
• Alcohol 5.19% abv

• Heated 3/4 gallon of water to 170° in 10 qt Teflon stock pot for mashing and 1 gallon at 170° in 12 qt stock pot for sparging. FUTURE NOTE: Prepare 1.5 gallons for sparging (see Notes).
• Added crushed grain - total grain volume 5.5 c, temp 72°. Temp after mash-in was 162° - slightly high for mash, but probably fine for steeping.
• Stirred at 10 minutes steeping, temp 156°. Stirred at 20 minutes, temp 150°, added heat (while stirring) to 156°.
• After 30 minutes of steeping (note - these were mostly crystal malts, so they didn't need a formal saccrification mash), poured grain and liquor into lauter-tun (see Notes).
• Sparged slowly, keeping the grain stack "floating". Easy to watch the top to see when additional sparge water was needed. Sparged with a total of 1.5 gallons of water. Total liquor collected was just over 2 gallons.
• Added DME and brought to a boil, stirring constantly. Total boil time 70 minutes.
• Added hops (all for bittering, no aroma hops) after 10 minutes of boil (see notes as to why).
• Added 1/4 t Irish Moss at 10 minutes before end of boil.
• Put 1 gallon of refrigerated (40°) water in primary fermenter bucket and strained the boiled wort (through a "shower cap" mesh) into the primary, removing hops and some sludge.
• Topped primary up to 2 3/4 gallons with refrigerated water. Additional cooling by immersing primary in sink of ice water.
• At 82°, siphoned (and aerated) wort from primary into glass carboy, and attached airlock. Total volume 2.5 gallons.
• Pitched yeast at 3:30 pm 30 Jan 2005. Activity apparent after several hours.
• After about a day (8 pm 31 Jan), the krausen overflowed into the airlock. Removed the airlock and attached a modified airlock-blowoff tube. Very impressive activity!
• After about two days (8 pm 1 Feb), blowoff tube functioning well, very active fermentation.
• 10 pm 2 Feb, racked off sediment (and some gummy trub looking stuff) into secondary carboy, attached airlock.
• 10 Feb (11 days) - still actively fermenting.
• 15 Feb (16 days) - krausen has started to reabsorb, but still is occasionally bubbling the airlock.
• 20 Feb (21 days) - swirled to encourage any final secondary fermentation before bottling
• 21 Feb (22 days) - I was planning to bottle tonight, but the airlock is still bubbling every 7-8 minutes. I had racked the beer from carboy to carboy (off the sediment) yesterday to help encourage any final fermentation. SG is 1.022 (higher than projected 1.016), so I will wait another couple of days to see if the activity subsides. While racking, that extra beer that went into the hydrometer flask couldn't be poured back in to the main batch, so I had to sample it: overall 4+, malt 4+, hops 4+, sweet 2, bitter 3, body 4, color very dark brown, toasty flavor. It's got potential!
• 24 Feb (25 days) - primed with 3/8 c (1.8 oz or 53 grams) Dark DME in 1 c hot water. Bottled. Yield: 24 bottles, Final gravity 1.020.
• 3 Mar (1 week after bottling): overall 4-, malt 5, hops 3, sweet 3, bitter 2, body 5, color black, carbonation 1+. Roasted malt and coffee.
• 8 Mar (almost 2 weeks after bottling): overall 4, malt 5, hops 3, sweet 3, bitter 2, body 5. Carbonation 2 is starting to improve. Tasted side-by-side with Mackeson XXX. The main difference was that the residual sweetness in the Mackeson was higher. Suggest in the future with this recipe to add lactose at bottling time, to better imitate the sweetness/body of Mackeson.

• Bottled water hardness 50ppm, apparent pH 4.9 appears to be unreasonably low using pH strip (range 4.6-6.2), so expected 7.0 may not function correctly in this range. "Color" indication didn't seem to change other than the paper looked "wet". Hardness measured using pool testing kit. Note re pH that the pool testing kit agreed that the pH was significantly below 6.8. These measurements are of the water straight from the jug.
• Air temp 70-75° during course of starting yeast, mashing, and getting into primary.
• Runnings after 1 gallon of sparge water were still somewhat dark with a slight sweetness, so I heated and sparged another 1/2 gallon. FUTURE - prepare 1.5 gallons of sparge water.
• As with previous English Brown Ale recipe, the mash-in temp was slightly too high - so recommend heating water to only 165° instead of 170°, using the same volume (3 quarts water and 1.5 pounds of grain).
• For sparging, I found a round 2 gallon "cooler" with a bottom spigot. I also found a bowl-shaped mesh-strainer that fit into the cooler almost perfectly. The rim of the strainer sealed quite well against the sides of the cooler, so just inserting the strainer and then using the whole thing as the lauter tun worked great!
• Total boil time was 70 minutes instead of planned 60 minutes. This is because my nifty digital scale busted and I was scrambling to try and measure the amount of hops to add. Calculations based on alpha% would have been 0.85 oz, but I had a bag of 1.0 oz, and no reasonable way to weigh (although I could have done an estimation), so I just threw in the whole 1.0 oz. This was done 10 minutes after the boil started, and since I wanted a full 60 minutes of bittering hops, the total boil time was 70 minutes.
• Rating of wort at time of pitching: overall 4+, malt 5, hops 4, sweet 5, bitter 4, body 4+, color dark brown to black. Starting Gravity 1.056, pH 5.1.
• Build-A-Beer notes: the IBU value is calculated with SG 1.055, but a more correct value might be calculated by noticing that the wort of the boil was more like 1.110, diluted out to 1.055 SG with cold water after the boil, so hops utilization would be less, giving an IBU calculated value of 21.
• Rating at bottling: overall 4, malt 4, hops 4, sweet 2, bitter 3+, body 4, color very dark brown, roasted barley, coffee.
• 28 May 2005 - Aged very nicely, mellowed, flavors melded - excellent! Future note - allow at least 2 months of bottle aging.

• 8.0 oz Crystal malt, 50° Lovibond
• 1.0 oz Roasted Barley
• 3.3 lb Coopers Light 2-row Australian Barley LME
• 2.5 AAU Target hop pellets (alpha 10%) = 0.25 oz (60 minutes)
• 1/4 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1028 London Ale pitchable liquid yeast, mfg 27 Dec 2004
• 3 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.057
• Color 27 SRM
• IBU 16
• FG 1.013
• Alcohol 5.85% abv

• Added crushed grain to 1 quart of 170° water - total grain volume 2.5 c, temp 70°. Temp after mash-in was 160°.
• Stirred at 20 minutes, temp 142°, heated to 155°, turned off heat, left pot on burner.
• Stirred at 45 minutes, temp was 157°.
• Stirred at 60 minutes, temp 144°, heated to 152° and left on burner.
• After 90 minutes of steeping, temp 152° (note - these were mostly crystal malts, so they didn't need a formal saccrification mash), raised mash temp to 170° to mash out.
• Poured grain and liquor into lauter-tun.
• Sparged slowly, recycling first runnings. Sparge water 1.25 gallons at 178°. Grain volume was pretty low. Total liquor collected was 1.5 gallons.
• Added LME and water to bring total volume to 1.5 gallons in 12 qt stock pot.
• Brought to a boil. Added hops (all bittering, no aroma) at start of boil. Total boil time 60 minutes.
• Added 1/4 t Irish Moss at 10 minutes before end of boil.
• Sterilized stock pot lid, covered wort, put stock pot in sink of ice water to chill quickly.
• After 10 minutes (temp was 115°), added refrigerated (40°) water to stock pot to total volume of 2.5 gallons for additional cooling. This brought the temp to 75°. (see Notes)
• Strained the boiled wort (through a "shower cap" mesh in a filter-screen funnel) into the primary, removing hops and some sludge. (see Notes)
• Topped primary up to 2 1/2 gallons with refrigerated water (added about a quart).
• At 82°, siphoned (and aerated) wort from primary into glass carboy, and attached airlock. Total volume 2.5 gallons.
• Pitched yeast at 7:00 pm 5 Feb 2005, air temp 71°, wort temp 74°. Attached blow-off tube.
• 6 Feb 11 PM - thin layer of bubbles starting to form - slow start to fermentation.
• 7 Feb 7 AM - Fermentation active - krausen about 1/2 inch thick.
• 7 Feb 10 PM - Fermentation VERY active - 1.5 inch krausen.
• 8 Feb 10 PM - Fermentation still very active but krausen has fallen, so racked into plastic, washed out sediment (and trub) in carboy, and racked back into carboy. Attached airlock.
• At 16 days (21 Feb), racked off sediment, Specific Gravity 1.022 (recipe target was 1.008), added 1/4 c Light DME (1.5 oz or 43 grams) and 1/4 c brown sugar (1.2 oz or 34 grams) in 1 c 200° water to prime, bottled. Yield 24 bottles.
• Rating (at bottling): overall 4, malt 4, hops 3, sweet 3, bitter 2, body 3, color dark amber.
• 28 Feb (1 week after bottling): overall 4, malt 4+, hops 2, sweet 3, bitter 1, body 4, color hazy copper, carbonation 1+ is big bubbles and no head - slight pfft on opening.
• 8 Mar (2+ weeks after bottling): carbonation 2+ and nice small tan head forming - overall 4, malt 4+, hops 2, sweet 4+, bitter 1, body 4, color copper (not hazy any more).

• Bottled water hardness 50ppm, pH 4.7.
• Total grain weight was 9.3 oz, not 9.0 as per recipe - extra was probably crystal malt. Weight was measured at homebrew store before they crushed it (crushing both grains together in the mix), so I could not measure each separately. In future, ask for grains crushed to be packaged separately so that I can measure them more precisely.
• Air temp 70-75° during course of starting yeast, mashing, and getting into primary.
• Spent grain after sparging had no residual sweetness.
• Rating of wort at time of pitching: overall 4+, malt 4 (nutty), hops 3, sweet 5, bitter 3, body 3, color dark brown. Starting Gravity 1.052 (measured at 1.058 for 9 quarts, added 1 quart of water to top up to 2.5 gallons, as mentioned above, so actual starting gravity is 0.9 * 58 = 1.052), pH 4.2.
• Wort chilling by immersing hot wort in stock pot into ice bath worked great! This is done BEFORE adding refrigerated water - and chilled the wort to 115° in 10 minutes. Adding refrigerated water at that point brought the temp to 75°, immediately ready for pitching yeast. Not sure how effective this method (and the hop-straining - see next note) are at removing trub and hot/cold break. May need to alter method slightly, but this is a BIG improvement over previous chilling methods.
• Transferring chilled wort from boiling pot through mesh bag and filter funnel was slow running. This may be due to smaller surface area of funnel, as compared to using mesh bag stretched over a plastic bucket. Future ideas: either use funnel/screen ONLY (no mesh bag) or include an intermediate step of filtering from stock pot to plastic bucket, then siphon into glass carboy. The second option may be the best choice because the wort can rest for a few minutes in the plastic bucket, then siphoning can leave additional sediment in the plastic bucket.
• pH readings still seem to be unreasonable, particularly for starting water. I suspect there is a problem with my technique. Will investigate.
• Final gravity was substantially higher than predicted, attenuation only 58% (1 - (22 / 52)). If the fermentation was particularly slow or stuck, then I will need to watch for possible over pressure in the bottles after priming. Air temp was 68-72° during fermentation.
• Another possibility regarding the low attenuation (since it appears that the same thing is happening to the Stout batch) is that something in my process changed to cause the yeast to have a problem. One possibility is that I racked both of these beers from the primary (in a carboy) to the secondary right after high krausen, in an attempt to rack the beer off of the trub and cold break. I may change this process back to siphoning from the pot, leaving the trub there, but giving the wort a bit longer to settle first. Then I can leave the primary working longer, and only rack after major fermentation has ceased.
• Also, note - review my aeration practices - make sure that the yeast gets enough oxygen.

• 2.0 lb pale 2-row Briess malt
• 4.0 oz Briess crystal malt, 40° Lovibond
• 1.32 lb (599 grams) Munton&Fison Light DME, 3.5° Lovibond
• 3 AAU Crosby&Baker Cascade leaf hops (alpha 6%) = 0.483 oz (14 grams) (45 minutes)
• 3 AAU Crosby&Baker Northern Brewers leaf hops (alpha 8%) = 0.388 oz (11 grams) (45 minutes)
• .75 oz (22 grams) Crosby&Baker Northern Brewers leaf hops (alpha 8%) (5 minutes)
• 1/4 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 2007 smack-pack Pilsen Lager yeast, mfg 4 Jan 2005
• 3 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.053
• Color 7 SRM
• IBU 23
• FG 1.013
• Alcohol 5.27% abv

• Preheated crockpot with 120° tap water. Added crushed grain (9 c total volume) to crockpot, then added 10 c bottled water at 170°. This produced an initial mash temperature of 149°. Air temp was 74°F.
• Turned crockpot on High.
• After 25 minutes, temp was 150°.
• After 30 minutes, temp was 152°, so turned off crockpot heat.
• After 45 minutes, temp was 158°, so removed crockpot from heater unit.
• After 60 minutes, temp was 154°. Iodine test showed that starch conversion was complete. Total mash time 1.0 hours.
• Attempted to mash out by adding 4 c water at 190° but the temp was only 155° after adding. Also the purpose of adding this water was to thin the mash a bit so that the lautering would provide a good grain bed.
• Poured mash into plastic cooler/screen lauter-tun. Sparged with 3 quarts of 170° water, collecting 1.25 gallons in boiling pot.
• Added DME and boiled (strong rolling boil) for 60 minutes. Added hops at 45 minutes and 5 minutes remaining, and added Irish moss at 10 minutes remaining.
• Put boiling pot in ice-water bath in sink, chilled to 110°.
• Added 1 gallon refrigerated water (40°) to primary bucket, then poured wort (slightly less than 1 gallon remaining) through mesh bag into primary.
• Siphoned (and aerated by splashing) wort from primary into glass carboy, and attached airlock. Topped up with 40° water to 2.5 gallons. Lots of trub/hot break in suspension which precipitated within a few minutes.
• Pitched yeast at 7:00 pm 27 Feb 2005, air temp 76°, wort temp 68°. Yeast packet had expanded to about an inch, but was not firm like previous packets had been.
• 27 Feb, midnight: trub (including cheese-like hot-break) has settled out nicely. I should have racked it - no fermentation evident yet.
• 28 Feb, 8PM: trub has separated into a layer at the top and layer at the bottom. Fermentation starting. Chunks of trub (probably the hot-break protein) moving up and down with the internal fermentation currents. Plan to let it settle (top and bottom) for a bit then rack to another carboy from the middle. Trub looks like cottage cheese rising and falling (CO2 related?), almost "boiling" with activity. Air temp 74°.
• 28 Feb, midnight: Very active fermentation, 3/4" krausen. Trub is moving up and down a lot, so will wait until it settles before racking.
• 2 Mar, 9AM: Krausen has fallen. Trub has settled. Racked to another carboy.
• At 14 days (13 Mar) beer was clear and still. Racked off sediment (not much). Specific Gravity 1.012 (recipe target was 1.013). Added 3/8c (60g) Light DME (just a slight bit of Dark DME added to fill measure) in 1 c 200° tap water to prime, bottled. Yield 23 bottles.
• Rating (at bottling): overall 4, malt 3, hops 4, sweet 2, bitter 2, body 2, color gold. Nice hoppy aroma and flavor, color is too light for category (should be amber to copper).

• Increased OG by using 2.0 lb instead of 1.75 lb of 2-row malt. This was intentional so as to get into the higher end of the range for this category as per BJCP specifications.
• Also, I used DME instead of the recipe's LME, recalculating the weight to get the equivalent Gravity Units.
• Instead of all Northern Brewers hops, I used Northern Brewers for flavor/aroma, but used both Northern Brewers and Cascade hops for bittering. This was initially done because I didn't have enough Northern Brewers hops around, and I had some extra Cascade. However, review of the California Common recipes in other books occasionally showed Cascade hops usage, so I felt that it was within acceptable category guidelines.
• Rating of wort at time of pitching: overall 4, malt 3, hops 4, sweet 4, bitter 4, body 3+, color amber, with lots of hop flavor and bittering. Starting Gravity 1.050.
• Full rolling boil produced a much better hot break that precipitated out quickly after cooling the wort and racking to carboy.
• For mashing, I tested the use of a crockpot. It worked nicely in keeping a fairly stable mash temperature, and also didn't cause any scorching with adding heat. Limitation is grain amount. With 2.25 lb of grain and mash water, the crockpot was about 3/4 full. Reasonable limit is probably 2.5 lb. This still left space to add hot water to mash out.
• Reviewing the past brews, and noting that the Sweet Stout seems to (currently) be undercarbonated, future priming amount might be increased. Previous amounts were: 5/8, 11/16, 1/2, 3/8 (stout), 1/2 (scottish). This one was also 3/8c. Might consider using 1/2c as normal amount for the 2.5 gallon batch.
• Entered Dunedin Brewers Guild 19 May 2005 competition as a Category 7B California Common. Results (1st Place):
  • Judge #1 (recognized)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:3 out of 5
  • Technical Merit:5 out of 5
  • Intangibles:3 out of 5
  • Bottle Inspection:not given
  • Aroma: 8 out of 12 : Light fruit aroma, low hops, low esters, clean, no off aromas
  • Appearance: 2 out of 3 : Golden, clearn, some lace with retention, low SRM for style
  • Flavor: 15 out of 20 : Low maltiness, not much hops bitterness, dry and crisp, OK to style, missing the toasty grainy malt profile
  • Mouthfeel: 4 out of 5 : Very carbonated almost too much, some dryness and very smooth
  • Overall Impression: 7 out of 10: Very good clean beer, no off flavors, almost lager like, missing the hop and grain profile, this is a beer for a blond ale or light category
  • Total: 36 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)
  • Judge #2 (novice)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:2 out of 5
  • Technical Merit:3 out of 5
  • Intangibles:4 out of 5
  • Bottle Inspection:OK
  • Aroma: 8 out of 12 : Light fruity aroma-could be more, little hop aroma-could be more, no carmely/malty aroma
  • Appearance: 2 out of 3 : Light amber, very clear, nice head retention (too light)
  • Flavor: 13 out of 20 : Light malty flavor-could be higher-more malt, no off flavors, low hop bitterness-should be "moderate"
  • Mouthfeel: 4 out of 5 : Somewhat thin, good carbonation
  • Overall Impression: 8 out of 10: Very nice summer beer, very drinkable, not 100% to style though
  • Total: 35 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)

• 2.25 lb Munton&Fison Wheat DME
• 1.125 lb Great Value Clover Honey
• 1.5 AAU Chinook pellet hops (alpha 10.7%) = (3.5 grams) (60 minutes)
• 0.5 AAU Czech Saaz pellet hops (alpha 3.5%) = (4 grams, but calc'd for whole hops, so should have been 3.4g) (15 minutes)
• 0.6 AAU Styrian Goldings pellet hops (alpha 4.8%) = (4 grams, but calc'd for whole hops, so should have been 2.8g) (15 minutes)
• 0.5 oz ground coriander seed (half for 5-minute boil, half to secondary)
• 0.125 oz ground dried orange peel (5-minute boil)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 3944 smack-pack Belgian Wit yeast, mfg 19 Jan 2005
• 3 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.049
• Color 3 SRM
• IBU 16
• FG 1.012
• Alcohol 4.92% abv

• 5 qt bottled water to rolling boil, added DME, Chinook hops
• After 45 minutes, added Saaz hops, Styrian Goldings hops
• After 50 minutes, added Irish Moss
• After 55 minutes, added dried orange peel and half of the coriander (used a pepper grinder)
• After 1 hour (volume now 3.5 qt), chilled boiler in ice-bath in sink to 120°
• Siphoned into carboy (through filter funnel to remove hops), adding 1 gal refrigerated water and 0.75 gal room temp water
• Pitched yeast at 2 PM, 10 April 2005, air temp 77°, wort temp 80°
• 15 April 2005 - added remaining half of coriander to carboy
• 26 April 2005 - still fermenting, has overflowed into airlock twice since pitching
• 1 May 2005 - racked to other carboy to leave behind most of the coriander and yeast precipitation and bubble-scum. Beer continues to ferment, bubbling airlock every 20-30 seconds.
• 6 May 2005 - krausen fell, fermentation slowing, Gravity 1.016.
• 10 May 2005 - primed with 3/8c light DME, bottled. Yield:24 bottles, Final Gravity 1.010.

• Starting Gravity 1.062 (wow! - higher than expected)
• Rating at pitching: overall:4, malt:3, hops:4, sweet:5, bitter:3, body:2, color:straw
• Rating 5/1 during ferment: overall:4, malt:2, hops:1, sweet:3, bitter:1, body:3, color:cloudy gold, taste of honey
• Rating at bottling: overall:3+, malt:3, hops:2, sweet:2, bitter:1, body:3, color:light gold
• 30 May 2005 - overall rating 5 - separate flavors have melded wonderfully!

• 3.25 lb Munton&Fison Extra Light DME (3°L)
• 1.875 lb German 2-row pilsner malt
• 2 oz Belgian aromatic malt
• .75 lb Belgian clear candi sugar
• 4.4 AAU Styrian Golding pellet hops (alpha 4.8%) = (21.5 grams) (60 minutes)
• 3.5g German Hallertau Hersbrucker pellet hops (alpha 5.6%) (15 minutes)
• 3.5g Tettnanger pellet hops (alpha 5.6%) (15 minutes)
• 7g Czech Saaz pellet hops (alpha 3.5%) (5 minutes)
• 1/4 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1214 smack-pack Belgian Abbey yeast, mfg 1 March 2005
• 4 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.092
• Color 7 SRM
• IBU 26
• FG 1.022
• Alcohol 9.73% abv

• Mash in with 3qt water (2.5@166°, .5@190° - see mash tun preheating Note), mash temp 154°, air temp 77°.
• After 1:05, iodine test showed no starches remaining, and grain had no sweetness to the taste
• Sparged with 170° water to 1.75 gallons collected liquor, used Igloo mash/sparge tun, worked great! Sparge time 35 minutes
• Brought to boil, added DME and candi sugar. Added hops and Irish moss on schedule.
• During boil, removed 2c liquor and carmalized (boiled for 20 minutes in small pot), and returned to main boil.
• Chilled to 120° in ice bath in sink (total liquor after boil 1.125 gallons).
• Siphoned into carboy, adding refrigerated water for 2.5 gallon total
• Pitched yeast at 3 PM, 8 May 2005, air temp 75°, wort temp 75°
• Racked 13 May 2005 - there had been a lot of hot break protein very active ("boiling") in wort that settled out
• 30 May 2005 - primed with 1/4c Dextrose and 1/6c Belgian white candi sugar, bottled. Yield:21 bottles, Final Gravity 1.014.

• FUTURE: Preheat mash tun - lost about 10° without preheating - needed water temp at mash+20° for 1.5qt/lb
• Starting Gravity 1.085.
• Rating at pitching: overall:4+, malt:5, hops:3, sweet:5, bitter:3, body:4, color:copper
• Rating at bottling: overall:4+, malt:4, hops:2, sweet:2, bitter:1, body:3, color:amber, feel alcohol (not fusal), and also banana ester
• Entered in Dunedin Brewers Guild 15 December 2005 competition as a Category 18C - Belgian Tripel. Results (1st Place):
  • Judge #1 (recognized)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:4
  • Technical Merit:4
  • Intangibles:4
  • Bottle Inspection:(checked)
  • Aroma: 8 out of 12 : Moderate fruiey esters, mostly citrus, low alcohol presence.
  • Appearance: 2 out of 3 : Light gold, somewhat hazy, lively carbonation.
  • Flavor: 15 out of 20 : Nice malt upfront that gives way to a spicy and peppery character. Low to medium hop bitterness balances well.
  • Mouthfeel: 4 out of 5 : Nice carbonation with some alcohol warming.
  • Overall Impression: 7 out of 10: Overall a nice beer. Would liike to see a little more complexity. Try more specialty malts or more authentic yeast.
  • Total: 36 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)
  • Judge #2 (national)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:5
  • Technical Merit:4
  • Intangibles:5
  • Bottle Inspection:none given
  • Aroma: 9 out of 12 : Spiciness, citrusy, Belgian yeast character.
  • Appearance: 1 out of 3 : Light hazy, moderate straw. Nice effervesense.
  • Flavor: 16 out of 20 : Wonderful balance of sweet malt and candi sugar, light hopping, some spiciness in finish with a sweet finish with some lingering bitterness.
  • Mouthfeel: 4 out of 5 : Medium body, good alcohol.
  • Overall Impression: 8 out of 10: A wonderful tripel. A medal winner in most comp. Minor improvement points - Rocky head (priming and age) and clarity (Irish moss, crashing yeast, decanting).
  • Total: 38 out of 50 ("Excellent" in scoring guide)

• 3.9 lb Munton&Fison Wheat/Barley (50/50) DME
• .15 lb German chocolate malt (400°L)
• .33 lb Munton&Fison Dark DME (not in original recipe, but had laying around)
• .28 lb Pilsner malt (not in original recipe, but had laying around)
• 2.6 AAU German Hallertau leaf hops (alpha 3.0%) = (.85 oz) (70 minutes)
• .15 oz German Hallertau leaf hops (alpha 3.0%) (3 minutes)
• 1/4 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 3068 smack-pack Weihenstephen Weizenbier yeast, mfg 15 March 2005
• 4 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.068
• Color 34 SRM
• IBU 13
• FG 1.016
• Alcohol 7.07% abv

• Micro-mash in with 1qt of 160° water in small pot, mash temp 153°, air temp 80°.
• After 1:00, iodine test showed no starches remaining
• Sparged with 175° water. Since this was such a small volume of grain, I sparged by pouring pot through strainer, adding water to pot, repeating twice.
• Added water to 2 gallons, and brought to boil, added DME. Added hops and Irish moss on schedule. Boil time 70 minutes to allow evaporation to 1.5 gallons
• Chilled to 120° in ice bath in sink (total liquor after boil 1.5 gallons).
• Siphoned into carboy, adding refrigerated water for 2.5 gallon total
• Quite a bit of precipitants remained, so waited for about 1 hour as they settled, then siphoned into other carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.118 (error) - probably close to calculation of 1.068
• Yeast smacked previous evening, but was ready to use in about 4 hours! By the time the wort was ready, the smack pack was tightly expanded. Pitched yeast at 12:30 PM, 30 May 2005, air temp 78°, wort temp 70°
• Fermentation active by 9PM, attached blow-off tube
• day 3 - racked, gravity = 1.032
• day 18 - Primed with 3/8c dextrose (as per original recipe) in boiled bottled water and bottled. Final gravity 1.017. Yield: 25 bottles plus full-glass taster.
• Rating at bottling: overall:4, malt:4, hops:3, sweet:1, bitter:2, body:4, color:dark brown

• Entered in Dunedin Brewers Guild 21 July 2005 competition as a Category 15C Weizenbock. Results (3rd Place):
  • Judge #1 (national)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:not given
  • Technical Merit:not given
  • Intangibles:not given
  • Bottle Inspection:not given
  • Aroma: 8 out of 12 : Wonderful big dark fruit nose overshadows all else (can't pick up phenolics). Alcohol notes.
  • Appearance: 2 out of 3 : Light head (should be thick). Nice ruby highlights. Light haze.
  • Flavor: 14 out of 20 : Big dark aged sherrish fruit flavor. Some vanilla notes. Good malt support but no melanoidins from Vienna/Munich detectable. Clean, not complex finish.
  • Mouthfeel: 3 out of 5 : Medium - full (just in). Some alcoholic heat.
  • Overall Impression: 8 out of 10: Very good weizen. Higher score with more clove from yeast character. Increase head and Vienna malt impression.
  • Total: 35 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)
  • Judge #2 (novice)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:not given
  • Technical Merit:not given
  • Intangibles:not given
  • Bottle Inspection:appropriate
  • Aroma: 10 out of 12 : Big fruity nose (raisin, plum). No vanilla or clove. Some alcohol.
  • Appearance: 2 out of 3 : Moderate head retention (should last longer). Good color / clear.
  • Flavor: 14 out of 20 : Little melanoidins and phenols. Dark fruit or sherry like flavor. Some alcohol warming.
  • Mouthfeel: 3 out of 5 : Medium body - could be fuller/creamier. Needs some carb.
  • Overall Impression: 6 out of 10: Good fruity beer w/o strong wheat/malt characteristics for style. Pleasant but needs more malt.
  • Total: 35 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)
• Entered in Hogtown Brewoff 19 November 2005 as a Category 15C Weizenbock. Results (2nd Place):
  • Judge #1 (national)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:3
  • Technical Merit:3
  • Intangibles:3
  • Bottle Inspection:Appropriate, good fill
  • Aroma: 9 out of 12 : Dard friut-bread, sweet malt/wheat. No hop flavor detected. Esters and aromatic alcohol.
  • Appearance: 3 out of 3 : Great deep bronze color. Good clarity. Low head formation, ok for style due to alcohol. Head leaves fine lace, even bubbles.
  • Flavor: 15 out of 20 : Dried plum bread - dark fruit and bready malt. Slight wheat bite. Sweet balance - fruity - spicy clove, finishes dry.
  • Mouthfeel: 4 out of 5 : Medium-large bubbles. Good CO2 level for style. Warm creamy texture. Spicy phenolic finish nice!
  • Overall Impression: 8 out of 10: Nice beer. Maybe a touch on the astringent side. Yeast doesn't really accentuate the style.
  • Total: 39 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)
  • Judge #2 (certified)
  • Descriptor Definitions:oxidized/stale
  • Stylistic Accuracy:not given
  • Technical Merit:not given
  • Intangibles:not given
  • Bottle Inspection:appropriate
  • Aroma: 9 out of 12 : Sweet malt/bread and alcohol. Raisin clove, slight oxidation. Missing big ester nose typical of Aventis.
  • Appearance: 2 out of 3 : Dark brown with ruby amber highlights. Big off white creamy head fades quickly to Belgian lace.
  • Flavor: 14 out of 20 : Big malt raisin character nicely balanced by alcohol and bitterness. Excellent beer but more Belgian than weissen character. Raisin overpowers other needed weissen characteristics.
  • Mouthfeel: 3 out of 5 : Body big enough for style warmth. More carb could improve head retention and mouthfeel.
  • Overall Impression: 8 out of 10: Awesome beer. Beautiful flavor profile. Clean fermentation but seems more like a Dubbel or Belgian Strong. Use weissen yeast, more wheat, and triple decoct. Enter as a Dubbel - awesome!
  • Total: 36 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)

• 4.125 lb Briess Pale Ale 2-row malt
• .125 lb Weyermann Dark Munich malt (9-13.5°L)
• .25 lb Munton&Fison CaraPils 2-row malt (10-15°L)
• .5 lb Caramel 2-row malt (40°L)
• 7 AAU Cascade leaf hops (alpha 7.0%) = (1.0 oz) (60 minutes)
• 6 AAU Willamette leaf hops (alpha 6.0%) = 1.0 oz (15 minutes)
• 1.0 oz Crosby&Baker Cascade leaf hops (alpha 6.0%) (5 minutes)
• .3 oz Willamette pellet hops (alpha 4.8%) (dry hop)
• .25 oz Kent Golding pellet hops (alpha 5.0%) (dry hop)
• .6 oz Cascade pellet hops (alpha 5.1%) (dry hop)
• .1 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker pellet hops (alpha 5.6%) (dry hop)
• 1/4 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1056 smack-pack American Ale yeast, mfg 7 June 2005
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.071
• Color 15 SRM
• IBU 65
• FG 1.016
• Alcohol 7.41% abv

• Preheated mash tun. Air temp 80°. Adding 5 qt of 170° water for mash-in gave a 140° mash. Added 2 qt boiling water to get mash-in temp of 151°. Mash fit perfectly in 2-gallon Rubbermaid mash/lauter tun.
• After 1:00, iodine test showed no starches remaining
• Sparged with 2 gal of 172° water. Total collected liquor: 3.5 gal.
• Boiled, added hops and Irish moss on schedule. Boil time 60 minutes
• Chilled to 120° in ice bath in sink (collected wort 2.5 gallons)
• Siphoned into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.054. This indicates (based on calculations) that my brewhouse efficiency is 76%.
• Yeast smacked previous evening. Pitched yeast at noon, 18 June 2005, air temp 78°, wort temp 80°
• Rating at pitching: overall:4, malt:3, hops:4, sweet:4, bitter:4, body:3, color:amber
• Day 4 - racked, added dry hops
• day 23 - Primed with 3/8c light DME in boiled bottled water and bottled. Final gravity 1.009. Yield: 19 bottles.
• Rating at bottling: overall:4, malt:3, hops:4, sweet:1, bitter:3, body:3, color:amber

• In the future for mashing, at 1 qt/lb, try 180° mash water temperature
• For all grain, the 2 gallon Rubbermaid was perfect for mashing and as a lautertun. It was completely full with 5 lb grain and 7 qt water. This leaves no room for temp adjustment by infusion, but could decoct as needed.
• For all grain (and full volume boil), recommend to have 5 gal water (not 4) available for 2.5 gal batch.
• Mash tun retained 151° for full hour of mashing
• Sparging took 45 minutes. Kept sparge water level abve grain bed, used small plate to deflect water being added.
• Boiling was split between two pots (3 gallon and 10 quart) - too much to fit in 3 gallon stockpot
• Entered in Dunedin Brewers Guild 15 September 2005 competition as a Category 10A American Pale Ale. Results (2nd Place):
  • Judge #1 (recognized)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:not given
  • Technical Merit:not given
  • Intangibles:not given
  • Bottle Inspection:OK
  • Aroma: 10 out of 12 : Very nice citrus profile like fresh oranges. Some faint malt characteristics.
  • Appearance: 2 out of 3 : A little hazy, medium amber, thin white head.
  • Flavor: 15 out of 20 : Medium hop bitterness with just enough malt sweetness to balance. A little dryness in finish.
  • Mouthfeel: 3 out of 5 : A little thin on body, could use a little more carbonation.
  • Overall Impression: 7 out of 10: Good clean beer! Hop impression showed good complexity. Could use a little more body. Nice job.
  • Total: 37 out of 50 ("Very Good" in scoring guide)
  • Judge #2 (novice)
  • Descriptor Definitions:none given
  • Stylistic Accuracy:4 out of 5
  • Technical Merit:4 out of 5
  • Intangibles:4 out of 5
  • Bottle Inspection:OK
  • Aroma: 9 out of 12 : Big citrus aroma.
  • Appearance: 2 out of 3 : Slightly hazy, amber color, light head.
  • Flavor: 17 out of 20 : Malt sweetness up front with balanced hop presence at finish.
  • Mouthfeel: 3 out of 5 : Light to medium body, good carbonation.
  • Overall Impression: 8 out of 10: Very good beer. I want more. Balanced and true to style.
  • Total: 39 out of 50 ("Excellent" in scoring guide)

• 1.75 lb Weyermann 2-row Smoked pale malt (1.3-2.3°L)
• 1 oz Briess 2-row 60°L Crystal malt
• 1 oz Munton&Fison 2-row Chocolate malt (400°L)
• 4 oz Munton&Fison 2-row Black Patent malt (450°L)
• 3 oz Muntons 2-row Lager malt (1.96-2.71°L)
• 3 lb Munton&Fison Amber DME (7°L)
• 1.8 AAU whole Kent Goldings hops (alpha 5.5%) = (9 grams) (90 minutes)
• 2.2 AAU whole Cascade hops (alpha 7.0%) = (9 grams) (90 minutes)
• 2.6 AAU whole Willamette (alpha 5.1%) = (14 grams) (60 minutes)
• 1.4 AAU whole Kent Goldings hops (alpha 5.5%) = (7 grams) (5 minutes)
• 1/4 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1056 smack-pack American Ale yeast, mfg 7 June 2005
• 4 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.072
• Color 75 SRM
• IBU 42
• FG 1.017
• Alcohol 7.52% abv

• Air temp 83°. Adding 3 qt of 175° water for mash-in gave a 152° mash.
• After 0:45, iodine test showed no starches remaining
• Sparged with 5 qt of 180° water. Total collected liquor: 7 qt.
• Boiled, added hops and Irish moss on schedule. Boil time 90 minutes
• Chilled to 74° in ice bath in sink and by adding cold water (total wort 2.75 gallons)
• Whirlpooled in stock pot, let sit for 10 minutes, then siphoned into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.066. Attached blow-off tube.
• Yeast smacked previous evening. Pitched yeast at 4:30 PM, 23 July 2005, air temp 78°, wort temp 74°
• Rating at pitching: overall:4, malt:4, hops:4, sweet:4, bitter:3, body:3, color:dark brown
• Racked 30 July 2005
• Bottled 14 Aug 2005 with 1/2c light DME. Final gravity 1.016
• Rating at bottling: overall:4, malt:4, hops:3, sweet:2, bitter:2, body:4, color:very dark brown, slightly smoky

• Did not preheat mash tun - worked just fine maintaining temperature.

• 3.3 lb Muntons Plain Amber Malt Extract (16-20°L)
• 2 lb Carlton Amber DME
• 8 oz Carlton 60°L Crystal malt
• 2.1 AAU Willamette hop pellets (alpha 4.2%) = (.5 oz) (60 minutes)
• 2.1 AAU Willamette hop pellets (alpha 4.2%) = (.5 oz) (5 minutes)
• 1/4 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1084 125ml XL-smack-pack Irish Ale yeast, mfg 7 June 2005
• 4 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.084
• Color 44 SRM
• IBU 13
• FG 1.021
• Alcohol 8.68% abv

• Less detail this time since my process is getting more smooth, and I don't need quite as much play-by-play
• Crystal Malt into grain steeping bag, and into 2 gallons water, then brought to 170° and steeped for 20 minutes
• Removed and drained steeping bag, added LME and DME, brought to boil
• Boiled, added hops and Irish moss on schedule. Boil time 60 minutes
• Chilled to 78° in ice bath in sink and by adding cold water (total wort 2.9 gallons - filled stock pot)
• Whirlpooled in stock pot, let sit for 10 minutes, then siphoned into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.084. Attached blow-off tube.
• Yeast smacked 6AM, and was ready to pitch at 2PM. This was a WYeast XL smack-pack with 100 billion cells, and 125ml - double the "normal" smack-pack size. Pitched yeast at 2PM, 27 August 2005
• Rating at pitching: overall:4, malt:4, hops:4, sweet:4, bitter:4, body:3, color:dark copper
• Racked on day 3 (29 Aug) to get beer off trub and remaining sediment
• Day 23 (18 Sep) - Final gravity 1.024. Primed with 1/2c light DME and bottled. Yield: 27 bottles
• Rating at bottling: overall:4+, malt:5, hops:3, sweet:3, bitter:2, body:4, color:mahogany

• I won this Brewer's Best kit at the DBG in July - so I thought I'd give it a try. Three changes from the original instructions: The kit was to make 5 gallons - so I made a 2.5 gallon batch (using all of the malt, but only half of the hops - so the IBU rating should be the same as the kit), and I'm calling it Imperial Amber. Second, I used a smack-pack yeast instead of the dry yeast included. Third, I added Irish Moss into the boil. The kit also came with dextrose for priming - I used DME instead.

• 4.5 lb Muntons 2-row Pale Ale malt (2.15-2.9°L)
• 6 oz 120° Crystal malt
• 3.5 AAU Willamette hop pellets (alpha 4.2%) = (20 g) (60 minutes)
• 1.5 AAU Cascade hop pellets (alpha 5.1%) = (7 g) (15 minutes)
• .5 AAU Saaz hop pellets (alpha 3.5%) = (3.5 g) (3 minutes)
• 1/4 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 2565 Kölsch yeast smack-pack, mfg 1 June 2005
• 4.5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.057
• Color 23 SRM
• IBU 25
• FG 1.013
• Alcohol 5.85% abv

• Mashed in with 1 qt water at 176° per pound of grain. Initial mash temp a bit high at 156°.
• Total mash time 2:15 - iodine had still shown purple at 1:55. Still some black at 2:15, possibly from husks - also possibly due to incomplete beta acid conversion with the higher temperature
• Sparged with 1.5 gallons water at 180°, for a total collected liquor of 2.25 gallons
• Boiled, added hops and Irish moss on schedule. Boil time 60 minutes. Final boil liquor volume 1.3 gallons.
• Chilled to 80° in ice bath in sink and by adding cold water (total wort 2.5 gallons)
• Whirlpooled in stock pot, let sit for 10 minutes, then siphoned into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.052. Recalculated brewery efficiency as 72%.
• Problems with yeast smack-pack - unable to locate the smack-pack inside the yeast packet. Made a 16 oz yeast starter and poured the yeast into it, and found a very thin smack-pack inside - defective? Yeast still took 30 hours to get actively fermenting in the starter - and still seemed weak. All of this was done before brew day. Pitched yeast at 6PM, 18 September 2005
• Rating at pitching: overall:4, malt:3, hops:4, sweet:3, bitter:3, body:3, color:copper
• Racked 23 Sep (day 5)
• Racked 22 Oct 2PM (day 34) and added processed peppers, and covered carboy with CO2 gas for a protective layer. Peppers: 3.1 oz Jalepe&ntilte;o and 1.5 oz Serrano. Froze the whole peppers. Dropped the (frozen) peppers into boiling water to sterilize - 3-4 minutes until hot on the outside. Chopped off stems. Rinsed in vodka. Dropped whole into the carboy.
• Racked (removing peppers) 24 Oct 9AM (day 36) to 3 gallon Corny keg. Tasted - nice pepper flavor but not overpowering. Pressured to 30psi (temp 78°F) and agitated several times. Keg moved to refrigerator (38°F).

• 2.75 gallons White House (Winchester, VA) 100% Apple Juice, no sugar added
• 0.5 lb Goldenrod Apiaries (Orlando, FL) Orange Blossom honey
• 1 t Pectic Enzyme
• 3/4 t Grape Tannin
• WYeast 3021 Pasteur Champagne yeast, mfg 15 March 2005 (EXPIRED! - just received from Hearts)
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.060
• FG 1.013 (using Apparent Attenuation 78%)
• Alcohol 6.26% abv

• Added pectic enzyme, grape tannin, and honey to half-full bottle of apple juice and shook vigorously to aerate. Poured (cold) into carboy, then aerated the remaining juice in the same manner.
• Pitched yeast at 6AM next day (19 Sep)
• 8 October (day 20) - primed with 5oz (1 cup) priming sugar. Recipe said 2oz per gallon. Note that this is approximately double what we normally use (3/8 to 1/2 cup) for a 2.5 gallon batch. Final gravity 1.002, yield 11-22oz bottles, 2-17oz bottles, and 6-12oz bottles. Taste at bottling was fruity and dry.

• Juice specific gravity was 1.054, so used the BuildABeer Brewing Calculator to calculate honey amount to get the target 1.060 OG.
• Recipe calls for addition of Acid Blend (but also recipe is for whole fruit). This was not needed since I titrated to get .51% Tartaric - which was right where the recipe specified (.5%).
• Recipe calls for Campden tablets for sterilization of must. Since this is a juice based recipe (not whole fruit), I omitted the Campden tablets.
• The WYeast was received from Hearts and was 6 months out from the manufacture date (officially expired, according to the directions). The smack-pack didn't swell up much in 24 hours. Fermentation started about 24 hours after pitching.

• 4.25 lb Briess 2-row malt
• 4.8 oz 40°L Crystal malt
• 8 oz flaked oats
• 2.6 AAU Chinook hop pellets (alpha 12%) = (5g) (60 minutes)
• 1.8 AAU Kent Golding hop pellets (alpha 5.5%) = (8g) (15 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon - at knockout
• 1/4 t ground ginger - at knockout
• 1/8 t ground nutmeg - at knockout
• 1/8 t ground allspice - at knockout
• 4 t whole allspice - at bottling
• .25 lb molasses (added at secondary fermentation)
• .5 lb light DME (added at secondary fermentation)
• WYeast 1098 British Ale yeast, mfg 20 September 2005
• 4 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.054
• Color 8 SRM
• IBU 24
• FG 1.014
• Alcohol 5.38% abv

• Used my new JSP roller grain mill - note that OG was substantially less than expected, so adjustments to the mill are probably necessary
• Air temp 72°, mashed in with 6qt water at 170°. Initial mash temp 150°.
• Mashed for 90 minutes including decoction of 1.5qt (thick) brought to a boil and returned to mash to raise temp to 154°. Iodine test showed good.
• Sparged with 180° Pumpkin water (see Notes for preparation). I decided to do this instead of adding the pumpkin to the mash because I figured that the pumpkin flesh would absorb too much of the malt.
• Total collected liquor 1 3/8 gallons, added 1 gallon water, brought to boil
• Boiled, added hops and Irish moss on schedule. Boil time 60 minutes. Used new 5.5 gallon stock pot on stove. Got a boil, but not a good rolling one. Need more heat!
• Chilled to 68° in ice bath in sink
• Whirlpooled in stock pot, let sit for 10 minutes, then siphoned into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.036 (see note above about better milling).
• Yeast smacked 7AM, and was ready to pitch by 8AM (2 hours). Pitched at 2PM, air temp 75°.
• Rating at pitching: overall:3+, malt:3, hops:2, sweet:2, bitter:3, body:2, color:orange
• Day 2 (1 Nov) - Racked. Crausen had fallen, and I wanted to get the beer off the sediment (including pumpkin pulp). Added molasses and DME to bring up the SG by .011.
• Day 13 (12 Nov) - Final gravity 1.010. Primed with 1/2c light DME and bottled. Yield: 24 bottles plus 2-16oz plastic bottles (for experimenting with CO2). Converted primary fermentation bucket to bottling bucket (MUCH easier and less messy), and it leaves about 16oz of beer in the bucket after bottling. When preparing the priming DME, I added 4 t of whole allspice and boiled it for 5 minutes.
• Rating at bottling: overall:4, malt:3, hops:2, sweet:1, bitter:1, body:2, color:amber, pumpkin pie spicy

• Pumpkin Water preparation: Cubed 5lb 6oz of pumpkin, baked at 350°F for 1.25 hours. Steeped pumpkin in 2.5 gal water (heated water to 110°F and added pumpkin from oven which brought the temperature to 180°F. Steeped for 45 minutes. Used pumpkin water to sparge, and it came to a boil at one point.
• Mash efficiency 48%. Probably reason - grain mill not adjusted properly. I ran the crystal malt through with a good crush, but the 2-row Briess malt was not broken up well enough.

• 6.25 lb DeWolf-Cosyns Pilsen malt
• 0.25 lb DeWolf-Cosyns CaraVienne malt
• 3.4 AAU Target hop pellets (alpha 10%) = (7g) (70 minutes)
• 0.6 AAU Saaz hop pellets (alpha 3.5%) = (3.5g) (15 minutes)
• 0.9 AAU Hersbrucker hop pellets (alpha 5.6%) = (3.5g) (15 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kolsh yeast, expires 24 January 2006
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.069
• Color 7 SRM
• IBU 27
• FG 1.015
• Alcohol 7.28% abv

• Air temp 76°, mashed in with 7.5qt water at 178°, added 1 qt at 75° to bring temp from 158° down to 154°.
• Mashed for 75 minutes. Iodine test showed good.
• Sparged with 185° water.
• Total collected liquor 2 3/4 gallons, brought to boil
• Boiled, added hops and Irish moss on schedule. Boil time 70 minutes.
• Chilled to 78° in ice bath in sink
• Whirlpooled in stock pot, let sit for 10 minutes, then siphoned into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.066 (giving brewhouse efficiency of 67%).
• Rating at pitching: overall:4, malt:3, hops:3, sweet:5, bitter:4, body:2, color:gold
• Day 9 (3 Dec) - Racked. Never had a big crausen, more a flat hard layer.
• Day 18 (12 Dec) - Bottled with 3/8c dextrose to prime. FG 1.013, Yield 23.5 bottles.
• Rating at bottling: overall:3+, malt:2, hops:2, sweet:1, bitter:1, body:2, color:cloudy straw

• Used my new JSP roller grain mill - changed the grind to be more fine - worked great!
• Used my newly built 5-gallon mash tun (from an Igloo cooler, a strainer and a new valve) - worked great!
• Used outdoor propane cooker - was able to get full heat (and a good boil) - worked great!
• During primary fermentation, smelled strange - fusal alcohol, and other smells. I was concerned that it had gotten contaminated, but when racking to secondary, it tastes fine.

• 3.3 lb Briess CBW Traditional Dark LME
• 2.2 lb Muntons Dark DME
• 0.25 lb Briess Caramel 60°L malt
• 0.125 lb DeWolf-Cosyns CaraVienne
• 0.125 lb Weyermann DH Carafa 1
• 0.25 lb Grandma's Molasses
• 6.5 AAU Saaz whole hops (alpha 4.3%) = (1.5oz) (60 minutes)
• 1.1 AAU Saaz whole hops (alpha 4.3%) = (.25oz) (30 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1028 London Ale, mfg 6 October 2005
• 4 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.085
• Color 117 SRM
• IBU 37
• FG 1.020
• Alcohol 9.02% abv

• Air temp 72°, steeped grain in 1 qt 155° water for 20 minutes.
• Strained steeped liquor into kettle with 2 gallons of boiling water.
• Added DME, LME, and molasses, and brought to boil.
• Boiled, added hops and Irish moss on schedule. Boil time 60 minutes.
• Chilled to 80° in ice bath in sink.
• Poured through "shower cap" straining screen into bottling bucket.
• Whirlpooled, let sit for 20 minutes, then racked into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.100 for 2 gallons, so adjusted by adding 45oz refrigerated water to get 1.085 OG.
• Rating at pitching: overall:5-, malt:5, hops:1, sweet:5, bitter:4, body:5, color:black-brown
• Day 3 (6 Dec) - racked (crausen starting to fall)
• Day 27 (30 Dec) - bottled with 7/16c Light DME. FG 1.036 (high), Yield 24.5 bottles.

• Had to fend off 20-30 bees while boiling outside!

• 4.125lb Briess Pale Ale malt
• 3oz Briess Caramel 60°L malt
• 0.5oz Briess Chocolate malt (350°L)
• 4oz Muntons Wheat
• 8oz Briess Victory malt
• 8oz Muntons Light DME
• 3 AAU Northern Brewers whole hops (alpha 7.6%) = (0.4oz) (45 minutes)
• 2.6 AAU Fuggles whole hops (alpha 4.7%) = (0.5oz) (15 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1028 London Ale
• 4 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.051
• Color 19 SRM
• IBU 24
• FG 1.012
• Alcohol 5.2% abv

• 1 hour mash at 150° with 5.5qt water (1.1qt/lb)
• Sparged with 6qt water (172°)
• 70 minute boil
• Chilled to 68° in ice bath in sink.
• Whirlpooled, let sit for 20 minutes, then racked into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.051.
• Day 27 - Primed with 1/2c dark DME and bottled. FG 1.010.

• Planned as 2.5gal batch @ 70% efficiency, measured SG pre-boil was 1.048 (measured at 1.042, but wort was warm), so used DME to compensate. Overcompensated, so adjusted batch size to 2.75gal.

• 4.3125lb Briess 2-row malt
• 4oz Weyermann Dark Munich malt
• 8oz Muntons Cara-Pils malt
• 4oz Briess Caramel 40°L 2-row malt
• 4oz Weyermann CaraHell
• 3.5 AAU Cascade whole hops (alpha 7.0%) = (0.5oz) (60 minutes)
• 2.0 AAU Willamette whole hops (alpha 5.1%) = (0.4oz) (15 minutes)
• 3.8 AAU Northern Brewer whole hops (alpha 7.6%) = (0.5oz) (15 minutes)
• 6.0 AAU Cascade whole hops (alpha 7.0%) = (1oz) (5 minutes)
• .2oz Willamette pellet hops (alpha 4.8) (dry hop)
• .3oz Kent Golding pellet hops (alpha 5.0) (dry hop)
• .6oz Cascade pellet hops (alpha 5.1) (dry hop)
• .1oz Hersbrucker pellet hops (alpha 5.6) (dry hop)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1056 American Ale
• 4 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.058
• Color 11 SRM
• IBU 58
• FG 1.013
• Alcohol 5.96% abv

• 1 hour mash at 150° with 6.5qt water
• Sparged with 7qt water (175°)
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 80° in ice bath in sink.
• Whirlpooled, let sit for 20 minutes, then racked into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.058. (Bingo!)
• Racked to secondary on day 6
• Primed with 7/16c Dark DME and bottled on day 14. FG 1.010, yield 22 bottles.

• Standard all grain process - nothing unusual other than slight adjustments to starting mash temperature.

• 3.58 lb Muntons Pale Ale malt
• 0.51 lb Muntons Cara-Pils
• 0.4 lb Muntons Crystal (67°L)
• 0.42 lb Muntons Chocolate malt
• 0.11 lb Briess Barley Flakes
• 0.13 lb Briess Roasted Barley
• 2.6 AAU Fuggles whole hops (alpha 5.2%) = (0.5oz) (90 minutes)
• 0.9 AAU Fuggles pellet hops (alpha 4.9%) = (0.15oz) (90 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1028 London Ale
• 4 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.052
• Color 107 SRM
• IBU 31
• FG 1.012
• Alcohol 5.3% abv

• 1 hour mash at 152° with 5.67qt water
• Sparged with 7qt water (175°)
• 90 minute boil
• Chilled to 80° in ice bath in sink.
• Whirlpooled, let sit for 20 minutes, then racked into carboy.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.060. (translates to efficiency percentage of 82)
• Racked to secondary on day 6
• Primed with 5/8c Dark DME and bottled on day 42. FG 1.020, yield 25.5 bottles.

• Standard all grain process - nothing unusual.

• 6.5lb Muntons Light DME
• 3.75lb Briess Pilsen Malt
• 0.25lb Dingemans Aromatic
• 1.5lb Belgian clear candi sugar
• 12.3 AAU Fuggles whole hops (alpha 4.9%) = (2.5oz) (60 minutes)
• 3.8 AAU Hersbrucker whole hops (alpha 5.0%) = (0.8oz) (15 minutes)
• 5.1 AAU Tettnanger whole hops (alpha 5.1%) = (1.0oz) (15 minutes)
• 4.3 AAU Saaz whole hops (alpha 4.3%) = (1.0oz) (5 minutes)
• 1 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1214 Belgian Ale
• 7 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.085
• Color 6 SRM
• IBU 30
• FG 1.020
• Alcohol 8.91% abv

• 1 hour mash at 152° with 4.4qt water
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 80° using chiller.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.085. (Bingo!)
• Racked to secondary on day 8
• Kegged on day 21. FG 1.018.

• Standard mini mash process - nothing unusual other than slight adjustments to starting mash temperature.

• 4.5lb Weyermann Beechwood Smoked malt
• 8oz Briess Caramel 10°L malt
• 4oz Muntons Cara-Pils
• 4oz Muntons Wheat
• 0.8 AAU Northern Brewer whole hops (alpha 7.6%) = (0.1oz) (60 minutes)
• 2.5 AAU UK Fuggles whole hops (alpha 5.0%) = (0.5oz) (30 minutes)
• 0.8 AAU Northern Brewer whole hops (alpha 7.6%) = (0.1oz) (15 minutes)
• 2.5 AAU UK Fuggles whole hops (alpha 5.0%) = (0.5oz) (5 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1728 Scottish Ale
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.057
• Color 8 SRM
• IBU 22
• FG 1.015
• Alcohol 5.54% abv

• 1 hour mash at 152° with 6qt water
• Sparge with 7qt water (175°)
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 80° using chiller.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.046 (translates to efficiency of 57%)
• Day 7 - Racked to secondary on day 6 and added 4.5lb vodka-sterilized fresh (frozen) cranberries
• Day 14 - Removed cranberries
• Day 22 - Primed with 1/2c light DME and bottled - yield 24.5 bottles, FG = 1.008

• Standard all grain process - nothing unusual.
• Recipe (Nelson - original) is based on Northern English Brown style, but with slightly higher gravity, and slightly lower color - and with all Beechwood smoked malt as the base malt.

• 4lb Muntons Lager malt
• 6.4oz Weyermann CaraHell
• 2.6 AAU Saaz whole hops (alpha 4.3%) = (0.6oz) (60 minutes)
• 3.0 AAU Saaz whole hops (alpha 4.3%) = (0.7oz) (15 minutes)
• 3.0 AAU Saaz whole hops (alpha 4.3%) = (0.7oz) (5 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 2112 California Lager
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.050
• Color 5 SRM
• IBU 40
• FG 1.015
• Alcohol 4.69% abv

• 1 hour mash at 153° with 4.84qt water
• Sparge with 7qt water (175°)
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 80° using chiller.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.050 (bingo!)
• Primary fermentation for 7 days at 50°F. Slow start, but eventually got going.
• Day 7 - racked and combined the two fermenters into a single one (approximate volume 2 gallons now). Changed fermentation temperature to 40°F. SG=1.035.
• Day 45 - racked to keg, in refrigerator at 45°F. SG=1.030.
• Day 58 - SG=1.030.

• Standard all grain process - nothing unusual.
• This is my first batch of Lager style beer, and the first that is temperature controlled during fermentation.
• Created two new fermenters from 2-gallon refrigerator water dispensers - to be able to fit them (stacked) in the small (dorm-sized) refrigerator for temperature control.

• 3lb Muntons Wheat DME (55% wheat/45% barley)
• 4oz Briess Munich malt (20°L)
• 8oz Muntons Wheat
• 1.8 AAU Tettnanger whole hops (alpha 4.5%) = (0.4oz) (60 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 3056 Bavarian Wheat
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.049
• Color 4 SRM
• IBU 13
• FG 1.011
• Alcohol 4.98% abv

• 1 hour steep (thin mash) at 150° with 2qt water
• Sparge with 2qt water (175°)
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 80° using chiller.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.055 (not sure why since this is mostly extract - maybe a water volume difference)
• Day 8 - racked to secondary
• Day 16 - primed with 1/2c Dark DME and bottled - yield 26 bottles, FG 1.018

• Standard steep (thin-mash) process - nothing unusual.

• 2.7lb Weyermann Rye Malt
• 0.8lb Durst Munich
• 0.5lb Meussdoerfer Spitz Malt (undermodified)
• 0.2lb Fawcett Oat Malt
• 0.2lb Gambrinus Honey Malt
• 0.5lb Weyermann Caramel Wheat
• 0.35lb Rice Hulls
• 1.6 AAU Hersbrucker whole hops (alpha 3.9%) = (0.4oz) (60 minutes)
• 0.5 AAU Tettnanger whole hops (alpha 4.5%) = (0.1oz) (60 minutes)
• 0.9 AAU Tettnanger whole hops (alpha 4.5%) = (0.2oz) (15 minutes)
• 0.5 AAU Tettnanger whole hops (alpha 4.5%) = (0.1oz) (5 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 3056 Bavarian Wheat
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.051
• Color 18 SRM
• IBU 19
• FG 1.012
• Alcohol 5.2% abv

• 1 hour mash at 152° with 7qt water
• Sparge with 8qt water (170°)
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 86° using chiller.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.036 (about 50% efficiency - note that undermodified malt may not have been efficiently extracted - it's normally decoction mashed)
• Day 23 - primed with 1/2c light DME and bottled. FG 1.010, yield 23 bottles

• Standard mash process - nothing unusual.
• Rice hulls are approximately 10% of weight of non-husk grains (rye and wheat). Calculated for thinner mash (1.333:1 instead of 1.1:1 ratio) because of bulk of rice hulls.

• 2.75lb Muntons Light DME
• 3.0lb Weyermann Vienna Malt
• 0.75lb DeWolf-Cosyns Aromatic Malt
• 0.75lb beet sugar (replacing candi sugar)
• 1.0lb Muntons Dark DME
• 4.7 AAU Hersbrucker pellet hops (alpha 5.6%) = (0.7oz) (60 minutes)
• 0.8 AAU Saaz pellet hops (alpha 3.5%) = (0.2oz) (15 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using One-Step for sanitation

• OG 1.106
• Color 22 SRM
• IBU 25
• FG 1.024
• Alcohol 11.6% abv

• 1 hour mash at 152° with 4.25qt water
• Sparge with 7qt water (170°)
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 86° using chiller then added refrigerated water to full volume.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.106, pitched yeast at 81°.
• Day 4 - racked to secondary.
• Day 20 - checked gravity = 1.022
• Day 41 - Bottled with 1/2c dextrose to prime. FG = 1.016, yield = 23.5 bottles.

• Standard partial mash process - nothing unusual.

• 2lb Muntons Light DME
• 1lb Briess Caramel 40° Malt
• 0.25lb Briess CaraPils Malt
• 0.25lb Briess Caramel 90° Malt
• 2 AAU UK Fuggles whole hops (alpha 4.7%) = (0.4oz) (60 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• WYeast 1318 London Ale III
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using Iodophor for sanitation

• OG 1.042
• Color 28 SRM
• IBU 16
• FG 1.011
• Alcohol 4.12% abv

• 1 hour mash at 152° with 3qt water
• Sparge with 6qt water (170°)
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 87° using chiller then added refrigerated water to full volume.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.048, pitched yeast at 72°. Calculations in BuildABeer were adjusted - the DME gives about 86% yield instead of 76%, which would calculate to a SG of 1.046.
• This batch was done with a very short timeframe (26 days) available until the DBG August meeting, so no primary-to-secondary racking was done. Racked and bottled on day 14 with 1/2c light DME to prime. Yield 23 1/2 bottles, FG 1.015.

• Standard mini mash process - nothing unusual.

• 1lb Briess Caramel 40°
• 0.65lb Gambrinus Honey Malt
• 0.54lb Briess Caramel 90°
• 0.84lb Crisp Maris Otter
• 0.5lb Briess Victory Malt
• 0.77lb Briess CaraPils Malt
• 0.5lb Briess Caramel 10°
• 5lb Edens Nectar Winter Honey (Avocado/Macadamia Nut)
• 5 AAU UK Fuggles whole hops (alpha 4.7%) = (1.0oz) (60 minutes)
• 1.7 AAU Saaz whole hops (alpha 4.0%) = (0.5oz) (30 minutes)
• 1.7 AAU Saaz whole hops (alpha 4.0%) = (0.5oz) (10 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• 1/2 t Ammonium Phosphate yeast nutrient
• 2 smack-packs of WYeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using Iodophor for sanitation

• OG 1.103
• Color 51 SRM
• IBU 26
• FG 1.024
• Alcohol 11.19% abv

• 1 hour mash at 152° with 5.25qt water
• Sparge with 6qt water (170°)
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 100° using ice bath then added refrigerated water to full volume.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.077, pitched yeast at 72°.
• Day 3 - SG 1.024, pasteurized 2 lb honey (in same volume of water) at 165°. Racked to secondary and added this honey. Fermentation restarted quickly.
• Day 23 - FG 1.018. Primed with 3/8c dextrose and bottled. Yield 30-6oz + 14-12oz.

• Standard all grain process, with changes below to convert the wort to a mead must.
• This batch was done for Mead Day at Hammock Park in Dunedin. All grain mashing, wort boil, addition of honey, and pitching of yeast was done at the park.
• To make it easier on the yeast, I only added 3lb of the honey - 2lb more to be added as soon as primary fermentation begins.
• I did not account for the volume of the honey in the original calculations: BuildABeer calculations have been adjusted..
• The honey was added after completion of the boil, after bringing the wort down to 165°. The honey was stirred in, and the must was left for 10 minutes to pasteurize the honey.

• 3.75lb Briess 2-row
• 1.0lb Orange Blossom honey
• 0.25lb Dingemans Aromatic malt
• 2.5 AAU UK Fuggles whole hops (alpha 5.0%) = (0.5oz) (60 minutes)
• 1.2 AAU Hallertauer whole hops (alpha 3.9%) = (0.3oz) (15 minutes)
• 0.8 AAU Hallertauer whole hops (alpha 3.9%) = (0.25oz) (5 minutes)
• 1/2 t Irish Moss
• Smack-pack of WYeast 2565 Kolsch Ale
• 5 gallons bottled Walmart Drinking water
• Using Iodophor for sanitation

• OG 1.054
• Color 6 SRM
• IBU 23
• FG 1.012
• Alcohol 5.52% abv

• 1 hour mash at 152° with 5qt water
• Sparge with 6qt water (170°)
• 60 minute boil
• Chilled to 90° using chiller then to 78° using ice bath.
• Starting gravity measured at 1.060, pitched yeast at 75°.
• Day 15 - racked
• Day 32 - primed with 1/2c Light DME and bottled - FG 1.006, yield 24.5 bottles