Intended Recipe --------------- (6 gallons, extract with grains) expected stats: OG = 1.052, FG = 1.013, IBUs = 33, SRM = 30, 5% abv Ingredients 3.3 lb (1 can) Munton's light malt extract syrup 2.5 lb Extra-light DME 2.0 lb Weyerman's smoked malt 8.0 oz Dingeman's de-bittered black malt 1.5 oz Hallertauer hops for 60 min (5% alpha acid) 1.0 oz Hallertauer hops for 20 min (5% alpha acid) 0.5 oz Hallertauer hops for 5 min (5% alpha acid) 1 tsp amylase enzyme (in mash) 4 oz Sinamar (enough to raise color about 15 SRM) start of boil 1 tsp Irish moss for 20 min. Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) 11/4/05: prep 1 qt starter. --------------------------- - POP YEAST 3-5 hours early!!!! (need to be better at this!!!!) - sanitize growler, stopper, airlock, funnel - 1 quart water - 4 oz malt extract - should be about a 1.040 OG starter 11/5/05: brew (total of about 4.5 hours!!!) ------------- - 1 gallon water at 170F, plus all grains (2.75 lbs) at room temp --> 158F - add amylase enzyme and cover for 45 mins - set timer for 45 mins - turned on heat on OTHER burners halfway through the minimash the time (which probably kept the heat above 150F) - total 6 gallons water: 1 mash (steel pot), 2 black pot, 3 big pot, 1 spare (cold in jug) - remove Brita and attach brewing hose - measure hops, and ready brewpot fermentables (including yeast nutrient and irish moss) - prepare small pot of boiling water for sanitizing steel wool and aeration stone - soak LME in hot water in sink - turn mash heat on to medium high for 5 mins to raise heat to 170 - I think this actually got a bit hotter. maybe we shouldn't do this. - sparge with 3 quarts water around 165-170F - total 6 gallons in kettle at 180F - turn on kettle heat on high - expect 30 mins to get 30-degree change to 212+ - took about 25 mins in reality to reach boil - add 3.3 lbs LME, 2.5 lbs DME, and 4 oz sinamar and stir - top off to top of bottom rivers with cold water - I think we needed to add just a bit more water... - bring to a boil again - add 1.5 oz hallertauer (60 mins) - set timer for 40 mins - add 1.0 oz hallertauer (20 mins), 1 tsp irish moss, 1 tsp yeast nutrient - set timer for 15 mins - empty bleach solution from carboy - put wort chiller in kettle - add 0.5 oz hallertauer (5 mins) - set timer for 5 mins - boil steel wool (NEED TO FIND BETTER STEEL WOOL!!!!) - chill wort being careful not to splash very much - transfer to fermenter using siphon. - at first used steel wool, but caused too much air/gas to get in the line (I HOPE THIS DOESN'T SCREW UP THE FLAVOR OF THE FINISHED BEER). - transfered UNFILTERED (bad idea), which let a bunch of crap, including hot/cold break, get into primary fermenter - while transfer is taking place - removed test jar, hydrometer, and wine thief from bleach bucket and rinsed them off - boiled aeration stone and put air filter stuff in bleach bucket - after transfer was complete (~15 mins) - take OG reading --> 1.050 (just short of desired 1.052) - rinse off aeration equipment and begin aeration - aerate - set timer for 20 mins - taste gravity reading sample --> delicious - arrange "final resting place" for beer in kegerator - begin clean up - pitch yeast, put airlock on, and put in kegerator - had to remove the airlock to let some air in a couple times in order to avoid having airlock water being sucked in (HOW TO AVOID?) 11/6/05 through 11/18/05: primary fermentation --------------------------------------- - bubbles 3-4 seconds apart after 36 hours. - by 11/15, bubbles 6-7 seconds apart, yeast globs begin to fall out of suspension - by 11/16, bubbles 7-8 seconds apart - raise temp to 62F for diacetyl rest (through racking on 11/18) 11/19/05: racking and secondary fermantation -------------------------------------------- - 6:00 pm, set carboy on table - 6:30 pm, all equipment soaking on bleach bucket, and new carboy soaking as well - 7:00 pm, bubbles about 10 sec apart at 70F - transfer to other carboy, take gravity sample - SG about 1.014 at room temp - 7:30 pm, transfer finished - set kegerator to 65F and put new carboy in it - 8:30 pm, beer bubbling again at 65F - reduce temp to 55F - 12:00 am, beer bubbling at 55F - reduce temp to 45F - tasting notes: - just a hint of smoke (by contrast other recipes call for 50-75% smoked malt). use as much as mini-mash can handle next time - very little hop flavor or aroma. this seems inappropriate for the intended style Maybe should NOT use hop bags. Also, in retrospect, I think the hops were a bit old and/or had low alpha content. This is very apparent compared to the fresh EKG used for Rose Bowl Braggot. 12/05/05: kegging ----------------- - 8:45 pm, get carboy out of kegerator and set on table plus crate - 8:50 pm, fill keg w/ b-brite no-rinse sanitizer - put tap on and shake a bit - put CO2 and force water out - rinse with about 1 gallon and force out (despite the "no rinse" stuff) - (realize taht need vice grips to connect regulator to CO2, which are conveniently at Danielle's) - 10:00 pm, sanitize equipment - boil 1/3 - 1/2 cup DME w/ 2 cups water (~ 5 mins) - put in freezer for half hour - 10:15 pm, krausen into keg - transfer beer to keg - FG 1.015 (including unfermented wort). - smokey aftertaste. hops not much in evidence - 11:00 pm, done with cleanup - total time about 1.5 hours, excluding trip to Danielle's 12/12/05: first tasting and carbonation --------------------------------------- - until this point, didn't have CO2 on the kegged beer - was pretty flat, but could still taste smoke - after tasting, put CO2 on top of beer (will remain this way 8 days, until 12/20/05) 12/16/05: second tasting (still carbonating) -------------------------------------------- - still needs a bit more carbonation, but had a long-lasting creamy foam on top of the beer - will continue carbonating a few more days (until 12/20/05) 12/19/05 -------- - remove CO2 hose