Lug Wrench Brew: Cait the Grate, Imperial Stout

It has been nearly four months since our last blog post, and nearly 18 months since our last Lug Wrench collaborative beer.  Shame on us...we know.  Tom and I have the best intentions of continuing to fuel the blog with more content, but many times life just gets in the way. 

We were fortunate in that last weekend Tom and his family made the trip up to Rhode Island for a long over due get together of the families.  And while both our wives rolled their eyes at the mention of brew session, Tom and I made sure it happened.  The style: a Russian Imperial Stout.  Why?  Because we have never done one before and its the perfect beer for long term storage and aging.  Plus, when done right, they are oh so good.

After a bit of conversation, we decided to go with a RIS recipe from a friend of Tom's down in Virginia (thanks Jeff!).  Modeled after a famous RIS brewed annually by the Portsmouth Brewery, this homebrew version came with thumbs-up recommendation of having produced good results in the past.  While, our intent was to follow the recipe as written, our last minute attempt to get ingredients together caused us some foibles and we had to made a few substitutions.  The two largest changes was first that the LHBS was out of flaked barley when we stopped in, which caused us to improvise by adding a combination of flaked oats and wheat.  Secondly, our pre-boil gravity appeared to be much lower than expected, causing us to add in all the DME I had in the house along with brown sugar (neither which was in the original recipe) to bump up the gravity. 

 

To make the brewing session a bit more "special", because of the large amount of grain we used and the assumed low efficiency, Tom and I decided try making a second beer via a partigyle method with the mash.  After the primary boil kettle was full, we ran another 3 gallons of hot water through the mash tun into a smaller kettle that could be boiled in on the kitchen stove.  This second beer, which was hopped in the direction of an American Stout, had an OG in the 1.065-70 range.  We'll try to put up a separate post on this beer shortly.

At the time this post's writing, it is obviously too early to tell how well the beer will turn out.  However, it was yet another good Lug Wrench Collaborative Brew Session that kept us on our toes.

Below are the notes and recipe for the collaborative imperial stout.  The notes will be updated as the beer continues to ferment, aged, and be tasted.

Cait the Grate, Russian Imperial Stout

Recipe Specifics
--------------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.0 (6 gal left in the kettle, 5 gal in the carboy)
Total Grain (lbs): ~32
OG: 1.118 (target: 1.012 without sugar additions)
FG: 1.034 (69% apparent attenuation)
SRM: 57.8 (Rager)
ABV: 11.3%
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60% (dropped to accommodate lower efficiency with big beers)
Wort Boil Time: 75 minutes

Grain / Extract / Sugar
---------------------------
24.5 lbs American 2-Row Malt (Briess)
2.0 lbs White Wheat Malt
2.0 lbs Extra Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)
1.12 lbs Special B Malt
0.94 lbs Carafa Special II
0.81 lbs Aromatic Malt
0.63 lbs Crystal 60 Malt
0.63 lbs Roasted Barley
0.50 lbs Flaked Oats (instant quick oats)
0.50 lbs Brown Sugar
0.32 lbs Black Patent Malt
0.32 lbs Crystal 120 Malt
0.32 lbs Chocolate Malt (English)

Hops
--------
3.1 oz Newport Pellet Hops (9.8%) at 75 minutes
0.3 oz Centennial Pellet Hops (10%) at 10 minutes
0.6 oz Palisade Pellet Hops (7.5%) at flame out
0.4 oz Styrian Goldings Pellet Hops (5.4%) at flame out
0.4 oz Williamette Pellet Hops (5.5%) at flame out

Extras
--------
28 drops of Foam Control in the boil

Yeast
-------
2.5 packets (11g per packet) of US-05 dry yeast, hydrated before pitching

Mash Schedule
-----------------
60 minutes at 148° F
Batch sparged to get 7 gallons in the brew kettle

Notes
-------
Brewed on 11/3/13 by the Wallace Brothers.  Eighth collaborative session brew

Aeration was accomplished via an oxygen tank and diffusion stone, run for 60 seconds.

Beer was about 59° F after aeration.  Pitched the 2.5 packets of hydrated yeast (hydrated in 2 cups of 90° F pre-boiled water) into carboy and placed the setpoint of the fermentation fridge to 64°F.  Since there will be a lot of activity that will generate heat once fermentation kicks off, the setpoint was set low to keep the temp from spiking.

Activity kicked off in the carboy in less than 48 hours after pitching yeast.

11/24 - Racked the beer into a sanitized keg for aging.  FG was measured at 1.034, which gives a 69% apparent attenuation and an ABV of 11.3%.  I would have liked to seen it get below 30, but a 70% attenuation on this size beer is not bad.

Ryetronic Pale Ale

Back in January, I resolved to try and brew more session ales this year.  This decision was made for a number of reasons, including the challenge of making flavorful lower gravity beer.  Last month, in support of the goal, I decided to make up a recipe for a pale ale with around 3 percent ABV.  Lower gravity ales I have made in the past have been bland or watery, particularly around the middle of the flavor profile.  So, I decided to boost the middle by using flaked rye, which is not malted, and should provide both flavor and mouthfeel.  Now that the beer, called Ryetronic Pale Ale, has aged and carbonated, I figured I would post some tasting notes and the recipe.

The beer pours golden copper colored hue with a thick and pillowy white head.  The head forms slightly irregular lumps as the pint is consumed and leaves a nice lacing pattern on the glass.  The beer's aroma is spicy and interesting, including hints of biscuit and bread crust.

The beer's flavor is initially spicy along the lines of pepper or all-spice.  This character fades to a mid-palate creaminess, with a slightly slick mouthfeel similar to an oatmeal stout.  The flavor ends with a hint of bitterness, but one that is barely there.  This smooths out of a period of several seconds before rinsing clean.

Overall, the beer is very drinkable and balanced.  It has more character that other lower gravity ales I have made in the past, which have often been watery and bland.  I think I would like a bit more character in the middle of the flavor palate and would consider bumping up some of the specialty malts to try and achieve that.  Perhaps increasing the crystal malt or the biscuit malt would provide that missing character.  But, overall, I am extremely happy with how this 3 percent ABV session ale has turned out.

Have you brewed an interesting lower gravity ale in the past?  If so, what are some tips that you could share on how to keep these ales both flavorful and drinkable?

Cheers.

TW

-------------------

Recipe: Ryetronic Pale Ale
Brewer: Tom Wallace
Style: American Pale Ale

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.97 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal  
Bottling Volume: 6.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.037 SG
Estimated Color: 7.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 43.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Mash: 155 F for 60 min

Ingredients:
------------      
7 lbs - Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)      
8.0 oz - Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)        
8.0 oz - Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)    
8.0 oz - Rye, Flaked (2.0 SRM)      
12.00 g - Warrior [16.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
10.00 g - Perle [7.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min    
1.00 Items - Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)
14.00 g - Cascade [7.30 %] - Boil 5.0 min
14.00 g - Challenger [7.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min  
14.00 g - Cascade [7.30 %] - Boil 1.0 min    
14.00 g - Challenger [7.20 %] - Boil 1.0 min  
1.0 pkg  - Safale American  (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)    

Notes:
------
3/23/13 - Racked to secondary, as needed the larger carboy for another beer.  Beer is very clear and has a neutral nose, but a rather full flavor with biscuit and spice, at room temperature.

4/14/13 - Kegged the beer.  Nose is neutral.  Beer has a pretty copper color.  Flavor is smooth and light  with hints of caramel and biscuit.

4/29/13 - Beer is really turning out nicely and has been well received by friends.  If any changes should be made, perhaps bump the biscuit or crystal malt for more mid-palate flavor.

Lug Wrench's Collection of Beer Recipes

While wandering through the over 300+ posts we've published here at Lug Wrench, I noticed there are a considerable number of beer recipes given and discussed.  Even as the author of many of them, there were several recipes that I had completely forgotten about.  So I wanted to compile all the information into a single post, which will make it easier to refer back to.

Eventually, Tom and I will create a static page that contains similar information to what is below.  But in the meantime, I wanted to list out all the published recipes that can be used for everyone's reference.  We've organized the recipes into rough categories (based on origin) to aid navigating the list.  In the cases where a recipe overlaps more than one category, we'll just pick one arbitraily.

American Inspired Beers
Amarillo BIAB Pale Ale - A hoppy beer brewed via the Brew-in-a-Bag (BIAB) method
Dragon's Breath - Dark ale aged on bourbon oak, inspired by Dragon Milk (Collaborative Beer)
Foreign Export Stout #1 - Brewing the Mad Fermentationist's FES recipe for The Session #39
Foreign Export Stout #2 - Rebrewing the original as part of a homebrew club Big Brew
Spring in Your Step #1 - Tom's RFP American Wheat recipe with honey malt & orage peel

Belgian Inspired Beers
Boosted Belgian Brown - CAMRA Iron Brewer recipe w/ blue agave nectar and Palisade hops
Devoted Brother - Belgian pale ale inspired by Lost Abbey's Devotion (Collaborative Beer)
Diminutive Belgian Golden Strong - Scaling down a BGS to a more sessionable beer
Flemish Fisherman - Spiced Belgian Quad inspired by De Struise's Pannepot (Collaborative Beer)
Single Hop Beer Experiment - an APA recipe designed to allow for multiple single-hopped beers.
Stout de la Belgique - Belgian Imprial Stout brewed as part of a homebrew club activity
Vaderdag Lambic '12 - Fathers Day Lambic for 2012.  First attempt at a Lambic

German Inspired Beers
Frosty Fool - An Eisebock lager where we described our icing process (Collaborative Beer)

English Inspired Beers
Brother Barleywine - English barleywine (Collaborative Beer)
Frozen Loose Change - Scottish 60/- based on Nathan Smith's beer of a similar name.

Other Beers
Dark Side of Denmark Rye #1 - Jeff's RFP recipe inspired by the Bruery's Rugbrod
Midnight Mini-Wheats - An attempt to make a low-alcohol version of Midnight Wheat #1
Midnight Wheat #1 - Wheat wine braggot brewed with RI & VA honey (Collaborative Beer)
Midnight Wheat #2 - Rebrew of the original recipe with only VA honey

Mead and/or Cider
Mason Dixon Line Mead - Made with the same VA and RI honey as Midnight Wheat #1.

If you know we did a beer that is not listed here or have any feedback on the above, please let us know - we love to hear it!

Slainte!

-JW


"Blessed is the mother who gives birth to a brewer."
-Czech Proverb

Return to Brewing with a Scottish 60/-

After taking almost 8 months off from brewing (which was not by intent but by real life getting in the way), I was finally able to dust off the brew kettles this past weekend and get a brewing session completed. Sadly, I’ve been planning this brewing sessions for 2 months but one excuse after another delayed it until I finally had a free Sunday to brew. But let's rejoice as the beer is now in the fermentor bubbling away!

I’m not sure why, but I’ve had an itch to brew a Scottish 60/-.  Its easy drinking style and a good excuse for some of my non-craft beer friends to try some homebrew. Plus, it’s a style I have not yet attempted, so I would be able to cross it off my To-Do Style List. The recipe itself (modified for what I had on hand) was from a Pro/Am beer done by homebrewer Nathan Smith and Triple Rock brewpub in the San Francisco areas. The beer was talked and raved about during the September 9th, 2012 episode of the Brewing Network’s Sunday Session, which locked my sights on that particular recipe.

On the brew day, it did not take me long to get back into the groove as it seems like much of the activity of brewing is like riding a bike. I overshot my gravity by a few points, which is somewhat normal for small beers (I need to bump up my efficiency for anything under 1.040). However, the biggest issue that battled me was the weather. Over the last 1-2 weeks, we’ve been battered by blizzards and snow. On this particular brew day, the wind was howling through backyard and made a mockery of the burner's attempt to bring the wort to a boil. After an hour and a half of sitting on the burner without a boil and the light fading from the sky, I ended up moving the entire brew kettle (wort and all) onto my kitchen's cooktop electric burner. Steeling myself against the complaints from my wife, I was able to get the wort boiling in the kitchen (albeit a gentle boil) and the brew day could continue.

Based on the guidance given with the recipe, even though primary fermentation should be done within a few days, it was recommended to leave the beer for a full two weeks in the carboy to let it pull itself together. So while I’m anxious to get the beer on tap, its back to the waiting game for me.

Cold Loose Change
Style: Scottish Light 60/-
(recipe modified from Nathan Smith’s recipe described on 9/9/12 Sunday Session)

Recipe Specifics
------------------
Batch Size: 6.0 gal
Boil Size: 7.0 gal
Measured OG: 1.038 (Target: 1.034)
Measured FG: 1.008 (Target: 1.010)
Estimated SRM: 10.8
Estimated IBU: 16 (Rager)
ABV: 3.9% (Target: 3.3%)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75% (should have been 80-85% to hit OG target)
Boil Time: 65 Min

Grain / Extract / Sugar
--------------------------
5.75 lbs Rahr US 2-Row Malt (this was supposed to be Maris Otter malt, but used 2-Row + 10% munich
as a substitute, which was a trick I heard during an interview with the brewer from Firestone Walker)
0.75 lbs GlobalMalt Munich Malt
6 oz Crystal 40 Malt
6 oz Crystal 120 Malt
2.5 oz Pale Chocolate Malt

Hops
--------
0.5 oz Northern Brewer pellets (8.9% alpha) at 65 min.

Extras
--------
30 drops of Foam Control in the boil

Yeast
------
1 pack of US-05 dry yeast

Mash Schedule
----------------
Saccharification rest at 151-152 F for 60 minutes
Batch sparged twice with each sparge being 3 gallons of water (temp: 168-172 F)

Notes
--------
Brewed on 2/17/ 2013 by JW

Mash Temps were intended to be in the 154 F range, but I left it at 151-152 F as I didn’t have any hot water ready to go at dough in.

OG was overshot because of my systems increased efficiency at low gravities – I was already over the target when I took the pre-boil measurement. Added 0.5 gallons of boiling water to the boil at 15 minutes to flameout to bring the volume back up to pre-boil volume.

Could not get the kettle to boil outside because of the cold and wind, so had to move it to kitchen’s burner. The boil was gentle as compared to what I normally get from the burner, so there is some concern that I did not drive everything off or that there was lower utilization.

The intent was a 60 minute boil, but I extended it by 5 minutes as the boil halted for 5 min when the water addition and immersion chiller were added with 15 minutes before flameout.

Oxygenation was accomplished with an O2 system and diffusion stone , run for 60 seconds.

Yeast was proofed in ~1 cup of boiled and chilled water (90 F).

Yeast was pitched at carboy was placed in chest freezer with setpoint set to 66 F. Signs of fermentation showed up ~18 hours after pitching.

Feb 27, 2012 - After 10 days of fermenting and the activity having been completed for several days, the beer was racked into a keg to be carbonated.  FG on the beer was 1.008, which was a few points than I would have liked.  The beer is light bodied, as would be expected, and there is a defined burnt sugar / chocolate malt character to the beer.  A little cold conditioning should do the beer well.


Slainte!

-JW

“I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer”
-Homer Simpson

Father’s Day Lambic – A New Tradition?

Yesterday, here in the US, was Father’s Day where the patriarchs of the family get lauded with gifts and attention from the family. It is somewhat of a Hallmark Holiday, but I can live with that if I’m the one getting the attention. For me, other than a breakfast with the extended family and some morning activities, I intended to stay home with the family and get some relaxation in.

For a long time, I have had an itch to brew a lambic beer. One of my homebrewery limitations is the limited number of taps and serving space for kegs. An unintended motivations of the above constraints is that I have found myself planning beers that won’t spend time on tap and are destined to be bottled once they are ready. In this light, I had pick up a sour beer yeast culture (Wyeast’s Roeselare Ale Blend) with the intent of giving the lambic style a try in the near future. The lambic could ferment outside my fermentation fridge (i.e. not take up space) and after the 8-16 month fermentation, it could be bottled up with a long shelf life.

Getting back to Father’s Day, a great piece of advice I had read about lambic brewing was to brew the sour ale on the same day of the year, every year to build up a stable of beers for consumption and blending. Thinking of Father's Day, what other day occurs every year and gives me carte blance to brew with minimal risk of family obligations steam-rolling my plans? What other day can I ignore what everyone else wants me to brew and just brew what I want? It all just lined up perfectly – Father’s Day would be a lambic brew day. Plus on this day dedicated to Dads, I would have two little “helpers” who want to help Dad with his hobby.

With the bulk of the day reserved for brewing, I assembled the ingredients and planned out the recipe, which is listed below for reference. This recipe called for a multi-rest mash schedule, which was the only trouble I had throughout the brew day. The multi-rest mash could have been bypassed, but I wanted to include it to deal with the extra protein in all the wheat as well as enhance fermentability for the lambic bugs that will take hold. Plus, it made the brew session a bit more involved and “special”.



Drained out mash tun - the protien rest did its job!

 Using a new, high-capacity mash tun (which was used for our Eisbock), I was able to plan out multiple hot water infusions for each of the different rests without having all the infusions overflow the vessle. Of course, all the calculations went smoothly on paper, but in reality, the infusion mashing proved quite a bit more cumbersome than envisioned. From the very beginning, I missed my dough-in temperature and had to compensate by adding cold water. This, in turn, altered the volume of the mash, which then threw off all my subsequent infusion volumes (since the infusion calculations use the mash volume and mash temperature to determine how much boiling water is needed to bring the total volume up to a specified temperature). When all my subsequent infusions resulted in lower-than-expected temperatures, I had to ladle in more boiling water than planned to get to the targeted temp. Thankfully, the mash tun had the capacity to hold the 8+ gallons of water that were added in order to accomplish the mash schedule (other than the final mash out, which I gave up on).  When the tun was drained out for the first runnings, I had very little need to sparge as I was just about at my pre-boil volume already.

When the mash complete, the rest of the brew day was a snap – a 90 minute boil with one hop addition meant I had lots of down time to enjoy the day on the back porch or watching the kids tool around on their bikes. It made for a very enjoyable and memorable Father’s Day (or Vaderdag in Flemish).  Next year will demonstrate whether all the effort was worthwhile, but the day was deemed a success at its closing. Plus, it would give me great pleasure to return to the style and brew another example as part of a new Father’s Day tradition - assuming I have the discipline to see it through.

Vaderdag Lambic '12
Style: Striaght (Unblended) Lambic
(recipe modified from Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles)

Recipe Specifications
----------------------
Batch Size: 6.0 gal
Boil Size: 7.0 gal
Measured OG: 1.054
Measured FG: ???
Estimated SRM: 3.8
Estimated IBU: 5 (Rager)
ABV: ???%
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Boil Time: 90 Min

Grain / Extract / Sugar
-----------------------
7.50 lb Weyerman Bohemian Pilsner Malt (60%)
5.00 lb Torrified Wheat (40%)

Hops
------
1.0 oz Tettnang (2.5% alpha) at 60 min - Note: these hops are from the 2006 harvest had have been in a freezer since.  Based on the condition, it is estimated that the alpha acid is now in the 1.0-1.4% range.  The hops certainly had a bit of a cheesy smell to them when the bag was opened.

Extras
------
30 drops of Foam Control in the boil

Yeast
------
1 Pack of Wyeast 3763 (Roeselare Ale Blend)

Mash Schedule
---------------
Protein rest at 122 F for 15 minutes
Saccharification I rest at 147 F for 45 minutes (target was 149 F)
Saccharification II rest at 157 F for 30 minutes (target was 158 F)
Mash Out rest at 162 F for 15 minutes (target was 169 F)
Batch sparged with 1 gallon to bring the total volume in the kettle up to 7 gallons.

Notes
--------
Brewed on 6/17/2012 by JW

The multi-rest infusions were carried out by having a 6+ gallon kettle full of boiling water and a 1quart pot for ladling boiling water into the mash.  Each infusion took considerable more boiling water volume than was calculated with BeerSmith.

90 minute boil because of all the Pilsner malt in the grist.

Oxygenation was accomplished with an O2 system and diffusion stone, run for 60 seconds.

June 17, 2012 - Lambic blend culture was pitched out of the smackpack directly into the oxygenated wort.  And airlock was secured and the carboy was placed in a corner of my basement without any temperature control.

Feb 27, 2013 - Pulled a sample of the lambic after 8 months of fermentation.  The tasting notes and impressions of the beer at this point can be found here.

*  *  *

Slainte!

-JW


“It’s not your father’s Budweiser!”
-Anonymous

Lug Wrench Brew: Frosty Fool, Eisbock

After an 18 month hiatus, Tom and I were finally able to strike up the propane burner together and brew our latest collaborative beer.  The prior collaborative brew was our Wheatwine Braggot, which was made back in November 2010.  So once all the kids and wives were asleep, we brewed up the base beer for what will become our Eisbock.

Aptly named after the April Fool's Day brewing session, this beer will represent the first collaborative beer where we did not pick the beer style - the readers did.  Three to four weeks prior to our planned brew session, we narrowed our interests down to six potential styles and then put it to a vote on the blog.  The idea was somewhat of a whim, but after we put the poll up, both Tom and I were incredibly energized by the number of participants that took part in the decision.  For a while, it looked like we might be brewing our first sour beer, but the Eisbock style made a surge and ultimately had the most votes.  The whole process might seem a little gimicky from the readers' perspective, but for Tom and I, it was very entertaining and enlightening to 'crowdsource' the style decision.  I would expect that we will do it again the next time we do a collaborative beer (although hopefully it won't be 18 more months away).

After the style was decided upon, choosing the recipe was somewhat a no-brainer.  Jamil Zainasheff's recipe and process is the only notable recipe for Eisbock that I have come across.  The grain bill and process described below should look familiar to anyone who is a disciple of Jamil's book.  However, accommodating the ~25 lbs of grain in my 5 gallon mash tun was going to be a problem.  Luckily, I was able to barter with another homebrew and friend (thanks Jeff H!) to score a larger capacity mash tun to get the deed done in.

At the time of this writing, the base beer is still bubbling away through primary fermentation.  Once its complete, I'll rack it to a corny keg and let it lager for 4-6 weeks before doing the icing process.  Assuming I remember to take some pictures, the icing process will most likely be the subject of a future blog post, which I will link back to here.

Below are the notes and recipe for the collaborative eisbock.  The notes will be updated as the beer continues to ferment, lager, get iced, aged, and be tasted.


Frosty Fool, Eisbock
(recipe modified from Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles)

Recipe Specifics
-----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.0
Total Grain (lbs): 24.5
OG: 1.086  (target: 1.088)
FG: 1.022 before icing; estimated to be 1.026 after icing
SRM: 14.9 before icing; no noticable color difference after icing
IBU: 28.0 (Rager)
ABV: ~8.5% before icing; ~10% after icing
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60% (dropped it to accommodate lower efficiency with big beers)
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain / Extract / Sugar
----------------------
13.5 lbs. Bohemian Pilsner Malt (Weyerman)
9.5 lbs. Munich Malt 10L (GlobalMalt)
1.25 lbs CaraMunich 40L

Hops
-------
0.5 oz Warrior Pellet Hops (15% AA) at 60 minutes
0.5 oz Hallertauer Pellet Hops (4% AA) at 30 minutes

Extras
-------
1.0 Tab Whirlfloc at 30 minutes
28 drops of Foam Control in the boil

Yeast
-------
Saflager S-189 (from a local brewpub), propagated up through two 2L starters

Mash Schedule
---------------
60 minutes at 152° F
Batch sparged to get 7 gallons in brew kettle

Notes
---------
Brewed on 4/1/12 by the Wallace Brothers.  Seventh collaborative session brew

Aeration was accomplished via an aquarium pump and diffusion stone, run for 30 minutes.  Foam Control was added to the carboy as needed during aeration.

Beer was about 53° F after aeration, so the carboy was placed inside the fermentation fridge (set point at 45° F) for ~8 hours before pitching yeast.

Pitched entire 2L starter when carboy was 43° F and placed the setpoint of the fermentation fridge to 46°F.

Activity kicked off in the carboy 48 hours after pitching yeast.

In order to help drive fermentation of the lager, I will be ramping the temperature up using Mike McDole's technique for driving lagers.  Also, given the OG of the beer, I will keep the initial fermentation temperatures lower than normal, as this sucker is going to throw off a lot of heat.

4/4/12 - Fermentation activity started with kreuzen forming.  Temp set at 46° F

4/6/12 - Fermentation going strong.  Raised temp set point to 48° F

4/7/12 - Fermentation still going strong.  Raised temp set point to 50° F

4/9/12 - Fermentation slowing slightly. Raised temp set point to 52° F

4/11/12 - Fermentation slowing more.  Raised temp set point to 55° F

4/20/12 - Fermentation continues to slow.  Raised temp set point to 60° F

4/26/12 - Fermentation almost complete.  Raised temp set point to 70° F

5/3/12 - Fermentation has been complete for a few days.  Cold crashed the beer by dropping the set point temperature down to 35° F.  The beer remained in the carboy until I got the chance to rack it off the lees and into a keg.

5/26/12 - Finally, I was able to transfer the beer off the yeast and into a sanitized keg (after ~3 weeks of lagering in the carboy).   The beer tastes very clean and has a stong malt intensity paired with a warming alcohol sweetness.  No detectable hot alcohols at all, which I am very pleased with.  The color, on the other hand, is fairly light - lighter than I would have wanted.  The icing should darken it a bit, but perhaps if we ever brew this again, we'd add in some coloring grains to darken it up a bit.  I'll let the beer lager for another 2-3 weeks before icing it.

6/19/12 - Completed the icing process by placing the keg in a freezer for 10 hours and then transfering the unfrozen liquid into a new keg while the frozen slush was left behind.  After measuring the volume of the left behind slush, we removed 3 quarts of liquid, thereby condensing the eisbock by 15%.   A description of the whole process can be found here.

2/24/13 - After 8 months of lagering in cold storage, we tasted the beer for the first time.  It is very clean with a sweet, rich malt character, although the sweetness does not linger into the aftertaste.  It may not be "over-the-top" enough to score well as an Eisbock, but the results are very pleasing.

4/8/13 - Samples the Frosty Fool beer were entered into the 2013 Ocean State Homebrew Competition, where the beer was awarded a silver medal in the Bock category. 

RFP - Jeff's Initial Recipe and Brewing

I realize that it has been over a year since we initially announced our Recipe Formulation Project (RFP) and while there was a lot of energy around it, the chatter died off after Tom completed his first beer for the project.  While I had every intention of brewing my beer, 2011 did me in with very few brew days, which caused my contribution to the project to get procrastinated.... seriously procrastinated.  However, with a new head of steam for brewing in 2012, I got back on the horse, compiled my recipe, and brewed the beer this past weekend.

As a quick synopsis, the RFP idea was a way for Tom and I to explore new ingredients that were outside our comfort zones.  Each of of us selected three randomly generated ingredients and had to brew a beer with two of the three.  For my beer, I was allotted rye malt, cardamom, and extra special malt (see the Beer Concept post for all the details).  My ingredients took me down the path of Danish dark rye bread, which was the inspiration for the recipe below.

The final recipe that was brewed is very similar to what was discussed in the beer's concept phase.  However, I did make a few modifications that should be noted:

• Rice hulls were added because of all the rye and oats in the recipe.
• Cardamom was kept out of the boil as I decided I'll add it at bottling/kegging.  I'll be using a a manner akin to the method Tom described, which will give me the ability to dial in the cardamom flavor and potency.
• The late addition of centenial hops was increased but pushed closer to flame out.
• WLP001 was used as the yeast in lieu of the English or lager strains I initially contemplated.  This yeast would be easy and have a clean character that would allow the other ingredients to take center stage.

Other than a slow sparging process and letting the wort get too cold during chilling (~45 F) which slowed the initial yeast activity, the brew day was a success.  In about 2-3 weeks, the beer should be ready for cardamom dosing.  I should be able to do a side by side with the spiced and non-spiced version to really understand how the spicing is complementing the end result.

Dark Side of Denmark Rye
Style: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer

Recipe Specifications
---------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.0 gal
Measured OG: 1.046
Measured FG: 1.011
Estimated SRM: 17.5
Estimated IBU: 24.8 (Rager)
ABV: 4.6%
Brewhouse Efficiency: 73%
Boil Time: 60 Min

Grain / Extract / Sugar
----------------------
5.50 lb GlobalMalt Light Munich Malt (53.66%)
1.56 lb Weyerman Rye Malt (15.22%)
1.50 lb Rahr US 2-Row Malt (14.63%)
0.56 lb Flaked Oats (5.46%)
0.50 lb Crisp Crystal 45 Malt (4.88%)
0.38 lb Chocolate Rye Malt (3.71%)
0.25 lb Rice Hulls (2.44%)

Hops
-------
0.70 oz Sterling (6.0% alpha) at 60 minutes
0.80 oz Centennial (8.4% alpha) at 20 minutes

Extras
-------
40 drops of Foam Control in the boil


Yeast
------
1 vial of WLP001 (Cal Ale yeast) in a 1000 ml starter

Mash Schedule
---------------
60 min at 151 F

Notes
------
Brewed on 2/3/2012 by JW

Whirlfloc was left out of the brew by accident as I found out I had no more tablets when it came time to add it.

Aeration was accomplished via an aquarium pump and diffusion stone, run for 30 minutes.

Yeast was pitched into cold wort (45 F) and allowed to ramp up to the targetted 67 F fermentation temperature.  The low initial temperature caused a delay in the first signs of fermentation activity.

Cadamom, one of the required ingredients, will be added after fermentation at the type of packaging.

Feb 19, 2012 - All signs of fermentation activity have completed.  Dropped the temperature of the beer to 40 F to cold crash  prior to kegging.

March 25, 2012 - After being lazy with this beer and letting it sit in cold temp for 5 weeks, I finally got around to kegging it.  When I was pulling the carboy out, the carboy was under negative pressure (from when the beer got cold I guess) as the blow-off tube had sealed itself.  In my attempt to relieve the pressure in the better bottle carboy, the blow-off tube unsealed itself and sucked 1-2 cups of star san into the beer :(  The beer was kegged and put under Co2 gas to carbonate.

* * *

Slainte!

-JW


"Beer is the Danish national drink, and the Danish nation weakness is another beer"
-Clementine Paddleford

Recipe Formulation Project - Reference Guide
Project Introduction, Ingredient Pool, and Kick Off
Tom's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting	Jeff's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting

Collaborative Beer Repeat - Wheat Wine

One of my favorite beers from last year was Midnight Wheat, the collaborative wheat wine braggot that Jeff and I made last Thanksgiving.  To my tastes, the beer has exceptional flavor complexity and aged well.  It also scored the highest number of points I have ever received in a BJCP homebrew competition.  For all these reasons, I was keen to repeat the beer this year.  Additionally, my good friend, Kenny, owner of The Fermentation Trap, wanted to brew the beer too.  So, we scheduled a double brew day and began planning.  We immediately ran into some trouble.

Midnight Wheat is a big beer, with over 10 percent alcohol by volume (ABV).  To get that concentration of alcohol, the recipe requires a lot of grain.  The original 5 gallon recipe called for over 17 pounds of grain and 5 pounds of honey.  That amount of grain barely fit into the 10 gallon mash tun, so doubling the amount would certainly exceed its volume.  So, we elected to attempt to use two mash tuns and combine the runnings into one brew pot for the boil.  This creates some more complicated logistics because the specialty malts need to be divided roughly evenly between the two mash tuns, especially any dark roasted grains.  If all of the dark roasted grains went into one mash tun, the resulting mash could become too acidic and impact conversion rates.

Big beers also impact the efficiency a brewing system returns.  By cramming as much grain as possible into the mash tun, the water to grain ratio decreases because some of the brewing water is removed to fit more grain into the tun.  Additionally, the grain receives less sparge water, per pound, then it would for a lower gravity wort.  My system usually gets between 70 and 75 percent efficiency for "normal" strength beers (4 to 6 percent ABV), but this decreases to 60 percent efficiency or lower for very strong beers.  This lower efficiency resulted in Midnight Wheat requiring an extra 3 pounds of dried malt extract (DME) being added near the end of the boil last year to boost the gravity.  For the second batch, I tried to correct this by assuming a lower efficiency and adding more base malt.  We still ended up being about 7 gravity points short and did not have the DME on hand to boost it up.

All in all, it was a fun brew session and a gorgeous Fall day to be making beer on the back deck.  I was glad that Kenny brought his full system along so that we two sparge tanks and a separate burner for additional heating capacity.  The beer is bottled now and initial flavor samples contain the complex, layered sugar character that I love so much in the first batch.  Time will tell if it is as good as the first batch that Jeff and I made, given that we did not have any of Jeff's fresh Rhode Island honey and we made some hop substitutions.

Cheers,

TW

----------------------------------

Recipe: Midnight Wheat
Brewer: Tom Wallace
Asst Brewer: Kenny Thacker
Style: Specialty Beer

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 14.28 gal
Post Boil Volume: 13.26 gal
O.G.: 1.094
F.G.: 1.014
SRM: 10
IBU: 40
ABV: 10.8%
Mash: 154 F for 60 Minutes
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                    
6.00 g                Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 mins)        
2.00 g                Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins)          
2.00 g                Chalk (Mash 60.0 mins)

2.00 g                Calcium Chloride (Boil 60.0 mins)            

2.00 g                Chalk (Boil 60.0 mins)          
1 lbs                   Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM)    
17 lbs                 Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM)    
11 lbs 8.0 oz      White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)      
3 lbs 8.0 oz        Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM)      
1 lbs 12.8 oz      Caramel Wheat Malt (46.0 SRM)        
9.6 oz                Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)            
56.70 g              Pearle [6.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min  
42.52 g              Magnum [12.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min  
1.00 Items         Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)
56.70 g              Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.60 %] - Boil  15.0 min  
56.70 g              Williamette [4.80 %] - Boil 15.0 min    
6.0 pkg              Safale - US05 (Fermentis #US05)      
10 lbs                 Honey (1.0 SRM)  

Notes:
------
10/9/11 - Lowered IBUs in recipe from 60 to 40 after double check of last year's calculations showed they were incorrect and actual IBUs in beer was about 40, using Rager.  Also, because of lower efficiency than planned, if we do the recipe again, make sure to have DME on hand to boost at end to hit target gravity.

11/2/11 - Beer is very cloudly and carbonated.  I did not add gelatin this year, unlike the last batch.  The beer smells yeasty and there are hints of the complex sugar character I like so much in the last batch.  Flavor is similar to the last batch, but a bit muddled.

11/3/11 - Bottled.  Used 4 carb tabs (Muntons) per bottle.

The Diminutive Belgian Golden Strong

With Thanksgiving around the corner and the fact that we will have plenty of guests visiting come Turkey day, this weekend I broke out the brew kettle so I could be ready with fresh beer on tap. In searching for what beer to brew, I kept coming back to one of my favorite recipes – a Belgian Golden Strong (BGS) which has won me several awards. However, keeping everyone’s cup full of a 9% ABV beer is wanting for trouble. So what about trying to shrink the recipe down for a more sessionable Belgian Pale Ale (BPA)?  That could prove to be an entertaining experiment and (hopefully) a good beer to boot. 

Using Tom’s two prior posts on making big beers smaller as reference, I went about modifying the recipe for my BGS into a BPA. If I could get the similar flavor profile and dry finish, the end result would be excellent. I was fortunate in that the recipe is fairly simple and straight forward. Tom had mentioned his trouble with modifying our Wheat Wine Braggot recipe, which had a complex list of ingredients (multiple wheat malts, two types of honey, etc). For the BGS, there were only three ingredients which I am hoping will simplify the scaling process. 

For the BPA malt bill, I did not change the amount of either specialty grains (Wheat, Melanoiden) from the original BGS recipe.  Only the base malt was modified.  Additionally, the BGS calles for 2 lbs of sugar to be added, which was dropped.  Lastly, I dropped the number of IBU's a bit to make sure the bitterness stayed in balance.

The brew day went off well with the only trouble being the gusty winds that knocked over everything except the brew kettle. Reflecting back after the brew day, there were to modifications to the recipe that I am conflicted on. The first was that the local homebrew shop did not have the yeast I wanted (WLP570), so I had to take a substitution (WLP500). Secondly, I kept going back and forth with whether to leave the beer color the golden hue that the BGS would have been, or to modify it so that it was within the color ranges of the BJCP guidelines (which makes it more of an amber beer). I’m still gritting my teeth about it, but I did add 2 oz of Weyerman’s Carafa Special II to darken the SRM color.  The Carafa should add minimal flavor contributions, so I'm hoping the only effect is on the appearance.

While the beer is not an exact translation of my favored recipe, I did enjoy the recipe modification exercise and I’ve got a beer bubbling away in the fermentor to look forward to. Below is the recipe I ended up brewing – I’ll be sure to report back on how it turned out in a future post.

Belgian Not-so-Golden, Not-so-Strong Ale

Recipe Specifics
-----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.5
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.13
OG: 1.050
FG: ?
SRM: 9.2
IBU: 24.6 (Rager)
ABV: 5% (target)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 73%
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar:
---------------------
10.0 lbs German Pilsner Malt
0.50 lbs Melanoiden Malt
0.50 lbs White Wheat Malt
2.0 oz Carafa Special II Malt

Hops
------
All hops are pellet hops
1.1 oz Sterling (6% AA) at 60 minutes

Yeast
-------
WLP500 - Trappist Ale Yeast (2L starter)

Mash Schedule
----------------
60 min at 152° F

Notes
--------
Brewed on 11/12/2011 by myself.

After the boil was complete, chilling was accomplished with an immersion chiller.  Being a little lazy on brew day, I let the wort chill for 2-3 hours before racking it into the fermentor.

Aeration was accomplished via an aquarium pump and diffusion stone, run for 30 minutes.

Aerated wort was placed in the fermentation chamber at around 60° F.  The beer was allowed to free rise up to 67° F, where the temp controller kicked in to maintain a 67° C fermentation temp.

Fermentation activity kicked off within 24 hours of pitching.

Slainte!

-JW


"It is not 'just beer', it is a noble and ancient beverage which, like wine, food, and television advertising, can be extraorinarily good or unmercifully bad."
-Stephan Beaumont

Midnight Mini-Wheats

Back in April, I posted an article about how to make a big beer smaller, but still keep the flavor.  The basic idea was to take a high alcohol beer recipe, in this case, our Midnight Wheat - Wheat Wine Braggot, and make a version of it that was lower in alcohol.  The base recipe is one of my favorite beers that Jeff and I have done together, but at 11% alcohol by volume (ABV), it is not a daily drinker.  Using some techniques I described in the previous article, I hoped to make a session beer with much of the same flavor as the original.  The recipe, entitled Midnight Mini-Wheats, can be found at the bottom of this post.

My friend, John, my wife, and I recently had an opportunity to taste the two beers side-by-side (wheat wine braggot is on the left in the picture).  This is the best way to compare similar beers, as it is easier to compare subtle differences when the flavor and aromas are so fresh in your mind.

Midnight Wheat - Wheat Wine Braggot (10.8% ABV)
Appearance:  The braggot pours extremely clear deep amber color, with a thin white head.  The carbonation bubbles are very fine, almost like champagne.

Aroma:  The braggot has a complex sugar aroma that is very apparent.  It contains hints of brown sugar, toffee, caramel, and even a bit of molasses.  The sugar character is also mixed with the sweet aroma of alcohol.

Flavor:  The braggot tastes much as it smells, with a layered complex sugar character.  Molasses is the key dominant character, and reminded the tasters of shoofly pie.  There were also elements of brown sugar and caramel in the flavor.  The tasters compared the braggot to a commercial beer, Lagunitas Brewing Company's Brown Shugga.

Midnight Mini-Wheats - American Wheat (3.8% ABV)
Appearance:  The beer pours a hazy deep amber color, with a thin white head.  The carbonation appears lower than the braggot.  The tasters suspect that the beer has not aged as long as the braggot and has not had a chance to drop out some of the malt fines, which makes it cloudy.

Aroma:  The beer is very neutral in smell, with a very faint malt aroma, but little else.  The tasters noted the lower carbonation level between the two recipes, which could prevent as much aroma development.  Additionally, braggot's higher alcohol may well have driven its complex and layered aroma.

Flavor:  The beer has a distinctive grainy character, much like one can get from straight pilsner malt.  The beer also has a slight bitter and sour edge to it, which was even more noticeable when the beer was younger and less carbonated.  The beer lacks any of the sugar complexity that makes the wheat wine braggot so interesting.  On flavor alone, they are very different beers and, as my wife said, the drinker would likely have no idea they were related unless told so.


In conclusion, the experiment to get the interesting flavors of the wheat wine braggot into a session beer failed.  While the Midnight Mini-Wheats is a good beer, it was definitely found lacking.  However, I am going to take some of the lessons I learned here and try again in the future.  For one thing, I will only try to get down to 6% ABV, as the braggot's alcohol contribution is so important.  The braggot also had a much larger honey character, so I will try to boost the honey percentage in the next batch, while increasing mash temperature to keep a solid body to the beer.  The next batch will also receive a higher level of carbonation.

Cheers,

TW

-------------------

Midnight Mini-Wheats

Recipe Specifics

-------------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.0

Total Fermentables (Lbs): 8.5

OG: 1.039

FG: 1.010

SRM: 11

IBU: 29 (Rager)

ABV: 3.8%

Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

---------------------

3.25 lbs Maris Otter Malt

2.25 lbs White Wheat Malt

0.75 lbs Torrified Wheat

0.90 lbs Caramel Wheat Malt (46 L)

0.33 lbs Caramunich Malt (56 L)

1.00 lbs Honey

0.50 lbs Rice Hulls

Hops

-----

0.75 oz Perle Pellet Hops (7.7% AA) at 60 minutes

0.75 oz Williamette Pellet Hops (5.6% AA) at 15 minutes

0.75 oz Hallertau Pellet Hops (5.0% AA) at 15 minutes

Extras

-------

1.0 Tab Whirlfloc at 15 minutes

1.0 gram Chalk in mash

1.0 gram Calcium Chloride in mash

2.0 grams Baking Soda in mash

1.0 gram Chalk in boil

1.0 gram Calcium Chloride in boil

32 drops of Foam Control in the boil

Yeast

-----

11 grams – Safale US05, Dry Yeast

Mash Schedule

-------------

60 min at 156°F

Making a Small Beer with Big Flavor

The craft beer movement in America is currently dominated by big beers.  It is not hard to understand why, as Imperial-style beer tends to have larger flavor profiles, more alcohol, and can be harder to get, which can create a greater demand (i.e. cult beers).  However, it is often unwise to consume more than one 10 percent or greater beer in a sitting.  Is it possible to take the flavors that someone loves in an Imperial-style beer and inject them into a beer of more sessionable alcohol strength?.

Brew Strong, on the Brewing Network, featured a show on making session beers on October 18, 2010.  One segment of this show discussed how to make full-flavored session beers from larger recipes, ones that have plenty of character and are enjoyable to drink.  The main points the Brew Strong hosts presented included:

• It only takes about 2 percent alcohol for a beer to taste like a beer
• Increase the flavor and aroma hops to provide larger hop character, though keeping with the style or recipe concept
• Raise the percentage of specialty malts, which gives the impression of a bigger and richer beer
• Adjust the base grains so that they provide greater flavor complexity; for example substitute a portion of 2-row to pilsner or British pale malt
• Reduce the base grains to lower the alcohol content, but leave the specialty grains the same
• Use a yeast that does not attenuate as much, which will leave more flavor behind
• Eliminate or minimize simple sugars, which provides a larger malt character in the finished beer
• Build the body of the beer by increasing the mash temperature to provide a larger mouthfeel

Last Thanksgiving, Jeff and I made a wheat wine braggot that we called Midnight Wheat.  This beer has quickly developed into one of my favorite recipes that Jeff and I have done together, one that has even won a recent award.  One of the main drawbacks of the beer, when it comes to making it a regular drinker, is its strong alcohol content (10% ABV).  Its alcohol strength makes it great for aging, which is one of the goals of the recipes that Jeff and I develop together, but it is not a beer I would want to drink often.  I wanted to use the Brew Strong advice to see if I could create a smaller beer that I could keep on draft and enjoy more regularly.

Taking the Brew Strong information, I made the following adjustments to the original Midnight Wheat recipe:

• Reduce the base grain quantity by approximately 60% to lower the overall alcohol
• Leave the specialty grain quantity the same as the original recipe, in order to provide a richer character
• Reduce the amount of honey drastically, but do not eliminate it completely, as it adds some flavor
• Add a small amount of black malt to mimic the original recipe's color
• Increase the mash temperature to have more mouthfeel
• Reduce the quantity of bittering hops, to keep the approximately the same specific gravity to bitterness ratio
• Increase the late hops to have more hop flavor and aroma

The altered recipe, along with side-by-side tasting notes, will be presented in a future post, so be sure to check back.

Cheers,

TW

Nanobrewery Interviews: Idle Hands Craft Ales (Part 2)

While many of us have toyed with the thought of starting up our own nanobrewery, there are others who have taken the plunge. To find out who these people are and what makes them do what they do, Tom and I embarked on a series of interviews with regional nanobreweries to get their stories.

Idle Hands Craft Ales

Everett, MA

http://www.idlehandscraftales.com/

As a follow-up to the first half of our interview with Grace and Chris Tkach, owners of Idle Hands Craft Ales, this post presents the conclusion of our conversation with the new nanobrewery.  Idle Hands, which was founded in 2010, is planning to release its first beer before the summer of 2011.

*   *   *

Lug Wrench (LW): Where did you get the inspiration for the beers you plan to commercialize? How did you pick your range of offerings?

Idle Hands (IH): Chris has always had a fascination with Belgian beer and the concept of pairing beer and food. So the beers that we will produce will reflect those interests. As much as Chris loves hoppy IPAs, he does feel that the style has been a little overdone and wants to offer something a bit unique. We’ve decided to take the idea and turn it on its head a bit which was the inspiration for our first beer, Pandora, a hoppy Belgian pale ale. Pandora is not tongue-numbing bitter, but we think the citrusy characteristics of the late hop additions play wonderfully with the Belgian yeast. It is a beer that you can drink a lot of in one sitting yet still have taste buds left over for other (food) flavors.

Other mainstay beers for Idle Hands originate from the homebrewed beers that Chris has made in the past - ones which have been well received in both competitions as well as with our friends. Our follow on beer to Pandora is called Brevity, a Belgian style Wit. The wit is one of Grace’s favorite beers and has always had a big following among our friends. It has been touted numerous times as ‘very refreshing’ and should be a nice option in late Spring/Summer.

Beyond Pandora and Brevity, we are still working out which beers will be ‘usual suspects’ versus which will be ‘specialty’ beers. Among the options include a single or patersbier, a dubbel, a quad and a golden strong. There are also plans to start barrel aging and souring beers from the start and Chris may even resurrect the barleywine recipe he used for our wedding favor beer (Double Happiness) as a specialty player. We won’t stick strictly to Belgian beers either but we do hope to inspire the theme of beer-food pairings with each offering.

LW: How do you plan to differentiate your beer from all the other offerings that are out there?

IH: We are hoping that Idle Hands can capitalize on being local and offering a focused product line. Boston has a great beer culture and we are fortunate to have a great market for good beer. However, the one thing we believe the city lacks is a lot of “local” beer options. While there are many New England breweries starting up, there are few that really find their home in Boston.

Additionally, many of the breweries that have started up offer a broad array of beers - many English style ales but very few Belgian options. In contrast, Idle Hands Craft Ales heavily leans towards Belgian styles for inspiration. Our plan is to focus on these styles of beers as our flagship and regular options, but we won’t rule out the occasional non-Belgian offering within our specialty line.

We love Belgian beers because of their complex nature and how they help to bring out the flavors of food. This complementary nature of our beer with food is one of the key attributes that we are promoting. As we get established, we hope to place increasing emphasis on beer-food pairings. There are so many flavors in beer in general that work with a large variety of foods; our beers will offer such variety. While the beer and foodie communities are becoming more and more engaged in beer-food pairings, we know that the general public does not realize how synergistic the two are.

In addition, there is an ever increasing movement around buying and sourcing local these days that we hope to capitalize upon. In particular, the “locavore” and “farm-to-table” movements are very strong in the Boston and surrounding metropolitan areas. Once we are able to get buy-in into such restaurants, our plan it to work with them to create unique beer pairings for their menu. Finally, we plan on highlighting recommended pairings on our website so that foodies and gastronomes can enjoy these options at home.

LW: Looking forward, what are the biggest hurdles you see the brewing facing?

IH: Today, our biggest hurdle is the actual brewery buildout. It has been a very long road, one which has taken much more time than we expected. We thought the Federal licensing process would be the limiting factor but we were wrong! We know the buildout is a temporary hurdle, but knowing we are licensed to brew already, it is emotionally draining that we cannot start yet. There are many nights that Chris wakes up thinking about the brewery and what’s still left to be done. On top of that, we’ve had restaurants and stores ask us when they can expect to purchase our beers. It is frustrating that we have the interest and cannot meet their requests yet. We just hope we don’t lose momentum.

Once the brewery buildout is complete, our next hurdle will be sales and distribution. Since we are self-distributing and it is just the two of us who also have “day” jobs, our time for the brewery is limited to nights and weekends. Logistically speaking, it will be a challenge to offer samples and have conversations about Idle Hands and our beers with the individuals we need to in order to get to customers (i.e. restaurant owners, bar managers, beer buyers, etc.). We’ve already had some momentum on this front, but as most small business owners know, how do you continue this momentum and run the business at the same time - plus keep your day job!

Finally, looking into the future, capital for expansion will be our next hurdle. Given the current market, banks are being very careful about lending money. We hope to have an established business and consumer demand which will help to build our case for a small business loan.

LW: Is there anything else you think our readers might enjoy learning about you or your brewery?

IH: A lot of people have commented on how much they like our logo. We’re really excited about it and in particular, the way it was developed. A friend of ours had suggested utilizing a crowdsourcing website, CrowdSpring.com, to get our logo developed. After putting together a comprehensive creative brief, we held a contest through this website to develop our logo. We received over 100 entries and after a two week period of critiquing the submissions, we were excited to select the winning logo after soliciting feedback from our Facebook fans. As a small business owner, you need to be resourceful about how you get things done. Developing our logo relied a lot on us knowing what we wanted to be, but it also enabled us to use the power of social media in getting something so important done.

In the spirit of trying to keep things local, we have been aiming to keep our dollars in the community where possible. Also, we are making sustainable (green) choices in inputs and outputs to our business. Though we are far from our goal of always making local and sustainable choices, as we mature and grow, we will do so with these ideals in mind.

LW: Lastly, our homebrewing readers always love a recipe – would you be willing to provide one for people to try?

IH: Here is one of my all time favorite beers to brew and drink. It’s a Scottish 70/- that is brewed in the traditional sense; with no caramel malts. All of the caramel flavors are developed in the kettle and from the boil down of the first runnings. I’m sure that at some point this beer will show up as a specialty release because I love it so much.

Scottish 70/-

==========

batch size: 5.5 gallons

SG: 1.040

FG: 1.011

IBUs: 14

Ingredients

---------------

6 lbs 11oz - Scottish or English 2-row Pale Malt (I prefer Golden Promise but have used Marris Otter in the past which adds a slight nuttiness to the final beer)

20z - German Carafa II

1oz - Roasted Barley

1oz - Kent Goldings (4.5% AA)

1 vial - White Labs WLP028 (Edinburg)

Process

----------

Using a step mash routine, mash in at 144F with 1.2 quarts/lb and rest for 20 minutes. Then raise the temp to 158F and rest for another 40 minutes or until conversion has completed. Mash out at 168F.

Pull the first gallon of runnings into a separate pot and boil it down to less than 1 quart. This will create a light syrup filled with medium-light caramel flavors. While that 1st gallon is boiling down, continue the sparge.

I use the rule of thumb of ½ gallon water per pound of grain for any additional water used in the mashing and sparging process. So if you’re using an infusion mash routine with this recipe the maximum amount of water you would use with your additional infusions and sparging is 3.5 gallons (~ 7lbs of grain * 0.5 gallons/lb = 3.5 gallons).

Once you’ve finished sparging add any additional water to the kettle so that you start your boil with 6.75 gallons total. Boil for 90 minutes, adding the hops at 75 minutes and the boiled off first runnings when its been boiled down to the consistency of a light syrup (think warm pure maple syrup).

Chill the wort to 62F and pitch the yeast (I prefer to create a small 1 liter starter for this beer).

Ferment the beer at 65F for approximately 1 week or until fermentation has completed. Let the beer sit on the yeast for an additional 3-4 days after fermentation has completed so that the yeast will clean up any fermentation byproducts.

Transfer the beer to a keg and cold condition for 2-3 weeks at 40F, carbonate to 2 ATMs and enjoy!

* * *

If you want to find out more about Idle Hands Craft Ales, check out their website, or better yet, if you are in Boston, stop by the brewery.

Slainte!

-JW

“Beer should be enjoyed with the right mixture of abandon and restraint.”
-M.F.K. Fisher

Christmas Dinner - Cooking With Beer

Hopefully, everyone has had the chance to get a break from the daily grind and enjoy the holiday season.  And while the snow here on the eastern seaboard is a day late of being a White Christmas, it's a welcome sign of the season.

Recently, I have to admit that I have been caught up in the 'cooking with beer' concept.  Most of this has been driven by listening to Sean Paxton on The Brewing Network's The Homebrewed Chef.  While there is a pleasant novelty of using beer as an ingredient, the impetus has forced me to get my basic cooking skills in order to accommodate some of Sean's recipes.  Who knew there was a foodie in me? 

With our house playing host to family for Christmas, it gave me the perfect opportunity to try out several new recipes as part of our holiday feast.  With the meal being a success, I figured I would post the beer-related recipes here for two reasons. The first was in the chance the experience cajoles a reader to give the recipes a try.  The second reason, which is a bit more selfish but probably the real driver, was write down the recipe and notes so I can refer back to them sometime in the future.

In either case, if you are interested, certainly check out Sean Paxton's website or give him a listen on The Homebrewed Chef.

Dubbel Candied Yams
(Discussed on the 12/16/10 episode of THC)
These came out awesome, although with all the sugars in the dish, we had to keep them away from the diabetic who was at the table.

• 2.5 lbs Yams (peeled and cut in 1" disks)
• 750 ml bottle of La Trappe Dubbel
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 cup of local wildflower honey (thanks again Bil)
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla are called for in the original recipe, but they slipped my mind during the mad dash to get everything on the table.

Mix the dubbel, sugar, honey (and spices) and bring them to a simmer.  Once the syrup is simmering, add in the cut yams and return to a boil and cover.  Cook yams for 35 minutes.  Remove the lid and cook down for another 10-20 minutes to thicken the syrup.  Serve warm.

Barleywine Marinated Rib Roast
(Taken directly from Sean's recipe)
This was the centerpiece of the meal and a favorite amongst those at the table.  I was a little concerned it might come out a little too rare, but it came out perfect.

• 8 lbs Rib Roast
• 1 bottle of Anchor Old Foghorn
• 2 tbsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 lbs kosher salt

Wash the roast in cold water then pat dry with paper towel.  Place in a roasting pan and pour the bottle barleywine over the top of the meat and cover.  Every 30 minutes for the next two hours, baste the meat with the barelywine.  Preheat the oven to 250 F.  Place the meat on a roasting rack and insert digital meat thermometer probe.  Rub the meat down with mix of 2 tbsp salt & 2 tbsp pepper.  Then coat the top of the roast with 1/2" of kosher salt. 

Place meat in the oven and cook until the internal temperature rises up to 120F (~4 hrs).  Remove the roast from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes.  Raise the temp of the oven to 500 F.  Scrap off salt layer and place meat back in hot oven for another 10 minutes to brown and caramelize the outside of the roast.  Remove the meat and let rest for another 20 minutes before carving.  The final internal temp of the meat was 141 F when carving.

In addition to the above, I also prepared the barleywine sauce as described in Sean's recipe.  However, when it got to the table, the result was too bitter to palate (probably reduced it down too much) and I pulled it from the meal to be replaced with a traditional au jus.

Horseradish Ale Sauce
(Taken directly from Sean's recipe)
Another good hit.  There is a bit of a citrus tang from the IPA that complements the horseradish kick.  This was made the night before and while primarily made to accompany the beef, it was also used as a dip with crackers.

• 1/2 cup prepared horseradish
• 1/2 cup of homebrewed IPA (New Belgium's Ranger IPA clone)
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2-3 tbsp all-purpose flour

Add horseradish, beer, salt, sour cream, mayo, and pepper and whisk together.  The initial mixture came out too liquidy, so I whisked in 2-3 tbsp of flour to thicken.  Refrigerate until use.

Roasted Garlic IPA Mashed Potatoes
(Taken directly from Sean's recipe).
Because there were some people at the table who were not garlic fans, we made the garlic cream sauce the night before and then folded it into half the mash potatoes that were to be served.  The result was good, but there was no noticeable IPA/citrus character - just good garlic mashed potatoes.

• 2 heads of garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup light cream
• 2-4 tbsp homebrewed IPA (New Belgium's Ranger IPA clone)
• kosher salt and pepper

Cut the top 1/4 - 1/5 of each garlic head, exposing the cloves within.  Dosed each head with olive oil, a sprig of thyme, and a dash of salt and pepper.  Wrapped each head up in a square of foil and roasted them in the oven (pre-heated to 300 F) for 30-40 minutes.  After roasting, pull the heads out and let cool for 5 minutes.  Squeeze out all of the cloves into a mixing bowl and mash with a fork.

In a medium pan, combine the butter, cream, 2 sprigs of thyme and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove thyme sprigs and add in garlic paste.  Simmer for 3 more minutes while stirring to break up garlic.  Remove from heat and season with salt, paper, and IPA.  Placed the cream sauce in the fridge until use, when about half the mixture was folded into mash potatoes.

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From both Tom and I, we hope everyone had a splendid holiday and have plans for a wonderful New Year.

Slainte!

-JW


"It is not 'just beer', it is a noble and ancient beverage which, like wine, food, and television advertising, can be extraordinarily good or unmercifully bad."
-Stephan Beaumont