Friday, March 16, 2012

Fermentation

Any accomplished brewer will tell you fermentation is everything. I couldn't agree more, I think that most homebrewers don't understand how important fermentation is. There are a lot of factors that contribute to go good fermentation. The important things being, healthy yeast, nutrients, oxygen, temperature. The two most important things for me are healthy yeast and a constant fermentation temperature.

To get a healthy pitch of yeast, I first find the newest vial of white labs yeast. I think white labs dates there yeast out 90 days, but don't quote me on it. Next, I make a yeast starter. I built my own stir plate out of a computer fan, a switch, AC to DC converter and a some tuber-ware. I use a 1 liter flask, it is a bit small but it works really well. I make a 1.040 SG unhopped wort and pitch the yeast 18-24 hour before I pitch it in the fermentor. I also add a some yeast nutrient to the starter, I use Yeastex. The research I did, made me choose yeastex because it had all the necessary ingredients.

On brew day, once the wort has been chilled and transfered to the fermentor. I oxygenate with an O2 tank and aeration stone. I aerate lightly and shake the fermentor for 45 seconds and then I pitch the yeast.

From this point on, the process is out of my control. I have been very lucky with the location of fermentation area. I ferment mostly in glass carboys in the back of my garage. I have taken temperature readings and found out I see less then +/- 1 degree change over 24 hours. As far as the temperature, it depends on the season. During the winter I see 65F, spring it 68-69F, summer 72F and fall 70F.

The schudule of my fermentations is something I am very serious about and every beer recieves the same treatment. I have a two week rule. The two week rule is where the beer spends two weeks at every stage of fermentation and conditioning. For example, if I am making a DIPA. Two weeks in primary, two weeks secondary and then two weeks cold conditioning in a keg. For cold conditioning, I hook up the CO2 and set it to serving pressure and while it is conditioning. The beer is also carbonating.

I am very strict about and this schedule, it is just one part of my process. If I make changes to make the beer better, I don't change the process. I change the ingredients.


Monday, February 27, 2012

Insatiable Ale

My favorite beer of last year was my Insatiable Ale. This beer is just so good, I had people who don't even like beer, who couldn't put this beer down. This beer would just disappear from my keg-o-rator. My inspiration for this beer was Nelson from Alpine Beer Co. Nelson is my favorite IPA, it is such a different and interesting beer. Nelson is a rye IPA with nelson sauvin hops. I wanted to bring it down a notch and make a sessionable pale ale with a west coast flare. The nelson sauvin hops have such an amazing flavor, it has this berry flavor. Some describe it as grape-like or gooseberries, I wouldn't totally agree. I do see however, the relationship to a white wine grape. I have had a couple of other nelson sauvin and rye beers and they are always awesome. Something about the rye and nelson are just the perfect combo.

My goals for this beer is to make a sessionable west coast pale ale that really highlight the nelson sauvin hops. If you have read other posts on this blog, you know I love Marris Otter malt and know why I chose this as my base malt, there is also a little bit of speciality malt and 15% rye. To show off this awesome hop I used mostly nelson sauvin, but I never like using just one hop. I like to layer hops and I blend hops with similar profiles to achieve the profile that I want. Also with this hoppy beer, I hopped on the back and front ends of the boil. I like to mostly use warrior hops for bittering because it's bitterness profile is strong but smooth and doesn't linger. I wanted it a little bit rougher, so I added a bit of chinook to the mash to give it a bit of a bite.

Recipe Overview
Wort Volume Before Boil:8.00 US galsWort Volume After Boil:6.50 US gals
Volume Transferred:5.50 US galsWater Added To Fermenter:0.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching:5.50 US galsVolume Of Finished Beer:5.00 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity:1.043 SGExpected OG:1.053 SG
Expected FG:1.012 SGApparent Attenuation:76.4 %
Expected ABV:5.5 %Expected ABW:4.3 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth):38.1 IBUExpected Color (using Morey):6.2 SRM
BU:GU ratio:0.71Approx Color:
Mash Efficiency:70.0 %
Boil Duration:90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature:64 degF

Fermentables
IngredientAmount%MCUWhen
UK Pale Ale Malt11.00 lb81.5 %5.1In Mash/Steeped
US Rye Malt2.00 lb14.8 %1.1In Mash/Steeped
US Victory Malt0.25 lb1.9 %1.1In Mash/Steeped
US Aromatic Malt0.25 lb1.9 %0.7In Mash/Steeped

Hops
VarietyAlphaAmountIBUFormWhen
US Chinook10.5 %0.50 oz12.2Loose Pellet HopsIn Mash
US Warrior15.5 %0.25 oz12.9Loose Pellet HopsFirst Wort Hopped
NZ Nelson Sauvin12.5 %0.50 oz7.0Loose Pellet Hops10 Min From End
US Centennial8.5 %0.25 oz2.4Loose Pellet Hops10 Min From End
US Simcoe13.0 %0.25 oz3.7Loose Pellet Hops10 Min From End
US Simcoe13.0 %0.50 oz0.0Loose Pellet HopsAt turn off
US Centennial8.5 %0.50 oz0.0Loose Pellet HopsAt turn off
NZ Nelson Sauvin12.5 %0.50 oz0.0Loose Pellet HopsAt turn off
NZ Nelson Sauvin12.5 %1.00 oz0.0Loose Pellet HopsDry-Hopped
US Centennial8.5 %0.50 oz0.0Loose Pellet HopsDry-Hopped
US Simcoe13.0 %0.50 oz0.0Loose Pellet HopsDry-Hopped

Yeast
White Labs WLP001-California Ale

Water Profile
Target Profile:No Water Profile Chosen
Mash pH:5.2
pH Adjusted with:Unadjusted

Total Calcium (ppm):51Total Magnesium (ppm):9
Total Sodium (ppm):30Total Sulfate (ppm):36
Total Chloride(ppm):17Total Bicarbonate (ppm):153

Mash Schedule
Mash Type:Full Mash
Schedule Name:Single Step Infusion (66C/151F)

Step TypeTemperatureDuration
Rest at151 degF60