11.23.2010

Just a little snap-shot of what I've been doing when I'm not holding Leo....

Surprise...surprise, I've been drinking!


Thiriez Extra- fantastic Saison from a the brewery that propagated my favorite yeast strain Wyeast 3711!

Unbelievable concoction. Almost tastes like a Flanders Red to me.  Very good!

Wow!  Sweet, sweet, desert beer from New Glarus.  Soooo good!
Another great example of the Amarillo hops! Tasty and malty!
Yes please, I'll have another.  Amarillo hops in an American wheat.  Brilliant!
The most bitter of the local Wet Hops.  Also, they used their own hops!  Kudos Brothers Brau!
Love this one from Dark Horse.  Also like their DIPA!
Very nice local creation using west coast hops.  Are these Citra?


Fantastically dank smelling DIPA!

11.15.2010

Soul Khan - Kids Today

Reminder: Artenbru is this FRIDAY! Come say hi, and have a good time!




Come on out this Friday.  10 Brewers, and 10 Designers!  There will be a ton of BEER and ART at the event.  Hopefully you like what I have pouring.  I'll be pouring my Harvest Series which consists of three very unique beers!   One really hoppy, one smooth and roasty, and another that's just straight up funky fresh!

***I believe it's $7 at the door CASH ONLY.

Cheers!

Nick

11.08.2010

The Essence - IPA - an obscenely hopped ale

This recipe was loosely based on the Pliny the Elder clone recipe many have brewed. I didn't want a syrupy DIPA, but still wanted the beauty of the hop profile of Pliny. I went with the following recipe and I think it'll have a bit of a dry finish, very bitter, and a crazy hop flavor and aroma of straight up dank nuggets. The essence of hop nectar!

10 - Gallons

malt & fermentables
%     LB OZ  Malt
82% 18  0    Organic Two-row Pale
9%   2    0    Honey
5%   1    0    Organic Crystal 60L
5%   1    0    Dextrin (Cara-Pils)
        22  0
Original Gravity
1.053
Final Gravity
1.008
ABV
5.9%

Color
6° SRM / 12° EBC (Yellow to Gold)

hops
use        time        oz   variety

FWH     60 mins   3.0 Columbus
boil       45 mins   1.0 Columbus
boil       20 mins   2.0 Simcoe
boil       1   min    4.0 Simcoe
boil       1   min    2.0 Centennial
dry hop 7 days    2.0 Simcoe
dry hop 7 days    2.0 Centennial
dry hop 7 days    2.0 Columbus
total hops            18

Bitterness
150 IBU


I brewed this last night with the single tier set up. I had some issues using the pump for the sparge so I ended up using gravity for that portion of the process. Otherwise the single tier set up was frickin awesome. Still need to dial it in though! Guess I have to brew another beer.

I did a ton of PH readings and came to the conclusion that my PH strips are bad. They literally give me the same reading every time. Minneapolis water report states that the water profile is a PH of 8.6. Strip reads 4.4. I used 5.2 PH buffer in the mash. PH strip still reads mid 4's. So my only conclusion is that the strips don't work.

I double crushed the grains and used 5.2 PH buffer to help my effeciency and I ended up with 67-70% effeciency which I feel is pretty good. I didn't quite max out my equipment on this 10 gallon batch.  I had a little bit of room in the Mash, but was pretty dang close to the top for my sparge. 

Hear are some notes from the Brew night.

Kevin stopped by to help a bit at the start because I was nervous using the pump.
We mashed in and the pump pushed 8 gallons into the Mash tun from my HLT in about 1.5 minutes. That was pretty awesome. I mashed at 154 for 60 minutes. Used gravity to drain and collected 6 gallons of first runnings. First Wort Hopped. I sparged at exactly 170 degrees for 30 minutes. Tried to transfer the sparge water with the pump, but couldn't get a good prime. Drained using gravity and then had to lift 14 gallons which proves that I'm a big strong man. Boiled for 60 minutes. Used a hop bag for the last two hop additions. Cooled to 68 degrees in about 20 minutes and pitched my yeast.

12.12.10 - Sampled as I transferred to secondary.  Great bitterness.

12.27.10 - Fully carbed and in kegs. Pours crystal clear with a slight yellow-orangish hue. Nice head, with an amazing aroma of pine, and citrus. The CTZ hops come through nicely. Bitterness hits you right away and let's you know you're in for a ride. It has a smooth medium mouthfeel that just bursts with hops. Slight caramel honey flavors hit you amongst the waves of piney and citrus hops. Finish's with a bitterness that lingers and makes you go back for another sip. It's bitter, but it's not cloying sweet. Fantastic IPA on the extreme end of the hops spectrum. This truly is the essence of hop nectar!

4.16.11- Next time I'll probably hop burst this. Also I'll mash at 158 and add the honey in at the start of the boil, or at least half of it.   

11.06.2010

Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale revelations...revised Malt, same hops

I thought that I'd put up a quick post about a revelation that I just had while sampling my first ever Green Flash Hop Head Red. It's a west coast Red IPA that I can't get my hands on in MPLS, but received one bottle special delivery from my boy in Cali who has a nice blog Slaughterhouse 7. I've brewed the clone of it twice now blind without tasting it, and found the clone online somewhere and then adjusted it to my liking on the second try.

Here are my thoughts on the actual Hop Head Red. It's a nicely bittered Red Ale, using Amarillo Hops for flavor and aroma. The IBU's upon taste seem to be higher then the mid 40's to me but I'm not a great taster. It has an overwhelming raisin / prune / dark fruit flavor that I didn't know about. A bit like a Belgian Dubbel which I believe use the Belgian Special B malt. It's a very dark ruby red, almost a light brownish color.

Here is what I think I need to change to make my clone more like the original.

I think that the lower Crystals 40 and 80 bring in way too much sweetness. I'm starting to question Crystal malts. Instead I'd add in some Special B which will give that prune flavor, also up the mouth-feel, which will allow you to mash at a bit of a lower temp, say 152 degrees and still get a thicker mouth-feel.

Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale Clone - revised grist(5 gallon)

THIS WOULD PROBABLY BE MORE CLOSE...
malt & fermentables
% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable ppg °L
63% 8 0 American Two-row Pale 37 1
24% 3 0 Munich Malt 37 9
8% 1 0 Flaked Oats 33 2
4% 0 8 Belgian Special B 30 220
1% 0 2 American Chocolate 34 127
1% 0 2 American Crystal 120L 34 120
12 12
Original Gravity
1.063
Color
17° SRM / 34° EBC
(Light Brown to Medium Brown)

Hops
60 mins 1.0 Chinook
10 mins 0.5 Amarillo
5 mins  0.5 Amarillo
1 min 1.0 Amarillo
dry hop 3.0 Amarillo

Bitterness
63.7 IBU  
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