What's Brewing - June '17 edition

Hahahaha...why? I've made several and they turn out fantastic! This one is heavy on Citra and Exp Grapefruit.

 

On the 3rd, brewed up my third Zombie Dust clone , just cuz I had some citra kickin around (also because I can't get enough of that beer) Did a small bio transformation dry hop on that batch so we shall see how that affects the flavor!

On the 10th brewed up an IPA targeting 7% and 70 ibu, just because there's something about that symmetry that I like... Sort of a Gigantic IPA clone with a lb of Munich in the grist, but hopped with Simcoe and Amarillo exclusively cuz thats what I had available!

 

I'm picturing a murky dark IPA. Just can't seem to get the picture out of my head.

 

Like that combination a lot.

 

It's really tasty and blends/integrates the dark grains better than in a clean version IMO. This is the last of a series of about 20 NE IPAs over the past year or so...I'm getting tired of the style personally, so I wanted something a little different to finish it off. Replacing that pipeline with a series of Hot Head yeast hoppy beers. I haven't tried that yeast yet but would love to hear anyone's experience with it and fruity IPAs!

 

Was never very partial to the Cascadian Dark Ale concept to begin with. Never really had one that made me say, "Now THAT'S better than a normal colored IPA!".

So . . . a hoppy kviek? What kind of grist and hop schedule are you thinking about?

 

Elder. Have not had PTY. I also want something in the 8-9% ABV range...

 

Yep...gonna brew my house session IPA (75% 2 Row, 20% White Wheat, 5% Light Carastan and Citra & Nelson heavy) with it first and then go from there. I reuse my yeast cakes for around 5 generations, so I always do a low OG first brew to act as a big starter, then I harvest 3-4 jars of yeast from that batch for future brews and add another low OG brew for 2nd batch to build up for an average OG and above 3rd batch on.

 

You like Munton's yeast? And for that style? Munton's gets a bad name from many brewers because it used to be one of the only dry yeast available. For my first 10 years or so of brewing, that was my "house yeast" simply because it was one of the only things I could find locally back in the pre-Internet days. I always liked the IPAs I brewed with it and thought they were juicier than with 05/1056 (and most dark beers turned out great with it) once I was able to get a bigger variety of yeast. I don't hear very many folks using it nowadays and I haven't used it in many years.

 

Got a BUNCH of LME kits with Muntons yeast included. Used the LME for some sour beers, braggots, and other experiments, but when I was done, I still had the yeast in the brewing fridge. Decided to use it for my last DIPA and it wouldn't floc. to save my life. Instant NE DIPA without even trying. Usually use Chico, but since I have a bunch of it left in the fridge and I like what it brings to the table, I'll probably keep using it. Until I'm out of it or until I tire of hazy beer, that is.

 

LME makes me shudder
So messy compared to DME. When I preferred to brew extract, I'd buy 55lb boxes of extra light DME from a local brewery and build my recipes around that as my "base grain". It cut the cost of DME and brewing drastically for what I could get it for.

 

Wouldn't have bought it, but I think I ended up paying like $5 for each 3.3 lb. can, so I almost could pass it up.

 

IMO LME is pretty much a bad idea. Like 5.2 Mash Stabilizer. Or Nipples for Men.

 

Haha. Used it mostly for experimental brewing so I wouldn't be sad if the project didn't work out seeing as the cost and the time invested were pretty minimal.

 

Had the day off and wanted to put a rainy day to use. Was buying stuff for a "too dark to be Brown, but lighter then a Porter" kind of beer that I am calling a "Brackish Bramling Beer" because it is made with Bramling Cross hops. Was paying for my grains and yeast at my LHBS when I got a call that my GF's son just crashed his car into a boat... Fortunately enough the boat was on a trailer and I think the trailer took the most of it, but I just sat down after dealing with that for the last 3 hours, brew day gone, hope I can do it tomorrow....

 

Finally getting to scratch the itch.... been wanting to for a while, but home projects have kept me busy since the start of the new year. So tomorrow is brew day! Could not decide what to brew... I didn't want to brew my summer hefeweizen just yet. I wanted something different and with a little less alcohol than usual. I have a long list of beers I want to try to brew. Summer Love clone? Then I remembered something I had read a little while ago: Chris Colby's Firefly ESB (Beer and Wine Journal). Loved the story about the British mods to the Sherman tank! Also first time using my home-built immersion chiller...

5 gal batch, 80% mash efficiency
80% Munton's Pale Ale
11% Flaked Maize
9% Muntons Crystal 60

Using Target for bittering and Kent Goldings for flavor and dry hop. WLP002 for yeast.

Targets:
1.055 OG
1.014 FG
5.5% ABV
39 IBU
10 SRM

 

About to get started on 15 gallons of red-ish 1.045 wort. Split three ways with Irish Ale yeast, Belgian Ardennes & Oktoberfest Blend. If all goes well, I should have three pretty different beers to add to the rotation.

 

Brew closet at the moment – Blueberry berliner weisse, followed by a 100% brett fermented citra pale ale (yes there was a big blowoff, even after using fermcap), and then a 'clean' version of the same citra pale ale. I'll keg the clean version in the next few days and bottle the other two batches 1-2 weeks from now. Aside from some yeast harvesting, you probably won't hear of any more 'brewings and doings' from me for a while

 

Finished up my IPA at 1.014. Came down from 1.073. I ended up putting 4 oz of sugar in on Day 3 to make sure I got my attenuation I wanted. Glad I did because that's about perfect for me.

 

Closed transfer went ok. I put my dry hops in loose which always clogs up at least 3 disconnects. Worth it though to keep that evil O2 out.

I have 1.0 oz of Galaxy and 1.0 Simcoe in a canister in the keg. Plan to keep it room temp for 1 day with intermittent shaking. Then to the gas.