What's Brewing-June edition

Got anything to send back with your sister? I'll sent down some of my barrel-aged stout with her for you to try....maybe the brown ale if it's ready.

Kegging up an IPA this weekend. Now gotta figure out my next brew. Not feeling all that inspired right now....need an easy drinking pale something though.

 

Brewed a wheat with some experimental grapefruit hop additions. I plan on adding watermelon puree to it when I transfer to the keg next weekend. Fingers crossed it tastes alright.

 

Mashing in Cheesewick Bitter, an English bitter with an assortment of those cheesy 47Hops we've read so much about. Just kidding about the cheesy hops. At least the US Fuggles were OK. This batch will also see some Willamette, Styrian Celeia, and Cascade (assuming none smell cheesy when I open them).

 

Had to call an audible on my experimental pale tomorrow... My yeast starter, never started... I took a chance with 6 and 8 month old yeast vials I had of the Kolsch and London Ale III combo, but three days later it still didn't ferment any and no signs of being viable (hydrometer reading still at what it started...)

Ran to LHBS to pick up some lager yeasts and a pack of US-05, but then saw they had the new White Labs London Fog... So picked that up and currently making a starter of that to pitch tomorrow. See how that is!

 

Just bottled saison, used that temperamental Dupont strain.
All the numbers were met,
Cheers

 

For those interested, the hop bill went like this:

4 oz. each Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic + 3 oz. Centennial @ 180F

2 x 1 oz. each of Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic

 

Decided to go back to the mash tun to make a pale ale. Two batches in one day. It's good to wake up early. This is an odds and ends grist, finishing bags of Vienna, flaked wheat, and carahell. Plus some oats. Will feature kettle additions of Columbus and cascade and dry hop of eukanot.

 

6 and 8 months old? The younger one must have been 6 months plus one day old. Evidence -> here <-.

Ahem. Seriously though, were there still vials 6 months ago? I'm thinking the new packaging started well before that. Or were these not White Labs vials?

 

Yes, Table Beer was a tax category at one point. Though Table Beers were breweed for decades after that ended. They finally died out in the early 20th century.

 

They are old WL vials I have saved and keep my "yeast harvests" in. I keep all my yeasts this way, refilling from my various yeast starters. They were not store bought that way. I date when I filled from my starter, hence the date/age.

 

I just brewed my annual Sacc Trois SMaSH IPA. This year I went with Galaxy and Pilsner. Each year around this time I'll brew one and save a few bottles to drink the following year, since they never seem to succumb to oxidation.

 

Just mashed in on gluten free "Hefeweizen". Very small test batch....fingers crossed.

Love this Grainfather. Heated strike water was waiting for me when I woke up. Also, doing sous vide steaks with it tonight!

 

Woof! Things are not looking good. I had to boil down a bit extra to hit OG and the beer came out dark....so, I guess it's a Dunkel now? Glad I only brewed 2 gallons.

 

Yesterday I kegged my pale that I brewed Sunday as it’s just near FG, so now is being spunded to carbonate. Will give two or three days with the dry hop and then cool/chill for a few days before tapping in a week and a half or so. Let it mature a bit! This was the pale with Maris Otter as some 95% of the grist and hopped with Experimental Stonefruit and White Labs London Fog yeast. The aroma of the beer is quite epic to say the least. Very fruity, mango and even faint banana perhaps. It’s crazy, but in a good way. I think this will be a killer beer when done. Got it’s 2nd dry hop right in the keg at the moment. Can’t wait to see how this thing is when it’s done! It glows neon yellow as well, almost looks radioactive.


Also pulled all my faucets off my keezer, beer lines, etc… Broke down the faucets, soaked everything in cleaner. Then a good rinse and star san before reassembly. Still have all the equipment off as I’m getting new beer line and coupler gaskets today… Will reinstall everything after work.


Lastly, picked up a guest keg yesterday from a local shop… Victory Prima Pils! One of my absolute favorites. My current Pils is about to kick and I don’t have another in the pipeline at the moment… So why not get some Prima on tap?? Tapping it tonight, yum.

 

Racked my Berliner onto 6# of blueberries.


Racked my BGSA to secondary. OG 1.082, FG 1.002. I'm a little afraid it has a diastaticus infection but I did mash long and low with 16% table sugar in the grist. It also wouldn't be the end of the world for this style. If it is a diastaticus infection it's likely Sacch Trois or a saison strain that may chomp off the last two points while aging. I used wlp570 (the Duvel strain) for this and this strain just will. not. clear. I brewed a belgian blond with it as a starter for this beer and it took 4 weeks in the keg until it started pouring clear. Unreal.

Brewed 10 gallons of saison today, hopped exclusively with Mandarina Bavaria. Pils, a little munich, flaked wheat, cane sugar and a touch of aromatic malt. 5 gallons got some 3726 and the other 5 got some ECY03

 

I made a starter of WLP500 last night dated best by July 05 and have seen no activity after 24 hours. Took a gravity reading and it hasnt moved.

 

July 5, 2018?

 

Using old yeast, I have had 48hr delay before and the beer still came out great. Just give it another day and if no activity, then consider it a lost cause.

 

I just used some wlp 670 that was best by November 2017. Made a starter(1.040) and it took 2 days before it showed any signs. I pitched the whole starter (2 liters) in the wort and the beer went from 1.040 to 1.007 in 4 days and its still fermenting.

 

Last weekend I brewed my first saison with WLP670 (American farmhouse blend) and this weekend I will be brewing a NEIPA. This weekend I will also be racking my sour (10.5 gallons) on to a couple different fruits (split batch). I will be using blueberries(3lb per gallon) for half and pluots (2.5lbs per gallon) for the other half.