What’s Brewing December Edition

Bottled my annual Christmas Weizenbock this past weekend. Really looking forward to it this year! A small taste post-fermantation leads me to think this is going to be a great batch! Credit to the Mad Fermentationist for the inspiration for the grist! Already carbing up nicely, should be ready for Christmas!

 

Mashing in on something I've never done before, a braggot. It'll be a kind of Belgian quad braggot and I plan on aging on cherries(for flavor, not sugars). Possibly add brett after.

A kitchen sink recipe, already had everything laying around.

6g recipe est. OG 1.120, est. FG-no idea!

7lbs pale 2-row
1lb wheat DME
.5oz Centennial @start of short boil

2lbs Candi Syrup D-240 anyone try this yet??
10 lbs raw&unfiltered wildflower honey

WLP 545, started 3 days ago

I'll let it ferment for 2 days before adding the honey, then let it finish before adding the D-240.

Any advice, critiques??

 

I'll call this Mystery Box ale.Needed to get rid of grains so i mixed Maris,Optic,G.Promise,Honey, Rye and White wheat malt along w/US05,Hop extract, Mosaic and Amarillo.

 

So with my NE Pale reaching the end (just need to add DH #2 tomorrow for 2 days then crash/keg)… Finished the next two recipes I will be brewing yesterday:

1.) Bohemian Pilsner – German Pils, Carahell and Aciduated Malt for pH. 3.5oz Czech Saaz used at 60/15/5. Expected at around 4.6% ABV (FG of approx.. 1.014).

Then after that comes out of primary fermentation and into my lagering chamber… Really excited for:

2.) IPL that is bittered with Warrior and late hopped with Comet and Medusa and potentially Amarillo (I am still debating on eliminating Amarillo to showcase the other two only instead). Each hop is new to me (brewing with them), and also my first IPL. I absolutely love Comet the time I had a single-hop pale at Troeg’s actually… Was such an amazing flavor profile, crazy to think it’s not a more popular hop (I know, its old school…). Medusa I have never tasted, but it sounds like an interesting hop. Amarillo is always tasty, but like I said, it’s the only thing that may change in the recipe and just bumping up the other two to compensate.

After those two, it’s wide open as far as my pipeline goes… Perhaps get into making kettle sours. Need to do some more research into that for the best methods to go about it. I did before, but it’s been a while and I forgot most of what I had read lol

 

Sounds like a good plan. Love making braggots.

IMO, no good reason to use brett in this beer. Splitting the batch with half "plain" and half on cherries is a way better idea.

Unless you have the cherries already bought, let me recommend something like this for flavor and ease of use:

 

My weekend effort wasn't too different. In comparison, I used a little less base malt (all marris otter) and about double the other malts, working off a Founder's Breakfast Stout recipe I've modified and brewed before. Bourbon and coffee additions in a couple weeks. I used a yeast slurry off the pale I I just finished and it was bubbling away within 4 hours. Only issue was I came in a little low on my OG, so I'll need to decide whether or not to try and make that up.

 

Just add the whole bottle? I was thinking of using 10lbs(2lbs per gallon) for this batch. No brett Lambicus, huh?

 

Then 2 bottles might be more your speed. FWIW, you can buy that stuff at just about any vitamin/supplement shop and your local grocery might even stock it or something like it.

IMO, Brettanomyces doesn't make everything better. If you're looking for that phenolic profile and increased attenuation for this beer then OK, as "Brett L" is a Brett Brux variant. If not, which I wouldn't be, then maybe save the brett for something else.

 

Hydro check on my NE Pale… So even though I mashed high at 155-156F with a target FG of 1.015, the yeast went above and beyond and it looks like it finished at 1.010, or about 76% AA with London Ale III. I was hoping for a bit more residual sweetness with this one, but oh well! Still tastes good! I will adjust for next time with even higher mash temps.

With Conan and a similar recipe (yet mashed at 150-152F) I was always end up with lower than expected AA (for the yeast typically) with my session pale. Yet my standard strength stuff would always hit estimated targets.

Will hit it with the second dry hop today (about 6oz).

 

Kegged Krampus BIIPA (Brett Imperial IPA) yesterday...beer for our winter club comp in 2 weeks, brewed with a simple 80/20 2 Row/Wheat grain bill, cryo and regular Citra and Mosaic and fermented with Omega's Where Da Funk. Came out at 11.03%, 95 IBUs and tasty with a slight booziness.

Then I reused the yeast/bug cake (after I scooped and saved a couple of jars of the culture for future brews) and brewed up and added my house session Brett pale ale to it to compare the Where Da Funk with Bit O Funk, which is my usual Brett blend for all of my Brett beers.

 

Just cold crashed a bohemian pilsner last night. I figured 'ramp the temp down?' Nahhhhhh! What am I patient ? The sample tasted great, so I figured what the hell. I plan to fine with gelatin for a day or two then rack out and lager in a keg.

Also doing a night brew this eve - mashing in around 6 o'clock, should be cleaned up and pitched by one AM or so! Will be brewing with beers in hand experiencing some phenomenal southern Alberta weather . Will be a vulgar display of hoppage in the Yankee tradition. The kids call it 'NEIPA'

Cheers !

 

I need a blowoff tube for my blowoff jar . . . Wyeast 3944 wants you to know who's boss:

 

Racked Christmas stout adding nibs and vanilla and hard maple.
Bottled session citra pale.
Brewed tettnang lager

 

Brewed my Scottish Export today.

After asking advice on crystal vs caramelization for it, I went with ... all of the above. So I used some carastan, boiled the wort 100 min and boiled down 1 qt separately to caramelize it even more. I think I went a bit overboard but we shall see.

Malt bill was Golden Promise, Carastan, Dk Munich, Carafa ii, and a touch of Honey Malt. EKG and WY1728.

 

Brewing up a Belgian Quad today to be the 3rd beer to be in my barrel. Had a great mash and now its boiling away.

Pretty simple malt bill with mostly Belgian Pilsner with a bit of aromatic and german caramunich ll. Plan to add some Candi Syrup a few days into fermentation. Going with Wyeast Trappist High Gravity taken from a Saison I made a month ago.

 

Just took a gravity sample and had a taste. Still full of yeast, but damn tasty! I think it "may" have a bit more of a "creamy" flavor. I get it when I do decoctions of my hefeweisse compared to just a single infusion. A bit of a caramelly flavor I guess.

The Sour Weapon seems to be a cleaner acid than what I get from plantarum. Not as harsh. Absolutely sour for still being 1.010, but it doesn't scream LACTIC at me. Maybe it will when it finishes? Interesting. I'm glad I saved some to try again.

Also, I added 3lbs of dried apricots and 7lbs of peaches to this.

 

Brewed a cinnamon, vanilla bean, maple syrup porter today

 

Brewed a 6% abv oatmeal stout yesterday and it's chugging away steadily at 64F with us-05. Gonna pitch a big RIS onto the cake after racking this one to the keg. I've heard mixed opinions with pitching onto yeast cakes, but I'm never gonna know for sure until I actually try it out

 

I predict you'll like it, and the ris will remedy wildly. Have a blow off handy?