Brewing Activities (2019)

Yeah, byproduct of brewing with gluten free grains. The buckwheat is purely to add some beta-glucans and extra protein, and the hulls help with lautering. The biscuit rice adds a little flavor and color, but is essential for lautering as well. I could just use a base malt without them, but it would result in a thinner beer and I would have to use a bunch of rice hulls (the certified gf hulls are about as much as the malt). I find I have to mix multiple gf malts to try to approximate traditional grains.

 

Ahh, I did realise GF was for Gluten free,
thought it was Grain Father or something

 

Kegging three beers today

Nelson/Simcoe IPA I made with Cal Common yeast fermented at 68. Tastes great. Never done this hop combo before, I will definitely continue to do so.

Triumph Pale Ale. 90% Triumph hops. Hill Farmstead Ale yeast. Interesting hop, generically fruity profile from last sample. Moderately strong, lacks a little depth but could be cool with something more dank mixed in.

10416 Pale Ale. 90% Exp 10416 hops from Hopsteiner. Bell’s yeast. A little more complex than the Triumph, more resin. Interested to see what it’s like when fully carbed and conditioned.

Just got my latest vault order. Stoked to try out some new yeasts. WLP030 for some hoppy beers and maybe a porter. WLP003
for another Kolsch. WLP072/073 for some malty euro style, maybe Bier De Garde like beers.

Toying with the idea of doing a sour fruited stout by blending in some fruited sour beer into a finished stout.

 

Currently brewing a 3.5gal batch (aiming for 3 into the keg) of rye IPA with Citra, Amarillo, and Opshaug kveik.

 

Also just transferred my dark funky saison into my new bourbon barrel. Didn't have enough to fill it, so I topped off with a gallon of my Vienna saison that's been sitting on Rainier cherries. Should be a nice cuvee, I think.

 

I swear the Opshaug starter smelled like pure fruit punch. Really interesting.

I chilled the IPA to 100F, let it no-chill the rest of the way overnight to 87F, and pitched a couple tbsp of slurry at 6am. Already bubbling at 8am.

 

Got my Oktoberfest kegged this morning (more Festbier than Marzen)... Finished at 5.2% according to the FFT a few days ago (FG of 1.010). Moved the beer into the keg with a few points left for spunding.

Can't wait for these trio of lagers to be ready!

 

1.067 to 1.017 in 24 hours. Sample tastes great!

 

Today is finally a brew day for me, the first in about three months. I'll be brewing 5 gal of California Common.

5 lbs 2-row
3 lbs Pilsner
2 lbs Vienna
1 lb 6 oz Crystal 60
10 oz Victory
1 oz Northern Brewer FWH
1 oz Northern Brewer @ 5 min

This will be somewhat of a Brulosophy Short & Shoddy type of brew with a 30 minute boil. I have not had issues with DMS in grain bills with Pilsner when I've done shorter boils. The mash will likely be longer than typical Short & Shoddy since I have a couple short errands to run. It will probably end up being around 90 minutes.This is how brewing has been for me lately, squeeze it in when you can!

I'm using Mangrove Jack's M54 Californian Lager in this batch. This is my first go with MJ yeast, so this will be interesting.

 

Brewing up a little American Wheat Ale.

55% Rahr 2 row
40% Mecca White Wheat
5% Carahell

Hopshot @ 60
Amarillo @ 20
German Amarillo T-45 In WP
Amarillo Leaf in Hopback

Dry hop with a small dose of more of the German Amarillo T-45.

Using WLP030 Thames Valley for the first time. Seems like an awesome yeast from the description but there’s hardly any info on it. Fast, clean for English yeast, highly flocculent, 72-78 attenuation, and supposedly a bigger mouthfeel according to White Labs??

 

MJ is slow unless you proof it. I had one batch that took 35 hrs to get going but it finished nice.

 

Your experience with MJ sounds pretty typical from what I've gathered in various forums researching it. I always rehydrate dry yeast, so fingers crossed it turns out well.

 

Tmavé Pivo this evening

60% Barke Pils
30% Munich I
5% Caramunich
5% Carafa II Special

Nothin but Saaz

PU H Strain

Shooting for around 4.7%. First dark lager.

 

Dry-hopped my Opshaug kveik IPA today, will keg it on Wednesday.

Also made a 750mL starter with 0.5g of the Opshaug I dried from the first starter I made with it, just to check viability.

 

Brewing the Belgian blueberry tonight

 

Strata Pale Ale today

70% Pilsner
20% Golden Promise
4% Carahell
6% carafoam

Horizon at 90
Strata @ 30
Strata WP

Good ol’ S04. Haven’t used dry yeast in a while. Forget how much easier it can be..

 

Brewed yet another whole hop pale last night, I'm down to 3 lbs left from last year. Chinook cascade and Columbus. Another 2 lbs of the blend. It's a lot of fun and it seems the hop cones help clear up the beer. Folks like it as well which is good cause the tribe is coming.

 

Just kegged my Vienna saison w/ Rainier cherries because it appeared to be developing a Brett pellicle. I'm guessing some survived the fruit being washed and frozen, unfortunately. Ultimately it's not a beer that would be bad with Brett, but it's also not what I wanted from it. Luckily, it doesn't taste or smell Bretty right now.

 

Just kegged, primed and very lightly dry hopped my English Bitter, tasting great so far, will know more in about 2 weeks. Need to grab a chest freezer in the meantime which will eventually be turned into a keezer but will go with picnic taps for the time being.

Brewed a small Saison today. Pretty simple grain bill of Pils, Wheat, Vienna and a touch of Carafa III for color. 1.040 SG. Styrian goldings to about 20 ibu. ECY08 pitched about an hour ago being held around 80 degrees.