Since I have gone to all-grain brewing I have been having a difficult time figuring out where my efficiency is going. I have long speculated that it was from the crush I was getting from the local brew shops, honestly is just didn't look good enough but there was nothing I could do. Tuesday I went to crush my 2-row for yesterdays double brew day and I had noticed the the crush from the local shop looked much finer. I asked around and nobody knew anything but as the day finished I ran the numbers and found my efficiency had jumped by almost nine points.
This tells me something, and I am willing to bet that if I had crushed all my grains from the local shop I would have seen a much bigger increase. Side Note: I buy bulk 2-row locally and thus crush at the store but get my specialty grains elsewhere and I am subject to their crusher. So once I can get a job again I will re-order my crusher and hopefully see the increase I am expecting.
10.07.2010
Double Brew Day! (Iron Brewer (national) and Naked Nilla)
Yesterday was the brew day for the Iron Brewer Quad Berry Wheat IPA and since I had all the equipment out I decided to make up a batch of our "Naked Nilla" vanilla porter at HD's request so that it will be aged and ready to drink when she is able to enjoy beer again.
All the pictures below come from the IPA brew session. Brew assistant today was Dax. As you can see he was ready to get to work and get the kettles out.
Next up was cereal mashing the wild rice with some of the 2-row. When this cereal mash is done it tastes fantastic! (I'm also a believer in trying your brew at every step, ever chew on a 14% hop pellet? I have)
On to the main mash. Not to much to report here except I have a new mash paddle and I think I'm in love. It's a 5 gallon paint mixer and can mix up your mash in 30 seconds with no dough balls.
Under Dax's careful watch the mash progressed perfectly and temps were maintained.
Mash complete it was time to get onto the boil process. 4 oz of hops in this boil today.
And we had to make sure to keep the homebrew gods happy. So no brewing without drinking.
OG comes out to be 1.061 It was about three points under the estimated but determining the sugar content of wild rice has proved to be inconsistent.
Here's the two batches bubbling away and the after picture of Dax and his long day.
All the pictures below come from the IPA brew session. Brew assistant today was Dax. As you can see he was ready to get to work and get the kettles out.
Next up was cereal mashing the wild rice with some of the 2-row. When this cereal mash is done it tastes fantastic! (I'm also a believer in trying your brew at every step, ever chew on a 14% hop pellet? I have)
On to the main mash. Not to much to report here except I have a new mash paddle and I think I'm in love. It's a 5 gallon paint mixer and can mix up your mash in 30 seconds with no dough balls.
Under Dax's careful watch the mash progressed perfectly and temps were maintained.
Mash complete it was time to get onto the boil process. 4 oz of hops in this boil today.
And we had to make sure to keep the homebrew gods happy. So no brewing without drinking.
OG comes out to be 1.061 It was about three points under the estimated but determining the sugar content of wild rice has proved to be inconsistent.
Here's the two batches bubbling away and the after picture of Dax and his long day.
Iron Brewer (national) Recipe
As promised here is my recipe for the national Iron Brewer competition. It is a remake of my Wild Rice Peach Wheat IPA. To meet the competition guidelines I needed to include oak with a medium toast, fruit of any kind and Chez Saaz Hops. The Fruit portion has been changed to a Quad Berry mixture of raspberry, blueberry, blackberry and strawberry. I also chose to keep the wild rice in the recipe with the thought that I know I liked the previous batch with it and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG
Estimated Color: 15.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 58.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
1 lbs 8.0 oz Wild Rice (3.0 SRM)
6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
6 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
1 lbs Caraamber (30.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min)
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (45 min)
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (30 min)
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (15 min)
1.00 oz Liberty [4.30 %] (0 min)
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
2.00 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 7.0 days) Misc
5.00 lb Quad Berries - Frozen (Secondary 14.0 days)
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 14.75 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 4.61 gal of water at 168.9 F 155.0 F
Notes:
------
Cereal mash wild rice with .5 lb of 2-row and add to mash. 165 for 20 min boil for 20 min.
Brew day recap and pics can be found in the next post.
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG
Estimated Color: 15.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 58.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
1 lbs 8.0 oz Wild Rice (3.0 SRM)
6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
6 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
1 lbs Caraamber (30.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min)
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (45 min)
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (30 min)
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (15 min)
1.00 oz Liberty [4.30 %] (0 min)
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
2.00 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 7.0 days) Misc
5.00 lb Quad Berries - Frozen (Secondary 14.0 days)
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 14.75 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 4.61 gal of water at 168.9 F 155.0 F
Notes:
------
Cereal mash wild rice with .5 lb of 2-row and add to mash. 165 for 20 min boil for 20 min.
Brew day recap and pics can be found in the next post.
Iron Brewer (National) Intro
The set-up --- an email comes through and the first six people to respond get invited to compete in a Iron Brewer competition. This is the third time I have tried to get in, the first two attempts I just missed the six person cut-off. Third time was a charm as I am now a member of Iron Brewer round 5.
The premise behind Iron Brewer is similar to that of Food Network's Iron Chef. The brewers are given three special ingredients and seven weeks to create the best beer. Amount used, when used and style of beer are all up to the brewer.
For round five of Iron Brewer we have been asked to brew using:
Just saying "use some fruit" is such a wide open invitation to a blank canvas.
The Saaz hops - Spicy, a bit bitey, peppery and a strong hint of cinnamon.
Wow, this is going to be fun. It just so happens that as I was thinking about what to brew I was transferring a beer for the local homebrew clubs Iron Brewer to cold crash it. I was drinking my hydrometer sample and realized that this recipe would be perfect for the challenge ahead.
Original Recipe:
The local Iron Brewer seceret ingredient was wild rice. After spending a few days thinking about the flavors in wild rice and reading what other people thought of it I decided on a wild rice peach wheat IPA. The rice has a nice earthy yet sweet character that I really wanted to pair with fruit. Peaches are naturally earth and sweet as well and the addition of the hops would guarantee things wouldn't be overly sweet in the finished product. I had found the base of this recipe awhile back on www.homebrewtalk.com and this seemed like a great time to break it out.
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG
Actual OG: 1.059
Final SG: 1.012
Estimated Color: 15.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 51.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
1 lbs 8.0 oz Wild Rice (3.0 SRM)
6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
6 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
1 lbs Caraamber (30.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (45 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min)
1.00 oz Liberty [4.30 %] (0 min)
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
4.00 lb Peaches - Frozen (Secondary 14.0 days)
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 14.75 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 4.61 gal of water at 168.9 F 155.0 F
Bottled this the other day and HD has name it "PeachInYourFace" and yes, she says you have to say it all at once. Aroma is that very distinct Cascade hop grapefuity smell and the flavor start out strong with the peach and slides into a nice smooth hop bite but not overly bitter. I feel like the addition of the wild rice helped to fill in the blanks between the flavors and make a well rounded beer. Estimated drinking date, October 23.
Look to the next post for my Iron Brewer (national) recipe.
The premise behind Iron Brewer is similar to that of Food Network's Iron Chef. The brewers are given three special ingredients and seven weeks to create the best beer. Amount used, when used and style of beer are all up to the brewer.
For round five of Iron Brewer we have been asked to brew using:
- Oak - Medium Toast
- Fruit (real, puree, or extract)
- Czech Saaz Hops
Just saying "use some fruit" is such a wide open invitation to a blank canvas.
The Saaz hops - Spicy, a bit bitey, peppery and a strong hint of cinnamon.
Wow, this is going to be fun. It just so happens that as I was thinking about what to brew I was transferring a beer for the local homebrew clubs Iron Brewer to cold crash it. I was drinking my hydrometer sample and realized that this recipe would be perfect for the challenge ahead.
Original Recipe:
The local Iron Brewer seceret ingredient was wild rice. After spending a few days thinking about the flavors in wild rice and reading what other people thought of it I decided on a wild rice peach wheat IPA. The rice has a nice earthy yet sweet character that I really wanted to pair with fruit. Peaches are naturally earth and sweet as well and the addition of the hops would guarantee things wouldn't be overly sweet in the finished product. I had found the base of this recipe awhile back on www.homebrewtalk.com and this seemed like a great time to break it out.
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.064 SG
Actual OG: 1.059
Final SG: 1.012
Estimated Color: 15.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 51.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
1 lbs 8.0 oz Wild Rice (3.0 SRM)
6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
6 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
1 lbs Caraamber (30.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (45 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min)
1.00 oz Liberty [4.30 %] (0 min)
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
4.00 lb Peaches - Frozen (Secondary 14.0 days)
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 14.75 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 4.61 gal of water at 168.9 F 155.0 F
Bottled this the other day and HD has name it "PeachInYourFace" and yes, she says you have to say it all at once. Aroma is that very distinct Cascade hop grapefuity smell and the flavor start out strong with the peach and slides into a nice smooth hop bite but not overly bitter. I feel like the addition of the wild rice helped to fill in the blanks between the flavors and make a well rounded beer. Estimated drinking date, October 23.
Look to the next post for my Iron Brewer (national) recipe.
A Re-Birth
Ok, so it's been over a year since I have posted anything on this blog. I don't have any real good excuses as to why not. Life got interesting with the mis-carriage and then we had a second one and that sucked too. We survived the winter and spring brought pregnancy number three and a trip to St. Louis for a Jimmy Buffett show and my getting laid off July 1st.
There, now you are pretty much caught up. Due date for baby is Dec. 14th.
So why the new re-birth in the blogging? Well, the past year as brought a lot of action to our house in the homebrewing area. Most recently we made it into the Iron Brewer competition and part of the information requested was if I had a blog or website. This sparked me to re-visit this whole blogging thing and at least for now a lot of it will be beer related.
I am constantly reading about, hearing about, talking about and thinking about all things beer. It comes at an odd time as HD cannot drink at the moment but that won't stop me. I hope to use this space to share what's going on in my head and in our little brewery corner of the world. Feel free to comment, discuss etc as that will inspire me to post more.
So as the phoenix rises from the fire so does this blog...again.
There, now you are pretty much caught up. Due date for baby is Dec. 14th.
So why the new re-birth in the blogging? Well, the past year as brought a lot of action to our house in the homebrewing area. Most recently we made it into the Iron Brewer competition and part of the information requested was if I had a blog or website. This sparked me to re-visit this whole blogging thing and at least for now a lot of it will be beer related.
I am constantly reading about, hearing about, talking about and thinking about all things beer. It comes at an odd time as HD cannot drink at the moment but that won't stop me. I hope to use this space to share what's going on in my head and in our little brewery corner of the world. Feel free to comment, discuss etc as that will inspire me to post more.
So as the phoenix rises from the fire so does this blog...again.
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