My 2012 Beehive Brew-off Results

This weekend was the 4th Annual Beehive Brew-off.  I volunteered to steward both days and it was a great experience and it was really cool to see what happens behind the scenes of an event like this.  Thanks go out to all the judges and other stewards.  Special thanks go out to Jamie Burnham and Mark and Kileen Alston for their support of such a great event.  There were almost 600 entries this year, nearly twice the number of the inaugural event!

I had eight entries this year.  Before the competition I ranked them from strongest to weakest based on my own observations as follows:

1. Tie between Saison 05/2012 entered as a Saison (16C) and Funky Saison 06/2012 entered as a Belgian Specialty (16E)
2. Smoked Porter entered as a Robust Porter (12B)
3. English Special Bitter (8B)
4. Bucksnort Brown entered as an American Brown (10C)
5. Sloppy Seconds IPA entered as an English IPA (14A) 
6. Jack's Punkin' entered as a Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer (21B)   
7. Sweet Stout (13B) 

I didn't place on any of my entries which I'm a little bummed about, but still did pretty well for the most part.  Here the judges' scores in red, an overview of the judges' comments in grey, followed by my comments in blue.

Scoring Guide
Outstanding - (45 - 50) - World-class example of style.
Excellent - (38 - 44) - Exemplifies style well, requires minor fine-tuning.
Very Good - (30 - 37) - Generally within style parameters, some minor flaws.
Good - (21 - 29) - Misses the mark on style and/or minor flaws.
Fair - (14 - 20) - Off flavors, aromas or major style deficiencies. Unpleasant.
Problematic - (0 - 13) - Major off flavors and aromas dominate. Hard to drink.

• Saison 05/2012 - 39, 38; Nice subtle spiciness, highly carbonated, slight tart, finishes balanced, finishes dry and refreshing, very very carbonated.  I'm pretty happy with this score and the comments. The only thing I'm a little confused by was the carbonation comments since this is supposed to be a highly carbonated style.  I plan to let this one age and enter it again next year.  
• Funky Saison 06/2012 - 43, 39; Great brett character, aged appropriately, spices blend well.  I really liked this one and I'm happy with how well it did especially considering how young it is for a brett beer and for a Saison.   I plan to let this one age and enter it again next year.
• Smoked Porter - 43,43; Really good robust porter,a little dark but other than that it is spot on, I finished it.  I really liked this beer as well.  I was a little surprised that it scored so high but still didn't place.  I thought it was good but I still think both the Saisons are better.  It's a Smoked Porter, but most of the smoke character was subtle to begin with and had dissipated since it was brewed, so it was too subtle to enter as a Smoked Beer. 
• English Special Bitter -30, 33; I really like this beer, but it doesn't have the bitterness or the hop flavor to match the style.  You may have entered it in the wrong category as Extra Special Bitter.  I agree with the first comment on this one, but I'm surprised it didn't score a little bit higher.  My efficiency was higher than expected on this brew and it could have used more hops to balance out for the higher efficiency.  Also it was a little older so it has lost bitterness since being brewed.  The base malt is Maris Otter which results in a very malt-forward beer so that could be contributing as well.  It would probably be a better idea to enter a younger beer before the hop profile is diminished.  The second comment kind of pisses me off because I didn't enter it as an Extra Special Bitter, I entered it as a Special Bitter.  Regardless, I think the comments are fair.  
• Bucksnort Brown - 35, 33; This is a good flavored beer with a couple of flaws.  Look at exposure to oxygen during mashing and transfer.  Full fill, a little too high.  This is the brew we did for our Big Brew Day.  I didn't care for this one too much right after it was kegged when it was a bit green, but I really like it now.  Both judges made comments indicating it was oxidized.  I didn't detect this at all when I had it on tap, so I wonder if it could have happened when bottling from the keg. I usually use oxygen absorbing caps, but I ran out and I think this beer got a regular cap.  The comment about the fill is a little odd...I use a bottling wand or my counter-pressure filler on all of my beers, so the fill is pretty much identical.  All of the other judges on my other entries said the fills where appropriate, so I'm not quite sure what the judge was thinking on this one.
• Sloppy Seconds IPA - 25, 28; Just not a English IPA, no hop aroma, too sweet, too malty, would make a great Scotch Ale.  Wow...I'm 99.9% positive my bottle got mixed up with another bottle.  Both judges commented that there was no hop aroma and that it tasted like a Scotch Ale.  I just poured one for myself and it has unmistakable hop aroma and it's on the dry side.  I was actually afraid that this one didn't have enough malt character especially for an English IPA.  From what I can tell, Citra dominates the hop aroma so I was expecting to get dinged for using an American hop in an English IPA, but there's definitely a lot of hop aroma there.  I knew it wasn't the best example of either an American or an English IPA, but the comments are so far off on this one that I can't help but think that somehow my bottle got switched.  There's probably someone out there that's reviewing their Scotch Ale scoresheet and wondering why the comments say their beer tasted like a hoppy IPA.
• Jack's Punkin' - 37, 37; Aroma is fabulous!  Beautiful color.  I would cut back on the cinnamon to let the other spices come through.  I was surprised this scored as well as it did.  I thought it was a little bit too rich/malty, and I thought that was going to count against me.  Both judges commented on this brew having too much cinnamon.  This kind of made me laugh because I purposely added more cinnamon to this batch compared to a batch I'd made a couple years ago.  That said, I think the comments are spot-on.  There is a slight harshness in the aftertaste on this brew and I think it is related to the amount of cinnamon I used.  I think it could use a little more hop bitterness too...but this could be due to it being an older brew.
• Sweet Stout - 28, 25; Sweetness is a little high for the style.  The quality is good and drinkable still.  I didn't expect this one to do all that great.  This one actually won my brew club's stout meeting earlier this year.  It went to the national club-only competition and scored very similarly to these scores.  I agree it's way sweet.  In fact it's so sweet and filling that I don't like drinking more than six ounces at a time.  One of the reasons I entered it was because I was tired of having it sitting around taking up space in my beer fridge.  I personally like some of the other stout categories a lot better, so I doubt I'll be making another sweet stout anytime soon.

All in all it was a good time and I got some good feedback on my beers that should help me dial things in and make some better beer.

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Salsa Recipe

My fermentation chamber is full so there's no room for brewing another batch this weekend. Instead, I'm making up some fresh salsa with heirloom tomatoes and jalapenos from our vegetable garden. I found this recipe last year by googling for "World's Best Salsa Recipe" and I gotta say it's pretty darn good plus it's pretty easy to make.

Ingredients

6 large heirloom tomatoes of different colors (or a blend totaling about 4 lbs-5 lbs), washed,cored and quartered

4 jalapenos, chopped finely

1 sweet onion, quartered

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp. table sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tsp kosher salt

Juice of 3 fresh limes

2 large bunches of cilantro, stemmed and chopped

Combine everything but the jalapenos in your food processor. Pulse until not quite pureed. Pour into a large bowl, add jalapenos, and mix well. Cover and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, then refrigerate. I usually wait at least a few hours before serving so that it has enough time for the flavors to blend. This is a great summertime snack to enjoy with a pint of your favorite refreshing lawnmower beer.

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American Rye

Today I'm brewing an American Rye for next month's Light Hybrid Meeting. Compared to my last couple brews, there isn't anything too crazy going on here. I've used rye in other recipes, but this is the first time I've brewed an American Rye "to style". This style should be a refreshing beer with a bit more hop character than the German counterpart. The rye contributes a unique but pleasant spiciness and crispness. Like wheat, rye does not have a husk so it is a good idea to incorporate rice hulls into the mash to help avoid stuck sparges. This is especially important when brewing on a RIMS or HERMS system as the constant circulation can quickly result in a compacted grain bed if the flow is too high. So word to the wise, use rice hulls and circulate/sparge slowly. 

Here's the recipe as I made it today. 

4.5 # Briess Pale Malt

3.0 # Briess Rye Malt

1.5 # Briess White Wheat Malt

Rice Hulls (about 3/4 pound is what I used)

1.00 oz Amarillo (35 min)

0.66 oz Liberty (0 min)

0.66 oz Amarillo (0 min)

0.33 oz Amarillo (hopback)

1 Whirlfloc

Wyeast 2565 Kölsch yeast in a 1L starter

Mash at 150F for 75 min. 90 min boil. Start out fermentation at 60F then ramp up to 65F near the end of fermentation.

Brewing Notes
The brew day was fairly uneventful. I had one minor problem during the chill. The Amarillo hops where whole hops and they clogged the pickup tube a couple of times, so the chill took a little longer than expected.

Update 9/19/2012
I think I lost some of the hop character (flavor and aroma) because of the extended chilling time, but it still turned out well. The Light Hybrid style is not one I'd typically brew; I don't hate them, but most of the subcategories just aren't styles that I love. Anyway, this one placed first in my club meeting.  It seemed to have a slight astringency and finished dry.  The slight astringency may be confused with the spiciness from the rye malt.  

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Peach/Apricot and Pineapple Wheat Beers

With the 100+F degree temperatures in Utah this summer, I've been really enjoying Wasatch Brewery's Apricot Hefe.  It's a light summertime brew and you can enjoy a few without getting trashed.  Another favorite of mine is Mana Wheat from Maui Brewing.  It's a little harder to get a hold of in Utah, but it's pretty awesome as well.  It has a decent amount of pineapple aroma and a nice pineapple flavor on the back of the palate that really compliments the wheat beer flavor.  Recently we made a trip up to High West Distillery in Park City and enjoyed some of their peach vodka; first straight, then in a Peach Mule (their take on a Moscow Mule).  These drinks gave me the idea to do some experimenting with fruit.

I've made my Watermelon Wheat beer a few times now and it's turned out to be a crowd favorite.  The recipe is based on 21st Amendment’s Hell or High Watermelon Wheat.  Admittedly, you have to be a fan both of watermelon and fruit beers to really enjoy it because there is no hiding the watermelon.  I've had a few people accuse me of using watermelon flavoring/extract in this beer, but I swear all the flavor comes from the watermelon I use in secondary.

Today I'm going to try experimenting with some different fruits.  The plan is to brew up a five gallon batch of the base beer from my Watermelon Wheat.  After primary fermentation, I'll split it between two 3 gallon fermenters; one will get peaches and apricots and the other will get pineapple.  In Radical Brewing, Randy Mosher indicates you can often get better peach flavor using apricots instead of peaches.  I still want to try using peaches, but that's the reason I'm blending the two fruits.  If the flavor turns out too delicate, I'll supplement it with a measured dose of peach flavoring.  Pineapple can also present challenges.  Because of the high acidity, it could cause some problems for the yeast.  I've read some forum posts where people have claimed to not have any issues with pineapple in the secondary, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.  Here's the recipe as I'm making it.

6.0 # Briess Pale Malt
4.0 # Rahr White Wheat Malt
1.0 oz Hallertauer (60 min)
1.0 oz Hallertauer (5 min)
White Labs California Ale Yeast (#WLP001)
1 Whirfloc
Yeast Nutrient
1.0 # Peaches (in secondary for Batch A)
2.0 # Apricots (in secondary for Batch A)
2.5 # Pineapple (in secondary for Batch B)

Mash at 152F for 1 hour
Boil for 90 Minutes
Primary Fermentation - Start off at 66F.  Ramp up to 72F over a few days.
Secondary Fermentation - Rack onto fruit puree in secondary and hold at 72F until finished.

Preparing the fruit
With the watermelon I've found that it's best to use a slightly overripe melon.  It may not be the best for eating (tends to be mushy) but it seems to have better flavor and aroma than a less ripe melon.  For the purposes of brewing, we don't care much about texture so go with  overripe fruit.  Obviously, make sure it isn't rotting...that'd be a little too ripe.

To prepare the fruit for secondary, all fruits were washed.  I then removed the pits from the peaches and apricots, mashed them up a bit, then froze them to break down the cell walls.  For the pineapple, the skin and core were removed, then I mashed it and froze it same as the peaches and apricots.  Some brewers choose to cook the fruit to cut down on the chances of an infection.  That can change the flavor and aroma so I choose not to cook mine.  So far I haven’t had any issues with infections (knock on wood).

Brewing Notes
The brew day was fairly uneventful, usually a good thing.  I noticed after a few minutes of recirculating the mash that the flow had slowed, so I checked the grain bed and found that it was compacted and possibly heading towards a stuck mash.  This is a fairly common issue when using a lot of wheat in your mash.  Since wheat doesn't have a husk it's more prone to stuck mashes especially if the flow rate is too high.  I stopped recirculating, added a few handfuls of rice hulls to the mash and stirred them into the grain bed.  I then started recirculating the mash again at a slightly lower flow rate and didn't experience any further issues.  I forget to take a pre-boil reading on my refractometer, so I don't know that my efficiency was.  The post-boil reading as 15.2°P which translates to a SG of about 1.059.

Update 7/28/2012
The wheat beer base has fermented down to 1.006 so it's about time to add the fruit.  Just an update on the amounts used, they're slightly different than in the recipe above.  I used two pineapples which yielded 2.625 lbs of fruit and juice. For the peaches and apricots, it's pretty close to 1/3 peaches and 2/3 apricots with a total weight of 3.44 lbs. The frozen blocks of fruit and juice are currently thawing on my counter.  I'm hoping to get them in secondary today, but we have company coming over for dinner tonight, so it might not happen until tomorrow morning.

Update 8/2/2012
The fruit went in on 7/28/2012 as mentioned above.  One thing that surprised me a little was that a lot of the fruit was floating the next day.  This hasn't been an issue when I used watermelon.  I sanitized the end of my mash paddle and used it to carefully knock the fruit down and gently swirl about once a day.  The peaches/apricots have now mostly settled to the bottom, but a good potion of the pineapple continues to float.  Mental note for next time, it might be a good idea to put the fruit in a fine mesh bag to better contain it and so that it can be weighted down.

Update 11/20/2012
I meant to post this update a while ago. Neither of the beers turned out as well as the watermelon version.  The pineapple one is the better of the two and it's a good beer, but it needs more pineapple character. I think I'd recommend increasing the amount of pineapple by at least 50%. Knowing it's made with pineapple, I can detect it.  However, I did some blind tastings and it seems to have a generic fruitiness that you might get from certain strains of yeast, but not an identifiable pineapple character.

The peach/apricot version is so-so and seems to vary from bottle to bottle.  If I were to do it again I would definitely remove the skins...and keep them in chunks rather than partially blend them. The skins seemed to give it an odd bitterness and the partially blended fruit was a total pain...lots of sludge at the bottom, some of which made it into the bottling bucket and into the bottles. Like the pineapple, it needs more fruit character as well. I'd probably try doubling the amount of fruit next time. For both beers, I think I'd add some pectic enzyme.

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Funky Saison 06/2012

Today I'm brewing up another version of the Saison I brewed back on 5/27/2012.  The only thing I'm doing differently with this batch is the yeast...I'm doing a 100% brett fermentation.  The yeast I chose to use is WLP644 Brettanomyces bruxellensis Trois from White Labs.  This one is a Platinum Series yeast and is only available in May and June for 2012.  The description from White Labs is:


This Belgian strain, used traditionally for 100% Brettanomyces fermentations, produces a slightly tart beer with delicate characteristics of mango and pineapple. Can also be used to produce effervescence when bottle-conditioning.
Optimal Temp: 70-85F
Flocculation: Low
Attenuation: 85%+
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High


 I'll be using the same grain bill, mash profile, hop schedule, etc. as the first Saison.  The recommended fermentation range for WLP644 is a little bit higher than 3711.  I'll start out near the cooler end of the range then ramp it to the higher end of the range.  WLP644 attenuates well so it should be able to dry out the Saison at least as well as 3711.  The cell count on brett strains is a bit lower since they're usually intended for secondary fermentation.  I made a 1L yeast starter on my stir plate in order to up the cell count.  It's still slightly underpitched which is good for Belgian styles where you're trying to get a lot of character out of the yeast.  It'll be cool to do a side by side comparison with these two beers to see how they differ despite almost everything being the same.

9.0 # Weyermann Pilsner Malt
3.0 # Briess White Wheat Malt
0.5 # Weyermann Vienna Malt
0.25 # Weyermann Acidulated Malt
1.0 # Belgian Candi Sugar (5 minutes)
1.75 oz Styrian Goldings (60 minutes)
2 oz Saaz (5 minutes)
0.25 t Black Pepper, coarsely crushed (5 minutes)
0.25 t Coriander, coarsely crushed (5 minutes)
0.25 t Bitter Orange Peel (5 minutes)
Zest from a navel orange (5 minutes)
White Labs WLP644 Brettanomyces bruxellensis Trois

Mash at 147F for 90 minutes, 90 minute boil, start fermentation at 72F then raise to 85F over a couple days.

Brewing Notes
My pre-boil gravity was just a hair off from the first Saison.   I accidentally ran off a little too much in the first one, so this might explain why it was a bit more diluted.  There was a bit more difference in the post-boil gravity and I attribute that to the fact that I had a boil over on the first one right after I added my candi sugar...which likely means I lost some of the sugars.

Fermentation Notes
Wow, this thing took off!  I made a one liter starter Friday afternoon and pitched it Sunday afternoon and it had a huge krausen by Monday evening.  I've been bumping up the temp a couple degrees per day.  The krausen dropped most of the way by yesterday (6/27) and I bumped it up to 85F (it took most of the day to ramp up).  I'd been fermenting with the lid off in my ferm chamber and just added the lid and airlock today.  It smells awesome, definitely some pineapple and other tropical fruit aromas in there.

Update 7/10/2012
The original refractometer reading on this brew was 19.2°P and as of today it's 8.5°P.  Using the Morebeer spreadsheet this translates to an O.G. 1.079 and a current F.G. of 1.007...nice and dry.  

Update 3/23/2013
I cracked one of these open last night and boy has it changed. It's really developed a nice brett character. The tropical fruit notes are much more subtle now. Dry but not thin, this is a really nice complex beer. I wish I'd saved more than I did.

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