American Lager 2021

Today I'm brewing 10 gallons of my easy drinking American Lager base. Just a couple minor tweaks this go around; single infusion mash, 2-row instead of 6-row, and no late hop addition. No late hop addition because some buddies and I are going to do some experiments with hop extracts in this batch. Also, I'm splitting the batch and fermenting with two different lager yeasts.

10 gallon recipe

15.12# Root Shoot Pilsner
0.5# Briess Crystal 10L
1.0# Rice Syrup Solids (5 min)
1.0# Corn Sugar (5 min)
2.0g BrewTan B (dissolved in warm water, mash)
3.0ml Hopshot (60 min)

Wyeast Nutrient
9.32g BCAA (Dissolved in warm water, 5 min)
1 Whirlfloc
Saflager 34/70
Imperial L09 Que Bueno

Single infusion mash at 151F. 90 minute boil.

Fermentation:

• 34/70 half - Start at 52F, ramp up to 54F over 2 days.
• L09 half - Start at 46F, ramp up to 50F over 4 days.

Water Profile to RO or Distilled Water add:
0.38g/gal Gypsum
0.32g/gal Epsom Salts

0.49g/gal Calcium Chloride

Brewing Notes

No issues during this session. OG came out to 1.054, so a little higher than I was shooting for. I had a little higher boil-off rate than normal so this is likely the reason for the higher gravity. 

Update 6/16/2021

I started cold crashing tonight.

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Weldwerks Achromatic Stout

Friday evening brew session! Today I'm brewing an Imperial Stout based on Weldwerks' Achromatic recipe. I was planning on brewing this beer back on Big Brew Day, but we ended up working on finishing up some yard projects...but I digress.

A few buddies and I recently traveled to Colorado to drop off entries for the AHA's National Homebrew Competition. Long story short, I talked them into a 500+ mile road trip to hand deliver competition entries, after which we'd visit a few tasting rooms; it really didn't take a lot of convincing. I was a little worried because we were set to arrive in Louisville, CO on the last day for drop-offs; if we ran into unexpected traffic, got a flat tire, whatever, we risked missing the 4:30pm deadline. 

We ended up leaving my house a little before 6AM, made incredible time, and arrived at the drop-off location at 1pm. Turns out that a car full of dudes needs fewer bathroom stops compared to family road trips. 

I'd also arranged to pick up a sack of Root Shoot Pilsner Malt, but that wasn't supposed to happen until closer to 4pm, so we had no other choice than to grab a bite to eat while visiting some tap rooms. On Friday we went to Odd13, Left Hand, Purpose, and Maxline. On Saturday, we hit Odell, Wiley Roots, and Weldwerks. It was a great trip especially after a year of COVID isolation.

As you can probably guess, I got to try some of Weldwerks Achromatic Stouts (which were amazing...especially the Coconut Achromatic) and after realizing I hadn't brewed an Imperial Stout for some time, I decided to brew this one one today. This recipe is based on the one published in Beer & Brewing which comes directly from Weldwerks head brewer, Neil Fisher. I've adjusted the grain amounts to account for my system efficiency and what was available locally. 

Here's the recipe as I'm brewing it today. I was planning on brewing this as a 5 gallon batch, then decided to scale it up to 10. The original recipe called for WLP001/A07, but I decided to do a split batch with half going on A07 and the other half on A01. Deviating from the published recipe, I'm cold steeping the dark malts; this can help ensure a smooth roast character in the finished beer rather than a harsher acrid roast character.

10 gallon batch

OG: 1.105

FG: 1.030

IBUs: 45

ABV 10%

27.25# Mecca Grade Lamonta

1.75# Simpsons Chocolate Malt (*cold steeped)

1.75# Weyermanns Chocolate Rye Malt (*cold steeped)

1.75# Crisp Pale Chocolate Malt (*cold steeped)

1.75# Simpsons DRC

1.375# Simpsons Light Crystal

1.375# Flaked Oats

0.375# Simpsons Roasted Barley (*cold steeped)

Imperial A07 Flagship (5 gallons)

Imperial A01 House (5 gallons)

84g Magnum (FWH)

Yeast Nutrient

Mash at 153F, collect ~12.33 gallons pre-boil volume (assuming boil-off rate of ~1.16 gallons/hour), 120 minute boil. Start fermentation at 60F, ramping up to 65F over 5 days.

Note: This recipe is based on the Chocolate Achromatic Stout, but I'm considering doing a Coconut variant. For the Chocolate version (5 gallons), add 8oz of roasted cacao nibs and one vanilla bean after fermentation is complete. Leave cacao in for 1-3 days (taste daily) and remove when desired character is achieved. Leave the vanilla bean in for 2-3 weeks then transfer for packaging.

Brewing Notes

No issues. The gravity came in right between 1.101 and 1.102, so only a couple points short of target. Mash pH started out about 5.4 and I used about 4.5ml of phosphoric acid to drop it closer to 5.2. I ended up with about 4.75 gallons in each fermenter. I aerated for 2 minutes at 0.5l/m before pitching yeast. If I'm not seeing active signs of fermentation in the morning, I'll probably hit it with another dose of oxygen. The wort tasted amazing. 

Update 5/15/2021 7:50AM

Both fermenters are showing active signs of fermentation with a glug about once every 5-14 seconds, so I'm going to skip additional oxygen this morning.

Update 5/16/2021 1:45PM

Fermentation seems to be rolling right along. The A01 half was actually blowing yeast off this morning.

Update 5/17/2021 10:00AM

As of this morning, I've had to dump my blowoff reservoir three times on the A01 half due to a very active fermentation. I actually held off on ramping up the temperature because it was so active, but I'm ramping up to 63F today on both fermenters.

Update 6/7/2021

I kegged both versions a little over a week ago. There are definitely noticeable differences between the two. The A01 House is a little smoother with a rounder roast character. The A07 Flagship definitely accentuates the roast character more. I didn't expect the yeast to have any impact on the roast, so this was interesting. Both versions have some residual sweetness, but neither is cloying. I decided to dose the A01 half with chocolate and Tahitian vanilla beans (2) and I ended up doing it as a tincture since I've had really good results in my Golden Milk Stout with tinctures.

Update 11/21/2021

I entered both the Cacao/Vanilla and TX Bourbon versions in a local comp (Utah Brew Fest Homebrew Competition). The TX Bourbon version took a silver medal for American Imperial Stout and the Cacao/Vanilla version took Bronze for Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beer.

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"Red" Sour Pale Ale

I brewed this beer back on March 7th for a "Red Beer" Competion. Since my blog is public and I didn't want to risk prejudicing any judges, I decided to hold off on posting details for this recipe. The competition is being put on by Bewilder Brewing in association with Jamie Burnham. Jamie is a cancer survivor and a huge part of both the homebrew and commercial beer scenes here in Utah. 100% of the entry fees for this comp go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Beers are judged on creativity and the use of red ingredients.

This is a varient of my Sour Pale Ale that I brewed a few months back. The primary red color contribution is from hibiscus tea and rooibos tea. Both of these teas are said to have a delicate berry flavor and aroma. I changed the hop additions up a little bit this time to reduce bitterness and hopefully get a little more fruity berry character that should compliment the character of both teas. Here's the recipe as I brewed it:

6.0# Root Shoot Pilsner

2.0# Mecca grade La Monta

0.5# Castle Chateau Munich Malt

6oz Weyermann Carared

1g BrewTan B (mash)

0.75# Corn Sugar (Boil)

7g Ekuanot Cryo (5 min)

14g Ariana (5 min)

1.0g Loral Cryo (5 min)

6.0g Mosaic Cryo (5 min)

4.66g BCAA (5 min)

7g Ariana (0 min)

7g Amarillo Cryo (0 min)

1g Loral Cryo (0 min)

8g Ariana (Whirlpool 170F)

3.5g Mosaic Cryo (Whirlpool 170F)

3.5g Amarillo Cryo (Whirlpool 170F)

3.5g Ekuanot Cryo (Whirlpool 170F)

1g Loral Cryo (Whirlpool 170F)

28g Ariana (dry hop 8 days)

28g Citra Cryo (dry hop 8 days)

14g Mosaic Cryo (dry hop 8 days)

13.49g Philly Sour (based on 1.057 OG)

Whirfloc

Wyeast Nutrient

Tea added at kegging (3 cups hot RO water combined with 1.5 oz hibiscus and 1.5oz Rooibos, steeped overnight in a French Press)

EDIT: I ended up adding an additional 1oz of each tea, for a total of 2.5oz of each (5oz grand total)

Mash at 152F. Ferment at 70F

Brewing Notes

No issues other than I was a little hungover from too many tiki drinks the night before. I did chill the wort more than I'd planned, down to the low 60s (F). I pitched the yeast after it had warmed up to mid-60s and I continued to warm the wort. O.G. came in at 1.057.

Update 3/10/2021

I'm not going to lie, I was starting to get a little worried with this batch after I saw zero gravity change 48 hours after pitching. I suspect this is directly related to the cooler pitch temperature. I'm glad to say this morning the gravity has dropped three points to 1.054. I have the fermentation temp set to 72F rather than the planned 70F, and I'll probably hold it there due to the sluggish start.

Update 3/11/2021

Gravity is down to 1.047 this morning. I probably won't take a pH reading until I'm ready to keg this beer.

Update 3/12/2021

Gravity is reading 1.031 this morning. I'm not convinced this is 100% accurate because the more active the fermentation, the more the Tilt tends to wobble. Regardless, things are looking pretty good.

Update 3/13/2021

Gravity is reading 1.024 this morning.

Update 3/14/2021

Gravity is reading 1.011 today. Fermentation is still fairly active today with a fairly regular "glug" about every 20-ish seconds. I went ahead and added the dry hops today.

Update 3/19/2021

I pulled a sample this morning and I really like the reduced bitterness from changing up the hop schedule. I didn't take a pH reading, but the perceived sourness doesn't seem to be as intense as the first time using this yeast. That could be related to the cooler pitching temps as the bulk of the lactic acid production happens at the beginning of fermentation. It's definitely still sour though, and it will also pick up some acidity from the rooibos tea. Corrected gravity reading is 1.006 and it tastes and smells great, so I'm going to start cold crashing today.

Update 3/23/2021

I'm preparing the tea today with plans to keg tomorrow. I'm going with 3 cups of hot RO water over 1.5oz of each (rooibos and hibiscus) in a French press. This will be added to the keg with finings, then the beer transferred in top of it. If I need more color, I'll dose as needed with additional tea.

Update 3/24/2021

I decided the color was a little on the light side, so I mixed up another batch of tea using 1oz each of hibiscus and rooibos with 2 cups of hot RO water.

Update 3/28/2021

Competition entries were bottled today. I thought it turned out well, but I'd probably tweak a few things if I were to do it again. First, I'd pitch at 70F or even a little warmer to try to maximize lactic acid production. Second, I think I'd try pairing this with some fruit (blueberries perhaps?) to bring out more berry character

. That said, I think it turned out well enough to enter it in NHC. I doubt it'll medal, but I think it's interesting and worth submitting. It carbed up and cleared nicely. It's not quite the blood red color I was hoping for, but it's definitely red. Hop flavor and aroma are really nice. Sourness is much more restrained compared to most of my sours, so I'm interested to see how it does in competition. The hops aren't quite as berry-like as I'd hoped, but I think the acidity, hops, plus mild berry character of the teas work well together. Overall it's a very approachable sour and an easy to drinking beer that fits in with the warmer Spring weather.

Update 4/12/2021

I'm publishing this post today. This beer didn't end up medaling in the Red Beer Competition. I'm not sure whether or not we'll get the regular AHA/BJCP scoresheets since it wasn't a typical homebrew comp...I hope so because I'd love to get some feedback and see if my thoughts align with the judges'.

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