Flanders Red 2021

Today I'm brewing up 10 gallons of base beer that will go into my 30 gallon Red Solera (Aging Barrel #04). I previously filled it with recipes based on the Rare Barrel's Red base, but this round it's closer to my original Flanders Red base. This means I'm also getting ready to do the first pull off the Solera, so this is replace the amount pulled off (plus a little extra for an occasional top off. Here's the recipe as I'm brewing it today:

6.5# Root Shoot Pilsner Malt
4.0# Best Malz Chit Malt
10.5# Avangard Vienna
2.00# Weyermann Munich II
1.0# Best Malz Spelt
1.0# Monastique Aromatic
1.0# Weyermann Caramunich III
1.0# Castle Special B
Yeast Nutrient
56g Aged hops (60 mins)
Inland Island Brett Barrel III

Mash at 158F, 90 minute boil, ferment at room temp.  

Water Profile
I don't go too crazy on my sour beer water profiles. For today, I used about a 50/50 blend of RO water and carbon-filtered tap water.  

Brewing Notes
No issues. Since this was a larger batch, I used my 20 gallon Blichmann Mash Tun. Starting mash temp was a little low at 152F, but I was able to raise it to the desired 158F fairly quickly. I ended up with a little under 10 gallons total.

Readings
Beginning mash pH	5.29
Ending mash pH	5.26
1st running gravity	25 (1.102)
Pre-boil gravity	16.2 (1.064)
Post-boil gravity	19 (1.076)

Update 9/25/2021

I'd grown up a super healthy pitch of the Brett Barrel III yeast and had a blow-off the morning after pitching. Fast forward to today and I'm swapping out the blow-off for an airlock. I haven't taken a gravity reading yet, but there's still an occasional glug out the airlock.

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NZ Pils 2021 with NZH-107

Today I'm brewing a variant of my New Zealand Pilsner. The primary difference this round is I'm trying out some new hops, NZH-107. As stated on the BSG website:

NZH-107 is a proprietary experimental hop blend developed jointly between New Zealand Hops, Ltd. and Brewers Supply Group and showcases intense tropical fruit and citrus character.
Sensory:
Intense tropical fruit (guava/passion fruit) and citrus (grapefruit/lime) aroma characteristics.
Brewing Application:
NZH-107 is an excellent hop solution for many applications from first kettle to dry hop additions. Given the big character of NZH-107, early trials are focused on intensely hop-forward styles like IPAs, pale ales, and dry-hopped pale lagers.

I figured my hop-forward NZ Pils would be a good candidate to showcase this hop blend. I'm also dialing the amount of hops back a bit; just an experiment.

Here's the recipe as I'm brewing it today:

6.75# Root Shoot Pilsner Malt

0.75# Avangard Pale Malt

0.3125# Weyermann Cara Red

0.25# Weyermann Pale Wheat Malt

1.0g BrewTan B

3ml Hopshot (60 min)

4.66g BCAA

35g NZH-107 (1 min)

2g Loral Cryohops (1 min)

63g NZH-107 (Whirlpool @170F)

4g Loral Cryohops (Whirlpool @170F)

(2) Saflager S-189

Whirlfloc

Yeast Nutrient

56g NZH-107 (Dry-hop

7g Loral Cryohops (Dry-hop)

Mash at 150F, 90 minute boil, start fermentation at 47F then ramp up to 52F over a few days.

Water Profile - To 10 gallons of distilled water, add:

4.0g Gypsum

2.8g Epsom Salt

4.8g Calcium Chloride

Brewing Notes

Usually I set up my brew system the night before. I didn't do that this time, so I'm a little later starting my brew day than normal. 

No real issues during this brew session. I didn’t have quite as much boil-off so the gravity is a little lower than normal. I chilled down to 72F and decided to use the ferm chamber to finish the chilling. I’ll pitch once it’s chilled to 47F.

Readings
Beginning mash pH	5.20
Ending mash pH	5.33
1st running gravity	13.2 (1.052)
Pre-boil gravity	8.6 (1.033)
Post-boil gravity	11.1 (1.043)

Update 9/12/2021

I left this batch to cool overnight. Wort was aerated and yeast pitched this morning.

Update 9/13/2021

Slight gravity change and an occasional glug this morning.

Update 9/14/2021

Gravity is down to 1.036 this morning, so fermentation is moving right along.

Update 9/16/2021

Gravity is down to about 1.020 this morning. I'll probably start ramping up the temp tonight for a diacetyl rest.

Update 9/18/2021

Gravity is reading 1.006 this morning. Dry hops added.

Update 9/25/2021

I swapped out the blow-off for my CO2 reservoir and started cold crashing this morning.

Update 10/5/2021

I kegged this beer tonight.

Update 10/13/2021

I haven't put this beer on tap yet, but I forced carbed it in one of the fermentation chambers. I pulled a sample using a picnic tap and there's some really nice hop flavor and aroma. I'm kind of thinking I'll be fine dialing the hop rates back so that I'm not wasting hops on this style.

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First Attempt at Hop Water

Experimentation time! One of my taps on my keezer is reserved for carbonated water. It's really nice for cocktails or just when you want a refreshing fizzy drink without any calories. I think it was a little over a year ago that I discovered Lagunitas Hop Water which is essentially carbonated water with hops. I usually buy it by the case and I've turned a bunch of my friends onto it too. Like carbonated water, it's also great for cocktails (I recommend making Ranch Water with Desert Door Texas Sotol) or just when you want something hoppy but can't have or don't want a beer.

This is my first attempt at making hop water, so this recipe will likely change as a refine it. Anyway, here's attempt #1:

5 gallons Walmart brand Spring Water

Phosphoric acid to adjust water to 4.5pH

1t Nutritional Yeast

6g Waimea (whirlpool)

6g BRU-1 (whirlpool)

6g Rakua (whirlpool)

6g Waimea (added to keg)

6g BRU-1 (added to keg)

10g Motueka (added to keg)

Water was heated to 170F while whirlpooling to sanitize everything.

Add nutritional yeast and whirlpool hops.

Chill then transfer to keg with dry hops. In this case, I used a stainless mesh tube for dry hopping in the keg.

Force carb for a few days and (hopefully) enjoy.

Brewing Notes

You couldn't ask for an easier brew session. Your basically just heating the water then chilling it back down and transferring to keg. Stay tuned for tasting notes.

Update 8/2/2021

It's still not carb'd yet, but I pulled a sample today. Appearance-wise, it has a slight greenish tint similar to Lagunitas. Aroma is definitely more intense than Lagunitas. Flavor...well it's kind of like chewing on a hop pellet; I may have overdone it on the dry hops. I've seen other folks comment that the first few pints were too intense on hop character, including bitterness, and that it got better the further into the keg they went. So, I'm not giving up on this batch quite yet, but I definitely may need to dial things back a bit.

Update 8/3/2021

Ok, the flavor is much improved today. A lot of the raw pellet character is fading. I left my sample glass on my desk for about 45 minutes and noticed a bunch of hop debris had settled out, so I think that most of the harsh bitterness and tannic character is coming from hop debris in suspension. This seems to be consistent with the experiences reported by others (e.g. Brulosophy). Yesterday I was thinking this might be a dumper, but today I'm very optimistic. Carbonation is still a little low, but I filled this keg to the brim so I was expecting it might take a little longer to carb due to reduced headspace and the fact that it took a while to chill down to serving temp.

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