Brew Day - Munich Helles

Brew days like today are why I love brewing so much.  First was the weather, perfect for brewing; it was 55, sunny, and there was only a light breeze (which the best I can hope for in IL).  Second, I threw almost all of my tricks into this beer.  That made for a busy schedule throughout the brew, but it was also a lot of fun.

My lagers have not been attenuating as well as I would like, which was acceptable through the winter when I want some body to my beer.  But winter is over, and lighter bodied, easy drinking, beers are now in order.  Today I brewed a Munich Helles; which is a light colored, malt forward, lager.

In order to push the yeast attenuation up I used a three step mash.  I started the mash with a protein rest at 125 for 30 minutes.  I kept the mash thick during this stage to make following steps easier.

Thick mash in

I then raised the temp up to a Beta Saccrification rest with boiling water.  This ended up being a 45 minute rest that started at 145 and ended at 140.

Beta rest

At the 30 minute point of the Beta rest I pulled out 5 quarts of solids for a decoction.  I have done decoction mashes in the past, most recently a double decocted Dopplebock, but never in a beer that was supposed to be so light in color.  So I used my normal procedure of slowly raising the temp of the decoction to boiling, but this time I returned it to the mash as soon as I achieved a boil; hoping to reduce the maillard reaction.

Decoction

After bringing the temp up to 154, for a low end Alpha Saccrification rest of 15 minutes, I added more boiling water for my mash out and it was a normal brew day for a while…

Sparge

Hot break

I was recently listening to an episode of Brew Strong, on the Brewing Network, where they talked about off flavors produced by trub in the primary of lighter colored beers (Pilsner and Helles were mentioned specifically). So I decided to try something totally new for me, and leave as much of the trub in the boil kettle as I could. To do this I let the wort sit for 15 minutes after cooling it to allow everything to settle.  I then siphoned from the top of the wort into my primary fermenter, through a screen mesh to aerate and catch any hop debris that might get through.  (Sorry no pics of that process, I was rolling solo today.)  In the end it looked to me like I left about a quart of trub in the bottom of the kettle, so I’m expecting to find another quart in the bottom of my fermenter when I transfer (I normally get about a half gallon).  Also of note, I again come in above my expected gravity, about an 85% efficiency.  I think I need to start expecting higher mash efficiency when working with lower grain volumes.

Gravity reading

After letting it cool in the lagering freezer for 10 hours, down to 47, I aerated it and pitched the yeast.  Once fermentation has started I will slowly bring the temperature up to 50.

Almost forgot the recipe...

9 lbs Pilsener (90%)
0.5 lbs Vienna (5%)
0.5 lbs Munich Type II (5%)

Hallertauer 4.3% AAU (45 min)
Hersbrucker 3.95 AAU (20 min)

Wyeast 2206 (Washed)

Stay tuned in for future updates.

4/10/2013 - Fermentation had slowed significantly (over 20 seconds between bubbles) so I turned the temperature in my lager freezer up to 60 (and opened the freezer) for the diacetyl rest.  It took about 6 hours for the temperature in the freezer to get up to 60 (at least another 6 for the beer to get to that temp).  After 48 hours at 60 degrees I will begin turning the freezer down 2 degrees per day until reaching my lagering temperature (40).

5/1/2013 - My lagering technique needs some fine tuning.  After a five day diacetyl rest the fermentation was still going strong, so I put it back in the lager tank to finish fermenting at a high primary lager temp, 54*.  After fermentation appeared to come to a complete stop, on 4/27/2013, I transferred into a secondary and began lowering to lagering temperature, which I achieved today; 40*.  I'm concerned about all the extra time spent at warmer temperatures for what is supposed to be a bright, crisp, and refreshing beer...

Raspberry Cranberry Mead - Tasting

Tonight I "brewed" my first mead in over 2 years. This is the last mead that I made. I can't recall the exact recipe, but I believe I used 2.5 lbs of clover honey, 1 lb of frozen raspberries, a handful of Craisins, and US - 05 ale yeast. I allowed it to ferment for 4 months in the primary, then another few months in secondary to clear.

I bottled it in late summer; two corked wine bottles, a bomber, and a few 12 oz bottles. Imagine my surprise when a month or so after bottling one of the corks blew off of a wine bottle, spraying mead all over my kitchen. I was planning on letting them aged, but I couldn't help but to try the blown bottle. Really hot from alcohol as I recall. That was around October of 2011. Here's what I'm getting today.

PS - this is the port bottle, a lot of dregs in the bottom.

Appearance

Light ruby. Pours effervescent with a quickly diminishing pink head. Perhaps I should put sound here too? It sounds like a champagne, hundreds of tiny bubbles constantly popping.

Aroma

Still smells like alcohol to me, but under that I am getting some sugary sweet raspberry.

Flavor

Hot with alcohol as soon as it hits the tongue. After the initial shock I'm getting a tart fruity burn on the back of the palate. The breath out of the nose gives the impression of a raspberry liquor.

Mouthfeel

Dry, fizzy, and tingley throughout the mouth.

Wish I had only made one mistake with this one. My first mead, which I was provide a tasting for in the future, ended up amazing. With this one I believe I should have added much more fruit, used an appropriate yeast, and not allowed it to dry out so much. Though I love dry wine, I do not believe I like dry mead.

I made my third mead tonight. Post to come in the near future. This is some strong mead.

Update - had another bottle, that was not the bottom of the barrel, with a friend tonight; thanks to Adam for hanging out with mead, beer, and a cigar.  Sadly the cigar made the tasting less accurate than the last, but I can tell you that this had significantly less alcohol heat.  Much more pleasant.

Bread and BBQ

Every year around this time (when corned beef is on sale) I smoke me some pastrami. My post St Patricks Day tradition, if you will. This year I smoked two small corned beef briskets. On one I used the traditional spiced rub, the one in the packets that come with the meat, and on the second I used a combination of spicy brown mustard, fresh garlic, red pepper flakes, paprika, salt, and pepper.

While this was smoking I made the dough for two sourdough loaves. This is one of my favorite early spring meals, pastrami on sourdough with horseradish mayonnaise. I've had my sourdough starter going for a couple of months now; I started it up so I could make some sourdough English muffins for our superbowl guests. This time I used a fairly basic recipe.

0.5 cup starter
1 cup whole wheat flour
5 cups unbleached flour
2.5 cups warm water
2 tsp sea salt

Not included in the ingredients is the 12+ hours it takes for these bad boys to rise. Unfortunately, I was called out to work when I wanted to start them baking, so one loaf fell some. Let this be a lesson, do not do time sensitive recipes while on call for work.

Opening Day

It is 45* and sunny in the Kank this afternoon, perfect day to fire up the grill for the first time. Nothing fancy, just some pork ribs dry rubbed and slowly grilled with charcoal and poplar wood. I used a combo of red pepper flakes, garlic salt, and BBQ rub for the dry rub.

To feel the sun and smell cooking meat and charcoal/wood smoke while enjoying a home brew or three; specifically my dunkel, Moca Latte Yaya Dada (or what ever we're calling it now), and a 7 Kingdoms. A nice way to pass the hour that it took to cook my ribs.

They were delicious. Juicy, smokey, and mildly spicy. Went perfectly with The Hobbit. I recommend all of you light up the grills as soon as you can.

Drunk Monk - Tasting

I think I may have an abnormally high number of tastings to post here in the early stages of my blog.  I have some good beers that I have been aging for a bit of time, especially this one, and I'd like to share them with you... in the form of a blog post.  ;-)

I brewed this a year and a half ago and most of it was drunk (see what I did there :-D) within the first six months of being brewed; with a good amount of help from some friends (Kari).  Luckily for you, and me, I cellared 12 bottles to be enjoyed over the following year, and possibly beyond depending on how well it was aging.

A thought on aging beer; I like it.  The only things that made this special enough to age was that I used Belgian Abby yeast, that I knew would continue to develop as it matured, I brewed it relatively strong, 8%, and I felt like it was a really good beer.  I love the idea of cellaring beer and I've done some experimenting with different types of beer and had some surprising results (I had a Raspberry Cream Ale that I saved for well over a year that seemed to improve despite its low abv); but that is probably a topic on its own.

It's been about 6 months since I've had one of these, so on to the beer.

Appearance

Deep opaque ruby in color with a quickly dissipating tan head.

Aroma

I'm getting a lot of banana with some hints of dark dried fruit (maybe a mix of prune and raisin).

Flavor

When this was a younger beer I remember it having a lot of bubble gum.  The last time I had it the taste was like a young green banana.  Today I'm getting moist banana nut bread with some raisin sauce throughout.  Then it moves into over ripened banana and toasted breadiness aftertaste.

Mouth Feel

It feels silky as it enters the mouth, then the high carbonation kicks in and the tongue gets all tingly.

If I had it to do over the one thing that I know I would change is the level of carbonation.  I think I carbed with 6 oz of brown sugar, when 5 or less would have done the job.  I'm also curious if the better chiller, that I have now, would help the chill haze, so that it would be clear rather than opaque.  I think that Drunk Monk is reaching it peak, so the last couple of bottles will be busted out to be enjoyed at the next BOOBS meeting.  I'm sure you'll excuse me while I savor the rest of this glass.

Big House Ale - Tasting

It was a bitter sweet evening at the main tap of my kegerator tonight. I floated my keg of Big House Ale IV. Normally this would just be sad, not for this brew. This recipe is an institution at my house. I almost always have a keg on hand, as it's my house brew. Number four will go down in my log book as a dud, and I have my theories about why. First let's do the tasting.

Appearance

Slightly darker than the U of M maize that was shooting for but brilliantly clear. Beautiful lingering white head that leaves more than adequate lacing down the glass.

Aroma

Like a warning shot over the nose, even after months in the keg, right up front is fruity yeastyness. If you search you can get some citrus and some fresh bread crust.

Taste

Up front is a brief hope of peppery bread, but, as warned warned your nose, yeast that is chewing tutti frutti takes the ride over. After is the blessed redemption of bitterness followed up by more fruity yeast on the breath out.

Mouth feel

It is medium bodied with enough carbonation to lighten it to medium light. Would be a good transition season brew.

If you can get past the offense of yeast in a perfectly clear beer. Here's what I think the issue is. I used washed yeast with out a starter. My only guess is that I stressed the US - 05 that had been in the fridge for almost 2 months. I have used much older yeast, but only after waking them up in a starter. I mush have stressed the poor things out and they punished me by leaving an unmistakable mark on this brew. A mistake I do not plan to make again.

Brew Therapy - Should I start brewing?

I would like this to become a regular post.  As many of you know, I am a therapist as my day job, and often my night job too.  Well, officially I won't be a "therapist" until May, when I graduate with my masters in professional counseling; I've been a counselor for the last 10 years.  I thought that it would be fun to have a regular post where I answer brewing questions, much like I answer life questions throughout my day job.  This week's question:

"Rob, should I start home brewing?"

The realty is that no one has ever asked me this, though I have recommended to a couple of friends that they start home brewing.  If you are asking yourself if you should start, here are the questions I believe you should ask yourself.  Do you like amazingly delicious beer?  This is clearly the first question, because if you do not like good beer, than no, you should not brew it.

Do you have some expendable income?  A basic home brew kit can run from $80 through $200.  Then each recipe will run between $25 and $40.  Telling ourselves that we are actually saving money by brewing our own beer is just a convenient way for us to forget equipment costs.  I never expect to save enough money by brewing cheaper great beer than is available commercially to cover the costs of all of the equipment that I have bought.  So, there is significant investment involved; I'd estimate that I have spent around $400 in equipment over the last 3 years (don't tell my wife).

Some basic questions.  Can you make Kraft Mac and Cheese?  Than you can make home brewed beer with an extract recipe.  The only other thing that remains is some patience.  It takes 2 to 4 weeks for a brew to finish fermenting and then another 2 weeks for the beer to carbonate in the bottle.  After that you will have some of the best beer you've ever tried.

The true challenge of home brewing, as was pointed out by friend and fellow brewer (Richard), is sanitation. So, I ask you, do you have the attention to detail and the patience to thoroughly clean and sanitize all of your equipment every time you brew or bottle / keg your beer?  This can sometimes take just as much time as the brewing itself and when bottling, it is the longest part of the process.

If you can do these thing than yes, you should brew.  Only your own creativity and willingness to learn new techniques will limit you.

Do you have questions you would like to talk about in future sessions?  Leave a comment and I will do my best to cover them in the weeks to come.

Stupid (sexy) Flanders II

A friend of mine introduced me to sour beers a couple of years ago, thank you Richard. And, as you'll learn about me, if I like something I want to make it myself. Through some research, and the re-re-release of Wyeast's Roselare Blend, I decided to make a Flanders Red Ale. I wanted something that leaned closer to the tart than the funky side of sours. I also love the Simpsons, and thus Stupid Flanders was born. That brew was just bottled a few days ago, after a year in the secondary. I'll let you know how that one turned out in February 2014, when she's done aging. In order to use the dregs from that brew before any household bugs snuck in I brewed what was to be Stupid Flanders II the following day. Here was my recipe:

8# Vienna
1# Cara Amber
1# White Whear
0.5# Crystal 60
0.25# Special "B"

1 oz Hallertauer @ 60 min

Wyeast 3763

I mashed the grains at 158 to try to make as many unfermentable sugars as I could. I won't go into all of the technical yeast and bug info in this, but the general gist is this: in a normal beer the yeast converts all of the fermentable sugars and the unfermentable sugars add sweetness and body. In sour beers extra bugs are added that do convert those sugars, which is where the sourness comes from. So, the generally high mash temp should make for a more sour beer... I'll let ya know in 2015 for this one. I used a 90 minute boil, for added color and character. I chilled the wort to pitching temp (65 for my house), dumped about a gallon onto the dregs from Stupid Flanders 1, stirred it up to make sure I got them all, then transferred everything into the primary. The reason for the added "sexy" moniker for this brew is that I was shooting for a starting gravity of about 1055 but ended up with 1062. So I'm guessing this could be considered an Imperial Flanders Red Ale, which we can all agree is pretty sexy.

3/9/2013 - This is right after I pitched the Roselare Blend.

3/12/2013 - Full kroisen and fermenting along happily at 72*.

3/18/2013 - Last check in for a while. Because my volume was more than my sour aging 5 gallon carboy could handle, I decided to pull 0.75 gallons to be creative with at some point in the future. As you can see I added a white oak dowel to the main secondary. Oak is a traditional flavor in the Flanders Red Ale. This particular dowel was also in my previous Flanders Red, Stupid Flanders I, so I'm hoping that there are some bugs still hanging out on it. The only treatment that it got prior to being adding was a thorough rinse in hot water.

Welcome

I suppose the question is, what is Blank Canvas? The full depth of it would be a bit revealing for this blog, so the short of it is that this is what I named my brewing venture. I love reading about other's experiences in home brewing and thought that it would also be fun to post about my experiences.

I have been home brewing for 3 years and I just bottled my 32 beer. I have brewed ales, lagers, and one sour (so far). I have also made a couple of meads. I hope to post weekly, though I generally only brew once a month I do partake of beer on a weekly basis, so I hope to come up with something.

I also enjoy smoking meats, baking bread (sourdough being my favorite), and creating art in various forms (mainly graphite and oil painting). So I will, no doubt, also share some of those experiences with you.