American Style India Black Ale

grain:
- 23 pounds Briess Pale Ale malt
- 2 pounds Briess Carapils
- 2 pounds Weyermann Dehusked Carafa II
- 11 1/2 ounces Caramel 80

hop:
- 1 ounce Columbus whole hops (60 minutes)
- 2 ounces Columbus whole hops (30 minutes)
- 2 ounces Cascade whole hops (30 minutes)
- 1 ounce Columbus whole hops (dry hop)
- 1 ounce Cascade whole hops (dry hop)

yeast: White Labs California Ale from Harvest Ale

comments:
Dark and hoppy ... Black IPA.

batch size: 10 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 54 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 72 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- (8:40 AM) mash start @ 148 degrees Fahrenheit
- Preboil Brix reading: 12.5

boil notes:
- 60 or 70 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 16

brew date: 9/25/2010
keg date: 10/23/2010 with 1 ounce Cascade and 1 ounce Columbus (4 weeks in primary)
secondary date: 10/23/2010 with 1 ounce Cascade and 1 ounce Columbus (4 weeks in primary)

notes:
- pitch black hop slammajamma. reduce Carafa II to 1 1/2 ounces next time. a tad too roasty.
- Brown foam atop the boiling dark brew

- Bucket full of milled grain

- Season changing at the brewery ... notice the fallen tree on the left ... fell during one of the first days of Fall

Harvest Ale

grain:
- 16 pounds Briess Pale Ale malt
- 3 pounds Briess Munich malt
- 2 pounds Briess Carapils
- 1 pound Belgian aromatic malt
- 1 pound Briess Caramel 40
- 8 ounces Briess Caramel 80

hop:
- 1 ounce Centennial whole hops (60 minutes)
- 2 ounces Centennial whole hops (30 minutes)
- 1 1/2 ounces homegrown Chinook wet hops (20 minutes)
- 1 1/2 ounces homegrown Chinook and Cascade wet hops in keg

yeast: White Labs California Ale

comments:
Hop forward malty Pale ale featuring homegrown hops.

batch size: 10 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 70 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 72 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- (11:50 AM) mash start @ 150 degrees Fahrenheit
- (12:10 PM) @ 150 degrees Fahrenheit
- (12:50 PM) @ 150 degrees Fahrenheit
- first sparge at 17 1/2 degrees Brix
- second sparge at 11 degrees Brix

boil notes:
- (2:40 PM) boil start
- (3:55 PM) boil end
- post boil Brix reading: 12 1/2 degrees

brew date: 9/4/2010
keg date: 9/25/2010
secondary date: 9/25/2010 with 1/3 ounces Cascade, 1/3 ounces Columbus and 1/3 ounces Willamette dry hops
keg date: 1/16/2010 ... aroma still too subtle ... and body is light ... add more Carapils or Caramel malt next time ... good brew however

notes:
- this was an average Pale Ale ... good but lacking hop aroma and flavor depth.
- freshly picked Chinook hops

- Chinook hops added to boil ... notice how much greener they are

- collected as much wort as possible ... leaving only an inch or so for foam ... here is a shot just prior to the start of the boil

- Here are the one and a half ounces of homegrown Chinook and Cascade wet hops added as dry hops to the keg.

- the Harvest from the keg is less hoppy that I expected. A little yeasty at first. A few days later the hop flavor develops but not into the hop bomb I expected. Good beer though. Could go maltier next time ... surprisingly enough.