Old Romantic Ale and 2011 Harvest Ale

grain (Old Ale and Harvest Ale)
- 36 pounds and 10 ounces Muntons Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
- 1 pound Briess Caramel 60

grain (Harvest Ale - added to second mash)
- 4 ounces Briess Roasted Malt

hop (Old Ale)
- 3 ounces Willamette whole hops 60 minutes
- 3 ounces Willamette whole hops 30 minutes

hop (Harvest Ale)
- 3 ounces homegrown Chinook wet hops 60 minutes
- 1 3/4 ounces homegrown Chinook wet hops 30 minutes
- 5 1/8 ounces homegrown Cascade wet hops 30 minutes

yeast: Wyeast Irish Ale from Red Ale

comments:
Malt-forward pale Old Ale featuring mild, foral Willamette hops.  Harvest Ale is a session pale ale spiced with 2011 homegrown hops.  The third installment of parti-gyle style brewing.

batch size: 5 gallons (Old Ale); 10 gallons (Harvest Ale)

ambient outdoor temperature: 60 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 70 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes
- (8:45 AM) mash start at 156 degrees Fahrenheit
- (9:10 AM) at 154 degrees Fahrenheit
- (10:15 AM) end at 154 degrees Fahrensheit

- pre boil Brix reading (Old Ale): 17.5 degrees
- pre boil Brix reading (Harvest Ale): 9 degrees

boil notes
- 60 minute boil (both)

- post boil Brix reading (Old Ale): 20.25 degrees
- post boil Brix reading (Harvest Ale): 10.25 degrees

brew date: 9/17/2011
keg date:

notes:
- harvested homegrown hops.  Chinook on top and Cascades on the bottom.

- Adding wet hops to the Harvest Ale: 

- fresh, green wet hops in the boil

- harvest ale is a decent, pale ale.  could be hoppier.  use a clean american yeast next time

2011 American Red Ale

grain

- 19 pounds Muntons Maris Otter Pale Ale malt

- 2 pounds 2 ounces Briess Caramel 80
- 1 pound 2 ounces Fawcett Amber malt

- 4 ounces Briess Roast malt

hop

- 1/2 ounce Columbus whole hops 60 minutes

- 2 ounces Columbus whole hops 30 minutes

- 2 ounces Cascade whole hops 20 minutes

yeast: Wyeast Irish Ale (two packs)

comments:
Thick, hop-bursted malty American-style autumn ale

batch size: 10 gallons

ambient outdoor temperature: 80 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 72 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes
- (8:00 AM) mash start at 156 degrees Fahrenheit

- (8:50 AM) at 154 degrees

- (9:30 AM) ended

- pre boil Brix reading: 12 degrees

boil notes

- 60 minute boil

- post boil Brix reading: 13.25 degrees

brew date: 9/3/2011

keg date:

notes:
- low volume yield; approximately two 4 gallon batches; should have added enough sparge water to reach the top of the mash tun
- White Labs yeast is excellent and I have used it most of my beers. I tried the Wyeast Activator yeast this time for convenience (no need for a yeast starter). I activated the yeast the night before brew day. The next morning the Activator packs were fully expanded and the yeast was ready to get to work. Excited to taste test the resulting beer.
- lots of hops in the boil:

- draining from kettle into fermentor:

- this red turned out brown.  likely the amber  malt.  clearly inappropriate for this style.  hoppy with lingering grainy, caramel flavor.  "it's alright".  exclude the amber malt and reduce the dark caramel malt next time.  hard to judge the yeast ... it's an after thought in this brew dominated by hops and malt.