Wheat Ale - American Wheat 2011

grain:
- 14 pounds Briess Red Wheat Malt
- 6 pounds Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt
- 5 pounds Briess Pilsen Malt

hop:
- 1 1/2 ounces Willamette whole hops (60 minutes)
- 1 ounce Willamette whope hops (flame out)

yeast: White Labs German Ale/Kolsch

comments:
- wheat dominates; hops to balance and bouquet; its summer summer summer time

batch size: 10 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 82 degrees Fahrenheit?
ambient basement temperature: 63 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- ( 7:45 AM) mash start @ 148 degrees Fahrenheit
- ( 8:30 AM) @ 148 degrees Fahrenheit (added hot water)
- ( 9:15 AM) no-sparge mash out
- no-sparge reading @ 12 degrees Brix

boil notes:
- 60 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 13.75 degrees

brew date: 6/4/2011
keg date: 6/18/2011 (one 5 gallons carbonated naturally with priming sugar and the other 5 gallons force carbonated). Enjoyed the forced on 6/21/2011.

notes:
- 5:45 AM wake up this morning; I dig it. Brewing operations finished around 2 PM. Maybe the earliest in history. Here is a shot early as the sun begins to rise.

- Draining the second 4 or so gallons of the 8 or so gallon batch. Lots of stuff happening in this photo.

- 2011 hops! New trellis system is better ... a win. Plants grew beyond capacity though. So improvement next year is a lock.
The Chinook again is stronger. Cascade is on the right ... More Cascades this year but still obviously weaker than the Chinook. I do not know why. Looking forward to the Harvest Ale in September or early October.

- Refreshingly citrusy; flowery wheat aroma; thick bodied ... use less malt next year but keep the % wheat the same.

Strong California Common

grain:
- 28 pounds 4 ounces Briess 2-Row Brewers malt
- 3 pounds Briess Caramel 40
- 1 pound 9 ounces Briess Carapils

hop:
- 3 ounces Columbus whole hops (60 minutes)
- 2 ounces Cascade whole hops (30 minutes)

yeast: White Labs San Fransisco Lager Yeast from Columbus Common #2

comments:
Strong steam. Largest grain bill to date.

batch size: 10 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 29 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 58 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- (10:35 AM) mash start @ 158 degrees Fahrenheit
- (11:30 AM) @ 154 degrees Fahrenheit
- (12:05 PM) @ 152 degrees Fahrenheit
- no-sparge reading @ 15 degrees Brix

boil notes:
- 60 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 16 degrees

brew date: 1/29/2011
keg date: 3/17/2011 ... march madness brewing activities ... one force carbonated and one naturally carbonating primed w/ dried malt extract

notes:
- tasting notes: good beer ... malty with herbal and fruit hop flavors ... go with all herbal hops next time
- cheers to spring! here is a shot of the first draw from the tap

- enjoyed a beautiful barleywine on a January afternoon while brewing this batch

- thick bitter sweet brew ... hefty ... the malt and high mash temperatures did the trick ... a very good heavy beer

California Columbus Common Round 2

grain:
- 22 pounds Briess 2-Row Brewers malt
- 2 pounds Briess Caramel 40
- 1 pound Briess Carapils

hop:
- 1 ounce Columbus whole hops (60 minutes)
- 2 ounce Columbus whole hops (30 minutes)
- 2 ounce Columbus whole hops (20 minutes)

yeast: White Labs San Fransisco Lager Yeast

comments:
Hop forward steam.

batch size: 10 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 26 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 58 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- (11:50 AM) mash start @ 148 degrees Fahrenheit
- (12:19 PM) @ 140 degrees Fahrenheit
- (01:20 PM) @ 145 degrees Fahrenheit
- no-sparge reading @ 11 degrees Brix

boil notes:
- 60 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 13 degrees

brew date: 1/15/2010
keg date: tbd

notes:
- seasonal shot

- another seasonal shot

- new 100 quart mash tun ... doubles production and saves an hour or so on brew day

- enjoying another strong ale (barleywine) ... need to stash the rest away so i stop drinking them

- tasting notes: excellently hoppy. columbus hops showcased. could use more body. Try more Carapils and mash temperature around 156 next time. good beer.

Tradegy of the Common

grain:
- 18 pounds Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
- 8 ounces Briess Caramel 120 malt

hop:
- 1 ounce Columbus whole hops (60 minutes)
- 1 ounce Columbus whole hops (30 minutes)

yeast: White Labs San Fransisco Lager Yeast (I think)

comments:
Malty pale lager / ale hybrid with subtle hop overtones. A quick-to-the-tap session beer.

Aimed for a 156 degree mash for increased body and decreased alcohol. Did not achieve that. Difficult to manage with equipment and temperatures.

batch size: 10 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 30 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 58 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- (11:00 AM) mash start @ 154 degrees Fahrenheit
- (11:40 AM) @ 150 degrees Fahrenheit
- (12:40 PM) first sparge reading @ 18 degrees Brix
- preboil reading: 11 1/4 degrees Brix

boil notes:
- 60 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 14 degrees

brew date: 12/27/2010
keg date: tbd

notes:
- This batch turned out awful. All 10 gallons were dumped. Either the yeast was bad or it was a hefeweizen yeast ... non floculent and phenolic. Beer tasted like a watery, bitter hefeweizen. Terrible.
- winter brewery

- boil

Imperial Stout 2010

grain:
- 20 pounds Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
- 2 1/2 pounds Briess Roasted Barley
- 1 pound Dingemans Special B
- 1 pound Briess Chocolate malt
- 1 pound Briess Black Malt

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

yeast: White Labs California Ale from Black IPA via Harvest Ale

comments:
More roasted barley and darker crystal should produce a more flavorful Imperial Stout compared to last years (which was decent). The roast should be obvious this year.

batch size: 5 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 60 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 66 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- (10:45 AM) mash start @ 152 degrees Fahrenheit
- (12:15 PM) mash end @ 146 degrees Fahrenheit
- first sparge reading @ 21 1/2 degrees Brix
- preboil reading: 17 degrees Brix

boil notes:
- 60 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 21 degrees

brew date: 10/23/2010
secondary date: 11/16/2010 (24 days in primary)
bottle date: 7/2/2011 (128 days in primary); powerful brew at bottling sample. Very coarse, dry, strong, bitter; Only time will tell. A strong imperial stout.

notes:
- another Fall image from the brewery

- dark rolling brew

- Fermenation started slowly the next morning gradually growing more and more active through the day. At the end of the night one bubble per 3 or 5 seconds. The second morning fermentation is strong with constant bubbling. Smells like fruit in the basement. Krausen reaching the top of the carboy afixed with a blow off hose.
- Transfered into secondary with about 1/4 ounces Cascade. Flat, unconditioned beer with streaks of harsh roastiness. Fruit flavors in there somewhere ... alchohol flavors.
- priming solution ... more fermentables for the yeast to consume and carbonate the bottles.

- fermenter and bottles to be filled ... imposing dark brew.

- transfering from fermenter to bottling bucket

- bottled:

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.