Wheat Wine and Small Wheat

grain:
- 35 pounds Briess Red Wheat Malt
- 15 pounds Briess Pilsen Malt

hop:
- (Wheat Wine) 3 ounces Willamette whole hops (60 minutes)
- (Wheat Wine) 2 ounce Willamette whole hops (flame out)
- (Small Wheat) 1 ounce Willamette whole hops (60 minutes)
- (Small Wheat) 1 ounce Willamette whole hops (flame out)

yeast: White Labs German Ale/Kolsch from Wheat Ale 2011

comments:
The parti-gyle brewing technique involves making multiple beers from a single mash. In this case a strong, malt focused Wheat Wine with the first runnings and a small, doughy Wheat Ale from the second.

batch size: (Wheat Wine) 5 gallon (Small Wheat) 10 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 84 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 63 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- mash start at 152 degrees Fahrenheit
- at 30 minutes at 152 degrees Fahrenheit
- at 60 minutes at 152 degrees Fahrenheit
- at mash end (90 minutes) at 150 degrees Fahrenheit
- first runnings brix reading: 18 degrees Brix (Wheat Wine)
- second runnings brix reading: 7 degrees Brix (Small Wheat)

boil notes:
- 60 minute boils
- post boil Brix reading: (Wheat Wine) 19.25 degrees Brix (Small Wheat) 8.75 degrees Brix

brew date: 6/18/2011
keg date: unknown; wheat flavor dominates
bottle date: 8/13/2011 (wheat ale)
bottle date: 11/5/2011 (wheat wine)

notes:
- Cracking 35 pounds of wheat malt is no small task. Shortly after starting I considered bringing the malt to Sicilianos (my local homebrew shop) and cracking it there with their motorized grain mill. But I toughed it out.
- 6:30 AM. All that grain to crack ...

- Huge mash. Almost time to sparge the Wheat Wine.

- Transfering Wheat Wine to fermenter post boil.

- Still transfering the Wheat Wine. The Small Wheat is firing up for the boil on the right.

- Transfering the second 5 gallons of the Small Wheat.

- Trio of fermenters in the basement. The Wheat Wine on the right started bubbling in less than an hour. Incredible. The Small Wheat was well under way the next morning. Make no mistake ... there is barleywine in the Sunset Wheat case on the shelf. :)

- The first bucket of grain. There was probably another half bucket.

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