English Bitter Ale

grain
- 13 pounds Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
- 1 pound Briess Caramel 80

hop
- 1 1/2 ounces East Kent Golding whole hops (90 minutes)
- 1 ounces East Kent Golding whole hops (dry)

yeast: Wyeast London ESB and Wyeast West Yorkshire

comments:
Low gravity bitter ale.  Simplest grain and hop bill to date?  I have not been more excited about a beer.  A return to simple recipes and a desire for balanced beers.

The yeast propagated in this batch is planned to be pitched into a near-future batch of English IPA. The yeast from the IPA will be pitched into near-future Imperial Stout, English Mild, Chancellor Ale, and English Pale Ale.

Two yeast starters were created on the previous Sunday.  Tuesday they were stepped-up.  The beer was poured off the yeast cake on brew day until only enough remained to loosen up the yeast by shaking and swirling the solution.  That solution was pitched separately into the two 5 gallon batches of Bitter.  The ESB yeast is extremely flocculant.  Looked like chunks of tofu in the starter.

The West Yorkshire shows obvious signs of fermentation 6 hours after pitching.  The ESB is a little slower ... I agitated the carboy in hopes of getting more of the yeast into suspension.  The ESB is working ... just more slowly.

batch size: 10 gallons (the yeast split between 5 gallons)

ambient outdoor temperature: upper 80s
ambient basement temperature: 64 degrees Fahrenheit

gravity pre boil: 8 degrees Brix
gravity post boil: 10 degrees Brix

final gravity (West Yorkshire): 1.010 (3.75% abv)
final gravity (London ESB): 1.010 (3.75% abv)

Imperial Common and Small Common

grain (first runnings)
- 30 pounds Briess 2 Row Brewer's Malt
- 3 pounds Briess Carapils

grain (added after first runnings)
- 3 pounds Briess Carapils
- 1 pound Briess Caramel 60

hop (Imperial Common)
- 3 ounce Northern Brewer whole hops 60 minutes
- 1/2 ounce Northern Brewer whole hops 30 minutes
- 1/2 ounce Northern Brewer whole hops 20 minutes

hop (Small Common)
- 2 ounces Northern Brewer whole hops 60 minutes
- 1/2 ounce Northern Brewer whole hops 30 minutes
- 1/2 ounce Northern Brewer whole hops 20 minutes

yeast: Wyeast California Lager (from California Common 2012)

comments:
Parti-gyle style.  Big Imperial Common with first runnings.  Small Common with second runnings. 

Focus on the malt.  Less hop character than previous Commons.

batch size: 5 gallons (Imperial Common) and 10 gallons (small common)

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

gravity: 1.075 OG / 18.5 degrees Brix (Imperial Common); 1.040 OG / 8 degrees Brix (Small Common);

notes:

California Common 2011

grain
- 20 pounds Briess 2 Row Brewer's Malt
- 2 pounds Briess Caramel 60
- 2 pounds Briess Carapils

hop
- 1 ounce Northern Brewer whole hops 60 minutes
- 2 ounces Northern Brewer whole hops 30 minutes
- 2 ounces Northern Brewer whole hops 20 minutes

yeast: Wyeast California Lager

comments:
Plentiful hops in this thick, caramelly rendition of an old school west coast lager.

batch size: 10 gallons

ambient outdoor temperature: 23 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 60 degrees Fahrenheit

notes:
- 2 ounces of Northern Brewer hops.  Some are a little brown.  I do not know why.  They taste good.

- Wheel barrow after adding the spent grains to the compost.  I thought this looked wintery.  It was cold this day but still no snow.

- This was right after a boil-over.  I may never learn not to turn my back on the boil.

- Wheat wine to warm me up.

- Transfering the first 5 gallons to the fermenter.

- One day later the fermentation is going well.  It was slow to start ... about 16 hours.  Once it started it went from nothing to krausen in a flash.  Note the blow off hoses in the foreground.  I do not think I will need them for this batch but the added security is worth it.  Plus it might be less work than using an airlock.

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.

American Strong Ale 2011 and American Dry Stout

grain (American Strong Ale; American Dry Stout)
- 36 pounds Briess Pale Ale malt
- 1 pound Special B
- 4 ounces Chocolate malt

grain (American Dry Stout; added to mash after first runnings became American Strong Ale)
- 2 pounds Briess Roasted Barley
- 13.5 ounces Chocolate malt

hop (Amercan Strong Ale):
- 3 ounces Appollo whole hops 60 min
- 3 ounces Appollo whole hops 10 min

hop (American Dry Stout):
- 2 ounces Columbus whole hops 60 min

yeast: White Labs California Ale from American Pale Ale 2011

comments:
Strong and hoppy; dry and roasty. An ode to things past.

batch size: 5 gallon (Strong Ale); 10 gallons (Stout)

ambient outdoor temperature: 90 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 68 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes (American Strong Ale; American Dry Stout):
- (7:20 PM) mash start at 156 degrees Fahrenheit
- (7:55 PM) at 152 degrees
- (9:00 PM) ended
- pre boil Brix reading (American Strong Ale): 16 degrees

mash notes (American Dry Stout)
- Roasted Barley and Chocolate malt added for 40 minutes at 160 degrees Fahrenheit
- pre boil Brix reading (American Dry Stout): 10 degrees

boil notes (American Strong Ale):
- 60 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 18 degrees

boil notes (American Dry Stout):
- 60 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 12 degrees

brew date: 7/16/2011

keg date:

bottled date:  11/7/2011 (strong ale)
notes:
- Parti-gyle technique; Strong Ale with the first runnings and Dry Stout with the second. The second running also received 2 pounds roasted barley and 13 ounces of Chocolate malt. The Chocolate was added to adjust color.
- Lots of activity in the fermentation chamber:

- Late night brewing.

- Mash

- Transfering the second 5 gallons of the stout ... its late.

American Pale Ale 2011

grain:
- 16 pounds Briess Pale Ale
- 1/2 pound Briess Caramel 20
- 1/4 pound Briess Red Wheat

hop:
- 1/2 ounce Appollo whole hops 60 minutes
- 3 ounces Appollo whole hops 30 minutes

yeast: White Labs California Ale

comments:
Modest body; immodest hops.

batch size: 10 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 90 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 68 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- (9:15 AM) mash start at 152 degrees Fahrenheit
- (9:28 AM) at 156 degrees (opened lid to cool off)
- (9:43 AM) at 154 degrees
- (10:03 AM) at 152 degrees
- (10:20 AM) at 150 degrees
- (10:42 AM) mash end at 150 degrees (after adding sparge water)
- pre boil Brix reading: 7.25 degrees

boil notes:
- 60 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 8.75 degrees

brew date: 7/6/2011

keg date: unknown; but loose hops clogged the system and much of the beer was lost to foam; laziness ... i did not use a hop bag in the keg

bottle date: 8/26/2011

notes:
- summery out there

- the boil