Chancellor Ale and American Small Ale

grain:
- 31 pounds Maris Otter Pale Ale malt (both)
- 13 ounces Briess Caramel 60 (American Small Ale)

hop (Chancellor Ale):
- 4 5/8 ounces East Kent Golding whole hops (90 minutes)

hop (American Small Ale):
- .53 ounces Columbus whole hops (90 minutes)
- 1 ounce Columbus whole hops (flame out)

yeast: Wyeast West Yorkshire (from English IPA via English Bitter Ale)

comments:
The Chancellor is another brew inspired by brew author Terry Foster.  Basically a hoppy English Barleywine.  One to age for a while.  Maybe crack one open at the first snow.

The American Small Ale was brewed in the parti-gyle style.  The second runnings of the Maris Otter was combined with the Caramel malt to produce a light gravity, slightly caramelly wort.  Hopped with a classic American variety just in time for 4th of July celebrations.

batch size: 5 gallons (Chancellor Ale); 10 gallons (American Small Ale)

ambient outdoor temperature: 80s
ambient basement temperature: 66 degrees Fahrenheit

gravity pre boil (Chancellor Ale): 18 degrees Brix
gravity post boil (Chancellor Ale): 23 degrees Brix

gravity pre boil (American Small Ale): 7 degrees Brix
gravity post boil (American Small Ale): 9 degrees Brix

mash details:
- start at 7:10 AM at 160 degrees Fahrenheit
- 7:20 AM at 154 degrees Fahrenheit
- 90 minutes at 150 degrees Fahrenheit

notes:
- Chancellor Ale racking.  Image shows yeast lineage.

- American Small Ale boil.
- The Columbus hops and an English Bitter Ale. Looks good.

- Fermentation chamber.

- Racking the American Small Ale to carboy.

- American Small Ale fermentation was weird. Hardly any foam ... but bubbles ... and a lot of movement. Never seen anything like it.

English India Pale Ale

grain:
- 21 pounds Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
- 4 1/2 ounces Briess Caramel 60

hop:
- 4 1/2 ounces East Kent Golding whole hops (90 minutes)
- 2 ounces East Kent Golding whole hops (flame out)

yeast: Wyeast London ESB and Wyeast West Yorkshire (both from English Bitter Ale)

comments:
Under-gravity for the style (English IPA often in the 5 -  6% abv range.  I added too much sparge water.  This will be more like a very hoppy, clean English Pale.  You dig?

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

ambient outdoor temperature: 60s
ambient basement temperature: 64 degrees Fahrenheit

gravity pre boil: 9.25 degrees Brix
gravity post boil: 11.25 degrees Brix

mash details:
- start at 6:30 AM at 156 degrees Fahrenheit
- 7:20 AM at 154 degrees
- 8:30 AM at 160 degrees after sparge water added

notes:
- Check out all those Goldings at the bottom of the kettle.  6 1/2 ounces.

- Fermentation started in a few hours.  This is an image at about 18 hours.  The London ESB on the left and the West Yorkshire on the right.  Good thing I went with the blow-off setup.  This is a good example of the unpredictability of needing a blow-up.  Exact same wort, exact same conditions, very similar yeast yet one ends up with a lot more krausen.  Use a blow-off set up.  Peace of mind.

-  A close up of the West Yorkshire fermentation ... taking care of business.

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.