2012 Harvest Ale

grain:
- 25 pounds Muntons Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
- 2 pounds Briess Caramel Malt 80
- 1 pound Briess Carapils

hop:
- 2 ounces homegrown Chinook wet hops (60 minutes)
- 5 ounces homegrown Cascade wet hops (20 minutes)

yeast: Wyeast Denny's Fav 50 and White Labs San Diego Super Strain

comments:
Annual 100% homegrown hop ale.  I hope it is hoppy.

batch size: 10 gallons

ambient outdoor temperature: not recorded
ambient basement temperature: 68 degrees Fahrenheit

gravity pre boil: 13.5 degrees Brix
gravity post boil: 15 degrees Brix

mash details:
- start at 6:30 AM at 152 degrees Fahrenheit
- end at 8 AM at 150 degrees Fahrenheit

2012 Imperial Stout and Mild Ale

grain:
- 35 pounds Muntons Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
- 2 1/2 pounds Briess Roasted Barley
- 1 pound Briess Carapils
- 1 pound Briess Chocolate malt
- 1 pound Briess Black malt
- 8 ounces Briess Caramel 120
- 4 ounces Briess Caramel 60
- 4 ounces Briess Caramel 90

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

hop (Mild Ale):
- 1 ounce East Kent Goldings whole hops (60 minutes)
- 1 ounce East Kent Goldings whole hops (flame out)

yeast: Wyeast London ESB (from English IPA via English Bitter Ale)

comments:
Not messing around. Huge roasty, rich stout with formidable strength. The 2012 incarnation of Imperial Stout will be stronger and thicker than the prior version (2010?).

The second runnings of the mash produce a Mild ale. Unsure how mild-like it will be. More roast character made it through than I expected. Might resemble a dry stout.

batch size: 5 gallons (Imperial Stout); 10 gallons (Mild Ale)

ambient outdoor temperature: triple digits ... 100 degrees Fahrenheit plus
ambient basement temperature: 68 degrees Fahrenheit

gravity pre boil (Imperial Stout): 20 degrees Brix
gravity post boil (Imperial Stout): 23 degrees Brix

gravity pre boil (Mild Ale): 9 degrees Brix
gravity post boil (Mild Ale): 10 1/2 degrees Brix

mash details:
- start at 11:13 AM at 156 degrees Fahrenheit
- 11:46 AM at 154 degrees Fahrenheit
- 12:24 AM at 150 degrees Fahrenheit

notes:
- It was difficult to cool the wort to fermentation temperature on this 100+ degree Summer afternoon. 75 was the closest I could get. The wort cooled to about 70 degrees on the basement floor before fermentation started getting strong about 18 hours after pitching. A slow start due to the yeast sitting for too long before being reused. Next time I plan to make a starter from the yeast cake so that plenty of active yeast is ready to go. I think these batches will be fine but I was initially concerned.
- The London ESB yeast is extremely flocculent. I roused the yeast in all 3 carboys about 12 hours into fermentation. That seemed to help get fermentation going too. - Foam was billowing out of the kettle as I walked back into the garage after being away too long. This shot shows the dark beer boiling and the aftermath of a boil over on the garage floor.
 
- Racking the Imperial Stout to the fermenter. It was a hot day. A pint of the American Small Ale to the left.
 
- The spent grains cooling down. Destined for compost. 40+ pounds of grain!

- Racking the Mild Ale to the fermenters.
 

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.