Batch #12 - Honey Banana Wheat Ale

This is my white whale brew.  This time I have come at this brew at full steam, and applied all lessons previously learned.  The most recent lesson is how yeast behaves.  Yeast wants to eat simple sugars first, then move onto the more complex sugars.  However it is when eating the simple sugars does the yeast produce the banana flavor esters.  More simple sugars = more esters.  There are a couple of other factors with this yeast which is to under pitch the yeast, and to ferment at a warm temperature.  In addition not using oxygen to start with will also help.  My new recipe and process takes into consideration all of these things.  Here it is:

Yield - 5 Gallons

Grains & Adjuncts
5.0 lbs - 2-Row
3.75 lbs - White Wheat Malt
1.0 lbs - Torrified Wheat

.1 lbs - Roasted Wheat

.5 lbs - Rice Hulls

3.0 lbs - Honey

Hops
7g - Nugget

2.5g - Horizon

2.5g - Summit

9g - Willamette

18.5g - Santiam

10g - Willamette

Yeast
Wyeast 3333 - German Wheat

The brew schedule was as follows:

Mash
45 min at 150 degrees
Heat to 170 degrees
Sparge for approx 45 min

Boil
90 minute boil
Start - Add Honey, Nugget Hops, Horizon Hops, Summit Hops
45 min - Add 9g Willamette Hops
75 min - Add Santiam Hops and remaining 10g Willamette Hops

80 min - Add Whirfloc (1 tablet)

Here are the specs on this brew:

IBU's - 31.62
Color - 7.5 SRM
Calories - 190 per 12 oz
Estimated OG - 1.058
Actual OG - 1.057 (much better!)
Estimated FG - 1.016
Estimated ABV - 5.5%
New Estimated ABV from OG - 5.37%

Fermentation Schedule

14 days at 73 degrees

14 days in keg conditioning (last time I brewed banana with some success, it needed time to condition)

Time to drink!

I have taken a quick look underneath the hood in the fermentation chamber and it seems to be progressing nicely.  I can't smell any banana yet, but I'm not sure that I will from simply the blow-off.  I probably won't be able to tell until after I transfer to keg.  Last time I had some success with banana it was obvious at transfer time, am hoping the same here.

Here's to my 4th attempt, and possibly a more successful attempt!

Lessons Learned

As we all know, there is always something new to learn.  My last few brews have been very frustrating as the efficiencies I achieved were much lower than planned, so they negatively impacted the quality of my brews.  With that there were a couple of lessons I feel I have learned from this experience.

1. Test Pre-Boil Gravity

Had I been testing the Pre-Boil Gravity, I would have caught the issue before going into the boil and could have corrected.  As to how to correct, I am still learning what options that may be.  The easiest would be to compensate with some DME or LME.  I also wonder though if there are options related to doing another small mash?  That of course would result in potentially too much liquid in my boil pot.  I think another option is to boil longer to evaporate more of the water, however this may lead to issues with bitterness if not done properly.  As I stated, I have some more exploration here.  I suspect if in the same position I will simply throw in a little DME to save the batch.

2.  All grains are not equal

I have not run the tests I previously outlined, but I am very confident this is where my issue was.  My batch of Cargill 2-Row was not producing the sugar that my Canadian 2-Row was.  I still have some of the Cargill to test, but I just brewed this weekend (post to come next), and my efficiency was right back spot on.

3.  This was a good opportunity to explore all reasons associated with poor efficiency and double check my process.

One of the first areas people should focus on is the quality of the crush.  If you have a poor crush, it will be an issue and impact extraction.  I checked my crusher and it was set at the proper distance still, so it was good to confirm it hadn't adjusted over use.  Another area to check is pH levels.  I always check my mash pH and insure I am around 5.4.  I've not always checked my sparge pH, but I have now started also checking my boil pH.  Taking readings at each step helps identify issues and the process.  Lastly the sparge itself is something I am paying more attention to.  My system uses a continuous sparge, which means the grain bed should have an inch or two of water on top during the whole process where water is moved into the boil kettle at the same pace as HLT water coming into the mash tun.  I believe you want to target a sparge at around the rate of 1qt per min, so for a 15 gallon boil you want to sparge over 60 minutes.

Most of these steps I have been following properly, but it is still good to review.  The last area I have left to complete is how I use my software.  The software I use is iBrewmaster.  I like the software, and it works well.  However as with any software you need to dial into the software your system configuration so it can give you the best results.  I have everything properly identified with exception of identifying proper shrinkage from boil to fermenter, as well as wort lost in hoses and the bottom of the kettle.  I plan to focus on this over the next few brews to get this dialed in properly.

Key here more than anything though is consistency.  If my software says use 20lbs of grain, and I should have an OG of 1.055, then if I hit 1.055 then I'm happy and as far as I'm concerned the software is dialed-in.  These setting associated with shrinkage, etc.., are only relevant to a degree.  I regularly hit my targeted numbers prior to the Cargill grain, but as part of my review I took a closer look at the software which was good to do.  I learned more about the software this way.

Lastly, I have decided to brew more often.  I am going to try to brew at least once a week for a while.  I will most likely dial down the size of the batches to 5 gallons, as I plan to do more experimental brewing, and with that frequency I would end up with way too much beer (some may argue there is no such thing!).  With that said I am working on developing a true brew schedule so I can coordinate ingredients, what needs time in the fermenter, conditioning, etc..  Later my next growth area will be using yeast starters.  When brewing high gravity 10 gallon batches, the yeast gets expensive (like $25).  It would be great to start with a $6 batch, and grow it into the amount I need.  That comes later though, but I'm looking forward to learning about it! 

Batch #11 - Irish Red Ale

I write this today feeling a little defeated, a little frustrated, not sure what happened, but I will figure it out!  We've been tasting the Whiskey Oak Aged Ale over the last week or so and have really been enjoying it.  After taking it off the oak, it's flavor kept evolving and changing.  I think what we have learned is that we need to let it condition for a while so the flavors all settle in.  We knew one thing though, we were going to want more.  With that said I decided to brew the base ale recipe again to get it started, which is an Irish Red Ale.

I followed the exact same recipe as Batch #7.  However this time I had very different results.  My starting gravity ended up way too low, and my software is telling me I only hit a 66% efficiency rate.  Sound familiar?  Last week when I brewed my Super Bowl ale, I hit only a 73% rate.  Both are way under my usual 83%.  At first last week I had thought I had my recipe off in my software, but I realized here today that it was correct as I followed the same recipe in my software as Batch #7 which went fine before and was also based on a 10 gallon batch (not 12 gallon).

I have been trying to figure out what the issue could possibly be.  My grain mill is crushing at the correct depth.  My mash went great, and pH levels were spot on.  Transfer went as planned, boil straight forward, and then chilling.  I've now done this many times with this rig, and all the steps were the same, but always with much better efficiency.  The only thing I can think of at this point is there being an issue with the grain itself.

This is the first time I'm using a Cargill 2-Row that I picked up at my local home brew supply shop.  Normally I use another brand.  Both last batch and this batch were made with this grain.  I am working out a way to test the theory on the grain being the issue.  I'm going to get a bag of grain that I have been using previously, and am going to do a small mash with the grain I used today, and my usual grain.  From there I will see the sugar output to see if there is a difference.

My plan is to take around a single cup of each crushed grain (will weigh them so they are identical), heat up a proportional amount of water to a little over 160 degrees.  I will pour that water into two thermoses, and add each grain to each thermos.   I will let them sit there for 60 minutes to mash, then I will pour out the liquid through a grain bag (to catch the grain and get all the liquid).  I will let this cool, then I will test the gravity of both samples.  If my theory is correct, I should get a lower gravity with the grain I used today.

There is a part two to this.  Today I also transferred the Super Bowl Ale and gave it a taste.  It has a wonderful smell to it, however the taste is a bit sour.  It is discouraging because I don't think this will turn out any good, and after today's brew now I'm wondering about this as well.  I'm hoping today's will taste ok because it can be ready in time for the Super Bowl to replace last week's batch if needed.  I'm going to taste it next week and will see.  However if I'm right about the grain, I wonder if this will also taste a little sour.  This may mean the grain at some point picked up moisture and started to turn.  I need to learn more about what can happen to grain.

Now I'm on a mission to learn more about how to best analyze my grains before committing to a brew. I also learned a lesson to start taking a gravity reading of my pre-boil wort.  This way if my numbers are coming in too low, I can add some malt extract into the boil to get my number to where I want it.  That of course is not ideal, but it may save a doomed batch.

My next post will be this week where I share the results of the grain test.

Batch #10 - Super Bowl American Pale Ale

Today's brew is an American Pale Ale.  Was looking for something with a lower ABV, and a bit lighter, for the Super Bowl.  My previous brews have been a bit strong, which is fine if you sit down for one or two.  However Superbowl Sunday will be an entire day of eating, playing cards, watching football, and drinking a beer.

Here are the details:

Grains
9.5 lbs - 2-Row
1.9 lbs - Crystal Malt 40L
1.9 lbs - White Wheat Malt
.95 lbs - Flaked Barley
.95 lbs - Flaked Maize

Hops
4 oz - East Kent Goldings
3 oz - Cascade

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 - American Ale

The brew schedule was as follows:

Mash
60 min at 154 degrees
Heat to 170 degrees
Sparge for approx 1 hour

Boil
60 minute boil
Start - Add East Kent Goldings
45 min - Add Cascade
50 min - Add Whirfloc

Here are the specs on this brew:

IBU's - 55.99
Color - 7.2 SRM
Calories - 132 per 12 oz
Estimated OG - 1.043
Actual OG - 1.036 (ouch)
Estimated FG - 1.010
Estimated ABV - 3.93%
New Estimated ABV from OG - 3.01%

Though the brew day went smooth, for some reason I fell way under my normal 83% efficiency, and came in at 73%.  In writing this post I just realized my mistake....argh!  My recipe in my software was based on a 10 gallon batch side rather than my usual 12 gallon size (is what I target post boil).  After entering the new numbers in, my software shows me at 88% efficiency.  This much more in line with what I thought I'd see because everything went very well today.

What this means in that my recipe was off, with the new 12 gallon size my specs are:

IBU's - 48.64
Color - 6.4 SRM
Calories - 112 per 12oz
Estimated OG - 1.034
Actual OG - 1.036
Estimated FG - 1.011 (with California Lager yeast)
Estimated ABV - 3.01%
New Estimated ABV - 3.27%

Couple of points of note.  The brew supply shop was out of any and all types of American Ale yeast, I think everyone got brew kits for the holidays.  I had to substitute California Lager yeast. I'm told the Three Floyds crew use this yeast a lot, so I'm going to ferment at 60 degrees.  Unfortunately though the attenuation is lower on this yeast.  I also realized later I also only used 8.5 lbs of 2-Row, a mistake I made in measuring.  Looks like today was full of mistakes!  This is how we learn I suppose.  I was going after a light brew, looks like I went really light!

On a positive note, we sampled Batch #7 and people today really liked it.  It is a mellow, smooth brew. It is still carbonating, and it seems to be smoothing out more and more, but it was good to drink today.  I also worked out a new recipe for the next banana beer, not sure when we'll brew it but I have it ready to go.

Batch #9 - Chocolate Mint Stout

I have to confess, I typically do not drink a lot of stout beers.  As such I have never brewed a stout before.  I do enjoy a good Guinness, I love the Bourbon County by Goose Island, and there are several others I have enjoyed over the years as well.  What I don't like about some stouts is a coffee flavor.  I don't drink coffee, never developed a taste for it.  With that said I can be turned off to a beer pretty quickly if I detect coffee.  That can come from actual coffee used in beer, or just heavily roasted malts which will give off a similar flavor.

This weekend I decided to cast all that to the side and give brewing a stout a try.  With this recipe I was trying to do a something I thought would be a pretty safe (from coffee flavors) stout.  I went after two of my favorite ingredients, chocolate and mint.

This recipe is a mash-up of a couple of recipes I found.  I am using the base grain recipe from an online post I found on homebrewtalks.com.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/mint-chocolate-stout-92415/

Then I am using the flavor ingredients from a book I have called "The Homebrewers' Recipe Guide".  This is one of my favorite recipe books.  Most of the recipes are extract, so I often have to convert to all-grain now.  However when I was extract brewing I knew I could count on these recipes as being good.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Homebrewers-Recipe-Guide-magnificent/dp/0684829215/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357140403&sr=8-1&keywords=homebrew+recipes

As this is more an experimental batch, I did a 5 gallon batch instead of my usual 10 gallons.  There was some learning associated with doing a smaller brew with my gear, but I will get to that later.  Here is what I ended up running with:

Grains
8 lbs - 2-Row
1 lbs -  Crystal (60l)
1 lbs - Roasted Barley
1 lbs - Flaked Barley
12 oz - Cara-Pils
8 oz - Black Patent Malt
8 oz - Chocolate Malt

Additions
6 oz - Semisweet Baking Chocolate
4 oz - Mint Leaves (for secondary)


Hops
1.5 oz - Cascade
1/2 oz - Hallertauer

Yeast
Wyeast 1084 - Irish Ale

The brew schedule was as follows:

Mash
60 min at 154 degrees
Heat to 170 degrees
Sparge for appox 1 hr

Boil
60 minute boil
Start - Add Cascades
30 min - Add Chocolate
50 min - Add Whirfloc Tablet
55 min - Add Hallertauer
60 min - Complete

Now it is confession time.  I had everything laid out well, however I made one somewhat large mistake when brewing.  Though I measured everything for a 5 gallon batch, at the moment of transferring water from my HLT to my MLT to mash, my brain went into auto-pilot mode and I put 8.5 gallons to mash with rather than the 4.5 gallons for this batch size (there is added .5 gallon due to hoses and HERMS coil system).  I realized this error the moment I put the grains in, and realized how soupy it was.

I immediately began searching the internet to try to assess the damage, see if it was salvageable, see if I should do anything specific, or if I just needed to start over.  Most of the reading I found confirmed what I thought would happen, which is that I probably would not get the same efficiency that I normally get.  I usually run around 83% efficiency with my system.  This made sense because though I would probably extract a similar amount of sugar, I wouldn't really be able to sparge and rinse the grains of additional sugars.  I knew I would leave some in the MLT.  I decided to run with it and see how it went.

I started watching the gravity right away.  Normally I don't measure the pre-boil gravity, but my recipe said I should hit 1.047.  I ended up landing in very close to 1.040.  I decided this was workable and continued on.  After the boil I should have been hitting 1.065 OG, however I ended up at 1.056.  In looking back I wonder if it would have been possible to go ahead and sparge a bit, then just do a longer boil to boil off some of the water.  Not sure if that would have impacted flavor too much, but it could have raised the OG.

The samples taste good so far.  I will let this ferment for one week, then I will transfer to secondary and introduce the mint leaves.  In reading online some people muddle the leaves, some cut them up, some soak in vodka a bit to kill any bacteria.  I have decided since this will not be a very high ABV beer (est now at 4.98%), I will go ahead and cut up the mint leaves and soak in some vodka, then pitch all of that, then transfer the beer on top of leaves.

One other point of note.  I am fermenting this batch at 62 degrees.  Wyeast indicates that this yeast if fermented below 64 degrees will "produce a dry, crisp profile with subtle fruitiness."  If fermented warmer than that more fruit flavors will come out.  A dry beer sounded better with this flavor profile, and I didn't want competing flavors with the chocolate and mint.

Here are the specs on this brew:

IBU's -30.66

Color - 48.7 SRM

Calories - 213 per 12 oz

Estimated OG - 1.065

Actual OG - 1.056

Estimated FG - 1.018

Estimated ABV - 6.16%

New Estimated ABV from Actual OG - 4.98%

We are going to brew another batch next weekend in preparation for the Superbowl.  We are looking at doing an American Pale Ale.  Something not too high in ABV, and refreshing to drink.  Many of the beers I've been brewing have been a bit strong, this will be a nice change and something that can be sipped on for a longer part of the day.