CENTENNIAL PALE ALE BREW SESSION V2.0

Today is the first time I tried to duplicate one of the recipes I have brewed before. In the past I usually make changes to the recipes trying to make them better. Im a tweeker! So I got up early and started brewing my 100% Centennial Pale Ale. This is also the first time using whole leaf hops. The brew session went really smooth. I didn't cuss once! I tried to be as carefull and palnned in every aspect. Efficiency turned out to be 72%. I used the same grain and hop bill except I used 9.3# of canadian 2-row instead of 10# of american 2-row. I also made a starter for the first time with the yeast cake I harvested from the last pale ale I did. So in the end, this is not exactly the same beer as before. I did a 90 min mash at 152 degrees, and used 1.3 quarts of water per pound of grain.

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Single Hop Series "Centennial" Pale Ale V2.0

9.3 lb Canadian 2-Row

1 lb American Caramel 10*

3/4 lb Victory

1 oz Centennial 8.8 AA 90 min

1/2 oz Centennial 8.8 AA 15 min

1/2 oz Centennial 8.8 AA 1 min

1 oz Centennial 8.8 AA dry1 tsp

Irish Moss 15 min

Wyeast 1056 yeast slurry from the last centennial pale ale batch

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While I brew here is the Bohemian Kolsch. mmmm beer! The beer is a little hazy, but thats cause the yeast flocculates very poorly. Tasty!

GRAND TASTING SESSION!

My good friend Dave McCarthy is back from Alaska, so I thought it would be a good time to do a grand tasting session with a bunch of new beer and some old batches that have been in the cellar for six months.
First we tasted the kolsch I made with 100% Czech Saaz. I thought it was nice. The yeast used was the limited edition Wyeast kolsch strain. It was slightly fruity with that saaz spiciness's. The yeast flocculates very poorly so it still was hazy after 6 weeks in the fridge. Dave thought it had a slight chalky feel. I wasn't getting that at all. I liked the beer very much.
Next we tasted his chocolate raspberry porter, an extract beer. This was a Dave creation and not a memorable one. The beer had an alkaline taste from the chocolate that gave it a huge bite, despite the great raspberry flavor. Almost undrinkable!
Moving on we tasted the blueberry wheat. Dave really enjoyed this one, and said it was good. I still feel it needed more sweetness and body.
After that we tasted the two Fat Tire clones, neither tasted anything like Fat Tire. The oldest batch was based on the NB Phat Tyre kit. It was gross. Too much extract flavor. It was like drinking molasses. The other batch was an exact copy of the Beer Captured recipe for Fat Tire. I thought it tasted like a Newcastle Brown Ale. Dave liked it but said it was too malty. I agreed.
On to the IPA and Pale Ale, both of which I think are excellent batches. Dave really liked the IPA, said he could see it being commercially sold. I would have to agree. It has a great balance between hop aroma, bitterness and overall malt character. After tasting the Pale Ale Dave again said it had a chalky taste. I thought he was on crack! By far this is one of my favorites. It was made with all centennial. You get huge grapefruit notes that is balanced with the sweet malt character. These will be the first recipes I will try to duplicate.

STOCKED UP FOR WINTER!!

Well I have totally succome to the obsession that is brewing. I picked up my first 65# bag of Canadian 2-row. I also picked up a whole bunch of specialty grains such as, caramel 40, cara-pils, Belgian biscuit, flaked maze, victory, Belgian spacial-b, organic caramel 60, caramel 10, 10 lbs of organic American 2-Row, and along with the large supply of whole leaf hops from Fresh Hops , I am Stocked! I also picked up a back up propane tank, as the one I have is low. Here is the complete inventory.

Gastronomique Brewery Inventory
October 2008

Grain Stock:
Caramel 120° ½ lb
Caramel 80° ¼ lb
Caramel 40° 1 lb
Caramel 60° 1 lb
Caramel 10° 1 lb
Caramel 20° ½ lb
U.K. Crystal 60° ¼ lb
Cara-Pils 1lb
Black Pattent 1 lb
Belgian Biscuit 1 ½ lb
Chocolate ¾ lb
White Wheat 4.5 lb
Wheat 1.25 lb
German Munich 4.5 lb
Malto-Dextrine ¼ lb
Victory 1 lb
Canadian 2-Row 65 lb
Organic 2-Row 10 lb
Organic Caramel 60° 1 lb
Flaked Maze 1 lb
Belgian Special B 1 lb
Honey Malt 1 lb

Hops:
Cascade
8 oz whole (7.2% AA)
½ oz pellets (4.2% AA)
Centennial
4 oz whole (9.0% AA)
Chinook
½ oz pellets (12.4% AA)
Fuggle
2 oz whole (4.7% AA)
Golding
2 oz whole (5.0% AA)
Hallertau
2.5 oz pellets (4.2%AA)
1 oz pellets (3.9%AA)
Organic New Zealand Hallertau
2 oz whole (7.0% AA)
Magnum
2 oz whole (14.2% AA)
Northern Brewer
1 oz pellets (6.5%AA)
Perle
1 oz pellets (5.7%AA)
2 oz whole (4.2% AA)
Organic Pacific Gem
2 oz whole
German Spalt
.75 oz pellets (3.2%AA)
Czech Saaz
2 oz pellets (3.2%AA)
1 oz pellets (5.8%AA)
Willamette
2 oz whole (5.1% AA)

WICKED HARD CIDAH

This is the inaugural batch of hard cider. I have been wanting to do this for some time, and now that I'm fully stocked up on beer I thought I give it a go. I'm not a big fan of a lot of the American commercial products on the market. Unlike the European ciders, I feel they are too sweet and although it is impossible to determine the exact blend of apples, a Magner's Clone is what I am aiming for.

Wicked Hard Cidah

2 gal Wild Oats Organic Apple Juice

2 gal Hy's Apple Cider

4.5 Quarts 100% Gravenstein Apple Juice

Wyeast Cider Yeast

Making Cider is as easy as you want it to be. I just smacked the yeast pack the night before, let the juice warm up to 64 degrees, poured the juice in a sanitized bucket, pitched the yeast, aerated, and that's it. Some say to use yeast nutrient, some say to use Campden tabs to kill any wild yeast, and some say to make a starter. I wanted to start from a simple recipe and build upon it. I may add some oak in the secondary. All the juice had been pasteurized and none had added preservatives.

The next day it was bubbling like crazy!

The cider sat in primary for 2 weeks and secondary for 3 months.
When I kegged this I added about a quart of simple syrup that I made with clove and cinnamon sticks, along with about a half gallon of pasteurized apple cider. The best way is to add this in stages, and taste as you go to get the right sweetness level that you are looking for.

"DON'T CALL IT A COME BACK" IPA BOTTLING SESSION

Bottled the Don't Call it a Come Back IPA today. Yeild was just under 2 cases of 12 oz bottles. ABV is 6.1%. Great hop aroma. Should be a winner!

SINGLE HOP SERIES CENTENNIAL PALE ALE

This morning I bottled my Single Hop Series Centennial Pale Ale. I was trying to make an IPA but it ended up being 5.1% ABV, so I switched it to a good old pale ale. The little bit from the hydrometer test tube tasted really good with a great hop aroma. Im excited to have this one in my arsenal. The recipe is based upon a SNPA clone. I can't wait till it is ready!

SINGLE HOP SERIES "CENTENNIAL" PALE ALE

10 lbs American 2-row
1 lb American Caramel 10*
3/4 lb Victory
1 oz Centennial 8.8 AA 90 min
1/2 oz Centennial 8.8 AA 15 min
1/2 oz Centennial 8.8 AA 5 min
1 oz Centennial 8.8 AA dry
1 tsp Irish Moss 15 min
Wyeast 1056

DOUBLE BREW SESSION

Today I decided to brew 2 beers. A Wit and an American IPA. The wit beer is my fiances favorite so i always have to have it in the inventory. I started on the wit early, around 7am. I based it on recipe I have brewed only once before. I thought that the beer was a little too bitter so I changed the hop schedule. Instead of Belgian pils I used American 2 row, no reason, just because I had it in my grain stock.


Wit Beer:
5lbs American 2-row
3lbs White Wheat
1/2lb Belgian Aromatic
1/2lb Cara-Pils
1.5lbs Flaked Wheat
1/2lb Rice Hulls
1/2oz Willamette (4.6% AA) 60min
1/2oz German Spalt 15min
3/4oz Sweet Orange Peel 15min
1tsp Crushed Coriander 15min
1/4oz Sweet Orange Peel 1min
1/2 tsp Crushed Coriander 1min

I heated the strike water to 172, threw it in the mash tun to preheat. Once the temp was at 163 I doughed in. Mash stabilized at 152. I let it rest for 90min. I sparged with 4.5gal, and collected 6.5gal with an OG of 1.036. for a 65% efficiency. Not exactly what I was shooting for but I did increase efficiency by 10 points from the last session. When I rack this to secondary I will taste and decide how much, if any, dry hopping I will do.

On to the next one. This "Don't Call It A Come Back" IPA is a recipe that I threw together with what I had in my grain stock. I had an assistant to help with this batch, which was nice. The last brew session was supposed to be an IPA but because my efficiency was so low the OG was too low to call it an IPA, so viola, Pale Ale! This time I went for more grains, more hops, and more hops, and did I mention more hops.

"Don't Call it a Comeback IPA"
10lbs American 2-row
2.5lbs Belgian Pils
1/2lb Munich
1/2lb caramel 20
1/2lbs UK Crystal 60
1/4lb Belgian Biscuit
1oz Chinook (12.4% AA) 90min
1/2oz Perle (7.9% AA) 30min
1/4oz Chinook (12.4% AA) 30min
1/2oz Cascade 15 min
1/2oz Cascade 1min
1oz Cascade (dry hop)
1tsp Irish Moss 15min


I striked with a little under 4.5 gal of water, and doughed in at 162 degrees. Did A sach. rest for 90 min and sparged with 4.75 gal. Collected 7 gallons of wort and boiled for 90 min. got and OG of 1.058 for a 70% efficiency. Much better then the morning brew session, a great way to end the day.