"Alt, Who goes There?" Noerthern German Alt Bier Brew Session

Yesterday I brewed a northern German Alt beer loosely based on a recipe by Jamil Zainasheff. I chose to use Belgian pale as the base grain. His recipe calls for Pilsener malt. I have it fermenting in a plastic trash can with water and freezer packs to keep the temp at approximately 60 degrees. The shirt around the carboy protects the fermentation from light and allows the carboy to stay cool. I hit the target gravity right on the nose with a reading of 1.050. I brewed this to try and get a grasp on what the specific characteristics that an Alt beer has, and to get a point of reference so I can try and clone the Alaskan Amber.

"Alt Who Goes There"
a Northern German Alt Bier
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9.8 lbs Belgian Pale Malt
1 lb Organic Munich
1/4 lb Carafa Speacial II
1/4 lb CaraMunich
3 oz Pale Chocolate
1 oz Magnum (14.2% AA) 60 min
1 Wirlfoc tab 15 min
3 pks Wyeast 1007

I did a 90 min rest at 152, a 90 min boil and I pitched at 60 degrees. Prost!
Q.C.R. Grade = A

Rock Face Pale Ale V3.0 Brew Session

About 3 weeks ago I brewed a batch of my Rock Face Pale Ale using Amarillo, Centennial, and Cascades. I tried to keep it on the dry side with a background character that had more biscuit and toasty elements to it. So instead of using Munich, which I have always used in past Pale Ale batches, I used Vienna, which is a little lighter and crisper then the munich. I also used some Crisp Marris Otter in the grain bill, which is kilned to produce more biscuit like flavors then your average 2-Row. When I brewed this beer I only had a small amount of the 2-row and I wanted to use it up, so instead of using all CMO in the recipe I cut it with the 2-row. Its good to keep a good rotation of product to ensure freshness.

Rock Face Pale Ale V3.0
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7.2 lbs Crisp Marris Otter
4.75 lbs Canadian 2-Row
3/4 lb Vienna
1/2 lb Wheat
1/4 oz Crystal 60
1 oz Chinook (11.4% AA) 60 min
1/4 oz Cascade 10 min
1/4 oz Amarillo 10 min
3/4 oz Cascade 0 min
3/4 oz Amarillo 0 min
1 oz Amarillo dry hop
1 Wirlfloc tab 15 min
2 pks Wyeast 1056

O.G. 1.057
F.G.1.010
This is the first time I used Amarillo in a recipe. The beer is in the keg now and just about fully carbonated. It has a great citrus flavor. The combination of the cascade and Amarillo give the beer a little complexity. The malt background is very complementary to the beers overall character. Its has that light toasty essence with a little caramel. I would say that this recipe is a great one. Next time around I will use nothing but Marris Otter for the base grain, and I might change the hop schedule. Maybe I'll try the First Wort Hopping technique. Chin Chin!

Here is a short clip of the 60 min hop addition. Its about 15 degrees out, but it could be worse.

Cider and IPA Kegging Sessions

Well I decided to keg The IPA and the Cider, after I finally gathered all the kegging equipment. The IPA came out nice and hoppy, with a lot of malt character. At first It seemed a little too sweet, but as it aged a bit, and settled at the proper carbonation level, it actually turnned out not too bad. I don't think this stuff will last very long!
As for the Cider....
I ended up back sweetening with some apple cider that contained preservatives, some apple juice, and a simple syrup that I boiled with some cinnamon and clove. It tasted real nice, with good crisp apple flavor. Its got a nice tannin level that balances with the tartness and the sweetness of the cider.
The final gravity fell to 1.000, so with a starting gravity of 1.050 its should be around 6.5% ABV before I added the juice and sugar. The ABV should be a little lower after the addition.
Next time I might add some french oak and some honey or sugar to the recipe.

Duchess de Nodak

Last night I attempted a Flanders Red. Overall it was a nice session, even though it was only about 10 degrees outside. My wife Jenny is from North Dakota and loves Duchess de Bourgogne, so hence the name Duchess de Nodak. Nodak = North Dakota. I used the method of starting fermentation with wyeast 1056, and then secondary with oak chips and the wyeast Rosalare blend. This is supposed to get more consistent results, and make it turn out not as sour as the Rodenbach Grand cru, but more like the regular Rodenbach.

Duchess de Nodak
A Flanders Red

5.25 lbs Canadian 2 row
5.25 lbs Vienna
1/2 lb Wheat
1 lb Munich
1/2 lb Special "B"
1/2 lb Caramunich III
1/2 lb Aromatic
1 tab Wirlfloc 10 min
.8 oz Goldings (5% AA) 60 min
1 pk Wyeast 1056 American Ale
1 pk Wyeast VSS Rosalare blend
1 oz oak Chips

I mashed at 154 for 90 minutes, boiled for 75 minutes and chilled to 63 degrees before pitching the 1056. After racking this to secondary it will ferment for about a year. I might add sour cherries before bottling, we'll see how it goes!

Centennial Pale Ale V2.0 Tasting Notes

This was a good beer. Nice and Hoppy!
Not to be over critical but it was a little too caramel candy sweet, but in reality it was not cloying and pleasant to the palate. I'll tweek that down a bit next time. Nice white to off white head. Very "drinkable". This stuff was gone fast.



In other news.....



I finally scored a sanyo 4912 mini fridge for a kegerator!!!!!
Thank you Craigslist!
I took it off this guys hands for a mere 100 bucks.
I got the tubes and fittings coming from the always reliable Northern Brewer, and a dual regulator from Midwest Supplies for $99. All I have to do now is pick up the co2 from the gas store, Suburban Carbonics.

Rock Face IPA Brew Session

Today I made an IPA using a recipe I just came up with out of the blue with a little help from Brewing Classic Styles.

Rock Face IPA

12.75 lbs Canadian 2row
.75 lbs Munich
1 Lbs Caramel 20
.25 lbs Caramel 40
1 oz Magnum (14.2% AA) 60 min
1/2 oz Centennial (9% AA) 10min
1/2 oz Cascade (7.2% AA) 10 min
1 oz Cascade (7.2% AA) 5 min
1 oz Cascade Flame out
1 oz Cascade Dry Hop
2.89 liter Yeast Starter Wyeast 1056
1 tsp Irish Moss 15 min

Mash For 90 min at 150-149
1.3 qt per pound ratio
target OG 1.065
Estimated FG 1.012

Actual OG 1.060
I ended up adding a little too much water for a mash out, and I collected 7.25 gal instead of 7 gal, thus diluting the pre-boil gravity. Over all, a very smooth session. I used a big starter that I made sunday morning. I pitched at 3:00 pm and krausen had formed by the time I woke up the next day.
"Chin Chin"

McCarthy's Irish Red Brew Session

This is an Irish red recipe from "Brewing Classic Styles". Overall it was a nice brew day. It was so smooth that I completely forgot to take the SG reading before I pitched the yeast packs. Oh well, we can't win em' all! It smelled exactly like Smithwicks. It should turn out quite nice. efficiency was estimated around 70%.

McCarthy's Irish Red Ale
11.25 Crisp marris Otter
6 oz. crystal 40
6 oz. chocolate
6 oz. roasted barley
2 pks wyeast irish ale
irish moss
2.25 oz goldings (5% A.A.) 60 min