Bad Bear 2 - British Brown Ale

As you may recall about two years ago I made my first attempt at an English Brown Ale.  It had a nice malt profile, but there was this tangy sour character I didn't find appealing.  I went ahead and blamed it on the S-04 yeast I used.  But after further research I may have placed the blame on the wrong ingredient, or maybe not.

I looked back at the old recipe and noticed I had Victory, Biscuit and Special Roast.  I have come to learn that Victory is Briess' brand of biscuit malt.  I decided to swap out the Biscuit (think the maltser I use is Dingmanns) for all Victory in this recipe.  I then did some research on Special Roast.  Lo and behold it can produce that tangy sour character!  See description from Briess below.

"Special Roast is not only more deeply roasted than Victory® Malt, it is also produced from a proprietary malting/roasting process that kicks up the intensity of the toasty and biscuity flavors, develops noticeable bran flake notes and creates its distinguishing bold sourdough/tangy flavor" - Briess Malting

Harvested WLP002 from inTROduction

So I may have written of S-04 too soon, but I like WLP002 so much and I didn't want to take a chance on the sour/tart character coming from yeast either.  Plus I have been trying to harvest yeast using the simple method and had a couple mason jars left over from my inTROduction session ale ready to ferment away.

Anyways, now that I cut out the Special Roast and S-04, this beer is looking less and less like a slightly modified Bad Bear so I decided to go with pale chocolate, at twice the amount, instead of chocolate malt in the original.  I am a big fan of pale chocolate malt and hope this dosage works well for this beer.  I also am using Caramunich because its what I have on hand.

I made some modifications to my brewing procedures to speed things up on brewday and was able to make this All-Grain batch happen in 3 hours!  I did a 30 min mash and a 45 min boil.  I then fermented directly in the kettle - a practice I may need to implement more often in the future.  The only real issue with the speed brew was that I forgot to take an OG reading so I have no clue what this beers ABV is and am providing the numbers below as a rough guess.

Despite the numerous recipe changes, I am sticking with the name since I enjoy the label so much!

Bad Bear 2 - British Brown Ale

Brewed On: October 6, 2012
Kegged On: October 27, 2012
Style: 11C - Northern English Brown
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Efficiency: 75%
OG: 1.048?
FG: 1.012
IBU: 26 (Rager) 
ABV: 4?%
Yeast: Harvested WLP002 ~250 billion viable cells Fermented at 64°

Grist Mashed at 148 for an hour
80% - Pale Ale Malt (Rahr) -8 lb
10%  - Victory (Briess) - 1 lb
5%  - Caramunich - 8 oz
5%  - Pale Chocolate - 8 oz

Hop Additions 
.4 oz - Magnum 14.7% AAU - FWH in a 45 minutes boil- 26 IBUs

Water Adjustments
Montgomery County, MD Water - 1/2 Campden Tablet for all brewing water
2 grams gypsum to mash water
2 grams CaCl to mash water
2 oz of acid malt used

Tasting Notes: Batch Infected!  Maybe Bad Bear Brown Ale is destined to be bad...I plan on re-brewing this again in the future to try and conquer this style which continually seems to allude me!

See this post for further details

inTROduction - American Session Ale

Since it had been 6 months since brewing and I had drained my stash of Heady Topper, I needed to brew something hoppy.  I had a solid amount of Citra in the freezer just waiting to be used so I decided to make a hoppy american session ale for the first brew on the indoor induction brewery! 

The brew day was pretty solid for the first run on a new system and I tried to document some of it in this video below.  I don't know if my enthusiasm showed through enough, but let me just say it was AWESOME being able to brew a batch of beer inside as it absolutely down poured rain all day outside.

I made my first attempt at a hoppy session beer last year and then failed to document it on the blog - shame on me.  In that attempt I took the Scottish 70 /- recipe from Brewing Classic Styles and threw a bunch of hops in it.  I made it with maris otter LME for a quick extract batch during the mash of another beer for a two-brew, brew day.  It ended up tasting okay and was a light-brown hazy ale, but just wasn't what I was looking for.  Too much malt character and the hopping ended up being too Citra forward (had 3 oz in the dry hop) - if that is possible.

Taking the previous attempt into account I decided to lean more towards a grain bill I would use in a pale ale, but upped the crystal malt %.  I used Weyermann Caramunich I (~35 lovibond) because I purchased five pounds of it in a bulk buy, but I think using Crystal 40 could achieve very similar results in the future.  I like to have a little crystal malt as I think the sweetness it imparts pairs nicely with Citra hops.  Also having a less fermentable grain is pretty crucial in keeping these low gravity hop bombs in check.  I rounded out the recipe with some Munich malt for character and more equal parts of Simcoe and Cascade to prevent the Citra from being overpowering.

I present inTROduction - an American Session ale.  A play on words for my innagural brew on the induction system.

inTROduction - American Session Ale

Brewed On: June 27, 2015
Kegged On: July 16, 2015
Style: 10A - American Pale Ale
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.043
FG: 1.011
IBU: 47 estimated (Rager) 
ABV: 4.2%
Yeast: 1L starter of WLP002.  Fermented at 64° for 3 days then rise and held at 68°

Grist Mashed at 152.5 for 40 minutes
74% - Pale Ale Malt (Rahr) - 6.5 lbs
14% - Munich (Briess) - 1.25 lbs
11% - Caramunich I (Weyermann) - 1 lb

Hop Additions
.44 oz - Magnum 14.7%AA - FWH - 35 IBUs
1 oz - Cascade 7.3% - 20 min - 12 IBUs
1 oz each of Simcoe, Citra, and Cascade at Flameout
Dry hopped with 1 oz Citra, 1/2 oz Simcoe and 1/4 oz Centennial

Water Adjustments
Montgomery County, MD Water - 1/2 Campden Tablet for all brewing water
8 grams gypsum to mash water, and 2oz acid malt for an estimated mash pH of 5.41 according to EZ Water Calculator

Tasting Notes

Appearance: This American session ale pours dark amber in color with good, but brilliant clarity.  It has a frothy just off-white head with great retention and good lacing.

Aroma: High tropical fruit notes dominate the pleasant hop aroma while moderate background notes of grapefruit citrus are present.  There is a low background note of sweet malt character that is most likely accentuated by the Citra hops (which can lend a perceived sweetness themselves)

Flavor: Moderately high hop flavor of tropical fruit with low citrus notes.  There is a herbal-spice character I often notice with centennial that I detect, but need to figure out a better way of describing.  Moderately low caramel malt sweetness.  Moderately-high hop bitterness.  Finishes slightly dry. Balance is moderately hop forward and bitter.

Mouthfeel: Moderately high carbonation, medium-light body, low creaminess, no astringency and no alcohol warming

Overall:  This was a refreshing hoppy session beer, however, at the time I finally got around to writing down my tasting notes it was a shell of what it was fresh.  Alas, that's what happens to all hoppy beers over time. Citra is still the dominant hop in this attempt, but the other hops add necessary complexity too keep this beer from being too one dimensional.  I liked the way this came out and I think in the future I may mash a little higher to increase the body a smidge.  additionally I may use a lower lovibond crystal malt which shouldn't impart as much caramel sweetness, but retain the body I am looking for.

Not Worthy - Oatmeal Stout

Back in October I set out to brew an Oatmeal stout.  With the weather turning colder I knew I would appreciate a dark and malty beer.  I had a Founders Breakfast Stout last year and remember it having an amazing aroma of warm oatmeal cookies.  I was hoping to replicate that aroma with toasted oats in this recipe.  I also wanted it to have a very strong chocolate presence without being too roasty.  I definitely accomplished this, but maybe have gone too far - see the tasting notes.

Per usual, my notes for brewday were lacking.  I do recall it going rather smoothly and it being one of my fastest brewdays to date at just around 5 hours.  I ended up fermenting 5 gallons in one of my better bottles and a little under a gallon in a one gallon jug.  When it came time to keg, I also bottled the 1 gallon jar and added pumpkin pie spice.  I have not yet tasted the spice version.

Oatmeal Stout

Brewed On: October 12, 2014
Kegged On: October 25, 2014
Style: 113C - Oatmeal Stout
Batch Size: 6 gallons (5 gal into fermenter)
Efficiency: 75%
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.018

IBU: 30 calculated (Rager) 
ABV: 5.0%

Toasted oats

Yeast: WLP002 64° to start and rised to 67°

Grist Mashed at 154 for an hour
70% - Maris Otter (Muntons) - 9 lbs
4%  - Crystal 120 - 8 oz
6%  - Chocolate (350L) - 12 oz
6%  - Pale Chocolate (200L) - 12 oz
6%  - Victory - 12 oz
8%  - Toasted Oats* - 1 lb

Close up of the toasted oats

* Oats were toasted at 300° for 1 hour were stirred every fifteen minutes

Hop Additions 
0.53 oz - Magnum 14.7% AAU - 60 minutes - 30 IBUs

Water Adjustments
Montgomery County, MD Water - 1/2 Campden Tablet for all brewing water
3 grams gypsum to mash water
3 grams CaCl to mash water

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Moderate roast aroma dominates and is made up of moderately strong chocolate and light coffee.  There are some toasted notes from the oatmeal, but not as pronounced as I had hoped.  No apparent fruitiness or yeast character, and no discernible hop aroma, fairly clean.  No diacetyl.  

Can kinda see those garnett highlights

Appearance: Very dark brown with garnett highlights when held up to the light. Nice dark tan and moussy head with good retention. Good clarity.


Flavor: Moderate malt backbone consisting of moderate chocolate and some light toasted oats.   Moderate hop bitterness and no apparent hop flavor.  The beer finishes ever so slightly dry.  The balance is towards the roasted chocolate malts.

Mouthfeel: Moderately low carbonation, medium body, no alcohol warmth, moderate creaminess, and no astringency

Overall Impression: Overall this is oatmeal stout has dulled in flavor since I first kegged, and tasted it a month ago. The toasted oat aroma was not as prominent as I had hoped for a few weeks ago and has subsided even more today. It is still a very sessionable beer since it is fairly balanced.  Honestly, I don't know if the 3/4 lbs each of chocolate and pale chocolate malts contributed a strong enough roast character for this beer.  Next time I will probably increase the oats and include some roasted barley.

I didnt take time to attribute BJCP points to this, but I would guess somewhere around 28.  It might have been in the low 30s three weeks ago, but it just doesn't make the mark now.  I always am my toughest critic, but I have deemed this beer "Not Worthy" since I don't feel it is worthy of a better name.  :)

Belgian Pale Ale

My apologies to my faithful followers on my lack of content!  I have been doing some extra web work on the side and this home ownership thing entails quite a bit of weekly yardwork!  My faithful self-built PC of over 10 years old has finally seen its last days of 1's and 0's, so until I can hook the hard drive up elsewhere and grab all my data I will just give the tasting notes on this beer.  The recipe, and of course some snazzy label and witty name, will be added back later.

I brewed this beer back in February.  I did a 90 min mash (while mashing I was boiling my extract American Session ale) and a 90 min boil due to the pilsner malt.  It was a pretty smooth brewday considering it was my first double brew!  If I recall I was able to do two 5-gallon batches and cleanup in about 7 hours.

Belgian Pale Ale
Style: 16B - Belgian Pale Ale
Batch Size: 6 gallons (5 gal into fermenter)
Efficiency: 83%
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.012
IBU: 28.4 calculated (Rager) 
ABV: 5.2%
Yeast: WLP500 Trappist Ale Fermented 62 and free rise to 67 

Grist Mashed at 147 for 60 minutes
91% - Weyermann Pilsner - 10 lbs
7% - Caramunich - 8 oz
2% - Biscuit - 4 oz


Hop Additions (90 minute boil)
1.50 oz - Hallertau 4.3% AA - 60 min - 26.5 IBUs
.50 oz - Hallertau 4.3% AA - 10 min - 1.9

Water Adjustments
Montgomery County, MD Water (treated with campden tablet)
3 grams Gypsum
3 grams CaCL
Acidulated Malt - 3 oz

Since I am now a a Certified BJCP Judge (got my 5th experience point a weekend ago) I guess I should post my tasting notes in BJCP style...though I am looking for feedback on preference vs my normal paragraph style.  I feel like paragraph is a little easier to read for the lesser beer geek?

Belgian Pale Ale

Aroma: moderate cracker like graininess with hints of bread, moderately low sweet malt, moderate spicy clove phenol,  low floral hop aroma, and low fruity character

Flavor: moderate grainy malt character, moderately high spicy clove phenol, moderately low malt sweetness, low floral hop character, moderate bitterness, balance is towards malt and and yeast character, finishes slightly dry

Appearance: Gold, moussy white head which fades to a thin eighth of an inch coating on the top, good lacing, good clarity but not brilliant

Mouthfeel: moderately high carbonation, medium body, no astringency, low creaminess, no alcohol warmth

Overall: This belgian pale is a very drinkable and well-balanced ale.  It is more towards the spicy floral phenols and does no exhibit enough fruity esters for the guidelines.  Probably around the low 30s for an official scoresheet, however, I really have enjoyed this beer.  I never considered myself a "belgian" beer guy, favoring more american hop forward beers, but I just keep finding myself pulling this tap vs my other two!  It is well balanced and finishes slightly dry making you want to take another sip.

UP NEXT: My Tasting notes on my American Session Ale

Just an Udder - Milk Stout

I brewed this beer on Columbus day, which I had planned to take off work as a floating vacation day, but was actually forced to because of the government shutdown.  It was the second beer I had made during the shutdown and third beer brewed at the new house.  The brewday went rather smoothly.  I did my standard infusion mash with a 45 min rest - I have been doing this a lot recently to try and make my brewday's quicker.  I went with 153 degrees since I was using the less attenuative WLP002  English Ale yeast.  I was adding a new piece of equipment to my setup: a smaller 9 gallon stainless steel bayou classic kettle.  This kettle worked out nicely as it is narrower and is part of equipment upgrades I need to get into the induction electric brewing setup I am always writing about but never making happen!  So without further ado, I present to you Just an Udder.

Just an Udder - Milk Stout

Just an Udder

Brewed On: October 14, 2013
Kegged On: October 27, 2013
Style: 13B - Sweet Stout
Batch Size: 6 gallons (5 gal into fermenter)
Efficiency: 80%
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.028

IBU: 29 calculated (Rager) 
ABV: 4.3%
Yeast: WLP002 from Pumpkin Beer slurry Fermented at 62° for 4 days then rise to 67°

Grist Mashed at 153 for 45 minutes
74% - Maris Otter (Muntons) - 9.5 lbs

8% - Black Malt - 1 lb

8%  - Lactose sugar -  1 lb - added at 5 mins to the end of the boil
6%  - Crystal 80 - 12 oz
4%  - Pale Chocolate - 8 oz

Hop Additions 
0.50oz - Magnum 14.7% AAU - 60 minutes - 29 IBUs

Water Adjustments
Montgomery County, MD Water - 1/2 Campden Tablet for all brewing water
5 grams gypsum to mash water
5 grams CaCl to mash water

Tasting Notes

This stout pours a deep black with dark brown highlights when held up to the light.  It is topped with a very dark and moussey tan head which remains as a coating while you drink - excellent lacing.  The aroma has a moderate roast character which is dominated by chocolate, but has low notes of coffee and licorice.  There is a moderately low sweet note which is partially caramel, but also sweet cream, which is indicative of lactose.  An overall aroma descriptor one could relate to is milk chocolate.  The beer has moderately low hop bitterness and no apparent hop flavor.  The flavor profile of the beer is less milk chocolate than the aroma and more like a sweetened light (breakfast blend) coffee.  The malt and lactose sweeteness is nicely balanced by the roasty notes, which lead to a slightly sweet finish. The mouthfeel is comprised of moderate carbonation, medium full body, and moderate creaminess.  This beer does have a low astringency from the dark malts, but it is not displeasing and prevents the beer from being too sweet.

The pictures taken today after the little snow storm we had were very fitting.  This is a tasty beer, and went really well after my hours of shoveling!

My First SMaSH - Simcoe and Maris Otter

I finally got a chance to brew on Labor Day weekend.  I unfortunately had not spend to much time into recipe formulation so I decided to use what I had on hand to make a Single Malt and Single Hop (SMASH) beer.  I used the base malt I currently have on hand - Munton's Maris otter.  I chose to use Simcoe for the hop as I was a big fan of Uinta's wyld, which is majority Simcoe.  Brew day was fairly smooth other than having to run back and forth from the back porch into the basement for various brew day gear.

Mr. Mo Simcoe Label

Brewed On: September 1, 2013
Kegged On: September 21,2013
Style: 10A - American Pale Ale
Batch Size: 6 gallons (5 gal into fermenter)
Efficiency: 77%
OG: 1.047
FG: 1.010
IBU: 39 calculated (Rager) 
ABV: 4.8%
Yeast: Safale S-05 American Ale Yeast.  Fermented at 64° for 3 days then rise and held at 68°


Grist Mashed at 154 for 45 minutes
100% - Munton's Maris Otter - 10 lbs

Hop Additions
.5 oz - Simcoe  - FWH - 28 IBUs
1 oz - Simcoe - 10 min -11 IBUs
1 oz - Simcoe - 0 min
Dry Hop Addtion of Simcoe
1st Addition - 2 oz ~9 days (ran out of CO2 so it stayed in longer than planned)

Water Adjustments
Montgomery County, MD Water - 1/2 Campden Tablet for all brewing water
12 grams gypsum to mash water
5 oz acid malt

Tasting Notes

The aroma has a moderately high and complex citrus which is a combination of sweet orange and grapefruit with a hint of a more sour citrus fruit - think lemon/lime.  There is a low bready quality from the malt, but the hops are the star. Light gold in color and clear, just shy of brilliant, with a fairly thick white head that fades fairly quickly to a coating on top.  The flavor contains a moderate bready malt character and moderately high grapefruit/lime citrus hop character.  The moderately high hop bitterness is a tad too much for the malt backbone which leads to a decidely balance bitter balance.  The beer has a moderate carbonation and a medium light body.  The beer finishes slightly dry.  

Overall, it is a very drinkable beer and coming in at 4.8% is very sessionable.  For hop heads this is a solid pale ale, but is definitely too bold for the BJCP determination of APA. After doing my first SMaSH, I think simcoe is a great hop which can contribute a complex citrus character to beers, however, it needs the synergy of other hops to produce a great beer.  I guess the sour citrus fruit I perceive is what others attribute the "catty" quality of simcoe and although I kind of like it, I can see how it would deter others.  The maris otter malt does a good job against the highly hopped competition, and I think a standard american 2-row would have made this beer even more of a hop star.  It provides a depth and I believe mouthfeel the 2-row just cant compete with.

Durstlöscher - German Pilsner

This is my second time brewing a lager.  I made a munich helles last year, which came out ok - there was just something off about it.  Given the simplicity of the ingredients in these styles, I knew I needed to focus more on my water.  I scoured forums and decided that using 50% distilled water for my mash and adding just a little bit of minerals to achieve an estimated 5.4 pH would produce a better beer.  Additionally, my parents bought me a stirplate for my birthday, which allowed me to more efficiently propogate the yeast for this batch.

(Filling the Fermenter with as much trub-free wort as possible)

Durstlöscher - German Pilsner Brewed On: February 18, 2013
Kegged On: 4/6/2013
Style: 2A -German Pilsner
Batch Size: 6 gallons (5 gal into fermenter)
Efficiency: 83%
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.009
IBU: 36 calculated (Rager) 
ABV: 5.1%
Yeast: WLP830 German Lager from Starter ~400 billion cells .  Fermented at 50° 

Grist Mashed at 147 for 60 minutes
97% - Weyermann Pilsner - 9.5 lbs
3% - Acidulated Malt - 4.5 oz

Hop Additions (90 minute boil)
.55 oz - Magnum - 60 min - 30 IBUs
.50 oz - Hallertau - 20 min - 6 IBUs
.50 oz - Hallertau - 0 min

Water Adjustments
Mash - 4 gallons Montgomery County, MD Water consisting of 50% distilled with 
3 grams Gypsum
2 grams CaCL
Sparge - Montgomery County, MD Water (treated with campden tablet)

This lager pours a nice deep straw color with a frothy white head.  The aroma is a strong, crisp and clean smell of malt with some slight yeast character - touch of sulfur.  It has medium body with medium carbonation.  The beer really showcases the continental pilsner malt, and washing it over your tongue you can pick up a grainy sweetness.  The sweetness is really more "maltiness" which is a compliment to the extreme crispness and lack of esters left by the lager yeast.  The firm, but pleasant bitterness from the hallertau hops helps the beer finish dry.  A real thirst quencher perfect for spring!

I left this one in the fermenter a little longer than I would have liked due to my keg issues.  It could have a little more fresh hop character, but overall it is pretty tasty.  Being my second lager, I am greatly pleased with the outcome.  Two big differences between this lager and my first. 1) I used liquid yeast this time, and did a double step starter on my stir plate (used dry the first time) 2) I cut my mash water with 50% distilled water. After writing my tasting notes I decided to go to the BJCP guidelines and see how I was doing.  Pretty much falls right in line with the guidelines - I just entered this in two competitions, so hopefully my palate is tasting accurately!  

Wrong Coast - IPA

Its been a while since I have brewed anything hoppy, almost a half a year to be exact.  My taste buds have been asking for the hops, and I finally decided to indulge them.  I have been reading up a lot about hoppy beers over at fellow blogger Scott's site: Bertus Brewery.  Scott has some of the best info out there on how to make a great IPA and I used that info to formulate the recipe below.

The grain bill is based on principals made popular for pale ales by Firestone Walker Brewmaster Matt Brynildson.  Mostly 2-row or pale ale malt with some munich and carapils.  This will provide a solid canvas which I then showered with hops - close to 10 ounces for a 5-6gal batch.  My wife bought me 3lbs of hops for my birthday - 1lb each of Simcoe, Cascade, and Citra.  I decided to hop this beer with a classic IPA combo, Simcoe and Cascade.

(Hops for Wrong Coast IPA)

Living on the East coast, my first IPA experience was Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA - great beer.  Since homebrewing and becoming a more educated craft beer consumer, I have come to enjoy the hop blasting lupulin bombs from the west coast.  This beer is more to that style, but from an east coast brewer.  I therefore have deemed this beer "Wrong Coast" and adulterated the U.S. Map in the logo.

Brewed On: January 26, 2013 (My birthday and 3 year brewing anniversary)
Kegged On: February 18, 2013
Style: 14B -American IPA
Batch Size: 6 gallons (5 gal into fermenter)
Efficiency: 75%
OG: 1.066
FG: 1.012
IBU: 63 calculated (Rager) 
ABV: 7%
Yeast: Safale S-05 American Ale Yeast Slurry from Porter.  Fermented at 62° for 3 days then rise and held at 67°


Grist Mashed at 151 for 70 minutes
80% - Great Western Pale Ale Malt - 11.5 lbs
15% - Briess Munich - 2 lbs
5%  - Briess Carapils - 12 oz

Hop Additions
.7 oz - Magnum - 60 min - 38 IBUs
1 oz - Cascade - 20 min - 8 IBUs
1 oz - Simcoe - 20 min -17 IBUs
1.5 oz - Cascade - 0 min 
1.5 oz - Simcoe - 0 min
Dry Hop Addtions, equal parts Simcoe and Cascade
1st Addition - 2 oz - 8 days
2nd Addition - 2 oz - 4 days (added to primary 4 days after 1st addition)

Water Adjustments
Montgomery County, MD Water - 1/2 Campden Tablet for all brewing water
12 grams gypsum to mash water
2 oz acid malt

Tasting Notes

The beer has a nice white head and a grainy gold color, which due to some kegging issues is still fairly hazy - shows nice lacing.  It smells of sweet citrus and grapefruit and overall fruity dominance backed up by subtle maltiness from the munich. It currently has medium-to-low carbonation (keg issues) which contributes a creamy mouthfeel that finishes slightly bitter and dry with a slight alcohol warmth at the end. Fresh american hop character sounds its trumpet throughout.  Delicious :)

The only real knock on this bitter is that I don't think the bitterness is bold enough.  In the future I will increase the bittering charge, or lower the total malt a bit to decrease the alcohol, which should enhance the bitterness.

Printing Press Porter

After I created my 2012-2013 brew calendar, I went out to my LHBS and purchased ingredients for my next 3 beers.  The third was to be this porter which I planned to brew in December.  My homebrew store had received their chocolate and black patent malts pre-crushed.  I didn't think about it at the time of purchase, but when it came time to brew this beer, I just didn't want to risk using the pre-crushed dark malts from 3 months ago (I failed to store them properly).  This meant I had to get new chocolate and black patent malt for brewday...

Brewday was scheduled for Saturday December 22, 2012.  This was my first day of vacation for the holidays (had use or lose time by the end of the year).  The day before I decided to take the metro and walk to the DC Homebrew Store located at 3 Stars in D.C. on my way home from work.  A quick check of google maps, and I figured I would be able to hit the brew store, and only increase my commute by a 45 minutes...well it ended up being a good 25 minute walk from the nearest metro station each way.  In addition, when I got to the train station to catch the MARC commuter train, the schedules had been rearranged for the holidays and I had to wait an extra 30 minutes for the next train.  In addition to the time, the weather was not in my favor as it was low 30s and snow flurrying - if you don't consider that dedication to brewing with fresh and quality ingredients, then I don't know what you would.

On the aforementioned MARC commuter train I spend my time reading.  Recently, I was reading the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and in a passage he described how at the Printing house he worked at, all the other workers would be drink beer all day - before, during, and after every meal.  Around the early 1700s I would assume the ale they were drinking were similar to a porter style, and have therefore deemed this beer, a modern interpretation of the style, Printing Press Porter.

Printing Press Porter

Brewed On: December 22, 2012
Kegged On: January 12, 2013
Style: 12B - Robust Porter
Batch Size: 6 gallons (5 gal into fermenter)
Efficiency: 75%
OG: 1.061
FG: 1.016

IBU: 41 calculated (Rager) 
ABV: 5.9%
Yeast: Safale S-05 American Ale Yeast (Re-hydrated) Fermented at 62° for 4 days then rise to 67°

Grist Mashed at 154 for an hour
84% - Maris Otter (Muntons) - 11.5 lbs
7%  - Crystal 40 - 1 lb
5%  - Chocolate - 12 oz
4%  - Black malt - 8 oz

Hop Additions 
0.67 oz - Columbus 14.6% AAU - 60 minutes - 37 IBUs
1.00 oz  - EKG 5.8% AAU - 5 minutes - 4 IBUs

Water Adjustments
Montgomery County, MD Water - 1/2 Campden Tablet for all brewing water
4 grams gypsum to mash water
4 grams CaCl to mash water

Tasting Notes

This porter appears almost black in the nonick pint glass I am drinking from and has a tan head of foam, with great lacing.  Smells of sweet malt, slight roast and earthy hops dominate the aroma.  The beer has medium body and medium to high carbonation.  The flavor is dominated by english hop character and a clean malt backbone with just enough dark malt character to produce a crisp bitter finish.  This beer is easy drinking and could definitely be consumed throughout the day at your printing press job.

I really enjoy drinking this beer.  The inner beer nerd can continually sip and pick out subtle nuisances, but the regular beer drinker will be able to toss them back as each sip finishes with a dryness, not expected from the final gravity.  The bitterness of the hops and the dark malts keep this beer in check.  I plan on trying to keep a variation of this in the pipeline in the future.  Its a versatile style which can showcase english, or american hops in the finish.  Be on the lookout for future additions.

Bad Bear - Northern English Style Brown Ale

The Bad Bear brown ale is a beer I brewed back in October, but just now am getting around to documenting the beer.  As you can see, I am enjoying creating these labels for the beers.  Hopefully, I don't offend anyone, but I figure if you are old enough to drink beer you are old enough to handle some humor in the labels.

Bad Bear - English Brown Ale

Brewed On: October 6, 2012
Kegged On: October 27, 2012
Style: 11C - Northern English Brown
Batch Size: 6 gallons
Efficiency: 75%
OG: 1.049
FG: 1.012
IBU: 27 calculated (Rager) 
ABV: 4.9%
Yeast: Safale S-04 English Ale Yeast (Re-hydrated) Fermented at 64°

Grist Mashed at 150.5 for an hour

80% - Maris Otter (Muntons) - 9 lb
4%  - Biscuit (Dingemans)- 8 oz
4%  - Special Roast (Briess) - 8 oz
4%  - Crystal 40L (Briess) - 8 oz
4%  - Victory (Briess) - 8 oz
2%  - Chocolate (Briess 350L) - 4 oz


Hop Additions 
1.35 oz - Willamette 4.8% AAU - 60 minutes - 25 IBUs
0.5 oz   - Willamette 4.8% AAU - 10 minutes - 2 IBUs

Water Adjustments
Montgomery County, MD Water - 1/2 Campden Tablet for all brewing water
4 grams gypsum to mash water
4 grams CaCl to mash water

(Bad Bear Brown Ale - in New Pint Glass from Xmas)

Tasting Notes: The beer pours an auburn red to brown color which is fairly clear, but not crystal.  The beer has a sweet and grainy malt aroma, but also has a dominate aroma of musty-fruity esters from the English yeast.  The beer is very balanced, but leans slightly more towards the malty side than bitter and the overall taste profile is somewhat muddled from the tangy/tart yeast character.  The beer has a creamy mouthfeel and finishes with just enough dryness to invite you back for another sip.

Overall, I will definitely be making some changes the next time I make this beer.  I have read in the online forums some dislike for the Safale S-04 dry yeast, and I unfortunately agree. This yeast was said to be very funky when fermented in the upper 60s and even result in a tangy very estery beer in the lower 60s.  I find this to be the case as the ester character really overshadows any of the discerning malt tastes I was hoping to achieve with this beer.  I fermented this beer at 63° and after initial fermentation (4 days) allowed it to creep up to 66° or so.  I have followed a similar fermentation regimen with WLP002 (English strain of liquid yeast) in my English Mild where I felt the malt character really shined.  After my own personal experience and of the online community, I think I will be leaving the S-04 dry yeast out of my yeast library in the future.  So next time - different yeast, same grain bill.

The Wall - Russian Imperial Stout

You can check out a little synopsis of the brew day on this post: Double Brew for Shegogue.

The Wall Recipe
Brewed On: July 14, 2012
Style: 13F - Russian Imperial Stout
Batch Size: 6 gallons
Efficiency: 63%
OG: 1.095
FG: 1.021
IBU: 166 calculated (Rager) More like in the 80-90 range, but we will say a nice 100
ABV: 9.7%
Yeast: Safale S-05 American Ale Yeast (2 Re-hydrated packs)

Grist Mashed at 150 for an hour
82% - Pale Ale Malt (Great Western) - 19.5 lbs
6% - Roasted Barley (Briess 300L)  - 1.5 lbs
4% - Caramunich (Weyermann) - 1 lb
4% - Special B (Dingemans 300L) - 1 lb
4% - Chocolate Malt (Briess 350L) - 1 lb

Hop Additions 
3oz of Warrior 15.8%AA - 60 minutes - 100 IBUs?

Tasting Notes:  The Wall pours almost pitch black in the glass, but held up to the light you can get a glimpse of a very dark brown (like the stain of a dark walnut wood) color.  The head on the beer is a dark tan and provides lacing while drinking.

(The Wall - Waxed and Labeled for Christmas Gifts!)

The beer has a bunch of different smells that I picked up on - coffee, chocolate, a dark fruitiness (grapes?) and a sweet malt aroma.  The Wall has a firm bitterness upfront, which is accompanied by moderate carbonation, and leads to the complex chewy flavors already perceived in the aroma.  The bitter from the hops and roasted malts packs a punch on the taste buds and invites the drinker back for another sip!

This beer should continue to age and improve.  If you received one of these as a gift I look forward to hearing your tasting notes in the comment section below!

Plastered Pilgrim - Spiced Pumpkin Ale

I felt it appropriate to unveil the first of my new labels in the post for this beer.  I have created somewhat of a template which I hope to incorporate into future labels.

I have been doing some thinking about the best way to share my recipes/brewdays with everyone on the interwebs and decided it would be best to wait until I had the final product before me to do so.  In these and future posts I will give a short descriptive synopsis of the beer, followed by the recipe and sum it up with my thoughts.

The beer smells exactly like pumpkin pie, and not just the spices.  Call me crazy, but as I take deep sniff, I can pick out a the smell of pie crust.  The beer is a bronze-orange color, which at the time of tapping is a tad hazy (picture to come).  The pumpkin spices flood the mouth, followed by a moderate carbonation and creamy body.  The spicing is balanced, and the beer leans a tad towards the malty side.  The finish has a gentle tinge of alcohol warmth (most likely from the low level of bitterness).  This is a very palatable pumpkin ale, and one that could be consumed in session quantities.  The spicing does not overwhelm.

Plastered Pilgrim Recipe
Brewed On: September 15, 2012
Style: 21A - Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beer
Batch Size: 6 gallons
Efficiency: 82%
OG: 1.058
FG: 1.015
IBU: 18 (Rager)
ABV: 5.6% (forgot to change label, but close enough)
Yeast: WLP002 - English Ale Yeast - Rinsed from prior batch

Grist Mashed at 155 for an hour (sparging was a PITA with pumpkin!)66% - Maris Otter - 10lbs
25% - Pumpkin Puree - 60 oz (4, 15 oz cans baked at 350° for an hour)
3% - Biscuit - 8oz
3% - Crystal 40 - 8oz
3% - Crystal 120 - 8oz

Hop Additions 
1oz of Willamette 4.8%AA - 60 minutes - 18 IBUs

Overall - This beer is pretty tasty.  I can't take full credit for the recipe as I modeled it largely off of the hit "Thuderstruck Pumpkin Ale" on HBT.  I think this may become a seasonal for me, but I will leave it up to friends and relatives to decide.