IPA thoughts

Well, the IPA went in the keg 2 weeks ago. At first, it was really, really bitter. But that has faded some, and it is now pretty good. I'm going to dry hop it in the keg as some of the aroma I am used to isn't quite where it should be. Unfortunately, since I mashed so high, it ended up sweeter than I prefer, but its ok. Next up is a Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter. Should be interesting. Cheers.

IPA Recipe

This is the IPA I made this past saturday. Pretty basic, yield was about 10.5 gallons.
20 Lbs. Muntons Perle 2-row
3 lbs Weyerman Light Munich
1 lb. Crystal 60L
1.5 oz Nugget (14% AA) at 60 min
1.5 oz. Centennial (8.6% AA) at 40 min
1.5 oz. Centennial (8.6% AA) at 20 min
2 oz. Amarillo (9.8% AA) at 5 min.
2 oz. Amarillo (9.8% AA) at flame out
2 Whirlfloc tabs
3 packs US-05 pitched at 62 deg.
Mashed at 155-156 for an hour. Fly sparged to about 12 gallons in the kettle, 1 hour boil. OG was 1.075 for about 89% efficiency. Aerated wort then pitched at 62 deg, less than 12 hour lag. Going crazy right now in the conical. Smells great too. Cheers!

Saison, etc.

Been a while, thought I'd post a picture of the saison:

Its pretty good, certainly a lot different yeast character than I am used to. Quite estery, spicy. I like it, thats pretty much all that matters.


The wheat ale I made recently was a big hit on the camping trip. It too turned out alright, although I think I killed the yeast when I tried to cool down fermentation temps. But it was good.
This weekend I made 11 gallons (or so) of my house IPA to stock up for winter. Went really well, ended up with an og of 1.075, worked out to about 89% efficiency. Wow! Cheers.

Kegging Session

Kegged both the saison and wheat beer this past sunday. Saison never got down below 1.014, and the wheat also ended up a little sweet at 1.015. I think I shocked the yeast with the wheat when I put the carboy into the swamp cooler on day 2. Should have done that from the start. Lesson learned again. And the saison temps just were not consistent enough, won't do another one without a brew belt.

On the positive side, both beers taste good. The wheat is pretty good considering I just made up the hop schedule with no real idea of what I was doing. Same for the saison, it is definitely spicy. Will be interesting to see what some carbonation/aging does to these 2. Cheers!

Saison slowly getting there.

The saison is still slowing going down. OG was 1.055, at 1 week:1.035, 2 weeks:1.021, 3 weeks now:1.015. Still about 10 points high. I swirled the bucket today and am going to attach a heating pad to try and get the temps up into the 80's for another week. We'll see how it goes.

American Wheat

Brewing an american wheat for a camping trip I'm going on with some friends in a few weeks. Recipe is:
5# Pale 2-row
4# Wheat Malt
1# Carahelles
0.5 oz. Galena (12.4%AA) @ 60 min.
0.5 oz. Galena (12.4% AA) @ 5 min.
WB-06 Dry yeast
Missed my mash temp by about 5 degrees, so I ended up mashing at about 147-149 for an hour, might dry it out some. We'll see about og, should be around 1.055 for 6 gallons. Cheers!

Saison Still Going...

Checked the saison at 1 week and 2 weeks, the sg is still falling and has a little ways to go yet. At one week, sg was 1.035, warmed temp up to about 80 or so, and at 2 weeks sg had dropped to about 1.021. I think it should get down to near 1.005, but just needs more time and high temperature, which is unfortunate because the weather here is starting to cool down. We'll see how it goes!