Brewing: Peche Lambic

Since I bottled the Kriek (Cherry Lambic) today, I decided to start another Lambic recipe.  This time, I'm doing a Peche, which is a Peach Lambic.  Like the Kriek, I'm doing a sour mash.

I started a basic mash of 3# of Pilsner malt, 1# honey malt, and 1# crystal 20 malt.  I held back roughly 1/2# of the grain for later.  After the 60 minute mash, I drew off the wort and disposed of the grain, and gave the mash tun a quick rinse.  Then I put the wort back in, and threw in the final 1/2# of crushed grain, and sealed it up tight, with the wort temperature still in the low 130 range.  I'm going to let that sit for 24-48 hours, allowing it to sour.  It will smell like a mixture of old socks and dead hookers.  Or so I'm  led to believe.  Susan would know.

After the appropriate level of sourness, I'll then do a normal 60 minute boil using some old magnum hops I've had set aside since my first year of brewing.  I remember reading that lambics call for old stale hops (more of a preservative than anything) so I had set some aside in a non-sealed container.    

Incredibly exciting photo of the mash starting its souring process:

New Mash Tun

I realize I'm pretty far behind the times when it comes to my brewing equipment, but I finally built a mash tun out of a 5-gal cooler. I made up a false bottom out of some stainless sheet, drilling a bunch of 3/32" holes in it. The end result was more room for mashing all grain recipes. I also built a simple wort chiller too, which did a great job of cooling the wort down to 70 degrees in a matter of minutes.

Stainless false bottom:

Mash tun, made out of cooler:

Tonight I broke out the equipment and brewed up a 2.5gal Imperial Red Rye recipe:

- 3 pounds of two row

- 1 pound of crystal 60

- 1 pound of rye

- 1 pound of belgium aromatic

1/2oz of magnum at 45 minutes

1/2oz of cascade at 20 minutes

1/4oz of citra at 5 minutes

1/4oz of crystal at 5 minutes

1/2 teaspoon irish moss

1/2 teaspoon gypsum

1 packet S-05 Dry yeast

OG = 1.079

Estimated gravity of 8.9% abv

IBU = 46

Homebrew: Summerfest

I don't actually have the recipe handy, but I'll post it up when I find it.  This was just a simple summerfest type recipe, using a pale extract, 1# of munich, and some magnum and cascade hops.  It turned out pretty good.  Not very clear, but it does have a nice malty taste and a light finish.

edit: recipe below

Summer Ale
Batch 2.30 gal
Gravity 1.064 OG
Estimated FG 1.016 FG
Recipe Bitterness 36 IBU
Alcohol by Volume 6.2%
Recipe Color 11° SRM
Alcohol by Weight 4.9%

Ingredients
Quantity Grain Type Use
3.40 lb Briess LME - Golden Light Extract Extract
1.00 lb Munich (US) Grain Mashed

Quantity Hop Type Time
0.25 oz Magnum Whole 40 minutes
0.50 oz Cascade Whole 20 minutes
0.50 oz Crystal Whole 5 minutes

Quantity Misc Notes
0.25 unit Generic Other 1/4 oz of grains of paradise, crushed and
put in boil. also transferred to primary
0.75 unit Irish Moss Fining 3/4 tsp
0.50 unit Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast Yeast Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

Recipe Notes
Malty summer fest style beer. Light color, but with some rich munich malts
Transferring from primary to secondary at 10-days, will dry hop with 1/4oz. of crystal hops for one week.

C'

Home Brew: All Grain Malt Monster

My first batch of all grain brew. I usually use a little extract, and a couple pounds of grain, but this time I got both pots on the stove, and went for it. I was shooting for a very malty yet light summer type beer. Simple, clean, and tasty. I used Munich and Vienna malts for their robust malt flavors, and a bag of New Zealand Motueka hops my neighbor gave me a few months back.

It isn't as clear as it should be, but it is very tasty indeed. A nice thick head, perfect carbonation, and loads of malt flavor. I specifically added hops in small increments, every 5 minutes during the boil, to give it a very balanced hop profile. As shown below in the recipe:

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity 1.060 OG

Estimated FG 1.015 FG

Recipe Bitterness 26 IBU

Alcohol by Volume 5.8%

Recipe Color 14° SRM

Alcohol by Weight 4.6%

Ingredients

Quantity Grain Type Use

0.75 lb MrB. Booster Sugar Other

3.00 lb Munich (US) Grain Mashed

1.00 lb Vienna (US) Grain Mashed

Quantity Hop Type Time

0.20 oz Motueka Whole 5 minutes

0.20 oz Motueka Whole 10 minutes

0.10 oz Motueka Whole 20 minutes

0.10 oz Motueka Whole 25 minutes

0.20 oz Motueka Whole 15 minutes

0.05 oz Motueka Whole 30 minutes

0.05 oz Motueka Whole 35 minutes

0.05 oz Motueka Whole 40 minutes

0.05 oz Motueka Whole 45 minutes

Quantity Misc Notes

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 teaspoon

1.00 unit Safale S-04 Dry Ale Yeast English: Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

Home Brew: IPA

A nice generic IPA, using a mix of partial grain and extract:

American IPA

Batch 2.30 gal

Recipe Gravity 1.057 OG

Estimated FG 1.014 FG

Recipe Bitterness 52 IBU

Alcohol by Volume 5.5%

Recipe Color 12° SRM

Alcohol by Weight 4.3%

Ingredients

1.80 lb Briess LME - Pilsen Light Extract Extract

0.50 lb Cane Sugar

0.10 lb Chocolate Malt (US) Grain Mashed

1.50 lb Two-row (US) Grain Mashed

0.50 oz Magnum Whole 30 minutes

1.00 oz Cascade Whole 10 minutes

1.00 oz Crystal Whole 5 minutes

1.00 oz Crystal Whole 2 minutes

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1 tsp

1.00 unit Safale S-05 Dry Ale Yeast American: Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

C'

Homebrew: Brown Sugar

This was a bit of an experiment, using some leftover liquid extract, some crystal 60, and some brown sugar. I've let it age in the bottle for six weeks, and it is getting better. It has fairly strong alcohol warmth, but with a sweetness to balance it. This doesn't fit any specific category, I was trying something different. Oh yeah, this was the first time I used a pair of 1.25gal glass jars (think COSTCO sized pickle jars) for primary fermentation, which I've since used on a couple cider and mead recipes.



Batch 1.80 gal
Recipe Gravity 1.087 OG
Estimated FG 1.022 FG
Recipe Bitterness 38 IBU
Alcohol by Volume 8.4%
Recipe Color 24° SRM
Alcohol by Weight 6.6%

Ingredients
1.50 lb Briess LME - Sparkling Amber Extract
2.00 lb Brown Sugar, Dark Sugar
0.40 lb Crystal 60L Grain Mashed

0.30 oz Centennial Whole 30 minutes
0.20 oz Zeus Whole 30 minutes
0.50 oz Cascade Whole 10 minutes

0.50 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 tsp
0.50 unit Safale S-05 Dry Ale Yeast American: Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

C'

Homebrew: Cream Ale

I brewed up a cream ale a few weeks ago, and it turned very nice. I totally forgot the irish moss, so it is cloudy, but still tasty.



Batch 2.20 gal
Gravity 1.057 OG
Estimated FG 1.014 FG
Recipe Bitterness 31 IBU
Alcohol by Volume 5.5%
Recipe Color 3° SRM
Alcohol by Weight 4.3%

Ingredients
1.35 lb Briess LME - Golden Light Extract Extract
0.50 lb Flaked Corn Adjunct Mashed
0.50 lb Flaked Oats Adjunct Mashed
0.75 lb MrB. Booster Sugar Other
0.50 lb Two-row (US) Grain Mashed

0.40 oz Magnum Whole 30 minutes
0.30 oz Cascade Whole 12 minutes
0.40 oz Cascade Whole 0 minutes

0.20 unit Generic ingredient Other 2oz maltodextrine
0.50 unit Safale S-05 Dry Ale Yeast Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

Home Brew: Brown Porter

I brewed up this Brown Porter back in late Feb, bottled it a couple weeks after, and just sampled it after two weeks in the bottle. Me likey! Great fluffy off-white head, nice malt aroma with light chocolate notes. Very smooth body with just enough hops to balance well with the maltyness. Although, I didn't use English hops, I used both Centennial and Crystal, which are usually a bit more floral/fruity. But frankly you can't tell.

We'll see how this develops over the next couple weeks. I may enter this one in the brew fest.

Style: Brown Porter

Brewer: Chris Hartman

Batch: 2.20 gal

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Bitterness 32 IBU

Alcohol by Volume 5.6%

Recipe Color 22° SRM

Alcohol by Weight 4.4%

Ingredients

0.50 lb Brown Sugar, Dark Sugar Other

0.50 lb Crystal 90L Grain Mashed

0.50 lb Crystal 120L Grain Mashed

0.75 lb MrB. Booster Sugar Other

1.21 lb MrB. Englishman's Nut-Brown Ale Extract Extract

0.50 oz Centennial Whole 30 minutes

1.00 oz Crystal Whole 10 minutes

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 tsp

0.50 unit Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast Yeast Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

C'

Home Brew: California Common

I brewed a generic "California Common" a couple months ago. I don't think it went well, as outside temps dropped rather significantly the day it went in the fermenter. And I didn't really pay attention to the temp of the keg. Krausen formation wasn't very strong, and seemed to have a lot more "particulate" floating about during my samples from the fermenter.

I bottled it last month, and it just sorta tasted weird. But i wanted to wait a month to if it changes in the bottle. So here goes:

It looks great. Lovely thick head, nice color, nice carbonation, and pretty damn clear. Aroma is a little funky. Not like inside a sweaty boot funky, just a little grainy and thick smelling. Surprisingly, it taste ok. Not great, but maybe a solid 3 out of 5. WAY better than it did during sampling and bottling. Good mouthfeel too, with a nice malty aftertaste.

Edit: It is better when warmer. Smooth and malty. Maybe a 3.5/5 on the score.

Recipe Characteristics

Batch Size 2.3gal

1.060 OG Estimated

1.015 FG

Bitterness 33 IBU

Alcohol by Volume 5.8%

Recipe Color 21° SRM

Alcohol by Weight 4.6%

Ingredients

0.50 lb Crystal 20L Grain Mashed

0.50 lb Crystal 90L Grain Mashed

0.70 lb Molasses Sugar Other

1.21 lb MrB. Octoberfest Vienna Lager Extract Extract

1.50 lb Two-row (US) Grain Mashed

0.50 oz Centennial Whole 30 minutes

0.50 oz Cascade Whole 15 minutes

0.50 oz Crystal Whole 5 minutes

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 tsp

1.00 unit Mr. Beer Dry Ale Yeast Yeast Temperature Range: 68°-76° F 2.0 GRAMS

C'

Home Brew: Dark Wheat

My first sample of a "Dark Wheat" which was really just a quick and dirty brew using some ingredients I had leftover from other recipes. It was essentially a pair of Mr. Beer Wheat extracts with a bit of chocolate malt for a deep color, and roasty malt goodness. The result? Quite good. It has a great mix of a wheat sourness with dark roasty malt flavors.

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Bitterness 23 IBU

Alcohol by Volume 5.3%

Recipe Color 24° SRM

Alcohol by Weight 4.2%

Ingredients

0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (US) Grain Mashed

0.75 lb MrB. Booster Sugar Other

2.42 lb MrB. Whispering Wheat Weizenbier Extract Extract

0.50 oz Centennial Whole 30 minutes

1.00 unit Corriander Seed Spice 1 tablespoon

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 teaspoon

2.00 unit Orange Peel, Sweet Spice

0.75 unit Safale S-05 Dry Ale Yeast Yeast American: Temperature Range: 59°-75° F 11.5 GRAMS

C'

Home Brew Club

I attended my first Chico Home Brew Club meeting on Thursday night. I wasn't sure what to expect, as I'm not very knowledgeable. As it happens it was a great group of people, with about 40 or so members attending. And I didn't feel like a complete noob, as I actually knew what the style guide was. It was essentially two hours of beer tasting, with an emphasis on Bochs this month. A club member brought a few commercially available boch styles to sample, then club members offered up their own home brewed versions of bochs. It was quite a bit of fun to compare. After the bochs, we sampled a few other offerings, including an American Pale Ale, a Pomegranite Cider, and Dogfish Head's Pangea, which is a ginger beer. As usual with DFH offerings, it was over done.

As a member, I got my very own tasting glass:

Susan got one too, as I signed us both up. That gives her the option to attend club functions in the future. Such as a Sacramento Pub Crawl they are doing in a few weeks. They have a bus charted to take us down to a few pubs and breweries, where the club has arranged for samples and tours. Should be a lot of fun.

And I actually got a nice compliment from my neighbor Doug today, who was out changing the front brake pads on his Mercury Cougar. I brought him out a glass of my American Pale Ale I brewed back in January. It seems to be getting better each time I try it. Luckily Doug thought it was very good, and suggested I enter it in the upcoming competition. Not bad, considering he took Best of Show last year! I'm hoping to have three or four offerings to enter.

Oh, and Doug got us signed up to be stewards at the competition. That let's us take part in the pre and post club activities, which includes a lunch at Sierra Nevada and plenty of booze tasting.

C'

Homebrew - Brown

Many moons ago, I brewed up a strong brown. In fact, this was my second attempt at brewing. I hadn't moved into using grain at this point, but I discovered the big cans of liquid extract. I should also add that I wasn't using Qbrew at the time, so I wasn't really doing a great job of dialing in the ingredients. Because of this, I got a little carried away with the ABV.

At the two month in the bottle point, it was very strong. Lots of alcohol warmth. I tried to make a point of keeping the rest of the bottles tucked away to let it condition. So I cracked one open at the 6 month mark:



Way better. As in very tasty. There is still a bit of alcohol warmth throughout, but it isn't overwhelming. In fact, it has a great roasty aroma, full flavor, and a smooth/sweet aftertaste.

Here is the basic recipe:

Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Bitterness 5 IBU
Alcohol by Volume 8.8%
Recipe Color 19° SRM
Alcohol by Weight 6.9%

Ingredients
3.30 lb Briess LME - Traditional Dark Extract
0.75 lb MrB. Booster Sugar Other
1.21 lb MrB. Englishman's Nut-Brown Ale Extract

0.50 oz Cascade Whole 10 minutes
Quantity Misc Notes
1.00 unit Mr. Beer Dry Ale Yeast Temperature Range: 68°-76° F 2.0 GRAMS

C'

Yamaha Brakes, and some Homebrew Sippin'

I spent a short time in the garage tonight, managing to mount up a front brake on the YJ1. Front brake handle, front cable, and a brake lever thingy:





Before that, our neighbor Doug brought over a sample of his Cream Ale, brewed for the upcoming Chico Homebrewers Contest. It was very yummy!


C'

Homebrew: English Nut Brown

I brewed today, after bottling my Dark Wheat last night. Today's brew was a very basic brown, without a lot of frills. Recipe is listed at the bottom, after the shot of the krausen beginning to form in the fermenter after a few hours:



Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Bitterness 24 IBU
Alcohol by Volume 4.8%
Recipe Color 26° SRM
Alcohol by Weight 3.7%

Ingredients
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (US) Grain Mashed
1.00 lb Crystal 90L Grain Mashed
0.75 lb MrB. Booster Sugar Other
1.21 lb MrB. Englishman's Nut-Brown Ale Extract

0.50 oz Cascade Whole 15 minutes
0.25 oz Centennial Whole 35 minutes

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 tsp
2.00 unit Mr. Beer Dry Ale Yeast Yeast Temperature Range: 68°-76° F 2.0 GRAMS

Homebrew: Hopster

Sean will be proud of me, a homebrew without fruit, honey, or wood. Just a good old Pale Ale tilted toward flavor and aroma hops, with a toned down bitterness. Based off a Mr. Beer Canadian Draft extract, with a partial grain mash of two-row and 20L Crystal.

And surprisingly, it worked! Lots of fresh hop aroma comes off the stiff peaky foam. Flavor is also very hoppy, with a real smoothness throughout. It has just enough bite on the backend, but isn't overly bitter.

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Bitterness 57 IBU

Alcohol by Volume 4.7%

Recipe Color 11° SRM

Alcohol by Weight 3.7%

Ingredients

1.21 lb MrB. High Country Canadian Draft Extract Extract

1.00 lb Crystal 20L Grain Mashed

1.00 lb Two-row (US) Grain Mashed

0.56 oz Centennial Whole 30 minutes

1.00 oz Cascade Whole 15 minutes

1.00 oz Crystal Whole 8 minutes

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 tsp

1.00 unit Mr. Beer Dry Ale Yeast Yeast Temperature Range: 68°-76° F 2.0 GRAMS

Yummy!

Homebrew: Vienna Dark Cedar

I posted a few weeks ago about a brew I did that used cedar in it. I actually did two cedar brews back to back, trying a different base recipe for fun. This time I based it off a Mr. Beer Octoberfest Vienna Lager extract. I added some chocolate malt to give it a much darker color, as seen below:

The cedar flavor is much more pronounced in this brew. It isn't overwhelming, but it is easier to tell it is there. The rest of the beer stands up well too, with a nice balance of maltyness and hop bitterness. Overall, I've been enjoying this one.

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Bitterness 23 IBU

Alcohol by Volume 4.4%

Recipe Color 30° SRM

Alcohol by Weight 3.4%

Ingredients

0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (US) Grain Mashed

0.50 lb Crystal 60L Grain Mashed

1.00 lb Honey Sugar Other

1.21 lb MrB. Octoberfest Vienna Lager Extract Extract

0.50 oz Centennial Whole 5 minutes

0.40 oz Magnum Whole 15 minutes

1.00 unit Irish Moss Fining 1/2 tsp

1.00 unit Mr. Beer Dry Ale Yeast Yeast Temperature Range: 68°-76° F 2.0 GRAMS

2.00 unit Orange Peel, Sweet Spice two mandarins, full peel in small pieces, full fruit cut in half segments

Homebrew Tasting

Susan mentioned I haven't been posting about my own brews, and I'm not sure why either. So here are a couple samples I've enjoyed lately:

Oatmeal Stout:

I used a standard Mr. Beer Stout extract kit but spruced it up with some chocolate grain and of course oatmeal. I use both Magnum (bittering) and Willamette (aroma) hops in whole leaf variety. It came out quite nice, even only at the two-week mark in the bottle. Very smooth with a thick mouthfeel and subtle chocolate and oatmeal notes. I was rather pleased with this one.

Irish Red:

I used a standard Mr. Beer Red kit as the base, but used quite a bit of Magnum hops to give it a good kick in the butt, which worked. I've also been using Crystal grains (60L in this case) in many of my beers for a while, to supplement the extract. This is a nice strong flavored Red, with plenty of hops up front, and a good bitter finish.

I'll be taking about half a dozen beers with me to Oregon for a bit of sampling with Mr A., so I'll report on those when I return.

C'