Beer Envy

Adventures in craft beer & homebrewing

[beerenvy]

Building a Stir Plate

For the last couple of years, I've been making my yeast starters the same way that James Bond probably would - shaken (every once in a while), not stirred (via a stir plate). (Sorry - I couldn't help myself). This has worked out fine for me since I usually make 2 or 3 gallon batches and generally don't need a mega-huge pitch of yeast cells. Heck, sometimes, when I'm feeling lazy, I forgo a starter altogether. In most cases, I end up with plenty of yeast cells for the small batches even with higher gravity beers. 

Well, that's about to change. In the near future, I will be making some 100% Brettanomyces beers, so those occasional shakes of the ol' Erlenmeyer aren't going to cut it to get proper Brett pitching rates. I need to step up my yeast game and get a stir plate. My non-Brett beers will benefit as well. 

What I forgot is that those little plates whose sole function is to spin a tiny magnet, cost around $100 from the homebrew shops. I did a little searching and found that it's possible to build one yourself for way less dough, so I gave it a try. It turns out it wasn't hard at all.

I got a lot of the details from this site, but I simplified my version by connecting the AC/DC adapter directly to the fan without a jack. I happened to have some old hard drive magnets sitting around and I found an old AC/DC adapter, so all in all, it only ended up costing around $15 in materials. Totally worth it. 

[beerenvy]

Wild Autumn Ale

Ever since visiting Belgium last year with my wife (which was amazing by the way), I have become (even more) obsessed with funky and sour styles of beer. I have been drinking as many of them as I can find, reading as much about them as I can, listening to various podcasts about them, and even occasionally dreaming about all their lactic, funky glory at night. 

I had been wanting to brew another microbe-laden beer and I was even more inspired after listening to an old Brewing Network podcast that interviewed Ron Jeffries from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. I was intrigued by his use of open fermentation and also his souring method, where some beers get as few as two weeks in bug-filled barrels before packaging. I also had recently tried Fuego del Otono, Jolly Pumpkin's autumn beer, and thought it was fantastic with just the right amount of sourness and funk, so I decided to brew up my own autumn ale using some of the same methods. 

The method I went with (inspired by Jolly Pumpkin) was to mash relatively low and use a high-attenuating yeast for primary fermentation so that the beer is quite dry, then pitch Brett Brux and Lactobacillus into the secondary fermenter. The idea is there will only be a small amount of dextrins remaining in the beer for the Brett and Lacto to consume, so it will be ready for safe packaging rather quickly. This method won't make for an overly sour beer, but I'm hoping it will still lend a nice tart touch. The Brett will continue to work over time so the beer should continue to improve and become funkier with age. 

To get a bit of oak character, I added oak cubes to the secondary that had been boiled briefly. And since this is an autumn beer, I added pumpkin pie spices near the end of the boil that will hopefully lend a subtle festive touch. 

Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Batch Size (fermenter): 3.00 gal Estimated OG: 1.051 SG Estimated Color: 21.7 SRM Estimated IBU: 19.0 IBUs Boil Time: 70 Minutes

Ingredients: ------------ 63% - Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 11% - Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 8% - Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) 4% - Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 3.5% - Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) 1% - Acidulated (Weyermann) (1.8 SRM) .5% - Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) 9% - Brown Sugar, Dark [Boil for 20 min]

19 IBUs - Northern Brewer [8.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop

1.0 pkg Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP550) 1.0 pkg Brettanomyces Bruxellensis (Wyeast) - Added after primary fermentation 1.0 pkg Lactobacillus (Wyeast Labs #5335) - - Added after primary fermentation

------------------------------ Mash @ 149 for 75 minutes.

Batch sparge @ 168 degrees. ------------------------------

*Brewed on 8/30/14.

*At 2-minute mark, added spices at these levels (estimated):

.3 teaspoon cinnamon .15 tsp ginger .075 tsp nutmeg .075 tsp allspice

*Made .5 L starter night before brewing. Pitched whole thing. *Fermenting around 70 degrees. *Racked into glass and added lacto and brett on 9/3. *Added .3oz of oak cubes on 9/17. Boiled for 5 minutes first.

[beerenvy]

Belgian White Beer - Small Batch

I realized that most of the beers I've been brewing these days are pretty high on the ABV scale, so I decided to stray from that for a change to brew up an easy-drinking Belgian witbier. I generally don't drink a lot of witbiers, but I was inspired after recently trying Allagash White, which I had somehow avoided over the years. I found it to be a delicious beer, quite heavy on the spice, but still well-balanced and very refreshing, so I decided to brew up something in the same vein. 

More traditional witbier recipes often include a large percentage of unmalted raw wheat which benefits from a multi-step mash or a cereal mash, but since I prefer a single-infusion mash, I decided to use flaked wheat for my beer along with a smaller portion of malted wheat. Flaked wheat is pre-gelatinized, making it easier for the enzymes to convert the starches. In addition to the wheat, I used pilsner malt as my base and also threw in flaked oats for additional body. 

I decided to go with White Labs' Belgian Wit Ale yeast (WLP400) for fermentation which should produce a fair amount of spiciness. In addition to the spice from the yeast, I picked up some coriander seeds from a Indian spice shop down the street from my house which I cracked and added near the end of the boil. Also, I added 1 tea bag worth of organic chamomile with the hope that it will increase the complexity of the spice character. 

I really enjoy the citrus aroma that witbiers often have, so I decided to get a little wild in that department. I included the zest of 1 Valencia orange, 1 blood orange, 1 grapefruit, and 1 lime (with some zesting help from my wife), added during the last 2 minutes of the boil. 

Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Batch Size (fermenter): 2.10 gal Estimated OG: 1.053 SG Estimated Color: 3.5 SRM Estimated IBU: 14.0 IBUs Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients: ------------ 45% - Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) 33% - Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) 11% - Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) 7% - Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) 4% - Acid Malt (3.0 SRM)

14 IBUs - Hallertau [3.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min

0.20 oz - Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins) 1.0 oz Orange, Grapefruit, and Lime Zest (Boil 2.0 mins) 1 tea bag of Organic Chamomile (Boil 2.0 mins)

1.0 pkg Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400)

---------------------------- Mash @ 154 for 60 minutes.

Batch sparge @ 168 degrees. ----------------------------

*Made .5L starter and split between two 1-gallon jugs. *Fermenting at 69 degrees. Ramping up to 72.

[beerenvy]

Robust Porter and Coffee Vanilla Porter - Split Batch

Porter has been one of my favorite beer styles for a long time, but I had yet to brew one until recently. I have been on a small batch kick lately so I decided to brew up a 2-gallon robust porter and split it into 2 1-gallon jugs. The plan was to add vanilla bean and coffee beans to one of the jugs and leave the second jug as a fairly traditional porter.  

After doing some research on the malt bills of some of my favorite porters as well as perusing Ray Daniels' Designing Great Beers, I came up with this recipe that I brewed on 7/26/14:

Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Batch Size (fermenter): 2.20 gal Estimated OG: 1.058 SG Estimated Color: 30.2 SRM Estimated IBU: 36.9 IBUs Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients: ------------ 75% - Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain  8% -  Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain  6% - Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain  6% - Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain  3% - Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain  2% - Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain  

28.6 IBUs - Northern Brewer [8.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min  6.3 IBUs - East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min 2.1 IBUs - East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min

1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) 

---------------------------- Mash @ 153 degrees for 60 minutes. 

Batch sparge @ 168 degrees. 

----------------------------

*Pitched .5L starter. *Fermented at 67 degrees. *Racked both beers to secondary after 5 days. *Added 1 oz of coarsely ground Kona coffee and 1 split and scraped vanilla bean to one of the jugs on 8/12/14. *Bottled on 8/16/14.

Tasting notes to come. 

[beerenvy]

Tasting Notes - Almanac Beer Co. Dark Pumpkin Sour

As a beer-loving California chap, I was fortunate to hear about Almanac soon after they launched. It took a while before their beers hit the Southern California market (understandably so), but as soon as they did, I was eager to seek them out. Right away, I was impressed with the quality of the beer and Almanac's commitment to sourcing ingredients from local farmers and producers. Also, I won't lie, I'm a sucker for good branding and a sexy bottle and Almanac definitely had both.

I've sampled several of Almanac's beers over the last couple of years and enjoyed them all, so I was excited to try one of their latest beers, Dark Pumpkin Sour, so I thought I would share my tasting experience. 

Dark Pumpkin Sour (DPS to those in the know) pours a lovely deep brown color with a touch of orange. It's not opaque, but similar in color to a brown ale.

With its bright, acidic aroma, it's clear from the first whiff that this is a sour beer. Pumpkin aroma is present, but it's understated for a pumpkin-centric brew. The sour aroma dominates but in a good way. There is also pumpkin pie spice is the mix, along with notes of dark cherry, raisin, and brown sugar.

Upon tasting, a nice tartness dominates with pumpkin layered underneath. Like the aroma, the pumpkin is understated but present. Some spice and pumpkin linger at the finish.

Overall, it's a really nice sour. I was hoping for a bit more oomph from the pumpkin, but given that this beer is barrel-aged for over a year with wild yeasts and bacteria, it's not surprising that the pumpkin notes would fade a bit by bottling time. Even so, I really enjoyed the beer and completely agree (with the wording on the bottle) that this would go great alongside Mom's classic pumpkin pie.