Ding....

You may now fasten your seatbelt...

My dabble thus far in the world of zymergy has been quite. I have produced only one good beer, and my enthusiasm is beginning to wain as my thirst for training is beginning to ferment. I believe my next brew may be a maple brown, brown, or a molasses something or other. It will quickly be followed by a stronger version of my IPA.

Happy Fermentations,
Me

word of the day...

Cenosilicaphobia -

the fear of an empty glass

the bulb above is........now on

On my journey to create good brews and understanding that I must get more practice, (all the while trying to keep the expense reasonable) I decided to only brew 60%, or 3 u.s. gallons, of the original recipies which are typically 5 gallons. This has allowed me to virtually create two completely different brews for the price of one. I think that is genius if you ask me...haha! Anyway, here are the recipies that I have recently created as promised.

BREW I
Wet Mountain IPA (British style IPA)
O.G. 1060
F.G. 1014
abv: 6.0%
IBU's: 60

3#'s british EXlight DME
1/2# american caramel 40L
1/2# american caramel 80L

2.5 hbu cascade (75')
13.5 hbu northern brewer (75')
11.5 hbu centennial (20')
10 hbu centennial (dry hop)
1.4 tsp. irish moss
swedish/ringwood yeast (i used: white labs london)

steep 1 1/2 gallons water in 150F for 30'. sparge w/ 170F water to finish w/over 2.5 gallons. Add DME and bittering hops and bring to a full boil. total boil of 75'. W/20' remain add american centennial. w/10' remining add irish moss. Check O.G. and cool wort. Pitch yeast and ferment in primary for 4-6 days. Secondary @ 55-60F and dry hop for 2 weeks. Age for two weeks or more. Bottle and age above 60F for two weeks.

BREW II
Slow Down Brown (robust ale) (5 gallons)
O.G. 1056
F.G. 1014
abv. 5.5%
IBU's 27

6#'s english light DME ( i used: 3 DME/3.5 syrup)
1/2# american caramel malt 80L
1/4# american chocolate malt
0.1# american roasted barley

4.5 HBU German Northern Brewer hops (60')
5.5 HBU German Northern Brewer hops (30')
2.5 HBU American cascade hops (10')
1/4oz American cascade hops (dry hop for 2 weeks)
1/4 tsp. Irish moss
Swedish/Ringwood yeast (i used: WLP013 London ale yeast)

Steep in 1 1/2 gallons water @ 150 degrees for 30'. Strain and sparge w/170-degree F water to finish with 2 1/2 gallons. Add DME and bittering hops, bring to a boil for 60'. When 30' remain add first dose of flavor hops. When 10' remain add second dose of flavor hops and the irish moss. Check O.G. and cool and chill the wort. Aerate and add yeast. 4-6 days in primary, at least 7 days in secondary. Then add dry-aroma hops and let age two more weeks at 55 F. Age for two weeks @ above 60F.



BREW III
Scotch Style Ale (3 gallons)
O.G. 1068
F.G. 1015
6.8% abv
30 ibu

1.8# pale malt
4.8oz dark 120L crystal malt
9.6oz amber malt
1.2oz roasted barley
3.6# light unhopped malt syrup
4.2AAU's Fuggles ( i used 7aau's for a hoppier brew)
Scottish yeast (i used: WLP028 Edinburgh)

This was the longest brew session I have had to date! It took about 5 1/2 hours and was very exhausting. My legs are still recovering. Here are the details:
Heat 2 gallons to 164-F and steep for 90'. Sparge w/1 gallon. Separate 2 quarts of mixture and boil down to 1 quart to partially caramelize. Add this to the 3.6# fo unhopped light malt extract syrup. Bring to a boil than add fuggles hops and boil for 90'. Check O.G., than cool to 68-F then pitch yeast. Ferment at 62-F for two weeks, secondary @ 4 weeks @ 40F, bottle and age for 3 weeks.


Final Gravitations,
Marcus

Fermentation world!!!

Hello to the Fermentation world! I will attempt to use this site as a journal to keep track of my brewing adventures, recipes, and of'course my royal mishaps. To date, I have brewed 3 batches and have yet to try one of them (more on that later). The three brews thus far are american IPA, robust brown, Scotch ale. Next may be a coffee porter, coffee stout, or a plain stout.
All the batches have gone decently well on brew day and have been pretty basic. I tend to get to adventerous at times and make things harder than I should, so for now basic brewing is best...

Final Gravitations,
Marcus