Munich Helles - Brewday and Tasting Notes

The first batch of lager I made with the accelerated fermentation schedule was a Munich Helles.

Before brewday, I created a spreadsheet to help me keep track of the fermentation activity and set point changes. I updated with readings and compared my schedule with the proposed:

The percent of total attenuation is based on a starting gravity of 1.049 (49 Points) and an anticipated terminal gravity of 1.010. The total expected change is 39 points (49 - 10), so 50% of the total expected change is attained after a gravity drop of about 19 points, or 1.030.

The beer was kegged 11 days after brewday. The first carbonated sample was exceptionally clean (I tested for diacetyl by heating the sample in the microwave). It was quite cloudy at first, but has since dropped fairly clear after a month in the kegerator. I suspect the cloudiness was suspended yeast, so in future batches I will fine with gelatin or isinglass to further reduce conditioning time.

Munich Helles

Brewday: 08/04/13

Batch Size: 5.5 gal

Estimated Mash Efficiency: 56.7%

Est OG = 1.047

Grain:

12 lbs Weyermann Pilsner (90.6%)

1 lbs Weyermann Munich I (7.5%)

4 oz Melanoiden (1.9%)

Hops:

1.25 oz German Hallertauer (Hop Union)

Yeast:

Wyeast 2206 – Bavarian Lager. 2 packs in 3L starter, O2 to start (no stir plate)

Water:

Kroger RO + 80ppm CaCl2 

Mash:

Mash in with 5.3 gallons H2O at 162F

12:10 – Mash in, T = 152F, pH 5-5.3 (via strips, at mash temp)

12:34 – Stir, T = 150F, pH 5-5.3

12:50 – Pulled 0.8 gal decoction (medium thickness) – held at 158F for 10 min, boiled for 10 min

14:00 – added back to main mash (T = 146F to T = 150F) – decoction took too long, may have let sacch rest drop too much – too dry/watery?

14:10 – started runoff

Sparged with 3.5 gallons H2O at 168F, pH = 5-5.3 (water and mix)

Collected 7.3 gallons at 1.048 (71% efficiency – need to adjust)

Boil:

15:10 – started boil

15:40 – Added 1.25 oz (35.4 g) Hallertauer Hops. OG = 1.054

16:30 – OG = 1.060 (13% evap rate)

16:40 KO – extrapolated OG from last reading = 1.062

Added 1.5 gal H2O at KO to bring OG to 1.049 (Target 1.047, not enough water left).

SG = 1.049

Cooled to 90F and set fridge to 80F (will step down temp slowly to reduce strain on fridge compressor).

08/05/13

Pitched yeast at 55F.

A bit of Krausen in 24 hours (no airlock activity).

08/07/13

OG = 1.031. Krausen, lots of sulfur, even outside fridge. Set ferm temp to 58F (no heating).

08/08/13

Temp up to 58F (~ 7 AM).

23:00 – Set fridge cooling to 62F (no heating)

08/09/13

06:45 – Temp at 61F

Evening – 62F

08/10/13

OG = 1.014

Raised temp SP to 64F (used belt after temp reached 63F)

08/11/13

Raised temp to 65F

08/13/13

Kegged. FG = 1.009. (5.2%) Into kegerator at 60F. Decreased kegerator temp 5F/day until 50F for conditioning.

09/14/13:

Samples were cloudy for awhile - also harsh. I attributed both of these to suspended yeast. The sample cleared after heating in the microwave, but did not return after chilling. I did not use cold-side finings but will in the future.

Tasting notes:

Very light aroma – took a few minutes to pick out anything specific. Initially white bread / saltine cracker, maybe some light fruity ester (or maybe I’m imagining/looking for it!).

Flavor is also light, with a touch of bread crust and saltine. CO2 bite is evident; I initially over-carbonated this beer. Some bitterness lingers on the palate.

My wife enjoys the light-flavored nature of this beer, but I would like to taste more Munich malt character. I also want the beer to linger just a little longer, possibly by increasing mash temp for a FG of 1.011. A bit more calcium chloride may enhance the malty flavors.

The beer is very clean despite the accelerated fermentation schedule. I want others to confirm, but I could not discern (with any certainty) fruity esters or fermentation flaws in the flavor or aroma.

Lager Fermentation Experiments - Intro

Background

In a recent episode of The Brewing Network's Sunday Session, the traditional, low-and-slow method of lager fermentation was compared to a more accelerated schedule championed by Mike "Tasty" McDole.

The two fermentation styles were executed on a split batch of wort and compared side by side. Though a riff existed on the overall favorite, the Brewcasters could not discern any fermentation flaws in either sample.

I love lagers. Pils, Marzen, Doppelbock, Helles, Baltic Porter, Altbier, etc.; great beers, but with the coddling required to ferment and condition, I don't often commit to brewing them myself. In light of the above experiment, I decided to give the "Tasty Lager Method" a try.

The Method

McDole starts with plenty of healthy yeast slurry, preferring WLP833 - German Bock Yeast (the Ayinger strain). He pitches at 55F and keeps a close eye on the progress of the ferment.

After the gravity drops 50% of the way to terminal gravity, he raises the temperature to 58F.

After the gravity drops 75% of the way to terminal gravity, he raises the temperature to 62F.

After the gravity drops 90% of the way to terminal gravity, he raises the temperature to 66F and holds until fermentation is complete.

Though it goes against the traditional method of lager fermentation, this procedure parallels a normal, healthy ale fermentation. After the initial growth phase, a slow. steady rise in temperature towards the end of fermentation helps yeast attenuate properly and clean up fermentation byproducts. Since the vast majority of esters we want to avoid in crisp, clean lagers are produced during the initial growth phase, it makes sense to reel in the temperature initially, allowing the yeast an increasingly warmer environment to complete fermentation.

(Nearly all the information in the above paragraph on healthy fermentation was taken from Yeast by Jamil Zainasheff and Chris White. If you are interested in brewing GOOD beer, read it.) 

Application in the SHPB

I brewed two lagers in succession with this method: a Munich Helles and a German Pils with sweet corn.

I kept tabs on each fermentation, taking a gravity sample each day and adjusting the temperature as needed.

Both brews are currently kegged and on tap. I will post recipes and tasting notes later this week, hopefully after receiving some critical input from more experienced tasters. Results, so far, have been promising (not to mention delicious!).

American Wild Ale 2013 - Brewday

It was clear after the pre-NHC tasting of all my sour experiments that the inaugural batch from my Homebrew Horny Tank was ready to keg. The HHT yielded a sharp acidity along with yeast-derived flavors of citrus, mango/pineapple, and musty basement. A lovely beer on its own, it will be a pleasure to blend with other vintages or fruit.

To move one beer out of the HHT means immediately replacing it. This second batch of wort was similar to the first: blond with 50% wheat, produced via turbid-mash. The remaining 50% of the grist was a blend of Rahr Pale Malt and Weyermann Pilsner Malt, a change that hopefully allows more malt character to come through in the finished product.

Last Christmas, a friend of mine graciously gave me several pounds old, loose-leaf hops he found while packing for a move. The Saaz and Mittelfruh varieties were already well on their way to being a perfect match for wild ale. On brewday, they were ready to go: dry with a faint, hay-like aroma, and devoid of any cheesy/mildewy flavors you might expect from poorly stored hops. Don't get me wrong - aging hops will normally stink of leftover Parmesan for awhile during the transition to properly aged hops.

All the details of the turbid-mash brewday are below. I took lots of pictures to (hopefully) make the procedure more clear and the read less tedious.

American Wild Ale 2013

Brewday: 07/21/13

Batch Size: 8 gallons

Estimated Mash Efficiency: 57.4%

Estimated OG: 1.049

Grain:

8 lbs Raw Wheat (40%)

6 lbs Castle Pilsner Malt (30%)

6 lbs Rahr Pale Malt (30%)

2 lbs Rice Hulls

Hops: 4.8 oz Aged Hallertau Hops

Water: Kroger RO (10 gallons), Kroger Drinking Water (7 gallons)

Mash:

Mash Water: Assume 2 qts/lb grain (40 qts = 10 gallons)

1^st rest (113F) - 0.3 qts/lb

6 quarts of water at 138F (per Beer Smith), hold for 20 min

16:01 – mixed in Aluminum pot; T = 114F

2^nd rest (136F): Infuse 3 qts boiling water (per BeerSmith), hold 20 min

16:25 – added 3 qts boiling water – 126F (boiled too long – may have loss ~ 1 qt)

16:32 – added 2.5 qts boiling water – 160F

16:37 – added 3 qts room temp water – 137F

Remove 1/3 of total liquor (4.8 qts), heat to 190F and hold

17:00 – Pulled 4 qts – heated to 192F (burn on bottom of pot??)

3^rd rest (150F): Infuse ~3.25 qts boiling water (per BeerSmith, less 4 qts turbid pull), hold 30 min

17:10 – Added 4 qts boiling water: T = 146F

17:15 – added 70 oz (2.2 qts) boiling water : T = 150F, pH ~5.5 (per strip)

17:20 – added 1 tsp 88% lactic acid: pH ~5 (per strip)

Remove ½ of total liquor, heat to 190F, hold

Total liquor ~ 17 qts (less 1^st pull). Pull ~ 8 qts

17:55 – Pulled 7 qts – heated to 194F with 1^st pull

4^th rest (165F): Infuse to mash out temp (165F), hold 30 min

18:00 – Added ~ 5.5 qts boiling water: T = 159F (good enough)

18:40 – Added turbid portion back to main mash (turbid T = 175F)

No rice hulls - dogs ate them:

Runoff: Collected 3.9 gallons with little resistance, despite a lot of raw wheat and no rice hulls. I think the first rest (beta glucanase rest) helped out here!

Sparged with 5.4 gallons at 162F (1.9 gallons would not fit)

Collected 9.1 gallons total at 1.043

Boil:

20:15 – started boil. Added 3.5 oz aged Hallertau hops in 2 large grain bags (less than recipe, but it seemed like a LOT of hops!).

21:20 – SG = 1.050

21:53 – KO; chilled to 90F, transferred to bucket, and put in fridge. SP = 65F

Noticed plastic smell in bucket. Washed and re-sanitized. May be from Star San spray bottle? Taste before adding to HHT.

OG = 1.055

07/22/13 – Transferred to HHT at 65F (AWA from last year racked off immediately beforehand). No off-flavors in wort. Aroma was very much like honey. My sample was quite bitter, but I believe it was because I sampled after transferring (picked up sediment/trub/hop matter in sample).

Used extra wort to make starters for Bootleg Biology and BKYeast samples, as well as feed the wild culture.

07/28/13 – Took out of fermentation fridge after 1 week; no visual signs of activity (airlock bubbles, temperature rise). When I opened the lid, I noticed a thin, white pellicle and pineapple/grapefruit aroma (similar to last batch). Did not add additional bugs.

Wild Yeast Culture Experiments - Update and Recipes

I have yet to publish notes on several of my sour beer experiments, so I thought I would give one large update on several works-in-progress. Before leaving for NHC, I tasted all of the batches and recorded notes to reference during my presentation and to start planning storage and/or fruit additions.

Though I'm grouping them together, I learned (and am still learning) a great deal from each brew. So far, 2 of 5 batches have been dumped, both of which for the same reason: unpalatable levels of DMS.

DMS can be produced by some wild microorganisms, but I am confident the starchy, corncob-like flavor in these beers was created in the mash tun/kettle. DMS is fairly volatile, but since I did not boil either of these batches, the DMS that formed was not driven off and remained in the finished beer. After boiling half of one of these batches proved effective in removing the off-flavor, I concluded that a full boil is necessary to produce clean beer at the SHPB, especially those with a considerable amount of Pilsner malt.

I specify this necessity is unique to my brewery, as I have read about (and tasted) clean, corncob-free examples of low-gravity, light-colored beers produced without boiling. Perhaps a faster chilling method will make this method a reality for me (I've had my eye on a Blichmann Therminator for awhile!).

Though no-boil Berliner Weisse (and the like) is a definite possibility, I have also come across numerous commercial and homebrew with high levels of DMS. To significantly reduce the risk of DMS in the finished beer, I recommend boiling as normal. Even a small amount of DMS is perceivable (and overwhelming) in this light and simple style. In the re-boiled batch mentioned, color pickup was minimal, and will be even less in a steam-jacket kettle.

Sour Brown

Split batch of oatmeal brown (the other half was served during our wedding).

Brew Date	11/11/12
OG	1.062
Grist	16 lbs Rahr 2-row (61.5%) 3 lbs Briess Victory (11.5%) 2 lbs Flaked Oats (7.7%) 2 lbs C-60L (7.7%) 1.75 lbs Pale Chocolate (6.7%) 1.25 lbs Debittered Black Malt (4.8%)
Hops	35 IBU Apollo (60 min)
Primary Yeast	N/A
Conditioning	Inoculated with 3 shots of American Wild Ale (11/11/12) Pitched 500mL lacto slurry (02/25/13) Pitched dregs from 3F Gold Blend (early June)

Tasting notes:

02/22/13

Very musty, Not much acidity. Drier than the original but not completely attenuated. Needs a lot more time.

04/19/13

Solid pellicle has formed. Aroma is complex, but still has some stinky, blue cheese notes. Very tart, with cherry pie, fruity flavors, and some musty flavors. Thin. Needs another few months.

06/24/13

Chocolatey aroma. Acidity is picking up; a nice level for a sour brown, with still some residual sweetness at the end of the swallow. There is astringency, probably from the significant amount of ‘junk’ in the sample – yeast, trub, pellicle, etc. Maybe a slight alcohol note, but that could be the combo of the acid and the astringency. OK overall, headed in the right direction, will continue to age and see what happens.

No-Boil Berliner Weisse

Split batch of Saison wort – this half was taken off after bringing the wort to boil.

Brew Date	02/24/13
OG	1.056
Grist	15 lbs Castle Pilsner (68.2%) 6 lbs Flaked Wheat (27.3%) 1 lb Aromatic Malt (4.5%)
Hops	None
Primary Yeast	N/A
Conditioning	Lacto Slurry, mixed culture slurry, Madam Rose 2012 dregs (02/24/13)

Tasting notes:

03/06/13

SG = 1.011 (6.0%). Very aromatic. A hint of lemon, but dominated by a nutty aroma (maybe peanut butter? Also similar to the aroma of UCBC’s Winged Nut). Prickling acidity, not as forceful as I’d like but very pleasant. Nutty flavors are also present, some wheat cracker from the wheat. Simple, but extremely enjoyable already. Great candidate for dry-hopping (Amarillo? Chinook?).

06/24/13

Tasting from keg. Keg was chilled for a period of time. In that time, tasting revealed ‘nutty’ flavor as DMS

Nutty aroma/flavor (DMS) still present at similar levels to prior tastings. I don’t believe it will ‘drop out’. It’s a shame – the acidity level is wonderful. Otherwise a very nice beer.

07/15/13
Dumped keg.

Golden Sour 1 – Double Batch

A double batch (10 gal) of low gravity, malt-based wort. No boil initially, one half was boiled after primary fermentation to reduce the (extremely) high levels of DMS. The other half never recovered.

Brew Date	03/24/13
OG	1.043
Grist	9 lbs Castle Pilsner Malt (47.4%) 9 lbs Rahr Pale Malt (47.4%) 1 lbs Flaked Oats (5.3%)
Hops	None (Heated to 170F)
Primary Yeast	A – Lactobacillus (slurry from growler culture), 3711 (after souring) B – Dregs from No-boil Berliner weisse (before re-boil)
Conditioning	A – N/A B – WY3522 (Ardennes), WL644 (Brett Brux Trois) – after sour, boil

Fermentation/Tasting notes:

03/29/13

A: No bubbles in airlock throughout the week. SG = 1.021. White foamy “krausen”. Sample was very cloudy. Very odd aroma, off-putting (corn stalk - DMS?), carries through in the flavor. Fairly tart, but lacks tartness of a Berliner Weisse. Not much to it other than that.

B: Bubbled vigorously in airlock for ~ 2 days. SG = 1.030. More corn stalk in flavor and aroma than A. Not nearly as sour. Aweful.

03/30/13

B: Boiled for 90 minutes (down to 3.1 gal), added whirlfloc tablet at 15 min left, added 1 gal distilled H2O at KO. Left open to cool to 140F, then covered (flies started to swarm).

04/03/13:

A: Added 1 smack pack 3711 (French Saison)

B: Added 1 smack pack 3522 (Belg Ardennes), Brett Brux Trois (WL culture), mixed culture

04/10/13

A: SG = 1.010. Still very cloudy, much more so than B (looks like thin buttermilk). Corncob in the nose, but has diminished and fades more quickly. Still very tart, and now light on the palate, which leaves less slickness to carry the corncob flavor. The corn flavor is still there, but in lesser quantity. Not much else to the flavor. Prickly acidity on the tongue (more acidic than B, I like this level better). No yeast flavors/aromas.

B: SG = 1.012. Cloudy. Tart, thinner (will be nice with carbonation). Corny flavor is yielding to a crackery, bready flavor (graham/saltine?). Acidity is very pleasant, but I believe it would be more so if further attenuated. The carbonation may give this effect. I’m mostly surprised at the lack of yeast character after fermentation. Maybe it was because of the low fermentation temp (ambient ~ 62F), but I assumed the low pH would stress the yeast and cause some sort of flavor compound, good or bad.

06/24/13

A: Developed a thin, translucent pellicle in bucket. Flavors developing but covered up by DMS. Still gross.

B: Formed ¼” thick white, knobby pellicle in carboy. Not much aroma. Acidity is sharp and lemony, but not much else in terms of flavor. Fairly clean, with a tiny hint of DMS left. Great candidate for fruit (especially in the 1/3-full carboy!).

07/14/13: Dumped A

Golden Sour 2

Brew Date	04/07/13
OG	1.060
Grist	9 lbs Rahr Pale Malt (47.4%) 5 lbs Castle Pilsner Malt (26.3%) 5 lbs Weyermann Wheat Malt (26.3%)
Hops	None (85 minute boil to reduce DMS)
Primary Yeast	Lactobacillus (starting at 110F, apple juice/grain starter). Bucket was left in fridge for a few weeks. Developed sharp acidity in 1-2 weeks.
Conditioning	Wild yeast?

Tasting notes:

06/24/13

Developed thin, translucent pellicle (from either wild yeast in bucket or Lacto starter). Caramel apple aroma. Toasty malt flavor with sharp, lingering acidity. Hints of apple in aroma/flavor from lacto starter (made with apple juice).  Otherwise clean. Another great candidate for fruit!

07/14/13

Racked ½ of batch (~2.5 gal) on 6 lbs of whole, pitted apricots and golden apricots from Farmers Market. Fruit was washed with luke-warm water before pitting. Added ~ ¼ cup slurry from Cantillion Iris Brett C1 (from BKYeast) and mixed starter to fruit portion.

I will most likely add fruit to the (currently) plain portion as well. I have some canned raspberry puree, but I am thinking about adding a comparable amount of canned apricot puree from my LHBS to evaluate the differences of fresh fruit vs. canned puree. More updates to come! 

  

NHC 2013 Presentation on Wild House Cultures

I was humbled and honored to speak at the 2013 National Homebrewers Conference in Philadelphia. My presentation, Methods of Creating and Maintaining Wild House Cultures, is a collection of research and experiments surrounding the production of sour, wild, and funky ales on a "macro" scale. Most of the talk's content is covered in detail in prior posts on this site.

Even though I am not an eloquent public speaker, I believe the presentation went over well; both time slots drew a surprising crowd (even without beer!) spanning the entire spectrum of sour brewing (and homebrewing) experience. Each session ended with intriguing Q&A and an opportunity for me to meet homebrewers who are diving into sours head first!

I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity. I am not an outgoing personality, so the seminar, fueled by the passion and camaraderie of the homebrewing community (and greased with a few samples of homebrew), allowed me to connect with so many more brewers than I would have as a participant. If I was able to enhance the audience's knowledge by a sliver of what I gained by giving the presentation, I will consider it a success.

By far the most humbling experience of the conference was tasting the wide array of homebrewed gueuze, lambic, and fruited sours on Club Night. The overall quality and creativity of those poured was incredible, consistently more balanced, unique, and flavorful than most commercial examples. One of my first samples of the night, a gueuze poured  by the BNArmy, was easily the best sour beer I have ever had (commercial or otherwise).

I have posted two versions of the presentation below: the set of slides shown to the NHC audience, and the set with my notes. Some of the slides are fairly vague, so the notes should help fill in the gaps.

The presentation slides and audio will also be posted on the AHA website for members' access only. I will update this post with a link as soon as it is available.

2013 NHC Presentation - Methods of Creating and Maintaining Wild House Cultures

2013 NHC Presentation - Methods of Creating and Maintaining Wild House Cultures (with notes)

2013 NHC Presentation (audio from AHA website)

Giving Your Bottle Dregs A Head Start

Between drinking a great, unpasteurized funky beer and pitching its dregs, I like to take the time to build up the microbes into their own little mixed culture. Whether introducing the dregs into a mixed culture or full batch, initially reviving them in the bottle will increase their rate of survival and contribution to your beer.

This extra bit of work is not really necessary, but I think its worth it for a few reasons:

• It allows me to verify the purity of the resulting culture. I am especially weary of pitching bugs from traditional Flanders beers because of their levels of Acetobacter. Just as well, the dregs from any bottle that has a higher-than-normal acetic character can be evaluated for acetic acid production. This goes for any off flavors or aromas that may have been perceived in the beer.
• It allows me to verify the quality of the resulting culture. Is the beer in fact a living product? If so, is anything still alive? Are the surviving organisms' flavor contributions pleasant?
• Any unwanted Saccharomyces strains can be (mostly) discarded with a few initial steps in the bottle. In younger bottles, the bottle conditioning strain can often out-compete other organisms in a fresh culture.
• I can split the resulting slurry, adding some to the mixed culture and reserving some to pitch at a bottling or into a keg.
• I can make the rare or expensive dregs count!

The procedure is fairly simple:

1. Open the bottle and clean off any dirt, cork, or residual beer. Sanitize the lip with vodka (or grain alcohol). Pour & enjoy beer (leave dregs behind).
2. If you don't have some sanitary wort handy (or are in a group setting), you can cover the bottle with sanitized aluminum foil and store in the fridge. You should be able to get away with this without any ill-effects until the weekend.
3. Add ½” of starter wort to the bottle (or enough to cover the bulb on a 750).
4. Affix a stopper/airlock. The stopper/airlock is key in keeping out oxygen and insects.
5. Wait for activity to slow/stop. Evaluate sample (smell and taste).
6. Repeat this process until the dregs display signs of normal, healthy, active fermentation.
7. Pitch into mixed culture or full batch when active.
8. If an unwanted Saccharomyces strain is present in the culture, allow it to flocculate and pitch some of the supernatant liquid without the slurry.
9. Waiting for a pellicle to form will allow you to evaluate the flavor contributions from the Brettanomyces species in the culture. It will also aid the transfer of Brettanomyces to a nutrient-poor environment (like a batch of conditioning beer or an advanced mixed culture).

Cheers!

Rye IPA

Its been awhile since my last post, but I'm happy to report the reason for not publishing content is (hopefully) creating it. I have been brewing every weekend for the past month or so, mostly continuing my experiments with mixed cultures, as well as transitioning into my next homebrewing query, which I will start posting next next month.

I've also been researching and drafting my presentation for the National Homebrewers Conference in June, which will dive into the sour beer production techniques I've shared on this page (and some I haven't). The title of the presentation is Methods of Creating and Maintaining A 'Wild' House Culture. If you're attending the conference, please join me!

A few weeks ago, I took a break from the bugs to focus on a beer for a unique and challenging local competition.

For the past few years Andrew Castner, the Brewmaster for Indiana's two RAM brewpub locations, holds a local homebrew competition. The winner helps Andrew brew his/her beer in RAM's brewery, where it is released as a seasonal. An awards ceremony is held at RAM's downtown location the day of the competition, rewarding all entrants with free samples, giveaways, and an open forum for smack talk. 

I enjoy entering this competition because the guidelines are always unique and challenging. Last year's theme was "Session IPA", which asked brewers to create a flavorful, hoppy, balanced beer with an original gravity below 1.040. Although I didn't win, I learned a lot from brewing the beer and from the judge's comments. Also - the commercial version of the winning entry was delicious.

This year, the challenge is entitled "Rye Not?", and requires a beer brewed with at least 20% rye (and named with a ridiculous "Rye" pun, apparently). Any base style can be used, as long as the original gravity is under 1.060.

Inspired by a recently-released seasonal by 3 Floyds, I concocted a dry, light-colored IPA with a hefty dose of rye malt and piney/citrusy American hops. And a ridiculous, pun-charged name.

I was concerned the slick mouthfeel from the rye will be off-putting in an IPA, either coating the tongue with bitterness or creating a cloying sensation. For the first attempt, I just dumped in 20% rye malt to my somewhat-standard IPA grist bill and hoped for the best. I should have time to re-brew the beer at least once before the entry deadline.

In selecting hops, I wanted to play off the spicy, peppery, arugula/watercress flavors of the rye. I chose Chinook for pine and spice, Amarillo for orange and apricot, Cascade for citrus and grapefruit, and a bit Columbus to reinforce the earthy/dank aromas from Chinook.

"Ryenstone Cowboy" - Brewday: 03/30/13

Batch Size: 5.5gal

Estimated Mash Efficiency: 65%

Est OG = 1.061

Grain:

10 lbs Rahr 2-Row Pale (58.8%)

3.5 lbs Briess Rye Malt (20.6%)

2.5 lbs Weyermann Munich I Malt (14.7%)

1 lbs Simpsons Med Crystal 50-60L (5.9%)

1 lbs Rice Hulls

Hops:

Mash: 1.00 oz Cascade (5.0%), 1.02 oz Citra (13.9%)

FWH (90): 1.00 oz each Amarillo (8.7%), Cascade

Boil (15): 1.00 oz each Amarillo, Cascade, Chinook (11.8%)

WP (170F): 1.00 oz each Amarillo, Chinook, Columbus

Dry Hop (2-3 days, as fermentation slows): 2.00 oz Amarillo, 1.00 oz each Cascade, Chinook

Water:

9.5 gallons Kroger 5-gal refills, 0.5 gal Kroger Drinking water

Looking for ~ 300ppm SO4

Mash Salts: 11.0 g CaSO4, 2.8 g CaCl (+ ¼ tsp packed Baking Soda for pH adjust)

Sparge Salts: 9.0 g CaSO4, 2.3 g CaCl

Mash:

Mashed in with 5.5 gal at 160F – T=149F, pH ~4.9

Added ¼ tsp packed Baking Soda – pH ~ 5.5 (12:15)

Stirred in Mash hops at 12:40

14:00 – started vorlauf

14:05 – Started runoff to kettle (sample tastes nice. Bitter, and very sweet spiciness from rye, nice hop aroma, not much hop flavor. No ‘corn-cob’ flavors like in results from last batch)

Sparged with 4.5 gal at 170F

Collected 6.9 gal at 1.050. 58% mash eff.
Low mash efficiency is probably due to a quick sparge runoff. Also, I normally see an efficiency loss (about 5%) when mashing substantial amounts of wheat, so it is feasible that rye has a similar effect. 

Boil:

Boiled for 60 min – added hops at times above (and whirlfloc at 15 min)

SG = 1.064 (18% evap. rate - expected 15.5%)

Cooled to 61F (oops)

Whirlpool for 20 min at 61F.

Transferred to glass carboy – lots of hop matter and trub in fermentor.

Fermentation:

Pitched at 63F: S-04 (rehydrated) and 1 packet 1728 (Scottish Ale)

Shook for ~90 sec to aerate.

Fermentation signs visible within 12 hours.

4/4/13 (evening): Added dry hops. SG = 1.008 (7.4% ABV)

4/7/13 kegged at 20 psi