Hoping for a Hoppy Ending

For this "brew through" adventure we'll be skipping ahead to BJCP Category 14-Indian Pale Ale, mainly because we floated our keg of IPA during the US game and this hop goddess can't be long without a fresh pour of lupulin delight. This category has a range of substyles from the English IPA, which, while hoppy does not have quite as bold hop character as an American IPA. On the high end, the imperial IPA style is so hoppy that in some cases is like drinking hop squeezings. Since we already have a Belgian-style imperial IPA on tap, I'm going to brew Jamil's Hoppiness is an IPA from Brewing Classic Styles. Yes, I did say I, Dave has to work so this will be my first independent brew day.

An American IPA is a decidedly hoppy and bitter, moderately strong American pale ale. It should always have high hop bitterness with a lot of American hop character up front and low malt character. American hop character is usually described as being citrusy, piney, fruity, and resiny.

Ingredients

Malt
American 2-Row Malt
Munich Malt
Crystal (15L)
Crystal (40L)

Hops
Horizon
Centinnel
Simcoe
Amarillo

Yeast
Wyeast 1056-American Ale

Crushing the Grains
Insert female power tool joke here. Let me start by saying I am not skilled with power tools, I once removed a row of cabinets with a screwdriver to avoid using the drill, so I should've had Dave go through a dry run before attempting on my own. After fiddling with the drill for about 20 minutes, I finally figured out how to adjust to fit over the mill end. Next step, poured grain into mill and hit power button. The mill revolted and almost flipped off the bucket, so I slide the button in the opposite direction and it started to grind, but not smoothly. After 14.75 pounds of grain had gone through the mill, I'm now ready to mash.

Strike
I'm suspicious of my crushed grains due to the lack of "crush" but hoping that it will all work out. Heated 4.6 gallons of tap water to 166 degrees. Added 2 t. of calcium carbonate, 1 t. of gypsum, and 1 t. of calcium chloride to the mash. Target mash temperature was 149 degrees and stayed consistent for the duration. Mashed for 90 minutes.

Sparge
3.8 gallons of tap water was heated to 170 degrees and 2 t. calcium carbonate was added to the boil. Batched sparged for 15 minutes.

Boil
Pulled 7 gallons of wort @1.020 (What!!!). Brewpal said 1.055 @ 7 gallons, so something is majorly wrong, tell myself the the hydrometer is broken but the sample was very watery. Boiled for 60 minutes. Starting gravity was 1.022 and it was calculated at 1.065 @ 5 gallons. I was ready to cry.

Fermentation
Recommended fermenting temperature is 67 degrees. Pulled 5 gallons into a 6.5 gallon carboy and added yeast (1.75 liter starter with 1 pack).

Ah Ha Moment!
Our new refractometer arrived the day after brew day, so we remeasured the unfermented wort and still 1.022. After an assessment of the brew area, Dave inquired if I had the drill in reverse mode while grinding. D'oh!  Glad the problem was solved but hate feeling like a dumbass.

Salvage Solution
Next up, a low hop, malty brew to blend with my hop water. Stay tuned!

Hofbrau Munchen-Hofbrau Original

My love for ale has kept my beer geo focus on the states and the British Isles for the majority of my 13-year beer drinking career. Except for the traditional Marzen when celebrating Oktoberfest, my exposure to German beer has been limited until a recent homebrew meeting where German Wheat & Rye (BJCP category 15) was the style of the month. We were instantly hooked and planned our own German beer dinner for the weekend (just an excuse to eat brats and Limburger). Weizen, Dunkelweizen, Weizenbock, Helles, Dortmunder, Bock, and Doppelbock, oh my! Tried them all, loved some and strongly liked the rest. Enough about my uncultured palate, let's talk Helles.

Hofbrau is probably one of the most recognized German breweries and their Original is their most popular beer. The Hofbrauhaus in Munich was one of the beer halls used by the Nazi Party, but I'm not going to hold that against them because I also like Volkswagens.

Poured the Original into a pilsner glass and served at 48 degrees. The appearance was clear and the color of dark straw, well carbonated with weak head retention. Overall very alive and inviting. The smell of malt was very prevalent and best described as roasty, sweet, biscuity, and pear. The taste was clean with malty and caramel ends with a bite at the back. The mouthful was very light and sweet with a dry finish. Very clean and smooth. Drinkability-definitely, just wish I had one more bottle. Hope our Helles turns out as well.

Julia-A
Dave-Thumbs up

Helles Yes!

This "brew through" adventure begins with the BJCP Category 1-Light Lager. I'm an ale girl to the core but can appreciate a good lager, although the light part was a bit discouraging. Luckily, the Light Lager category has a wide range of of substyles, ranging from the low-calorie, light-flavored light American lager to the rich, flavorful, but balanced Dortmunder export style. This round we are going to take on Jamil's Munchen Grobes Bier from Brewing Classic Styles.

"A Munich Helles is a clean, malt focused German lager with a gentle, bready malt character. This is a smooth, easy-drinking beer ofter consumed by the liter. There are two key things to keep in mind when brewing any German lager: the right ingredients and a good, clean fementation with the proper level of attentuation." Brewing Classic Styles

Ingredients

Malt

Pilsner Malt (Belgian)

Munich Malt

Melanoidin

Hops

Hallertau

Yeast

Wyeast 2308-Munich Lager

Strike

Heat wave! Brewed our first lager and temperatures surpassed the 90 degree mark, thinking some of our targets may be off. Heated 2 gallons of distilled water and 1.7 gallons of tap water to 166 degrees. Added 2 g. of gypsum and 2 g. calcium chloride to the mash (only have 18 g. of calcium in our water). Target mash temperature was 150 but averaged 155 (probably something to do with the sweltering conditions) Mashed for 60 minutes.

Sparge

Three gallons of distilled and 6.2 gallons of tap was heated to 170 degrees and 3 g. gypsum and 3 g. calcium chloride added. Introduced the sparge arm to brew day so interested to see how our efficiency compares to batch sparging.

Boil

Pulled 10 gallons of wort @ 1.038. Brew Pal said 1.039 @ 10 gallons, so right on. Boiled for 90 minutes. Starting gravity was 1.047 and it was calculated 1.049 @ 8 gallons so we must be doing something right.

Fermentation

Recommended yeast pitching temperature is 45-55 degrees. Pulled 5.5 gallons into a cooling vessel (5 gallon Better Bottle) and placed into fermenter @ 48 degrees for 15 hours. Racked to a 6.5 gallon carboy and pitched 2 liter/2 packs of #2308 based on Mr. Malty calculations. Fermented @ 50 degrees for four days, followed by a diacetyl rest @ 60 degrees for two days.

Lagering

Racked to a 5 gallon keg and lagered @ 35 degrees. Only 8 more weeks to go!