Galaxy Pale Ale Tap Handle

A few years back, my homebrew club, The Central Valley Brewers Guild, ran a club experiment where we all brewed the same pale ale recipe and then a couple months later brought our brews to a gathering to compare results.  The idea was to see how our process affected the final brew, rather than the recipe.  The results varied quite a bit, showing that how you do things while brewing has as great an effect on the resulting beer as do the ingredients.  It was eye opening!

I really enjoyed the version I brewed and I’ve brewed it several times again in an effort to have a non-aggressive pale ale on tap for visitors.  The last time I brewed it, Don Oliver, Brew Master of Dust Bowl Brewing, was kind enough to share five ounces of Galaxy hops pellets for dry hopping.  I had really enjoyed his Galaxy Pale Ale and particularly his Red IPA, both of which rely on Galaxy hops, so I was hoping that dry hopping with them would bring some of that character to my pale ale.  It did – and it was a hit!  I served up a keg at our annual neighborhood Halloween party this year, and revelers blew the keg!  I’ll be staggering the dry hops over several days and this time maybe backing down an ounce to reduce some of the fruitness the Galaxy hops bring to the ale.

The recipe for my Galaxy Pale Ale is as follows:

Galaxy Pale Ale
10-A American Pale Ale
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 3/30/12

Size: 10.56 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 211.53 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.063 (1.045 – 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.016 (1.010 – 1.015)
Color: 8.8 (5.0 – 14.0)
Alcohol: 6.25% (4.5% – 6.0%)
Bitterness: 44.5 (30.0 – 45.0)

Ingredients:
23.0 lb (86.8%) American 2-row – added during mash
1.5 lb (5.7%) American Munich – added during mash
1.0 lb (3.8%) Carastan Malt – added during mash
1.0 lb (3.8%) 2-Row Carapils Malt – added during mash
1.5 oz (15.0%) Simcoe (13.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 m
0.75 oz (7.5%) Cascade (5.5%) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
0.75 oz (7.5%) Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
1.5 oz (15.0%) Cascade (5.5%) – added during boil, boiled 1.0 m
1.5 oz (15.0%) Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 1.0 m
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
1.0 tsp Wyeast Nutrient  – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
2000 mL Starter White Labs WLP001 California Ale
2.0 oz (20.0%) Galaxy (12.4%) – added dry to secondary fermenter, Day 7
2.0 oz (20.0%) Galaxy (12.4%) – added dry to secondary fermenter, Day 10

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Water filtered and grain milled for Black IPA

It’s time to brew a Black IPA – or a Cascadian Dark Ale, as they are often called – again.  Steve and I brewed a Black IPA, loosely based on a Steve Altimari recipe, back in 2009, and it is one of the top page views on this blog.  It was an awesome ale, with a huge citrusy flavor and nose.  But, the Sinamar we used for “beer food coloring” to darken the ale, left the ale muddy and I want to try and avoid that this time.  I’ll be using a combination of Belgian De-Bittered Black Malt and Weyermann Carafa III to naturally darken the ale.  Both of these roasted malts bring lots of color, but very little roasty flavor or astringency.  I am hoping for a bit of roastiness, along the lines of Rubicon Brewing’s Capricorn Black IPA.  Also, I’ll only be adding half of the two pounds of dark malts to the main mash grist.  I read on one of the brew boards that you can still get the color by adding the dark malts for the last fifteen minutes of the mash, but it mellows the roastiness and rounds off the edge of the astringency.  I do have some Sinamar on hand in case I’m not pleased with the color of the wort after the mash, but I’m hoping not to use it.

I also changed up the bittering hops in this batch.  I’ll be using Millenium hops in place of the Magnums we used last time.  My home town IPA, Dust Bowl Brewing’s Hops of Wrath relies heavily on Mellenium hops.  In the words of Dust Bowl’s head brewer, Don Oliver, “Think big alpha plus herbal – delicious hop!”  I’m sold!  Finally, I’ll be lucky to get all thirty pounds of grain in my mash tun.  Here’s the updated recipe for Back in Black IPA:

Back in Black IPA 2
14-B American IPA
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 2/16/12

Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 347.04 kcal per 16.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.078 (1.070 – 1.090)
Terminal Gravity: 1.019 (1.010 – 1.020)
Color: 29.56 (8.0 – 15.0)
Alcohol: 7.69% (7.5% – 10.0%)
Bitterness: 79.5 (60.0 – 120.0)

Ingredients:
13.0 lb Pale Ale Malt
13.0 lb Maris Otter Pale
1.0 lb Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt
1.0 lb Carastan
1.0 lb Carafa III
1.0 lb De-Bittered Black Malt
1.0 oz Millenium (15.5%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 m
3.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 m
2.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 m
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
3.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added after boil, hop back
3.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) – added after boil, hop back
2 ea Whirlfloc – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
1000 mL Starter,White Labs WLP001 California Ale
1000 mL Starter, White Labs WLP002 English Ale
6.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added dry to secondary fermenter

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Alesmith's San Diego Dark Session Ale

Anyone who knows me would laugh if I told them I was going to brew a session ale.  For me, life starts at 1.060 OG and goes up from there!

As a part of our schwag for NHC 2011, we were given a commemorative bomber of San Diego Dark Session Ale, brewed by Alesmith in San Diego (the picture of the bottle on Beer Advocate is mine:)  The ale was incredibly drinkable – sessionable even – but with enough lightly roasted hoppy flavor to meet my needs.  The recipe was published in the May/June 2011 issue of Zymurgy as a 5 gallon recipe.  I threw the ingredients into Beer Tools for a 10 gallon batch, adjusted the OG for my system’s efficiency, and I plan on brewing this on Labor Day.  A starter of the new White Labs WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast is bubbling away on the stir plate as I type this entry.  This is the second batch of ale that will be run through my new  fermenter.

The weather here has been so hot I just haven’t wanted to brew and Monday is the coolest projected day for this weekend.  Additionally, the 26 month old Sears refrigerator that I use for a fermentation vessel crapped out last week.  Thankfully, it is now up and running again after a $139 repair bill.  It’s time to brew!

Here’s the recipe I’ll be brewing on Monday:

Central Valley Dark Session Ale
11-A Mild
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 9/5/11

Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 194.62 kcal per 16.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.044 (1.030 – 1.038)
Terminal Gravity: 1.011 (1.008 – 1.013)
Color: 17.4 (12.0 – 25.0)
Alcohol: 4.32% (2.8% – 4.5%)
Bitterness: 31.5 (10.0 – 25.0)

Ingredients:
12.0 lb Maris Otter
1.2 lb Crystal 45
0.6 lb Biscuit Malt
0.6 lb Crystal 120
0.6 lb Crystal 75
0.6 lb Melanoidin Malt
0.25 lb American Chocolate Malt
1.0 lb Cara-Pils® Malt
0.4 oz Simcoe® (13.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
0.4 oz Warrior® (16.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
0.5 oz Simcoe® (13.0%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2.0 ea Servomyces – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
0.5 oz Amarillo® (8.5%) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
0.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added dry to primary fermenter
0.5 oz Amarillo® (8.5%) – added dry to primary fermenter
0.5 oz Simcoe® (13.0%) – added dry to primary fermenter
2000.0 mL Starter White Labs WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast

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Today, I received score sheets for my two entries into the National Homebrew Competition final round.  The bronze medal American barleywine scored a combined 38.3 points and advanced on to the mini-Best of Show round.  It came in 3rd out of 252 entries in the strong ale category.  Here are the score sheets (click on the images to view a larger size version you can actually read:)

Cover Sheet Mark's Bigfoot Barleywine

Score Sheet 1 Mark's Bigfoot Barleywine

Score Sheet 2 Mark's Bigfoot Barleywine

Score Sheet 3 Mark's Bigfoot Barleywine

The Beanilla Porter scored a combined 34 points and did not place in the finals. I was surprised at some of the comments saying that the fresh vanilla overpowered the underlying robust porter style.  Upon further research in the BJCP style guidelines for spiced beers, they do repeatedly talk about a balance of the spice and the underlying style.  Strangely, this received much higher scores in the first round (and a first place regionally), and the level if spice was complemented several times.  Go figure…

Cover Sheet Beanilla Porter

Score Sheet 1 Beanilla Porter

Score Sheet 2 Beanilla Porter

Score Sheet 3 Beanilla Porter

All in all, this has been a good experience.  I was always just a bit wary of the whole judging process, and some of that is still there.  I can’t help but feel that judging beer ultimately comes down to very subjective calls by judges.  Aside from strong ales that didn’t meet the primary BJCP style guidelines, how exactly was my bronze medal barleywine better than 249 other strong ales?

The barleywine keg blew last Monday, but I’ve bottled eight bottles for potentially entering the ale again next year and see how it does after another twelve months of aging.  But, I also need to brew the barleywine again ASAP:)

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Lazy Brewer Photo Galleries

A photo gallery from the Lazy Brewer’s San Diego adventure has been posted.  Enjoy:)

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Table 30, with my favorite people, at the Awards Ceremony

We returned from NHC to blistering heat (over 100 degrees) in the San Joaquin Valley.  On top of that, our air conditioner crapped out, and we spent a very hot, restless night before a repair dude made it to our house yesterday.  All is good again!

The trip home for NHC was long, but uneventful.  After a couple days to detoxify my liver, I’ve had time to reflect on some of the things I learned at NHC 2011.

I learned that I can attended a three day beer conference and not over-imbibe, even though beer is available from 9:00 am to 2:00 am.  Never once did I have next-day blues from alcohol.  Every day, I had next-day blues from lack of sleep. The NHC conference is definitely a marathon event:)

My Bronze Medal for the American Barleywine

I learned what pride is.  Pride is being on a stage, receiving a medal for your brewing accomplishments, in front of the people who love you the most.  Nine of the ten people at my Grand Banquet and Awards Ceremony table were actively rooting for my ales, maybe even more than I was.  The look in their faces when my name was called meant more than the actual bronze medal.  They were proud and happy for me like they themselves had actually won!  I love you guys:)

I learned the power of social media.  The kudos I received via Twitter and Facebook were amazing.  Some of my Twitter buddies could be heard cheering from other places in the banquet room.  That was cool!

We are already planning on attending next year’s NHC in Seattle.  Family in Oregon that we can visit, the huge beer culture in Oregon, and the fact that I haven’t been to Seattle since I was a child, are all huge draws.  I’m planning on setting up a brewing schedule, that favors competition entries for next year’s NHC, in the next couple weeks. Additionally, I’m going to bottle some of the winning barleywine and see how it matures over the year.  It would be interesting to submit it again next year and see how it scores.

If you are a homebrewer, and you’ve never been to a National Homebrewers Conference, start saving your pennies now!  Next year’s conference in Seattle should be killer!

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Me and Gary Glass

Holy crap!  I won a bronze medal at the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference for my American barleywine!  I was so excited!  It was wonderful to have so many of my good friends around when it happened:)  And most importantly, it put The Central Valley Brewers Guild on the map.   I think I’m proudest of that:)

Many thanks to those of you who have reached out to me with congratulations!

Mr. and Mrs. Lazy Brewer

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My NHC Support Group, Steve, Me and Stephen!

Day three, the last day of NHC, has been amazing.  I attended four sessions led by brewing legends and another about homebrew club management and organization.  Today I attended the following breakout sessions:

Homebrew Club Organization Panel moderated by Drew Beechum

High Gravity Brewing with Patrick Rue of The Bruery

Recipe Building and Competition Tips with Gordon Strong

Collaboration Beers with Greg Koch of Stone Brewing

Workshop on American Hops with Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker Brewing

The homebrew club panel was informative.  We’re looking for this kind of info as our club, The Central Valley Brewers Guild, grows.  Steve and I attended and we pulled a few good nuggets out of the session.  There was talk of having a pre-NHC workshop for homebrew club leaders at next years NHC in Seattle.  I’m definitely up for that:)

Greg Koch of Stone Brewing with his eyes covered!

Simply put, Greg Koch, of Stone Brewing, is an manic, crazy genius!  He body surfed our session and I’m proud to say that at one point I supported his left buttock as he passed over head.  It was a lively session with much info and frivolity.  My first NHC quote of the day came from the session.  During the Q&A session, someone asked if there was a chance of Double Bastard becoming a year-round Stone offering, rather than becoming available at the beginning of the holiday season in early November.  Greg quickly replied that it is offered at the “Beginning of Double Bastard season.” A great off the cuff line:)

The best session of the day was led by Matt Brynildson.  He is so much the “every man” brewer and relates incredibly well to the homebrewing community.  His session on American hops was full of useful information and statistics on American hops and their use in brewing craft and homebrewed beers.  He also offered up the best ale selection of any session I attended at NHC this year, and German style hefeweizen, Hemp Ale, Union Jack and Double Jack.  Thankfully I had saved my daily alcohol allotment for this session:)

Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker Brewing

The second quote of the day came from this session during the pouring of Matt’s ales.  One of the NHC pouring volunteers, with (good) attitude, said to us, “I’ve got a lot of beer back there. You guys have got to hurry the hell up!” in our sampling drinking:)

We’re off to the Grand Banquet and Awards Ceremony in a bit.  Hopefully my barleywine and vanilla porter will bring home the gold!  Cross your fingers for me!

Me, Matt, and Stephen - taken by Dr. Tommy's son!

Cheers to Matt! Thanks for the awesome ales!

The volunteers make this conference as good as it is! Thanks!

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The CVBG Crew the NHC Club Night

Day 2 of NHC 2011 brought several new, amazing beers to my lips.  In my first session, I had the opportunity to taste Firestone Walker’s Saucerful of Secrets, a dark Belgian ale that has been mellowing in bourbon barrels for three years.  It was incredibly smooth and even with its high ABV, very very drinkable, even at 9:20 in the morning:)  I also enjoyed a Firestone Walker double IPA, some Pliny the Elder and another Russian River IPA, Hop 2 It, which uses a new still unnamed experimental hop.  Today I attended the following sessions:

Cooking with Beer with Sean Paxton, The Homebrew Chef

Historical Extreme Beers with Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing

Pragmatic Brewing with Denny Conn

The White Labs Hangover Kit!

The highlight of the day was Vinnie Cilurzo’s keynote address.  It was captivating hearing about the early days of his brewing career – the struggles and successes, and then the development of the Russian River Brewing we all know today.  On top of it all, Vinnie is a down to earth, humble man.

Tonight’s social event was the annual Club Night, where homebrew clubs from across the nation offer their best homebrews out to NHC attendees.  The best ale I had tonight was Nathan Smith’s double IPA, from the DOZE booth – a big, spicy IPA, but dry and lacking the overpowering sweetness that too many IIPAs have.

We enjoyed Club Night for about an hour and a half and then retired to our room for some much needed sleep:)

Yum! Firestone Walker's Saucerful Of Secrets - at 9:20 am

Oh, yea! This is going to be good!

Vinnie Cilurzo giving the 2011 NHC Keynote

Vinnie Cilurzo, Mark and Steve

I'll Have What He's Having!

Steve and Maggie Supporting Dust Bowl Brewing

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Yeast for a Year!

So today was a Charlie Sheen day at NHC.  Winning!

At tonight’s Pro Brewers night, the lovely Mrs. Lazy Brewer won a year’s worth of yeast from White Labs!  There were twelve certificates, each good for two vials of White Labs yeast!  Two raffle tickets were called, with no one responding and the third call was her ticket!  Life is good:)

Today I attended the following breakout sessions:

Brewing on a Budget with Chris Graham of MoreBeer

Hop Boil Chemistry with Colin Kaminski of Downtown Joe’s in Napa

Choosing the Right Yeast with Chris White of White Labs

Brenda and her (my:) Yeast!

All the sessions were good, but I really enjoyed the brew nerdiness of the hop chemistry and yeast sessions.  Very good info:)

On a sad note, the Town and Country Resort Hotel shooed the gourmet food trucks off their property.  Seems like a money grab move to capture the conference attendees food dollars.  Very very uncool…

The Hospitality Suite Brew Board, beers 17-30

30 handles at the Hospitality Suite

The Three Beerscateers! Onf for all and all for beer!

The conference opening toast!

My Twitter beer buddy @BrettGlenna

What the hell? A line for the mens room?

Incredible Hospitality Room Portable Cold Box with 30 handles!

The Floor of Pro Brewers Night

Me, Vinnie Cilurzo, a big-assed bottle of Temptation and Steve

Mark, Maggie, Steve and Brenda

Mr. & Mrs. Lazy Brewer

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2011 NHC Conference Flyer

Yesterday was a travel day to the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego.  The drive was long, but uneventful, other than me just about dozing off while driving in Fresno.  I haven’t had an issue staying awake while driving for probably 25 years, but this morning I was just wiped out.  Brenda took over the driving from Fresno to Bakersfield, and while I didn’t actually sleep, I drifted on the edge of consciousness for about an hour and a half.  We got to the Town and Country Resort Hotel, the conference host, just before 3 o’clock, checked in, went and picked up our NHC registration materials, beer schwag and three lovely bottles of ale:)  Shortly after that we were enjoying our first complimentary ales from the conference hospitality room.  We visited with Steve and Maggie for a bit and then decided to head out to check out Green Flash Brewing’s new tasting room.  This will also be their future brew house in the coming months.

Green Flash Brewing Tasting Room

While the Green Flash tasting room doesn’t actually serve food, on the evenings they are open, one of San Diego’s gourmet food trucks parks outside the tasting room and serves up incredible fare.  Tonights food truck was Devilicious.  We enjoyed lobster and cheese sandwiches, fabulous burgers, BBBLTs ( the extra Bs were for all the extra bacon they throw on the sandwiches), truffled parmesan fries and some Fried Yumminess (tonight’s rotating Fried Yumminess was deep fried cheeseburger and pickle balls:)  The ales at Green Flash were incredible.  I had a Hop Head Red, a Green Flash Imperial IPA, a West Coast IPA and a taste of something they call Palate Wrecker – another IIPA.  All in all, it was a great way to ease into a three day beer conference.

The opening toast for the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference takes place at 1:00 pm today.  After that, there are three breakout sessions, and at 8 o’clock, the Pro Brewers Night starts, where over 45 craft breweries will be providing unlimited pours of their best.  Additionaly, the conference organizers worked with many of the San Diego gourmet food trucks to provide a mobile “food court” each evening of the conference.  Yum!

Green Flash Tasting Room

Having two of my beers in the final round of the National Homebrew Competition will make Saturday night’s Grand Banquet (a beer dinner – go figure:) and National Homebrew Competition Award Ceremony a special event.  Cross your fingers for my Beanilla Porter and annual barleywine!

Fun times ahead!

Fried Yumminess!

Green Flash Imperial IPAs

Green Flash Ales

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Sabco Fermenter

So I’m wanting one of these.  Bad!

A couple of my brew buddies, Wade and Steve, have fabricated similar fermenters using conversion kits to achieve the same general result.  My only concern with their setups is that they really can’t get into the top of the unit to check for cleanliness and scrub away fermentation funk.  The Sabco unit has a 4 inch port on top, secured with a tri-clamp that should make entry and cleaning a breeze.  All of the couplings utilize tri-clamps, so cleaning and sanitation should be easy.  I especially like the idea of being able to harvest yeast.  I also really like the idea of getting ten gallons of exactly the same ale since one of my five gallon carboys always seems to have a better/different fermentation.

They are not cheap, but run about the same as a quality, non-temperature controlled conical fermenter.  I’ve always worried about moving a full 14 gallon conical fermenter since they tend to be so top heavy, and my fermentation fridge is 50+ feet away from where I brew.  This unit looks more stable, and easier to handle and then muscle into my fermentation fridge.  Sabco has a nice video showing how the fermenter works.  I’m thinking of buying one, and then if they live up to my expectations, picking up another one and then ditching all of my carboys.  I’ve a a serious close call with a carboy that has me a bit scared – and I’m handing them with renewed respect.

I want to give Sabco a call before purchasing with a few questions.  I’d also need to rework a couple of my recently fabricated hoses, with stainless quick disconnects, to attach to the new fermenter, but that shouldn’t be too big of a deal.

So yea, lust!  Stainless steel lust:)

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Cookie Dough Brown Ale Tap Handle

I now have ten gallons of Cookie Dough Brown Ale sitting in a couple carboys.  I’d love to take credit for the inspiration for this wonderful ale, but that goes to my brew buddy, Stephen.  The idea came to him one day when he was sitting around (probably with an ale in his hand:) thinking about how to take his Brew Barn Brown Ale to the next level, and the idea of adding dark brown sugar and raisins to the batch came to him, to give it a deeper, cookie-like quality.  He brews the ale as an imperial, but I scale it back a bit in the OG to make it a bit more of a session ale.  This is the third time I’ve brewed this ale and it just seems to get better with every batch.  The one I have on tap right now is easily in the top five best ales I’ve ever brewed.

This beer was also my inaugural run using my new Therminator plate chiller, and I was on edge throughout most of the brew session, knowing that a big change was coming to my process at the end of the day.  On top of the chilling process change, I haven’t brewed for at least three months, so overall, the brew day was just a bit out of the ordinary.  I chased my mash temps, and I forgot to add the Whirlfloc tablets at the end of the boil. In the end, I made beer:)

Here’s the recipe for Cookie Dough Brown Ale:

Cookie Dough Brown Ale
10-C American Brown Ale
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 04/25/11

Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 69.06%
Attenuation: 79.0%
Calories: 212.53 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.064 (1.045 – 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 – 1.016)
Color: 24.6 (18.0 – 35.0)
Alcohol: 6.66% (4.3% – 6.2%)
Bitterness: 37.9 (20.0 – 40.0)

Ingredients:
12.0 lb Golden Promise Malt
8.0 lb Pale Ale Malt
2.0 lb Brown
1.0 lb Cara-Pils® Malt
1.0 lb Chocolate Malt
1.0 lb Crystal 120
1.5 oz Northern Brewer (8.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1.5 oz Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
2.0 tsp Wyeast Nutrient  – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 lb Dark Brown Sugar – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
12.0 oz Raisins – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2.0 oz Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
2.0 oz Northern Brewer (8.0%) – added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
2000 mL White Labs WLP001 California Ale
2.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
2.0 oz Northern Brewer (8.0%) – added dry to secondary fermenter

Therminator Set Up

Overall, the chilling process with the Therminator went well.  Man, that plate chiller can drop the wort temperature fast!  I was a bit out of sorts with my anal retentive need to super clean the plate chiller though.  I had lots of problems with the March pump cavitating, while trying to repeatedly forward and reverse flush the Therminator.  And the hop bit just seemed to never stop coming out of the chiller.  Steve uses a sump pump for cleaning the chiller, and I got one for these from Mrs. Lazy Brewer for Christmas, but it was the one part of the system I didn’t take the time to flesh out all of the fittings for, so it wasn’t ready.  It will be the next time I brew:)

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New hoses, quick disconnects, HopRocket and Therminator

It’s been a while since I posted. Maybe because I haven’t brewed since the holidays.  Maybe because I’ve been busy with life.  Maybe because a major upgrade to my brewing system has me avoiding all things brewing – other than consuming homebrew.

Last Christmas, Mrs. Lazybrewer put a Blichman Therminator and Thrumometer under the tree for me and this year followed it up with a Blichmann HopRocket, and an additional March pump.  Over the last year I’ve picked up new stainless steel quick disconnects and high temp tubing, getting ready for the transition from my immersion chiller to a new plate chiller cooling system.  Yes, that’s right.  It’s taken me fifteen months to move from an old school wort chilling system to a new shiny high tech chilling system.  Because I’m a creature of habit – set in my ways – a stick in the mud!

It’s finally happening!  Today I spent a couple hours building new hoses and attaching male QDs to “devices” and kettles.  I’m 95% ready (I just need to get a couple 3/4″ F/F couplers for the water side of the Therminator) and plan of doing a water-only dry run on Saturday, followed by a Cookie Dough Brown Ale brew on Sunday or Monday.  I know that it’s going to be a worrisome brew day for me with the change.  I have well over a hundred brew sessions under my belt with my system, and current immersion chiller, and the plate chiller looks to be far more complex to manage and keep clean and sanitized.  Part of my hesitation over the last year has be concerning keeping the Therminator clean and not being the single point of infection failure for my brews.  I’ve read way too much on cleaning and sanitizing plate chillers on the web, and several of my closest brew buddies have been using plate and counterflow chillers for years without a single infection.  But still, I’m nervous, because I’m a creature of habit – set in my ways – a stick in the mud! I’m sure 5-10 brews from now, the Therminator will be my new habit, but getting there will wear on me a bit:)

I am looking forward to using the HopRocket, infusing my IPAs with oodles of hop goodness, but that’s a couple brews down the road.  I want to get the new chilling regime down first before introducing a new variable.

Where's Waldo?

On a side note, we just got back from a Northern California brewery road trip.  We enjoyed stops at Russian River Brewing, Bear Republic Brewing, Anderson Valley Brewing, North Coast Brewing and on the way home, a drop-in at Lagunitas Brewing yielded a single release tapping of Waldo – which they bill as their hoppiest beer ever.  We spent two nights at The MacCallum House in Mendocino, and enjoyed great beer, wonderful food and spirited companionship – with some of the best people in the world!

Life is good!

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AHA Learn To Homebrew Day

Saturday, November 6th, is the  AHA Learn to Homebrew Day (formerly called Teach a Friend to Brew Day). The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) Learn to Homebrew Day is an international event to introduce people to the hobby of homebrewing.  For the sixth time, I’ll be inviting friends – and their friends – over to learn how to brew beer.  We’ll be starting promptly at 10:00 a.m., milling over 25 pounds of malted barley, to make a 10 gallon batch of TAFTBD IPA.  Brad, a veteran brewer, will be brewing a 10 gallon batch of German Hefeweizen.  He’s living proof that anyone can do this with a minimal investment.

We’ll have coffee and morning munchies early in the day, as well as sausages and lunch munchies in the afternoon.  Additionally, attendees will have full run of the 8 ales and lagers I have on tap throughout the day:)  We should be done around 4:00 p.m.  My best guess is that there will be about twenty attendees.

Last year’s event at Sociables was a huge success!

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Black Widow Stout Mash

A new batch of Black Widow Stout is underway.  The mash smells wonderful and so far all is going smoothly.

I don’t have a basic stout on tap right now, just a Russian Imperial Stout, and I’m looking for more of a session dark ale.  I’ll be trying to get this ale in kegs before we leave for Italy on October 1st.  The last time I brewed this stout, I oaked half the batch with bourbon infused, medium toast oak cubes.  It was significantly better than the un-oaked keg.  The flavor was more complex with just a hint of oak, and the overall mouth feel was creamier and smooth.  I do worry about over-oaking the ale, so I’ll be carefully monitoring the oaking process to get the stout off the wood before it tastes like a mouthful of toothpicks.

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Colona Mexican Lager Tap Handle

Batch 102

I was swapping out some kegs in the kegerator a couple days ago and discovered that my Colona Mexican Lager has only about a gallon left to go before the keg blows.  Time to brew it again:)

I named this beer, the first time I brewed it, as a kind of play on words – it’s a clone of Corona – hence Colona.

Lagers aren’t my favorite style, by a long shot, but I do like to have beer available for the masses when they visit Sociables. I will admit that it is a refreshing beer after yard work on warm days! Colona is a crisp lager, bittered with Liberty hops, which have a spicy, earthy quality to them. Think Czech Saaz, only more aromatic and American. The key ingredient is flaked maize, along with some 6-row pale malt, with extra enzymes to help convert the corn. The Colona is cold fermented with White Labs WLP 094, a seasonal yeast, released every spring.

Here’s the recipe:

Colona
1-B Standard American Lager
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 7/3/10

Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 263.46 kcal per 16.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.059 (1.040 – 1.050)
Terminal Gravity: 1.015 (1.004 – 1.010)
Color: 3.0 (2.0 – 4.0)
Alcohol: 5.84% (4.2% – 5.1%)
Bitterness: 16.7 (8.0 – 15.0)

Ingredients:
2.0 tbsp 5.2 Ph Buffer – added during mash
10.0 lb Pale Malt (2-row)
4.0 lb Pale Malt (6-row)
1.0 lb 2-Row Carapils Malt
7.0 lb Flaked Corn (Maize)
1.75 oz Liberty (4.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.0 tsp Yeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.25 oz Liberty (4.0%) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2000 mL Starter White Labs WLP940 Mexican Lager

Notes
Ferment at 51-53 degrees F for 7 days, then let fermentation warm to 62-64 degrees F for 4-6 days for diacetyl rest, chill 5 degrees F a day until you reach desired lagering temperature. Fine with gelatin or to clarify, carbonate to 2.8 to 3.0.

Flaked Maize for the Colona Mexican Lager

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Mark's Centennial IPA Tap Handle

Batch 100

This Friday (with the close of another school year imminent, I’m trying to recover some of the extra days I worked last summer to open a new school campus – use ‘em or lose ‘em), I’ll be brewing my 100th batch of home brewed beer!  My, how the time flies.  Seems like it was just yesterday and I was waiting for any new information I could get on the progress of the construction of my MoreBeer 1550 BrewSculpture.  I even visited the Concord showroom and was taken on a tour of the metal shop.  There in a bucket, were the various pieces of of angle iron , tubing and parts that would eventually become my brewery.  When the FedEx freight truck finally arrived in June, I couldn’t wait to brew my first batch and in 100 degree plus weather, I brewed a Racer 5 clone.  It turned out OK – not great, but OK.

It was at least fifteen batches before I really felt comfortable with my equipment, where I could brew on autopilot and not make stupid mistakes.  By batch 30 I was making really good beer and feeling comfortable with replicating recipes and experimenting with what different malts and hops brought to an ale.  I started messing around with lagers, first brewing in the winter, taking advantage of environmental chilling to aid the fermentation.  By batch 50, I was fermenting both ales and lagers in a temperature controlled fermentation vessel – a thermostatically controlled refrigerator.  I brewed a couple amazing ales in this period of time.  Somewhere in the next few batches, Sociables became a reality.  From there, it was a race to this batch!

I’ve been thinking about this batch of ale – batch number 100 – for quite some time.  I has to be an IPA:)  It has to use my favorite hops and have a simple malt bill.  It needs to be a big, bitter IPA.  Here’s what a threw together.

Mark’s Centennial IPA
14-B American IPA
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 5/7/10

Size: 10.0 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 316.98 kcal per 16.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.071 (1.056 – 1.075)
Terminal Gravity: 1.018 (1.010 – 1.018)
Color: 9.71 (6.0 – 15.0)
Alcohol: 7.03% (5.5% – 7.5%)
Bitterness: 71.1 (40.0 – 70.0)

Ingredients:
12.0 lb American 2-row
12.0 lb Maris Otter Pale
1.0 lb 2-Row Carapils Malt
1.0 lb Carastan
1.0 oz Columbus (15.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
2.5 oz Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
1.0 lb Corn Sugar
1.0 ea Servomyces Yeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
4.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added during boil, boiled 4.0 min
4.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added during boil, boiled 4.0 min
4.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
4.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
2000 mL Starter White Labs WLP041 Pacific Ale

I hope turning 100 feels this good!

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Mark's German Hefeweizen Tap Handle

Batch 99

I just realized that my German Hefeweizen recipe has never been posted.  This is a staple at Sociables, and is always on tap.  It is well received by those folks who may not be into the hoppier ales I typically brew.  It has a very nice banana and clove nose that is typical of German hefeweizens.  It’s a pretty simple, traditional hefeweizen recipe and includes just a hint of Carastan malt to give it some complexity.

Typically, my wheat beers tend to have pretty crazy fermentations, but neither of these ales benefited from my traditional 4-5 day starter process. The wit starter only worked overnight, and the hefeweizen starter only ramped up for two days. So far, the wit is chugging along slowly, and I have blow-off tubes on the hefeweizen just in case it takes off in a big way. Both the German Hefeweizen and Friday’s Belgian Wit should be ready to keg up in about ten days, and then be drinkable a week or so after that.  Wheat beers are best enjoyed fresh:)

Here’s the recipe:

Mark’s Hefeweizen
15-A Weizen/Weissbier
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 4/25/10

Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 65.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 201.92 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.061 (1.044 – 1.052)
Terminal Gravity: 1.015 (1.010 – 1.014)
Color: 6.37 (2.0 – 8.0)
Alcohol: 5.97% (4.3% – 5.6%)
Bitterness: 15.5 (8.0 – 15.0)

Ingredients:
11.0 lb Pilsner Malt
11.0 lb Wheat Malt
2.0 lb Pale Malt(2-row)
1.0 lb Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt
0.5 lb Carastan
0.75 oz Northern Brewer (9.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
0.25 oz Northern Brewer (9.0%) – added during boil, boiled 30.0 min
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2000 mL White Labs WLP300 Hefewizen Ale

Collecting the Hefeweizen Wort

I nailed the OG today and hit exactly 1.061.

On a side note, I brewed barefoot today.  It’s foreshadowing the coming of summer here in California’s Central Valley.  Please remind me of that tomorrow evening when the latest big ‘ole storm hits:)

We’re hoping for nice weather by week’s end so we can host a TGIF next Friday afternoon.

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The Brew Sculpture in Action

As several of the Lazy Brewer’s readers have pointed out, it been a while since my last post. It’s been a mix of general real life busyness, and sheer laziness. I’m brewing a German Hefeweizen as I type this (on a new toy – but more on that later:) and enjoying the aromas only those of you who brew can understand.  I’ve brewed several times since last posting in January, including an IPA, an American Brown Ale, and a Russian Imperial Stout. Friday I brewed a Belgian Wit and then today a German Hefeweizen.  I’m trying to get several of the crowd-pleasing summer ales ready to go before the summer drinking season starts.

Today’s brew is the last of an era.  The next brew I do will be my 100th batch!  I’ll be working on an original recipe for my centennial ale over the next week, and I’m 99% sure it will be an IPA (big surprise, huh?).  I want to brew an easy drinking, high flavor/aroma IPA that kind of goes back to the roots of my brewing – bittering with Columbus, flavoring with Centennials and then finishing with either Cascades or Amarillo (or both:).

So where am I in my brewing after 100 batches?  Well, I’m making consistently good ale, sometimes great ale.  I’ve tried brewing a lot of different styles.  Some of them have become favorite ales that weren’t on my beer radar five years ago.  I’ve really come to love the darker ales; browns, porters and particularly stouts.  Some wheat beers are now a part of my regular brewing routine, like wits and German hefeweizens – though I still have very little love for American hefeweizens.  I also really like the big beers; barley wines, imperial reds and old ales.  I’ve also learned what I really don’t care to drink – some of  the Belgians are just too much for me.  A Belgian Golden Strong Ale is the only keg I’ve poured out.  It was brewed to style, and came out nicely, I just didn’t like beer.  More than anything, I’ve learned that when it comes to brewing, time is your friend.  Letting beers finish out in the fermentor, and then giving them time to mellow, clear and generally become stellar ales is what conditioning is all about.  Finally, I’ve also learned that brewing is all about people.  Many of the best friends in my life are, or have been, brewers.  Brewing with them, and enjoying ales in their company, is what life is all about.  Also, seeing a non-brewer’s face light up when they are sipping one of your hand-crafted brews is priceless:)

Other recent events, in no particular order, that have kept me away from here are more than a bit of wine tasting, shuttering the doors on my ten year web hosting business (no tears here:), planning a trip to Italy in October, installing a commercial WordPress theme for this blog, and an impulse purchase of an iPad.  I may create individual posts about some of these things in the future:)

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