BrewLog:Nug
From Brewwiki
The guy who said "Stop that, cut it, and cook it." inspired me to start brewing.
Brewing Instructions
Nug Recipes
Hops
Using this section to take notes on hops. The abundance of choices and hop descriptions, which sound like they came out of Wine Spectator, make it difficult to choose a hop for brewing.
The English
This hop article talks about hop usage in England from 1920 - 1939.
Goldings were favored by breweries for their flavor and preservative properties. They were primarily used for dry hopping and occasionally during the boil. They didn't crop heavily and so were more expensive.
Fuggle's were the bittering hop of choice it appears. "It cropped well, had a high lupulin content, but had a coarser flavour than Goldings."
Simple Solstice Dubbel
Recipe brewed December 21, 2008
Type: Bag Mash
Continuing to use the recipe calculator at Beertools. This is a fairly simple recipe for a Belgian Dubbel.
From descriptions I've read about "White Labs WLP530 Abbey Ale" I will be attaching a blow off tube to the primary. Apparently this is a fairly violent strain as far as violence goes with rapidly multiplying yeast cultures.
I ordered the LME, yeast, and grains from Austin Homebrew Supply. I haven't done this in a while and they've added a few extra neat capabilities to their store. I can order any of their grains for a particular recipe and they will mill them and place them all into the same bag. This is a huge convenience for someone that is not ready to go all grain and buy a grain mill. They also provide the service of combining multiple types of LME into the same bucket.
Nug's Dunkelweizen
Recipe brewed Jaunuary 13, 2008
Type: Oven Mash
I went to Liquor Barn and picked out three beers that are in my top 20 favorites list. The Julius Echter Hefe-Weiss-Dunkel Bavarian Ale I sampled that night won out in the taste comparison. Using style guidelines, a bunch of forum talk, and beertools I create this recipe. Being a weizen(wheat) beer this recipe could have used wheat in the grain bill. In particular the Munton's DME Wheat is only 55% wheat with the remainder being malted barley.
Other items I came across during the forum search:
- WYeast 3068 requires a lot of head room. I'm not sure if this is due to wild krausen or the need for more oxygen.
- WYeast 3068 produces pronounced banana esters above 70F and clove esters at 68F and below.
- Many think that a weizen should have some form of Munich grain in the grain bill.
- Munich and Cara-Pils grains should be mashed for 60 minutes around 150F. Steeping is not good enough.
- The hops are only used to offset the sweetness of the sugars left after attenuation. The yeast and grains play the major role in determining the taste profile of this beer.
The fact that the hops are not a major factor helped out in constructing this recipe. The hop shortage is limiting the number of choices a home brewer now has when creating a recipe. I ended up going with Cluster hops, although a U.S. hop, it made the best replacement choice.
The carboy for the primary fermenter sits inside a square 60 quart igloo cooler. I helped the temperature up to 70F with a heating pad for a few hours. The next day the yeast drove the temperature up around 74F and I had to use ice packs to get it back down. Other than that I've maintained a temperature between 68F and 70F. After 72 hours the bubbling in the air lock has died down to about once every 30 seconds.
Results
From what I recall a completely awesome beer. I should make this again soon.
Nug's First American Pale Ale
Recipe brewed December 16, 2007
Type: Oven Mash
This recipe was created using style guidelines and beertools' receipe generator and calculator. I didn't try rounding off the grain measurements this time just to save a buck. I made sure that changes made kept the recipe closer to the expected style guidelines. Used the standard yeast starter and fermenting started with 12 hours.
Results
I couldn't help but burn one after just a week in the bottle. So far this is a very promising beer and I was very pleased with the result. I find that I am not a hop head although I don't mind hop aroma or bitterness. I think this beer, clocking in at 34.6 IBU, is a good balance of hoppiness and sweetness for an American Pale Ale.
Nug's Mocha Porter
Recipe brewed October 21, 2007
Type: Oven Mash
I concocted this recipe by modifying the AHS partial mash recipe I had and using beertools.com recipe calculator. I dialed the bitterness down as much as possible by playing with the amount of hops used. I also rounded off some of the grain measurements in order to get the most bang for the buck. Used my standard yeast starter and had a nice bloom by pitching time.
Results
The first couple of weeks this was a really good porter. Very mild porter with a hint of chocolate and a smooth finish. Then I started to notice an alcohol taste to the finish. This turned the beer from being really good to being adequate. Dialing down the amount of hops and increasing the amount of sugar by rounding up on grain measurements threw off the balance of the beer. There was not enough hop presence, in fact hardly any noticeable presence at all, to balance out the amount of alcohol in the beer. Lesson learned although it makes me wonder what other "bittering" agents can be used to effectively balance out a beer.
Nug's ESB
Recipe brewed September 23, 2007
Type: Partial Mash
I concocted this recipe by modifying the AHS partial mash recipe I had and using beertools.com recipe calculator. Used my standard yeast starter and had a nice bloom by pitching time. This garage brewing session couldn't have gone better and I have high expectations for this batch. I've actually brewed two beers since the Rouge Mocha Porter. One was the Sterkens Double Ale which turned out to be one of the favorites so far. I'll be brewing that one again in a larger batch.
Results
Status - Bottle Conditioning
Rogue Mocha Porter
Recipe brewed February 5, 2007
Type: Partial Mash
Brewed from AHS Mini Mash Rogue Mocha Porter kit. This came with the special edition Pacman yeast from Rogue via Wyeast. I was hoping to take a culture from the yeast starter but ran out of time. So far this yeast appears to be a slow acting yeast and expect to let it stay in the primary for at least seven days.
Results
I used a bit less than the full 1.0 oz. combination of bittering hops. A good call since this clone turned out not to be nearly as bitter as the actual Rogue Mocha Porter. I enjoy hops but I am starting to enjoy a better hops balance in my dark beers.
My clone had a better head and was maybe a shade lighter than the Rogue. The Rogue however had a better chocolate taste. Might try a chocolate adjunct next time or more Roasted Barely. When you smell the Rouge you are hit with the chocolate and a distinct malt smell that is nice. My beer doesn't quite have the same malt smell. All in all I prefer my version but that may just be two beers talking.
This is the first porter that I have made but one of my favorite styles of beer. If I make this again I'll want to use the same amount of hops and look to increase the chocolate flavor and maltiness.
Special Holiday Ale
Recipe brewed October 24, 2006
Type: Partial Mash
Brewed from AHS Mini Mash Special Holiday Ale kit. Bottled last week and I couldn't wait any longer. This one turned out pretty tasty. The spices are noticeable but not overpowering at all. In fact I'm going to have another right now.
Results
Five Stars
ESB
Recipe brewed September 18, 2006
Type: Partial Mash
Brewed from AHS Mini Mash Extra Special Bitter kit. First time brewing with my new Bayou Classic Outdoor Stove. 16" x 16" of propane power and it is indeed powerful. Did a burn off outside for 15 minutes and then moved the set up to the garage since rain is about. Used the same yeast starter recipe as last time.
Wort Chiller
Thanks to Squatch (Squatch Brews) I have an awesome wort chiller. I couldn't use it indoors since the kitchen faucet isn't adaptable. So tonight, since I was brewing outside, I was able to use it for the first time. It took a little over 15 minutes to bring the temperature down to 85 F and that was with it half sticking out of the wort. I'll need to bend the tubes near the top of the brew pot in order to accomodate the lid a little better. Beats using an ice bath by about a mile walking in cheesy's shoes. Thanks Squatch.
Results
Some of you might remember that the first homebrew I served was an ESB at our 2005 Holiday Party. It was consumed in good quanity and received better than good reviews. Since then our friends have found that they have a real preference for homebrew when it is available. Just to set the record straight, this is not the same ESB recipe. That recipe came from Midwest Supplies and I still have the original box. I have to say that AHS has a better website and variety of recipe kits. However, I just received a kick ass catalog from Midwest and may try ordering from there again. The really nice thing about the catalog is that it has a listing of recommended fermentation temps for all of the yeast that they sell.
Arrogant Bastard Clone
Recipe brewed August 20, 2006
Type: Partial Mash
Picked up this recipe kit from AHS and damn if it isn't some high gravity brew. The instructions recommended a yeast starter and luckily I'd started one 48 hours prior to brewing. I've settled on my method of creating the starter so I'll document it with this batch. Haven't tried the squatch jug method yet.
Yeast Starter
Erlenmeyer flask - 1000 mL
Pale DME - 2.5 oz.
Water - 2 pints
Yeast - White Labs or Wyeast warmed to room temperature.
Start heating the water on the stove and stir in the DME. Make sure to add the DME before the water gets too hot. Bring the solution to a full boil. Using a funnel, pour the napalm into the flask and chill the flask to ~80 F as fast as possible. Pitch the yeast, as instructed on the package, and insert the air lock. This will bring the volume to about 1000 mL. Wrap the flask with a dish towel or keep it in a dark place. After 24 hours you can reintroduce oxygen by removing the air lock and swirling the flask. Prior to pitching your yeast starter allow it to fully settle to the bottom. Pitch the rest and expect to see activity in about 8 hours. I used this starter with the high gravity 5 1/4 gallon Arrogant Bastard and found it bubbling voraciously the next morning.
Composting
We've started turning the spent grain into the garden and it will eventually be added to the composter once I build one. Lot's of good stuff left in the grain post brewing.
Editorial
I thought I'd just use a couple of kits and go back to measuring my own grains for the partial mash. Well screw a bunch of that noise.
- I realized soon enough that I had no idea what kind of conversion rate I was getting out of my partial mash. You need to know this in order to dertermine the amount of grain to use.
- The techniques for sparging spent grain are fairly varied with partial mash. With AHS it's "dunk the grain like a tea bag and toss".
- The grain comes crushed from AHS
- I don't have to figure out the optimal crush for my grain.
- I don't have to spend time crushing grain or going to LB to crush grain.
- I get the exact amount of grain that I need without having to buy extra.
- I have no preference between using DME and LME but with AHS I do get the exact amount that I need of LME.
- I'd prefer to use whole hops when I can but LB has a limited supply of those on most occassions.
- It's faster, easier, and less worry to use a kit that somebody else has determined already freaking rocks.
I'll try creating a partial mash recipe again in the future but for now I'm enjoying all of the benefits that AHS kits provide. So far I've liked all them all a little too much.
Saison II
Recipe brewed July 2006
Type: Partial Mash
Brewed from AHS Mini Mash Saison kit. I couldn't leave experimentation alone with this one and added 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper flakes to the secondary. The final product has a noticeable hot after taste. The effect of the cayenne pepper turned out to be almost sublime and make this a really enjoyable beer.
The Saison yeast is slow acting, requires high temperatures, and an extended fermentation period. The primary and secondary were placed in a plastic tub half filled with water. A fish tank thermometer was used to bring the temperature to 80F. There was not enough krausen produced to need a blow off tube with this recipe.
Yeast Starter
Erlenmeyer flask - 1000 mL
Pale DME - 5 oz.
Water - 2 pints
Yeast - Wyeast
Results
tbd
Strawberry Blonde Ale
Recipe brewed April 12, 2006
Type: Partial Mash
Brewed this one for kris. Researched several different strawberry ales and decided on a Blonde Ale with a load of strawberries.
The Result
Good lord, don't use this home grown recipe. There was way too much unfiltered crap that went into the fermenter and it proceeded to clog the airlock and then explode the next day. Sent unmitigated amounts of pink foam all over the walls and had Kris calling me at work. I ended up bottling it but it was far from clear as a finished product. It has a milky chunky look to it that I am going to guess is chunks of yeast. It was drinkable and very strawberry tasting but the site of it put everyone off. I'll probably pour out the last few bottles, today is 09/18/2006, in the next couple of weeks in order to free up the bottles. In short, run away, run away!
American Brown Ale
Recipe brewed April 1, 2006
Bottled April 12, 2006
Type: Partial Mash
Well damn, and damn again. I took it upon myself to go partial mash on this recipe while my Papazian book was MIA and I was freaking blocked from crackmonkey. Whatever, don't worry, brew happy. The only thing of real concern is that I didn't get enough sugar out of my specialty grains. This is due to the misconception that I didn't need to sparge the grain. Whatever, don't worry, brew happy. I am moving it from the primary to the carboy on and brewing a new recipe on April 12th. On to the recipe...
Commerical Brew Equivalents:
Great Lakes Cleveland Brown Ale and Pete's Wicked Ale
Characteristics:
Either considered a maltier and more bitter/hopped version of Northern English brown ale or in this case a more chocolate malt and less hop influence than an American Pale Ale.
Grains:
Black Roasted Barley:
Plain barley heavily roasted. Imparts a coffee flavor, dryness, and adds to the darker color. Commonly found in the use of stouts.
Chocolate Malt:
Malt with unsweetened chocolate and nutty flavor that contributes to black color.
Belgian Special B:
Belgian malt with a roasted nutty-sweet flavor. According to Palmer quantities over 1/2 lb in a 5 gallon batch will provide a plum flavor.
Hops:
Chinook:
Can be used in all American Ales and lagers. Very strong bittering hop that adds floral aroma and hint of pine.
Centennial:
USA hop for use in medium to dark ales. Adds floral and citrus aroma.
Mount Hood:
USA hop used in American and Germal ales and lagers. Aroma is mild, pleasant, light, and clean.
Resources:
beertools.com
howtobrew.com
Nug's Bitter Ale
Recipe brewed Monday, January 2, 2006
Type: Partial Mash
Specialty Grains
8.32 oz - Belgian Special B
1.0 oz - Black Roasted Barely
Extract
7.0 lbs - Munton's Plain Light DME
Hops
1.0 oz - Challenger
1.0 oz - Hallertau
0.5 oz - Kent Goldings
Yeast
Wyeast 1028 London Ale
Brew Procedure
Take the yeast and hops out of the fridge and let them warm.
If the yeast is a smack pack then it needs to be activated about 2 hours before you plan to pitch it.
Dump 2 gallons of water (Crystal Spring Water) in 20 quart stainless steel brew pot.
Add specialty grains in muslin bag to the brew pot and steep at about 155 degrees for 20 minutes.
Take the brew pot off the heat and let sit for ten minutes.
Discard the specialty grains.
Stir in the extract. Do not allow the extract to settle since it may burn on the bottom of the brew pot.
Add one teaspoon of gypsum.
Put the brew pot back on the heat and bring to a boil.
Add bittering hops and keep wort at a slow boil for 60 minutes.
At 15 minutes left in the boil add the flavoring hops.
Add one teaspoon of irish moss.
At 3 minutes left in the boil add the aroma hops.
Remove brew pot from heat and cover.
Add 2 gallons of chilled water to the fermenter.
Add a bag of purified ice to the fermenter.
Pour the wort into the ferementer through a strainer.
Top off with chilled water to bring to five gallons.
Once the temperature decreases to less than 80 degrees you can pitch the yeast.
Cap the fermenter and make sure to put water in your air lock.
Big Ideas
With two brews under my belt this one had the most missteps by far. Mistake one was adding the Kent Goldings hops instead of the Challenger hops first. After about a minute I yanked the Goldings and put in the Challenger hops. I never put the Goldings back in since they were supposed to be the aroma hops. I also missed adding the irish moss. This isn't a big deal but will mean that the brew isn't as clear. What I need to do in the future is lay everything out before I start. The last major thing that went wrong was that I added 3 gallons of chilled water to the fermenter instead of 2. Because of this I ended up with 5 1/2 gallons of wort in the fermenter.
Even with the litany of mistakes I think this brew is going to turn out to be pretty good. The extra water will probably even out the extra DME and hops I added to the recipe. Not as much hops or alcohol as I'd hoped but still some good brew.
Relax
