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I brewed a half batch (2.5 gallons) of Oatmeal Stout today.

Grains
4 lb British 2-Row
4 oz Crystal 60L Malt
4 oz Chocolate Malt
8 oz Oatmeal

Hops
.75 oz Kent Goldings (bittering)

Mashed all the grain with ~1.5 gallons of water at 150 deg F for 60 minutes. Sparged with 2 gallons of water at 170 deg F for about 45 minutes.

Brought to boil and added the bittering hops. Boiled for 60 minutes.

Cooled to ~75 deg F and transfered to a glass carboy.

Pitched one vial of White Labs WLP004 Irish Ale yeast.

O.G. 1.050

I brewed a half batch of a Piraat Belgian IPA clone today.

Here’s the ingredient list:

Grain and Fermentables
8.50 lb Belgian CaraPilsner Malt
.25 lb Caramel 20L Malt
2 oz Belgian Caramel Vienna Malt
2 oz Belgian Aromatic Malt
9.2 oz Clear Candi Sugar

Hops and Spices
.3 oz Centennial Hop pellets (bittering)
.5 oz Styrian Goldings (flavor)
.25 oz Styrian Goldings (aroma)
.5 tsp ground Coriander
.5 tsp Sweet Orange Peel

Mashed all the grain with 2.8 gallons of water at 150 deg F for 90 minutes. Sparged with 2 gallons of water at 170 deg F for about 30 minutes.

Added candi sugar and brought wort to a boil. Added bittering hop and boiled for 60 minutes. Added flavor hop and .25 tsp of coriander and boiled for another 10 minutes. Added aroma hop plus .25 tsp of coriander and orange peel and boiled for a final 5 minutes.

Cooled to ~75 deg F and transfered to a 3 gallon carboy.

Pitched one activator packet of Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity yeast.

O.G. 1.100

This is the Belgian IPA fermenting. I’ve never seen such an active fermentation before.

My second all grain brew. Here’s the grain bill:

11.5 lb German Pilsner
.5 lb Cara-Munich
.5 lb Munich
.5 lb Crystal 60º

Mashed grains with 3 gallons of 155º water for 90 minutes.

Sparged with 5 gallons of 170º water for about 45 minutes.

Hops:
1.5 oz Centennial (pellets) bittering (45 minutes)
1 oz Goldings (whole leaf) + .5 oz Cascade (pellets) (12 minutes)
.5 oz Cascade (pellets) (last 3 minutes)

Pitched dry safale yeast at 75º.

Racked to Secondary, added 1 oz Cascade (pellets)
O.G. 1.051
F.G. 1.008
abv 5.6%

My first All-grain brew. Here’s the grain bill:

4.25 lbs 2-Row
4.25 lbs American Pale
1.25 lbs Rye
1.25 lbs Vienna
.5 lbs Crystal 15L
.25 lbs Carafa Special II

Hops
.75 oz Columbus? Pellets <— I can’t remember if this was columbus or not
.5 oz Columbus Pellets
1 oz Cascade

Mashed the grains in 3 gallons of water at 155º F for 60 minutes. Sparged with 4.5 gallons of water at 180º F for a final boil volume of 7.5 gallons.

Added the .75 oz of bittering hops at once the wort was brought to boil. After 15 minutes of boiling I added the .5 oz flavor hops (Columbus). Added the Cascade at flame out for aroma. I also added 1 tab of Whirfloc for the last 20 minutes (helps with clarity).

O.G. 1.055
F.G. 1. 010
abv ~ 6%

Finally got around to brewing something. Here’s a La Fin du Monde clone I found in a clone brew book.

Steeped grains til boil:

1 lb. Wheat
1 lb. Crystal 20
1/2 lb. Cara Pils
1/2 lb. Vienna

Added 7 lbs extra light DME and 1 lb candi sugar.

Added bittering hops for 30 mins of boil:

1 oz Perle hops

then added 1 oz Styrian hops for last 30 mins.

O.G. 1.080

I’m thinking about calling the brewery “Hammond Street Brew” Has a nice ring to it. Well here’s what I brewed today.

2 3lb can John Bull Dark Malt Extract
.25 lb Roasted Barley
.25 lb Chocolate Barley
2.5 oz Fuggles hop pellets
1 vial White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

Steep Roasted and Chocolate Barley in 2 gallons of water while bringing to a boil. Remove grains and add 2 cans of extract. Bring to boil and add Fuggles hops. Boil for 45 minutes then add to 3 gallons of water and cool to 75 deg F. Hydrometer reading 1.050. Pitched yeast.

O.G. 1.050

2x 3.3 lb Amber LME
1 lb Crystal Malt
.5 lb Rye Malt
1 oz Chinook hop pellets
1 oz Cascade hop pellets
.5 oz Heavy Toast Oak
Muntons Dry Ale Yeast

Steeped Crystal and Rye Malts while heating to ~180 Deg F. Brought to boil and added 2 cans of Amber LME. Then added 1 oz Chinook for boil. Added 1 oz Cascade for last 2 mins of boil for armoa. Steamed Oak chips to sanitize and added to fermenter.

O.G. 1.050
F.G. 1.010

Transferred to secondary. Has a nice flavor even uncarbonated.

1lb Munich Malt
1lb 120L Crystal Malt
8 oz Roasted Barley
4 oz Chocolate Malt
4 lb Amber DME
1 oz Northern Brewer hop pellets

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale Yeast
Probable Origin: Dublin, Ireland
Beer Styles: Dry Stout, Milk Stout, Oatmeal Stout, and Porter
Commercial examples may include: Guinness, Beamish Stout, and Murphy’s Stout
Unique properties: This yeast ferments extremely well in dark roast worts. Beers fermented in the lower temperature range produce dry and crisp beers to fruity beers with nice complexity in the upper range. Ester production is enhanced and rich with fermentation temperatures above 64º F, (18º C). Flocculation is low to moderate with filtration typically required. Alcohol tolerance is approximately 10-11% ABV. Flocculation - medium; apparent attenuation 71-75%.

O.G. 1.055

2 lb American 50L Crystal Malt
12 oz British Chocolate Malt
8 oz Venice Malt
6 lb Amber Extract
1 lb Light Brown Sugar
.5 ozFruggle 60min
.5 oz Williamette 30min
.3 oz Centennial 15min
12oz lactose

A brew by my good friend Joe Loveless. I haven’t brewed this one myself but wanted to catalog it nonetheless. He says it’s very good. We shall see

1 lb 40L Cara-pils Crystal Malt
1 lb Flaked Wheat
1 can Light LME
1 can Wheat LME
1 oz lemon zest
.3 oz cracked Seeds of Paridise
1.5 oz Hallertau hop pellets
1 slap pack Belgian Witbier Yeast (3944)

Steeped crystal malt and flaked wheat for 45 minutes at around 160 deg F. Removed grains and brought to boil. Added liquid extract. After a rolling boil added 1 oz Hallertau hops. Boiled for 40 minutes and added wort chiller. Added lemon zest and crushed seeds. Removed from heat. Using a grain bag I steeped the final .5 oz of Hallertau hops for 5 minutes and removed. Added to cold water in 6 gallon glass carboy. Pitched yeast with an original gravity of 1.055.

O.G. 1.055
F.G. - stay tuned

I wanted to share the description of the yeast I used.

3944 Belgian Witbier Yeast
Probable origin: Hoegaarden, Belgium
Beer Styles: White Beer, Grand Cru, Doubles, Spiced beers
Commercial examples may include: Celis Wit, Hoegaarden, Blanc de Brugge
Unique properties: A yeast with complex flavor profile which produces a spicey phenolic character with low ester production. Phenols tend to dominate most flavors and dissipates with age. Ferments fairly dry with a finish which compliments malted and unmalted wheat and oats. Sometimes used in conjunction with lactic acid bacteria to produces a sharper finish. This strain may be a slow starting yeast with true top cropping characteristics. Flocculation is low, with yeast staying suspended with proteins in a well designed beer. Alcohol tolerance approximately 10-11% ABV. Flocculation - medium; apparent attenuation 72-76%. (62-75° F, 16-24° C)

1 lb 40L Cara-pils Crystal Malt
3 lb Extra Light Munton’s DME
1 lb Munton’s Wheat DME
3.3 lb John Bull Amber LME
1 oz Cascade hop pellets
.5 oz Hallertau hop pellets
1 pkg Nottingham dry Ale yeast

Steeped crystal malt for 20 minutes. Removed grains and brought to boil. Added dry extract and brought back to boil. Added liquid extract. After a rolling boil added 1 oz Cascade hops. Boiled for 25 minutes and added wort chiller. Boiled another 15 minutes and added irish moss and .5 oz Hallertau hops. Boiled another 10 minutes and cooled. Added to cold water in 6 gallon glass carboy. Pitched dry yeast after taking hydrometer reading.

O.G. 1.070
F.G. 1.010

After sitting for a few weeks I tasted this and it had just a bit too much hop bitterness. If I backed off the Cascade (boil) hop by about half it would’ve been perfect. I’ll try it again after it’s aged a month, maybe it will mellow out.

If you check out the inventory post, you’ll see that I have a good amount of options. I have enough dark ingredients to make a dark brew, maybe a stout or a porter. But I also have the nut brown and dark amber option. Anyone have any suggestions?

This is an inventory entry so I don’t have to dig through a box of stuff everytime I need to know what I have.

Bottled Beer
Mini Kegs
none

12oz Bottles

16oz Bottles
3 Cherry Wheat

22oz Bottles
3 Oatmeal Stout

Materials
1 lb Roasted Barley
1 lb Chocolate Barley
1 lb Carapils Crystal Malt
1 oz Northern Brewer pellets
2 oz Saaz pellets
.5 oz Williamette pellets
1 pkg Cooper’s Dry Ale Yeast
1 pkg Champagne Yeast

After upgrading to WordPress 1.5 I’ve been able to easily make a new style for the homebrew section. Check it out! (Thanks Dave for the great beer picture!)

http://beer.joechinni.com

Ingredients

1 Can Coopers Wheat LME
2 lbs. Muntons Wheat DME
.25 lbs. Whole Wheat Flour
1.5 oz Hallertauer hop pellets (boil)
1.5 oz Cascade hop pellets (dry hop)
2 tsp. Coriander seeds
pinch Irish Moss
1 vial Hefeweizen Ale Yeast (WLP300)
4 oz bottle Cherry Beer Flavoring

Boiled 2 gallons of water and added malt extract. Brought back to boil and added boil hops. Boiled for 45 minutes. Added wort chiller and Irish Moss for last 20 minutes of boil. Added wheat flour and then added Coriander. I’ll add the cherry flavor when the primary fermentation is complete and I’ve racked to secondary.

Update: Bottled to 1 mini keg, 11 16 oz flip tops, and 10 22 oz bottles.

Ingredients:

2 cans John Bull Dark LME
6 oz Light DME
.5 lb Flaked Oats
.25 lb Chocolate Barley
.25 lb Roasted Barley
1.6 oz Fuggles hop pellets
.5 oz Kent Goldings hop pellets
1 vial White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

Latest homebrew competition results.

I brewed an IPA kit today. Here’s the rundown.

Ingredients:

2 cans Amber LME
1 lb Crystal grain
1 oz Chinook hop pellets
1 oz Cascade hop pellets
.5 oz Heavy Toasted Oak chips
1 vial Irish Ale yeast

Steeped Crystal grain in 1.5 gallons of water, bringing to boil; removed grains. Poured in 2 cans of Amber extract and added Chinook pellets. Boiled for 40 minutes and added the Cascade pellets for the last 2 minutes of boil. Added wort to 3 gallons of cold water in large carboy. Pitched yeast and added Oak chips.

O.G. 1.053

11/30/04 - Racked to secondary, saved yeast in flask for next batch

Here are the judges comments from my very first homebrew competition. Not great scores but about what I expected. I’m still waiting for results from another one and I’ll post those here as well. Sorry for the crappy scans.

Update: I tried the Pumpkin Ale today. I didn’t like it at first but by the time I finished it I loved it. It’s got a tad too much allspice flavor. It’s spicy and a bit hoppy (bitter) but I think after a few more weeks in the bottle it will mellow out. We’ll see. I’m going to get cider this weekend, the brewshop I go to just got some in. Stay tuned…

3.3 lbs Light Malt
2 lbs Light Dry Malt
1 lb Crystal 40L
1 oz Willamette @boil
1 oz Liberty @15 minutes
1 oz Liberty @55 minutes
5 Lbs Roasted Pumpkin
1.5 Cinammon Sticks
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
.5 tsp Ground Nutmeg
.5 tsp Ground Ginger
.25 tsp Allspice
1 tsp Irish Moss
White Labs Australian Ale

Steeped the crystal malt in 1.5 gallons of water to 150 deg F. Removed grains and brought to boil. Added malt extracts and continued boil. Added 1 oz Williamette hop pellets, boiled for 15 mins and added 1 oz Liberty hop pellets. After another 15 mins I added the pumpkin meat and irish moss. After another 20 minutes I added the finishing 1 oz Liberty hops and all the spices. After another 5 minutes I removed from heat and cooled, added to 3.5 gallons of cold water and added yeast. The pumpkin was cleaned, quartered, and roasted at 350 deg F for 50 mins, skinned and mashed to pulp.

O.G. 1.035

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