What's Left

I liked the last batch so much I decided that another was in order. We made this batch to share at a BBQ in early June, when a couple friends are returning to the area for a visit. Since I still have a bunch of the hops left over, I thought that I would make the same basic recipe using whatever hops were left and tweaking the mash a little to raise the FG.

Since I only had a certain amount of hops left, and I was going to use them all, I didn't really pay attention to exactly how much I added during each portion of the boil.  What's below is a guess.



What's Left Pale Ale

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (G):           5.25
 Total Grain (lb):         5.5*
Total Hops (g):          213
Original Gravity (OG):    1.050
Final Gravity (FG):       1.010
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  5.5%
Colour (SRM):             8
Bitterness (IBU):         40?   (Rager)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75%
Boil Time (Minutes):      60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.0 lbs Pale malt
12.0 oz Crystal 40
12.0 oz Munich Malt - 10L
*3.0 lbs Light DME

Hop Bill
----------------
15 g Centennial Leaf (10.8% Alpha) - FWH
14 g Citra Leaf (13.7% Alpha)     @ 15 Minutes
14 g Cascade Leaf (9.1% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes
14 g Simcoe Leaf (11.9% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes
14 g Cascade Leaf (9.1% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes
14 g Citra Leaf (13.7% Alpha)     @ 5 Minutes
10 g Citra Leaf (13.7% Alpha)     @ 0 Minutes
10 g Simcoe Leaf (11.9% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes
20 g Citra Leaf (13.7% Alpha)     @ Dry Hop 7 days
20 g Simcoe Leaf (11.9% Alpha) @ Dry Hop 7 days

Mash (in a bag)

----------------
154°F for 60 minutes (temperature dropped to 147°F by end of mash).

Fermentation

----------------
04/28/12
Brewday.  Forgot to add Wyeast yeast nutrient and Irish Moss. Collected 5.25 gallons of wort and pitched 11g packet of rehydrated US-05 ale yeast.  Fermented in better bottle in tupperware bin full of water at ~60°F covered with sanitized foil.  Controlled temperature in low 60s for three days, then removed from water bath and let free rise to room temp of 67°F.  I noticed activity within 8 or 10 hours after pitching, but the yeast never really took off aggressively like I've seen in the past.  I suppose this was because I was fermenting a little on the cooler side.  After three days I replaced the foil with an airlock, and I guess this was too soon, because when I woke up the next morning, the entire airlock was full of krausen.  So I removed and cleaned the S-lock and put the foil back in place until the active fermentation slowed more, which turned out to be after 6 days.

05/06/12
Added dry hops.  Swirled carboy lightly over next few days to attempt to hydrate and immerse the hops.

05/13/12
Moved carboy to fridge to cold crash yeast and hop material.  Everything dropped much better than with the prior batch..

05/17/12
Bottled with 75 g of dextrose and 40 g of sucrose.  Hoping to get around 2.5 volumes of CO2.  Also added 80 g of maltodextrine to boost the body a little, since that was the one thing we wanted to change with the last batch.  Should bump us up a couple points.  Used my new colona capper/corker for this.  It was really nice.

Simtra Pale Ale

For this brew, my goal was simple: I wanted to make something reminiscent of the amazing Hill Farmstead Edward PA.  Since I didn't have a recipe for this, but I did know the hops that they include, I decided to make my own version (and before you say it, I know I didn't use the same hops).  I used a fairly basic grain bill for this, which should serve to underscore the hops with a nice, clean backbone.  A little bit of Crystal and Munich malts for some character should add some interest.

This was my first time doing a first wort hop, and I have to say that I am extremely pleased with the results.  I definitely noticed the smoother, less harsh bitterness that this method imparts.  The blend of citrusy/fruity hops definitely made this beer smell like fruit candy.  While that may not be something I want to drink all the time, it is absolutely tasty.  One thing I would change for next time is to mash a little higher.  I think the body on this beer was a little light.  Maybe by bumping the mash temp up to 154°F, I can get it to finish around 1.014 or so, giving it that little bit extra.


Simtra Pale Ale

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (G):           5.25
Total Grain (lb):         5.5*
Total Hops (g):          213
Original Gravity (OG):    1.052
Final Gravity (FG):       1.010
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  5.5%
Colour (SRM):             8
Bitterness (IBU):         47   (Rager)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75%
Boil Time (Minutes):      60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.0 lbs Pale malt
12.0 oz Crystal 40
12.0 oz Munich Malt - 10L
*3.0 lbs Light DME

Hop Bill
----------------
14.2 g Centennial Leaf (10.8% Alpha) - FWH
14.2 g Cascade Leaf (9.1% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes
14.2 g Citra Leaf (13.7% Alpha)     @ 10 Minutes
14.2 g Simcoe Leaf (11.9% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes
14.2 g Cascade Leaf (9.1% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes
14.2 g Citra Leaf (13.7% Alpha)     @ 5 Minutes
14.2 g Cascade Leaf (9.1% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes
14.2 g Citra Leaf (13.7% Alpha)     @ 0 Minutes
14.2 g Simcoe Leaf (11.9% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes
28.3 g Cascade Leaf (9.1% Alpha) @ Dry Hop 5 days
28.3 g Citra Leaf (13.7% Alpha)     @ Dry Hop 5 days
28.3 g Simcoe Leaf (11.9% Alpha) @ Dry Hop 5 days

Mash (in a bag)

----------------
152°F for 60 minutes.

Fermentation

----------------
02/20/12
Brewday.  Collected 5.25 gallons of wort and pitched 11g packet of rehydrated US-05 ale yeast.  Better bottle in tupperware bin full of water at ~67°F.  Added 1/2 tsp Wyeast yeast nutrient and a pinch of Irish Moss with 10 minutes left in the boil.

02/29/12
Added dry hops.  Swirled carboy frequently and fairly vigorously over next few days to attempt to hydrate and immerse this immense mound of hops!

03/05/12
Moved carboy to fridge to cold crash yeast and hop material.  Swirled every so often to help with settling.

03/07/12
Bottled with 116.9 g of corn sugar for ~2.5 vols of CO2.

Pumpkin Ale

Finally.

Pumpkin Ale

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (G):           5.3
Total Grain (lb):         8.5
Total Hops (oz):          1.00
Original Gravity (OG):    1.058
Final Gravity (FG):       1.009
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  5.70 %
Colour (SRM):             10.1
Bitterness (IBU):         28.2  (Rager)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 73
Boil Time (Minutes):      60


Grain Bill
----------------

3.000 lb Maris Otter Malt (35.29%)

2.000 lb Dry Malt Extract - Light (23.53%)
2.000 lb Liquid Malt Extract - Munich (23.53%)

1.000 lb Munich II (11.76%)

0.250 lb Crystal 120 (2.94%)

0.250 lb Crystal 20 (2.94%)

Hop Bill

----------------

0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)

0.50 oz Northern Brewer Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 oz/Gal)

Misc Bill

----------------

112.00 oz Pumpkin @ 60 Minutes (Boil)

1/8+ tsp Allspice @ 5 Days (Primary)

5/8 tsp Cinnamon @ 5 Days (Primary)

1/8 tsp Ginger @ 5 Days (Primary)

Multi-Step Mash (in a bag)
----------------
115°F for 20 minutes.
135°F for 30 minutes.
148°F for 45 minutes.

Recipe Generated with BrewMate.

Fermentation
----------------

10/15/11

Brew day.  Roasted 7 lbs fresh pie pumpkins for 60 minutes at 350°F.

Again, having trouble hitting mash temps.  Maybe I actually need to spring for some brewing software, not just recipe formulation/tracking.  I wanted to do a 104/140/154° schedule, but maybe it will work out better this way and I'll have higher fermentability.  I was a little worried, because after 30 minutes of my final mash temp, the wort was still tasting pretty starchy and not very sweet.  So I let it go for another 15 minutes, which helped.  Added pumpkin pulp in a mesh bag at start of boil.

Cooled wort after the boil by placing in ice bath in the sink and stirring intermittently.  Topped up to 5.3 gallons with 40°F water, which probably put the wort at about 55°F.  For fermentation temperature control, I use a Rubbermaid bin filled with a couple gallons of water and ice packs.  Filled with water and ice packs to ~60°F.  Pitched 11.5 grams of rehydrated Safale US-05 at a cool mid-50s.

Held temperature of water bath fairly steady  in the low-60s until fermentation began to slow on 10/19.  Let free rise in water bath to room temperature of 66-68°F.

10/20/11

Removed beer from water bath and set in the corner to finish.  Bought 50 mL of Zyr vodka.  Took a nip off the top, just to see what sort of quality I was going to be adding into my beer: wow.  This stuff is really good.  I added the spices to the bottle of vodka to let it steep for a few days before adding to the finished beer.

11/03/11

Checked the specific gravity (1.009) and added spice tonic.  Flavor was nice and clean.  Very promising.

11/19/11
Bottling day.  Checked gravity (1.008) and added 5 g dextrose to bottling bucket with ~1 cup water.  Had broken autosiphon tip during bottling of Funky Saison, and had trouble maintaining siphon for last 2 quarts or so.  May have induced significant aeration attempting to get the last half gallon in the bottling bucket.  Yield was 2 bombers (22 oz.) and 40 bottles (12 oz.).