Category: Homebrew

Michella IPA

Here’s a slight variation on Ipanema that I’m brewing for Michelle’s postnatal enjoyment. She gave up beer and coffee without too much fuss or complaint when she found out she was pregnant, and I even gave it up for a while. Soon she’ll be able to have a little herself, so I’d better get this one brewed.

Grain bill:

  • 7 lbs LME
  • 1.5 lbs domestic 2-row
  • 1 lbs domestic Munich
  • 0.5 lbs Belgian biscuit

Hops:

  • 1.25 oz Palisades @ 60 min. (9.7% aa)
  • 1.50 oz Palisades @ 10 min.
  • 1.0 oz Palisades @ 5 min.
  • 1.0 oz Palisades @ 2 min.
  • 1.0 oz Palisades @ secondary

Misc:

  • Fermentis us-58 dry yeast (with 1 liter starter)
  • Irish Moss

This one will have to be fermented in the basement since it cools down to 80F in the house overnight.

Ambiorix tapped

I tapped Ambiorix a few nights ago and have been quite pleased with the results. When poured, it’s not as dark as the beer in the fermenter, so it could pass as a golden if you were in a dark room. The taste is rather clean, sweet and slightly fruity; not as complex as I’d hoped, but still nice enough, especially on a hot evening.

IPAnema tapped

I tapped IPAnema tonight to make sure I wasn’t serving ham-beer at my friend’s wedding tomorrow. I’m pleased to announce that it rocks. I’m glad I dropped the Simcoe hops into the keg – it gave it back a little of the floral, but not as much as I’d hoped for. Still – it’s good. Hopefully the 6% beverage doesn’t cause trouble.

Ambiorix moved to secondary

I moved Ambiorix to secondary this morning. The original gravity was disappointingly low at 1.058 (should have been 1.070) and I’m worried that it may not have been an accurate reading. The gravity this morning was already at 1.018, which is a decent place to be. This could be a darker, sweeter beer than I anticipated. The taste at this point was pleasant though – the yeast gives it some good fruity flavors and I’m hoping that secondary will allow some more settling and lightening.

This is my first time using a Belgian yeast strain and I have an unfounded fear that it would infect my other batches, so I cleaned the fermenter very thoroughly after racking to secondary. My fear comes from a cask stout I had at the Lucky Lab last year that was hot & estery and tasted like the machine hadn’t been cleaned well enough. I don’t want any residual yeast in my next batch since it’s for Michelle. She’s getting a custom IPA.

Ambiorix Golden Strong Ale

Since Michelle can’t drink beer right now, I thought it would be fun to brew something that I would not ordinarily try. Yesterday I brewed my first Belgian-style beer; a golden strong ale. Since it is a partial mash recipe, the wort was a little darker than I anticipated even though I used 1/2 pale and 1/2 pilsner liquid extract. Live and learn, I guess.

  • 4 lbs light LME
  • 4 lbs extra-light LME
  • 1 lbs Carapils (steeped)
  • 1 lbs Cane Sugar
  • 1 oz Santiam (6.5% aa) @ 60 min
  • 1 oz Santiam (6.5% aa) @ 10 min
  • 1 oz Crystal (3.9% aa) @ 8 min
  • 1.5 oz Crystal (3.9% aa) @ 2 min
  • Fermentis T-58 dry ale yeast

I pitched a starter for the yeast on Friday and the stuff wasted no time turning the wort into beer – I had fermentation within 6 hours and this morning it was going crazy. I’ll be watching the temperature to see if it gets too warm, in which case I’ll move it down into the basement.

Second Starter with Dry Yeast

I just finished pitching another starter using Fermentis dry yeast. This time I used T-58, a spicy Belgian ale yeast. Only 45 minutes after pitching, the starter is active. I am prone to believe that it is just re-hydrating rather than “going to town.” But I don’t know how yeast think.

Here are two pics I snapped. The first is the mini-wort about to boil with a yeast nutrient stain on top. It looks drinkable itself. The second is the active starter.
Starter before boil Rapid Start

Hops and Aphids

Aphids

My hop is growing like crazy now and it seems to have attracted the attention of a few aphids. The aphids have attracted the attention of some ladybugs, ants and wasps. Still, there might be a few too many aphids.

Ladybug

Any tricks for getting rid of them? Soapy water? Crushing them between finger and thumb? Ignoring them?

Beer from IPAnema

Brewing a test batch for a friends wedding today. Beer from IPAnema is an IPA but I’ve added a little Belgian biscuit to give it a little sweeter bread and candy flavor. It is a celebration after all, and ideally, this beer will be tall and tan and young and bitter. Think Astrud Gilberto.

The recipe?
Grain bill

  • 7 lbs Light Malt Extract
  • 1 lbs domestic 2-row
  • 1 lbs domestic Munich
  • 0.5 lbs Belgian Biscuit

Hops

  • 0.6 oz Simcoe (12.2 % alpha) @ 60 minutes
  • 0.5 oz Simcoe (12.2 % alpha) @ 30 minutes
  • 0.5 oz Simcoe (12.2 % alpha) @ 10 minutes
  • 0.5 oz Simcoe (12.2 % alpha) @ 5 minutes
  • 1.0 oz Simcoe (12.2 % alpha) @ 2 minutes
  • 1.0 oz Simcoe (12.2% alpha) dry hop

Dry Yeast

Dry yeast and starter

I decided to try out dry yeast since it seems to have come a long way even since I started brewing. I picked up a package of Fermentis Ale us-56, a typical American Ale strain, and a 1 liter Erlenmeyer flask. I figured the cost savings ($1.80 a pack) from using dry yeast twice would cover the cost of a pyrex starter vessel. Plus, I could use the flask to boil, cool, and pitch in – reducing steps and vectors for infection. Win, win!

I pitched the yeast around midnight last night and when I woke up, the little buggers are already hard at work, so it looks like I’ll be brewing this evening.