Black IPA, Black not Pale, CDA, something of the sort

First brew of the triple brew day is... an extract-based dark/black IPA (also known as Cascadian Dark Ale for those that can't fit Black and Pale into their same beer description).

First time making one of these, but I wanted to try one, and needed to make an extract brew while the other was mashing.  So here goes - also of note, coming out of the boil, it looked more "dark brown" than "black" but I think most of that (after some settling in the hydrometer test jar) was hops and it will be pretty darn black.

Batch TEST - Black Not Pale

Recipe Specifications

Brew Date: 6/22/2012
Recipe Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 8.84 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.054
Estimated OG: 1.079 SG
Estimated Color: 25.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 77.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.060 SG
Actual FG: 1.018 SG
Actual ABV: 5.48 %

Ingredients

Water Additions

Prepare 8.84 gal Water for Brewing

Grain Bill

Steep Grains at 165.0 F

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
1.00 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)	Grain	7.48 %
0.25 lb	Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)	Grain	1.87 %
0.13 lb	Black (Patent) Malt (Paul's) (500.0 SRM)	Grain	0.93 %

Hop Schedule/Boil Additions

Boil Ingredients

Boil	Amount	Item	Type
60 min	12.00 lb	Amber Liquid Extract (12.5 SRM)	Extract
60 min	1.00 oz	Cascade [6.40 %] (60 min)	Hops
60 min	1.00 oz	Warrior [16.70 %] (60 min)	Hops
20 min	0.50 oz	Cascade [6.40 %] (20 min)	Hops
5 min	0.50 oz	Cascade [6.40 %] (5 min)	Hops

Yeast/Other

Ingredients for Fermentation

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
2 Pkgs	Safale US (LeSaffre #05)	Yeast-Ale

Mash

Mash Schedule: None
Total Grain Weight: 10.00 lb
Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)

Notes

Brewed low with about 3 gallons water after marking fill line on carboy

Generated with a custom BeerSmith template created by Cameron Mathews

Brewing to Capacity

So I have reached a sad state of affairs.  I'm out of homebrew.  Well, not completely out, but with only about 4 bottles mixed between stout and that "turned out too dark brown Irish Red" -  functionally, I'm out.  I DO have another five gallons of the Irish "Brown" in a carboy ready for bottling, but nary a drop to drink.  Oh, and while my mead from a few years ago has aged quite nicely, it is not a session beverage in the slightest.

It is this utter dearth of beverage that caused me pause to consider - how much could I possibly have at once?  Given that I only have five gallons in any state of progress, how much could I actually max out?  Turns out, the answer is about 50 gallons.  With 4 carboys, 2 kegs, and 8 cases of bottles, I do have room to produce and store a quarter of my limit at once (limit in the U.S. for those playing at home is 100 gallons a year for an individual of 200 gallons a year for a household with two or more individuals over the age of 21.  More adults does not increase the personal consumption limit above 200).  Now, were I to be maxed out, I would run into a consumption bottleneck rather than a production bottleneck, but that's a problem I could try to work through.

Since I'm not FULLY keg capable yet, we'll call my maximum capacity 40 gallons - which means with only 5 gallons I'm at a meager 12.5% of my available load.  With one day off of work (today), the question was, how do I pump so much into the front-end of the production line that I fill up more more more of that capacity to last me throughout the summer.  The answer?  A 20 gallon brewday.

What?

A 20 gallon brewday.

Now, while I could theoretically start at 7:30 AM with boiling and mash in around 8:30 with the first of two 10 gallon batches, that just wouldn't be my lazy procrastinative style (yes, I think I made up procrastinative, but I like the way it rolls).  Rather, I didn't truly PLAN to brew until last night, meaning that I don't actually have any ingredients, which also limits my start time, since my Homebrew store of choice does not open until 10:00.  This leaves me with the dilemma that there is no way to do two 10 gallon all-grain batches by a reasonable time this evening.  So I made some plan adjustments.  The new plan is: one 5 gallon batch of something experimental (I'm trying a Black IPA or CDA or whatever you want to call it), that I will source primarily with extract.  Then one 10 gallon batch of a standard (we're doing the American Brown).  Then, for my last trick (after clearing a carboy by bottling), I will be attempting 5 gallons of hard cider (another test, using some tips from this site).

After all that, I'll have 5 gallons bottle conditioning and 20 gallons fermenting.  62.5% of my carrying capacity of 40 gallons.  Much much better.  One more 20 gallon (double 10g batch?) psycho-brewday in a month or two and I'd be loaded up for the rest of the year, most likely.

I'll be live tweeting my exciting day, along with posting updates and recipes here on the blog,  Hope you enjoy it.  Oh, and such a carefully constructed day requires carefully constructed timing.  So I have a strict down-to 15 minutes schedule.  Here it is:

Time	General	10G Brown Ale	5G Black IPA	Cider	Red Bottling
7:00 AM	WAKE UP
7:15 AM	WAKE UP
7:30 AM	Donuts & Water
7:45 AM	Donuts & Water
8:00 AM	Load Propane,Take Dogs
8:15 AM	Get Propane
8:30 AM		Measure Chemicals
8:45 AM				Buy Apple Juice?
9:00 AM	Get Equipment Out
9:15 AM	Prep/Clean
9:30 AM	Drive to HBHQ
9:45 AM	Drive to HBHQ
10:00 AM	HBHQ
10:15 AM	HBHQ
10:30 AM	HBHQ
10:45 AM	HBHQ
11:00 AM	Drive Home
11:15 AM	Drive Home
11:30 AM			Boil 8 G/Steep Grains
11:45 AM		Boil 6.25 G Water for Mash In	Boil 8 G/Steep Grains
12:00 PM	Eat	Boil 6.25 G Water for Mash In	Boil 8 G/Steep Grains
12:15 PM		Boil 6.25 G Water for Mash In	Boil
12:30 PM		Boil 6.25 G Water for Mash In	Boil
12:45 PM		Boil 10.5 G for Mash Out	Boil
1:00 PM		Mash	Boil
1:15 PM		Mash	Transfer to Carboy
1:30 PM		Mash	Transfer to Carboy
1:45 PM		Mash	Transfer to Carboy
2:00 PM		Sparge	Transfer to Carboy
2:15 PM		Sparge	Pitch Yeast
2:30 PM		Sparge
2:45 PM		Sparge
3:00 PM		Heat to Boil			Sanitize Bottles
3:15 PM		Heat to Boil			Sanitize Bottles
3:30 PM		Heat to Boil			Sanitize Bottles
3:45 PM		Heat to Boil			Transfer to Bottling Bucket
4:00 PM		Boil			Transfer to Bottling Bucket
4:15 PM		Boil			Bottle
4:30 PM		Boil			Bottle
4:45 PM		Boil			Clean Carboy
5:00 PM		Transfer to Carboys		Fill & Pitch
5:15 PM		Transfer to Carboys
5:30 PM		Transfer to Carboys
5:45 PM		Transfer to Carboys
6:00 PM
6:15 PM
6:30 PM
6:45 PM
7:00 PM
7:15 PM
7:30 PM
7:45 PM
8:00 PM		CLEAN
8:15 PM		CLEAN
8:30 PM		CLEAN
8:45 PM
9:00 PM

Competition update

Well, poor planning on my part has already caused me to drop some of the ball on competition this year.  I intended to have a nice chunk of entries for the Bluebonnet, and I ended up with only three (and one was a cross-category entry, so it probably won't fare too well there).

Then I missed the deadline for the Club Only Competition on Stouts, despite having about a case and a half of Shadow's Shadow Stout in my closet.  Argh.

Next up for me is the Celtic Brewoff - where I should have a Stout, Mead, Scottish, and Irish Red Ale to enter. Hopefully I can make the deadline - it's not until April.  Then the Scottish and Irish can double duty over to the May Club Only Competition with Scottish/Irish Ales.

Onward!

Brewing today - Irish Red

Here's the recipe and I'm tweeting this...


Batch TEST - Shillelagh Whack Irish Red (10G)
Recipe Specifications
Brew Date: 1/31/2012
Recipe Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 13.50 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.043
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 15.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.043 SG
Actual FG: 1.010 SG
Actual ABV: 4.29 %


Ingredients
Water Additions
Prepare 16.90 gal Water for Brewing Amount Item Type
0.88 gm Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.54 gm Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
4.62 gm Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
4.62 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
7.04 gm Salt (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
11.66 gm Chalk (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
11.00 gal Dublin, Ireland - Modified for Irish Red Water


Grain Bill
Ingredients for Mashing Amount Item Type % or IBU
18.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (Paul's) (3.0 SRM) Grain 68.57 %
4.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (Briess) (2.0 SRM) Grain 15.24 %
2.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt British - 35L (Hugh Baird Carastan) (35.0 SRM) Grain 3.81 %
0.75 lb Roasted Barley (Paul's) (300.0 SRM) Grain 2.86 %


Hop Schedule/Boil Additions
Boil Ingredients Boil Amount Item Type
60 min 3.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops
15 min 2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0 min 1.00 items Hop Sock (Boil 0.0 min) Misc




Yeast/Other
Ingredients for Fermentation Amount Item Type % or IBU
2 Pkgs Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) Yeast-Ale


Mash
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out, Brown Ale 10G Thick Mash
Total Grain Weight: 26.25 lb
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out, Brown Ale 10G Thick Mash Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 26.25 qt of water at 174.2 F 155.0 F



Notes



Generated with a custom BeerSmith template created by Cameron Mathews

What's Up!

Well, not much, I guess.  It's been a while since I posted, mostly because my last round was a double-brew madness experiment that left me with about 5 gallons of strong Scotch Ale, and 8 gallons or so of Stout.

Now I'm headed out to get some ingredients this afternoon, and we'll go to brew an Irish Red this Tuesday.

As usually is the case, I will try to send lovely updates via Twitter throughout the brew along with pictures occasionally thrown in.  If you want to brew along with me, you need about 16 gallons of water, a good 10 gallon brew system, and the following:

18 lb Pale Malt (2 row)
4 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine Malt
2.5 lb Crystal 10L
1 lb Crystal 35L (or 40 if you can't find 35)
0.75 lb Roasted Barley

3 oz Fuggles at 4.5%AA

2 packs of Wyeast Irish Ale #1084

And a pile of water adjusting ingredients if you build water like I do (baking soda, epsom salt, salt, gypsum, chalk, etc.)

See you Tuesday!

Jalapeno Update

Bottled the Jalapeno today - got 24 22oz. bottles and another 30 or so 12 oz.

Now I will be transferring the brown ale later this week.

Taste tests showed me that the jalapeno does have some heat and a decent peppery smoke flavor.

Batch Standard - 10G Southbound Brown Ale

Lovely day for a brewday.  I'll be tweeting this brew session (and I've already started) over in the Twitterverse.

Recipe Specifications

Brew Date: 9/1/2011
Recipe Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 13.50 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.043
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 24.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.042 SG
Actual FG: 1.017 SG
Actual ABV: 3.25 %

Ingredients

Water Additions

Prepare 16.75 gal Water for Brewing

Amount	Item	Type
1.22 gm	Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
1.22 gm	Salt (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
7.61 gm	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
16.14 gm	Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
24.67 gm	Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
28.93 gm	Chalk (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
16.75 gal	RO Modified - Brown Ale (Malty)	Water

Grain Bill

Ingredients for Mashing

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
18.00 lb	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	70.59 %
4.00 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)	Grain	15.69 %
2.00 lb	Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)	Grain	7.84 %
1.00 lb	Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)	Grain	3.92 %

Hop Schedule/Boil Additions

Boil Ingredients

Boil	Amount	Item	Type
60 min	2.02 oz	Centennial [8.70 %] (60 min)	Hops
60 min	0.50 lb	Brown Sugar, Light (8.0 SRM)	Sugar

Steep Aroma Hops

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
2.00 oz	Liberty [4.50 %] (5 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)	Hops	-

Yeast/Other

Ingredients for Fermentation

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
2 Pkgs	American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272)	Yeast-Ale

Mash

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out, Brown Ale 10G Thick Mash
Total Grain Weight: 25.00 lb

Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out, Brown Ale 10G Thick Mash

Step Time	Name	Description	Step Temp
60 min	Mash In	Add 25.00 qt of water at 174.4 F	155.0 F

Notes

First time scaling up to 10G - we will see how this works.
Generated with a custom BeerSmith template created by Cameron Mathews

Jalapeno Update

Quick update - last Thursday I transferred the jalapeno to secondary (I tend to find secondary fermenting helps settling out for better clarity in extract brews - less so in my all grain batches).

Before I did, I cut up two more jalapenos and threw them on a piece of aluminum foil on the grill on high heat.  After about 10 minutes, it had a nice black char on some of the skin and the jalapenos had gone soft, so I dropped them into the secondary along with the transferred beer.

Next up - a brown ale brew tomorrow and bottling the jalapeno towards the middle of labor day week (possibly Tuesday).

Batch TEST - 10G Texas Firewater Hand-Picked Jalapeno Pale Ale

I am  live Tweeting this brew day over at Twitter.  Come follow along for fun.

Recipe Specifications

Brew Date: 8/18/2011
Recipe Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 13.50 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.037
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 9.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.059 SG
Actual FG: 1.010 SG
Actual ABV: 6.39 %

Ingredients

Water Additions

Prepare 11.50 gal Water for Brewing

Amount	Item	Type
0.98 gm	Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
0.98 gm	Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
5.15 gm	Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
9.57 gm	Chalk (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
11.50 gal	Munich, Germany - Jalapeno Modified	Water

(Liquid Extract Adds Lots of Volume)

Grain Bill

Steep Grains at 165.0 F

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
1.00 lb	Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)	Grain	6.58 %
1.00 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)	Grain	6.58 %

Hop Schedule/Boil Additions

Boil Ingredients

Boil	Amount	Item	Type
60 min	13.20 lb	Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)	Extract
60 min	2.00 oz	Chinook [11.00 %] (60 min)	Hops
60 min	2.00 items	Jalapeno Pepper, Raw (Boil 60.0 min)	Misc
15 min	2.00 oz	Cascade [5.00 %] (15 min)	Hops
5 min	2.00 oz	Cascade [5.00 %] (5 min)	Hops
0 min	4.00 items	Hop Sock (Boil 0.0 min)	Misc

Yeast/Other

Ingredients for Fermentation

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
4 Pkgs	Safale US (LeSaffre #05)	Yeast-Ale

Mash

Mash Schedule: None
Total Grain Weight: 10.00 lb
Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)

Secondary Additions
When transferring to the secondary after a week (if you do such things), or just after a week (if you don't), grill 2 jalapenos on aluminum foil until they collapse and are gooey. Add one to each secondary.

Generated with a custom BeerSmith template created by Cameron Mathews

Upcoming Brew Schedule

Just a placeholder for some planning for brew days (red means I did not do that batch as planned):

August 2011 - Jalapeno Pale Ale (10G batch experiment)
September 2011 - Brown Ale (Standard 10G Batch)
October 2011 - Christmas Ale (10G batch experiment)
November 2011 - Stout (10G batch experiment)
December 2011 - Wye Heavye (5G "final" experiment before this goes standard)
January 2012 - Irish Red (5G or 10G experiment)
Feb/Mar 2012 - IPA (Standard 5G Batch)
Apr/May/June/July 2012 - Belgian Dubbel (5G experiment - untested category)
Apr/May 2012 - Brown Ale (Standard 10G Batch)
June/July 2012 - Jalapeno Pale Ale (hopefully should be 10G standard by then)
Aug/Sept 2012 - APA (Standard 10G Batch)
October 2012 - Christmas Ale (may still be 10G batch experiment)
November 2012 - Stout(should be 10G standard by then)
December 2012 - Wee Heavy(should be 5G standard by then)