Hardware

Brewing sometimes pays off with recognition. I entered quite a few beers in the Celtic Brew-Off as previously mentioned, and was pleasantly surprised to win a pair of ribbons this year (last year I won one ribbon in the Celtic). 

My "Stupid Shamrock Irish Stout" won third place in overall stouts, despite having a slightly "too-roasty" flavor.  Luckily there's still a little bit of that to go around and I may have to have a couple just to remind myself of what that one tastes like.  Might have to bust one or two of those out this weekend.

My "Shillelagh Whack Irish Red" did a bit better, picking up second overall place in Scottish and Irish Ales.  Special thanks to everyone that hung out the day that got brewed... Meredith, Dave, Melissa, Megan, and Cory, in no particular order (except Meredith who always gets first billing).  I have a feeling that most of this is now gone, but I may poke around and see if I can find a straggling bottle or two.  I think there are definitely some improvements that could be made on this one but I am glad to see that it was good enough to score some pretty high merit at a focused competition.

Finally, though it wasn't a medal-winner, I was quite pleased with the remarks I got on my mead.  Phrases like "well aged" and "spicy honey notes" were thrown around in the review sheets as well as some decent marks.  Obviously it didn't score well enough to beat out those focused mead recipes, but I was glad to see it have some positive feedback.

Batch 28 - Naughty Tart - Tart Cherry Beer

OK, so this one, I'll post the brew sheet, but be sure to read the notes because basically I drained a ton of cherries and then loaded into the primary...  Since they are CANNED, they are already pasteurized, so just keep sanitation good.

Batch 28 Naughty Tart - Tart Cherry Beer

Recipe Specifications

Brew Date: 5/15/2010
Recipe Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.038
Estimated OG: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 4.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 19.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.041
Actual FG:  1.011
Actual ABV:  3.9 %

Ingredients

Water Additions

Prepare 8.45 gal Water for Brewing

Amount	Item	Type
0.44 gm	Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
0.44 gm	Salt (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
1.98 gm	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
4.29 gm	Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
5.50 gal	Boston, MA	Water

Grain Bill

Ingredients for Mashing

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
9.00 lb	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	90.00 %
1.00 lb	Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)	Grain	10.00 %

Hop Schedule/Boil Additions

Boil Ingredients

Boil	Amount	Item	Type
60 min	1.00 oz	Tettnang [4.50 %] (60 min)	Hops
15 min	0.50 oz	Tettnang [4.50 %] (15 min)	Hops

Yeast/Other

Ingredients for Fermentation

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

11.00 items

Fruit - Montmorency Sour Cherries (can) (Primary 7.0 days)

Misc

Mash

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10.00 lb

Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge

Step Time	Name	Description	Step Temp
75 min	Mash In	Add 12.50 qt of water at 161.4 F	150.0 F

Notes

Drain cherries in sanitized equipment and add to primary fermenter. Rack off after 5 days into secondary.

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Celtic Entries

Readying the entries for the Knights of the Brown Bottle Celtic Brew-Off.  This year, I've got 4 entries going in:

• Doh Ray Mead
• Wee Beastye Wee Heavye (December batch - rebranded Wee Beastye Wee-est Heavye in the Strong Scot 90/ category they have, since it came out a tad light)
• Shillelagh Whack Irish Red
• Stupid Shamrock Irish Stout

Since the 2009 Celtic won me a ribbon in the Strong Scottish category, I am hoping that I have at least one beer good enough to place here this year.  We'll see.

Batch 27 - Pale Faced American

Double brew day!!! Yup.I managed (somehow) to brew two batches in a single day... We'll see how they turn out.

Recipe Specifications

Brew Date: 3/13/2010
Recipe Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.047
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 7.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 39.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.039 SG
Actual FG: 1.008 SG
Actual ABV: 4.03 %

Ingredients

Water Additions

Prepare 8.75 gal Water for Brewing

Amount	Item	Type
1.10 gm	Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
1.40 gm	Chalk (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
1.80 gm	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
2.10 gm	Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
2.50 gm	Salt (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
3.50 gm	Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
5.50 gal	Los Angeles, CA (West)	Water

Grain Bill

Ingredients for Mashing

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
10.50 lb	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	84.00 %
1.00 lb	Cara-Pils/Dextrine (Briess) (2.0 SRM)	Grain	8.00 %
1.00 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)	Grain	8.00 %

Hop Schedule/Boil Additions

Boil Ingredients

Boil	Amount	Item	Type
60 min	0.60 oz	Magnum [14.40 %] (60 min)	Hops
15 min	1.00 oz	Challenger [7.00 %] (15 min)	Hops

Yeast/Other

Ingredients for Fermentation

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
2 Pkgs	American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)	Yeast-Ale

Mash

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 12.50 lb

Single Infusion, Medium Body

Step Time	Name	Description	Step Temp
60 min	Mash In	Add 15.63 qt of water at 165.9 F	154.0 F
10 min	Mash Out	Add 8.75 qt of water at 196.6 F	168.0 F

Notes

Generated with a custom BeerSmith template created by Cameron Mathews

Batch 26 - Strong, Dark, and Less than Handsome

Recipe Specifications

Brew Date: 3/13/2010
Recipe Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.071
Estimated OG: 1.086 SG
Estimated Color: 18.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 19.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.085 SG
Actual FG: 1.016 SG
Actual ABV: 9.04 %

Ingredients

Water Additions

Prepare 7.00 gal Water for Brewing

Amount	Item	Type
0.70 gm	Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
1.80 gm	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
2.10 gm	Salt (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
2.80 gm	Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
4.90 gm	Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
5.30 gm	Chalk (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
5.50 gal	Antwerp, Belgium	Water

Grain Bill

Steep Grains at 165.0 F

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
1.00 lb	Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM)	Grain	6.90 %
0.50 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)	Grain	3.45 %

Hop Schedule/Boil Additions

Boil Ingredients

Boil	Amount	Item	Type
60 min	10.00 lb	Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)	Extract
60 min	2.00 oz	Hallertauer [3.80 %] (60 min)	Hops
60 min	1.00 lb	Candi Sugar, Amber (75.0 SRM)	Sugar
60 min	2.00 lb	Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM)	Sugar

Yeast/Other

Ingredients for Fermentation

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
2 Pkgs	Belgian Golden Ale (White Labs #WLP570)	Yeast-Ale

Mash

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

Notes

Generated with a custom BeerSmith template created by Cameron Mathews

Batch 25 - American Brown Ale

Recipe Specifications

Brew Date: 2/15/2010
Recipe Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.045
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 24.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 31.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.048 SG
Actual FG: 1.012 SG
Actual ABV: 4.69 %

Ingredients

Water Additions

Prepare 8.75 gal Water for Brewing

Amount	Item	Type
0.40 gm	Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
0.40 gm	Salt (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
2.50 gm	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
5.30 gm	Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
8.10 gm	Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
9.50 gm	Chalk (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
5.50 gal	RO Modified - Brown Ale (Malty)	Water

Grain Bill

Ingredients for Mashing

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

Hop Schedule/Boil Additions

Boil Ingredients

Boil	Amount	Item	Type
60 min	1.00 oz	Centennial [9.70 %] (60 min)	Hops
60 min	0.25 lb	Brown Sugar, Light (8.0 SRM)	Sugar

Steep Aroma Hops

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

Yeast/Other

Ingredients for Fermentation

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

Mash

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 12.50 lb

Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge

Step Time	Name	Description	Step Temp
60 min	Mash In	Add 15.63 qt of water at 170.1 F	154.0 F

Notes

Generated with a custom BeerSmith template created by Cameron Mathews

Mead Bottling...

Bottled up the Doh Ray Mead today... using the corker is interesting - I'm now curious how the hand corkers work, though I hear they are difficult to use. I rented a stand corker to do the dirty work today, and it was pretty easy - especially for the $10 or so it will cost me to rent.

Batch 24 - Shillelagh Whack Irish Red

Got an Irish Red brewed last weekend with a little help from some friends....

Also thanks, Dave, for the new burner that results in substantially less black dust to clean from the bottom of the brew kettle after the boil. Yay for laziness in cleaning!

Recipe Specifications
Brew Date: 1/23/2010
Recipe Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.043
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 13.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 58.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

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


Ingredients
Water Additions
Prepare 8.66 gal Water for Brewing Amount Item Type
0.44 gm Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
0.77 gm Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
2.31 gm Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
2.31 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
3.52 gm Salt (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
5.83 gm Chalk (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
5.50 gal Dublin, Ireland - Modified for Irish Red Water


Grain Bill
Ingredients for Mashing Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (Paul's) (3.0 SRM) Grain 72.34 %
1.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (Briess) (2.0 SRM) Grain 12.77 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 8.51 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt British - 35L (Hugh Baird Carastan) (35.0 SRM) Grain 4.26 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (Paul's) (300.0 SRM) Grain 2.13 %


Hop Schedule/Boil Additions
Boil Ingredients Boil Amount Item Type
60 min 1.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops
15 min 1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc




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


Mash
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11.75 lb
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 14.69 qt of water at 170.1 F 154.0 F



Notes



Generated with a custom BeerSmith template created by Cameron Mathews

Batch 23 - Stupid Shamrock Irish Stout

Recipe Specifications

Brew Date: 1/10/2010
Recipe Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Recipe Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated Pre-boil OG: 1.038
Estimated OG: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 38.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 63.10 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.046 SG
Actual FG: 1.010 SG
Actual ABV: 4.69 %

Ingredients

Water Additions

Prepare 8.66 gal Water for Brewing

Amount	Item	Type
0.53 gm	Salt (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
1.40 gm	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
3.15 gm	Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
3.50 gm	Chalk (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
4.90 gm	Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
15.75 gm	Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
8.75 gal	London, England	Water

Grain Bill

Ingredients for Mashing

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
9.00 lb	Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (Paul's) (3.0 SRM)	Grain	76.60 %
1.50 lb	Roasted Barley (Paul's) (300.0 SRM)	Grain	12.77 %
1.00 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt British - 35L (Hugh Baird Carastan) (35.0 SRM)	Grain	8.51 %
0.25 lb	Black (Patent) Malt (Paul's) (500.0 SRM)	Grain	2.13 %

Hop Schedule/Boil Additions

Boil Ingredients

Boil	Amount	Item	Type
60 min	1.00 oz	Glacier [7.40 %] (60 min)	Hops

Steep Aroma Hops

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
1.00 oz	Goldings, US [4.90 %] (3 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)	Hops	-

Yeast/Other

Ingredients for Fermentation

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
1 Pkgs	Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084)	Yeast-Ale

Mash

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11.75 lb

Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge

Step Time	Name	Description	Step Temp
60 min	Mash In	Add 14.69 qt of water at 170.1 F	154.0 F

Notes

Some new stuff going on this time - first off, this marks a return to the All-Grain brewing style, and hopefully with some better results. Additionally, I built my own water from some reverse osmosis water to match a London water profile which I also compared with a desired outcome on a couple of additional calculators. Finally, I have upgraded my sanitation procedures a bit, which is extremely nice - started using some Star San instead of bleach and already I notice a big benefit in my ability to use stuff right away without having to rinse. And, since it is made for brewing, there is little risk that it will mess with my beer at all. Going to try some different approaches to cleaning the SS kettles, too - we shall see.

Building water resulted in a good bit of crap accumulating on the mash water pot, but it should rinse off pretty easily with hot water, I would hope.

Generated with a custom BeerSmith template created by Cameron Mathews

New fun tech...

So, while I have been using this lovely website to keep track of my brewing and progress (and will continue to do so), I have begun down the ever-growing spiral of needing to know MORE about my beer, track MORE information, and perform calculations that make my Excel spreadsheet and Access database skills look weak.  That's not to say I can't do it, but I reached a point where I decided it would be cheaper and easier to buy an off-the-shelf program to handle my math for me than to expend the time and energy writing my own brewing program.  Especially with so many nice ones out there.

So, I checked out ProMash (not bad) and I checked out BeerSmith (also not bad).  Ultimately, both appear to be designed by software/math/brewing geeks and not people with usability or graphic design skills (Promash looks like "Johnny's first hello world app" and BeerSmith uses icons reminiscent of Windows 3.1) but both appear to work just fine.  Ultimately I ended up choosing BeerSmith, mostly because that is the one I played with more, and it has some cool customizable reporting features, etc.

My hopes are to get a nice custom report that spits out formatted recipe blog entries for me (as well as perhaps some notes like this one) and I'll copy/paste it to the site.  Hopefully for YOU, this provides more detail if you actually read this about what I am doing and get a better feel for duplicating recipes, and for ME it provides more info about what I am doing so I can figure out what I still want/need to change.

Only time shall tell.

In other news, I picked up The Thief, a wine thief used for swiping samples from my carboy.  Got it from Homebrew Headquarters and this particular model allows me to put my spare hydrometer inside.  That's really pretty cool.  So I am going to just sanitize it in some Star San, and then use it to take some measurements on my Doh Ray Mead that's been patiently fermenting for a while.  I can then just drain the sample into a glass and see what I think...  Need to take a few measurements to see if it is done and then get to bottling that lovely beverage.