Wednesday, February 09, 2011

A mess avoided

I'm glad that I rigged a blow-off tube...



That's yeast and sanitizing solution pooling in the plastic container. What's bubbling out smells of yeast (of course) and bananas. I'm hoping to pick up more clove and spice flavors as the yeast cools tonight.

Search Engine Madness!

OK... So perhaps I should have done a search before I named that last video. YouTube's search engine now believes that my beer is somehow related to a Korean pop group. It could be worse, I suppose. It could have mistaken "bubble" for "bobble" and put up links to McDonald's ads from Japan.

(Not So) Tiny Bubbles

The Cheesehead Hefeweizen is bubbling away...

Cheesehead Hefeweizen

I was going to brew this up on Sunday, but the game was just too interesting!
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 3.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 8.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.00 %
4.50 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.00 %
0.38 oz Hallertauer [4.20 %] (65 min) Hops 5.9 IBU
0.25 oz Tettnang [4.80 %] (15 min) Hops 2.2 IBU
0.05 tsp Lactic Acid (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
2.50 gm Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
2.50 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
4.00 gm Salt (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
6.50 gal Distilled Water Water
1 Pkgs Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) Yeast-Wheat


Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Single
Total Grain Weight: 9.00 lb
----------------------------
Decoction Mash, Single
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
35 min Protein Rest Add 18.00 qt of water at 126.6 F 122.0 F
45 min Saccharification Decoct 7.63 qt of mash and boil it 155.0 F
10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F

But given how long this took to complete, Ale Interrupted may be a better name.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Hefe Interrupted

I've been brewing all day.

Brewing, however, usually isn't an all day event. I was in the middle of mashing a Hefeweizen when I got called away to a lunch meeting. This is my first attempt at a decoction mash. I had to leave in the middle of the saccharification rest, so I figured "What's the harm?". A little extra time for those enzymes to get all happy in the mash can't be a bad thing.

Now I'm about to take off for another meeting. There will still be 20 minutes left in the boild, but my wife says she'll shut off the burners. I'd normally use an immersion chiller at this point, but it's a Hefe; what's the point!?

I'll post the recipe in a bit; though, it's pretty simple.