Category Archives: German

HEFEWEIZEN 3V 3_5

This beer won 2nd at NHC finals last year and took 1st in the first round this year as well as other years so I don’t feel any need to change up the recipe. It really is a stellar Hefe. Sadly it didn’t place in finals this year but the beer was excellent and scored well. That is just the nature of NHC finals. Its you and 35 other really, really good beers so you need a bit of luck which sadly I didn’t have this year.

Recipe Info
Recipe: hefeweizen 3v 3
Style: Weissbier 10A BJCP 2015
Date: 11-09-2017

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0501.0441.052
FG1.0111.0101.014
Color3.42.06.0
ABV5.14.35.6
IBU13.08.015.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 14.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.53 G
Volume: 7.69 G
Temp: 112.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.039
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.23 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 10.25 G
Boil Duration: 90 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 8.0 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
8.750 Lb60.0 %Wheat (DURST MALZ)84.01.8
5.750 Lb40.0 %Pilsner (DURST MALZ)81.51.8

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
0.9 OzHallertau Mittelfrüh2.590 minsBoil6.0
1.0 OzHallertau Mittelfrüh2.560 minsBoil7.0

Yeast

AmountName
1.000 unitHefeweizen Ale White Labs WLP300

Misc

AmountNameTimeUse
1.000 tabletWhirlfloc Tablet15 minsBoil
0.500 tspYeast Nutrient (Wyeast)10 minsBoil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.63

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash733211482430
Sparge793211572430
Final1195332383847
Target7500000

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 6.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Calcium Chloride: 6.0 g
Lactic Acid: 5.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.000 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Calcium Chloride: 6.0 g

Notes

Single decoction 
Mash in at 105f raise to 112f immediately and hold for 10 mins 
2f a min up to 126f for 10 Mins 
Raise to 149f and hold for 5 mins then pull 1/3rd as thick decoction and leave main mash at 149f while handling decoction
Slowly raise decoction to 158f and hold for 20 mins and then boil for 10 mins
Reincorporate decoction into main mash slowly and stabilize at 158f for 10 Mins and make sure it passes iodine test else hold till done converting
Raise to 169f and hold 10 mins

Chill to 58f
Pull 4 gallons to fermenter and then pull 2 quarts in mason jars for speisse at bottling
Oxygenate for 60 secs with 0.5 micron stone and o2. Raise to 63f over 24 hours. Hold for 1 week. Raise to 68f over 24 hours and hold through two weeks.

speise -> 3gallons @ 3.25 volumes = 1.6 qt of speise
i pull 2 x 0.8qt of speise and sterlize @ 15psi in pressure cooker for 15 mins

Brewday notes:

5/12/19 made a 0.3L starter with 30g of DME and one pouch of WLP300
5/14/19 made two minor errors but overall a normal 3V brewday
+forgot to add CC and lactic acid at mash but added it in a bit later
+timing was off on one of my mash steps
pitched @ 2pm EST
5/15/19 @9am kreusen has formed and slow steady bubbling
5/16/19 enormous 3″ kreusen and very strong bubbling
5/17/19 still big kreusen, slow steady bubbling
5/18/19 kreusen dropping, ~2 sec bubbling
5/20/19 ~5 sec bubbling
5/28/19 bottled with speise
FG 1.010
tastes young but no off flavor. solid ester, strong phenolics but good.

VIENNA 3V CONICAL 1_2

Of the 5 beers I submitted for NHC 2019 first round, two made it to the finals. Not too shabby. My goal has always been to get ANY beer to the finals cause, well, NHC first round is as competitive as any competition out there not to mention the finals. The Vienna finished 3rd out of 30+ entries and the score sheets were sadly the usual unhelpful very thin comments with no indication on how to make the beer better 🙁 Which is why I think I’ll be taking a break from competition next year. I have done really well in competitions including a first and a second in NHC finals so I don’t feel like I need any validation that I’m making good beer and the feedback i’m getting is not worth the effort. Or maybe I’m a bit burnt out and just need a break 🙂

Same recipe as last time but my weyerman order got a bit mixed up and I only got 1 lb of caraamber so i substitued caramunich I for the other 0.8 lb. Bummer.

Recipe Info
Recipe: vienna 3v conical 1
Style: Vienna Lager 7A BJCP 2015
Date: 01-03-2018

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0521.0481.055
FG1.0111.0101.014
Color14.59.015.0
ABV5.34.75.5
IBU34.018.030.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 17.78 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.56 G
Volume: 8.98 G
Temp: 150.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.044
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.96 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 10.5 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.0 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
7.200 Lb40.0 %Pilsner (Weyermann)80.01.8
6.750 Lb38.0 %Vienna Malt (Weyermann)79.03.4
1.800 Lb10.0 %Munich II (Weyermann)82.28.5
1.800 Lb10.0 %Caraamber/Biscuit (Weyermann)80.136.0
0.230 Lb1.0 %Midnight Wheat Malt0.0550.0

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
0.85 OzMagnum14.160 minsBoil27.0
1.5 OzHallertau Mittelfrüh4.215 minsBoil7.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.500 LGerman Lager White Labs WLP830

Misc

AmountNameTimeUse
1.000 tabletWhirlfloc Tablet15 minsBoil
1.000 tspYeast Nutrient (Wyeast)10 minsBoil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.42

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash61321759330
Sparge59321896930
Final10153513513850
Target7500000

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 32.176 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 8.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 4.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 g
Lactic Acid: 2.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 g

Notes

150f 60 mins
168f 10 mins

2 weeks 50f
2 day raise to 60
Hold through 3 weeks
4 weeks lagering

Carb to 2.5 volumes

Brewday Notes:

3 vessel electric HERMS system and fermenting in 7G conical.

4/21/19 1L 100g DME starter + 4 pouches of WLP830
4/23/19 normal 3V brewday. no issues. #s all looked good. pitched 1L starter @ 1:30 pm EST. @ 48F. only concern is starter was dark brown which i have seen a couple times from white labs pitches. time to try a new yeast company, 2 of the 4 pouches were noticeably darker and the starter even after fermenting out was still very dark. starter smelled a hair boozy but maybe my imagination. only 3 months old which really is that bad from my HBS. fingers crossed
@10pm bumped to 49F
4/24/19 @ 8am up to 50F no bubbling
@noon no bubbling
@10pm slow steady bubbling -> longer lag time than normal
4/25-29/19 slow steady bubbling
4/30/19 bubble every ~5 sec
5/3/19 ~10sec
5/7/19 raised to 60F for Diacetyl Rest
5/14/19 lowered to 50 then 40F for cold crash
5/15/19 lowered to 35F for cold crash
5/20/19 racked to lagering keg
FG 1.014
nice malt character. hops seem about right. promising. no technical issues.
6/4/19 gelatined beer and put on 30psi overnight to force carb
6/5/19 moved to 14psi @ 38F for carb. of on calculator but seems to be about 2.5 volumes.

Hefeweizen 3V 3_3

Last beer of NHC 2019 run of beers. Not much to say. I have now brewed this same beer 3 times without changing the recipe or process. Last year it placed 2nd at NHC. This one I still ferment in a 6G carboy since I’m just bottle conditioning it with speise anyway.

Recipe Info
Recipe: hefeweizen 3v 3
Style: Weissbier 10A BJCP 2015
Date: 11-09-2017

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0501.0441.052
FG1.0111.0101.014
Color3.42.06.0
ABV5.14.35.6
IBU13.08.015.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 14.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.53 G
Volume: 7.69 G
Temp: 112.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.039
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.23 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 10.25 G
Boil Duration: 90 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 8.0 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
8.750 Lb60.0 %Wheat (DURST MALZ)84.01.8
5.750 Lb40.0 %Pilsner (DURST MALZ)81.51.8

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
0.9 OzHallertau Mittelfrüh2.590 minsBoil6.0
1.0 OzHallertau Mittelfrüh2.560 minsBoil7.0

Yeast

AmountName
1.000 unitHefeweizen Ale White Labs WLP300

Misc

AmountNameTimeUse
1.000 tabletWhirlfloc Tablet15 minsBoil
0.500 tspYeast Nutrient (Wyeast)10 minsBoil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.63

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash733211482430
Sparge793211572430
Final1195332383847
Target7500000

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 6.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Calcium Chloride: 6.0 g
Lactic Acid: 5.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.000 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Calcium Chloride: 6.0 g

Notes

Single decoction 
Mash in at 105f raise to 112f immediately and hold for 10 mins 
2f a min up to 126f for 10 Mins 
Raise to 149f and hold for 5 mins then pull 1/3rd as thick decoction and leave main mash at 149f while handling decoction
Slowly raise decoction to 158f and hold for 20 mins and then boil for 10 mins
Reincorporate decoction into main mash slowly and stabilize at 158f for 10 Mins and make sure it passes iodine test else hold till done converting
Raise to 169f and hold 10 mins

Chill to 58f
Pull 4 gallons to fermenter and then pull 2 quarts in mason jars for speisse at bottling
Oxygenate for 60 secs with 0.5 micron stone and o2. Raise to 63f over 24 hours. Hold for 1 week. Raise to 68f over 24 hours and hold through two weeks.

speise -> 3gallons @ 3.25 volumes = 1.6 qt of speise
i pull 2 x 0.8qt of speise and sterlize @ 15psi in pressure cooker for 15 mins

2/5/19 0.3L 30g of DME starter of WLP300
2/7/19 good 3 vessel decoction brewday
followed notes from 2/12/18 brew notes without issue even though i forgot my new O2 setup no longer works so i jerry rigged an o2 setup.
pitched @ 3pm
2/8/19 8am no bubbling
@11am thin kreusen and slow bubbling
2/9/19 2″ kreusen and strong bubbling
2/10/19 1″ kreusen dropping and slow steady bubbling
2/12/19 kreusen dropping bubbling has stopped
2/14/19 no bubbling
2/21/19 bottled 3G + speise. 28 bottles. FG 1.010. tastes really good. a hair of skunk. We’ll see.

Vienna 3V Conical 1

This is the 2nd beer in my NHC 2019 run. All the same applies to this beer as the Schwarzbier.

Recipe Info
Recipe: vienna 3v conical 1
Style: Vienna Lager 7A BJCP 2015
Date: 01-03-2018

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0521.0481.055
FG1.0111.0101.014
Color14.59.015.0
ABV5.34.75.5
IBU34.018.030.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 17.78 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.56 G
Volume: 8.98 G
Temp: 150.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.044
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.96 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 10.5 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.0 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
7.200 Lb40.0 %Pilsner (Weyermann)80.01.8
6.750 Lb38.0 %Vienna Malt (Weyermann)79.03.4
1.800 Lb10.0 %Munich II (Weyermann)82.28.5
1.800 Lb10.0 %Caraamber/Biscuit (Weyermann)80.136.0
0.230 Lb1.0 %Midnight Wheat Malt0.0550.0

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
0.85 OzMagnum14.160 minsBoil27.0
1.5 OzHallertau Mittelfrüh4.215 minsBoil7.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.500 LGerman Lager White Labs WLP830

Misc

AmountNameTimeUse
1.000 tabletWhirlfloc Tablet15 minsBoil
1.000 tspYeast Nutrient (Wyeast)10 minsBoil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.42

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash61321759330
Sparge59321896930
Final10153513513850
Target7500000


Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 32.176 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 8.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 4.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 g
Lactic Acid: 2.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 g

Notes

150f 60 mins
168f 10 mins

2 weeks 50f
2 day raise to 60
Hold through 3 weeks
4 weeks lagering

Carb to 2.5 volumes

Notes:
1/6/19 1L starter w/ 100g DME and 4 pouches of WLP830 German Lager
1/8/19 normal 3 Vessel brewday. no issues. pitched @ 1pm @ 48F. slow bubbling when I went to bed and moved up to 49F.
1/10/19 slow steady bubbling. bumped to 50F.
1/13/19 slow steady bubbling
1/14/19 ~11 sec
1/20/19 no more bubbling. raised to Diacetyl rest @ 60F
1/27/19 cold crashed to 35F
1/29/19 racked to lagering keg. FG 1.016. nice beer. no off flavors
2/23/19 added gelatin. 30 psi overnight for forced carb then down to 11psi @ 35F

Schwarzbier 3v conical 1

Pretty similar approach to NHC this year as last year. I assumed I’d get at most 5 beers (and I did get 5 for Tampa) so the plan was to brew the same 5 beers as last year. 3 made it to the finals last year (Schwarzbier, Vienna and Weizen)and 1 medaled (2nd for Weizen). The five are Schwarzbier, Vienna, Best Bitter, Cal Common and Weizen. They have all made it to finals one year or another (I think – maybe not the Cal Common?) and I really enjoy drinking all of them and they fit nicely into a schedule where I have enough ferment space. Lagers first into my two conicals. Then two ales into the two conicals after I rack the lagers to keg for lagering. Then the hefe into a carboy since I don’t need to cold crash it and i bottle condition it with speise.

No real changes to this recipe from last year other than having to scale it up from 4 gallons into a 6 gallon carboy to now about 6.5 gallons into a 7 gallon (it holds about 8 gallons) conical. That and I went back to Weyermann. Two years ago I won gold with this recipe with all Weyermann and last year I made it to the finals but switched to Best Malz since that was all I could get from my brew shop. Beer seemed good but didn’t do as well so back to Weyermann.

Only other change was i started a new yeast starter process. I now assume 90billion cells per white labs pouch. i calculate the yeast cells in need in Brewers Tool Belt (I’m on the app store! 🙂 ) . i always do a 1L starter which with 100g of DME grows ~100 billion cells so i subtract 100 billion cells from what I need. I then divide whats left by 90 to see how many pouches I need.
Example: for this beer I calculated I needed 425 billions cells. Subtract 100 billion to get 325 billion. Divide that by 90 and round up to 4 so I pitched 4 pouches of WLP830 into a 1L starter with 100g of DME (and a pinch of yeast nutrient 🙂 and put that on the stir plate for 48 hours. the idea is that i trust white labs to have happy healthy yeast, i just want to wake it up and get it ready to go to pitch. I also don’t want to have to decant the pitch and a 1L starter i’m good with putting in the whole thing.

Recipe Info
Recipe: schwarzbier 3v conical 1
Style: Schwarzbier 8B BJCP 2015
Date: 01-03-2018

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0501.0461.052
FG1.0111.0101.016
Color24.717.030.0
ABV5.14.45.4
IBU33.020.030.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 73 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 17.1 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.34 G
Volume: 8.71 G
Temp: 150.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.043
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.81 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 10.5 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.0 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
10.350 Lb61.0 %Pilsner (Weyermann)80.01.8
5.175 Lb30.0 %Munich, Light (Weyermann)78.06.0
0.900 Lb5.0 %blackprinz65.0500.0
0.675 Lb4.0 %Caramel 40L (Briess)75.040.0

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
0.9 OzMagnum14.160 minsBoil29.0
0.7 OzHallertau Mittelfrüh4.115 minsBoil3.0
0.7 OzHallertau Mittelfrüh4.15 minsBoil1.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.500 LGerman Lager White Labs WLP830

Misc

AmountNameTimeUse
1.000 tabletWhirlfloc Tablet15 minsBoil
1.000 tspYeast Nutrient (Wyeast)10 minsBoil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.51

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash65321789830
Sparge59321896930
Final10053413313748
Target7500000


Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 30.284 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 8.000 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 4.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 g

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 g

Notes

150f 60 mins
168f 10 mins

3 weeks at 50f
4 weeks lagering

Carb to 2.4 volumes

Notes:
12/24/18 4 pouches of WLP830 into a 1L starter with 100g DME to target 425 billion cells
12/26/18 normal 3 Vessel Brewday.
pitched all of 1L starter at 48F
raised to 49F @ 10pm
12/27/18 @noon slow steady bubbling. raised to 50F
12/30/18 slow steady bubbling
12/31/18 bubbling is slowing
1/1/19 happy new years! ~10 sec for bubbling
1/20/19 racked to keg for lagering
sample tasted really good. no issues. FG 1.014
2/23/19 added gelatin. 30 psi overnight to kick off carb

German Pilsner 3V 2

Thought it would be a good idea to brew a lager on the new conical setup before starting my NHC 2019 run of beers to make sure my process is solid.  My favorite lager style is German Pilsner (ie bitburger and jever) so why not brew one up.  I decided to use the most recent NHC winning recipe since it looked good.
Recipe Info
Recipe: german pilsner 3v conical 1
Style: German Pils 5D BJCP 2015
Date: 10-29-2018

Recipe Guideline Min Guideline Max
OG 1.048 1.044 1.050
FG 1.010 1.008 1.013
Color 3.4 2.0 5.0
ABV 4.9 4.4 5.2
IBU 42.0 22.0 40.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 18.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.63 G
Volume: 9.07 G
Temp: 149.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.041
Predicted Mash Run-off: 6.01 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.5 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 10.0 G
Fermentables

Weight % by Weight Name Yield SRM
16.000 Lb 89.0 % Pilsner (Weyermann) 80.0 1.8
1.000 Lb 6.0 % Vienna Malt (Weyermann) 79.0 3.4
1.000 Lb 6.0 % Carapils (Briess) 74.0 1.3

Hops

Weight Name AAU Time Use IBUs
1.0 Oz Magnum 12.0 60 mins Boil 25.0
1.5 Oz Hallertau 4.5 30 mins Boil 11.0
1.5 Oz Hallertau 4.5 15 mins Boil 7.0

Yeast

Amount Name
2.000 units German Lager White Labs WLP830

Misc

Amount Name Time Use
1.000 tablet Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins Boil
0.500 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) 10 mins Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.44

Ca Mg Na Cl So Bicarbonate
Water 7 3 21 30 24 30
Mash 68 3 21 30 171 30
Sparge 64 3 21 30 160 30
Final 96 4 30 44 241 44
Target 75 0 0 0 200 0

Target Profile Name: hoppy
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 30.284 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 8.000 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 8.0 g
Lactic Acid: 6.0 ml @ 88.000 %
Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.500 G
Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 6.0 g
Notes
Mash 148f 90 mins
169f 10 mins
Pitch at 48f
48 hrs to 50f
Hold to 2 weeks
Raise over 48hrs to 60
Hold through 3 weeks
Lager for 2 weeks
Carb to 2.5 vols
I ended up using 11.1 lbs of Cargill 2 row since that was what I had left in my 50 lb sack and 4.9 lb of best malz pilsner since thats what my LHBS carries.
11/5/18 made a 1.7L starter 170g DME w/ 2 packages of WLP830 German Lager that were both pretty old.  fingers crossed.
11/7/18 pitched @ 1pm at 48F.  moved up to 49F before bed
11/8/18 @6am no bubbling.  moved up to 50F
@8pm bubbling every 30 sec
11/9-12/18 slow steady bubbling
11/14/18 still slow steady but slowed a bit
11/16/18 ~6sec
11/17/18 ~10 sec
11/18/18 ~13 sec
11/19/18 no bubbling
11/20/18 ~20 sec appears to just be heat expansion
11/21/18 moved up to 60F
11/28/18 force diacetyl test and sample before cold crash
FG 1.010
clean.  solid bitterness.  nice hop flavor.  young and hazy.  not getting any off flavors
forced diacetyl test was double negative
12/5/18 cold crashed for a week.  dropped cone.  only got 500mL and only 250mL of that was yeast.  WTF!  not sure why i’m collecting so little yeast.
12/6/18 racked to keg.  had almost 2 gallons extra.  yow!  put in keezer @ 38F
12/12/18 added gelatin
12/22/18 finally dropped super clear
comparison to warsteiner german pils
appearance: warsteiner is clearer (crystal clear) and just a hair more golden.  head and carb are similar
aroma.  mine is slightly sweeter smelling and just a little more herbal.  warstiener has more bready notes and a bit of sulfur
flavor: mine is slightly more bitter.  but close.  hop flavor is similar.  a bit of sulfur in warsteiner which is nice actually.  a bit more malt flavor in warsteiner.  comes across as bready.  low but there
mouthfeel: similar carb.  similar finish
pretty close.  maybe a bit of munich malt to get color and bready notes.  hops seem right.

Hefeweizen 3v 3_3

The last of three rebrews for NHC finals 2018 and it turns out this was the one that medaled with 2nd place in NHC finals.  It’s really gratifying after many years on working on this beer to win at NHC with it.  Really, really awesome.  Didn’t change anything with this beer or process from the first round other than not using whirl floc.
Recipe Info

Recipe: hefeweizen 3v 3
Style: Weissbier 10A BJCP 2015
Date: 11-09-2017

Recipe Guideline Min Guideline Max
OG 1.050 1.044 1.052
FG 1.011 1.010 1.014
Color 3.4 2.0 6.0
ABV 5.1 4.3 5.6
IBU 13.0 8.0 15.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 14.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.53 G
Volume: 7.69 G
Temp: 112.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.039
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.23 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 10.25 G
Boil Duration: 90 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 8.0 G
Fermentables

Weight % by Weight Name Yield SRM
8.750 Lb 60.0 % Wheat (DURST MALZ) 84.0 1.8
5.750 Lb 40.0 % Pilsner (DURST MALZ) 81.5 1.8

Hops

Weight Name AAU Time Use IBUs
0.9 Oz Hallertau Mittelfrüh 2.5 90 mins Boil 6.0
1.0 Oz Hallertau Mittelfrüh 2.5 60 mins Boil 7.0

Yeast

Amount Name
1.000 unit Hefeweizen Ale White Labs WLP300

Misc

Amount Name Time Use
1.000 tablet Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins Boil
0.500 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) 10 mins Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.63

Ca Mg Na Cl So Bicarbonate
Water 7 3 21 30 24 30
Mash 73 3 21 148 24 30
Sparge 79 3 21 157 24 30
Final 119 5 33 238 38 47
Target 75 0 0 0 0 0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 6.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.500 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Calcium Chloride: 6.0 g
Lactic Acid: 5.0 ml @ 88.000 %
Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.000 G
Sparge Water Adjustments
Calcium Chloride: 6.0 g
Notes
Single decoction
Mash in at 105f raise to 112f immediately and hold for 10 mins
2f a min up to 126f for 10 Mins
Raise to 149f and hold for 5 mins then pull 1/3rd as thick decoction and leave main mash at 149f while handling decoction
Slowly raise decoction to 158f and hold for 20 mins and then boil for 10 mins
Reincorporate decoction into main mash slowly and stabilize at 158f for 10 Mins and make sure it passes iodine test else hold till done converting
Raise to 169f and hold 10 mins
Chill to 58f
Pull 4 gallons to fermenter and then pull 2 quarts in mason jars for speisse at bottling
Oxygenate for 60 secs with 0.5 micron stone and o2. Raise to 63f over 24 hours. Hold for 1 week. Raise to 68f over 24 hours and hold through two weeks.
5/20/18 0.3L 30g DME starter with WLP300
5/22/18 added 2 handfuls of rice hulls
mash in was a hair high
protein and initial beta rest were good
added CC and lactic acid @ 140F on way up to beta rest
7.1G in MLT so 1/3 for decoction was 2.4G
7.1 – 2.4 = 4.7G left in MLT
Alpha rest and boil in decoction went well
Slowly added decoction back in and was a bit over 158F and when I turned HERMS recirculation back on the temp dropped down to 158F nicely.
normal boil although gravity just a hair low at 1.048
collected speisse without issue.
2 x 0.8qt mason jars for a total of 1.6qt that will go into 3G of beer at bottling for a targeted 3.25volumes of CO2
cooled to lower than normal since brewery really warm.  overshot cooling a little but should be good.
all in all a really good 3v decoction brew day.
pitch @ 2:30 with full starter
wort tastes really good!
5/24/18 1″ kreusen with strong steady bubbling
5/26/18 ” but starting to slow
5/28/18 kreusen dropped and ~7 sec
6/4/18 bottled 3G + speisse (about 3.5G total)
filled 30 bottles but just barely
FG 1.010
nice spicy / eatery blend.  really nice light gold color.  very promising.

Schwarzbier 3V 2_3

This is a re-brew of the same schwarzbier from the first round of NHC 2018 for the finals.  The only difference is for the first round I did a repitch from slurry and this round I did a nice big starter.  Also, like the Vienna I had to switch to Best Malz base malts (pilsner, munich) since my local homebrew shops have stopped carrying weyerman.

Recipe Info
Recipe: schwarzbier 3v 2
Style: Schwarzbier 8B BJCP 2015
Date: 01-03-2018

Recipe Guideline Min Guideline Max
OG 1.050 1.046 1.052
FG 1.011 1.010 1.016
Color 25.7 17.0 30.0
ABV 5.1 4.4 5.4
IBU 32.0 20.0 30.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 73 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 13.25 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.14 G
Volume: 7.2 G
Temp: 150.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.041
Predicted Mash Run-off: 4.95 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 8.5 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 7.0 G
Fermentables

Weight % by Weight Name Yield SRM
8.000 Lb 60.0 % Pilsner (Best Malz) 80.0 1.8
4.000 Lb 30.0 % Munich, Light (Best Malz) 78.0 6.0
0.750 Lb 6.0 % blackprinz 65.0 500.0
0.500 Lb 4.0 % Caramel 40L (Briess) 75.0 40.0

Hops

Weight Name AAU Time Use IBUs
0.7 Oz Magnum 13.3 60 mins Boil 27.0
0.5 Oz Hallertau Mittelfrüh 4.2 15 mins Boil 3.0
0.5 Oz Hallertau Mittelfrüh 4.2 5 mins Boil 1.0

Yeast

Amount Name
2 German Lager White Labs WLP830

Misc

Amount Name Time Use
1.000 tablet Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins Boil
0.500 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) 10 mins Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.50

Ca Mg Na Cl So Bicarbonate
Water 7 3 21 30 24 30
Mash 71 3 21 91 95 30
Sparge 56 3 21 76 78 30
Final 107 5 35 141 146 50
Target 75 0 0 0 0 0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 6.250 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.250 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 3.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 g
Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 5.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 5.500 G
Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 2.0 g
Notes
150f 60 mins
168f 10 mins
3 weeks at 50f
4 weeks lagering
Carb to 2.4 volumes

4/23/18 2 x WLP830 in a 1L starter
4/26/18 normal 3 vessel brew day.  pitched @ 6pm (i brewed both the vienna and schwarzbier on the same day)
4/27/18 8am no bubbling
4/28/18 1/2″ kreusen and steady bubbling
4/29/18 1″ kreusen and steady bubbling
4/30/18 ”
5/4/18 kreusen dropping slow steady bubbling
5/7/18 no kreusen ~5 sec
5/11/18 ~11 sec
5/14/18 ~10 sec
5/17/18 racked to lagering FG 1.012
tastes really good.  no issues.  very promising
6/1/18 added gelatin
1/2 teaspoon of boiled filter water for 2 mins
let sit for 2 mins and then mixed in
added to beer
purged headspace
mixed up
6/3/18 put on 30 psi
6/4/18 moved to 10 psi @ 35F
6/7/18 put on draft
6/18/18 bottled 4
comparison to first round beer:
having a very hard time telling them apart

Vienna 3V 3_2

This is a rebrew of my Vienna for the NHC 2018 Finals.  I didn’t change anything from the first round brew other than using Best Malz rather than Weyerman for the Pilsner, Vienna and Munich malts since my local homebrew shops have changed what they carry.   Bummer but I like both malsters for base malts so hopefully won’t be an issue.
 

Recipe Info
Recipe: vienna 3v 3
Style: Vienna Lager 7A BJCP 2015
Date: 01-03-2018

Recipe Guideline Min Guideline Max
OG 1.051 1.048 1.055
FG 1.011 1.010 1.014
Color 11.1 9.0 15.0
ABV 5.2 4.7 5.5
IBU 35.0 18.0 30.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 13.563 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.24 G
Volume: 7.32 G
Temp: 150.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.042
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.02 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 8.5 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 7.0 G
Fermentables

Weight % by Weight Name Yield SRM
5.250 Lb 39.0 % Vienna Malt (Best Malz) 79.0 3.4
5.250 Lb 39.0 % Pilsner (Best malz) 80.0 1.8
1.500 Lb 11.0 % Caraamber/Biscuit (Weyermann) 80.1 36.0
1.500 Lb 11.0 % Munich Dark (Best Malz) 82.2 8.5
0.062 Lb 0.0 % Midnight Wheat Malt 0.0 550.0

Hops

Weight Name AAU Time Use IBUs
0.83 Oz Magnum 12.0 60 mins Boil 29.0
1.0 Oz Tettnang (Tettnang Tettnager) 4.0 15 mins Boil 6.0

Yeast

Amount Name
2 German Lager White Labs WLP830

Misc

Amount Name Time Use
1.000 tablet Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins Boil
0.500 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) 10 mins Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.47

Ca Mg Na Cl So Bicarbonate
Water 7 3 21 30 24 30
Mash 71 3 21 91 95 30
Sparge 56 3 21 76 78 30
Final 107 5 35 141 146 50
Target 75 0 0 0 0 0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 6.250 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.250 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 3.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 g
2mL 88% Lactic Acid
Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 5.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 5.500 G
Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 2.0 g
Notes
150f 60 mins
168f 10 mins
2 weeks 50f
2 day raise to 60
Hold through 3 weeks
4 weeks lagering
Carb to 2.5 volumes
4-23-18 2 x WLP830 in 1L 100g DME starter
4-26-18 normal 3 vessel brewday pitched @ 2pm
4-27-18 8am slow bubbling
4-28-18 1/2″ kreusen and steady bubbling
4-29-18 1″ kreusen and steady bubbling
5/4/18 kreusen dropping and slow steady bubbling
5/7/18 no kreusen and ~5 sec
5/11/18 ~8 sec
5/14/18 ~10 sec
5/17/18 racked to keg for lagering
FG 1.014
a hair of sulfur on the nose but very very low.  tastes really good.  very promising.
6/1/18 added gelatin
6/3/18 put on 30 psi
6/4/18 moved to 10psi @ 35F
6/7/18 put on draft
6/18/18 bottled 4
compare to 1st round beer
very close in appearance.  2 is a hair lighter in color.  clarity and retention are about the same.  1st round beer is definitely showing age.  a bit of the hop character has dropped out.  both turned out really well but would darken the 2nd beer a hair.

Hefeweizen 3V 3_2

Beer #4 for NHC 2018.  This beer is my first decoction and I did a dry run a few months back to work the kinks out.  It went really well and the beer turned out awesome so I didn’t change anything for this run.  It went well again and took 1st place in the first round of NHC in Tampa.  Many years of trying to get a Hefe to finals and I finally got it done!!!  Really cool.  My only issue is that the beer cleared a bit too fast.  The only change I could make would be to drop the whirlfloc so I think I’ll try that for the finals.  Hmmmmm…..need to to think on that.
Recipe Info

Recipe: hefeweizen 3v 3
Style: Weissbier 10A BJCP 2015
Date: 11-09-2017

Recipe Guideline Min Guideline Max
OG 1.050 1.044 1.052
FG 1.011 1.010 1.014
Color 3.4 2.0 6.0
ABV 5.1 4.3 5.6
IBU 13.0 8.0 15.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 14.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.53 G
Volume: 7.69 G
Temp: 112.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.039
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.23 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 10.25 G
Boil Duration: 90 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 8.0 G
Fermentables

Weight % by Weight Name Yield SRM
8.750 Lb 60.0 % Wheat (DURST MALZ) 84.0 1.8
5.750 Lb 40.0 % Pilsner (DURST MALZ) 81.5 1.8

Hops

Weight Name AAU Time Use IBUs
0.9 Oz Hallertau Mittelfrüh 2.5 90 mins Boil 6.0
1.0 Oz Hallertau Mittelfrüh 2.5 60 mins Boil 7.0

Yeast

Amount Name
1.000 unit Hefeweizen Ale White Labs WLP300

Misc

Amount Name Time Use
1.000 tablet Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins Boil
0.500 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) 10 mins Boil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.63

Ca Mg Na Cl So Bicarbonate
Water 7 3 21 30 24 30
Mash 73 3 21 148 24 30
Sparge 79 3 21 157 24 30
Final 119 5 33 238 38 47
Target 75 0 0 0 0 0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 6.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.500 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Calcium Chloride: 6.0 g
Lactic Acid: 5.0 ml @ 88.000 %
Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 6.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.000 G
Sparge Water Adjustments
Calcium Chloride: 6.0 g
Notes
Single decoction
Mash in at 105f raise to 112f immediately and hold for 10 mins
2f a min up to 126f for 10 Mins
Raise to 149f and hold for 5 mins then pull 1/3rd as thick decoction and leave main mash at 149f while handling decoction
Slowly raise decoction to 158f and hold for 20 mins and then boil for 10 mins
Reincorporate decoction into main mash slowly and stabilize at 158f for 10 Mins and make sure it passes iodine test else hold till done converting
Raise to 169f and hold 10 mins
Chill to 58f
Pull 4 gallons to fermenter and then pull 2 quarts in mason jars for speisse at bottling
Oxygenate for 60 secs with 0.5 micron stone and o2. Raise to 63f over 24 hours. Hold for 1 week. Raise to 68f over 24 hours and hold through two weeks.

2-12-18 0.3L 30g DME starter @ 8am .  forgot yeast nutrient 🙁
2-13-18 brew day went well.
mashed in @ 106 and then immediately started to raise to 112F (set HLT to 122F and once to 108F lowered HLT to 117F) and started 10min timer once I hit 111F.
then set HLT to 136F and got MLT up to 122F then turned HLT down to 131F and started timer for 10mins when MLT hit 125F.  once up to 126F i put in calcium chloride and lactic acid. (low pH inhibits ferulic acid production – or so i’ve read 🙂
set HLT to 159F till MLT got to 145F then set it to 154F.  after 5 mins I started the decoction.  MLT is 7.25G so 1/3rd is about 2.4G of thick decoction.  i scooped out till MLT was down to 4.85ish G.
I set the induction cooker (where i do decoction) to the highest setting (10) to get it to 158F while constantly stirring then set it to the lowest setting (1).
after 20min i set induction cooker to highest setting to get it to a boil.  this took a while but once to a full boil i let that go for 10 mins while stirring the whole time.  I overshot b/c i did not turn dow the setting fast enough and the bottom got really hot.
i dumped the decoction back in all at once which was stupid!  you are supposed to do it slowly over a 10 min period.  so my mash temp jumped up too high and i overshot to 164F.  thankfully the iodine test was negative so I did fully convert.
I was a hair low on gravity so I boiled and extra 5 mins.
cooling was fine.
i collected 2 x 800mL speisse sample in quart mason jars before pulling off 4G to the carboy.
i pitched the full starter that was in the fridge set to 57F
i pressure cooked the speisse @15psi for 15mins and put in the fridge after it cooled down.
easy, right 🙂
2-13-18 pitched @ 2pm
2-14-18 @7am no bubbling
@10am nice kreusen and steady bubbling
2-15-18 2″ kreusen and strong bubbling
2-16-18 started to slow
2-17-18 slow steady bubbling.  still big fluffy kreusen.
2-28-18 bottling day
racked 3 gallons to bottling bucket.  28 bottles filled.
last bottle i had to tilt the bucket.
FG 1.012
tastes fantastic.
this beer turned out really really well.  awesome spicy phenolic note blended with nice (but not overwhelming) banana character.  huge fluffy white head.  only issue is that it was pretty darn clear after just 2 weeks in the fridge.  weird problem to have 🙂