Category Archives: German

Vienna 3V 3

May 20, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

This is the 2nd Beer in my NHC 2018 run of beers. I’m brewing 5 in total and I got 4 entries so I’ll have to down select one. This is beer is based off the Devil’s Backbone recipe from a AHA presentation I found online a few years ago. It has done well but it has never made it to the finals at NHC. I’ve been tweaking it a little bit here and there and from the last time I brewed it I decided to up the bitterness just a hair (5 IBUs) and drop the Calcium Chloride to get it in line with the Gypsum but keep the Calcium at 100ppm. I also did a nice big repitch (0.5L of slurry) from a Helles I brewed just for that purpose. it appeared to have worked since it took 1st in the first round of NHC in tampa and 1st at the Olde Hickory Pro Am and scored in the 40s at both.

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 (Weyermann)	79.0	3.4
5.250 Lb	39.0 %	Pilsner (Weyermann)	80.0	1.8
1.500 Lb	11.0 %	Caraamber/Biscuit (Weyermann)	80.1	36.0
1.500 Lb	11.0 %	Munich II (Weyermann)	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
0.500 L	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
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
1-19-18 normal 3 vessel brewday other than i forgot salts in the sparge so i put them in the boil instead. pitch 400mL of slurry (~200mL of packed yeast and 200mL of liquid)
1-20-18 thin kreausen. slow steady bubbling.
1-21-18 1/2″ kreusen steady bubbling
1-22 and 23 -18 ”
2-3-18 no bubbling. starting rise to d-rest
2-9-18 racked to lagering keg
FG 1.013
tasting really good. no off flavors.
3-7-18 added gelatin
3-11-18 put on 30 psi of pressure
3-12-18 moved down to 10 psi @ 35F

a really great beer. i don’t think I’ll change anything for the rebrew.

Schwarzbier 3V 2_2

May 20, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

Well, it’s that time of year again. I had my first beer medal (GOLD!) at NHC last year which was my Schwarzbier (“Pizza the Hutt”) so I figured I’d enter it again this year. You would think that since it won that I wouldn’t change it but it actually didn’t really score that well (high 30s / low 40s) and got the same feedback across the board – a bit too sweet and a little low on bitterness. So I decided to make four, very minor tweaks. I lowered the Caramel 40 by 1%, I increased the bitterness by 5 IBUs, i dropped the calcium chloride to bring it in line with the gypsum and get the calcium down to 100ppm and I did a slightly bigger pitch of yeast hoping to get it to dry out just a hair more. the goal is to make the beer come across just a hair dryer and very slightly more bitter. barely perceptible but noticeable. It appears to have worked since this beer scored in the mid-40s and won first in the first round in Tampa. Fingers crossed for the re-brew for the finals!

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 (Weyermann)	80.0	1.8
4.000 Lb	30.0 %	Munich, Light (Weyermann)	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
0.500 L	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

1-12-18 normal brewday on 3 vessel system. gravity just a hair high but all other #s were spot on. I pitched about 0.5L of slurry from the Helles I brewed earlier specifically to build up a nice pitch of yeast.

1-13-18 @ 8am slow bubbling.
1-14-18 nice 1/2″ kreusen and strong steady bubbling
1-15 -> 1-17-18 ”
1-18-18 starting to slow
1-20-18 slow steady bubbling
1-21-18 ~3 sec kreusen falling
1-22-18 ~5 sec
1-23-18 ”
2-1-18 racked to keg
FG 1.014

tasted really good. no issues
3-7-18 added gelatin
3-11-18 put on 30 psi of pressure
3-12-18 moved down to 10 psi @ 35 F

this beer was really really great. not sure I would change anything. it won 1st in the first round of NHC and 1st at the Olde Hickory Pro-Am and scored in the 40s at both.

helles 3v 1

Helles 3V 1

May 15, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

This last year I set out two goals for myself – medaling at NHC and winning the Southeastern Homebrewers Association Brewer of the Year award. I fully planned out the entire years brew schedule and put in hundreds of hours of work to get there. Incredibly enough, I was able to pull off both. I was able to win Gold at NHC for my Schwarzbier (which after checking with me twice they still got the name wrong in Zymurgy…booooo -> It’s name is “Pizza the Hutt” not “Entry 2”) and win Brewer of the Year by a handful of points.
After brewing 2-3 times a month and doing an immense amount of planning and cold-side work I decided to give myself and my family a bit of a break and just focus on NHC this year. So that means planning enough beers for the first round and entering one other competition to get additional feedback. For the first round last year, I got 5 entries and I brewed 7 so I could pick the best ones to send. Since I have a set of beers that I love to drink and do really well in competition I decided to just brew 5 beers this year. I was a bit surprised to see that I only got 4 entries in Tampa (I requested 5 from all sites within two days shipping from me in North Carolina) but so it goes. The beers I brewed are Vienna, Schwarzbier, Cal Common, Best Bitter and Hefeweizen.
My plan for the Vienna and Schwarzbier was to brew a low alcohol beer with German Lager WLP830 and then harvest two large pitches from that to repitch into the Vienna and Schwarzbier. And that (long story short) is how this Helles was born 🙂 . I took the recipe from an old NHC winning recipe and then tweaked it for my 3 Vessel Electric HERMS setup (aka 3V). Pretty basic and I didn’t bother to gelatin it since it was really just a big yeast starter and not going to be entered in competition. It turned out to be a really delicious beer that went over really well at my homebrew club meeting.

Recipe Info
Recipe: helles 3v 1
Style: Munich Helles 4A BJCP 2015
Date: 11-19-2017

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.048	1.044	1.048
FG	1.011	1.006	1.012
Color	4.2	3.0	5.0
ABV	4.9	4.7	5.4
IBU	21.0	16.0	22.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 13.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.06 G
Volume: 7.1 G
Temp: 152.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.037
Predicted Mash Run-off: 4.89 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 9.25 G
Boil Duration: 90 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 7.0 G
Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
12.000 Lb	92.0 %	Pilsen (BestMälz)	78.3	1.5
1.000 Lb	8.0 %	Munich Dark (BestMälz)	76.1	12.7

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	Magnum	12.0	90 mins	Boil	20.0
0.25 Oz	Hallertau Mittelfrüh	3.0	15 mins	Boil	1.0
0.25 Oz	Hallertau Mittelfrüh	3.0	10 mins	Aroma	0.0

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: 5.47

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	52	3	21	72	73	30
Sparge	60	3	21	81	83	30
Final	87	5	33	120	122	47
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Target Profile Name: standard
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 6.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.000 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 2.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 ml @ 88.000 %
Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 5.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 5.000 G
Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 2.0 g
Notes
Mash 154f 60 mins
169 10 mins
Pitch at 48f
Raise to 50f over 24 hrs
Hold 2 weeks
Raise to 60 over 48 hrs
Hold through 3 weeks
Lager 1 month
Carb to 2.5-2.6 vols

12-10-17 1L starter w (2) WLP 830 100g DME
12-12-17 regular 3V brewday. changed process a bit. cooled to 50F then put in fridge and cooled to 48F (took 2 hours!) and then pitched. pitch was warm so raised temp to 49F and then i raised it from there to 50F over 24 hours.
12-13-17 8am no activity
2pm kreusen started to form and slow steady bubbling
12-15-17 nice 1/2″ kreusen and steady bubbling
12-18-17 maybe slowed a hair
12-21-17 slow steady ~4 sec. kreusen dropped
12-24-17 ~10 sec
12-26-17 no activity
1-4-18 racked to keg. 2 x 400mL of slurry collected in sterilized mason jars. barely enough slurry. FG 1.012
really nice beer. a hint of sulfur. clean otherwise. pretty clear. needs some lager time and carb but very promising.

This ended up being a great beer. it dropped really clear after a month with no gelatin. tasted fantastic. nice malt character with just a hint of breadiness and nice solid hop character but appropriate for the style.

hefeweizen 3v 3

Hefeweizen 3v 3

May 15, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

Well….sometimes you have to go back to the drawing board. I was fairly happy with my Hefeweizen and it was doing well in competition but I could just never quite get it where I wanted (head and retention not the rich mousse like head you want, malt / wheat character is lacking). So I went back and re-read Eric Warners “German Wheat Beer” cover to cover (I have read over a hundred “beer” books and this is still in my top 5), researched old NHC recipes, re-read what Gordon Strong wrote (he won NHC gold with his Hefeweizen based on Eric Warners book) and decided it is time to try a Decoction mash. I basically took Gordon Strong’s El Hefe recipe as a starting point and messed around with it based on my system and Eric Warners book. I use a 3V Electric HERMs system but I also have a Conduction cook top I use to make starters and a 3G stainless steel pot which I use along with a small pot (for pulling the decoction) as my decoction setup. Worked great! I decided to enter a Hefeweizen in NHC again this year (even with my past failures – failures be damned!!!) so this is a dry run to work out the kinks before brewing the beer for NHC early next year.

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.

Brewday notes: 11/28/17
started @ 8am w/ pre-heated HLT. infusion temps were WAY off so will need to adjust. ending up mashing in at 116F and let that sit for 10 mins. still barely in the ferulic acid range so should be OK. slowly raised to 126F for protein rest. set herms to 136F and when it got to 121F I set the herms to 131F and let it slowly raise to 126F. held for 10mins once it hit 125F. then raised to 149F by setting herms to 159F till it got to 145F. I let it rise up to 149F and then held for 5 mins and started single decoction. 7.25G in MLT so I pulled 1/3rd = 2.4 gallons of the thick part (from bottom).
Pulled decoction at 9:20 am
started heating it up @ 9:25am
up to 158F @ 9:30
set @ 1.0 power on induction cooker which worked well
9:52 started to raise it to a boil
10:06 slow boil
10:16 done with boil
10:30 slowly transferred over 15 mins. came in at 157F!!!
10:47 iodine test is negative so good to go
11:50 done sparging -> heating to a boil
had to use higher power during boil due to larger volumes
65->80% during sanitizing cooling setup loop

wort tastes really good. a very slight bit of graininess or huskiness??? or slight burnt but i don’t think so. all in all things seemed to go well. no burnt element or decoction pot. color looks really nice.

speiss colltected -> 2 x 0.8 qt mason jars that I then pressure cooked to sterilize. 15 psi for 15 mins and then let that cool down and put it in the refrigerator for bottling.

changed my process a bit and filled carboy and put that in the fridge to get temp down right before pitching.

pitched a 30g DME / 300mL starter @ 3pm

11/29 @8am no bubbling or kreusen
@11am -> thin kreusen and slow steady bubbling
11/30 1″ kreusen and very strong steady bubbling
12/1 nice big fluffy kreusen. steady bubbling but slowed a bit.
12/2 ~2 sec still kreusened
12/5 no bubbling and kreusen dropped
12/14 bottled 30 bottles barely. racked 3 gallons of beer. added speisse. had to tilt to get last couple of bottles.
FG 1.012

really nice beer. more clove than in the past. nice banana but more subtle. a hair more malt character and a bit darker. no noticeable flaws

German Pilsner 3V 1

October 4, 2017 hommel Leave a comment

My last beer for the Southeastern Homebrewers Association Brewer of the Year run. I haven’t brewed a German Pilsner in a long time and it is definitely one of my favorite styles of beers so why not. Not sure how I came up with this recipe but its pretty darn basic so it could be from NHC winners, Brewing Classic Styles or any number of places. I decided to try 34/70 dry yeast one more time since 2 of the NHC winning beers used it I figured it must be pretty good. I did another 90 min main rest and shook up the ferment when it went up for D-rest to try get the beer nice and dry and crisp.

Recipe: german pilsner 3v 1
Style: German Pils 5D BJCP 2015
Date: 09-03-2017

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.049	1.044	1.050
FG	1.011	1.008	1.013
Color	3.4	2.0	5.0
ABV	5.1	4.4	5.2
IBU	45.0	22.0	40.0

Brewery Info

Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info

Weight: 13.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.06 G
Volume: 7.1 G
Temp: 148.0 F

Boil Info

Kettle Gravity: 1.041
Predicted Mash Run-off: 4.89 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
13.000 Lb	100.0 %	Pilsner (Weyermann)	80.0	1.8

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
1.0 Oz	Magnum	12.0	60 mins	Boil	35.0
1.5 Oz	Hallertau Mittelfrüh	3.0	15 mins	Boil	7.0
1.5 Oz	Hallertau Mittelfrüh	3.0	5 mins	Boil	3.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
2.000 units	Saflager Lager DCL/Fermentis W-34/70

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: 5.43

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	92	3	21	112	118	30
Sparge	83	3	21	103	108	30
Final	145	5	34	177	187	49
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Mash Water

Total Water Treated: 6.250 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.250 G

Mash Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 4.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water

Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 5.250 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 5.250 G

Sparge Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 3.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 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 1 month

Carb to 2.5 vols

9-18-17 normal 3V brewday. efficiency was a hair high so I adjusted with water and adjusted the hops to compensate (more bittering hops only). dry yeast was rehydrated w/ 2 cups of boiled filtered water for 5 mins. cooled to 95F and yeast sprinkled on top for 10 mins then mixed in for 10 mins and pitched. after pitching beer was at 51F so I left it there rather than cooling to 50F.
9-19-17 no kreusen but slow bubbling
9-22-17 1/2″ kreusen and steady bubbling
9-25-17 ~6 sec
9-27-17 ~6 sec
9-28-17 ~9 sec
10-1-17 no bubbling
10-11-17 racked to keg
FG 1.010
really nice beer. malt is clean, sweet, graham crackery. bitterness is solid and hop flavor is really nice. pretty clean. a hair of sulfur and a little green. should be very good after some lagering. very promising.
I loved this beer. really nice grainy & graham cracker malt character. hop character was spot on. it could have been a hair cleaner and dryer which i chalk up to the yeast strain. worked fine but i still think a big liquid pitch is better.

Hefeweizen 3V 2

October 4, 2017 hommel Leave a comment

Another beer for the 2nd half of the Southeastern Homebrewers Association Brewer of the Year competition. Very similar to the last time I brewed it except I pulled the protein rest to try and improve the head and retention a bit and increased the beta rest to 30 mins to make sure it fully attenuates and adjusted the salts and acid additions to get pH and calcium levels where I want them. I did use Perle for bittering since the Hallertaur alpha was so low.

Recipe: hefeweizen 3v 2
Style: Weissbier 10A BJCP 2015
Date: 08-24-2017

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.052	1.044	1.052
FG	1.011	1.010	1.014
Color	4.1	2.0	6.0
ABV	5.3	4.3	5.6
IBU	12.0	8.0	15.0

Brewery Info

Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info

Weight: 13.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.22 G
Volume: 7.3 G
Temp: 112.0 F

Boil Info

Kettle Gravity: 1.042
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.01 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
7.500 Lb	56.0 %	Wheat, White (Cargill)	82.0	2.9
6.000 Lb	44.0 %	Pilsen (BestMälz)	78.3	1.5

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	Perle	8.2	60 mins	Boil	12.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	Hefeweizen Ale White Labs WLP300

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
0.500 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water

Predicted Mash Ph: 5.64

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	76	3	21	152	24	30
Sparge	76	3	21	151	24	30
Final	125	5	34	250	39	49
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Mash Water

Total Water Treated: 6.250 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.250 G

Mash Water Adjustments

Calcium Chloride: 6.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water

Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 5.250 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 5.250 G

Sparge Water Adjustments

Calcium Chloride: 5.0 g

Notes

113f fertility acid rest 15 mins
146f 30 mins
158f 20 mins
168f 10 mins

Half standard pitch rate

Pitch at 62f and ramp to 64f for 1 week then room temp for 1 week

Carb to 3.25 volumes

8-29-17 0.5L starter w/ 50g DME WLP 300
8-30-17 normal 3V brew day. pitch half of the starter for 1/2 pitch of normal ale pitching rate
8-31-17 nice 1/4″ head and steady bubbling
9-2-17 it blew off a little yesterday. enormous cream colored head now starting to fall and ~2 sec. peak was yesterday.
9-4-17 ~4 sec still big kreusen
9-6-17 ~6 sec swirled it up to make sure yeast are in suspension
9-8-17 ~8 sec
9-9-17 ~6 sec
9-11-17 no bubbling
9-14-17 ~9 sec
9-15-17 no bubbling
bottled 3.75G @3.25 vol ~139g table sugar
FG 1.010
beer turned out really well. have to sit down and do a comparison to see if I would change anything.
me vs weihenstephaner
aroma – me: banana and low clove
w: ditto
appearance – me: gold but mixed in yeast and brown
w: gold. really nice head with ok retention
flavor – me: nice blend of banana and peppery clove
w: very similar. mine has a bit more banana like banana fosters
mouthfeel – body and carb are about the same
overall: very very similar. mine is a bit more banana forward and nasty with yeast. head isn’t great so maybe add protein rest back in.

Vienna 3V 2

October 2, 2017 hommel Leave a comment

I have brewed this style many times and I want to try some tweeks before NHC. My last attempt was good but it used the Bock yeast and finished a bit sweet. It did OK in competitions but did better when I entered it as Marzen. This time I used German Lager to try and dry the beer out a bit and I upped the bitterness just a little. The other piece I’m looking at is that the caramel malt is pretty hight at 11% so if the beer is still too sweet / caramelly I will likely adjust that.

Recipe: vienna 3v 2
Style: Vienna Lager 7A BJCP 2015
Date: 07-06-2017

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.053	1.048	1.055
FG	1.012	1.010	1.014
Color	11.1	9.0	15.0
ABV	5.4	4.7	5.5
IBU	30.0	18.0	30.0

Brewery Info

Efficiency: 71 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info

Weight: 14.062 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.39 G
Volume: 7.52 G
Temp: 150.0 F

Boil Info

Kettle Gravity: 1.043
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.13 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
5.500 Lb	39.0 %	CHÂTEAU PILSEN 2RS	81.0	1.5
5.500 Lb	39.0 %	Vienna Malt (Weyermann)	79.0	3.4
1.500 Lb	11.0 %	Caraamber/Biscuit (Weyermann)	80.1	36.0
1.500 Lb	11.0 %	Munich II (Weyermann)	82.2	8.5
0.062 Lb	0.0 %	Midnight Wheat Malt	0.0	550.0

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.7 Oz	Magnum	12.0	60 mins	Boil	24.0
1.0 Oz	Tettnang (Tettnang Tettnager)	4.0	15 mins	Boil	6.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	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: 5.43

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	104	3	21	146	99	30
Sparge	104	3	21	146	99	30
Final	178	5	36	250	170	51
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Mash Water

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

Mash Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 3.3 g
Calcium Chloride: 5.9 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: 2.8 g
Calcium Chloride: 5.0 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

7/28/17 normal 3V brewday. no issues. pitched harvested yeast from festbier. ~250mL of slurry. after a week in the fridge it was ~100mL of packed yeast.
7/29/17 8 am no bubbling
8 pm nothing 🙁 need to pitch more yeast next time?
7/30/17 thin kreusen & slow steady bubbling
7/31/17 1/2″ kreusen slow steady bubbling
8/4/17 ”
8/6/17 ~3 sec 1/2″ kreusen
8/11/17 ~3 kreusen dropped. shook fermenter since d-rest temp rise had started.
8/12/17 ~5 sec
8/13/17 ”
8/19/17 no activity
8/20/17 FG 1.012
wow. really nice beer. very clean. a bit hoppy both flavor and bitterness but should be really good after some lagering. promising. put in lagering fridge
9/24/17 pretty clear but not crystal so added gelatin. tasting good
9/28/17 moved to keezer and forced carbed overnigh
comparison of mine vs great lakes eliot ness
aroma: very similar. mine leads with bready and generic sweet malt notes. low level herbal hops. great lakes has a bit of caramel.
appearance: very similar. GL is a bit darker but close.
flavor: sadly GL is showing age with oxidation. underlying you can tell they are similar but GL has unpleasant caramel notes.
mouthfeel: similar
OI: mine is pretty damn spot on. i woudn’t change a thing.

Festbier 3V 1

July 11, 2017 hommel Leave a comment

One last new style before I brew some old familiar recipes to finish out the competition year strong and get one last test run in before NHC. I’ve wanted to brew a Festbier for a while since it is basically a Helles on steroids. I tried the Sierra Nevada one and really like it so hopefully I can end up in the same ballpark. I couldn’t find any good Festbier recipes so I just winged this based on the BJCP description. Maybe I need to go to Oktoberfest to double check how I did 🙂

Recipe Info

Recipe: festbier 3v 1
Style: Festbier 4B BJCP 2015
Date: 06-13-2017

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.056	1.054	1.057
FG	1.012	1.010	1.012
Color	4.6	4.0	7.0
ABV	5.8	5.8	6.3
IBU	22.0	18.0	25.0

Brewery Info

Efficiency: 71 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info

Weight: 15.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.84 G
Volume: 8.08 G
Temp: 146.0 F

Boil Info

Kettle Gravity: 1.047
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.45 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
12.000 Lb	77.0 %	Pilsen (BestMälz)	78.3	1.5
2.500 Lb	16.0 %	Vienna (BestMälz)	76.1	4.1
1.000 Lb	6.0 %	Munich (BestMälz)	76.1	7.6

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	magnum	13.3	60 mins	Boil	13.0
1.0 Oz	tettnang	3.7	20 mins	Boil	9.0

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: 5.55

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	97	3	21	137	93	30
Sparge	103	3	21	145	98	30
Final	170	5	36	241	163	51
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Mash Water

Total Water Treated: 7.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.000 G

Mash Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 3.3 g
Calcium Chloride: 5.9 g
Lactic Acid: 1.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water

Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 5.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 5.000 G

Sparge Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 2.5 g\
Calcium Chloride: 4.5 g

Notes

148f 30 mins
158f 30 mins
168f 10 mins
Pitch at 48f raise over 24 hrs to 50 and hold through 2 weeks. 2 day raise to 60 and hold through 3 weeks.
Lager for 4 weeks.

7/3/17 1L 100g DME starter w. (2) WLP530. i’m trying two pouches based on a recommendation from kelsey mcnair in this amazing presentation.
7/5/17 normal 3V brewday
7/7/17 1/2″ kreusen slow steady bubbling
7/8/17 ”
7/11-14/17 ”
7/15/17 ~2 sec. kreusen dropping
7/16-17/17 ~3 sec
7/21/17 up to d-rest. slow steady bubbling
7/22/17 ~4 sec
7/23-24/17 ~5 sec
7/25/17 ~6 sec
7/26/17 racked to keg. FG 1.016 which is a bit high
tastes fantastic! a little green. very low booze. no other off flavors.
nice hop character. clarity OK but not great. very promising.
8/23/17 check clarity. not crystal clear to added gelatin.
8/25/17 moved to keezer and put on 30psi for 24 hrs then down to 10psi to target 2.5 vol.
comparison to sierra nevada oktoberfest festbier
aroma: sn is low grainy sweet and bready. low floral and herbal hops. very clean. mine is low grainy sweet. low herbal hop. similar but sn is more bready and bit more hop aroma.
appearance: sn is deep gold bordering on copper. crystal clear. low head and good retention. mine is gold with excellent clarity. nice head and excellent retention. sn is considerably darker.
flavor. sn solid bready and grainy edge. a bit of sulfur. herbal hop flavor is low. mine is malty sweet w/ bready and grainy edge and low herbal hop flavor and med-low bitterness.
mouthfeel: sn is solid med carb 2.5-2.6 vol med body with dry finish. mine is med carb. 2.4ish. med body and dry finish but a hair sweeter.
overall: both really nice beers. sn seems closer to a vienna then a festbier. darker w/ more bready notes and a bit higher hop character. per bjcp i think mine is a better example of the style.

Berliner Weisse 3V 1

July 11, 2017 hommel Leave a comment

Nothing says summer like a 3% alcohol sour which tons of carb. And why not add some fruit! I bought a bunch of purees from perfect puree based on a recommendation at milk the funk. the first one i used was for a fruited berliner that ended up winning at a bunch of competitions and got me a brewing session at Unknown Brewing. Pretty damn cool! That was a guava puree. I also bought a blend called “el carazon” after the cocktail it is used in which looked pretty awesome. blood orange, passion fruit and pomegranate. i tasted the blend afterwords and I can confirm it tastes amazeballz! hopefully it works well in a BW. So I decided to split a batch and bottle half as straight berliner weisse and then fruit the other half. I have used wine yeast in the past so decided to change it up and try german ale to see how that works out. fingers crossed.

Recipe Info

Recipe: berliner weisse 3v 1
Style: Berliner Weisse 23A BJCP 2015
Date: 06-23-2017

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.030	1.028	1.032
FG	1.007	1.003	1.006
Color	2.6	2.0	3.0
ABV	3.1	2.8	3.8
IBU	0.0	3.0	8.0

Brewery Info

Efficiency: 71 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info

Weight: 8.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 4.5 G
Volume: 5.14 G
Temp: 125.0 F

Boil Info

Kettle Gravity: 1.028
Predicted Mash Run-off: 3.78 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 7.75 G
Boil Duration: 30 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 7.0 G

Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
4.500 Lb	56.0 %	Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann)	82.2	2.0
3.500 Lb	44.0 %	Pilsner (Weyermann)	80.0	1.8

Hops

Weight

Name

AAU

Time

Use

IBUs

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	Lactobacillus Blend Omega OYL-605
1.000 unit	German Ale/Kolsch White Labs WLP029

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
0.500 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water

Predicted Mash Ph: 5.49

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	92	3	21	146	70	30
Sparge	90	3	21	145	68	30
Final	136	4	32	218	103	45
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Mash Water

Total Water Treated: 4.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 4.500 G

Mash Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 1.4 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.1 g
Lactic Acid: 1.5 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

Gypsum: 1.8 g
Calcium Chloride: 5.4 g

Notes

125f 10 mins
146f 30 mins
158f 30 mins
168f 10 mins
Boil 30 mins
Chill to 95f
Pitch lacto and hold at 90f for 24 hrs
Boil for 30 mins
Cool to 68 and pitch yeast and hold
When ferment slows add 0.5 lb per gallon of fruit puree
Bottle after total of 2 weeks
Carb to 3.5 volumes

6/27/17 kettle sour day. normal 3V brewday. with the omega blend and my volumes i don’t do a lacto starter. boiled for 30 mins. cooled to 100F, pitched lacto, purged headspace with CO2, closed lid and wrapped with saran wrap. set controller for 90F @ noon.
Made a 0.5L starter 50g DME w/ german ale wlp029
6/28/17 pulled sample @ 10am. pH = 3.01. Damn. Omega’s Lacto blend is crazy! wort tastes good. a very low level of cheerios / tpp which i always seem to get with this blend. history / experience says it will age out. we will see. boiled for 30 mins and cooled to 64F. pitched around noon @9pm slow bubbling which is a good sign. it appears german ale can handle low pH.
6/29/17 1″ kreusen with strong steady bubbling
7/3/17 ~6 sec. kreusen dropped.
7/10/17 racked 2.5 gallons to 3gallon fermenter w/ 1.25 lbs of el corazon fruit puree. i purged the fermenter before racking the beer in. racked rest of the beer to bottling bucket. 2.5 exactly so added 3.5 oz / 99grams of table sugar to target 3.5 volumes. tastes really good. still that low level of cheerios present. FG 1.006. bottled 20 but just barely.
7/11/17 fruited portion is slow bubbling but no kreusen.
7/12/17 1/4″ kreusen and ~5 sec between bubbles
7/13/17 ”
7/14/17 ”
7/15/17 ”
7/16/17 ~10 sec
7/17/17 ”
7/21/17 moved to bath tub @ 72F. no bubbling
7/23/17 ”
7/24/17 bottle fruited portion.
2.5 gallons. FG 1.006. tastes pretty good. fruit is dominant but should get good with age. sour level is solid but not upleasant. targetting .35 vol so 99g of sugar. bottle 19 bottles barely
both beers turned out really well. the fruited version did really well in competition. the plain bw score OK but did not place as well as the fruited version. not sure what i would change about the plain version. it is quite good and too style. judge comments were all over the place so hard to figure out. some felt it was not sour enough (inlcuding a master level judge) which based on the pH and TA number and my own palate that is hard to believe. It is solidly sour and on the sour side of all the various kettle sours i’ve had. maybe just bad luck.

Dunkles Bock 3V 1

July 11, 2017 hommel Leave a comment

I brewed another Dunkles Bock (was Traditional Bock in old style guide) and really liked it so I thought I get another one going so I could bottle a fair amount and have it for the fall/winter.

Recipe Info

Recipe: dunkles bock 3v 1
Style: Dunkles Bock 6C BJCP 2015
Date: 05-16-2017

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.070	1.064	1.072
FG	1.014	1.013	1.019
Color	18.6	14.0	22.0
ABV	7.3	6.3	7.2
IBU	23.0	20.0	27.0

Brewery Info

Efficiency: 75 %
Attenuation: 80 %

Mash Info

Weight: 18.375 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.74 G
Volume: 9.21 G
Temp: 152.0 F

Boil Info

Kettle Gravity: 1.058
Predicted Mash Run-off: 6.09 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
11.000 Lb	60.0 %	Munich Dark (BestMälz)	76.1	12.7
5.500 Lb	30.0 %	Pilsen (BestMälz)	78.3	1.5
1.000 Lb	5.0 %	Crystal, Medium (Simpsons)	76.0	55.0
0.750 Lb	4.0 %	Aromatic Malt (Dingemans)	80.0	19.0
0.125 Lb	1.0 %	Carafa Special II (Weyermann)	65.0	431.5

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.75 Oz	Magnum	12.0	60 mins	Boil	23.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	German Bock Lager White Labs WLP833

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: 5.39

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	96	3	21	141	42	84
Sparge	79	3	21	145	42	30
Final	155	5	36	244	73	114
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Mash Water

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

Mash Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 1.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 7.0 g
Pickling Lime: 1.0 g

Sparge Water

Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 4.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 4.000 G

Sparge Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 0.5 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.6 g

Notes

Mash 152f 60 mins
168f 10 mins
Ferment 50f 3 week
Raise 5f a day to 60
Hold thru 4 weeks
Lager 1 month
Carb to 2.4 volumes

5/23/17 3.5L starter w/ 350g DME of WLP833 Bock Yeast
5/25/17 normal 3V brewday. gravity was a little low so boiled an extra 15 mins.
5/26/17 thin kreusen. slow steady bubbling.
5/27/17 1″ kreusen strong steady bubbling
5/28/17 ”
6/1/17 1/4″ kreusen and slow steady bubbling
6/3/17 kreusen starting to drop and bubbling slowing
6/5/17 ~3sec
6/9/17 no bubbling
6/19/17 racked to keg and put in lagering fridge
FG 1.018. a little high but not bad. a little booze in the nose but otherwise very clean and very malty. hop and ferment are promising. needs lagering!
7/8/17 pulled sample. nice. low level booze in the nose. not great clarity so needs gelatin. added gelatin that night.
7/9/17 put on 20 psi overnight
7/10/17 moved down to 9psi at 34F targetting 2.4 volumes
this beer turned out really well and did super well in competition. the little bit of booze faded after about a month in cold storage. this is a common thread with WLP833 with me. almost always booze and a bit of a green edge but it cleans up really nicely with 4-6 weeks of lagering and then a few more weeks after bottling in the fridge.