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
| Recipe | Guideline Min | Guideline Max | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OG | 1.052 | 1.048 | 1.055 |
| FG | 1.011 | 1.010 | 1.014 |
| Color | 14.5 | 9.0 | 15.0 |
| ABV | 5.3 | 4.7 | 5.5 |
| IBU | 34.0 | 18.0 | 30.0 |
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 Weight | Name | Yield | SRM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.200 Lb | 40.0 % | Pilsner (Weyermann) | 80.0 | 1.8 |
| 6.750 Lb | 38.0 % | Vienna Malt (Weyermann) | 79.0 | 3.4 |
| 1.800 Lb | 10.0 % | Munich II (Weyermann) | 82.2 | 8.5 |
| 1.800 Lb | 10.0 % | Caraamber/Biscuit (Weyermann) | 80.1 | 36.0 |
| 0.230 Lb | 1.0 % | Midnight Wheat Malt | 0.0 | 550.0 |
Hops
| Weight | Name | AAU | Time | Use | IBUs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.85 Oz | Magnum | 14.1 | 60 mins | Boil | 27.0 |
| 1.5 Oz | Hallertau Mittelfrüh | 4.2 | 15 mins | Boil | 7.0 |
Yeast
| Amount | Name |
|---|---|
| 0.500 L | German Lager White Labs WLP830 |
Misc
| Amount | Name | Time | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.000 tablet | Whirlfloc Tablet | 15 mins | Boil |
| 1.000 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) | 10 mins | Boil |
Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.42
| Ca | Mg | Na | Cl | So | Bicarbonate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 7 | 3 | 21 | 30 | 24 | 30 |
| Mash | 61 | 3 | 21 | 75 | 93 | 30 |
| Sparge | 59 | 3 | 21 | 89 | 69 | 30 |
| Final | 101 | 5 | 35 | 135 | 138 | 50 |
| Target | 75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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.