grid_neipa_3v_v1

Moved to bit more of a standard neipa grain bill template. Changed to inline oxygenation which seemed to address the big diacetyl problem. Used London Fog and like it. Later had issues with hop creep diacetyl with cal ale style yeast but didn’t have the issue with london fog.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid_neipa_3v_v1
Style: American IPA 21A BJCP 2015
Author:
Date: 03-02-2020

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0701.0561.070
FG1.0151.0081.014
Color4.86.014.0
ABV7.25.57.5
IBU79.040.070.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 27.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 10.44 G
Volume: 12.6 G
Temp: 150.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.061
Predicted Mash Run-off: 8.01 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 WeightNameYieldSRM
21.000 Lb78.0 %Canada malting pale ale malt80.02.0
2.500 Lb9.0 %Flaked Oats (Briess)70.02.5
2.500 Lb9.0 %malted oats70.02.0
1.000 Lb4.0 %Carapils (Briess)74.01.3

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
1.0 OzCtz13.960 minsFirst Wort24.0
2.0 Ozsimcoe15.030 minsAroma20.0
2.0 OzMosaic (HBC 369)12.230 minsAroma16.0
2.0 OzCitra13.930 minsAroma18.0
1.0 Ozsimcoe15.07.0 daysDry Hop0.0
1.0 OzMosaic (HBC 369)12.27.0 daysDry Hop0.0
1.0 OzCitra13.97.0 daysDry Hop0.0
1.0 Ozsimcoe15.05.0 daysDry Hop0.0
1.0 OzCitra13.95.0 daysDry Hop0.0
1.0 OzMosaic (HBC 369)12.25.0 daysDry Hop0.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.200 LLondon Ale III Wyeast Labs 1318 wlp066 london fog

Misc

AmountNameTimeUse
0.500 tspYeast Nutrient (Wyeast)10 minsBoil

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.52

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash703211195330
Sparge53321944930
Final1025341758348
Target75002002000

Water Profile Name: 
Target Profile Name: neipa

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 37.854 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 10.000 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 7.0 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
Gypsum: 1.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 3.0 g

Notes

Mash 150 for 60 mins
Mashout 168 for 10 mins

Add Fwh during sparge

Pitch at 67 and hold 3 days
Raise to 73 one degree a day
When reaches 1.020 to 1.022 do 3 day dry hop then add second dry hop for 3 days

4/16/20 made a 1L starter of WLP066 london fog with prop-up premade canned starter.
4/17/20 normal 3V brewday. changed to new inline o2 setup. run beer into conical and get to temp i want then oxygenate for 60 sec and pitch. tank screw was leaking but o2 definitely went in but hopefully not low. pitched full starter @ 3pm @ 66F
4/18/20 8am steady bubbling
raised to 67F @ 10am
to 68F @ 6pm
4/19/20 still ripping. big ester smell in the brewery. 8pm starting to slow a little
4/20/20 slow steady bubbling
4/21/20 wow that dropped off fast! no bubbling this morning. will do gravity check later and dry hop. gravity -> 1.028 which is 70% to terminal
dry hopped 1 oz each of simco, mosaic and citra
4/22/20 ~10 sec
4/23/20 no bubbling
4/24/20 dropped cone and added 2nd dose of dry hops
4/25/20 ~7 sec
4/26/20 ~16 sec
4/27/20 dropped cone
4/28/20 ~16 sec
4/29/20 no bubbling. pulled sample 1.020
diacetyl test cold: clean warm: maybe a faint whisper. give it two days and check again to see if gravity dropped and for diacetyle
4/30/20 no bubbling
5/1/20 gravity seems about the same 1.018 -1.020
hard to tell b/c very very hazy
cold – clean
warm – seems clean! big relief!
cold crash for 2 days

5/8/20 compare to wicked weed astronimical

aroma: ww -> hop forward. citrus. apricot. a little vanilla.
mine -> no real citrus. orange/tangerine and mango
ww has a cleaner bolder aroma but mine is OK. ww has a nice dank character that i would like in mine

appearance: ww->straw, low haze
mine -> slightly darker to low gold. hazy
similar mine is slightly darker. mine is hazier. both have nice head

flavor: ww-> clean dry. nice blend of dank, citrus and a little tropical
mine: orange and a really nice tropical note. mango. papaya. softer finish

mouthfeel : ww clean and ry. more west coast
mine -> much softer but a bit of a salt edge. definitely prefer mine

overal: ww is more of a west coast. not soft. more clean and dry. i prefer mine in that aspect. what i like about ww is that dank edge. curious what hop that is

5/31/20. still hazy. really liking this beer. not sure i’d change anything. still tasting fresh

ipa grid v1_1

West Coast style grain bill but using NEIPA hopping techniques of first dry hop charge at 80% to terminal gravity. Still using old oxygenation setup and saw the same issues as the last beer with diacetyl. Booooooo.

Recipe Info
Recipe: ipa grid v1_1
Style: American IPA 21A BJCP 2015
Author: 
Date: 12-21-2019

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0691.0561.070
FG1.0151.0081.014
Color4.76.014.0
ABV7.05.57.5
IBU71.040.070.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 24.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 9.66 G
Volume: 11.62 G
Temp: 32.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.059
Predicted Mash Run-off: 7.45 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
22.000 Lb90.0 %Brewer’s Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western)80.02.0
1.250 Lb5.0 %Vienna Malt (Great Western)80.03.5
1.250 Lb5.0 %chit malt (BestMälz)78.31.4

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
1.1 OzColumbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)14.060 minsBoil28.0
4.0 OzCitra12.120 minsAroma27.0
2.0 OzColumbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)14.020 minsAroma16.0
4.0 OzCitra13.96.0 daysDry Hop0.0
2.0 OzSimcoe14.16.0 daysDry Hop0.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.200 LFlagship Imperial A07

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.56

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash55321905930
Sparge703211086930
Final9853315510047
Target7500000

Water Profile Name: 
Target Profile Name: standard

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

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 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: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment two weeks at 68f
0.5 oz of each hop day 2
Rest of dry hops when bubbling done
Dry hop 4 days and rouse once day 2

2/17/20 normal 3V brewday with no issues
pitched ~300mL of slurry @ 2pm
@8pm slow bubbling
2/18/20 strong bubbling. added very small addition to get enzyme going with theory that the early the enzyme is in the quicker the hop creep will be done (this didn’t really play out the way i had hoped). 1/4 oz of both citra and simcoe.
2/19-20/20 strong bubbling
2/21/20 strong bubbling but starting to slow
2/22/20 ~2 sec. added first half of dry hops
2/24/21 ~8 sec
2/25/20 ~12 sec
2/26/20 ~37 sec. dropped cone. 2nd half of dry hop
2/27/20 ~27 sec
3/1/20 dropped cone. raised to 74F
3/5/20 1.010 FG.
Diacetyl Test Cold -clean. Warm – butter
3/8/20 , 3/11, 3/14, 3/17, 3/20, 3/23 same
3/27/20 dropped to 1.008. cold : clean. warm: very low but still a little butter
3/30 , 4/5, same
4/8/20 warm is finally clean or very very close. cold crashed

beer was ok. most of the hop aroma and flavor had dropped out. diacetyl never showed to where i noticed it.

apa grid v1_1

Further work on imaginary brewery beers with american pale ale. This beer really started to show major diacetyl and hop creep issues that i was seeing with all dry hopped beers and that I am still working on a year later. With this beer I was oxygenating using a carb stone in my conical fermenter (unitank setup) and a lot of oxygen was getting trapped in the stone and area of the tri-clamp that was apparantly not getting consumed by the yeast. What I figured out by reading a scientific paper (wish i could find it again!) was that oxygen makes diacetyl production much worse. So after this beer I revamped my oxygenation setup where oxygenated inline after the beer was racked but then that setup was removed so no more stone in the tank. Further down the line i also made sure to run sanitizer out the sample valve and racking arm to prevent air getting trapped there. That fixed the extreme diacetyl issue but later down the line i still had to address hop creep which i did by waiting till fermentation was done and dropping to 50F to dry hop. still working through this to see if it works our not (7-15-21) .

What I also learned with this beer is that I just don’t really like APA. So I will move from APA to session IPA for the imaginary brewery.

Recipe Info
Recipe: apa grid v1_1
Style: American Pale Ale 18B BJCP 2015
Author:
Date: 12-21-2019

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0591.0451.060
FG1.0131.0101.015
Color8.65.010.0
ABV6.04.56.2
IBU56.030.050.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 21.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 8.56 G
Volume: 10.24 G
Temp: 32.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.051
Predicted Mash Run-off: 6.68 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
18.500 Lb88.0 %Brewer’s Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western)80.02.0
1.500 Lb7.0 %Crystal, Medium (Simpsons)76.055.0
1.000 Lb5.0 %chit malt (BestMälz)78.31.4

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
1.25 OzColumbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)14.060 minsBoil35.0
2.0 OzCascade4.720 minsAroma6.0
2.0 OzSimcoe12.420 minsAroma15.0
2.0 OzSimcoe14.16.0 daysDry Hop0.0
2.0 OzCentennial10.06.0 daysDry Hop0.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.200 LFlagship Imperial A07

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.42

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash55321905930
Sparge703211086930
Final9853315510047
Target7500000

Water Profile Name: 
Target Profile Name: standard

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

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 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: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment two weeks at 68f
0.5 oz of each hop on day 2
Remaining dry hop when done bubbling for 4 days roused once on day 2

2/7/20 Regular 3V brewday

Pitched 300mL of Slurry @ 1pm
@5pm slow bubbling

2/8/20 @8am strong bubbling
@10am added 1/4 oz centennial and simcoe to see if introducing some hop enzyme really early helps with hop creep
2/9/20 strong steady bubbling
2/10/20 added first dry hop addition .875 oz of centennial and simcoe
gravity 1.034
trying first dry hop at 80% to terminal
1.062 -> 1.012 50 pts total and 28 so far which is 56% to terminal so a little early
2/11/20 slow steady bubbling
2/12/20 ~ 3sec
2/13/20 ~12 sec
2/14/20 ~30 sec
@3pm dropped cone
took sample -> 1.014 and tastes really really good
2nd dry hop .875 oz of centennial and simcoe
@10pm bubbling picked back up to ~20sec
2/15/20 ~52 sec
2/16/20 > 60 sec
2/18/20 no bubbling
2/21/20 diacetyl test
cold – none
warm – heavy butter
increased temp to 70F

i did a d-test every 2-3 days till 4/8/21 where it had maybe just a hint of butter but really low and decided to keg since it had been 6 WEEKS of diacetyl testing.

4/8/20 FG 1.010
cold – maybe just a whisper of butter – very low
warm – same
It’s been 60 days so done testing. going to try new oxygenation setup on next beer. right now using stone in tank that stays and i think that is introducing O2 which causes higher diacetyl
cold crash and keg

beer was OK but ended up having low diacetyl that showed in keg

grid blonde v1_3

Continuing to refine my imaginary brewery beers :). No big changes. This beer is to build up Flagship for the APA and IPA.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid blonde v1_3
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Author: 
Date: 12-21-2019

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0461.0381.054
FG1.0101.0081.013
Color4.33.06.0
ABV4.73.85.5
IBU28.015.028.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 16.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.16 G
Volume: 8.48 G
Temp: 32.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.040
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.67 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
15.000 Lb91.0 %Brewer’s Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western)80.02.0
1.000 Lb6.0 %chit malt (BestMälz)78.31.5
0.500 Lb3.0 %Honey Malt (Gambrinus)83.025.0

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
0.5 OzColumbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)14.060 minsBoil15.0
1.0 OzNugget13.620 minsAroma9.0
1.0 OzCascade4.720 minsAroma3.0

Yeast

AmountName
1.000 unitFlagship Imperial A07

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.49

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash62321986330
Sparge62321986330
Final9853315510047
Target7500000

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 28.391 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

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

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 7.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment 68f for 2 weeks

1/15/20 Brew Day
No starter
Normal 3V Brewday with no issues
No ice needed…tap water is 62F
pitched @ 2pm
10pm slow steady bubbling
1/16/20 steady bubbling
1/17/20 “
1/18/20 ~8 sec
1/19/20 no bubbline
1/20/20 ~26 sec
1/21/20 ~30 sec
1/23/20 > 60 sec
1/31/20 cold crash to 35F
2/1/20 harvested 600mL of yeast. mixed and split across two pitches.
2/3/20 racked to keg. FG 1.012. fairly clear. tastes really good. promising!
2/4/20 turned down to 14psi and put on draft
2/5/20 carb already pretty good. a little low. really nice beer. clarity not great so will track to see how long it takes to drop clear
2/8/20 still hazy
2/14/20 crystal clear

2/19/20 comparison vs thousand smiles golden ale from foothills

aroma – mine: malty sweet w/ bready notes, faint dark honey notes. low citrus and herbal hop notes. low mineral note? clean. no off aromas
foothills: low generic malt aroma. med-low citrus hop aroma. clean.
delta: mine is a bit more malt leaning. foothills has a bit more hop aroma.

appearance – mine: gold. excellent clarity. 1/2″ white head w/ excellent retention
foothills: straw. excellent clarity. 1/2″ white head with excellent retention.
delta: mine is a bit darker

flavor – mine: generic malt sweetness w/ low toasty and dark honey notes. low herbal and grapefruit hop flavor. low bitterness. clean. no off flavors. balanced. finishes dry but not astringent.
foothills: very low malt flavor. med-low grapefruit hop flavor. low bitterness. clean. no off flavors. balanced a hair hop leaning. finishes dry.
delta: mine has subtle but noticeable malt flavor. foothills has no real malt flavor. foothills is a little higher hop flavor and mostly citrusy.

mouthfeel – mine: med body. med carb. not warming or creamy
foothills: med-low body. med carb. not warming or creamy
delta: foothills is noticeably thinner

overall – both are nice beers
for my goal which is an easy drinking step up from bud light but some subtle complexity I feel it is spot on. i think this beer is where I want it!!!

Grid IPA 3V Conical v1_2

Another go at the IPA for my dream brewery, Grid. This one did not turn out well but I learned a lot!

The base recipe is a similar template to what I have used for IPAs in the past. I like West Coast style IPAs more than NEIPAs but I really like both the old school citrus/dank style hops (cascade, centennial, CTZ, nugget) as well as the new big tropical hops (citra, mosaic, azacca, simcoe, el dorado). Nice dry clean base beer but no attempt at clarity although they tend to drop clear after a few weeks. So not trying to create haze but not trying to prevent it either.

Using some ideas from Scott Janish’s recent book on hop schedule with CTZ at 60 mins to give a bit of a spicy note and a heavy hand of Citra in whirlpool and dry hop as well as CTZ in whirlpool and Simcoe in dry hop.

Full notes below but I had similar hop creep and diacytl issues as the APA I just brewed so I’ll rebrew but with a very different dry hopping schedule to try and clear that problem up.

Recipe Info
Recipe: ipa grid v1_0
Style: American IPA 21A BJCP 2015
Date: 09-20-2019

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0691.0561.070
FG1.0151.0081.014
Color4.76.014.0
ABV7.05.57.5
IBU70.040.070.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 24.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 9.66 G
Volume: 11.62 G
Temp: 32.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.059
Predicted Mash Run-off: 7.45 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
22.000 Lb90.0 %Brewer’s Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western)80.02.0
1.250 Lb5.0 %Vienna Malt (Great Western)80.03.5
1.250 Lb5.0 %chit malt (BestMälz)78.31.4

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
0.75 OzColumbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)15.560 minsBoil21.0
4.0 OzCitra13.920 minsAroma31.0
2.0 OzColumbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)15.520 minsAroma17.0
4.0 OzCitra13.96.0 daysDry Hop0.0
2.0 OzSimcoe14.16.0 daysDry Hop0.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.200 LFlagship Imperial A07

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.56

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash55321905930
Sparge703211086930
Final9853315510047
Target7500000

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

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

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 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: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment two weeks at 68f
Two dry hops 3 days each

Brewing Notes:

11/19/19 standard 3V brewday. pitched 400mL of slurry from Blonde @ 66F @ 1:30pm
7pm already slow steady bubbling
11/20/19 very strong bubbling
11/22/19 slow steady bubbling
11/23/19 ~8 sec
12/3/19 dry hopped all of it. did not drop yeast. left @ 68F
12/5/19 blew 10 psi into cone to get everything back in suspension
12/6/19 ~7 sec -> hop creep or hop sugar? definitely refermenting
12/7/19 ~16 sec
12/10/19 ~35 sec
12/11/19 ~27 sec
12/12/19 ~90 sec -> 9 days of refermentation after dry hop!
pulled sample for diacetyl test
FG 1.010
tastes and smells really good. a little yeasty and a bit green but no real off flavors. promising.
unfortunately d-test warm sample is positive. cold sample was clean so yeast is cleaning up converted diacetyl but acetolactate is still being formed. will re-check in a few days
12/14/19 another diacetyl test
cold sample – none
warm sample – definitely diacetyl
raised temp to 70F and let it sit
12/17/19 another d-test. still warm positive 🙁
12/20/19 another d-test. still warm positive 🙁
12/23/19 another d-test. still warm positive 🙁 officially very worried!
12/24/19 dropped cone to harvest yeast but 99% hop debris so bought WLP001 and did a 1L starter to kreusen the beer. waited 10 hrs when foaming hard (seems to be high kreusen) and pitched the whole thing into the beer
12/25/19 ~12 sec
12/26/19 ~28 sec
12/27/19 ~20 sec
12/28/19 ~40 sec
12/29/19 ~36 sec
1/4/20 D-test Cold – clean Warm – Butter 🙁
1/10/20 D-test Cold – maybe low butter? Warm – Butter
1/15/20 D-test cold – maybe low butter? Warm – Butter
Giving up on this beer. I’m going to keg it and see what happens. Cold crash.
1/17/20 dropped cone and cleared racking arm. racked to keg and put on high carb
1/19/20 put on draft. yup. it’s got noticeable diacetyl. ugh.
Ended up dumping the beer and going back and researching hop creep and how i can modify my hopping schedule to try and never have this issue again. very frustrating but I’ve also learned a lot. i’ve had a few dry hopped beers including a best bitter and other pale ales and IPAs that had diacetyl but i really didn’t want to admit it. Now that I’m figure it’s due to unhealthy refermentation from hop creep its actually a bit of a relief since i *think* i know what the problem is and can try a few different approaches to fix it. In my mind, i think one of the reasons NEIPA work well is that the first hop addition tend to be quite early which gives the enzymes more time to work and be cleaned up by healthier yeast so I’m going to chew on that and come up with an approach that will hopefully lead to diacetyl free but also not astringent or overly green.

GRID Blonde 3V Conical V1_2

Trying to perfect my Blonde recipe. It is modeled after 805 from Firestone Walker but only loosely. I’ve been on a few work trips to Vegas and they have 805 all over the place there at and it is a really really great blonde ale. Perfect for hot weather but really just great anytime. I wanted to try Great Western’s 2-row and so far it has been awesome. I really did not like their High Color malt but their Premium 2-row is fantastic. I’m trying 5-7% chit malt for my beers to promote head and retention which I got from Scott Janish’s IPA book. 805 uses Gambrinus Honey Malt which I have like when I used it in the past. it’s not so much a sweet honey flavor as a deep rich honey flavor and some other munich-esque flavors but pretty restrained. The hops also came from Scott Janish’s book. I’ve been using CTZ for my 60 minute addition. It does seem to give a spicy note to the beer which I really like. I wanted a blend of earthy/dank and citrus for this beer. Very much on the low end but noticeable. Janish found Nugget and Cascade do very well in the whirlpool so I figured I’d give those a go. And for the yeast, I’m trying Imperial’s Flagship which is the Chico strain. I have been super impressed with Imperial’s yeast but wanted to try a different strain for this run of beers.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid blonde v1_2
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Date: 09-20-2019

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0491.0381.054
FG1.0111.0081.013
Color5.53.06.0
ABV5.03.85.5
IBU24.015.028.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 17.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.47 G
Volume: 8.87 G
Temp: 32.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.042
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.9 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
15.000 Lb86.0 %Brewer’s Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western)80.02.0
1.250 Lb7.0 %chit malt (BestMälz)78.31.5
1.250 Lb7.0 %Honey Malt (Gambrinus)83.025.0

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
0.35 OzColumbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)15.560 minsBoil12.0
1.0 OzNugget13.020 minsAroma8.0
1.0 OzCascade6.220 minsAroma4.0

Yeast

AmountName
1.000 unitFlagship Imperial A07

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.46

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash62321986330
Sparge62321986330
Final9853315510047
Target7500000


Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 28.391 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

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

Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 7.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment 68f for 2 weeks

Regular 3 Vessel Brewday. No issues.
For whirlpool I killed the boil and i already had cooling setup in place. I cooled to 205F, put in hops and whirlpooled for 20 mins before cooling. It fell to 179F by the end of the 20 mins.
I pitched most of the 400mL of yeast I collected from the APA
The wort tasted great. seemed a bit bitter maybe?
11/1/19 pitched @ 2pm
@8pm steady bubbling
11/2/19 @8am strong steady bubbling
11/3/19 ditto
11/4/19 ~8 sec
11/5/19 ~30 sec
11/15/19 cold crashed to 35F
11/18/19 harvested yeast -> filled up most of a quart mason jar
FG 1.014
tastes really good. nice subtle hop flavor. malt profile is really nice

12/18/19 Tasting notes compared to a Kona Brewing Big Wave Golden Ale (BJCP reference Blonde Ale)

Aroma- Mine: sweet. low bready. low citrus/grapefruit, low earthy, no off aromas
Kona:low generic sweet, med-low citrus, no off aromas

Mine has a noticeably strong malt aroma, especially the bready notes. kona has a much stronger hop aroma but to me it is too much for a blonde ale.

Appearance – Mine: deep gold. nice 1/2″ head. excellent retention. crystal clear.
Kona: straw to pale gold. excellent head and retention.

Kona is noticeably lighter in color

Flavor: Mine: Low honey sweet, low toasty, low bready, low citrus, stonefruit (apricot) and earthy.
Kona: sadly showing a bit of age and oxidation. low clean sweet generic malt, med-low citrus/orange, grapefruit

Kona has zero malt flavor and much higher hop flavor. similar levels of bitterness

Mouthfeel – Mine:medium body, no astringency, lingering low breadiness and earthy notes
Kona: similar but lingering citrus

Overall: kona seems out of style. the hop flavor and aroma are more pale ale or even ipa although the bitterness is good. i like my beer but i need to tune down the honeymalt – maybe in half? to bring down the higher than i want for this style bready and rich honey notes as well as bring the color down from a deep gold to a light gold to straw color.

Grid APA 3V v1_0

Focused on brewing light colored part of my dream brewery which I’m currently calling Grid. In my mind it is broken out into light and dark colored along with malty,hoppy and intensely hoppy beers for each. This is the first of a run of three different light colored beers. I would normally start with the Blonde then American Pale Ale and then IPA repitching along the way but I was missing one of the grains for the Blonde so I’m starting with the APA.

I love Sierra Nevada Pale Ale so my goal is something along those lines but with a different hop profile. I’ve recently read Scott Janish’s “The New IPA” and using some of his ideas to see how they play out. One of those is using Chit Malt rather than Carapils for excellent head and retention. The other is targeting specific hops for whirlpool vs dry hop. I love classic citrus hops but I also like a bit more dank and stone fruit then you find in SN Pale Ale but his research shows that Cascade does better in whirlpool and Centennial does better as a dry hop but Simcoe does well in both.

The beer turned out OK but definitely not what I want. The things that worked well:

  • I really like Great Westerns 2 row. Great flavor and works great in the brewery (mills well, mashes in well, no dough balls, great conversion)
  • Chit malt seems to work really well. After the beer got to full carb and about a week on draft the head and retention is fantastic. I would say it could be the dry hopping but the Blonde has really good head and retention as well with no dry hopping. Not quite the thick belgian lacing of the APA but really good.

What didn’t work well

  • I don’t like the Crystal 40. Too much sweet caramel. I like a bit more of the dark caramel notes but not raisiny. I think I’m going to go with a mid-English crystal for the next go round. Likely Simpsons Medium since I love it so!
  • This beer and the IPA at the end both had serious hop creep and this APA had not crazy but noticeable and not at all desirable diacetyl. The Scott Janish book has a whole section on hop creep but I can’t say I agree with his logic or approach. His recommendation is to dry hop at a lower temp (58-60F) since this will keep the enzyme on the hops in check. The problem with that approach is if you dry hop after terminal than the yeast are already tired and by dropping the temp you are slowing them down even more so any AAL that is generated will be slower to convert to diacetyl and the yeast will be too tired to clean it up. So, for my next round I’m going to try doing 10% of the dry hopping day 1 or 2 to get the hop enzymes in the mix early. They will be done converting whatever long chain to short chain by the end of fermentation so by the time I dry hop there will be no more hop creep fermentation (hopefully). I also plan on doing half the dry hop at 80-90% to terminal and then the other half at terminal (3-4 days after first dry hop if terminal has been reached) and then letting those sit for 4 days. then doing diacetyl test and once that is negative cold crashing.

Recipe Info
Recipe: apa grid v1_0
Style: American Pale Ale 18B BJCP 2015
Date: 09-20-2019

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0581.0451.060
FG1.0131.0101.015
Color6.45.010.0
ABV6.04.56.2
IBU55.030.050.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 21.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 8.56 G
Volume: 10.24 G
Temp: 32.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.050
Predicted Mash Run-off: 6.68 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
19.000 Lb90.0 %Brewer’s Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western)80.02.0
1.000 Lb5.0 %Crystal 40, 2-Row, (Great Western)70.040.0
1.000 Lb5.0 %chit malt (BestMälz)78.31.4

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
1.0 OzColumbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)15.560 minsBoil31.0
2.0 OzCascade6.220 minsAroma7.0
2.0 OzSimcoe14.120 minsAroma17.0
2.0 OzCentennial10.06.0 daysDry Hop0.0
2.0 OzSimcoe14.16.0 daysDry Hop0.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.200 LFlagship Imperial A07

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.49

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash55321905930
Sparge703211086930
Final9853315510047
Target7500000


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

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 2.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 4.0 g
Lactic Acid: 4.0 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: 4.0 g

Notes

Ferment two weeks at 68f
Two dry hops 3 days each

normal 3 vessel concical brewday. only off part was imperial yeast pitch wasn’t great. i didn’t shake it enough which left a lot of yeast in the pouch so pitch was small. also, elsinore software on my hosehead died so I had to rebuild it from scratch so i just went ahead and installed craftbeerpi 3.0 which installed easily and works great. no going back to elsinore.

10-14-19 @ 5pm pitched 1 imperial yeast flagship A07
10-15-19 @ 8:30 am slow steady bubbling
@5pm strong bubbling
10-16-19 strong steady bubbling. bumped from 67F to 68F
10-17-19 slow steady bubbling (my guess is day three is 90% to terminal so when first dry hop should go in)
10-18-19 ~12 sec
10-19-19 “
10-20-19 ~31 sec
10-21-19 ~39 sec
10-27-19 FG 1.014
nice beer. no diacetyl. really nice hop character. dropped to 50F
10-31-19 harvested a really nice pitch of yeast. much better than the whitbread strain. almost 700mL of slurry. accidentily did the whole dry hop at once. will blow back in suspension day 2 and cold crash day 4 so its not too grassy.
11-2-19 10 psi blast on bottom of cone to get hops back in suspension
11-5-19 cold crashed
11-8-19 dropped cone
11-9-19 racked to keg. 30psi force carb. FG 1.014. nice beer.

tasting notes 12-4-19 – on draft almost a month

first couple of weeks there was some hop astringency but that is now gone

aroma – malty sweet w/ toffee candy notes. orange, grapefruit, peach and a hint of guava. clean except for a low level of butter / diacetyl

appearance – deep gold. too light in color. would like it more copper colored. nice 1/2″ head w/ really super lacing and retention
maybe caramel 60 or something else. victory or british med crystal?

flavor – malty sweet, sweet caramel notes
citrus, grapefruit, lime, orange, a little bit of earthy dankness which i like
low grade butter / diacetyl. maybe dry hop earlier so hop creep finish out earlier while yeast is healthier. maybe don’t drop yeast?

mouthfeel – dry. a slight hint of chalkiness on the teeth but that is a good quality. solid carb. maybe 2.6. 14 psi @ 38F on kegerator. slightly astringent. body is good.

overall impression – a good beer but diacetyl is a major problem and distracting. a bit astringent and malt profile needs work.

Grid IPA 3V Conical v1_1

Same beer as the last one (Grid IPA 3V Conical v1_0) but instead of Vic Secret this one was Galaxy and I moved to 2/3 CC and 1/3 Gypsum. Not a bad beer but the High Color malt really is not great.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid ipa v1_0
Style: American IPA 21A BJCP 2015
Date: 07-06-2019

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0671.0561.070
FG1.0131.0081.014
Color6.06.014.0
ABV7.05.57.5
IBU64.040.070.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 80 %

Mash Info
Weight: 25.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 9.81 G
Volume: 11.81 G
Temp: 149.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.058
Predicted Mash Run-off: 7.57 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 WeightNameYieldSRM
25.000 Lb100.0 %Pale Ale Malt, high color (Great Western)80.03.0

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
1.0 OzSimcoe12.460 minsBoil22.0
4.0 OzGalaxy19.620 minsAroma42.0
6.0 OzGalaxy19.64.0 daysDry Hop0.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.200 LHouse Imperial A01

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.42

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash923213022730
Sparge963213023830
Final1204273829638
Target7500000

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 27.444 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.250 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 3 g
CC: 6g
Lactic Acid: 6.0 ml @ 88.000 %

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: 3.0 g
CC 6g

Notes

Ferment at 68f for 2 weeks

Brewing Notes:

cut cooling on whirlpool @ 205F and it dropped down to about 195F and to 180 by end of 20 min whirlpool
only cooled to 66F and then cooled in conical before pitching
normal 3V brewday. adjusted salts according to new IP book so 2:1 CC:Gypsum. moved to CTZ for bittering at ~20IBUs

wort tastes great. hops smell amazing. 2019 crop and very fresh from yakima valley hops.

9/9/19 pitched @2:15pm. 63F up to 67F
9/10/10 steady bubbling 67F up to 68F
9/12/19 strong steady bubbling
9/13/19 slow steady
9/14/19 no bubbling
9/23/19 took sample 1.024. high – probably due to a lot of repitching of this yeast. did a burst of CO2 in cone at 10psi and raised to 69F
9/25/19 dropped to 60F
9/26/19 dropped cone
dry hopped 4 oz of galaxy
9/27/19 10psi co2 in bottom of cone to get hops back in suspension
9/28/19 dropped cone
added rest of galaxy dry hop
9/29/10 blasted 10psi of CO2 in bottom of cone
9/20/19 dropped to 35F for cold crash and dropped cone

Grid IPA 3V Conical v1_0

Another dream brewery run, this time using Imperial A01 again but using Great Western High Color Pale Ale Malt. It has a description similar to a Maris Otter. TL;DR it was kind of like MO but the flavor profile was not great and I won’t be using it again. A01 OK but not great. The ester profile is not what I want. Vic Secret is a promising hop but not good along. Needs some dank and citrus to go along with it.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid ipa v1_0
Style: American IPA 21A BJCP 2015
Date: 07-06-2019

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0671.0561.070
FG1.0131.0081.014
Color6.06.014.0
ABV7.05.57.5
IBU64.040.070.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 80 %

Mash Info
Weight: 25.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 9.81 G
Volume: 11.81 G
Temp: 149.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.058
Predicted Mash Run-off: 7.57 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 WeightNameYieldSRM
25.000 Lb100.0 %Pale Ale Malt, high color (Great Western)80.03.0

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
1.0 OzSimcoe12.460 minsBoil22.0
4.0 OzVic Secret19.620 minsAroma42.0
6.0 OzVic Secret19.64.0 daysDry Hop0.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.200 LHouse Imperial A01

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.42

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash923213022730
Sparge963213023830
Final1204273829638
Target7500000

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 27.444 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.250 G

Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 10.0 g
Lactic Acid: 6.0 ml @ 88.000 %

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: 8.0 g

Notes

Ferment at 68f for 2 weeks

8/22/19 normal 3V brewday. pitched 150mL of very compact yeast @ 67F
8/23/19 no bubbling. up to 68F
8/24/19 @8am slow steady bubbling. maybe a bigger pitch needed
8/25/19 strong bubbling
8/26/19 starting to slow but still strong bubbling
8/27/19 slow steady
8/28/19 ~3 sec
8/29/19 ~7 sec
8/30/19 ~12 sec
8/31/19 ~14 sec
9/1/19 ~18 sec
9/2/19 ~ 25 sec
9/4/19 no bubbling
9/8/19 dry hop #1 4oz
9/11/19 pulled sample
FG 1.022 which is high
tastes good
dry hop #2 2 oz
dropped cone before
9/14/19 cold crash
9/18/19 dropped cone and cleared racking arm

Grid Blonde 3V Conical v1_0

We all dream of opening a brewery. For fun, I’m making a run of brews that I would want as a part of my line-up. I want to experiment across the various ingredients especially different base malts, house yeasts and hop blends. For this run I’m using Imperial House A01 and the last of my left over NHC run ingredients.

Recipe Info
Recipe: grid blonde v1_0
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Author: Dennis Pike
Date: 07-06-2019

RecipeGuideline MinGuideline Max
OG1.0471.0381.054
FG1.0101.0081.013
Color3.93.06.0
ABV4.83.85.5
IBU25.015.028.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info
Weight: 16.55 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.17 G
Volume: 8.5 G
Temp: 149.0 F

Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.040
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.68 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 11.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 9.5 G

Fermentables

Weight% by WeightNameYieldSRM
13.000 Lb79.0 %Pilsner (Weyermann)80.01.8
2.750 Lb17.0 %Wheat (DURST MALZ)84.03.6
0.800 Lb5.0 %Munich I (Weyermann)82.27.1

Hops

WeightNameAAUTimeUseIBUs
0.3 OzSimcoe14.160 minsBoil9.0
2.0 OzSimcoe14.115 minsAroma15.0

Yeast

AmountName
0.100 LHouse Imperial A01

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.40

CaMgNaClSoBicarbonate
Water7321302430
Mash753213018730
Sparge743213018530
Final1004284024940
Target7500000

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: standard

Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 27.444 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.250 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: 5.500 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 5.500 G

Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 6.0 g

Notes

Ferment at 68f for 2 weeks

Brewday notes:

Normal 3V Conical brewday

Pitched 150mL of thick slurry from last beer. fingers crossed.

7-19-19 @8am slow bubbling ~8 sec
@5pm rippin’
7-20-19 strong steady bubbling
7-21-19 slow steady
7/22/19 ~ 7 sec
7/23/19 ~15 sec
7/24/19 no bubbling
8/2/19 pulled yeast for next beer and took sample
FG 1.010
tastes good. clean. a bit mirky. cold crash for 48 hours
8/4/18 racked to keg