NEIPA Juicy Bits Clone 3V 1

November 18, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

This is my 2nd beer on the new conical setup so I wanted to take advantage of the sampling port to see when I’m 80% to Final Gravity to do my dry hop NEIPA style and also to be able to cold crash and drop the dry hops before racking to keg so I have zero oxygen exposure. Weldwerks has been really cool about posting their Juicy Bits recipe. I’ve had the beer a few times at various beer events and really like it so why not. I also had a lot of 2 row left from my 50 lb sack so most of the cost for the beer was hops. Lots and lots of hops.
Recipe Info
Recipe: juicy_bits_3v_1
Style: American IPA 21A BJCP 2015
Date: 09-27-2018

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.066	1.056	1.070
FG	1.015	1.008	1.014
Color	4.6	6.0	14.0
ABV	6.8	5.5	7.5
IBU	87.0	40.0	70.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 25.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 9.97 G
Volume: 12.01 G
Temp: 149.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.058
Predicted Mash Run-off: 7.68 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
20.000 Lb	78.0 %	Pale Malt – 2 Row (Cargill)	80.0	2.0
2.000 Lb	8.0 %	Flaked Wheat (Briess)	70.0	2.0
2.000 Lb	8.0 %	Flaked Oats (Briess)	70.0	2.5
1.500 Lb	6.0 %	Carapils (Briess)	74.0	1.3

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.3 Oz	Citra	13.9	60 mins	First Wort	7.0
0.3 Oz	Mosaic (HBC 369)	12.2	60 mins	First Wort	7.0
0.3 Oz	El Dorado	15.0	60 mins	First Wort	8.0
0.4 Oz	Citra	13.9	40 mins	Aroma	4.0
0.4 Oz	El Dorado	15.0	40 mins	Aroma	5.0
0.4 Oz	Mosaic (HBC 369)	12.2	40 mins	Aroma	4.0
0.9 Oz	Mosaic (HBC 369)	12.2	30 mins	Aroma	8.0
0.9 Oz	El Dorado	15.0	30 mins	Aroma	9.0
0.9 Oz	Citra	13.9	30 mins	Aroma	9.0
1.2 Oz	Citra	13.9	20 mins	Aroma	9.0
1.2 Oz	El Dorado	15.0	20 mins	Aroma	10.0
1.2 Oz	Mosaic (HBC 369)	12.2	20 mins	Aroma	8.0
0.65 Oz	Mosaic (HBC 369)	12.2	8.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0
0.65 Oz	Citra	13.9	8.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0
0.65 Oz	El Dorado	15.0	8.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0
1.0 Oz	El Dorado	15.0	4.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0
1.0 Oz	Citra	13.9	4.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0
1.0 Oz	Mosaic (HBC 369)	12.2	4.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
0.200 L	London Ale III Wyeast Labs 1318

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.51

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	70	3	21	119	53	30
Sparge	53	3	21	94	49	30
Final	102	5	34	175	83	48
Target	75	0	0	200	200	0

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 149 for 60 mins
Mashout 168 for 10 mins
Add Fwh during sparge -> screwed this up so just did 60 min addition
Pitch at 67 and hold 3 days
Raise to 73 one degree a day
When reaches 1.020 to 1.022 do 8 day dry hop
4 days later add second dry hop
my brew day was delayed due to a hurricane (boooooo) so my starter was 5 days old. I did 2 packs of WY1318 London ale III in a 1L starter
10/16/18 fairly normal 3V brewery. 2nd time using a conical. pitched @2:20pm
10/17/18 8am slow steady bubbling
10/19/18 slows steady bubbling. appears to be almost done. already at 1.022 so did first dry hop. fermentation got going again after dry hop. nothing crazy but it did increase bubbling.
10/20/18 slow steady bubbling. moved temp up to 68F
10/21/18 slow steady bubbling. moved up to 69F
10/22/18 no real bubbling. ~30 sec. did 2nd dry hop. did not drop the cone from the first dry hop. raised temp to 70F.
10/26/18 ~30 sec bubbling which to just be from expanding as temp rises. did a forced diacetyl test which was negative (pulled two 4oz samples and put Saran Wrap rubber banded on top of each. heated one in a water bath to 160F for 10 mins. then smelled and tasted both. if either are buttery then you have diacetyl or the pre-cursor for diacetyle (AAL I believe) it needs more time warm for it to convert and the yeast to eat it). since I was negative I cold crashed to 35F
10/28/18. dropped yeast from bottom valve and racking arm. tasting good. a little hop astringency but not bad.
11/1/18 I dropped the bottom cone and then racking arm but still hops in suspension so will wait to rack to keg.
11/2/18 dropped bottom valve and then racking arm and a little trub/yeast came out but then racking arm running clean so racked to keg without issue. put in keezer and force carb’d at 30 psi.
11/3/18 put on draft at 38F and 12psi.
11/5/18 nice beer. don’t have a juicy bits to compare it to sadly. great aroma and flavor and not very bitter. if anything bitterness is a bit low for my preferences. nice and hazy.
11/17/18 finally starting to drop a bit clearer. still hazy but not quite as murky. so a full two weeks on draft before it started to clear and still would consider it hazy.
Final thoughts. I do like this hop combination but I’m not really sold on El Dorado. I feel like each beer I use it in there is a bit of a gasoline / diesel quality I’m not a huge fan of. Not bad at all just something I’ve noticed. I’m definitely not a huge fan of London Ale III. It has an ester profile I just don’t like. I noticed in by the Blonde Ale and this beer which makes me think its the yeast and not the hops. I much prefer very clean Pilsners or West Coast Style IPAs. It’s not the trend but I like a nice crips clean canvas with some bold hop flavor and aroma layered on top. But you don’t know till you try :). The hop astringency did totally drop and wasn’t an issue once I racked to keg so it seems that this dry hop process works well.

Blonde Ale 3V 1

November 18, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

I took a long break from brewing to totally remake the cold side in my brewery and move to conicals. For this I build a glycol loop which I thought would take a month or two but ended up taking four :). For the first beer on the new conicals I wanted to do something really simple and light to pick up on any flaws. Also, I had won a bunch of ingredients this year including a 50+ lb sack of Cargill 2 row and 2 pounds of Loral hops. Seemed like a good time to do a SMASH of those two and do a Blonde but with Session IPA level hopping of just Loral.
Recipe Info
Recipe: blonde 3v 1
Style: Blonde Ale 18A BJCP 2015
Date: 09-10-2018

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.051	1.038	1.054
FG	1.011	1.008	1.013
Color	3.7	3.0	6.0
ABV	5.2	3.8	5.5
IBU	34.0	15.0	28.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 72 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 19.0 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 7.94 G
Volume: 9.46 G
Temp: 150.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.044
Predicted Mash Run-off: 6.23 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
19.000 Lb	100.0 %	Pale Malt – 2 Row (Cargill)	80.0	2.0

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	Loral	11.0	60 mins	Boil	11.0
1.5 Oz	Loral	11.0	10 mins	Boil	12.0
2.0 Oz	Loral	11.0	15 mins	Aroma	11.0
2.0 Oz	Loral	11.0	3.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	Wyeast 1318 London Ale III

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	61	3	21	30	153	30
Sparge	68	3	21	30	171	30
Final	97	4	32	45	242	45
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Target Profile Name: standard
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 30.284 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 8.000 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 7.0 g
Lactic Acid: 5.0 ml @ 88.000 %
Sparge Water
Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 7.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.000 G
Sparge Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 7.0 g
Notes
Pitch at 67 and hold for 3 days. Raise 1 degree a day to 73 and hold through 2 weeks.
Collect yeast
Dry hop for 3 days
Cold crash
Drop hops
Rack to keg and carb to 2.5 vol
9/17/18 1.1L 110g DME starter of yeast 1318 London ale III
9/18/18 normal 3V brewery but used new conical for first time. No issues.
pitched @ 2:45 pm
9/19/18 @ 6am strong bubbling
9/20/18 steady bubbling
9/21/18 strong bubbling
9/22/18 ~7 sec raised to 68F
9/23/18 ~13 sec raised to 69F in morning and 70F in evening
9/27/18 very limited bubbling
10/2/18 plan was to harvest yeast for next beer but I ran off yeast using block and blow and I dumped waiting for yeast to go creamy and next thing I now I’m dropping beer. likely b/c I had not cold crashed and I dropped a bunch of yeast. dry hopped
10/5/18 set temp to 35F for cold crash
10/8/18 dropped trubb. wanted to rack to but immediately clogged dip tube. purged racking can but checked with brewery friends and said the cold crash for 2 days, dump the trub, then crash for another 2 days, then dump trub as well as racking arm and if that looks clean then they rack to keg otherwise wait 2 more days and repeat until it looks good but rarely more than 4-6 days total.
10/10/18 dropped bottom valve again and lots o trub. thick. ran off racking arm valve. pretty clean so racked to keg @ 3 psi with no issue. got a full 5 gallons which I was able to gauge by just looking at the condensation on the outside of the keg. ran off the rest from racking valve and had just under a gallon. beer seems good. a hair of rubber in the nose? we will see. put in keezer @ 30 psi for 24 hours then dropped to 12 psi and put on draft
10/16/18 tasted good. very hazy. not a loral fan. very floral and boring.
10/21/18 well made beer with no issues. kinda boring. Cargill 2 row really has very little flavor. loral’s description of “super noble” is kinda right. herbal but also has some berry notes and big floral / rose / geranial notes. berry could be from the London ale III. really nice frothy head. still very hazy even after being on draft for a few weeks. definitely looks like a hazy IPA. gypsum character is good. right where I would want it for a German pils. verdict -> Cargill 2 row is fine if you want a totally blank canvas. not good for single malt beer. loral is not great. wouldn’t use it again. London ale III is great for hazy IPA. I don’t like it otherwise. its ester character is not to my liking. too much berry notes.

Hefeweizen 3v 3_3

November 18, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

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

Schwarzbier 3V 2_3

May 21, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

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

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

Vienna 3V 3_2

May 20, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

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.

New England IPA 3V 1

May 20, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

This beer was a collaboration with my buddy Whit. He wanted to test out some theories on Hazy IPAs (Bro!) and I had just finished my NHC run of beers so some experimentation sounded like a great idea! Pretty standard Citra / Mosaic bomb but I harvested to San Francisco Lager yeast from my Cal Common to see if we could get it hazy and then also dropped the mash pH a bit lower than I normally would since this is supposed to reduce break material and help give a fuller mouthfeel and help keep it hazy. The beer turned out really good but a few issues. 1) it dropped clear in about 2 weeks 2) it had a bit of hop harshness which i think is from the super high dry hop load but that cleared up after about 2 weeks on draft (right about when the beer dropped clear 🙂 . I would like to keep the beer basically the same but use London Ale III and do the first hop load during active fermentation (80% to FG range). It is really hard to do that on my current setup but I’m about to move to a conical which will allow me to pull samples to see when to dry hop more accurately. I may also try something completely different since that is how Whit tends to work 🙂

Recipe Info
Recipe: bond bros neipa
Style: Specialty IPA 21B BJCP 2015
Date: 03-20-2018

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.062	1.050	1.085
FG	1.012	1.008	1.018
Color	4.0	5.0	40.0
ABV	6.5	3.0	10.0
IBU	91.0	40.0	100.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 74 %
Attenuation: 80 %
Mash Info
Weight: 19.3 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 8.03 G
Volume: 9.58 G
Temp: 150.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.053
Predicted Mash Run-off: 6.3 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 10.0 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 8.5 G
Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
8.600 Lb	50.0 %	2-row American Malt (Rahr)	81.3	1.8
8.700 Lb	45.0 %	Pilsner (Weyermann)	80.0	1.8
1.000 Lb	5.0 %	Carafoam (Weyermann)	75.0	2.2

2Lb of Malted Oats
Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.37 Oz	Citra	13.9	60 mins	Boil	11.0
3.0 Oz	Citra	13.9	20 mins	Aroma	55.0
3.0 Oz	Mosaic (HBC 369)	12.2	20 mins	Aroma	24.0
3.0 Oz	Mosaic (HBC 369)	12.2	3.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0
3.0 Oz	Citra	13.9	3.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
0.300 L	San Francisco Lager White Labs WLP810

Misc

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

Water
Predicted Mash Ph: 5.16

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	184	3	21	184	238	30
Sparge	7	3	21	30	24	30
Final	182	5	33	197	245	47
Target	75	0	0	200	200	0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: neipa
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 8.250 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 8.250 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 12.0 g
Calcium Chloride: 10.0 g
Phosporic Acid: 9.0 ml @ 75.000 %
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
Notes

4-2-18 normal 3V brewday. gravity low so boiled a bit longer. pitched 300mL of month old SF Lager slurry
4-3-18 slow steady bubbling w/ kreusen
4-5-18 steady bubbling with 1″ kreusen
4-11-18 ~ 4 sec
4-16-18 ~7 sec
4-17-18 dry hopped half dose (1 mosaic, 1 citra cryo)
4-19-18 2nd dry hop (2 mosaic, 1 citra)
4-22-18 racked to keg using new inline filter technique. worked well. hopefully beer is ok. purged it heavily with CO2. FG 1.012
aroma is really strong. a bit grassy but promising. flavor is excellent but similar grassy notes. that cleared after about 2 weeks on draft but it also dropped clear in that same time period.

best bitter 3V 3

Best Bitter 3V 3

May 20, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

Beer #5 for NHC 2018. And thats a wrap! Sadly this is the only beer I entered that did not make it to the finals. A really good beer but it did not do well in competition. Not totally sure why. Judge feedback was not very helpful. I was in London not too long ago and this beer definitely fit right in with the boat load of bitters I had while there. The one thing I had changed was to go from Willamette to EKG and I think i wold go back to Willamette. I just prefer that flavor profile and the beer did better with that recipe.

Recipe Info
Recipe: best bitters 3v 3
Style: Best Bitter 11B BJCP 2015
Date: 02-05-2018

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.048	1.040	1.048
FG	1.011	1.008	1.012
Color	7.7	8.0	16.0
ABV	4.9	3.8	4.6
IBU	45.0	25.0	40.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 73 %
Attenuation: 78 %
Mash Info
Weight: 12.25 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 5.83 G
Volume: 6.81 G
Temp: 154.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.040
Predicted Mash Run-off: 4.73 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	90.0 %	Maris Otter (Crisp)	82.0	3.0
0.750 Lb	6.0 %	Crystal, Medium (Simpsons)	76.0	55.0
0.500 Lb	4.0 %	Torrified Wheat	79.0	1.7

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.85 Oz	Challenger	6.7	60 mins	Boil	17.0
1.0 Oz	Challenger	6.7	15 mins	Boil	10.0
1.0 Oz	East Kent Goldings (EKG)	5.0	15 mins	Boil	7.0
1.0 Oz	East Kent Goldings (EKG)	5.0	20 mins	Aroma	5.0
1.0 Oz	Challenger	6.7	20 mins	Aroma	6.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	English Ale White Labs WLP002

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	79	3	21	30	196	30
Sparge	77	3	21	30	192	30
Final	125	5	34	48	312	48
Target	75	0	0	0	200	0

Water Profile Name: carrboro
Target Profile Name: hoppy
Mash Water
Total Water Treated: 6.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 6.000 G
Mash Water Adjustments
Gypsum: 7.0 g
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: 6.0 g
Notes
Mash 154f 60 mins
168f 10 mins
Ferment 68f for 2 weeks

2-19-18 made 0.5L 50g DME starter with WLP002

2-20-18 normal 3 vessel brewday. no issues. pitched @12:30pm

@10pm slow steady bubbling
2-21-18 kreusen forming. strong bubbling.
2-23-18 ~4 sec
2-24-18 ~6 sec
2-27-18 no bubbling
3-1-18 very slow bubbling but it appears to be from cooling / heating of fermenter. roused yeast to try and prevent diacetyl.
3-6-18 racked to keg
FG 1.015
nice beer. certainly a bit more bitter than before. a think good. hop character is really good. no diacetyl. fingers crossed.
3-7-18 added gelatin
3-11-18 put on high carb
3-12-18 moved down to 10psi @ 35F
3-15-18 put on draft

hefeweizen 3v 3_2

Hefeweizen 3V 3_2

May 20, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

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

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

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 🙂

cal common 3v 3_2

Cal Common 3V 3_2

May 20, 2018 hommel Leave a comment

Beer #3 for NHC 2018. I borrowed the recipe for this a while back from a local homebrewer, Keith Eisel, which he calls “Dream Steam” and it took Gold at NHC and then modified it for my system and I call it “Knows How to Party”. Maybe I should call it “Dream Stealer”? 🙂 It is a really great beer and has done really well in competition. For some dumb reason I decided to not enter this one at NHC but I did enter it in the Olde Hickory Pro-Am and it took 1st and an Honorable Mention (HM) for Best in Show.
WARNING – RANT:
There was a 1st, 2nd and HM but no 3rd BOS at the Olde Hickory Pro-Am so not sure why they decided to be total a-holes and give no one 3rd and me HM. The ribbon would have been really nice. I have entered a ton of competitions and I have two BOS ribbons (1 first and 1 third) to show for it. But I have stopped trying to understand how judges brains work. The beer scored in the 40s and had glowing scoresheets so I’m not clear on why they wouldn’t give it (or any other beer) 3rd. I understand in a normal flight that you feel that no beer is good enough for a 1st or that the 3rd best beer isn’t good enough for a ribbon but we are talking about BOS. That means that my beer was up against 20+ other 1st place beers and they felt it was the 3rd best beer out of hundreds of beers but refused to give it a 3rd place BOS ribbon and gave it Honorable Mention instead which means instead of a nice huge ribbon on the wall of the brewery I get nothing. So freaking lame and, in my opinion, just outright stupid. Please, don’t be that a-hole judge if you are ever in that position.

Recipe Info
Recipe: cal common 3v 3
Style: California Common 19B BJCP 2015
Date: 07-23-2017

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.052	1.048	1.054
FG	1.012	1.011	1.014
Color	12.1	10.0	14.0
ABV	5.3	4.5	5.5
IBU	45.0	30.0	45.0

Brewery Info
Efficiency: 74 %
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: 152.0 F
Boil Info
Kettle Gravity: 1.043
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
10.500 Lb	78.0 %	2-row Pale Malt (Briess)	80.5	3.0
1.000 Lb	7.0 %	Caramel 40L (Briess)	75.0	40.0
1.000 Lb	7.0 %	Caramel 60L (Briess)	76.0	60.0
0.500 Lb	4.0 %	Victory Malt (Briess)	75.0	28.0
0.500 Lb	4.0 %	Carapils (Briess)	74.0	1.3

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
1.0 Oz	Northern Brewer (US)	8.5	60 mins	Boil	25.0
1.0 Oz	Northern Brewer (US)	8.5	20 mins	Boil	15.0
0.75 Oz	Northern Brewer (US)	8.5	20 mins	Aroma	6.0
0.5 Oz	Northern Brewer (US)	10.6	4.0 days	Dry Hop	0.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
1.000 unit	San Francisco Lager White Labs WLP810

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: 5.37

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	97	3	21	89	160	30
Sparge	89	3	21	76	158	30
Final	160	5	36	142	273	51
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

1-31-18 made 750mL starter w/ 75g of DME
2-2-18 ended up with 10min instead of 20min no hop addition b/c i was stuck at the store getting ice 🙁 . i upped the whirlpool from 0.75 to 1 oz which calculated to 42IBUs . just a hair lower than intended.
2-3-18 8am nice kreusen and steady bubbling
2-5-18 steady bubbling
2-6-18 ”
2-8-18 ~6 sec
2-9-18 ~6 sec
2-11-18 ”
2-12-18 ”
2-14-18 ”
2-15-18 ~14 sec
2-16-18 ~15 sec added 0.5 oz of northern brewer US dry hop. will wait for bubbling to resume to swirl up to try and prevent O2 uptake.
2-17-18 no bubbling
2-19-18 racked to keg for lagering
FG 1.016
no issues. really nice beer. solid hop character. very promising.
3-7-18 added gelatin
3-11-18 put on 30 psi of pressure
3-12-18 moved down to 10psi @ 35F
3-15-18 put on draft

vienna 3V 3

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

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.