Shoal Coast IPA

Shoal Coast IPA

After brewing for over a year I finally decided to do a true IPA. (I guess that not totally true. I did brew a Wheat IPA last spring but that has yet to be discussed.)

I wanted to try things a little bit differently with this brew. Here was my grain bill:

10# Maris Otter

1# Crystal 60

1# Crystal 20

1# Cara-Pils

At this point I had begun reading John Palmer & Colin Kaminski's Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers, so this was my first attempt at playing with water chemistry.

Some have told me that you should focus on learning to brew good beer before messing with the water chemistry and that this should be the last book of the four element books that you should read. I disagree. Water makes up the base of your ingredients and is going to have a profound effect on how your beer will taste. Your mash and what goes into it is the foundation as to how your beer will turn out.

Using 80% distilled water and adding some Gypsum, Epsom Salt, and CaCl to build the water to the desired profile; here were the final results (ppm):

Ca: 76

Mg: 17

Na: 3.1

SO4: 156

Cl: 55

HCO3: 28

RA: -41

pH: 5.3

Since I had never made this beer without any water adjustments I really don't have anything to compare it to. However, I will say that this beer and all others after it have been noticably better, which I believe to be due to the attention to my water chemistry.

I wanted a fuller bodied beer so I mashed this at 156 for 60 minutes and boiled it down for 75 minutes. Instead of doing any bittering additions at the beginning of the boil; I decided to do get all of my bitterness, flavor, and aroma with all late hop additions. I began the first addition with 1oz of Chinook at 20 minutes, another at 15 and third at 10. I then added an 1oz of Willamette at 5 minutes and other another at flame out. Then at the end of fermentation I dry hopped an ounce of whole hopped Willamette for about 5 days.

Wanting a sweeter full bodied IPA; I did not use an American ale strain of yeast. Instead I used the highly flocculating, low attenuating, Wyeast 1968 London ESB. I fermented fours weeks at 62 degrees. In the end I got exactly what I wished for, which may have been a little too much. The IPA came out with the body, head, and sweetness that I was looking for. The the roasty, rich maltiness was rather dominate in the beer. It almost took away from the hoppy profile that I was expecting.

When I try this brew again; I am going to make a few modifications to this recipe. I think it needs to have a bit drier finish so the mash temperature will probably be more in the 149-151 range. I will probably stick to a sixty minute boil and change up my hop schedule just a bit. I will probably have a small early hop addition to add a bit more bitterness to it and I am changing up the hop bill to get a more classic American citrusy/piney hop profile. The late addition schedule will probably remain the same but will have a blend of Centennial and Zythos additions. The grain bill will remain the same but I want to see how Wyeast 1056 American Ale does with this brew.

So this beer turned out well and it was not lacking in flavor. A few more goes with this recipe and I think I will have a really good flagship beer to have on tap for all to enjoy! 

Fox In The Hen House Farmhouse Ale - #1

Fox In the Hen-house Farmhouse Ale - 2/15/14

This was my first attempt at creating MY OWN BEER, no kit, no extracts, just all grain the way I wanted it. So what was it I wanted? A saison! Not just any saison though; I wanted to create a saison modeled after my favorite go to beer, Boulevard's Tank 7. After three beers under my belt, this beer tested my abilities to successfully brew what I think to be an excellent beer. In the end it wasn't quite Tank 7 but something original. Who would have thunk it!

The base was about 10 pounds of 2 row with a bit of malted wheat and a few pounds of flaked maize. For hops I used magnum at the beginning of the boil, two additions of Falconer's Flight at 20 and 10 minutes, and later dried hopped with Amarillo. I had sent this grain bill on to a couple of guys from my local club and the only thing they say was, “That's a weird grain bill.” Whatever!

I figured now was a good time as any to experiment with multi-step temperatures during the mash. I did three: 143 for 45 minutes, 154 for 15, and 163 for 15. Now you are probably asking what I gained from this? I don't know. I just wanted to try it. At this point I really didn't have a great grasp of rests during the mash and what affect they had on the overall flavor and consistency of my beer. It apparently worked fine though I think my efficiency was somewhat affected.

I went through the 60 minute boil, the cool down in a tub of ice (because it would be another 7 months be for I got wise and bought a wort chiller). Little bit of advice: don't skip out on this priceless piece of equipment. Chilling down wort in an ice bath is a pain in the ass and it takes too long. You risk off flavors in you beer if you don't get that wort down below 90 ASAP.

I decided to use Wyeast #3724 Belgium Saison. Now, when purchasing this again I didn't look much into it. It just seemed like the better choice over the French Saison. My friend Caleb always seems to know when I was doing something different or interesting to my beer because he will always call or text to see how it is going. I told him I was using this yeast and he quickly told me that this was a bastard of a yeast. Apparently it would tear through a wort no problem until it hit about 1.030 and then it would stall. I took this into consideration and did some research. Guys on blogs were suggesting that you crank up the fermentation temperature to NINETY DEGREES! When I told Caleb this of course his reaction was, “Its going to taste like hot phenol alcohol!”

Did I listen? NO! So I had been fermenting this pretty hot, probably upper seventies or low eighties, and sure enough after a couple of weeks at exactly 1.030; it stalled. So I pitched some yeast energizer; jacked up the temp to 90; and a gave it a good shake every other day. About 3 ½ weeks into the fermentation it got down to about 1.010. I pitched an ounce of Amarillo to dry hop for about 5 days; let it condition for another week; and then bottled. It brought grown men to tears....not really, but everyone dug the hell out of it! Caleb who had just got back from Belgium said it tasted better than any saison he tasted while there. I'm not yanking my own chain and I hope he meant it because I myself (even with extreme bias) thought it was fantastic.

Also, after reading WildBrewsby Jeff Sparrow, he discussed the DuPont saison strain which is kin to the Wyeast #3724. It is a descendant of a wine yeast that is very hearty and is able to withstand high fermentation temperatures and high alcohol levels. So after reading this, I was totally comfortable in cooking the hell out of this brew.

When you make something that is a hit; you just hope you can do it again. I have tried twice and both times something different has happened. However, with each time it has been something very good! I have found that if you expect disaster; your beer turns out to be something unique and delicious. If you expect it to be an award winning hit; chances are, you will be a little underwhelmed. Perhaps its psychological but no matter what my expectations are I get very good complements on the brew. So I guess that's something.

Be a home brew judge! Your beer will thank you!

I have been brewing for about 15 months now and I have made some pretty good beers if I do say so myself. A few of them have tasted rather similar to what I have bought off the shelf. Whether that is a good or bad thing is in the mouth of the beer holder.

A few months ago I enter my saison and bourbon barrel quagmire in a small local competition and including me; there were only 13 participants. So instead of being a 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place, as well as a best of show; there was only 1^st place and best of show. I was kind of discouraged by this because I didn't really get to find out where my beer stood. I did get some decent feedback which is a primary reason why someone new at brewing should consider competitions.

This past weekend, a friend of mine talked me into going to the KC Bier Meister's 32nd Annual Homebrew Competition. Though he entered a few beers, I did not. I did register as a judge though (as did he), which was my first experience as such and I must say this weekend I changed as a homebrewer. I found that I do not want to just brew good beer; I want to brew REALLY good beer and put it in these competitions!

The experience was amazing! I will say that what I was expecting was some kind of comic con spectacular in a big arena with spectators crowded in bleachers watching the judges decide the fate of their masterpiece. It was nothing of the sort, which was just fine.

After waking up at 4am to drive from Joplin, MO to Kansas City; I found myself in the Communication Workers of America Union Hall of KC. It looked more like my wife's scrap booking crops with a dozen banquet tables laid out for all beer geeks to sit around and analyze all 480+ beers entered into the competition. I should also add that the competition had been going on each evening since Tuesday so we didn't actually judge that many that day.

Nonetheless, it was fantastic! There was local and home brew (including my beloved Tank 7) on tap for everyone to enjoy at their leisure. We got there at 7:30am, just in time to pour our first glass of beer, register, and enjoy a fantastic breakfast. We picked out the items on the raffle wall that we could not live without and placed all of our money on a bad ass wood barrel lid with the Boulevard smokestack painted on it (neither of us one it...damn it!)

By 9:00am I was paired up with a master BJCP judge. For a relatively new brewer, this is where the magic starts. The first category in which I was placed was 'Spice/Herb/Vegetable'. With the help of Scott, the judge I was paired with, I really learned for the first time how to see, smell, taste, and feel a beer. It seems weird but I think it has opened up something in my head that allows me to taste things like I have never before, even beyond beer.

After the first round, we had lunch and then settled in for the second round for the day. My category was 'Specialty Beers', but unfortunately there was not much that was special about this...sorry to say. However, this was another good learning experience as I was able to pick up where these beers went wrong!

I sat down at a table with five other gents, all of them BJCP judges. At the table next to us was a guy looking mildly agitated. The other judges he was paired with were a no show. He sternly points to the chair in front of him and tells me I am with him. My first impression was that this was not going to be an overly fun experience. That changed quickly, however one thing was clear; Mike knew his shit! Like Scott, he showed me how to pull smells and flavors out of the beer that I didn't know how to find before.

After tasting some mediocre beers, evaluating them, rating them, and ultimately deciding their fate; my view as a homebrewer changed. Though I long to make beers someday good enough to offer to the public, my entire perspective of making beer has changed from this single experience. I now look at every aspect of the beer, from the ingredients, to the water chemistry, the mash, the boil, the yeast used, fermentation temperatures, the whole damned thing! Of course you are thinking, “You should have been doing that the whole time!” And I guess I have but now it kind of feels like Neo coming to the realization that he is the one and becomes one with the Matrix. Sorry went too geeky there but that's what it feels like: Some great awakening!

So with this fantastic experience, I believe my craft can go nowhere but up. I also know that I can make a beer that has the potential of winning competitions! That is my goal. That is what I have taken from this weekend. I think that every brewer should have this experience and should continue having this experience. Compete, judge, get as much involved as you can if you are really serious about your brewing. This has really changed my outlook for this year on what I need to accomplish as a homebrewer!

So going back to the event. After my judging sessions were done comes the Spiegelau presentation. Without going into a lot of detail, (because it deserves a post all to itself), I feel like with the judging experience and this presentation; I tasted beer for the first time that day. If you have not drank from one of these spectacular pieces of glassware; DO IT! It makes a beer taste the way the brewer intended it to! I am a believer in Spiegelau glassware!

After the presentation, it was time to drink! My buddy and I were standing around the beer taps sipping on our suds with a couple of other people when someone brought in a box filled with a variety of Belgium wild beers from Crane Brewing Company. The few of us soon became about twenty people all trying to get a taste of this fantastic beer. Which by the way, forced me to purchase AmericanSour Beers by Michael Tonsmeire. I can't wait to dive into this book!

Finally, after twelve hours of homebrew competition bliss, came an even more blissful dinner paired with MORE BEER! The food was amazing! Again, the pairing is enough for another post by itself.

The point of this blog......oh yes! Challenge yourself! Make a beer worthy of competition and be mindful of the BJCP category you are entering. One thing I noticed when judging was people were entering beer in WRONG CATEGORIES! Know your beer style and its characteristics according to BJCP standards! Also, be a judge! It is so eye-opening to be on the other side of the competition to see exactly what is to be expected. Does it mean that you are guaranteed to win because of it? If you pay attention and learn from it; you stand a lot better chance in my book! If anything you get to carry away from it an incredible experience.

Finally, hats off to the crew that is KC Bier Miesters! You put on a great show!

Take the plunge!!

For years I thought it would be awesome to brew my own beer. When I was in college I thought about how fantastic it would be to own and operate my own microbrewery. I looked a little into buying beer making supplies but I was a poor college student and I didn’t have a local homebrew store to help get me going. So in the end I just went to the store and bought the beer and drank it rather making it myself.

Fast forwarding to October of last year, I discovered the Joplin Homebrew Club. They met every second Tuesday of the month at my favorite bar, as it turns out, and it was open to anybody who wanted to attend.

I walked in and was instantly greeted by half-a-dozen beer geeks (and I mean that with the utmost respect since I am now a member of their clan) who introduced themselves and asked me if I brewed, etc. I told them I was new to home brewing and was looking for information on how I should get started. Instantly I saw this glaze form over their eyes and I think a couple started salivating just a bit.

After five minutes of the onslaught of information I received, most people would have went crossed-eyed and just ran out the bar as quickly as possible. But I stayed and I learned. Everyone had their suggestions on what kits to buy; where to get them; should I go extract or all-grain. You could tell they were getting REALLY excited at this point. It quickly evolved into how I need to brew and what methods work and don’t work. And of course everyone had their own opinions which from that point the conversation swayed away from providing me with information on getting started to an argument as to what was the proper method creating a yeast starter or something. After being in the club for a year I find that 99.9% percent of conversations end up as arguments in attempts to show who knows more about <enter home brew subject here>. But I digress.

About a week after attending the meeting, one of the members, Joel, texted me and asked me if I wanted to come over and brew. It just happened to fall on Learn to Homebrew Day. This just happened to be the day that changed everything. The smell of that savory sweet goodness piping out of the mash tun and then the boiling kettle. There is nothing better than that whiff of hops as it is pitched into that torrid sweet brew. I was hooked aaannnnd after trying all of his homebrews and maybe dipping into his insane collection of fine scotches and rye whiskeys was feeling no pain!

It was a fantastic experience to say the least and I learned a lot about brewing that day. Within a week my new homebrew kit from Northern Brewer was sitting on my door step. Also, by this time I had read cover to cover John Palmer’s How to Brew.

Along with my purchase of the new homebrew kit NB was nice enough to throw in an extract kit of their Caribou Slobber brown ale to get me started. (My first experience brewing this excellent ale can be found in its own post.) By the time I boiled up my water, steeped my specialty grains, added my DME and LME, and finally my hops; I had come to a conclusion that there was a huge piece of the homebrew experience that I was missing.

By thanksgiving I had purchased a ten gallon cooler from Home Depot, purchased my faucet and manifold, and by the first week of December I was attempting my first solo run at ALL GRAIN brewing. From that point on, there has been no looking back. My homebrew equipment inventory continually grows with each passing month and the number of brews under my belt continues to increase.

So it begins.....

This is my blog or my chronicles rather of my experience as a home brewer from day 1.  It is really not my intention to be any sort of self-proclaimed expert on the subject of home brewing.  At the time of writing this introduction I have only been home brewing less than a year.  

My wife, who is a huge blogger, suggested that I create a blog as an account of my journey in brewing.  My goal is to present posts that narrate my experience through each one of my brews and show my progression on this fantastic journey that is home brewing.  On a personal level it will allow me to go through the process of how I constructed my grain bill; how I executed the brewing process; what tricks and equipment I used; and probably most inevitably, what I did wrong and how can I improve myself the next time I make a batch of beer.  

As an added bonus, should anyone actually choose to read my blog and feel it worthy of subscribing, they may be able to take something away from it.  Whether it be a technique I found to work well or a disaster that I wish no one spending the time, money, and effort to brew ever have to experience themselves.

I have not had any of those experiences……yet. However, I think part of the fun of home brewing is experimenting and not just merely buying kits from the brew store and replicating what’s already been done.  It’s a science meant for experimentation and breaking the boundaries of beer making.  

So far what I have brewed would not be considered groundbreaking, but I do feel like I need to challenge myself as a young brewer. Chances are what I attempt has been done many times before and there is nothing magical about it.  Then again, I might stumble upon something that might just create the best beer that I have ever tasted. Who knows?

As a final note, I hope that more experienced brewers may stumble upon this blog and provide any tips that might help me or anyone else reading my journal.  And if should any trolls decide to come on here and be complete pricks for no other reason than to be a prick, then forever may all of your brews be infected and most foul!