A New Take on Single Tap IPA

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Nick Ladd

In the past, I’ve had good luck brewing my IPA. My standard recipe has won a number of awards and tastes great. That being said, my attention span is short and it is time to change things up. Between the fresh 2013 hops I had ordered in bulk (from Hops Direct) and capabilities built into my current brewery, the time was nigh to make some tweaks to Single Tap.

On the brew house side, I am now able to do a pump-driven whirlpool. This allows me to better simulate the extended whirlpool often done with the best commercial IPAs. Additionally, I now have a hop back that allows for one last infusion of hops directly before going into my plate chiller to cool. Finding Amarillo hops during the 2013 brewing year was nearly impossible. I’ve overcompensated this year by purchasing massive amounts of the 2013 Amarillo crop, which this recipe has been built around. I’ve also included a small charge of Sterling hops — a tip I picked up from Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing during last year’s National Homebrewers Conference. (The idea is that the Sterling will add a bit of complexity and nuance to what is otherwise a citrus heavy hop bill.)

Single Tap IPA Recipe

Size: 4.32 gal – My goal is to net just under 3 gallons into the fermenter.
Efficiency: 70% – Calculated
Attenuation: 75.7% – Calculated based off of OG and FG readings.

Original Gravity: 1.066 SG – Measured
Terminal Gravity: 1.016 SG – Measured
Color: 10.78 SRM
Alcohol: 6.58% ABV – Calculated
Bitterness: 63.2 IBU – Actual measured IBUs will likely be a bit higher. My software doesn’t account for the whirlpool hop contribution of bitterness.

Grist:
4.5 lb (38.3%) 2-Row Brewers Malt (Briess)
4 lb (34.0%) Golden Promise Malt (Crisp)
2.25 lb (19.1%) Vienna Malt (Weyermann)
8 oz (4.3%) White Wheat Malt (Briess)
6 oz (3.2%) Caramunich® TYPE II (Weyermann)
2 oz (1.1%) Acidulated Malt (Weyermann) – for pH adjustment

Hopping:
6 g Columbus (15.0% AA) – First Wort
20 g Sterling (7.5% AA) – 15 m
14 g Centennial (10.5% AA) – 15 m
1 oz Amarillo® Leaf (9.6% AA) – 10 m
12 g Columbus (15.0% AA) – 10 m
1 oz Amarillo® Leaf (9.6% AA) – Whirlpool 20m
14 g Centennial (10.5% AA) – Whirlpool 20m
8 g Sterling (7.5% AA) – Whirlpool 20m
3 oz Amarillo® Leaf – Hop Back

1 oz Centennial (10.5% AA) – Dry hop 3 days
2 oz Amarillo® (8.7% AA) – Dry hop 3 days

Kettle Additions:
0.5 ea Whirlfloc Tablet – 15 m
0.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – 10 m

Yeast:
1 ea Wyeast 1056 American Ale™ – 1400ml starter on stir plate

Mash Regiment:
Saccharification Rest – 150 °F – 60m
Mashout – 168 °F – 5m

Fermentation:
1. Chill to 62 °F and keep at 64 °F until activity slows (4-6 days).
2. Raise temp to 68 °F until fermentation stops.
3. Crash to 32 °F (2 days)

My Funked-Up Cider

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Nick Ladd

Making hard cider is stupid-easy. My 1-gallon experiment included pre-pressed cider, a 200ml slurry of my house “bug” culture, and a small addition of nutrients. The up-front investment of time was approximately 30 minutes.

Update 8/2/14: Full Review

Fall in New York. A chill in the air, leaves on the ground, and a butt-ton of apples at the green market. During a recent trip to the Grand Army Plaza market, nearly every purveyor of produce was selling a variety of apples. Along with these apples came the real prize — jugs of apple cider. The trick is finding minimally processed juice unadulterated with Potassium Sorbate. Sorbates create a stable product by inhibiting the yeast’s ability to reproduce. This works great at preventing cider from inadvertently fermenting and becoming alcoholic, but also makes the juice tough, if not impossible, to use for the production of hard cider. After talking to five different stands selling sorbated juice, I found Tree-Licious Orchards out of Warren County, NJ. Their juice was not only sorbate-free, but had already begun to show the tell-tale signs of early fermentation.

This past NHC, Chris Baker gave a talk about cider and suggested that juice should be supplemented with Fermaid-K and DAP to help ensure a healthy and complete fermentation. His suggested rate was 1/2 tsp. Fermaid-K and 1/4 tsp. DAP per five gallons. After measuring and weighing out the nutrients, this works out to 0.54 grams Fermaid-K and 0.31 grams DAP per gallon of juice.

There is a good amount of precedence for making funky ciders. The Spanish have a knack for making tart, dry, complex, Brett-bombs; a naturally occurring event if the native yeast and bacteria residing on apple skins are left to their own devices.

My goal with this experiment is to produce a cider with a healthy dose of bacteria-derived acidity to make up for the fact that the juice I used was likely comprised of primarily culinary apples containing little balancing acid and tannin. With some luck, the acidity will help balance out the cider while preventing the cider from becoming too watery or austere.

Recipe:

One gallon of funked-up cider ready to start fermenting.

Juice:
1-Gallon Non-Sorbated Cider
My juice had a starting gravity of 1.050. If this ferments out completely, it should leave me with a 6.5% ABV cider.

Nutrients:
0.54 grams Fermaid-K, dissolved in water
0.31 grams DAP, dissolved in water

Yeast:
200ml House Bug Culture
My culture started with microbes obtained from commercial beers including Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus, Russian River Beatification, and Tilquin Gueuze.

Process:

Sanitize 1-gallon jug, stopper, and airlock.
Pour in juice, nutrients, and yeast.
Let cider ferment.

Vienna Lager 3.0 – Recipe and Brewday

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Nick Ladd

Nice cool lager fermentation chugging away.

Nice cool lager yeast fermenting away.

Update: Vienna Lager Reviewed

Update 2/20/2014 – Beer placed 3rd as a Vienna Lager in Category 3 European Amber Lagers at the 2014 Homebrew Alley 8 competition.

UPDATE 4/5/2014 – Beer placed 1st as a Vienna Lager in Category 3 European Amber Lagers at the 2014 First Round of the National Homebrew Competition (NYC Regional).

When it comes to brewing a particular style of beer, I am a serial philander. Rarely do I brew the same beer twice, and when I do it is typically with radical departures to the recipe. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, and Vienna lager is one of them.

I’ve probably brewed four or five Vienna lagers since I began brewing in 2009. While most have been outstanding, and several have won pretty nice awards (Gold in the 2012 NHC first round, and 2nd Best of Show at the 2011 Best of the Bay), I seem to always be making tweaks to the recipe to correct minor details that I believe would lead to a better beer.

With this iteration, I’ve gone back to my favorite lager strain, White Labs WLP833 German Bock, which always seems to produce very malt-forward, diacetyl free lagers for me. Additionally, I’ve introduced a single step decoction into the recipe as a replacement for the touch of melanoiden malt that I generally throw into my non-decocted lagers. A small Hallertaurer addition with 10 minutes left in the boil gives the beer an almost imperceptible late hop character.

With winter coming, and the ground water cooling, it is the perfect time to brew lagers. My Blichmann Therminator plate chiller struggles with warm summer water, but drops the wort to pitching temperatures with ease during the cooler months. With a little extra time in my fermenation fridge, I am able to chill my wort to 44°F before pitching my yeast. Over the course of the lag phase, I let the temperature free rise to 48°F and then keep it there until the very end of fermentation when I complete a diacetyl rest. This requires a very large starter, but tends to create what I feel is a cleaner lager character.

Recipe

Size: 3.25 Gal
Efficiency: 68%
Attenuation: 74% (projected)

Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Terminal Gravity: 1.014 SG (projected)
Color: 14.09 SRM
Alcohol: 5.07% ABV (projected)
Bitterness: 28.4 IBU

Grist:
3.5 lb (47.9%) Vienna Malt (Weyermann)
1.25 lb (17.1%) Pilsner Malt (Weyermann)
2.25 lb (30.8%) Munich TYPE II (Weyermann)
4 oz (3.4%) Carafoam® (Weyermann)
1 oz (0.9%) Carafa® TYPE II (Weyermann)

Boil Additions:
1 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.1% AA) – 60 m
1/2 Tablet Whirlfloc (Irish moss) – 15 m
0.5 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.1% AA) – 10 m
0.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – 10 m

Yeast:
1800ml 1.040 starter on stir plate – White Labs WLP833 German Bock Lager

Mash Regiment:
20m – 144 °F
Decoct to 156 °F
20m – 156 °F
Direct Fire to Mashout at 168 °F
10m – 168 °F

Water Adjustment:
Carbon filtered NYC water with 1g gypsum and 4g calcium chloride added to the mash.

Yeast Notes:
Final Volume into Fermenter = 2.75 Gallons
Yeast Required = 100 billion (per Mr. Malty)
Yeast Production Date: 10/14/13
Yeast Starter = 1.8L @ 1.040 on stir plate (Mr. Malty suggests 1L) = 7.5 oz. DME

Fermentation:
1. Chill to 44°F and keep at 48°F until activity slows (1.5 weeks or so).
2. Raise to 58°F for diacetyl rest 24-48 hours .
3. Cool 2°F / day until down to 34 °F.
4. Rack to corny keg.
5. Lager near freezing 4-6 weeks.

Sour Mashed Berliner Weisse with Brett Trois

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Nick Ladd

Reheating and recirculating the sour mash after 60 hours of sour-mashing.

Recirculating and reheating the mash after 60 hours of sour-mashing.

My first batch of Berliner Weisse left me confident that sour mashing is a viable option for creating brightly acidic sour beers in short order. I’ve had a number of wonderful sour mashed beers along with quite a few terrible ones. A lot of people proclaim that sour mashing is a bit of a crap shoot, but I believe with careful process control, you can utilize sour mashing with a high success rate. It seems that the key to success with sour mashing is creating an environment that favors the lactic acid production you’re looking for while discouraging the growth of other bacteria and yeast that can easily fowl your mash with pretty horrific off-flavors.

My primary concerns are creating an anaerobic (no oxygen) environment, maintaining temperatures above 105°F, and pre-acidifying the mash. An anaerobic environment is achieved by thoroughly flushing the fermenter with C02 gas and then sealing the lid. Temperatures are maintained by insulating the mash tun and periodic hot water additions. Pre-acidification is achieved through a healthy dose of acidulated malt at the end of the mash regiment. After a 60 hour sour mash, the liquid was very tart and clean. There was no pellicle, mold, or otherwise odd looking growths on the surface of the mash. At this point in the process, you’re looking for a bright clean acidity — more similar to yogurt (lactic) than vinegar (acetic). If your mash smells or tastes like rotten vegetables, baby diapers, vinegar, or other funky flavors, your mash likely went off. Boiling and subsequent fermentation may drive off some of these offensive aromas, but chances are pretty slim that they will be eliminated completely.

After sour-mashing I retrieved the soured wort and boiled it for 30 minutes to achieve a minor reduction in volume, kill any bacteria, and achieve a slight amount of bitterness. I cooled the wort and pitched Wyeast’s German Ale strain. I have heard antidotal evidence that low pH can adversely effect yeast fermentation. ~~I can offer my own contrary antidotal evidence — my low pH wort exhibited a very vigorous fermentation and attenuated well.~~

UPDATE 11/16/2013: After about 2 weeks in primary, I seem to be experiencing a pH related issue with this beer. Fermentation appeared extremely vigorous. It has however stopped at 1.010, which is most likely related to the beer’s low pH. At this point I am not comfortable bottling with a secondary Brett Trois strain. Instead, I have racked the beer to a secondary fermenter and pitched the Brett in an attempt to reach terminal gravity prior to packaging and bottle conditioning.

Wyeast describes the German Ale strain as a true top cropping yeast... I concur.

Wyeast describes the German Ale strain as a true top cropping yeast. Fermenting at 64°F created a large amount of yeast blowoff.

Recipe

Size: 3.25 gal
Efficiency: 68%
Attenuation: 80.0% (projected)
Boil Length: 30m

Original Gravity: 1.034 SG
Terminal Gravity: 1.007 SG (projected)
Color: 3.99 SRM
Alcohol: 3.59% ABV (projected)
Bitterness: 5.0 IBUs

Grist:
2 lb (43.2%) Bohemian Pilsner Malt (Weyermann)
2 lb (43.2%) White Wheat (Briess)
2 oz (2.7%) Victory® Malt (Briess)
8 oz (10.8%) Acidulated Malt (Weyermann) – 2oz during mash, 6oz to cap mash post sugar conversion

8 g Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.3% AA) – 30m
0.5 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – 15m
0.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – 10 m

WYeast 1007 German Ale™ – Primary Fermentation
White Labs WLP644 Brettanomyces Trois – ~~Added to individual bottles during bottle conditioning.~~ Ended up adding it in secondary before packaging.

Water Treatment:
Carbon filtered Brooklyn water (very soft) with 2g Gypsum and 4g Calcium Chloride added to mash.

Mash Regiment:
60m – 148 °F
10m – 154 °F
10m – 168 °F

Sour mash 60 hours:
1. Complete mash regiment above. Let mash cool to 128°F. Minimize stirring and aeration of wort.
2. Add 4 oz uncrushed grain & remainder of acidulated malt (6 oz).
3. Cover mash bed with aluminum foil, purge with CO2, and seal mashtun.
4. Insulate the mash tun and let rest for 60 hours.
5. Add boiling H2O to increase sour mash temp as required to keep above 105°F.
6. After 60 hours, increase mash tun temperature to 168°F and transfer wort to kettle.

Fermentation:
1. Chill to 64°F and keep at 64°F until activity slows (1 week+).
2. Raise temp to 68°F 2 days
3. Drop temperature to 32°F over the course of 4 days. Hold at 32°F for 2 days.

Packaging:
Prime with sugar as required to achieve 3 volumes of CO2. ~~Inoculate half the bottles with Brett Trois (WLP644) for future side-by-side comparisons.~~ Ended up adding the Brett to secondary in bulk prior to packaging.

Spawn of the Duvel – Homebrew Recipe

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Nick Ladd

UPDATE 11/17/2013 – Read the review here.

UPDATE 2/20/2014 – Beer placed 2nd as a Belgian Blond in Category 18 Belgian Strong Ales at the 2014 Homebrew Alley 8 competition.

UPDATE 4/5/2014 – Beer placed 1st as a Belgian Blond in Category 18 Belgian Strong Ales at the 2014 First Round of the National Homebrew Competition (NYC Regional).

Duvel. You sneaky little bastard. Crisp, refreshing, complex, yet not overbearing. Your austere dryness and pear-like ester melds with an ever-so-sweet pilsner malt background striking a balance that is tough to resist. I know it’s not a problem for you, but your 8.5% ABV is for me. I need a beer that possesses everything I love about Duvel, but doesn’t leave me spinning after a few.

This recipe intends to do just that. I’ve started this beer at 1.054 original gravity versus Duvel’s reported 1.069; mashing a bit higher and not including any simple sugars to decrease the wort’s fermentablity and create a mouth feel comparable to Duvel while having significantly less alcohol. Duvel attenuates in the 90%+ range helping it hit 8.5% ABV with a somewhat modest starting gravity. With the lower gravity of my beer, I’m hoping to achieve a similar balance by lowering the attenuation rate and finishing the beer at a more sessionable 5.5% ABV.

Duvel is reputed to contain only pilsner malt and simple sugar; up to 17% by some accounts. I’ve dropped the alcohol boosting simple sugar in favor of an all-malt grain bill, including a touch of character malts to bring some complexity to the wort composition. For hops, I’ve decided to go ahead and bump up the continental hop character found in Duvel by increasing the amount of late hops in the beer. This beer is by no means meant to clone Duvel, but will hopefully capture the spirit and attributes that make it such a great beer. We’ll know how successful I was when I taste the finished product in a few weeks.

Recipe

Size: 3.25 gal
Efficiency: 68%
Attenuation: 78.0% (projected)

Original Gravity: 1.054 sg
Terminal Gravity: 1.012 sg (projected)
Color: 5.81 SRM
Alcohol: 5.53% ABV (projected)
Bitterness: 22.6 IBU (doesn’t account for whirlpool isomerization)

Ingredients:
6.5 lb (87.4%) Belgian Pils (Dingemans)
.5 lb (6.7%) Pale Wheat Malt (Weyermann)
4 oz (3.4%) Belgian Biscuit (Dingemans)
3 oz (2.5%) Acidulated Malt (Weyermann) – pH Adjustment

1 oz Styrian Goldings (3.2% AA) – 60 m
0.5 oz Czech Saaz (3% AA) – 20 m
0.5 oz Czech Saaz (3% AA) – whirlpool 20m
1 oz Styrian Goldings (3.2% AA) -whirlpool 20m

0.5 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – 15 m
0.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – 10 m

WYeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale™

Mash Regiment:
154 °F – 60m
168.0 °F – 10m

Water Treatment:
Carbon filtered tap water. Salts added to the mash.
4g Calcium Carbonate
2g Calcium Sulfate (gypsum)

Yeast Notes:
Final Volume into Fermenter = 2.75 Gallons
Yeast Required = 104 billion (per Mr. Malty)
Yeast Production Date: 9/3/2013
Yeast Starter = 1L @ 1.040 on stir plate (per Mr. Malty) = 4 1/8 oz. DME

Fermentation:
1. Chill to 62°F and keep at 66°F until activity slows (1 week+).
2. Raise temp to 74°F 3 days
3. Crash to 32°F 5 days
4. Verify gravity has stabilized. Bottle condition in 12oz bottles primed to 2.8 volumes CO2