Belgian Pale

This is my first attemt at this style and I'm lookng forward to it. I'm brewing it up tomorrow mornng.

Belgian Pale
Batch size 6 gallons Boil size 8.2 gallons Boil time 90 minutes Grain weight 10.75 pounds Efficiency 80%	Original gravity 1.053 Final gravity 1.012 Alcohol (by volume) 5.4% Bitterness (IBU) 22 Color (SRM) 6.6°L
Yeast 2 liquid packs White Labs     WLP500 Trappist Ale Grains/Extracts/Sugars 10.75 pounds 2 Row Base     37ppg, 1.5°L 10 pounds     93.0% CaraMunich     34ppg, 50°L 0.75 pounds     7.0% Hops 2 ounces Saaz hops     4%, Pellet 2 ounces	Infusion Mash 60 minutes, 10.0 gallons Strike     Target 152°F 3.5 gallons 168°F 60 minutes (+0) Sparge     Target 165°F 6.5 gallons 173°F Boil 90 minutes, 8.2 gallons Saaz hops     4%, Pellet 2 ounces 60 minutes (+30) Wort chiller 15 minutes (+75) Ferment 14 days @ 65-72°F

Lil' Big Hop American Pale Ale

Spring is coming and that means the AHA Nationals are fast approaching. With about a month and change to go, it's a perfect time to brew a hoppy pale ale. It should be nice and fresh for the first round of judging. Oh, and it'll be delicious when the weather starts to warm up a bit.

Li'l Big Hop
Batch size 6 gallons Boil size 8.2 gallons Boil time 90 minutes Grain weight 11.25 pounds Efficiency 80%	Original gravity 1.055 Final gravity 1.013 Alcohol (by volume) 5.5% Bitterness (IBU) 38 Color (SRM) 5.9°L
Yeast 2 liquid packs White Labs     WLP001 California Ale Grains/Extracts/Sugars 11.25 pounds 2 Row Base     37ppg, 1.5°L 9.5 pounds     84.4% Crystal 10L     35ppg, 10°L 0.5 pounds     4.4% Crystal 40L     34ppg, 40°L 0.5 pounds     4.4% Munich (Light)     34ppg, 10°L 0.5 pounds     4.4% CaraPils     33ppg, 1.5°L 0.25 pounds     2.2% Hops 4.6 ounces Columbus hops     13%, Pellet 2.6 ounces Amarillo hops     8%, Pellet 2 ounces	Infusion Mash 60 minutes, 10.0 gallons Strike     Target 153°F 3.7 gallons 169°F 60 minutes (+0) Sparge     Target 165°F 6.4 gallons 173°F Boil 90 minutes, 8.2 gallons Columbus hops     13%, Pellet 0.6 ounces 60 minutes (+30) Amarillo hops     8%, Pellet 1 ounce 30 minutes (+60) Wort chiller 15 minutes (+75) Amarillo hops     8%, Pellet 1 ounce 0 minutes (+90) Ferment 14 days @ 68-73°F Columbus hops     13%, Pellet 2 ounces 6 days (+8)

Goodbye to TheEremite

I'm dropping TheEremite.com domain. I picked up TheHolderfields.com a while ago and I figured it would suit this brew log just fine. So, hence forth this blog will be known as Matthew's Brew log or, Beer.TheHolderfields.com. I'll see if I can keep the feed the same. Hopefully you won't have to update your readers. TheEremite.com will remain for a while and redirect to here until the domain expires, but update your bookmarks now because TheEremite's days are numbered.

Southern English Brown

I've never brewed or drank a Southern English Brown and Milds aren't a favorite style of mine, but I've been on a small beer kick lately and I thought I'd like to make a malty but low gravity beer that tastes more substantial than you'd expect from a sub 4% beer. Maybe this will make me a fan of milds.

Southern English Brown
Batch size 6 gallons Boil size 8.2 gallons Boil time 90 minutes Grain weight 8.5 pounds Efficiency 70%	Original gravity 1.037 Final gravity 1.009 Alcohol (by volume) 3.7% Bitterness (IBU) 14 Color (SRM) 26.5°L
Yeast 2 liquid packs White Labs     WLP001 California Ale Grains/Extracts/Sugars 8.5 pounds Maris Otter     38ppg, 4°L 6.88 pounds     80.9% Carafa II     30ppg, 500°L 0.55 pounds     6.5% Crystal 120L     33ppg, 120°L 0.55 pounds     6.5% Special Roast     33ppg, 50°L 0.26 pounds     3.1% Crystal 60L     34ppg, 60°L 0.26 pounds     3.1% Hops 0.88 ounces Goldings (Kent) hops     5%, Pellet 0.88 ounces	Infusion Mash 60 minutes, 9.7 gallons Strike     Target 154°F 2.6 gallons 170°F 60 minutes (+0) Sparge     Target 165°F 7.1 gallons 172°F Boil 90 minutes, 8.2 gallons Goldings (Kent) hops     5%, Pellet 0.88 ounces 60 minutes (+30) Wort chiller 15 minutes (+75) Ferment 14 days @ 68-73°F I plan to ferment this thing at 68 for a week and then crash it to 55 for a few days before kegging.

A barleywine to sit on

Sara drank the last of the barleywine I made about a year and a half ago, so it's time to make some more. I'm using the same basic recipe but I cut replaced the crystal 120 with crystal 40 to minimize the heavy fruity sweetness and get a little more toffee/caramel in there. I will also be aging it on heavy toast American Oak cubes.

I think if I want this one to last more than 2 years then I'm going to have to hide it from Sara.

Here's the rundown:

Batch size 6 gallons Boil size 14 gallons Boil time 300 minutes Grain weight 26 pounds Efficiency 70%

Original gravity 1.115 Final gravity 1.027 Alcohol (by volume) 11.5% Bitterness (IBU) 80 Est. Color 15.0°L

Yeast Leftover from a previously brewed Pale Ale White Labs WLP001 California Ale Grains 26 pounds 2 Row Base     37ppg, 1.5°L 23.5 pounds Dry Sugar - Corn     42ppg, °L 1.25 pounds Crystal 80L     34ppg, 80°L 0.5 pounds Special B     30ppg, °L 0.25 pounds Crystal 40L     34ppg, 40°L 0.25 pounds Chocolate     29ppg, 350°L 0.25 pounds

Infusion Mash 60 minutes 17.9 gallons Strike     Target 148°F 7.8 gallons 164°F 60 minutes (+0) Sparge     Target 165°F 10.1 gallons 180°F Hops & Boil 300 minutes, 14 gallons Columbus     14%, Pellet 1.14 ounces 60 minutes (+240) Amarillo     8%, Pellet 2 ounces 30 minutes (+270) Wort chiller 15 minutes (+285) Centennial     10%, Pellet 0.5 ounces 0 minutes (+300) Cascade     6%, Pellet 2 ounces 0 minutes (+300) Fermentation 21 days @ 66°F Heavy Toast American Oak 2 ounces 4 days (+30)

Notes:

I'll be brewing this one up on Saturday and I'll it on the yeast cake from the Pale Ale I brewed a month or so ago. No sense in buying 5 packs of yeast. Oh, and the corn sugar doesn't get added until primary fermentation starts to die down ~5-7 days in.