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.

The Bistro Wood Barrel Aged Beer Festival

We went to check out the Barrel festival at The Bistro in Hayward last night and I thought I'd jot down a few of the honorable mentions. There were 65 selections on tap and we tasted about 15. My favorite stout of the lot was the 2008 Imperial Eclipse Stout from Fifty Fifty. It came in at 9.5% and was aged for 1 year in Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon barrels. Great stuff. Sierra Nevada also had a Scotch wee heavy that was aged for 7 months in Glengoyne Scotch barrels, which was aptly named, "Scotch on Scotch." I really wish I could aquire a few bottles of this one. Unfortunately, I didn't try any barleywines that blew my cap off.

There were, however, a few delightful surprises that we found a little ways off the well beaten path of bourbon barleywines and whisky imperial stouts. I am really impressed with Bear Republic. They have a ton of one off brews that are usually fantastic. We tasted Clobberskull, an "English Estate October Beer" which was brewed with 10% raw wheat and 10% split peas and rang in at 10.5% ABV. Tasted great. Lagunitas had a few odd balls too. "Cruisin' with Ruben & the Bretts on Cherries" was an Imperial Stout, soured and aged in a Heaven's Hill Bourbon barrel for a year with cacao nibs and cherries tossed in. It was a really interesting beer. I'm not sure I want a whole pint of it, but I really liked the small glass I had.

That's about it... until the Double IPA festival in February. See you there!