Brewing at Mom's

Aside from the 100 qt mash tun that I let at Pat's after the last brewday, I took my entire system to my mom's house, as she has a yard and I do not. In order to be able to brew there sometimes, as brewing in my little apartment just isn't happening. I brewed on this system

last week, and took some pictures this time around. The beer is a black IPA and the recipes will follow the images.








Recipe: Enigma Black IPA
Style: 14B-India Pale Ale(IPA)-American IPA

Recipe Overview

Wort Volume Before Boil: 35.00 l
Wort Volume After Boil: 27.00 l
Volume Transferred: 23.00 l
Water Added: 0.00 l
Volume At Pitching: 22.00 l
Final Batch Volume: 20.00 l
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.047 SG
Expected OG: 1.061 SG
Expected FG: 1.010 SG
Expected ABV: 6.8 %
Expected ABW: 5.3 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 65.6
Expected Color: 32.6 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 83.5 %
Mash Efficiency: 80.0 %
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 64 degF

Fermentables
US Mystery Malt 11lb 4oz (72.6 %) In Mash/Steeped
US White Wheat Malt 1lb 4oz (8.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
German Carafa Special II 1lb 4oz (8.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Munich 10L Malt 1lb 0oz (6.5 %) In Mash/Steeped
UK Medium Crystal 12.00 oz (4.8 %) In Mash/Steeped

Hops
US Summit (14.6 % alpha) 15 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 80 Min From End
US Columbus(Tomahawk) (9.0 % alpha) 30 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 30 Min From End
US Centennial (8.5 % alpha) 100 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 10 Min From End
US Summit (14.6 % alpha) 60 g Bagged Pellet Hops used At turn off
US Columbus(Tomahawk) (9.0 % alpha) 60 g Bagged Pellet Hops used At turn off
US Centennial (8.5 % alpha) 60 g Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped
US Columbus(Tomahawk) (9.0 % alpha) 30 g Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped

Other Ingredients

Yeast: DCL US-05 (formerly US-56) SafAle

Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash
Schedule Name: No Chosen Schedule

Recipe Notes
Bulk of grain bill was a pre-measured recipe weighing 11 lbs 4 oz. Due to the loss of my previous laptop, I don't know what the recipe was (though I suspect it was a "bulked up" Kölsch or Altbier (without any carafa). 
 
My unusually poor hop harvest left me with too few hops to base a beer around, so these were added to the flameout. There was roughly 1/2 oz dried and it was mostly columbus with a little cascade.

The Carafa Special II was all added to the mash tun after the first runnings had drained, but before my batch sparge. I let that sparge steep for 15 minutes in order to get maximum color from the Carafa. The wort was nearly pitch black. First runnings wort was a medium amber, leading me to believe the "mystery malt" was a Düsseldorf Altbier malt bill.

Brewing a West Coast IPA (or Brewing Somewhere New)

Nine days ago, I brewed beer for the first time in over four months. Since my new apartment isn't a very brewing-friendly place, I co-brewed on my 10 gallon system with a friend at his grandfather's house and split the batch with him. We decided to brew a West Coast IPA because we both still had a ton of 2011 hops left and the new harvest is already picked, so it seemed like time to brew with those 2011 hops.

There were a few hiccups, due in part to my never brewing on that exact system before and in part on the fact that I was a bit rusty. I measured the mash water wrong and also the sparge water because of some fuzzy math and lack of caffeine - let's just call it a case of rusty brewing. So we ended up with a slightly lower efficiency than expected, and we got a more concentrated wort that subsequently needed to be diluted with water.

But everything is fermenting all right and I have managed to keep the fermentation nice and cool. Here's the recipe:

Recipe: New Oakland IPA
Style: 14B-India Pale Ale(IPA)-American IPA

Recipe Overview

Wort Volume Before Boil: 49.00 l
Wort Volume After Boil: 40.00 l
Volume Transferred: 36.00 l
Water Added: 2.00 l
Volume At Pitching: 38.00 l
Final Batch Volume: 36.00 l
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.055 SG
Expected OG: 1.064 SG
Expected FG: 1.013 SG
Expected ABV: 6.9 %
Expected ABW: 5.4 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 75.1
Expected Color: 7.0 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 79.6 %
Mash Efficiency: 71.0 %
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 64 degF

Fermentables
US 2-Row Malt 22lb 0oz (80.0 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Vienna Malt 4lb 0oz (14.5 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Carapils Malt 1lb 0oz (3.6 %) In Mash/Steeped
Belgian Caramel Munich Malt 60 8.00 oz (1.8 %) In Mash/Steeped

Hops
US Magnum (9.5 % alpha) 30 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 90 Min From End
US Columbus(Tomahawk) (9.0 % alpha) 70 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 30 Min From End
US Amarillo (8.0 % alpha) 100 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 10 Min From End
US Simcoe (10.0 % alpha) 50 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 10 Min From End
US Citra (10.0 % alpha) 50 g Bagged Pellet Hops used 10 Min From End
US Simcoe (10.0 % alpha) 120 g Bagged Pellet Hops used At turn off
US Citra (10.0 % alpha) 120 g Bagged Pellet Hops used At turn off
US Amarillo (8.0 % alpha) 60 g Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped
US Simcoe (13.0 % alpha) 60 g Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped
US Citra (12.0 % alpha) 60 g Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped

Other Ingredients
Whirlfloc Tablet 2 g used In Boil
Yeast Nutrient 2 g used In Boil

Yeast: White Labs WLP001-California Ale

Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash
Schedule Name:IPA-Pale-ESB
Step: Rest at 150 degF for 60 mins

Brewing After Not Brewing for 3 Months

So I haven't brewed since June - crazy. And my new apartment has no outdoor space, so I am having to move my brewery elsewhere. I decided on my mom's house, though it is very far away, on account of that she will let me brew there and not hassle me about when or how often I do brew there. And MY LAPTOP WAS STOLEN! It was insured, so I got a shiny new laptop, but I lost DOZENS of homebrew recipes and I now have to buy a new copy of Beer Alchemy! Balls.

Anyway, a lot of non-brewing stuff has taken my attention. I swore into the State Bar of California, I opened my own law office, and I built a website for that law office, which you can go to by clicking on these links or just going to SchuylerCampbell.com.

But I still have a lot of 2011 crop hops left, so I am planning on doing 2 10-gallon batches of IPA in the near future - one Black and one Regular (possibly even a re-do of my Old School IPA - though the recipe is lost). We'll see. I miss having beer on tap.