Unspeakable Pale Ale

This one was inspired by SPeakeasy Brewery's Untouchable Pale Ale - though I am sure it will be somewhat hoppier.

7 lbs 12 oz Halcyon
1 lb German Munich Malt
1 lb German Wheat Malt
4 oz German Caramunich II

.4 oz Summit 18.5% AA 60 min
1 oz Cascade 5.7% AA 10 min
1 oz Willamette 5.6% AA 10 min

1 oz Cascade 5.7% AA 10 min

1 oz Cascade 5.7% AA 5 min

1 oz Mt. Hood 4.6% AA 5 min

2 oz Cascade 5.7% AA 0 min

1 oz Mt. Hood 4.6% AA 0 min

.75 oz Zeus 16% AA 0 min

US-05

Mash at 150 for 75 min

OG 1.051, SRM 6.2, ~42 IBU, ~5.3% abv

Now a pic (it's delicious)

Grey Skies Porter (again)

Made the porter again, albeit with a tweaked recipe and a bit of a bigger gravity/hop situation.

8 lb Optic
12 oz Chocolate Malt (UK)
8 oz Belgian Aromatic
8 oz caramalt
8 oz Kiln Coffee Malt
4 oz Pale Chocolate Malt (UK)
4 oz Crystal 160L (UK)

40 IBU worth Northern Brewer HopShot at 60 min
the remaining fifth of a syringe at 10 min
.5 oz Willamette (5.6% AA) 10 min

Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley Ale

Here's what it looks like poured from a bottle-conditioned bottle (Tastes better on tap, though)

Hella Bitter

Hella Bitter was meant to be an English Best Bitter (4-4.6% abv) with west coast American hops.

My efficiency was way too high, so I ended up with something more approximating an ESB (still basically within the realm of what i was trying to do, as far as I'm concerned). I have heard that low-gravity beers tend to get higher efficiency, so maybe it isn't that surprising. My beer's OG was supposed to be 1.044 to 1.046, but I got 1.048.

Here's the recipe:

7lb 12 oz Halcyon
4 oz Caramalt
4 oz British Crystal 55L
2 oz British Extra Dark Crystal 160L

1 oz Cascade (5.7% AA) FWH
1 oz Willamette (5.6% AA) 60 min
.5 oz Willamette (5.6% AA) 5 min
.5 oz Cascade (5.7% AA) 5 min

WLP037 Yorkshire Squares Ale

1.048 OG, ~35 IBU, 8 SRM

Dodo Bird Deluxe California Red Ale

So I went for another beer in the vein of my "California Red Ale." This one is a bit paler, and has a dry English yeast (Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley Ale). This beer was meant to be an American ESB, meaning an ESB in every way, but with American hops. I ended up late-hopping more aggressively than in a standard British ESB, but I think the idea of a "not quite hoppy enough to be an IPA" amber-colored beer around 1.055-1.065 is a great beer style. I call it a California Red Ale because of how many Californian beers are made like that, but for a brewer using brewing software, the idea is to get a beer that fits within (or near) the guidelines for ESB, American Amber Ale, American Pale Ale, English IPA, and American IPA.... focusing on balance and drinkability. The name is inspired by Mendocino Brewing Company in Ukiah, California, whose beers are named after birds. Dodos were about the silliest things man ever made extinct, so the name suits my silly sensibilities.

I hit my mash number perfectly on this one, and I expect it to be a great beer. However, my hydrometer has not been replaced, so I don't know for sure if I hit my expected efficiency of 80% (though I don't really care if it is a little weaker and hoppier or stronger and maltier than expected). Since balance was the chief consideration in constructing this recipe, I have a lot of leeway in the brewing process to still make a delicious beer.

The Dodo Recipe:

10lb Thomas Fawcett Optic Pale Malt
8 oz Hugh Baird Medium Crystal Malt (55L)
8 oz Franco-Belges Caravienne (21L)
4 oz Briess Extra Dark Crystal (120L)

.5 oz Simcoe (12.7% AA) 60 min
1 oz Simcoe (12.7% AA) 10 min
1 oz Cascade (5.7% AA) 10 min
1 oz Simcoe (12.7% AA) 0 min
1 oz Cascade (5.7% AA) 0 min

I may dry hop with an oz of Cascade.

Mash at 152F for 60 min

Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley Ale (3L starter)

expected OG 1.060, 40-45 IBU, 10.6 SRM

Since my fermentation chamber is currently at work lagering my altbier and my dead week märzen, I had to ferment this at ambient - so it is fermenting a little warm, it was at 74F for a day, now it's down to 70F (after 3 days of fermenting). This is a little high for the yeast, but not so far out of the recommended level that the beer will be ruined. Hopefully this strain remains clean at the higher temperature.

Dead Week Märzen: the story of my first lager

It's dead week. I should be studying pretty serious right now, but I will be gone for a long time during X-mas break, and want to use that time to lager. I already have an Altbier fermented with Wyeast 1007 German Ale (purportedly a genuine Düsseldorf altbier strain). But I wanted to finally make a true lager. My favorite style of lager is the Oktoberfest/Märzen, so I figured I would brew one. Also, I have heard that amber/dark lagers are less fuckupable, so it especially made sense. I'm using a dry yeast, Fermentis W-47/70 (purportedly a genuine Bavarian lager yeast used for Oktoberfests in Munich). Why the dry yeast? Because a 5L yeast starter is just too big to be worth making. I would rather just use two packs of dry yeast than have to figure out how to make a 5L starter.

Here's the recipe:

6lb German Vienna Malt
2lb German Light Munich Malt
1 lb Belgian Aromatic Malt
8 oz German Melanoidin Malt
8 oz German Caramunich II (55-60L)
1 oz Dehusked Carafa II (430L)

1 oz      German Tettnanger (3.2 AA) FWH
1.33 oz German Tettnanger (3.2 AA) 70 min

Mashed at 150 degrees for 70 min
Boiled for 110 min (due to excess amount of wort)

I broke my hydrometer, so I wasn't able to take any readings, but I am assuming I got about 80% efficiency, making this beer OG 1.054, SRM 12.7, IBU 23.

I actually made my water Munich-like for this one by adding 2.5 teaspoons of chalk to the mash (my water is extremely soft).

Also, I kegged my Grey Skies Porter and Denny's Rye IPA today (with sugar for natural carbonation). I hope all this works out, as I am planning on bringing one of these kegs down to the bay area with a picnic tap and a travel CO2 thingy to serve at New Year's.

Oregon Altbier

8lb German Munich
1 lb Belgian Aromatic
8 oz Melanoidin Malt
8 oz German Caramunich III

1.5 oz German Tettnanger (3.2% AA) FWH
2.5 oz German Tettnanger (3.2% AA) 90 min

Wyeast 1007 German Ale

Mashed at 150 60 min

Fermented at 58F, raised to 62F after 10 days. Lagered at 32F for 6 weeks.

OG 1.054 (efficiency too high), ABV ~5.4% (too high), 38 IBU, SRM 12.5

I drank some Lost Coast Downtown Brown while this one was getting brewed.

Denny's Rye IPA, Summit IPA, Amarillo IPA, Grey Skies Porter (Taddy Version)

So, I have brewed three beers since I last updated the blog, so here goes. I'm going to put down the recipes, in the order I brewed them, then explain any tribulations or interesting occurrences beside the recipe.

Denny's Rye IPA

This is probably the most famous homebrew recipe on the internet. It's easy to find this recipe all over the internet, but I will list my version of it (basically identical to the original) here:

11 lb Great Western 2-row
3 lbs Rye Malt
1 lb 4 oz Briess Crystal 60L
8 oz White Wheat Malt
8 oz Carapils

1 oz Mt. Hood (5.1 AA)      FWH
1 oz CTZ (16.4 AA)           60 min
1.5 oz Mt. Hood (5.1 AA)  30 min
2 oz Mt. Hood (4.3 AA)     Flame-out
1 oz CTZ (16.1 AA)          Dry-Hop


Mashed at 151 degrees F for 60 min, no mashout

Wyeast 1450 Denny's Favorite 50 (1L of yeast cake from California Amber Ale)
OG 1.075, 76 IBU




My next Brew was the Summit IPA


This one was actually meant to be an ESB, but my efficiency was higher than planned, so I adjusted the hopping schedule, and just made an IPA. There are American hops and an English yeast strain, so I guess I would call it an east coast IPA or a west coast English IPA (though that could be confusing).

Summit IPA is the first of my series of Single Hop beers. The plan is to do several single-hop IPA's, pale ales, and ESB's, to get a better feel for hops. Summit is a super-alpha breed, but it has a delicious tangerine-orange quality that has made Widmer's Drifter Pale ale such a fast favorite here in Portland.

Summit IPA

11 lb Briess Pale Ale Malt (2-row)
8 oz Briess Crystal 80L

.25 oz Summit (18.5 AA) 60 min
.5 oz   Summit (18.5 AA) 20 min
1 oz    Summit (18.5 AA) 5 min
1.5 oz Summit (18.5 AA) flameout
.75 oz Summit (18.5 AA) Dry-hop

Mash at 152 degrees F 60 min

OG 1.060, 48 IBU

Safale S-04 dry yeast (my first time using S-04)


Amarillo IPA was meant to be a Pale Ale, but once again, my efficiency was much higher than expected, so I adjusted the hopping and turned it into an IPA.

11 lbs Maris Otter (I think Thomas Fawcett)
8 oz English Medium Crystal 50-60L

1 oz Amarillo (9 AA) 60 min
1 oz Amarillo (9 AA) 20 min
1 oz Amarillo (9 AA) 10 min
2 oz Amarillo (9 AA) Flameout
1 oz Amarillo (9 AA) Dry-hop

Mash at 150 degrees F

OG 1.060, 52 IBU, Fermented at 62 degrees

Wyeast 1450 Denny's Rye IPA (From a 3L starter I made with .25L of the cake left over from the California Amber Ale


Grey Skies Porter


This is an all-grain remake of my best dark beer from my partial mash days. Efficiency was high and I forgot the whirlfloc, so this may well be more stout than porter. Also, I used WLP037, which is not the same yeast I used when I made this porter before.

8 lbs Maris Otter
12 oz British Chocolate Malt 450L
12 oz British Medium Crystal 50-60L
8 oz Belgian Aromatic
8 oz Belgian Kiln-Coffee

.5 oz CTZ (16.1 AA) FWH
25 IBU worth of Northern Brewer HopShot hop extract

Mash at 153

OG 1.058, 40 IBU

This one blew out of my fermenter, all over the lid of the bucket - a huge mess. I let it ferment at ambient (around 70 degrees F)