Autumnus: An American Brown Ale

The cold has gripped New England and probably won't let go until April. I was driving to my Aunt's house the other day and I realized that I was a little too early. I decided to pull off the road and park alongside a large pond that is on the way to their house. To my surprise, the edge of the pond had started to ice over. I immediately got back into my car and drove to my Aunt's house, dejected and early.

I wanted to brew a beer that will scare the chill right out of you. Hopefully, it will be toasty, nutty and hoppy as hell. I have never used Nugget as a flavor or aroma hop, so I am really excited to see what it adds. I am hoping that a Nugget/Centennial combo will work well in a dark seasonal ale.

3.25 gallon batch

6.25 lbs. Canadian 2-row

.60 lbs. Flaked Oats

.50 lbs. American Crystal 60

.30 lbs. Chocolate

.50 oz Nugget @ 60 minutes

.50 oz Nugget @ 10 minutes

.50 oz Centennial @ 10 minutes

.75 oz Nugget @ 0 minutes

.75 oz Centennial @ 0 minutes

Yeast: Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale

Mash Temperature: 152 degrees

OG: 1.062

Projected FG: 1.018

IBU's: ~46

UPDATE: 1/14/11 ~ The hop aroma wasn't as strong as I was expecting, but it is still a nice beer. It has a silky mouthfeel, thanks to the oats. I made 3 experimental bombers that turned out exceptionally well. The first was bottled with the equivalent of 2 ounces of Amarillo hops, the second was with the equivalent of 2 ounces of whole coffee beans (Mokka coffee from Maui), and the third was with the equivalent of 8 ounces of cacao nibs. Each one changed the beer pretty dramatically. The dry hopped version was probably my favorite. Maybe next time I will omit the flame out addition of hops and switch them to dry hops.

McGinty's River Ale

In Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises", the main character (Jake Barnes) leaves the chaos and pretentiousness of Paris and goes fishing in Spain on the Irati River. The fishing trip symbolizes purity and rejuvenation. I wanted to brew an American Pale Ale that is meant to be enjoyed without any pretensions: something you can sit around a table or campfire with a group of friends with. I decided to use Marris Otter and Caramel 60 to give the beer some backbone to stand up to the approaching Autumn nights. The type of fly Jake uses while fishing is called a McGinty, thus the name of the beer.

Recipe:

9.0 lbs. Marris Otter
0.5 lbs. Crystal 60
0.5 lbs. Carapils

0.5 oz Zeus 12.3 AA @ 60
0.75 oz Centennial 9.0 AA @ 10
0.75 oz Amarillo 7.8 AA @ 10
1.00 oz Centennial @ flameout
1.00 oz Amarillo @ flameout

Yeast: US-05

OG: 1.054
Estimated IBU's: ~35.6
Estimated ABV: ~5.5%

Imperial Porter/Stout/Brown Ale

Tonight, I am planning to brew a 2.5 gallon batch of a dark beer. I have no idea what category it would fit into because it basically is sitting in no man's land somewhere in-between a stout, porter and brown ale. I guess I will have to wait until I am able to drink it to determine once and for all what category of beer it would fall into (it is designed to be a Foreign Export Stout based on BJCP style guidelines, but I don't use roasted barley).

5.00 lbs. Marris Otter 2-Row
0.50 lbs. Flaked Barley
0.50 lbs. Carafa II
0.50 lbs. Caramel 40

.6 oz of US Northern Brewer hops @ 60 minutes

Expected OG: 1.069
Expected FG: 1.018
Expected ABV: 6.7%
IBU's: ~38
SRM: 34

Hula Girl DIPA

My wife and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and we spent most days sitting by the pool, drinking some of the amazing beers that Maui Brewing Company produces. I was partial to the Big Swell IPA because it seemed like a perfect accompaniment to my surroundings with it's abundance of fresh tropical fruit flavors. I wanted to make a big IPA with tropical hop notes as a tribute to one of the best experiences I have had in my life.

The planned 4.5-gallon recipe:

13.0 lbs. Canadian 2-Row

0.5 lbs. Caramel 20

0.5 lbs. Carapils

0.50 oz CTZ FWH (75 minutes)

1.00 oz CTZ @ 75 minutes

.75 oz Simcoe @ 10 minutes

.75 oz Amarillo @ 10 minutes

.75 oz Simcoe @ 5 minutes

.75 oz Amarillo @ 5 minutes
0.5 oz Simcoe @ 0 minutes
0.5 oz Amarillo @ 0 minutes

1.0 oz Simcoe dry hop for 12 days

1.0 oz Amarillo dry hop for 12 days

Yeast: Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Projected starting gravity: 1.082 (assuming 72% efficiency)

Projected ABV: 8.8%

Projected IBU: ~97

Projected SRM: 6.3

Planned mash temperature: 150 degrees F

Hybrid Session Stout

To brew the Imperial Stout with Evan, we needed a huge amount of yeast cells (or buy 5 yeast packets or build a 9 liter starter, which are both huge wastes of money). I brewed a 2.5 gallon low gravity session stout to build up the yeast cells so that we could pitch the new beer on top of the yeast cake. I was aiming for something with notes of caramel and chocolate with a viscous mouthfeel and low alcohol content.

The recipe:

3.25 lbs Canadian 2-Row

6.0 oz Caramel 60

4.0 oz Roasted Barley

4.0 oz Chocolate Malt

4.0 oz Flaked Oats

2.0 oz Caramel 120

0.50 oz Goldings @ 60 minutes

Mash Temperature: 156 degree F for 45 minutes

Yeast: Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale

Specs:

OG: 1.045

FG: 1.015

ABV: 3.9%

IBU: ~22.2

I bottled it 3 weeks after brewing. I put one gallon into my cubitainer and added enough table sugar to carbonate it to ~1 volume of CO2. I bottled the rest and carbed them to approximately 2.2 volumes of CO2. Review to follow shortly.

Collaboration Imperial Stout with Evan

A few weeks ago, my best friend Evan visited me for a few days. He has been in Peru for months now and he's been itching to brew. We decided to brew a huge Imperial Stout so that we can enjoy it for years to come.

The recipe:

20 lbs. Marris Otter

2.5 lbs. Chocolate Malt

2.5 lbs. Roasted Barley

2.0 lbs. Wheat

0.85 lbs. Caramel 120

2.8 oz Northern Brewer @ 60 minutes

2.0 oz Goldings @ 30 minutes

2.0 oz Goldings @ 15 minutes

2.0 oz Goldings Dry hop

Yeast: Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale

5/29/10 Update: Gravity is at 1.034. I transferred the beer into a 5 gallon Better Bottle and had enough remaining to transfer into another 1/2 gallon growler. The 1/2 gallon portion will sit on a bed of cacao nibs (.8 ounces) and coffee (.2 ounces). That is the equivalent of a half pound of cacao nibs and 2 ounces of coffee for a 5 gallon batch.

Cami's Special Bitter

I had an aging packet of Wyeast 1028 London Ale in the fridge that I wanted to brew an double IPA with (using CTZ, Amarillo and Simcoe hops), but first, I needed to build up some yeast. I decided to brew a 2.5 gallon batch of special bitters as a starter beer.

Recipe:

3.00 lbs. Marris Otter

0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L

0.25 lbs. White Wheat Malt

0.75 oz Fuggles/Goldings mix @ 60 minutes

0.25 oz Fuggles/Goldings mix @ 20 minutes

0.50 oz Fuggles/Goldings mix dry hop for 12 days

Wyeast 1028 London Ale

Mash @ 152 for 60 minutes

OG: 1.041

Projected final gravity: 1.010

Projected ABV: 4.0%

IBU's: 33.6

Brew day went off without a hitch. I hit my mash temp target on the spot (152) and my post-boil volume was just a shade under 2.5 gallons. I achieved 72% efficiency.

5/27/10 Update ~ I added the dry hops today. I resisted the urge to take a sample of it, but it smells great.

6/5/10 Update ~ Reached a final gravity of 1.008, giving me a 4.3% ABV beer. I bottled to 1.5 volumes of CO2. I am really excited to drink this in 2+ weeks.