With my latest brew session, I wanted to try something new out in my equipment.  Late last year I got a false bottom and stainless dip tube assembly with the hopes of turning one of my sanke kegs into a mash tun.  I want to build a direct-fired mash tun, but the false bottom (FB) I got is a little small in diameter and I am afraid I’d get some scorching of the wort.  So while I try and figure that one out I decided I could still put the FB to work in the brew kettle and use it as a hop screen.  Normally I use pellet hops, but this time I went with all whole hops.  Pellets would definitely just slip through the FB.

My first impression of using whole hops was that it was rewarding.   There is something a little more magical to seeing whole hops floating around in the kettle then using pellets.  Seems more traditional and heart warming.

At the end of the boil my FB worked great, it held back all the hops and I still had a great flow rate through the whole draining of the kettle into my two carboys.  I even had 4+oz of orange peel and coriander seeds in the kettle.  The seeds were nicely held up in the hops as a filter itself.  I am sure that I got plenty of cold break through the hops and FB, but maybe some of it stayed in the kettle… who knows really.

I liked this so much that I may go completely to whole hops for my next couple sessions just for kicks.  The only concern I have with whole hops is availability and freshness.  My LHBS seems to have a pretty good turnover so freshness should be good.  But sometimes I can’t find any EKG whole hops.  Which is a shame because I make a lot of English inspired beers and like EKG the best.

I think using the FB and whole hops may be one small step in moving closer to using a plate chiller or counter flow chiller in the near future.  My resistance to such tools has been separating hop debris out of the wort to prevent clogging of those types of chillers.  Certainly a counterflow and FB-whole hop combo would work well in this regard.

BREW ON!

I am planning on brewing up a handful of quasi-pale ales using only a single hop varietal per batch. The goal is to get a feel for the bittering, flavor ,and aroma of some varieties I want to understand better. I was thinking of a schedule like this:

60min -35 IBU
20min -15 IBU
5min -5 IBU
Dry Hop- (1oz)

I’ll figure the IBUs base upon the Alpha content of each variety I plan to use, which is why I didn’t list it in ounces. Except for the dry hop, which will really contirbute no IBUs and why the 5min is so low in IBUs.

I plan to shoot for a 1.048-1.052 OG beer brewed with 90% 2-row, 5% Crystal 60L, and 5% Victory malt. Of course, American ale yeast to keep it clean and simple.

Here are the questions:
Should I drop the 5 minute and just go with more dryhop?
And should I change the time on the flavor addition?

I was thinking of using these hops:

Nugget, Cascade, Columbus, Citra and Amarillo

I came home today from work hoping to see some ingredients for the Irish Red Ale, but I found some hop rhizomes instead.

Yep, 2 rhizomes.  A Mt. Hood one and a Magnum one.  They were sent from Freshops in an envelope with a shipping permit label on it from the state of Oregon’s Dept. of Agriculture.

When I went to the Freshops site, they had Magnum listed as a recommended beginner variety.  What a lucky guess.

Now I just have to read up on how to plant these things.

Compromise.

Yeah, nobody says they like to do it…but they do it all the time.

I had to compromise yesterday.  Let me explain.

I wanted Magnum hops.  I had to get Northern Brewer hops.

I wanted White Labs WLP833 strain.  I had to get the WLP830 strain instead. 

I did get my Pilsner and my Munich malt though.  Photos below:

So, it’s not going to be exactly as I planned. I still think it’s going to come out great, but just not in line with the initial thoughts.

Sadly, it’s time to tell my gift certificate giving family that I would be better off with another homebrew shop. I hate typing that but I think I need to buy from a place with a larger inventory.

So I am thinking about my first lager session.  I was going to shoot for a Marzen/Oktoberfest style amber lager.  Who knows maybe ready for October!?!?

But I was wavering between using the White Labs Marzen lager yeast or using the White Labs German Lager yeast.  (WLP820 and WLP830, respectively)

I’d like to pick a lager yeast that I can move forward with on subsequent lager beers.  I have heard and read that its best to pick one lager yeast and get comfortable with how it performs, then use it as your standard lager strain.  As opposed to chasing down a different lager yeast for every different lager you do. (Like we do with Ale yeasts).

Anyhow, I am swayed by the marketing of an Oktoberfest yeast called ‘Oktoberfest’ yeast.  However, I am wondering if I might be better served with using a “utility” lager yeast like WLP830, German Lager that I would definitely try out in the future on beers like Dortmunder and Helles.

Any experience in our readership with WLP820 vs. WLP830?
Or what do you use instead.

BREW ON!

I am always pondering my Oatmeal Stout recipe and recently was thinking about the toasting of flaked oats.

I have toasted oats myself before, but I don’t use any specific process.  I just like to lay out a pound of Old Fashioned oats on dry non grease cookie sheet.  I set the oven at 375, then put them in.  I look every 5 minutes or so.  The start to dry out, and sometimes you can even hear a little crackling like sound as it happens.  I’ll shake the sheet a couple times as they toast.

But you do have to keep a close eye on them, as once they start browning they go quick.

I find it rather useful to also have a handful of the untoasted oats on a plate near-by.  That way I can pull the sheet out, and compare the color side by side.  Once I think I’ve gotten a new color that isn’t too dark, I shut down the process.

I can’t say that I have done enough testing to compare side by side, but now that I feel like the base of my recipe is about done, I may start playing with toasting oats again.  The only problem I have with toasting/roasting grains yourself at home is consistency.  I find it improbable to expect to get the same results each time.  This like residual humidity and ambient temps probably effect the process considerably.  However, its still a fun thing to play around with.

Anyone else care to chime in on how they toast oats (or other grains, base malts).
I normally, toast my oats the day of brewing.  Some sources mention letting the grain sit in a paper bag to “off-vent” for a couple days. Thoughts on that?

So here is a new twist in the personal passions of your truly.  Not only am I an avid beer brewer, I also dabble in other fine things for consumption.  Amongst baking my own bread and making my own pizza crust I also enjoy the occasional batch of home made ice cream.

My latest triumph in the frozen treat arena was a totally kick-ass fresh coconut ice cream (recipe below).  The first night I tasted it I was blown away.  I think the coconut itself helped keep the ice cream very smooth and silky.  It had a great mild, but present, coconut flavor.

This past Saturday night we had a few folks over for some grilling and chilling on the patio.  Despite it finally being summer-esque here in New England, I still enjoy a tasty Oatmeal Stout when its nice and cold.  We had been drinking wheat beer and American Brown Ale when I poured myself a stout.  The chocolate aroma was so strong and perfect I was blown away.  The beer had a great nutty chocolate quality and a creamy smoothness from the oatmeal.

After we all sampled the Stout, John declared: “I want a scoop of ice cream in that Stout!”.  Chocolatey, nutty stout and the coconut just seemed like a great combo.  So we tried it out.  I have to say I like the two delicacies separately, but joint together it was a pretty good marriage.  The Stout picked up a great chocolate cream texture and smoothness.  We snapped a few shots to give an idea of the look of it.

Regardless, of what you mom said….YOU SHOULD PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD.

Cheers….BREW ON!

Ice Cream Recipe

1 pint heavy cream
1cup whole milk
1cup sugar
1tbsp vanilla
1/2 fresh coconut, ground in food processor as fine as you can get it.
coconut extract to taste

Process the ingredients per instructions on your ice cream maker