Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Chocolate Stout Recipe

On February 3, 2011

So I helped Mike move and he gave me a bottle of Harpoon’s Chocolate Stout. I got to thinking about how I would create a recipe for chocolate stout.

Ingredients:

5 lbs. 2-Row Brewers Malt
1 lbs. Chocolate Malt 350°L
1 lbs. Roasted Barley
.5 lbs. American Caramel 80°L
0.5 lbs. Flaked Barley
0.75 lbs. Cocoa Powder
1.5 oz. Fuggle (Pellets, 4.75 %AA) boiled 60 mins.

Yeast: White Labs WLP004 Irish Stout

Predicted Outcomes:

Original Gravity: 1.039
Terminal Gravity: 1.008
Color: 31.88 °SRM
Bitterness: 37.6 IBUs
Alcohol (%volume): 4.0 %

Notes:

Mash at 151°F. Add cocoa powder at flameout and mix well into wort. Rack to fermentation vessel and let it sit for 3 weeks at 65°F. At the end of 3 weeks, bottle or keg as normal.

Home Brewing Nightmare

By John Krochune

On February 1, 2011

In General

Ok, it’s happened. I had a small nightmare about home brewing last night. It wasn’t terrifying but it follows a pattern of other dreams that I have had about other subjects (work, school, sports, etc.) where things don’t go right.

I had brewed my California Common beer and it was fermenting. I went to check on it and big chunks of yeast were spewing out of the carboy.

They were huge, phlegmy chunks and they were running down the sides of the glass and spilling onto the floor.

At that moment, for whatever reason, I realized that I had brewed the beer without any hops. I then felt an overwhelming feeling of loss and anger. I picked up the carboy and dumped the contents down my utility sink.

That’s when I woke up. It wasn’t a scary nightmare, but just a dream where things go wrong. I have had this kind of dream around other topics, but never home brewing.

Now, I have broken through that boundary. Add the hobby to the list that my subconscious likes to toy with.

Pacifica Hops

By John Krochune

On January 29, 2011

In Hops

Formally known as Pacific Hallertau, the Pacifica hop variety was developed by HortResearch, which is a New Zealand hop breeding program. It was bred through the open pollination using Hallertauer Mittlefrüh and was released commercially in 1994.

It seems like it is a Southern Hemisphere twist on a noble hop. One thing I found to be interesting when reading the description for this hop was the information about what diseases this variety is prone to. It was a one line description that said, “New Zealand is hop disease free.” Brag much?

Origin: New Zealand

Aroma/Flavor: Here’s a good one for you: Orange marmalade. Nice orange-y citrus notes when added late in the boil.

Alpha Acid: 5 – 6%

Typical Usage: Dual – but probably works better as a flavoring/aroma hop.

Substitutions: Any hop in the Hallertau family

Beer Styles: Spice up your German style lagers and ales with Pacifica hops.

California Common Ingredients Ordered

By John Krochune

On January 26, 2011

In Brew Log

I had a gift certificate with More Beer and used it to buy the ingredients for the California Common that I am planning to brew.

I was also able to get a few other things like:

Bottle caps
A new hydrometer
Priming sugar
Carboy brush
More 3/8 inch tubing
Floating thermometer

Man, it’s great to buy a whole bunch of stuff that you’ve needed for a while and to get it shipped to you for free.

With the gift certificate, it lowered my bill to under 11 bucks. You gotta love a family that supports your ~~habit~~ hobby.

Aeration Kit For Home Brewing

By John Krochune

On January 24, 2011

In Equipment

I bought an aeration kit from homebrewstuff.com. I took some photos of it:

The first photo is everything that I received today. The second one is a close-up of the filter and the last one is a photo of the aeration stone.

It will be interesting to see if the kit will enable me to make better beer. I am not sure how much effect my carboy shaking or splashing has had on the final product. An aeration kit seems to be an essential tool for home brewing. We’ll see if there is a noticeable difference with the next brew.

That reminds me…I need to order the California Common ingredients.