Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Shut Out

On October 26, 2010

After submitting six beers to the New England Regional Homebrew Competition, I was thinking we had a good chance to place in one of the categories. We didn’t place in any of the categories.

The competition was pretty tough this year. There were over 400 entries to the competition this year and it has been growing in size year over year.

At this point, there’s nothing left to do but to wait for the score sheets and hopefully glean some helpful information from the notes.

Next competition is the Boston Homebrew Competition which should be held in late February or early March.

Pale Chocolate Malt

By John Krochune

On October 21, 2010

In Malts

I was over Mike’s house for an impromtu brew session a few weeks back and we looked over the malts that he has in his collection. One of those malts was Pale Chocolate Malt. Although at a quick glance, the pale version looked exactly the same as its plain ol’ chocolate counterpart. With some closer inspection, it is subtly lighter in color and milder in flavor than regular chocolate malt.

After chewing on the malt, Mike talked about the placement that Pale Chocolate has on the ladder of malt color. If you think of your crystal malts, typically they go as high as 120°L. Special B is around 150°L. Noting that the next malt on the ladder is chocolate malt (starting at 300°L), there isn’t anything in between.

Pale chocolate fills the void between the sweet, caramels and the darker roasted malts. It imparts its own unique flavor to a beer that you can’t get from just upping one malt or dialing down another.

Here are the stats:

Flavor: Mild coffee, toasty, nutty.

Color: Can range from 195 to 250°L

Body: Not really a body builder.

Use: In beer where a dark coloring would work: Milds, Porters, Stouts…maybe small amounts in Ambers.

Mount Rainier Hops

By John Krochune

On October 19, 2010

In Hops

Named after a mountain in the US Pacific Northwest (like Mt. Hood hops), Mount Rainier hops are a relatively new variety available to homebrewers.

It is a product of the John Henning led USDA-ARS breeding program in collaboration with Oregon State University. The parentage was hard to track down with some sources stating but as Mr. Henning stated below in the comments it is just a cross of Magnum and a numbered male variety.

I think that this hop variety would be a good substitution for some of the US grown German varieties. If you can’t find the exact variety you’re looking for, maybe give Mt. Rainier a try.

Origin: USA – USDA-ARS/Oregon State University at Corvallis

Aroma/Flavor: Spicy, Floral, Noble, Has an aroma with licorice notes and hints of citrus

Alpha Acid: 6 – 8%

Typical Usage: Aroma and Bittering

Beer Styles: American Ales and lagers. The licorice descriptor is making me think of a nice baltic porter.

End of Year Sprint

By Mike

On October 16, 2010

In General

It’s that time of the year where I start reflecting on what’s been brewed and what I wanted to brew this year. After reading John’s Blonde Ale Recipe post, I started thinking of what I want to brew before the year is out. The dead of winter isn’t my favorite time to be brewing so I want to stock up on some brews to drink through the coldest months.

Here’s what I am planning to knock out before the year is out:

Bohemian Pilsner – I have the malts, hops and yeast. I need to get my yeast into a starter this weekend so I can fire up the kettle some night next week. After my failed Oktoberfest last year, I hope to redeem my lager attempts with this simple recipe (and much fresher yeast).

Best Bitter – I want to explore a newish malt….New to me at least. Carastan intrigues me. It promises to deliver a malty toffee note to the brew. I have some Maris Otter in the brewhouse still so I’ll use that up. I also already have some London Ale yeast and some fresh EKG plugs. So that beer too is ready to go. I don’t need a starter because the OG will be pretty low. I’ve made an Ordinary Bitter many times in the past and really love the style. I thought I might push it up to the next level and make it a Best Bitter…but it’ll be a game time decision.

Oatmeal Stout – I’ve been brewing this one for years, and it’s a must have to get through the winter months. I plan to brew this on the back side of the Best Bitter and repitch the yeast. I have some Fuggles plugs and EKG pellets in stock, but I do need to go pick up some more Black Patent. I recently toasted off a half pound of oats too. So this one is 50-60% ready to brew too.

Flanders Red Ale – I got some Roselare blend form Wyeast on my last trip to the brew shop. Normally, they don’t carry it so I jumped on it when they had it. This beer will take 6 months to a year before it’s ready, so I’ll brew it and just put it away. The initial ferment is done with WLP001, so maybe I’ll figure out something else to brew with American Ale yeast.

American Dark Lager (maybe) – I figure if I have the yeast cake from the BoPils I might try two lagers and do this one too. Admittedly, squeezing this one in may be a stretch but we’ll see.

So thats my list. Wish me luck.

BREW ON!

Blonde Ale Recipe

By John Krochune

On October 15, 2010

In Recipes

With a Rauchbier bubbling away in the fridge and the prospects of it being ready for drinking looking like the last week of December (boo), I have need to get something going for a couple of reasons.

I’d like to have something fresh for T-giving
I’d like to brew with the hops I grew this year

Since I don’t have a ton of hop cones or a ton of time, I thought I would brew a simple blonde ale.

Ingredients

10 lbs. 2-Row Brewers Malt
.5 lbs. Honey Malt
.5 lbs. Dextrine Malt
1 oz. Willamette Pellets 5.00 %AA (Boiled 60 minutes)
Yeast: White Labs WLP001 California Ale

Note: The cones that I grew are Magnum hops and I am not sure of the alpha acid content, but I think throwing them all in at the start of the boil will make for some nice clean bittering. I put Willamette hops in the recipe in case you want to brew it or when I want to brew it again.

Predictions

Original Gravity: 1.050
Terminal Gravity: 1.011
Color: 5.66 °SRM
Bitterness: 23.1 IBU
Alcohol (%volume): 5.1 %

I anticipate a 60 minute boil with a 6.5 gallon pre-boil volume and leaving a half gallon in the kettle (break material and what not).

Ferment at 65°F for 2 weeks. Bottle condition for 2 weeks. I should be good to go for Thanksgiving 2010.