Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Overnight Mash Cream Ale

On November 4, 2020

These Brew Dudes love their cream ale. Mike brews up a good one at least once a year. Each time, he brings something a little different to showcase. Sometimes it’s a change in hops or an increase in adjunct to the grain bill. This brew features an overnight mash and a yeast strain that he’s never used before. Check out our thoughts on this version of his cream ale – the overnight mash cream ale!

Overnight Mashing

The first thing to discuss is the technique of overnight mashing. Mike was looking to break up his brew day to make the time he had to stand in the brewing area as efficient as possible. To do that, he milled his grains and heated up his water to strike temperature. Once that temperature was reached, he added the water to the grains in his mash tun and then went to bed.

The next morning, he transferred the wort to his kettle and started the boil. So instead of waiting around for an hour for the hot water and grain to do their thing, he let the mash last overnight. He believes the overnight mash is a great technique for the style since the extra contact time makes for a very fermentable wort. The low final gravity of this beer was an indication of fermentability of the wort and the resulting mouthfeel was in line with commercial versions of the style.

The only drawback to the overnight mash is that you need to make sure you brew the next morning! If the probability for you to brew in the near future is high, then gives this technique a try.

Was The Overnight Mash Cream Ale Success?

The other tweak to this cream ale recipe was the use of Lager yeast rather than ale yeast. The SafLager™ S-189 from Fermentis was the strain he used and he fermented at cold ale temperatures. The beer itself was crisp and clean in its flavor. Because it was so lager-like, I didn’t have any trouble picking up that he used a lager yeast strain. I also had the advantage of enjoying his earlier versions of the style so the difference was hard to miss.

Overall, Mike thought this beer was one of his best. I think I still prefer the ale versions of this style with just a touch more esters and a bit more body. As beers go, it was extremely drinkable even if the ABV was over 6%! It has only gotten better with age as it has settled in the keg.

Brew On!

Mike “Tasty” McDole Tribute: Janet’s Brown Ale

By John Krochune

On October 28, 2020

In Recipes, Videos

Mike “Tasty” McDole was a legendary homebrewer. He was a fixture on the Brewing Network and was featured in Jamil’s Brewing Classic Styles book. He passed away recently and Mike wanted to brew a beer in tribute to him, a beer that is also a tribute in itself. Check out this video for our thoughts on Janet’s Brown Ale – a kit that Brew Dude Mike bought from MoreBeer.

Janet’s Brown Ale Recipe

I got this recipe straight from the MoreBeer site.

Grains

12 lbs 2-Row Pale Malt
1 lbs White Wheat
1 lb Carapils
1 lb Crystal 40L
4 oz Crystal 40L
8 oz Chocolate Malt

Hops

2 oz Northern Brewer – Boil for 60 minutes
1 oz Northern Brewer – Boil for the last 15 minutes
1.5 oz Cascade – Boil for the last 10 minutes
1.5 oz Cascade – Boil for the last 1 minute
2 oz Centennial – Dry hop in primary fermentation, 3-7 days

Details

Hold mash temperature at 153°F for 60 minutes. Recommended fermentation temperature is between 66–68°F. Once fermentation has begun, wait 7 days to add the dry hops. Allow 3–7 days of contact time with the dry hops before packaging.

Our Thoughts

This brown ale was extremely drinkable. It has a strong American hop presence in the aftertaste that sits on top of the woodiness of the Northern Brewer hops.

The color is where you want it to be. There is no mistaking that this is a brown ale.

Mike was intrigued by the use of Carapils since he rarely brews with dextrin malt. The caramel malts and the chocolate malt played well with each other.

It easy to see why this beer was a favorite. For an American Brown Ale, it hit all the notes that you want it to hit, even if it was pushing the high end of the ABV range.

So cheers to Tasty McDole and cheers to Janet too.

Brew on.

Talus Hops SMaSH Beer Tasting and Notes

By John Krochune

On October 21, 2020

In Hops, Videos

We brewed a SMaSH beer with a quite new hop variety: Talus hops. I bought a pouch from Yakima Valley Hops to use in my typical one gallon format for evaluation. Watch this video to see what we thought of this hop and if the aromas and flavors that we picked up from the beer matched what descriptors we read online

A Few Notes On This Beer

I see that some readers would like to know about the recipe I follow for these 1 gallon batches. Here the one for this beer.

Ingredients:

2 pounds (.9 kg) of Pilsner malt

1 ounce (28 g) of Talus hops

Instructions:

Milled grains into a large mesh bag. Placed bag in a 5 gallon (19 L) cooler.

Heated 2 gallons (7.6 L) of tap water treated with a Campden tablet to 161°F (72°C)

Added water to cooler and mashed malt for 60 minutes at 150°F (66°C).

After the mash, I transferred all the wort into my 10 quart (9.5 L) pot.

Brought the wort to a boil for 60 minutes. I added hops to the beer following this schedule:

0.25 ounces (7 g) at 15 minutes left in the boil

.5 ounces (14 g) at flameout

.25 ounces (7 g) at day 3 of fermentation

After the boil, I chilled the wort in an ice bath in my utility sink. I transferred the wort to my 1 gallon jug and added 3 grams of US-05 yeast. Fermentation lasted 10 days at 72°F (22°C).

After fermentation, I racked the beer to the U-Keg growler and forced carbonated in that vessel. It was the first time I did that and I think I need a little more practice.

What We Thought

We picked up a little citrus in the aftertaste but a lot of stone fruit flavors up front. When I tasting the beer before we shot the video, there was more tropical fruit flavors. The one note I got in the flavor was rose.

I was expecting more orange citrus flavor about it was more grapefruit.

Mike thought that Talus hops would work well with Nelson Sauvin hops. Makes sense. I think this hop would fulfill anyone’s need for a stone fruity flavor in a hop forward beer. You can pair this hop with more citrus-y hops like Amarillo or even Chinook.

Try out Talus hops when you get a chance.

Brew ON!

Mosaic LUPOMAX American Amber Ale

By John Krochune

On October 14, 2020

In Hops, Recipes, Videos

We have a lot of LUPOMAX hops to brew with from Yakima Valley Hops. On this post, we discuss the latest beer. This American Amber Ale was brewed with homegrown and home malted Caramel malt along with a lot of Mosiac LUPOMAX hops.

Mosaic LUPOMAX Amber Ale Recipe

Mosiac LUPOMAX American Amber Ale Recipe

10 lbs (4.5 kg) – Briess Full Pint Brewers Malt
1 lbs (.45 kg) – American Caramel 60°L
1 lbs (.45 kg) – Flaked Oats
2 oz (57grams) – LupoMax Mosaic at flameout
3 oz (85 grams) – LupoMax Mosaic day 3 of fermentation
3 oz (85 grams) – LupoMax Mosaic day 7 of fermentation

Yeast: Imperial Yeast A38 Juice
1 tab of Whirlfloc – added with 15 minutest to go in the boil

Fermented for 2 weeks at 72 degrees F (22 degrees C)

Added Gelatin – half teaspoon to a half a cup of water – heated it in the microwave until dissolved.

Starting Gravity: 1.060
Terminal Gravity: 1.013
Alcohol By Volume: 6.2 %

Our Notes

Strong hops aroma – there was a fruity essence (not blueberry) in the flavor but in the aftertaste, there was a strange oregano note. We think it was the result of the hops interacting with the homegrown caramel malt.

The color and clarity of this beer was excellent. It really had a look of Autumn beers from years past. The copper color always reminds me of Fall beers.

Next time, I will probably do a straight up clone of Tree House Brewing Company‘s Blue. Sometimes throwing in malts that have been in your fridge for a while make for not great beer.

BREW ON!

2020 Harvest Ale Review

By John Krochune

On October 7, 2020

In Equipment, Hops, Malts

So I got my homegrown Chinook hops tested and now it was time to brew with them. You’d think I’d wait to get the results of the analysis first, but who has time for that? I was going to use my years of experience as guidance for this brew. Let’s see if we can pick up with those hops with 11.2% Alpha Acids:

Poured out of a U Keg

First, The Recipe

I really liked the grain bill for this one:

2020 Harvest Ale

10 pounds (4.5 kg) Maris Otter pale malt

1 pound (.45 kg) Blonde RoastOat™ Malt

1 pound (.45 kg) Flaked Barley

2 ounces (57 grams) of Chinook hops – add before boil – First Wort Hopping

2 ounces (57 grams) of Chinook hops – added with 15 minutes left in boil

3 ounces (85 grams) of Chinook hops – added at flameout

1 Whirlfloc tablet – added with 15 minutes left in boil

Fermented with 1 packet of US 05 yeast for 14 days at 72° F (22° C)

O.G: 1.056

F.G: 1.011

ABV: 5.9%

Our Thoughts

Well, Mike really seemed to like this one. He was really getting a lot of complex flavors off of the hops. The beer was well balanced with the malt and the specialty grain providing a nice toasty background to the main piney citrus flavors of the hops.

Once the cameras stop rolling and we were wrapping up, Mike grabbed another pint. That’s the true indication that the beer was better than good.

Chinook hops are great. They may be my new favorite American “C” hop. I am happy that I have a strong producing hop plant in my back yard.

BREW ON!