[BrewBama]

Amber Ale today. I asked a local brewery for some tips on brewing an Amber like theirs. This is my second. My first attempt was quite close. Today I am setting off a bit on my own direction.

1052 OG, 40 IBU
67% Two-row pale
5% Munich 2
8% Victory
17% C40
3% C120
Magnum for bittering addition
Lupomax Cascade @ 5 and dry hops
Verdant IPA yeast.

That looks very similar to my version of Amber but you’re a little higher on the IBU(s). I got the technique of light and dark C malt in an Amber from Brewing Classic Styles. Some say choose one and go with it but I like that combo except I use a bit less light and a little more dark. I sub in/out Amber, Biscuit, Mecca Grade 44, DRC, etc from the base from time to time just to play.

I kegged the Schwarzbier today...

Brewed on 10/3 and kegged on 10/8. Fast! I have a beer that I brewed on 10/4 and looks finished now but I want to give it another day or so, then cold crash for a couple of days before kegging.

I agree and was pleasantly surprised. The 22 grams of W34/70 chewed thru the wort nicely at 55°F. When I found out there’s room in German brewing literature for fermenting this warm I jumped on it. It’s sitting at 34°F now.

I rarely harvest yeast but I decided to keep this batch because I have a string of lagers coming after a Golden Ale which I believe will be a quick turn around.

Here’s the ferment graph on this one:




I just kicked a keg of Amber but I’ll let this Schwarzbier lager a cpl weeks before I even think about giving it a taste. I have a Golden Promise/Loral SMaSH that’ll hold me over till then.

[tommymorris]

Amber Ale today. I asked a local brewery for some tips on brewing an Amber like theirs. This is my second. My first attempt was quite close. Today I am setting off a bit on my own direction.

1052 OG, 40 IBU
67% Two-row pale
5% Munich 2
8% Victory
17% C40
3% C120
Magnum for bittering addition
Lupomax Cascade @ 5 and dry hops
Verdant IPA yeast.

That looks very similar to my version of Amber but you’re a little higher on the IBU(s). I got the technique of light and dark C malt in an Amber from Brewing Classic Styles. Some say choose one and go with it but I like that combo except I use a bit less light and a little more dark. I sub in/out Amber, Biscuit, Mecca Grade 44, DRC, etc from the base from time to time just to play.

I kegged the Schwarzbier today...

Brewed on 10/3 and kegged on 10/8. Fast! I have a beer that I brewed on 10/4 and looks finished now but I want to give it another day or so, then cold crash for a couple of days before kegging.

I agree and was pleasantly surprised. The 22 grams of W34/70 chewed thru the wort nicely at 55°F. When I found out there’s room in German brewing literature for fermenting this warm I jumped on it. It’s sitting at 34°F now.

I rarely harvest yeast but I decided to keep this batch because I have a string of lagers coming after a Golden Ale which I believe will be a quick turn around.

Here’s the ferment graph on this one:




I just kicked a keg of Amber but I’ll let this Schwarzbier lager a cpl weeks before I even think about giving it a taste. I have a Golden Promise/Loral SMaSH that’ll hold me over till then.

The big difference for me is the percentage of caramel and victory. BCS definitely uses those, but in smaller quantities.

This was the quote I got from a pro brewer regarding a beer I enjoy: “No roast malts, you want about 30% Amber/caramel malts.”  There was more than that in his email, but this part freed me to go higher on the caramel to get color and flavor and to stop using dark malts for color. That works for me.

The first time I followed the advice above I used 20% caramel malts and 10% victory. The beer was great, but this time I decided to back down on the victory just a bit to 8%.

[BrewBama]

That’s interesting. I’ve always constrained myself to lower percentages. I may have to try the higher amounts.

[Red over White]

So, today I am brewing a Schwarzbier. It’s a recipe I based loosely on others in the style with the substitution of Midnight Wheat for another roasted or highly kilned malt for the color. Midnight Wheat is less roasty than other roast style malts IMO but wheat doesn’t necessarily belong in a Schwarzbier, so... Oh well. I won’t tell.

I am also trying a new (to me) technique. I normally heat my water to 114°F and add 2 g per gallon yeast and sugar and allow it to sit there 20 min to consume O2 (YOS method). Then, I increase temp to my strike temp before underletting the mash. This is where I deviated. Instead of heating to strike temp, I decided to simply underlet with my 114°F brewhaus liquor and heat the entire mash to mash temp via the HERMS.

It took the HERMS ~35 minutes to bring the mash to 150°F. Recall, I add roast malts at the end of the mash for an additional 30 min ‘hot recirculation’ so my mash is normally 90 min total — recirculating the entire mash. That’s been working really well for me.

This mash will be 114°-150°F for 35 min, 150°F for 25 min, add the Midnight Wheat at 150°F for 30 min. The ‘rolling’ step was ~1°F increase per minute (36°F over ~35 min).

So, I either completely screwed up or just found a new way (for me) to do some sort of ‘rolling’ step mash.

Can’t wait to taste this one!

Some mash steps:




*Disclaimer*: Any comment I add is simply the way I brew beer. There are certainly other ways that can be equally effective which other brewers may contribute. This is what I’ve found that works for me using my equipment and processes so I offer this for your consideration. YMMV

I just happened to brew Schlitz Gusto from the BYO Clone book on 10/2 and it had an almost identical mash in temperature and schedule as your beer. I used the overnight YOS method 1g/gal and .45g SMB in the mashtun just before underlettting. I had almost identical ramp times with my direct propane fired mashtun. It was a smooth brew day and I ended up 5 points higher, there might be something to this old school method.

I repitched Verdant, pressurized the 2.5 gal headspace to 1 psi with pure oxygen and topped it to 15 psi with co2 after a few hours. I let it go to 28 psi at high kräusen and stay there until kegged. This schedule with this yeast makes for a really clean beer that turns around very, very fast. The samples were a huge hit with everyone on Sunday 10/9.

I want to explore this mash schedule with the Helles I brew regularly and see what affect it has. My guess is the limit dextrinase is really going to get a chance to chew if I use the typical 10% distillers malt in the grist. Time will tell.

[BrewBama]

Columbus Brewing Co. Festbier

[BrewBama]

[BrewBama]

I collected 7 gal RO for tomorrow AM’s brewday. It took 3 hrs 8 min and yielded 14 ppm TDS at 6.5 pH.

It’s the first time I’ll be using the RO water filtered from my tap. 



I plan to de-aerate using the Yeast Oxygen Scavenging technique in the AM. Tonight I’ll cover the kettle and be ready to go first thing.

This is tomorrow’s recipe mentioned in post #13:




*Disclaimer*: Any comment I add is simply the way I brew beer. There are certainly other ways that can be equally effective which other brewers may contribute. This is what I’ve found that works for me using my equipment and processes so I offer this for your consideration. YMMV

[Fire Rooster]

I collected 7 gal RO for tomorrow AM’s brewday. It took 3 hrs 8 min and yielded 14 ppm TDS at 6.5 pH.

It’s the first time I’ll be using the RO water filtered from my tap. 



I plan to de-aerate using the Yeast Oxygen Scavenging technique in the AM. Tonight I’ll cover the kettle and be ready to go first thing.

This is tomorrow’s recipe mentioned in post #13:




*Disclaimer*: Any comment I add is simply the way I brew beer. There are certainly other ways that can be equally effective which other brewers may contribute. This is what I’ve found that works for me using my equipment and processes so I offer this for your consideration. YMMV

“Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really.”

― Agnes Sligh Turnbull

[BrewBama]

Thx F.R.  Even at 17 yrs, which was probably far better than expected, I couldn’t agree more.

Here I am doing a triangle tasting while letting her out of the house. I buried her under the wind chimes in the background:




The brewday is going great. Mash pH came in at 5.22 without any acid so I am really pleased with that.  That’s my first positive indicator using the new RO system in place.

Here a chlorine test (before on RH side):




Here’s the Schwarzbier mentioned in post #1. It’s probably the best beer I’ve brewed in this style.




*Disclaimer*: Any comment I add is simply the way I brew beer. There are certainly other ways that can be equally effective which other brewers may contribute. This is what I’ve found that works for me using my equipment and processes so I offer this for your consideration. YMMV

[Fire Rooster]

I wanted to bury his ashes by the lake a mile from our house, wife disagreed.
We still have his ashes in a nice box, when I bring it up wife changes subject.

Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened.
--Anatole France

[BrewBama]

It looks like I solved my fermenter CO2 leak.

I like to push sanitizer out of my keg with fermentation CO2 but sometimes the CO2 would take the path of least resistance around the seal instead of thru the keg. So, I put a little keg seal lube on the fermenter seal and it seems to be doing the trick. Only one day into fermentation and all the sanitizer is already pushed out of the keg and into the catch bucket.

[BrewBama]

I closed xferred Olde Bailey to the keg tonight. It finished at 1.009 or 10 for ~80% attenuation ~5% ABV.

Cold crashing at 32°F under CO2 pressure until just before Veteran’s Day.

Onwards and upwards to the next beer.  I’m planning a run of four beers with some 34/70 I harvested from my Schwarzbier.

[goose]

I am a bit late to the party here (way too much going on in my life here and I haven't read all of the subsequent comments), but won't there be some O2 pickup when underletting the mash tun from the oxygen that is sticking to the grain itself?  Just asking since it seems that unless the grain is stored and crushed in an atmosphere of something like nitrogen and the mash tun is totally purged with the same gas, IMHO there will always be some O2 present in the MT.  Maybe it is low enough that it won't make that much difference but it is something to consider.

[BrewBama]

You’re probably correct Goose. …but I don’t underlet for the low O2 benefit per se. I do it so I don’t have to lift 7 gallons of hot water and pour it into the MLT. If I get a low O2 benefit all the better.

[BrewBama]

I see others collect their water a day ahead in anticipation of brewday. I’ve never done this but decided to do it today for tomorrow’s Altbier.

I collected 7 gal of RO water in 2hrs 25 min. The pH is 6.1 and the TDS is 11 ppm.




I decided to take it one step further and use the Yeast Oxygen Scavenging technique today. I usually do this brewday as well but the data shows the yeast will maintain zero O2 for 96 hrs.




*Disclaimer*: Any comment I add is simply the way I brew beer. There are certainly other ways that can be equally effective which other brewers may contribute. This is what I’ve found that works for me using my equipment and processes so I offer this for your consideration. YMMV