I recently read about some hops out of Minnesota, from Mighty Axe, and really liked the flavor profile for the one called "Julius". It turns out that I could get these from Northern Brewer, so I placed an order and it showed up yesterday afternoon. So, during the high heat and humidity of central Virginia, brewing a fruit-forward NE-style IPA is a good way to spend an early afternoon.
Brew Day: 13 Jul 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Julius hops (FWH)
1 oz Julius hops (10 min whirlpool @ flameout)
14 g Julius hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 14 Jul: These pellet hops create a great deal of "debris". What I mean by that is that when I add the FWH addition, I just dump the hops into the kettle. After transferring to the fermenter, flakes of the hops rose to the neck of the fermenter, and were pushed into the blow-off tube. It looks like some pressure built up behind the debris, as it was pushed throughout the tube.
This is definitely something to keep in mind in the future. The whirlpool addition is added in a hop bag, as is the dry hop.
Addendum, 24 Jul: Dry hopped today.
Addendum, 28 Jul: Bottled; got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Galaxy IPA
I decided to pick up some Australian Galaxy hops recently, thanks to the flavor profile, and it seemed like a good time to brew an IPA.
Brew Day: 6 Jul 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Australian Galaxy hops (FWH)
1 oz Australian Galaxy hops (@ 20 min, 10 min rest)
14 g Australian Galaxy hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 15 Jul: Dry hopped today.
Addendum, 20 Jul: Got 6 good bottles and two re-purposed soda bottles.
Brew Day: 6 Jul 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row malt
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Australian Galaxy hops (FWH)
1 oz Australian Galaxy hops (@ 20 min, 10 min rest)
14 g Australian Galaxy hops (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 15 Jul: Dry hopped today.
Addendum, 20 Jul: Got 6 good bottles and two re-purposed soda bottles.
Friday, June 14, 2019
Sour Kveik
I was looking at social media the other day and saw that a brewery near my old stomping grounds had done a collab brew with a local (to me now) brewery, making a sour kveik. I thought...wow. That sounds pretty awesome! I really like sour IPAs, and I had a few good ones during a recent visit to Scott's Addition. I also learned that I do not like sours with lactose added, but to each his or her own, right?
I was preparing to do an IPA and I had purchased some GoodBelly Straight Shots in order to brew a watermelon sour later in the summer. I'm still going to do the watermelon sour (I have about 14 oz of watermelon juice sitting in the freezer right now), but I thought I'd do my Nordic IPA again, as a sour. I've got all of the ingredients already set up and ready to go, all I need to do is add the three days on a hot plate for the Straight Shots to do their thing, and I'm good.
Brew Day: 11 June 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Boil #2 (20 min):
*14 June 2019
Hops:
14 g Azacca (10.4%) - @ 20 min
14 g Mosaic + 14 g Huell Melon - 10 min whirlpool/flameout
14 g Cashmere - dry hop
Yeast: Omega OYL061 Voss Kveik
Addendum, 16 Jun: Dry hopped today.
Addendum, 20 Jun: Bottled; got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 3 Jul: Put the soda bottle in the fridge to chill it, and much like the non-sour version of this beer, it was clearly over-carbonated.
I was preparing to do an IPA and I had purchased some GoodBelly Straight Shots in order to brew a watermelon sour later in the summer. I'm still going to do the watermelon sour (I have about 14 oz of watermelon juice sitting in the freezer right now), but I thought I'd do my Nordic IPA again, as a sour. I've got all of the ingredients already set up and ready to go, all I need to do is add the three days on a hot plate for the Straight Shots to do their thing, and I'm good.
Brew Day: 11 June 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Boil #2 (20 min):
*14 June 2019
Hops:
14 g Azacca (10.4%) - @ 20 min
14 g Mosaic + 14 g Huell Melon - 10 min whirlpool/flameout
14 g Cashmere - dry hop
Yeast: Omega OYL061 Voss Kveik
Addendum, 16 Jun: Dry hopped today.
Addendum, 20 Jun: Bottled; got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 3 Jul: Put the soda bottle in the fridge to chill it, and much like the non-sour version of this beer, it was clearly over-carbonated.
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Something New - Voss Kveik
I enjoy a juicy fruit-forward IPA, and the NE style suits me quite nicely. While doing some research recently, I ran across a mention of a "Nordic" yeast, specifically "kviek". As I read on, I got more and more interested in trying this yeast. I did some more research and found some offerings from different providers, including Omega and White Labs. When I got to my local homebrew supply store, they had Omega OYL061 Voss Kveik right there on the shelf. I was looking for hefeweizen yeast, so I picked out the Omega, and White Labs WLP300.
The aroma profile for the Voss sounds very interesting; the write-up at the Omega site says that it ferments equally well across a wide temperature range, but anecdotes online (here, and here) suggest going with a higher temperature to keep off flavors such as sulfur down. I have a warming plate for making sours, so that should work just fine.
It also seems that this yeast finishes up pretty quickly, so my plan is brew the wort and pitch the yeast, and then put the fermenter on a warming plate for just more than two days before dry hopping the beer.
Brew Day: 7 June 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Azacca (10.4%) - @ 20 min
14 g Mosaic + 14 g Huell Melon - 10 min whirlpool/flameout
14 g Cashmere - dry hop
Yeast: Omega OYL061 Voss Kveik
Addendum, 10 June: Took the beer off of the warming plate and dry hopped with 14 g of Cashmere hops.
Addendum, 15 June: Bottled today; got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 30 June: Tried the re-purposed soda bottle tonight. I could tell that it was wildly over-carbonated when I put it into the fridge; it was hard as a rock, and the bottle had expanded a bit. This was borne out when I opened the bottle...I just sat it in the sink and let the foam come pouring out the top. I did pour most of it into a glass and was able to drink some. The flavor is heavy on the citrus, with just a little bit of sharpness. With the exception of the carbonation issue, it's a very flavorful beer. I'm hoping that the sour will be a bit less carbonated, as sours tend to be.
Addendum, 3 Jul: Opened a bottle last night, the beer is very much over-carbonated, but much easier to manage from the bottle. I opened it over the sink in case there were any issues, and with the bottle I didn't have a steady stream of foam pouring out of the bottle. The flavor isn't the issue; the next time I brew using this yeast, I need to treat it the same way as other yeasts, and I can even leave it on the warming plate past 2 or 3 days; either way, it needs more that just a few days.
The aroma profile for the Voss sounds very interesting; the write-up at the Omega site says that it ferments equally well across a wide temperature range, but anecdotes online (here, and here) suggest going with a higher temperature to keep off flavors such as sulfur down. I have a warming plate for making sours, so that should work just fine.
It also seems that this yeast finishes up pretty quickly, so my plan is brew the wort and pitch the yeast, and then put the fermenter on a warming plate for just more than two days before dry hopping the beer.
Brew Day: 7 June 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz 2-row
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
14 g Azacca (10.4%) - @ 20 min
14 g Mosaic + 14 g Huell Melon - 10 min whirlpool/flameout
14 g Cashmere - dry hop
Yeast: Omega OYL061 Voss Kveik
Addendum, 10 June: Took the beer off of the warming plate and dry hopped with 14 g of Cashmere hops.
Addendum, 15 June: Bottled today; got 8 good bottles and one re-purposed soda bottle.
Addendum, 30 June: Tried the re-purposed soda bottle tonight. I could tell that it was wildly over-carbonated when I put it into the fridge; it was hard as a rock, and the bottle had expanded a bit. This was borne out when I opened the bottle...I just sat it in the sink and let the foam come pouring out the top. I did pour most of it into a glass and was able to drink some. The flavor is heavy on the citrus, with just a little bit of sharpness. With the exception of the carbonation issue, it's a very flavorful beer. I'm hoping that the sour will be a bit less carbonated, as sours tend to be.
Addendum, 3 Jul: Opened a bottle last night, the beer is very much over-carbonated, but much easier to manage from the bottle. I opened it over the sink in case there were any issues, and with the bottle I didn't have a steady stream of foam pouring out of the bottle. The flavor isn't the issue; the next time I brew using this yeast, I need to treat it the same way as other yeasts, and I can even leave it on the warming plate past 2 or 3 days; either way, it needs more that just a few days.
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Hefe #2
With summer coming, it make sense to have another hefeweizen available. For this one, I chose WLP-300 yeast, as I was looking for something that would impart a bit of banana and clove, and this was the recommendation.
Brew Day: 28 May 2019
Partial Mash:
5 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb wheat DME
Hops: 14 g German Perle hops (@ 20 min)
Yeast: WLP-300
I followed all of my usual procedures.
Addendum, 10 June: Bottled today; got 7 good bottles and two 22 oz flip-top bottles.
Tasting Notes, 25 June: Opened one of the chilled 22 oz flip-top bottles tonight to share with friends. I can best describe this as a "proper" hefeweizen. Everything about it...the pour, the head, the effervescence and aroma, all the way through to the body, flavor and even the mouth-feel were all just right for a proper hefeweizen! Even my wife loved it, although ( a ) she REALLY loves the ginger Belgian, and ( b ) she wanted a slice of orange!
Brew Day: 28 May 2019
Partial Mash:
5 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb wheat DME
Hops: 14 g German Perle hops (@ 20 min)
Yeast: WLP-300
I followed all of my usual procedures.
Addendum, 10 June: Bottled today; got 7 good bottles and two 22 oz flip-top bottles.
Tasting Notes, 25 June: Opened one of the chilled 22 oz flip-top bottles tonight to share with friends. I can best describe this as a "proper" hefeweizen. Everything about it...the pour, the head, the effervescence and aroma, all the way through to the body, flavor and even the mouth-feel were all just right for a proper hefeweizen! Even my wife loved it, although ( a ) she REALLY loves the ginger Belgian, and ( b ) she wanted a slice of orange!
Sunday, May 5, 2019
LeftOver IPA #2
On a rainy day, what better to do than brew beer?! I figured today was a great day to kick of my leftover IPA #2. This is where I use hopped wort left over from previous boils, and once I have about a gallon saved up, use it to create an IPA with a mish-mash of flavors. I tend toward fruit-forward hops, and tend to use a hop schedule that produces NE-style IPAs, in an effort to keep the bitterness down and bring out the flavor of the hops.
I really like this approach, as while it isn't as targeted as a single-hop IPA, all of the heavy lifting is already done. There's no partial mash, there's no waiting, there's no additions that need to be measured out. Just empty the growlers and other containers with the hopped wort, and boil for 20 min. Boom, you're done. All of the grain is already processed, all of the DME and other fermentables have already been added, and it's even hopped, with the exception of dry hopping, of course.
This one has wort from the NoName IPA, Azacca Pale Ale, African Queen IPA, and even some from the Ginger Belgian. It will be interesting to see how the Medusa and Citra from the first beer combine with the African Queen hops from the third. And I did get a good aroma of fresh ginger from the last beer as I poured the wort into the brew kettle. Of course, a lot will also depend on what I decide to dry hop it all with!
Brew Day: 5 May 2019
Boil (20 min):
1 gal of hopped wort
Hops: What's already in the wort
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 18 May: Dry hopped on 14 g African Queen hops.
Addendum, 26 May: Bottled. I got 8 good bottles and 1 repurposed Mountain Dew bottle out of it.
Tasting Notes, 25 June: I've really enjoyed this beer! The body is spot-on for the time of year, and the hoppiness is not overpowering. I can best describe the flavor as a bright citrus with no bitterness whatsoever. Very enjoyable, to the point where it's almost comforting to drink.
I really like this approach, as while it isn't as targeted as a single-hop IPA, all of the heavy lifting is already done. There's no partial mash, there's no waiting, there's no additions that need to be measured out. Just empty the growlers and other containers with the hopped wort, and boil for 20 min. Boom, you're done. All of the grain is already processed, all of the DME and other fermentables have already been added, and it's even hopped, with the exception of dry hopping, of course.
This one has wort from the NoName IPA, Azacca Pale Ale, African Queen IPA, and even some from the Ginger Belgian. It will be interesting to see how the Medusa and Citra from the first beer combine with the African Queen hops from the third. And I did get a good aroma of fresh ginger from the last beer as I poured the wort into the brew kettle. Of course, a lot will also depend on what I decide to dry hop it all with!
Brew Day: 5 May 2019
Boil (20 min):
1 gal of hopped wort
Hops: What's already in the wort
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 18 May: Dry hopped on 14 g African Queen hops.
Addendum, 26 May: Bottled. I got 8 good bottles and 1 repurposed Mountain Dew bottle out of it.
Tasting Notes, 25 June: I've really enjoyed this beer! The body is spot-on for the time of year, and the hoppiness is not overpowering. I can best describe the flavor as a bright citrus with no bitterness whatsoever. Very enjoyable, to the point where it's almost comforting to drink.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Hefeweizen
As summertime approaches, it's a good time to kick off a hefeweizen. And it's been a while since I've brewed this style of beer.
I stopped by my local home brew supply shop today, specifically looking to pick up some WYeast 3068, and got talking with the proprietor about a hefeweizen he'd just brewed. He recommended an RVA yeast, and as it happened, he did have some of that yeast available! Because I was specifically looking to pick up a liquid yeast, I had placed a small cooler with some ice cubes in the back of my truck, and this worked out well.
Brew Day: 22 Apr 2019
Partial Mash:
4 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Bavarian wheat DME
Hops: 7 g German Perle (@ 20 min)
Yeast: RVA Hefeweizen I (pitched half of the container)
Addendum, 2 May: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 18 May: Bottled; got 10 bottles.
Addendum, 4 June: We tried this one recently. Terri likes it a lot, and gets recognizable banana out of it. I think it's a little lighter in body that it should be, but other than that, the flavor is very nice. I get a bit of subtle clove, but not much in the way of sweetness that I'd say that I would recognize as banana. But then, Terri and I have come out that way before; one of the early hefeweizens we tried at SweetWaters was similar, in that I got some clove and Terri got some very forward banana, and our beers were from the same keg.
Addendum, 5 Jul: Drinking another one tonight; body is more along the lines of what I prefer, and the first couple of sips are heavy on the clove. I don't know if this is due to the fact that I was preparing dinner and had sampled some tomato and avocado with some heavy salt. However, the beer is really pretty good, and very drinkable.
I stopped by my local home brew supply shop today, specifically looking to pick up some WYeast 3068, and got talking with the proprietor about a hefeweizen he'd just brewed. He recommended an RVA yeast, and as it happened, he did have some of that yeast available! Because I was specifically looking to pick up a liquid yeast, I had placed a small cooler with some ice cubes in the back of my truck, and this worked out well.
Brew Day: 22 Apr 2019
Partial Mash:
4 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Bavarian wheat DME
Hops: 7 g German Perle (@ 20 min)
Yeast: RVA Hefeweizen I (pitched half of the container)
Addendum, 2 May: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 18 May: Bottled; got 10 bottles.
Addendum, 4 June: We tried this one recently. Terri likes it a lot, and gets recognizable banana out of it. I think it's a little lighter in body that it should be, but other than that, the flavor is very nice. I get a bit of subtle clove, but not much in the way of sweetness that I'd say that I would recognize as banana. But then, Terri and I have come out that way before; one of the early hefeweizens we tried at SweetWaters was similar, in that I got some clove and Terri got some very forward banana, and our beers were from the same keg.
Addendum, 5 Jul: Drinking another one tonight; body is more along the lines of what I prefer, and the first couple of sips are heavy on the clove. I don't know if this is due to the fact that I was preparing dinner and had sampled some tomato and avocado with some heavy salt. However, the beer is really pretty good, and very drinkable.
Thursday, April 18, 2019
YAGB: Yet Another Ginger Belgian
My first ginger Belgian turned out so well that my wife demanded that I make another!
Brew Day: 18 Apr 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
8 oz table sugar
~1 oz thinly-sliced ginger added to the last 10 min of the boil (in a hop bag)
Hops: 14 g German Perle (@ 20 min)
Yeast: BE-134
Addendum, 2 May: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 30 May: Bottled; got 9 good bottles and one partial re-purposed soda bottle.
Tasting Notes, 25 June: These notes aren't the result of the first taste, but more so the result of repeated statements made by my wife about how much she LOVES this beer! I really enjoy the beer as it's clearly a Belgian and the addition of the ginger really adds a nice flavor to it. I can really get a nice ginger "burn" at the end of the taste. My wife, on the other hand, likens this to the sah'ti that she likes, even though this beer has no juniper. ;-) However, the point is that she really, REALLY enjoys this beer, and that's really all that matters.
Brew Day: 18 Apr 2019
Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
8 oz table sugar
~1 oz thinly-sliced ginger added to the last 10 min of the boil (in a hop bag)
Hops: 14 g German Perle (@ 20 min)
Yeast: BE-134
Addendum, 2 May: Transferred to secondary.
Addendum, 30 May: Bottled; got 9 good bottles and one partial re-purposed soda bottle.
Tasting Notes, 25 June: These notes aren't the result of the first taste, but more so the result of repeated statements made by my wife about how much she LOVES this beer! I really enjoy the beer as it's clearly a Belgian and the addition of the ginger really adds a nice flavor to it. I can really get a nice ginger "burn" at the end of the taste. My wife, on the other hand, likens this to the sah'ti that she likes, even though this beer has no juniper. ;-) However, the point is that she really, REALLY enjoys this beer, and that's really all that matters.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
African Queen IPA
Not long ago, I ran across African Queen hop pellets, and based on reported aroma/flavor profile, thought that it would not only be a good IPA to try, but also a good addition to my next left-over IPA!
Brew Day: 2 Apr 2019
Partial Mash:
6 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Golden Light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g African Queen (@ 20 min)
21 g African Queen (flameout)
14 g African Queen (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 16 Apr: Dry hopped
Addendum, 20 Apr: Bottled; got 9 good bottles.
Brew Day: 2 Apr 2019
Partial Mash:
6 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Golden Light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
7 g African Queen (@ 20 min)
21 g African Queen (flameout)
14 g African Queen (dry hop)
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 16 Apr: Dry hopped
Addendum, 20 Apr: Bottled; got 9 good bottles.
Monday, April 1, 2019
Azacca Pale Ale
My wife recently had an Azacca Pale Ale at Fine Creek Brewing, and she really enjoyed it. I've used Azacca hops before, but in an IPA. It was really good, but I don't want something as hoppy and bitter as an IPA this time around. It turns out that NorthernBrewer has an Azacca Pale Ale kit, and I decided to use that, or at least the hop schedule, as the basis for my pale ale.
This will be the second hopped wort to be included in my next left-over IPA.
Brew Day: 1 Apr 2019
Partial Mash:
6 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Golden Light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
4 g Azacca hops @ 20 min
12 g Azacca hops @ flameout
12 g Azacca hops, dry hop
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 16 Apr: Dry hopped.
Addendum, 20 Apr: Bottled; got 9 good bottles and 1 re-purposed 8 oz soda bottle.
Addendum, 4 June: It turned out that by the time this one was ready, I think Terri had maybe lost a bit of enthusiasm for the flavor. She describes it as "not one of my favorites". That's okay, I enjoy it just fine.
This will be the second hopped wort to be included in my next left-over IPA.
Brew Day: 1 Apr 2019
Partial Mash:
6 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat
Boil (20 min):
1 lb Golden Light DME
4 oz table sugar
Hops:
4 g Azacca hops @ 20 min
12 g Azacca hops @ flameout
12 g Azacca hops, dry hop
Yeast: US-05
Addendum, 16 Apr: Dry hopped.
Addendum, 20 Apr: Bottled; got 9 good bottles and 1 re-purposed 8 oz soda bottle.
Addendum, 4 June: It turned out that by the time this one was ready, I think Terri had maybe lost a bit of enthusiasm for the flavor. She describes it as "not one of my favorites". That's okay, I enjoy it just fine.
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