Tripel Digits

On June 20th I made an approximation of a Belgian tripe

Tripel Digits

5 US gallons
OG: 18% Brix
FG: 8.8% Brix
IBU: ~30

Fermentables

• 14 lbs 2-row
• 1 lbs cane sugar

60 minute rest at 152° F. 60 metric minute boil.

Hops

• 1 oz 8.1% AA Perle pellets 60 minutes
• 1 oz 4.6% AA Saaz pellets 10 minutes

By the time I was done sparging I had 9 gallons of sweet wort and only enough fermentables for 5 (as planned). To get to my target volume I boiled for three hours. Not much harm in that except the beer will be a good deal darker than it is supposed to be.

Came out of the fermenter today nice and clear. Going to be about 10.75% ABV, but you can't really taste it. Tripels are like that. Another three weeks conditioning in the keg.

Review: Rye of the Hurricane II

This beer is delicious. I already have ingredients to make it again. Soon. It's almost out.

Previously I made it without crystal 120, but that malt adds great body and plum/raisin maltiness. While it is full-bodied the beer is not heavy. Traditional British hops give it a earthy, muddied bitterness leading into a spicy rye and Hallertau kick. The finish is peppery, slightly sweet and just a little thick on the tongue. I want more.

I really appreciate the ability to do multi-step mashes my new system gives me. For this beer I rested 20 mins at 150° F and 40 mins at 163° F which developed that full body while lending enough fermentables to the wort. The gravity settled at 1.017.

As difficult as it is, an extra few weeks conditioning will do wonders. When I tapped it the dried fruit flavors had not developed, however near the end of the keg they come through and really make the beer stellar. I recommend leaving it alone for eight weeks after taking it out of primary. 8 weeks, I thought I waited long enough for this one....

Rye Without The Hurricane

Last September, a day after Hurricane Ike demolished Galveston, I brewed a great rye beer I called Rye of the Hurricane. It was about 20% rye, 5% munich and 75% pale bittered with Mt Hood & Hallertauer hops. The beer came out with a great dry earthy bitterness from the rye and Mt Hood. Five gallons of that beer lasted seven weeks; these day's I'm lucky to get two weeks out of a keg.

Rye of the Hurricane II will be a very different beer. I increased the ratio of munich malt, and added crystal 120 to the grainbill. To balance the more intense malt flavors that the crystal adds I also stepped up the hopping schedule. Have a look. (Pictures here.)

Fermentables
9-gallons

• 15 lbs Pale 2-row (Rahr)
• 4 lbs Rye malt
• 2 lbs Munich
• 2 lbs Crystal 120L

Doughed in with 9 gallons of spring water to hit 150° F. Rested 20 minutes. Direct-fire heat to 163° F for another 40 minutes. Sparge with 170° F water to collect 10 gallons sweet wort.

Hops
60-minute boil

• 2 oz 5.2% AA Mt Hood pellets first-wort hop
  
• 1 oz 4.8% AA Kent Goldings pellets 30 mins
• 1 oz 3.9% AA Hallertau pellets 10 mins
• 1 oz 3.9% AA Hallertau pellets 5 mins

Wyeast 1318 London Ale Yeast III; Fermenting at 70° F.


The reason this beer is only 9 gallons is because I changed my strike water volume and forgot to compensate with extra sparge water. I wanted a thin mash - about 2 qts/lb to really pack this beer with malty goodness, but upon getting 11 gallons of strike water in my new mash tun I could see that adding in 23 pounds of grain would possibly overflow the vessel. I should have added the two missing gallons to the sparge to collect 11-ish gallons of sweet wort at completion of the mash.

The wort tasted awesome, simply fantastic. It's taking all my power not to keg & tap the beer this week - 9 days through fermentation. I hope I have the will to let it sit for another nine days, but I'm out of homebrew at the time. The bitter I made as a yeast starter for Gnarly Barleywine started out "meh" because I tapped it way too early. It became a nice beer near the end of the keg. I will keep that lesson in mind while I drink some commercial beer.

Vigorous Fermentation

I was glad the barleywine did not become infected because it blew the airlock off the first night of fermentation. I was fairly confident it was safe since it was just expelling trub and krausen. I don't normally ferment in carboys any more so didn't have a blow-off tube. This is what remains after racking. The interior of the duck-in cooler is a giant mess. That's one reason it's brewery cleaning week(s).

Barleywine, Bitter, Beer judging

Last Friday, minutes before leaving for a beer-judging weekend trip to Oakland, CA, I kegged this year's Gnarly Barleywine. Even though it has been four years since the first and last time I made this barleywine, I call it "this year's" barleywine because it is a good enough recipe that I would like to make it yearly. Brewed on May 6th, this beer's beginnings reach back another two weeks to a 10-gallon batch of Bitter I made as a yeast starter for the barleywine.

As I write this article, I sip the Starter Bitter. It's an ordinary bitter on the very low end of the SG range and the very high end of the IBU bracket. That combination of attributes makes for a bad beer. The bitterness is sharp and harsh and the body is thin. Adding calcium sulfate to RO water is about the only way to "fix" my tap water, but I think I overdid it this time. Sulfur compounds accentuate harsh bitterness. It is carbonic and metallic and a healthy dose of malt flavor would really bring this beer from the brink of disaster. The bouquet has some mast sweetness, but lacks hop aroma. Pardon me while I take another draught. Next time, five more pounds of Maris Ottr. The recipe:

10 gallons of Ordinary Bitter
Fermentables

• 12 lbs Maris Ottr Pale
• 2 lbs Crystal 60

90 minute rest at 149° F

Hops

• 2 oz 7.6% AA pellet Brewer's Gold 60 minutes
• 2 oz 5.25% AA whole EK Goldings 15 minutes

WYeast 1098 British Ale yeast. Ferment around 62° F.

A better mash program will probably help the malt profile. 149° F is at the top end of beta-amylase's temperature range, but below alpha-amylase. Beta makes fermentable sugars and alpha makes unfermentables. As John Palmer writes: "A lower mash temperature, less than or equal to 150°F, yields a thinner bodied, drier beer." That is exactly what I have; more malt please.

I should also note that higher fermentation temperatures will produce more of the British ester compounds that are missing from this beer.

The low starting gravity sure makes for a low-alcohol session beer. Pardon me while I pour another pint.

Moving along, the starter bitter fermented out and I transferred it to kegs. Onto the yeast cake I dumped 5 gallons of New Gnarly Barleywine:

Fermentables

• 13.25 lbs Maris Ottr Pale
• 2.25 lbs Honey Malt
• 1.5 lbs Munich
• 1 lbs Carapils Malt
• 0.5 lbs Brown Malt

Mashed at 145° F for 60 minutes. Raised mash up to 160° F for another 30 minutes.

Hops (90 minute boil)

• 1.5 oz 14.4% AA pellet Magnum first-wort
• 1 oz 5.2% AA pellet Mt Hood 15 mins
• 1 oz 5.2% AA pellet Mt Hood 5 mins
• 2 oz 4.8% AA pellet EK Goldings 2 weeks dry hop

WYeast 1098 British Ale yeast. Ferment around 62° F.
OG: 1.092
FG: 1.018
IBU: 71 (est)

I was in a rush to get to the airport for this weekend's Longshot competition, therefore I did not get a proper taste on the way to the keg, nor did I add the dry-hops. Adding them will give me an opportunity to have a proper taste test.

Longshot was great, as usual. This marks my third year judging at the competition and reinforced my appreciation for the Boston Beer Company. My report from 2007 will give you an idea of what it's like. Incidentally, the best in show in our region went to a barleywine.



22 beers waiting to be judged best in show. The dude on the right is Pete Solsberg of Wicked Ale and gourmet chocolate fame. Real approachable guy - as are most brewers.