Sunday, June 23, 2013

Doppelsticke Altbier

Racked to secondary onto Hallertau hops.  Gravity is 1.014 placing ABV at 7.9%.  Aromas of sweet malt and some hops spiciness.  Flavor: mildly sweet with a slight nuttiness and pronounced slightly lingering bitterness.  Another week or two awaiting the hops to fall out, then into bottles it will go.
PROSIT!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Doppelsticke Altbier

Test run at a new one for me.  If you know me, you know I love my Altbier so I decided to go big this time.  Projected OG was 1.083, measured 1.074.  (These last few batches seem to have dropped in efficiency and not sure where the problem is.)  Four ounces of hops in the boil and 1 ounce to go for dry hop.  Smelled great on the boil.  Used German Magnum, 2 ounces and German Spalt, 2 ounces.  Going to dry hop with Hallertau.   
PROST!

Oh My Giddy Aunt, English IPA

Bottled today.  Gravity has not changed.  Still at 1.030.  I heard Windsor yeast finishes a little high, but o.k.  The UK Phoenix hops smell and taste great.  Two weeks to go before testing.
CHEERS!   

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Oh My Giddy Aunt, English IPA

Looks like my posts are not in chronological order for some reason, but, meh.  My day starts out at 6:00 a.m.  (Why can I not sleep in on my days off?)  Anyhow, I'm racking to secondary onto 1 ounce of UK Phoenix hops.  The gravity after 1 week primary fermentation is 1.030 placing ABV at 4.75%.  Seems like it is a bit high yet, considering it has another week or two to go.  (I mashed at 155F)  Another 1-2 weeks in secondary on the dry hop to see where it will finish up.  Current aroma: toffee/caramel notes with floral and spicy notes from the hops.  Current flavor profile: mildly sweet, malty, caramel/toffee with moderate hops bitterness, some hops spiciness, and bitter cocoa/coffee notes.  (At 7:00 a.m. this actually quite appealing!)  Well, now the clean up begins. 
CHEERS!   

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Oh My Giddy Aunt, English IPA

Time to try brewing a new style.  I'm going to go simple on this one, a sometimes simple is better.  My mash bill consists of Gambrinus ESB Malt and Bairds Carastan Malt.  I'll use a single variety of hops for the entire batch.  British Phoenix.  First brew with these hops and I am very interested in the flavor profile.  Should have some spice, floral, and chocolate notes, which should pair well with the toffee notes from the Carastan Malt. 
CHEERS!

Oh My Giddy Aunt, English IPA

I'm going to rack to secondary on Saturday.  I wanted to see what UK Phoenix hops flavor and aroma profile is as some say yay, and some say nay.  The hops smelled great going into the boiling wort.  I'll dry hop in secondary with 1 ounce of hops, so that will make 3 ounces total at 10.2 AAU.  IBU's should be around 51 or so.  I'll take a gravity reading after racking.  Stay tuned.
CHEERS!

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Oh My Giddy Aunt, English IPA

Brew day is over.  Projected OG 1.071.  Measured: 1.066.  I ended up with about a quart of leftover wort, hence the lower OG.  Must have over measured somewhere.  Color is a beautiful orange/amber.  I used Gambrinus ESB malt and Bairds Carastan Malt.  Hops is 100% UK Phoenix.  I will dry hop with Phoenix as well. 
CHEERS!