James & Nita's Wedding
Good times in Atlanta at James and Nita’s Wedding. Congratulations you two!!
[slickr-flickr tag=”James and Nita” type=”slideshow”]Children’s House
Every day at the Auce Crisis Centre Namiņš, several dozens of Auce’s little citizens receive dinner and clothing for free. These are children who have become victims of domestic (more…)
Honey Brown Ale
Description:
A spinoff of our highly popular Nut Brown Ale kit that combines American malts and ale yeast with English hops and Minnesota honey. Kit link
Yeast:
Safale S-33 Dry Ale Yeast. Dry. 11.5g. Rehydrated.
Speciality Grains:
| Simpson’s Chocolate | .25 lbs. | Crushed Grain |
| Dingemans Special B | .25 lbs. | Crushed Grain |
| Dingemans Biscuit | .25 lbs. | Crushed Grain |
| Briess Special Roast | .25 lbs. | Crushed Grain |
Fermentables:
| Northern Brewer Gold | 6 lbs | Liquid |
| Honey (0 minute late addition) | 1 lbs | Liquid |
Hops:
| 1. Cluster | 7.5% AAU | 60 Minutes | 1oz |
Calculated IBUs: 26
Kit OG: 1.050
MY OG: 1.060 @ 70 Degrees
FG: 1.018
ABV: 5.4%
Brew Day – 4/30
Get Ice.
Clean and sanitize: Stir Spoon, Measuring Cup, Bowl, Knife, Table Spoon, Thief, Thermometer, Fermentation Lock, Strainer.
Heat 1.25 Gallons of water to 160 F
Steep Speciality Grains for 30 minutes.
Remove bag and squeeze off excess.
Added 1.25 Gallons of water.
Remove from heat and Stir in 6 lbs liquid extract
Bring to boil (~3 gallons)
Add hops.
Boil partially covered for 60 minutes.
Rehydrate Yeast.
Remove from heat and Stir in Honey.
Chill wort.
Strain out gunk
Pour back and forth 3 times. Lots of “head”. Added 1.5 extra gallons
Let head settle. Pitch yeast. Seal. Swirl. Add sanitize solution to air lock.
Weird: Fermentation stopped after ~8 days, but it picked up fairly vigorously around the 3rd week in the fermenter…
Bottle Day – 5/29
Clean and Sanitize.
2/3 cups Corn Sugar in 2 Cups water.
Rack to bottling bucket + Priming Solution
26 12oz bottles, 9 22oz, 1 Growler
American Wheat Beer Extract Kit
Description:
A wheat ale with medium hopping and a fairly clean, neutral finish – a spritzy, refreshing warm-weather crowd-pleaser. Link to kit.
Yeast:
Safale S-05 Dry Ale Yeast. Dry. 11.5g. Rehydrated.
Malts:
| Northern Brewer Wheat | 6 lbs | Liquid | OG:1040 | Calculated OG (2.5 gallon boil): 1062 |
Hops:
| 1. Willamett | 4.7% AAU | 60 Minutes | 1oz |
| 2. Cascade | 6.1% AAU | 15 Minutes | 1oz |
IBU 60 = 4.7 x .202 x 75 / 5 = 14
IBU 15 = 6.1 x .101 x 75 / 5 = 9
Calculated IBUs: 23
OG: 1.046 @ 68 Degrees
FG: 1.012 @ 70 Degrees
ABV: 4.4%
3/20 – Prep
Clean and sanitize Fermenter, Lid, Brew pot and Lid.
Boil 2.5 – 3 gallons water. Let cool.
Pour water into Fermenter, seal, cover fermentation lock w/ saran wrap.
3/21 – Brew day
Get Ice.
Clean and sanitize: Stir Spoon, Measuring Cup, Bowl, Knife, Table Spoon, Thief, Thermometer, Fermentation Lock, Strainer.
Boil 2.5 gallons (40 cups) water. Remove from heat.
Dissolve in all extract. Bring back to boil stirring every 5-10 minutes.
Add Willamett Hops. Stir and partially cover. Set timer for 45 minutes.
Add Cascade Hops. Stir uncovered. Set timer for 10 minutes.
Add any remaining Malt Extract. Stir uncovered. Set timer for 5 minutes.
Move Brew Pot to Ice Bath. Let cool for 30 – 45 minutes.
Scooped out Cold Break + Trub.
Strained to fermenter.
Filled to 5 Gallons (~ 1/2 gallon from Britta).
Sealed and Fermentation Locked.
OG: 1.046 @ 68 Degrees F.
Good bubbling after 24 hours.
Stopped Bubbling on 3/25.
4/5 – Bottling Day
FG: 1.012 @ 70 Degrees F.
Pirates Gold Ale
Recipe Name: Pirates Gold AleVolume: 5 Gallons
Yeast:
Safale S-04 Dry Ale Yeast. Dry. 11.5g. Rehydrated.
Malts:
Northwestern Gold extract 3.3 lbs Liquid
Hops:
1. ??? 60 Minutes ??oz
2. ??? 30 Minutes ??oz
3. ??? 15 Minutes ??oz
1/24 – Brew Day:
Boiled 1 gallon water. Removed from heat and dissolved in all Malt extract. Returned to boil (partially covered).
– After 30 minutes, no visible hot break (?)
Added 1st hops (Bittering). Boiled and partially covered. Stirred every 10 minutes
Added 2nd hops (aroma) after 30 minutes. Boiled and partially covered. Stirred every 10 minutes
– Rehydrated Yeast at 30 minutes.
Added 3rd hops (aroma) after 45 minutes. Boiled uncovered. Stirred once.
– Stirred Yeast at 45 minutes.
Chilled wort in ice bath for 30 minutes.
Strained wort into 3 gallons of water in fermenter.
Aerated by pouring back and forth 3 times.
Temp: 74 F
OG: 1.060 (This was w/ 5 gallons of wort. I added additional gallon after taking reading. Whoops!)
Probably closer to 1.050
Fermentation:
Fermenter in spare shower. Dark, room temp.
Started bubbling within 12 hours.
Stopped bubbling after 2 1/2 days.
Single stage fermentation.
1/30 FG = 1.014 @ 62F
2/2 FG = 1.014 @ 64F
2/3 – Cleaned 24 12oz bottles and 12 22oz bottles with one step. Heated dry in dishwasher. Covered w/ Saran wrap over night
2/4 – Bottling Day:
FG = 1.014 @ 68F
Estimated FG should be between 1.012 – 1.020
Priming sugar = 3/4 cups Corn Sugar in 2 cups water. Boil 10 minutes. Let cool to Room Temp.
Clean and sanitize w/ one step:
Caps, siphon, hoses, Bucket, Thermometer, hydrometer, thief, stirring spoon.
Filled 25 12oz and 12 22oz bottles. Could have used ~3 more 12oz bottles.
End to End ~2.5 hours (when cleaning bottles the night before).
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.015
Alc Content: 5.3%
2/9 – Bottle Conditioning
After 5 days the control bottle has fully expanded.