Something Different

I've been reading a lot about black IPAs now. I'm guessing they're not like a porter but more like Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, which I really, really - really like. I mean, like, a whole lot. I could drink a 2 liter growler, pass out, wake up with the worst hangover, shower, take some ibuprofen and drink another. But I never do that. Maybe I should try to make a Black IPA then...

Ruddy Ale

The Morning started off at 6:30 when I heated 2 gallons of strike water and doughed in with 7 gallons of British Pale malt. I mashed for 1 hour at a ph of about 5.2.
I then prepared my sparge water by heating 5 gallons to just over 200 and then poured it into my old mash tun turned hot liquor tank. I then vourloughed the wort until it ran clear[ish] and started the sparge for 1.5 hours.
This new mashtun I have works much more efficiently than the rig I had set up before. I was able to hit about 1.047 SG to get a BH value of about 90%. I had to dilute the wort with an extra gallon to get it down to 1.38.
I added the Halertau (4.5 aa) at the start of the boil and no additional hops for the length of the 60 minute boil.
I added Irish moss in at 15 minutes left and placed my chiller in the kettle. I then chilled to as low as I could get the wort in 15 minutes while I boiled 1.5 lbs of raspberry puree. I know everybody says to not boil the puree but I wanted to have a haze to the final product, so I just boiled it for about 3 minutes and dumped it in my carboy as soon as the temperature reached less than 100. I then racked the wort over the puree and aerated. I pitched the yeast at 80 degrees, put in 1.5 tsp of nutrient and placed the blow off hose in the carboy.
My SG was 1.042, so I'm expecting the FG to be about 1.009. I'll check back in 2 weeks after racking over to my 5 gallon secondary carboy.

Nameless IPA

Okay. I started out with 1.25 quarts water to 1 lbs grain ratio. I then sparged with 4 gallons for 35 minutes and decided to bump it up a gallon for about 45 minutes. I sparged the batch by taking my bottling bucket, connecting a tube and running it into a gallon jug with small holes poked in the bottom of it. I boiled the wort for about 80 minutes and added all hop additions according to schedule. I cooled the wort to about 82 degrees, transferred the wort to a 6 gallon better bottle, aerated, gave some yeast nutrients, and pitched the propagated yeast starter I made 3 days ago.
The SG was 1.060 and I expect this yeast to take it very low (like 1.005) and obtain a high gravity of around 7.9 percent to 8.3 percent.
This yeast is able to withstand 25% alcohol by volume, but you have to oxygenate a lot almost every day during the primary, and some nutrients should also be added. I only pitched the yeast about 30 minutes ago and I already have activity in the fermentation vessel

Nameless IPA

I'm trying out a recipe for an IPA after 3 dry months. My Wittwarrior only lasted about 2 weeks as most of the batch was taken to a party. I haven't even had a beer in over a month. Back to the IPA. I'm using 12.5 lbs of American 2-row, .5 10 Crystal, .5 20 Crystal, .5 carapils, 1 oz Chinook, 1 oz Centennial, 2 oz Cascade, 2 oz bitter orange peel.
The Chinooks and Centennial hops are added together at the start of the boil. one ounce of cascades are added with 30 minutes left along with 1 oz of bitter orange peel. Then, .5 oz cascades added at 20 minutes left. Then irish moss at 15 minutes left and finally, at 5 minutes I add the final .5 oz cascades along with 1 oz bitter orange peel.

WitWarRior

Today was brewday here at Jibby's. I pretty much used the bill that I listed before except for using only 5.5 lbs of great western 2-row. I mashed at 152 f and a ph of 5.0 for 90 minutes with amylase a and b. I mashed out at 172, then vorlaufed the wort like crazy.
After that, I drained the wort into my kettle, and started a batch sparge that ended in a stuck mash. I had to fix that before I could do anything, so I started stirring and recirculating the wort. Finally, I got it to drain to the kettle.
I then boiled for 90 minutes with an addition of 2 ounces of warrior hops at 25 minutes left and bitter orange peel and coriander seed at 10 minutes. I forwent adding Irish moss (because I forgot to) and then cooled it with my new wort chiller. This wort chiller got it down to 80 in less than 20 minutes whereas my old one would have taken about 40. I then aerated the wort for 10 minutes and pitched the yeast I had started two days prior to brewing.
I was aiming for about 1.062 SG, but only hit 1.056, so my brew house efficiency is only about 64%.

Witbier

I made the yeast starter today. I'm thinking my bill will look something like this:
6.0 pounds malted barley
4.5 pounds malted wheat
1.5 pounds unmalted flaked wheat
1 pound umalted oats
.5 ounces coriander
1 ounce bitter orange peel
1 ounce of my secret hop variety (will be high in the ibu catagory).
I should be able to start on my usual Sunday. I'm calculating I'll achieve maximum SG of 1.076, but estimating I'll only get about 1.060.

Belgium Saison

I popped open a bottle tonight and found out I had missed it when I was adding the sugar. I opened an other bottle, but it was warm. It seems to be very malty with very little bitterness. Also, notes of walnuts come through. It needs to set for about 2 more weeks.

Saison Progress

I started getting active fermentation within 4 hours. I kept the fermenter cool by placing it in my 32 quart stainless steel kettle, filling it halfway with water and placing a couple of 16.9 ounce frozen water bottles inside the kettle between the kettle and fermenter walls. This has kept the temperature at 70 to 74 degrees Fahrenheit when the ambient room temperature has been maintained at 78 degrees Fahrenheit (good-ol' San Diego summer weather). I haven't checked the gravity, but the beer is still pretty active on the fermentation.

Saison

Today was brew day. I didn't have exactly what I was looking for, so I modified my grain bill quite nicely. I used 12 pounds of Vienna malt as the base, 2 pounds Carapils, .5 pounds of Caravienne, .5 pounds Aromatic, .5 pounds Caramunich.
I mashed in 155 degrees, ph 5.0; added 3 tsp gypsum, 1 tsp amylase a-b.
At the start of the boil I added 1 ounce of Styrian bittering hops and stirred for what seemed to be forever. At 30 minutes, I added 1 pound of light Belgian candy, .5 ounces of sweet orange peel and 1 ounce Saaz flavoring hops and stirred some more. At 45 minutes I added some Irish moss, .5 ounces of sweet orange peel,.5 ounces of coriander seeds and sterilized my wort chiller for 10 minutes. At 60 minutes, I added the last ounce of Saaz hops and waited for 5 minutes before taking the kettle off the boil and into the kitchen where I chilled for about 25 minutes in ice and my cheap-o-matic wort chiller.
after siphoning the wort over to the fermenter, I aerated the wort for about 10 minutes before getting anxious and then added the White Lab Saison WLP-568 yeast and popping in the blow off tube.
I checked the SG and it was 1.082. I was only shooting for 1.068 to 1.072, but either I did better sparging this time, or I have a lot of unfermentable sugars in there. I guess I'll see in about 2 weeks exactly how strong this ale is going to be.

Belgium Saison

Starting one Belgian Saison today:
Belgian CaraVienne 10 ounces
Belgain Aromatic 6 ounces
Cara Pils 6 ounces
Belgian Pale 12.0 pounds
Candi Sugar 1.0 pounds
Styrian Golding 2 ounces
Saaz (Flavoring) 1.0 ounces
Saaz (Finishing) 1.0 ounces
Orange Peel 0.5 Ounces
Corriander 1.25 Ounces
Irish Moss 1.0 tsp.
White Labs Saison WLP-568 with starter made
I'm shooting for a 1.068-1.072 SG and a FG of 1.018.

New Opportunity

It wasn't long after the job position of Assistant Brewer was taken down that I noticed the two new staff members had their pictures on Stonebrew.com's employee page. They were better qualified; I was heartbroken. But things started looking up when I found out that Stone Brewing Co. will be hosting their thirteenth anniversary at Cal State University - San Marcos on 22 August, 2009! It looks like admission will be in A and B sessions and will cost $35.00 dollars admission (Increased to $40.00 dollars on 15 August) for 10 tasting tokens that can be used at any booth for any of the breweries attending from around the world! This made me very happy. Learn more here:
http://www.stonebrew.com/13th/

Jibby Just Can't Get His Break

I'm still sitting here wondering if the brewery is still in the process of selecting candidates, or if they have already filled the positions with better qualified individuals than myself. I have been calling HR every day, but the recruiter and manager seem to always be busy outside the office.
I can see how I wouldn't be as qualified as a lot of others applying for the Assistant Brewer, so I also applied as a store cashier just to get exposure to the brewery. I feel I should be qualified for that seeing as how that's pretty much all I've done outside the Navy where I preformed very notable procedures such as delivering a child. I'm not trying to brag, "but I'm kind of a big deal." Not really, but the prior statement sounds pretentious, so I thought I'd throw that Ron Burgundy quote out there.
So, there is no brewery job for me right now. What to do in the meantime? Well, I have a pretty unstable temp job at a company that scans hard copy materials and converts them to electronic copies and micro-fiche film. So far, it's sent me home for a total of 9 days without pay and only pays $9.00 an hour. I can't wait until I complete my degree. I really want to brew beer.

Update: Jibby Still Want's a Job

So, I've decided that Firehouse probably wasn't going to be the better choice. It seems like Stone shares a lot of the same philosophy on brewing and on food that I have, especially on food. I see a lot of people complaining that the menu prices are too high and the service takes too long, but Stone lets diners know beforehand they are part of an upcoming subculture of what has been called "slow food nation", and that they will take a little longer to prepare, and prices are going to be a little higher because of the selection. Myself, I've been a vegetarian for going on half of my life, and really hate seeing burgers served in under thirty seconds. It's not that I disagree with eating meat, but I do think that maybe you should have a little respect for the food by taking time to prepare it properly. By doing this, you're not also going to benefit from the aesthetics, but also healthier food.
But, anyhow. I really hope I get this job. It would be a great sort of internship that would get my new career rolling in the right direction.

Jibby Wants a Job

So, I have decided to quit my part-time job at Quiznos Subs to seek employment at a couple breweries in the San Diego region. I first applied as a packaging assistant at Firehouse Brewing company in San Diego. This job would require I work mostly on the bottling line and kegging. I would be able to get in the brewing by monitoring fermentation and cleaning the fermenters. The second was for an assistant brewer at Stone Brewery in Escondido in North County. This job would mostly require that I assist the brewers by shoveling spent grain, dead yeast, and the brewhouse drains.

It would be difficult to chose which I would rather work for if it came down to choosing between the two as they both seem to be very interesting and unique in their purpose for starting business.

Stone Brewery was started in San Marcos, Cal. in 1996 by an entrepreneur in acid-washed jeans named Greg, and a musician/brewer named Steve. Greg and Steve had first met when a band Steve was plying for had rented a practice space at a music rehearsal studio that Greg had been operating. They didn't really start becoming friends until they had met again at UC Davis and discovered they both shared a love of beer. The kept in touch while Greg stayed in the Los Angeles area and Steve worked at Pyramid Brewery (probably in Washington), until they decided the only way they could soothe their desire of craft beer was to open their own brewery. Today, Stone is seen on every shelve of grocery stores in about every state that permits the sale of craft beer with higher alcohol contents. It can be distinguished from other beers by any gargoyle on different varieties of brew.

Firehouse Brewing company on the other hand has a very charitable reason for its founding. While both Stone and Firehouse both contribute vast amounts to charity, Firehouse was started by a group of firefighters in effort to provide for the families of the victims of the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. You can also see Firehouse on many grocery store shelves; and it can be distinguished by the logo of a fire chief and engine crew alongside a brick wall packaging pattern.

So, both seem to be great places to work and are very rapid growing, yet young so that there is room for advancement. I have gotten a phone call back from Firehouse and only a generated email response from Stone, so it maybe that only Firehouse is looking at hiring me; but it would be cool to work at stone seeing as how it's only a few minutes from school and everybody knows it. If neither hire me, I'll just have to keep reapplying at their locations and many of San Diego county's breweries and hope that one likes what I have to offer.

Leave It Out

I decided that I didn't like how the head was forming on my stout and chose to leave it at room temp for a few extra days. I put one in the fridge last nigh and opened one right now and noticed a great increase in carbonation and head retention. It still tastes the same though. I wish I could get the bitter coffee to be more in the back and the chocolate to come out more. I'll have to put this venture back on the drawing board.

Export Stout

Well, my imperial stout didn't turn out like I had planned. It is, however, still very good. The only things I don't like about it are the head and the lower than anticipated original gravity. The head is only about 3 fingers and falls quickly, but does have okay lacing. The original gravity was only 1.072 which is lower than the 1.090 I was hoping for. This left me with a final gravity of about 1.020 and an ABV of about 6.8%. Not too bad, but not strong enough to consider it as imperial.

The aroma of coffee and chocolate fill the room as soon as you open the bottle, so that seems to be a good sign to me. The chocolate never hits the palate as the bitter coffee flavor takes over. The color is very dark (no light getting through this one), and reminds me of old motor oil. Funny. It doesn't taste like any old motor oil I've ever had.

Even with the low gravity, I'm fairly satisfied with the outcome. The only thing that still gets me is that I can't figure out a good way to filter out all the little bits of fine grains that slip through.

I Want to Try Something New

I'm still fairly new to the all-grain brewing, and even brewing in general, but I really enjoy drinking imperial stouts. They really give you a full all-around satisfied feeling when you drink them. I love the bitter coffee aroma and the dark chocolate aftertaste they give you as they warm your throat and stomach; I also don't mind the high ABV that accompanies them. So, I figured I would try to create one of my own.
This one's going to take a lot longer than the other ales I've brewed. From the time I dough in to happy hour, it will have been about 4 months according to what most recipes call for. I guess you can let it sit longer due to the high gravity of them. So, that means it has more sugar to start with and takes longer to ferment. I guess I'll be taking a lot of hydrometer readings.
I know a lot of people here swear Rogue Ales brews the best stout, but I think I would make something more like Old Rasputin. I love that ale. I'm planning on starting out with 15 lbs of 2-row, .75 pounds roast, 1 pound chocolate malt, .75 pounds black malt, 1 pound dark crystal, 1 oz Willamette at 90 minutes, 1 oz Cascade at 30 min, 1 oz Kent's at 15 minutes along with some gypsum, and Irish moss at 15 minutes.
I'm open to suggestions if anybody has any!

I take it Back

I opened an other bottle of my Scotch 80 export tonight. A couple days ago I had commented on how it didn't have the "kick" I was looking for. While I did get a buzz from the 22 ounce bottle, it didn't satisfy the palate like I wanted to. However, today's bottle gave quite some mouthful to it with a very rich body and even more head. I guess I should let it mature an extra week to get the best out of it.

Scottish 80 export.

I last spoke about bottling my all grain Scotch 80. Today was about 1 week since I had placed the bottles in the dark to be forgotten. I figured it was time to just try one, so I did. I cracked open a 22 ounce bottle I had placed in the refrigerator to allow all the floaties to settle to the bottom of the bottle.
Now, this brew didn't turn out like I had wanted it. I wanted something a little stronger than my original SG of 1.049 which turned out about 4.7 ABV in the end. I also don't think the straining should have been done prior to bottling. I think the straining should maybe happen either right before the boil, or right after as to get left over hops.
So, it wasn't as sharp as I'd have liked it, but it did have a great aroma to it. It smelled very malty and fruity with a nose of barley, yeast, mild alcohol, and lavender. It also had an awesome head, so props to Copper's carbo tabs.
Besides being a little weaker and maybe a little over oxygenated, I had a pretty good time in my first all grain and I hope to be doing the ever so trendy blogging about any future experiments.

Bottling Day

Today was bottling day. I had cleaned all my bottles with StarSan and left them to drain for a couple hours. I cleaned all my siphoning gear and bottling bucked and prepared the fermenter to be drained.
I did something that was a little unorthodox, I guess, in that I first siphoned and used a strainer to get some little particles of hops, grain, apples and some clumped yeast. I guess this isn't recommended in that it causes some splash and oxygenates the beer. But, I did it anyway and had a jolly-ol'-time in doing so by holding the strainer as close to the top of the beer filling the bottling bucket.
I then took my sanitized bottles and filled them from the bottling bucket by attaching my auto siphon to a bottling wand. The bottling wand has a little valve that will trip when pressure is applied and will allow the beer to flow; the opposite for when pressure is released. This allows you to go from bottle to bottle with little to no spill.
I then took some Cooper's carbon tabs and placed one in each twelve ounce bottle and two in each twenty-two ounce bottle. I then took my bottle caps that had been sitting in some StarSan and used a capper to press each one on the tops of every bottle, set the full bottles in a box, placed the boxes in a cupboard and swore to forget about them for two weeks. That didn't happen.