Brew 10: Chocolate Hazelnut Porter

How could I not make a beer called chocolate hazelnut porter? From the Brewing Classic Styles:

Grain Bill:

11.5 lbs Canadian 2-Row (1.5-2.1°L)
1.5 lbs Munich (6-10°L)
1 lb Crystal Light (40°L)
1 lb Crystal Medium (75°L)
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (450-500°L)
0.5 lb Black Malt [black patent] (500-600°L)

Hops:

2 oz East Kent Goldings (3.4%)
2 oz Willamette (4.7%)

Yeast:

American Ale (Wyeast 1056)

Additives:

0.5 lb of cocoa powder at end of boil
15 ml Hazelnut Extract at bottling

3 1/2 hours last night after work and I was done in time to watch some TV with Amber. I enjoyed some homebrew witbier during the boil.

Brew 9: Scottish Heavy, Stout, India Amber Ale, Oktoberfest

This is my first real collaboration with another brewer. I was contacted by my brewing mentor a week ago to see if I would like to come brew 4 batches of beer to help use up 50 lbs of left over grain and some aging hops. I supplied the yeast and my brewing equipment so we could brew 2 batches at a time.



I borrowed Alex's equipment for my first five all grain brews and ultimately modelled my nano brewery after his, so we've been in touch a fair bit over the last year. He put together recipes to match his load of munich and vienna malts. We looked at the hops he had left from competition wins and agreed on some combos.



Here are our recipe outlines:

India Amber Ale
Grain Bill: 4.5 lb 2-Row, 4.5 lb Light Munich, 1 lb Crystal 60º, 0.67 lb Victory, 0.25 lb Chocolate, 0.125 lb Melanoiden
Hops: 2.5 oz Experimental P09-2 (60 min), 2 oz Falconer's Flight (5 min), 2 oz Falconer's Flight (0 min)
Yeast: Wyeast 1203 Burton IPA



Oktoberfest
Grain Bill: 7.7 lb Light Munich, 4.5 lb Vienna, 1 lb Crystal 60º, 0.1 lb Melanoiden
Hops: 0.5 oz Aramis (60 min), 0.5 oz Aramis (30 min), 1 oz Aramis (15 min)
Yeast: Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager



Stout (Foreign Extra)
Grain Bill: 7 lb Vienna, 3.75 lb Light Munich, 0.7 lb Black Patent, 0.5 lb Victory, 0.5 lb Chocolate, 0.44 lb Melanoiden, 0.14 Peated Malt
Hops: 1 oz Experimental P09-2 (60 min), 2 oz Experimental P09-2 (30 min), 1 oz Experimental P09-2 (15 min)
Yeast: Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale


Scottish Heavy 70
Grain Bill: 4.75 lb Munich, 4.7 lb Light Munich, 1.7 lb Vienna, 0.3 lb Black Patent, 0.25 lb Chocolate, 0.25 lb Peated Malt, 0.125 lb Melanoiden
Hops: 1.5 oz Triskel (60 min)
Yeast: Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale



We brewed from 10 am through to about 4 pm and Alex was going strong when I left with a fifth brew of his own. We plan on sharing our beer with our church's Man Scouts.

Brew 8: Imperial IPA

When I read that Russian River brewmaster had shared his recipe for Pliny the Elder, I had to try! Pliny is consistently a top rated beer (currently #7 overall at BeerAdvocate). Picked up the recipe from Brewing Classic Styles, a must for home brewers.



It becomes readily apparent that this is a robust brew considering that it cost me nearly $90 in ingredients (and yes, I know I could have save money had I ordered stuff online).

$25 in malted grains
$10 in yeast
$55 in hops

To give a sense of how many more hops this recipe calls for, a typical non-hoppy 5-gallon batch of beer would likely call for 2 ounces of hops. This one uses 16 ounces.

As far as home brewing for economic reasons, this one still makes sense since the typical imperial IPA costs double other beer. Still pricy though.



6 ounces of hops in the boil for bittering:

2 oz Columbus (15% alpha acids) 90 min
2 oz Chinook (12%) 90 min
1 oz Simcoe (12%) 45 min
1 oz Columbus (15%) 30 min

This gives the beer a ridiculous measure of International Bitterness Units: 336 IBU. Alexander Keiths India Pale Ale has a 28 IBU. Lagunitas Maximus Imperial India Pale Ale is 78 IBU. Nelson's Full Nelson Imperial IPA is 90 IBU. I found a few beer with 100+ IBU, but that's all they state: 100+ IBU. Bushwakker Trephination Double IPA 100+ IBU and Alley Kat Dragon Series Green Dragon Double IPA 100+ IBU.

Then some hops are added at knockout, the moment the boil ends in order to take advantage of the aromatic oils that are released when hops are added. If they are added any earlier, the oils (which add aroma and flavour) are boiled away and only the acids remain (which only bitter as they are boiled - alpha and beta acids play different roles).

2.25 oz Centennial (strong citrus tones)
1.5 oz Simcoe (passion fruit, pine, earthy, and citrus tones)

Fermentation emitted the most amazing aromas and the initial froth seemed cleaner than all my other brews despite a hop bag bursting in the boil and a bunch of grain getting out of the mash tun.

Then, after the initial fermentation is over, more hops are added. This process is called dry hopping. This process continues to compound the aromatic and flavour profile of the ale. The first dry hopping will last 13 days until bottling. The second will be added 5 days before the end.

2.75 oz Columbus (citrusy and slightly woody)
1.5 oz Centennial
1.25 oz Simcoe

0.25 oz Columbus
0.25 oz Centennial
0.25 oz Simcoe

Hopefully the end result will vaguely resemble its Russian River inspiration. All about hops and balance.

Brew 7: Bock & Witbier

As a beer aficionado, so far I have tended towards the British, Belgian and American ales (india pale ales, abbey ales, stouts, browns, etc.). The only German exceptions to this has really been the hefeweizen which is very pleasant in the summer and the bock (or doppelbock) which I rarely buy, but always enjoy.

So, in order to expand my skills and taste, I attempt the witbier - a lighter, more floral ale and my first lager style - a traditional bock. Lagers are trickier because they require 4 weeks and a 10ºC atmosphere to ferment. Fortunately, I have such an atmosphere wherein to ferment: an empty, unused fridge in the laundry/furnace/brewing room. Alex has lent me his temperature controller:



I decided that since I plan to brew semi-regularly for the next few years, it is probably time I gathered my own equipment. There is something responsible about sharing equipment, but it's quite a hassle to drive across the city and borrow gear when Alex isn't using it. Amber and I went out one night last week and we picked up a 28.5L turkey fryer at Canadian Tire, copper tubing at RONA, and a 45L cooler at Target (which is liquidating their inventory - first time I ever went in there actually!). I picked up some incidental parts at RONA as I assembled things.





As a result I have a mash tun made of a cooler with a 1/2" hole cut at the base of one end where a copper pipe manifold fits into it from the outside and where a plastic hose fits on the outside. I couldn't manage to find the proper fittings for a valve, so I just use gravity to ensure I don't spill my wort. It barely leaks. ;)



My new turkey fryer serves as the kettle where I boil the sweet wort collected from my mash tun. I use a copper pipe coil as my wort chiller at the end of the boil to bring the temperature down quickly. One end connects to the garden hose tap outside and the other end drains into a bucket.



My chiller is pretty wimpy, but it still cools at a rate of 4-5ºC/min which is way better than filling the bathtub with ice and cold water and waiting 2-3 hours. Beyond that, I already had 1 primary fermenter, 2 carboys, and all the tubing, manual pump, bottling gear, stoppers, and airlocks.



Wyeast provides a great out for last minute / lazy brewers like me. I don't have time or spare wort to get a little yeast culture going the night before a brew.



My recipes came from Brewing Classic Styles: 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew. Each brew session (I did one Sunday afternoon and another on Monday morning) takes about 4 hours, the most intensive parts are the cleaning before and after.



I wake up in the night after brewing and I just have to check to see if it has begun fermenting. My one primary fermenter holds my witbier which has a strong citrus aroma. I have an airlock (tube running to a bottle with water so the CO2 can escape without letting unsavory elements in) on my bock, so I have no idea how it smells. But it's doing the bloop bloop thing very nicely in the refrigerator.



I should be able to sample these in about 6 weeks - unlike my previous November brew which will not be ready until May.

Tool Shed Brewery & Beer for Life

A year ago, I tried my first Tool Shed beers: Star Cheek IPA, Red Rage Ale, and People Skills Cream Ale. I was immediately enamoured with the Star Cheek IPA which was a far more local, affordable, and high quality IPA compared to the west coast American IPAs I have learned to appreciate.

Graham and Jeff started out as home brewers and decided to take the plunge and start a brewery. They had to begin brewing in BC by renting Dead Frog's brewery because of the archaic brewing laws in Alberta. This year, the laws changed and they secured a spot in NE Calgary and have built a magnificent brewery.



To help raise capital and extend their appreciation to their original backers, they offer 100 Golden Growlers: Beer for life for $5,000. If you're interested in the terms of the agreement, you can contact them. Graham responded very quickly to my clarifying questions and invited me to come and meet him to chat about it.

The beer maxes out to 200L each year. They are happy to provide the beer in growlers, cans, kegs, etc. You can have several people attached to a single Golden Growler subscription and each will be able to access the benefits (sharing the 200L - about 600 beer - of course). Another benefit is exclusive access to test batches.



So, on October 23, Amber and I went on a date to visit the new brewery and get a tour by Jeff. He spent 45 minutes with us showing us the new digs and telling us about the plans. They had brewed their first batch that day, but he was happy to take the time. I signed up and handed over the money that would give me and 2 friends the benefit of beer for life.



The 100 Golden Growler members' photos will be featured on a wall. Each will be given a special 1.89 L growler and be invited to exclusive events. I'm excited for the first one where we will get to try the test batch of the Eggnog Milk Stout.

Brew Six-B: In Flanders Fields Red Ale

The second of the two batches I brewed on November 10 was a Flanders Red Ale. The primary flavour profile of this type of beer is the yeast, but the grain selection adds a whole lot to the mouthfeel, colour, and aroma.



I didn't have a heatstick to raise temperatures, so I had to add hot water at different intervals to do the job. I used the very helpful calculators at Brewer's Friend to help with the water volumes and temperatures. I got all my ingredients at The Vineyard.



The recipe I found led me through this:

MASH30 min @ 50˚C; 50 min @ 68˚C; 10 min @ 75.5˚C5.25 lbs Canadian Superior Pilsen (1.4-1.9˚L)
5.25 lbs Vienna Malt (3-5˚L)
1 lb Munich (6-10˚L)
0.5 lb Wheat (1.5-2.5˚L)
0.5 lb CaraRed (15.6-19.3˚L)
0.5 lb Special Aromatic (3.5-5˚L)
0.5 lb Caramel Munich (120˚L)
BOIL90 min
1 oz East Kent Goldings (5.8% alpha) - 60 min
PITCH
WLP008 East Coast Ale Yeast (initial fermentation)
WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix (second fermentation 6 days later)

22 Litres; 24 IBU; Original Gravity 1.050 (potential of 6.4% ABV)

This is a lengthy process. I will let this one ferment for 6 months to allow for the flavour to max out and allow the beautiful mix of bacteria to do its job on the beer. It is supposed to be a sour beer which I think works with the name I've chosen. Even the brew date works!

The reason I chose to make a Flanders Red is because of my enjoyment of the expensive and delicious Duchess of Bourgogne.

Brew Six-A: Czar's Imperial Stout

In preparation for the two brews I did (check out Brew Six-B), I read up on advanced brewing in my handbook: The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian. I have the 2nd edition (1991); the fourth came out this year. In it I gained a much deeper understanding of what happens during the mash and the boil.



In the mash (the process with hot water and grains), the starches from the malted grains are turned into sugars with the help of enzymes. Not all malted grains have the enzymes required - these are called adjunct grains. It's important not to have too many of these as not much sugar will appear in the wort (sugar water). Various grains bring different flavours and colours to the beer. The flavours often happen via the way the barley, wheat, oats, rice, etc. are malted - this is where all the names for the barley come from (2-row, crystal, chocolate, munich, black, etc.).

Each grain contributes to the colour of the beer. The darkness of the malt is expressed in ˚L or SRM (Standard Reference Method). I was so surprised at how dark my wort came out with only 2.25 lbs of really dark malt of 17.25 lbs of grain.



Hops are way more complicated. Primarily, they are used in bittering the wort - helping to remedy the sweetness of beer. The more malt (sugar), the more hops are needed. In this recipe, I have extracted an enormous amount of malt, so I have to use some hops with high alpha acids. The longer you boil them, the more the acids attach to the malt.

Then there are the hop oils. The oils dissipate very quickly in the boil, but the hops need to be boiled in order to extract them. To get these oils, hops are added at the very end of the boil for 1-5 minutes. The hop oils are what contribute to hoppy aroma and flavour.

The amount of hops used, the amount of acid and the amount of time they are in the boil determines the IBU or International Bitterness Units of the beer. High IBU doesn't necessarily mean the beer will be bitter, but it usually does. In the case of imperial stouts, a high IBU is needed to keep the malt in check.



One of the other new methods I got to try out was the cooling coil. If a brew is not cooled quickly after a boil, it can be infected with wild yeasts and bacteria which can impact the flavour of the beer. The coil is hooked up to a cold water source (ice water bucket with a pump or in my case, an outdoor tap). The water circulates through the wort in the copper pipe and emerges piping hot. It took about 20 minutes to bring the temperature down to 22˚C. It didn't hurt that it was outside in -20˚C weather.

MASH
30 min @ 52˚C; 30 min @ 70˚C; 10 min @ 75˚C14 lbs Canadian 2-Row (2˚L)
1 lb Crystal Medium (45˚L)
1 lb Roasted Barley (300˚L)
0.75 lb Black Malt (500˚L)
0.5 lb Chocolate Malt (350˚L)
BOIL 90 min
60 min 1 oz Northern Brewer 8.6% alpha
30 min 1 oz East Kent Goldings 5.8% alpha
30 min 0.5 oz Fuggles 5% alpha
20 min 1 oz Fuggles
2 min 0.5 oz Fuggles
PITCH
Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale @ 22˚C

23 Litres; 56 IBU; Original Gravity 1.073 (potential of 9.4% ABV)

I am very excited about this brew. It should be packed with flavour and punch. Incidentally, the term imperial is interchangeable with double - so it's a stout that is twice as strong. It's called imperial because the Brits would brew this strong stuff and export it to the czars in Russia.

Brew Five: Winter Ale & Anne's IPA

Brewing an all-grain beer is so much more work than picking up a beer kit. So, the beer had better be that much better! I was commissioned to brew 2 batches of beer for my friend Anne. The first was brewed back in June, a hefeweizen which ended up getting contaminated with lactobacillus and having a sour flavour. I brewed the second, an IPA along with a spiced winter ale on this occasion in July.



I borrowed my friend Alex's gear again: modified cooler with a copper manifold in the base which filters the sparge from the mash, thermometer, heat stick, and a turkey fryer for the boil. I set everything up in the back yard with the help of the kids picnic table.



I searched both recipes out online and modified slightly to my purposes. Here they are:

Anne's I Pee Eh (Chainbreaker White IPA Clone)
MASH (90 min)15 L Water (65-68˚C)
6 lbs Canadian Superior Pilsen (1.4-1.9°L)
2 lbs Wheat (1.5-2.5°L)
1 lb Toasted Wheat (425°L)
1 lb Crystal Medium (75°L)
BOIL (60 min)60 min - 1 oz Warrior Hops (13.7% alpha)
5 min - 1/3 oz Sweet Orange Peel; 1.5 tsp Coriander Seed; 0.5 oz Falconer's Flight Hops (10.5% alpha)
1 min - 1.5 oz Falconer's Flight; 0.5 oz Cascade Hops (5% alpha)
0.5 lb Wheat Dry Malt Extract
PITCHWyeast 1332 (Northwest Ale)

Original Gravity: 1.047
Final Gravity (30 days later): 1.006
ABV: 5.4%

Winter Ale (Sciukas All Night Long)
MASH (90 min)15 L Water (63-66˚C)
10 lbs Canadian 2-Row (2°L)
2 lbs Light Crystal Malt (45°L)
Sparge: 16L 67˚C (it should have been 75.5˚C to mash out)
BOIL (60 min)
60 min - 1.5 oz Cascade Hops (5% alpha)
6 min - 2/3 oz Sweet Orange Peel; 1 oz Ginger Root; 2 Cinnamon Sticks; 1 oz Caraway Seed; 0.2 oz Whole Clove
3 min - 1 oz Tetinang Hops (4.9% alpha)
1 lb Honey
PITCH
Wyeast 1388 (Belgian Strong Ale)

Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity (30 days later): 1.001
ABV: 6.7%

The entire process for two 5-gallon batches - cleaning, heating water, racking, bringing to boil, racking, cooling, cleaning - took 5 hours. I had to take my son to the dentist in the early afternoon and help make supper, so I started early in the morning.



Both brews turned out quite well. I have several litres of the winter ale ready for Christmas holidays and I have been enjoying some in the fall too. Now that I have read about the chemistry and enzyme reactions that occur during the mash, I think I could have made even better beer had I played with a few different temperatures and stuck with very light SRM grains for the IPA to give it a lighter colour and taste.

Touring Victoria, BC

Flew into Victoria Int'l on Friday night after a delayed connection in Vancouver due to fog. The flight from Van was only 13 minutes. The delay was over an hour. I walked off the plane into a light mist and then to the bus stop where the bus rolls by once per hour. I had called transit and learned the bus would depart 20 minutes after arrival. While the shuttles were filling up, I sat alone on little bus. It was a 6 minute ride to the exchange just off the highway where I waited for the 70X which goes between the ferry docks of Schwartz Bay and downtown Victoria (a 30 minute drive (or 60 minute bus ride). 70X was a little late, but I didn't care! It was a double-decker bus and there was a free seat on the upper deck. Too Cool. I got off 2 blocks from my hostel, Ocean Island Backpackers Hostel.

I arrived too late to eat at a restaurant, so I enjoyed a delicious curry bowl at the Ocean Island Cafe. I slept on a bunkbed in a dormitory and only met a couple German girls who are travelling the west coast. The other guests came in after I was sleeping and were still sleeping when I left in the morning.



As I was there for the marathon, I went for a quick 3 km run through downtown and along the shore. I watched harbour light up and absorbed the cool air. It took me right back to living in the Marshall Islands.

A quick shower and check-out/check-in to the room Marc and I shared and I was off in a light drizzle to Discovery Coffee, six blocks away. I ordered a couple baked goods and a light roast espresso which was stellar! So stellar that I ordered another.



I read by book, Culture, Commonweal and Personhood by Lazar Puhalo (just across the water), whilst taking in the coffee, cafe aromas, groovy tunes, and the torrents of rain outside. I ordered a third coffee - a pour over light roast. So yummy.



I met up with Marc at Ocean Island and we picked up our marathon package at the fitness fair. Then we were ready to carb up. I picked Swan's Brewpub and had a flight with Riley's Scotch Ale, SOS Oatmeal Stout, IPA, and Coconut Porter. Oh and a big plate of eggs, sausages, bacon and pancakes. Marc and I chatted about religion.





Marc went to visit an aunt and uncle, so I went for a walkabout in the north-central part of downtown initially hoping to sample some Phillips beer at their brewery, but it was pretty crowded with folks filling growlers and I had already tried the ones they had on tap, so I just had a look around. Most impressive was Phillips yard of fermenters and kegs ready to ship.

There was a nice furniture store and a Value Village that drew me in for a while. I browsed VV's book section and formed a nice collection of books that I had no choice but to re-shelve and leave behind. I enjoyed some edamame (so many I couldn't finish) and a giant veggie burrito at Ocean Island along with a pint of Blue Buck before heading to the theatre to see Gone Girl - which was spectacular.

Before heading to bed I laid out my marathon gear and packed up everything else. The hostel was pretty loud through the night, but I had earplugs.