Home Brew Batch #12: All Grain Hefeweizen

So the weather warmed up quite a bit the last couple of weeks (May '13). I remembered a Hef that I brewed a few years ago that was a big time banana bomb because is fermented really warm. With summer right around the corner, warm ambient temperature for fermenting, and a desire to try an all grain recipe other than all barley, I though a Hef was in order!

The last two all grain batches I have brewed I was only doing 2.5 gallons due to the size of my 4 gallon brewpot that could only hold enough grain for a half batch. I had the idea to do the mash in my 6 gallon fermenter, so I thought I would try a full 5 gallon batch with a lighter recipe like this Hef.

I adapted a recipe from my home brew book Brewing Classic Styles. Here it is for a 5 gallon batch:

- 6 lbs German Pilsner Malt
- 6 lbs. Wheat Malt
- 0.8 oz. Hallertau
- 1 vial White Labs WLP 380 Hefeweizen IV

Brewing was pretty straight forward with the brew in a bag method:

- 4 gal. strike water @ 165 f
- Mash at 152 f for 60 min.
- Rinsed in 1 gallon hot tap water (I should have heated it)
- Boil 30 minutes
- 0.8 oz. Hallertau
- Boil for 60 more minutes
- 1/4 tsp. Irish Moss last few minutes

I used a sink full of water and my wort chiller to get it down to about 75 f before pitching the yeast (1.050 OG). As I said above the ambient temperature was pretty high in the house (high 70's), so the next morning the fermentor was going wild and the temperature was up near 80 f. I tried to put a wet t-shirt on the fermentor to cool it down a bit, but that didn't help too much. I fermented out pretty quick and then the temperature came down.




I left it in the primary for two weeks and then bottled it. After a couple of weeks to carbonate I tried one. The banana was off the chart, but there was a lot of fusel alcohol.

Update: I just finished my last bottle in December '13. Seems like the both the banana aroma and fusel alcohol chilled out a bit. It was really good, especially because I drank it out of a glass Das Boot!

Mission Brewery: Amber Ale

5.0% ABV  43 IBU's

Mission Brewery had me hooked with their Shipwrecked DIPA. Now that I found out that they have 32 oz. oil cans of it at Costco for less than $7 I am going to be in trouble...

This is the last one of my random 12 oz. bottles that I picked up at Total Wine & More. I was already hooked on their DIPA, so I thought I would try their Amber Ale. This one pours out a bit darker and has extra malty goodness than your typical amber ale, maybe because of the German Altbier style that is referenced on the bottle.

Overall a solid beer if you are looking for an amber ale with more character than usual.

Coronodo Brewing Co.: Orange Avenue Wit

5.2% ABV  19 IBU's

The second time around for me with Coronado Brewing Co. was just right with their Orange Avenue Wit. It poured out a nice orange color. There was some good yeastyness right out of the bottle. You could definitely taste the orange peel. There seemed to be just a bit more bitterness than your average wheat beer, which I liked.

Overall a great tasting wheat beer. I look forward to making it down to their place one of these days and having a cold Orange Avenue Wit while enjoying the amazing SoCal weather.

Bootlegger's: Wildfire Wheat

5.2% ABV  17.7 IBU's

When I was on my value binge at Total Wine there was a 22 oz. bottle of Bootlegger's Wildfire Wheat for only $2.99. I couldn't resist...

When I got home and was ready to open the bottle I read the description and it said that it was a smoked beer to go along with the wildfire theme. I was a bit cautious at first because I have had a couple of smoked beers over the years and I haven't liked them.

I was pleasantly surprised though. There was just a little smokiness where you could detect it and enjoy it, but it wasn't overpowing at all. Kind of an interesing twist on a wheat beer.

Bootlegger's impresses me again!

Eel River Brewing: Acai Berry Wheat

4.0%  -  15 IBU's

I was at Total Wine & More and was perusing the craft beer bottles and noticed that most of the 12 oz. bottles were only $1.59 to $1.99. Most 22 oz bottles are $5+, so the the smaller bottles seemed like a good deal. I picked up a few random ones to try.

Eel River Brewing's Acai Berry Wheat caught my eye as is sounded refreshing. It was nice and light, didn't remind me too much of the body of a wheat beer. The acai berry flavor was nice, but I think that I would have liked just a bit more.

Overall very good and sessionable.

Home Brew Batch #11: All Grain Pale Ale #2

So I accomplished my goal of actually getting the first all-grain batch to convert properly. It was way too bitter and light on the maltiness, so I went ahead and picked up a pound of Munich malt to add to this second batch. When I looked in the hop cooler I also noticed that they had Citra hops in stock. These are my favorite type of hops and I thought they would add some nice flavor and dry hop aroma, so I grabbed a few ounces. Here is the revised recipe that I made (2.5 gallon batch):

- 3.5 pounds British 2-row malt
- 1.0 pound Munich malt
- 0.5 pound Biscuit Amber
- 0.75 oz. N. Brewer 10.6% AA (60 minutes)
- 0.25 oz. N. Brewer 10.6% AA (30 minutes)
- 0.5 oz. Cascade 6.2% AA (2 minutes)
- 0.5 oz. Citra 13.5% AA (flame out)
- 1.5 oz. Citra 13.5% AA (dry hop)
- 1/2 vial White Labs WLP001
- 1/4 oz. Irish Moss (15 minutes)

I used essentially the same brew process as the prior batch. I added a bit more strike water as the prior mash consistency was a little thick. I set the oven at 190 degrees right off the bat and that seemed to work to hold the 150 degree mash temperature. With the addition of the extra Munich malt the color and body were a bit better than the first batch. The Citra dry hopping gave it a great aroma.

Update: When the OC Fair home brew competition submission time rolled around this was the only one I had ready to put in 12 oz. bottles, so I went ahead and entered it. Did not score well at all though, apparently there was an issue with the carbonation. I think I had some inconsistency with priming sugar because some of the bottles foamed up a bit. I had experienced this with some of my bottles too. Need to stir in the priming sugar next time...

Home Brew Batch #10: All Grain Pale Ale #1

Ever since I started homebrewing, I have had an interest in trying an all grain batch. I was hesitant to do this though because of the additional equipment needed, but thanks to posts online like this one on Home Brew Talk and this one on Menu in Progress, I gained the courage to try my first all grain via the stove top / brew in a bag method.

My main goal with this batch was really to see if I could successfully convert the grains to fermentable sugars using my existing equipment. The only thing I had to buy for the stove top all grain method was a large grain sack that would completely fill my pot. I found nylon strainer bags at my local hardware store that were designed for filtering paint into a five gallon bucket, so I thought those would work fine in my 4 gallon brew kettle.

I was concerned that my brew kettle wasn't going to be big enough to fit all the grain I purchased, so I decided to cut the batch back to 2.5 gallons and it actually turned out to be a great idea. Not only did the necessary grains fit into my available brew kettle easily, but the smaller batch enabled me to do a full boil with the hops and just made life easier when transferring, cooling, etc. And I get to experiment twice as much without having to wait to finish off 5 gallons of beer before starting my next batch.



The recipe I used was very simple (2.5 gallon batch):

- 3.5 pounds British 2-row malt
- 0.5 pound Biscuit Amber
- 0.75 oz. N. Brewer 10.6% AA (60 minutes)
- 0.25 oz. N. Brewer 10.6% AA (30 minutes)
- 0.5 oz. Cascade 6.2% AA (2 minutes)
- 1/2 vial White Labs WLP001
- 1/4 oz. Irish Moss (15 minutes)

With the help of some online calculators, I was able to figure out that 1 gallon of strike water at 183 degrees would result in a mash temperature of approximately 152 degrees. I was looking to do a 60 minute mash, but was having quite a bit of trouble holding my temperature. I didn't think that it would be a good idea to blast the bottom of my brew kettle with fire because I was worried about melting the nylon bag, so instead I tried to put the kettle in the oven. Setting the oven at 160 degrees didn't even hold the temperature though, so I ended up having to set it almost all the way to 200 degrees to hold the temperature. This didn't seem to be as big of a problem with the posts that I had reviewed online. Then I rinsed my grain bag in a separate pot with 2 gallons of 180 degree water and then drained.

I was successful in getting the grains to convert into sugar (OG was low though), so that goal was accomplished and I gained some all grain confidence for my next batch. I think I was a bit aggressive on the bittering hops (I was just eyeing it because I don't have a scale yet) because it came out really bitter. For the next batch I think I will cut back on the bittering hops and throw them in as dry hops.





This was also my first attempt to cold crash to see if I could get some additional clarity in the finished product. I discovered that I need a two way air lock because my existing air lock kept trying to suck in the sanitizer as it cooled...














Update: I'm actually finishing up this post almost 9 months after actually brewing the batch... After now having completed a few all grain batches I noticed that the grain bill looked really light. I went back and took a look at the original recipe that I was using and it looks like I must have cut that grain in half when purchasing at the homebrew store knowing that I was going to be doing a 2.5 gallon batch, but I still purchased enough hops and yeast for a 5 gallon batch. Oops... So much for having my brewing recipe book right out on the counter. This goes a long way to explain why the OG was low and why it was so bitter!