Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

Sweet Stout – AKA Benedict Arnold Stout

November 27th, 2013

Or Milk Stout if you please. This beers brew day was actually November 15th and I just realized when logging in to note it’s final gravity that I forgot to even add the entry. This beer was the final beer in my dutch oven style brewing marathon of Safale-05. I brewed an IPA, Imperial Stout and finally this sweet stout. I’d heard from podcast before that 05 had a distinct subtle peach/pineapple/tropical/biting type character and that’s definitely evident. It’s interesting and good if you like that character. I do like the yeast and enjoy the beers. I think the best part about it is it just works as expected every time. Also it needs to be noted that I ended up using US Goldings instead of East Kent Goldings.

The most interesting part of this experiment was tossing the sweet stout on top of the cake after the larger Imperial stout. The theory was added complexity by some blending.

The sweet stout although it was targeted OG of 1.057 ended up closer to 1.065 as my unpredictable efficiency woes continue. The final gravity was about 1.012 as desired. The mouthfeel is right and the lactose is definitely there. With some age this should be very interesting. I need to re-note this post after I try it carbonated.

Dutch oven brewing as I am calling it is pitching on top of the same yeast in the same fermenter. Essentially I take one beer out and 15 minutes later pump the second in. As with cast iron cooking the seasoning adds a little something special to the beers. After the primary fermentation I quickly remove the beer to minimize any chance of harsh off flavors. Obviously this won’t work for all flavors but I think with things like Stouts and Barley wine I can produce some nice complexity.

Update 12/7/2013

This’ll be called Benedict Arnold Stout because it’s a British beer made with US ingredients. I found it funny at least. 😛

Update 3/10/2014

This beer ended up winning Best of Show in the Louisiana Club Homebrew Competition.   I came back to read my notes before sharing the recipe with people and realized I forgot to add the water treatment I use.   Essentially I treat 10 gallons of Baton Rouge tap water with  the same treatment I used for the Russian Imperial Stout.

Interesting enough this beer didn’t place at the Bataille des Bieres yet it did get low 40’s marks.   The marks from that competition were that it was slightly too bitter which I agreed with at the time.   As with most stouts a little time fixed that problem in about a month.   I really look forward to getting my scoresheets from the LCHC.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 29.0 IBUs 33.8 SRM 1.057 1.012 5.9 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Sweet Stout 13 B 1.044 - 1.06 1.012 - 1.024 20 - 40 30 - 40 2 - 2.4 4 - 6 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt, Maris Otter 11 lbs 73.33
Black (Patent) Malt 1 lbs 6.67
Cara-Pils/Dextrine 1 lbs 6.67
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L 1 lbs 6.67
Milk Sugar (Lactose) 1 lbs 6.67

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Goldings, East Kent 2 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 5

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Safale American (US-05) DCL/Fermentis 77% 59°F - 75°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 156°F 45 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes

Pitching this on top of the Russian Imperial Stout cake that was pitched on top of the Tomahawk American Pale Cake.

Russian Imperial Stout

November 7th, 2013

I’ll be pitching this on top of the Safale-05 beer from two weeks ago since this big ole beer will need one heck of a starter.  The original recipe called for a big hit of WLP001 so this should do just fine.

Update 11/8/2013 

Brew day went not so smooth.  Using Beersmith for the first time in brewing was a little confusing and took some getting used to.   Had a boil over, had pump issues, had some strange issue with hitting mash temperature and the thing was all over the place at first.   So a perfect storm for a great impossible to reproduce beer.  The original gravity was. 1.110 although I had to add 2 pounds of DME due to continued efficiency issues.   The wort tasted amazing though so this thing should be pretty fantastic.   Pitched it on that yeast cake and it was fermenting hard n heavy in less than 4 hours.

 Update 11/9/2013

airlock on bottom of the chest freezer, wild out of control fermentation.   Looks good!  Blow off tube rigged and a mess to clean up when it’s done.

Update 11/20/2013

This beer finished just fine at 1.025ish and a very healthy 11-12% ABV.  All the flavors are certainly present and it’s a fine beer carbonated.   Given a few months the complexity will certainly develop as it refines but I think this beer would win medals today.  Very happy given this is one of the more expensive beers I’ve  brewed.

Update 3/10/2014

After getting score sheets and results back from a couple of competitions this beer was deemed to be slightly lacking in body.  The scores were high 30’s and a 40 which while ver good aren’t winners.   I believe  a nice dose of flaked barley would put this beer right on the money.   I apparently lapsed in my judgement on carbonation.  I shot for lower intentionally but the judges didn’t like it.   Perhaps this was a result of the need for more dextrin or flaked barley?(thanks for the suggestion Toby)

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 59.3 IBUs 53.5 SRM 1.107 SG 1.026 SG 10.7 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Imperial Stout 13 F 1.075 - 1.115 1.018 - 1.03 50 - 90 30 - 40 1.8 - 2.6 8 - 12 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) UK 20 lbs 76.92
Roasted Barley 1 lbs 3.85
Special B Malt 1 lbs 3.85
Black (Patent) Malt 0.5 lbs 1.92
Caramunich Malt 0.5 lbs 1.92
Chocolate Malt 0.5 lbs 1.92
Pale Chocolate Malt 0.5 lbs 1.92
Light Dry Extract 2 lbs 7.69

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Magnum 2 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 14
Goldings, East Kent 2 oz 1 min Aroma Pellet 5
Goldings, East Kent 2 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 5

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 15.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 5.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 5.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 5.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Safale American (US-05) DCL/Fermentis 77% 59°F - 75°F

Notes

Pitched on top of an American Ale yeast cake.

 

American APA – With Wheat, Melanoidin

October 26th, 2013

So I’m working on brewing an American Pale I really enjoy.   I brewed a somewhat similar IPA which I enjoyed and did ok at Dixie Cup but I want something more malty yet similar.   So I’m giving this guy a shot and see how it does.   It should at least have a nice red color.  As a note I’ll be putting in 100ml of phosphoric acid not 90ml.  6.75 tablespoons

Trying something different by using Brewers Friend to calculate the water.  We’ll see how it goes!

Update 11/20/2013

After about a month this beer tastes very nice.   The Columbus hops are certainly interesting and assertive.   Very ruddy and spicy as is expected from American hops.   The Cascade does what Cascade does and the Simcoe is certainly there.   This beer is extremely easy drinking that’s for sure with a nice malt profile hanging in the background.   In early December it should be clear and ready to bottle.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 13 1.05 1.014 5

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 10 10A 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 45 5 - 14 0 - 0 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) US 10 lbs 80
Wheat Malt, Ger 1 lbs 8
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L 12 oz 6
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 8 oz 4
Melanoiden Malt 4 oz 2

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Columbus (Tomahawk) 1 oz 30 min Boil Pellet 14
Simcoe 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 13.5
Cascade 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 5.5
Columbus (Tomahawk) 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 14

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 3174.66 oz 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 70.55 oz 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 38.8 oz 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 38.8 oz 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
SafAle American Ale (US-05) DCL Yeast 75% 59°F - 75°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
New Mash Step 153°F 60 min

Notes

acid used was phosphoric acid. 18 teaspoons or 90 ml or 6 tablespoons to be easier.

Oktoberfest for 2013 Party

August 30th, 2013

We’re having an Oktoberfest again for Brasseurs a la Maison. Got to have a Marzen for that. This one should come out good based on the brew day and 4 days in to fermentation it’s going quite well. I tightened the gap on my mill for the crush on this one due to bad efficiency on the bock I made the same day and appeared to get a better efficiency on this one. I’m beginning to wonder if those things start to slip over time. This beer was actually brewed 8/26/2013.

The brew came out very nice but as of the party it still needs some age. There was plenty of beer so I brought it home to spend time lagering and hopefully will be nice at the end of October. This and the bock I fermented with it I had at ambient temperature of 50F instead of the 45F that had been failing fermentations on me. I think unless I’m pitching 5 liter starters I’ll stick with this temperature.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 90 min 15 1.06 1.015 6

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Munich Malt 8 lbs 53.33
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 5 lbs 33.33
Caramunich Malt 1 lbs 6.67
Vienna Malt 1 lbs 6.67

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertauer 1.5 oz 60 min Aroma Pellet 4.8
Hallertauer 0.25 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 4.8

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Octoberfest/Marzen Lager (WLP820) White Labs 69% 52°F - 58°F

Notes

Used the mix of 2 parts caramunich III, 1 part Vienna and 1 part munich to get the 1 pound of caramunich due to mess up at brew store. The second addition of hops was actually just something continental based on the smell of the hops. The label came off the bag but I'm pretty sure it was magnum. I just needed something appropriate for a little hop aroma.

Bock Plus Vienna

August 28th, 2013

This bock was a little bit of a trainwreck beer. Brewstock messed up my order and combined my two stock-up base grains. No worries as I just calculated how much caramunich was coming out of this mix of caramunich and Vienna I was sent. Everything went pretty well. I may have gone heavy on the Epson salts but we’ll see. I pitched on top of the yeast from last month’s Helles Bock and boy that thing took off with the WLP833. Brew date was 8/26/2013

Update 9/27/2013

This beer turned out fantastic in my opinion. It’s just a wonderfully smooth and rich beer at 1 month. Given another month it should clear more and be a beer that can win some awards.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6.5 gal 90 min 18 1.08 1.018 8

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Munich Malt 14 lbs 59.57
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 4 lbs 17.02
Caramunich Malt 2 lbs 8.51
Extra Light Dry Extract 2 lbs 8.51
Vienna Malt 1 lbs 4.26
Aromatic Malt 0.5 lbs 2.13

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertauer 2 oz 60 min Aroma Pellet 4.8
Hallertauer 0.5 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 4.8

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 60 min Mash Water Agent
Whirlfloc Tablet 15 min Boil Fining

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
German Bock Lager (WLP833) White Labs 73% 48°F - 55°F

Notes

Caramunich 3 came in a mix of 2lbs caramunich 1 pound vienna and 1 pound munich

I Eised my First Bock in my Weizenbock

August 3rd, 2013

How do you like that title? It really concentrated the phenolics so if it doesn’t mellow out a drinker will never get past the phenols. As I understand it I can rest assured it’ll mellow. With any amount of luck this should be a great weizenbock entry for Dixie Cup and Roberts Cove beer competitions.

The “Eis” part means you put your keg at a freezing temperature and when you can hear it slushing with ice you transfer the liquid to a second keg. The beer is then much more concentrated and strong.

July Helles Bock

July 28th, 2013

Brewing another Helles bock.   I did this last year and it was one of my favorite beers ever.  Did well at the Dixie Cup but didn’t medal so we’ll try again this year!

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 90 min 14 1.07 1.011 7

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 12 lbs 71.64
Munich Malt 4 lbs 23.88
Caramunich Malt 8 oz 2.99
Aromatic Malt 4 oz 1.49

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Magnum 1 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 14

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 141.1 oz 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 21.16 oz 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 17.64 oz 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 8.82 oz 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
German Bock Lager (WLP833) White Labs 73% 48°F - 55°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
New Mash Step 153°F 90 min

Notes

The acid will be phosphoric acid this time. Out of lactic acid.

Bock Bock Doppelbock for Club Brew Day

May 22nd, 2013

May 26, 2013 I’ll be brewing my adaptation of Jamil’s Doppelbock for the Brasseurs a la Maison club brew day.   With any luck this beer will come out well and serve for a great Fall drinker and perhaps place in a few little competitions like 2013 Dixie Cup and 2014 Bluebonnet Brew Off.   If that works out I’ll save enough for 2014 AHA competition.

I’ve been too lazy/forgetful to buy gram a scale so I’m yet again noting my guestimates on water additions.    .6 teaspoon of Calcium Chloride.   .5 teaspoon of Epsom salt and .25 teaspoon of calcium chloride.  8-9 ml of lactic acid should do for this batch.

How it Went(5/27/2013):

All in all the brew went pretty well.   I’m still having trouble with the new brew rig and I think it was amplified by having a bunch of folks around.    I did add an additional .6 teaspoon of calcium chloride to get more calcium due to Nathan explaining why adding chalk was a waste of time.    Other than that there were no deviations and the gravity ended up at 1.077 which is almost right on.    I did forget the whirfloc tablet but oh well it still looks very clear.   Also I ended up with a slight Caramunich substitution.  I only had 1.5 pound of Caramunich III so there is .5 pound of Caramunich I in there.   Waited overnight for the wort to cool way down to about 40F and pitched my 1 gallon starter.   Lots of carbon dioxide coming off it within a few hours so it is chugging away.

Update 6/18/2013

After two weeks of fermentation it completely tanked and finished cloying.   I’m pretty confused about the whole thing since it appeared to be going so well I didn’t even bother with checking the gravity until what I thought was the end.     Will rebrew in a month after the barleywines I have planned and probably research the yeast vs the WLP837 I normally use for these beers.   Really a bummer because even the cloying beer tastes great for a few sips.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 90 min 15 1.08 1.018 7.5

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Doppelbock 5 5C 1.072 - 1.112 1.016 - 1.024 16 - 26 6 - 25 0 - 0 7 - 10 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Munich Malt 14 lbs 68.29
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 4 lbs 19.51
Caramunich Malt 2 lbs 9.76
Melanoiden Malt 0.5 lbs 2.44

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertauer 2 oz 60 min Aroma Pellet 4.8
Hallertauer 0.5 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 4.8

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 60 min Mash Water Agent
Chalk 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Southern German Lager (WLP838) White Labs 72% 50°F - 55°F

Notes

One gallon starter made from an initial 2 liter starter. The Munich malt used in this recipe was a little on the light side for Munich Malt. It's Best Brand and around 7 Love. 25 quarts of water to mash infuse at 166F. 2.5 gallons lost in absorption. 10 total gallons have to go through the mash with hopes of pulling 7.5 of wort pre-boil of a respectable gravity.

 

Mosaic Amarillo Late Hop IPA

May 9th, 2013

So I will brew two beers tomorrow 5/10/2013.   For my first beer I’m going to do an IPA.  The second beer will the the Weizenbock further down the blog.

How it went on 5/11/2013

After getting rained out on Friday I finally got to brew on the new system on Saturday.   It was a lot of fun but I’ve got to admit I really didn’t know what the Hell I was doing and was basically flying off how I thought it should work.   I did have a few issues.

1.  My efficiency ended up being pretty bad on both batches.   I’m not used to working with a pump nor am I used to sparging with a auto-sparge which was a little clumsy for me.    I think I ran off the wort a too fast and I think I mashed with too much water per pound at 1.5 quarts per pound.    Additionally I think I need to adjust the mill and try a finer crush.   My crush suspicion is due to efficiency dropping on the old system as well.

2.  I’m going to bail out on the Blichmann therminator and go with the whirlpool chiller.   On the first batch it cooled fairly quickly but I had to use a hop bag for my hops to prevent clogging.   I don’t like having to use hop bags as it’s another variable.   I already own a pretty good immersion chiller and I can buy a $30 addition for whirl-pooling which I think I’ll prefer.    I got pushed over the edge when I forgot to use the hop bag on the second batch and ended up clogging the chiller some as it’s speed slowed.    After I test and confirm whirl-pooling tool someone will end up with a plate chiller at a deal and i can re-invest on a second pump.

Why a second pump?   Well I’ve figured out with two pumps, the hoses I have and the whirl-pooling tool I can boil/chill/recirculate/mash a second batch all in circuit without a whole boat load of hose switching or waiting for other processes to finish.

Despite very low gravities(1.05 for the IPA and 1.06 for the weizenbock) the wort was spectacularly clear, clean and fermentation took off quickly.    They’ll be unbalanced but they’ll be very hoppy which most of my beer friends love so it’ll drink for certain.   Next time I’ll do better on the system.

Update 5/16/2013

Dry hopping ended up being .9 ounces of Amarillo as I’m now out.   I also didn’t have enough Mosaic to hang on to so there is about 1.4 ounce of Mosaic in this dry hop.   I guess we’ll see how this little botch beer turns out!

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 0 1.06 1.015 6

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American IPA 14 14B 1.056 - 1.075 1.01 - 1.018 40 - 70 6 - 15 0 - 0 5.5 - 7.5 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) US 12 lbs 92.31
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L 0.5 lbs 3.85
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 0.5 lbs 3.85

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Amarillo 1.5 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 9.5
Mosaic 1.5 oz 20 min Boil 12.5
Amarillo 1 oz 1 min Aroma Pellet 9.5
Mosaic 1 oz 1 min Aroma 12.5
Amarillo 0.5 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 9.5
Mosaic 0.5 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12.5

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
California Ale V (WLP051) White Labs 73% 66°F - 70°F

Notes

4 gallons of water in the mash.

Took the BJCP Tasting Exam

May 6th, 2013

Talk about the quickest two hours of my life as time flew while trying to quickly describe what I percieved in these beers.  It was certainly a unique set of circumstances for a test being that it was essentially a blind beer tasting exam where they give you a blank BJCP exam sheet with many of the descriptive words from the left column removed, pour you a beer and tell you what sort of beer they’re claiming it to be.    Walking in to the exam I thought that 15 minutes was an extremely long period of time to describe a beer but actually you’re scrambling to finish each beers description in 15 minutes.

As far as which beers were thrown at us it wasn’t that bad.   Premium American Lager, Mild, ESB, American Rye, Doppel bock and English Barleywine.    I was at least fairly familiar with taste profiles of all but the Rye.    I have a hard time understanding rye taste in beer but I think I winged it ok with my base understanding of the style.    I suspect that all of the BJCP exams for the most part go easy on which beers folks have to judge and don’t go all the way to the really obscure styles.   I talked with a guy who took it at a different location and he was hit with some fairly familiar styles as well.

The Bay Area Mastronauts made the whole experience a lot of fun.   They were very hospitable and fun to be around.    It certainly made the whole “test” aspect of it a little less anxious experience for me.    They’ve got their own home brewing competition coming up here in a few months that I’ll have to go check out.

After the exam we all headed down to a place called Boondoggles that had pretty awesome pizza, calzones and an excellent selection of draft beers.   The restaurant had a great view of the water and some really cool decour.   Definitely worth checking out if you’re in Houston/ SeaBrook
Boondoggles on Urbanspoon

Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

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