Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

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	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.

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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

National Homebrew Competition Results and BJCP Exam in Houston

May 4th, 2013

It’s been an extremely busy for me and my beer hobby lately. I’ve been buying a new brew system, having to go pick it up, participating in Zapp’s, judging in the Louisiana Club Competition and oh yeah trying to brew every now and then. It all culminates this weekend with me getting my AHA results back and taking the BJCP exam in Houston tomorrow.

American Homebrew Competition Results

I put 3 beers in the AHA competition this year. A bock, a barleywine and a Dunkel all of which I really enjoy. The barleywine managed to advance to the second round of the NHC, the bock scored very well with a 41 and the dunkel didn’t get a lot of love with a 30. The one fault all the beers had in common were an overall impression section including a desire for more carbonation which matches the comments my weizen got earlier this month from the club competition. I currently carbonate high thinking that the carbonation will maintain through the bottling process but apparently it isn’t enough. One judge commented that I might cool down the tools and the bottles before bottling. I’ll have to do more research but I’m fairly sure I can move up from 3rd place and min-bos results to 1st and 2nd place showings.

BJCP Tasting Exam in Houston

I’m driving my ass all the way to Houston and back in one day to drink beer. The Baton Rouge tasting exam for 2013 was already full 6 months in advance so I got on every waiting list within 6 miles and got a spot with the Bay Area Mastronauts so I’m using it or losing it. I’ve studied enough for this thing so failure shouldn’t be an option.

Lagers of New Orleans

February 17th, 2013

I’ve recently been taking a “beer appreciation” class put on by the Crescent City Homebrewers and after our last class my friends and I ended up on Veterans and looking for a place to eat. We stumbled upon Lagers which is ideal for us. Walking in it rings pub not restaurants which is good. The waitstaff was right there smiling as we seated ourselves and a very nice server met us. They’ve got a huge selection of beers on tap which I honestly didn’t get time to review. My beer loving friends and I had no issues finding beers we wanted and quickly ordered. The beer tasted very good and fresh so no complaints for sure!

The menu had all sorts of choices most of which were beer inspired items. I settled on the fish of the day sandwich. We ordered and the items came out not too long after. The sandwich was excellent. Mahi Mahi cooked just right and served on a soft wheat but with great tasting sweet potato fries.

I’ll certainly stop at Lagers again.

Belgian Golden Strong

February 7th, 2013

Continuing with my sack of Dingeman’s Belgian Pilsner malt with Belgian Golden Strong Ale. It should be a good one!

How it Went: 2/9/2013

Great brew day. I made some adjustments and they all worked out. First off I went with a more rigorous boil. I’ve been following what I heard on the Jamil Show about a “barely moving surface” boil without considering where he was brewing vs where I was brewing. The high humidity of Louisiana has resulted in low boil off and therefore low gravity with how I’ve been brewing. I adjusted it up some today and the end result was right on gravity. Second I had some technical ideas on how to cool and siphon with my current equipment. I used my long plastic brewing spoon to keep my siphon from sucking up too much trub from the kettle and I upped the amount of water I use to cool my kettle. Probably the most clear and clean wort I’ve ever pulled. Cooled up it under 70 degrees, aerated and pitched my 2 liter starter after decanting off the extra starter wort.

Update 2/16/2013

I’m having some deja vu on this thing as the fermentation appeared to have stalled around 1.02. I’ve transferred the beer with all it’s yeast which appears to have once again kicked up the fermentation. I’ve moved it in to the house to sit at a higher temperature and hopefully finish. If in a week it’s still above 1.014 I will pitch an active starter. I’m apparently missing something about managing a Belgian fermentation.

Update 3/2/2013

This beer will finish out and taste very good. Feb 22 it was around 75+% attenuation. March 1 it’s right about 80+% attenuation and should be nice and dry at around 1.008 when I keg it on 3/4/2013. I’m adjusting pitching rates for future beers and definitely giving padded time for fermentation when it comes to these Belgians.

Recipe Details

Batch Size	Boil Time	IBU	SRM	Est. OG	Est. FG	ABV
6 gal	90 min		3	1.072	1.007	8.5

Style Details

Name	Cat.	OG Range	FG Range	IBU	SRM	Carb	ABV
Belgian Golden Strong Ale	18 18D	1.07 - 1.095	1.005 - 1.016	22 - 35	3 - 6	0 - 0	7.5 - 10.5 %

Fermentables

Name	Amount	%
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel	12 lbs	80
Sugar, Table (Sucrose)	3 lbs	20

Hops

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Form	Alpha %
Saaz	4 oz	60 min	Boil	Pellet	4

Miscs

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Type
Lactic Acid	211.64 oz	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Whirlfloc Tablet	35.27 oz	15 min	Boil	Fining
Calcium Chloride	26.46 oz	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4)	26.46 oz	60 min	Mash	Water Agent

Yeast

Name	Lab	Attenuation	Temperature
Belgian Golden Ale (WLP570)	White Labs	78%	68°F - 75°F

Mash

Step	Temperature	Time
Mucho Maltose Step	148°F	60 min

Notes

Water profile is 100% Baton Rouge water. To be brewed February 10th 2013

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Iron Brewer Homebrew Competition at Tin Roof

February 4th, 2013

Brasseurs a la Maison homebrew club decided to have an Iron Chef style competition where each team had to use Louisiana style ingredients to brew their beer. The end result is we have a whole lot of beer that’ll need drinking so we’ve decided to put on a mini-festival when we have the beer judged at Tin Roof brewery in Baton Rouge. People will have an opportunity to try beer made with such interesting things as chicory, red beans, jasmin rice, honey, peaches, Louisiana citrus and a couple others I can’t remember off the top of my head. For the sake of doing a little good for charity while we’re at it we decided to benefit the Baton Rouge food bank so we’re asking everyone who attend bring non perishable food items to donate to the food bank. Food donation for beer is a great trade. My team made the peach beer and I can tell you it’s quite a good beer. It should be a great event. Official flyer below:

Iron Brew Comp (Medium)

Belgian Tripel 1 – Brewing for Karbach Classic Competition

January 17th, 2013

So I heard about a contest that Karbach is having for Belgian tripel. convenient because I just ordered a 55 pound sack of Belgian pilsner and some WLP530, WLP570 and WLP575 yeasts. I was planning on going to Belgium anyway. So here is my first shot at a tripel. Hopefully it’s decent enough to submit. here is a link to the Karbach Facebook Post on it

3/4 teaspoon of calcium chloride and 3/4 teaspoon of epson salt added to mash water. Prepare 7 gallons of water with intention of mashing with 6 of it. With all water losses will need 7.5 in boil. 2 lost in grain absorbtion so 9.5 gallons of water total will go through this thing. 149F target mash temperature. 90 minute mash, 90 minute boil. 161-162F strike water temperature.

How it Went on 1/20/2013

Everything went great on the whole. I hit mash temperature, I hit PH and it all seemed to be going quite well. 75 minutes in to the boil the gravity was reading 1.063 in my refractometer and I had 2 pounds of cane sugar to add. I’m thinking great this is going to give me an additional .018 of gravity but at flame out the refractometer is reading 1.078ish. I’m going to have to research that and see what’s up. Regardless the bu:gu ratio is fine and I think the product will be fantastic.

Update 1/23/2013

Fermentation took off fine. Ambient temperature of about 65F which on day 3 with high Krausen has risen to 70F. This thing has been putting off some heat because the temperature controller is set to right under 60F and the temperature is still rising. This WLP530 yeast is certainly a showing yeast with a huge plume of krausen.

Update 1/27/2013

Fermentation is still going on. I think it slowed due to weather being a little cool here. The termperature is about 65F. I’ll rouse the fermenter some and run a light to warm it up. Should finish in the next couple of days. Right now it’s at about 60% apparent attenuation and tastes quite nice albeit sweet.

Update 2/6/2013

Fermentation has been interesting on this beer. I transferred the beer from from fermenter to fermenter in order to spur fermentation which it did. On 2/3/2013 I transferred to a keg and pressurized. Leaving it at room temperature it’s managed to ferment out to about 80%AA. It tastes fantastic and seems like it’ll dry out a tad more in the next day or so which I hope it does quickly being that I have to ship it off to the Bluebonnet Brew Off for 2013. Overall I think this beer will be a winner. It’s a good balance between spiciness, Belgian yeast character and smooth maltiness. That being said anyone attempting to ferment out a 1.080 beer at ambient temperature of around 65F better pitch big and be ready to nurse it to the finish line.

Update 2/9/2013

This beer was shipped out to the Bluebonnet Brew Off. Other than the fact that it’s probably only carbonated to 2 volumes it is fantastic. I’m upping the carbonation in anticipation of shipping it to Karbach. It’s truly a great beer but at 2 volumes it isn’t giving a big puffy head. Although I believed it to be at 3 volumes when it was bottled it apparently lost too much carbonation and didn’t produce the head. It had the taste but wasn’t impressive in presentation. So I”m adding a volume and hoping to get better results.

Update 2/13/2013

Ok this is strange. The beer is now too sweet at about 3.5 volumes CO2. It appears to be showing more sugar at later servings. It’s got the right presentation now with the CO2 but tastes sweeter. Perhaps its the cold???? Lets hope the folks who judge this beer get it a little warm. Still tastes nice just too sweet.

Tasting Notes on 3/13/2013

I don’t know what was going on 2/13/2013 but this beer is very good for me. It finished around 1.017 which was about as high as is allowed in a lot of the trippel examples I saw in Brew Like a Monk. It has plenty of Belgian spice which come through and the assertive Amarillo hops are certainly there. I think it has as good a shot as any in the Karbach Carboy Classic which is where it’s about to be heading.

Recipe Details

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

Style Details

Name	Cat.	OG Range	FG Range	IBU	SRM	Carb	ABV
Belgian Tripel	18 18C	1.075 - 1.085	1.008 - 1.014	20 - 40	4.5 - 7	0 - 0	7.5 - 9.5 %

Fermentables

Name	Amount	%
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel	17 lbs	85
Cane (Beet) Sugar	2 lbs	10
Aromatic Malt	0.5 lbs	2.5
Wheat Malt, Bel	0.5 lbs	2.5

Hops

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Form	Alpha %
Saaz	1 oz	60 min	Boil	Pellet	4
Amarillo	1 oz	45 min	Boil	Pellet	9.5
Amarillo	0.5 oz	10 min	Aroma	Pellet	9.5
Saaz	0.25 oz	0 min	Aroma	Pellet	4

Yeast

Name	Lab	Attenuation	Temperature
Abbey Ale (WLP530)	White Labs	76%	66°F - 72°F

Notes

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Louisiana State Homebrew Competition Coming

January 2nd, 2013

I was really excited to see this posted by fellow Louisiana beer bloggers. I’m reposting this from BR Beer Scene who reposted it from The Beer Buddha. Very exciting to me who’s already got a half dozen competition entries brewed specifically for aging towards next years Dixie Cup. I have more than enough for this contest as well.

1ST ANNUAL LOUISIANA STATE HOMEBREW COMPETITION!
COMING THIS NOVEMBER 2013!

We’ll be organizing beer and brewing events including tastings, dinners, competitions and more!
Start planning or brewing your beers now. The competition and events will take place in New Orleans, though you will not need to be present to compete.
Some things we have in mind
-Commercial beer tastings
-Beer dinners and pairings
-Club competition with club booths (public event)
-Beer tour via street car or walking/boking
-Brewing and recipe design classes
-Brewery/Distillery bus tours
-Awards ceremony and dinner
-Big group brew
Please keep checking back for more details on events in the months to come! We will be posting more information soon!

All 23 BJCP beer categories will be allowed for entry, with ribbons going to the top three beers in each category.
Prizes from sponsors will also be awarded.
The competition will be open to residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas only.
Judging will take place over the course of a weekend in November, to be determined.
Rules and regulations to be posted by the end of January 2013.
If you would like to be involved we are looking for BJCP certified judges and volunteers.
We are looking for sponsorship of events and awards. Please email Aaron at aaron@brewstock.com for more information!
Happy homebrewing and good luck!

Centennial and Amarillo Pale Ale

December 30th, 2012

So the big hit lately has been the IPAs. The Simcoe/Centennial was a big hit so now on to the next popular hop for IPA. This will be a tad of a kitchen sink beer since I’m using what’s left of some ingredients.

Update December 31 2012

I ended up using 1/3 pound Crystal 45 and 2/3 pound Crystal 60. The brewday went fine. Mashed at 151F, ran off 7 gallons, boiled 70 minutes and gravity was hit. Pitched a one liter starter and fermentation was going great within 12 hours. The beer looks very bright and beautiful. This should be quite a good IPA.

I am a tad concerned about the phosphoric acid. It seemed to take quite a bit to get the PH down. The concentration on the bottle I have is apparently only 10% where I read others using it at 85% concentration. More research is apparently required on this and I may go back to the lactic acid which has served me well.

Update January 17, 2013

After a fine fermentation that finished out perfectly this beer is carbonated and ready to drink. It’s quite good! I’ve definitely got a nose for the pineapple/tropical/mango character of this Amarillo and the Centennial continues to be my favorite secondary character for a beer. It just makes it taste more lovely. However there’s definitely an aftertaste with Amarillo hops. It lingers on the back of the tongue! I don’t know if it’s my preferred hop. I think the Simcoe/Centennial hop is a little better but I’ll reserve judgement for two weeks until this beer brightens.

Update January 23, 2013

Well….the beer has brightened and it tastes absolutely wonderful. There’s a complexity presented by Amarillo that really brings things together for taste. The beer looks wonderful, great head retention, great clarity and beautiful smell and taste. Amarillo can make a beer taste a little sharp in initial weeks. It should be used carefully in beers involving darker malts. This beer is bright, it’s tasty and probably my favorite American ale I’ve brewed.

Recipe Details

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

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	12.5 lbs	80.65
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel	2 lbs	12.9
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L	0.5 lbs	3.23
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L	0.5 lbs	3.23

Hops

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Form	Alpha %
Amarillo	2 oz	60 min	Aroma	Pellet	9.5
Amarillo	1 oz	20 min	Aroma	Pellet	9.5
Centennial	1 oz	10 min	Boil	Pellet	10
Centennial	0.5 oz	1 min	Boil	Pellet	10
Amarillo	1 oz	0 min	Dry Hop	Pellet	9.5
Centennial	1 oz	0 min	Dry Hop	Pellet	10

Yeast

Name	Lab	Attenuation	Temperature
California Ale V (WLP051)	White Labs	73%	150.8°F - 158°F

Notes

This is a bit of a kitchen sink beer to finish off my sack of American 2-row. My wife absolutely loves this sort of beer. Water modification will be the same as project Nathan. Modify 6 gallons of water with 3/4 teaspoon gypsum. 1/3 teaspoon calcium chloride. Put 5 of that in the mash. Will try phosphoric acid in this beer instead of lactic. Will probably make up gravity with a couple of pounds of Belgian pilsner. I love that sweetness anyway.

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Took and Passed the BJCP Entrance Exam Today

November 30th, 2012

So I’ve decided to become a BJCP(Beer Judge Certification Program) certified beer judge. I have heard and tend to believe it’ll make me a better brewer through the experience of judging others beers. So I studied a lot and took the entrance exam which is the first step to becoming a judge. I’m excited. It was 200 questions in an hour and it wasn’t exactly easy.