Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

Pound Town IPA

February 16th, 2017

So it’s time to brew for Zapp’s beerfest. I’ve decided to brew a beer with 5 pounds of hops per gallon. I have a newer hop called Ariana I want to try out. Supposedly it’s an excellent dry hop for big fruity aromas.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 45.6 IBUs 9.1 SRM 1.062 1.012 6.6 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American IPA 14 B 1.056 - 1.075 1.01 - 1.018 40 - 70 6 - 15 2.2 - 2.7 5.5 - 7.5 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 8 lbs 54.24
Munich Malt 5 lbs 33.9
Cara-Pils/Dextrine 1 lbs 6.78
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 8 oz 3.39
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L 4 oz 1.69

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Centennial 2 oz 15 min Boil Pellet 10
Simcoe 4 oz 3 min Boil Pellet 13
Mosaic (HBC 369) 4 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 12.3
Ariana 2 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 10.2

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 8.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 7.00 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

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 150°F 75 min

Hippidy Hoppidy Rebrew

May 1st, 2016

Floated the rest of the last keg I had. I really enjoyed the brew for Zapp’s so we’re brewing it again. Adding a tad more crystal 40 and made minor changes to the hop schedule. Basically a little less simcoe and more mosaic.

The brew day was April 30 and went fine. Beer came out around 1.048 original gravity. Pitched and was bubbling well within 24 hours.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 30 min 43.9 IBUs 8.5 SRM 1.048 1.010 4.9 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 10 A 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 45 5 - 14 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Munich Malt 5 lbs 45.45
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 5 lbs 45.45
Cara-Pils/Dextrine 8 oz 4.55
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 8 oz 4.55

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Galaxy 1 oz 30 min Boil Pellet 15.2
Centennial 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 12
Simcoe 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 13
Centennial 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 12
Mosaic (HBC 369) 2 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12.3

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 11.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 8.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

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

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Notes

Didn't have as much pilsner on hand as I thought I did. Luckily I had pilsner DME at the houes. Original plan was to use Magnum for bitter but ran out so used Columbus instead.

Hippidy Hoppidy – American Pale Ale

February 28th, 2016

My wife and I are brewing this real nice American pale ale for Zapp’s beerfest. Also going to bottle about a 12 pack for competitions over the next 3 months. A slightly lighter version won a lot of praise last year at Zapp’s and in competitions so I’m optimistic. Adding Mosaic to it and probably nudging the dry hop up more than what’s below. The Hippidy Hoppidy name is something Michelle cooked up because she didn’t want me naming her beer Hopasaurus Sex again.

Brew day on 2/28 went fine. The OG came in around 1.06 which I was happy to see. I didn’t have enough pilsner on hand and had to use all my DME to bump it up. The math was fuzzy with the volumes but it came out at an acceptable gravity.

Update 3/8/2016

Final gravity came in around 1.09 which is pretty much on target. It basically tastes like hop water. Which means the hop heads should love it.

Update 3/16/2016

Beer is carbonated and tastes fantastic. Probably the best IPA / Pale ale I’ve ever made. In the past I had a lingering astringency that even in my best examples came through and left lingering doubts over the quality of my pale ales. This one did not display that. The only notable change I made was switching off the Magnum I’d been using and it was my primary suspect. So I’ll rebrew again with a different bittering hop and see if the results hold true. Have to fine with gelatin so we can double transfer for Zapps to avoid stirred up sediment embarrassment.

Update 4/26/2016

We ended up bringing some of this beer home from Zapp’s and I’ve had a pint or two here or there for the past few weeks. over the weekend right before it kicked it was remarkably smooth yet very hoppy. Going to brew this again very soon. I think my taste buds don’t jive with the conventional wisdom that the freshest possible IPAs are the best. Or perhaps when they say brewery fresh it means something different than home brewery fresh. Perhaps professionally brewed IPAs take several weeks to a month before they are even available brewery fresh? All I know is I have preferred my American pale style ales at about 3-5 weeks after putting it in a keg.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 90 min 41.4 IBUs 8.0 SRM 1.060 1.013 6.2 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 10 A 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 45 5 - 14 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Munich Malt 4 lbs 38.1
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 4 lbs 38.1
Cara-Pils/Dextrine 8 oz 4.76
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 4 oz 2.38
Light Dry Extract 1.75 lbs 16.67

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Columbus (Tomahawk) 1 oz 30 min Boil Pellet 16
Centennial 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 12
Centennial 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 12
Mosaic (HBC 369) 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12.3
Simcoe 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 15.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

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

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Notes

Didn't have as much pilsner on hand as I thought I did. Luckily I had pilsner DME at the houes. Original plan was to use Magnum for bitter but ran out so used Columbus instead.

American Pale Ale With Challenger

January 2nd, 2016

So I have some challenger I’ve been needing to use and I’m running out of my American hop stockpile I’ve been working on for the past year. Before I can justify ordering a giant round of wholesale hops I need to burn through it. So try some things out. How about Simcoe and Challenger? We’ll see how it comes out. Going to try a little more crystal than I typically use because I’ve read that Challenger can be a little sharp. Simcoe can also be a bit aggressive to me so I think more sweetness won’t hurt. The brew day went well with the gravity being more like 1.048.

2/4/2016 Update
This beer ended up being ok at best. Ironically the BeerXML plugin for my site won’t show the recipe for some unknown reason. Probably because the plugin knows that the beer wasn’t great. The hop flavor and aroma just isn’t smooth. It’s pretty harsh and the bitter probably isn’t very pleasant either.(I have to speculate due to being mostly bitter insensitive) I drink it but don’t love it. May dump it if I run out of kegerator space soon. Currently have 5 full, 2 in the works and want to brew some more. So something has to go!

American Pale Ale

November 29th, 2015

Wow it’s been probably the longest drought between brews I’ve had in a while. I did brew a barleywine last month in the event I forget to post it. Just haven’t had the time to do anything since September. I have been doing beer related things such as judging and trying to figure out how to adjust my beers based on scoresheet feedback from the last few competitions I participated in. The desire to try some IPA/pale ale hopping theories combined with running out of beer got me out of my rut.

  1. All hopping additions were done with the flame off at 215F or below as it dropped. Basic issue I’m trying to address is reduced astringency I believe is due to boiling hops and taking too long to reduce temperature. I’d also like improved hop aroma although my procedures to date have been aromatic enough.
  2. Reduced lactic acid additions based on new understanding of using acid to adjust Ph.
  3. Dry hop added as soon as the airlock starts bubbling based on Sierra Nevada notes on the effects of fermentation on dry hop.
  4. Note. Trashcan beer. Meaning the grain bill changed a bit due to not having things around the house I thought I did.
  5. Volume was low and 1.047 was a little lower than intended gravity. I keep forgetting to adjust Beersmith for my efficiency to volume ratio on calculations.

Update 12/1/2015
Fermentation going well. Added the dry hop of Amarillo today. Went ahead and added 2 ounces of Columbus because I was reading brulosopher and make a decision to up my dry hop.

Update 12/3/2015
Gravity finished at 1.01. Pretty darn dry. Tastes great. Cold crashing today.
Update 12/6/2015
Racked to keg and fined with gelatin for the first time ever today. Felt strange adding gelatin to a beer but appears to work. Lots of pine, onion, tropical fruit in this beer aroma/flavor hop profile. Should bee a great brew when its carbonated.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
4.7 gal 60 min 45.3 IBUs 7.7 SRM 1.047 SG 1.013 SG 4.5 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 10 A 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 45 5 - 14 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) US 4.25 lbs 45.95
Pale Malt, Maris Otter 3.75 lbs 40.54
Munich Malt - 20L 8 oz 5.41
Aromatic Malt 4 oz 2.7
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L 4 oz 2.7
Caramunich II (Weyermann) 4 oz 2.7

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Simcoe 1 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 13
Amarillo 1 oz 7 min Boil Pellet 9.2
Simcoe 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 13
Amarillo 1 oz 3 min Boil Pellet 9.2
Simcoe 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 13
Simcoe 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 8.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Lactic Acid 8.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 5.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 154°F 75 min

Pilsner Wheat Oat Pale Ale

April 18th, 2015

So in my continued trial of multiple combinations of pale ale here we go with the oats & wheat. This is another variation of my pilsner pale ale all of which have been wonderful. This is actually a variation of the Hopasaurus Sex from Zapp’s to be precise.

The brew day went well and I’m certainly looking forward to trying this beer. Fermented it out and racked it to secondary so I could pitch my American barleywine on it’s yeast cake. Added the dry hops and will let it go for about a week before kegging.

Update 8/3/2015

This beer turned out very well. It ended up placing first in American IPA and second in pale ales for clash of the carboys. Interesting since it was about 3 months from it’s complete and ready to drink date which was in May. I think the extra malts and reduction in crystal malts made it more interesting than what judges are typically used to. I think the wheat helps with presentation and bready savoriness with this beer. The oats added a substantial mouth-feel sensation without being heavy like you’ll get from too much crystal. I do feel like this beer needs a little bit of age though. 1-2 months before it clears well enough and mellows a little.

My next stop on this beer will be to convert it to an Imperial Red.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 90 min 43.5 IBUs 4.6 SRM 1.054 1.009 5.9 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 10 A 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 45 5 - 14 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 7 lbs 68.29
Munich Malt 1 lbs 9.76
Oats, Flaked 1 lbs 9.76
White Wheat Malt 1 lbs 9.76
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L 4 oz 2.44

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Magnum 1 oz 40 min Boil Pellet 14
Centennial 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 12
Centennial 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 12
Centennial 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 10
Simcoe 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 15.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

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

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 148°F 75 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Munich Pilsner Pale Ale

March 8th, 2015

So my wife decided she wanted to brew for 2015 Zapp’s beerfest. This was fun because we set the recipe up together. She loves Centennial and the pilsner pale ale I typically use. Following some advice from Stone Brewery concerning the use of crystal with IPA’s/PA’s I’ve decided to swap part of the pilsner and the crystal 40 I typically use with 3 pounds of Munich. Also put some Citra in there to make the hop profile a tad more diverse than just the Centennial. Decided to add some Simcoe to the dry hop that I found in my hop stores.

Brew day went well. Having help made it much more easy to setup and tear down. I don’t think I converted her but she had fun I think. I pitched the beer on the yeast cake of the all Munich ale I’d just brewed. Within 4 hours it was fermenting quickly. It was curious that my gravity ended up high again on this brew day. Targeting 1.045 and ended up at 1.047. Thought I’d come in extremely high again which made no sense given my track record. My kid must’ve done something with my refractometer because it ended up needing calibration.

Going in to the keg this beer tasted great. If the hop aroma holds up this might be the best pale ale recipe yet

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 90 min 49.7 IBUs 5.6 SRM 1.052 1.009 5.7 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 10 A 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 45 5 - 14 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 7 lbs 70
Munich Malt 3 lbs 30

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Magnum 1 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 14
Centennial 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 12
Centennial 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 12
Centennial 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 10
Simcoe 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 15.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

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

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 148°F 75 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

All Munich Pale Ale

March 1st, 2015

I want to see what happens when you brew a beer that’s 100% munich so I cooked up this little pale ale recipe just full of American hops. The brew day ended up being 10 gallons so that I could have 5 for my house and 5 for Zapp’s beerfest. The color was surprising in that I thought it’d be lighter. I may end up having to call this an Amber ale. Post fermentation and dry hop it tastes great. Perhaps a little sweet though due to the weather going from 82F to 35F in the same day and possibly crashing my fermentation a little early.

The planned original gravity was to be 1.045 and ended up about that once I figured out my refractometer was reading very high. Final gravity ended up being 1.011. Beer tastes excellent. Next time I might add some wheat or carapils for body depending on how the carbonation effects the final product.

Update 3/19/2015

This beer did indeed come out very good albeit a little focused on malt due to the Munich bill. So in the spirit of American pale ale I took two tea balls / hop balls as they’re called, put an ounce of Simcoe in one and and ounce of Simcoe in the other and dropped them in the keg. 36 hours later the hop flavor/aroma was faaaar more pronounced. It went from good to excellent to me and added this post carbonation dry hopping with hop balls to the playbook.(hop ball is a metal ball with a clasp to keep all the particles in the ball. Any homebrew shop or Amazon will have them)

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 41.3 IBUs 9.8 SRM 1.052 SG 1.010 SG 5.5 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 10 A 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 45 5 - 14 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Munich Malt 10 lbs 100

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertau Magnum 1 oz 30 min Boil Pellet 12.4
Simcoe 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 13
Citra 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 12
Columbus (Tomahawk) 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 14
Citra 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12
Columbus (Tomahawk) 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 14
Simcoe 1 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 15.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 8.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

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

West Coast Pale Ale

April 26th, 2014

So I have a bunch of Citra and Simcoe I need to use.   I also have some Cascades and picked up some centennial at LA Homebrew.   Going to brew a 50 IBU pale ale given that my wife loves Samuel Adams West Coast IPA which all the hop heads would call a pale ale.  Mash temperature will be about 153-154 range.  I also am using some Munich 20 hoping the malt character stands up a little more than previous renditions of this beer.    I just want a little more malt.

Update 4/30/2013

Brew day went great and the OG was around 1.052. I seem to get the best efficiency with this double batch sparge routine I’ve been running. I was a little low on Citra so the hop additions were more like .8/.8/.8 oz. Smells great, looks great, fermentation appears to be going well at about 70F. Hopefully finishes out to be a good one!

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 52.7 IBUs 6.8 SRM 1.051 1.012 5.2 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 10 A 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 45 5 - 14 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) US 10 lbs 83.33
Munich Malt - 20L 1 lbs 8.33
Victory Malt 8 oz 4.17
Vienna Malt 8 oz 4.17

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Simcoe 1 oz 30 min Boil Pellet 13
Centennial 1 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 12
Cascade 1 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 5.5
Centennial 1 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 10
Citra 1 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 12
Simcoe 1 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 13
Citra 2 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12
Cascade 1.01 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 5.5
Simcoe 1.01 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 13

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 5.50 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
California Ale V (WLP051) White Labs 73% 66°F - 70°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 150°F 75 min

American Amber

December 24th, 2013

Brewed this beer originally on 12/24/2013.   The gravity was extremely high at 1.05 and with reason.   Instead of the typical batch sparge where I empty the initial mash, refill with 3-5 gallons of water and empty again I split the second batch in to a third.   So it was like this:

  • Initial 16 quarts in.
  • Drained as fast as possible.
  • Add 8 quarts, stir, wait 10 minutes.
  • Drain as fast as possible.
  • Add 8 quarts, stir, wait 10 minutes.
  • Drain as fast as possible.

A decent post about this subject is here at Homebrewtalk.com.

Pitched a 500ml active starter and fermentation went well.

Update on 12/24/2013

Fermentation went well and the beer will be going in to a keg after Christmas.

 

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 24.1 IBUs 11.5 SRM 1.046 1.011 4.5 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Amber Ale 6 B 1.045 - 1.056 1.01 - 1.015 20 - 40 11 - 18 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 5.7 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) US 9.25 lbs 86.05
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 12 oz 6.98
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L 8 oz 4.65
Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L 4 oz 2.33

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Magnum 0.5 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 14
Goldings, B.C. 0.5 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 5
Simcoe 0.5 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 13

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
Whirlfloc Tablet 1.10 Items 15 min Boil Fining

Yeast

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

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

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