Flanders Red Status Report - 2017

I have accumulated a pretty sizable stockpile of aged Flanders Red beer that I need to take stock of.  I bottled my first blend last year and have been very happy with how it turned out.  I think it's time to blend some more (I'm thinking 6 gal straight and 6 gal with cherries).  Need to determine which beers to use.

I've used a variety of yeast strains to make these beer with the goal of getting a wide variety of flavors to choose from.  This drove me to produce quite a bit more beer than I can reasonably drink.  I will start to pare down my collection a bit.  I'd like to limit myself to 12 Flanders Reds fermenters at any given time which will keep me well supplied on beer and also provide some room for continued exploration.  I currently have 15 batches.  It has been over a year since I last brewed any.

We ended up moving all these beers last August.  They all got shaken up quite a bit in the process.  It will be interesting to see if this has resulted in any acetic acid formation.  Many of them have three piece airlocks that ran dry a number of times as well.  Hopefully this hasn't had any major negative impacts.

Once I take stock of these I'll also consider starting to move them to our new house.

Flanders Red 1.1.1:

• Brewed:
• 10/10/14
• Overview:
• First pitch of Roeselare Ale Blend (Wyeast 3763)
• Found a nice grainbill online that produced a lovely red wort
• Used baking soda on this batch in an attempt to control pH.  This was contributing a bit to the flavor
• Status Notes:
• Airlock ran dry more than once for extended periods with this beer
• Replaced with vented silicone bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Funky aroma with some fruit
• Orange/red and clear
• Lightly sour with a bit of Brett character.  Light fruit flavor.
• Fairly mild in flavor with not all that much complexity

Flanders Red 1.3.1:

• Brewed:
• 3/27/15
• Overview:
• Second pitch onto Roeselare yeast cake
• Primaried with a Belgian yeast - took the beer all the way down to 1.006 which wasn't what I wanted
• Status Notes:
• Airlock ran dry on this one was well
• Replaced the airlock with vented silicone bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Big vinegar aroma from the fermenter- none in the sample though.  Fruity and earthy smells to this beer.  It has a big aroma.
• Orange/red and clear
• Medium level tartness - restrained and pleasant.  Earthy Brett flavor comes through very strongly.  Also has a reasonably strong fruity flavor component.  Get a bit of grainy malt flavor coming through on the finish
• Strong flavor and aroma on this one with a good level of complexity

Flanders Red 1.3.2:

• Brewed:
• 4/11/15
• Overview:
• Third pitch onto half the Roeselare yeast cake (first half used by Flanders Red 1.3.1)
• Pitched directly onto the yeast cake
• Status Notes:
• Airlock ran dry on this one as well
• Replaced airlock with bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Earthy funk dominates.  A bit of fruity character mixed in.  Has a rich smell
• Red/orange and slightly cloudy
• Light sourness.  Brett earthiness fairly assertive.  Good level of malt flavor in the finish
• Fairly mild in terms of flavor but has a nice level of complexity

Flanders Red 1.4.2 and Flanders Red 1.4.1:

• Brewed:
• 7/12/15
• Overview:
• Fourth pitch onto Roeselare yeast cake
• Soured part of the batch with lacto before adding to the Roeselare cake
• Primaried with Belgian yeast
• No hops were used to avoid inhibiting the lacto 
• Oak added to the fermenter with the Roeselare
• Status Notes:
• Blended half of each of these batches with Flanders Red 1.2.1 and then combined the remaining beer into the 1.4.2 fermenter
• Tasting Notes:
• Rich fruity and funky aroma
• Orange/red and clear
• Medium level of sourness with a good level of fruitiness.  Nice earthy flavor in the finish.  This one also has a leathery flavor.
• Bold flavor profile and nicely complex

Flanders Red 2.1.1:

• Brewed:
• 8/30/15
• Overview:
• First pitch of Yeast Bay Mélange Sour Blend
• Modified the grain bill:  Swapped Pilsner/Munich/Vienna base malts for 2 row and Victory
• Used corn grits by doing a cereal mash
• Used rice hulls to try to mitigate for the sticky mash (was still using a filter bag for mashing at this point)
• Status Notes:
• Airlock ran dry at times on this batch
• Replaced the airlock with a bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Bold earthy aroma mixed with dark fruit
• Dark red and clear - very nice looking beer
• No sourness has developed.  There is a bit of interesting fruitiness and some bready malt.  Also get a hint of alcohol.  Finish has a bit of funk
• Mild flavor with a fair bit of complexity.  I think this one is outshined by the Roeselare batches but it brings some different flavors

Flanders Red 1.5.1:

• Brewed:
• 9/17/15
• Overview:
• Fifth pitch onto Roeselare yeast cake
• Cereal Mashed with Corn Grits
• Used Maltodextrine to give yeast a bit more to work on
• Primary fermented with Belgian yeast
• Soured a portion of the batch with lacto during primary
• Status Notes:
• Nothing Significant to Report
• Tasting Notes:
• Funky aroma - pretty rich - with a bit of fruit
• Orange/red in color and a bit cloudy
• Light sourness.  A bit of earth flavor.  Also get a bit of malt on the finish.
• Mild flavored with a fair bit of complexity.  Pleasant but not that exciting

Flanders Red 1.5.2:

• Brewed:
• 10/18/15
• Overview:
• Fifth pitch onto Roeselare yeast cake
• Cereal Mashed with Corn Grits
• Used Maltodextrine to give yeast a bit more to work on
• Soured a portion of the batch with lacto prior to adding to the main batch
• Status Notes:
• NSTR
• Tasting Notes:
• Earthy and fruity aroma.  Pretty rich.  Get a bit of leather as well.
• Orange/red and clear
• Light sourness.  Bold fruity character.  A bit of Brett funk in the finish that is earthy and leathery.  Some malt comes through on the finish
• Good bold flavors with nice complexity

Flanders Red 2.2.1:

• Brewed:
• 11/6/15
• Overview:
• Second pitch onto Mélange Sour Blend yeast cake
• Soured a portion of the batch with lacto during primary
• Primary fermented with Belgian yeast
• Used Maltodextrine to give yeast a bit more to work on
• Cereal Mashed with Corn Grits
• Tweaked the grain bill to try to get a bit more red
• Status Notes:
• Airlock had run dry
• Replace with vented silicone bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Bright fruity aroma mixed with earthy leather from the Brett.  Very rich
• Orangish red and a bit cloudy
• Light sourness.  Has a nice fruity character.  Also a smooth bit of bready malt in the finish.
• Pretty good set of flavors that pop nicely

Flanders Red 1.6.1 (A&B):

Part A

Part B

• Brewed:
• 1/15/16
• Overview:
• Sixth pitch onto Roeselare yeast cake
• Cereal Mashed with Corn Grits
• Used Maltodextrine to give yeast a bit more to work on
• Primary fermented with Belgian yeast
• Soured a portion of the batch with lacto during primary
• This was a 12 gal batch split into A and B portions
• Part A:  Aged 3 months on yeast cake and then transferred off
• Part B:  Aged on the yeast cake for the entire period
• Both parts aged in bucket fermenters
• Status Notes:
• NSTR
• Tasting Notes:
• Part A:
• Fruity aroma up front - reminds me of lemon.  Some Brett funk in the background
• Orange/red and a bit cloudy
• Medium sourness.  There is a citrus fruitiness to it.  Finish has a bit of earthy funk
• Bold flavors and an interesting fruit component (from lacto?).  Not terribly complex

• Part B:
• Earthy funk and a bit of fruit in the aroma.  Rich.
• Orange/red and a bit cloudy
• Light sourness.  Earthy funk with a little fruitiness.  Finish has some bready malt.
• Nice full flavor with a  fair bit of complexity

Flanders Red 3.1.1 (A&B):

Part A

Part B

• Brewed:
• 1/24/16
• Overview:
• Batch fermented with a culture built up from Rodenbach Foederbier
• Cereal Mashed with Corn Grits
• Used Maltodextrine to give yeast a bit more to work on
• Primary fermented with Belgian yeast
• Soured a portion of the batch with lacto during primary
• This was a 12 gal batch split into A and B portions
• Part A:  Aged in a glass carboy
• Part B:  Aged in a bucket fermenter
• Status Notes:
• NSTR
• Tasting Notes:
• Part A:
• Funky and earthy aroma.  Dark fruit mixed in as well
• Orangish red and cloudy
• Light sourness with an interesting Brett funk (band aid like)
• Mild flavor with a fair bit of complexity

• Part B:
• Funky and earthy aroma
• Redish orange and cloudy
• Light sourness.  Light bready funk with a bit of malt character
• Mild flavor and not terribly complex

Flanders Red 4.1.1:

• Brewed:
• 4/8/16
• Overview:
• Batch brewed with commercial yeast (Russian River and Jolly Pumpkin Dregs)
• Adjusted malt bill to try to get better color
• Did a proper cereal mash to get better conversion using corn grits
• Used Maltodextrine
• Primaried with Belgian yeast - added hops to try to restrain the sourness that this yeast had started to develop
• Aging in a bucket fermenter
• Status Notes:
• NSTR
• Tasting Notes:
• Dark fruit mixed with a little earthiness
• Redish orange and very clear
• Light sourness.  It has a fruity flavor and earthiness on the finish.  Has a chocolate like finish as well (maybe from the dark malt?)
• Pretty strong flavors in this beer and a pretty complex profile

Flanders Red 5.1.1:

• Brewed:
• 6/19/16
• Overview:
• Batch brewed with ECY Flemish Ale Blend
• Tweaked the malt bill a bit again by switching double roasted crystal for the special B
• Added Maltodextrine
• Did a proper cereal mash
• No primary fermentation
• Status Notes:
• Beer has aged in bucket fermenter on the yeast cake for 15 months at this point
• Airlock was dry on this one
• Tasting Notes:
• Cider like aroma with a bit of funk.  A bit of alcohol mixed in
• Redish orange and a bit cloudy
• No sourness at this point.  Has a bit of a Belgian yeast profile.  No Brett character I can detect
• Needs more time to mature.  Maybe a second beer on this cake would be more interesting

Mother deer with her two fawns

Flanders Red 1.7.1:

• Brewed:
• 7/10/16
• Overview:
• Batch fermented on seventh pitch of Roeselare Yeast Blend
• Primary with Belgian yeast
• Hopped the beer to try to stop excessive lacto influence in primary yeast
• Added Maltodextrine
• Did a proper cereal mash
• Status Notes:
• Brewed this as a 12 gal batch.  The other half was Flanders 2.3.1 which was lost when the bucket fermenter broke
• Beer has aged in bucket fermenter on the yeast cake for 12 months now
• Tasting Notes:
• Fruity and slightly funky aroma
• Red and a little cloudy
• Medium Sourness.  Has a really nice fruity flavor.  A bit of funk in the finish.
• Bold flavors with a fair bit of complexity

California Common

So many recipes to try and so little time (and bladder capacity).  I'm thinking I'd like to try to brew every style of beer at least once (otherwise I'd be brewing an IPA, Sour, or Whisky Stout every time).  A style I've been thinking of brewing next for quite some time is a Steam Beer.  This is a historic style of beer which originated in the U.S.  It is a beer brewed with Lager yeast at Ale temperature.  The Anchor brewing company copyrighted the name "Steam Beer" so people often refer to them as "California Common" (or risk a Cease and Desist Order).

I've had a few commercial examples (including the Anchor version) and enjoyed them - it isn't a blow your hair back kind of style - light and refreshing but flavorful.  Similar to a pale ale but restricted to using Northern Brewer hops exclusively (following the lead of Anchor Brewing).

As much as anything I think the process is interesting with this beer.  Classically the beer is fermented in shallow open fermenters which was a technique to try to keep the beer cool without refrigeration.  I'll be trying to approximate this by leaving the lid unsealed.  Additionally, using a lager yeast ~10 degrees warmer than normal (I'll be fermenting at 58 F) should produce a bit more yeast character than  you'd expect from a normal cool-lager fermentation (we'll see if that's the case).

I decided to use a recipe from the Brulosophy blog.  Decided to follow it pretty closely but upped the grain for a 6 gal batch at my normal 70% efficiency.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 10 lbs 2 Row
• 1 lb 8 oz Light Munich
• 1 lb Crystal 60L
• 6 oz Victory
• 2 oz Chocolate Malt
• 3 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 1.75 oz Northern Brewer (Pellet, 4.9% AA) at 60 min
• 1 oz Northern Brewer (Pellet, 4.9% AA) at 15 min
• 1.25 oz Northern Brewer (Pellet, 4.9% AA) at 0 min
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 2112 California Lager
• Water:
• 10 gal spring water
• 1 tsp CaCl
• 0.5 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min
• 1 gal of spring water post boil

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 5 gal + 1 gal of top up water (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 153 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 45 min (Target 60 min)
• Fermentation Temp:
• Part 1:
• 58 F for 4-5 days
• Part 2:
• Allow to ramp up to 65 F for the next week
• Primary Duration:
• 3 weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• N/A

Results:

• OG:
• 1.063 - then diluted this down to ~1.052 (Target 1.055)
• Efficiency:
• 67% (Target 70%)
• FG:
• 1.010 (Target 1.013)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 80% (Target 76%)
• ABV:
• 5.51% (Target 5.51%)

Brewing Notes:

• 7/15/17 - Created a 1.5 L yeast starter with 125 g of DME.  Added a pinch of yeast nutrient for good measure.  Put on the stir plate about 24 hrs before pitching time.  Was not an aggressive fermentation - thin layer of foam seem to constitute high krausen.
• 7/16/17 - Brewday - 2 PM to 6 PM including setup and cleanup
• Heated strike water and cycled through system until everything was about 160 F
• Ended up with 6 gal in the system
• Added CaCl and Gypsum
• Added grain while I cycled the system.  Stirred to eliminate dough balls.  Mash turned out to be way too thick so I added another gallon to the mash tun
• Settled out nicely at 153 F
• Cycled the rims slowly

• Stirred at 30 and 45 min
• Heated my sparge water to about 200 F
• Fly sparged - tried to keep a thin layer of water on the surface to start without perturbing the grain bed.  I've come to hate my mash tun - too much dead space under the false bottom and too large a surface area makes for inefficient use of sparge water.
• Started boiling during the sparge
• Ended up a bit short on volume at the end of the sparge
• Added the bittering hops after the hot break cleared

• Checked my volumes throughout the boil.  Realized with about 30 min left that I only had enough volume to boil another 15 min or so.  Will hurt my bittering hop's contribution a bit but decided to cut the boil short.
• Added the Irish Moss and 15 min hops
• Added the wort chiller with about 5 min left - wort got back up to a boil by flame out to ensure good sterilization
• Added the 0 min hops
• Chilled the beer down to 80 F - ran the chiller a bit slower than normal to allow more time for the flame out hops to flavor the beer
• Drained into fermentation bucket - let it fall a couple feet and splash to aerate
• Ended up collecting 5 gal of wort.  Left behind the hops and cold break for the most part.  Left behind quite a bit of volume (over half a gal I'd estimate)

• Measured gravity as 1.063.  Way over shot my target of 1.055.
• Decided to add 1 gal of spring water to get to ~1.052 which is much closer to the target
• Moved to the chest freezer to chill to 58 F
• Pitched the yeast starter once I'd gotten down to temp
• Left to ferment without the lid firmly sealed
• 7/17/17 - A good layer of krausen had formed by this afternoon
• 7/20/17 - Allowed the beer to increase to 65 F to finish out
• 7/26/17 - No more foam on the surface of the beer at this point.  Secured the lid on the beer.
• 8/2/17 - Lowered the temperature of the fermentation chamber to 35 F to cold crash
• 8/19/17 - Fined with Gelatin
• 8/20/17 -  Bottled with 5 oz of priming sugar.  Had 6 gal of beer which got me 61 bottles.  The beer finished at 1.010.  The sample is crisp and clean with a nice balance between malt and hop.
• 9/1/17 - Had my first bottle bomb.  Went off when nobody was in the room thankfully.  It seemed like the last few beers I'd bottled were way over carbonated.  The later ones were slightly under carbonated.  Will have to see if some of the first ones got the right balance
• 10/8/17 - Tasting Notes - This is a really nice tasting beer.  It has a nice complex flavor profile and is very easy to drink.  I think it's quite like Yuengling Lager actually (which I like quite a bit) but with a bit more hop presence

Lessons Learned:

1. I'm getting very tired of the large (~2 gal) of dead space under my Mash Tun false bottom.  Also hate how difficult the bottom drain makes cleaning the thing (have to clean it in place).  I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on a stainless steel mash tun from SS BrewTech.  It is an expensive toy that I know wont improve my beer but I think it will make for some more enjoyable brewdays.
2. I'm thinking of bagging my hops on the next batch to simplify the transfer to the fermenter.  It sucked leaving all that beer behind.

Cheese Curds - Take II

I've had a couple of unsuccessful attempts at making Mozzarella in the last few months that have significantly reduced my confidence in my ability to make cheese.  In a couple cases I was barely able to even get curds to form.  Based on these failures I've decided to take a step back and get another success under my belt with a simpler recipe - Cheese Curds.

I made Cheese Curds once before (over a year ago now which is hard to believe) and found it to be a pretty simple process.  I used store bought pasteurized and homogenized milk which I managed to make work - that's what I'm trying again.  I'm using cheap Lucerne Milk for this.  If it works I think I might stick with this one going forward (I suspect that some amount of my previous failures were due to the treatment of the milk in processing).

Anyway, I'll largely be following the process for Cheese Curds posted on cheesemaking.com.  The one major difference is that I'll be using their Mesophilic Culture rather than the Thermophilic Culture they recommend.  I'll be acidifying the milk in the high 80s/low 90s (rather than mid-high 90s) for this culture.

Hopefully this will go smoothly and turn out to be a good sanity check.  If so, I'll look to try something new next.

Ingredients:

• 2 gal of Lucerne Whole Milk (Pasteurized and Homogenized)
• 1/4 tsp CaCl
• 1 Pack of Mesophilic Culture
• 1 tsp Rennet
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt

Process/Notes:

• Heated 2 gal of milk on low until it got to 90 F - this took quite a while on low but I didn't overshoot which was a victory
• Removed from the heat
• Dissolved CaCl in a small amount of water and then stirred into the milk
• Added the culture.  Let it sit on the surface for a couple min before stirring it in
• Let acidify for 40 min
• Mixed rennet in 1/4 cup cold water
• Added rennet to milk and stirred for 30 s - milk was still about 90 F
• Let it sit for 30.  By the end of this time it had good separation
• Cut a 3/4 inch grid into the curd.  Let this settle for 5 min

• Stirred the curd to break it up - it sunk to the bottom

• Heated the curd up to 116 F over 45 min (had the stove at low to medium low during this period).  Stirred every 5 min or so during this process.
• Cooked the curd for an additional 45 min to dry it out.  Ended up heating it to 125 F.  The curds got firmer and smaller throughout this process.

• At the end of cooking I ladled out the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander

• Tied up the cheesecloth and let drain hanging on the kitchen faucet for 20 min or so when it had pretty much stopped dripping
• Moved the curd back to the colander and applied the weight of a gal jug filled with water to press the cheese
• Pressed for 3 hrs
• At the end of the pressing the curds had consolidated into a good mass
• Broke up the mass into smaller pieces and salted them

Impressions:

• They have a nice flavor reminiscent of the milk used.  The milk tastes very nice to me so I like the cheese.
• I think it could stand to have a bit more salt
• After aging for an additional couple weeks in the fridge the culture has started to have a bit more impact on the flavor
• The curds look a bit more lumpy that what I see on the internet.  I wonder if I dried them out a bit more than is typically done

Lessons Learned:

1. Managing temperatures of the milk is a major pain.  I think using a water bath with a temperature controller like I have with the RIMS might be a much more pleasant and controlled way of doing things.  I think I'll give that a try next time
2. Lucerne Milk works for cheesemaking!!!  I had tried more fancy brands previously.  I will make sure to repeat my prep of the milk with CaCl next time as well.

Single Hop Pale Ale (Mosaic)

I ran out of hoppy beer months ago and have had to sustain myself with commercial offerings.  With that in mind I'll be brewing another hop forward beer.  I really enjoyed my last Pale Ale which utilized Cascade hops only.  For this brew I'll be trying out Mosaic hops which will be the first time for me.

Mosaic hops are reported to bring a complex array of flavors which make them well suited for a single hop beer.  Like last time I'll be applying a majority of the hops as flavoring/aroma additions.  Look forward to finding out what all the hype is about.

I had intended on using US05 yeast but found that my LHBS had a new dry yeast by Mangrove Jack's.  They have a pretty impressive selection of yeast varieties which I might try if this one works out.  I chose their "US West Coast" which sounds similar to the Sierra Nevada strain.  I plan on fermenting it out at 65 F.

I'll be using the same grain bill from last time.  Three base malts and a bit of Crystal malt gave the beer a really nice malt backbone that really helped to balance the hop flavor.  I overachieved a bit on the OG last time and ended up with a 5% ABV been.  Would like to bring this one in a bit closer to 4% this time if I can.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 5 lb Maris Otter
• 3 lb Vienna
• 2 lb Munich
• 8 oz Crystal 20L
• 8 oz Crystal 60L
• 3 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 0.75 oz Mosaic (Pellet, 10.6% AA) at 60 min
• 0.5 oz Mosaic (Pellet, 10.6% AA) at 10 min
• 0.75 oz Mosaic (Pellet, 10.6% AA) at 5 min
• 1 oz Mosaic (Pellet, 10.6% AA) added once temp is down to 180 F (stand for 30 min)
• 1 oz Mosaic (Pellet, 10.6% AA) Dry Hop
• Yeast:
• Mangrove Jack's M44 US West Coast
• Water:
• 10 Gal Spring Water
• 1 tsp CaCl
• 1 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 156 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 60 min (Target 60 min)
• Fermentation Temp:
• 65 F
• Primary Duration:
• 3 weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• NA

Results:

• OG:
• 1.044 (Target 1.045)
• Efficiency:
• 68% (Target 68%)
• FG:
• 1.010 (Target 1.012)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 77% (Target 73%)
• ABV:
• 4.46% (Target 4.33%)

Brewing Notes:

• 6/18/2017 - Brewday - 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM - Including setup and cleanup
• Heated 10 gal of spring water and cycled through the Mash Tun, Grant, and RIMS until the system was at about 158 F.  Ended up with 7 gal in the system
• Cycled water through Mash Tun, Grant, and RIMS as I added the grain.  Stirred well to eliminate dough balls.  Seemed to settle out to about 154 F.  Took about 45 min to get to dough in.
• Cycled RIMS at ~2 qt per min at 156 F
• Stirred after 10 min and then again at 30, 45 and 60 min.
• Heated 3 gal of sparge water to 185 F
• Added sparge water at the end of the Mash and let cycle for 5 more minutes.

• Drained into the kettle until I'd collected 8 gal
• Started heating after collecting 3-4 gal.  Had it close to a boil by the end of the sparge
• Added bittering hops as it came to a boil
• Added Irish moss with 15 min left
• Added flavoring hops as planned at 10 and 5 min
• Put the wort chiller in to sanitize with 5 min left

• Chilled the wort for a minute or so prior to adding the hop stand hops - chilled very quickly down to 170 F.  Let it sit at this temp for 30 min.  Was down to 140 F by the end of the hop stand
• Transferred to the fermenter.  Ended up taking all the cold break and most of the hops during the transfer

• Added the dry yeast directly to the wort during the transfer.  Sloshed it around at the end to mix it in.
• 6/19/17 - Airlock was bubbling vigorously this morning
• 7/1/17 - It has been about two weeks since making this beer so I'm starting the dry hop.  Put the hops in a sanitized hop bag weighed down with two stainless steel nuts.  Chilled down to 45 F and removed from the chest freezer to make room for my Barleywine which will be cold crashing over night.
• 7/2/17 - Moved back to the fermentation chamber to chill down to 50 F
• 7/7/17 - Cold Crashed to 32 F and added gelatin for fining
• 7/9/17 - Bottled this batch today with 3.5 oz of priming sugar.  Got 54 12 oz bottles.  The FG came in at 1.010.  The beer has a really lovely fruity hop character.  Can't wait for this one to carb.  Will try the first one next week.
• 7/26/17 - Tasting Notes - Very drinkable beer with a lovely hop character.  The Mosaic hop is very nice.  I think any characterful hop would probably make a very nice beer in these amounts.  Right now the flavor profile is slanted towards the hop but it will get into more balance as it gets a bit older.  As is there is enough malt character to establish a really nice balance of flavors.
• 12/19/17 - Drank the last one of these.  The hops had fallen off quite a bit but it still had a nice balance between the bitter and malt flavors.

No Knead Raisin Bread

I've made the fantastic New York Times "No Knead" bread probably a couple dozen times since my original post.  I feel like I've really started to nail down the process.  Given my level of comfort with the recipe I decided to modify it into a raisin bread recipe.

I stuck pretty closely with the original recipe and used a fairly conservative amount of cinnamon and raisin.  Seemed to hit a pretty good balance on my first try.

I've made it a couple more times since and am pretty comfortable declaring it a success.  It makes amazing toast and probably the best French Toast I've ever had.  Strongly recommend it!

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups of Flour
• 0.75 cups of raisin
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 0.25 tsp Bread Yeast
• 1 5/8 cup cool tap water

Process Details:

• 6/3/17:
• Measured out 3 cups of flour with a measuring spoon (measuring by weight doesn't seem worth the effort I've decided).  Added salt,  yeast, and 1 tsp of cinnamon and then mixed.  Added the raisin and mixed some more (had to make sure they weren't clumped together.

• Mixed in the water until the dough was a uniform sticky consistency

• Put plastic rap on the top and let it ferment on the counter over night
• 6/4/17
• After about 18 hours of fermentation the dough had increased in size significantly:

• Transferred to a floured cutting board, flattened, and then spread 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of sugar over the surface.

• Rolled the bread up and then formed it into a ball

• Moved it to a floured proofing basket and let it rise again

• After an hr and a half of proofing I put my Dutch Oven into a 475 F oven to warm up 
• After two hours of proofing the dough had risen quite a bit (it's in the high 60s in the house so just about perfect for fermentation) I turned the basket over onto a board with parchment paper.  It stuck a little bit to the proofing basket which is an issue I've been having.  Slowly comes unstuck with just a bit of patience.  Cut a couple slashes into the top with a serrated knife.

• Moved to the heated Dutch Oven using the parchment paper as a cradle

• Baked for 30 min with the lid on and then 15 with it off

• Let the bread rest for a couple hours

• Eat some bread with some nice homemade butter

English Barleywine IV

Memorial Day 2017 is here and it is time to brew up another English Barleywine.  This will be my fourth beer (read about 2014, 2015, and 2016 versions as well).

The three previous beer are all pretty similar but have enough subtle difference to make for interesting side by side comparison.  I'm going to try a couple new things with this beer that will set it apart from the others:

1. I'm cutting back on the specialty malts quite a bit on this one with the goal of making a golden Barleywine.  All the others have ended up copper colored.  Also using quite a bit of malted wheat which should get me some interesting new flavors.
2. Previous beers have all had a nice dark fruit component.  To emphasize this a bit more I'm going to try aging this beer on golden raisins.  I think the malt bill being a bit more subtle than my previous beers could help allow these flavors to shine through.

I'll be shooting for a similar level of alcohol (~9%) and FG (1.025) that I have been unsuccessful at hitting in the last three beers.  One of these times I'll succeed at this but if not I'll probably still make a pretty decent beer.

Anyway, I'm pretty thrilled to be brewing again after a long (10 month!!!) sojourn.  Relieved I was able to continue this Memorial Day Barleywine Tradition.  Hoping it will be many years before I move again.  Will be getting back to brewing at a normal pace.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 10 lb 2 Row
• 8 lb Golden Promise
• 5 lb White Wheat
• 4 oz Crystal 40L
• 6 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 2 oz Brewers Gold (Pellet, 4.9%AA) FWH
• 2 oz Fuggle (Pellet, 4.1% AA) at 10 min
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 1335 British Ale II
• Water:
• 10 gal spring water
• 3 gal tap water
• 2 tsp CaCl
• 2 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min
• Extras:
• 15 oz Golden Raisin
• 1 Cup Dark Rum (Diluted with an additional 1 cup of tap water)
• 0.5 oz Hungarian Oak Cubes

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 5.5 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 157 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 120 min (Target 90 min)
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 63 F
• Primary Duration:
• 4 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 5-6 Months

Results:

• OG:
• 1.098 (Target 1.090)
• Efficiency:
• 62% (Target 61%)
• FG:
• 1.034 (Target 1.025)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 63% (Target 71%)
• ABV:
• 8.40% (Target 8.53%)

Brewing Notes:

• 5/28/17 - Made a 1.2 L starter with 125g of DME.  Added in a bit of yeast nutrient.  Set it on a stir plate to propagate.  There was a bit of foam on the surface after a few hours.
• 5/29/17 - Brewday - 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM including setup and cleanup:
• Brought 13 gal of water up to 190 F
• Added 1 tbs each of CaCl and Gypsum to the mash tun
• Added all 13 gal of water.  Cycled the RIMS to warm the system.
• Added the grain and stirred well to eliminate dough balls

• Cycled the RIMS for about 10 min until everything seemed to even out at 157 F
• Let the mash sit for half an hr before stirring
• Let sit another half an hr before stirring again
• Cycled the RIMS for 10 more min to clear the wort
• Drained the wort off into the boil kettle - gravity was 14.5 brix at this point which is about on target given the 13 gal of water

• Added another tsp of CaCl and gypsum to the boil kettle during the drain
• Also added the FWH during the drain
• Started heating the kettle after collecting a few gal
• Almost had to a boil after completing the mash out - got 10 gal (was hoping for 9 gal)
• Boiled for 120 min
• Added Irish moss with 15 min left
• Added the final hops with 10 min left
• Added the wort chiller with 5 min left
• Chilled the beer down to 70 F
• Transferred to the fermenter and pitched the entire yeast starter.  Transferred all the cold break and quite a bit of hops

• Collected 5.5 gal.  Measured the gravity as 1.098
• 5/31/17 - Airlock was bubbling pretty vigorously yesterday and is still going today.
• 7/1/17 - Moved the beer back to the fermentation chamber to cold crash down to 34 F.  I will fine the beer with gelatin tomorrow prior to transferring to secondary.  This was a step I didn't perform on my previous beers which has resulted in pretty significant chill haze in all of them.  Hopefully these proteins don't have any benefit to secondary that I'll miss getting the advantage of.  As noted in the intro to this beer I'll be aging the beer on golden raisins.  Additionally, I decided to soak the raisins in rum.  In a fit of adventurousness I decided at the last moment to add 0.5 oz of oak cubes to this tincture.  I used 1 cup of rum with an additional 1 cup of tap water to ensure all the raisin were submerged (My first Barleywine used a full cup of Brandy for half the batch which gave it a somewhat pronounced presence - hoping for slightly less presence in this beer with half that amount in Rum by volume).  I'll plan on adding this whole mix into the secondary fermenter.  I think I'll do the transfer tomorrow so it'll get 1 day for the flavors to meld.  Covered the bowl with plastic wrap for this period.  These raisin include sulfates for preservative properties.  This would make me a little nervous in primary, as they can shock the yeast, but in a long secondary I would expect they should be fine.  In my reading on the subject of sulfates I learned another interesting aspect of their behavior - oxygen absorption.  I would think that could be a good thing for a beer that will be aging for 5 months.  Might not be a bad thing to consider adding these (in the form of Campden tablets) in future beers.

• 7/2/17 - Added gelatin and let the beer sit for a few hours.  Added the raisin mixture to a glass carboy.  Transferred the beer into the carboy.  I will use a vented silicon bung as an airlock for this batch.  Moved it to my non-temp-controlled basement beer room to age out.  It is an orange/gold color - still a bit murky after the fining (may have to do a second round of fining after secondary.  Measured the gravity as 1.034.  I imagine this will drop quite a bit in secondary like the other beers did.  It is a very smooth beer and the alcohol presence is pretty clean.  Malt flavor and aroma are primarily bready and it has a sweet flavor.  Light spicy hop flavor and a bit of bitterness in the finish.  Heavily balanced towards the malt at this point.  Also get quite a bit of fruity ester flavor from the beer.  I think the raisin will work well with this beer.

• 12/5/17 - Moved this to the chest freezer to cold crash at 35 F
• 12/7/17 - Added 1/2 tsp of gelatin dissolved in half a cup of hot water to clear the beer
• 12/30/17 - Bottled the beer today.  Added 5 oz of Demerara sugar for priming.  Added 1 packet of rehydrated Premier Cuvee wine yeast to carbonate the beer.  Measured the final gravity as 1.034 still.  It is a lovey golden color and the aroma and flavor are malty and fruity.  Ended up with 5 gal of beer which got me 49 12 oz and 1 22 oz bottle.
• 1/2/18 - Opened the first bottle tonight.  There was a slight hiss on opening but no real carbonation has developed.  It is only 57 F in the basement where the beer is carbing.  Decided to move it into the chest freezer with a reptile heating pad to carbonate at 68 F.
• 2/17/18 - Tasting Notes - A complex Barleywine with a really lovely balance between fruity yeast and sweet malt.  I'm happy with the color and the balance of the beer at the higher FG (1.034).
• 3/9/18 - Vertical Tasting (2017) with my other English Barleywine
• 5/26/19 - Tasting Notes (2019):
• Aroma:  Fruity - apply maybe.  Smells a bit like a white wine
• Appearance:  Dark gold and very clear.  Poured with a 2 finger head that pretty quickly dissipated down tot a thin ring
• Flavor:  Bready malt with some fruit flavor.  Has a bit of a wine-like flavor as well.  Maybe a slight bitterness.  Finish is malty sweet
• Mouthfeel:  Medium-full bodied and pretty sweet.  Smooth drinking
• Overall:  Complex and nice flavors.  The white wine character of the beer is significantly different than the others (must be due to the usage of the grapes).  This is the easiest drinking of the group.
• 5/23/20 - Tasting Notes (2020):
• Aroma:  Light fruit and a bit of bready malt - might call it overripe fruit
• Appearance:  Golden in color and clear.  Pours with a bit of head that quickly fades to nothing - logs of cascading bubbles though
• Flavor:  The fruit from the nose very much carries over to the flavor.  I know what is in it so, this may be cheating, but it's a grape/white wine kind of fruitiness.  The finish is sweet bready malt.
• Mouthfeel:  Fairly substantial body with a good bit of sweetness.  Slight astringency
• Overall:  Has a very interesting fruit forward flavor compared with the other beers.  Lacking in the bold malt character.  The most mild of the group and, although the flavors are pleasant, not that complex
• 5/30/21 - Tasting Notes (2021)
• Aroma:  Very fruity aroma - white wine like.  A bit of overripe fruit as well.  Maybe some honey in there as well.  Think I get a bit of bready malt aroma in there too.
• Appearance:  Pours very clear and golden in color.  Has a 1 finger head that fades to a thin ring over a few minutes
• Flavor:  Sweet and fruity flavor hits first followed by a light bready flavor and a small bit of caramel.  The finish is very lightly bitter and is quickly overcome by sweet bready malt that lingers along with some fruit.
• Mouthfeel:  Full bodied and pretty sticky on the palate.  Drinks smooth
• Overall:  Complex and interesting with some nice flavors.  Has a pleasant balance of fruit and malt
• 5/28/22 - Tasting Notes (2022):
• Tasting Notes (31 of 50):
• Aroma (6 of 12):  Fruit is most prominent on the nose - raisin maybe.  Has a bit of a musty character as well.  Can smell the booze.  Get a bit of bready malt character in there as well and maybe some caramel.  Smells a bit like BBQ sauce.
• Appearance (2 of 3):  Dark gold in color and very clear.  Pours with a 2 finger head that quickly fades down to nothing
• Flavor (14 of 20):  Fruity ester flavor up front.  A bit of bready malt in the finish along with a pretty firm bitter kick.  The ester also lingers into the finish a fair amount.  There is a definite bit of boozy character in there as well.  Maybe get a bit of chocolate in there as well.
• Mouthfeel (3 of 5);  Medium bodied and slightly sweet.  Maybe a little bit astringent
• Overall (6 of 10):  A very fruit ester forward beer - it is a bit of strange ester character.  Bold in character.  Not a lot of malt character comes through in the beer so I would say it's not all that complex.  The hop bitterness on the finish is nice - makes this easy to drink.
• 5/28/23 - Tasting Notes (2023):
• Tasting Notes (42 of 50):
• Aroma (9 of 12):  Fruity and oaky.  Also has a bit of a mineral character.  Also get a bit of caramel malt.  Has a musty character
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Dark gold in color and very clear.  Pours with a 2 finger head that quickly fades down to nothing
• Flavor (18 of 20):  Fruity up front followed by a strong dark caramel flavor.  Has a chocolate note to it.  Has some herbal hop flavor and a medium bitterness.  The finish has a nice balance between bitter and sweet malt character.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):  Medium-full bodied and a bit sticky on the palate.  Smooth drinking.
• Overall (8 of 10):  Very bold flavors in this one and a good amount of complexity in the interplay between malt, fruit, and hop character.  This one is very nice to drink.
• 6/1/24 - Tasting Notes (2024):
• Tasting Notes (34 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  Fruity with an almost cider-like aroma.  Maybe some honey in there as well.  Get a bit of malt in there as well.  It's a pretty mild aroma but nice
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Dark gold in color and very clear.  Pours with a 1 finger head that quickly fades to nothing.
• Flavor (15 of 20):  Some fruity flavor up front with malt flavors in the mix as well.  The finish is fruity and malty.  There is no bitterness to speak of but it isn't all that sweet where it seems to particularly lack balance.  Alcohol is present in the flavor profile but not over whelming.  The flavors are nice here but it's somewhat mild and not a whole lot going on.
• Mouthfeel (3 of 5):  Medium bodied and mildly sweet.  Drinks smooth.
• Overall (6 of 10):  This is an interesting, fruit forward, barleywine.  It is tasty but not particularly complex.
• 7/31/25 - Tasting Notes (2025):
• Tasting Notes (43 of 50)
• Aroma (10 of 12):  Overripe fruit and a musty aged aroma.  A bit of sweet malt in there too - caramel and toasted bread.
• Appearance (2 of 3):  Dark gold and clear.  Poured with a finger of head that immediately faded to nothing
• Flavor (18 of 20):  Fruity with caramel and toasty bread flavors.  The finish is slightly sweet.  There is no real bitterness to it.  The toasty and bready flavors linger on the palate. It's just a little boozy on the finish.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):  Medium-full bodied and a little sticky on the palate.  Drinks very smoothly
• Overall (9 of 10):  I think this one is a nicely flavored beer.  The flavor and aroma are bold.  It also has a good amount of complexity between the malt and fruity ester flavors.  It's sweet and a bit boozy but is pretty easy to drink

Cultured Butter

There is nothing nicer to go with a chewy piece of homemade bread than some rich flavorful butter.  After making it a couple times I've come to the conclusion that homemade butter has a more pleasing texture and is considerably better tasting than what you get at the store.

I've found that making my own cultured butter is as easy as (if not easier than) making my own bread.  I use 1 quart of pasteurized (not ultra) Heavy Whipping Cream and a bit of plain yogurt with live cultures along with my blender to make it.  This gives me 2-3 small containers of butter which keep well in the freezer for the several months it takes us to consume them all.

I haven't felt adventurous enough to try salting or flavoring the butter.  Will maybe try that next time.

Ingredients:

• 1 qt Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 spoonful of Plain Cultured Greek Yogurt (including L. Bulgaricus, L. Acidophilus, and L. Casei)

Process/Notes:

• 5/12/17:
• Put containers of cold cream and yogurt into a warm water bath in the sink for 30 min.  They warmed up to the high 70s
• Poured the cream into the blender
• Scooped in two large spoons of yogurt into the blender and stirred a bit to mix it in
• Left on the counter over night
• 5/13/17:
• After about 18 hrs some solids had started to form on the top of the cream

• Moved the blender to the fridge to cool down the cream prior to blending - chilled the cream for about 2 hrs
• Put a large bowl filled with cold water into the freezer in preparation to wash the butter
• Mixed the butter in the blender on low.  Took about 10 min for the butter to separate out

Mixing the cream

Texture immediately before separating

Butter separation complete

• Drained off the buttermilk

• Rinsed the butter with cold water several times until it ran clear.  Kneaded the butter during this process

Water starting to clear - did a coupe more rinses after this

• Kneaded a bit more to drain off excess liquid
• Put in Pyrex containers and then smoothed out with a knife for a better presentation

• Got three small containers - put two in the freezer for use later
• Enjoyed some delicious creamy butter with a fresh loaf of bread!
• 7/30/17 - Made up another batch of butter.  This time I decided to mix some things in:
1. Mixed in 1/4 tsp of garlic salt and 1 tsp of dried rosemary (this is per 1 cup of butter).  I'm going to let the flavors meld in this one.  Right now the garlic salt is a pretty strong flavor component.
2. Mixed in 2 tsp of honey.  This made for a pretty sweet butter.