The Day of the Night Jump Stout

So the title makes no sense yet it makes perfect sense. The brew day was originally intended to be a birthday treat for myself. Ever since we had our little girl these days are much harder to come by, not that I mind since I love every waking moment with my daughter. Anyway as the plans progress my cousin from the Philly area was looking for a fall getaway and Florida was a great fit. It also worked out well since I was already planning on taking some time off from work.

As Jon first got into town I immediately took him on a whirl wind tour of Tampa beer spots. The main focus was on Cigar City Brewing. We got there just in time to grab a couple samples then go on the tour. It's kind of sad that this was my first tour I took there. They really offer a great service to their patrons. Five dollars gets you a branded pint glass to keep filled with your choice of delicious beer. Be sure to consume your beer and hold on to the glass by mid tour. That's when they bring you to the back and give you a taste right from the fermenter! The day we were they had a fresh batch of Humidor Series IPA sitting on the cedar spirals. This was an eye opener for Jon since he normally is not a hop driven beer drinker. His preference is to malt and roast, but I think now he may dip into IPA land every now and again.

The brew day was set for the very next day. It started out like any other brew day for me. Pull out all the gear, fire up the HLT and mill some grains. As mentioned in my last post this was a huge beer. I needed to use both my 10 gallon and 5 gallon mash tuns. For Jon it was good timing since he just got to see the big boy equipment that does the same thing. He of course was on vacation mode and snuck in the house every once in a while to catch a nap or read a brewing book. Then he'd pop back out and quiz me on where I was in the process and ask why I wasn't dressed like a monk (he really digs Belgian beers). During the day there were your typical injury's like hot stainless on fresh skin, nothing out of the ordinary for a hobby like this. There was extra low gravity wort with out the means to make another traditional beer. Thinking on the fly all while kicked back enjoying the day. Overall I was happy with the day and the potential of the beer(s).

That evening my brother came over and we all headed to Orlando to do a little lobby hopping with drinks an dinner around the Disney parks. This is something that is a bit out of my comfort zone, being a Floridian that doesn't care much for crowds and manufactured fun. But all in all it was a fun night. Then for Jon's last day we tried a compromise of Busch Gardens to give him a theme park fix and try to work on his coaster issues. The day was not wasted since there really is a lot to see and do there without the coasters. You can even revert to childhood and ride the bumper cars, but this time with years of defensive driving and road rage under your belt!!!

Night Jump Imperial Stout

This stout is being brewed in the spirit of jumping into the unknown, much like a nighttime jump. As I have fond memories of the dim red glow inside a cramped C-130 and hear the commands to stand up, hook up, check equipment, sound off with equipment check, stand by and finally GO! On any given jump this dance has an elegance to it but night jumps were special. One of my favorites was at Juliette DZ in Italy. Normally you could see the mountains and farmer fields surrounding this DZ but this particular evening was pitch black. The winds were calm and there were no sounds to be heard. You felt as though you were truly by yourself for those few moments. Daytime jumps you have visual points of reference of when to lower your ruck sack and weapons case. This jump was so sereen that I was lost in time, when I realized I had been in the air for what felt like a lifetime I decided to get ready for landing. I untied my 1911 weapons case and pulled the release for my lowering line. I heard the lowering line unfurl then a sudden THUD on the ground......well shit! Yup, the ground snuck up on me and I rode my weapon in on my PLF! Gather your gear and move on.....

This stout was a challenge to brew and hit the numbers. It was my first attempt at a beer of this size. I had to fill both my mash tuns, a 5 and a 10 gallon cooler type, just for the volume of grains. I batch sparge so calculating on the fly for two vessels was a struggle. I'm sure I'll learn as I attempt other massive beers, or I'll just scale to a smaller bacth or buckle down and get a bigger mash tun. Anyway I slightly over sparged which I did not add to the kettle. I didn't feel like adding an extra hour or two to the boil. So I was left with about 2+ gallons of 1.050 wort with no extra propane tank to take advantage of. It would have made a great dry stout or porter. Instead I decided to try a no boil lacto Berliner Weisse style on this free wort. Who knows it may be great or it may be too roasty to go with the sour side of things.

The intent for this batch is to play around with secondary flavor treatments while leaving enough base beer as a base line. This is a 6 gallon batch and the current thoughts are as follows:

-1 gallon straight.

-1 gallon straight for future blending.

-1 gallon with coffee, bourbon, vanilla and oak.

-1 gallon with toasted coconut, cocoa nibs, vanilla, rum and oak.

-1 gallon with cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa nibs, peppers, apple brandy and oak.

-1 gallon with either bourbon or apple brandy and oak.

Recipe:

Style: Imperial Stout

OG: 1.100

Target FG: 1.030 or below

IBU's: 88

SRM: 76

Boil Size: 9 gallons

Batch Size: 6.5 gallons

Boil Time: 120 minutes

Mash: Full body single infusion at 158*F

18 pounds Marris Otter 51.99%

6 pounds Munich 17.33%

1 pound Simpsons Caramalt 2.89%

1 pound Rye Malt 2.89%

1 pound Roasted Barley 2.89%

1 pound Black Malt 2.89%

1 pound Chocolate Malt 2.89%

1 pound Carafa III 2.89%

8 ounces Special Roast 1.44%

1 pound Flaked Barley 2.89%

1 pound Flaked Oats 2.89%

1 pound Black Treacle 2.89%

1 pound Lactose 2.89%

3 ounces Magnum 90 minutes

Additions:

Whirlfloc

Yeast Nutrient

Yeast: Wyeast 1099

UPDATE: 15 Nov 13 Gravity reading is at 1.031
Tasted sample; smooth, viscous mouth feel with a nice bitterness on the back end. Warming notes from the roasted grains and alcohol. So far I'm pleased with how this is coming along, the only thing I can think of changing at this point is to scale back on the hop bitterness just a touch.

Review: Modern Times, Neverwhere 100% Brett IPA

I have been a long time follower of Michael Tonsmeire, The Mad Fermentationist. When he announced that he would be consulting and doing recipe development for a start up brewery in California I was exited for him and most of all the beer community as a whole. Reading nearly every blog post from it's inception to their launch. Watching on Facebook and Instagram the delicious sounding beers come to life. There has never been a time where I was more envious of my fellow beer geeks in California. And it just so happens that over half the beer I seek comes from Cali.

Now since the Mad Fermentationist is in DC, Modern Times is in San Diego and I'm in Florida, I have pretty much set my sights on only dreaming of their beers. You could say I was a fan before ever taking that first sip. And usually this sets one up for disappointment, thankfully this was not the case. As luck would have it beer people are awesome. I made a post of a local Cigar City beer I was enjoying on Instagram. Someone asked if I was up for a trade and offered up Modern Times. I couldn't say no to this deal. After a few emails I had a fresh growler full of Neverwhere being delivered to my doorstep!

And now onto the beer itself!!!

Appearance: Clear, golden yellow with an initial thick head typical of wheat beers. The head quickly dissipates to a thin lasting white cap. 

Smell: Fruity American hops melding with tropical fruit from the Brettanomyces. This beer has a truly intoxicating aroma. I could stick my nose in this thing all day long.

Taste: Smooth bitterness, the only time I really noticed it being bitter was as it warmed up. Otherwise it was masked so well by the flavors and aromas. There is a touch of doughiness hidden behind all those tasty American hops.

Mouthfeel: The beer was dry and creamy. There was good carbonation with tiny bubbles tha would linger on your tongue. There is slight malt sweetness that rounds this beer out. 

Overall: I really dig this beer! It's a 7% ABV that goes down like it were closer to 5%. The aromas pull you in and the flavors lock you down. I have a feeling this would be my daily drink if I were a local. This has been my favorite 100% brett fermented beer to date. Great job Modern Times, you nailed it!

Sunshower IPA

This brew is in celebration of those hot Florida days where a quick sunshower takes the edge off for just a brief moment. The basis of the beer is destined to be full of refreshing citrus and tropical fruits followed by a firm bitterness and creamy mouthfeel. A little something to take the edge off any day. And yes, I am fully aware summer is almost over. But here in Florida a good IPA is welcome anytime! Besides we still have another couple months of some heat.

There is no one beer that inspires this brew, in fact there are several. With so many great beers and brewers out there it's hard not to find inspiration in a cold pint. Over the last few months I have had the pleasure of tasting some new to me beers that led to the development of this beer.

My first inspiration comes from Port Brewing's Wipeout IPA. This fine beverage is very chewy with wheat and a slight malt sweetness coming from English crystal malt. The hops are very aromatic American varieties that just fill your nose with awesomeness when you pull it close. Some of the hop varieties used in Wipe Out that will be incorporated into my recipe are Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial and Simcoe.

The second inspiration is a simple hop addition of Citra. This was a last minute addition based on a recent trip to Funky Buddha Brewery. On that visit I enjoyed their limited offering Crusher Pale Ale. This beer was low gravity but did not lack flavor. The Citra and Amarillo hops they used provided a ton of flavor and just about jumped out of the glass to smack you in the face.

The next couple inspirations are yeast derived. The primary yeast is going to be Conan, a proprietary strain used by The Alchemist. This is a shot in the dark for me since I have not had the pleasure of drinking a Heady Topper. However I was lucky enough to score some yeast from a home brewer I've interacted with on Instagram and homebrewtalk.com. I was sent a slurry of this yeast that was built up from the dregs of Heady and has been used in several batches successfully. This yeast is known for a tropical and peach aromas. I know it'll carry through since making the yeast starter that was the first thing I could smell. It's also been characterized as leaving a creamy mouthfeel.

And my final inspiration (told you there were a few) comes from Anchorage Brewing. Their style of taking classic base styles and fermenting/aging in oak barrels with Brettanomyces makes for some incredible beers. Each beer I have tried from their offerings has been exceptional. But in this case the two that stand out are their Galaxy White IPA and Bitter Monk Double IPA. I tried both of these after the were in the bottle for over a year. This far exceeds conventional wisdom for a hop forward IPA. But the fruitiness and funk from the Brettanomyces melded well with the bitterness and the brett seems to be good at preserving the hop character.

So with all this knowledge dropped on you of the things that I like in an IPA I might as well sum up the project. I am brewing an  8 1/2 gallon batch of IPA, which might border on Double IPA if my efficiency or attenuation goes over my anticipated targets. 5 gallons destined to go into a used barrel inoculated with Brettanomyces while the rest is a straight forward IPA. You'll here a little more of my barrel project in a later post since this seems to be the year of the barrel for me. 

Recipe:

Style: American IPA 

OG: 1.066

Target FG: 1.008

IBU's: 68

SRM: 6.2

Boil Size: 10 gallons

Batch Size: 8.5 gallons

Boil Time: 60 minutes

Mash: Single infusion light body 150*F

13 pounds 2-Row 61.9%

6 pounds White Wheat 28.57%

1 pound Simpsons Caramalt 4.76%

1 pound Table Sugar 4.76%

1oz Magnum First Wort 28.92 IBU's

1oz Magnum 60 min 26.29 IBU's 

0.5oz Simcoe 10 min 4.43 IBU's 

0.5oz Citra 10 min 4.5 IBU's 

0.5oz Simcoe 5 min 2.43 IBU's

0.5oz Citra 5 min 2.47 IBU's

0.5oz Centennial 0 min

0.5oz Simcoe 0 min

0.5oz Amarillo 0 min

0.5oz Cascade 0 min

0.5oz Citra 0 min

0.5oz Centennial dry hop

0.5oz Simcoe 0 dry hop

0.5oz Amarillo 0 dry hop

0.5oz Cascade 0 dry hop

0.5oz Citra 0 dry hop

Yeast: Conan

UPDATE: 24 Sep 2013

-After about two weeks in the primary I took some gravity readings and it looked to be a little under attenuated at 1.020. I decided to play it safe and pitched some US-05 to make sure I could get the gravity where I wanted it. The flavors and aromas are phenomenal. The yeast although under pitched still did a great job providing those peachy notes. 

-I have also decided that I'm going o do the five gallon portion as my straight IPA and the three gallon portion as my brett version. I have also decided to do a second dry hop just to really emphasize the aroma.

UPDATE: 15 Nov 13
After having a few bottles without official tasting notes here is what I have. The under pitching really screwed this one. It's still a good beer but it has a little hot solvent note to it. The hops really worked out well together and the grain combo was good too. I think the next time I need to not be as overly ambitious and make the time to build the starter to where it needs to be and not jump the gun. 

Review: Sauer Weizen

So for my first review I decided a home brew was called for. Also a nice celebration of kicking off this blog live today! This is my Sauer Weizen, basically I took a straight forward Hefeweizen that I brewed and soured a gallon with the dregs of a Jolly Pumpkin beer. The inspiration for this was actually Jolly Pumpkin's Weizen Bam. The base beer is as basic of a hefe as you can get, 63% Wheat, 37% Pilsner and about 11 IBU's of Hallertauer hops. The yeast I chose was Safebrew WB-06, I know a lot of folks aren't into brewing hefeweizens with dry yeast but I've always had good results with this yeast in my hefe's. It has leaned a little more toward clove than banana and for me that's a good thing. 

Now this is the part that will show how much improvement I am going to need as a blogger. The actual review! I've always loved good food, beer and wine but have not been able to conjure up the essence of a dew soaked tobacco leaf from southern Virginia on a summers day. So for me I hope that this is going to help me get better at identifying positive attributes as well as flaws in my own beers and others. I do have a copy of Randy Mosher's  Tasting Beer that I'm looking forward to reading. This however is just one of many great books in the queue. Well here goes nothing.

Appearance: Straw yellow with a classic hefeweizen haze. As it's poured the head is brilliant white and about a 1/4". It dissipates quickly but can be brought back with a quick swirl. There's no lacing in this beer as is typical with sours.

Smell: The aroma is very faint on this one. I can pick up some yeast and a light lactic note with just a hint of fruit. I really couldn't pick up on any specific notes.

Mouthfeel: The body is nice and thin, moderate carbonation that goes down smooth.

Taste: This is where the beer got interesting for me. On first impression you think hefe but after your first sip you instantly think Berliner Weisse. There is a definite lactic presence in this one but not overly so.

Overall: Although Berliner Weisse comes to mind while drinking this it has much more complexity in all arenas. This beer weighs in at 6.5% ABV but drinks as though it were much lower. This would be a great intro to sours for the uninitiated as well as something enjoyed as an easy thirst quencher on a hot day.

Introduction

Hi, I'd like to take a minute to introduce myself and the future of this blog. First off my name is Rob and I am an avid home brewer. I am also a family man and a passionate home cook. The purpose of this blog, like many others, is more of a self record. If it helps out and informs others then all the better. You will see post of my brewing exploits, home cooking adventures and perhaps a little about myself and family.

I've been brewing since January of 2010 and started with extract and specialty grains. My first batch was an ESB recipe picked up from my local home brew store. In retrospect the experience was a disaster. No real instructions and no one to show me the ropes. I put the grains in the sack, brought it up to the boil, left the grains in the brew pot, added the malt extract and continued the boil adding the hops as called for. I let it ferment at room temp and stuck to the primary for X number of days then transfer to secondary. I recall the gravity not being where "it was suppose to be" so I topped off with water. When I figured it was time to bottle my capper crapped out on me and luckily I had some swing top bottles on hand. The resulting brew was a cloudy, protein floaty, over carbonated mess. I had all but given up just with the brew day struggles. But it was just good enough to make me want to try it again.

Since then I have made the switch from extract to all grain brewer. I'm glad I went with the extract and grains to get the hang of the fermentation and boil functions first. But being the control freak that I am when it comes to food and flavors I am glad I transitioned to all grain. To me all grain brewing gives me a sense of greater understanding and control over the brewing process. I know for a fact that great beer can be made with extract. Every brewer transitions in their own way to a style that works best for them. You may see me transition a little more from post to post!

I enjoy brewing a variety of styles. I tend to favor farmhouse ales, malty brown ales, wheat beers, sours and wild brews. Don't get me wrong, I like to brew other styles too. I like to brew things that will stand the test of time as well. I love IPA's and hop forward beers, but I just don't tend to go through the whole batch while it's at it's peak. I like to play with "wild" brewing, brettanomyces and the like. I feel these yeast strains add great complexity and make beers with long term aging potential. The whole evolution of a "living" beer is a beautiful thing in my eyes. Today it's hoppy, tomorrow it's fruity, the next it's funky!

I truly hope that this turns into a positive experience that we can all walk away with something gained. Cheers!