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Sunday, September 18, 2011

Mystery Rye PA 2011

Two years ago I brewed a partial mash version of this recipe for the AHA teach a friend to brew day, and it turned out nice.  Won a 3rd place in the specialty beer category for the 2010 VT homebrew comp.  A friend of mine, Bill Mares, dropped off a good bit of hops from a friends yard but didn't know what kind they were.  To me they smelled pretty mild.  I figured it would be perfect for another mystery hopped beer.

RECIPE
Batch #39
10# Pale Malt
3# Rye Malt
1/2# Crystal 60L
1 oz. Chinook (60)
1 oz. Mystery hop (60)
1/2 oz. Chinook (30)
1 oz. Mystery (0)
1 oz Mystery (dry)
Wyeast 1056 (used 2 tubes of my 1056 that I collected and stored.  Made a 750mL starter and added two tubes to it. )

Yippee, let's brew.
9/17 BREWDAY (night)
Brewing time has been really hard to find this year with Barrett getting older and Jen working more weekends. Didn't end up starting this until 8PM.

Mashed in with 18qts water @ 166F, doughed in, temps leveled off around 154/155.  Target was 154.
Stirred at 30 minutes, temps down to 152ish.
At the next 30 minutes mark, temps were at 151/152, and after an addition 15 minutes of waiting, added 10 qts of mash out water @ boiling.  Seemed to be a little too much, temps were like 175.  Added some ice cubes, got it down to 168/169 and let it set for about 15 minutes.
First runnings: 5.5 gallons (whoa), @ 13 brix/1.052.
Added 1.5 gallons sparge water, collected a total of 7 gallons.
Pre-boil: 7 gallons @ 12 Brix/1.048, target was 1.049 @ 70% efficiency
It was 11PM by the time I collected it all, so I covered it all up with blankets and will boil in the AM.

9/18 BREWDAY pt.2
60 minute boil, added 1 oz Chinook & 1 oz Mystery hops


10/2 - transfer to 2nd, added 1 oz Mystery hops, and a 1/2 oz of Chinook for dry hopping.
Smells fruity, and like a hef. Gravity - 1.015

10/16 - Kegged - 1.014 - Not a huge hop aroma, but definitely sweet and bitter. Could be a little drier.

11/5 - This is going fast, probably only a couple pours left.  Had a glass while watching the Penn State vs. Nebraska game.  I'm enjoying this one quite a bit - nice blend of fruity hop flavors and aromas, good bit of bitterness, and a decent malt backbone.  Still think it finished a little sweet, but, still a good one in my book.  




Saturday, September 17, 2011

Pumpkin Roggenbier

Pseudo decoction, w/ roasted pumpkin
I've made a pumpkin ale the last two years, as well as a pumpkin stout (2009), and a pumpkin wheat (2010).  This year, I'm not really feelin a pumpkin ale.  I have a keg of Oktoberfest, and I will have a keg of rye ipa soon... and a keg of cider... so really, I didn't want two more pumpkin beer kegs.  Anyways, long story short, I did decide on doing a pumpkin roggenbier.  I had a roggenbier on my sights to have ready for the fall, and the more I thought about it, the more I saw that they could fit together (the pumpkin and the beer).  Roggenbier is a German concoction that is like a dunkelweizen but instead of wheat, you primarily use rye.  The big difference is that rye gives off a slightly spicey character.  I felt like this could potentially pair well with the pumpkin/spices.  Additionally, the traditional yeast for Weizens/dunkelweizens and roggenbiers, is the german wheat yeast which, when fermented at lower temps (62ish), can highlight a clove note rather than the banana esters that are present when fermented in the upper 60's low 70's.  I love the banana flavors in these styles, but I figured the clove might pair better.  For the pumpkin, I'll stick with what I'm familiar with - I typically use 8#'s of pie pumpkins, 2#'s of butternut, and 1# acorn.  I dice them up, top them with brown sugar, and bake them for 45 minutes.  When that is ready, I throw it all in the boil along with some spices.  At the very least, this should be interesting.

RECIPE:
Batch #40
5# Rye malt
5# Pale malt
1# Flaked rye
1# Munich
1# Caramunich
1 oz Carafa I
1 oz Tettnang (60)
1 oz Saaz (0)
Wyeast 3068

9/18 BREWDAY
And so it begins.  Was really trying to do this the same day as the rye ipa, but I just got started way too late. (will add brewday notes later)


10/2 - transferred to 2nd, added 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice. 

10/16 - kegged. 1.014. Smells like a German wheat beer. Definite clove/banana yeast esters are present. Body seems thick, but the FG is right. Definitely get a litle spice, both is up front flavor as well as finish.

10/26 - Still unsure about this one.  I think the pseudo decoction I did created the thickness that I'm not liking in this.  I think a little bit of a decoction would be great, I just think this was overdone.  Also, I probably should not have added any spices.  There is definitely enough spice with the rye and the low fermented yeast notes of clove to pair well with the pumpkin side of it.  I think this would be a great beer if I took those thing into account for next time.