#27 Breakfast Stout

At this point, after already brewing four beers using the 1968 London ESB yeast, I'm still looking for an excuse to brew with this yeast. Since I've been thinking that a low alcohol, yet flavorful beer is great to have on tap, I figured it would have to be a beer about 5.5% ABV or under. I've been thinking about blending a beer with french press coffee as well for some time now, and so the thought of brewing another low gravity beer to accompany the Ordinary Bitter and blending it with coffee left me with the thought of a sessionable Breakfast Stout with coffee.

Draining the Breakfast Stout wort

I came up with a simple recipe that should make for a beer you'd want to have with a nice big omelet or bacon and eggs; low gravity, rich and malty, roasty with plenty of coffee flavor, a nice mouthfeel from oats, and if I end up adding coffee, the added roastiness from the coffee as well.

Breakfast Stout

Batch Volume (Gal): 6.0

Pre-Boil Volume (Gal): 4.66

Total Grain (Lbs): 7.75

OG: 1.035   Anticipated FG: ~1.012

Anticipated ABV: ~3%

IBUs: 28.7 (aimed for 23)

SRM: 28.5

Brewhouse Efficiency: 75%

Boil Duration: 95 min

Grain                              (Lbs/oz.) (%)

Muntons Marris Otter        3       38.7

Malteurop                             2       25.8

Munich Malt                         1       12.9

Chocolate Malt                   8 oz.    6.5

Crystal 80                           8 oz.    6.5

Flaked Oats                        8 oz.    6.5

Roasted Barley                  4 oz.     3.2

Hops            (AA%) (IBU) (Oz.) (Boil[min])

Millennium   15.9     28.7    0.4         90 (should be 60 min addition)

Yeast

Rehydrated and pitched 7 grams (0.6 of pack) of Safale-05 (Cal Ale) yeast

Water

Ca: 122 Mg: 2 SO4: 45 Na: 29 Cl: 61 HCO3: 198

Mash Schedule

Single Infusion   60 min ~156 F, 10 min mashout ~170 F

In mash: 2 mL Lactic Acid, 4 g CaCO3; pH ~5.6-58 

In boil: 2 g NaHCO3, 1.5 CaSO4, 2.5 CaCl2

Unfortunately, when it came time to draw off the Ordinary Bitter into the keg, and harvest yeast from the yeast cake, the Ordinary Bitter hadn't completely finished fermentation and much of the yeast that would have fermented the Breakfast Stout was still in suspension in the Bitter. I'm not quite sure why it has taken so long for the Ordinary Bitter to finish fermentation, but I think it may have gotten a late start. Hopefully it will be able to finished fermentation and conditioning in the keg, especially with a yeast like 1968 that needs a good diacetyl rest after fermentation in order to clean itself up.

Pitching the Safale-05 yeast after rehydrating

So instead of trying to use the sub par yeast cake from the Ordinary Bitter, I chose to use one of the Safale-05 packets I have saved in the kegerator just for this occasion. This particular dry yeast I find works excellently, especially after rehydration, and judging by the way it tastes it might as well be a healthy liquid yeast culture. I would have liked to use the 1968 yeast strain again, but the Safale should give me flavors that I'll enjoy as well. It'll be a bit cleaner, but I'll ferment this batch a bit higher at 68 F to try and produce a few more esters. Hopefully the resultant beer will mesh well with french press coffee as a result.

 I'm hoping to have the Black Butte Porter, Buster's Bitter, and the second batch of Ordinary Bitter ready for drinking before Thanksgiving, in time for me to move to a new apartment. In addition, the Belgian Triple and the Belgian Dubbel should finish bottle conditioning as well within the next few weeks, so with the addition of the Breakfast Stout, I should have quite a few beers to choose from. I'm hoping to squeeze in one last brew before I move, some sort of lager using the Bohemian Lager strain, so that I have something in the fermentation chamber while I'm unable to brew. Having no other opportunities to brew ales will give me the chance to lager it for quite a while before kegging.

#26 Ordinary Bitter (Batch No.2)

After enjoying the Ordinary Bitter so much (and so quickly) I thought that I should keep the 1968 London ESB yeast strain going a bit longer with another Ordinary Bitter batch. I don't often brew the same style in such quick succession so I thought this would offer me a chance to brew a bitter more to my tastes. 

Using the recipe I took from The Jamil Show, I made a few tweaks to brew a beer similar to the flavors I tasted in a pint of London Pride from Fullers I had a while back. The London Pride was a bit maltier, cleaner (less fruity/estery), and overall a bit fuller than my take on the style. In order to make these changes, I chose to ferment a degree colder (66 F), use an additional specialty grain for biscuity/bready maltiness (victory), and chose to go without the "double-drop" method I used on the last bitter, although I really have enjoyed the results of this method of fermentation.

Ordinary Bitter (Batch No.2)

Batch Volume (Gal): 6.0

Pre-Boil Volume (Gal): 4.33, topped up to 6.0 for pre-boil

Total Grain (Lbs): 8.25

OG: ~1.037   Anticipated FG: ~1.009   Anticipated ABV: ~3.67%

IBUs: 32.9

SRM: 10.5

Brewhouse Efficiency: 73%

Boil Duration: 95 min

Grain                              (Lbs/oz.)(%)

Muntons Marris Otter       7        84.8

Crystal 120                        8 oz.     6.1

Victory Malt                      8 oz.     6.1

Special Roast Malt            4 oz.     3.0

Hops                        (AA%) (IBU) (Oz.) (Boil[min])

East Kent Goldings   4.5      25.4   1.25        90

East Kent Goldings   4.5       7.5     0.8          30

East Kent Goldings   4.5       0.0    0.75         0

East Kent Goldings   4.5       0.0     0.2     Dry Hop

Yeast

Pitched ~75 mL of thin 1968 London ESB yeast slurry with lots of trub/hop material from starter built up from Buster's Bitter yeast cake

Water

replicated water from previous Ordinary Bitter brew except for keeping the HCO3 at 24 and upping the Cl to ~50 ppm and Na to ~30

Mash Schedule

Single Infusion   60 min ~149-150 (aimed for 152 F), 10 min mashout ~165 F

In mash: 2 mL Lactic Acid; pH ~5.1

In boil: salts to hit water profile

It will be interesting to see how this particular beer comes out without the "double-drop" method of fermentation and how my first time using Marris Otter as a base will result in the finished beer. I'm hoping these changes will result in a beer just as sessionable yet flavorful as the previous Ordinary Bitter. If this particular brew comes out as well as the previous Bitter brew, I think I may have to make Ordinary Bitters a style that I frequently brew. I find myself more and more thinking of brewing sessionable beers, rather than the strong ales I've been more obsessed with previously when homebrewing. Focusing on the style may also offer me a greater chance at learning the intricacies of brewing that are most likely lost when I jump from style to style.

The first runnings of the Ordinary Bitter (left) and the vorlauf (right)

#25 Belgian Dubbel (Batch No.2)

The English Ordinary Bitter

After brewing the Belgian Tripel, I wasn't exactly sure I'd try and use the 3787 Trappist High Gravity yeast again. After tasting a few bottles of the Tripel, I was more than happy to brew with this particular yeast again. The Tripel came out incredibly dry (1.006) yet has a rich mouthfeel, sweetness, esters, and phenols. It's by far the best Belgian I've made so I am hoping this Dubbel will demonstrate some of those flavors I love so much in the Tripel but at a more sessionable ABV.

I chose to go with a recipe very close to the one I brewed back in January as my second brew on this blog. It's yet another recipe from The Jamil Show with a few tweaks. CaraBelges was a substitute for Aromatic, CaraAroma a sub for Special B, and Belgian Candi sugar as a sub for the syrup which Jamil apparently considers superior to the rock candi sugar. I still had 4 ounces left from the last Dubbel brew, so I thought I might as well use it up.

Belgian Dubbel (Batch No.2)

The wort collected during the vorlauf

Batch Volume (Gal): 6.0

Pre-Boil Volume (Gal): 6.64

Total Grain (Lbs): 14.25

OG: 1.063 (1.066 after sugar added to fermenter)   

Anticipated FG: ~1.012   Anticipated ABV: ~7.14%

IBUs: 23

SRM: 15.9

Brewhouse Efficiency: 72%

Boil Duration: 95 min

Grain (Lbs/oz.) (%)

Weyerman Pilsner 11 77.2

Munich Malt 1 7.0

CaraBelge 8 oz. 3.5

CaraMunich 45 8 oz. 3.5

CaraAroma 8 oz. 3.5

Cane Sugar 8 oz. 3.5 (added after peak of fermentation)

Dark Candi Sugar 4 oz. 1.8

Hops (AA%) (IBUs) (Oz.) (Boil[min])

Styrian Goldings 4.5 19.3 1 90

Czech Saaz 3.0 3.9 1 20

Yeast

Pitched ~150 mL of thin slurry from Trappist 3787 High Gravity yeast starter. Yeast reharvested from Belgian Tripel

Water 

Ca: 85 Mg: 2 SO4: 19 Na: 15 Cl: 18 HCO3: 154

(targeted Chimay water profile as with the Belgian Tripel)

Mash Schedule

Single Infusion   60 min 149-148 F, 10 min mashout at 165 F; pH ~5.2

In mash: 4 g CaCO3, 4 mL Lactic Acid

In boil: 1 g NaHCO3, 0.5 CaSO4, 0.5 CaCl2

Reading original gravity of the wort before the boil

Overall this brewday went fantastic, and with the weather it was one of the most enjoyable days I've had to brew. My mash numbers were good, something I haven't been able to target very well with the last couple brews, and the other little things went well also. I finally purchased a bottle of oxygen that actually had oxygen in it, which was a nice change as the last two oxygen bottles I had bought were completely empty. It was great to finally have my oxygen system work after the past three brews.

Running off the cooled wort into the fermenter

The one thing I am concerned about was my yeast 3787 yeast starter. When I first propagated this yeast before the Belgian Tripel brew, I did notice that it gives a fairly funky and somewhat off-putting aroma and flavor when growing in a starter. I was concerned initially that that first pitch was already infected, and yet it fermented what I think could be my best Belgian I've ever brewed. So I'm hoping this will be the case with this particular starter. After tasting some of the starter wort and yeast, it seemed to have a bit of a Lactobacillus tartness and flavor. It tasted great, but I'm worried it could be the sign of Lacto infection. After thinking about the possibility of infection, I wasn't too concerned, as I had contemplated souring a portion of a mash for a Belgian with this beer anyway. I think I'll be happy with this beer with or without a small Lacto infection, but I'm hoping that it's nothing that will dominate the beer too much if it is infected.

I'm not sure how many opportunities I'll have to brew until I move, but I am hoping to repropagate the 1968 strain possibly for some other brew, possibly another Bitter as my first batch is disappearing quickly. There's also the chance that I try to brew a lager for the first time in two years seeing as I will finally have a way to control fermentation temperatures (with the fermentation chamber outside using ambient late Fall temperatures to cool fermentation and the FermWrap heating the fermentation). Either way, I'm hoping to fill a few of my kegs and possibly some bottles before I move and no longer have the chance to provide myself with a steady stream of homebrewed beer.

Chilling the boiled wort using the immersion chiller

#24 Buster's Bitter (Batch No.2) / Bottling the Belgian Tripel / Baking "Mashed" Bread

The Scottish Wee Heavy

For what will most likely be my last brew with this particular pitch of Wyeast of 1968 London ESB ale yeast, I wanted to brew another batch of a beer I brewed last fall in honor of my grandfather. The beer last year was brewed with the 1968 strain and came out great, so I wanted another chance to brew this beer with a few tweaks.

The malt bill for this beer was formulated to a certain extent out of necessity. I'm planning on making a move soon, and I'm not sure I'll have the chance to brew all-grain batches once I move. There's a fair amount of base grain and a few specialty grains I am looking to use up, so the base came from the remainder of a bag of British 2-row, some American 2-row, and some Carastan malt (aka British Crystal). I liked the influence of American Special Roast Malt so much in the Ordinary Bitter that I chose to put a small amount in this grain bill too. The Carastan, American Special Roast, and Crystal 120 are substitutes for Aromatic Malt, and Crystal 60 that I used in the previous batch. I chose to use the same hops but with a different hopping schedule; I chose not to "pepper" in hops as I had with the previous brew, but keep Northern Brewer as a bitter/flavor hop and let the EKG and Fuggles do all the aroma and dry hopping. The first batch of Buster's Bitter finished with a gravity that was a bit too low for my taste, so I chose to lower the mash temp as well this time around.

Buster's Bitter (Batch No.2)

Batch Volume (Gal): 6.0

Pre-Boil Volume (Gal): 7.0

Total Grain (Lbs): 14.5

OG: 1.065   Anticipated FG: ~1.012   Anticipated ABV: ~7% ABV

IBUs: 46

SRM: 11.3

Brewhouse Efficiency: 74%

Boil Duration: 95 min

Grain                                                  (Lbs/oz.) (%)

Malteurop North American 2-row        7       48.3

Pearl British 2-row                                  5       34.5

Carastan Malt                                           1        6.9

Wheat Malt                                             8 oz.    3.4

Victory Malt                                            8 oz.    3.4

Crystal 120                                              4 oz.    1.7

American Special Roast                         4 oz.    1.7

Hops                      (AA%) (IBU) (Oz.) (Boil[min])

Northern Brewer  12.3      41.3    0.8        90

Northern Brewer  12.3       4.8     0.2        30

EKG                         4.5          0      0.5         0

Fuggles                    4.0          0     0.5          0

EKG                         4.5          0      0.5    Dry Hop

Fuggles                   4.0          0      0.5     Dry Hop

Yeast

Repitched ~115 mL of thick, moderately clean 1968 London ESB yeast slurry from Black Butte Porter yeast cake

Water

Ca: 100 Mg: 2 SO4: 134 Na: 25 Cl: 81 HCO3: 84

Mash Schedule

Single Infusion   5 min 140 F, brought up to 150 F 10 min, brought up to 152 F at 15 min, 

15 min mashout at 165 F 

In Mash: 3 mL of Lactic Acid; pH ~5.4

In Boil: 2 g NaHCO3, 6 g CaSO4, 4 g CaCl2

Transferring the Porter off of the 1968 yeast cake

Only two issues on this particular brew day; my mashing continues to be a bit unpredictable and I can't seem to buy an oxygen tank that has any oxygen left in it. The mash for whatever reason began at 140 F after targeting 152 F. I have no damn clue how it started out this low; I preheated as I always do, calculated out my strike temp but missed my target by 12 degrees. Luckily I brought up the temp quickly with boiling water, but this low initial temp may likely produce a drier than desired English Extra Special Bitter. The mash pH as well continues to be unpredictable, and I consistently hit 5.4 pH at mash temps. Not sure this is a bad thing as I often hit this pH and produce beers, but I've found that when I hit 5.1 or 5.2, my beers are much crisper, acidic, and generally more like a commercial example of the style than if I hit a slightly higher mash pH.

The new thermowell for the temp probe

For the second time it seems I purchased a disposable oxygen tank that was completely empty. I have no damn idea how this keeps happening; the first O2 tank I bought had plenty of oxygen, and I know these tanks are not meant to be refilled, so I have no reason to believe that I needed to have these tanks filled in the first place. For the second brew in a row, I had to resort to an old method of aeration which this week happened to be simply sloshing the beer around in the carboy. Hopefully there was a sufficient amount of oxygen mixed into the wort when it came time to pitch the yeast.

I am hoping that I'll have at least a few more chances to brew all-grain before my move, with either a Belgian Dubbel brew or a Biere de Noel with the Trappist High gravity planned soon. If not, I may have to wait a while before I'll have the chance to brew again, so I'm happy that the last few batches I've brewed are ready to drink just before winter comes.

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Bottling the Belgian Tripel

Sanitizing the Belgian Corks

After about a month in the carboy I was able to bottle the Belgian Tripel in 750 mL cork and cage Belgian beer bottles. After the failure of many of the bottles of Belgian Biere de Garde to carbonate in the Belgian beer bottles with plastic stoppers, I knew that I had to go with Belgian corks if I was to ever bottle a batch of beer in Belgian bottles. Fortunately, the wine corker I have works quite well with these corks (with a few modifications) and I was able to bottle the entire batch in both Belgian Beer bottles and Belgian "Champage" style bottles.

I added about 5 ounces of cane sugar to prime these bottles with which should carbonate the beer to about 3.0 volumes of CO2. The flat beer tasted fantastic, so I can only imagine with some added carbonation and a slightly colder serving temp, this beer will be great for winter.

Baking "Mashed" Bread

Mashing the Specialty Grains with a glass of Murphy the Stout Hearted

I've baked a few batches of spent grain over the past year, but this time around I wanted to experiment with some extra specialty grain I had lying around. I threw together some wheat, crystal 60, carapils, crystal 120, and a lot of chocolate malt and mashed it all for about 20 minutes on the stove, then proofed my bread yeast using the resulting wort from the mash. This all went into the mixing bowl with bread flower and baked. The bread had the exact color of Chocolate malt and the roastiness of the malt comes through a bit with a lot of chocolate malt flavor. The two loaves taste great, and I'd really like to see what some "mashed" bread would taste like if I went with a crystal malt instead.

The "mashed" grain bread dough