Witless wit

Grain Bill:

•  6 lb Wheat DME
• 1 oz Hallertau Hops 9.0% AA

Yeast:

• Wyeast 3333 German Wheat

Brew Schedule:

1. Bring 3 Gallons to 155F
2. Add DME
3. Boil for 45 min
1. Add clarifying agent
4. Boil 60 min
1. Add hops
5. Add 2 gallons of water
6. Drop to 70F
7. Add yeast

Up the sugar

I got some advice from the folks on twitter about adding cherry puree to my Irish Imperial Stout to give it a bit of that fruity finish. I was thinking of using it to replace the sugar for bottling. I gave up on that and decided to use it as a secondary fermentation stage in conjunction with the champagne yeast. I added 2 cups of 1.099 gravity unsweetened cherry puree. Two weeks will tell if it works out well or not. Initial taste is very good. So far I am happy with the result

Emily Engdahl's Black Currant American Ale

Thanks to @emilyengdahl for the recipe.

roughly:
5 gal w
10# amer 2 row pale
1# Carapils
1# Caramel w oz
1 oz Amarillo
8oz fresh hops Willamette
4oz Hallertauer Pell

Hops in at 60, 45, 30 and 15 min increments. (split 8 oz fresh hops)

pitched Wyeast 1056 AmerAle

7 days primary, dumping 2qts black currant tea (steeped 3 days w 1oz loose tea)
3.34 lbs blackberries into stockpot w 64 oz black currant sun tea (not strained) & 1.6 oz dextrose
up to 190F for pasteurization, then strain syrup out - yield of 83.2 oz, cooled & addition at 7th day w 5.2 oz fresh hop


Work In progress

Irish Imperial Stout

Grain Bill:

• 6 lb Special Dark LME
  
• 6 lb Amber LME
  
• 8 oz Choclate Malt
  
• 4 oz Carmel 120L
  
• 8 oz Roasted Barley
  

Hops:

• 1 oz Willamette 6 AA @ 2 min
  
• 3 oz Glacier 5.9 AA @ 60 min
  

Yeast

• Irish Ale Yeast WLP004
  
• Champagne Yeast WLP715
  

1. Mashed in with 3 gallons of filtered at 155F for 45 min with all the grain
2. Added LME at 45 min off of burner
3. Put back on burner and brought to boil
3. Added 1oz Williamtte at 2 min into the boil
4. Added Irish moss at 45 min.
5. Added 3oz Glacier at at 60 min and threw kettle into ice bath.
6. Added 2 additional gallons of filtered cold water to bring temperature of wort down to 70F. Added WLP004 and allowed to ferment for two weeks.
7. Racking to carboy and adding WLP715 and store for two months.

Black Pepper Rye Pale Ale Two Months Later

The Black Pepper beer two months later is great. The pepper is still in the nose and in the initial taste. Following the pepper is the sweeter spice of the rye. It didn't get overpowered, it just got pushed back further in the flavor profile. I think that longer bottle conditioning time before tasting again was a good idea. The beer is much more rounded now.

I would brew this again for sure.

Black Pepper Rye Pale Ale

This is a rebrew of the first Rye I did. This time I decided I wanted to do something a bit different then the standard recipeis that I had been brewing.


Grain bill

• 1 lb 2 row
• 1 lb Rye Malt
• 6.6 lb Gold LME (Liquid Malt Extract)
• 2 lb Wheat DME (Dry Malt Extract)
• 1 oz Willamett @ 60 min 5.0% AA
• 0.5 oz Centennial @ 0 min 9.0% AA
• 1 oz Centennial @ 7 days 9.0% AA
• 3 tsp / 1 tbsp Black Pepper Corns @ 7 days

Yeast:

• Wyeast 1056 American Pale Ale

Mash in the rye and two row for 45 min at 155F.
Remove from fire and add extract.
Bring to boil and add hops as timed.

3 weeks bottle conditioning time worked out well.

Tasting Notes

Overall taste, color and mouth feel were good. I think that in retrospect I should have gone a bit lighter on the black peppercorns as well as a bit more time in secondary. I am planning on letting this one mellow for a bit and coming back to it.

Post Evaluation

I think next time I would use less Black Pepper. I am thinking one to two teaspoons and not the full 3 tsp. The taste is good with a nice slab of beef but as a general drinking beer the kick is a bit over the top. I think moderation is the key. I had contemplated adding some smoked malt to it and I am glad I didn't. I think as I work on this recipe it will include less black pepper and a touch of smoked.

ESB

Of the beers that I have brewed, this is by far the most disappointing. This supposed ESB came out more like a weak American Pale Ale. Its body is full, but it is missing the Bitter part of Extra Special Bitter.

Grain Bill:

• 8.9 lb English Pale Ale LME (3.5L)
• 0.5 lb Crystal (15 L)
• 0.25 lb Crystal (20 L)
• 0.5 oz Styr Goldings @ 60 min 5% AA
• 0.5 oz Styr Goldings @ 0 min 5% AA

Yeast:

• Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Mash in at 155 F, 60 min.
Add hops at noted times.
Added yeast at 60F.
OG and FG were not recorded.


Next time, I need to make sure that I add the last hops at the end of the boil and not forget them. Dry hopped for 14 days.