Author Archives: Andy Farke

OverDRyeV Ale

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I’ve done very little brewing with rye; this is a fairly common ingredient in commercial (and home) brews, but I rarely use it in my own recipes. A search of my blog found only two instances, in fact (a pilsner and an oaked ale)! Why not explore the ingredient a bit, then?

The December 2017 issue of BYO magazine had a clone recipe for Shoreline Brewery’s Red Rye Ale that looked pretty tasty. I liked that it incorporated several varieties of rye malt, and I also liked that it wasn’t just another rye IPA (although that style also is in my future). I made some minor modifications for my on-hand hops, and also substituted in Weyermann CaraRye for non-Weyermann crystal rye, which I couldn’t find readily (it was supposed to be equal amounts of CaraRye and crystal rye).

In the past, I’ve noticed that my higher gravity mashes, as well as mashes with a percentage of flaked grains, tend to come in a bit lower on mash efficiency. So, I assumed 70% for efficiency (instead of my usual 75% or so), and managed to come pretty close.

My goal with this brew is to have a medium body, malty brew that will serve well during the winter months. The brew session was fairly uneventful, helped along by a generous portion of rice hulls to prevent a stuck sparge. My only minor disappointment was that I ended up a shade below my target gravity (1.068 vs. 1.072). Because I am hitting my preboil volumes and gravities fairly well, I think I just need to improve the vigor of my boil.

I also tested out my oxygen wand setup; I had a bit of a disappointment recently with a stuck fermentation on a high gravity brew, so wanted to avoid that in this batch, which was supposed to clock in slightly above 1.070 for starting gravity.

The name, if you couldn’t guess, is a pun on “overdrive”, so named because of the hefty dose of rye malts. The “V” at the end is because I used California Ale V yeast.

rye

OverDRyeV Ale

  • 7.5 lbs. 2-row California Select brewer’s malt (Great Western)
  • 4 lbs. Golden Promise malt (Simpsons)
  • 2 lbs. rye malt (Briess)
  • 1 lb. CaraRye malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.75 lb. flaked rye (Briess)
  • 2 oz. Carafa Special II malt (Weyermann)
  • 2 oz. chocolate rye malt (Weyermann)
  • 4 oz. rice hulls
  • 4 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1.25 oz. Perle hop pellets (4.5% alpha), 30 minute boil
  • 0.75 oz. Perle hop pellets (4.5% alpha), 2 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient, 10 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. California Ale V yeast (WLP051, White Labs), prepared in starter

Target Parameters

  • Infusion mash to hit target of 152°. Batch sparge.
  • Claremont tap water, with addition of 2 g CaCal and 10 mL phosphoric acid (75%) to strike water.
  • 1.072 s.g., 1.018 f.g., 78 IBU, 16 SRM, 7.1% abv

Procedure

  • The night before brewing, I made a 1.5L starter for the yeast.
  • I mashed in with 5.5 gallons of water at 164°, to hit a mash temperature of 153°. After 60 minutes, I vorlaufed, drained the mash tun and added 3.5 gallons of water at 185°. After resting for 10 minutes, I vorlaufed the drained the mash tun again.
  • In total, I collected 6.8 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.057, for 69% efficiency.
  • I brought the mixture to a boil, and boiled for 60 minutes while adding hops and other additions at the appropriate times.
  • After 60 minutes, I chilled to 75° or so, transferred to the fermenter, and oxygenated for 1 minute.
  • I brewed this on 4 December 2017. The wort had a starting gravity of 1.066; this was a bit below my target, so I should probably boil a bit more vigorously on the next batch to drop gravity appropriately.
  • I started fermentation at 68°, and let it drop to ambient in the cooler (66°) after six days. Then, I raised the temperature to 70°, where it rested for a week before kegging.
  • I kegged the beer on 17 December 2017. It had a final gravity of 1.015. Thus, I have an estimated abv of 6.7%. The beer has a really nice and rich rye taste; it’s going to be an awesome winter beer once is carbonated and on tap!

Brew Updates: Palaeotis Pils 1.2 & Old Pine Pale Ale

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I’ve kegged two of my brews in the past week, incluing my German pils and my American pale ale. Here are the details!

  • After 10 days in primary, I kegged Old Pine Pale Ale on 12 December 2017. I added the dry hops at this point, in a bag. Depending on how it works out, I may or may not remove the hops. I force carbonated the keg, and had it on tap by 16 December. The brew is pretty hazy at this point, and should clear up with time. Final gravity was 1.012, down from 1.052, working out to 5.2% abv.
  • My latest iteration of Palaeotis Pils started fermentation on 20 November 2017. It fermented at 50° until 27 November, when I raised the temperature to 54°. I raised the temperature to 66° on 2 December 2017, and cold crashed it on 10 December 2017. I kegged the beer on 16 December 2017. Final gravity was 1.010; with a starting gravity of 1.049, we’re clocking in at 5.1% abv. There is a touch of haze, which I’m going to settle out with time and cold.

Beer Tasting: Session Stout

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stoutI’ve had this beer on tap for about a month; it has been really enjoyable!

Session Stout

  • The Basics
    • 1.042 s.g., 1.012 f.g., 3.9% abv, 31 IBU, 42 SRM
  •  Appearance
    • Clear, black beer, with a fine tan head that is moderately persistent. It looks awesome!
  • Aroma
    • The aroma has a prominent roasted character, with a tiny hint of chocolate behind that.
  • Flavor
    • The beer has a forward roasted/slightly burnt character with a dark coffee tone, as expected from the roast barley. The hop bitterness is smooth, in the background behind the malt.
  • Mouthfeel
    • The beer is fairly light bodied with moderate carbonation. The finish is dry, but smooth.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • I think so! It’s a very drinkable beer, both in terms of its flavor/mouthfeel as well as the low alcohol. I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit. If I were to make any minor changes, I would probably up the body just a little (it can tend to slightly thin after awhile). I might also experiment with a version that has more chocolate malt, to richen the  profile and make it a bit more complex than just roast barley.
  • Overall
    • 8/10

Palaeotis Pils 1.2

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I really, really like a good German pils, and have iterated through two batches previously. Based on what I learned there, I refined the recipe a bit more. I opted for Magnum hops for bittering, Barke pilsner malt (courtesy of a free bag from Weyermann at Homebrew Con), and a return to decoction mashing.

Palaeotis Pils 1.2

  • 8.5 lbs. Barke pilsner malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.6 lb. acidulated malt (Bestmalz)
  • 0.6 oz. Magnum hop pellets (13.2% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. Fermax, 10 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (4.1% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Saflager lager yeast (W34/70)

Target Parameters

  • Double decoction mash, infusion to hit 45 minute rest at 151°, thick decoction to raise temperature to 158°, 10 minute rest, thin decoction to mash out at 168°. Batch sparge.
  • Water built from R.O., to hit 59.1 ppm Ca, 8.2 ppm Mg, 89 ppm SO4, and 62.9 ppm Cl.
  • 1.046 s.g., 1.008 f.g., 34 IBU, 3.4 SRM, 5.0% abv

Procedure

  • I started with RO water for both the mash and sparge. For the mash water, I added 1.65 g gypsum, 1.35 g epsom salt, and 2.1 g CaCl to 4.75 gallons of RO water. For the sparge water, I added the same masses of the salts to 3.8 gallons of RO water.
  • I mashed in with 4.75 gallons of water at 158°, to hit a 151° mash rest.
  • After 45 minutes, I pulled 2 gallons of thick decoction, raised to 160° for 10 minutes, boiled for 10 minutes, and then added it back to the mash. This raised the mash to 158°.
  • After another 10 minutes, I pulled a 1 gallon thin decoction (basically, the first runnings), boiled this for 10 minutes, and added back to the mash tun. After another 10 minutes of settling, I pulled off the first runnings.
  • Next, I added 3.8 gallons of sparge water at 185°, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then drained the mash tun.
  • In total, I collected 6.7 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.044–this is 88% efficiency! I added 0.5 gallons of RO water to bring the gravity down to 1.041.
  • I boiled for 60 minutes, adding the hops and other additions per the schedule. After the boil was complete, I chilled to 80° with my immersion chiller, and then chilled down to 48° overnight in my fermentation chamber.
  • I brewed the beer on 19 November 2017, and pitched the yeast on 20 November 2017. Fermentation was started at 50°, and raised to 54° on 27 November 2017. Finally, I raised the temperature to 66° on 2 December 2017.
  • In a week or so, I plan to cold crash and then keg the beer.

Old Pine Pale Ale

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I’ve been doing a lot of IPAs lately, and decided to mix things up a bit with an American pale ale for my next hop-forward beer. The December 2017 issue of Brew Your Own had a clone recipe for Dale’s Pale Ale (by Oskar Blues Brewing), which is one of my favorite beers. I particularly like the malt body with it, so riffed off the recipe to come up with my own version. My other requirement was to focus on piney-type hops, so I bolstered the Cascade core with a hefty Simcoe late addition and dry hop. My hope is to turn this around pretty quickly, because I’m likely going to be out of my Thanksgiving IPA in a matter of days!

Old Pine Pale Ale

  • 9 lbs. California Select 2-row brewer’s malt (Great Western)
  • 1 lb. Golden Promise malt (Simpsons)
  • 0.75 lb. Victory (biscuit) malt (Briess)
  • 3 oz. 80°L caramel malt (Briess)
  • 2 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (13.6% alpha), 5 minute whirlpool after flame-out
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. California Ale yeast (WLP001), prepared in starter
  • 3 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (13.6% alpha), 5 day dry-hop

Target Parameters

  • Infusion mash to hit target of 152°. Batch sparge.
  • Claremont tap water, with addition of RO water and mineral adjustments to hit target of 98 ppm Ca, 22 ppm Mg, 24 ppm Na, 196 ppm SO4, 48 ppm Cl, and 167 ppm HCO3.
  • 1.055 s.g., 1.012 f.g., 54 IBU, 7 SRM, 5.7% abv

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Procedure

  • Three days in advance of brewing, I prepared a 1.5 L starter (to produce enough yeast for the pitch on this batch as well as to have enough to save for later).
  • For the mash water, I added 2 gallons of RO water to 1.67 gallons of tap water, with mineral additions of 5.9 g gypsum, 0.6 g table salt, 4.8 g epsom salt, and 1.4 g CaCl. I also added 4.5 mL of phosphoric acid (75%) to balance out the pH.
  • I mashed in with 3.67 gallons of the above water at 165°, to hit a mash temperature of 153°. After 50 minutes, I added 1 gallon of tap water at 185°, let sit for another 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings. I added another 3.6 gallons of tap water at 185°, let sit for 10 minutes, vorlafued, and collected the remainder of the runnings.
  • In total, I collected 6.65 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.045. This equates to 75% efficiency.
  • I brought everything to a boil, adding the various hops and Whirlfloc at the appointed times. After 60 minutes, I added the final hop addition, let sit for 10 minutes, and chilled down to 77° before transferring to the primary fermenter and pitching the yeast.
  • Starting gravity was 1.052, just a touch below the predicted. A slightly more vigorous boil probably would have brought things more into line. Even so, I’m not terribly worried; it’s well within overall parameters.
  • I brewed this beer on 2 December 2017, and am fermenting it at 66°.