Author Archives: Andy Farke

Homebrew savings in bulk?

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Since I started ramping up my homebrewing two or three years back, I’ve been brewing at least 20 times a year. At five gallon batches, that adds up to a lot of supplies! I soon realized that it might make sense to start buying in bulk as a cost-saving measure, for things like hops, base malts, and some cleaners. But I also realized there are a number of cost/benefit factors that need to be considered. In this post, I outline my thought process.

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  • Do you brew often enough?
    • If you’re the sort of person who only brews a few times a year, it probably doesn’t make sense to buy bulk supplies. They’re likely to go stale before you use them up, and thus are just a waste of money.
  • Do you have space?
    • I’m fortunate to have plenty of storage space to store bulk supplies. Back in the days when I was an apartment brewer, that wouldn’t have been the case.
  • Is the particular supply or ingredient something you use frequently and in large volumes?
    • I brew with American 2-row a lot, so it makes good sense to keep a supply on hand. I can save around 40 to 50% by doing so, which adds up over a few batches. It would not make sense to buy 50 pounds of chocolate malt; I only use a few pounds per year, and a bulk sack would go stale before I could use it all up.
  • What’s the shelf life?
    • A 50 pound bucket of PBW cleaner is nearly two and a half times cheaper than buying the equivalent in 1 pound increments. It will probably take me several years to use this up, but I can’t imagine this stuff ever goes bad, as long as I store it properly. For stuff like yeast or bulk malt, a multi-year shelf life isn’t likely in the cards.
  • Can I pick it up in person or does it have to be shipped?
    • I buy bulk at my local homebrew shop whenever I can. In general, I have found that shipping can swamp out any potential savings otherwise. On those occasions when I do order online, I do a quick calculation on shipping to see if things still add up.
  • Do I really want that in bulk?
    • Although buying in bulk saves money, it also potentially constrains creative exploration of new ingredients. For instance, if I have 50 pounds of a particular brand of pilsner malt, I’m probably not going to try out other brands, at least until I’ve finished out that supply.

Overall, I find bulk purchases to be a good value given my brewing habits. Everyone’s situation is different, though. Think carefully; it might be right for you, too!

Beer Tasting: Raspberry Belgian

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20170423_154842My first attempt at a fruit beer was fairly decent…it was quite refreshing on a hot day, and the two gallons or so got depleted pretty quickly. I did squeeze in a tasting before it was all gone, with plenty of ideas for next time.

  • The Basics
    • O.G. = 1.039; f.g. = 1.011; 3.8% abv; 3 SRM; 15 estimated IBU
  • Aroma
    • A very nice raspberry aroma front and center!
  • Appearance
    • Clear and pinkish-red. The head is off-white, low, and modestly persistent.
  • Flavor
    • Slightly tart and dry, with not much in the way of malt character. The raspberries come through as mild and a nice complement to the tartness.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Fairly thin, with moderate carbonation and a dry finish.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • I like where this recipe is heading, but it needs some pretty heavy modifications. I think the low starting gravity (1.039, versus 1.043 as requested by the recipe) hurts things a little bit, and so a bit more attention and adjustment to the starting wort to match the higher gravity is in order. I don’t think mash temperature needs much adjustment–I would likely just add in a bit more base malt and perhaps double the oats to add a bit more mouthfeel. Next time, I might also consider swapping out some or all of the pilsner malt for 2-row, to give the beer a touch more malt character. The raspberry comes across quite nicely; I think the amount and the technique worked out well. I’m pleasantly surprised in particular by how clear this beer turned out! It’s really pretty. Finally, the beer is less tart than I expected. Next time, I might do a 24 hour kettle sour before boiling.
  • Overall
    • 5/10

Thumbspike Saison 2.0

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I’ve only brewed a saison once before, and it turned out pretty decent. Not perfect, but decent. I dry hopped just a touch too much last time, and so the hop aroma overwhelmed the yeast character. Thus, I decided to ditch the dry hops entirely on this batch. My recipe is similar to what I used before, with a few differences on several fronts. First, I added a touch of Carafa II for color, and ditched the honey in favor of a lower mash temperature to dry things out a bit. Also, I had some wild hops left, and a saison seemed like a good place to let those meld with a strong yeast. Finally, I decided to try Mangrove Jack dry yeast, and see what that does for everything.

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A view of the brew kettle, just prior to the start of the boil

Thumbspike Saison 2.0

  • 9.25 lbs. floor-malted Bohemian pilsner malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.75 lbs. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.75 lbs. white wheat malt (Great Western Malting Co.)
  • 1 oz. Carafa Special II (Weyerman)
  • 1.1 oz. whole wild hops (5.8% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1.15 oz. whole wild hops (5.8% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. French Saison Ale dry yeast (Mangrove Jack’s M29)

Target Parameters

  • 1.057 o.g., 1.003 f.g., 7.0% abv, 29 IBU, 7 SRM, 5.5 gallons into the fermenter

Procedure

  • To use up my RO water and thin out the Claremont waters a bit, I added 1.25 gallons with 2.42 gallons of tap water for my mash water. I heated it up to 165°, added the water to the mash tun, and let it slide to 158.3°, before adding the grains. This hit a mash temperature of 148.7°, which was down to 147.1° after 20 minutes. The temperature didn’t drop much beyond this, and was hovering around 147° when I checked 60 minutes later.
  • I aimed for a 75 minute mash duration. After 65 minutes, I added 1.3 gallons of water at 180°, to raise the mash temperature to 150.4°. I let it rest for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings. I then added 3.3 gallons of water at 165°, let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the remainder of the runnings.
  • In total, I collected 6.75 gallons with a gravity of 1.047, for 77% efficiency.
  • I aimed for a 60 minute boil, adding the various hops and finings per the schedule.
  • After 60 minutes, I turned off the flame and started chilling. Once I hit 85°, I transferred to the primary fermenter and pitched the yeast.
  • I plan to have 80° as my base temperature, and let it free-rise from there as needed. I’ll probably leave it in the fermenter for at least 10 days.
  • I brewed this beer on May 12, 2017. Starting gravity was 1.055, just a hair under my target gravity. A successful brew evening all around!

Hell Creek Amber Ale 1.1

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What? It’s time for another batch of my Hell Creek Amber Ale? Count me in!

The latest version–incorporating wild hops that grew directly out of the world famous Hell Creek Formation (home to T. rex and Triceratops)–is only slightly modified based on my tasting of the previous version. For this time around, I replaced the Special B malt with crystal 120, to tone down the raisin-y notes of Special B. I also upped the biscuit malt just a touch. As before, the base malt was from Montana, and the Cascade hops were from South Dakota.

Hell Creek Amber Ale 1.1

  • 9 lbs. 2-row American pale malt (MaltEurop)
  • 1 lb. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.75 lb. Victory (biscuit) malt (Briess)
  • 0.5 lb. 120° crystal malt (Briess)
  • 0.5 lb. 40° crystal malt (Briess)
  • 2 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.1% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 2.05 oz. wild Hell Creek hops, 10 minute steep after boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. California Ale Yeast (White Labs, WLP001), in 1L starter

Target Parameters

  • 1.059 o.g., 1.014 f.g., 5.9% abv, 36 IBU, 13 SRM, 5.5 gallons into the fermenter

Procedure

  • The day before my brew, I made a 2L starter, with a plan to set aside 0.6L. I note that the starter wasn’t quite going when I pitched it here. It probably could have used an additional day or two, and as a result it took two days for the beer to really get fermenting after I pitched the yeast.
  • I mashed in with 3.9 gallons of water at 168.5°, to hit a mash temperature of 156.5°. This was hotter than I wanted, so I stirred until it was down to 155°. It was down to 151° after 50 minutes. I added 1 gallon of water at 185°, to raise the mash temperature to 156° or so. I vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings. I sparged with 3.5 gallons of water at 180°, let it rest for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the remainder of the wort.
  • In total, I collected 6.5 gallons of wort with a gravity of 1.052, for 79% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the wort to a boil, adding hops per the schedule above. At flame-out, I added the wild hops and then let them steep for 10 minutes before chilling the wort.
  • Starting gravity was 1.060, and I fermented the beer at 68°.
  • This beer was brewed on 14 April 2017.
  • I kegged the beer on 7 May 2017. It had a final gravity of 1.016, for 5.8% abv. The beer was force carbonated.

Beer Tasting: Holy Helles

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20170423_150736Time for another beer tasting! This Munich helles–my first attempt for the style–has been an enjoyable brew. I entered it into the first round for the NHC…it didn’t place, but I’ll be interested to see how the score sheets pan out. I should get those later this week, but until then, here are my own thoughts!

  • The Basics
    • O.G. = 1.047; f.g. = 1.012; 4.6% abv; 4 SRM; 19 estimated IBU
  • Aroma
    • Mild spicy hop note, with a moderate degree of slightly sweet maltiness behind that.
  • Appearance
    • Brilliantly clear and light gold in color. The beer pours with a thick off-white head that settles to a nice even and persistent blanket across the top of the beer.
  • Flavor
    • Nice malt character, with a bit of graininess to it. The bitterness level is subdued and definitely in the background
  • Mouthfeel
    • Relatively light bodied, moderately carbonated, with a medium-dry finish. The bitterness hangs around on the finish for awhile, although it is not overpowering.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • This is a good beer, and quite drinkable, but I think it falls down a bit in the malt character. To bring this a touch more into the Munich helles style, I might up the malt profile just a bit–it seems like it swings to the hops end on aroma just a bit more than I would prefer. One fellow homebrewer suggested using a German pilsner malt rather than the Bohemian pilsner malt I’ve been using as of late–this might be a good first step.
  • Overall: 6/10