Homebrewed Kölsch Variant

Well, I'm going to find time to brew again this weekend. I'm going to brew a Kölsch-style beer with more of a hop profile and a higher gravity. I'll still use "noble" European hops, though. It will basically be a "Sticke" version of the style. I'll also use a Scottish Ale yeast, instead of a Kölsch yeast. I've used this yeast before for Kölsch, and ended up with good results.

I always like making up my own recipes and messing with the rules of a style. It makes life interesting, and I've made many a fine beer, this way. Yum, yum...can't wait!

Here's the basic recipe:

Gute Träume Sticke Kölschbier (version #7)
Style: Kölsch variant.
Type: All grain
Size: 11.5 gallons
Grain:
20 lb. Turbo Pilsner, 1.7-2L
9 lb. Maris Otter, Crisp -3L
3 lb. Wheat Malt
Mash:
Single Step Mash at 152-155F for 70 min. Actual temp:_________
start recirc. 50 mins into mash.
Batch sparged at 170F
Boil: 80 minutes
Hops:
2.0 oz. Tettnang Hop Flowers (60 min.)
1.0 oz. Hallertau Mittelfruh Hop Flower, German (45 min.)
1.0 oz. Hallertau Mittelfruh Hop Flower, German (30 min.)
2.0 oz. Hallertau Mittelfruh Hop Flower, German (10 min.)
2.0 oz. Tettnang Hop Flowers (10 min.)
Yeast:
2 ea Wyeast Scottish Ale, 1728 XL (activator pack).
Fermentation:
Primary fermentation in glass at 72F for 5-6 days.
Secondary fermentation in glass at 72F for 5-7 days.
Tertiary fermentation/conditioning in glass at 60F for 5 - 14 days.

Back To Homebrewing!

I'm back to homebrewing again, after a 3-month hiatus. I haven't brewed since early June! I brew outside, and we've had a very hot & humid Summer which was more conducive to passing-out from heat exhaustion, rather than brewing. The weather yesterday (on the Labor Day holiday) was perfect...80F was the hottest temp observed. I would have brewed on Sunday, also, but my back and left hamstring were injured severely on my last big running event. A few days ago, I couldn't even tie my own shoes, let alone do any of the tasks involved with homebrewing. (I'm much better, now).

Homebrewing Technical Talk:
I decided to brew a "Harvest India Pale Ale," using my crop of this year's hops from my back yard. Last year, I had enough hops for three 10-gallon batches of hoppy brew. This year, my hop crop sucked, because of the extreme heat and humidity, (but with little rain). Oh well, I still had enough hop flowers for a "brutal" addition to this IPA, which is a borderline Imperial IPA with a 1.072 starting gravity. (Imperials start at 1.075). I could have had a higher starting gravity, but I sparged more wort out of the mash tun's grain bed to try to get a higher pre-boil volume close to 14 (or so) gallons. All of the hop flowers suck-up a lot of water, and also the long boil time will evaporate-off a lot of H2O. I succeeded; the total wort volume was about 11-1/2 gallons post-boil, which will come out to be about 10 gallons final volume for the kegs, after time spent in primary fermentation, secondary fermentation, and conditioning.

My hop vines in the back yard are all intertwined, so I have no idea of hop variety or alpha-value specifics for this particular brewing session. All that I know is, there were these varieties in varying amounts that I added to the brew: Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Willamette, Saaz...a regular "smorgasbord / potpourri" of hops. I love the element of surprise, when I'm brewing my annual harvest ale(s). Last year's version was magnificent!

OBF Fun

Well, the Oregon Brewer's Fest (OBF) was fun. My only regret was: I couldn't meet up with the Beer Bloggers, for "family" reasons. I spent all of Friday with my Portland-area family members, and got caught up. It was probably for the best, as I was running a 50-Mile trail run near Mt Hood on Saturday morning.

My son, my nephew and me hit the Brew Fest hard all day on Thursday. There were a few standouts, and a few crappy beers, but most of them were enjoyable. The weather was perfect, that's for sure. I'll post some more about the experience later.

Nanobrewery News and BURP Update

Well, my BURP party (last Saturday night) turned-out to be a blast. I wanted to reduce my homebrew stock somewhat, but we only drank about 10 gallons of it. I'm left with about 45 gallons of homebrew, which really isn't too bad of a problem.

On tap that night were the following brews:

1. Bad Ben's Brow-beater Brown Ale - An American Brown Ale (and a good session beer)
2. Poor Richard's Ale - An experimental ale that I brewed for Big Brew Day
3. Spring Fling IPA - A very-hoppy IPA with an ABV of 6.7%
4. "Saison in the Sun" - A citrusy Belgian-style farmhouse ale...(my personal favorite)
5. And last, but not least by any measure, my Belgian Stong, Dark Ale (which has an ABV higher than 9%, right now).
6. I also had some of my Oak-aged Imperial Stout on hand to sample, at the end of the evening.

Tasting Notes from the BURP: The craft beer "newbies" preferred the Poor Richard's Ale and the Brown Ale. Both are fairly mild in flavor, so that's no surprise. The beer "experts" preferred the IPA and the two Belgian-style ales. The red wine "experts" fell in love with both Belgians, also. It was fun to see discriminating wine-only folks enjoy the complexities of a good Belgian-style ale. They also enjoyed the oak-aged Imperial Stout.

Food: The entree consisted of marinated and grilled chicken wings, and also some grilled turkey. A big salad was available and others brought potluck items.

All in all, it was a very fun and successful party, and I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep prior to my run the next morning.

One more party? Last night, I had about 25 folks over for a "Wednesday Night Run." It's a scheduled run that people show-up at to run and then eat a potluck dinner at the host's house. It's also a 25-year old Kansas City tradition in the running community, and is sponsored by my running club. I had 4 of the above beers on tap in my beer garden, and the weather turned-out to be just perfect. I'm through with hosting parties for at least a couple of months. I'll be in the mood again though, by September, I'll bet.

Nanobrewery update: As soon as we get a cooler-weather weekend, I will finally brew my Imperial IPA. This next weekend isn't looking too good for that. Maybe the next will be a little better. One can only hope.
Cheers!

Annual BURP (Beer Utilization & Reduction Party)

As some of you might know, I do a little bit of homebrewing. Every now and then, I end up with too-much beer for personal consumption, and I occasionally have to ask my friends to help me with my problem. That's why we're once again hosting...

Bad Ben's 2-1/2 Annual "Beer Utilization and Reduction Party" (BURP).
Date: This Saturday night, June 31st...(also known as July 1st)
Time: 6:37 PM until 11 PM
Where: My house. I can e-mail directions.

The theme of this year's party will be "Fashion-Challenged." If you want to participate in the fun, please wear a psychotic clothes combination. (To all I.T. folks and software engineers: well, just come as you normally would dress for work). If you don't want to participate in the fashion extravaganza, please try to wear some beer-related or W.C. Soccer clothing.

We'll provide some "hearty munchables" and will have several homebrewed beers on tap, along with a few bottles of decent wine.
Please bring your choice of ONE (or more) of the following:

1) Snack food, or a potluck item.

2) *Beer, mead, or an interesting wine; (ESPECIALLY if it's homemade).

3) A semi-good looking Significant Other, sister, boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, mistress, gigolo or reasonable facsimile, thereof. Or you can bring a friend or just yourself.

NOTE: If you plan on imbibing like a frat-boy or whorority-chick, please BRING A DESIGNATED DRIVER; (or you can stay-over and sleep on one of our nice air beds and have our big, slobbery dog lick your face all night).

*Homebrewers: For mini-kegs I have an extra CO2 bottle and hoses, if you have the proper fittings.

Father's Day Brewing

Well, it's Father's Day weekend. I plan to homebrew on Sunday, after a nice, long run with some buddies. (Yes, my injury is healed, and I'm back to running trails, once again).

I'm finally going to brew the Imperial IPA that I purchased the ingredients for, (weeks ago).
The cartoon is courtesy of a fellow runner & blogger, Dice.

Beer Review & Nanobrewery Update

I bought a six-pack of Great Divide Brewing Company's "Denver Pale Ale" the other day. I've tried many of their other beers, but finally got around to trying their English style pale ale. I would describe it as crisp and non-affronting. It's a decent pale ale, but I'd rate it (style-wise) as 1/2 way between an American Pale Ale and and English Pale Ale. (Not that that's bad). It's not a bad choice for a Summer session beer, (otherwise known as a "lawnmower" beer).



Nanobrewery update:
The Poor Richard's Ale that I brewed recently was a success at a runners gathering, the other night. It's a good session beer, and I'm growing more fond of it every time I have a glass. At first, I didn't want to brew a beer with corn in it, but it turned out to be very OK.

My Spring Fling IPA will be on tap by Saturday night. I can't wait to give it a try. Sometime next week, I'll keg & carbonate the Belgian-style Saison. The "pre-tastings" of this brew (when I checked the specific gravity) really got me (and my son) excited.
It's going to be a good Summer for beer drinking at the Ol' Homestead!

OBF, Nanobrewery Update, & Beer Quotes

Some of us Beer Bloggers are going to meet in Portland, Oregon at the Oregon Brewing Festival (OBF). We haven't decided upon the date or time, but we are narrowing-down the place; possibly the Rogue Public House in the Perle District. You can keep up with the discussion on Sudspundit.

Bad Ben NanoBrewery Update:
I transferred the Saison to secondary fermentation last Saturday; it's gravity is at 1.016.
Yesterday, I transferred the "Spring Fling" IPA to the secondary. It's gravity is at 1.010, with a starting gravity of 1.068. I'm dry-hopping it in the secondary, then I will transfer it to tertiary conditioning to get it crystal clear, although it is already pretty clear.
Tonight, I'll transfer the Poor Richard's Ale to the secondary. (I should have done this 5 days ago, but what the heck, I've been busy).
On tap, I have my American Brown Ale, the Oak-aged Imperial Stout, and the Belgian Strong Dark Ale. All of them are quite tasty! I had 3 mugs of Brown Ale last night after a hard & fast 10-mile trail run. Note to self: Don't do this again on a weeknight.








Some fun Homer Simpson Beer Quotes:

Son, a woman is like a beer. They smell good, they look good, you'd step over your own mother just to get one! But you can't stop at one. You wanna drink another woman! -Homer Simpson

Homer: Got any of that beer that has candy floating in it? You know, Skittlebrau?
Apu: Such a beer does not exist, sir. I think you must have dreamed it.
Homer: Oh. Well, then just give me a six-pack and a couple of bags of Skittles.