Three Hearted Ale
Extract kit from Northern Homebrewer, Milwaukee, WI

Target OG: 1.064

Malt 1: 9.15 lbs. Gold Malt LME (60 min)

Adjunct: 1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)

Grain 1: 1 lb Briess Caramel 40

Hop 1: 1 oz Centennial – alpha 9.9% (60 min)
Hop 2: 1 oz Centennial – alpha 9.9% (30 min)
Hop 3: 1 oz Centennial – alpha 9.9% (15 min)
Hop 4: 1 oz Centennial – alpha 9.9% (10 min)
Hop 5: 1 oz Centennial – alpha 9.9% (5 min)
Hop 6: 1 oz Centennial – alpha 9.2% (0 min)
Hop 7: 1 oz Centennial – alpha 9.2% (dry hop in secondary for 2 weeks)

Yeast: #1056 American Ale (60°-72°F)

Boiling Schedule:
Collected 2.5 gallons of water. Steep grains at 155°F for 20 minutes. Bring to a boil. Remove water from heat and mix Malt 1. Bring water back to a boil and add Hop 1 @ 60 minutes, Hop 2 @ 30 minutes, Hop 3 @ 15 minutes, Hop 4 @ 10 minutes, Hop 5 @ 5 minutes, Hop 6 @ flame out. Add Irish Moss with 10 minutes left in the boil.

Notes:
I wanted to pitch yeast @ 60° but ended up pitching at 70°. I think I’ll leave it near room temp (60) and then bump it up to 68° for  a day or so right before secondary. Transfer to secondary fermenter after about 7-14 days or begin taking daily hydrometer readings – when hydrometer readings are the same on consecutive days, primary fermentation is complete. Proceed to secondary fermentation for 2 weeks. Add Hop 7 @ 2 weeks prior to bottling. Bottle with 5 oz of corn sugar and 2 oz of table sugar. Bottle condition for up to 2 weeks.

My actual OG was 1.060. I pitched @ 70°.

I did a starter for this brew. I also used Fercaps again to prevent a lot of foam action from the proteins bonding during the boil. I used a 6.5 gallon bucket for this beer, with a slightly larger siphon blowoff tube attached to the top of an airlock. I also bought a strainer so that my cold break material (hops, etc) from the primary didn’t make it into my primary.

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I also cracked a couple beers that have been aging for a while. My Imperial Stout and Belgian Dubbel turned out great. They’re a little low on the carb but it has only been a couple weeks and it has been cold so they’ll only get better from here on out. So far, the stout has been the best tasting beer I’ve made. Very excited to share.

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Patersbier Quick Overview (from Norther Brewer)

Patersbier
Extract kit from Northern Homebrewer, Milwaukee, WI

Target OG: 1.047

Malt 1: 6 lbs. Pilse Malt LME (60 min)

Adjunct: 1 tspn Irish Moss (15 min)

Grain 1: .5 lb CaraPils

Hop 1: 1 oz German Tradition – alpha 5,7% (60 min)
Hop 2: .5 oz Czech Saaz – alpha 3.9% (10 min)

Yeast: #3787 Trappist (64°-78°F)

Boiling Schedule:
Collected 2.5 gallons of water. Steep grains at 155°F for 20 minutes. Bring to a boil. Remove water from heat and mix Malt 1. Bring water back to a boil and add Hop 1 @ 60 minutes and Hop 2 @ 10 minute left in the boil. Add Irish Moss with 10 minutes left in the boil.

Notes:
Transfer to secondary fermenter after about 7-14 days or begin taking daily hydrometer readings – when hydrometer readings are the same on consecutive days, primary fermentation is complete. Proceed to secondary fermentation for 2 weeks. Bottle with 5 oz of corn sugar and 2 oz of table sugar. Bottle condition for up to 2 weeks.

My actual OG was 1.042. This was the smoothest brew I’ve done so far and the first I’ve done with my new son, Colin. He chilled out in his bouncy seat while I did this beer, watching and learning I did pitch a little chilly (60 degrees, when my target pitch temp was 68). It was actively fermenting after 6 hours. The guy at Northern Brewer said he just brewed this batch and suggested dialing it up to 74 degrees after pitching at 68. I plan on doing this since I’ve got it sitting in the tub of water with an aquarium heater again, so it is all under control.

I didn’t sparge grains with 1/2 gallon of boiled water this time. I also used Fercaps to prevent a lot of foam action from the proteins bonding during the boil. I used a 6.5 gallon bucket for this beer, with a slightly larger siphon blowoff tube attached to the top of an airlock.

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That being said, I chose to bottle both my Imperial Stout and the Belgian Dubbel early. The stout was given almost 2 months to secondary and the Dubbel was given about 3 weeks to clear in secondary. They’ll now age in the bottle and I might as well have them carb up at the same time.

Also, I need some equipment free to start my next brew, a Belgian Patersbier. I bottled both of the above using both plastic and glass bottles for a variety of sizes.

This was also the first time I’ve used yeast at bottling, which should be done anytime I secondary a beer from here on out. I used a couple dry yeasts for both. For the Dubbel I used a whole pack of T-58 along with 2/3 cup corn sugar, which was probably double of the yeast I should have used. The result will simply be more matter at the bottom of the bottle, so I’ll pour carefully. It shouldn’t effect the beer. For the Imperial Stout, I used about 3/4 cup of corn sugar with a half a packet of US-05. I was talking to a guy at the LHBS and he mentioned trying to use 5 oz of corn sugar and 2 oz of normal table cane sugar because traditionally they are both eaten by the yeast differently and for some reason it is a good method for bottling.

OG – 1.065

FG – 1.008

ABV = 7.6%

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Belgian Dubbel Quick Overview (from Norther Brewer)

Belgian Dubbel
Extract kit from Northern Homebrewer, Milwaukee, WI

Target OG: 1.065

Malt 1: 6 lbs. Gold Malt LME (60 min)
Malt 2: 1 lbs. Golden Light DME(60 min)

Adjunct: 1 lbs. Dark Belgian Candi sugar (60 min)

Grain 1: .25 lb Dingmans Caramunich
Grain 2: .25 lb Dingmans Special B

Hop 1: 1 oz Hersbrucker – alpha 2.4% (60 min)
Hop 2: 1 oz Czech Saaz – alpha 3.9% (1 min)

Yeast: #1762 Belgian Abbey II w/ decanted starter using stir plate (65°-75°F)

Boiling Schedule:
Collected 3 gallons of water. Steep grains at 155°F for 20 minutes. Bring to a boil. Sparge grains with 1/2 gallon of boiled water. Remove water from heat and mix Malt 1, Malt 2 with Adjunct 1. Bring water back to a boil and add Hop 1 @ 60 minutes and Hop 2 @ 1 minute left in the boil.

Notes:
Transfer to secondary fermenter after about 14 days or begin taking daily hydrometer readings – when hydrometer readings are the same on consecutive days, primary fermentation is complete. Proceed to secondary fermentation for 1 months. Bottle with .75 cups of corn sugar. Bottle condition for up to 1 month.

My OG was 1.065. Little hickups along the way were that I didn’t mix my wort well enough and there was major stratification for the first hour until I discovered it and shook it up again like crazy. I’ve attached photos of this stratification.

I also used Fercaps to prevent a lot of foam action from the proteins bonding during the boil. I’ve read a lot about this product and have faith in what it is supposed to do. It didn’t disappoint and I’ll use it again. I also used the carboy for primary fermentation instead of the bucket because of the higher gravity blow off issues I experienced last brew. I also saw a lot of hot break in this brew which I also attached a photo of.

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My FG was 1.027. My OG was 1.081. I used this site to calculate my ABV and it gave me 7.2%. Ooofta. The color has a slight tint of burgandy, maybe from the malt. The rest looks like motor oil.

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“When you are racking your beer from the primary fermentor to the secondary, is the time that you should be collecting the yeast. It’s easy to do it. Just sanitize a quart jar and lid, sanitize the neck of the primary fermentor, and pour from the fermentor into the jar. [Some people wipe the fermentor lid with alcohol and flame it to sanitize.] Loosely cap the jar so that if you have some continued fermentation, the glass jar will not explode! Clean out the primary fermentor and pour the quart of yeast solution back in. You can then pour a fresh batch of wort directly into the fermentor. This is the easiest method of reusing yeast.

If your next batch of wort won’t be ready for up to a week, you can store the glass jar of yeast in your refrigerator and reuse as is.”

“Imperial stouts were first brewed in England for export to the royal courts of the Russian Tsars. The Tsars are gone but the beer remains, the “War and Peace” of stouts. This kit yields a pitch black beer with tan head, resounding with burnt, bitter chocolate character, hops, and syrupy malt. A viscous, chewy body finishing with lots of roast grain and a warming alcohol note. A nice companion on a cold winter night or accompanying chocolate dessert. Recommended: 2-stage fermentation and yeast starter.”

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Imperial Stout
Extract kit from Northern Homebrewer, Milwaukee, WI

Target OG: 1.086

Malt 1: 6 lbs. Dark Malt LME
Malt 2: 6 lbs. Dark Malt LME

Grain 1: .5 lb Simpsons Roasted Barley
Grain 2: .5 lb Simpsons Black Malt
Grain 3: .5 lb Simpsons Chocolate

Hop 1: 2 oz Galena – alpha 13.0% (60 min)

Yeast: #1728 Scottish Ale Yeast w/ decanted starter using stir plate (55°-70°F)

Boiling Schedule:
Steep grains at 155°F for 30 minutes. Bring to a boil. Sparge grains with 1/2 gallon of boiled water. Remove water from heat and mix LME @ 60 minutes. Bring water back to a boil and add Hop 1 @ 60 minutes.

Notes:
Suggested 292 billion cells for a 2 L starter. Transfer to secondary fermenter after about 14 days or begin taking daily hydrometer readings – when hydrometer readings are the same on consecutive days, primary fermentation is complete. Proceed to secondary fermentation for 2 months. Bottle with .75 cups of corn sugar. Bottle condition for up to 1 month. My OG was 1.081.

Looks a bit more amber than I thought but I’ve read that extract kits tend to do that more often. It isn’t too dense, which I think was a good thing I think for an IPA. It was a little cloudy but that is from not racking to a secondary.

The smell is primarily hoppy. Very slight smell of malt.

Drinks pretty easy and has just the right amount of hop flavor I expected. I drink it with the yeast and pour it full to mix it up. First sip is floral and slightly bitter. Not sweet but that also could have been skewed by the Biere de Garde I drank prior, which was very sweet. It is more on the dryer side but not as carbonated as I’d like.

The aftertaste is mildly bitter, asking me to have another sip.

I think this may be slightly too bitter for people that enjoy their factory beers. It is slightly less bitter than a Sierra Nevada IPA, more along the lines of a Lakefront Brewery IPA.

I tend to make my homebrews for me, rather than the people I share them with so, when I do another IPA it will most likely be a double of some sort. Overall, I’m happy it turned out and will enjoy during the remainder of the football season.

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