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So here's a little something I'm thinking about whipping up in a couple of weeks...
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Sour Mash Dry Stout
Brewer: Joe S
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.29 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 36.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 37.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
Code:
Amount Item Type
% or IBU
5 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 47.62 %
2 lbs Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 19.05 %
2 lbs Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 19.05 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
8.0 oz Black Barley (Stout) (500.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
1.00 oz Sterling [7.50 %] (60 min) Hops 23.6 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) Hops 13.4 IBU
1.10 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
4.40 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 7.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast Cake (Danstar #-) [StarteYeast-Ale
Mash Schedule: TBD -- Sour Mash 2-3 lb of the M.O.
Notes:
The idea for this beer is to use about 2 lb of the Maris Otter in a one or
two-day sour mash (e.g. mash-in at conversion temp and let sour for a couple of
days). Following that, dough-in the remaining grains on top and mash/boil as
normal. Hopefully, there's a cake of Nottingham ready to go to pitch on top of
for a quick, clean ferment. Consider reserving part of the yeast cake out to
prevent overpitching. Consider aging on Oak.
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Comments (3)
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Some days, Work is good.
And today was one of them. In my business, we have to schmooze clients
sometimes, and today was one of those days. It was a glorious Denver-style
early summer day. I got up early, and spent the day playing golf at a charity
event.
The event was sponsored by one of our biggest clients, so we really did have to
participate. That means I spent today getting paid to play golf, and the event
raised about $30,000 for two really good charities.
I wish I were a better golfer, or at least had the time to work on my game. I
did hit the ball pretty well today. The client I was playing with though I was
sandbagging, because I told him I'm a bad golfer, then chipped in from 30 yards
out on the first hole.
After that I was more in my regular form, and hit some pretty bad balls. I did
find my driver later in the round and got off a couple of 280 yard drives
(really good for me) and a sweet 3-iron off the tee that ended up at about 240,
in the fairway..
Now, I'm going to take SWMBO to a swanky fondue restaurant for dinner. It's a
good day to be me.
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Why you never see a tall Mac technician...
SWMBO is a Mac person, which I'm kind of proud of, since I converted her a
couple of laptops ago. Funny thing is, recently, I'm mostly on Kubuntu,
remote'ing into my XP laptop to do MS-centric work.
Anyhow, a few weeks ago, the optical drive on SWMBO's 2 ghz Intel Macbook went
tits-up. With a disk in it. No magic key combinations, command-line voodoo, or
other attempts to grab or sneakily eject the disc worked. Nada. El Dead-o.
The machine is old enough to be out of warranty, and we didn't have Applecare on
it. Apple's plan to fix it? $400 to replace the optical drive.
WHAAAT? Nope. No way.
So, your faithful HBT goon decided to do it the old fashioned way. I ordered a
replacement drive, and decided to max out the memory in the macbook at the same
time, since SWMBO does a fair bit of photoshop work. She's a pretty decent
photographer, really.
Once the parts arrived, I sat down with the Powerbook Medic repair guide, and
started tinkering.
27 screws. It required removal and reinstallation of 27 teeny-tiny 1.5 and 2mm
diameter screws, as well as removal and replacement of four thin and delicate
ribbon connectors, several glued-on components, and a couple of thin and
knife-sharp brackets.
Now, I'm a big guy, at 6'5", and I have hands to match. I've rarely had such a
hard time maneuvering my hands into tight spaces to remove a screw. The inside
of this Macbook makes my Subaru's engine bay look like the wide-open prairie. I
have cramps in my hands after all that prying. Argh!
And that, my friends, is why you never see a tall Mac technician. The tall
ones, with their big hands, go crazy and find a new job.
PS: The MacBook's fine, the optical drive works, and Photoshop works a lot
better with 2Gb of memory. Time for a beer.
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Day off, and a fine day to brew
So I got a nastygram from the partners at work last week. Essentially, it said
"Take some vacation days, or you're going to lose them".
Turns out I have like 220+ hours of accrued vacation time. Looks like I'll be
taking Wednesdays off for the forseeable future, at least through the summer. I
can probably use it anyhow -- I think I'm hitting a little bit of teh
burnout.
Since I had the day off, and I just happened to have grain handy, I brewed
this:
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Speckled Cream Ale
Brewer: Joe S
Asst Brewer:
Style: Cream Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 3.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
Code:
Amount Item Type
% or IBU
1 lbs Lyle's Golden Syrup [Boil for 15 min] Extract 9.09 %
6 lbs Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 54.55 %
4 lbs Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 36.36 %
0.50 oz Sterling [7.50 %] (60 min) (First Wort HoHops 16.8 IBU
0.50 oz Sterling [7.50 %] (30 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (20 min) Hops 3.1 IBU
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SteeHops -
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.10 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10.00 lb
Code:
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 12.50 qt of water at 164.5 F 152.0
F
Notes:
Doughed-in 10:10 AM, water at about 165F (grain had cooled). at 10:17 AM, mash
temp 152F.
100 minutes later, mash temp 150-151.
Collected 7 gal runings 1.022 @ 145F (1.040 corrected).
Boiled down to 5..5 gallons, 1.055 OG
Hops / Syrup / moss per schedule.
Cooled, whirlpooled, xferred to fermenter, pitched Notty at 3:00 PM
I hit my mash temp and OG spot-on. That is what makes me feel like I'm starting
to really get my brewing chops back. Now, time to start daydreaming about the
next recipe.
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Sorachi Wit
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Sorachi Wit
Brewer: Joe S
Asst Brewer:
Style: Witbier
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (40.0)
Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 8.54 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 3.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 14.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 79.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
Code:
Amount Item Type
% or IBU
8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 4.76 %
5 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 47.62 %
3 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 28.57 %
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
1 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
0.25 oz Sorachi Ace [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 11.8 IBU
0.25 oz Sorachi Ace [14.00 %] (15 min) Hops 3.1 IBU
0.20 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.40 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 oz Tangerine Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) [StarYeast-Wheat
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10.50 lb
Code:
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
80 min Mash In Add 13.13 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0
F
Notes:
Preheated strike water to 172F, added to cooler MLT. Grain was at 72.5 F.
Adjusted strike twmp with ~1 pint of hose-temp water, to 153.9 strike. Mash was
closer to 80 minutes, due to time to heat sparge water.
Sparge water heated to 175 for first sparge, no boost in between sparges. Wort
ran very easily, probably due to the rice hulls. Had to recirc the first
runnings 100% to get it to clear.
Three sparges to collect 8.5 gallons of runnings. Grav. measured at 1.020 @ 139
F, which is 1.036. This gives efficency around 79%. Not bad, eh?
Boiled down to 6.0 gallons of 1.048 wort. over 90 minutes, additions per
schedule. Note that loss was 1.5 gallons over 90 minutes, or about 1 GPH. Keep
this in mind for future brews. Chilled, pitched yeast, and waiting for action
in fermenter.
Note: Persistent, Rocky, Oily head throughout ferment. It was still present on
May 5, when I racked and transferred to keg. This still needs a few weeks in
the keg to be ready to drink.
dough-in at 9:30 AM, done and washed about 2:30 PM.
Ready for drinking in mid-may, about four weeks from brewing. "lemon" flavor
from Sorachi Ace hops is present, but subdued, not overpowering at all. There
was a fairly sulfurous odor from the beer upon kegging, and it persisted through
the first couple of pints, which were hazy, with lots of suspended yeast. later
pints have been clearer, but with pronounced chill haze. Flavor is somewhat
spicy and phenolic, but with enough tart citrus notes to balance it. While wit
isn't my most favorite style, this one is certainly drinkable and refreshing.
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So, umm.... Yeah.
Hey. It's kind of cool to have a place I can dedicate to my own ranting here at
HBT.
First off, thanks to everybody who's working on HBT. It's a good place to hang
out.
Second off: what's with all the brouhaha over the recipes database?
Apparently, some people want it to be sort of "off-limits" for anything but the
top 0.01% of all recipes. Others seem to want to see a lot of different recipes
in it.
Personally, I'm in the second group. Why not have a lot of recipes? Sure,
everybody knows what a PITA the Cat's Meow has been in the past, but a good
Search function seems to make it work a lot better. Oh well.
Third off, here's hoping I can get time to brew tomorrow. I've got a huge
backlog of vacation time at work, so I'll be working four days a week for the
next couple of months. Brin on the Cream Ale recipe!
Now, let's see if anybody ever reads this. hi Mom!
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Comments (8)
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