#29 AHS Belgian White Beer (16A) - Mini Mash

A malty, full-bodied, spicy amber beer that is similar in style to Paulaner Oktoberfest. This is an award winning recipe. 

BJCP Style 6B ABV 3.94 OG 1.041 FG 1.011 Calories 116 SRM 40.6

Grains 8 oz White Wheat 8 oz Cara Pils Malt Hops-Bittering .75 oz Perle Hops-Flavor .25 oz Perle Yeast WLP029 German Ale/Kolsh

Aroma: Light to moderate sweet malty aroma. Low to moderate fruitiness is optional, but acceptable. May have a low to medium hop aroma,.

Appearance: Light yellow to deep gold in color. Clear to brilliant. Low to medium white head with fair to good retention.

Flavor: Initial soft malty sweetness, but optionally some light character malt flavor (e.g., bread, toast, biscuit, wheat) can also be present. Caramel flavors typically absent. Low to medium esters optional, but are commonly found in many examples. Light to moderate hop flavor (any variety), but shouldn’t be overly aggressive. Low to medium bitterness, but the balance is normally towards the malt. Finishes medium-dry to somewhat sweet. No diacetyl.

Austin Homebrew Supply Session Series Blonde Ale

Brewed June 2, 2012
Kegged July 8, 2012
Tapped August 24, 2012

Dry Yeast Substitution

I decided to create a list of liquid yeast substitutions.  One drawback of using of the of the dry yeast is that as a result of the drying process, some dried yeasts may not be suitable for harvesting and/or repitching. So dry yeast can be a good option to save you by having some extra around, but there could be limits on the amount of potential cost savings.

Sorry for the formatting on the blog.

Dry Yeast	White Labs	White Labs Name	Wyeast	Wyeast Name	Brewery
Brewferm
Blanche	WLP410	Belgian Wit II			Moortgat Brouwerij (via Ommegang?)
Lager Yeast	WLP003	German Ale II	2575PC	Kölsch II	Weihenstephan W165
Coopers
Coopers Ale	WLP009	Australian Ale			Coopers
Pure Brewers' Yeast
Fermentis
SafAle BE-134
SafAle K-97	WLP029	German Ale/Kölsch	2565	Kölsch Yeast	Weihenstephan 165, Köln (Päffgen)
SafAle F-2
SafAle BE-256
Safale S-04	WLP007	Dry English Ale	1098	British ale	Whitbred - dry
Safale S-33	WLP006	Bedford Ale			Charles Wells
Safale US-05	WLP001	California Ale	1056	American ale	Sierra Nevada (Seibel 96)
Safbrew T-58	WLP565	Belgian Saison	3724	Belgian Saison	Brasserie Dupont (Saison Dupont)
Safbrew WB-06	WLP380	Hefeweizen IV Ale	3333	German Wheat	Weihenstephan 66?
Saflager 34/70	WLP830	German Lager	2124	Bohemian lager	Weihenstephan 34/70
Saflager S189	WLP885	Zurich Lager			Samichlaus
Saflager S-23	WLP003	German Ale II	2575PC	Kölsch II	Weihenstephan W165
Lallemand
Belle Saison	WLP565	Saison Ale	3724	Belgian Saison	Saison du Pont
BRY-97 American West Coast	WLP001	California Ale	1056	American ale	Sierra Nevada (Seibel 96)
CBC-1 Cask And Bottle Conditioned Beer	n/a		1026	British Cask Ale	Oranjeboom? (Dutch)
Diamond Lager
Munich Wheat Beer	WLP351	Bavarian Weizen	3638	Bavarian Wheat	Weihenstephan 175
Nottingham	WLP039	Nottingham Ale	n/a		UK, chosen from multistrain
Windsor	WLP013	London Ale	1028	London Ale	Worthington White Shield
Mangrove Jack
MHS Hard Seltzer Yeast & Nutrient
M02 Cider Yeast
M03 Newcastle Dark Ale Yeast
M05 Mead
Workhorse Beer Yeast
M07 British Ale Yeast	WLP007	Dry English Ale
M10 orkhorse Beer Yeast	WLP001	California Ale	1056	American ale	Sierra Nevada (Seibel 96)
M12 Kveik
M15 Empire Ale
M20 Bavarian Wheat Yeast	White Labs 380, White Labs 3333??
M21 Belgian Wit
M27 Belgian Ale Yeast
M29 French Saison
M31 Belgian Tripel
M36 Liberty Bell Ale
M41 Belgian Ale
M42 New World Strong Ale
M44 US West Coast Yeast
M47 Belgian Abbey
M54 Californian Lager
M66 Hophead Ale
M76 Bavarian Lager
M79 Burton Union Yeast
M84 Bohemian Lager Yeast	WLP830	German Lager	2124	Bohemian lager
Munton
Premium Gold
Standard	WLP002	English Ale	1968	London ESB	Fullers
Real Brewers Yeast
The One

 

HomeBrew Academy

Yeast Comparison Chart

Mangrove Jack Yeast Equivalents
Lallemand Yeast Equivalents
Fermentis Yeast Equivalents
Dry yeast substitute

#79/90/152 PEACE COFFEE 2ND CRACK STOUT

Northern Brewer and Peace Coffee Stout.  Missed the grinding of the coffee until it was almost too late.

SPECIALTY GRAIN (20 min mash)

0.5 lbs English Dark Crystal 

0.5 lbs Chocolate Malt 

0.5 lbs Black Malt 

FERMENTABLES 

- 6 lbs NB Gold malt syrup 

- 2 lb Briess Gold DME 

HOPS & FLAVORINGS 

1 oz US Fuggle (60 min) 

1 oz UK Fuggle (60 min) 

4 oz Peace Coffee 2nd Crack Blend (grind coarsely and add to kettle at flameout) 

YEAST

Safale S-04

This has a great smell after kegging.  Now we waiting until after the Christmas party to try this one.

#78 Rebel Rye Porter

Northern Brewer's Rebel Rye was provided as a free kit during one of their specials.

SPECIALTY GRAIN (20 min steep)

0.75 lbs English Medium Crystal 

0.5 lbs English Black Malt 

FERMENTABLES 

2 lbs Amber dried malt extract 

6 lbs Rye malt extract syrup 

HOPS & FLAVORINGS 

1 oz Nugget (60 min) 

1 oz US Fuggle (30 min) 

1.5 oz Cascade (5 min) 

SPECIAL INGREDIENTS 

2 oz US Medium Plus Oak Cubes (add to secondary) 

16 oz rye whiskey (not included) (add to secondary) 

YEAST 

Safale S-04

Suggestions have been for bulleit rye.

I lost a lot of beer on this one during fermentation.  The carboy was not big enough to handle the strong fermentation.  There is now 3 gallons remaining for the brew.

#33/71/77 NB Smashing Pumpkin Ale (#33/71/77/107)

Northern Brewer Smashing Pumpkin Ale recipe

So, I made two different batches this year.  I will follow with an update as to the difference in the two recipes in the future.

SPECIALTY GRAIN  0.5 lb Briess Caramel 40  FERMENTABLES  3.15 lbs Amber malt syrup (60 min)  1.0 lb Pilsen dried malt extract (60 min)  3.15 lbs Amber malt syrup late addition (15 min)  1 oz Cluster (60 min)  1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (0 min)  Safale US-05 Ale Yeast.

The FG was expected to be 1.012

SPECIALTY GRAIN Mash (60 min) 0.5 lb Briess Caramel 40 25 oz  Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin 2.5 lb Butternut squash - sliced and baked for 40 minutes FERMENTABLES  3.15 lbs Amber malt syrup (60 min)  1.0 lb Pilsen dried malt extract (60 min)  3.15 lbs Amber malt syrup late addition (15 min)  1 oz Cluster (60 min)  1 tsp McCormicks Pumpkin Pie Spice (2 min) 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (0 min)  Safale US-05 Ale Yeast

I changed how I prepared the butternut squash.  This time I created slices and then stacked them with space similar to a Lincoln log house.  During the previous effort the pumpkin stuck to the pan.  

#36/75 AHS Christmas ALE

Austin Holiday Ale -

It’s an amber ale using seasonal spices: cinnamon, nutmeg and mace.  It’s an amber ale using seasonal spices: cinnamon, nutmeg and mace. 

Specialty malts: Crystal 40L, white wheat, chocolate malt
1.5 lb Base Grains
1.75 lb Specialty Grains
4 lb DME Featured
Hops: Saaz, Cluster
Seasonal spices: cinnamon, nutmeg and mace

O.G. = 1.052
F.G. = 1.014
ABV 5.0%
174 Cal / 12 oz

#74 Canadian Ale

This one is not designed to any particular Canadian beer, but based on the AHS Canadian that I made last year.

4 lbs	Golden Light DME	$21.00
3.3 lbs	Briess Pilsen LME	$9.99
.75 oz	Centennial (60 min)	$1.50
.25 oz	Centennial (5 min)	$0.50
	Safale US-04	$3.99
		$36.98

#73 Dogfish Pumpkin Ale (73/106)

My attempt to at Pumpkin.  Modified from the BeerSmith recipe Punkn Beer with the goal of something similar to DogFish Punkin. blade mace and vanilla bean in as well.

Steep
13 oz	2 Row
60 oz	Pumpkin (Libby's) Large Can
1 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L
1 lb	Special Roast
Boil (60 min)
6 lb	Golden Light DME
1 lb	Brown Sugar
4 oz	Maltose
7.2 oz	Lactose
Hops/Additions
1 oz	Hallertauer (45 min)
1 oz	Hallertauer (5 min)
1 1/2 TBS	Pumpkin Pie Spice
Yeast
American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)
OG	1.077
FG	1.011
ABV	4.7%
IBU	7.1
Calories	260

	#106 (2014) Update - This was better

Steep  (60 min) 162F
13 oz	2 Row
2 lbs	350F 2 hour baked Butternut Squash
29 oz	Pumpkin (Libby's) Large Can
1 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L
1 lb	Special Roast
Boil (60 min)
6 lb	Golden Light DME
3/4 lb	Brown Sugar
??	Molases
4 oz	Maltose
7.6 oz	Lactose
Hops/Additions
1 oz	Hallertauer (45 min)
1 oz	Hallertauer (5 min)
2 TBS	Pumpkin Pie Spice
Yeast
American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)

#72 AHS Pumpkin Ale Mini Mash

An amber ale with butternut squash and pumpkin spices.

AHS Pumpkin Ale

O.G. = 1.052 (should have measured)
F.G. = 1.013 (actual 1.020)
5.1% ABV 
173 Cal / 12 oz 

2.5 lb Base Grains, 
1 lb Specialty Grains (Crystal 60L, Caramunich)
4 lb Dry Malt Extract

4 lbs of butternut squash (cubed, baked @ 350 for 1 hour)

Kent Golding (hops)
pumpkin ale spice pack ( cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and sweet orange peel)

McCormick pumpkin pie spice might be a good addition this year.

#70 Dragon Blood (Triple Berry Skeeter Pee)

I made my next batch of Skeeter Pee but this time the taste was non-existent.  I let this one sit in secondary for much longer and tasted it before adding the sugar at the end.  I also had a problem with the FG at 1.020. So I decided to create something similar to Dragon Blood as written up by DangerDave.

ABV: 10.4%

Ingredients:
Amt                   Name                                           
16.0 cup              Washington, DC
7 lbs                 Sugar, Table (16 cups)
                      DB (20 cups)
0.33 cup              Lemon Juice
Primary (Stir Ingredients)
64.00 oz              ReaLemon
0.75 tsp              Tannin
                      DB (1 tsp)
1.00 tsp              Yeast Energizer
                      DB (2 tsp)

3.00 tsp              Yeast Nutrient
                      DB (4 tsp)

Primary (~2 days)
1.00                  Yeast Slurry
Primary (~4 days - 1.050 SG)  (vigorously mix)
32.00 oz              ReaLemon
3.00 tsp              Yeast Nutrient
1.00 tsp              Yeast Energizer
Secondary (0.995-0.998 SG) (degas)(This never happend.)

Change to the plan.
10 days
6 lbs                 Kirkland - Rader Farms Frozen Berries 
                      Blueberries
                      Marionberries
                      Raspberries

Bottling/Kegging
2.50 tsp              Potassium sorbate (sorbate)
0.50 tsp              Potassium metabisulfite (Kmeta)
2.30 lb               Sugar, Table (Sucrose)6 cups of sugar

2 Tap Kegerator - What will it cost?

This topic seems to come up a lot from my buddies in the neighborhood.  This is a good topic not to have with the wife.  Make sure to keep beers on tap that her and her friends like and she may ignore the cost.  Making beer is a hobby and not a cost saver.

I chose to use the bar style although my two brewing buddies both went with fridge styles.  I have made 2 fridge styles, 3 keezers (freezer as a kegerator) with collars, and now 2 cabinet/coffin keezers.  I like the look of the bar style keezer, but it does come with significant about of work and expense.  My 10 tapper that I am building will probably run me $1000 before I add the beer parts.  Fortunately, I have all of the beer parts that I am just moving over from previous kegerators.  In the process, I hope to recover $650+ from previous kegerators.  This leaves me with an upgrade that should keep me at about $350 additional cost for a way cooler kegerator.

Below is a good estimate of what you should expect to spend.  This should give you some baselines for evaluating the offers on craigslist.  The pre-assembled kegerators from refrigerators are typically pretty beat up and can only be scrapped for parts.  My buddies have purchased a number of beat up kegerators online to get some of the useful parts and then trashed the remaining items.  Most people bought cheap stuff and then didn’t maintain it.  The tanks are typically out of inspection and worthless, the beer line was never cleaned, the refrigerator doesn’t work, and who knows what else. 

Also, make sure that you know where you are going to put the kegerator.  The small fridge style units like the mini fridges struggle with temperature control, they cannot be put in a hot location.  They can also struggle indoors as they get older.

The lower estimate uses a number of cheaper parts with the second set of columns give an option for where prices can range for better parts.  Each of these are beginning prices.  If you go to a local homebrew store, you will pay a premium for each of the parts.  If you shop online, you will get hit with shipping.  Since some of these start to really increase the weight almost no one will give free shipping.

Start with a basic unit of one of the following and then add the parts from the table below.  The choice of drip trays changes depending on which style you use.

Item                                                                      Initial Cost                          Final Cost           

Converted Fridge                                             $ 200                                      $700-$900

Freezer with Collar                                          $ 200                                      $700-$900

Freezer with Cabinet and Coffin                $ 450-1100                           $850-$1,700

Qty	Price (Low End)	Total Low		Price (High End)	Total High	Description
12	$0.82	$     9.84		$       1.00	$   12.00	Gas Hose 5/16 Red Bevlex ($0.82 /ft)
20	$0.70	$   14.00		$       1.00	$   20.00	Beer Hose ($0.70 /ft)
2	$17.00	$   34.00		$     22.00	$   44.00	Shank 3 1/8” (each)
2	$15.00	$   30.00		$     45.00	$   90.00	Perlick $45 or $15.00  for cheaper faucet
2	$1.50	$     3.00		$       1.75	$     3.50	Beer Nut
2	$1.50	$     3.00		$       2.50	$     5.00	Tail Piece to connect shank to Beer Line
2	$0.19	$     0.38		$       0.32	$     0.64	Beer Shank Washer
2	$6.00	$   12.00		$       6.00	$   12.00	Barb Gas Ball Lock
2	$6.00	$   12.00		$       6.00	$   12.00	Barb Liquid Ball Lock
1	$70	$   70.00		$  120.00	$ 120.00	Regulator (2 Guage w/Y splitter or 3 guage)
1	$70	$   70.00		$  160.00	$ 160.00	CO2 Tank ($50-$170)
1	$90	$   70.00		$     90.00	$   90.00	Temp Controller (Ranco or Johnson)
1	$26	$   26.00		$     32.00	$   32.00	CO2 Tank Refill for first batch
1	$5	$     5.00		$       6.00	$     6.00	Faucet Wrench
1	$8	$     8.00		$       0.40	$     0.40	Clamps
2	$3	$     5.00		$       3.00	$     6.00	Tap Handles Economy
Total		$      372.22			$      613.54

National Homebrew Conference

#NHC2013
The National Homebrew Conference was great.  The conference and lodging were both at the the Marriott. Each morning there were 30 beers on tap with a rotation of beers happening every hour to hour and a half.

Philadelphia Marriott Downtown
1201 Market Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107

Across the street from the hotel is the Reading Terminal Market where we recovered with a good meal.  If you are in the area you need to stop by Tommy DiNic’s for the roast pork with sharp provolone, broccoli rabe, and hot peppers. We also needed to get a CheeseSteak while in the city, so we took a walk to Campo’s Deli.

We visited two great beer restaurants where we were able to sample beers from an unbelievable menu.  In particular, we were able to try the Russian River beers.

Strangelove's
216 S. 11th Street

Monk's Café
264 S. 16th

Some of the conference seminars that I attended included the following:

• Waste Not, Want Not: Sustainable and Frugal Homebrewing Dan Schreffler
• Stepping Up Your Sensory Game: How to Be a Better Taster Kara Taylor
• Step Up Your Starters: Insight into Yeast Propagation for Homebrewers Kai Troester
• Geeking Out in the Cellar Garry Pitman
• Serving with Style Mike Lindel
• A Simple Fermentation Monitoring and Control System Murthy Tata & Sachin Pannuri
• BCS Controller
• Open Source Control Systems

The conference has two great nights of sampling beers.  The first night was the professional brewery night.  Below are Jeremy and Matt getting a beer from Sam Calagion of Dogfish Head Brewery.

On the second night, the homebrewers got a chance to show what they had made.  One of my favorites was the Tropical Wit by Ryan Miscik and Andrew Haraksin.

The following was offered as a potential beer mission, Beer Assignments.