Recipe: Brush Valley Brewing House Ale v1.4

BJCP Style: 14B — American IPA

Brewhouse Efficiency: 77%

Pre-Boil Volume: 7 gallons (26.5 L)

BG: 1.052 SG (12.7 °P)

Original Volume: 6.1 gallons (23.1 L)

OG: 1.059 SG (14.5 °P)

FG: 1.016 SG (4.1 °P)

ADF: 73%

Bitterness (Tinseth): 59 IBU

ABV: 5.9%

Color (Morey): 11 SRM (21 EBC) — Deep amber

Boil Duration: 60 minutes

BU:GU 0.99

Balance value: 1.98

Calories per 12-ounce Serving: 200 — 116 from Alcohol, 85 from Carbs

Adjusted Mash Water Profile

Step by Step

This is a single step infusion mash at 1.54 quarts/pound with a batch sparge. It will require a total of 8.50 gallons (32.2 L) of water.

Heat 5.00 gallons (18.9 L) of strike water in the Hot Liquor Tank to 178 °F (81 °C). Drain the strike water into the mash tun. Mix in the crushed grain and the mash salts, making sure to break up any dough balls. Cover the mash tun and let it sit for about 10 minutes. The mash should stabilize at 156 °F (69 °C). Cover the mash tun and let it rest.

After 60 minutes vorlauf and lauter. Sparge with 3.50 gallons (13.2 L) of water to bring the collected volume to approximately 7 gallons (26.5 L) at 1.052 SG (12.7 °P).

Add the boil salts and boil for 60 minutes. While boiling, add the remaining ingredients according to the schedule in the ingredient list.

After the boil, cool the wort to 66 °F (18.9 °C). The volume should be approximately 6.1 gallons (23.1 L) at 1.059 SG (14.5 °P). Transfer approximately 5.5 gallons (20.8 L) to a sanitized fermenter. Aerate the wort and pitch the yeast.

Hold at 66 °F (18.9 °C) until fermentation is complete. The final gravity should be about 1.016 SG (4.1 °P).

When fermentation is complete, let the beer stand at room temperature for 24 hours. After 24 hours, add dry hops for five days. After five days, cold crash beer to 38 °F. After three days, keg the beer. Store at 48 °F and force carbonate to 2.2 volumes of CO₂.

Beer will be at its peak in 12 to 19 days.

6:07 Gas is on.

6:35 Yeast is out and smacked. All three have June 21 manufacturing dates. Mr. Malty says they have 84% viability. That gives me 252B cells. Threshold is 227B (76% viability).

6:38 Strike water is up to 178 °F in the boil kettle. That is what I decided it should be last time. I am transferring it to the mash.

6:45 Strike water transfer is complete. Temperature in the mash tun is 169 °F. I was looking for 167 °F. I am going to stir it with my stainless steel spoon to drop the temperature.

6:53 The grist is in the mash along with the mash salts. The initial mash temperature was 156 °F, which is the target. I will check agin in 10 minutes, but I am saying that the mash started at 6:53.

7:03 The mash stabilized at about 155 °F.

7:53 Mash temperature is 154 °F. Mash occupies about 6½ gallons in the tun.

7:56 Three vorlauf rounds to clear (it is nice and clear) and we are lautering. Boil salts are in the kettle. Sparge water is 178 °F.

8:04 Lauter is complete. Volume is 3½ gallons plus a cup. Heating first runnings. I am taking a hydrometer sample of the first runnings. The reading is 1.060 at 115 °F, calibrated at 60 °F. Gravity of the first runnings is 1.069 SG.

8:08 Adding sparge water.

8:18 Vorlauf and drain sparge. Second runnings read 1.012 at 150 °F. Gravity of the second runnings is 1.031 SG.

8:27 Second runnings are in the boil kettle. Volume is 7⅛ gallons. Heating to boil. I stirred and took a hydrometer sample of the boil wort. The reading is 1.046 at 93 °F, calibrated at 60 °F. Gravity of the boil is 1.051 SG. Target is 1.052.

8:40 Boiling. I’m just keeping it from boiling over.

8:44 Hot break subsided. Adding 60 minute hops to hop bag at 8:45.

9:16 Hot liquor tank and mash tun are clean. Carboy is sanitized.

9:30 Flavor hops are in, as are the Irish moss, the yeast nutrient, and the wort chiller.

Two things to thing about for future brew days:

1. Jamil-style immersion whirlpool chiller
2. Hop bag holder

9:45 Aroma hops are in. Flame is out. Steeping.

Here’s a thought: While I am hot steeping, Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) precursors (S-methylmethionine or SMM) are still being produced. I don’t know what temperature they stop being produced at, but I believe that may account for the “beery” flavor when the beer is green. I had originally though it was diacetyl from the yeast, but that is supposed to taste buttery, which is not what I’m getting. This flavor is much more like the flavor of a cheap lager, which says DMS to me. The experts say it tastes like cooked cabbage, and in fact cabbage juice contains significant amounts of SMM, though I don’t taste it myself. It just tastes like cheap beer.

According to the Brewmaster at the Redwood Avenue Picobrewery:

DMS continues to be formed until the wort is below about 160 °F.

So I suppose I could chill to 160 °F (71 °C) and then steep, but I’m not sure what temperature the hop alpha acids need to isomerize. This presentation from a conference session does not bode well:

At 70 °C, less than 10% of alpha acids were converted in a 90 minute boil.

10:05 Draining hop bag. Chilling.

10:45 Chilled. Removed hop bag and chiller. Whirlpooled and letting the wort settle before draining to the carboy. Original volume is just a hair under 5½ gallons. Hydrometer reading is 1.060 at 69 °F. Original gravity is 1.061 SG.

11:05 Draining.

11:30 Drained. Aerating.

11:35 Moving carboy to fermentation refrigerator.

12:10 Pitched. I have the fermentation refrigerator set for 71 °F. I will gradually lower it to 66 °F. Everything is cleaned up and put away.

Saturday Morning (7/10) Beer is fermenting nicely at 66 °F. It had dipped down to 64 °F before getting going. By bed time last night, it had started back up again at 65 °F.

Tuesday Evening (7/12) Fermentation is done. The krausen has fallen. I have moved the beer out of the refrigerator to sit warm and give the yeast a chance to clean up after itself.

Wednesday Evening (7/13) Dry hopped.

Funny thing is that they have a special word for failure in Silicon Valley: "Pivoting". That is how acceptable failure is.—
Vivek Wadhwa (@wadhwa) June 17, 2011

8:24 Gas is on. Water is heating.

8:53 Yeast packs out and smacked. All have a 6/8/11 manufacturing date. Mr. Malty says that means 93% viability, or 279B cells. I wanted at least 231B, so I’m good to go.

8:58 Water is hot. Moving on to the mash.

8:59 The strike temperature should be 167 °F. In my lexicon, that is the stable temperature of the water to which I add the grains. The water in the kettle is 172 °F. It is my experience that I will lose a few degrees in the transfer to, and in heating up, the mash tun. As an experiment, I am going to go with 172 °F as the temperature before transfer.

9:01 Measuring out the mash and boil salts. I did them the night before for the last brew day. However, since they are salts, and as such they are hygroscopic, they were little piles of mush stuck to the bottom of the container by brew time.

9:05 Transfer complete. Volume is a touch over 5 gallons. The strike water is 161 °F in the tun. It should be 167 °F. It looks like the kettle temperature should have been 178 °F. I have my sparge water already heated, so I am using it to adjust the temperature. Adjusted temperature is just slightly over 161 °F. I add the grains. Half way through I add the mash salts (and I dump the boil salts into the bottom of the now empty boil kettle). I have a bunch of little dough balls on top and I don’t know why. I’m going to say that the mash started at 9:13, put the lid on, and check where the mash temperature stabilized in ten minutes.

9:23 The temperature seems to have stabilized between 156 °F and 157 °F. Since I wanted 156 °F, I am going to say this is close enough. I have set an alarm for 10:13 when the mash should be complete.

10:13 Mash is done. Final mash temperature was just over 156 °F. Awesome. Moving on to lauter, drain, and batch sparge.

10:17 The sparge water is down to about 150 °F. So, while I am draining the first runnings, I am going to reheat the sparge water.

10:18 I observe that the first runnings are insanely clear. I don’t think I have ever seen them this clear. They do not seem as dark as I expected. I wonder if I messed something up, or I did something right that I have always messed up before. I am going to take a gravity sample from the first runnings.

10:20 I thought I had a good lauter, but now I am seeing a considerable amount of grain floating around. Curious. Nothing to do about it now.

10:23 First runnings complete. Moving on to the sparge.

10:25 The gravity of the first runnings is 1.054 at 131 °F. The hydrometer is calibrated for 60 °F. That gives a gravity of 1.067 for the first runnings compared to 1.075 for the Memorial Day brew. Close enough.

10:26 It looks like I got 3⅝ gallons from the first runnings. I was looking for 3½. The color still does not look right to me.

10:44 The second runnings are in the kettle. The gravity of the second runnings was 1.014 at 130.5 °F (1.027). The volume is just over 6½ gallons (maybe a cup more). The boil gravity is 1.038 at 115 °F (1.047). I was looking for 1.052.

10:49 Starting the boil.

11:19 Boiling. Waiting for the hot break.

11:21 The hot break is insane. I do not know what is going on with this brew. It’s pretty close to the last ones but the differences are weird. Maybe since I got the mash salts in at the start of the mash and the mash temperature where it was supposed to be and the boil salts in at the start of the boil means that this is more like what this beer is supposed to do.

11:24 The hot break has subsided. Adding bittering hops.

12:09 Flavor hops are in. As are the Irish moss, the yeast nutrient, and the immersion chiller.

12:24 Aroma hops are in. Flame is off. Lid is on loosely. Letting hops steep for 20 minutes.

12:44 Started chilling and lifted hop bag to drain.

1:24 Wort chilled to 70 °F. Turning off and removing chiller. Removing hop bag. Stirring to form whirlpool and letting the wort settle for 20 minutes.

1:44 Draining. Final gravity is 1.058 at 72 °F (1.059). 1.059 expected. Ooops! Forgot to read final volume.

2:03 Drained. Aerating.

2:16 Wort in fridge. Set point at 68 °F. Pitched. Will lower to 64 °F for fermentation.

Saturday Morning The refrigerator overshot my target temperature and the nascent beer is at 60 °F. There are a few floating yeast colonies and some CO₂ formation, but nothing like I would expect at this point. I have the thermostat off and the door open in hopes that the temperature will get up to the bottom of the range for the yeast: 64 °F.

Saturday Evening The beer is up to 64 °F and there is a nice floc forming on the surface. I am closing the door and setting the thermostat for 66 °F. There is a 2 °F range on it, so when it comes on it will push the temperature back down to 64 °F.

Sunday Morning Beer is fermenting nicely at 63 °F.

Sunday Evening I have raised the set point on the thermostat to 67 °F.

Monday Morning Beer still fermenting at 63 °F, but kräusen is falling. I turned the fridge off and opened the door.

Monday Evening Beer has reached 67 °F but it looks like the yeast is nearly finished. Either fermentation is complete — it probably is — or it flocculated from the cold. I am taking the carboy out of the fridge to sit at room temperature for a diacetyl rest. I would like to keg the beer on July 1. I plan to cold crash the beer for three days, so that backs us up to Tuesday, June 28. I like to dry hop for five days, so again, that backs us up to this Thursday, June 23.

Thursday Evening Dry hopped.

Tuesday Evening Cold crash.

Friday Afternoon Kegged. Stunning clarity. Hydrometer sample was awesome, if slightly “beery.” Final gravity was 1.015. Expected 1.016.

Monday Morning I retrieved the hop bag from the Memorial Day batch I kicked yesterday and keg hopped this batch with it.

Never underestimate humanity's capacity to change and adapt. Unless it's whining about insignificant bullshit. We've got that one down.—
  (@Miss_Cook) June 13, 2011

"The familiar dot '.' symbol from Internet addresses is used in this book to terminate sentences." — Mr. Bunny's Guide to ActiveX—
Joel Spolsky (@spolsky) June 01, 2011