Sunday, January 23, 2011

First pint of Racer5 clone batch #1

Not too bad. The additional dry hopping is definitely noticeable,
giving it a much needed aroma kick. It's still a little more bitter
than I hoped for; needs more malty sweetness for balance but I'm happy
with it overall.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Racer5 clone batch #1 sampled and kegged

I decided to sample my first batch yesterday and guess what... it tasted like BEER! It was a little more bitter than I was hoping for but it tasted like an IPA. It was also more carbonated than I was expecting and had pretty decent clarity for coming right out of the secondary at room temp. Although I dry hopped per the recipe it lacked a good hop aroma so I transferred it to a 5 gallon "corny" (Cornelius) keg and threw in a small hop sack of Centennial, Columbus and Amarillo. At this point I'm not trying to recreate a Racer5 - I just want to produce a good IPA.

All was going well with the kegging process until I tried to pressurize the keg with c02. I had already replaced all of the o-rings with new ones that came with the keg but I found a leak coming from the relief valve. After a couple of trips to Austin Homebrew I finally came home with one that worked. That fixed the leak at the relief valve but then I had trouble getting a solid seal around the keg lid. After a quick call to T (one of my homebrew mentors) I found that I needed to get the lid o-ring wet (dipped it in a Star San bath for about a minute) and hit the keg with about 30 lbs. of gas at once to get a good seal. Apparently it takes a 5-10 seconds of precious co2 leaking out before enough pressure is built up to seal the keg. Tip: they also sell keg lube (food grade silicone) for a better seal. I'll have to pick some up next time I'm at the brew shop.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Fwd: dog biscuit recipe


Dog Brew-Grain Cookies

 

Yield: 6 dozen dog treats (depending on size/shape)

 

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 cups all-purpose flour

4 cups spent grains

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup peanut butter

1 ripe banana, mashed

1 apple, peeled & shredded

1 large carrot, shredded

½ cup of parsley, fine dice

 

Mix all ingredients together (use your hands).  Roll out to ¼" thick, onto floured surface, and then cut into desired shapes.  Bake on cooking sheet lined with silpat or parchment paper, at 350 for 25-30 minutes. 

Dog Cookies

Marissa used the spent grains from today's batch to make dog cookies.
Grains, egg, flour, carrots, apple, banana, peanut butter and parsley.

Yeast pitched on batch #2

Strainer

Adjustable over the sink strainer works well on the large kettle with
almost 5 lbs of grain.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Racked

Transferred to secondary and added dry hops.

(OG 1.07 - FG 1.015) * 131 = 7.205 % ABV

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

updated recipe (ditch corn sugar, add extra malt)

Racer5


Batch size5 gallons
Boil size6.5 gallons
Boil time90 minutes
Grain weight11.38 pounds
Efficiency75%
Original gravity1.072
Final gravity1.017
Alcohol (by volume)7.2%
Bitterness (IBU)49
Color (SRM)8.4°L
Yeast
3 liquid packs
White Labs
WLP001
California Ale

Grains/Extracts/Sugars
11.38 pounds
Liquid Malt - Golden
34ppg, 6°L
7.25 pounds
63.7%
Wheat
38ppg, 2°L
1.75 pounds
15.4%
2 Row Base
37ppg, 1.5°L
1.5 pounds
13.2%
Crystal 20L
35ppg, 20°L
0.63 pounds
5.5%
CaraPils
33ppg, 1.5°L
0.25 pounds
2.2%

Hops
3.41 ounces
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet
2 ounces
Chinook hops
13%, Pellet
0.5 ounces
Amarillo hops
8%, Pellet
0.33 ounces
Centennial hops
10%, Pellet
0.33 ounces
Columbus hops
13%, Pellet
0.25 ounces

Mash
60 minutes, 6.9 gallons
Strike
Target 152°F
6 quarts
163°F
60 minutes (+0)
Sparge
Target 170°F
5.4 gallons
177°F

Boil
90 minutes, 6.5 gallons
Chinook hops
13%, Pellet
0.5 ounces
90 minutes (+0)
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet
1.75 ounces
60 minutes (+30)
Wort chiller15 minutes (+75)

Ferment
14 days @ 68-73°F
Centennial hops
10%, Pellet
0.33 ounces
21 days (+-7)
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet
0.25 ounces
21 days (+-7)
Columbus hops
13%, Pellet
0.25 ounces
21 days (+-7)
Amarillo hops
8%, Pellet
0.33 ounces
21 days (+-7)



Sent from my iPad

Day 5: Settling down...

Activity has slowed way down and trub has settled to the bottom. 5
days of fermentation at a consistent 68 degrees. Planning on
transferring this batch to the secondary this weekend and brewing the
same recipe again (this time with the corn sugar or extra malt).

Sunday, January 2, 2011

brewshelf

Not much room to grow but serves the immediate need. Since our
basement is not air conditioned I'm having to keep a space heater in
this closet to keep the temp around 68. Luckily it stays pretty cool
in summer - hopefully cool enough for ale fermentation without an AC.