Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

Cascade First Wort Hop Pale Ale

April 7th, 2017

So I ordered whole leaf hops to use in a  Randall for Zapp’s beerfest.  I forgot to pick up the hops and my buddy forgot to bring the Randall!   Talk about not meant to be!  So while I’m waiting for the sack of Simpson’s pale malt and Simpson’s caramel malt that LA Homebrew is ordering for me, I’m going to make a beer out of the 3 ounces of hops I have.

Minor edit to the recipe.  I’m mashing at 154F.

Brew Day 4/9/2017

Brew day went very well.   Efficiency was quite high as the beer was around 1.062.   Efficiency has always been an issue of mine that I’ve not quite figured out.   Lately I’ve been attempting to use a continuous sparge in an effort to reduce labor and raise efficiency.   For me it seems like I can set it and forget it and get better results.  But those results may cause me to re calibrate how I calculate.

The first wort hopping was quite lovely on the mash.  The beer smelled extremely good.   A nice low, rich, citrus character from the cascade hops.    It was great and I was thinking man I’m going to use whole leaf hops more often.   HOWEVER, the boil was another story.  When I added whole leaf hops at flame out and started the whirlpool they clogged up everything.   The hops swell back to their original mass and just cause all sorts of issues.   Depending on how well this beer comes out I may or may not use them in the boil again.  Total pain.

The aroma though of the mash.   It was extremely complex with the hops being added.  Reminded me very much of that background aroma you get in beers like Dale’s pale ale.   I very much look forward to tasting and smelling the results of this brew.

Update 5/27/2017

Just a very smooth and great beer to drink.   The first wort hopping certainly adds to the hop flavor complexity for me.   It’s just a deeper, more savory sensation this way.   Great daily drinking beer.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 36.3 IBUs 7.0 SRM 1.050 1.010 5.3 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 10 A 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 45 5 - 14 2.3 - 2.8 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt (2 Row) UK 8 lbs 74.42
Munich Malt - 10L 2 lbs 18.6
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L 12 oz 6.98

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Cascade 2 oz 60 min First Wort Leaf 5.5
Cascade 1 oz 60 min Aroma Pellet 5.5
Citra 1 oz 0 min Aroma Pellet 12

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 7.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Safale American (US-05) DCL/Fermentis 77% 59°F - 75°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 150°F 75 min

2014 Louisiana Homebrew Club Competition

March 9th, 2014

Yesterday Redstick Brewmasters hosted the Louisiana Homebrew Club Competition. As my Benedict Arnold Milk Stout won first place in stouts and went on to win Best of Show I obviously had a wonderful time. Redstick did a fantastic job lining up Mockler Beverage to host the competition, lining up sponsors, running the competition judging and hosting the judges. Lots of great beer, food and company to spend a Saturday.

The prizes for first place in stouts included a medal, $20 gift card to LA Homebrew, gift card and T-Shirt from the Cove and the wonderful New Belgium Ranger sign below.   Best of Show prizes were insane as Blichmann sent quick connects and a therminator, LA Homebrew donated $120 worth of gift gards, $50 donated from the Pelican House, $30 from the Cove and an awesome custom carved tap handle trophy.  Honestly I’ve never won so much stuff in my life.   This was an insanely wonderful surprise.

Louisiana Club HomeBrew Competition Prizes

A closer look at the awesome tap handle trophy:

LouisianaHomebrewClubCompetitionBestOfShowTrophy

Submitting my Porter to Brasseurs Porter Competition Today

July 24th, 2012

One of the interesting things I’ve been introduced to with being involved with Brasseurs a la Maison is the AHA Club Only Competition.    Our club members have brewed porters and we’ll be having a judging of those porters by the owner of Parish Brewing, the owner of Brewstock in New Orleans and a BJCP certified judge.    It should be very interesting and a lot of fun for the club.

My Bayou Brown Porter came out very well in my opinion.   It’ll be interesting what others have to say in the event there are some elements which aren’t to style or defects that I don’t detect.   Tasting and evaluating beer is something I feel like I am always learning new things about.

Regardless of how this competition comes out I’m submitting this beer to the Dixie Cup in Houston in a couple of months.

Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

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