Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

2023 Festbier

August 22nd, 2023

Keeping the brewing going for the Fall with Festbier. A style I very much enjoy at the low end of it’s range. Just a really big Helles to me. Brew day went very well with this one. With the exception that the boil off rate seemed really low. I notice that seems to happen in humid days. I may need to really get it rolling for days like this. So a little under gravity, and probably a little less bitter due to the extra water volume, but still very much what I’m looking forward to drinking in September/October.

Update 8/31/2023

The fermentation appears to have gone fine. Fermenting right around 50F for the first 5-7 days and then ramping up a couple of degrees daily for week two as it appears to slow down. In my experience this is a pretty complete fermentation. Cold crash next and then transfer to a keg with gelatin for clarification. Can’t wait for it to get a little cool, watch some Saints and LSU football and drink this beer.

Update 9/2/2023

Final gravity is very dry. Around 1.009 from a starting gravity around 1.052. So we’re looking at about 5.5% abv. It’s on the low side of a Festbier for sure but it’s very flavorful and I really enjoy seeing how this one turns out. Clarified with gelatin in the keg and look forward to seeing the finished product. May enter it in a competition under several styles if it works out well, given how it’s right at the top of Marzen/Pilsner and low on the Festbier.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6.5 gal 90 min 21.0 IBUs 5.6 SRM 1.055 1.012 5.7 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Festbier 4 B 1.054 - 1.057 1.01 - 1.012 18 - 25 4 - 7 2.4 - 2.9 5.8 - 6.3 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Viking Pilsner Malt 13 lbs 86.67
Carahell (Weyermann) 1 lbs 6.67
Munich I (Weyermann) 1 lbs 6.67

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 3 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 2.1
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 1 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 2.1
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 1 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 2.1

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
German Lager (WLP830) White Labs 77% 50°F - 55°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Hefeweizen for 2023

August 13th, 2023

It’s been nearly a year since I last brewed as best I can tell This is hard to believe. I could’ve sworn I brewed a beer in 2023 but who knows. Time flies when you have a family. In any event, I’m back for now. I bought a 55lb sack of pilsner from Morebeer along with several German base grains. A pound of Hallertau and a few different yeasts. I will be brewing at least 5 beers this year starting with this Hefeweizen.

I also bought a new malt mill from Morebeer. LA Homebrew closing has caused me to have to go back to milling my own again. I previously had the Jack Schmidt Maltmill. It still works, and is still heavy duty but never had a reasonable hopper. Rather than build one, I did the only reasonable thing, I bought a Barley Crusher mill with the 15 lb hopper. A much smaller mill but it got the job done really well.

The brew day went fairly well. I had to make a few modifications on the fly. The pre-boil volume and efficiency were coming in low, likely because I’m not in tune with the new mill yet. I supplemented with pilsner DME and modified the hopping time to ensure the bitterness came in right. Last thing you want is a bitter Hefeweizen. Currently cooling it down to 62F to pitch the starter I made.

I’ve been doing a mental toughness/discipline challenge known as the #75hard. It involves no alcohol for 75 days. I’m about 25 days out. So planning on having this guy done by then to celebrate finishing that. It’s also my wife’s favorite style of German beer. And this will be done for the September/October season when those beers are the thing. Really looking forward to it. And glad to be brewing again.

Update 8/19/2023

So fermentation went very well as best I can tell. Pitched after the wort sat in the tank for about 6 hours to let it get down to pitching temperature. Pitched the starter and it was rolling in less than 6 hours. The fermentation stayed pretty steady for about 5 days before starting to fall out of suspension. I’ve yet to take a final gravity reading as we’re at about 7 days. I am now doing something different, in addition to using the temperature controllers, I’m using wifi temperature/humidity sensors to monitor the temperature of my fermentation and kegerator at all times. I want multiple points of monitoring to ensure the temperature is accurate. Primarily because of carbonation issues in the past. The temperature to pressure ratio is important and can screw up flavor. But since they come in 2 packs, I’m also monitoring fermentation at all times. Hopefully the additional precision corrects mistakes I may not even know I’ve been making!

Update 8/20/2023

Fermentation is done. Final gravity is approximately 1.01. Original Gravity was 1.054. Banana esters and clove are fairly well balanced. I think this will be an excellent beer. Going to keg it today/tomorrow and setup a separate CO2 regulator from my standard manifold so I can maintain a high CO2 with this guy. It makes all the difference in these beers.

Update 9/2/2023

My wife is drinking this beer. She says it’s good but in a way that’s not impressive. I can’t taste it yet as I have another week on my alcohol fast I’ve been on for near 70 days. It smells fantastic. Clove, banana and bubblegum are all there for me. It’s carbonated appropriately. She’s telling me the clove flavor is harsh and unexpected. The Hefeweizen she typically likes apparently is less clove. I suppose I’ll know more next week when I can try it. I did however find a great article on Weizen beers that I wanted to post here for future reference. I suspect the clove phenols will reduce with a little age.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 10.6 IBUs 3.5 SRM 1.052 1.013 5.2 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
South German-Style Hefeweizen 71 1.047 - 1.056 1.008 - 1.016 10 - 15 3 - 9 2.2 - 2.8 4.9 - 5.6 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (Weyermann) 7 lbs 58.33
Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann) 5 lbs 41.67

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 2 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 2.8

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Weihenstephan Weizen (3068) Wyeast Labs 75% 64°F - 75°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 153°F 60 min

Bavarian Pilsner 2021

August 8th, 2021

So it’s August and it’s time to get ready for September/October and Oktoberfest. A big hit from last year was the Bavarian Pilsner I built from zero using Designing Great beers. This year I attempted to brew it on a 12 gallon batch. There were adjustments due to the size but I ended up with a beer at 1.045 OG. This should result in an approximate and possibly a little more bitter version of last years beer. We’ll see how it passes muster with the neighbors. I have it cooling down to fermentation temperature and will pitch the yeast starters at the same temperature. This has pretty much been the way to go for a quality fermentation.

Update May 30, 2022

This one didn’t turn out well and was disappointing. Too bitter. I didn’t come back and add notes like I should’ve so I’m going off of memory. I remember due to time constraints, I was in a hurry and ran off quickly. Didn’t have an appropriate boil volume, tried to compensate by adjusting hop schedules and ended up with an unbalanced beer. Put an end to a run of very good pilsner brew days I’d had over the past several years. Honestly, it was purely a process issue for a style of beer I find is not forgiving to process issues. The previous attempts were successful because I was intentional in precision and hit everything just right. If there was a correction, I took my time. Oh well. I’m updating the notes now because I’m about to brew another Bavarian Lager or Oktoberfest type beer for Halloween 2022. I’ll get it right this time!

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
13 gal 60 min 32.0 IBUs 3.8 SRM 1.048 1.011 4.9 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Bohemian Pilsener 34 1.044 - 1.056 1.014 - 1.02 30 - 45 3 - 7 2.2 - 2.8 4.1 - 5.1 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
BEST Pilsen Malt (BESTMALZ) 22 lbs 95.65
Carahell (Weyermann) 1 lbs 4.35

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Saaz 4.5 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 2.9
Hallertau 2 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 4
Saaz 1.5 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 3.8

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Bavarian Lager (2206) Wyeast Labs 75% 46°F - 58°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Extra Special Bitter – ESB

April 6th, 2021

I’ve brewed quite a few attempts at English bitters like those I enjoyed when I spent a few days in London. It’s just a fine beer to enjoy with the Earthy/Floral UK hops along with the estery, English caramel malt profile that just goes down smooth with echoes of nuttiness or biscuit like flavor in the profile. I’ve gotten a few hints from Fuller’s brewers concerning brands of malts, color and hops but still didn’t get quite the profile I was looking for. I’m hoping this year with a couple of tweaks, I’ll finally get that profile I’ve failed to achieve all these years….

Update 4/24/2021

I need to post an updated recipe. I had to make a number of substitutions due to not researching what was in stock. Not a big deal. Biggest was Northern Brewer for Northdown. Brands of grains were different and the crystal was kind of a guess. However the beer had an OG right on target around 1.057 and a FG around 1.017. First impression was that it was sweet, it may have just been my pallet because the next sips were very nice. Bright, flavorful ale. Need to keg it with gelatin soon so it’ll clear out and carbonate. Should be an interesting beer to have around the house.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 38.9 IBUs 8.0 SRM 1.057 1.018 5.1 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
English-Style Extra Special Bitter 63 B 1.046 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.016 30 - 45 8 - 14 2.2 - 2.8 4.8 - 5.8 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt, Best (Simpsons) 12.25 lbs 90.74
Crystal, Light (Simpsons) 12 oz 5.56
Barley, Flaked (Thomas Fawcett) 8 oz 3.7

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Northdown 1.75 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 8.5
Challenger 1.5 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 7.5
East Kent Goldings (EKG) 1.5 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 5

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 14.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Lactic Acid 8.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
West Yorkshire Ale (1469) Wyeast Labs 69% 64°F - 72°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 154°F 75 min

Notes

The distilled water is actually 10 gallons of my Ascension parish well water. I need to add it to BeerSmith from my bayoubeer.com website.
Need a Simpson's Crystal around 40. 100 EBC. Simpsons was prescribed by the English Brewer. Said never Bairds.
The Crystal Light malt we use is closer to 100 EBC and never from Bairds- usually Simpsons.
For the hopping regime we add all aroma hops at the end of the boil before we then go on to a 30 min whirlpool rest.
Challenger and Goldings are correct but we also use the beautiful Northdown hop (6%AA)- each 33% split of the total late addition.

Hippidy Hoppidy Pale Ale for 2020

February 2nd, 2020

So I finally got back to beer brewing. I think most people assumed I quit as I didn’t brew at all in 2019. I’ve noticed that other people continue on with what they do when they have babies but that isn’t the case for me over the past 2 years. For whatever reason, my kids have not been sleepers. With my oldest I basically quit brewing the year she was born and for the second it lasted nearly two years. Mostly due to always being tired. We finally purchased new mattresses for both kids in December 2019 and both magically started sleeping through the night! So hey…..reclaimed my beer room from all the overflow storage that had crowed it and got the equipment ready to go today. What better than a pale ale recipe that’s won gold medals at multiple homebrew competitions.

The brew day went pretty well. Efficiency was higher than expected and ended up with a 1.058 OG. I think this beer will be fantastic.

Update 2/11/2020
Final gravity was extremely dry at 1.0067. Alcohol isn’t detectable. It’s an extremely clean fermentation. Lots of orange, pineapple with other tropical hints. Enough malt and body to support the beer. These are flat notes. Extremely drinkable flat which means it’ll be a wonderful drink. Color is light amber with yellow highlights.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 37.0 IBUs 8.4 SRM 1.052 1.010 5.6 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American Pale Ale 18 B 1.045 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.015 30 - 50 5 - 10 2.3 - 3 4.5 - 6.2 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
BEST Munich (BESTMALZ) 5 lbs 44.44
BEST Pilsen Malt (BESTMALZ) 5 lbs 44.44
Carapils (Briess) 12 oz 6.67
BEST Caramel Munich I (BESTMALZ) 8 oz 4.44

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertau Magnum 0.5 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 14
Citra 1 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 12
Simcoe 1 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 13
Citra 1 oz 4 days Dry Hop Pellet 12
Simcoe 1 oz 3 days Dry Hop Pellet 13

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
San Diego Super Yeast (WLP090) White Labs 80% 65°F - 68°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Doppelbock 2018

October 10th, 2018

Decided to brew a Doppelbock using the Marzen yeast from the Oktoberfest. It’s a style I’ve brewed many times over the years and won several awards with. One of my personal favorites to drink. In fact I had Celebrator the day my oldest daughter was born. In this edition I’m changing the malt bill because in previous years the only complaint I ever got was malt aroma and complexity. So in this one there’s more caramunich and more dark munich malt.

The brew day went great and we hit the target OG of 1.087. It smells great and tastes great. Chilled down to fermentation temperature and pitched 2 liters of yeast per carboy. For unknown reason the larger of the two lagged by about 12 hours but they both got going pretty good after that. Here’s hoping for a great winter warmer and super malty clean bock for the holidays!

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
11 gal 60 min 23.6 IBUs 17.6 SRM 1.087 1.028 8.0 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
doppelbock 9 A 1.072 - 1.112 1.016 - 1.024 16 - 26 6 - 25 2.4 - 3 7 - 10 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
BEST Munich (BESTMALZ) 24 lbs 61.54
BEST Pilsen Malt (BESTMALZ) 8 lbs 20.51
BEST Munich Dark (BESTMALZ) 4 lbs 10.26
BEST Caramel Munich I (BESTMALZ) 2 lbs 5.13
Caramunich III (Weyermann) 1 lbs 2.56

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertau Magnum 1.25 oz 120 min Boil Pellet 12.7
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 1 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 3.4

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Lactic Acid 10.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 9.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 7.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Octoberfest Lager Blend (2633) Wyeast Labs 75% 48°F - 58°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 152°F 60 min

Notes

A huge beer. Bigger than I anticipated brewing today no doubt. Pitching on top of a Marzen blend yeast strain. Really interested to see how this turns out!

Marzen 2017 – Gordon Biersch Sorta

August 12th, 2017

So we’re brewing Oktoberfest/Marzen.   Probably one of my absolute favorite beers that I’ve never brewed exceptional.    So I’ve really put some work in to this one.  My past attempts were always too high on toasted maltiness and not smooth enough.   The malt complexity was also never there.   So I am trying a few things today.  1.  Adding some purified water to drop my 174ppm sodium down under 100.   I’ve always thought too much sodium simplifies the maltiness of beer.   2.   Perform a single decoction to enhance melanoidin richness.  3.  Using a recipe that doesn’t call for so much Munich 20 or higher.  It should be on the bottom end of the Marzen spectrum rather than the middle which is what I typically brewed in the past and didn’t like.

This is sorta the recipe because come brew day I realize my Hallertau is only 2.5% AA so I had some Saaz to balance that.  And lengthen the hop boil to 90 minutes.

Lagers as it turns out are my favorite sort of beer.   With the exception of doing a doppelbock well in the past I’ve yet to brew one that’ll win at competitions.   35-39 pretty consistently but nothing with that extra special something yet.   Here’s hoping this year is the year I get it right.   We shall see.

Update 8/13/2017

Brew day went well. The decoction wasn’t near the trouble I thought it’d be with what I’ve read. Gravity came in high though and some equipment problems with a clogged pump near the boiling point made the boil a little strange. All in all the beer should come out fine. Some how, some way some old hops ended up in the beer so I’m worried about off flavors but we’ll see. Wort smells great, tastes great so cooling to pitching temperature overnight, re-racking off settled trub and pitching in the morning.

I’ve read some brulosophy and other experiments that say people can’t detect the decoction. I’m amazed at that given the aroma of the boiling decoction. It was strongly aromatic. I start to wonder about some of those experiments. They almost always seem to point at people being unable to detect anything about a beer in a triangle test unless it’s blatantly obvious. I wonder if the very nature of triangle tests throws people off enough that they can’t perform?

Update 9/5/2017
Original gravity which I forgot to note was 1.063. Final gravity was around 1.015 which although slightly high for style is expected because of the high original gravity. It’s quite malty and bready in the nose and in the flavor. Very complex. The hops are enough to balance the beer but I had preconceived notions of it being sweet so I think I find it sweet. It’s not yet carbonated to style so I need to give it more time before judging. However the beer is very good. The yeast character, the nose, the rich malt character. Gonna be a great drinking beer for the Fall months.

Update 9/27/2017
Now that it’s well carbonated and clear it’s got a really nice drinkability. Not dry enough but not so sweet that I can’t drink 3 of it in one sitting, which is my primary test on a beer. It’s deep in color for that Amber Marzen type of beer. Too much so for my overall appreciation of this style. On the next go I intend to adjust the pilsner to munich ratio by about 10% and drop the caramunich to only about 6 ounces per 10 gallons. I think the crispness was off by the higher gravity which hopefully I’ll get closer next time. But this is a good lager with German lager character, deep maltiness and a very fun, drinkable Fall beer.

Update 10/6/2017
I’ve picked up a few authentic seasonals to compare it to. Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest and Ayinger Oktoberfest are very similar to this beer. A little more crisp than mine but very similar indeed. Remarkably close to the Ayinger but with a less sweet nose than Ayinger and not as clean probably due to the higher than desired finishing gravity of mine and the lower bitterness.
Update 10/24/2017
In an unexpected twist this beer is surprisingly clear now and about 3-4 SRM lighter in color. It’s professionally clear and barely amber in color. It’s like whatever was still in solution that fell out was all amber in color. To the point that I’m wondering if I’ll get dinged at Dixie Cup, it’ll be because they question whether it’s a festbier. The impression of sweetness has lessened and the melanoidin flavor has increased in that munich sort of fashion. I’m kind of stunned on how this beer has changed. I think I took a picture weeks ago and can get one now to post. Hopefully I remember to do so. As it sits I would still lessen the gravity on this beer(I went to high) but man, it is a great Oktoberfest. Better than many I’ve had from pro brewers.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
11 gal 60 min 20.1 IBUs 7.9 SRM 1.057 1.014 5.6 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Marzen 6 A 1.054 - 1.06 1.01 - 1.014 18 - 24 8 - 17 2.5 - 3 5.8 - 6.3 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (Weyermann) 13 lbs 55.08
Munich (BestMälz) 10 lbs 42.37
Caramunich I (Weyermann) 9.6 oz 2.54

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 2 oz 90 min Boil Pellet 2.6
Saaz 1.5 oz 90 min Boil Pellet 3
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 1 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 4

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 9.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Lactic Acid 8.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 6.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
German Lager (WLP830) White Labs 77% 50°F - 55°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Protein Rest 122°F 35 min
Saccharification 154°F 45 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Fullers Golden Pride Version3 Clone

July 16th, 2017

So this shall be the conclusion of my Golden pride clone experiment.   I think this one should be pretty darn close with the exception of having to substitute Ariana hops for the Challenger.   Based on a conversation with LA Homebrew Chico I had an extremely long brew day.   I really boiled it harder than I usually would to try and enhance the aroma.   Chico is great.   Always drops random knowledge in conversation that makes a difference in your beers.   Dude has been brewing longer than me and does 3 times the brewing annually.   So when he talks I’m listening.    Anyhow,  buy your stuff from his place if you’re reading this.

The other versions of this beer were both too much crystal.   V1 was not authentic and didn’t taste like a Fuller’s type beer due to ingredients.   V2 was much better put 1lb of crystal in 23 lbs of total malt is apparently too much.   This version has the right color and aroma in the malt at .5 lbs of crystal in 23 and a long concentrating boil of about 3 hours.  so I have high hopes it’ll land just right on the malt profile and have a nice hop profile.   A little different due to the Ariana but I think it should mesh well in this beer.

7/16/2017

Brew day went great.   Looking at 1.092 original gravity.   Pitching yeast at 65F.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 45.3 IBUs 8.7 SRM 1.095 1.032 8.3 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
English Barleywine 17 D 1.08 - 1.12 1.018 - 1.03 35 - 70 8 - 22 1.6 - 2.6 8 - 12 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt, Best (Simpsons) 22 lbs 97.78
Crystal, Light (Simpsons) 8 oz 2.22

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Ariana 2.5 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 10.5
East Kent Goldings (EKG) 2 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 5
Northdown 2 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 8.5

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 14.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Lactic Acid 8.00 ml 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
English Ale (WLP002) White Labs 67% 65°F - 68°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 154°F 75 min

Notes

The distilled water is actually 10 gallons of my Ascension parish well water. I need to add it to BeerSmith from my bayoubeer.com website.

American IPA Brewed with All Simpsons Malt

June 19th, 2017

So I have all this Simpson’s pale malt now.   I will brew this IPA and then I will brew a third run at the Fuller’s Golden pride in which I’ll reduce the Crystal by half again.

Used Brewer’s Friend to try and further rehabilitate my water since I got my report back from Ward labs.    My IPAs are always hit and miss.   They’re always pretty good but sometimes they’re phenomenal and win awards at Dixie Cup or Clash of the Carboys.   Generally the same recipe but now I’m paying closer attention to total oil content on hops as well as trying to remove water as a somewhat unknown.   The hop additions will be all whirlpool.   All that being said this beer is very much a new approach.

In addition to the recipe below I will be adding an ounce or two of Ariana hops which are said to add a big fruity note as a dry hop.

Update 6/22/2017

So I’m not going to trust my memory for hop inventory anymore.  Ended up having to sub out hops.   All whirlpool.  2 ounces each of Centennial, Mosaic and Citra.    Still going to stick with my dry hop plan.   Brew day went well overall.

Update 8/5/2017

This beer got overall “meh” marks at the Clash of the Carboys.   33 isn’t terrible.  I would agree with that to a degree.   Don’t care for Arianna.   Wish I’d added some Simcoe.  But the beer was nice and the keg did float.    It did score better as a New England IPA which is what I would call it based on how it tasted compared to other NEIPA I’ve had.   That wasn’t intentional here and likely had to do with the hopping schedule which will be noted if I want to brew that in the future.   I am interested to see the judging notes.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
5.5 gal 60 min 40.1 IBUs 7.2 SRM 1.058 1.011 6.1 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
American IPA 21 A 1.056 - 1.07 1.008 - 1.014 40 - 70 6 - 14 2.4 - 2.9 5.5 - 7.5 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt, Best (Simpsons) 12 lbs 96
Crystal, Light (Simpsons) 8 oz 4

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Galaxy 2 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 14
Centennial 1 oz 60 min Aroma Pellet 10
Mosaic (HBC 369) 1 oz 10 min Aroma Pellet 12.3
Citra 2 oz 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 9.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Lactic Acid 6.00 ml 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

 

Fullers Golden Pride Barleywine Clone Version 2

May 26th, 2017

So here we go with the second round of cloning Fuller’s barleywine!   Not that I’d know if it’s right as I’ve never had it but this certainly should be closer than the first attempt.   That one was a damned good beer but has too dark a crystal, wrong brand of crystal, wrong yeast and missing Northdown hops.   Thanks to LA Homebrew ordering me what I needed I now have all the right stuff to make what the BJCP labels as a classic example of the English barleywine.

If you didn’t see the notes from my first attempt;  I emailed Fuller”s and one of their production brewers was kind enough to note what I needed to do in order to clone it.   So this beer should be very close.    The only exception is the hop schedule amounts which is more less a guess for me.   At least I know I have all the right hops!  I’ve never used hop stands so this will be new.  Fortunately Beersmith has a calculation for that.   Seems like a lot of hops!

Update 5/29/2017

So brew day went off very smooth.   I did end up with a hop substitution as I missed the fact I only had one ounce of Challenger.   Went with 1 of challenger, 2 of bramling cross, 2 of Northdown and 2 of EKG.   Went a little heavier on the hopping due to hitting about 1.10 on the original gravity which was high.   Wort came out beautiful and the whirlpool was a fantastic learning experience.   I don’t think I’ve been using the concept of whirlpooling right since I first learned about it from Jamil years back so I’m excited about that.   Pitched after cooled down to fermentation temp of 70F and it’s fermenting fine.

Update 6/14/2017

This looks a hell of a lot more like what I was targeting in terms of appearance so the lighter crystal certainly paid off.   One I get it clear I will compare it with pictures of Golden Pride.   I feel like it may still be a little dark so next time around I may only go 3/4 pound.    Flat and cloudy the beer tastes very nice.   Rich, flavorful with a distinct hoppiness that should turn in to something mellow and savory over time.   So far so good.

Update 6/19/2017

A very fine beer young and carbonated.   I still have enough malt to try again so I’m going to rebrew it with half the crystal and see where it comes out just for experiments sake.  But yeah this is a nice beer.

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 43.6 IBUs 10.2 SRM 1.091 1.027 8.6 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
English Barleywine 17 D 1.08 - 1.12 1.018 - 1.03 35 - 70 8 - 22 1.6 - 2.6 8 - 12 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pale Malt, Best (Simpsons) 20 lbs 95.24
Crystal, Light (Simpsons) 1 lbs 4.76

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Challenger 3 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 7.5
East Kent Goldings (EKG) 2 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 5
Northdown 2 oz 30 min Aroma Pellet 8.5

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 14.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Calcium Chloride 2.00 g 60 min Mash Water Agent

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
English Ale (WLP002) White Labs 67% 65°F - 68°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Mash In 150°F 75 min

Notes

The distilled water is actually 10 gallons of my Ascension parish well water. I need to add it to BeerSmith from my bayoubeer.com website.

Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

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