Beer.001 - Mixed-Fermentation Saison
Between the time of the last partial mash beer I brewed and the first all-grain batch I brewed, I grew my knowledge of beer quite extensively. I was regularly listening to tons of beer podcasts, buying beer books, and doing lots of research online. I couldn't get enough-- passion was a driving force. Unfortunately, the nature of my personality was preventing me from getting back into brewing. I can be a bit obsessive over details (a perfectionist of sorts). I didn't have every single piece of gear I wanted to have in order to do things the way I felt they should have been done. I got the equipment I needed, bit by bit, but seemed to still get stuck at certain steps. For a while, it was the fittings on a mash tun. Then it was finding gaskets to seal the tun-- then I would learn something and new, and scrap the way I was doing it. It was a vicious circle.
A friend of mine saw that I was holding myself back, and was kind enough to let me borrow his homebrewing setup indefinitely. He wasn't using it, as he had recently co-founded a brewery and was brewing there, full-time-- still is (Thanks, Jeremy)! We decided to brew this beer at his place, so he could show me the ins and outs of the system before I took it to my place. The system is a three-vessel system, utilizing 3x 50-litre kegs which serve as an HLT, a boil kettle, and a mash tun (the mash tun keg is insulated/coated with black rubber). There's also a 2-tier propane burner with a set of wheels for easy transport.
My first all-grain batch was brewed on July 22, 2017. I chose to make wort that would work for a saison of sorts:
Batch Size: 11gal Target Gravity: 1.047
(My notes say 50L, but that is the size of the mash tun/kettle... unsure of what is happen please)
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7.54 kg German Pilsener Malt 70%
0.81 kg Spelt Malt 7.5%
0.81 kg Wheat Malt 7.5%
0.81 kg Raw Wheat 7.5%
0.81 kg Flaked Oats 7.5%
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15.6g Hallertau Blanc (9.0% AA) @ 30 min 5.6 IBUs
12.7g Sterling (10.5% AA) @ 30 min 5.3 IBUs
15.6g Hallertau Blanc (9.0% AA) @ 15 min 3.6 IBUs
12.6g Sterling (10.5% AA) @ 15 min 3.4 IBUs
30.2g US Golding (4.9% AA) @ 15 min 3.8 IBUs
14.0g Hallertau Blanc (9.0% AA) @ 1 min 0.3 IBUs
28.0g Sterling (10.5% AA) @ 1 min 0.6 IBUs
~22.6 IBUs
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Single-infusion mash @ 153F//67.2C
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Boil for 90 min
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Water Targets: ///
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Ca --------76ppm
Mg -------25ppm
Na --------79ppm
SO4 -----105ppm
Cl ----------5ppm
BiCarb --320ppm
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Assumed Halifax Water Profile: ///
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Ca----------3.9ppm
Mg---------0.4ppm
Na----------16ppm
SO4--------7.7ppm
Cl-----------8.8ppm
BiCarb---13.7ppm
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Water Additions (added to strike water) ///
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Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4)(85%) 19.6mL
Baking Soda (NaHCO3) 5.6g
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 8.2g
Chalk (CaCO3) 6.3g
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My intention with this beer was to have a funky, tart saison-type thing, between 5.5-6% ABV. My target (initial) gravity was 1.047, with the intention of this fermenting out to be bone dry, landing hopefully at 1.000 FG, or very close to it. Over the few weeks prior, I had rigged up a home-made stir plate, and gradually propped up a solid 2L yeast starter from a melange of dregs from 6 different bottles:
Yeah, I went and put Gueuze dregs in it. It should go without saying that I intended to allow this to age/mature for at least 6-12 months. For those who may not know, this blend of beer dregs will contribute both Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces yeast strains into the beer, as well as bacterial cultures of Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. I intend to add oak to it, as well.
The brew day went fairly well-- I did have to correct the mash pH a bit with some baking soda, which was fine. We ended up a bit over our target gravity, so I added a bit of water to get down to 1.048 OG. After the boil, the wort was chilled down to 22C, and racked into 3 carboys. For one carboy, I used a bit of tubing with pinholes poked in the end attached to the kettle, to aerate via Venturi effect-- the others were just shaken vigorously. I filled 2 carboys to the point where the carboys' vertical walls started sloping to the neck, to allow for krausen. There was a bit of wort left to fill 1/3 of another carboy. Yeast was pitched in equal ratios-- about 850mL per full carboy, with about 300mL for the smaller volume.
Activity was observed about 36 hours later, with full vigorous krausens confirmed on all at about 4 days in. Ambient temperature was at about 22C/72F. I decided to put the two full batches in my fermentation chamber (deep freezer w/ STC1000 temperature controller), and do a ramp-up of 1C per day after the first few days, just to coax the yeast to finish up the majority of the fermentation (treating it like a saison). I did this until I got to 27C. I took a sample, and felt that I perceived some ethyl acetate, so I immediately decided that I should stop ramping, and just let them free-rise, indefinitely, lest I stress something too much (ethyl acetate is perceived as a fruity aroma in low concentrations, but at higher levels, can turn into what smells like a solvent, like nail polish remover-- it is one of the few beer flaws that cannot be made to go away.).
I'll do a follow-up post to cover the progress of this batch, as this post is primarily serving to document the initial brewing process (The beer was brewed exactly 7 months ago, today). I will confirm that the beer was not ruined by ethyl acetate, nor do I now perceive any (FRIG YEAH).
A friend of mine saw that I was holding myself back, and was kind enough to let me borrow his homebrewing setup indefinitely. He wasn't using it, as he had recently co-founded a brewery and was brewing there, full-time-- still is (Thanks, Jeremy)! We decided to brew this beer at his place, so he could show me the ins and outs of the system before I took it to my place. The system is a three-vessel system, utilizing 3x 50-litre kegs which serve as an HLT, a boil kettle, and a mash tun (the mash tun keg is insulated/coated with black rubber). There's also a 2-tier propane burner with a set of wheels for easy transport.
My first all-grain batch was brewed on July 22, 2017. I chose to make wort that would work for a saison of sorts:
Batch Size: 11gal Target Gravity: 1.047
(My notes say 50L, but that is the size of the mash tun/kettle... unsure of what is happen please)
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
7.54 kg German Pilsener Malt 70%
0.81 kg Spelt Malt 7.5%
0.81 kg Wheat Malt 7.5%
0.81 kg Raw Wheat 7.5%
0.81 kg Flaked Oats 7.5%
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
15.6g Hallertau Blanc (9.0% AA) @ 30 min 5.6 IBUs
12.7g Sterling (10.5% AA) @ 30 min 5.3 IBUs
15.6g Hallertau Blanc (9.0% AA) @ 15 min 3.6 IBUs
12.6g Sterling (10.5% AA) @ 15 min 3.4 IBUs
30.2g US Golding (4.9% AA) @ 15 min 3.8 IBUs
14.0g Hallertau Blanc (9.0% AA) @ 1 min 0.3 IBUs
28.0g Sterling (10.5% AA) @ 1 min 0.6 IBUs
~22.6 IBUs
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Single-infusion mash @ 153F//67.2C
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Boil for 90 min
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Water Targets: ///
////////////////////////////
Ca --------76ppm
Mg -------25ppm
Na --------79ppm
SO4 -----105ppm
Cl ----------5ppm
BiCarb --320ppm
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Assumed Halifax Water Profile: ///
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Ca----------3.9ppm
Mg---------0.4ppm
Na----------16ppm
SO4--------7.7ppm
Cl-----------8.8ppm
BiCarb---13.7ppm
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Water Additions (added to strike water) ///
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4)(85%) 19.6mL
Baking Soda (NaHCO3) 5.6g
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 8.2g
Chalk (CaCO3) 6.3g
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
My intention with this beer was to have a funky, tart saison-type thing, between 5.5-6% ABV. My target (initial) gravity was 1.047, with the intention of this fermenting out to be bone dry, landing hopefully at 1.000 FG, or very close to it. Over the few weeks prior, I had rigged up a home-made stir plate, and gradually propped up a solid 2L yeast starter from a melange of dregs from 6 different bottles:
- Tired Hands - Ourison (oak-fermented saison)
- Holy Mountain - Gray Tower #3 (oak-fermented saison)
- TRVE - Life's Trade (oak-fermented saison)
- Ale Apothecary - Sahalie (oak-fermented mixed-fermentation ale)
- Boon - Mariage Parfait (Gueuze)
- Hanssen's Artisanal (Oude Gueuze)
Yeah, I went and put Gueuze dregs in it. It should go without saying that I intended to allow this to age/mature for at least 6-12 months. For those who may not know, this blend of beer dregs will contribute both Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces yeast strains into the beer, as well as bacterial cultures of Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. I intend to add oak to it, as well.
The brew day went fairly well-- I did have to correct the mash pH a bit with some baking soda, which was fine. We ended up a bit over our target gravity, so I added a bit of water to get down to 1.048 OG. After the boil, the wort was chilled down to 22C, and racked into 3 carboys. For one carboy, I used a bit of tubing with pinholes poked in the end attached to the kettle, to aerate via Venturi effect-- the others were just shaken vigorously. I filled 2 carboys to the point where the carboys' vertical walls started sloping to the neck, to allow for krausen. There was a bit of wort left to fill 1/3 of another carboy. Yeast was pitched in equal ratios-- about 850mL per full carboy, with about 300mL for the smaller volume.
Activity was observed about 36 hours later, with full vigorous krausens confirmed on all at about 4 days in. Ambient temperature was at about 22C/72F. I decided to put the two full batches in my fermentation chamber (deep freezer w/ STC1000 temperature controller), and do a ramp-up of 1C per day after the first few days, just to coax the yeast to finish up the majority of the fermentation (treating it like a saison). I did this until I got to 27C. I took a sample, and felt that I perceived some ethyl acetate, so I immediately decided that I should stop ramping, and just let them free-rise, indefinitely, lest I stress something too much (ethyl acetate is perceived as a fruity aroma in low concentrations, but at higher levels, can turn into what smells like a solvent, like nail polish remover-- it is one of the few beer flaws that cannot be made to go away.).
I'll do a follow-up post to cover the progress of this batch, as this post is primarily serving to document the initial brewing process (The beer was brewed exactly 7 months ago, today). I will confirm that the beer was not ruined by ethyl acetate, nor do I now perceive any (FRIG YEAH).
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