A Tale of Two Thermometers... 60min IPA Brewday

It's a glorious day to brew!

I love Dogfish Head's 60minute IPA. It's probably my favorite commercial beer. For those that don't know, DFH invented this technique of continuous hopping... Typically hops are added at timed intervals, bittering hops at the beginning of the boil (60 minutes left) flavor hops in the middle (30 minutes) and aroma hops at the end (5-ish minutes) and you end up with bitterness, flavor, and aroma. With continuous hopping, you add small amounts continuously (every minute or so) throughout the boil. The theory is, you get a nice spectrum of everything the hops have to offer... in my head it's like a hop rainbow... like hop flavored skittles?? but anyway... as far as I know DFH is the only brewery that does this. They have 60, 90, and 120 minute IPAs. My fav is the 60.

This is a beer I like to brew a lot, but I change it up a little bit to my taste. I started with a great DFH 60min clone recipe but I changed up the hops bc I really like the citrus hop flavor and aroma. I nailed it once... but that was before I started keeping detailed notes and a recipe book... ugh. Today I just made a small change. I switched out the Simcoe (very distinct flavor) for Centennial (citrusy flavor/aroma).

I have been wondering about the accuracy of my cheap cooking thermometer that I use to check mash temps.  I was suspect that it read a few degrees high. So when I think I'm mashing at 152, I was probably really in the high 140's. Sounds trivial, but a few degrees can change the attenuation (how much of the sugars actually digested by the yeast) and this affects body of the final beer. So I figured I would compare with the thermocouple on my electrical meter (what I used to use).

I set up both, side by side for the mash. The cooking thermometer was reading 5 degrees higher... ok... good to know. 

So I left it there with my electrical meter showing 155 (which I trusted) and the cooking thermometer reading 159 (kinda disregarding), so I rolled with it. 

I come back 30 minutes later, the cooking therm still says 159, but the elec meter is now saying 163... wtf??? 

I admit, I panicked... I got a quart and a half of cold tap water, dumped it in, and stirred... Now, cooking therm 149, elec meter 146... WTF??? 

So... I added a quart of boiling water and stirred... cooking therm 152, elec meter 149... ugh. Fiine... I'll just leave it...

What did I learn? Two things... I should trust the laws of physics (they are for realz)... and I need a decent thermometer... Well... it is what it is... this beer will probs end up super dry and maybe lacking body, but I can tell myself that its "crisp and refreshing"...

Just a cool pic... here you can see the extreme color difference between the first runnings (in the pot) and the first sparge (in the blue measuring cup) as I vorlauf (recirculate to keep the grain material out of the boil)

The rest of the brewday was pretty uneventful... I did my 60minute boil, which seems so quick since I've been doing 90's so much lately... I did the continuous hopping thing, couldn't really multitask or walk away from it, so I took advantage and  grabbed a little zen... 

After the boil, I started the chiller and started the clean up. I came back a little while later and noticed this super cool formation of the break material as it settled... looked like a column in the middle of the chiller...

Tried to show the break material that had settled, then stirred it up... then really stirred it up to get an "accurate" (total sarcasm) temp reading on the chilling...

Took my gravity reading 1.065 (corrected for temp), my volume ended up a little high at 5.75 gallons instead of 5.5 so that puts efficiency at 78%? totally respectable...

Here's my gravity sample... you can see the break material settled out. This gives a good idea of the color (and hopefully the clarity?) of the finished product...

Also... I took another sample of the Saison... to check clarity and see how the flavor is coming along... I was surprised to see the gravity has dropped to 1.000... so redic... the aroma is supergreat... I'll be kegging this this week bc I can't wait to see what it tastes like carbed up...

That's it for today... going to see the fireworks tonight, then back to work tomorrow... but oh! I'm going to NYC on Tuesday! My first time! I've lived in New England for 30 years and I've never been, lame amirite??Psyched!! Later...

Keggle (not kegel) Workout...

Worked my second job, drivin' the Zamboni (the novelty wears off, trust...) at the local rink. Things are pretty slow this time of year, so I spent 80% of the day on the social networks and the other 20% staring out the window thinking of brewing.

I fully planned on epic brewday after getting out of work early in the afternoon. Firstly, was going to work on keggle, then on to 60minute IPA brewday. That was the plan anyway... What really happened: Tween birthday party at public skate and the stayed until the bitter end, then longer, then I got bitter, then I started to hint that it was time to go... they weren't really getting it... total obliv... Then when I finally got out, a few errands to get stuff together for keggle (not kegel (lolz)) project. By the time I got home the afternoon was half gone. But... I started the keggle (not kegel (getting old? sry, too bad, makes me lol every time...)) project. 

Old, dented, dirty, beat ass keg about to get a new lease on life...

Everything I needed... Left to Right... Angle grinder with cutting and grinding wheels. Drill. Cutting fluid. Kick-ass sized (3/32) drill bits for pilot holes. Step bits. Hammer. Nail. String. Safety googles. Extra drill battery, Sharpie. And of course, most important, beer.

 Listen up! This part's super important! You gotta (GOTTA) release the pressure before compromising the structure of the keg. The super easy way is to lay the keg on it's side (unless you want a face full of really old, really gross beer) and gently tap a nail between the ball bearing and the plastic seat, preventing it from sealing. When rank old beer smell stops blowing out, you're all set to proceed.

Now the super high tech, precision method of drawing a circle to cut the top off the keg. String tied around bung (snicker) and around sharpie. I made the circle as big as I could without the grinder hitting the rim/handles. Just to let you know, there is another method. Building a jig to hold the grinder, and cut a perfect circle as you spin it around the bung (snicker). I'm not going to say that's not how I roll, but this keg is so beat, I said screw it and decided to freehand...

The trick with the grinder, is not to try and plunge in and do the whole cut in one pass. It won't work... well... it will, but it will look like dogcrap. Full disclosure, totally used safety googles, you would be a total moron to use a grinder without. Red hot sparks fly directly into your eyeballs. Srsly. Wear 'em! I did a light pass, following the sharpie line just trying to score it. Then I kept going around making the groove deeper until it started to break through. Then I got srs and dug in.

About halfway through, I totally took a beer break, as seen here. Here, I have cut through about halfway around. It probably took my 45 minutes total running the grinder. My neighbors were full annoyed I assume, they slammed their back door shut as soon as I turned on the grinder. I'll offer a pint and a sorry next time I see them, who could stay mad at that?

 Success! Top is off. The diptube keeps the whole thing from falling in, had total duh moment bc I was expecting the top to fall in and it didn't... If you look close, you can see what I can only assume is delicious, stale, bacteria filled, 20(?) year old beer...

 So... after chugging the beer (total joking) and ditching the top, you can see the pretty inside of my new brew kettle! I used a grinding wheel to clean up the edges. Not bad for freehand?

Now to drill the holes... I am planning on having two couplings welded near the bottom. One will be for a drain valve with a pick-up tub that will reach to the very bottom of the curved bottom... (...bottom... also, bottom.) The other will be for a combination thermometer and sightglass. I may just plug this one for now, but I want to be able to add them later

This stuff... is critical. Well, is doesn't have to be that particular stuff... but you have to use cutting fluid. Stainless is a PITA... use it. use it often. I drilled a pilot hole with a 3/32 bit, I find this to be the perfect size for pilot holes in any metal work. Tip for drilling stainless... go slow, push hard. It's more like cutting than drilling. If you go fast, you are going to smoke the cutting fluid and dull the bit. The pilot hole goes quick, then I moved up to the step bits. I cheaped out and picked up a new set of the Harbor Freight specials... They are full garbage (I knew they would be) but they got the job done. If I were going to be doing anymore than two holes I would def get the quality step bits.

 After all the grinding, the drilling really kicked my ass. Total workout. After finishing off the first hole, I said, "do I really need a sightglass?" But I toughed it out and drilled the second hole.

So... two perfectly uneven holes... What has two thumbs and doesn't care (not even a little bit)? 

This guy...

After cleaning up, the next step is welding the 1/2 inch stainless couplings into the holes. I don't weld (wish I did) But I know a guy who knows a guy... but that will have to wait for another weekend. Besides, I'm total wiped. Sweaty, greasy, probs smelly, covered in grinding dust and stainless shavings... beer, shower, couch, blog... in that order. Brewday postponed until tomorrow... too tired to even go to the town fireworks tonight. Oh hey! Netflix, what's up?? Later.

Father's Day...

Happy Father's Day...

So I'm sure you noticed the new look for Hop River Ales? Too Myspace circa 2004?? It's in progress, expect some tweaks...

Not much going on brewing-wise this weekend. Was a busy weekend, worked second job Saturday morning, as usual, did much needed brakes front and back on the wife's car. Then Father's Day, nice family breakfast, got a few hours break from the kids (does that sound full terrible?) thanks to the in-laws, then full family get together for all the fathers... on the go go go (expect anything else?)...

Feeling crunched for time... actually a little stressed about getting nothing done on the brewing front. I have the ten gallon upgrade hanging over my head. No actual deadline on that, just excited to get it done... Need to get brewing, two batches due to be drinkable for vacation...  I have become the "official beverage sponsor" of the annual Casco Days Annual Casco Wiffle Ball Tournament... Really this is just the extended family getting together and choosing teams based on Red Sox / Yankees loyalties... just for fun, beer drinking, trash talking, slow pitching to the kids, do we keep score?? who cares? But anyway... I promised homebrew, and I have a little over a month to get two brews in. Also, was planning on kegging one batch and bottling the other. But, time constraints, idk if I can bottle condition in time. So... I might go big and keg both (I'm gonna need a lot of ice!) Kinda freaking out a little... I might need to do a double brew day... also, I have the Saison sitting in one of my two fermentors. So that would mean kegging or racking to secondary (transferring to a 5 gallon glass carboy (carboy is a big glass jug) to get the beer off the yeast cake) the Saison just to free up a fermentor. Or... I could buy another bucket. Also, if I'm bringing two kegs, I have to put together another picnic tap (I only have one!)

Enough stressing... on to the subject at hand. I got two nice beers for Father's Day. Fully enjoyed both, so I thought I could try and do a write up. Again, I am terrible at tasting. My palate is far from trained. I like everything and I am terrible at describing anything sensory. But here it is anyway.

 Dog Fish Head Red & White

In case you haven't figured it out, I'm kind of a DFH fanboy. I have tried most of their standard six and four pack releases and liked most (120minute is too much for me and I was not a fan of Festina Peche (like drinking regurgitated peach beer, so acidic)) But, I have been wanting to explore the limited releases (champagne bottle packaging) I love Midas Touch and, from the description, Red & White sounded similar. I drank this with lunch, outside in the shade on a glorious day. 

DFH description from label: Ale brewed with coriander & orange peel with Pinot noir juice added with 11% aged in Pinot noir barrels and 89% aged on oak barrel staves.

What I noticed...

Appearance: coppery red with a rosey tint, very unique color. poured with a thick, rich head that was decidedly pink in color. had lasting carbonation and good head retention.

Nose: malty, distinctly like a red ale, no detectable hop aroma. light, whispy, fruity, grape.

Body: thick mouthfeel without being syrupy, no high alcohol "hotness" this is a 10% abv beer but doesn't taste it...

Taste: malty red ale flavor, delicate grape, not overly sweet, slight oakiness but not overpowering (hate that in wines) I did not pick up the orange peel or coriander, but that's probs me...

Finish: very, very clean, almost no aftertaste at all. I thought it finished more like a wine than a beer.

Overall: very reminiscent of Midas Touch, but maltier, more body. I would put both in the same style, if there was a traditional style that they fit into... very drinkable and at 10%, the 26oz bottle is about as much as I can handle in one sitting.

Stone Ruination IPA

This beer is a total badass. This ain't your father's IPA...

An excerpt of the description from the label, 

"Stone Ruination IPA. So called because of the immediate ruinous effect on your palate. The moment after the first swallow, all other food and drink items suddenly become substantially more bland than they were just seconds before. By the time you develop a taste for this IPA, you may find that you are permanently  ruined from being able to enjoy lesser brews. Good. We freely admit to doing this. On purpose even! People are sometimes crazy enough to thank us for this assault. To which we reply 'You're welcome.'"

Tongue in cheek? maybe... but when you produce a 100+ IBU (International Bittering Units, 100 IBU is the theoretical limit that the human tongue can detect) for regular distribution, you earn the right to swagger a little...

Appearance: typical for an IPA, pale in color, white head, slight haze

Nose: Hops! what can I say, if you cram that much hops in a beer, there isn't that much else to smell especially when fresh. I do detect a little bit of biscuity malt rising through, but barely.

Body: on the thick side but not the thickest Imperial IPA I have had.

Taste: Hops! strongly bitter. you gotta really like hops to enjoy this. to equate to chili peppers, it isn't all heat (bitter) though, there is definite flavor in the hop profile. I wish I could discern the the type of hops, slightly citrusy, also piney?

Finish: dry, lasting bitterness.. I need a glass of water... not really a thirst quencher (why do I keep using that??? ugh)

Overall: badass.

Next week should be busy, I hope to be brewing and blogging a lot... Later.