Intended Recipe --------------- (6 gallons, extract with grains) expected stats: OG = 1.056, FG = 1.014, IBUs = 18, SRM = 4, 5.5% abv Ingredients 3.3 lb (1 can) Munton's light malt extract syrup 3.3 lb (1 can) Munton's wheat extract syrup 2.0 lb German Pilsener 1.0 lb German Vienna 1.0 lb Malted Wheat 1.0 oz Tettnanger hops for 60 min (4.4% alpha acid) 1.0 oz East Kent Goldings hops for 30 min (4.4% alpha acid) 1 tsp yeast nutrient (15 mins) 1 tsp Irish moss (15 mins) (pitch this from a starter) Wyeast 3068 (Weihenstephan Wheat) 2/11/06: prep 1 qt starter. --------------------------- - pop yeast at 5pm, bulged A LOT by 8:45 - I THINK THE SMALLER YEAST PACKS WORK BETTER THAN THE BIGGER ONES I'VE GOTTEN FROM HOMEBREW.COM - sanitize growler, stopper, airlock, funnel - 1 cup DME, 1 quart water, 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient - boil for 10 mins - chill pot by setting in a pan with a trickle of water into the pan - should be about a 1.040 OG starter 2/12/06: notes from brewing ---------------------------- - only got to 1.046 SG, which is WAAAAAY off the target of 1.056. I thought I'd mastered my system, but I guess not. 2/12/05: brew -------------- - minimash for 1 hr - 1 gallon, 20 oz water at 170F plus 4 lbs grain --> 150F. This threw me for a loop, because I didn't realize that the grain and water temp hadn't evened out and I took the temp in the middle of a grain bag. - TASK: bag grain while mash water warming and other water filtering - TASK: stir in amylase enzyme (NOT USED THIS TIME) - mash completely off stove - TASK: while mashing, filled Huck's pot with 2 gallons water, and big pot with 4.5 gallons water. Total water, including ~1.3 in mash, of ~7.8 gallons. TOO MUCH!!! - TASK: heat Huck's pot to 170F for sparging, and heat big pot as high as possible - TASK: remove Brita and attach brewing hose - TASK: fill carboy and bleach bucket - hydrometer and test jar, wine thief, 5' transfer tube, siphon starter - TASK: ready brewpot additions: weigh out hops (and bag if desired), prepare malt extract, yeast nutrient, irish moss - also soak any canned malt extract - raise minimash to 170F by heating for ~5 mins. - drain mash - run wort through bagged grains in strainer - "sparge" with 1 gallon of water at 170F from black pot and drip for about 5 mins - TASK: add rest of water from Huck's pot - total in pot (including whatever is left in grains) = 6.75 gallons; over top of top rivet - temp 170F, 25-30 mins to get to boiling - let strainer drip into (small) mash pot for 10 more mins to get a bit more juice out - boil - TASK: add 3.3 lbs LME and stir in - wort level WAY over top of top rivets. over 7 gals in kettle - 5-10 mins to return to boil - boil 30 mins without hops to reduce volume a bit more - bittering hops addition - TASK: add 1 oz UNBAGGED Tettnanger (60 mins) - TASK: set timer for 30 mins - NOTE: skimmed off some protein gunk here; a more vigarous boil could elminate need for this - flavor hops addition - TASK: add .75 oz UNBAGGED Tettnanger (30 mins) - TASK: add 1/2 tsp Irish moss and 1 tsp yeast nutrient - TASK: set timer for 15 mins - TASK: put wort chiller in kettle - aroma hops addition (NONE THIS TIME) - TASK: boil water with chore boy and aeration stone - TASK: bleach bucket: aeration tubes, HEPA filter (if using), funnel, carboy cap, air lock, 30" blowoff tube - whirlpool and chill wort - TASK: turn off stove and move pot elsewhere - TASK: put spoon in pot to sanitize while chilling - TASK: chill wort (minimize splashing) and remove chiller - TASK: whirlpool for a couple minutes, then let settle for 10 minutes - TASK: while settling, rinse carboy - transfer to carboy - TASK: rinse siphon starter and tube, and transfer to carboy - TASK: while siphoning, rinse test jar, hydrometer, wine thief - gravity check and aeration - TASK: take gravity sample in test jar - TASK: rinse aeration equipment and begin aeration - TASK: set timer for 30 mins if using filter, 5 mins otherwise - TASK: task gravity reading (1.046, well short) - TASK: arrange final resting place for beer in kegerator or in hallway. If using blowoff, fill gallon jug 1/3 full of dilute bleach soln. - pitch yeast and finish - TASK: rinse funnel - TASK: pitch yeast - TASK: rinse and attach carboy cap and blowoff tube (necessary for ales) or air lock (lagers) 12/19/05: rack to secondary --------------------------- - racked to secondary - SG reading: 1.015 - color was about Schneider Weiss; a bit darker than most hefe-weizens, and surely darker than the target of 4 SRM. - put SG sample in a glass in the fridge for a bit. tasted, and was pleasantly estery. - VERY GOOD X 12/31/05: kegging X ----------------- X - transferred to keg X - SG reading: 1.018; I guess it's just pretty gravitylicious X - tasted, and couldn't really taste coffee much X - so brewed 2-3 ounces grounds in 6 "cups" water (probably 5oz cups), and dumped into keg X - begin force carbonation 1/1/06