Weekend Brewtime!

This weekend will bring to a close a 18 month brewing absence from my all grain system and brewing with my father in-law and mother in-law. We have brewed several time together since my wife and I moved to Oregon, but it has been too long since the last time.(May of 2012) Needless to say its time. No I'm on the fence with what to brew and anytime I'm on the fence I usually just brew both. So we will be seeing a IPA and  NW IPA being made this weekend.

The IPA will be the easy partial mash, with the recipe as follows:

8 lbs Light LME
1.5 lbs 20°L Crystal
.5 lbs Victory Malt
1 oz Magnum
2 oz Simcoe
2 oz Cascade
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 tsp Gypsum
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Predicted 1.064 OG - 1.012 FG for a 6.8% ABV and 82 IBU's

The next will be a North West IPA that I have been trying to prefect for a while, the recipe is as follows:

8.5 lbs Maris Otter
1.5 lbs 40°L Crystal
1 lb Light Munich Malt
2 oz Amarillo
1 oz Cascade
1 oz Willamette
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 tsp Gypsum
Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale

Predicted 1.062 OG - 1.013 FG for a 6.5% abv and 77 IBU's

Irish Red Ale

This beer went on tap this week, and I'm satisfied even though I changed the recipe too much.

It finished out at 6.2% ABV and roughly 44 IBU's, but the IBU's may be a little off. The Northern Brewer hops I used for bittering I have had since before Gabe was born (they were stored in a zip lock in the freezer), but I still think that there was some alpha acid degradation. The overall presence in this Irish Red is a caramel malt aroma and flavor, with slight diacytel (butterscotch flavor). The roasted malt dry finish was absent, but I reduced the level of roast of the roasted barley that went into this beer.

My overall impression with this one is that it is a lot closer to the BJCP style guideline for a Irish Red but nowhere near my previous award winning batches, but still a great beer!

Irish Red

This beer is back after a very, very long absence. I brewed a partial mash version this time around. This was the first beer that I fermented exclusively in glass carboys. Actually seeing the fermentation was awesome, although the glass fermenter when full was considerably more heavy.

With this batch I adjusted the grain bill by changing the Roasted Barley from a 500°L to a 300°L and adding some CaraPils to the mini-mash. The recipe is as follows:

7.5 lbs Light LME

2 lbs 20°L Crystal Malt

8 oz 10°L Munich Malt

8 oz CaraPils

8 oz 300°L Roasted Barley

2 oz Northern Brewer

1 oz Fuggles

.25 oz Irish Moss

1 tsp. Gypsum

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale




Steeping the grain!



 



3 bowls of hops went into this beer and
one actual bowl!



The beauty of glass!







Kegging = no more bottles ever.f it can't be

kegged I'm not brewing it!

 



Great color!

I primed it with corn sugar this time around. I can't seem to get the force carbonating to work properly. Oh well I'll lose a pint in a half, but for properly carbonated beer it will be worth it!

It should be ready right in time for Christmas. I think I better make another batch, because I don't see this beer making it past New Years Eve!