Imperial Stout

Okay, I'm officially hooked on home brewing! I just can't seem to stop myself ... I made a batch of Imperial Stout over the weekend. Recipe is:

12 lbs Light LME
12oz Crystal Malt 120L
16oz Chocolate Malt
8 oz Black Patent
8oz Roasted Barley
2oz Galena (60 min.)
1.5 oz Willamette (60 min.)
.05 oz East Kent Goldings (5 min.)
WLP013 London Ale Yeast

O.G. - 1.083

First off, I made a nice starter with 2 pints of water and 3/4 LME. Brought them to a boil, held for 15 minutes, cooled and transferred to a beaker. Pitched the yeast and let it sit, and within 12 hours has a very nice, VERY active starter going. This was Thursday night.

Friday night I made up the wort ... I put the malts in a muslin bag, and put that into 2 gallons of cold water in my pot. Brought that up to 160 degrees and held it there for 30 minutes so the grains could steep. My oh my, but it was dark! Wonderful smell from the chocolate and Black Patent, and the wort was darker than night!

After that, I brought the water to a boil, added the LME and brought back to a boil, then added the Galena and Willamette hops. Added in the E.K. Goldings at 55 minutes into the boil, kept it going for another 5 minutes and turned off the heat.

I had a hard time getting this wort to cool, for some reason. I put the boil pot into a sink full of ice and water, and what normally takes about 15 minutes just didn't happen. After about 30 minutes, I strained the cooling wort into 3 gallons of cool water, thinking that would finish the job, then topped off with a little more cool water to get to just over the 5 gallon mark.

Still over 80 degrees.

Hmmm ... put the carboy in a sink full of cool water and stepped away for a bit. I couldn't tell if the little thermometer stuck to the glass was reading the wort temp or the external water temp (or a combination off the two), but I'd been colling this sucker for over 4 hours and the thermometer said 78 degrees, so I decided to pitch the yeast and let the carboy sit in the sink full of water over night. Did that, woke up in the more to not much activity in the tank.

Left for a couple of hours and returned home to a potential mess! Oh my, the beer was going crazy! Even in the 6.5 gallon carboy, the foam and kraeusen were about to come out of the fermentation lock. I quickly changed the lock to a blow off tube, and that's how it's sitting right now. Once things slow down, I'll put the normal lock back on and let it sit for a week or so before racking to secondary.

I'm going to really take my time on this batch. It's going to be a really big beer, so I'm in no hurry to drink it during the summer months. I figure I'll get it bottled by mid to late July, and let it sit until november or so. Yes, I'll probably have one or two along the way, but I don't anticipate this being more than a "now and then" kind of beer. I love Imperial Stout, just not in huge quantities. Going to be a wonderful winter with this on hand!

Updates - IPA & Tripel

Let's start with the Tripel ... racked to secondary fermentation on Saturday and I'm just letting it sit. Definitely clearing up a ton, and you can see the level at which the sediment has drifted down to the bottom. Maybe another few days and it will be ready to bottle ... no hurry, though.

IPA - Not much happening. Still a few bubbles coming out of the lock, but nothing earth-shattering. Once I bottle the Tripel I'll have a carboy free so I can rack the IPA to secondary. Probably going to do both on Wednesday, after which I'll let the IPA sit for another week or so before bottling.

IPA - Day Two

Okay, it doesn't look as bad as I had feared. Went to check on the IPA this morning and was happy to find that it was already quite active, and that the run-off tube was working just fine. Looks like about a pint or so of the liquid has blown out in the tube because the level is lower in the carboy than it was initially. I think that's a positive.

Anyway, much more encouraged today. Also, this batch has already been dubbed the "Jeltronic 5000 India Pale Ale".

IPA Today

I took a stab at an IPA tonight. Well, I guess I started last night by making a starter, but I actually brewed the batch tonight. Recipe is:

Starter
2 pints water
3/4 cup Light Malt Extract Syrup
Wyeast British Ale Yeast

Boil LME and water for 15 minutes, cool to below 80 degrees. Pitch yeast, let sit for 24 hours.

6 lbs Light Malt Extract

2 lbs Pale Ale Malt
0.5 lb Crystal Malt

1 oz Galena (75 minutes)
0.25 oz Tettnanger (20 minutes)
0.25 Fuggle (10 minutes)
1.5 Tbsp Coriander (10 minutes)
0.5 Cascade (2 minutes)

Not feeling good about this batch as I think I made some mistakes along the way. First and foremost, I used a 5 gallon carboy for the first time, and it screwed me up. After cooling the wort and adding to 3 gallons of water, I topped off to 5 gallons ... forgetting to leave room for the starter. I had to use a Wine Thief to get some of the liquid out to make room for the starter, but not until I had already pitched half of it. No telling how much, if any, yeast I took out of the carboy. Gonna have to wait and see.

This was a 90 minute boil. I started steeping the malts in the cold water and kept it at 160 degrees for 30 minutes. Brought it to a boil and added the LME, stirring until completely dissolved. After 15 minutes I added the Galena hops, then followed the timing above for the rest of them.

This is also my first time using a run-off tube from the carboy. We'll see what happens.

O.G - 1.051

Tripel - Days 4 & 5

Not much to tell here ... activity has slowed down to a halt and the krauesen has settled. I plan to rack to secondary on Saturday or Sunday, and will let it sit for another week or so before bottling.

Update on the ale: cracked another bottle tonight and it's just about perfect. Carbonation seems complete and there is a nice, thick head when poured into a wide-mouth glass. Soooo happy with this batch!

Triple - Day 3

The Tripel is looking fantastic! The color has cleared up to a very nice golden yellow and the fermentation is still going crazy. It's going to be really hard to wait this one out without cracking a bottle too early!

As for the Ale, I passed out some bottles yesterday to some co-workers to take home with the caveat that they sit on them until at least Wednesday before chilling and drinking. Of course, one of my friends called me yesterday evening to say that he tried it and really liked it. Then he called back about 20 minutes later and said that he really, really liked it ... and would I be so kind as to bring him 3 more bottles? :) Absolutely!

Tripel - Day 2

Woke up today to a very active carboy ... very cool! There was about a 1/4 inch of kraeusen on top, and the brew was (and still is!) just swirling around. Wonderful smell from the fermentation lock.

When I finished up yesterday, I was very concerned that the beer looked really, really dark for a tripel-style beer. Much lighter today. Kraeusen is almost an inch thick on top.

Also, I broke down and cracked a bottle of the ale after just 4 days in the bottle. I know, I know ... but it's Father's Day and I just couldn't wait. Grilled up some beef short ribs with some fresh steamed green beans and poured the beer into a wide-mouthed glass (from Westmalle). Not all that carbonated yet, but I was able to get a nice head on it with a tall pour.

Nice color: Deep amber with an orange tint. Clear and bright. Smooth tasting with a bit of a bitter aftertaste that I hope will mellow, but definitely drinkable. Because I didn't take an initial hydrometer reading, I can't really measure the ABV, but this has a kick to it.

Overall, I'm thrilled with my first batch of ale. I'll have a better read later this week after it's been in the bottle for at least 8 days, but as for Father's Day, I couldn't be happier!

Cheers!