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Brew Day: C*O*R Brown Ale
Apr. 17th, 2015 04:49 pmIt's been several months since I brewed last. Now that we are settled back in somewhat, I feel like I can take on brewing some batches. I still had odd quantities of malt, hops, and yeast - so I am creating some recipes that will use most of it up. I will be able to get two 3 gallon batches I think.
I did the first batch yesterday. It's a Brown Ale modified from a Brown Ale I did previuosly. The modified recipe uses the same weight of grains, but the makeup of the grains is somewhat different. The hops are different. The yeast the same.
The previous batch only gave me an actual final ABV of 3.1 even though the recipe on paper estimated I would get a 6.8%. The previous batch was sluggish in fermentation I remember, but I couldn't find another reason for the discrepancy. It remains to be seen what this batch will do.
RECIPE
Batch Size 3 gallons
3 lb 2 Row Pale Malt
2 lb 2 Row German Pilsner Malt
1 lb Caravienne Malt
1 lb Munich Malt
3 oz Black Barley Malt
.5 oz Crystal Hops (in at 15 min)
.12 oz Chinook Hops (in at 60 min)
.12 oz Styrian Goldings Hops (in at 60 min)
.12 oz Willamette Hops (at flameout)
1 Pkt Safale US-05
ORIGINAL GRAVITY REFRACTOMETER 11 BRIX (1.044 specific gravity)
ORIGINAL GRAVITY HYDROMETER 1.05 specific gravity
(note: forgot to do the reading and did it the next day with the leftover trube - so I am guessing the refractomter OG reading is more accurate)
Notes:
4/16/15 Brew Day - see above for recipe and readings. Note that I chilled using a combination of coil chiller and sanitized frozen 1 liter bottles. I "rocked" to aerate. I let the yeast bloom in water before adding to wurt. Primary fermentation is in a 3 gallon carboy. Wow, this wort is CLOUDY - yikes! Hope it settles out.
4/17/15 There is activity in the airlock. Next Check in about a week (unless something out of the ordinary happens)
4/25/15 All is going well. Beer is settling out nicely. Airlock is silent. I did not need to install a blow off tube even though the Krausen came right on up to the top. I kept a close eye on it. I plan to leave well enough alone. I don't plan to rack this beer to a secondary. I'm going to let it go 3 weeks in primary then bottle. I'll take a reading and record at bottling time.
5/7/14 Bottled today. Had some issues with the capper and my german bottles. Thank goodness there were lots of Flensburger bottles handy. Final gravity 1.012 on the Hydrometer. Refractometer showing 5. Alcohol by volume approx 5.1 give or take. The beer tastes good - I'm looking forward to seeing how it carbonates (used corn sugar as usual). This isn't a true brown ale - it's too light (color, mouthfeel); however, I think it's going to be good drinking.
5/30/15 First taste today. Carbonated nicely. Head is creamy and long standing. Color is good for a Brown Ale. The yeast settled out nicely (US-05 never seems to disappoint) - the beer is clear. Flavor ...... First of all it tastes good. It doesn't taste like a brown ale though. It's more clean and the Crystal and Chinook hops are on the nose and palate (which probably overpowers any maltiness?). I like it though!
I did the first batch yesterday. It's a Brown Ale modified from a Brown Ale I did previuosly. The modified recipe uses the same weight of grains, but the makeup of the grains is somewhat different. The hops are different. The yeast the same.
The previous batch only gave me an actual final ABV of 3.1 even though the recipe on paper estimated I would get a 6.8%. The previous batch was sluggish in fermentation I remember, but I couldn't find another reason for the discrepancy. It remains to be seen what this batch will do.
RECIPE
Batch Size 3 gallons
3 lb 2 Row Pale Malt
2 lb 2 Row German Pilsner Malt
1 lb Caravienne Malt
1 lb Munich Malt
3 oz Black Barley Malt
.5 oz Crystal Hops (in at 15 min)
.12 oz Chinook Hops (in at 60 min)
.12 oz Styrian Goldings Hops (in at 60 min)
.12 oz Willamette Hops (at flameout)
1 Pkt Safale US-05
ORIGINAL GRAVITY REFRACTOMETER 11 BRIX (1.044 specific gravity)
ORIGINAL GRAVITY HYDROMETER 1.05 specific gravity
(note: forgot to do the reading and did it the next day with the leftover trube - so I am guessing the refractomter OG reading is more accurate)
Notes:
4/16/15 Brew Day - see above for recipe and readings. Note that I chilled using a combination of coil chiller and sanitized frozen 1 liter bottles. I "rocked" to aerate. I let the yeast bloom in water before adding to wurt. Primary fermentation is in a 3 gallon carboy. Wow, this wort is CLOUDY - yikes! Hope it settles out.
4/17/15 There is activity in the airlock. Next Check in about a week (unless something out of the ordinary happens)
4/25/15 All is going well. Beer is settling out nicely. Airlock is silent. I did not need to install a blow off tube even though the Krausen came right on up to the top. I kept a close eye on it. I plan to leave well enough alone. I don't plan to rack this beer to a secondary. I'm going to let it go 3 weeks in primary then bottle. I'll take a reading and record at bottling time.
5/7/14 Bottled today. Had some issues with the capper and my german bottles. Thank goodness there were lots of Flensburger bottles handy. Final gravity 1.012 on the Hydrometer. Refractometer showing 5. Alcohol by volume approx 5.1 give or take. The beer tastes good - I'm looking forward to seeing how it carbonates (used corn sugar as usual). This isn't a true brown ale - it's too light (color, mouthfeel); however, I think it's going to be good drinking.
5/30/15 First taste today. Carbonated nicely. Head is creamy and long standing. Color is good for a Brown Ale. The yeast settled out nicely (US-05 never seems to disappoint) - the beer is clear. Flavor ...... First of all it tastes good. It doesn't taste like a brown ale though. It's more clean and the Crystal and Chinook hops are on the nose and palate (which probably overpowers any maltiness?). I like it though!
