San Diego National Homebrew Competition Entry

We packed and shipped the IPA to the National Homebrew Competition Finals! Judging is 6/11 and the awards ceremony is 6/13. We are hopeful for the best!



The IPA has Rahr 2-Row Pale, German Cara-Red (20L), Crystal 10, and Carapils malts with Amarillo, Cascade, Columbus, Centennial, Citra, Chinook, and Crystal hops.  We were pleased with the batch that used GigaYeast GY054 Vermont Ale yeast as it had less attenuation, but gave a brighter color and aroma than the Safale US-05 American Ale and White Labs 001 California Ale yeasts.

Grain and Hops Inventory System

We have our inventory organization system up and running now. We replenished some grains from our favorite online store, Northern Brewer, to allow us to keep the brew pipeline going.

I think this is easier than my "spread on the floor" methodology and allows us to plan for future brews and supply runs based on what we have on hand.  Each time we use an ingredient, we update the amount remaining in the bins.  We will do a similar exercise with the hops that are stored in the freezer.

Pipeline Update:

Primary Fermentors:

• Northern English Brown
• Imperial IPA 
• Rye IPA
• Citra IPA

Secondary  Fermentors:

• American Amber Ale

Barrel:

• American Barleywine 

Bottling is next...

Classic Ale Brew Day

American Amber Ale

Pale Malt as the base

Caramunich for sweetness/maltiness 

Melanoidin for maltiness 

Chocolate as a pinch for color/flavor

Warrior, Simcoe, Citra, & Amarillo hops 

pine, citrus, tropical fruit, orange, etc.

Mashed at 154

Heating sparge water

Next we lauter to the kettle

Going with a single batch sparge

Sparge water a little hot, mash to 175

Vorlauft and drained

spent grains

Bringing it to a boil

Warrior addition made

Next is 45 minutes of boil

Flameout, Chilled, Racked to Carboy fermentor, & Aerated

Helper Cat Arlo

Original Gravity is 1.061

Pitched yeast & added blowoff tube just in case.  Fermentation will begin shortly!

Yakima Valley Hops

Today we received a great package from our friends at Yakima Valley Hops!  This should last a little while.

• Cascade 2014
• Chinook 2014
• Citra 2014
• East Kent Goldings 2013
• Amarillo 2014
• UK Fuggle 2013
• Some yeast
• Whirlfloc tablets
• Gypsum
• Bottling tablets 

Brew on!

Ginger Ale

After having tried some great homemade Ginger Ale at Fulton Brewing in Minneapolis, MN, we decided we would like to have some on tap.  Today was batch #3 as we continue to toy with the ratios of the four ingredients:

• Sugar
• Ginger
• Lemons
• Water

 The process is fairly simple:

1. Heat 5 gallons of water to 180 (minus about 16 ounces for the juice)
2. Stir in sugar
3. Stir in juiced lemons and ginger
4. Steep for 60 minutes
5. Cool in ice bath
6. Rack to keg
7. Refrigerate and carbonate

Black Rye Ale Brew Day

Today was an experimental brew day.  We took our Rye Pale Ale recipe and painted it black.  During the mash and sparge process, we had an esteemed guest stop by.

This was a 10 gallon batch, which tested the limits of our system.

Grist:

1. Pale Malt
2. Rye Malt
3. Vienna Malt
4. Biscuit Malt
5. Honey Malt
6. Crystal 75L
7. Melanoidin Malt
8. Carafa II Special (added to mash tun prior to sparge)

Hops:

• 60: Warrior
• 30-15: East Kent Goldings
• 15-0: Amarillo & Cascade
• Dry: Amarillo & Cascade

Yeast:

1. American Ale
2. American Ale II

Notes:
American Ale showed signs of finishing at about day 5, where American Ale II still had krausen, but little airlock activity at day 7.  This turned out pretty dark; hopefully it gives a touch of roast like a black IPA.

Extra Special Bitter Brew Day

We brewed an English Pale Ale (aka ESB) today using White Labs 005 English Ale yeast.  The color looks great and we can't wait to try the finished product.

This is the kettle with the chiller and auto-siphon after racking was complete.

The color looks very caramel/toffee:

We are looking forward to this one!