So I've been growing tired of my keg fridge lately. Don't get me wrong, it works fine and serves its purpose, but I've been getting the question "what's on tap" more often than I thought I should.
When I bought it, the fridge worked perfectly but was cosmetically in rough shape. Not a big deal I thought as I just put a couple coats of chalkboard paint on it, serving a couple purposes. One, it provided a canvas for my boys to draw on and two, it gave me space to write what's on tap.
Great idea in theory, but there were a couple problems. First of all my writing is atrocious. Seriously, can't read it. Second, the writing would fade over time from condensation and wear.
A couple years ago I started hosting structured tastings socials at the house. Our friends would come over to hang out and everyone would bring over some beer to taste. Each week had a theme that forced you to think about the type of beer you would bring. Some examples of themes include:
- Beers from a specific region.
- Examples of a particular style.
- Selections from one brewery.
What I like about doing targeted tastings like this is that it forces people out of their comfort zones and it ensures a wide selection of beers to taste.
Yesterday I had the guys over for a night with the theme "Favorites." The instructions were: "Screw what everyone else thinks, you like what you like and aren't afraid to show it. Bring your current favorite beer, style, or brewery and let us know why you love it so. Bring one or two 22oz bottles or a few regular sized ones, enough so everyone gets a taste. If it's a style, try to bring a couple examples. If a specific brewery, try to bring a couple of their offerings."
My selection for "Favorite" was a new offering from Big Island Brewhaus called Red Sea of Cacao. I chose it because everything the brewery has put out in bottles has been stellar so I wanted to see if this one lives up to the others. The red ale is brewed with Hawaiian cacao nibs, sea salt & pink peppercorns. Smelled much like cream soda in the with some nicely interesting flavors. I wish I had taken better, or any, notes but I do remember liking the brew. Looking forward to more from the Big Island.
Pretty simple stuff and lots of fun.
My coconut wheat has become a favorite around my bar and I knew I was running low so I decided to brew it again this weekend. This time, I'm trying something new with it though. I've always separated it into two 5gal fermenters, one with WLP300 and one with WLP320. I then blended them when kegging to get the profile I liked. This time, out of sheer laziness, I just pitched both into the same fermenter. Will see how it goes!
Recipe: Rip Currents Coconut Wheat (11)
Brewer: Lee
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 13.21 gal
Post Boil Volume: 11.96 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 10.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 3.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 13.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 83.6 %
Boil Time: 75 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type#%/IBU
13 lbsPale 2-Row (1.8 SRM) Grain 163.4 %
7 lbs 8.0 ozWhite Wheat (2.8 SRM)Grain 236.6 %
0.40 oz Magnum [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 39.9 IBUs
1.00 ItemsWort Chiller (Boil 15.0 mins)Other 4-
0.40 oz Magnum [15.00 %] - Boil 5.0 minHop 52.0 IBUs
0.40 oz Simcoe [12.70 %] - Boil 5.0 minHop 61.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Hefeweizen Ale Yeast WLP320 (Wh Yeast 7-
Mash Schedule: BIAB, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 20 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
NameDescription Step Temperat Step Time
SaccharificationAdd 14.96 gal of water at 154.7 F 147.9 F 90 min
Mash OutHeat to 168.0 F over 7 min168.0 F 10 min
I despise bottling. Never liked it. Luckily it didn't turn me off of homebrewing but I knew after just two batches, I needed to get a kegging setup.
Why am I talking about this now? Well, it's competition season for me so I'm preparing entries for the Kona Homebrew Competition as well as the National Homebrewers Competition. That means I need to do some bottling.
I find the whole process tedious and a chore. Everything from cleaning the bottles to breaking out the beer gun is a pain.
I know I'm whining.
I know I need to just get over it.
Needed to vent somewhere.
My planned brew day ran into some snags when I couldn't get my ingredients in on time. So as not to waste an already scheduled brew session I scanned homebrewtalk.com for a recipe that sounded good, took advantage of ingredients I already had, and would be ready somewhat quickly. So I present Sudden Drop Off Irish Red:
Recipe: Sudden Drop Off Irish Red
Brewer: Lee
Asst Brewer: Bill Kroski
Style: Irish Red Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 12.96 gal
Post Boil Volume: 11.96 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 10.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.058 SG
Estimated Color: 15.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 84.1 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type#%/IBU
16 lbsPale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 172.5 %
1 lbs 11.2 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 27.7 %
1 lbs 1.7 ozCara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 35.0 %
1 lbs 0.6 ozMelanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 44.7 %
2.18 oz Crystal [3.50 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 513.6 IBUs
2 lbs 3.5 ozHoney (1.0 SRM)Sugar 610.1 %
2.18 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 714.9 IBUs
2.2 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast 8-
Mash Schedule: BIAB, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 22 lbs 1.1 oz
----------------------------
NameDescription Step Temperat Step Time
SaccharificationAdd 14.66 gal of water at 159.1 F 152.0 F 90 min
Mash OutHeat to 168.0 F over 7 min168.0 F 10 min
