Good Head Red V

This will be the fifth batch of the beer I decided would be the house brew after I tasted the first. This one is a wee bit different than the others with a substitution of Biscuit Malt and Carapils for the Munich II I used in the past. This will certainly be different than the Good Head Red IV that escaped from a broken carboy and spilled all over the floor. You will see the differences compound further with each time I fuck up. Maybe brewing two beers, making two blog posts, and two playlists is a little ambitious.

GOOD HEAD RED V:

The Grain:
10 lbs Maris Otter
1 lb 60L Crystal Malt
1 lb Biscuit Malt
.5 lb Carapils
2 oz Roasted Barley


The Hops:
These are also a little different from other versions with the world wide hop shortage going on. The Kent Goldings I used in the past are substituted with Target.

.75 oz Willamete -- first wort runnings
1.75 oz Willamete -- -60 minutes (after foam breaks)
1 0z Willamete -- -15 minutes (along with a Whirlfloc Tablet)
1 oz Willamete -- end ( which I forgot until the wort was chilling. I added it then.)

(Notice that these are all Willamete. That was not the intention. Maybe this is why you should not brew two beers at once. You may become confused and put the wrong hops in the wrong beer. O.C. II got the Target hops, which may be too strong. I think it will all come out since the acid count would be similar if you added them all up.)

I am heating (right now) four gallons of strike water to 170 in hopes for a 155 degree mash. I am expecting the 12.5 pounds of grain to absorb 1.56 gallons (12.5 x .125 = 1.56). That means I will have to add 3.56 gallons of sparge water to get a 6 gallon boil (4 - 1.56 = 2.44) (6 - 2.44 = 3.56)

15 minutes into mash -- 156 degrees
45 minutes into mash -- below 140! -- I added about 2.5 cups of 200 degree water.
10 minutes later -- still low. I added three more cups of 200 degree water.
Last 30 minutes of mash -- I just checked it and it was up to 150. I added a few more cups of boiling water to get it up a little more. I am not going to fuck with it any more. The worst that can happen at this point is the beer coming out a little dry (let's hope).

O.G. = 1.048
F.G. = 1.020
3.66% by gravity reading (1.048 - 1.020 = .028 .028 x 131 = 3.66%)

Potential Alcohol = 7% / Final Alcohol Reading = 2.5%
4.5% by this reading, which is clearly different than the other. Maybe this is Alcohol by Weight? Fuck it. I know this beer is between 3.66% and 4.5%. The true test will be the "how do you feel after 2? 3? 4? test.

Estimated IBU = 58

Good Head Red V Playlist
The Criteria for this playlist are the songs that made me air guitar or bounce a little while brewing up this batch of beer (all via Mediafire):

Shake Your Money Maker -- John Little John
Good Bye Babylon -- The Black Keys
Some Dispute Over T-Shirt Sales -- Butthole Surfers
Juicy -- Better Than Ezra
Sonic Reducer -- Pearl Jam with Joey Ramone

Or you can dig all these in this zip file:

Good Head Red V Playlist .zip

Notes:

2.3.08 -- No real activity yet. The yeast seem to have reproduced themselves well. This is evident by the large layer of yeast at the bottom of the carboy. I think it is too cold where I have the carboy now (60s). I will move it today.

2.6.08 -- Fermenting well. It may be getting close to being done. I would like to keg this batch along with Oily Bohunk this weekend so I can have two beers on tap.

2.8.08 -- Kegged and put in the fridge. Should be ready to drink in 4-6 days.

2.15.2008 -- This beer drinks nice already, which is great considering I brewed it up two weeks ago. It will get better with a little more time, so I should slow down a little. I am wondering how much different this beer will be from the Wannabe Special Bitter I am making now. It may not be much.

2.28.08 -- If I am calculating efficiency the right way, this mash was 64%, which kinda sucks. This beer seems a little weak, but it is still good.

2.29.08 -- Picture day. This beer is not going to win any beauty contests, but it is still good with a nice bready aroma, and just a little hoppyness -- all with pretty good body. It makes me wonder if this would have been any different if I had used the Target hops as I had originally intended. The red does not show very well, and it is a bit cloudy (no secondary on this one).

3.11.08 -- Calculating Efficiency (while drinking GHR):

10 lbs Marris Otter x 37 = 370
1 lb Crystal Malt x 34 = 34
1 lb Biscuit Malt x 34 = 34
.5 Carapils x 33 = 16.5
.125 oz Roasted Barley x 27 = 3.37

Potential Extract = 370 + 34 + 34 + 16.5 + 3.37 = 457.87

6 gallons X 48 (1.048 O.G.) = 288

288 / 457.87 = 63% Efficiency -- this does not surprise me when I look at the notes of how the temperature dropped so much. I need to remember to wrap the tun in blankets or something -- this, or add boiling water to it before I start.

3.13.08 -- This beer started looking more an more clear, so I thought it was about to blow. Well, I was right. I drank the last glass today as I sat in the yard with my shoes off.