Patersweizen / Belgian Summer Ale

Paterweizen -- 1.044 - 1.013 -- 4.1% ABV
Summer Abbey Ale -- 1.047 - 1.006 -- 5.4% ABV
66% efficiency

This was originally going to be another batch of El Jefe, but Blockader was out of Pilsener malt. I substituted something new, Abbey malt in its place:



The Malts:


10 lbs Wheat malt


5 lbs Vienna malt


4 lbs Pilsener Malt


Belgian Summer Ale: add 1lb sugar


The Hops:


2 oz Hallertauer (3.9%AA -- 60 minutes)


Abbey Ale: add 1oz Styrian Goldings (5.4%) -- 15 minutes


The Yeast:


Paterweizen -- Weinhenstephaner Hefeweizen


Belgian Summer Ale -- Wyeast 1214


Reflections on Brewday: My efficiency sucks 66%. I don't know if it is the fact that I am using wheat (I remembered the rice hulls this time even), or something else I am doing. Everything else went great. The scrubby was really slowing me down; I think I saved at least 90 minutes taking it off.


Paterweizen Notes:

5.29.11 -- Gravity at 1.013 -- kegged

Belgian Summer Ale Notes:

5.29.11 -- Gravity at 1.011 -- Racked into secondary with culture of Brett B and 1 oz medium toast French oak chips

7.7.11 -- Gravity down to 1.009. Seems to have a little way to go, though the Brett flavor as well as the wood is starting to show through.

9.26.11 - 1.005 wood and Brett are tasting good. Will check again I. A few weeks to see if it is stable.

10.18.11 -- reading 1.006 - 1.007. I can't imagine it going up, so I am calling this stable and ready to bottle.  Brett aroma is really there.  The beer is really dried out, and maybe a bit thin.  Wood flavor is nice, but one-dementional (I am going to start using cubes.).  Overall this is going to be a good summer beer.

10.25.11 -- Bottled at around 4 volumes CO2

Amber Beaver / Winona's Big Brown Beaver

Amber Beaver -- 19 IBU 1.058 -- 1.015 -- 5.6% ABV
Wynona's Big Brown Beaver -- 39 IBU 1.060 -- 1.013 -- 6.2% ABV
84% efficiency

The Malts:

11 lbs Pilsner

10 lbs Munich II

The Hops:

2 oz Hallertauer (3.8% AA) 60 minutes

2oz Hallertauer (3.8 % AA) 15 minutes

Mini Mash for Wynona's Big Brown Beaver:

1.5 lbs Marris Otter

1.5 lbs 60L Crystal

1oz Simcoe (14.1% AA) 15 minutes

21 pound grain / 2quarts a pound = 10.5 gallons strike water

2.6 gallons absorption 5 gallons sparge water

1. Main mash

2. Mini mash. (one gallon) (1.5 lbs Maris Otter, 1.5 lbs 60L Crystal)

3. Main mash-out decoction

4. Heat sparge water (main mash)

5. Sparge main .

6. Heat sparge water for mini-mash (half gallon)

7. Put mesh bag in sparge water mini-mash or pour over bag

---------------

Main boil: 2oz Halertaur 60 2oz Halertaur 15 + whirlflocx2

-------------

Mini boil: 1oz Simcoe (14% AA) 15 minutes

Reflections: Things went pretty well with the exception of a clog in the chiller -- I think it is the scrubby, and I will eschew it next time. had to syphon the last four gallons or so out, and it was only down around 100. Letting it chill in chest freezer and cool box overnight. It was still too warm to pitch in the morning (about 75 on the ale, and about 65 on the lager), so it is still sitting, which worries me about DMS (Palmer suggests it should not be a worry lower than 80 degrees). I think the wort was around 90 when I brought it in. I imagine everything should be fine, but if this one has "that homebrew taste" I'll know why.

Notes: 4.9.11 -- Pitched yeast into both beers

Amber Beaver Notes:

4.18.11: 1.019 beginning diacetyl rest.
4.23.11: 1.015 lagering begun

8.20.11 -- kegged (blue keg for storage). Back into the chest freezer. Sample has a nice malty scent with a little bit of a bock-bite, 'er kick.

Wynona's Big Brown Beaver Notes:

4.17.11 Gravity down to 1.016; dry hopped with 1oz Simcoe (14% AA)

5.5.11 -- Gravity down to 1.013; kegged.

El Jeffe Weizen / Dirty Blonde

Dirty Blonde: O.G. 1.045 -- F.G. 1.009 -- 4.7% ABV
Silver Medal - Sour Ales - 2013 Peach State Brew-Off

Half of this batch will be the traditional Hefeweizen with the substitution of some Vienna in place of the Pilsner I would normally use. The other half will be fermented with Wyeast 1214 (Chimay) and then dosed with dregs from several sour/bretty beers. I may decide to add the dregs along with the primary strain, but that will all depend on how my bug bitch colony smells on brew day. The first whiff I got after adding my first dregs (Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam) was a bit vinegary. If that continues to be the case, I will dump it and start over.

The Malts:

10 lbs Wheat malt

5 lbs Vienna malt

4 lbs Pilsener Malt

The Hops:

2 oz Hallertauer (3.9%AA -- 60 minutes)

The Yeast:

El Jeffe Weizen -- Weinhenstephaner Hefeweizen

Blonde to be Named Later -- Wyeast 1214 plus other bugs and brett (and wood later)

The Mash: Here's the plan: Initial protein rest will be at 122 degrees. After twenty minutes, I will pull a large (nearly half of the mash) decoction and heat it to 155. I will hold it there with a lid and a sleeping bag for about fifteen minutes before bringing to a boil. At that point I will add the decoction to the main mash until the saccrification temperature of 146. This rest will be held for one hour, and then another smaller decoction will be pulled and boiled to bring the mash to mash-out temperature (around 170). Strike water (2qt per pound) = 9.5 gallons + a little less than a half gallon added to the first decoction to account for additional boil-off Absorbtion = 2.37 gallons Sparge water = 5.87 gallons

Brewday Notes: First decoction got too hot (around 164) but I managed to cool it down to around 155 with water and stirring. Resting in sleeping bG for ten minutes I returned enough to the tun to get the temp up to 146, but had a remainder of about two gallons which did not cool quick enough to add back until there was only about three minutes left in the hour rest

Reflections on Brewday: With an O.G. of 1.045, I am going to say efficiency sucked again (69%). I imagine I did not boil as hard as I did last time, and it is hard to see if the double decoction did anything for efficiency. If I get 75% attenuation out of the hefeweizen yeast, I am looking at a 4.5% ABV beer (not terrible). (later-- the morning after): I have come to decide that the issue was with lautering. I forgot to add rice hulls to the grist, which I did not think would be an issue since I was going to use the double decoction, but I could tell that the lauter did not work completely when I opened the tun and saw some wort still floating on the top of the bed. Efficiency was not terrible, but I think I know were the other five points went -- into the compost heap.

3.20.11 -- Pitched yeast into both beers

El Jefe Weizen Notes:


3.29.11 -- down to 1.011 4.45% ABV 76% attenuated. Kegged

4.2.11 -- Drinking (initial reviews are good).

Sour / Funky Blonde Notes:

3.26.11 -- dirty blonde down to 1.011. Racking into secondary to add bugs. Bugs propagated from bottles of Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam and Oro de Calabaza, and Oud Beersel Oud Kriek  
3.27.11 added dregs from one bottle Orval
5.29.11 -- Added 1 oz medium toast French oak chips.
7.20.11 -- Gravity 1.009. Sourness is very pleasant and much more complex than when I used a quick souring method (Pigpen). I am still going to leave this alone for a while since I believe the oak, which I added late, still needs time to make its contribution. Overall I am very encouraged by this sample.
9.30.11 -- Gravity stable at 1.009. Bottled at 4 volumes.

Schwarzbier Nasferatu / Black Hearted Ale

Nasferatu -- 24 IBU -- 1.055 Black Hearted -- 69 IBU -- 1.062

It has been a long while since I brewed last, and half of that batch got dumped because of an infection. The lager chest is completely empty, and I see a homebrew shortage in the future. This is the first batch I am making with my new plate chiller, hop bag filter, fermcap, and dip tube assembly I attached to the kettle.

.

The Malts: 10 lbs Munich II 9 lbs Pilsener 1 lb Carafa III (an additional pound in sparge) 1 lb Carapils

.

The Hops (main boil) 2 oz Hallertauer (3.9% AA) -- 90 minutes 2 oz Hallertauer (3.9% AA) -- 15 minutes + Whirlfloc tabs

.

Black Hearted Additions (added to about a gallon of wort): 2 lbs 80L Crystal 2 lbs 120L Crystal Black Hearted Hops 2 oz Centennial ( 8.8% AA) -- 20 minutes 1 oz Centennial (8.8% AA) -- 10 minutes 2 oz Centennial (8.8% AA) -- Dry

.

Brewday Notes: 10.( gallons strike water 5.25 gallons sparge water plus 1.5 quarts deadspace = 5.63 gallons Temp just right at 150 after fifteen minutes, and then again at 70 minutes. Temp after first decoction ( about three gallons ): 170 Dip tube a scruby clogging. 1.055 at 70 degrees. BH: 1.061 at 69 degrees.

.

Reflections on Brewday: Things went very smoothly considering the upgrades until I had a nasty clog when it came time to clean the pump/chiller. That added two hours to the experience. It would have been my fastest brewday otherwise. I only ended up with about nine gallons of beer, and that may be due to dividing them unequally. There is plenty to be encouraged by for the next time. I need to be sure to tighten up the hop bag since it fell off.

.

2.27.11 -- Pitched yeast into both beers.

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Nasferatu Notes:

3.11.11: 1.021 diacetyl rest begun

3.15.11: still around 1.020. I am going to let it stay at room temperature until I return from our camping trip

3.19.11 -- The beer appears to be stuck at 1.020. I shook the keg up pretty good this time thinking there should not be any oxygen in there. If it still does not move, I am going to add it to the Nottingham cake the Black Hearted Ale is currently on.

4.3.11 -- Racked on to the 1214 cake previously being used by Black Hearted.

4.23.11 -- Down to 1.018 lagering begins

Black Hearted Notes:

3.4.11 : dry hopped with 2oz centennial (8.8%AA) keeping in mind that this is closer to four gallons of beer than five. Fermentation has been around 60 degrees

3.7.11 : 63 degrees 1.023. Temps have been low, so I expect this one to be working slowly (7 days). Sample already tastes very good.

3.13.11 -- 65 degrees 1.021 -- still moving, albeit slowly.

3.26.11 Still stuck around 1.020. Racking onto cake from dirty blonde (1214)

4.3.11 -- After sitting on the 1214 cake for a week, it did not move a speck. Kegged and gassed. I am starting to believe the wort may not have been as fermentable as I thought (carfa?)

Milk and Bread

Milk and Bread: 1.044 -- 1.011 -- 4.7% ABV

During snomageaddon 2011, I did not leave the house for six days. I brewed this beer using snow and the ingredients I had at the house. This is also my first time fermenting in a keg.

Bread and Milk
Style: Cream Ale
OG: 1.044
ABV: 4.7
Calories: 144
IBU's: 24.56
Boil Size: 3.50
Color: 3.2 SRM \
\Batch Size: 3.00 Gal
Boil Time: 60 minutes

HopsAmountIBU'sNameTimeAA %
0.50 ozs 16.41 Styrian Goldings 60 mins 5.400
.50 ozs 8.15 Styrian Goldings 15 mins 5.400
.30 ozs0.00 Styrian Goldings 0 mins 5.40
YeastsAmountNameLaboratory / ID1.0 pkgS-05fermentis 0000

1.30.11 -- racked the beer from the fermenter keg into the serving keg using my new jumper for the first time. I think things went very smoothly, and I look forward to fermenting a full batch of beer in a keg. I purchased some fermcap so I could do so. The beer tasted very dry and crisp. I think it will drink well in a month or two when there is room in the fridge. In the mean time, it will condition at 40 degrees until I brew the next batch of lager -- then it will sit at the fermentation temp of that beer.

2011

Milk and Bread (~4 gal)-- January13, 2011
Schwarzbier Nasferatu -- February 26, 2011
Black Hearted Ale -- February 26, 2011
El Jeffe Weizen -- March 19, 2011
Funky Sour Blonde -- March 19, 2011
Winona's Big Brown Beaver -- April 8, 2011
Amber Beaver -- April 8, 2011
Paterweizen -- May 6, 2011
Belgian Summer Ale -- May 6, 2011
Meg Wit -- June 6, 2011
Don Juan Saison -- July 5, 2011
Irish Curse Ale -- July 28, 2011
Over - Under Burton Ale -- October 1, 2011
Burton Junior -- October 1, 2011
Rauch-N-Wiener -- November 7, 2011
Lunar Eclipse Wheat -- December 10, 2011
Rudy Lycanthrope -- December 10, 2011
1911 Boston Rustler (5 gal) -- December 29, 2011

Year in Review:


Gallons = 105Firsts: Winning a Medal, brewing with someone else, using acidulated malt, making sour beer with bugs from commercial beers
Highlights: Both wheat beers I made in the summer were very good, as well as the sour version of the first (Dirty Blonde). Irish Curse also proved to be a good beer -- one that should be repeated.
Lowlights: The Schwarzbier was not great, but not bad either.  This is the only one that stands out as being sub-standard at this point.  (It should be noted that I have not tried Rauch-N-Wiener, Lunar Eclipse, Rudy, or Rustler at this point (12.30.11))

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Padunk-a-Dunkel / Brown Trout

Padunk-a-Dunkel -- 1.058 -- 1.0?? -- infected and dumped
Brown Trout -- 1.058 -- 1.015 -- 5.6% ABV

Brown Trout
	Style: Munich Dunkel	OG: 1.053
	Type: All Grain	FG: 1.016
	Rating: 0.0	ABV: 4.85 %
	Calories: 175	IBU's: 22.25 (promash says27)
	Efficiency: 70 %	Boil Size: 13.00 Gal
	Color: 15.9 SRM	Batch Size: 11.00 Gal
		Boil Time: 90 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Name	Days / Temp
(none)

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount	Percentage		Name	Gravity	Color
21.00 lbs	93.33 %		Munich Malt	1.037	8.0
1.00 lbs	4.44 %		Cara-Pils/Dextrine	1.033	2.0
0.50 lbs	2.22 %		Chocolate Malt	1.034	350.0

Hops
Amount	IBU's		Name	Time	AA %
1.50 ozs	6.26		Saaz	15 mins	5.50
1.50 ozs	12.76		Styrian Goldings	90 mins	5.20
0.50 ozs	3.23		Saaz	30 mins	5.50

Target Mash Temp: 152
10 gallons strike water
2.81 gallons absorbed
7.19 gallons collected
5.81 gallons sparge water needed
for 13 gallons pre-boil wort

Padunk-a-Dunkel -- Safale 34/70 (washed from previous batch, 2qt starter)
Brown Trout -- Safale s-05

12.22.10 -- Padunk brewday notes
Mashed in at 161 -- target is 152.After fifteen minutes,temp is right on target.Pulled approximate two gallon decoction - bringing to boil. Temp was 148-9 after 90 minutes. Decoction raised temp to 160. Doing another -- close to 2.5 gallons. Temp closer to 170 when done.
Efforts to improve efficiency: mashing 90 min, checking temperatures after decoctions, boiling 90 min, boiling harder, playing voodoo music for first fifteen minutes of mash.
53 degrees1.059 -- corrected to 1.058 -- 76% efficeincy
12.22.10 -- pitched yeast into Brown Trout
12.23.10 -- pitched yeast into Padunk-a-Dunkel
12.28.10 -- dry hopped Brown Trout with one oz Saaz

Padunk-a-Dunkel Notes:
1.7.11 -- As I was testing the gravity, noticed the beer smelled awful. Continued discussion here and here. End Result:



it was only the second time I have had to dump an entire batch. Here is the first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=&feature=player_embedded

Brown Trout Notes:
1.7.11 -- 70 degrees, 1.015. Tastes very clean and malty.
1.12.11 -- racked into keg and hooked to the gas. I think I may taste a faint sourness, but then again, I could be imagining it. Final gravity -- 1.015.

Pigpen / Mordecai Brown

Pigpen - 1.051 - 1.007 - 5.8% ABV

Mordecai Brown - 1.059 -- 1.014 --5.9% ABV

Sour Brown Ale
Mordecai Brown

Target Gravities @ 75% efficiency:
Sour 1.059
Mordecai 1.066

Grain Bill:
16 lbs Marris Otter
7 lbs biscuit malt
2 lbs Flaked Maize

Hops:
2.5 oz Styrian Goldings (5.4% AA) -- 60 minutes

Before boiling, 2.5 gallons of wort will be separated, brought to boil and then cooled. I will then add the lacto starter I have prepared using this method. The lacto will be allowed to sour this portion of the beer for 2-3 days. Then it will be boiled to denature the lacto and then added to another 2.5 gallons from the boil that would have already received the dregs of two bottles of Orval as well as approximately one quart of White Labs 080 Cream Ale yeast starter.

Pellicle on lacto starter

After boiling a small portion of wort will be collected to steep the following and to make the following hop additions:

Steeped:
1 lb Caramber
.5 lb Cararoma

Additional Hops:

2.00 ozs	38.10 %		Styrian Goldings	20 mins	5.40
1.00 ozs	19.05 %		Simcoe	15 mins	12.00
1.00 ozs	19.05 %		Amarillo Gold	0 mins	8.50
1.00 ozs	0.00 %		Cascade	21 days	5.50

Mash:
1.75 quarts per pound = 11 gallons strike water (target temperature = 154)
5.125 gallons sparge water









Reflections on brewday (10.29.10):
Things seemed to go very smoothly until I read the gravity, and I saw that I am still suffering from low efficiency (around 63%). This would not be a big deal if I could nail 63% all the time, but sometimes I hit the 70s and even the 80s. I also forgot the whirlfloc tablet, so I may need to look into fining with gelatin for this batch. I pitched all the yeast the morning after, and both batches saw activity within 18 hours.

The half of Pigpen that got the lacto starter has not shown any signs of activity after 24 hours. I suspect the aquarium heater in that tub is not working well enough, so I turned it all the way up. I used my second lacto starter for this one since I had to throw away the original because I was not able to brew the day on which I had planned since dad had to go to the hospital. The second time I used Malta for a starter rather than DME -- the Malta is hopped, so I think that may have accounted for the lack of a pellicle in the second starter (it still stunk pretty good, so I thought it would be fine). If I do not get any lacto activity in the next 24 hours (pellicle activity or smell), I will begin to worry a little more.

Pigpen Notes:
10.31 - moved the lacto wort to cooler with heating pad which kept it around ninety degrees. the aquarium heater in the tub i had it seems to be done.
11.3 -- boiled the lacto wort for thirty minutes, cooled and added to rest of the beer in th eother carboy. The lacto wort was sour and kind of musty. It is hard to tell what the sourness will eventually be in the finished beer since this wort is still so sweet. a pellicle never developed any further than a very rhino transparent skin on top -- nothing fluffy.
11.14.10 -- pigpen: 70 degrees 1.020. The sourness in the sample is not quite what I expected -- a tad garbage-y. I also know the oak I will later and the continuing Brett activity will change the flavors of the overall beer.

11.20.10 -- 70 degrees 1.017. sourness seems to smell better -- less sharp, less garbage. the taste seems better, more so from continued fermentation, but it still not what I expected. it has only been three weeks, and there seems to be more fermentation to go ( especiAlly sice there is Brett involved), there will be oak aging, carbonation, and serving cooler which will change things. this tasting has me less concerned that I will want to dump this batch some time in the future.

11.29.10 -- transferred pigpen to secondary along with one oz medium toast French oak chips and the dregs of another dose of orval. I do not think I got an accurate hydrometer reading since it showed that the gravity increased - I was being hasty and did not let it sit. I will read it again soon to see if the Brett activity continues. the sourness seemed a little more pleasing than last time even, so we will see. I do not plan to do much with this one until March at the earliest.

12.20.10 -- Since the gravity has hardly moved, I added about a pint of starter made from a pure Brett B culture. I made a 2qt starter, and will let the remainder ferment out to wash for future use. Gravity was around 1.019, and the ph was around 5.5.

12.23.10 -- Noticed activty in Pigpen. I am going to try to ignore this one for a couple months.

12.30.10 -- TEMP -- 73; Gravity -- 1.013 -- brett is working. still not quite sure of the taste on this one.

1.7.11 -- TEMP: 71; Gravity -- 1.011 -- This is beginning to taste much better. The sourness is getting much better as the Brett is drying out the beer. I am beginning to taste the wood a little too, which has me more encouraged than I have been to date about Pigpen.

3.5.11: 74 degrees 1.007. Sourness is even more pleasing without the garbage notes. Brett did a good job drying this out, and may have more to go. Wood flavor is starting to show as well. i may not bottle this next week like I planned.

4.9.11 -- Gravity at 1.007, which is a little lower than last month once temperature corrections are made. I think this is ready to bottle.

4.17.11 -- Bottled at 4 volumes CO2

Mordecai Brown Notes:
11.14.10 -- mordecai -- 70 degrees 1.019. I hope it is just this yeast blend that is slow. Hop flavor is very nice, but like pigpen, the beer seems a little thin tasting at this point.
11.26.10 -- Gravity reads 1.014 -- 76% attenuated. I am calling this terminal gravity. Washed and am sanitizing keg now. Will keg in the next day or two.

11.28.10 -- kegged Mordecai brown and am cold aging at 40 degrees until a space in the fridge is available. Also, this is the first time I am fi ing with gelatin.

12.24.10 -- Mordecai Brown is a hit. The cream ale blend from White Labs is excellent, and I cannot wait to use it in a golden / cream ale. The yeast profile is extremely clean, and if I did not know any different, I would think I was drinking a lager. I am also very happy with the hop additions, especially the Simcoe that stands out nicely. Dry hopping with Cascade was a good idea too -- I feel that something stronger may have been overwhelming. The beer is young and I am impatient, so it is still not quite as clear as I would like it to be (I carbonated using the shake-it method)

1.9.11 -- I picked Mordecai up, and he has gotten very light. I would be surprised if I get another glass or two out of Ol' Three Fanger.

1.10.11 -- Drinking the last glass of Mordecai Brown.

Oily Bohunk / False Prophet Ale

Bohunk O.G. -- 1.060 -- 1.015 -- 5.9% ABV -- 43 IBU

False Prophet O.G. -- 1.075 -- 1.015 -- 7.86% ABV

Target Gravities:
Amber - 1.066
Bohunk - 1.051
70% efficiency / 13 gallons of preboil wort

Malt Bill:
22# Pilsener Malt
2# Munich I
1# Carapils

Hops:
90 minute boil
3oz Saaz (5.5%) 60 Minutes
30z Saaz 15 Minutes+ Wirlfloc
2oz Saaz 0 Minutes

To be steeped in wort made from above to make Amber:
1.5 Caramunich
1.5 Aromatic
1 Piloncillo

Yeast:
Bohunk: Weihenstephaner Dry
Amber: washed 1388 (Duvel) Starter

9.37 gallons strike water (1.5 q per pound)
3.13 gallons absorbed
Instead of adding the gallon of boiling water, I am going to pull a 1/3 decoction to bring the mash up to mash-out temperature. I will boil this decoction for about ten minutes.
6.75 gallons sparge

9.4.10 -- Brewday reflections: things went very well and smoothly. Efficiency went up ( overshot target gravity by .09 points). I am still very unpredictable with my efficiency with the batch sparging. Next time I may figure for 73% instead of the 70% I figured for this time. The decoction also went very well; we will see if it affects flavor. This may have also contributed to the jump in efficiency. Both beers are cooling now (lager in the chest freezer, and the ale in the new cooler box I constructed). I will pitch yeasts tomorrow morning once the wort has had a chance to cool down a little. I think it was in the 85 range when they were done chilling, and they both spent about 40 minutes in an ice bath.
9.5.10 -- Pitched yeast into both beers.

False Prophet Notes:
9.19.10 -- false prophet reads 1.015 - 80% attenuated.

9.29.10 - kegged false prophet.

12.24.10 -- The false prophet has been somewhat of the stepchild of the fridge, first behind Don Juan Saison, and now Mordecai Brown. That is not to suggest this is not a fine beer. It may not be my best work, but it is a very respectable Belgian style amber. The Duvel yeast is very expressive, which is the dominant flavor here. I believe I will, when steeping grain for a second beer, I will increase the ammounts since the steeping is not provinding as much character as I originally wanted. This beer could benefit from a deeper caramel flavor from the crystal malt -- Duvel yeast is a lot to compete with, which is what makes it idea for SGA. All that being said, it is still a good beer, and I have lifted more than one glass on a few occasions.

Oily Bohunk Notes:

9.25.10- 1.017 (72%). Diacetyl rest begun (removed from freezer).

9.26.10 - bohunk racked beginning to drop temp over next few days.

12.22.10 -- moved to keg in chest freezer to make room for Padunk-a-Dunkel. I still need to get a final gravity on the bohunk.

1.11.11 -- Bohunk is hooked up, and should be ready to go today. I may have to shake it a little to get it a little more carbed. It is the second snow day in a row, so we are going to need some tasty Pilsener. Wooo. Final gravity around 1.015.

Don Juan Sasion / The Funky Don Juan

Don Juan Saison - 1.060 - 1.009 - 6.7% ABV

Funky Don Juan - 1.060 - 1.005 -7.2% ABV
SECOND BEST IN SHOW - PEACH STATE BREW-OFF 2012

35 IBU

Target Gravity - 1.066
64% efficiency -- I have no idea why it is so low. I seemed to have more wort than I thought I would.


Ten gallons of saison -- half of which to be funked with the dregs of two bottles of Orval. This is my first attempt using yeast strains outside the world of sacchromyces.

View the recipe page here, and ignore the fact that I did not enter many of the more technical information.

After much research I have decided to add the dregs along with the Belgian Saison strain that will be the base yeast. I had considered adding it in a secondary, but have decided after much reading and question asking to add it at the beginning since the Saison yeast is likely to finish with a very low final gravity, leaving little for the Brett in the dregs to much on.

Each beer is getting a 3qt starter.

Brewday Notes / Reflections:
7.17.10 -- Things went rather well except for low efficiency, which I think has something to do with the amount of wort I collected. I figured for 13 gallons instead of the usual 12 since my last batch seemed short a gallon at the end; this one had at least a gallon extra. Maybe I should go back to twelve. There is also a chance I made an error measuring the water. I probably lost a few points due to the fact that my boil was not as hard as normal. I thought I was wasting gas keeping it turned up so much, but now think I should turn it up a little more. Regardless, a 1.060 saison is going to work just fine.
7.18.10 -- about ten hours after pitching, both beers show vigorous activity. Ambient temperature is around 76, and beers are in water baths that I am going to add ice to now to keep the temp as low as I can using this strategy.
7.21.10 -- fermentation has slowed to a crawl, so I moved the carboys from downstairs where they have been between 72 and 76 degrees to upstairs where it is already above 80 before 9:00 a.m.




Don Juan Notes:



7.27.10 -- Transferred into secondary so I could wash the yeast. Gravity is at 1.027 which makes it slower than the funky version. The tastes of the samples are much different, with this one being much cleaner without the yeasty notes that I am sure will develop more as the beer finishes. I will leave this one alone for a while, and then check the gravity again.



8.8.10 -- gravity reads 1.023 -- going much slower than last time I brewed saison, and it is much hotter. We have been having 100+ heat indexes for the last week and a half at least. The yeast character is beginning to show through much more, but the finish is really sweet. I am going to wait much longer than a week and a half to test this one again.



8.28.10 -- gravity reads 1.017, which is 72% attenuated. Still has a while to go, and we are at week six. I may have to pitch more yeast to finish this off before it is too late. Sample tastes good, but still a little sweet.



9.14.10 -- Gravity 1.014 - 77% attenuated and still moving. pitched about 8oz starter made with washed yeast at time of last reading agitated regularly after repitch. Still hoping for attenuation in the 80s.



10.25.10 -- Kegged. Final Gravity = 1.009 - 85% attenuated. Sample is nice and dry, but I am not able to taste the yeast characteristics to the extent that I expected. Perhaps carbonation will help. This is going to be a good one nonetheless.



2.18.11 -- Don Juan Saison gets a collective score of 36 at the Big Beers Belgians and Barleywines Festival in Vail, Colorado. It was even moved to the second round, the "mini B.O.S." round. Click to enlarge thumbnails:



































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Funky Don Juan Notes:



7.23.10 -- 87 degrees ( ambient temp is 80 at time of taking sample). Gravity = 1.024 -- adjusted to 1.027. The sample tastes very yeasty and I am surprised that I can already taste a little dry wooly funk. I thought this needed more time to even be noticeable. I will check in a few days before taking it back downstairs at around 1.020 so it can cool down a bit and give the brett more sugars to eat.



7.25.10 -- Gravity down to 1.024. I will move it back downstairs tomorrow or the next day. It shed three points in two days.



8.8.10 --Gravity Reads 1.008 -- the brett must have really done some work since I brought it down stairs, though the temp has been in the 80s in the laundry room where it is. The funk is really shining through nicely with a sweaty type taste that goes well with the hops. It may be time to secondary this one soon.



8.15.10 -racked into secondary. Gravity= 1.006 at 80 degrees. Adjusted to 1.008, the same as a week ago. Sample seems like it is drying out a bit. bottled about 36 oz with .75tsp table sugar.



9.23.10 -- Drinking the big bottle I primed early: the beer is very dry and without any high alcohols with a lovely funk that I know will increase, which is good since it is a little fainter than i expect it to be. This is a very enjoyable beer, and I cannot wait to enjoy the rest once the time comes.



11.15.10 -- Gravity reads 1.005. Bottling at 4 volumes.



12.19.10 -- Tried one of these and the taste was very buttery and the mouthfeel was rather slick. Discussion on Homebrewtalk . . .

3.26.12 -- Won second best in show at Peach State Brew-Off 2012:

The Funky Don Juan -- Peach State Brew-Off 2012