Sputm IPA

Alright, it has been a busy past few months .  I think my last post was in June! Holy crap!

not too much had been going on. I have brewed a few beers since. A whiskey barrel stout, and a coffee stout that turned out incredibly well, and was very well received by all who had the opportunity to sample it.

This post is a bump to keep the blog alive. A few weeks ago I made my second ever online purchase with @hopsdirect. They continue to be my favorite online hops supplier.  I ordered 5 pounds, 1 pound each of pellet Magnum, Columbus, Bravo, and leaf Citra and Belma.

This past weekend I brewed up about 12 gallons of what I have dubbed Sputum IPA in lieu of my recent recovery of pneumonia. Brewday went off without a hitch, pre boil gravity was 1 point under at 1.059, but OG ended up a point over at 1.071.  I split the brew into two 6 gallon batches, and innoculsted one with @WhiteLabs WLP001, and the other with WLP007.

Today is the 4th day of fermentation, and when I checked yesterday, the WLP001 was still blowing of a little while the WLP007 had subsided. Hoping to switch to airlocks today or tomorrow.

The plan is a 21 day primary, cold crash at 32F for 3 days rack to secondary, dry hop and allow the beer to warm to about 65-70F for 7 days and then cold crash a second time before racking to kegs and carbing.

I plan to dry hop one with Citra and Columbus, and I think the other will be strictly Belma which is @HopsDirect very own pedigree of hop.  I have heard mixed reviews on its place for bittering, flavoring, and dry hop additions, so I think I'll experiment with it as a sine dry hop and see what my perception is of its flavor. Worse comes to worst, I can throw some Citra in the keg to compensate if the flavor doesn't bode well.

Sputum

American IPA

Type: All Grain	Date: 12/15/2012
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal	Brewer: Tyson
Boil Size: 13.81 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: My Equipment (15gal Kettle & 52qt Coleman Xtreme MLT)
End of Boil Volume 12.48 gal	Brewhouse Efficiency: 79.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 11.00 gal	Est Mash Efficiency 86.2 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes: ~
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 20 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 76.0 % 3 lbs 8.0 oz Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 2 13.3 % 1 lbs 5.3 oz Borlander Munich Malt (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.1 % 1 lbs English Crystal 15 (15.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.8 % 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5 1.9 % 42.00 g Bravo [15.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 44.9 IBUs 28.00 g Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 27.1 IBUs 28.00 g Belma [12.10 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 8 7.2 IBUs 28.00 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 4.2 IBUs 14.00 g Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 10 2.7 IBUs 14.00 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 1.8 IBUs 14.00 g Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 12 2.3 IBUs 28.00 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 13 0.0 IBUs 28.00 g Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.069 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.071 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.2 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.8 %
Bitterness: 90.1 IBUs	Calories: 239.5 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 6.5 SRM
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge	Total Grain Weight: 26 lbs 5.3 oz
Sparge Water: 7.10 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE	Mash PH: 5.30
Mash Steps Name Description Step Temperature Step Time Mash In Add 39.61 qt of water at 162.0 F 149.0 F 90 min
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 3 steps (Drain mash tun, , 3.55gal, 3.55gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Bottle	Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Pressure/Weight: 244.93 g	Carbonation Used: Bottle with 244.93 g Corn Sugar
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F	Age for: 30.00 days
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Storage Temperature: 65.0 F
Notes
12/30/12 - gravity check: WLP001 - 1.011 @ 71°F = 1.012, Smellsof tropical fruit, priamrily pineapples. WLP007 - 1.012 @ 71°F = 1.103, Smells of tropical fruit, primarily pineapple, the bitterness seems less harsh than the WLP001. 1/06/2012 - Racked to secondary: WLP001 - 1.010 @ 56.5° = 1.010, Added 2oz of Citra for dry hop, plan to dry hop for ~7 days. WLP007 - 1.012 @ 58.3° = 1.012, Added 2oz of Belma for dry hop, plan to dry hop for ~7 days.

Additionally, I have a batch of Apfelwein fermenting as well, its a deviation from @EdWort recipe, I don't care for it as dry as his recipe makes it, so I use either US-05 or Notty when I make it, and I cut back on the sugar slightly.


Like I said not a whole lot happening, but things are a brewin'.

Keep tuned for big news coming in the next several months. I know its a cliffhanger right?  There will be some big announcements in the not too distant future. Thanks to those of you following, and if you've stumbled here by accident or for a peek please follow.

My posts are sporadic at the moment due to school, but I only have three semesters left, then it will be back to normal (fingers crossed).

I do apologize for the lack of photos in this post I was trying to focus on brewing a great IPA rather than documenting my brewing process and procedures, but photos will come.

Cheers!

Logos and Bullshit...

I have been working with a graphic designer on a brewery logo. My requests were something simple that could be used for screenprint, perhaps signage or stickers as well. I worked with a guy named Josh at Brew Brand Creative. He's a really great guy who definitely has an interest in providing a quality design at an affordable price. When it comes to prices I don't want to give anything away in the event that he has to change his price structure, but I will say for the price and for the amount of work he is willing to put in to ensure your complete satisfaction it is well worth the coin. So if you are interested in a brewery logo, or any other graphic design work contact Josh you will not regret it. While working with Josh I think we came up with about 4-5 different concepts, but for the "Broken Glass Brewery" I didn't want something that was going to be literal. If you are like me the first thing that pops into your mind is the image of a broken beer glass or mug leaking beer. And that was the first concept Josh came up with, and while he did a great job of it, it was just, well...plain. So I mentioned perhaps a stained glass window, maybe broken with a beam of light shining through, or something to that extent. At any rate, here is the design we came up with.

There were a couple versions of this design incorporating barley spikes and hop cones, but none looked as nice as this design. The others looked cluttered. So at any rate, here is the Broken Glass Brewery logo for now. I plan to have a few T-shirts made, and perhaps some stickers for the brewery. Nice thing about it is Josh sent me an .eps, and .svg file, so I can alter the image as I see fit if necessary, to be honest I already did a couple different things to it to make it perfect--to me anyhow.

 Now for the bullshit, it's in the title right? I was laid off today. What-the-fuck!?! It was a surprise. I have been with the company I work for over 16 years, and I have been working part time for the past two years while attending college. I go to work this past Friday and see that I'm not on the schedule. I didn't say anything about it right away because in all honesty I was studying for an online final exam that I had to take tonight (finished it about 45 minutes ago). So, I ask today why I wasn't on the schedule for June at all, and lo and behold a slew of excuses was hurdled at me as if I should have been prepared for this. I can handle the hard truth, but for 16 years I think that this could have been handled in a more professional manner. Regardless, I could complain about it all night, all I will say is that don't kill yourself for a company that isn't yours because in the end they will get rid of you to save a buck if they need to. So that's my rant, I hope you like the logo, and I hope you'll comment if you visit this page. Cheers!

Keg/ Carboy Washer

Hey all, it has been a while since I have posted...my bad!  Without sounding like a broken record school and family takes up about 99% of my time, with the other 1% is being my time, and I don't always get around to posting to my blog.

At any rate.  I have brewed a Belgian Wit since my last post, it is becoming a spring seasonal that I seem to brew each March/April.  Since I was working on Big Brew Day I had to brew something on the bigger side.   Just yesterday I brewed 10 gallons of a Belgian Tripel, and split it into two fermenters, one was inoculated with WLP 540, and the other with WLP 550.  The 550 started sooner despite the higher "optimum" fermentation temperature, but it was also two months fresher.  Regardless, both fermenters are going strong and all I have left to do is add the ridiculous amount of sucrose (2.5 lbs/ fermenter).

So that is my update, now to the purpose of this posting...keg/carboy washer.  Unlike many of my other builds I did not document this one with photos like many of my other posts.  I didn't because this is so simple a monkey could do it.  However, here is a parts list:



Here is a quick video of the washer in action:

This has made keg and carboy washing bearable.  I would highly recommend this to any brewery if there is kegging involved, multiple batches per brew day, large batches (using more than one fermenter at a time), and anyone that would like to save their back and some elbow grease.

I hope you enjoyed this, Please comment, and please +1 if this was helpful or informative.

Randall Build for Under $100! (I'm Back for Now at Least...)

I recently built a Randall.  My wife is a stout lover, and at the 2010 GABF, she made some bold comments about the Randall Dogfish Head was using.  They were serving Bitche's Brew through the Randall which was packed with Espresso Coffee beans.

I decided to make a Randall so that she might experience some different flavors through the contraption.  Of course I am a Hop-a-holic, so I will be happy serving through some yummy citrusy goodness.

Here is my build parts list: Here are some pictures of the build:

Before the mayhem began

Simple QD to faucet with adapter

Snug fit in the Kegerator

Snug fit in the Kegerator

Moral of the story is you can make yourself a pretty sweet Randall for under $100 bucks. I have seen the different designs with the two stage filters and such, but it seem to me that people want to "show" off  their Randalls and have them outside of the serving fridge. I don't expect this to foam too much after pressure equilibrium is reached. Of course, the nucleation sites will be increased 100 fold by the hops once the beer hits them inside the Randall , but after the hops are wet I don't foresee a continuing problem. I have 10' of beer line between the keg and the Randall, and another 5' of beer line to the picninc tap that the Randalled beer will be served from. What is unique about this setup, is it is a quick disconnect to serve from the Randall out of the picnic tap to the Faucet, so I can choose to have the Randall inline with the faucet, or serve  beer separately via the picnic tap. Diversification...simplified for a few extra dollars.

Please comment, and if you build it, please submit links to photos. Let me know how your experience was, and if this was helpful to you.

Cheers!
 BGB