Category: January 2024

After some time, the newly named Waubesa Shores Brewing Club (WSBC) gathered on a Sunday afternoon to engage in brewing and fellowship. This is the “30 Gallon” club previously referred to as the “McFarland Mashers” in previous posts due to the lack of an official name and logo at the time. This is the new look for the club:

This is the work of John who hosts the brewing events. In addition to the sign design, he had WSBC coasters and stickers available for the membership. Well done!

Paul has been designated as official brewmaster and produces the recipes for the brew sessions. For this event he engineered the makings of an American Pale Ale to accommodate the club’s 30 gallon brewhouse system kept and used in John’s garage.

Present for the session were: John, Paul, Todd and myself. Mark had principal responsibilities and couldn’t make it. John’s friend Jacob stopped in to temporarily supervise in Mark’s absence.

40 pounds of 6 Row Pale Malt along with 6 pounds of Flaked Oats were mashed in two coolers (warmers). Here Todd is working the electrified mash paddle in one of the coolers.

Once conversion has taken place in the coolers, the mash is transferred by the “arm strong” method into the Lauter Tun for sparging.

John has a pump to transfer the hot liquor to the tun. The float keeps the proper amount of liquid above the grain bed. This pict was taken after the sparge – a pretty even grain bed.

The wort is then transferred again by the “strong arm” method to the boil kettle.

John can work stainless (press in background) and fabricated the agitator / copper chiller combo device in the kettle. (I should have taken a pict of it before it was in the kettle – or before wort was added.)

While the boil was on, we enjoyed the chili that Paul graciously brought for the gang. There is a debate as to whether noodles should be included in chili or not. Paul brought them as a side as to not set the stage for too much hostility and harassment. For the record, I think noodles work fine in chili.

To enhance the already flavorful chili, Paul also brought these as additional sides along with shredded cheese.

I went with the “Hot Chili Peppers” over the Jalapeños in my two bowls. Tasty!

Hot peppers appears to be a common thread among the group. During the late summer months, Todd puts together jars of sliced Jalapeños which he graciously shares with the membership.

Eventually, the cooled wort is transferred via pump to the barrel fermenter as seen here:

Following primary fermentation, the beer will be transferred via gravity to the lower barrel for the secondary before being racked into kegs for club distribution.

It was great to get together and see everyone again while enjoying good beer and company. It isn’t the easiest to get everyone’s schedules to line up but we will see if it can be done again sometime soon.

WSBC APA

Grains

• 40 lbs – Pale Malt (6-Row)
• 12 lbs – Carahell
• 6 lbs – Flaked Oats
• 5 lbs – Cara-Pils/Dextrine

Hops

• 4 oz – Columbus @ 60 minutes
• 1 oz – Centennial @ 30 minutes
• 1 oz – Cascade @ flameout
• 1 oz – Centennial: whirlpool
• 4 oz – Centennial: dry hop
• 2 oz – Cascade: dry hop

Yeast

• California Ale (White Labs WLP001): 1 gallon starter

This was a fun day spent with the WSBC. Looking forward to the next one. Cheers!

MLK Jr Day, Monday, January 15, found the Fieldpointe Brew Crew at the southern location for the traditional / annual MLK Brew Day.

This year it was decided to brew this recipe originally published by the American Homebrewers’ Association (AHA) during the BLM movement.

Black is Beautiful is along the lines of an Imperial Oatmeal Stout. A brief synopsis can be found here.

Mark, Branden (the newbie) and myself met on the frigid Monday (temp near zero F) to warm up the Man Cave at Fieldpointe South. The usual routine was followed: Bloody Mary Bar, snacks and beer followed with a slow cooker full of Ugly German Stew with Beer Bread. Thanks Helen! It was fantastic.

Being near zero on the thermometer certainly meant that the Dorothy Doors were closed. However, one door was briefly opened to dispose of the spent grain in Mark’s back 40. Bare hands on frosty steel could have been a problem. Good thing there was no moisture involved or I may still be attached to the door until today when the temp finally rose to the freezing point. It will be good to get rid of slop that froze solid from the winter weather event that occurred about a week or so ago. However, more snow is in the forecast for tomorrow but the temps are to be in the mid 30s the rest of the week.

While the brew session was underway, the guys played some three handed Sheephead. It had been a while since the cards had seen any action and it was good to get back into the rhythm of the game. Branden should be about ready to go high stakes with nickels next time.

To step it up a notch, the senior officials at Fieldpointe decided to go with oak to the finished beer. A couple sticks of medium toast oak soaked in rum will be added to the keg when the time comes.

Fieldpointe Brewery should be set on the stouts for the remainder of the cold winter months. Soon to be on tap is a Vanilla Stout. Soon to be put into a keg is a Milk Stout currently in the fermenter at Fieldpointe HQ. And of course, this number at Fieldpointe South – once it is ready for the keg.

As I reflect on the day, all went well and there were no amusing things to report – at least that I don’t remember, so onto the workings of AHA’s Black Is Beautiful.

Grains

• 10 lb. Pale malt (2 Row)
• 2 lb Oat, flaked
• 1 lb Chocolate malt
• 12 oz Barley, flaked
• 12 oz Crystal 120 malt
• 12 oz Roasted barley
• 8 oz Chocolate rye malt
• 4 oz Black (Patent) malt

Hops

• 1 oz Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) hops, 15.5% a.a. (60 min)
• 2 oz Cascade hops, 5.5% a.a. (20 min)
• 2 oz Cascade hops, 5.5% (10 min)

Adjuncts

• 1 lb Corn sugar (dextrose)
• Oak – Medium Toast (2 sticks)
• Silver Rum

Yeast

• 1 package California Ale Yeast (White Labs WLP001)

Projected Analysis (Not Measured)

• Original Gravity: 1.081
• Final Gravity: 1.016
• ABV: 8.70%
• IBU: 65
• SRM: 46

Black Is Beautiful – especially when it is a stout in a pint glass.

Cheers!

May God bless you abundantly with good brew in 2024.

The final day of Christmas break is the perfect time for the first brew of the new year. This is a recipe from Mark Flynn at Littleport Brewery in Racine, WI. Fieldpointe Brewery thanks him for sharing.

Today’s endeavor is a solo event as the sickness bug has been going around and hitting people pretty hard. Mark and his wife have been wrestling with the garbage over break. This has shut down brewing at Fieldpointe South.Thankfully the Good Lord blessed me with good health this break. In fact, with the mild winter weather so far, I was able to get on the bike and record 175 miles during break. I’d have a few more miles logged but the first ride of 2024 on January 1 netted me the first flat of the new year. How ironic! A new tire / tube has been ordered so I should be back in business soon. The problem is that the school stuff gets in the way of getting rides in – that and the early afternoon darkness that is still present – although it will slowly recede as the month progresses.

A new addition to the propane system of Fieldpointe HQ (North) is a pump. I’ve grown accustomed to the built in pump of the electric system used at Fieldpointe South. Here it is in action for the first time.

It will basically serve two purposes: 1) Recirculate the mash (as seen above) and 2) Transfer the wort to the conical fermenter once it cools overnight. (I still use the no-chill method at Fieldpointe North. No negative outcomes yet and it saves time and water use.) This pump is super quiet! I have to listen intently to hear if it is running. This model comes with an on / off switch and the stainless steal connectors for the pump – including a ball valve to regulate flow. Since it is quick connect / disconnect, I had to upgrade the hardware on the kettles to match. It appears that I got it all correct (the ordering) on the first attempt! This is a great investment. I am appreciating it already.

Everything went well today. This is good – especially since it has been a while since propane brewing has taken place at Fieldpointe HQ. Still remember the procedure. Happy Day!

Here are the makings of Flynn’s Milk Stout:

Grains

• 6 lb 8 oz – 2 Row
• 8.6 oz – Amber Malt
• 8.6 oz – Brown Malt
• 8.6 oz – Kiln Coffee Malt
• 8.6 oz – Pale Chocolate Malt
• 8.6 oz – Roasted Barley
• 7.4 oz (not 8.6 ?) – Dark Crystal

Hops

• 1 oz – Northern Brewer @ 30 minutes

Yeast

• Fermentis – SafAle K-97

Adjuncts

• 8 oz – Malto-Dextrine @ 15 minutes
• 10 oz – Lactose (Milk Sugar) @ 15 minutes

Here’s to a Happy & Healthy 2024.

Cheers!