Category: July 2020

It has been almost a week since this brew session took place in Mark’s dungeon so it’s high time to get this posted.

The weather was fantastic (not that it really mattered with the basement brewing) and the Dorothy Doors were open. Mark finally moved his patio furniture outside so that is where we enjoyed most of the brew session.

I’ve always known Mark to be the type of person who is even keeled. He doesn’t get too bothered or upset by what life presents. He just rolls with the show and makes the best of the situation. However, there are two things for witch Mark does not have patience or a tolerance for: mosquitoes and chipmunks.

Everyone living in Wisconsin has to deal with the mosquito situation – although it really hasn’t been that bad with all the dry weather so far this summer. But the chipmunks – whoa Nelly! I haven’t seen Mark move that fast since our college football days a few years back when he spots one invading his property. I’m not going to mention Mark’s eradication methods, but let’s just say that the critters usually out maneuver him. They have his stratagies figured out. Mark even claims that the varmints will taunt him by standing on his flower bed retaining wall while doing the I’m Alright gopher dance from Caddyshack.

David stopped by for a while and he and Mark got to try the Mango Kölsch which I thoughtfully brought specifically for Jeff (It was brewed at his place) . But alas, Jeff was a no show.

Jeff is one of those people who likes to have his “ducks in a row” and had inquired a day or two earlier for verification that the planned brew session was indeed going to take place. Mark enjoys messing with Jeff’s questions. He answers them – but not so directly at times. This frustrates Jeff – which the rest of us enjoy. Once Jeff received the information in a satisfactory manner, all was set. That is until Friday’s session got under way and Jeff texted that he wasn’t going to make it. Something about having to get things ready for a vacation that was kicking off the next day. Apparently he wasn’t aware of his planned vacation – or he just forgot about it. I don’t know what is so involved in prepping for a vacation. On the morning of, just throw your socks, underwear and tooth brush in a duffle bag and off you go. As previously indicated, Jeff’s ducks need to be properly lined up so I’m sure his prep was way more involved for a guy than it should have been.

You will notice that there is a name change on this beer. That is because this session’s recipe underwent an experimental change. We liked the hazy presentation of the beer brewed for National Homebrew Day (Star Gazer Double IPA). So, we used that grain bill (I think) and used the hop schedule for the Zombie Dirt – 10 ounces of Citra hops. This should offer the likeness of a favorite of all of us – Toppling Goliath’s Pseudo Sue. Of course, this all depends on Mark taking his hop agitation responsibility seriously. Time will tell.

I think (as previously stated) this is the grain bill for the brew as I’m not sure what Mark picked up from Northern Brewer and he wasn’t so sure either. I certainly know that oats were involved as I could identify them and the sparge was on the slow side. The sparge was not a concern while brewing the Start Gazer. Perhaps Mark got extra oats? He isn’t a numbers guy so he probably read 1.5 lb as 15 lb or something like that. Anyway, some rice hulls would have been a benefit to loosen the grain bed. His suggestion of adding some pink naked squirrels into the mash for good measure was nixed. Good thing.

Grains

• 6.5 lb. Rahr Premium Pilsner Malt
• 3.25 lb. Rahr Red Wheat Malt
• 1.5 lb. Flaked Oats
• 6 oz. Weyermann® Acidulated Malt

Hops

• 1 oz – Citra (60 minutes)
• 1 oz – Citra (20 minutes)
• 1 oz – Citra (10 minutes)
• 1 oz – Citra (5 minutes)
• 1 oz – Citra (Flameout)
• 2 oz – Citra (Dry Hop – Fermentor)
• 3 oz – Citra (Dry Hop – Keg)

Yeast

• Fermentis SafAle K-97

That’s it! Thanks for reading and get your brew on.

Recently Mark inquired about draught beer for his home – such as what is needed, cost, etc. He is interested in the brewing aspect – but not so much as to do it himself. He is quite content on watching me do it. I am OK with that. He has hosted brewing sessions at his home. We get some card playing in (Sheephead) and some beer made. I really enjoy the brewing process and am glad to share the experience and the results.

Mark will need to understand that he will need to sacrifice the shelf space that he currently has in his beer fridge for purchased brews. A keg takes up space – not so much horizontally, but very much vertically. I thought about this myself as I contemplated whether I wanted to get another chest freezer for my keezer replacement or go with a upright fridge. I have a 4 four tap system and would like to keep it that way. Cramming 4 kegs into a fridge would leave no space for anything else. And, the fridge would have to be of a pretty decent size. That equates to more cash than I was willing to part with. So, I went with a slightly larger chest freezer (10 cubic ft). It will hold the 4 kegs easily and still have room for bottles and cans. The down side to it is that I have to make a new collar for it for the taps. Not a big deal.

Anyway, I digress. I told Mark that I have a keg or two for him to use. I purchased them when they were $10 – 15 for a used corny soda keg. In addition, he would need a CO2 tank and regulator. A gas in and liquid out connector with associated hose and he should be good to go. Oh, and yes. He would need beer. Wonder where that will come from?

If Mark wants to go “all in” on new stuff, then this is what he will be looking at. My go to homebrew shop is Northern Brewer in Milwaukee. Not too far away and have the stuff I am looking for – most of the time. Great service there too, by the way.

As luck would have it, NB sells a single keg setup for such an occasion! Everything except the CO2 keg is included with this price:

HOMEBREW SINGLE KEG SYSTEM WITH CORNELIUS BALL LOCK KEG

• New 5 gallon keg
• Dual Gauge CO2 Regulator
• Gas line and connector – Fully Assembled
• Draft line and connector – Fully Assembled

Mark would just need to pony up $179.99 for this setup and he would be well on his way to enjoy draft beer in a clean new system. But not so fast. He still would need a CO2 tank – with gas.

CO2 CYLINDER

• 5 lb – Empty

Well this doesn’t do much good being empty at $74.99. I think it needs to be listed that way because shipping full cylinders is a no no. So, in essence – for about $15 – 20 beans more you are purchasing the cylinder and the gas inside. When empty, take it back and exchange it for a full one for the $15 – 20, whatever it is. That is what I have been doing and all is well. The tanks have been in decent shape so I have had no problem with the exchange program. It’s kind of like what most people do for the 20 lb propane gas tank exchanges.

Now I may be able to help Mark out with a tank as well as I have three 5 lb tanks in my possession. Why 3? Well, I have one for the keezer at home. One for dispensing the brew that Mark, Jeff and others pretend to like at another location. And the 3rd one I recently picked up for former Principal Paul’s farewell party (the one that he hosted and bought the beer for). My tank at home and the second one have been registering low on content and I did not want to run out at Paul’s shindig. So I got a 3rd CO2 tank that is still unused. Principal Paul’s event was a while ago. I guess I was overly concerned on the gas issue. Well, it is available for use so if Mark wants to go this route, he can make use of it. Unless he is dead set on getting all his own equipment.

So Mark, if you ever read this, you can go “all in” on new stuff for under $300. If you would like to “borrow” Fieldpointe Brewery kegs and CO2 tank, it will be substantially less but new stuff is nice and shiny! Let me know what you think.

Today’s brew – currently underway – is a batch #2 of an RIS I made a few years back (January of 2013) I called that one Imperial Bourbon Barrel Stout at that time. This is a variation of that beer as I had to scale it back from an 8 gallon recipe to 5 and it is not going into a barrel this time.

Back then, I had purchased a recently emptied bourbon barrel from Woodinville Whiskey Co. of Woodinville, WA. I purchased the 8 gallon barrel back in August of 2012 and obviously didn’t get around to using it until January.

The result of that brew was fantastic. It was put into a 5 and 3 gallon keg. I made the 5 last and it aged very well. I lost track of the 3 gallon keg and rediscovered it a few years later. Still very good. In fact, at the time of this writing, I still have a few pints left in that keg.

The reason it is still here is because my keezer died on me two weeks after this COVID-19 thing broke out. By then all the chest freezers were bought up in America. I was just recently able to purchase a 10 cu ft unit from the big box store I have been working part time at for the past 22 years. I will be picking it up this next week. This is an upgrade from the 7 cu ft unit that I had so I have to make a new collar for it. I can reuse all the taps and such – replacing all the hoses. I think the extra space will be nice. I could just cram 4 kegs into the 7 cu ft model with not much room to spare.

The keezer’s demise brings up an interesting ongoing discussion that Mark and I have. He has a beer fridge in his possession and has been decorating it with all the brewery stickers that he has been collecting over the years. Most of them are from places that he has actually been to. He has done quite well – if your were to see it.

I also have the sticker thing going. Unlike Mark, I have not been to most of the places represented. However, I do not place my stickers directly onto the unit. I put them on magnetic material, carefully cut them out, and then place them on my unit. Mark claims this lacks commitment to the cause. I claim that I can “redecorate” at will AND when the unit ceases to function, I can easily remove them and place on the new unit – no need to start completely over. Mark still claims that I lack true dedication by doing it this way. Oh well…

I’m going solo on this brew today. Mark’s excuse is that he is in Alaska – he left here yesterday. This is his 50th state that he has been to. I have been to a few – OK, maybe a couple. Good for him in this accomplishment. His first text was him at an unnamed brewery, mask on and brew in hand. Jeff is probably cutting the grass lest the lawn police write him up for having a blade or two of grass longer than the rest.

I just cut the heat on the RIS in the garage and will let it cool down on its own until 170 F. I’ve been employing the “no chill” method lately for my brews and it works well. I guess the Ausies have been using this procedure for a long time now. Once at 170ish degrees I rack the wort into a 6 gallon container that I purchased from US Plastic Co. It sits overnight in the basement and the next day it is ready to be poured into the conical and the yeast pitched. What is nice is that this leaves all the crud in the bottom of the container and it is at cellar temp.

So, this RIS has been adjusted for a 5 gallon batch since the 8 gallon barrel was converted to serve as my house sour device a number of years back. The grain bill ended up at the 21 lb mark which is where my barley wine grain bill is. This amount of grain and strike water completely fill my Blichmann Boiler Maker kettle with false bottom. This thing is filled to the very tip top! 21 lb of grain for a batch is a good limit anyway and I don’t regularly make these big beers. I really should get another barely wine going but I still have bottles from back around the time the original RIS was brewed – no rush.

This beer will ferment for a couple of weeks – or longer. Afterward, it will be racked to a secondary fermenter where 2 oz of medium toast oak cubes and 12 oz of bourbon will be added. I haven’t decided on what bourbon to use. I know Maker’s Mark is a good one but I may just use Jim Beam as well. The beer will sit for a couple of months before being put into a keg. The plan is to keep it until December or January – when the weather is cold.

This will be my first time using the oak cubes because the barrel did the job on batch #1. Avery’s Samael is the beer that got me to liking oak in a big beer. To me, drinking a Samael is like biting into an oak 2 x 4 – I like it!

Just checked on the wort temp. It is at 183 F and is cooling faster than I thought it would as it is 85 F outside. I guess that is a big enough of a temperature difference to cause it to drop.

Not much else to report at this time so here is the recipe. Then it is time to “do the dishes” – cleanup the equipment.

Mash Ingrdients

Yeast

• Safale US-05 (x2) (or starter)

Adjuncts

• 4 oz Oak Cubes – Medium Toast
• 750 ml Bourbon

Zombie Dirt was the brew to kick off the month of July. (It was actually brewed in late June but was kegged recently.) This is a brew that friend and co-brewer Mark likes to make / drink. It features the Citra hop and reminds both Mark and me of Toppling Goliath’s Pseudo Sue – which we snatch up whenever we can find it. The problem is that we have told too many people about it and so now they too are looking for it in the stores which is making it harder for us to find.

Anyway, this is the 4th batch of this one and has been a crowd pleaser all along.

This brew session was hosted by Jeff, who took time out of watering his lawn to assist. He had the garage all set up – including table and cards for many rounds of Sheephead. We raided his mini beer fridge while playing and brewing and ridiculed him for not having any beer stickers on it. (I even gave Jeff some Fieldpointe Brewery stickers.) David showed up and we got him to play a few rounds of cards and enjoy a beer or two with us.

Batch #3 was made for Principal Paul’s farewell shin-dig. (Somehow Paul ended up paying for this beer and hosting his own farewell party. Go figure.) The beer was a hit and the 5 gallons disappeared that evening – much to the disappointment of the late comers. Oh well …

Batches #1 & 2 were brewed in Mark’s dungeon. The first being a try and see. The second had some adjustments made – equipment wise. Incorporating the Northern Brewer “Depth Charge” device as a dry hop container made a noticeable change. We’ve got this one down now.

Zombie Dirt is a Northern Brewer recipe that is a take off of 3 Floyd’s Zombie Dust. It is very close to the 3 Floyd’s number.

The recipe:

MASH INGREDIENTS

• -10.5 lbs Rahr 2-row
• -1.5 lbs Munich malt
• -0.5 lbs Carapils
• -0.5 lbs Medium Crystal

HOP ADDITIONS & TIMES

• -1 oz Citra (60 min)
• -1 oz Citra (30 min)
• -1 oz Citra (15 min)
• -1 oz Citra (Flameout)
• -3 oz Citra (Dry hops) 
• -1 oz Citra (Keg)

YEAST

• Dry yeast Fermentis Safale S-04