A slightly bigger lager.

Update 1/7/09 - SG at 1.012 already! Wow. That was fast. The sugar, I know. After some discussion on the B3 board, I've decided not to call this a doppelbock anymore. I don't know what it is. Bock? We'll see. I'm going to start lagering as soon as I have an empty keg...hopefully in the next day or so.
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Used my brand new grain mill today. Looks like my efficiency in the mash was about 65%. It was the first time I've done a step mash, so I'm not ruling that out because I didn't really know what I was doing, but I'll try for a finer crush on the next batch.

I was going to make one of Papazian's recipes today, but decided that his doppelbock, while it sounds good, was a little lighter than I want. I was going to make the B3 doppelbock, but the shop was OUT of Munich malt. What?

So I'm making a scaled down version of the recipe for Samichlaus found in the BYO clone issue.

Batch#29
Doppelbock
--14lbs Ger. Pilsner
--1.5lbs Am. Vienna
--1lb Crystal 75-80L
--1.75lb Turbinado sugar
--1.5oz Glacier 6.0%AA (60min)
--3/8oz Sterling 6.0%AA (15min)
--0.5oz Vanguard 4.4%AA (2min)
--1/4tsp Supermoss (10min)
--WLP838 S. Ger. Lager, trub from Dortmunder Lager
OG: 1.080
FG: 1.013
ABV: 8.8%
IBU: ~25

Mashed in at 0.75qts/lb to 110F. Rest 25min while heating water for next infusion. Added about a gallon of water at 190F, mash raised to 135F for 10min. Added remaining 3 gallons of near-boiling water to reach 158F. Mashed 40min. No mash-out (tun full!). Recirculated until clear, collected 3.5 gallons wort while sparging with 170-180F water (2 gallons). Stirred the mash, recirculated until clear, collected another 3.5 gallons. 90 minute boil. Checked on the beer after 8 hours, healthy kraüsen and a couple bubbles per second! Reusing yeast cakes is the way to go.

Boomstick.

Edit 1/24/09 - Kegged. Waited so long because all my kegs were full. Clogged the racking cane...a few times. Tastes pretty good, though.
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Edit 1/7/09 - SG at 1.019 for 6.66%abv, so racked to secondary,...and oaked and dry-hopped. =)
Recipe updated as such. I just used the hops I had on hand. We'll see how it turns out.
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Heard it was a good one. Don't mind the busy hop schedule, it's three additions of substitutes for Centennial and Amarillo. Might oak it. First time using dry yeast. I blew up a pyrex pitcher, but there's no glass in the beer and it was bubbling happily this morning.

Batch#28
JZ's Evil Twin (AleSmith Evil Dead Red Clone) click for source
--12lbs Brit. Maris Otter
--1lbs Ger. Munich
--1lb Crystal 40L
--0.5lbs Crystal 120L
--0.5lbs Am. Victory
--0.25lbs Pale Chocolate

--3.5AAU Willamette (20min)
--2.25AAU Cascade (20min)
--3AAU Columbus (20min)

--2.5AAU Willamette (10min)
--5.25AAU Cascade (10min)
--4.5AAU Columbus (10min)
--4.5AAU Vanguard (10min)

--2.5AAU Willamette (0min)
--5.25AAU Cascade (0min)
--4.5AAU Columbus (0min)
--4.5AAU Vanguard (0min)

--1oz Cascade (dry hop)
--1oz Sterling (dry hop)
--2oz Am. Oak chips (secondary)

--1/4tsp Supermoss (10min)
--Safale US-05 dry ale yeast, 62-65F ambient
OG: 1.070
FG: 1.019
ABV: 6.66%
IBU: ~25

Mashed in at 154F, 5 gallons, 60 min. Mashed out to 168F with additional 3.875 gallons (to the absolute top of my mash tun!). Collected 6.75gallons over ~1hr...stuck sparge, backflowed to clear blockage. 90min boil. I used pellet hops and had ~5gallons after the boil, overshooting the OG target of 1.066 by a bit. My efficiency came out to about 65%, I think...estimating from OG and volume change.

Bubbling away next morning...by evening ~3/second and thick kraüsen.

Lager Cherry

*Pop*

Very excited for my first lager brew, despite recent work-related events. Decided to make things simple and use a single infusion mash.

Batch#27
Slashed Stipend Lager (Dortmunder Export)
--9lbs Ger. Pilsner
--2lbs Ger. Munich
--1lb Crystal 15L
--0.5lbs CaraPils
--1.67oz Sterling 6.0%AA (60min)
--1.67oz Sterling 6.0%AA (10min)
--1.67oz Sterling 6.0%AA (1min)
--1/4tsp Supermoss (10min)
--WLP838 S. Ger. Lager, ~2L starter
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.013 (at time of lagering)
ABV: 5.1%
IBU: 35

Mashed at 152-154F for 60 minutes in 16qts water (~1.3 qts/lbs). Batch-ish sparge: vorlauf and drain - 2.5 gallons collected, add 4 gallons 190F water, let mash rest at 170F for a few minutes, vorlauf and drain - 4 gallons collected. My efficiency suffered a bit, likely due to channeling down the mashtun wall. Oh well, 65%. Roughly 65-70min boil including time waiting for hot break to settle. Dumped the hop pellets right in the kettle today. Collected some particles with a stainless mesh in the funnel on the way to the fermenter. Ended with just over 5.5 gallons in kettle, left ~1/4 gallon behind with hops mess.

I heart SF

Pub crawl in the city this weekend. Hard to beat a beer on the Caltrain at 10:30am.

21st Amendment: 21A - 536 Stout, 21A - Spiced Holiday Ale, delicious Jamaican jerk chicken wings, glazed ribs, cheeseburger
Monk's Kettle: Fuller's London Porter on nitro
Zeitgeist: Bear Republic - Racer 5 IPA, Moonlight - Death & Taxes (black lager)
Toronado: Rodenbach Grand Cru (mmm...flanders red sour ale)
Suppenküche: Köstritzer - Schwarzbier, Gebratene Rehmedaillions in Rotwein-Pflaumensoße mit Rotkohl und Spätzle (venison, red cabbage, spätzle)

and back home by 9:15pm.