The List

We're back from the Great American Beer Festival. There are a few that I tasted that didn't make the list since this was put together during the recovery hours. I've included the state, a better style description, and any medals. Italics means I had it at the brewery. This is only around 5% of what was available. But hey, it was my first try.

My updated list

List of participating breweries
List of all medalists

In Tsaric Russia, stout drinks you!

11/12/10 - Just found out this took 2nd at the 6th Annual MoreBeer Forum Comp, too!

Update - On to Minneapolis!
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It's brew day again and we've got another biggie lined up...

Batch #45
Shrinkray!
Russian Imperial Stout
--19lbs 2-row (RAHR)
--1.5lbs Roasted Barley (Brit)
--1lb Belg. Special B
--0.5lb CaraMunich
--0.5lb Chocolate (Brit)
--0.5lb Pale Chocolate (Brit)
--28.8AAU Magnum (60m)
--15AAU Cascade (30m)
--9.8AAU Willamette (15m)
--2oz Willamette (0m)
--1/4tsp Supermoss (15m)
--1/4tsp Fermaid K (15m)
--WLP001 California Ale Yeast, 4L starter, and 11.5g US-05 dry yeast
OG: 1.094
FG: 1.018
ABV: 10%
IBU: I don't know. Like, 80-100.

Mash in at 153F and hold for 90m. Collect 7 gallons of wort, boil one hour. Chill to 65F and pitch yeast. My efficiency is a little low on this one (no calcium added...really big beer...too much going on...excuses...) but it actually turned out close to what the original recipe (one of Jamil Z's) estimated for OG. I might add some sugar, we'll see. I can't get wort down to 65 with my chiller, so it's in the fermentation cabinet and capped with foil but the yeast will be added when the temperature is right this time. Which will hopefully be before I go on VACATION. Oh, and yes, lots of yeast...the last thing I want is an underattenuated RIS.

The Dark One

To compliment the Golden Strong Ale from last week, a Dark Strong Ale...this is actually about as much malt as I can fit in my mash tun, so next week's brew will be tough. I had intended all the bitterness to be from the Tettnanger hops, but didn't have as much left as I needed, so had to add some other stuff in, and still came up a little low on the IBU estimate. Missed my mash gravity reading, and was a little surprised to see that my OG was as high as it is...probably because this recipe was originally for 6 gallons. Alas.

Batch #44
The Dark One
Belgian Dark Strong Ale
--15lbs Ger. Pilsner
--3lbs Amer. Munich
--1lb Belg. Aromatic
--1lb Belg. Special B
--1lb CaraMunich
--0.5lb Amer. Wheat
--0.5lb Melanoidin
--9AAU Tettnanger (60m)
--3AAU Glacier (60m)
--0.7AAU Saaz (60m)
--1/4tsp Supermoss (15m)
--1/4tsp Fermaid K (15m)
--WLP500 Trappist Ale Yeast, 4L starter
OG: 1.110
FG: 1.027
ABV: 10.9%
IBU: ~25

Mash in at 155F, allow to fall to as low as 150F. Mash 90 minutes. Extract 7.5 gallons, boil two hours or long enough to yield about 5 gallons into fermenter. Pitch at 68F, allow to rise into 80s after a few days. My efficiency was ~76%.

Some unnamed horror

Finally, a strong golden belgian ale, roughly the BYO Duvel clone recipe. This is why I bought pilsner malt for brewing this summer.

Batch #43
The Whisperer
Belgian Golden Strong Ale
--10.5 lbs Ger. Pilsner Malt
--6 oz CaraPils
--26 oz Cane sugar (15min)
--1 lb Cane sugar (secondary)
--1.9 AAU Hallertauer (60min)
--4.1 AAU Tettnanger (60min)
--3.75 AAU Saaz (15min)
--3/4 oz Saaz (0min)
--1/4 tsp supermoss (15min)
--1/4 tsp gypsum (mash)
--WLP550 Belgian Ale Yeast, 2L starter
OG: 1.065 (primary), ~1.073 effective
FG: 1.015
ABV: ~7.7%
IBU: ~20

Mashed in 14qts at 100F, slowly ramp (50min today) the temperature to 150F. I used direct flame, so had to stir very frequently (really, like, every minute, so grab a brew and a book) to prevent scorching and tanin extraction from hot spots. Held at 150F for 40min. Mashed out at 168-170F for ~10min, extracted 7 gallons wort. Boiled for 90min, yielding 5.3ish gallons of wort in the fermenter (a little boil over since I was distracted with measuring hop additions).

Ferment starting around 68F, allowing temperature to rise to low-mid 80s after 2-3 days. Rack to secondary, add sugar, and wait, etc...