Harvest time!

It's harvest time and that can only mean one thing... mega fresh hop brews! As the hops trickle in over the next few weeks we'll be posting some recipes including a dark IPA fermented with lager yeast, a couple of Belgian recipes, and, of course, more renditions of the classic Northwest hop bomb.

Don't forget to look out for these fun fall projects:

• honey - for mead (honey wine), of which there are many many types, can also be used in beer
  
• cider - straight up or fermented, use a clean ale yeast and give it lots of staged nutrient additions to ward off sulfur
  
• grapes - for wine of course! check out local vineyards to source fruit, look for a Brix of at least 24
• wild berries - you can ferment almost anything, just treat them like wine grapes
• pickles - late in the season, but good cukes are still available
• pickled peppers/garlic/etc - the name says it all, pickle whatever you can find
  

22B - Imperial Smoked Porter

Info:

• Brewer: Chris
• Mash: infusion
  
• Date: 6/30/2008
• Size: 10.25 gallon post-boil

Notes:

• Similar to the smoked porter I brewed in December, except I stepped up the IBUs and added some Munich. This one is going to have some zing in it because of a healthy dose of Zeus.
  

Grain Bill:

• 22lb Gambrinus organic pale malt
• 1lb 6oz 60L crystal malt
• 3.5lb chocolate malt 350L
  
• 1lb German rauch malt
• 1lb Weyermann Munich type I
  

Yeast:

• Wyeast 1098 - British Ale

The Mash:

• dough in to 154F
• rest 60 minutes
• sparge with 180F
• collect 12 gallons
  

The Boil (90 minutes):

• 2.0oz Zeus (16.4%) @ 60
  
• teaspoon of Irish moss @ 15
  
• 1.5oz Mt Hood (5.0%) @ 10
  
• Total: 50 IBU(ish)

The Finish:

• OG: 1.072
  

14C - Hophead Imperial IPA

Info:

• Brewer: Chris
• Mash: single infusion
  
• Date: 6/13/2009
• Size: 5.25 gallon post-boil

Grain Bill:

• 16lb Gambrinus organic pale malt
• 10oz Briess crystal 40L
• 8oz CaraPils
  
• 4oz Belgian Special B
• 1lb 8oz sucrose
  

Yeast:

• Fermentis SafAle US-05
  

Misc:

• small amounts of gypsum, baking soda, and salt to the mash water
  
• yeast nutrient
  
• Irish moss
  

The Mash:

• mash at 151F, hold for 60 minutes
  
• mash out to 170F, hold for 10 minutes
  
• sparge with 170F, collect 7.5 gallons

The Boil (90 minutes):

• 2.0oz Zeus (16.4%) @ 70
• 0.5oz Centennial (9.7%) @ 20
• 1.0oz Cascade (4.5%) @ 15
• Irish moss @ 15
  
• 0.75oz Amarillo (5.0%) @ 10
• 0.7oz Summit (18.1%) @ 10
• 0.75oz Amarillo (5.0%) @ 5
  
• 0.5oz Cascade (4.5%) @ 5
• 0.7oz Summit (18.1%) @ 1
• sucrose @ 1
• Total: 127 IBU(ish)

The Finish:

• OG: 1.100 (it's imperial, right?)
  

Dry Hops:

• 1.0oz Amarillo (5.0%)
  
• 0.5oz Cascade (4.5%)
  
• 0.5oz Centennial (9.7%)
• dry hops will be blended together and sit for 5 days in secondary
  

18D - Belgian Golden Strong Ale

Info:

• Brewer: Chris
• Mash: single infusion
  
• Date: 6/12/2009
• Size: 5.5 gallon post-boil

Grain Bill:

• 15lb Gambrinus organic pilsner malt
• 8oz Briess CaraPils
  
• 2oz Belgian Special B
• 2.5lb sucrose
  

Yeast:

• Fermentis SafBrew T-58

Misc:

• 2 tsp gypsum added to water at dough in
• a pinch of salt added to water at dough in
• these were done to adjust the pH and general water conditions because my water supply is on the soft side
  

The Mash:

• dough in to 120, hold for 20 minutes
• raise by infusion to 153D, hold for 60 minutes
  
• raise by infusion to 170F, hold for 10 minutes
  
• sparge with 170F, collect 7.25 gallons
• Pre-boil gravity: 1.060
  

The Boil (90 minutes):

• 0.5oz Zeus (16.4%) @ 70
  
• Irish moss @ 15
  
• 1.0oz Mt Hood (4.4%) @ 10
• sucrose @ 5
  
• 1.0oz Mt Hood (4.4%) @ 1
• Total: 30 IBU(ish)

The Finish:

• OG: 1.093

10A - Yet Another American Pale Ale

Info:

• Brewer: Chris
• Mash: single infusion
  
• Date: 5/25/2009
• Size: 9.5 gallon post-boil
• The new twist here is the use of Gambrinus organic pilsner in place of Briess organic 2-row. The kernel size was a bit smaller, so I had to adjust my mill (a Crankandstein 3D). We'll see how the change in base malt pans out...
  

Grain Bill:

• 17lb Gambrinus organic pilsner malt
• 14oz Briess 60L

Yeast:

• Wyeast 1056, made up into a healthy starter
  

The Mash:

• mash at 151F, hold for 60 minutes
  
• mash out to 171F, hold for 10 minutes
  
• sparge with 171F, collect 11 gallons (ymmv - I add the last gallon or two start to the kettle, as I'm of the opinion that over-sparging leads to astringency issues, which is a serious flaw when making a pale ale.)
  

The Boil (90 minutes):

• 1.75oz Centennial (9.7aau) @ 60
  
• forgot the Irish moss @ 15, d'oh!
  
• 1.5oz Cascade (4.0aau) @ 15
• 0.75oz Centennial (9.7aau) @ 10
• 0.5oz Cascade (4.0aau) @ 5
  
• Total: 49 IBU(ish)

The Finish:

• OG: 1.050

Dry Hops:

• 0.5oz Cascade (4.0aau) at end of secondary
  
• 1.0oz Centennial (9.7aau) in a quick tertiary