Deck The Hall N' Oats IPA

Possible Label?

Here are some updates.  Firstly, Pirate Hooker Ale won a silver medal in the first Portland Brewers Collective Stout Competition called, 'Stout Bout.'  I got home from Spain and found out there would be a stout competition in a couple months.  What better reason to brew some more beer!  I did not have much time, so I went to the drawing board and developed a recipe.  I wanted to enter more than one beer.  Time was against me so, I had to experiment by splitting a single 5 gallon batch into 3 different beers.  The first carboy consisted of one gallon with a sprig of rosemarry, the other gallon of stout had smoked black tea in it, and the last carboy had 3 gallons infused with rum soaked oak chips (Pirate Hooker Ale).  There was a great turnout with 34 entries!  I am already excited about next year.  I also wanted to thank Mark Gillette and the Portland Ubrew for making it all happen!  

Secondly, I just bought a beer gun!  Which, is an awesome device that allows one to bottle from the keg.  It also has a trigger which allows you to purge the bottles with Co2.  This pushes out the oxygen in the bottle and limits the possibility of oxidation.  Oxidation creates off flavors of wet cardboard and sherry-like flavors according to, John Palmer.  I just bottled the rest of my 'Stonemad Scotch Ale,' which is a delicious nutty Scottish ale.  Bottling with the new gun was a bit of trial and error, but worked out quite well.

Lastly,  I cleaned out the keg and filled it with a Baltic Porter that Steve and I made.  The stout competition and the weather were telling me that I needed to make another dark malty beer!  It finished a little on the sweet side at 1.022, which is fine and still in the guidelines of the style (1.024 is the highest Final Gravity for the style).  The Original gravity was 1.078 right on target, so it is still a strong beer at about 7.4%.  Can't wait to taste it carbonated. Further details to come...

I also made a bunch of mead, but I will save that for another time.

This weekend I collaborated with some fellow PBC members, Jordan Folks/ Michael Stinson/ Aaron Bach.  We decided on an Oat IPA.  The first I have ever brewed.  It was a great brew session and look forward to this awesome smelling libation!

The grain bill consisted of - 2row Pale malt, Melanoiden malt, Munich malt, Flaked Oats, and Honey.
The Hop bill included - Warrior for bittering, Simcoe, Homegrown Centennial, and a lot of Amarillo!

 

 

We split a ten gallon batch and Jordan opted to use Pac Man (1764) yeast from Wyeast and I chose British Ale (1098) yeast from Wyeast.  The Pac Man yeast is a private collection yeast with a limited release.  Rouge Brewery uses that strain.  According to Wyeast,  "This is a versatile yeast strain from one of Oregon’s leading craft breweries.  Pacman is alcohol tolerant, flocculent, attenuates well and will produce beers with little to no diacetyl.  Very mild fruit complements a dry, mineral finish making this a fairly neutral strain.  Pacman’s flavor profile and performance makes it a great choice for use in many different beer styles."  The 1098 profile on the Wyeast website states, "This yeast allows malt and hop character to dominate the profile. It ferments dry and crisp, producing well-balanced beers with a clean and neutral finish. Ferments well down to 64°F (18°C).  Till next time, remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers!

Still Brewing

A lot has happened since June!  Instead of rehashing all the excuses in the book as to why I have not posted any articles, I have decided it would be best to skip it and get back to the important stuff.  Yes, I am talking about beer.  I may have taken a vacation from writing, but I have been busy brewing up some killer brews.

Harvest

I took all of September and some of October off work and walked across Spain.  I kegged my fresh hop ale for Tracey (my wife) before I left.  Although, I did not get to drink it fresh, it was quite tasty when I did try the backyard brew.  My wife claims it was better early on.  I used most of the hops and barley I grew in the backyard.  It was the longest beer project I have attempted.  I have to be honest, the pay off was lackluster.  The beer was good, but that much work and care demands better than good.  I do not regret doing it, but next year I am just growing hops!

Weighing the bounty

Also, before I left Steve and I brewed a special wheat beer.  Peanut butter Jelly Time!  Guess what kind of beer?  Yes, it was a Peanut butter Jelly beer.  We bottled it when I got back and dang is it good!  When you crack a bottle the smell of a PB&J sandwich wafts into your nostrils and takes you back to grade school.  This deconstructed sandwich has a strong fruit profile up front and peanut butter toward the back.  Some people claim they only get fruit and the other half only get peanut butter.  

There is more news, but I will get to that later on.  I just wanted you all to know I did not forget about you!  I can't wait to write more on the wonders of brewing and beer!  Till next time, remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry!
  

Kiwi (not the fruit) inspired beer

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  I first want to give a shout out to Steven Childs.  He was asked to provide a keg of his Hot Fuzz beer for the Portland Fruit Beer Festival Dinner.  This beer is a great tasting peach beer with some heat from jalapeno peppers, good work sir!  I entered my Mango Cedar Belgian into the Fruit beer homebrewer's contest, which may be a little under carbonated.  I think it taste good.  The mango hits you in the beginning and the cedar hits you in the end.  The good thing about entering the comp is that you get a glass and three drink tickets so it is a win win!  I also want to wish everyone from the collective good luck with their entries, should be a good time.

Just bottled up the Rhubarb Saison, and I believe it is going to be good.  I ran into a huge problem while fermenting this beast of a beer.  The Belgian Saison 3724 is a tricky yeast, and it has a reputation for stalling out before fully attenuating.  I read that if you bump up the heat it will fully attenuate with time.  So, I bumped up the heat (this strain can ferment up to 95 degrees F).  I came back to check on it the following day to find it was 110 degrees, Oh shit!  I thought that I ruined the beer.  I cold crashed it as fast as I could (I don't have a refrigeration system) then transferred and repitched 3711, which is the French Saison strain and it chewed up all those sugars and got down to 1.003!  I tasted it while bottling and it was tart, sweet and bitter.  Can't wait to try the final product, I have a good feeling about this one.

Cold steeped 

Adding the darkness

Steve stirring the mash

Lastly, yesterday I brewed my first Cascadian Dark Ale (Black IPA) with Steve.  I cold Steeped my dark grains (these grains are debittered, so this step is not a necessity) this is done to try and subdue the roastiness, plus this was a new process I wanted to attempt.  The hops are the star of this style, so if you attempt this beer you do not want much roastiness to it.


You maybe curious about the title of this post?  I decided to try all New Zealand hops, which have been getting great reviews.  I call it, All Blacks CDA, this is a reference to their national rugby team.

Steve brought over some Pacific Jade hops, which I used for bittering.  They are a high alpha acid hop with a slight spice of pepper, very clean and no harsh aroma's.  there is some citrus in this hop, grapefruit and lemon.  I also used Motueka and Wakatu, which are dual purpose hops that have a great oil profile with flavors of lime zest, lemon, and tropical fruit.  I have not decided what I will dry hop it with?  I used American II yeast strain, which I really liked in the Stars and Bars Pale ale.  Time will tell the results, however it is bubbling away and smells fantastic!  Till later, remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry!

P.S.  Here are some pics of the garden...

Chinook is sprouting

Blowin' up

New addition, 'Lemon Grass'

In Search of El Dorado (Single hop)

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  At the last Portland U-brew Collective meeting, Mark Gillette threw out an idea that we all do a single hop beer.  We all drew a hop out of a hat.  I picked up Bravo, but Bravo was out when I went to pick it up.  El Dorado was in my fridge whispering to me and no one had any objections to that hop.  I decided on a whim to brew last night.  I was getting restless.

El Dorado hop pellets

First, I would like to share an Edgar Allen Poe poem, "El Dorado," which I believe is relevant to brewing...

Gaily bedight,
   A gallant Knight,

Pitching the yeast

In sunshine and in shadow,
   Had journeyed long,
   Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

   But he grew old-
   This knight so bold-
And o'er his heart a shadow-
   Fell as he found
   No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

   And, as his strength
   Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
   'Shadow,' said he,
   'Where can it be-
This land of Eldorado?'

   'Over the Mountains
    Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
    Ride, boldly ride,'
    The shade replied,-
'If you seek for Eldorado!'

Why is this relevant?  In my thoughts, trying to make a great beer is an endless search, but we still keep brewing to find that golden kingdom of Eldorado.  That aside, let's continue on...

We all had a choice of following a Hop2it recipe or going rouge and coming up with our own.  In the majority of circumstances I go rouge, however I wanted to follow the recipe to better understand the hop and not be influenced by malts and yeast.  This recipe was designed by, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River.

I did a 90 minute single infusion mash at 154 degrees F.  My gravity was four points higher than the recipe called for, which is because I added two extra pounds of 2-row.  The amount of International Bittering Units (IBU) was to be between 30 - 40, which this beer hit at 34.8.  This beer has a higher alcohol by volume, due to the higher gravity and better efficiency than I expected.  I normally get anywhere between 65 - 75 % efficiency, however on this batch I go 84%!

The Grain Bill is as follows, 7 lbs. of US 2-row, 1.5 lbs. of Maris Otter Malt, 1 lb. of Crystal 15L, 1 lb. White Wheat, and 4 oz. of Acidulated Malt.  The Hopping schedule went like this, .375 oz. of El Dorado first wort hop at 90 mins., next .5 oz. at 30 mins., then at flame out whirlpool 1 oz. of El Dorado.  I will also dry hop 1 oz. for a week.  I did not make a starter due to spontaneity, so I added two smack packs of Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast.  Can't wait for this one.

Yeast 1056

You may be wondering about El Dorado (the hop)?  Dan Woodske, wrote a book on hops entitled, "Hop Variety Handbook," which I like as a guide when formulating a hop bill.  Here is some info on El Dorado he put in his book.  This US hop is a new high yielding hop, which was trademarked in 2010.  It is a bittering hop and also used for aroma.  Common styles it is used in are Imperial IPA and IPA.  The Aroma includes, dried fruit, some citrus, covers up malt aroma, and watermelony fruit like.  The flavor profile is very sharp/crisp bitterness, tropical fruit flavors of mango and apricot and possible honey taste adds to its sweetness.  The Alpha Acid ranges from 14% -16%, the Beta Acid is 7% - 8%, and Cohumulone Acid 28% - 33%.  Has a good storage rating 7 out of 10.  Myrcene Oil 55% - 60%, Humulene Oil 10% - 15%, and Caryophyllene 6% - 8%.  Good Substitutes are, Zeus, Columbus, Bravo, and Summit.  

Hop pellets

You may now wonder what does that all mean?  I will try to make this short and sweet... Alpha Acid refers to the bitterness, the higher the more bitterness.  Beta Acid, unlike Alpha Acids release bitterness during the aging process and attribute more to the aroma of a beer.  The best hops have a Alpha to Beta ratio of 2:1.  Cohumulone Acid is a type of Alpha Acid that gives your beer a harsh bitter taste, most noble hops have a low Cohumulone Acid percentage, while El Dorado has a high percentage.

Let us review the essential oils.  There are generally 4 types of measured oils in hops.  They include, Myrcene, Humulene, Caryophyllene, and Farnesene.  Farnesene, however is almost negligible in every hop.  These are what gives your beer flavor and aroma from the hops.  Myrcene is the largest oil in your hops and it does not like heat, the longer you boil this hop the more flavor and fragrance you lose. The longer you boil Myrcene the more you get citrus and pine flavors and aromas and the shorter you boil this the more citrus and fruity flavors and aromas come forward.  Orange peel is a common taste you get from Myrcene.  Next, Humulene Oils, which are associated with Noble hops and are heat resistant.  It gives off more of a earthy/herbal/woody character in both flavor and aroma.  This oil is not a fan of oxygen or sunlight!  Caryophyllene Oil is similar to Humulene.  A common aroma is clove and a taste of cracked black peppercorn.  Lastly, Farnesene Oil, which is another oil that breaks down quickly in heat.  It is almost non-existent in many hop varieties composing of less than 1% of the total oil.  Flavors and aromas include pears, ginger, oranges, and nutmeg.  The aroma is compared to lavender and magnolia flowers.

I hope this helps any interested in the composition of hops.  There is a lot more info out there on hops if you are interested in expanding your knowledge of hops.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers!

Anniversary Saison De Rhubarb

Welcome back to Off the Hinge Brewing!  I will be celebrating my first year of marriage with my beautiful wife on Sunday.  I decided to make her an anniversary ale.  She likes her Saison, however what she loves (besides me of course) is her Rhubarb plant.  This plant has been in her life longer than I have, and I figured it would be a great touch to a style that celebrates the farmer.

Saison or Season, is a pale beer that is fruity, spicy and highly carbonated.  It originated in Wallonia, which is the Southern French speaking part of Belgium.  It was often brewed during the colder months when farming is at a low, but it had to be strong enough to last till the summer but not too strong that it would not refresh the workers.  This style usually ranges from 5 - 7% and is often hard to define, but you know when you take a sip that it is a Saison.  That being said let's move on...
     
To get the most out of the 2 1/8 lbs. of Rhubarb, I picked it the night before the brew and froze it.  I did this so that the cellular walls of the Rhubarb would burst and would kill any microbial.  This also helps the juices from this Polygonaceae to blend better with the wort.  I planned on putting the Rhubarb in With 10 minutes left, yet had an issue with the Belgian Candy Sugar not melting quick enough.  They were both suppose to go in at the same time, yet the Sugar went in at 7 minutes left and the Rhubarb at flameout.  I am not worried, I think it was a happy accident.  I also added gypsum in an attempt to make the water resemble Wallonia's, which is hard compared to Portland's soft Bull Run water.  

The recipe is simple...
90 min mash at 150 degrees F (boiled the strike water prior to mashing to ward off any chlorine)
90 min boil (Reduces S-Methyl Methionine and Dimethyl Sulfide, which is common in Pilsner malt)
Pitched the starter at 67 degrees F

10 lbs.  Pilsner malt
1/2 lb.  Clear Belgian Candy Sugar
1/2 oz. Willamette hops (first wort)
3/4 oz. Willamette (30 mins.)
1/2 oz. Tettnanger (0 min.)
1/2 tsp. Gypsum (15 mins.)
1/2 tblt. Whirlfloc
2 oz. Ginger (secondary)

This was one labor of love, but she is worth it!  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Salute!

Stirring up some yeast

Tettnanger Hop Pellets

To harden the water so that it resembles Wallonia's water

Belgian Candy Sugar in rock form

Notes

Rhubarb and I

Post freeze

Right before going in

Cinco de Drinko

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Today they announce the winners for the Puget Sound Pro Am comp.  I hope I do well, at least get good honest feedback.  Just got an e-mail in, they are going to try to webcast the awards ceremony 12:30 PM Pacific time http://www.ustream.tv/channel/puget-sound-pro-am this is awesome!  It is so far from Portland.  So stoked!  Moving on...

Gigantic Brewing is also having a Cinco de Drinko party, and they will be serving Three Floyd's!  Three Floyd's does not distribute out here and they are my favorite brew.  Check out there website http://www.3floyds.com/ this company really sparked my interest in craft beer.  If you ever have an opportunity to try their beer, do it!

My beautiful wife

Rich is the master chef

Yesterday was a beautiful day for National Hombrewers Day!  Mark Gillette, the Brewers Collective Organizer was kind enough to allow us fools to brew in his backyard with him.  He brewed his Summer Rye beer using American wheat yeast (Wyeast 1010).  Great time with good friends and good beer, thanks Mark!  Another member Rich, gave me a Mt. Hood Hop plant, which deserves a shout out, and the hot dog buns he made were delicious.  Paul, an new member brought over an interesting beer with rose water and wormwood, which had a great aroma with sharp bitterness.  Gus came over with a Kentucky Derby look and brought a great beer from Epic Brewing.  Steve and Megan also brought some of there brews, which were great.  Thank you everyone that participated and shared there stuff! 

The set up

Rich, Mark and Gus

Sample for the refractometer

Stir it up

Steve checking gravity

Lovebirds

Mark's Blackberry porter

Sweet Paddle

Paul talkin' beer

Pushing the Puree into carboy with chop stick (high tech)

Moving back one more day... I transfered the Sacred Wooden Fruit onto mangoes, then went to Steve's house and we bottled his Rollin on Dub's Dubbel, next we transfered our Quadratic Equation onto 2 lbs of dates, and cleaned out a whiskey barrel.  Long day, but wait it got a little crazy when I came home to find the mango had clogged the air lock.  No problem, I will just clean it out... Next thing I know I am covered in foam and mango.  Always be aware of adding fruit on a hot day!  The beer tasted great before transferring on mangoes, so I am excited.  Also, the Quad is supper good!  Can't wait for both of them.

This is what happened when I took the airlock off

That is it for now, Feliz Cinco de Mayo and remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Salute!

Belgium/Northwest/Tropics

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Yes, it has been a long time... I will save you from the mundane and skip to the good stuff.  First, I brewed outside yesterday with friends!  Secondly, the Cascade Cup and Puget Sound Pro-Am Competition is happening right now!  Lastly, my 2-row barley has sprouted!  I hope that is not too many exclamation marks!

Stir plate in action

I was thinking about making a Cedar Kolsch Beer, but realized it was not that creative.  I decided to make a beer that resembles three of my favorite areas in the world.  I took from the Great Pacific Northwest, Belgium, and the Tropics and came up with a Cedar Mango Belgian Blonde.  I also used my stir plate for the first time, which worked like champ.  I pitched the Forbidden Fruit yeast at 6 PM and I woke up at 1 AM and it was bubbling like crazy, so my guess is that it started earlier than that.  The Original Gravity is 1.046, which is right on target!  Now the wait...

Last weekend, I found out that FH Steinbarts (local homebrew store) was not a drop off location for the competition and it was the last day to drop of the entries, oh shit.  The wife and I decided to take a trip to Olympia Washington for the drop off of, Tropic of Wheat and the Beach Bum Red.  This long drive was nice and we got to check out a small brewery and have lunch.  Hope the beer does well!

Off The Hinge Garden is blowing up.  I planted some barley last week and I noticed the shoots yesterday.  I also added some fennel in there.  Thinking a fennel lavender saison would be a good summer beer.  I will update you continually on the garden.  That is all for now, remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Salute!

2-Row Barley

Chinook 

Cascade

Zeus

Outdoor Setup

Mash

Steve checking temp

Steve excited

Perfect day for outdoor session

Happy

Tracey, Audrey and Steve

I get serious when I drop my cedar

5 minutes left till flame out

She loves her spent grains