Weekly Update

Lots of chores going on around the house today, but there's just enough time to update on the happenings of this weekend.

Brew Day: Vienna/Northern Brewer SMaSH

r. to l.: NB hops, Irish Moss, NB hops,
yeast nutrient, NB hops, NB hops

I was originally planning on brewing a 3-gallon batch of Caribou Slobber, but I really only had the energy to do something simpler. A 1-gallon SMaSH (single malt and single hop) beer was just the ticket. The only base malt I have at the house is simple 2-row, but wanting something with a little more flavor, I headed to my local shop and picked up a couple pounds of Vienna. That along with some Northern Brewer hops will get me a beer around 7% abv and hoppy enough to call an IPA.

SMaSH fermenting actively
in a water bath

I've only used Vienna once before, in a SMaSH with Centennial, and I really liked it. It has a subtle toasty/biscuity flavor. And I've only used Northern Brewer in a hoppy, IPA strength brown ale. It gives a flavor and aroma that some describe as a combination of mint and evergreen. I'm interested in seeing this malt and hop variety together.

Tasting Day: Scottish Heavy 80/-

Saturday was (finally!) tasting day for my 80 shilling. It was indeed an improvement on the 70/- I did last year. Starting with RO water and building up my mineral profile with salts (calcium chloride and gypsum, to be precise) definitely helped round off some harsh edges from last year's batch. My final gravity - the specific gravity of the beer post-fermentation - was a bit higher than I anticipated, so it's surprisingly full bodied considering it's only a 4.3% beer. But it's a little sweet in the finish. I need to figure out if that's a fermentation flaw (from under attenuation) or if I just need to adjust my recipe. Or both.

Bottling Day: IPA

I brewed an IPA two weeks ago. I often let beers sit in the fermenter for 3 weeks before bottling, but I'm eager to get on to tasting this, and impatience got the best of me. But I'll let it sit in the bottle for 3 weeks followed by a week in the fridge before I open up the first one, so it's hard to call that impatient.

I'm running a bit of a water experiment on this batch. The sulfate ion in water accentuates the hoppiness and hop bitterness in beers. Our tap water has about 160 ppm sulfate, and I was happy with that concentration when I brewed this recipe last year. I decided to up it to 300 ppm - almost doubling it into a range that some people really like for their hoppy beers. When I tasted a sample last night at bottling, I could clearly tell the difference in the sulfate level. I think I'm going to like it lower, but I'll reserve judgment until I get a better sense of the beer when it's carbonated.

If all goes well, I'll brew that Caribou Slobber next weekend, plus tasting day for my Victory Blonde!