Beer and Work

Jammie and I at the Pub.

I will start off by saying that I just spent an hour or so working on this post, but then when I went to publish it something went very wrong and didn't publish or save any of the information.  So if this post isn't very good, it was certainly better the first time around...

I have been working regularly at the shipping warehouse.  I also worked the corporate stagehand job last weekend, which turned out to be easy and very good paying work.  Other than work I have been making beer and working on getting ready to leave for a month and a half.

For the first time ever I have Jammie and my taxes done over a month and a half early.  Thank you to Rande for the tax program.  It is a huge weight off my shoulders having them out of the way, and I also owe a lot less than I was anticipating, which also relieved some stress.

Kegging something.

I can't recall which beer is being kegged in the above picture, but I believe it is the Kolsch.  I have brewed a few time consuming beers in a row, with the Kolsch first needing to be lagered, to the strawberry blonde which takes an extra week or so due to the berries, and now my most recent is and imperial stout which I will allow to age for a couple months before bottling.  These are going to be great beers, but they aren't helping my short term need for beer to drink...

Imperial Stout Mash.  Full to the brim...

The imperial stout is a 9-10% beer which took about 23lb of grain.  I think its the strongest all grain beer I've made.  As you can see in the photo above, that is as much as I can put in my mash tun.

Imperial Stout Runoff, looks more like dirty motor oil that beer.

5 lb of frozen strawberries, ready for beer.

Racking the Blonde onto the strawberries.

I also will say that these photos are a little old, as I started writing this post a week or so ago.  Since then I've had the opportunity to sample the SB post fruit, and it is pretty darn good.  Closely resembles the first rendition of the Strawberry Blonde, with an amazing aroma and flavor.  I think I'm going to change it up and bottle condition the blonde this time as well.  Bottle conditioning is the only way I will bottle any amount of anything, and I want to be able to save/share the strawberry.  Its been really nice to have bottles of my saisons to take places and give to people.

I had mention adding more actual technical information to the blog, and I am finally going to follow through.

Here is my recipe for the Strawberry Blonde:
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72%

O.G. 1.054
F.G. 1.012

Grain:
10 lb   Pale Malt (2-row)
1 lb     Honey Malt

Mash at 150 for 60 minutes

Hops:
1.0 oz Cascade Boil 60 minutes
1.0 oz Cascade Boil 15 minutes

Fermented in the mid 60's with WLP 090 San Diego Super Yeast.  As I said I used this yeast because I was using the blonde as a starter, seemingly it would be a good yeast even if that weren't the case, but I've previously used WLP001 Cali Ale with equally good results.

After fermentation is complete add 5lb of frozen strawberries to secondary.  I had to halve/quarter the larger berries to get them in the carboy.  I would suggest against making a puree though.

(I purchased my berries at vons for about $2.60/lb, but I saw frozen strawberries at Trader Joes the other day for $1 or $1.50/lb.)

I let the beer sit on the berries for 7-10 days.  I would suggest starting to sample it around 5 days and checking it every other day or so to determine the point where the strength of the strawberry flavor is to your liking.


Today I am brewing my 3rd Saison.  I have changed one or more variables from one saison to the next.  The first one had a lot of spices and flowers added to it, while the second was a pretty simple grain bill combined with a slightly different yeast and no spices.  The 3rd one will hopefully highlight the yeast flavor as the grain is very simple, and no spices added, but a completely different French Saison yeast and a little hoppier.


Saison #3:
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72%

O.G. 1.054
F.G.  1.005 estimated

Grain:
9.25 lb  German Pilsner Malt
1.25 lb  White Wheat Malt
0.75 lb  Amber Malt

Mash at 148 for 90 minutes

Hops:
1.25 oz Hallertauer 60 minutes
1.50 oz Hallertauer 10 minutes
1.50 oz Hallertauer  0 minutes

 Wyeast 3711 French Saison

Since this is my first time using this yeast, I will probably start it off it the lower to mid 70's based on the Wyeast site and some reading about what other people have been doing with it.  I've heard this yeast can really dry a beer out so I'm excited to see how it performs.

Wyeast suggested temperature range: 65-77°F (18-25°C)

I'll let you know how it turns out.  Check back soon.

Warehouse Work and Beer Making

If you spend enough time emailing jobs on craigslist, something is bound to happen.  As a result I have found some temporary work at a freight forwarding warehouse.  Generally speaking it is hard work for the money, but like I said it is temporary and I get paid cash.  I also picked up a 1 day job as a corporate stagehand at the San Diego Hilton, so we'll see how that works out.

Brewing:
After taking a month and a half off from brewing I have gotten back into the swing of things.  Last week I bottled my second saison, and mostly did some cleanup/housekeeping stuff that I had been putting off for too long.  Since then I've made a Kolsch and yesterday started the base beer for my strawberry blonde.  I have been meaning to re-brew the SB since the last batch didn't go well; mostly do to a couple changes in my process that I will not be doing again.  It is the only batch of beer that I've ever thrown out, and was just not a good beer for various reasons.  While the first batch of the strawberry blonde is now gone, even the last couple bottles of it continued to taste amazing.

Another reason to rebrew the blonde is it is the one beer I've brewed so far that my parents actually like, and granted there might have been others that they might have liked but didn't get the opportunity to try, but I thought I should remake it so I can share some more beer with them.  Still working on establishing their taste for craft beer, so I try to make some mellower beers that they might like.  I hope the kolsch turns out and they like it as well.

Kolsch in front and the Blonde in the tub.

I am using a new yeast on the blonde, WLP090 - San Diego Super Yeast.  White Labs is one of the leading producers of beer yeast for homebrewers and craft brewers alike, and they are based in San Diego so the super yeast is a cool tribute to their home city.  It is supposed to be a really fast really clean fermenting yeast, so I am using it on the blonde as a yeast starter for a batch of a big double ipa, or maybe an imperial stout.  Something big is going to follow the blonde into that carboy, just not sure what.

I am working at the warehouse again tomorrow, and maybe for a few more days after that.  I hope to brew a couple more beers in the next week, a brown ale and then the big beer, we will see if I follow through with my intentions. Check back and I'll let you know. 

Jammie, Wolfgang and I went to Joshua Tree. Here is the photo evidence.

Ocatillo!

Jammie and Wolfgang at the top of Mt. Ryan.

Don't tell anyone that wolfgang was there, as apparently he's not supposed to go on the hiking trails.  He sure did have a lot of fun hiking with us though, and I think we managed to wear him out a bit too.  After the first day we were hanging out by the campfire and all he wanted to do was sleep in the camper. 

Our campsite at Jumbo Rocks.  Awesome setting.

Campsite from ground level...

For dinner we made our favorite camping food, poorboys, we used some small cuts of steak instead of ground beef in them and boy were they good. 

Wolfgang and I towards the end of our 6.5 mile hike the second day.