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Brewday #57 – Red Alert

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This is the first time I’m water adjusting the beer. To get really hoppy and crisp beers I realized I need to adjust the water. The water I have is pretty good so it was no big problem, it’s actually really good for dark beers because the PH 8.5 is quite high. But I never got a hoppy beer as crisp and hoppy as I wanted. I hope the water adjustment will make the beer a lot better.

20130517-184508.jpgCa 35 ppm -> 113 ppm
Mg 4.6 ppm -> 18 ppm
Na 12 ppm -> 18 ppm
So4 45 ppm -> 263 ppm
Cl 17 ppm -> 43 ppm
HCO3 78 ppm -> 73 ppm

But being me I just had to make it even more complicated, it’s Gung-ho style whenever I brew. There is a twist. I wanted the beer to be really red so I added beetroot, I see it got pretty much calcium and magnesium in it so it must be good for the hops. I’ll boil it with the brew for 20 minutes, I don’t think it will add much taste, or it might add some interesting notes to it. But it doesn’t look like it added any more colour.

I’m mashing in at 62C for 15 minutes, then decoct and step up to 71C for 45 minutes, so it should be medium well done body. While mashing in I’m drinking the #56 Voodoo Juice, this one turned out extremely well I don’t think it will last to August. It’s the perfect Witbier, much better than Hoegarden or any other one I had.

For the hops I will use Belma for bittering and taste, and Centennial for aroma, maybe I’ll dry hop it also?

Edit 2013-05-29: Second fermentation time. Good or bad idea, I don’t know but I think it was good. At least I can’t see anything wrong. I need more uRination Ale, it might be a warm summer and I’m out of it. So this is what I did… After the yeast cake and stuff I got 15 liters, so I put 10 liters in one vessel. The OG was 1078 and the FG was 1015 ( a little lower than expected), estimated 8.2% ABV.

Here’s what I did with the remaining 5 Liters. I added 5 liters of water. After my calculations the ABV will be around 3.5%ABV and 60 IBU. That’s an uRination Ale by my standards. If I dry hop it I think it will be good, and I need a low ABV beer for the summer anyway. If this works out well I will do this more often.

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Brewday #55 – Kånkelbärs

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Ok, I’ll be short today (I think). Today I’m brewing what I call Voodoo Juice (any kind of beer with spices and shit in it). I used pale malt and wheat malt, and cold mashed Chocolate Dinkel/Spelt Malt. The spices is Coriander, Anis Star, and Pomerans (Bitter Orange). Also at the end of the boil I’ll add 1kg raspberries for the ~20 liter batch. The little hops I used was Belma hops. I’m using a new yeast Safbrew wb-06, it is for wheat beers so I think it will be good.

It was a sunny day but quite cold and I was in the mood for Ska music which I played all day. Here is some pictures…

OG 1062
Estimated FG 1016
Estimated ABV 6%
Estimated 15 IBU
Estimated 24 Liter Batch (first fermentation)
PH down from 8.5 to 4.6

In the second fermentation I will split the batch up in two, I might add Chocolate nibs to one of them. And maybe more Raspberries?

What should I name the beer?
Edit 2013-03-24: I named the beer to Kånkelbärs (I can’t really tell you what that means, you have to look it up, and when your back up again you can ask why?!

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Brewday #54 – Gustafs Skål (Pale Ale)

Gustav III
I haven’t brewed since last october, three months is the longest time since I started I didn’t brew any beer. Last year was the third year and I only made 10 beers, the first year I made 24 beers, and the the second 22 beers. I brewed so much I don’t know what to do with it, the legal system prohibits me from selling it, or giving it away (I think). Anyway most of the beers have been beers that can be aged for a long time, I have hidden stocks here and there. Anyway today is the first brewing day in 2013. Here follows some notes.

Gustafs Skål (Pale Ale)

Carl-Michael-BellmanThe reason I chose that name is because I’m making a single hop ale with a new hop called Belma. Belma reminds me of Bellman who was a Swedish poet (4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795). He wrote a drinking song to the Swedish king Gustaf III and named it Gustafs Skål following the coup d’etat in 1772, which made himself an autocrat and ended the parliamentary Age of Liberty. The king very much liked the song and informally it came to function as his royal anthem.

Gustafs Skål

Gustafs skål!
Den bäste Kung, som Norden äger:
Han ej tål,
At vigtskåln ojämt väger.
God och glad,
Han Ilskans röst föraktar
Samt afvaktar
Och betraktar
Dårskap i sin grad.

Sådan Kung
Är värd att styra Sveriges öden:
Rask och ung,
Ej rådlös uti nöden.
Wasa Ätt
Har aldrig lärt att svika,
Aldrig tvika,
Men at fika
Till at göra rätt.

Gustafs Toast

Gustafs Toast!
The greatest king of the north:
He can’t rest,
While injustice rules.
Decent and cheerful,
He detests anger
and waits
and studies
lunacy in progress

A king like he
Is worthy to govern Swedens destiny
Bold and young
Never in hopeless need
Of Vasa dynasty
Is taught to never fail
Never hesitate
But rather do
What is just and fair.

Listen to it here.

The hops, the hops

Belma™ Hops is a new American high alpha hop that clocks in at 11.3%. I have never had a beer with this hop (AFAIK), so it’s kinda interesting. I’m making a Pale ale with no strange addings. Dr. Shellhammer from OSU tested Belma™ and created a Pale Ale Malt. He noted the following description:

A very clean hop, with a very orange, slight grapefruit, tropical pineapple, strawberry, and melon aroma.

Many people reports the same thing, melon and strawberries.

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I used 9% Crystal 130 malt and rest pale malt, I mashed in at 66 C. It’s pretty dark for a pale ale, it’s copper red (not as dark as the picture, guess that also depends on your screen). I used 300 gr hops (30, 15, 5, 0 minutes), I will add another ~200 gr dry hops (that’s total 1 lb for 5 gallons).

OG 1065
20 Liters (first fermentation)
Estimated ABV is 6.05%
Estimated IBU is 50

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Japanese Craftbeer

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Here is some bottles and cans I bought at the Tanakaya Beer Store in Meijiro, Tōkyō.

1. Amaou Oatmeal Black, Brewmaster (Fukuoka)
2. Rising Sun Pale Ale, Baird Brewing (Numazu). ### weak/watery
3. Teikoku IPA, Baird Brewing (Numazu). ### weak/boring
4. Yabai! Yabai! Strong Scotch Ale, Baird Brewing (Numazu). ### malty/nice
5. Coriander Black, North Island (Hokkaido). ### mildroasted/spicy
6. Apple Cinnamon, Sankt Gallen, (Atsugi-chi). ### weird/good
7. Yokohama XPA, Sankt Gallen, (Atsugi-chi). ### watery/boring
8. Shiga Kogen IPA, Tamamura Honten (Nagano). ### hoppy/clean
9. Shiga Kogen Porter, Tamamura Honten (Nagano). ### chocolate/sweet
10. Domestic Dry Stout, Tamamura Honten (Nagano). ### roasty/halfsweet
11. Pale Ale, Oh! La! Ho Beer (Nagano).

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1. Shimaguni Stout, Baird Brewing (Numazu). ### watery/boring
2. Red Rose Amber Ale, Baird Brewing (Numazu). ### watery/kindared
3. Angry Boy Brown Ale, Baird Brewing (Numazu). ### hoppy/fudge
4. Shiga Kogen Pale Ale, Tamamura Honten (Nagano). ### malty/hoppy
5. Pale Ale, Nagisa Beer (Wakayama). ### malty/nice
6. American Wheat, Nagisa Beer (Wakayama). ### malty/nowheat?
7. Golden Ale, Oh! La! Ho Beer (Nagano).
8. Kölsch, Oh! La! Ho Beer (Nagano).
9. Amber Ale, Oh! La! Ho Beer (Nagano).

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1. Hitachino Nest White Ale, Kiuchi Brewery (Ibaraki). ### tasteful/pale
2. Hitachino Nest Pale Ale, Kiuchi Brewery (Ibaraki).
3. Hitachino Nest XH, Kiuchi Brewery (Ibaraki). ### sake/boozy
4. Tokyo Black Porter, Yo-Ho (Nagano). ### coffe/mocha

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Last day and I’m drinking three industrial beers found at the 7/ll

1. Dry Black, Asahi. ### water/tasteless
2. Mugi to Hop Black (麦とホップ 黒), Sapporo. ### littleBody/notSoRoasty
3. Creamy Top Stout, Yebisu.

Short remarks will be added later when I’ve tasted them.

20121106-140710.jpgYou can see the twitters from November 3 and forwards for beers I had at the pubs in Tōkyō, I’m not reviewing them here, only on untappd and twitter.

Here’s a list of Japanese breweries.

Good pubs in Tōkyō.

I visited Pop Eye, Aldgate and Craftheads.