Broke a carboy yesterday.  I was just finished cleaning it out and it dropped into the bathtub and smashed into a billion pieces.  It totally sucked.  I still transfered two batched and brewed an IPA, but the day was an overall downer.

Batch #11: Brew Day 2011-01-23

• 9 lb Munich Malt
• 1 lb Crystal 90
• 1/3 lb Chocolate Malt
• 2 lb Briess Pilsen Light DME
• 2.1 oz (3%) Hallertau pellets @60 min
• .6 oz Hallertau pellets @20 min
• .6 oz Halleratu pellets @1o min
• Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager

Targets:

• OG: 1.066
• FG: 1.016
• SRM: 23
• IBU: 23
• ABV: 6.7%

Single infusion mash (no more fancy crap) of 10.3 lb grist in 16 qt water for a ratio of 1.55 qt/lb.  Calculated strike water temp at 167*F for a target mash temp of 155*F.  I think i came close to my target, the mash temp was pretty stratified, so it was hard to trust the temp readings.

Sparge with 16 qt at 168*F, collected 6 gal at a corrected 1.042, for 252 total gravity points.  I had done my recipe assuming 75% efficiency, which would have given me 275 pts. My actual efficiency was more like 67%.

Adding 2 lb of extract brings in another 88 pts, so to get my target OG of 1.066, I should have 5.15 gal at the end of the boil.

Got distracted and left the hop bag in for probably another 30 min after flameout.  Used the new stainless steel racking cane to siphon the hot wort through the counterflow chiller, but had serious problems maintaining the siphon.  Chilling ended up being a disaster, with all kinds of potential contamination sources, and aeration of hot wort.  If ever I was going to make a beer with homebrew funk, this would be that beer.  In all the chaos, I didn’t even take an OG reading.  Put the fermenter out by the back storage closet where its pretty cool.

I’ve officially sworn off the counterflow chiller.  Way more trouble than it’s worth.  I’m just going to go to the hardware store to get a 50 ft length of 3/8″ copper to make a bigger immersion chiller.  Its more sanitary, and it keeps me more sane.

[2011-05-31] Tasting notes:

Kept on the gas at about 11psi and 43F, moderate tan head that fades within a couple minutes. Brown in color. Aroma of caramel/toffee and a hint of coffee. Little to no hop aroma. The tang of the carbonation plays against a malty sweetness, and it finishes with a kick of coffee flavor. The feel is neither cleanly dry nor chewy sweet. This beer has more character than I think I expected. The lady of the house seems to prefer it to the smoky stout (the other current draft offering).

Now that I’ve bought the counterpressure bottle-filling rig, I need to bottle a few of these to pass around for judgement.

It’s 1-20-11 and I’ve finally planned my first brew of the season (I don’t brew in the summer so I consider the fall/winter to be my brewing season) for this upcoming weekend.  I usually start around November, but this year has been super busy and I haven’t had time.  Also, I went a little crazy last season and ended up brewing 15 batches of beer.  I still have a few full kegs hanging around, so I am going to scale back a bit this season.  I’ve posted recipes up before, but brewing is certainly not only about recipes.  Here are a few other practices that I’ve work out.  They may not be the best way of doing things, but they are the best way I’ve found.

• Grain:  I’ve pretty much completely stopped buying recipe kits.  I still do a lot of clones and use pre-existing recipes, but I buy the ingredients in bulk and break off what I need for each recipe.  For my base grains I buy 55 lb sacks from my local homebrew shop, The Homebrew Emporium, in Cambridge .  i just picked a sack of US 2-row for $60 last night.  I know I could get it cheaper online, but I don’t have a grain mill so I still need to use one in a store.  Besides that the guys at the Emporium absolutely rock.  They are a great resource for any brewing questions I have, are always really helpful and very nice.  They absolutely deserve to stay in business.  I buy my specialty grains from them as well.  I don’t need to mill the entire sack at once.  As I need base grain for each recipe I bring what I need from home to the store to mill.  Since I bought the sack from them they are totally cool with me doing this.
• Hops: Hops I do buy online.  The two main sites I use are www.freshops.com and www.hopsdirect.com.  Freshops sell only whole leaf hops and are a bit more expensive, but you can get whatever quanity you want.  I am in love with hopsdirect.  The prices are insanely low.  A pound of Cascade hops is current going for $9.65.  The only issue is the smallest size you can get is a pound.  Typically I buy pellets (a pound of whole leaf hops takes up way too much space) and freeze them in airtight bags.
• Yeast: Typically I buy yeast from my local homebrew shop, but I typically reuse a package of yeast 3 or 4 times to get maximum value.
• Water: I use tap water that I run thru a Brita Filter.  I used to buy bottled water, but with all-grain brewing the amount of water required is too much to go bottled.
• Problems with bulk ingredients:  Buying bulk ingredients can save you a good chunk of money, but there are issues.  The biggest issue is maintaining freshness.  By airlocking my hops and freezing them I can greatly increase their usable life.  It is not uncommon for me to use hops from the previous season.  I don’t carry grain over from season to season, but you can keep your grain fresh by storing it in a cool, dark place.  Also, cracked grain should be used within 2 weeks, but can last out to about a month.  Another issue with buying in bulk is you may very well be tying yourself into a certain type of beer for a while.  With something like US 2-row grain it’s not a big deal because you can make a ton of different types of beers with it, but a 55 lb sack of Belgian Pilsner is not nearly as versatile.  I bought a 1 lb bag of Columbus hops last season.  At 14% alpha acid it is a slow grind getting thru the whole bag.