Ingredients
Checked out some common grain bills in "Designing Great Beers" again and came up with the following. Also, we didn't have any Hallertau hops, but we did have Mt. Hood, and they're kinda similar in aroma (at least to me they are) so we went with that. Also, this is just for a five-gallon batch (in case we screw up royally).
| 12.5 lbs. Munich Malt |
| 1.5 lbs. Special B |
| 0.75 lbs. Crystal 40L |
| 0.75 lbs. Chocolate Malt |
| 2oz Mt. Hood (5.8 %AA) |
| WLP833 German Bock Yeast |
Mash Method
November 8, 2008
Well this mash is up in the air. We had our newly-redesigned probe thermometer all set up inside the mash tun with the exterior readout. When we struck with out 175°F water, the thermometer said our mash temp ws 154°F. Which is exactly where we want it. Shortly thereafter, however, the temperature dropped to 151, so we turned on the loop to heat up the mash. Then it skyrocketed up to 160. Then 165. Then 168. And this is after the loop was turned off.
I used another thermometer to check the mash temp, and it read 148. So clearly, something is amiss with our thermometer readings. Was the mash too hot? Too cold? Don't know either way. What we do know is it destroyed our efficiency (as will be seen later).
Brew Method
November 8, 2008
Straightforward boil. Got hot break, boiled, began hop additions.
T=60min
Added .75oz Mt. Hood (5.8% AA)
T=30min
Added 0.5oz Mt. Hood (5.8% AA)
T=15min
Added 0.25oz Mt. Hood (5.8% AA)
Added 1 tspn Irish Moss
T=15min
Added 0.5oz Mt. Hood (5.8% AA)
Fermentation
November 8, 2008
Well, finished our boil and hooked up our counterflow chiller. Got our OG of 1.056. CRAP! It was supposed to be 1.080! However, we did get 6 gallons as opposed to 5. So in order to calculate efficiency, that gravity comes to about 1.061 if we boiled off enough to get 5 gallons, and 61/80 = 76%, times our assumed 75% efficiency yields 57% efficiency. Which SUCKS. All attributable to uncontrolled mash temperature, which we just had no ability to track. Conflicting thermometer readings upwards of twenty degrees?? How can you accommodate that?
Anyways, we pitched the yeast and put the carboy in the basement fridge at its warmest setting (which right now is 45°F - optimal yeast temp is 48-55, but oh well). We'll see what happens.
December 11, 2008
Racked to secondary. The fermenter is very full, which is excellent. That means more beer! We cleaned out the keggerator and wiped it down with sanitizing wipes, and put the secondary inside. Currently it's between 39 and 41°F, a great lagering temperature.
Bottling
Tasting
Notes
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