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Taste Notes

Very nice beer. Pack a punch. I really like the hopping. I know it is off style but I like it. Very clear bright. Great head, thick, creamy white. The beer has great head retention Tasts a little thin but very drinkable. Very nice hop nose and inital sweetness, then hop with a dry finish. My best beer to date.

Notes

Brew # 6 This batch is a test run before brewing a full all grain batch. I am playing around with a variety of techniques and ingredients, corn sugar, open fermentation, Heff yeast in Witt grain profile, dry hopping. It could be a Frenkenstein but I just wanted a trial run before doin an all grain batch. Yeast Starter: 03/07/2012 - German Wheat WY3333. Estimated 48% viability. Estimated yeast needed 259M. Estimated number from starter 268M. - Removed yeast from fridge & Broke smack pack. - Boiled 3.4oz DME in 1000ml water. - Cooled water to 68ºF and pitched yeast. Yeast seemed very clumpy? - Stirred for 24 hours. Seemed to do well. Lots of volume. - Placed yeast in fridge. - Did a yeast starter using It was very clumpy in the pouch. Mash: 03/10/2102 - Removed starter from fridge. Very clumpy. Put it on stir plate and stirred until ready to pitch. Not sure about this. - Weighed grains and added to mash tun. - Heated total volume of water, 7.8gal to 156ºF and added 8qts to mash tun. Having trouble getting temperature up with the specified volume of water. Thermometer say 130ºF. No confidence in calculations at this point. - Added 1.6g Gypsum & 3.5g Chalk. Target water profile is Chimay. Used unfiltered tap water this time. - Checked on temp several time. It is not rising. - Added 8 additional quarts of 156ºF water and temp is only135ºF. Not sure what to do. I added more 156ºF water. I think it got to 143-145. - Left mash for 20 minutes - Heated remaining 6gal to 170ºF. - I figured out the problem. The thermometer tip was covered. What a dumb ass! I have no idea what my mash temperature was. I am now guessing around 150. I do not think that is a disaster. Was hoping for a lower temp for better attenuation. I also used a lot more water than I intended because I kept trying to raise the temp. I used 16qts rather than 8. I also need a better method of measuring water volume. To many unknowns and no confidence in various jugs used to measure. - Recirculated a couple of gallons of mash. - Sparged with remaining 4 gallons. No idea how long it took. I was very disorganized because of temp issue. - I am glad this is just a run through on full grain. There was a lot of learning going on. Boil: - Brought mash to a boil - 60min - Added 1/2oz Centennial hops & 15oz of corn sugar. - 15min - Added 4lb 6.4oz malt extract. - 15min - Placed wort chiller in pot. - 10min - Added 1.32oz Sweet Orange Peel & .32oz Coriander. I tried to crush coriander but probably need a food processor. Chiller: - Used an immersion chiller. Temp went from boiling to 68ºF in 25 minutes Fermentation: Target FG 1.011 Open Fermentation - Transferred wort to 7gal plastic bucket. Forgot to strain during transfer. Grrrrr!!! Ended up with about 6gal. I am not sure if my calculations are off or my water volume measurements are off. I need to use less water and top up if necessary. I do not like the idea of too much water. It will be interesting to see what the final batch volume is. - Took a gravity reading. 1.050. That is a little lower than my target of 1.053 but It could be due to water volume. - Aerated for 3 hours. Lots of foam. - Added 12 drops of Fermtab. Great stuff worked like a charm. - Pitched yeast at 66ºF. - Set temp controller to 66ºF so it can vary between 66ºF & 68ºF - Just set top on bucket, not sealed. Planning on doing an open fermentation. All anther yeast have started right away. Primary: Plan to start at 66ºF and finish around 79ºF. Raising temperature 3ºF after first 30% of fermentation. - Day 1 Brew Day 6 hours - No visible activity. Seems to be in a lag phase. It is a bit unsettling. All previous batches have started up right away. Yeast may be stressed? Too much temp fluctuation? I started at a lower temp 68ºF. That may have slowed things a bit. Went ahead and sealed lid. I will wait for fermentation to start to remove lid. I do not want anything to get into batch while it is in a lag phase. It is going to be hard to leave it alone. I am used to seeing what is going on through the carboy. Patience. God Is Good!!! -Day 2 12 Hours - Foam is rising. Leaving the top off. Roused the yeast. All looks good. Worrying for nothing. 20 Hours - 1.038 Gravity 30.7% complete. Raised temp controller 3ºF to 69ºF. This will allow fermentation to go to 71ºF. Huge white foam head. Thick, fluffy, and foamy. Not real creamy. - Day 3 - Roused yeast. Very creamy and active. - Day 4 - Roused yeast in the morning. Krausen falling in the afternoon. Fermentation slowing a lot. Not much activity. Put the lid on the bucket with an air lock. No bubbles. - Day 5 - No visable activity. Plan to move to SV on Saturday. - Day 6 - Bubbling a little today, 4/min. I am a little surprised. I do not think the top was sealed well. It is hard to tell. This is my first batch with a bucket. Plan to move to SV tomorrow. Secondary: - Day 7 - Racked to SV. Gravity 1.006. Light straw color. Bubbling 10/min. Hope I do not have an infection. It had a strong alcohol smell. Taste fine though. - Day 8 - 4 bubbles/min - Day 9 - 1 to 2 bubbles/min - Day 10 - No activity. Air lock has equalized. Beer seems to have darkened considerably. It is hard to tell with the celar lighting. - Day 29 - Racked to SV & cold crashed - Day 34 Kegged. Forced carbonate to 4. Beer is very clear