PP, how Far are you from Antarctica, If you can make the trip, you will understand White Stuff.

Oh, I thought All the Grass in Australia, was Brown, from lack of Rain.

PistolPatch wrote:Hope you don't mind us all just reading and enjoying ourselves Rick. Just wanted to say thanks for the great read and wtf is RIS?

In fact, that whole last sentence above you wrote, I am going wtf?

The pics are very good though and I can understand all of them except why your lawn is white. In Australia, they are green???

Ha, I guess that last sentence was a bit vague. RIS means Russian Imperial Stout. I want to put a beer like this into an old barrel to strip out a good deal of the aggressive flavors. This way I can age a lighter beer in there for a longer time before the oak overpowers it.

Brew day this coming Saturday.

It took me way too long to realize, but upgrading my kettle a while back really was costing me in propane. The burners I had were technically working fine (pair of SP10's), but only made it 2+ brew days per 20lb propane tank. There was also added time obviously, so I went ahead and upgraded my burners. It took me a matter of hours to sell the old ones, so that was nice. So, now I'm running three KAB4 burners for each of my identical 76Qt kettles. Oh yeah, I recently got another kettle, too ...

I basically have what is a 1bbl BIAB brewery.

On deck is;

- 10G VIF of 1.077 OG black rye imperial IPA (think FSW Wookie Jack).
- 11G VIF of my town famous 1.06 OG porter. Seriously, I don't even like porter that much and I seem to be making this every time. Folks around me really are connecting with it, so I will keep making it. The tweaks I made turned out as I had hoped, so there will be no changes to the proven recipe.
- 9.25G VIF of a 1.101 OG imperial stout that I am proving for bourbon barrel aging.

I might get a few bottles of the BIPA and Porter, the rest of it is already claimed. The stout I am keeping on lockdown until it is deemed worthy, taking a bit of a chance brewing this much at once, but I feel confident in the recipe from a theoretical perspective. 7G of it will stay in a cube while I ferment the remaining 2+ for experimentation sake.

I have sourced 15 and 31G barrels(both around $150-160), still not sure which I will invest in. The barrel will see the imperial stout for 3-4 mos, then Old Ale for about the same duration. Possibly a porter after that, and then hopefully it will be ready to become dedicated to holding a steady flow of Flander's Red for longer term aging.

flhb wrote:I've been looking for a black, rye, IPA recipe to brew. Do you mind sharing?

Not at all, here it is scaled to a more common volume ...

Modified from this source: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=333436" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[center]BIABacus RECIPE REPORT[/center]
[center]BIAB Recipe Designer, Calculator and Scaler.[/center]
[center](Please visit http://www.biabrewer.info" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for the latest version.)[/center]
[center]Recipe Batch Number and Dates[/center]

Recipe Overview

Brewer: Rick
Style:
Source Recipe Link:
ABV: 8.1% (assumes any priming sugar used is diluted.)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.077
IBU's (Tinseth): 90
Bitterness to Gravity Ratio: 1.17
Colour: 74.6 EBC = 37.9 SRM

Kettle Efficiency (as in EIB and EAW): 79.5 %
Efficiency into Fermentor (EIF): 71.6 %

Note: This is a Pure BIAB (Full-Volume Mash): Sacharification

Times and Temperatures

Mash: 90 mins at 65 C = 149 F
Boil: 90 min
Ferment:

Volumes & Gravities
(Note that VAW below is the Volume at Flame-Out (VFO) less shrinkage.)
The, "Clear Brewing Terminology," thread at http://www.biabrewer.info/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Total Water Needed (TWN): 37.13 L = 9.81 G
Volume into Boil (VIB): 34.29 L = 9.06 G @ 1.05

Volume of Ambient Wort (VAW): 23.11 L = 6.1 G @ 1.077
Volume into Fermentor (VIF): 20.82 L = 5.0 G (after hop absorbtion losses) @ 1.077
Volume into Packaging (VIP): 19.8 L = 4.5 G (after hop absorbtion losses) @ 1.015 assuming apparent attenuation of 80 %

The Grain Bill (Also includes extracts, sugars and adjuncts)

Note: If extracts, sugars or adjuncts are not followed by an exclamation mark, go to http://www.biabrewer.info" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (needs link)

75.8% Great Western PNW 2-Row (3.8 EBC = 1.9 SRM) 5636 grams = 12.43 pounds
9.1% Rye Malt (7 EBC = 3.6 SRM) 677 grams = 1.49 pounds
4.3% Caravienne (57.2 EBC = 29 SRM) 320 grams = 0.7 pounds
2.9% carafa ii sp(dehusked) (1150 EBC = 583.8 SRM) 216 grams = 0.48 pounds
2.9% Midnight Wheat (1466 EBC = 744.2 SRM) 216 grams = 0.48 pounds
5% Dextrose (1 EBC = 0.5 SRM) 372 grams = 0.82 pounds! (Boiled Only)

The Hop Bill (Based on Tinseth Formula)

46 IBU Warrior Pellets (15.6%AA) 32 grams = 1.129 ounces at 90 mins
17.5 IBU Amarillo Pellets (8.7%AA) 70 grams = 2.469 ounces at *9 mins (*flame out addition actually added at 0mins, 9 mins is for bittering calculation only)
26.5 IBU Citra Pellets (13.2%AA) 70 grams = 2.469 ounces at *9 mins (*flame out addition actually added at 0mins, 9 mins is for bittering calculation only)

0 IBU Amarillo Pellets (8.7%AA) 42 grams = 1.481 ounces (Dry Hopped after 5 days) *primary
0 IBU Mosaic Pellets (11.6%AA) 42 grams = 1.481 ounces (Dry Hopped after 5 days) *primary
0 IBU Amarillo Pellets (8.7%AA) 42 grams = 1.481 ounces (Dry Hopped after 10 days) *secondary
0 IBU Mosaic Pellets (11.6%AA) 42 grams = 1.481 ounces (Dry Hopped after 10 days) *seconday

Mash Steps

Mash Type: Pure BIAB (Full-Volume Mash): Sacharification for 90 mins at 65 C = 149 F

(withhold roasted grains for the first 60m of mashing, add for final 30m)

Strike Water Needed (SWN): 37.86 L = 10 G

Mashout for 1 mins at 77 C = 170.6 F

Chilling & Hop Management Methods

Hopsock Used: Y

Fermentation & Conditioning

Fermentation: Wyeast1028 for 10 days at 17 C = 62.6 F
Diacetyl Rest: 4 days at 20 C = 68 F
Secondary Used: Y
Crash-Chilled: N
Filtered: N
Req. Volumes of CO2: 2.25


Special Instructions/Notes on this Beer

Labels made for the upcoming three.

Beautiful labels.

jealous again

Thanks fellas!

Brew day went well, all targets hit.

Although, volume was low on the imperial stout ... so I ended up at 1.116 instead of 1.101. That, and I think my efficiency was better than anticipated.

The other two brews were dead on though.

10 days after pitching

1. 2G of the Imperial stout is currently at about 1.025, from 1.101 (I didn't decant the starter, as to dilute it from 1.116). I'll likely brew another batch of this, because it's already tasting pretty amazing from the fermenter. I'll target 7G at around 1.088 and mix with the remaining 7G of 1.116 to stay on 1.101 target. I need to hurry up so I can make use of the yeast cake that I have for the porter. Then I would have enough to fill a 15G barrel, with about 1G to spare to keep on deck for evaporation. I'm not sure how much evap I'll get over 4 mos, but 1G should give me a fighting chance. at least. I'll consider upping my volume for the second batch, since there is room in the kettle

2. Porter finished at 1.015, perfect.

3. Black IPA got stuck around 1.024 for a few days, ugh. Temp in my basement had it down to about 62 after the main fermentation, so I just moved it to the vicinity of my pellet stove, and it took off again. I'm taking another sample tonight, hoping it makes its way to the 1.015 target. My dry hopping schedule has been delayed as a result of this, no big deal really. I just hope this dries out a bit more, tastes pretty darn sweet to me.

Instead of a normal bottling regimen, I'm going to keg all of this .. and try to bottle with the "DIY beer gun" method. This way I can bottle as I need it, since there's way too much to bottle all at once.

I did a count, and I have 38.5 gallons currently fermenting in the house, and another 11 that is cubed. (all numbers VIP) :O

The stout just keeps dropping, down to 1.022 and still bubbling as of last night, craziness.

Black IPA still only at 1.02, so it's definitely unstuck. It's still bubbling away somewhat furiously, so I'll cross my fingers that it gets to at least 1.018 (which is where it ended last time and was quite good).

Half of the porter batch will be put on lightly toasted coconut, because why not? 12oz for about 2 weeks.

MS and I developed a racking cane holder/guide ... and I also enabled it to double as an grommet/airlock holder. Will post pics once I get it onto my fermenter. It just looks like confusing metal parts until you see it in action.

I don't know if these would be stuck Rick? Some are pretty high gravity. Also, and I'm not sure this is right, but I reckon my darker brews finish higher than my lighter ones. For example, if I brew a Schwarz which from memory the recipe I use is an OG of 1.054, it usually finishes at 1.018.

Always love reading this thread as it gives me another chance to admire your labels .

PistolPatch wrote:I don't know if these would be stuck Rick? Some are pretty high gravity. Also, and I'm not sure this is right, but I reckon my darker brews finish higher than my lighter ones. For example, if I brew a Schwarz which from memory the recipe I use is an OG of 1.054, it usually finishes at 1.018.

Always love reading this thread as it gives me another chance to admire your labels .

Yeah, usually I'll get 1.010-1.012 for a similar IPA of lighter color. I've only brewed this black IPA 3 times, but this beer has finished at 1.016 and 1.018 before. This hydro sample at 1.020 wasn't bad, but it was noticeably sweet. The 3 recipes have altered slightly, so there's that. I don't expect less than 1.015 for this one. The other two brews I have going, I'm thrilled with the attenuation.

The black IPA was stuck at 1.024 for 3 days prior to my moving it to a warmer area. 2 days later it's at 1.020. Ugh, that 1.024 sample was cloying ... so I suppose I should be happy that it dropped to where it did.

chlehb wrote:Your setup looks awesome! I love the idea that you're running a BIAB brewery
I dig the labels, they're pretty much 180° in the other direction of what I'd too, that's what I like about them!
You got any pictures of the labels on bottles?

Thanks!

An intersection I used to live was Reliance Rd. and Conestoga Way, and I knew of the wagon's origin in my state. Everything kinda happened by itself in that regard. That, and I'm red/green colorblind which lends to the limited spectrum that I can work with on the theme.

I took all of these photos a few years ago, but the labels generally look great on the bottle. Sometimes they are a bit too dark, but I can easily correct that the next time around. I had a stamp made up for the caps.

I'm a bit of a wannabe brewery at the moment, but I'm fine with that.

Update on the brews

Black IPA: is surely finished at 1.020. This bums me out ... but I can't fret over .002 higher than the last time. There's something psychologically dissonant about an IPA finishing above the teens for me, but I'm just going to have to accept it. I'll up my dextrose percentage in future brews to ensure it gets down a bit more. I'm not giving up on the english yeast here, as I really like the character it brings to this beer. US-05 or any chico strain would be the obvious solution, but I'm simply not going there for this recipe. This is currently in secondary for second dry hop.

Imperial Stout: On the flip side, the stout is down to 1.020 as well, which is pretty incredible for an english strain (wyeast 1028). It's tasting a bit sharp on alcohol, but that's to be expected. Nothing crazy as you would experience with too high a fermentation temperature, it's just a high ABV kinda thing. Time will have to round this one out, as expected. Still tastes great, though. I had 7 more gallons in a cube @ 1.116, which I dumped onto the porter's yeast cake. There was also enough extra porter (that didn't fit into the two kegs) to blend/dilute to about 1.106. I'm happy with that, and it saves me from brewing another batch. I originally intended for 1.101, and had a bit too much boil off. Having 2 brew partners that day really split my attention, and I'm a terrible multi-tasker.

Porter: I transferred half of the batch of porter onto lightly toasted coconut flakes ... both are carbing naturally in a keg. These will be first to bottle.

flhb wrote:

Rick wrote: Porter: I transferred half of the batch of porter onto lightly toasted coconut flakes ... both are carbing naturally in a keg. These will be first to bottle.

Do you use a beer gun to transfer to bottles from the keg?

Kinda, I shove a modified 3/8" racking cane into a party tap, and use a #2 or #3 stopper to seal for counter pressure. I used to bottle the old way until recently, then switched over since acquiring 4 pin lock corny kegs for free.

flhb wrote:

Rick wrote: Kinda, I shove a modified 3/8" racking cane into a party tap, and use a #2 or #3 stopper to seal for counter pressure. I used to bottle the old way until recently, then switched over since acquiring 4 pin lock corny kegs for free.

No oxidation problems? I've seen those before and I think that is the strategy that I'm going to take.

None at all, oxygen doesn't have much of a chance to contact the beer this way. Standard bottling buckets that come with a kit, that method sees plenty of O2, and I had no issues with that either. Even transferring to my bottling bucket with my ultra fast 1/2" ID auto siphon produced no noticeable oxidation. I really wonder what people are doing out there to oxidize their beer, sometimes I even wonder if I would have issues if I put my beer through a blender prior to bottling. :D

BDP wrote:Hi Rick,

I love dipping into this thread from time to time. Very inspiring stuff .

I was intrigued by one of your earlier posts regarding your burner upgrade, and how it's reduced your propane consumption. I'm interested to learn how that logic applies (because I have the same problem methinks), as I would have thought that a 'hotter' burner would consume more propane. I trust you'll have the answer for me

Cheers,
BDP

I wouldn't say that I was saving much propane with the new burners, but the KAB4 certainly helps reach temperature MUCH faster than the SP10. I'll still only get about three 12G batches per 20lb tank, at best. Each burner consumed about 7lbs last brew day, but I think I can do better with adjusting the regulator next time.

Alright, as promised I said I would post pictures of the latest project.

MS approached me for a solution to hold an autosiphon 'perfectly' vertical w/ height adjustment, and we ended up going the route of a racking cane for a multitude of reasons. His goal was to empty his no-chill cubes unattended, and we both had a 3/4" NPT thread in common on our cubes. Thing is, I wanted something to adapt to my fermenter as well, to double as a cane guide, holder ... and would also accept a grommet for an airlock. His idea, so I ran with it.

I first began with a connection to my fermenter, because I only had an inside diameter (ID) thread gage for 3/4" pipe thread, with this part I could then use it as a gage to make the item that MS was seeking.

Pc 1 (with a nut). This is a similar connection that you see for a bottling bucket tap, except I scaled it up to a 1.25"-16 OD thread. I own one hole saw and it is for this diameter, so it made sense to use this size to keep me from having to buy another hole saw. I suppose I could bring the lid into work and use elaborate CNC equipment to machine the hole, but that's pretty ridiculous when you have a hole saw and a drill at home. I chose a 16 pitch thread, because I wanted at least three threads on the nut, which is only about 1/4"(6mm) thick. The ID thread is 3/4" NPT, which we will need to mount the guide. Below is the guide itself on the left, as well as mounted to my connection. There is a set screw in the guide to the left, this will help control height. On the right is a screw and o-ring to seal the hole when using for an airlock. I have since switched to button-head screws for a better seal, and I am looking to move to using a set screw with a soft tipped dog, as to not scratch the racking cane. We have them at my work, I just haven't been able to find them yet.
Below you see it attached to my fermenter lid (the guide will also attach to a Reliance Aqua-tainer cube lid, as well as MS' cube setup);
You can't really see it, so I drew this up to illustrate the airlock seal. It'll work with the red grommet seen above, as well as typical black rubber airlocks with the groove in the middle. Notice the green line within the red circle. I put a little radius seat to pinch the airlock at teh very top of the assembly, or it will simply ride in the groove of the black grommet to hold it in place. That's it, I thank MS for the idea ... and when used with this racking idea it's going to prove to be a very useful setup.