Sunday Homebrewing
I am about to start beer number 3 from the Wyeast 1056 American Ale series, and figured I’d get y’all up to speed.
About 3 weeks ago, I made what I’m calling “The Simcoe Bomb”: this delicious ale was made from 10 pounds of 2-row pilsen malt, 1 pound pf German CaraFoam (gives a nice head), 1 pound of light 2-row Munich malt, and a pound of US white wheat malt (again, for a nice head). We hopped aggressively with Simcoes: if you live in Philadelphia and enjoy Yards Philly Pale Ale, you know the flavor this hop imparts. The beer smells like grapefruits and weed.
Unfortunately, while the beer is delicious, it didn’t hit my target for alcohol content: I learned that I needed to increase my base malt by about 2 pounds, mash for two hours instead of one, and to increase my sparge water to 175 degrees.
So I did that for the next batch of beer, using the Wyeast 1056 sludge from the Simcoe Bomb. I used 11 pounds of 2-row pale malt, a pound of caramel-crystal malt, a pound of Carafoam, and a pound of either biscuit or Vienna malt. One ounce of Warrior hops went into the boil, followed by an ounce of East Kent Goldings at the half-hour, and an ounce of Fuggles at the end. This time I hit my target, and when kegged, I’ll have a yummy 6/5% alcohol beer. I suspect the hops profile is going to be a bit muted by the overpowering malt profile, so I’m expecting something more like a Scotch ale (which I’m not a huge fan of).
Be that as it may, I have another batch or two to go before the Wyeast 1056 is exhausted, so tomorrow I’m making a porter (when re-using yeast, you go from lighter-colored beers to darker).
here’s my recipe:
10 pounds of British Mild Ale malt
2 pounds of Maris Otter malt
3/4 pound of chocolate malt
1/2 pound of black patent malt
1 ounce of Pilgrim hops at the boil
1 ounce of Bramling Cross at the 1/2 hour
1 ounce of Bramling Cross at 5 minutes.
This porter will be done before the aforementioned amber is out of the secondary. I may have to buy a third keg.
