Charlie’s first brew as all-grain brewmaster. He selected an Alt beer as another German option for Oktoberfest. He got the recipe off the ‘net, a rye Alt.
Grain Bill-
- 6# Pilsner malt
- 2.25# Rye malt
- 1.5# Munich malt
- 1/2# Crystal 60L (note- recipe called for 1# of Caramunich. Substituted 1/2 # of crystal for color, taste, & texture; and added 1/2# of Pilsner for the fermentables)
- 1/2# Biscuit malt
- 2 oz Pale Chocolate
Hop Bill-1 oz UK East Kent Golding 6.3% for 60 min (recipe called for 3 oz Spalt 2.6% but this is what STL Wine & Beer Making substituted out)
Yeast- Wyeast 2565 Kolsch (recipe called for Kolsch or German ale yeast) (Read Charlie’s yeast drama here)
Brewers- July 13, 2013
- Charlie U
- Dickie
- Rob
- Bob R
- Ellen K
- Tom V
- Sam
- Chisholm
Mash Schedule/ Double Decoction-
- Mash In- 10:15 AM at 135F strike temp for mash temp of 125F
- 10:45- First decoction, pull 1/3 of thickest part of mash raise to 160F 11:00 AM hold for 20 min
- Boil second kettle 15 minutes
- 11:45 Recombine and raise temp to 152F. Hold for 15 min.
- Noon- Pull 1/4 of mash into second kettle, raise to boil, hold 15 minutes
- 12:30- Recombine and raise temp to 160F, hold for 1 hour
- 1:30- Mash out, raise temp to 170F, hold 10 minutes
Lauter-
- 2:10- Recirculate failed. Stuck mash! Lauter stopped. This sucks.
- 2:30- Started from scratch on the Lauter. Poured back into kettle and cleaned lauter tun. Reset foundation water and Charlie held down the false-bottom with the large spoon. This needs to be the procedure from now on.
- 2:45- Finish 2nd recirculation, everything is much better.
- 3:45- Lauter complete
Boil-
- Begin to heat wort at 4:20
- Boiling at 4:40
- 5:00 PM add hops
- 5:45 Irish moss and heat exchanger
- 6:00 shut off heat
Cold break-
- 6:45- room temp
- Starting Gravity = 1.053 Perfect!
- Sample was good, sweet, mild, smooth with no off flavors and good malty aroma.
- Lots of wort, 6 gallons maybe
- Pitched yeast at 7PM
A good brew day. More good food, friends, and beer. Besides the stuck mash, it was a smooth running brew. All signs point to a good beer.
Charlie controlled the ship well today.
Fermentation-
“Bubble” reported before end of day.
Day 2- This brew blew its banks in the night as suspected. Not a lot of head space in the primary. Glad to see that Charlie has something to keep him busy.
Bottled- August 10
Gravity = 1.014. Beer tastes good. Should be a winner as long as it carbonates. Charlie bottled without Tom. With all the beer we’ve been brewing, we are in the bit of a bottle crisis.
Congrats on your first command, Charlie. Might as well get that first stuck mash out of the way early, then you won’t have to worry about it.
Found a great video that shows all the great ways to open a beer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHDWsR6qlZc#at=27