West Coast Wheat Beer

We're getting low on the summer blonde ale, our easy-drinking summer beer, so before we get in a bad spot I figured it was time to brew up another light-and-tasty ale for the California summers. This recipe is based loosely on the American Wheat Beer recipe provided by Gordon Strong in Modern Homebrew Recipes. I modified it slightly to match my preferred yeast brand (White Labs) and to end up with a smaller quantity into the fermenter. Additionally, I wanted to use up some ingredients I had on-hand, so I used a different hops selection (the American blend of Falconer's Flight, instead of primarily European hops). Additionally, I'm using a straight-up batch sparge technique rather than the step and decoction stated in the recipe.

Of course, this overall departure from "beer scripture" might freak out some...but it's all in the tradition of "Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew." I had the good fortune to catch Strong's talk at the 2015 AHA meeting, and he emphasized that his recipes are guidelines, not proscriptions for or against certain techniques. He noted that everyone has different equipment and different preferences, all of which can generate excellent beer. I like this philosophy!

West Coast Wheat Beer

• 5 lbs. white wheat malt
• 3.5 lbs. 2-row malt (Great Western Malting Co.)
• 0.75 lbs. Munich malt
• 0.75 lbs. rice hulls
• 1 oz. Falconer's Flight hops pellets (9.6% alpha, 4.4% beta; alpha acid adjusted for age), 20 minute boil
• 1 oz. Falconer's Flight hops pellets (9.6% alpha, 4.4% beta; alpha acid adjusted for age), 1 minute boil
• 1 pkg. California Ale V (White Labs WLP051), prepared 24 hours in advance in 0.75 L starter

Procedure

• I mashed in with 13.4 quarts of water at 160.4°. This precisely hit my mash target of 150°. The mash was at 149° after 30 minutes and 146° after 60 minutes.
• I added 1.25 gallons of water at 175°, which raised the temperature of the mash bed to 152°. I let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected 3 gallons of wort.
• Next, I added 3 gallons of water at 182°, which raised the temperature of the mash bed to 166°. Once again, I let it rest for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the remainder of the wort.
• I had a total of 6 gallons of wort at 1.045 gravity, which works out to ~73% efficiency. The gravity was a little higher than I wanted, so I added a half gallon of water to bring the total boil volume up to 6.5 gallons.
• I brought the wort to a boil, and let it boil for 40 minutes before I added the first charge of hops. One minute before flame-out, I added the last charge of hops.
• After flame-out, I chilled the wort down to 80° using my wort chiller (couldn't manage much cooler with the warm weather!) and transferred the wort into my fermenter. I pitched the yeast starter and sealed it all up. I placed the yeastified wort into my fermentation chamber, and set the temperature for 68°. I will lower it a touch once fermentation has started, down to 66°.
• All total, I ended up with 5 gallons of wort in the fermenter, with a starting gravity of 1.048.

Beer Tasting: Summer Blonde Ale 1.1

My Summer Blonde Ale 1.1 has been carbonating and conditioning in the keg for the past month, so now is as good of a time as any to sample it. We've really been enjoying this beer, and I think it's definitely earned its place as a "go-to" summer recipe.

• The Basics
• Starting gravity = 1.047; final gravity = 1.009; abv = 5.0%; IBU = 21 (estimated)
• Appearance
• Clear (but not brilliant), light golden color; fine and fairly persistent white head.
• Aroma
• Lightly malty and ever so slightly fruity.
• Flavor
• Smooth and very lightly fruity maltiness; a delicate bitterness but certainly not prominent on that end. 
• Mouthfeel
• Medium carbonation, within bounds for the style; a light and smooth body with a nice light finish (just a hint of malt and hops).
• Would I brew this again?
• Certainly! This is my second iteration of the recipe (and first one to be kegged). Pretty much everything about it is spot-on as an easy-drinking summer beer. It also got pretty good marks at the recent homebrew club meeting, so I'll count that as a positive too.
• Overall rating
• 9/10

Brewing Update: Old Speckled Hen Clone and Red Oak Ale

Red Oak Ale sample

Tonight I transferred the Old Speckled Hen Clone and the Red Oak Ale (right) out of their respective primary fermenters and into their kegs. Visible fermentation had long since ceased for both.

Old Speckled Hen Clone
This beer had been in the primary fermenter for 10 days, with a reasonably vigorous fermentation. The Nottingham dry ale yeast was a little slow to start relative to the liquid yeasts I've been using lately, and didn't display signs of active fermentation until nearly 24 hours after pitching.

This beer had fermented down to 1.011, and is still a little hazy. I'm expecting that should settle out as the beer chills. The beer has a nice toffee color, and was a little more bitter than I expected. I think it is mainly because I had memories of a much more malt-forward beer; I expect this will come back to the fore as the beer conditions and the yeast continues to drop out. The distinct hops flavor is also probably due to the "spicier" English hops (where I usually have been using American hops in my other beers--I had forgotten how big the difference was!). Starting gravity was 1.055, which works out to 5.8% abv.

The kegged beer (~4.5 gallons) went directly into the keezer, where it is force carbonating under 13.5 psi at 42°.

Red Oak Ale
This beer showed vigorous fermentation within 9 hours of pitching the yeast. I agitated the beer a bit after 3 days (and once or twice more after that), following notes from yeast reviewers that the WLP041 strain tended to slow or stall out if left alone. I figured this was a good idea given the relatively high starting gravity, too (1.070).

The beer had fermented down to 1.015 over the past 18 days, with a gorgeously clear burn umber color (see above picture). This works out to 7.3% abv, one of the "bigger" beers I've done in some time. So far, I'm pretty happy with how it is turning out.

Before sealing up the keg, I added a mesh bag with 2 oz. of Willamette hops pellets for dry hopping. They'll stay in for ~14 days (or maybe even permanently). Tomorrow, I'll add 2 oz. of French oak chips (medium toast), boiled in water and contained in a mesh sack. Those will stay in for just a week before being pulled. I'm leaving the keg at room temperature for at least the next week.