Blood, sweat, tears and beers

I may just rename yesterdays brew to Blood, Sweat and Tears Pale Ale because I think a few drops of each landed into the mash.

I managed to skin myself while milling my grain which bleed a lot for such a tiny injury, worked out and got very sweaty, and also had to carry my son who was in "Baby Meltdown" mode for the better part of the morning.

Thankfully those all fell into the beer pre-boil while stirring the mash. Who knows maybe it will enhance the beer slightly? Blood will fortify it with iron, sweat will give it some funk and baby tears are rich in vitamin R and sadness.

Anyway, now that summer is finally upon us 'no-chilling' my beers is taking a lot longer. Gone are the days of -20C (with a wind chill of -40C...) where I can move my boiled wort outside for an hour or so and have it at pitching temperature. Instead a 24 hour period is usually needed to get the wort to below 15C. First World problems eh?

Hmmm... What else? I bottled the Torchlight IPA last weekend and made up some SkeeterPee a few weekends before that. I should probably bottle that too.

Oh yeah! I also went to Calgary BeerFest (sorry no pics) and sampled a boatload of really awesome (and a couple not-so-awesome) beers and meads. I really need to update the Master List with those new beers because I am sure it brings me over 800 commercial brews sampled!

Bradinator's Brews - Border Crossing Pale Ale (SMaSH Series)

Description: A simple pale ale dedicated to the not so simple process of crossing the border.

Style: Pale Ale
Batch Size (Gallons): 4.0
OG: 1.055
Est.FG(ABV): 1.010 (6.0%)
IBU: 45
Color: 4 SRM
Mash: 60 minutes, BIAB Single Infusion w/ sparge, 151-153F (4.0 gallon mash, 2.0 gallon sparge)
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60   
Planned Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days at 65 degrees, 2 week in bottles

Grains/Adjunts (7.5 lbs) - 
7.5 lbs Superior Pale Ale Malt

Hops (2.0 oz) -
1 oz Northern Brewer @ First Wort Hopping
1 oz Northern Brewer @ 5 minutes

Yeast/Misc -
Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast

Re-filling the pipeline

I must drink a lot more beer then I realize because I am finding my pipeline rather empty. Actually thats not true; I never let that happen. What I do find is all that remains is my sub-par, so-so beers I am not really interested in drinking.

Towels keeping my BIAB mash at temperature. Then used to clean up the horrible mess I will make.

The only way to remedy that is to brew as much as possible in the next couple months.

It's only been a couple days since I made the all Amarillo IIPA, but I figured I could squeeze another brew in. Unfortunately my current setup really only allows for one brew to be under temperature control so I am going to need to shuffle the IIPA out and put todays brew in.

I also made the error of thinking I had more yeast then I actually do and found myself in want of some Nottingham. Thankfully I had some SafAle Lager S-23 I washed from a previous batch on hand which should fill this niche.

And here is hoping I can squeeze in an hour today to bottle the Centennial-Type which I dry hopped last weekend.

Bradinator's Brews - Torchlight IPA (SMaSH Series)

Style: IPA
Batch Size (Gallons): 4.5
OG: 1.052
Est.FG(ABV): 1.010 (5.5%)
IBU: 75
Color: 4 SRM
Mash: 60 minutes, BIAB Single Infusion w/ sparge, 151-153F (4.0 gallon mash, 2.5 gallon sparge)
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60   
Planned Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days at 65 degrees, 2 week in bottles

Grains/Adjunts (8.0 lbs) - 
8.0 lbs Superior Pale Ale Malt

Hops (4.0 oz) -
1 oz Citra @ First Wort Hopping
1 oz Citra @ 10 minutes
1 oz Citra @ 5 minutes
1 oz Citra @ 0 minutes

Yeast/Misc -
SafLager S-23Yeast, washed from previous batch.

Ending worlds, one hop at a time

I have all of my hops and grain in stock for the SMaSH series I have planned, including a few ounces of Citra that I bought from a co-worker that also brews. That my friends, is quite a lot of hops.

Last night was another late night at work and they have recently mandated we cut back on the overtime we charge by taking time off in lieu. I figured that this was a perfect opportunity to get the brew I was planning to do last weekend.

The World Ender IIPA is my first attempt at a double SMaSH. I am hoping I am able to strike a nice balance of malt and hops, but this could prove difficult with a single malt and hop brew.

There is not much else to add about this brew day as it went normal like usual.

I guess I did first wort hopping instead of my 60 minute addition... For smooth bitterness. Basically that means a less 'biting' bittering in the final product. I have done it before in another IIPA I did way back but honestly could not really tell if the bittering was any less harsh.

I have high hopes for this brew. Amarillo is a nice hop and I think it will pair well with Pale Ale Malt.

Bradinator's Brews - World Ender IIPA (SMaSH Series)

Style: IIPA
Batch Size (Gallons): 4.0
OG: 1.075
Est.FG(ABV): 1.010 (8.5%)
IBU: 65
Color: 6 SRM
Mash: 60 minutes, BIAB Single Infusion w/ sparge, 151-153F (4.5 gallon mash, 2.25 gallon sparge)
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60   
Planned Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 28 days at 60 degrees, 4 week in bottles

Grains/Adjunts (12.5 lbs) - 
12.5 lbs Superior Pale Ale Malt

Hops (6.0 oz) -
1 oz Amarillo @ First Wort Hopping
1 oz Amarillo @ 15 minutes
1 oz Amarillo @ 10 minutes
1 oz Amarillo @ 5 minutes
2 oz Amarillo, dry hopped for 7 days

Yeast/Misc -
Nottingham Yeast, washed from previous batch.

Beer Review - Megadestroyer Imperial Licorice Stout

Name: Megadestroyer Imperial Licorice Stout
Brewery: Howe Sound Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout (10%)

It's not very often I actively hunt for a beer, but this one I did. Worst off is that someone offered to buy it for me weeks before and I passed on it. Several weeks later another co-worker knowing of my plight found a bottle at a far off beer store and grabbed a couple.

A brown-black stout, it pours thick with a big, cream coloured head.

The aroma is just what you would expect with strong aromas of chocolate and licorice. The palette is similar, filled with a strong bitter-sweet chocolate character right up front and finishing with a lingering and very discernible licorice aftertaste. There is some definite boozy quality to this beer as well but at 10% its to be expected.

The mouth is creamy and heavy bodied. Lots of heat from the alcohol leaves a tingling on the tongue.

Was it worth hunting this one down? Absolutely. Though I think I enjoyed Pot Hole Filler a touch more, this one was every bit as great as I was anticipating.

9 out of 10