The subtitle of this blog is "a subsistence brewer contemplates the larger world." That's a bit of an inside joke. A couple of years ago I read a toast to the subsistence brewer and identified with every line of it, especially this line: "to everyone who would rather have those three unmarked bottles than a chance at a medal." I still strongly identify with this, and treat homebrewing as a pleasurable household chore akin to putting up jam when fruit is cheap or making bread or freezing a big batch of spaghetti sauce.
But there are benefits to competitions that appeal, like the opportunity to get feedback to become a better brewer. I like my beer, my wife likes my beer, and my friends like my beer. This is good, but we all suffer from the bias of knowing the brewer to be a great guy...no, really...and I'd be shocked if any of my beers could win a competition. I am the hardest critic of my beer, and I'd appreciate occasional, unbiased feedback from knowledgeable brewers. You can get this from a homebrew club, but even then there can be a bias...who wants to tell a guy you've just met that his beer tastes like turpentine (maybe I just need to make it to more meetings)? I've avoided competitions in the past because they tend to be so focused on style guidelines, and I still look to that aspect with a gimlet eye. I'm not so concerned with finding out that my beers aren't to style. But to hear about any identifiable flaws the judges can spot that I can trouble shoot would be worth the price to play.
So, that's one reason why I've just entered three beers into the Dominion Cup. This will be my first competition after 12 years of brewing. I'm still a subsistence brewer—I'll be submitting what I've got on hand, rather than brewing beers specifically for the competition: a Black IPA, a Berliner Weisse, and a Barleywine. Also proof that I'm still a subsistence brewer? I'm not quite willing to part with the last few bottles' worth of my ordinary bitter...also not sure how to get it into bottles from the keg!
Mostly, though, I'm looking forward to the social aspect of the competition. Homebrewers tend to be a fun lot to hang out with. If I can have fun on a Saturday in August, and get some pointers on my brew, this should be a worthy endeavor.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Brewing Black Abandon CDA
This one is stolen inspired by the Northern Brewer Black IPA recipe. Last month, my wife and I had been enjoying O'Connor Brewing Company's Dismal Swamp Black IPA as it migrated through the tap lists of the various bars and restaurants of the Bellevue neighborhood in Richmond. I really like OBC's take on the style—it's hoppy and chocolately and oh so well balanced, with a touch of ::Horrors!:: diacetyl butterscotch that I enjoy (so sue me, I used to live in Yorkshire).
Knowing it wasn't going to last forever, I was informed that this was our next beer. Being more of a 3% English pale ale brewer, and at a loss for how to create such a thing as this, I turned to that great recipe repository, the Northern Brewer catalog. On a side note, I seriously love that thing. So many homebrewing resources and companys are poorly done, but the NB catalog is gorgeous. I relied on NB when I lived in the hinterlands for ingredients, and I still send them my custom when I can't get something at my awesome local shop (oak-smoked wheat malt, anyone?).
This recipe is for a 10-gallon batch. I bottled half the batch after following the instructions to the letter, and kegged the other half with an ounce of Citra hops. I rarely bottle, so these might get entered in the Dominion Cup, which would be my very first competition entry ever.
On to the Recipe:
BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Black Abandon CDA
Brewer: Vince Dongarra
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 13.09 gal
Post Boil Volume: 11.96 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 10.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.075 SG
Estimated Color: 30.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 79.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.7 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 1 -
25 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 2 84.7 %
1 lbs Caramel Malt - 80L 6-Row (Briess) (80.0 Grain 3 3.4 %
12.0 oz Carafa Special III (Weyermann) (470.0 SR Grain 4 2.5 %
12.0 oz Chocolate (Crisp) (630.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.5 %
2 lbs Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 6 6.8 %
2 oz Summit [17.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 50.4 IBUs
2 oz Chinook [11.80 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 15.2 IBUs
2 oz Centenial Type [9.70 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 10.1 IBUs
2 oz Cascade [6.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 3.5 IBUs
2 oz Centenial Type [10.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
4.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 12 -
2 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge w/ mashout
Total Grain Weight: 29 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 8.59 gal of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Step Add 5.16 gal of water at 198.6 F 168.0 F 10 min
Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 3.44gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------
6/28/2012 Dry Hopped in one primary with one oz of Cascade pellets, to be bottled as part of brewing presentation on 6/30/12. Dry hopped the other with 0.6 oz of whole cascade (11% aa!), and plan to keg hop with Citra.
kegged half with 1 oz of Citra, bottled the other half in presentation. Had serious siphoning issues with the whole-hopped version—lost some serious volume and aerated everything due to a bad seal in the siphon starter...put it on tap immediately to slow down any resulting oxidation.
Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 | |
| First-year cascade in the background. |
Knowing it wasn't going to last forever, I was informed that this was our next beer. Being more of a 3% English pale ale brewer, and at a loss for how to create such a thing as this, I turned to that great recipe repository, the Northern Brewer catalog. On a side note, I seriously love that thing. So many homebrewing resources and companys are poorly done, but the NB catalog is gorgeous. I relied on NB when I lived in the hinterlands for ingredients, and I still send them my custom when I can't get something at my awesome local shop (oak-smoked wheat malt, anyone?).
This recipe is for a 10-gallon batch. I bottled half the batch after following the instructions to the letter, and kegged the other half with an ounce of Citra hops. I rarely bottle, so these might get entered in the Dominion Cup, which would be my very first competition entry ever.
On to the Recipe:
BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Black Abandon CDA
Brewer: Vince Dongarra
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 13.09 gal
Post Boil Volume: 11.96 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 10.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.075 SG
Estimated Color: 30.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 79.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.7 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 1 -
25 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 2 84.7 %
1 lbs Caramel Malt - 80L 6-Row (Briess) (80.0 Grain 3 3.4 %
12.0 oz Carafa Special III (Weyermann) (470.0 SR Grain 4 2.5 %
12.0 oz Chocolate (Crisp) (630.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.5 %
2 lbs Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 6 6.8 %
2 oz Summit [17.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 50.4 IBUs
2 oz Chinook [11.80 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 15.2 IBUs
2 oz Centenial Type [9.70 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 10.1 IBUs
2 oz Cascade [6.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 3.5 IBUs
2 oz Centenial Type [10.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
4.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 12 -
2 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge w/ mashout
Total Grain Weight: 29 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 8.59 gal of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Step Add 5.16 gal of water at 198.6 F 168.0 F 10 min
Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 3.44gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------
6/28/2012 Dry Hopped in one primary with one oz of Cascade pellets, to be bottled as part of brewing presentation on 6/30/12. Dry hopped the other with 0.6 oz of whole cascade (11% aa!), and plan to keg hop with Citra.
kegged half with 1 oz of Citra, bottled the other half in presentation. Had serious siphoning issues with the whole-hopped version—lost some serious volume and aerated everything due to a bad seal in the siphon starter...put it on tap immediately to slow down any resulting oxidation.
Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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