Brew Day at Last

So, I didn't brew over the weekend. It took until the following Thursday for me to mash in. I settled on making a Mild Ale (MB0030) for a couple of reasons. One, I was doing a stove top batch and needed something relatively low gravity, and two, so it would be ready for my 30th birthday party thins weekend (kegged, obviously). So I took a simple malt and hop bill, boiled in two separate pots, cooled the wort and pitched the English ale yeast. It sits in my basement waiting to be kegged as you read this.

Speaking of, tasting party on Saturday for my 30th. I'll be sure to report on it. It's titled "30 Beers for 30 Years". Should be a good time. Both Beer Geeks and non-geeks will be in attendance, so the beer list is vast, some gems, some BMC, and a lot in between. Food, folks, and fermented wort. does it get any better?

More to come.

Cheers,

Dave

I'm Brewing this Weekend

The title says it all. It's been WAAAAAY too long since I mashed in, like 8 months. That's unacceptable. I don't know what, and I don't know how or where, but some sugars will be converted and yeast will be pitched on Saturday.

Details to come.

Cheers,

Dave

Pints for Pets 2010

It's that time of year again, and even though I'm a bit late on the postage about this, there's still time to get tickets. The 3rd annual Pints for Pets Brewfest will be held at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona, PA on May 22nd. That's this Saturday! There are two sessions for you to attend, the afternoon session from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM, and the evening session From 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM. All proceeds will go to the Central PA Humane Society.

So back to the beer. Along with perennial favorites Otto's, Bullfrog, Marzoni's, North Country, Blue Canoe, Rivertowne and Voodoo, it looks as though the newest brewery to grace western PA in Full Pint Brewing will be in attendance. Needless to say I'm excited. This project brings together the brewing minds of North Country Brewing and Rivertowne Pourhouse in the form of a production brewery that will be bottling favorites from each brewery along with Full Pint creations of their own.

It should be a great day for a good cause.

Cheers,

Dave

It's been a long, long time . . . .

. . . . and I've been a bad, bad blogger. I've been back in the beer world for a while, but haven't really been compelled to write much, mainly because I haven't been brewing. Well, I'm hoping to remedy both issues.

So what's to come? Reviews some MB beers, some beers from the Bearded Brewer, and a review of the 3rd annual Pints for Pets.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Dave

The Ultimate Table Beer Bottled

So, after a long, long, long time, I finally bottled The Ultimate Table Beer (MB0028). I ended up reyeasting with Wyeast 1056 to make sure it carbed up (no flat Brett beer here!). This beer is in the midst of a name/identity overhaul as the finished product is not quite what I was shooting for. Check back soon for more details.

Cheers,

Dave

The Mothman Barley Wine is Bottled, and is Actually Decent

It took forever to boil. It sat in secondary for months. It got down to 1.011. Someone forgot to reyeast it. But all in all, the Mothman Barley Wine (MB0027) turned out surprisingly well. Though a bit undercarbed at this present juncture and being completely unsure whether or not it will ever carb up, the beer turned out. It has a prominent caramel flavor, a mouth-puckering bitterness, and a thirst-quenching dryness that makes this 9.0%+ quaff extremely dangerous. It was a hit recently at Brew Club, which surpassed any expectations I had of it. I'm glad there's still a bunch left.

Cheers,

Dave

WHAT! AN UPDATE!

Yes, it's been a long damn time. for those of you who stop in once in a while on a hope and a prayer, said hope and/or prayer has been answered. And thanks for sticking around. The past, what, 6 months since I last posted have been busy, obviously, but not much has gone on in Muckney World. I have been brewing with some buddies, but nothing specifically here at MB. Plus I've been out of the beer world for a bit. Well, it's time to get back into it. I'm talking actual updates, some more partial mash brewing here at MB, and getting back to that "buying local" thing I was talking about last spring.

A quick few tidbits - The Mothman Barleywine is in bottles , though slightly undercarbed, still delicious. The Ultimate Table Beer (name change coming) is going to be bottled soon, and some thoughts on upcoming beer events.

I'll see you all very soon. . . .if anyone's still listening.

Cheers,

Dave

PGE: Mothman Barley Wine

I recently transferred to secondary what has been dubbed (thanks to Craig) the Mothman Barley Wine (MB0027). The gravity was 1.025 and, thanks to the simmering pre-boil (read about it here), there's a HUGE caramel flavor along with a big floral nose from the Cascade hops. It has a moderate to high bitterness, pushing this closer to an American Strong Ale, or dare I say and Imperial IPA?? We'll have to see in a month or so when it's bottled, but whatever this big beer is, it looks to be tasty.

In other news, Hwart's Bitter (MB0029) is going to be transferred to secondary later this week. It's been fermenting for just over a week and smells pretty decent. Even with all the issues on brew day, I'm interested to see how it ends up.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,
Dave

Guess What! I Made Another Session Beer!

Sunday was the third Brew Day in the past week. And for the third time in as many brew sessions, the beer of choice was a session beer. After experimenting with The Ultimate Table Beer last week, I opted for a more traditional style this time. Enter Hwart's Bitter (MB0029).

I have been trying my hand at Bitters for a while, with such attempts as the Eagle and Child Mild (MB0015) and the Ode to the Halper Bitter (MB0026). The recipe for the latter had been used, with some modifications, in Nate's brewing course in May and, most recently, by Eric for his second extract batch this past Wednesday. So, with my new found interest in session beers (more to come), I decided to revisit the Halper and make some adjustments to it.

The inaugural version of OttH got some good reviews, but the biggest criticism was that it was a bit too sweet. Since that version, every subsequent batch has used less caramel malt. Nate's class's version cut the caramel malt in half, which lead to it being a bit to bitter. For Eric's version, we lowered the lovibond rating and reduced the caramel malt by only a quarter.

For Hwart's Bitter, the caramel malt and the bittering hops were both reduced by at least 40%, hopefully evening out the malt/hop ratio while cutting the sweetness. We'll have to see. As for now, it's bubblin' away.

Coming up this week - A look at the Parti-gyle barley wine, some thoughts on all grain, and what's next for MB.

A big thanks to Nate and Joe for helping out, and to the former for continued use of this AG rig.

Cheers,
Dave

PGE: The Ultimate Table Beer

The first of the two Parti-Gyle beers to ferment out, of course, was the small beer. Now, frankly, this beer isn't all that small. With a starting gravity of 1.040, it's going to get to around 4.5% ABV, instead of the sub 3% I was looking for. I guess this makes it an Imperial Table Beer? No. Oh, well.

Now as the post title indicates, I'm referring to this as the "Ultimate" Table Beer (MB0028). What makes it so ultimate? Well, for starters, primary fermentation used a Belgian Saison Yeast. After four days in primary and a specific gravity of 1.020, I racked the beer to secondary. I added to the carboy Brettanomyces bruxellensis. This will continue to ferment for the next 6 months, adding some funky flavors to the beer.

I've been a fan of Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Biere for quite some time now, which was the inspiration for this beer. Bam is a farmhouse ale boasting all the classic saison qualities with some tart, funkiness to boot. It's extremely quaffable and could be considered a session beer weighing it at a manageable 4.5% ABV.

I'm not attempting a clone, per se, but I am shooting for a beer with all of the above qualities. I want something that fits the "session beer" template, but still has a ton of flavor. Plus, I've always wanted to experiment with Brett.



To do this, I invested in a new 3 gallon Better Bottle, since equipment that's been exposed to Brett is notoriously difficult to clean thoroughly. I don't know what Mrs. Muckney Brewing is going to say about a carboy sitting in the dining room for six months, but oh, well.

Keep an eye out for updates on this one.
Cheers,

Dave

The Parti-Gyle Experiment: The Brew Day Strikes Back

It always sounds easy, doesn't it? One Mash, two beers? Heating up a lot of water, draining a lot of wort? Cake walk. That's what I said Thursday night when I told Mrs. Muckney Brewing that "sure, I can brew tomorrow so we can go to your Dad's house on Saturday!". Well, while Eric and I were cooling the remaining 4 gallons of Barley Wine wort at 2:45 AM early Saturday morning, racing against an advancing storm, watching the chunky, Irish-moss-less, over-boiled, golden-caramel pre-beer move quickly through a transfer hose I grumbled under my breath that said "cake walk" had turned into a long, meandering marathon of a brew session.

It all started well. I had the brewery up and running by 6:00 PM. The plan was to mash-in by 7:00 PM or so and be boiling by 9:00. Well, the water took a bit longer to heat than anticipated, pushing the mash-in back an hour. All seemed to be going well through the sparge, though it too took a bit too long. We finally gathered enough wort (more on "enough" later) close to 10PM. This is where things took a turn for the worse. There were about 5 gallons of wort "left over" after the Barley Wine (MB0027) was "good to go". So instead of wasting it, I boiled the Table Beer (MB0028) in two separate pots with few issues, except forgetting the Irish moss. No biggie. I ended up with about 3+ gallons of 1.040 OG wort, which was about 10 points higher than what I was shooting for, but oh well. I'm not complaining.

Now for the Barley Wine. Well, as the Table Beer was boiling away, the BW was "coming to a boil", which, unfortunately took about 90 minutes. There was something inhibiting the burner from getting to full strength, so after a quick fix of the propane, we were boiling. Ninety minutes later, the BW was cooling (after an additional 10 minutes to sterilize the wort chiller) without the addition of Irish moss.

After transfer being an hour late and a gallon short, I took a gravity reading - 1.090, no where near the 1.100 I was shooting for, and this was for 4 GALLONS! That means at 5 gallons it would have been closer to 1.080. So this means that my efficiency was sub 60. This is where "enough" from above comes in. Basically, I left 20 gravity points in the mash. The last batch sparge read 1.030. It should have been closer to 1.010. So, I missed 20 points of wort. Basically another 4 gallons of golden goodness. All I can say is "D'0h!"

All in all, it was a 9 hour brew session that could have been shortened to about 6 with a bit more planning and little less stupidity. But hey, there are two beers, one big and one small fermenting away, so I guess in the end, it's counted as a success.

I'm planning on writing an "analysis post" on this in the near future, with some possible fixes for the above problems. As for now, I'll chalk this one up to "learning through experience". No excuses, but it was my first all grain by myself. More to come, including some twists on the two brews from this batch.

Stay Tuned.

Cheers,
Dave

A big shout out to Nate for letting me borrow his equipment, Pat, Craig and Eric for helping brew and to Rob for his moral support.

Mash Tun Photos

I told you they were coming - frankly, I warned you. So here they are, the aforementioned pictures of "Mashie" (it's kinda catchy, isn't it.

Enjoy.

Cheers,
Dave

The Glory that is "Mashie"

Obligatory Side View

Ball valve outlet with hose barb

Circular steel braid lautering device with copper t-juction and hose barbs


Obligatory close up

The Parti-Gyle Experiment

There are plenty of way to make homebrewing more productive, more cost effective, and more enjoyable. OK, so we'll have to see about the third part of that statement, but it looks like I've stumbled upon a method to bring the first two to fruition. I guess we'll start with a story.

I'd been talking with Nate about a couple brews I'm planning to make, one being a funky, saison-esque table beer while the other was a big American Barley Wine. Nate suggested that I make the table beer from the second runnings of the barley wine. This got me thinking, and after a quick Google search, I found a reprint of Randy Mosher's Parti-Gyle Brewing article on Brewing Techniques.

Parti-gyle brewing is an ancient technique that uses one mash to make multiple beers. The classic example is of course the "Belgian Hierarchy" of Tripel, Dubbel, and Single, each made with a subsequent mashing of one grain bed. This allows for a greater variety in styles while cutting the length of a brew day, in contrast to brewing multiple beers from several mashes. Needless to say, the shortened brew day can have significant advantages, from reducing brewer's exhaustion to not getting harassed by one's significant other that you "wasted" your whole day on your "dumb hobby" (DISCLAIMER: Mrs. Muckney Brewing does not consider brewing a "dumb hobby", or so she says).

The process is simple enough, but does have its own drawbacks, though minimal, IMHO. It does, however, throw a new calculation into the mix, and can confuse brewing software. Here we go.

First, one must decide on the gravity of each brew. For this example, we'll go with, say a Barley Wine and a table beer. Coincidence, I think not! Let's say we're shooting for a 5 gallon batch of Barley Wine with a starting gravity of 24.22P and 3 gallons of table beer at 7.3P. To figure out the target gravity of the "mother ale" as I call it, use the following formula.

(D1 x V1) + (D2 x V2)/Vtotal*

where D is the density of the target beers 1 and 2 in Plato and V is the desired volume of the beers in gallons. Vtotal is the total volume of the target beers.

Simple enough, right? Now running our numbers through the formula gives us the following:

(24.22 x 5) + (7.3 x 3)/8 = 17.875

For those following at home, that translates to 1.074 SG.

Step two is to develop the recipe for the Mother Ale. Using whatever grain bill you'd like, shoot for a target SG of 1.074. The brewing software of your choice is a big help in figuring this out. It keeps the calculator out of it. Once you have the grain bill, the next step is to figure out the pre-boil volumes needed. This will vary from system to system, and with the length of boil used.

Step three is to complete the recipe for each beer. For my current experiment, I found it useful to create each beer separately in Beersmith, manipulating the grain bill to get your target gravity, then working through the recipe as normal to get the correct hop dosage and such.

Brew Day
Implementing the process has its own hurdles. First, having two brews going at the same time may be a bit of a struggle. Equipment limitations may render this technique moot, as it applies to a time saving technique. My plans for the upcoming brew day is to boil the 6 gallons (calculated pre-boil volume) of Barley Wine in Nate's converted keg on the back deck for 90 minutes, while brewing the 3.5 gallons (again, pre-boil volume) of table beer inside on my stove in my brewpot for 60 minutes.

Yes, I do think I'm crazy to attempt to run two boils simultaneously, but with a bit of planning, and some luck, I'm hoping to pull it off. Keep an eye out for updates.

Summary
Sounds fun, huh? I think so. There are some concerns noted in Mosher's article, the most pressing, in my opinion, is the color of the second beer. The runnings may be a bit light, so Mosher suggests a mini-mash on the side to get to the desired color. Depending on the style, a longer boil of the second runnings could also help achieve a darker color, but may affect the final volume of the beer, let alone the flavor. That sounds like another experiment for another post.

The only issue I'm currently having is choosing a sparge method. I'm leaning towards a batch sparge, which seems to be more traditional, but a continuous sparge may allow for more precise wort collection. I'm still doing research on this. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Stay tuned for updates.

Cheers,
Dave

*Calculations from Parti-Gyle Brewing by Randy Mosher, republished from BrewingTechniques' March/April 1994. For more information, including calculation tables, please read the article.

New Mash Tun Built . . . FINALLY!

So back in February, I mentioned that I purchased parts to build a mash tun as Muckney Brewing's first step toward all grain. Well, this evening, after a quick trip to the hardware store, I finally finished building what I've affectionately dubbed "Mashie" (I'm still working on the name). Mashie has a capacity of 12 gallons and should easily do 10 gallon batches. For a lautering device, I've employed a steel braid by connecting both ends to a T-junction with barbed hose fittings and high-temp resistant zip ties.

So, I guess it's needless to say that I'm excited to put Mashie to use, and his first task is going to be a tall order. I'm planning on making a Barley Wine (MB0027) and Table Beer (MB0028) both from one mash, but there's more to come on that.

And to answer the inevitable question, yes, there are pictures to come. The wifey has the camera this evening.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,
Dave

Go Pens!

I know, it's not beer related, but it's pertinent. For those that don't know, the Pens forced a Game 7 with Detroit tonight to be played on Friday night.

All I have to say is


LET'S GO PENS!!


Cheers,
Dave

Back to Brewing

It's been a while - since December, in fact - since I pulled out the brew equipment. Well, with the return of summer, and my recently purchased, though not yet assembled MLT, the time has come to make some beer. Now, the little Brew Devil inside of me is pulling me in a few different ways, and I have a couple of obligations to previously conjured brews, so the brew schedule is filling up fast. Here's a quick run down.

1) Since I couldn't decide between whether to do a barley wine or a table beer, I'm going to do both . . . from the same grain bill. Yup, we're going to play a game of "Big Beer/Small Beer", and collect the second runnings of the barley wine to make a table beer. Details forthcoming.

2) The Ides of March is still un-brewed. This is not cool. The IoM will be brewed this year, just a bit late, so more like, Ides of July.

3) I'm in a Saison mood. I'm also in a Sour mood. I think we're gonna see a funky saison in the near future.

Oh, and the good thing. We're going all-grain on all of this.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Dave

An Open Letter to Miller Lite

Seriously? Now why would you want to go down this road, Mr. Lite? You already changed the spelling of a word to fit a marketing scheme, which may systematically be changing the spelling habits of BMCers across the nation. Why, oh why did you have to jump on the "we have hops in our beer" bandwagon (see also Sam Adams and Budweiser). Not only that, but you make up some more crazy terminology - triple hops brewing. Oh, say it ain't so, SABMiller!

You see, Miller Lite, you had me at hello. Of course, I'd rather drink a nice septuple-hopped Double IPA, but if I were to grab an American Macro Light Lager, I need my "-I-T-E". You have that market cornered! You're the commissioner of the More Taste League. It's true, you do have more taste than all the other BMC Lights, which is why I'm a fan, but I have to say, this "triple hops brewed" BS-erie is causing my inner Beer Geek to react like I just heard the proverbial "Brown Note".

Here's an idea, stick to what you're good at. Show us well-endowed females being all too attentive to overweight, balding men watching whatever sport is in season. It's worked so far. Be what you are - a mass-produced, fizzy, yellow, water-like substance that college-age frat guys and mid 30's execs like one in the same. Don't try to infringe on the Craft Brew movement. That's not what you are. You are my college beer. You are my $1.00 pint beer on game days. You are my substitute for water when I have none. Be all of these things, and do them the best that you can. It's better off that way. Trust me, the universe will thank you.

If you haven't yet see this commercial, you can get the gist of it at their website.

*End Rant*

And in one post, I have officially become a beer snob.

Cheers,

Dave

Pints for Pets this Weekend

Yes, that's right, ladies and germs . . . the return of central PA's best beer fest is THIS WEEKEND, May 30th, 2009 at Blair County Ball Park in Altoona, PA. Pints for Pets, benefitting the Central PA Humane Society, has expanded to two sessions, 12:00 to 3:00 and 4:30 to 7:30 and features 50+ brewers this year. Check out the site, get yourself a $30 ticket, and enjoy some good beer. Designated Driver recommended!

Cheers,

Dave

Back in the Saddle Again . . . sort of

So, for the loyal readers that have occasionally been checking this blog, I guess I owe you an apology. I didn't mean to leave you all so abruptly. Certain situations warranted such actions, strictly personal, of which I will not discuss here. I do, however, have to discuss the results of those actions, which has lead to limited brewing and a self-imposed hiatus on alcohol intake. Although, Dear Reader, don't be alarmed. Muckney Brewing is still around, currently a dormant entity in my basement, but will again see the light of day. In the mean time, stay tuned. There are (hopefully) events on the horizon that will hopefully pique your interest.

Lost and found again,

Dave

Pullin' One Out of the Cellar

A long time ago, in a kitchen not too far from where I'm sitting now. . .

Justin wanted to make an IIPA, and so was born the Show your Hoppeeness Double IPA. Brewed back in September of '07, this hop bomb boasted 13 oz. of hops in the five gallon batch. Well, Justin still had a few bombers of this layin' around, and dropped on off at the ol' homestead. I had a chance to crack it the other night, and wow, this thing's still tasty. It's very similar to an aged Stone Double Bastard Ale. There still tons of bitter, but the hop flavor and nose has diminished to almost nothing, allowing the malt profile to shine through. The alcohol heat has settled down, and there's no extract "twang" present. This guy was tasty, and I'm hoping that Justin comes across a few more of them and is willing to share. Oh, and we need to make it again.

Here are the tasting notes:

Pours a hazy orange with a huge, foamy white head, three fingers thick, dissipating to a finger of lacing foam. Sugary, resiny nose with toffee and caramel. Mild vaporous alcohol and a touch of residual hops, but not much present.
Taste is mouth coating, sugary, resiny caramel with mild floral and citrus notes and a huge bitter. Mild chocolate notes also present.

Cheers,

Dave