Retro post as I'm going through old homebrew notes to try to organize them. This one came up as I was trying to locate my notes for a batch that "dry hopped" with basil in a keg. Full recipe and timeline posted below.
The recipe for the full batch is as follows:
Batch Number: 106
Brew Date: July 16, 2016
Bottle/Keg Date: See notes below.
Batch Size: 20 Gallon
OG: 1.042 (est. and measured)
FG: See below.
Fermentation Temperature: See notes below
IBU: 30.0 (modified Tinseth)
ABV: 4.9% (est.)
SRM: 4.0
Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 150*F.
Boil: 60 minute
Fermentables
25.00 lb French Pilsner (70%)
7.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (20%)
3.5 lb Acid Malt (10%)
Salts & Water
5.0g Calcium Chloride (all added directly to the kettle)
10.0g Calcium Sulfate (all added directly to the kettle)
12.0g Sodium Chloride (all added directly to the kettle)
Resulting water profile is as follows:
Mash pH (est.): 5.22
Calcium: 68
Magnesium: 12
Sodium: 51
Chloride: 104
Sulfate: 79
Hops
9.0 oz Strisselspalt (3.5 AAU, but see below), pellet, at 60 minutes
3.0 oz East Kent Goldings (7.2 AAU, but see below), pellet, at 10 minutes
3.0 oz Hallertau Tradition (4.4 AAU, but see below), pellet, at 10 minutes
Other
4 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient at 10 minutes
Yeast
Imperial Organic Rustic
Notes
07.13.2016: Starter based on http://yeastcalculator.com
Have two cans of Imperial Yeast "Rustic" canned on May 19, 2016. Per site, these are at 62% viability. Each can has 200 billion cells, so this means there are currently 248 viable cells.
For a 1.040 beer (20 gallons), I need 567 million cells. Per the calculator, four liters of 1.030 wort with intermittent shaking will get me to 586 viable cells.
Added 245g of DME to 3L of water plus 1/4 tsp of yeast nutrient. Boiled 10 minutes, chilled, and pitched into a 5L flask with a can of starter wort and a pint of water. The flask is covered with sanitized foil.
07.15.2016: Per past order notes, Saaz hops were ordered in March 2012 so should be from the 2011 harvest and are almost five years old at this time. Per http://brewerslog.appspot.com/HopAlphaCalc, alpha acids have gone from 3.4 to 1.5 even though they have been stored in the original package at 10*F. Will decide whether to use them based on aroma upon opening the package.
Dupont mash schedule: "113°F (45°C) mash-in, gradually raised to 162°F (72°C) over more than 90 minutes." https://beerandbrewing.com/VMvilisAAKGj51nr/article/belgian-beer-youre-probably-doing-it-wrong. IBUs are around 32 and carbonation is approximately 3.5 volumes.
From Farmhouse Ales: "Note: Brasserie Dupont uses a different approach, favoring a “rising temperature” infusion mash. Dupont starts with an initial temperature of 113 ° F (45 ° C) and continuously heats the mash (while constantly stirring) by approximately 0.5 ° F (0.25 ° C) per minute over the course of 108 minutes (1: 48) until the mash temperature reaches 162 ° F (72 ° C). The intention is to maximize fermentable sugar production in order to get the characteristic attenuation (when an appropriate yeast strain is used) and low terminal gravity of 1.0 to 1.5 ° P (1.004 to 1.006 SG)."
07.16.2016: Saaz hops are from 2011. Ordered in March 2012 from Northern Brewer.
Mashed in at 124*F and then ramped too quickly. At 152*F after 15 minutes. Turned off the flame at this point and let it go for 60 minutes longer. Mash temperature of 148*F 30 minutes after the flame was turned off. At 146* 40 minutes after the flame was turned off. At this point, turned the burner back on low to start heating toward mash out. At that point, bumped the burner up to quickly get it to 170*F. Took about 10 minutes to go up to 170*F. Turned off the pump, shut the valve from the boil kettle, and let the mash drain to the kettle. Kettle temp is at 182*F.
By the time the mash was empty, the kettle was at 200*F. At this point, it's about 2.5 hours fromwhen I turned on the water to start filling the kettle.
The kettle has approximately 25.75 gallons of wort.
Per http://brewerslog.appspot.com/HopAlphaCalc, Strisselspalt that is from 2014 (so about 600 days old) is now at 2.4 AAU instead of 3.5 AAU. Per same, 2014 Hallertau Tradition marked down from 4.4 to 3.4 AAU. Per same, 2015 EKG marked down from 5.1 to 4.3 AAU at 270 days old.
7 hours after chilling, wort is at 78*F. Pitched after decanting and adding 120 seconds pure O2. Fermenting in a Blichmann conical.
Temperature controller is set at 74*F. I usually pitch saisons in the low-70s and let it gradually go up to 80+*F, though should be fine given the yeast. Bob at Saint Somewhere pitches around 80*F and lets it go to 90*F: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2014/06/american-saison-reimagining-farmhouse.html
Dave Logsdon also suggests pitching at a high temperature: http://www.babblebelt.com/newboard/thread.html?tid=1108752780&th=1191674019&pg=&tpg=1
Blaugies pitches around 80.6*F: https://farmhousebeerblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/12/yeast-brasserie-de-blaugies/
Mashed in at 124*F and then ramped too quickly. At 152*F after 15 minutes. Turned off the flame at this point and let it go for 60 minutes longer. Mash temperature of 148*F 30 minutes after the flame was turned off. At 146* 40 minutes after the flame was turned off. At this point, turned the burner back on low to start heating toward mash out. At that point, bumped the burner up to quickly get it to 170*F. Took about 10 minutes to go up to 170*F. Turned off the pump, shut the valve from the boil kettle, and let the mash drain to the kettle. Kettle temp is at 182*F.
By the time the mash was empty, the kettle was at 200*F. At this point, it's about 2.5 hours fromwhen I turned on the water to start filling the kettle.
The kettle has approximately 25.75 gallons of wort.
Per http://brewerslog.appspot.com/HopAlphaCalc, Strisselspalt that is from 2014 (so about 600 days old) is now at 2.4 AAU instead of 3.5 AAU. Per same, 2014 Hallertau Tradition marked down from 4.4 to 3.4 AAU. Per same, 2015 EKG marked down from 5.1 to 4.3 AAU at 270 days old.
7 hours after chilling, wort is at 78*F. Pitched after decanting and adding 120 seconds pure O2. Fermenting in a Blichmann conical.
Temperature controller is set at 74*F. I usually pitch saisons in the low-70s and let it gradually go up to 80+*F, though should be fine given the yeast. Bob at Saint Somewhere pitches around 80*F and lets it go to 90*F: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2014/06/american-saison-reimagining-farmhouse.html
Dave Logsdon also suggests pitching at a high temperature: http://www.babblebelt.com/newboard/thread.html?tid=1108752780&th=1191674019&pg=&tpg=1
Blaugies pitches around 80.6*F: https://farmhousebeerblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/12/yeast-brasserie-de-blaugies/
07.17.2016: At 12 hours, probe showed 77*F with 1*F differential, so bumped to 80*F. Plenty of obvious fermentation activity as I can hear it chugging along inside the conical. I also lifted the weight setting on the lid hatch to let pressure escape.
82*F at 24 hours.
07.18.2016: At 36 hours, bumped to 84*F. 86*F at 48 hours.
07.19.2016: At 60 hours, very little activity left and the krausen is gone. Turned off the heater since we were leaving for vacation, but should stay plenty warm in the garage since it's supposed to be over 90*F all week.
07.24.2016: Temperature is at 78*F.
07.25.2016: Turned heater back on at 83*F with a 1*F differential. Gravity reading yesterday was 1.012 but that seems unreliable as there was so much carbonation that it wasn't all gone after the sample sat out all night after being heavily agitated.
07.29.2016: I checked this morning and the beer has a pellicle. I'm guessing this is from the stainless thermowell not being properly cleaned, or from general infestation of all of my equipment.
07.31.2016: Turned off the temperature control.
09.24.2016: Added 15g of macerated lime basil to the keg in the keezer in a hop bag. Did not wash beforehand. Clean from garden. No pesticides or any other chemicals used.
12.17.2016: Rustic keg tastes incredible. Strain does very, very well with some time and under pressure. Likely some Brett involved given that it's my equipment (and that there was a pellicle in the fermenter!). Filled barrel with Vert, Rustic with Saaz and Basil, and base Rustic. Tapped Rustic 3726 with Sudwerk dregs. Need to save cake.
