Vienna-Citra "SMASH"

The second beer in my triple brew weekend was a pseudo-SMASH  (Single Malt and Single Hop) beer.  It was a pseudo-SMASH because I did add a small amount of Carapils to help head retention as well as a small Warrior bittering charge.

 

Brew Date: 4/28/2013

Beer Number: B31

Beer Name: Vienna-Citra  “SMASH”

Type: American Pale Ale / Vienna Lager

Primary Fermenter: 6 ½ gal. plastic and 5 gal. glass

Secondary Fermenter: n/a

Volume: @ 9 gallons

OG: 1.056

FG: see below

Expected IBU: 43

Expected SRM:6

 

Ingredients:

15 lbs. 4.8 oz. German Vienna malt

8 oz. Carapils

21g (0.75 oz.) Citra pellet hops (12.0%AA) FWH

7g (0.25 oz.) Warrior pellet hops (15.0% AA) 60 min.

28g (1.0 oz.) Citra pellet hops (12.0%AA)  15 min.

28g (1.0 oz.) Citra pellet hops (12.0%AA)  5 min.

35g (1.25 oz.) Citra pellet hops (12.0%AA)  1 min.

WLP001 – Cal Ale Yeast (harvested from B23A)

WLP830 – German Lager Yeast (harvested from B29)

Step by Step Process:

WLP 830 Yeast Starter (4/21/13)

1. Boiled @ 200g Pilsen DME in @2.0L water for 15 minutes
2. Cooled and pitched yeast harvested from B29
3. Covered with sanitized foil and swirled infrequently for 4 days
4. Kreusen appeard @24 hours
5. Crash cooled in 35F keezer 2 days before pitching

 

WLP 001 Yeast Starter (4/21/13)

6. Boiled @ 150g Pilsen DME in @1.5L water for 15 minutes
7. Cooled and pitched yeast harvested from B23A
8. Covered with sanitized foil and swirled infrequently for 4 days
9. Kreusen appeard @36 hours
10. Crash cooled in 35F keezer 2 days before pitching

 

Wort

11. Crushed grain in Barley Crusher
12. Heated 20 qts. strike water to @170F and poured into mash tun
13. Added grains to tun and stirred – temp. settled at @153.5F mashed @ 65 min.
14. Added 2 gal. boiling water
15. Recirculated @ 2 qts. and returned to tun
16. Opened valve slowly and then wide open and drained into kettle collecting @ 3.4 gal.
17. While draining, fired burner and set heat on med. and added 21 g. Citra pellets
18. Added 4.5 gal. @170F water to mash and stirred
19. Recirculated @ 2 qts. and returned to tun
20. Opened valve slowly and then wide open and drained into kettle collecting @ 4.25 gal.
21. Added 4.5 gal. @170F water to mash and stirred
22. Recirculated @ 2 qts. and returned to tun
23. Opened valve slowly and then wide open and drained into kettle collecting @ 4.25 gal.
24. Brought to a boil and added 7g. Warrior pellets for 60 min.
25. Followed hopping schedule per above
26. Placed wort chiller in kettle and 1 whirfloc tablet and boiled for @15 minutes
27. Began chilling immediately after knockout; cooled to below 100F in 10 minutes
28. Placed kettle in ice bath with lid on for @1 hour – temp. dropped to below 60F
29. Transferred through syphon (splashing as much as possible)
30. Transferred @ 4.5 gallons into 5 gallon glass carboy and @4.5 gallons into 6 ½ gal. plastic bucket

WLP 001 Yeast Starter (4/27)

31. Decanted liquid from 4/21 yeast starter and allowed to warm on counter for @ 1 hour
32. Collected an extra 1.25 quarts of wort (final runnings)
33. Brought to a boil for @15 minutes and then cooled in an ice bath
34. Once cool, poured into yeast starter – no activity evident before pitching

WLP 830 Yeast Starter (4/27)

35. Decanted liquid from 4/21 yeast starter and allowed to warm on counter for @ 1 hour
36. Collected an extra 1.25 quarts of wort (final runnings)
37. Brought to a boil for @15 minutes and then cooled in an ice bath
38. Once cool, poured into yeast starter
39. Allowed to cool overnight in fermentation room – no activity evident before pitching

Beer Number: 31A

Beer Name: “Citra Ass on Ice”

Type: Hoppy Vienna Lager

Primary Fermenter: 5 gallon glass (48 Days)

Secondary Fermenter: n/a

Volume: @4.5 gallons in fermenter

OG: 1.056

FG: 1.010

Expected IBU: 43

Expected SRM: 6

Expected Alcohol %: 6.04%

Calories: 183

 Shook carboy as much as practical (carboy was pretty full)

1. Placed in fermentation cooler with 1 2l and 2 20 oz. frozen water bottles and allowed to cool overnight
2. Pitched entire 1.25L starter into carboy – Temp 49F
3. Replaced water bottles daily (combination of 3 16 oz. or 20 oz. bottles to maintain temp @49F – 51F
4. @ 24 hours, krausen had formed temp 50F
5. Airlock activity evident for @7 days – max temp. 51F
6. After 3 weeks, added frozen water bottles to drop temp to 33F
7. Changed bottles every day and maintained 33F-35F range for 4 weeks

Kegging (6/15/13)

1. Transferred to sanitized keg with 11 psi CO2 – CO2 target 2.7 volumes

 

Beer Number: B31B

Beer Name: TBD

Type: American Pale Ale

Primary Fermenter: 6.5 plastic bucket (364 Days)

Secondary Fermenter: none

Volume: @4.5 gallons in fermenter

OG: 1.056

FG: 1.002

Expected IBU: 43

Expected SRM: 6

Expected Alcohol %: 7.09%

Calories: 179

1.    Shook fermenter

2.    Placed on cool floor of fermentation room

3.    Pitched entire 1.25L starter into carboy – Temp 59F

4.    @ 24 hours, airlock activity evident temp 62F

5.    Airlock activity evident for @4 days – max temp. 63F

Bottling (4/27/14)

1. Transferred to sanitized keg and placed in 35F freezer with 12 PSI.

 

SMASH, sort of

I’ve got a crazy idea!  Ok, maybe it’s not that crazy, but I think it’s different.  Several times I have brewed a batch and split it between two yeasts, for example an American IPA split between Cal Ale yeast and Duvel yeast.  A lot of people have done that.  What I want to do is brew a hoppy pale ale and split it between Cal Ale yeast and lager yeast.  My main inspiration for the lager portion is New Belgian’s Shift - a clean, drinkable, citrusy, hoppy beer.  Another wrinkle is that I’ve purchased a bag of Vienna malt and I want to do a pseudo-SMASH with it.  It is pseudo because I’m adding about 3% carapils to help with foam and body and I’m adding ¼ oz. Warrior (to the gobs of Citra) for bittering.  I think I can very easily classify the ale portion as an American Pale Ale, but what do I call the lager?  With 40+ IBU of citrusy hops I can’t really call it a Vienna lager.  Regardless of the style, I think it’ll be tasty.

Brewing a Lager

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It’s been a pretty crazy start to 2013 with very little time for brewing. In a previous post I mentioned that my brewing goals for the year were to brew more than 2012, brew a lager and brew flavorful session beer. I did manage to meet one of those goals (and hopefully a second). I snuck in a brew session on my birthday and brewed my first lager. I brewed a pseudo-Bohemian Pilsner a couple years ago with Kolsch (ale) yeast and it was great. This was a natural starting point for my first real lager. I took this recipe and tweaked down the grain due to improved efficiency, but basically brewed the exact same beer.

Brew Date: 3/1/2013

Beer Number: B29

Beer Name: “Redczech Pilsner”

Type: Bohemian Pilsner

Primary Fermenter: 5 gal. glass carboy (28 days)

Secondary Fermenter: N/A (lagering in keg)

Volume: @ 4.5 gal into fermenter

OG: 1.048

FG: 1.013

Expected IBU: 39

Expected SRM: 4

ABV: 4.6%

Calories: 160

Ingredients:

6 lbs. 5 oz. Weyerman Pilsner Malt

6.5 oz. Carapils malt

21 g. Saaz pellet hops (3.0% AA) FWH

36 g. Saaz pellet hops (3.0% AA) 90 min.

21 g. Saaz pellet hops (3.0% AA) 15 min.

WLP830 German Lager Yeast

Step by Step Process:

Wort

1. Crushed grain in Barley Crusher
2. Heated 8.4 qt. strike water to @135F and poured into mash tun
3. Added grains to tun and stirred – temp. settled at @127F
4. mashed open @ 20 min. where temp. settled to 122F
5. Pulled 3.5 qt. decoction and brought to a boil, missing the conversion rest
6. Added back to the mash which brought the temperature to 155F
7. Mashed open for @35 min. dropping to 151F
8. Added 3.5 qt. boiling water to mash tun for mash out – temp settled at 164F
9. Added 1 gal. @150F water to mash tun
10. Recirculated @ 2 qt.
11. Opened valve slowly and then wide open and drained into kettle
12. While draining, fired burner and set heat on med and added first wort hops.
13. When empty, filled with 3 gal. of 160F water, stirred mash, recirculated and drained
14. Collected a total of @ 6.5 gal. wort
15. Brought to a boil
16. Pitched bittering hops and boiled for 90 minutes, added hops at 15 min
17. inserted wort chiller at 15 min.
18. Using wort chiller, cooled to 70F in @ 20 minutes
19. Covered kettle and left outside in ambient air of @30F for @ 1 hour while cleaning
20. Transferred to sanitized carboy in fermentation chamber temp. 58F
21. OG was 1.054 on @4.0 gal. so added ½ gal. distilled water to bring down to 1.048
22. Allowed to cool overnight with frozen water bottles
23. @7AM 3/2/13 pitched yeast directly from vial – temp. 50F
24. Temperature dropped to 45F throughout the day – no visible activity
25. @ 12 hours removed all frozen water bottles and top
26. @48 hours temp. 50F with no activity; removed airlock and shook carboy then replaced airlock
27. @108 hours – first signs of fermentation activity with a few fine bubbles on surface; temp. 54F; added 1 12 oz. and 1 20 oz. frozen bottle
28. @120 hours (5 days) krausen had formed and periodic bubbles in airlock; temp. 53F; replaced water bottles

Kegging (3/29/2013)

29. Transferred into cleaned/sanitized/CO2 flushed keg and placed in 33F kegerator
30. Yield @ 4 gallons

I was a little concerned about it taking 5 days to show signs of fermentation but I know I underpitched the yeast. I sampled a few times and did not detect diacetyl so I elected not to do a diacetyl rest (I have heard that a diacetyl rest can have negative effects so I didn’t want to do one unless it was necessary). I plan to carb it to 2.5 volumes of CO₂ and hopefully I’ll have a tasty session lager. I harvested 4 mason jars of yeast to be used in my next lager project.