Amarillo American Wheat II

I absolutely loved this beer last fall and I couldn’t wait to brew it again to have it for the summer this year. Nice firm hop bitterness and plenty of hop flavor and aroma. There is also a nice spicy finish from the wheat. This beer scored 1 point lower than the award winning Brown Ale in the Dominion Cup, but didn’t make it to the best of show round because it ran up against the Best of Show winner, a Kolsch, in the same category.

Brew Date: 6/4/10
Beer Number: B11
Beer Name: Amarillo American Wheat II
Type: American Wheat
Primary Fermenter: 6 gal. glass carboy (34 days)
Secondary Fermenter: none
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.006
Expected IBU: 47
Expected SRM: 4
Alcohol %: 4.6%

Ingredients:
5 lbs. American 2-row malt
5 lbs. white wheat
1 lb. flaked wheat
1 ½ lbs rice hulls
1 oz. Liberty pellet hops (4.5%AA) FWH
1 oz. Amarillo pellet hops (7.5%AA) FWH
1 oz. Liberty pellet hops (4.5% AA) 15 min.
1 oz. Amarillo pellet hops (7.5%AA) 15 min.
1 ½ packets Safeale US-05 dry yeast

Targeted 2.4 volumes of CO2 using 120 g. corn sugar

1 ½ pounds of rice hulls and my sparge problems still re-surfaced. I’m pretty sure this will be my last mash with a steel braid. I have a 48 quart rectangular cooler that I have recently lost the drain plug, so I think I will make a CPVC manifold for it. This will probably also be big enough for me to do 10 gallon batches.

Making a mash tun

I've decided to ease into all-grain brewing by starting with a couple of partial mash brews. In order to mash my grains I needed a mash tun, which I built for about fifteen bucks from a 5 gal. rubbermaid beverage cooler that I already had. When I finally make the jump to all-grain I'll probably need a larger mash tun, and the beauty with this is I can move it all to a 10 gal. cooler when needed.

The parts I used were:

5 gal. Rubbermaid round beverage cooler
2 stainless steel 1/4'' hose clamps
brass square head plug (Watts A-737)
1/2'' x 12'' braided stainless steel supply hose (a longer one would have worked fine)
3/8'' female barb adapter (Watts A-298)
2 5/8''stainless steel fender washers (other may need more for a tight fit)
3/8'' MIP x 1 1/2'' brass nipple (Watts A-786)
plastic spigot seal from the cooler
5/8'' ID O-ring
3/8'' threaded ball valve
3/8'' male barb adapter (Watts A-294)
teflon tape

Here's how I made it:
1. Using a pair of channel locks, I unscrewed the nut on the inside of the cooler and removed the plastic spigot.
2. I cut the ends off of the braided supply with a pair of snips.
3. Using needle nose pliers, I pushed the metal braid off of the plastic hose.
4. I put the brass plug in the end of the braid and secured with a hose clamp.
5. I wrapped both sides of the brass nipple with teflon tape.
6. I slipped one of the washers onto the nipple and screwed the female barb adapter tightly onto the nipple.
7. I inserted the spigot seal on the inside of the cooler and inserted the nipple with the washer, and barb adapter on the inside of the cooler.
8. I pulled the brass nipple all the way through the hole and (on the outside of the cooler) inserted the O-ring over the nipple.
9. I added fender washers as spacers so that I had a tight fit (it only took one washer for me).
10. I tightened the ball valve onto the nipple.
11. I put teflon tape on the male barb connector and attached it to the ball valve.
12. Finally I slid the open end of the braid onto the barb inside the cooler and tightened with a hose clamp.

That's my mash tun and it worked like a champ in its first time out.