jonjon

We actually have a 10bbl system, but we have a couple 5bbl fermenters that we brew half batches in for our specialty beers (such as in this case)

I'm a big fan of Firestone Walker Parabola, and I've read some posts from their brewer about the challenge of brewing a big beer like that, and their process, so I've followed their lead. We will be putting an entire 55lb bag of flaked oats in the mash, this will thicken things up pretty well. We also mash low (144 degrees) in order to help the fermenability of the wort, as this will be quite a monster for the yeast with an OG of somewhere between 1.100 and 1.125 (we've set the goal posts wide here since this will be the first we are brewing this on this scale). To get the gravity up this high we are going to add an entire bag of Muntons dark DME for gravity boost. We'll check gravity near the end of the boil to see if we're in the range, if too low we'll boil longer. I'd like to get the final gravity down in the 1.030 to 1.035 range, if possible. It will be a monster pitch of US-05 dry yeast. This will give us a beer in the 11-13% abv range without being too cloying. We also add the dark malts to the mash for just the last 10-15 minutes of the mash (not the entire mash time) to cut down on astringency. I think that sums it up. I'll be glad to answer any other questions. Jon

Didn't think of that lol. That would be one hell of a party!

Just ordered 4 emptied Buffalo Trace barrels. Imperial Stout going into them next week. Thanks for the inspiration!

Never enjoyed pumpkin beers much myself. The tough part of owning a brewery is putting out beers you don't like in order to have a somewhat broad portfolio of options for everyone that visits. But I'm a big believer that you are the best at what you truly have a passion for. We obviously started (and still continue to a somewhat lesser extent) as a hop-heavy brewery. But in the last couple of years I've really gotten into Trappist and other Belgian style beers, so now we are putting out some cellared Belgian Dubbels, Tripels and hopefully soon a quad. We're getting into barrel aging as well -- going to be doing some stouts and an English Barleywine that way soon. But you won't find anything pumpkin here.

Leaf Peepers Festival going on here in Davis this weekend. Lots of good color, although maybe a little behind some of the recent years.

It did get down to the upper 30s last night in this area.

Snowing here this morning, enough to whiten the ground. I hope its the last of this for the season.

Ended up with close to 4" of snow yesterday putting us over 100" for the season. Was worried we would fall short of that mark for a while, that would have been embarrassing!

Virga storm ongoing out this way. Too bad, I think it would have been snow.

Seems like anything east of the Green Mountains does well. See current snow cover up there here https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/html/map.html?ql=station&zoom=5&loc=44.621+N%2C+73.238+W&var=ssm_depth&dy=2019&dm=3&dd=8&dh=17&snap=1&o9=1&o12=1&o13=1&lbl=m&mode=pan&extents=us&min_x=-73.858333333336&min_y=43.566666666662&max_x=-71.983333333336&max_y=44.624999999996&coord_x=-72.920833333336&coord_y=44.095833333329&zbox_n=&zbox_s=&zbox_e=&zbox_w=&metric=0&bgvar=dem&shdvar=shading&width=800&height=450&nw=800&nh=450&h_o=0&font=0&js=1&uc=0 Its like there is some CAD that protects areas east of the mountains from the brief thaws they do get.

I'll put up another vote for Vermont. I have my eyes set on a place up there someday, I try to get up there once a year (Waterbury). I was inspired by their beer and my brewery is essentially a Vermont South version of what they put out. Their sense of craft, whether beer, cheese, maple syrup, etc., is truly inspiring to me. Beautiful mountains, long snowy winters with few thaws, and summers that aren't too hot are definitely draws for me, too.

Yeah, these storms that depend on CAD benefit those just to our east on the other side of the Potomac Highlands. A lot of times we are raining and just 15-20 miles east and northeast of us is piling up the snow. We get hurt by quick warm air invasion from the west whenever a storm doesn't track right under us. But they don't get the upslope or truly elevation dependent storms (the elevation dependent storms usually only occur in the early or late season). So yes, the lack of consistent northwest flow has not only cost us this year, but it seems like the last few (since 13/14) have had this problem. Clippers are our best friend and they have been lacking for quite a while. I'm always looking for the clipper pattern to come around!

I have to admit I haven't looked at it too closely as I've become despondent from the worst winter we've had since I moved here in 2003. I suppose we'll crack 100", but not by much. My gut tells me we may see a few wet inches of snow on Friday, and we do have a good amount on the ground, so it should be a winter wonderland on Friday, at least. But then meltsville cometh on Saturday . . .

I'm glad a lot of you didn't grade my assignments in school.

I think I've actually cut back my drinking a bit by going with the high gravity stuff and just having one (maybe two if I'm crazy). I've really gotten into barley wines and trappist ales lately. I had Barrel Aged Down the Line Barleywine from Rip Current last night (14.2%) and it took me an entire movie to sip the whole thing down (really enjoyed it). I also love imperial stouts more than I used to. Now these styles are making their way into our brewery's lineup, as I've brewed many small batches over the last year and now we are ready to scale up. The ipa's we brew are the basis for our reputation and pay the bills as they are very popular, but I'm hoping to have a much broader portfolio of beers going forward and hope that people appreciate these styles more (barleywines, imperial stouts, belgian dubbels, tripels, quads, etc.). Enjoying a high gravity beer or two at home hits the spot for me -- but when I'm at the pub and I get going on the free ipas out of the tap the night starts out fun then quickly turns into me suddenly waking up the next morning feeling like crap and wondering what happened . . .

Please, no beer talk until after noon.

I recall people even complaining in those great years listed above (albeit less so). Some people are just never satisfied or feel the need to be downers.

Looks good! Let us know how it all turns out.

I would use the Columbus for bittering, then some Cascade near the end of the boil and Citra would be used as late as possible, preferably as a dry hop, as this is by far the most flavorful and aromatic of the three. The recipe formulators should give him an idea of ibu based upon when/how much of each hop is added to the recipe in order to meet whatever ibu he is trying to achieve.

Sounds like he just has to come up with a recipe for around a 5 gallon batch. I suppose the class has the equipment for an all-grain 5 gallon brew? I think a basic IPA would have a gravity in the 1.055 to 1.060 range (they may use the plato scale over there, I'm not familiar with that scale). I used to brew 10 gallon batches in the early days, and I would need around 25lbs of fermentable grains to get the gravity wort I wanted to ferment for my basic IPA -- so I'm guessing he is going to need somewhere around half of that amount for just a 5 gall (20L) brew. So something like 12 lbs of Maris otter, and maybe a half pound or so of some crystal/caramel 40L and that would be a nice simple grain recipe. Then he has to decide the amounts of hops to use and when to add them. When I brew an IPA, I look to it with as much aroma/flavor as possible, so I'm heavy on the late addition hops and especially heavy on the dry hops. This may not be the goal here since its the yeast variations that they are looking to detect, so he may just want to add a 1/2 oz. to 3/4 oz. hop addition at the beginning of the boil, then add a few more ounces very late in the boil or at flameout, then split into two different fermenters that can handle the 2.5 gallons each, then use a different yeast on each to, in essence, come up with two different versions from the same brew session. I would suggest playing around with an online beer recipe formulator so that the gravity of the brew ends up around what he is looking for -- what I suggested up above is probably close, but a lot depends on the brew system and its capacity (to brew a 5 gallon batch you would need to probably start the boil with 6.5 gall or so to anticipate boil-off etc.) and the system's efficiency. Not sure if I answered what you were looking for, I'd be glad to chip in more if you have something specific you're looking for on this.

Winds kept us from dropping too low this morning, but still managed to get down to -12 Currently -5

Nice looking houses up there!

Yeah, sounds like Columbus is the bittering hop and Cascade would be the flavor/aroma hop. Certainly not going to be a "rock star" IPA, but should be perfect for this experiment.

I can't tell what grains and hops are used on this, but I'm sure that would do the trick just fine.