Month: August 2016

August 8, 2016: Amber Ale v. 3.0

As discussed in a previous post we have returned our Amber Ale recipe to the development stage (water chemistry, altitude, yeast strain, hop availability).

Stats:

  • Starting gravity: 1.065
  • Brewhouse efficiency: 75%
  • Final gravity: 1.004
  • Approximate %ABV: 8.11
  • Approximate IBUs: 90 (Rager)/68 (Tinseth)/67 (Garetz)/131 (Daniels) as determined using the Hopsteiner, ProBrewer.com, and Homebrewing.com IBU calculators.

Grain bill:

  • All grains Great Western Malting and purchased through More Beer.
  • 10 lbs 2 row domestic (#46080)
  • 1 lb 2 row pale (#45958)
  • 1 lb crystal 75L (#45744)

Hops (Pellet, * Whole cone):

  • 2 oz Magnum 12.4% alpha acids
  • 2 oz Amarillo 8.4% alpha acids
  • 2 oz Cascade* 7.9% alpha acids

Yeast:

  • Wyeast 1272 American Ale II (#0721160, mfg 6/8/2016)

Water:

  • The city of Loveland has great water. We will pass the water through an activated charcoal filter to remove any chlorine that may be present.
Wyeast 1272 propagation culture after refrigeration.
Wyeast 1272 propagation culture after refrigeration.

Procedure: Yeast was propagated in 1 L of media (0.5 c DME in 1L/~1qt water, boiled) in a 3L flask with stir bar that had been sanitized with boiling water. Media was inoculated from Wyeast Smack Pack. Propagation culture was grown at room temperature with stirring for 24 hours and was then lowered to 4 degree Celsius for 18 hours.

Strike temperature was 80 degrees Celsius. A ~2:1 water to grist ratio was achieved with 11.5 liters of water. Mash in temperature was 68 degrees Celsius, 2 degrees below target. Mash out was conducted at 77 degrees Celsius. Sparging was a combination fly/batch and was conducted at 75 degree Celsius until the volume of sweet wort in the boil kettle was approximately 9 gallons. Hydrometer reading of the last wort remaining in the mash tun was 4.0 Brix.

Samples of sweet wort (left) and the last runnings from the mash tun (right).
Samples of sweet wort (left) and the last runnings from the mash tun (right).

Sweet wort was brought to a vigorous boil and boiled for 90 minutes. All hop addition times are listed as time remaining in the boil. Magnum pellets – 60 minutes; Amarillo pellets, Cascade whole cone, and 1/2 tablet Whirlfloc – 5 minutes with 1/2 tablet Whirlfloc. After whirlpooling and allowing the trub to settle, the hopped wort was cooled to 20 degrees Celsius with a counter-flow plate chiller with a recirculating ice/water slurry. Liquid was decanted from the settle yeast culture until a total volume of 500 mL was achieved; the settled yeast was suspended in the remaining liquid and the yeast slurry was pitched into the Speidel fermenter. The fermenter was placed in an incubator that was set to a maximum temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.

Yeast 29.5 hours post inoculation.
Yeast 29.5 hours post inoculation.

Primary fermentation was complete after 72 hours and the diacetyl rest was allowed to proceed for 48 hours. The green beer was

then transferred to secondary fermenter and will be allowed to stand at room temperature for 24 hours. The fermenter will then be chilled to -2 degrees Celsius which will help precipitate proteins and any remaining yeast cells. After the cold crash, the beer will be transferred to a 1/3 keg and pressurized to 30 psi, rolled. These steps will be repeated. Tasting notes will follow.

Specific gravity and pH profile during fermentation with WYeast 1272.
Specific gravity and pH profile during fermentation with WYeast 1272.

Comments:

  • In order to achieve a faster fermentation start, we will likely shorten the propagation time for the yeast. At 24 hours, the yeast has likely entered stationary phase and may be exhausting glycogen stores due to the depletion of fermentable sugars from the media.
  • We started taking pH readings! Unfortunately, we forgot a reading at time point zero and did not take readings at our last two samplings. We will test the final pH of the beer.
  • Our brewhouse efficiency increased 10% compared to our last brew day. Possible explanations are the different water profile in Loveland, CO or a larger sparge volume. The water profile could have resulted in improved enzyme activity which increased the amount of fermentable sugars available to the yeast. A larger sparge volume would have extracted more sugars from the mash, increasing efficiency.
  • The 94 hour time point sample had a strong aroma, best described as ‘cidery’. This is the result of acetaldehyde released by yeast. The yeast, if reasonably healthy, will reabsorb it and scrub the green beer of this off flavor. Happy yeast makes great beer.
  • The estimated alcohol content takes this out of Amber Ale territory. Maybe a Red IPA? Looking forward to tasting this beer.

What’s Water Got to Do With It?

Our temporary yeast propagation and laboratory set up in the kitchen.
Our temporary yeast propagation and laboratory set up in the kitchen.

After a five month brewing hiatus we are preparing to brew! We decided that our Amber Ale, is going to be our inaugural Colorado brew. We last brewed this in March 2016 in Davis, CA. We were happy with the recipe we developed and already have the complete grain bill. We went to Hops & Berries South in Fort Collins to pick up yeast (Wyeast 1450) and hop pellets (Magnum, Cascade, Amarillo). It quickly became clear that we would have to deal with some unintended modifications to our recipe. Here are some of the recipe and environmental changes that we will be attempting to compensate for. Beware, this post is biochemistry heavy.

Recipe changes

  • Hops & Berries was out of Cascade pellets, so we purchased whole cone. This is going to lower our utilization rate because the lack of processing means the lupulin glands (source of bittering and aroma compounds) were not ruptured. When we last brewed this recipe, the Cascade pellets were added when heat was removed; with the expected lower utilization rate, the whole cone Cascade will be added with five minutes left in the boil.
  • Hops & Berries also sold out of the the WYeast 1450, but offered WYeast 1272 American Ale II as a substitute. 1450 is a blend of three different yeast strains, of which 1272 is one. According to the knowledgeable staff at Hops & Berries, 1272 will result in a drier finish than 1450. Increasing the mash temperature may help counteract this flavor characteristic imparted by the yeast. The flavor profile (contributions of esters, higher alcohols) of this yeast also tends towards dark fruits, such as dried cherries.

Water

This is the biggest change to our brewing. The water in Davis, CA was ‘hard’, alkaline (pH 8.2), and filled with various metals (arsenic, boron, manganese, hexavalent chromium). This link will take you to the Davis, CA water chemistry report; check out all the notifications of ions exceeding limits. The water analysis of Loveland, CO (bonus points for having a quick link on the city services website for those who rely on water quality and composition for their craft) indicated soft water, approaching neutral (pH 7.4), and few metals reported.

Why the difference in water quality? During the time we were there, Davis’ water source was multiple wells. Each well’s mineral composition is based on what is leached from the rocks, soils, and human activities in the area. If you follow the link provided above (Davis water), you will see that the values for various analytes fluctuated widely. Loveland’s water comes from reservoirs filled by snow melt from Rocky Mountain National Park. Compare the Davis and Loveland analyses. The water in Loveland in consistent month in and month out for the period it was tested. We are so glad we are not drinking water from Davis, CA anymore.

What do we predict the effect of the change in water is going to have on our beer? From personal experience, the water in Loveland tastes and smells much better than the water in Davis. That will immediately eliminate off odors and flavors from our beer that are from the water. Less chlorine will reduce the possibility of chlorophenols forming; these compounds can impart a medicine or band-aid like aroma and flavor. Loveland’s lower water hardness (less calcium and magnesium) may have a negative impact on enzyme activity (calcium stabilizes and activates alpha-amylase and magnesium is a cofactor for a variety of enzymes in yeast). However, the lower pH of the Loveland water may improve enzyme activity, negating the negative effect of low calcium concentrations. Overall, we think the differences in water chemistry are going to be a net positive for our brewing in general.

Altitude

Our elevation in Loveland, CO is 4984 feet, which we are going to say is close enough to a mile high (5280 feet). So why do we care that we are a mile high? At sea level water boils at 100 degrees Celsius and the boiling point decreases roughly 0.5 degrees Celsius for every 500 feet elevation gain. So, at Loveland’s altitude, the boiling point of water is approximately 95 degrees Celsius.

Why do we care about water boiling at a lower temperature? The off flavor dimethyl sulfide (DMS). DMS has a low threshold (easy to detect) and has an odor of canned or canned creamed corn. Not usually a flavor that is found in beer style descriptions. Please bear with the next paragraph; it is heavy in biochemistry and brewing science to provide the necessary information which will help convey the impact water’s lower boiling point.

The precursor to DMS is S-methylmethionine (SMM), which is produced during barley germination. Without germination, we would not have malt, so we cannot eliminate germination to decrease SMM. At 100 degrees Celsius (boiling point at sea level) the half-life of SMM is approximately 40 minutes. Thus, after 40 minutes, approximately 50% of SMM present would be converted to DMS. If one was boiling with vigor for 60 minutes, then 65% of SMM would be converted to DMS. DMS will be volatilized during a vigorous boil, carried off by the vapors, and will not be present in the wort (which would carry over to the beer).

95 degrees Celsius, the half-life of SMM increases to 80 minutes. So to convert 65% of the SMM to DMS, boil time would have to be increased to 2 hours. A longer boil time will increase evaporation, increase the Maillard reaction, which will increase melanoidins (flavor and color components) and potentially caramelize more sugars. Compromising and setting the boil time to 90 minutes would lessen evaporation and Maillard reactions, but approximately 45% of the original SMM amount would remain. Which could then be converted to DMS during the whirlpool stand. Without a vigorous boil, the DMS will not be volatilized and will carry over into the finished product. It’s just complicated.

Summary

We are going to just brew and see what happens. Likely modifications will be a higher mash in temperature and a 90 minute boil. Everything is about compromise. We have multiple variables changing in this brew and will find out if our compromised produced a decent beer in approximately one month.

Here’s a picture of the WYeast 1272 American Ale II starter culture under the microscope after 24 hours. A reward for reading that science geek out that proceeded the summary.

Wyeast 1272 American Ale II starter culture viewed under 800x magnification.
Wyeast 1272 American Ale II starter culture viewed under 800x magnification.

 

Northern California: Summary

CASummary
Route for our Northern California Adventure.

Our northern California excursion made leaving much harder. We realized that there were so many more adventures we wanted to go on while in California. Unfortunately, the timing did not work out. We will be back someday.

Our route was just shy of 1000 miles, at 982. We averaged approximately 16 mpg for the trip. Abby felt very sporty without the cargo trailer.

Campgrounds

Breweries

Favorite Campgrounds

  1. Wesport-Union Landing State Beach: Our favorite campground of the trip. Camped on a bluff, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, falling asleep to the sound of the ocean. What more can you ask for? Beach access? Even better. Fantastic campground that the locals know about. You can grab a spot as soon as someone leaves. Make sure there isn’t an item left at the site indicating that a camper is coming back.

    Beach that can be accessed from the Westport-Union campground.
    Beach that can be accessed from the Westport-Union campground.
  2. Manzanita Lake Campground, Lassen Volcanic National Park: Our second favorite campground. This park has versatility. Hiking, skiing and snowboarding (in June!), and lake activities. A very nice park and informative visitors center. Really enjoyed our hike up to Crags Lake. Other trail-heads accessible in or near the campground; other trails through out the park.

    View near Crags Lake.
    View near Crags Lake.
  3. Stand of young redwoods.
    Stand of young redwoods.

    Mill Creek Campground, Redwood National and State Park: Some sites were in some very dense tree cover. We had a sunnier site with a creek directly behind us – Alex loved splashing in the water. Lots of hikes accessible from the campground.

Biggest Pleasant Surprise

  1. Hidden Spring, Humboldt State Forest: Primarily tent camping and some smaller RV and trailers. Abby is only 24 feet and we were glad she wasn’t bigger. We could hike to a beach/swimming hole at the Eel River. Sites are well spaced.

Least Favorite Campground

  1. Mad River Rapids RV Park: Commercial campgrounds are not our first choice. But there was cell service here and that is what we needed for Jess’ phone interview. So here we stayed.