Name: Track 023 Date: Apr 26, 2012 11:35 am Map: View on Map Distance: 3.01 miles Elapsed Time: 29:41.2 Avg Speed: 6.1 mph Max Speed: 8.3 mph Avg Pace: 9′ [...]]]> I’m not wild about the idea of driving somewhere for the sole purpose of running somewhere else, but I suppose allowances can be made.

Name: Track 023
Date: Apr 26, 2012 11:35 am
Map: View on Map
Distance: 3.01 miles
Elapsed Time: 29:41.2
Avg Speed: 6.1 mph
Max Speed: 8.3 mph
Avg Pace: 9′ 52″ per mile
Min Altitude: 9,507 ft
Max Altitude: 9,675 ft

Anyway… Last year I started experimenting with partial boils, due to not being able to use a garden hose in the winter. And that technique has been working well for me, [...]]]>
Get it? It’s a thermodynamics pun! How many brewing blogs give you wordplay like that? None of the reputable ones, that’s for sure.

Anyway… Last year I started experimenting with partial boils, due to not being able to use a garden hose in the winter. And that technique has been working well for me, though it has some limitations. It would result in an unworkably thick mash when brewing a big beer, for example. More importantly, I anticipate brewing a lot of test batches for Two Mile in the near future, and there’s always the possibility that some unforeseen flavor impact could rear its ugly head.

But even during one of the driest winters on record, the one thing Silverton has in abundance is snow. Sticking the kettle into a snow bank isn’t going to do much (snow being one of nature’s great insulators), but melting some of that snow is going to make a hell of a heat sink. So I have a new toy, a Little Giant water pump. It’s rated 63 gallons per hour at one foot of lift, which turns out to be a little less than I’d like for a five-gallon batch – it took 60 minutes to chill 5.75 gal of wort from 92°C to 11°C. The majority of the chilling was done in the first 20 minutes, though, so I consider that acceptable. Next time around I’ll try to position the heat exchanger so that the pump is fighting a little less static head. If I can get the kinks worked out this may become my standard wort chilling technique, at least during the nine months of the year there’s snow on the ground.

The visual appearance is really great. Deep amber with brilliant clarity, despite all the pumpkin in the mash, and an off-white head with excellent retention and lacing. The aroma is predominately of the [...]]]> Now that the holiday season is in full swing, I’m finally getting around to posting some tasting notes for the Fall Classic.

The visual appearance is really great. Deep amber with brilliant clarity, despite all the pumpkin in the mash, and an off-white head with excellent retention and lacing. The aroma is predominately of the spices, with some nice bready and toasty notes as well, although there is a hint of a green or vegetal character. I’d had the beer several times before I noticed it, but now that I know it’s there it’s frustrating. If I had to guess, I’d say you could reduce the amount of pumpkin used to eliminate the aroma impact.

The flavor is nearly perfect, if I do say so myself. The initial impression is of rich malt that manages not to be sweet, not unlike a good doppelbock. The home-toasted malt is clearly adding quite a bit of flavor. Through the middle of the palate and into the aftertaste, the spices really come into their own. The finish has a dry, graham-cracker crispness and just a hint of alcohol heat, and the spices linger, which makes each sip a lengthy and satisfying experience.

I think the overall quantity of spices is just right, although you might have to adjust the ratios to suit your own preferences. If anything, the malt complexity may be a bit overdone. I have no trouble finishing a couple pints, but that’s about it. Which is OK, because this beer is pretty much a meal in a glass. The only foods it would really pair well with would be pumpkin pie and other spiced desserts.

Does it taste like a piece of pumpkin pie? Not really. There’s next to no sugar in it, after all. Is it the best pumpkin-spice beer I’ve ever had? Yes, and by a pretty wide margin. I’ve tried every commercial example I could find (you know, for research) and the one that comes closest is Elysian Night Owl.

Last time I toyed with the idea of “reverse mashing”, I found that an unheated kitchen isn’t a great place to do mashing experiments in the winter. Fortunately, I have a new toy available in the form of an oven with a “Warm” (170°F – 77°C) setting, and so I was able to perform [...]]]> Background

Last time I toyed with the idea of “reverse mashing”, I found that an unheated kitchen isn’t a great place to do mashing experiments in the winter. Fortunately, I have a new toy available in the form of an oven with a “Warm” (170°F – 77°C) setting, and so I was able to perform two additional mashes utilizing longer rests.

Experimental Setup

For details on how the experiment was conducted, refer to the first post on the subject. Once again, the reverse mash was performed first, to determine the overall length of both mashes. Total time was 100 minutes, and the temperature profiles for all four mashes are shown below.

All other variables were kept constant between the two sets of mashes, with the exceptions of size and fermentation temperature. Since I needed starter wort for some upcoming brewing, I doubled the size of the mashes, to 1000 g of grain each. Fermentation took place in my new fermentation chamber, with the air temperature set for 20°C ± 1°C. The test worts were allowed to ferment for six days, then rested for one day at 8°C before gravity readings were taken.

Results

The reverse mash fermented from 12.0°P to 1.0093 SG, and the control from 12.4°P to 1.0068. As expected, the conventional step mash exhibited both higher efficiency and higher attenuation than the reverse mash. While the efficiency values for both new mashes are significantly improved, however, the attenuation values are similar. While increasing mash efficiency is desirable in most situations, home brewers may well find that a very short step mash provides fermentability on par with a more conventional longer mash, and that the time savings outweigh their comparatively modest financial investment. In a commercial brewing setting, however, the traditional lengthy mash with α- and β-amylase rests is clearly the better option.