#12 - Tain't Bitter

(A collaborative English-style Bitter by Contraband Brewhouse and Dirt Star Enterprises)

Specialty Grains:

0.125 lb. Crystal Malt 40L

0.25 lb. Dark Crystal

0.125 lb. Black Malt

Fermentables:

6 lb. Golden Malt Syrup

Hops:

1 oz. Fuggles, 4.5 % AA, plugs (60 min)

0.5 oz. Kent Goldings, 4.0% AA, plugs (60 min)

0.5 oz. Kent Goldings, 4.0% AA, plugs (15 min)

0.5 oz. Willamette, 4.8% AA, pellets (15 min)

0.5 oz. Willamette, 4.8% AA, pellets (dry hop, 2 days)

Yeast:

Wyeast #1275 Thames Valley

(1/2 tablet of Whirlfloc @15min)

Batch Size: 5 gal.

Wort Boil: 1/23/2010

Lag Time: 12 hrs

Dry-hopped (no bag): 3 days (2/7 – 2/10)

Bottled: 2/11/2010

Yield: 50 bottles (12 oz.)

Original Gravity: 1.042

Final Gravity: 1.010

ABV: 4.3 %

31 IBU

FERMENTING NOTES:

- (1/24): Deep amber/mahogany color in carboy with chalky white krausen foam, streaked with tawny and brown sediment. Steady airlock bubbles every 1.5 seconds. 67F. Blowoff tubing fitted at midnight.

- (1/25): Almost no blow-off; foam has resided. Krausen has turned pale brown in color, creamy in consistency. 69F.

- (1/30): Removed blow-off apparatus; replaced airlock.

- Avg. temp = 66F

PRE-BOTTLING TASTING NOTES (2/10):

COLOR - A deep red/brown in the carboy. In the tasting glass, it's lighter than I thought it might be. Good for the style: dark golden.
NOSE - Earthy, almost woody nose. I even pick up a little cedar alongside the musky floweriness of the English hops. Slight bit of caramel malt.
TASTE - Sweet early on (mostly caramel, a little fruit?), then dries out with (again) those flowery, woody flavors. Nice dry taste left on the tongue, worthy of the bitter name. A surprisingly warming alcohol feel; no boozy taste at all though. This is delicious uncarbonated and at 66F! I'm interested to see if she changes in the bottle.

#11 -- Mother Funk Stout

Mother Funk Stout
(Foreign Extra Stout style – two yeast strains)

Grain: 1 lb. Roast Barley
0.5 lb. 80L Crystal Malt
0.5 lb. Fawcett’s Pale Chocolate
Fermentables: 6 lb. Dark Malt Syrup
2 lb. Dark DME
1 lb. Priming Sugar (0 min)
Hops: 1 oz. Summit, 16.7% AA (60 min)
Yeast: 2 Separate fermentation:
- Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale [650 mL yeast starter, 24 hrs] – pitched into 4.75 gal. of wort
- 600 mL of wort diverted into beaker and inoculated with 100 mL Wyeast Brettanomyces claussenii yeast.

Batch Size: 5 gal.
Wort Boil: 8/29/2009
Lag Time: 8 hrs (main batch, #1084); 3-4 days (Brett)

Original Gravity: 1.078
Specific Gravity (at transfer to secondary): 1.022
Final Gravity: 1.020
ABV: 7.7%
68 IBU (? – seems too high, but low cumuhulone level)

▪ Tasting Notes at transfer: smoky, dark fruit nose / sweet front, dries out at the end with choc malt finish / boozy
• Brett yeast batch: slower fermentation; krausen appeared after 3-4 days and lasted for 1 week. Fermentation still active at 4 weeks (visible bubbles in beaker; airlock activity).
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• On bottling day, pasteurized Brett fermented ale, recombined with unpasteurized Irish yeast ale. 5 oz. priming sugar added.

Bottled: 12/12/2009 [15 weeks in carboys]
Yield: (44) 12 oz. bottles / (4) 22 oz. bombers

Test blog for Contraband Brewhouse's online existence.