November 2007

“News About Brews”

Experiencing hops

Well, the Great Hop Experiment went over well at the November meeting.  Ten different types of hops were highlighted in their own version of the decided-upon recipe, and the differences were quite noticeable.  It was very interesting to experience each of the hops by itself, and quite enlightening.  I found that some of the hops I thought I enjoyed most weren't that great all by themselves - it must be the combination with other hops that I truly enjoy.  Some hops certainly did stand well by themselves, it just wasn't the ones I thought I liked best.  anyway, a lot was learned and it was a great time, as always.

Next month is the SSBC Christmas party!  This is always a great time.  Don't forget to bring 6-12 homebrews for the yearly beer swap (and others to just drink and share).  Also don't forget to sign up to bring a dish on the e-mail list that is currently circulating around (if you're going - if not we'll let you off the hook). 

Happy Holidays everyone!

                                                                                          Brew On!

                                                                                          Jimmy B

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Index

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At A Glance…

Things You May Want To Know, Or Not

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Sip by Sip

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

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Date:  November 6^th, 2007

Location:  Brian Shurtleff's, Norton, MA

Number of Members Attending:  a bunch

Business

Single Hop Pale Ale Experiment, presented by Jason Colby

Jason led us through the history and characteristics of the Pale Ale style, as a prelude to the 'competition' where each participant had brewed a Pale Ale from the same recipe, but with a single, different hop variety.  His write-up of the presentation is below in the De-T-Ales section, for your reading pleasure.

Commercial examples supplied for calibration were the benchmark Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, the classic Anchor Liberty Ale, Southern Tier's Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale and Left Hand Brewing's Jackmann's Pale Ale.

The experiment/competition consisted of 10 different varieties of hops:  Centennial, Warrior, Simcoe, Magnum, Tettnang, Perle, Homegrown Cascade, Amarillo, Northdown and Willamette.  Each was distinctly different than the others, with the differences being the hops and the equipment/technique of the brewer.  some were all-grain, others partial mash or extract, but all were based on the same recipe.

The Winners

1)  Centennial - Kevin Farrell

2)  Simcoe - Wade Hicks and Mike LaCharite

3)  Willamette - Bill Gassett

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Recipe of the Month

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A ProMash Recipe Report


Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.13
Anticipated OG: 1.059 Plato: 14.44
Anticipated SRM: 10.7
Anticipated IBU: 37.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

%         Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
15.7     1.75 lbs. Wild Rice 1.030 0
71.9     8.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
9.0       1.00 lbs. Crystal 60L America 1.034 60
3.4       0.38 lbs. Biscuit Malt Great Britain 1.035 35

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.90 oz. Wye Northdown Pellet 8.00 30.6 First WH
0.50 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 5.00 5.5 30 min.
0.50 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 5.00 1.8 5 min.


Yeast
-----

WYeast 1275 Thames Valley Ale


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Name:

Total Grain Lbs: 11.13
Total Water Qts: 16.00 - Before Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 4.00 - Before Additional Infusions

Tun Thermal Mass: 0.30
Grain Temp: 65.00 F


Step Rest Start Stop Heat Infuse Infuse Infuse
Step Name Time Time Temp Temp Type Temp Amount Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sach 5 90 150 150 Infuse 170 16.00 1.44
 

Mash was 90 minutes at 150°
 

Total Water Qts: 16.00 - After Additional Infusions
Total Water Gal: 4.00 - After Additional Infusions
Total Mash Volume Gal: 4.89 - After Additional Infusions

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.
All infusion amounts are in Quarts.
All infusion ratios are Quarts/Lbs.


Notes
-----

Pre-cook the wild rice, 30 min boil in 3 qts water.

.25 tsp gypsum
.25
tsp salt
1 tsp chalk

5 gallons sparge water

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It’s All in the De-t-Ales…

Articles, Reviews and Information

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Contents:

Pale Ale Presentation

by Jason Colby

American Pale Ale – Presentation to the SSBC, 11/13/07 – Jason Colby

Little bit of history
In the beginning, all beer was dark. This was true even in what we think of as the ancestral home of Pale Ale, Great Britain. Beer was dark for technological reasons – maltsters weren't able to control the temperature of their kilns precisely enough to produce truly pale malt – say, single-digit Lovibonds – until the advent of coke as a fuel in the 18th Century. (Eventually even greater control over malting temperatures lead to the production of pilsner malt – but that's beyond the scope of us here today. Maybe we'll hear more about that in April.) Even then it took awhile for brewers to start using this technology to make pale beers. The popular beers of the time were brown, or darker, and brewers probably didn't want to alienate their core customers by brewing anything as "radical" or "extreme" as a pale beer.
Shortly after pale ales began to gain a small foothold, they were largely swept away again by the huge sudden popularity of porter (which, hey, we're going to hear more about in February). It really wasn't until the export trade to India began to be important that Pale Ales, particularly extra-hoppy ones, began to rise in popularity, first abroad and than at home in England. The production of these beers was centered in Burton-on-Trent, whose relatively hard water was ideal for this style of beer.
When the American craft beer movement began, American brewers took the basic outline of British Pale Ales, adapted them to fit domestic ingredients, and the American Pale Ale was born. As for a date, well, Cascade hops weren't released publicly until 1972, and Anchor Liberty Ale was born in 1975, so right around there is probably when you'd date it.


Style Description
APA is designated as BJCP style 10A.

Aroma: Hop aroma moderate to strong, typically but not necessarily a "citrusy" American hop aroma. Malty aroma is there to support the hop aroma. Some specialty malt aroma may be present. Fruity esters moderate to none. So, there's hops, and then there's everything else.
Appearance: Golden to deep amber (SRM 5-14). At the low end you don't want it to look like a pilsner, and at the high end you don't want it to look like an amber or a brown. Should have good head retention. A slight hop haze is okay if dry-hopped, but should otherwise be crystal clear.
Flavor: Hops are prominent, both in bitterness and hop flavor.
"Citrusy" American hops are again most common, but are not required.
Malty flavor is present, but again as a supporting player. Specialty malts may add a hint of flavor but should be restrained. Caramel flavors should be restrained or absent. Fruity esters should be restrained or absent. Moderate to high hop bitterness with medium to dry finish. No diacetyl. So, again, there's hops, and then there's everything else. It's a balanced beer, but it's definitely balanced towards the hops.
Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. Carbonation moderate to high.
Overall impression: Refreshing and hoppy, with sufficient supporting malt.
OG 1.045-1.060, FG 1.010-1.015, 30-45+IBU, SRM 5-14, 4.5-6%ABV.

Recipe Guidelines
Malt: Typically made with American 2-row, although some brewers prefer English pale malts such as Maris Otter which give a slightly darker color and a greater perception of maltiness. A small amount of light to medium crystal malt is usually included, typically <10% of the total grain bill. And that might be it, although small amounts of other "character" malts might be added if a more complex malt background is desired – biscuit malt, munich malt, vienna malt, etc.
Wheat or carapils might be included for body and head retention.
Hops: This is often the area where APA brewers like to be creative, and just about anything might be mixed in depending on the brewer's mood that day. Varieties are typically American "citrusy" types, such as the classic Cascade. Other American hops might be used alone or in combination with each other: things like Chinook, Columbus, Centennial, Amarillo, maybe N Brewer. Recipes will generally include a 60-minute bittering addition as well as one or more sizable hop additions towards the middle and end of the boil, and may be dry-hopped as well.
Yeast: This is pretty simple. The job of the yeast in an APA is to do its job cleanly and stay out of the way. American Ale strains like WLP001, Wyeast 1056, or dry US-05 are easy choices. Some brewers have also been experimenting with the Rogue "Pacman" yeast strain, which can ferment at very cool temperatures.
Other: Some brewers will add salts to their water, such as gypsum, which can affect the perception of hop bitterness.

Similarity to other styles
English Pale Ales – APAs will exhibit American hop character, and much lower yeast-driven flavors such as fruity esters.
American Amber Ales – Ambers will have more crystal malts, including darker crystals, and ambers may also show more roast-malt character.
It used to be that ambers were generally of lower bitterness and hop character than pale ales, but that's less true these days.
American IPAs – As the bitterness and gravity of American IPAs moves upwards, the smaller end of the IPA style can starts to taste like the bigger end of the APA style. There's no really firm distinction between the two. To me, both styles can have high hop flavor, but the first impression of a sip of IPA is a firm bitterness, while the first impression of an APA is more balanced between the bitterness and the other flavors.

Examples (hooray!)
SNPA – The standard APA. This is the best selling craft beer in the US, according to the Brewer's Association.* 5.6% ABV, 37 IBU.
Bittered with magnum and perle, finished with cascades. Malt bill is just pale 2-row and caramel.
* (Followed by 2 Samuel Adams Boston Lager 3 Blue Moon White 4 Samuel Adams Seasonal 5 New Belgium Fat Tire 6 Samuel Adams Light 7 Shiner Bock 8 Widmer Hefeweizen 9 Samuel Adams Brewmasters Collection 10 Redhook ESB 11 Pyramid Hefeweizen 12 Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale 13 Redhook IPA 14 Alaskan Amber 15 Deschutes Black Butte Porter – source:
Stan Hieronomus's blog)

Anchor Liberty – Introduced in 1975 by Fritz Maytag's Anchor Brewery in SF to commemorate the bicentennial of Paul Revere's ride. 6% ABV.
Cascade hops featured, including dry-hopping.

Phin and Matt's Extraordinary Ale – Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Co. in Western NYS. 5.6% ABV, 37 IBU. Pale and caramel malts, cascade in the kettle, styrian golding in a hopback, and dry hopped with cascade. According to internet chitchat, this beer is brewed with very little "bittering" hops (possibly none), getting most of its IBUs from later kettle additions.

Jackman's Pale Ale – Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co. 5.2% ABV, 42 IBU. Pale and caramel malts. Cascade and centennial, dry hopped w/ mt. hood. (Was only able to get 3 of these, so the pours may have to be a bit smaller.)


On to the homebrews!

Bill Gasset - Willamette
Brian - Kurowski Magnum
Fred - Cascade (fresh)
Frank White - Perle
Wade Hicks - Simcoe
SteveG - Tettnang
Kevin Farrel - Centennial
Al Filion - Warrior
Jim Blanchette - Amarillo
Jim Bowser - Northdown

Brewing Calculations

by Brian Kurowski

Converting Degrees Plato to Specific Gravity

Estimate:            Degrees Plato = (Specific Gravity -1)/4 *1000

Exact:               Degrees Plato =135.997(SG)³ -630.272(SG)² +1111.14(SG)-616.868

Calculating % Alcohol

ABV = (OG - FG) * 0.129

Calculating Beer Color

Lovibond is basically the same as SRM

The equation for calculating SRM is: 

  SRM color = 1.4922 * (MCU ** 0.659)

Where 

MCU = (SRM_color * Grain_weight_lbs)/Volume_gallons

Calculating Mash Temperatures

Mash temperatures achieved can be calculated by the First Law of Thermal Dynamics

Q = M * Cp * Delta T

Important Cp’s

Grain = 0.38

Water = 1

The (M* CP) term for your mash tun can be calculated with some simple experimentation with Water.

Calculating Bittering Units (IBU)

An IBU is defined as 1 mg/l of iso-alp

ha-acid in a solution

Factors affecting hop bitternes

The calculation of IBU’s in the final beer is not an exact science. The basic equation used is:

IBU = (W_oz * Utilization % * Percent Alpha Acid * 7,489)/ V_gal

 There are three equations for calculating utilization commonly used in homebrew calculations called Rager, Tinseth and Garetz.

Rager utilization estimates are believed to be optimistic. Garetz has been accused of extrapolating scant laboratory information, and over generalizing because of it. His numbers have been labelled unrealistic on the pessimistic side. Tinseth has just presented a revised method and set of tables, and though they are thought to be quite accurate, they have not stood the test of time. The calculated numbers tend to fall in between Rager's and Garetz's. Note also that these are all estimates. Actual IBUs can be measured in a laboratory, but the average homebrewer has no access to such equipment.

Rager Equation

According to Rager, if the gravity of the boil exceeds 1.050, there is a gravity adjustment (GA) to factor in:

otherwise,

Rager's numbers are often used for pellet hops thrown loose in the boil.

Garetz Method

The Garetz numbers below represent average yeast flocculation; he also provides tables which represent fast and slow yeast flocculation.

According to Garetz, there are several adjustment factors, that he brings together in the formula with the term "combined adjustments" (CA):

where GF is the Gravity Factor, HF is the Hopping Rate Factor, and TF is the Temperature Factor. To calculate it all, he starts with some he calls CF:

to account for concentrated boils of extract brews.

Next, calculate Boil Gravity (BG):

Then calculate GF:

HF is calculated as follows:

TF is based on elevation as follows:

These are all put into the following formula, along with the utilization from the table, and the IBUs are calculated. Note two things: 1) the utilization and alpha acids should be expressed as whole numbers (7% = 7), and 2) this process is iterative, since it contains a term (HF) based on your goal IBUs. You must guess at the final result, do the math, and rerun the process, each time adjusting the value downward. It takes a little practice, but can be done.

Metric Units

Non-Metric Units

Garetz goes to allow for a yeast factor (YF), pellet factor (PF), bag factor (BF), and filter factor (FF), and comes up with:

This allows you to adjust the formula based on your own brewery and practices.

Tinseth Method

Glenn Tinseth's method doesn't involve as many factors, but is still a bit more complex than the original Rager method.Tinseth notes that his table is optimized for fresh whole cones loose in the boil, although easily adjustable for other forms of hops. He builds the gravity adjustment into the utilization tables and offers the following:

To calculate IBUs, the formula is simple:

For those who want to make adjustments based on their own brewery, he offers the following:

Metric Units

Non-Metric Units

The decimal alpha acid utilization is calculated using Tinseth's two empirical factors: the Bigness factor and the Boil Time factor.

The Bigness Factor accounts for reduced utilization due to higher wort gravities.

The Boil Time Factor gives the varying utilization based on boil time:

Some comments from Tinseth:

"The numbers 1.65 and 0.000125 are empirically derived to fit my data. The number 0.04 controls the shape of the util vs. time curve. The factor 4.15 controls the max util value--make it smaller if your util is higher than mine.

I'd suggest fiddling with 4.15 if necessary to match your system, only play with the other three if you like to muck around. I make no guarantees if you do.

You might notice that the shape of the util curves is very similar to that of Randy Mosher's. He and I seem to have independently arrived at the same conclusion.

The really cool thing about these new equations is that they are easily customizable. I believe the basic form is correct--by playing with the different factors, different brewers should be able to make them fit their breweries perfectly. The root of the equations is the basic first order chemical reaction, i.e. the AA isomerization seems be first order (or pseudo-first order)."

Beer Trivia Answer

Contact Information

If there are any updates or changes to the information posted here, please contact:

blanchette.j@comcast.net

Last modified: March 24, 2008