I’m laid-off from work due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and quickly running-out of beer, so I homebrewed for the first time in 5 years. I’m using malt, hops, and yeast from work. It’s lager yeast but I don’t have fancy temperature control here at home so I’ll be fermenting at ale temps, thus technically a California Common style. I like Callista hops a lot, they’re really juicy and fruity for a German hop, along with the expected noble herbal/earthy/floral/spicy traits. The fun experimental part is this: Calabazilla/Buffalo Gourd seeds I foraged in New Mexico. I dry-roasted the seeds in my oven a couple hours until golden and delicious-smelling. Native Americans used these seeds for protein and oil-rich food, the pulp for soap, the leaves and roots for medicine, and the dried gourds for eating utensils. Me? I make beer.
5 US gallons = 4.2 Imperial gallons = 18.9 Liters
GRAINBILL
90% = 7 lb 2 oz = 3.22 kg, Pale Ale Malt
5% = 6.3 oz = 179 g, Unmalted Wheat
5% = 6.3 oz = 179 g, Dry-Roasted Calabazilla Seeds
TOTAL: 7.9 lbs = 3.58 kg, plus a sprinkle each of gypsum and sodium bicarbonate.
MASH
This tedious multi-step schedule was unplanned. I had to clear-out for my wife to do quarantine Zoom meetings in the next room, but it ended-up beneficial in terms of mash efficiency and fermentability.
118°F/48°C for 10 min,
130°F/54°C for 10 min,
140°F/60°C for 60min, took a small decoction, brought it to boil then added back, raising it to
150°F/66°C for 60min, then raised to
172°F/78°C, then VORLAUF and LAUTER.
SPARGE to collect 6.5 US gal/5.4 Imp gal/24.6 L
BOIL hard for 60 minutes, reduce to 5 US gal/4.2 Imp gal/18.9 L.
HOPS: 2018 Tettnang Callista 2.9%AA
1 oz = 28 g, first wort addition
1.2 oz = 34 g, at 15 min remaining, added 1 Whirlfloc tablet at this time too.
1.2 oz = 34 g, at flame-out then whirlpool
TOTAL: 3.4 oz = 96 g
AERATE & PITCH at 62°F/16.7°C.
YEAST: Urban Chestnut Zwickel Helles Lager strain
STATS: 82% mash efficiency and 83% apparent attenuation
OG: 11.3°P/1046
FG: 2.05°P/1008
ABV: 5.05%
IBU: 20
COLOUR: golden amber with off-white foam and lace
STYLE: BJCP 34C: Specialty Beer-Experimental Beer, based on 19B: Amber and Brown American Beer-California Common
What have you been up to?
Lovely clarity there.
