Yard City Brewing

What can Brown do for me...

This beer has been so good. I'm so happy that I made it. Dick. Jane. Dogs... It's so simple and good. Anyway, I said the beer may not have been finished below, but it was. 72% AA and 4.4% abv, and near perfect. (But, of course it'll be tweaked next time cause that's what we do, right?) (I bought some Simpson's (UK) Chocolate for next time.) I put the beer on before it was 3 weeks old! {Michael Jackson was right! I always thought it wasn't quite right when he said/wrote that many English beers were ready at three weeks. I kept thinking of secondary conditioning, but that need only be done mostly in the cask. whatever.}

Yeah, it's toasty... lightly roasty. So lightly that I didn't notice it until I had it up against a beer of similar color and character... Northen Lights (Spokane) Chocolate Dunkel. I'd put a link.... but they don't have a website! Anyway, the AngleBrown has toasty nose with some coffee maybe. It definately has some lingering coffee. Definate toasty flavor, though. I didn't think it too dry (and it's not) but it is definately accentuated by the Wyeast London 1028. Dryish, some minerally character. Bueno. It just dropped bright. It has some red tones, but not deep red. Not like the afore mentioned wesiteless bier. (boo)

This is what I hear.

I took a grav sample of the Brown Ale today. It seems hoppier right now than I wanted, but that may change. OG was 1.046 and it is now at 1.013 and I don't think it's entirely done. It could stop here and be legitimate, though. 72% AA and 4.4% abv.

Sample, sample, sample! Took another hit off the Super Saison: wooded version. It truely is a great beer no matter whose label would be on it. It still isn't obviously woody. Not much further along than the last post on it. So, I'll leave it for now. I'm wondering, however, if there is stratification occuring with the wood on the bottom of the keg. I'm thiefing from the top to the middle. Perhaps there is more wooded character further down... to the roots?!


(I can barely read it, too!)

Today I transferred the 1214 B5 into its corny keg so it can travel to the Bourbon Barrel in Indianola. It had attenuated a little more since the initial transfer. It's moved down to 1.016. 83% AA and 10.3% abv. Molto bene. I couldn't understand enough of the aroma and flavor from my small sample. It was NOT hot in any way because of the cooler ferment. It did have developing heat from the 10% alcohol, but nothing obtuse in flavor or aroma.

The 3787 brother is still fermenting. God! Talk about slow. I guess it might be a testament to what Wyeast's discriptor says in regards to incremental feeding. I can't help to think that the Trappist's probably don't do this, but whatever. It hasn't been as user friendly as 1214 in this case. I also noticed that Wyeast doesn't even recommend using 3787 for this style of beer anyway! Hm. Anyway it has jumped down to about 1.026 from the previous post below. And by jumped I mean eased on down the road like an old man tryin' to catch the 20 in Yard City.

I experimented with priming 3/4 of a gallon of WGV Pale into a Big Time Brewery Beer Box.

The box has a 1 gallon plastic type bladder inside that is fitted with a plastic spigot. I primed it at about 2 volumes and fermented it at ambient temperature for 12 days before we set it up to drink. I vented it once on day 10 and once on day 12. I was scared it was going to explode and make a giant mess! It puffed out quite a bit, but it did fine. Upon pouring it had some carbonation. It worked... kinda. I wanted a little more carbonation, but it might be risky if done again in the future. I think it was a bit lackluster. I may try it again with the Brown Ale. But, it's more likely that I'll try the same thing with 1 gallon of beer in a 2 gallon bucket fitted with the same spigot.

Any ideas on the priming rate in respect to the extreme headspace?

I made this today:

13.5# Crisp Marris Otter
2.5# Briess Victory Malt
1/2# Briess Chocolate Malt
1/4# MFB Kiln Coffee
3.25 oz WGV Hop Pellets - 5% AA
Wyeast 1028 London Ale (Two 16 oz starters)
1g each NaCl & CaSO4 to boil for 'flavour'


c. 30+ quarts at 165F fall to 154F (-11) for 1 hour. Ramp up to 171 over 15 minutes.
Ph 5.3


10 gallons of 1.046 OG

I'm hoping for 4.2 - 4.6% abv beer.



Oh, and I'm drinking my WGV pale out of this glass... RIGHT NOW!

Big Beautiful Belgian Beer for the Barrel:

Miracle: Wyeast 3787 had worked well for several days and then it appeared as if a 75% of the yeast had dropped out and left more than 50% of the wort to the remaining 25% of the community. I let it drag on for some weeks until I had an idea develop. Rack the beer to secondary, make a starter for the slurry and drop it back in for "secondary primary". It worked. Mildly vigorous and still working. A big part of the whole thing was temperature. The initial drop out could've been chiefly due to the drop down in temp to 64/65F, The next bit was heated up to 70+ and has remained warm. I can't wait to see if it beats it's 1214 brother @ 80% AA.

Yard City Special: Haven't had the beer in about 5 days. Great hop aroma. Slight harsh taste is CaCO3 in the boil. Only nearly 3 grams and I can detect it. Maybe CO3 isn't for the boil at all. Probably more tolerant in dark beers, but might be better only as a part of total mash water treatment.

October 5, 2007

10# Crisp Maris Otter
10# Great Western 2-row
1/2# Castle Biscuit Malt
1/4# Castle Special B
10.25 oz Whitbread Golding Variety Hop Pellets 5% AA
Wyeast 1968 London ESB
Wyeast 1056 American Ale
2 grams CaCO3 to kettle

Mash in 152F for 45 min. Ramp up over 15 minutes to mash out @ 168F.

Hop Schedule:

90 min: 2.25 oz
60 min: .5 oz
30 min: .5 oz
15 min: .5 oz
10 min: .5 oz
5 min: 2 oz
KO: 4 oz

OG: 1.057

TG: 1.018 Wyeast 1968 68.4% AA 5.2% abv
TG: 1.013 Wyeast 1056 77% AA 5.8% abv


The 1968 Fullers Yeast version is on tap right now. Good. Fruity. Earthy. Hopped and balanced by firm and developing bitterness. Slightly sticky and syrupy.

There is 3/4 of a gallon refermenting 'cask style' in a Big Time brewery 'Beer Box' since 10/24. Will be serving from 'Bar Top' next week.

I tasted the Super Saison with Pear Brandy Cubes on Thursday the 25th of October. The wood-type character was mildly present and added complexity and depth with some mild tannins in the aftertaste. Still, I think it will remain as such for another week from today.

The Warmer ferment fully attenuated to the previously mentioned 1.012. The cooler one did not. It terminated at 1.017, for 83.5% AA. Hm. Good lesson. The warmer ferment has some hotter alcohols and more phenols, while the cooler ferment has the usual fruity character in previous pitches. So I've decided to lager the warm side for about 3 months at about 37F, and I'll celler condition the cool ferment at about 50 degrees with oak cubes that had been previously soaked in Clear Creek Pear Brandy for about a year.

Buenos Suerte.