On this Sunday, we shall hear a reading from the prophet Patterson. "Thus sayeth the dog: his single decoction mashout skills shall be the envy of the near west side, and the back porch shall not be sullied by gigantic boilovers and moronic lautering."
The last few brew days, and their aftermaths, have been full of issues. To say the least. I felt like I had learned a lot during my previous batches, but that learning had yet to translate into a smooth brew day. I have proved that an old dog can learn new tricks.
The recipe:
Grain
7.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row)
1.00 lbs. Munich Malt(2-row)
1.00 lbs. Victory Malt
1.00 lbs. Crystal 60L
Hops
0.50 oz. Hallertau 8.50 60 min.
0.50 oz. Crystal 3.25 15 min.
0.50 oz. Crystal 3.25 0 min.
Yeast
Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager- I made a starter of this from yeast that I harvest from the bottom of my two previous batches. It fermented those out extremely well, despite my lack of temperature control.
SG- 1.046
IBU- 20.9
SRM- 11.9
I mashed in at 152 degrees, and then did a decoction to get my mash out temp. In retrospect, I would have bought a 10 gallon cooler instead of a 5 gallon to give some flexibility on how I mash, but it's probably fine as it's caused me to try decoctions and fly sparging, which I think I would have put off otherwise. My brewhouse efficiency seems to be sticking at about 71%. I chalk this up to the fact that I'm using a bottling bucket as my hot liquor tank. It doesn't hold water temperature very well, so my sparge starts out with 175 degree water, and finishes with 165. It will be interesting to see if that efficiency stays the same when the weather is nicer and that water temp is a little more constant.
There isn't much to tell about the brewing itself. I feel like I'm starting to get my setup pretty dialed in, and the execution gets smoother with practice. In fact it went so well, that I was able to make myself some lunch during the boil. And by "make myself some lunch," I mean that I was able to burn a grilled cheese sandwich to a cinder.
A note on the name of the beer: Rupert was one of Kerry's rabbits. He was known for his big nose, and his hijinks. He liked to, on occasion, have Kerry's other rabbit run a diversion so that he could steal a sandwich or a bag of corn chips. That dude deserves a beer named after him.
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Committed to the drinking of Bölkstoff since 1993, and the brewing of them since 2007. Not in our kitchen though. The smell of malts makes my wife put on a mask that would make you think she's about to knock over a Piggly Wiggly, and hops are bad for dogs.
About Me
- Kevin LaVoy
- Chicago, IL, United States
- Specializing in beer brewing, drinking and rudimentary German translation for homebrewing buddies.
Brewing Roll Call
Soon-
IPA
Primary-
Xmas Barleywine
Secondary-
McGill's Best Bitter
Aging-
2.5 Gallon Flemish Red (carboy)
5 Gallon Red Sour
5 Gallon Framboise (carboy)
Drinkable-
Steinsdorf Schwarz
Bock
Pils
Solstice Dunkel
IPA
Primary-
Xmas Barleywine
Secondary-
McGill's Best Bitter
Aging-
2.5 Gallon Flemish Red (carboy)
5 Gallon Red Sour
5 Gallon Framboise (carboy)
Drinkable-
Steinsdorf Schwarz
Bock
Pils
Solstice Dunkel
3 comments:
that story of rupert the rabbit is the most interesting thing posted on this blog since that guy (rightly) trashed the big lebowski two months ago. when the younger, better looking lavoy brothers take this brewing company national, they are going to have to hire a good publicist and hope that these stories save you.
...so the name "rupert" had nothing to do with "rupert g" from the letterman show? I have to belive that there is some sort of influence there..
Its not that common of a name :)
anyhow, your brews are sounding tasty..I'm yet to throw down my first lager..this is great motivation. Cheers!
To the mysterious "yavolpg": you obviously have never met my brothers. First off, they are not handsome. Secondly: they wouldn't know how to make beer if a can of pre-hopped extract with a packet of Nottingham taped to it dropped on their heads out of a cloudless sky. If they forget right now about taking this thing national, maybe I'll forget to punch them in the face the next time I see them. Also, again "that guy" trashing The Big Lebowski...you should see his DVD collection. It would be the envy of 12 year olds everywhere. Also, he dressed his cat up at Christmas time. You'd think his favorite TV show was "Queer Eye for the Republican Guy."
Brian: Thanks for the beer comments. They are always a welcome respite from the snarky comments left by my brothers with their clever aliases. I've enjoyed making the lagers. Freezing one of them in the lagering phase wasn't all that hot, but I'm really looking forward to drinking them.
Also, Rupert has nothing to do with Letterman, as far as I know. I'll have to ask my wife. Rupert is a bunny with legendary credentials. He really did run diversions to steal stuff.
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