BOTTLING AND TASTING: Red River Ale

So, a yield of about 20-21 beers, with two down and drunk already. Definitely an improvement on the prior beer. The nose is very hoppy and seems to cut the flavor of the malts down to the quick. The sticky sweetness of the homemade caramel malts really comes through in the aftertaste. Before that the fruit notes from the very banana-y, five-spice-y, citrus-y, and jammy as the weizen yeast and fruity hops and spices dominate the flavor.

A success, definitely!

The overnight mash really helped, I think. So did the better temperature control during the primary fermentation! Doing this next time, I have a list of things to do or improve upon.

1) I will get more aggressive roasting that chocolate wheat, and get it really dark - black patent dark!

2) Thin. The beer feels just a little thin. Certainly an overnight mash contributed to this, somehow. I either need to invest in a refractometer, or add a body-builder like oats or flaked what or carapils. This beer is too thin.

3) I doughed in cold and brought the temperature of the whole mash up together, to a protein rest. I'm not sure that was the right way. I think with 70% wheat, a protein rest was called for - and my beer is surprisingly clear considering how much wheat was involved - but I don't need to start cold and build up to it. I can get the water up above protein rest temps, then dough in.

 4) Water chemistry and sanitation: I can taste a very subtle background note of band-aid/plastic. That means one of two things. Either the chlorine/chloramine from the tap water made it through, or some of the bleach water sanitizer did. Either way, there is a simple solution. Campden tablets and a no-rinse sanitizer are cheap and effective methods of preventing this problem.

Ah, but how heartening to drink something I have made, all-grain, and know that it is good. Not win homebrewing awards good, but share with others unashamed good. Onward!
 

Roasted Chocolate Wheat Experiment #1

This process looked like it was going to be the easiest one, yet. Stovetop roasting of Rahr Red Wheat, half an hour at a medium/low heat, with constant stirring, followed by degassing in a paper bag for a week. Simple right? For this recipe, I wanted 2 ounces of Rahr Red Wheat roasted into something resembling chocolate malt. I wisely measured out extra, because I suspected I would lose weight once the milling started. Little did I know, I would also lose weight while roasting the grains! Yeah, these suckers kept popping out of the pan! I tried to gather up lost grains, but it seemed, as I stirred, they got bouncier and bouncier and as they "popped" they left the pain entirely. It wasn't a mass exodus, or anything. But, it was significant enough of a loss that I thought that I should use a much taller-sided pan in the future. Soon, it will be time to bottle the Golden Cloud Ale, which smells done, and seems ready to leave my primary. Then, I will be brewing up a Dunkelweizen on the yeast cake, with my newly roasted grains. We'll see how things taste. I'm not sure how far I got from Amber Wheat Malt to Chocolate Wheat Malt. I stopped when I smelled burning and chocolate and I was tired of making a big, huge mess. Also, I stopped because it was half an hour, and that was all the recipe said to do. This time, my first time, I wanted to be conservative and not risk the creation of black patent malt... Regardless, I expect to drink the evidence.

I like the oven better for evenness and cleanness. Next time, I'll use the oven. My wife has a super-awesome cast-iron pot I could use, too, but I'm sort of afraid I'll be the one who damages the enamel finish first. I would be that guy, in our household! Oven. Definitely the oven.