The Same River.

Stopped by the LHBS while oot and aboot today and picked up the following:

• 10 lbs US 2 Row
• 1 lb US Crystal/Carmel 80L
• 1 lb UK Chocolate Malt
• 1 lb UK Black Malt
• 1 lb UK Torrified Wheat
• 1 lb US Flaked Wheat
• 1 lb CN Flaked Oats
• 1 pkg Danstar Nottingham Dry Yeast
• 1 oz Fuggle Loose Pellet
• 1 oz Nugget Loose Pellet

Combine that with some brown sugar and spring water to be acquired from the grocer and we’ve got fixing for the next Circle Bar Brewery batch. It’s to be an oatmeal stout based on a recipe I found online. That one had a slightly more complicated grain bill and called for Cluster hops for bittering. I collapsed the UK Pale Ale and Pale malts into a bog standard US 2-Row malt. I also subbed out Nugget for the Cluster. With a much higher AA content I’ll cut the amount of hops by 25% at the bittering addition. I’ve christened this one Toasted Otis in honor of the late Otis “Oats” B. Toast, Esq.

Currently the recipe looks like this:

Fermentables

• 10 lbs US 2 Row
• 1 lb US Crystal/Carmel 80L
• 1 lb UK Chocolate Malt
• 1 lb UK Black Malt
• 1 lb UK Torrified Wheat
• 1 lb US Flaked Wheat
• 1 lb CN Flaked Oats
• .25 lb Muscavado (going to substitute dark brown sugar)

Hops

• .75 oz Nugget loose pellet
• 1 oz Fuggle loose pellet

Doing BIAB for this one. Plan is to heat 8.25 gallons of water to 158F and dough in. Cover up and let it sit for 45 minutes. Give her a stir or two, verify the temp is okay, and then cover and rest for another 45 minutes.

Mash out at 170F by lifting bag and letting it drain and do a bit of squeezing to get all the goodness we can out of this. I’ll probably sit the bag in a bucket and collect a little more wort to add at the 45 minute mark.

Start the boil timer at 60 minutes when we clear the hot break. Add Nugget hops at this time. Add the Fuggle at 10 minutes to flame out.

Cool wort in water bath until we hit 70F and pitch yeast.

Looking at three weeks in primary before even checking on SG readings. Carb to 2 volumes and serve some time near the end of March if we’re lucky. BeerAlchemy shows we should expect:
5.5 gallons
OG: 1.064
FG: 1.014
ABV: 6.6%
IBU: 38.1
SRM: 37.2

Pretty much right on the high side of the standard across the board.

The biggest problem right now? It’s a tie between not having my bad sewn (so improvising) and finding the time to run this batch. I can improvise a bag by cutting a largish piece of voile and just folding in the corners. Not sure I can fit this in around an auction that I want to attend tomorrow. There are a few Guinness plastic crates and an “Antique Grain Mill” advertised. Werry interested in the mill if it looks serviceable. A bit interested in the crates because it’s nice to have crates I’ve found.

I’ve been thinking about putting up an RIS because I really like a big, malty beer. My problems are twofold however. First, I need to actually make my BIAB bag. Second, my pipeline is still a bit narrow for the level of consumption being engaged in.

I brewed what probably qualifies as a Blonde Ale that will makes its way to bottles next weekend. It was a slightly more voluminous brew than I had anticipated because my BIAB is not yet dialed in. I also used a three (five?) gallon paint strainer as my bag. I had to stretch the elastic to near its breaking point to fit it around the lip of my kettle. The smaller–roughly eight and a half pound–grain bill fit more snugly than I would have liked. To do a proper RIS, I’d need to double the bill so want a much larger bag. I’ve got the voile. I don’t have the nylon thread or the patience to sew this myself. This may change this weekend as I could be brewing if I had all the equipment.

The second problem is less of an impediment but more painful. I have maybe a rack of the Nutter left to get me through the three weeks until the McBee’s Blonde can be served. (McBee’s–a play on BMC–designed to appeal to several BMC drinkers in the neighborhood) While there is more of the McBee’s by volume, I think it will also go quickly. I try to farm out at least a sixer to folks who stop by to help out on Brew Day. I tend to offer one to anyone who stops by the house. There is a party coming up next weekend which should decimate any remaining stock. McBee’s will be ready just before St. Patrick’s Day and I imagine I’ll bring a bunch to the neighborhood party. There isn’t anything else in production at the moment.

And an RIS is easily a three month project to drinkability. Six to respectability. Twelve to reach its zenith.

I’d like to have two in the fridge before I take on something with that kind of lead time. On the other hand, if I put an RIS up now it will be peaking for the 2012 holiday season.

So this weekend I resolve to either sew my bag and/or do a smaller stout, either a dry or an oatmeal if LHBS has chocolate roast in stock. If they don’t then I guess make an online order and then wait until next week where it will be difficult to fit in a brew day.