Is in the keg. Took the final gravity reading at 1.015, a bit higher than what I expected, especially given the large, highly-active starter that I pitched. But, it has a nice color and taste, even though flat. Now I just wait for carbonation.
Related Post
Commodore Perry CloneCommodore Perry Clone
Just brewed on Saturday. First time in a long time. Details unnecessary, but back on the hoss. I’ve committed myself to brewing a Commodore Perry clone repeatedly until I get it right. An homage to a great beer.
Noting meticulously my errors and successes. So this is round one. In the future, I’ll brew 2.5 gallon increments! =)
Here’s the recipe I went with. Variations in the future will be noted.
Recipie
| Ingredient | Quantity |
| Rahr Malt (2 Row) (1.9 SRM) | 15 lbs. |
| Caramel/Crystal Malt – 30L (30 SRM) | 1 lbs. |
| Honey Malt – (25 SRM) | 1 lbs. |
| Simcoe 13.0% | 1 oz. 60 min. |
| Cascade 5.50% | 1 oz. 30 min. |
| Willamette 5.50% | .5 oz. 30 min. |
| Cascade 5.50% | .5 oz. 20 min. |
| Willamette 5.50% | .5 oz. 20 min. |
| Cascade 5.50% | .5 oz. 10 min. |
| Willamette 5.50% | .5 oz. 10 min. |
| London Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1028) | 2L starter |
| Cascade 5.50% | .5 oz. Dry Hop. |
| Willamette 5.50% | .5 oz. Dry Hop. |
Hit my targets right on the money. It was beautiful. Too beautiful. I’m waiting for the other shoe right now, in fact.
Struck at 171 degrees and got a mash temp of 156.4.
Let it sit for un hora.
Then my seven-year-old son popped in to start helping me and broke yet another hydrometer.
But together we pushed on to triumph.
He helped through all the runs and vorlaufs:
- 1st Run @ 149 degrees, 3 gallons, 23 brix, 1.094 SG (no hydrometer)
- 2nd Run @ 143.5 degrees, 2 gallons, 23 brix, 1.094 SG (no hydrometer)
- 3rd Run @ who cares degrees, 2 gallons, 9 brix, 1.034 SG (no hydrometer)
- Wort in 8 gallon pot at 7.0 gallons, 17.5 brix, 1.068 SG (no hydrometer)
Boiled for 70 mins, various hop additions, son helping with hop socks and sniffing and considering the differences between hop varietals. While also stirring the 7 gallons of boiling wort and causing me no end to terrible scenarios in my mind, esp while touching the ball valve on the boil pot.
Got a post boil volume of around 6 gallons at 1.079 OG, pitched the yeasties, and …
The fermentation is sluggish. Smells bad. May have effed up the starter. Sour Commodore anyone? I could be pessimistic, too. Stuck my nose in the fermenter and had my eyebrows burned off. Loving life. If this one is bad, I’ll do another.
Great Lakes Brewing CompanyGreat Lakes Brewing Company
Interesting article in the Cleveland.com blog about GLBC and its possible plans for the future…
Conway CloneConway Clone
My last brew session was a Conway’s Irish Ale clone of the Great Lakes Brewery beer. I chose this one at my wife’s behest and the thought that my dad would enjoy this one as well.
The clone is not precise for a few reasons, the first being that I don’t have a whole lot of money to throw around right now and I had a backlog of ingredients on hand. As I pursued a clone recipe for Conway I learned that Great Lakes uses Harrington 2-row as the base for most of its brews. This is good to know, as I have a desire to try a few clones: for instance, my Christmas ale this year used a Nosferatu clone as the base–again, however, I didn’t know about the Harrington 2-row. I learned about the base characteristics of Great Lakes brews from a nice post on The Beerists blog site.
In looking around, the only places I’ve seen that carry Harrington are Midwest Supplies and Northern Brewer.
Additionally, Great Lakes uses quite a bit of Cascade.
Regardless, here is the clone that I used:
- 11 lb Maris Otter
- .75 lb Crystal 80
- .10 lb Crystal 40
- 1 oz Northern Brewer (30 min)
- 1 oz Hallertauer (10 min)
- .75 oz Fuggle (5 min)
- WLP002 British Ale yeast
We’ll see how this compares, although I expect significant differences. In the future, I aim to try this again with a more precise version that uses Harrington 2-row, Cascade, and Wyeast London Ale 1028.