Portner Brewhouse PigNic

As a result of Aaron's communications with in planning Portner Brewhouse (coming to Alexandria, VA in Spring 2014), we were invited to pour our homebrew at their end-of-summer PigNic event: https://www.smore.com/xq5m. Follow Portner Brewhouse at http://portnerbrewhouse.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/PortnerBrewhouse. Definitely looking forward to their opening.

Onto the good stuff, not surprisingly, we'll be serving the Harvest Ale and Imperial Whiskey Barrel Stout (naturally, that's why those are the most previous beers posted). Look for pictures from the event in coming posts. Below are the details and tasting notes to be provided during the tasting.

Super excited for our first public tasting!! :-)

Harvest Ale

Style: American IPA

ABV: 6.7%

IBUs (Calculated): 76

Malt: 2-Row, Munich, White Wheat, Crystal 40, CaraPils

Hops: Centennial Pellet, Centennial Home-grown Fresh

Yeast: American Ale (Wyeast 1056)

Notes: This ten gallon batch of beer was brewed with a 1/2 pound of home grown Centennial hops added at the end of the boil.

Taste Notes: Fresh hop and fruit aromas on the nose and palette. Slight bitterness finish perceived.

Imperial Whiskey Barrel Stout

Style: Imperial Stout/Wood Aged

ABV: 11.5%

IBUs (Calculated): 100

Malt: 2-Row, Maris Otter, Chocolate Malt, Crystal 60, Black Barley, Flaked Oats

Hops: Magnum, Cascade, Amarillo

Yeast: London Ale (Wyeast 1028)

Notes: This beer was brewed in two batches (one 5 gallon and one 10 gallon) and aged for 2 months in a 15 gallon Dad's Hat Rye Whiskey Barrel.

Taste Notes: Dark rich, smooth flowing beer with whiskey aromas. Smooth taste, presence of alcohol noticed, but not harsh.

Imperial Whiskey Barrel Stout

This is a BIG beer, in more ways than one. Last year we did a 5 gallon Imperial Bourbon Barrel Stout (sorry, that one didn’t get chronicled either). That one turned out so great, we had to do it again…this time…BIGGER!!!

Aaron acquired a 15 gallon Rye Whiskey Barrel previously used by Dad’s Hat. Yeah, we tripled it. J

This bad boy took two brew days. The February 24^th brew was an all-grain mash, with DME added in to boost OG.  The March 22^nd brew was a full all-grain, no DME added. First picture shows the boil (center keggle) and Black IPA brewing (left kettle).

During the March 22^nd brew day, the first 10 gallons was transferred to the barrel (second picture).

This beer aged (nicely) in the barrel for two months and was transferred to kegs on 5/20 for continued aging.

This beer clocks in at 11.6% and has a great, smooth bourbon flavor. This will be added to the yearly brew, with past versions cellared for tasting as each year is brewed.

This one is a sipper, otherwise you’ll be crawling!!

February 24, 2013 Brew Day

The Vitals

Name: Imperial Stout

Brew Type: All-Grain

Volume: 10 gallons

Add-ins/ons: DME
OG: 1.106
FG: 1.020
ABV%: 11.5%
Primary Fermentation: 2/24 – 3/10 (Est)
Kegged/Bottled: 3/10 – Put into Bourbon Barrel on 3/22. Kegged on 5/20.

Recipe (10-gallon)

Grain Bill:

10 lbs - 2-Row Pale Malt

15 lbs – Maris Otter

2 lbs 8 oz – Chocolate Malt

2 lbs 6 oz – Black Barley

2 lbs – Oats Flaked

8 lbs – Extra Light Dry Malt Extract

1 lb – Clear Candi Sugar (15 min)

1 lb – Dark Candi Sugar (15 min)

Hops:

2 oz – Amarillo Gold (60 min)

2 oz – Magnum (60 min)

2 oz – Cascade (10 min)

Yeast:

Wyeast 1028 - London Ale Yeast

Mash at 152* F for 60 minutes. Raise to 168* F and Batch Sparge.  Ferment at 68* F

March 22, 2013 Brew Day

The Vitals

Name: Imperial Stout

Brew Type: All-Grain

Volume: 5 gallons

OG: 1.109
FG: 1.020
ABV%: 11.9%
Primary Fermentation: 3/22 – 4/6 (Est)
Kegged/Bottled: 4/6 – Put into Bourbon Barrel on 4/20. Kegged on 5/20.

Recipe (5-gallon)

Grain Bill:

11 lbs - 2-Row Pale Malt

9 lbs – Maris Otter

1 lb – Chocolate Malt

1 lb – Black Barley

1 lb – Oats Flaked

1 lb – Crystal 60L

1 lb – Dark Candi Sugar (15 min)

Hops:

1 oz – Amarillo Gold (60 min)

1.5 oz – Magnum (60 min)

1 oz – Cascade (10 min)

Yeast:

Wyeast 1028 - London Ale

Mash at 152* F for 60 minutes. Raise to 168* F and Batch Sparge.  Ferment at 68* F

Harvest Ale

This is the ultimate "once a year" beer. This beer is brewed when the hops yell, "WE'RE READY!!". 10 Gallon batch based on the QuinteCentiAle recipe, with a little less grain. At flame out, added 1/2 lb of home grown Centennial hops. Next years will hopefully include a full pound at flame out!! Love brewing (and drinking) this fresh beer.

Recipe:

Grain Bill:

1lb - Cara-Pils/Dextrine

1lb - 40L Crystal Malt
2lb - White Wheat Malt
3lb - Munich Malt (9L)
19lb - 2-Row
2 tsp - Gypsum

Hops:

3oz - Centennial Pellet - 9.2% AA (First Wort)

2oz - Centennial Pellet - 9.2% AA (15 min)

2oz - Centennial Pellet - 9.2% AA (5 min)

1oz - Centennial Pellet - 9.2% AA (Flame Out)

8oz - Centennial Home-grown Hops (Flame Out)

Yeast:

Wyeast 1056 - American Ale

Brewing:

Mash at 150F for 60 minutes.

Boil for 60 minutes.

Ferment at 68F for 8 days.

Racked to kegs on 9/3/2013.

Stats:

10 gallon batch.

OG = 1.061

FG = 1.008

ABV = 6.8%

Measured Mash Efficiency = 77%

Big Nut Branding

Check out Big Nut Brewing branding courtesy of Design Womb's Nicole LaFave: http://portfolios.aiga.org/gallery/Big-Nut-Brewing-Branding/937243

Big Nut Brewers Are Some Tough Mudders!

It's a simple equation:
Brew Beer + Drink Beer = Gain Weight
Gain Weight + Night of Drinking and Discussing Getting Back In Shape = Enter the Hardest Obstacle Course Possible
Train for Months to Get Back in Shape + Finish the Tough Mudder = Awesome

On April 20th, 2013 the Big Nut Crew and some friends conquered the 11 mile Mid-Atlantic Tough Mudder (www.toughmudder.com) course at the Peacemaker National Training Center in West Virginia.  The 50 degree, 30 mph wind day made an extremely pleasant addition to the 22 British Special Forces inspired obstacles.  The following link is the official video of the event:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VRaimWQYBA

We are back posting again!

We actually never went anywhere and have been busy as ever cranking our batches of great beer... However, we have been neglecting the website and our twitter page - https://twitter.com/bignutbrewing.  Anyway we will be making a much more dedicated effort to posting our events, recipes, and answering any questions that everyone has.  Also, check us out on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BigNutBrewing.

- BNB Team

Learn to Homebrew Day

November 3, 2012

Learn to Homebrew Day at Aaron's House

On November 3rd, to support the American Homebrewers Association Learn to Homebrew Day, Big Nut Brewing hosted a Learn to Homebrew event.  We had a good turnout with three non-brewers joining three brewers from the Big Nut crew and fellow brewer Sanjay Shah.  

We brewed three different beers:

10 gallon all-grain Lagunitas Brown Shugga clone (brewed on Sanjay 15 gallon Blichmann setup)

10 gallon all-grain QuinteCentiAle IPA (brewed on Aaron's 15 gallon keggle setup)

5 gallon extract Black IPA (brewed on turkey fryer setup)

The brew day went quite well with all three beers hitting their target OG within 2 points.  It was certainly hectic, but hopefully educational for those trying to learn the different brewing methods (extract and all-grain).  Another event will be planned, so stay tuned and let us know if you're interested. It's safe to say we won't be brewing 3 beers for the next one...by the end of the brew day (start at 7:30am, ended at 3:00pm) everyone was beat!!

Rough timeline for these beers:

Fermentation will be 1-2 weeks.

Another (at least) 1 week of dry hoping (all three beers are dry hopped!!).  

After that, they'll be transferred to corny kegs and carbonated (about a week).  

The QuinteCentiAle and Black IPA should be ready right away.  

The Brown Shugga will probably age for a bit.  Hopefully ready for Christmas time.

Sanjay going through the Brown Shugga mashing steps with Kerry and Dane.

Andy measuring out sparge water for the Brown Shugga...at least I hope that's what he was doing!

On the left, the Brown Shugga in the middle of the 90 minute boil.  On the turkey fryer, the Black IPA finishes steeping.  On the right, Mike stirs the QuinteCentiAle mash while Kerry, Dane and Andy look on.

Steve and Sanjay check the OG of the Brown Shugga.

The Black IPA bubbling away in the bath tub ~18 hours after pitching.

The QuinteCentiAle (left) and Brown Shugga (right) start their fermentation in the temperature controller freezer (set to 68F/20C).

The Black IPA is REALLY kicking out the krausen less than 24 hours after pitching.  Note, the use of the blow off tube...yes, we HAVE learned from our mistakes!!  This is in our basement bathroom, as I type this watching football in my living room, I can hear the thump, thump, thump of the Black IPA!!

#37 RIPA (Rye IPA)

The Vitals

Name: RIPA - Based on He'Brew Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A.
Brew Type: Extract
Volume: 10 gallons
Add-ins/ons: Ground Caraway Seed
OG: 1.079
FG: 1.015
ABV%: 8.4 (as of 07/09)
Primary Fermentation: 06/23 - 07/09

Secondary Fermentation: 07/09 - TBD
Kegged/Bottled: TBD
Brewers: Dane and Neal

Recipe (10-gallon)
16 lbs - Light DME
7 lbs - Rye Malt

2 lbs - Rye Flakes

1 lb - Biscuit Malt

1 lb - Wheat Malt

1 lb - CaraAmber 60L

1 lb - Crystal 60L

3  oz - Warrior Hops (60 min)

1 oz - Cascade Hops (20 min)

1 oz - Simcoe Hops (20 min)

1 oz - Warrior Hops (20 min)

Whirlfloc Tablet (15 min) 

Yeast Nutrient (10 min)

1 oz - Cascade Hops (10 min)

1 oz - Chinook Hops (10 min)

1 oz - Liberty Hops (10 min)

1 oz - Amarillo Hops (1 min)

1 oz - Casacade Hops (1 min)

1 oz - Centennial Type Hops (1 min)

1 oz - Simcoe Hops (1 min)

0.5 oz - Ground Caraway Seed (1 min)

2.5 oz - Centennial Type Hops (0 min/whirlpool)

3  pkg - American Ale Yeast (Wyeast 1056)

4.5 oz - Amarillo Hops (Dry hop - 2 weeks post brew - 2 week duration)
3 oz - Liberty Hops (Dry hop - 2 week post brew - 2 week duration)

Steeped grains at 155F for 30 mins. Raised to boil, added DME, and added hops and ingredients according to schedule.  (Whole caraway seeds were ground to a fine powder for brew addition.)

Cooled wart was split between two fermenters.  A large 24 hour starter with 3 packages of Wyeast 1056 was prepared and then split between the two fermenters.  After two weeks, beer was racked to two new clean fermenters and directly dry hopped (2.25 oz Amarillo and 1.5 oz Liberty per fermenter).

Note: Brew supply shop was out of Crystal hops so Liberty hops used instead.  Also out of Centennial hops so Centennial Type was used

#36 Raison D'Etre Clone

The Vitals

Name: Raison D'Etre Clone
Brew Type: Extract
Volume: 10 gallons
Add-ins/ons: Clear Liquid Candi Sugar
OG: 1.080
FG: 1.017
ABV%: 8.3
Primary Fermentation: 06/23 - 07/08
Kegged/Bottled: 07/08
Brewers: Dane and Neal

Recipe (10-gallon)
16 lbs - Light DME
1 lb - Chocolate Malt 350L
8 oz - Caramel 60L
1 lb - Clear Liquid Candi Sugar
2 oz - Warrior Hops (60 min)
Whirlfloc Tablet (15 min)

Yeast Nutrient (10 min)

12 oz - Golden Raisins (10 min)
2 oz - Sterling Hops (0 min)
2 pkg - Belgian Ardennes Yeast (Wyeast 3522)

Steeped grains at 155F for 30 mins. Boiled and added ingredients according to schedule.  At 15 min left, removed 2 qt. of wart, add raisins, and blended until smooth.  Added raisin slurry at 10 min remaining. 

Cooled wart was split between two fermenters; one was fermented using a re-pitched Wyeast 3522 from previous batch (three day starter), and other was fermented using new Wyeast 3522 (one day starter).

#35 Ginger Saison

The Vitals

Name: Ginger Saison

Brew Type: All-Grain

Volume: 10 gallons

Add-ins/ons: none
OG: 1.053
FG:
ABV%:
Primary Fermentation: 3/30 -
Kegged/Bottled:
Brewers: Aaron and Steve

Recipe (10-gallon)

22 lbs - 2-Row Pale Malt

3 lbs - CaraMunich Malt

2 lbs - Light Candi Sugar

3 oz - Hallertauer Hops (60 min)

1 oz - Hallertauer Hops (10 min)

Irish Moss (10 min)

Yeast Nutrient (10 min)

1 oz - Styrian Goldings Hops (5 min)

5.5 oz - Crystalized Ginger (0 min)

2 pkg (equivalent) - Belgian Wit Ale (WLP400)

Mash at 152* F for 60 minutes. Raise to 168* F and Batch Sparge. 13 gallon boil