#22 Big Nut Wheat (Peach Wheat/Watermelon Wheat)

This beer was brewed based on the need for a good Summer beer. Clearly brewed a little late, since it was 100 degrees twice the previous week, but better late than never.

This was brewed as a 10 gallon batch. All 10 gallons will go through primary fermentation the same. For secondary fermentation, 5 gallons will be fermented as normal, 3 gallons will be fermented on Blueberries, Raspberries OR Strawberries (not all 3, this isn't CRABS) and 2 gallons will be fermented with watermelon. Excited to experiment a little with the finished product and see how everything turns out.

ATJ - 7/4/2011 - The results of the above turned out well. Actually did 5 gallons as normal, 2.5 gallons on Peaches (approximately 6 peaches = 2 lbs) and 2.5 gallons on watermelon juice (approximately 3 cups from about 1/4 of one seedless watermelon). Just racked from secondary into 3 new (to me) corny kegs. They're now under pressure and chilling in the new kegerator (although it's not set up to dispense 3 yet...yet! First taste on all three is very good. The Wheat is light and easy to drink. The Watermelon Wheat has hints of watermelon flavor. The Peach Wheat is a little hazier than the others and has definite aromas and flavors of peach. Really excited to see how these ferment up and pour!!

The Vitals

Name: Big Nut Wheat

Add-ins/ons: none
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.01 (Wheat), 1.007 (Watermelon Wheat), 1.01 (Peach Wheat)
ABV%: 5.5% (Wheat), 5.9% (Watermelon Wheat), 5.5% (Peach Wheat)
Primary Fermentation: 6/12 - 6/20/2011
Secondary Fermentation: 6/20 - 7/4/2011
Kegged: 7/4/2011 (Happy 4th of July...and Ian's 6 month birthday!)
Brewers: Aaron, Steve, Dane

Recipe (10-gallon)
12 lbs Wheat DME
2.0 oz Williamette Pellet Hops

1.0 oz Whole Leaf Centennial Hops (homegrown MI hops)

2/3 Cup Corn Sugar
2 - Wyeast Bavarian Wheat Yeast (3056)

Bring 10 gallons of water to a boil

Add DME and 1.5 oz of Williamette Hops
Boil for 1 hour
Hop Schedule:
0.5 oz Williamette Hops - 0 min
1.0 oz Centennial Hops - 0 min

Cool to 75F
Transfer to 2 carboys and bring volume up to 5 gallons with additional water
Add 1 yeast packet to each carboy

#21 Polish Pilsner

This beer was inspired by the gift of Marynka hops from Poland.  Marynka hops are an all purpose hops that are only grown in Poland.  They contain high bittering and aroma values.  Our Marynka hops had an alpha acid measured at 12.75%.  A recipe was formed by starting with a modified Zywiec pilsner clone (Polish) and making slight modifications.

Very clear at bottling. -Jeff

The Vitals

Name: Polish Pilsner

Add-ins/ons: none
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.010
ABV%: 5.9%
Primary Fermentation: 5/15/11-5/26/11 (11days)
Secondary Fermentation: 5/26/11-7/22/11 (57 days)
Bottled: 7/22/11
Brewers: Jeff

Recipe (5-gallon)
6.0 oz Vienna Malt German
0.5 lbs Munic Malt
6.5 lbs lbs Light Liquid Malt Extract
4 oz. Light DME
2.0 oz Marynka Hops
1 Tbsp Irish Moss
2/3 Cup Corn Sugar
Wyeast German Ale Kolsch Yeast (WLP029)

Steep grains in 2.5 gallons of water at 160F for 20 minutes
Remove grains and increse to boil
Add LME, DME and 1 oz of Hops
Boil for 1 hour
Hop Schedule:
1.0 oz Marynka Hops - 0 min (bittering)
1.0 oz Marynka Hops - 45 min (aroma)

Add Irish Moss at minute 45

Cool to 60F
Transfer to carboy and bring volume up to 5 gallons with water
Add yeast

Bottling - (Priming sugar into 2 cups water)

#20 - Centennial Irish Red

This beer was our centennial batch (100th gallon brewed) for Big Nut Brewing.  It was also our first ten gallon batch brewed in our newly completed keggle.  Looking to make a lighter beer than some of our previous batches, an Irish Red style seemed to fit the bill.  Dane and Steve compiled the recipe with the help of the Brew Pal app on the iPad to ensure style meets BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) style 9D - Irish Reds.  While brewing, we discovered it takes a hell of a lot more time to get 10 gallons and a larger brew vessel up to appropriate temperatures, even with a full turkey fryer flame.  We also discovered that our newly constructed reverse flow wort chiller as well as the keggle output valve are susceptible to hop clogs (Design improvements soon to occur). - Dane

The Vitals

Name: Centennial Irish Red

Add-ins/ons: none

OG: 1.045

FG: 1.014

ABV%: 4.2%

IBUs: TBD (Anticpiated 38)

Primary Fermentation: 3/20/11-3/27/11

Secondary Fermentation: 3/27/11-4/16/11

Brewers: Dane, Steve, Aaron, & Jeff

Recipe (10-gallon Speciality Grains with Extract)

0.5 lbs Roasted Barley 500*L

1.5 lbs Crystal Malt 20*L

13.2 lbs Extra Light LME 2*L

4 oz Fuggles (pellet) - 5% alpha (40 minutes)

2 oz Kent Goldings (pellet) - 5% alpha (10 minutes)

2 Tbsp Irish Moss (5 minutes)

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale Yeast (Activator packs / ~2 hours activation)

2 oz Kent Goldings (pellet) - 5% alpha (Dry-Hop / 1oz. per 5 gallon secondary fermenter)

TBD Oz Corn Sugar

Steep grains in 10 gallons of water during heating from ~ 110F to 160F for ~20 minutes

Remove grains and increase to boil

Add LME

Hop schedule as noted in recipe.

Add Irish Moss with 5 minutes left

Cool to 70F with reverse flow wort chiller

Split wort into two, 6.5 gallon carboys

Add one yeast package per carboy

Add Dry Hops to Secondary Fermenter during racking

#19 - March Madness Maibock (or M Cubed)

This beer was brewed out of necessity. It had been a long time since the latest brew, and Aaron was itching to get brewing. With March Madness (and the 1 year anniversary of BNB) coming up, Aaron decided a Maibock (fermented on Ale yeast) was the way to go. The name worked and it sounded like a great beer. Ironically, while picking up brewing equipment from Steve and showing off the newest member to the Big Nut family (baby boy Ian - 01/04/2011 - see more of Ian at littlenutbabyj.blogspot.com), Steve's wife said, "You should brew a Maibock". Clearly it was meant to be if she could pull the beer style Maibock from seemingly no where. Anyway...down to the details. - Aaron

3/21 - Kegged the beer. After sitting on the hops for 3 weeks (whoops), we racked this into a brand new Corny keg for Steve to take home and hook up to his kegerator. We still went with bottling sugar (4.5 oz).

The Vitals

Name: March Madness Maibock

Add-ins/ons: none

OG: 1.060

FG: 1.010

ABV%: 6.5%

Primary Fermentation: 2/21/11-2/27/11 (6 days)

Secondary Fermentation: 2/27/11-3/21/11 (22 days) - dry hopped on 1/2 oz Tettnang

Kegged: 3/21/11 w/ 4.5 oz Corn Sugar (first kegging)

Brewers: Aaron & Jeff

Recipe (5-gallon Extract)

4 lbs Pilsen Light DME

3 lbs 5 oz Munich LME

1 lb Munich Malt

1 lb CaraPils Malt

2 oz German Perle Hops (60 minutes)

1/2 oz German Tettnang Hops (15 minutes)

1 Tbsp Irish Moss

4.5 Oz Corn Sugar

Danstart Nottingham Dry Yeast

1/2 oz German Tettnang Hops (Dry-Hopped)

Steep grains in 5 gallons of water at 160F for 20 minutes

Remove grains and increse to boil

Add DME

Hop Schedule as noted in recipe.

Add Irish Moss with15 minutes left

Cool to 70F - add yeast (pitch yeast per directions)

Add Dry Hops to Secondary Fermenter during racking

Bottling - (Priming sugar into 2 cups water)

Fermentation
Well, we had another "blow out", which by the way has a totally different meaning now that we I have a baby!! Anyway, the day after brew day, we heard a noise while tending to the little one, but didn't know what it was. Walking down the stairs, there was a strong beer smell, it was clear then something happened to the fermenting beer, which is kept under our stairs. Sure enough, the top was popped and krausen was oozing everywhere. Below are pictures, you can see the airlock was completely clogged.
Thankfully, I'd already purchased a piece of 1-inch tubing after Jeff's mishap. I quickly cleaned/sanitized everything and vigorous fermentation continued, sending krausen through the 4 foot piece of 1-inch tubing into the pitcher of water.
Note to self...always setup primary fermentation as noted in the final picture (note, fermentation doesn't usually occur on my kitchen table, this is prior to racking into secondary).

#18 60-Minute IPA

This beer was given to guest brewer Brett as a Christmas present (of course he only got the ingredients and had to brew it himself).  Brett enjoys IPAs so this is BNBs first attempt at an American IPA...and for the heck of it, we hopped it over 60 minutes. -Jeff

The Vitals

Name: Pale Brett Ale

Add-ins/ons: none
OG: 1.062
FG: 1.016
ABV%: 6.1%
Primary Fermentation: 12/28/10-1/8/11 (11 days)
Secondary Fermentation: 1/8/11-2/5/2011 (28 days)
Bottled: 2/5/2011
Brewers: Jeff, guest brewer Brett

Recipe (5-gallon)
0.5 lbs Crystal Amber Malt
8.0 lbs Extra Dry Malt Extract (Light)
0.5 oz Warrior Hops
1.0 oz Magnum Hops
2.0 oz Amarillo Hops
1 Tbsp Irish Moss
2/3 Cup Corn Sugar
Wyeast Ringwood Ale Yeast

Steep grains in 2.5 gallons of water at 160F for 20 minutes
Remove grains and increse to boil
Add DME
Hop Schedule:
0.5 oz Warrior Hops - 0 min
1.0 oz Magnum Hops - 15-30 min
1.0 oz Amarillo Hops - 30-60 min
1.0 oz Amarillo Hops - 60 min

Add Irish Moss at minute 45

Cool to 60F - add yeast

Bottling - (Priming sugar into 2 cups water)

#17 CRABS (Cranberry, Raspberry, And, Blueberry Stout)

The idea for this beer is creation from a brainstorming session after a Nationals game this summer.  The fruit was steeped for 15 minutes at 150 degrees, blended, strained, and added to the wort post boil.  The resulting beer has a blood red color with the smoky notes of a stout but with a fruity aroma. -Dane

Alright, so I was a little hesitant on the ratio of cranberries to other berries and sugar.  Have you ever eaten a raw cranberry?  Wowsers!  It is definitely tart.  Dane assured us that this recipe was well-planned.  After we mashed and strained the berries we had 4 cups of berry solids left over.  I took these solids home, added 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of apple juice, 5 cups of sugar, and a package of SureGel.  Once dissolved, I got out some canning jars and canned some CRABS jam.  Pretty good flavor (raspberry taste plus a hint of cranberry).  Martha Stewart would be proud. -Jeff

The Vitals
Name: CRABS

Source: Own recipe w/ Wisconsin grown cranberries and some Michigan hops

Add-ins/ons: 4lbs fresh Wisconsin cranberries, 2lbs frozen blueberries, 1lb frozen raspberries

OG: 1.046
FG: 1.010
ABV%: 4.72
Bottled: 01/10/2011
Brewers: Aaron, Jeff, Steve, and Dane

 

 
 

#16 Homegrown ESB

This beer is truly a BNB original. The recipe was created by Aaron based on research, and the hops used were grown by Aaron's dad, Mike, in Michigan. This beer was brewed with both Tettnang and Williamette hops. Very low gravity as expected, so this will be a light beer to drink to go with all of our heavier beers.
-Aaron

The Vitals

Name: ESB
Source: Own recipe w/ homegrown MI hops
Add-ins/ons:
OG: 1.046
FG: 1.011
ABV%: 4.6%
Bottled: 12/12/2010
Brewers: Aaron, Mike (Aaron's Dad)

Recipe (5-gallon Extract)
6 lbs Light DME

10 oz Crystal 60L Malt

1 oz Williamette hops (60 minutes)

1 oz Tettnang hops (30 minutes)

1 oz Williamette hops (20 minutes)

1 oz Tettnang hops (5 minutes)

Yeast - Wyeast 1098 British Ale

2/3 Cup Corn Sugar for bottling

Note, one error we made was not having a scale to accurately weigh the hops. Turns out we massively (by 1/3) underestimated the amount of hops. This beer did NOT turn out to be an ESB, but did turn out to be decent.

#15 Marzen

A little late to be brewing a Marzen in November, however better late than never. This was our first chance to try our new thermostat regulator...and so far so good.
The beer was in Primary fermentation between 52-58 degrees for 3+ weeks.
-Aaron

The Vitals
Name: Marzen
Source: Recipe adapted from other on-line recipes
Add-ins/ons:
OG: 1.082
FG: 1.018
ABV%: 8.4%
Bottled: 01/20/2011
Brewers: Aaron, Steve

Recipe (5-gallon Extract)
7 lbs Amber DME

1 lb Light DME

1 lb Crystal 60L Malt

2 oz Hallertauer Hops (60 minutes)

.7 oz Tettnang Hops (5 minutes)

.3 oz Tettnang Hops (End of Boil)

Yeast - Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager

2/3 Cup Corn Sugar for bottling

Lager Fermentation, of course.

#14 60 Minute Black IPA Part II

This was the first attempt to repeat the favorite beer, Black IPA.  A couple substitutions were made with the hops. -Jeff

The Vitals
Name: Black IPA Part II
Source: Own Recipe
Add-ins/ons: None
OG: 1.078
FG: 1.015
ABV%: 8.3%
Bottled: 12/5/2010
Brewers: Jeff and Dan (Jeff's dad)

#13 Pumpkin Stout

The second beer of our double brew day. This beer was made with canned pumpkin and the boil was extremely dark. Thanks to a mix of add-in spices a smell similar to Cinnabon was in the air. Once in the carboy tucked away in the basement we thought we were done with this one for a while. Not so. The next morning I checked on the beer and it had foamed through the airlock and was hissing like an angry snake. I decided to let it calm down a little before attempting to clean and replace the airlock. Within a hour, the airlock must have clogged and it and the stopper completely blew out of the carboy. Black stout hit every wall and even the 8-foot ceiling. What a mess. Since the airlock broke, a new one was fashioned out of a tube which allowed the beer to continue foaming for another day. Day three it finally settled down to a gentle fermentation.

Lesson Learned: Use different airlock for primary fermentation.

During bottling we were unsure of the final fate of this beer. It had an unusual aroma of peperoni. We thought the beer had spoiled, but decided to bottle it anyways.

This beer definitely tasted like a chocolately stout. Here's to rescuing out-of-control beer! -Jeff

The Vitals
Name: Pumpkin Stout
Source: Own Recipe
Add-ins/ons: Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
OG: 1.064
FG: 1.020
ABV%: 5.8%
Bottled: 11/6/2010
Brewers: Aaron, Dane, Jeff, Steve

Recipe (5-gallon Extract)
6 lbs Dark DME

1 lb Light DME

1 lb Chocolate Malt

1/2 lb Roasted Barley

1/2 lb Black Patent Malt

1 lb Flaked Oats

5 - 15oz cans Solid Pack Pumpkin (boil with grains)

1 oz Magnum Hops (60 minutes)

1 oz Fuggle Hops (5 minutes)

Spices (Cinnamin, Ginger, Nutmeg, Vanilla) - 15 minutes)

Yeast - White Labs WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast

2/3 Cup Corn Sugar for bottling