Friar Tuck is in the keg!

Hi there brewfans! Today I did a major cleaning of my kegerator and kegged my "Belgian mild." FG came out around 1.009, so we'll have a nicely dry, drinkable Belgian session ale that comes out just under 4% abv. The flavor is really nice (I'll give some tasting notes once it is carbonated and flowing from the tap). Additionally, with the low abv, you can basically drink this beer all day long without losing your mind. Should be carbonated and ready in a day or two, so if you find yourself in or near central NJ, come and enjoy a pint with me! I will be brewing up another batch soon, and while I originally planned a Belgian IPA, I'm going back and forth on what I really want next. More updates on that to come.

Prost!
JPC

Friar Tuck Belgian Mild - Brew Day

Swirling first wort hops - Styrian Goldings and Saaz

Today I had my first brew day in almost a year and brewed up an experimental Belgian mild ale, which I am calling Friar Tuck.  Brew day was fun and went pretty smoothly.  I had some cleaning to do, which required my jumping into the shower with my mash tun before I began, but after I got all set, everything went very smoothly.  I undershot my target OG just a bit, I was going for 1.040 and got 1.038, which just means that my efficiency was about 71% instead of my usual 75ish.  I am well within the OG range of an English mild, which is exactly what I was going for with this beer.  I think it will be a perfect session/table beer.  For the hopping, I had some leftover Saaz in the freezer that still smelled great, so I threw in half an oz. with the Styrian Golding pellets during the first wort hopping (a method whereby I steeped the hops in the wort before bringing it to the boil).  The Styrian Goldings were of a lower alpha acid percentage than I originally calculated, so I used the Saaz to bump up the IBU just a tad and add some extra hop complexity to the beer.  I am looking forward to seeing how the first wort hopping affects the flavor of the beer, as it is supposed to add some unique flavor and aroma as well as bitterness.

In other news, I also got some critical keg cleaning done today and discovered that my kegerator and the beer inside it had completely frozen solid.  This was probably because I did not open the fridge very often, so I'm now defrosting the kegerator and the poor, lost, frozen keg so we can get the kegerator functioning and get some tasty Belgian mild flowing in a couple of weeks.

Planning my triumphant return

Having not brewed in almost a year, I am finally making plans for my return-to-the-game batch. I am actually planning two brother batches, one session strength beer and one high ABV beer, using the same yeast strain.  I hope to brew one and possibly both in the first week of August, as it is my first truly free week of the summer. The plan is to brew two very exciting original Belgian hybrids, two brand new recipes that I've never done before.  Here is what we have to look forward to:

Friar Tuck Belgian Mild:
Target OG: 1.040
Target FG: 1.009
Target ABV: 4.1%
Target IBU: 13
Projected SRM: 23°L (brown)

6 lbs Maris Otter
1 lb flaked wheat
8 oz Special 'B'
4 oz Midnight Wheat (or Carafa III)

Single Infusion Mash @154°

8 oz Dark Belgian Candi Syrup

1 oz Styrian Goldings (pellet)  @First wort hop (so I can get some smooth bittering qualities as well as some late addition character)

WLP500 Trappist Ale


Belgocalifornication IPA:
Target OG: 1.075
Target FG: 1.017
Target ABV: 7.7%
Target Bitterness: 53 IBU
Projected Color: 14 °L (amber)

12 lbs Maris Otter
3 lbs flaked wheat
8 oz Special 'B'

Single Infusion Mash - 152°

8 oz Dark Belgian Candi Syrup

1 oz Columbus (pellet) @60

1 oz Amarillo (leaf) @10
1 oz Centennial (pellet) @10
1 oz Citra (leaf) @10

1 oz Amarillo (leaf) @flame out
1 oz Centennial (pellet)@flame out
1 oz Citra (leaf) @flame out

1 oz Centennial (pellet) dry-hop 14 days
1 oz Citra (leaf) dry-hop 7 days
1 oz Amarillo (leaf) dry-hop 5 days

WLP500 yeast cake from Friar Tuck Belgian Mild

I am super excited for these.  I love Belgian ales as much as I love breaking the rules, and these recipes satisfy both of those criteria.  I am also a big fan of reusing yeast as it saves a bunch of money per batch and doesn't require a starter.  More updates to come in a week or so.