Flanders Red 2021

Today I'm brewing up 10 gallons of base beer that will go into my 30 gallon Red Solera (Aging Barrel #04). I previously filled it with recipes based on the Rare Barrel's Red base, but this round it's closer to my original Flanders Red base. This means I'm also getting ready to do the first pull off the Solera, so this is replace the amount pulled off (plus a little extra for an occasional top off. Here's the recipe as I'm brewing it today:

6.5# Root Shoot Pilsner Malt
4.0# Best Malz Chit Malt
10.5# Avangard Vienna
2.00# Weyermann Munich II
1.0# Best Malz Spelt
1.0# Monastique Aromatic
1.0# Weyermann Caramunich III
1.0# Castle Special B
Yeast Nutrient
56g Aged hops (60 mins)
Inland Island Brett Barrel III

Mash at 158F, 90 minute boil, ferment at room temp.  

Water Profile
I don't go too crazy on my sour beer water profiles. For today, I used about a 50/50 blend of RO water and carbon-filtered tap water.  

Brewing Notes
No issues. Since this was a larger batch, I used my 20 gallon Blichmann Mash Tun. Starting mash temp was a little low at 152F, but I was able to raise it to the desired 158F fairly quickly. I ended up with a little under 10 gallons total.

Readings
Beginning mash pH	5.29
Ending mash pH	5.26
1st running gravity	25 (1.102)
Pre-boil gravity	16.2 (1.064)
Post-boil gravity	19 (1.076)

Update 9/25/2021

I'd grown up a super healthy pitch of the Brett Barrel III yeast and had a blow-off the morning after pitching. Fast forward to today and I'm swapping out the blow-off for an airlock. I haven't taken a gravity reading yet, but there's still an occasional glug out the airlock.

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NZ Pils 2021 with NZH-107

Today I'm brewing a variant of my New Zealand Pilsner. The primary difference this round is I'm trying out some new hops, NZH-107. As stated on the BSG website:

NZH-107 is a proprietary experimental hop blend developed jointly between New Zealand Hops, Ltd. and Brewers Supply Group and showcases intense tropical fruit and citrus character.
Sensory:
Intense tropical fruit (guava/passion fruit) and citrus (grapefruit/lime) aroma characteristics.
Brewing Application:
NZH-107 is an excellent hop solution for many applications from first kettle to dry hop additions. Given the big character of NZH-107, early trials are focused on intensely hop-forward styles like IPAs, pale ales, and dry-hopped pale lagers.

I figured my hop-forward NZ Pils would be a good candidate to showcase this hop blend. I'm also dialing the amount of hops back a bit; just an experiment.

Here's the recipe as I'm brewing it today:

6.75# Root Shoot Pilsner Malt

0.75# Avangard Pale Malt

0.3125# Weyermann Cara Red

0.25# Weyermann Pale Wheat Malt

1.0g BrewTan B

3ml Hopshot (60 min)

4.66g BCAA

35g NZH-107 (1 min)

2g Loral Cryohops (1 min)

63g NZH-107 (Whirlpool @170F)

4g Loral Cryohops (Whirlpool @170F)

(2) Saflager S-189

Whirlfloc

Yeast Nutrient

56g NZH-107 (Dry-hop

7g Loral Cryohops (Dry-hop)

Mash at 150F, 90 minute boil, start fermentation at 47F then ramp up to 52F over a few days.

Water Profile - To 10 gallons of distilled water, add:

4.0g Gypsum

2.8g Epsom Salt

4.8g Calcium Chloride

Brewing Notes

Usually I set up my brew system the night before. I didn't do that this time, so I'm a little later starting my brew day than normal. 

No real issues during this brew session. I didn’t have quite as much boil-off so the gravity is a little lower than normal. I chilled down to 72F and decided to use the ferm chamber to finish the chilling. I’ll pitch once it’s chilled to 47F.

Readings
Beginning mash pH	5.20
Ending mash pH	5.33
1st running gravity	13.2 (1.052)
Pre-boil gravity	8.6 (1.033)
Post-boil gravity	11.1 (1.043)

Update 9/12/2021

I left this batch to cool overnight. Wort was aerated and yeast pitched this morning.

Update 9/13/2021

Slight gravity change and an occasional glug this morning.

Update 9/14/2021

Gravity is down to 1.036 this morning, so fermentation is moving right along.

Update 9/16/2021

Gravity is down to about 1.020 this morning. I'll probably start ramping up the temp tonight for a diacetyl rest.

Update 9/18/2021

Gravity is reading 1.006 this morning. Dry hops added.

Update 9/25/2021

I swapped out the blow-off for my CO2 reservoir and started cold crashing this morning.

Update 10/5/2021

I kegged this beer tonight.

Update 10/13/2021

I haven't put this beer on tap yet, but I forced carbed it in one of the fermentation chambers. I pulled a sample using a picnic tap and there's some really nice hop flavor and aroma. I'm kind of thinking I'll be fine dialing the hop rates back so that I'm not wasting hops on this style.

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