August 17th, 2014 - Hop Rod Rye (clone)

Slightly Confused Brewing Company

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye - Clone
Batch 32

Ingredients:
13.5# Pale Malt
3# Rye Malt
0.5# Crystal 80
0.375# Crystal Rye
0.19# (3 oz) Carafa I
--total grain bill ~17.5#

1 oz Columbus x 60' (15% AA)
1 oz Centennial x 30' (10% AA)
1 oz Cascade x 20' (6% AA)
1 oz Columbus x 10' (15% AA)

White Labs WLP 001 (4th recycle)

Stats:
OG: 1.072* (estimated?); 1.056 (measured)
FG: 1.015 (estimated?); 1.010 (measured)
ABV: 7.2% (estimated); 6% (measured)
*Estimated based on other recipes online. From calculator (brewersfriend.com), using grain bill and assumed efficiency of 65%, estimated OG 1.080

Brewing Steps:

• Heated 5.5 gallons of water to a strike temperature of approximately 164 degrees
• Target mash temperature 152; volume at 1.25 quarts/pound
• Used Sparge Pal app for volume calculations
• Used 5 gallons of RO water, the rest was tap water
• Added water to mash tun first (water, then grains)
• Mashed 75 minutes
• Initial temperature 153 degrees (middle); initial pH 5.4
• 35': pH 5.8, stirred then went down to 5.6; temperature 152 degrees
• 75': pH 5.8, stirred and went down to 5.5; temperature 152 degrees
• Note: front of mash tun in sun - very warm / almost hot to the touch. Helped to keep temperature essentially unchaged?
• After 75 minutes lautered into bucket (to measure volume)
• Lautered over 15 minutes
• Heated 3.7 gallons of sparge water to approximately 175 degrees and added to mash tun
• Took 0.3 gallon off Sparge Pal calculation 
• Let sit for 10 minutes, then lautered until we had about 6.25 gallons
• Had two pitchers remaining
• Boiled for 60 minutes
• Added hops
• Chilled
• Pitched yeast and aerated wort 
• Pitched yeast from starter
• Harvested some yeast from starter for future batch
• Poured into fermenting bucket 
• Ferment about 2 weeks then rack to secondary

Notes:
-Slower lautering seemed to help with efficiency. Had valve open just above a trickle essentially.
-pH values seem within reason.
-Stirring at mid-point and at time 0' of mash helped? Likely will continue with this.
-Potential for water content of RO water to make a difference?