Walking Dead (Guy) Ale

[Kealia]

Since I've tweaked the Dead Guy clone so many times I really shouldn't call it DEAD GUY anymore, so as a nod to the show Walking Dead I'm going with that. This will be my next brew (5G batch) and I'm making a few minor changes to the last recipe:

1) Swapping the Saaz at flameout for Simcoe
2) Bumping the dry hop of Centennial from 1/2oz to 1oz
3) Possibly swapping out 1/2lb of Munich and replacing it with Wheat

This is really the only extract recipe I make anymore and I'm just not sure how much Munich LME I have left. I was at MoreBeer today but didn't want to pick up another 5lb bag of it so if I don't have enough, the wheat will fill the gap.

The only reason I'm swapping the Saaz out for Simoce is because they were out and I have Simcoe on-hand.

The PacMan is on the stir plate now and I'll let it ferment out for a few days. It's only a month old so I only needed a 1.5L starter but I plan on decanting it anyway.

Here's the current plan:

Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 10.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 35.9 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1 lbs 4.0 oz Carastan (30.0 SRM) Grain 1 13.4 %
2 lbs 4.0 oz Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 2 24.2 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Liquid Malt (8.0 SRM) Extract 3 26.9 %
1.45 oz Perle [8.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 27.2 IBUs
3 lbs 4.8 oz Pale Liquid Extract [Boil for 15 min](8. Extract 5 35.5 %
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 6 -
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Pacman strain (Wyeast 1764 #) Yeast 8 -
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Other 9 -
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs


Not sure when I will actually get to this (sometime in the next few weeks), but the yeast will be ready when I do.

[Brewbirds]

1) Swapping the Saaz at flameout for Simcoe
2) Bumping the dry hop of Centennial from 1/2oz to 1oz
3) Possibly swapping out 1/2lb of Munich and replacing it with Wheat

Listen up new brewers!!! This is why we all take a bunch of brew day notes.

A year from now someone is going to ask Kealia about the original recipe he brewed.

[Kealia]

Yes, notes are invaluable for sure!

I whipped up my starter a few days ago and let it ferment out and it's crashing now so I can decant it when ready. I'm thinking I may get to this on Saturday

[Kealia]

My starter for this is done and ready to be decanted and pitched......now I just need to make the wort



That's a 2L flask so there are lots of yeastie beasties to get the job done.
Still keeping my fingers crossed for a Saturday brew day.

[Kealia]

Oh my! The 1 oz of Simcoe at flameout smelled incredible. I was down to about 75 in 20 minutes (and down to 170 in just a few) this basically worked as a hop-stand addition. I'm hoping it brings some of the Simcoe flavor through and maintains some of the aroma. I'll still dry hop with Centennial and see how I like the result. If I don't, I'll open the keg after pulling a pint or two and throw some Simcoe in the keg, too.

Made this one as a fiver since it's an extract w/steep recipe and it goes quick. I did something different this time, too: I poured the entire kettle into the fermenter, cold break and all. I haven't done this since my first beer or two and I did it for a few reasons:

1) I want to see what affect, if any, it has on final clarity.
2) Honestly, I was a bit lazy and didn't feel like racking I got up early this morning and went to TKD, and was already thinking about the volleyball practice I need to run later. I wanted to shave a little bit more time off the brew day so I just dumped it.

The bad news is that there was a lot of break material in suspension when I pulled my gravity sample and I think it threw the numbers off. It stacked up a bit in the tube and I think it caused the hydrometer to sit on it a bit and read a bit high. I'm going to let it sit for about 4 hours and then pull a sample tonight. The yeast should be in reproduction phase at that point so there really shouldn't be any issue with using the thief to pull a sample at that point.

If I don't figure the exact OG I guess I'll just RDWHAHB.

[Inkleg]

If I don't figure the exact OG I guess I'll just RDWHAHB.

I like your approach to brewing. Kind of like mine.

Huh?....close enough, It'll be beer.

[Kealia]

Yeah, this base recipe is good I just didn't want to end up too out of whack so I topped off with a little more in an attempt to get it back where I thought it should be. It had been sitting for about 90 minutes post-pitch so I decided to grab a reading now instead of later tonight when I might forget.
1.062 - just where I wanted it.

Now, PacMan just needs to do it's job.

[Inkleg]

With the size of that starter, I don't see that being a problem.

[Kealia]

With the size of that starter, I don't see that being a problem.

They agree.

[Inkleg]

Yeast party at Ron's place!

[Kealia]

And it's still going strong this morning! At this pace, I'm guessing it will be done by Tuesday. If there's no airlock activity at that point, I'll check gravity and plan to dry hop at that point. If all goes well, I could keg by Sunday which would fall right inline with my new year's resolution to go grain-to-glass quicker. I won't rush it, though.

This comes at a good time since I currently have no homebrew to drink right now. That's right, none. Zero. Zlich. Nada. It's the first time since I started brewing that I find myself in this spot. (To be 100% fair, I do have a little bit of my Blue Moon Clone left but I brewed that for my wife so I'm not touching it). I've been drinking less and less this past month in an effort to drop a few pounds and get back into better shape so it's all worked out well.

And....I have my California Common carbing in a keg now and it should be ready this weekend to test. Plus, there are a few beers in the mail that I know that are headed this way so life will go on!

In any case, with this one I may use the dip tube screen that bucknut sent me so I can keg-hop should I decide go that route.

[Kealia]

I checked on this the other day and it was at 1.020 - which isn't surprising given that it's an extract batch. I don't always have the best luck with getting extracts to finish lower. The curse of the extracts hits me often. Oh well, this beer turns out great no matter where it finishes (historically anyway).

I tossed in the 1oz Centennial when I checked it the other day and my satellite is still at 1.020 this morning. It's pretty clear so it's cold crashing now. 10 days after brewing. I won't be able to get this into the kegerator right away so after kegging it will warm condition for a week or so while carbing up (thank you second CO2 tank).

Timing-wise, this was done with primary fermentation by day 5 and it's been cleaning up since then so I'm not concerned with it being rushed at all. That should be plenty of time to be clean since I pitched a healthy starter and controlled temps spot-on.

Side note: I bought a bomber of Dead Guy last night because it was $4.99 and man it was GOOD. I haven't had the original in quite a while and I forgot just how good it is. I've tweaked the recipe a few times, and especially this time so I'm not really calling it a clone anymore but I might have to go back soon and do the original recipe again. Yum.

Plus,s the bottle glowed it the dark.
#BeerGeekStuff

[Kealia]

This gets kegged tomorrow. I'm going to bottle off a few as well so I don't have to mess with bottling from the tap (which should be easier now with my new Perlicks and connector). I'm giving my wife the weekend to kick the keg of Blue Moon clone to make room for this or I *will* bottle what's left of those for her so I can get this one in rotation soon.

Haven't bottle primed in I-don't-know-how-long at this point. Feels weird to even think about doing that, but I'll be doing that for my 15-minute pale ale test as well so the practice is good.