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1519 Barker Exportbier

Brewed: 09/19/2024   Kegged: 10/03/2024


Late August, 2024, while on a morning walk, I was listening to a homebrewing podcast which had me craving a golden German lager.

My mind started wandering a bit, and I started thinking about my college years.

While living in the dorms, a few of my friends lived just off-campus in a house they shared on Barker Avenue, just a couple blocks south of Bradley University.

After I moved out of the dorms, I moved into the house for a bit as well.

Even when I wasn't living there, I spent quite a bit of time drinking beer and playing beach volleyball with my college friends.

From time to time, we'd throw keggers that rivaled fraternity parties. We'd charge a couple bucks at the door and serve way too much beer.

We'd buy two kinds of beers for these parties. Most of it was "Natty Light", and that is what got served to most of the people.

But, hidden upstairs for those of us who knew where it was hidden was a keg of Michelob, which was very much a premium beer for us.

Basically, we drank Michelob for free, curtesy of the people we charged for "Natty Light".

Lots of my favorite college memories happened at 1519 Barker.

Now-a-days, "Michelob" mostly means those absolutely awful low-carb "Ultra" watery beers. I know there are other beers with the Michelob label, but I don't think they make the Michelob that I remember from college anymore.

And ... I honestly have no idea what kind of beer it was, but in my mind, a German Helles Exportbier matches my memory of the beer.

So, this is what I decided to brew. 

I brewed this mid-September. I'm sure I'll love drinking this later in the month and into October.



For more about this beer, see Sheppy's Blog: 1519

If you can't go to school ... Go to State! Go BU!

1519 Barker --- Batch 1 (361)

StyleGerman Helles ExportbierBatch Size5.50 gal
TypeAll GrainBoil Size 6.60 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency 65.00 Boil Time 60 minutes

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity1.052 SGEstimated FG1.012 SG
Recipe Bitterness16.7 IBUs (Rager)Alcohol by Volume5.3 %
BU : GU 0.318    
Recipe Color5.5 SRM
Color
  
Measured OG: 1.054  Measured FG:  1.012
ADF: 77  Measured ABV:  5.6

Ingredients

Ingredients
AmtNameType#%/IBUVolume
7.98 galDenver, ColoradoWater1--
4.00 gCalcium Chloride (Mash)Water Agent2--
2.00 gGypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash)Water Agent3--
1.50 tspLactic Acid (Mash)Water Agent4--
10 lbsPilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)Grain583.3 %0.78 gal
2 lbsMunich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)Grain616.7 %0.16 gal
1.000 ozMagnum [12.60 %] - Boil 15.0 minHop713.8 IBUs-
1.00 ItemsWhirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins)Fining8--
1.00 tspYeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins)Other9--
2.000 ozTettnang [2.10 %] - Boil 5.0 minHop102.9 IBUs-
1.0 pkgSaflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70) [50.28 ml]Yeast11--
0.50 tspGelatin (Bottling 1 Day)Fining12--

Mash Profile

Mash Steps
NameDescriptionStep TemperatureStep Time
SaccharificationAdd 31.92 qt of water at 158.8 F152.0 F45 min
HeatHeat to 158.0 F over 10 min158.0 F15 min
Mash OutHeat to 170.0 F over 7 min170.0 F10 min


If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Recipe Notes
If harvesting yeast from previous batch, make 6 cup starter a day or two before brew day.
Brewing salts in the mash water. This should bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith) to
Ca=83,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=88,Cl=87,HCO3=104
Acid addition based on BeerSmith predicted pH. Should lower from 5.7 to 5.4.
Mash and boil as directed
Chill to around 50 degrees. Rack to fermentor and add pitch yeast. Ferment between 50 and 55 for one week. Then, let temperature rise to ambient.
Keg. Add gelatin after a day or two in the refrigerator.
Carbonate and drink.

Brewing Record

Brew Date: Strike Temp: 
Mash Temps: 
Pre-boil OG 1.050 (1.048) Pre-boil Vol 7 (6.60)
Actual Mash Efficiency Pitch Temp  
Fermentation      
Day 1: 
Day ... 
Day ... 

 
Brewing Notes:
09/06/2024 esheppy
Ordered malts from Tom's Brew Shop. Not sure if I'll brew this weekend or next.
09/17/2024 esheppy
Made a starter today. Lots of yeast, but it is pretty old. According to the label, I harvested it 05/17/2024 when I kegged Hand Bock-sket. 4 months goes against the recommendations, but I've done this sort of thing enough that I think it will be fine. I might actually try to brew during a work-day. Maybe Thursday (2 days away)?
09/19/2024 esheppy
Workday brew-day. Everything went well. Pre-boil and volume high. Added water. Even so, ended up with a higher-than-planned OG 1.054. Took a long time to chill and I ended up racking at 69 degrees, letting the Anvil cooling pump go the rest of the way. As of now, I have not pitched yeast. I well once the wort is in the 50's.
09/19/2024 esheppy
Pitched the yeast a couple of hours later when the Tilt read 58 and the controller read 57. Actually sort of surprised it went this quickly.
09/20/2024 esheppy
A little bubbling this morning. Tilt says 1.051 at 56. The controller says 52. I set the temp to 53. The water level is a little higher than usual for the cooling system. We'll see how that works out.
09/22/2024 esheppy
Yesterday... At the end of the day, the temp was up to 60. So, that is what I set the controller to. Tilt says 1.030 at 60 this morning. Bubbling pretty good.
09/23/2024 esheppy
Tilt says 1.018 at 60. Still bubbling but not as fast.
09/24/2024 esheppy
Tilt says 1.016 at 62. Unplugged cooling pump.
09/24/2024 esheppy
Came across this article about how to brew an "original" Michelob clone ... https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Brewing_Original_Michelob_Recipe. They use 100% pilsner, and significantly more hops. 40+ ibu. Apparently, it was designed to be a Bohemian Pilsner, which is interesting. I'll have to decide after I taste mine if I want to approximate their recipe. We'll see.
09/25/2024 esheppy
Tilt says 1.015 at 67. Not really much bubbling at this point. Expecting to keg in about a week.
09/26/2024 esheppy
One week into fermentation ... Tilt says 1.015 at 68. I don't expect attenuation to go much further, but I'll continue to let cleanup occur. The disadvantage of this SS fermenter is that I cannot look at the beer to see how clear it looks.
09/30/2024 esheppy
No bubbling. Tilt says 1.015 at 69 degrees. I feel like I can probably keg at any time.
10/03/2024 esheppy
I meant to keg Tuesday and then yesterday, but just got lazy after work. Maybe today. I did clean my empty kegs yesterday, so now its just a matter of taking the time to do it. Tilt says 1.013 at 68 degrees. Looking forward to drinking this by the liter.
10/03/2024 esheppy
Kegged. Not very clear at all and I think I transferred over quite a bit of yeast. Oh well. Calling the FG 1.012. Taste really nice. Hope it clears up.
10/04/2024 esheppy
Added gelatin. Also poured from keg. Lots of yeast at the moment. Hope it clears up soon.
Comments:
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