McShepardSons Irish Ale
Brewed: 2/25/2024 Kegged: 3/9/2024
Mid-march of 2022, I had a tragedy occur in my beer fridge. I had apparently not properly attached the picnic tap to the ball lock of the keg, which caused a leak.
My keg emptied itself.
I had already been low on my beer inventory. I had only one keg of homebrew with about a gallon left in it.
So ... I decided to do a double batch to catch up.
It was close to St Patrick's Day, and that helped me decide to do an Irish Red. But, since it was to be a double batch, I decided to go ahead and split it with a Voss Kveik yeast ferment as well.
I put the OG and projected ABV pretty low in the Irish Red range in hopes that fermentation would finish more quickly.
The resulting beers were great sessionable beers. For a comparison between the two, see Sheppy's Blog: McShepardSons Comparison
Batch 2 was a standard 5 gallon batch with Irish Ale Yeast.
The name "McShepardSons" comes from a series of geocaches that I hid years ago. Most of them have been Muggled and no longer exist, but I thought it was a good name for an Irish Ale.
Untappd: McShepardSons Irish Ale and McShepardsons Irish Ale (Voss)
For more about the beer (and the Geocaches) see Sheppy's Blog: McShepardSons
| McShepardSons Irish Ale --- Batch 2 (352) |
| Style | Irish Red Ale | Batch Size | 5.50 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 6.54 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 68.00 | Boil Time | 50 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.041 SG | Estimated FG | 1.011 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 27.3 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 3.9 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.674 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 13.4 SRM |
|
|||||
| Measured OG: | 1.041 | Measured FG: | 1.012 | ||||
| ADF: | 70 | Measured ABV: | 3.8 |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.69 gal | Denver, Colorado | Water | 1 | - | - |
| 5.00 g | Calcium Chloride (Mash) | Water Agent | 2 | - | - |
| 2.00 g | Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) | Water Agent | 3 | - | - |
| 1.00 g | Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash) | Water Agent | 4 | - | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Lactic Acid (Mash) | Water Agent | 5 | - | - |
| 8 lbs | Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) | Grain | 6 | 91.4 % | 0.63 gal |
| 6.0 oz | Proximity Brown Malt (160.0 SRM) | Grain | 7 | 4.3 % | 0.03 gal |
| 4.0 oz | Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) | Grain | 8 | 2.9 % | 0.02 gal |
| 2.0 oz | Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) | Grain | 9 | 1.4 % | 0.01 gal |
| 0.500 oz | Magnum [12.60 %] - Boil 40.0 min | Hop | 10 | 19.7 IBUs | - |
| 1.00 Items | Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) | Fining | 11 | - | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) | Other | 12 | - | - |
| 2.000 oz | East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.60 %] - Boil 5.0 min | Hop | 13 | 7.7 IBUs | - |
| 1.0 pkg | Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) | Yeast | 14 | - | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saccharification | Add 30.73 qt of water at 157.5 F | 152.0 F | 45 min |
| Heat | Heat to 158.0 F over 10 min | 158.0 F | 15 min |
| Mash Out | Heat to 170.0 F over 7 min | 170.0 F | 10 min |
If steeping, remove grains,
and prepare to boil wort
Prepare mash and sparge water together.
Brewing salts in the mash and sparge water. This should bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith) to "Balanced Amber"
Ca=94,Mg=12,Na=21,SO4=102,Cl=106,HCO3=104
Acid addition to bring calculated pH around 5.3
Mash and boil as directed above.
Cool to around 65 degrees.
Ferment for a couple weeks. (a little less for Voss yeast)
Force carbonate to 2.5 volumes. Condition to taste.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | Strike Temp: | |||||
| Mash Temps: | ||||||
| Pre-boil OG | (1.037 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | (6.54 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | |||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
Brewing Notes
2/23/2024 Ordering ingredients. Not sure when I'll brew.
2/24/2024 Picked up the ingredients. Looks like I'm brewing tomorrow.
2/25/2024 Brewed today. Longer mash and let heat up to 195F while I was away at church. Pitched at about 57. Fermenting in the Chubby. Going to connect to a keg to let the CO2 push liquid out. OG was right on plan at 1.041.
2/26/2024 Signs of fermentation today, although Tilt says 1.043. Let the pressure build up overnight and connected the keg this morning. Quite a lot of water pushed out of the keg right away, but still a bunch in there. 62 degrees.
2/27/2024 Tilt says 1.024 at 66 degrees. The liquid is finally trickling out of the keg. I'm not sure if the rate is high enough to finish before this beer is at finishing gravity. I guess we'll see.
2/28/2024 Tilt says 1.018 at 66 degrees. Fermentation is still going but slowing down quite a bit. The keg is about half full still and isn't currently draining at all. I wonder if it isn't fully sealed. Anyway, I expect fermentation will be basically done in the next couple of days.
2/29/2024 Tilt says 1.015 at 64 degrees. Krausen just about gone. Beer starting to clear up some, but still has quite a ways to go. Since the rest of the keg liquid obviously isn't going to get pushed out, I decided to put on the spunding valve to see if the keg accumulated any more pressure.
3/4/2024 Tilt says 1.014 at 64 degrees. Nice and clear. No krausen. Can probably keg at any time. The fermenter has built up about 5psi.
3/5/2024 Tilt says 1.015 at 63. Yesterday, I released the pressure to push more liquid out of the keg. Glad I didn't wait to do that later in the week because the release of pressure bought trub up into solution and now the beer isn't as clear. Still have a few days before kegging, so hopefully it will clear up again before kegging.
3/6/2024 Tilt says 1.014 at 63 degrees. The beer has settled quite a bit, and is close to the clarity as it was before I released the pressure. Might not be quite there, or it might just be my imagination.
3/9/2024 Kegged today. Pressure transfer took FOREVER! About 40 minutes. Eventually I figured out that the liquid out disconnect wasn't fully engaged. If I pushed it down, it would flow better. It seems to be the disconnect, because I tried another and it worked much better. The beer FG was 1.012, which makes this a 3.8% ABV beer. Nice Irish Red flavor. Chilling now. Will be ready to drink by St. Paddy's Day.
3/13/2024 Poured a pint. Great red color. Rich malty flavor with maybe a touch of caramel roast. Carbonation not near where it needs to be as a finished product, but it will get there. That's how it goes in the beer fridge.
3/21/2024 Clarity much better than it was on St. Patrick's Day. Nice carbonation. Great red color. Wonderful malt flavor with a touch of caramelly roast. The English EKG hops provide a subtle floral, spicy note.
3/30/2024 Happy Easter Eve. Clarity is awesome. Wonderful flavor. Yummy. 😋
4/4/2024 Yummy yummy yummy. Day drinking on a beautiful front range Spring day. Luckily this is really low ABV. Such a gorgeous red with great clarity. Nice malty bread flavor with subtle floral hop finish. Wonderful beer.
4/19/2024 Such a perfect looking beer. Crystal clear. Gorgeous red color. Wonderful flavor. I don't think this will last much longer.
4/29/2024 Don't think there's much left, but I enjoyed a pint with dinner last night. Yummy. Great Irish Red. Crystal clear. Perfect.
5/10/2024 Made it to the 2 month mark. Not much left. Still tasting yummy. Crystal clear. Nice EKG finish.
5/15/2024 Keep thinking this is going to blow every time I take some. Still tasting great. Crystal clear and gorgeous.
5/17/2024 Killed the keg. Good to the last drop. Nice because now I have room for Helles in a Hand Bock-sket
2/23/2024 Ordering ingredients. Not sure when I'll brew.
2/24/2024 Picked up the ingredients. Looks like I'm brewing tomorrow.
2/25/2024 Brewed today. Longer mash and let heat up to 195F while I was away at church. Pitched at about 57. Fermenting in the Chubby. Going to connect to a keg to let the CO2 push liquid out. OG was right on plan at 1.041.
2/26/2024 Signs of fermentation today, although Tilt says 1.043. Let the pressure build up overnight and connected the keg this morning. Quite a lot of water pushed out of the keg right away, but still a bunch in there. 62 degrees.
2/27/2024 Tilt says 1.024 at 66 degrees. The liquid is finally trickling out of the keg. I'm not sure if the rate is high enough to finish before this beer is at finishing gravity. I guess we'll see.
2/28/2024 Tilt says 1.018 at 66 degrees. Fermentation is still going but slowing down quite a bit. The keg is about half full still and isn't currently draining at all. I wonder if it isn't fully sealed. Anyway, I expect fermentation will be basically done in the next couple of days.
2/29/2024 Tilt says 1.015 at 64 degrees. Krausen just about gone. Beer starting to clear up some, but still has quite a ways to go. Since the rest of the keg liquid obviously isn't going to get pushed out, I decided to put on the spunding valve to see if the keg accumulated any more pressure.
3/4/2024 Tilt says 1.014 at 64 degrees. Nice and clear. No krausen. Can probably keg at any time. The fermenter has built up about 5psi.
3/5/2024 Tilt says 1.015 at 63. Yesterday, I released the pressure to push more liquid out of the keg. Glad I didn't wait to do that later in the week because the release of pressure bought trub up into solution and now the beer isn't as clear. Still have a few days before kegging, so hopefully it will clear up again before kegging.
3/6/2024 Tilt says 1.014 at 63 degrees. The beer has settled quite a bit, and is close to the clarity as it was before I released the pressure. Might not be quite there, or it might just be my imagination.
3/9/2024 Kegged today. Pressure transfer took FOREVER! About 40 minutes. Eventually I figured out that the liquid out disconnect wasn't fully engaged. If I pushed it down, it would flow better. It seems to be the disconnect, because I tried another and it worked much better. The beer FG was 1.012, which makes this a 3.8% ABV beer. Nice Irish Red flavor. Chilling now. Will be ready to drink by St. Paddy's Day.
3/13/2024 Poured a pint. Great red color. Rich malty flavor with maybe a touch of caramel roast. Carbonation not near where it needs to be as a finished product, but it will get there. That's how it goes in the beer fridge.
3/21/2024 Clarity much better than it was on St. Patrick's Day. Nice carbonation. Great red color. Wonderful malt flavor with a touch of caramelly roast. The English EKG hops provide a subtle floral, spicy note.
3/30/2024 Happy Easter Eve. Clarity is awesome. Wonderful flavor. Yummy. 😋
4/4/2024 Yummy yummy yummy. Day drinking on a beautiful front range Spring day. Luckily this is really low ABV. Such a gorgeous red with great clarity. Nice malty bread flavor with subtle floral hop finish. Wonderful beer.
4/19/2024 Such a perfect looking beer. Crystal clear. Gorgeous red color. Wonderful flavor. I don't think this will last much longer.
4/29/2024 Don't think there's much left, but I enjoyed a pint with dinner last night. Yummy. Great Irish Red. Crystal clear. Perfect.
5/10/2024 Made it to the 2 month mark. Not much left. Still tasting yummy. Crystal clear. Nice EKG finish.
5/15/2024 Keep thinking this is going to blow every time I take some. Still tasting great. Crystal clear and gorgeous.
5/17/2024 Killed the keg. Good to the last drop. Nice because now I have room for Helles in a Hand Bock-sket