2021 Batch 7 - Hemp-infused Rye Pale Ale 1.0

Label Peelers had a sale on hemp for homebrewing purposes a few weeks back, and I picked up a package of their Hawaiian Haze hemp variety. It should be noted that this is NOT a variety of marijuana, but a legal hemp product that does not contain the psychoactive compound THC which causes the "high" feeling but does contain some amount of CBD (which does not get a person high but purports to have anti-inflammatory and other health benefits). I'd had a commercial beer flavored with some hemp compounds and thought it was interesting, so I decided to try such a beer for myself... because I can.

According to the label on the package of hemp, it contains less than 0.3% THC and 14.3% CBD. I added a half ounce to this three gallon recipe, with a small amount going in early in the boil to release CBD and the rest going in at whirlpool to release flavor and aroma compounds (and probably a lesser amount of CBD).

The base recipe here started out as an American Homebrewers Association competition winner, but I ended up not having two of the three specialty malts or the hops, so for most intents and purposes it's my own recipe.

Ingredients

6 pounds of Briess 2-row Pale Malt

13 ounces Flaked Rye

12 ounces Caramel 10L

4 ounces Baird's Carastan Malt

11 ounces Florida Orange Blossom Honey

1 Tbsp. pH 5.2 Stabilizer (after grain is added to mash water)

0.2 ounces XJA/436 Experimental Hops @ 15.2% AA (first wort)

0.2 ounces XJA/436 Experimental Hops @ 15.2% AA (15 min.)

0.2 ounces XJA/436 Experimental Hops @ 15.2% AA (10 min.)

0.4 ounces XJA/436 Experimental Hops @ 15.2% AA (5 min.)

0.1 ounces Hawaiian Haze hemp flower (first wort)

0.2 ounces Hawaiian Haze hemp flower (flameout/whirlpool 30 min.)

0.2 ounces Hawaiian Haze hemp flower (dry hop)

0.5 ounces XJA/436 Experimental Hops @ 15.2% AA (dry hop)

1/2 tsp. Fermaid K yeast nutrient (15 min.)

1/2 tsp. Irish Moss (15 min.)

1 packet Mangrove Jack's Liberty Bell yeast

Brewfather estimates the beer will have the following characteristics:

BJCP Category: Not sure. Experimental Ale?
Batch Size: 3.25 gallons
Original Gravity: 1.061 SG estimated, 1.058 SG actual
Final Gravity: 1.011 SG estimated
IBUs: 50
SRM: 15
ABV: 6.2% estimated

Mash schedule:

Mash in at 120F
Mash at 150F for 60 minutes
Mash out at 170F for 10 minutes
Sparge

Boil schedule:

Add 0.2 ounces of hops while bringing wort to a boil
60 minutes: Added 0.2 ounces of Hawaiian Haze and 0.2 ounces hops
15 minutes: Add 0.2 ounces hops, yeast nutrient, Irish moss
10 minutes: Add 0.1 ounces hops
5 minutes: Add 0.4 ounces hops
0 minutes: Whirlpool 0.1 ounces Hawaiian Haze for 30 minutes

Fermentation plan:

The yeast handles a temperature range of 64-73F. My basement is currently around 63-64F, which should help keep this yeast well within range during fermentation, without temperature control.
When fermentation starts to slow, add 0.1 ounces of Hawaiian Haze and 0.5 ounces of hops for 3-4 days until fermentation is finished.

Post-Brew Notes and Observations

04/17/2021: The brew went pretty smoothly overall. I should probably have dialed the amount of water back slightly, because once I filled the fermenter to about the 3.1 gallon mark, I still had maybe a half-gallon or more in the kettle that I tossed.

The Hawaiian Haze hemp package

A Half-Ounce of Hawaiian Haze hemp

XJA/436 Experimental Hops Package

The finished wort in the fermenter

Yellow Label Angel Yeast vs. Typical Brewing Yeast

I currently have my second batch of rice wine fermenting with the "magical" yellow-label Angel Yeast from China, and wanted to share some of the more unusual aspects of using it. If you've never seen or used this yeast, I suspect you're not alone. It ships in a 500 gram package that looks like this: What makes it "yellow label" is that yellow box you see in the upper left corner of the package. This implies that it's yeast for distilling (though you do not need to have a still or distill the output to use it). As I understand it, inside the package is a mix of yeast and other materials which will convert starch into sugar and directly ferment it, without the need for a traditional mash step. This can radically shorten your brewing time. For my most-recent batch of rice wine, I heated 3 gallons of water to 155F, poured it over 13+ pounds of uncooked rice straight out of the bag, let that soak for an hour, rehydrated some of this yeast in warm water,

2021 Batch 1 - Rice Wine made with Yellow Label Angel Yeast

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Making Alton Brown's Immersion Cooker Fennel Cardamon Cordial

Alton Brown's "Good Eats" series is my favorite cooking show. I love the way he explains the "why" and "how" of a recipe in detail, which helps you understand (if things don't go right) where you may have gone wrong. In his episode on immersion cooking (also known as sous vide), he shows you how to make a cordial in an hour using an immersion cooker. It took me a while to locate all the ingredients here in Columbus. I ended up getting the fennel and vodka at Giant Eagle. The cardamom seeds, pods, and anise stars came from Amazon. The Fennel fronds and bulb came from Trader Joe's at Easton. Ingredients 32 ounces of 80-proof vodka 2 cups of fennel fronds 10 green cardamom pods 3 ounces granulated sugar 1 tablespoon fennel seeds 1 teaspoon black cardamom seeds 1 whole star anise Begin by loading your sous vide vessel with hot water and set your immersion cooker to 140F. While the cooker is getting up to that temperature, meas

Begin Brewing!

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