I recently had a good sized solar system installed. The south facing slope of my pole barn is covered with 56x 405 watt solar panels. Can I brew a batch of beer with 100% solar power? The answer is yes. On a nice sunny day I was able to produce more power than both my brewing needs and the rest of my homes power demand for the whole time I was brewing.

I decided to brew a take on The Electric Brewery’s “Electric Pale” that I will call “Solar Electric Pale”. I ended up with Cryohops which were about 2x the alpha acid so you would likely need 2x the amount if brewed with standard pellets.

17.5# 2-row
4# Vienna
0.8# Caramel 40L

1oz Chinook @ 20min boil
1oz Centennial @ 20min boil
1oz Amarillo (Cryohop) @ 10min boil
1oz Centennial (Cryohop) @ 10min boil
1oz Amarillo (Cryohop) @ 0min boil
1oz Centennial (Cryohop) @ 0min boil
2oz Citra (Cryohop) dry hop @ day 3

Adjusted Water – Ca 118 – Mg 8 – SO4 217 – Na 16 – Cl 48 (24g Gypsum, 1.5g CaCl)

Mash at 154° for 60 minutes then raise to 168° and hold for 10 minutes.  Collect 14 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Produces 12 gallons at the end of the boil and 11ish gallons in the fermenter.

2x – Fermentis Safale US-05 American Ale Yeast

Estimated / Actual
OG: 1.055 / 1.055
FG: 1.010 / TBD
ABV 5.8% / TBD
SRM 34

The brewery was taken over by electronics for a while. I installed a solar system on my travel trailer this past fall, winter, and spring. Check out that project at rv.decristofaro.us.

To kick things off I am making a fresh batch of Cider and a run of Rye IPA that I will split and ferment with different yeasts. Half will get the traditional US-05 American ale yeast . The other half will get LalBrew Voss Kveik ale yeast. I also need to get a stout going next.

Simple Rick’s, Simple Rye

22# 2-row
4# Rye
2# Crystal 60L

2oz El Dorado @ 60min boil
1oz El Dorado @ 10min boil
1oz Simcoe @ 10min boil
1oz Mosaic @ 10min boil
1oz El Dorado @ 20min whirlpool @ 160˚
1oz Simcoe @ 20min whirlpool @ 160˚
1oz Mosaic @ 20min whirlpool @ 160˚
1oz El Dorado dry hop @ day 3
1oz Simcoe dry hop @ day 3
1oz Mosaic dry hop @ day 3

Adjusted Water – Ca 100 – Mg 5 – SO4 125 – Na 10 – Cl 75 (10g Gypsum, 6g CaCl)

Mash at 152° for 60 minutes then raise to 168° and hold for 10 minutes.  Collect 14 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Produces 12 gallons at the end of the boil and 11 gallons in the fermenter.

I split the batch with two different yeasts.

1x – Fermentis Safale US-05 American Ale Yeast
1x – Lallemand LalBrew Voss Kveik Ale Yeast

Another take and twist on a rye IPA. I reduced the rye % from my last recipe and changed from a pure 2-row base to a 50/50 split of 2-row and Maris Otter. On the hop front I still have bunch of El Dorado to use and paired it with Simcoe and Mosaic this time.

Results: OG 1.073 / FG 1.013 / ABV 7.9% / IBU 74 / SRM 10.3

12# 2-row
12# Maris Otter
2# Crystal 60L
4# Rye

2oz El Dorado @ 60min boil
1oz El Dorado @ 10min boil
1oz Simcoe @ 10min boil
1oz Mosaic @ 10min boil
1oz El Dorado @ 20min whirlpool @ 160˚
1oz Simcoe @ 20min whirlpool @ 160˚
1oz Mosaic @ 20min whirlpool @ 160˚
1oz El Dorado dry hop @ day 3
1oz Simcoe dry hop @ day 3
1oz Mosaic dry hop @ day 3

Adjusted Water – Ca 100 – Mg 5 – SO4 125 – Na 10 – Cl 75 (10g Gypsum, 6g CaCl)

Mash at 152° for 60 minutes then raise to 168° and hold for 10 minutes.  Collect 14 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Produces 12 gallons at the end of the boil and 11 gallons in the fermenter.

I split the batch with two different yeasts.

1x – Fermentis Safale US-05 American Ale Yeast
1x – Lallemand LalBrew Verdant IPA

I am running a tilt hydrometer with tiltpi running on a Raspberry Pi Zero W. It’s neat to watch the gravity drop in real time and also helps with timing dry hop addtions.

I have been interested in trying a yeast by a well know IPA brewery in the UK. Verdant’s yeast is available through Lallemand. Below is a recipe based on one by David Heath Homebrew. I adjusted it to fit my system and swapped for hops I have on hand.

Verdant IPA – OG 1.056 / FG 1.010 / ABV 6% / IBU 44 / SRM 6

13# Marris Otter
4# Vienna
3.75# Flaked Oats
1.25# Crystal 20L
.75# Carapils

2oz Comet @ 10min
2.5oz El Dorado @ 10min
2oz Comet @ 20min whirlpool @ 175˚
2oz El Dorado @ 20min whirlpool @ 175˚
3.5oz Comet @ active fermentation
3.5oz El Dorado @ active fermentation

Target Water – Ca 100 – Mg 15 – Na 30 – Cl 90 – SO4 160

Mash at 149° for 60 minutes then raise to 168° and hold for 10 minutes.  Collect 14 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Produces 12 gallons at the end of the boil and 11 gallons in the fermenter.

2x – Lallemand – Verdant IPA

I am planning two new beers. I pulled these from a recent copy of Craft Beer & Brewing. One is a American Stout and the other a IPA fermented with kveik yeast. I have been meaning to try a kveik strain and now is the time.

Kveik NEIPA – OG 1.065 / FG 1.013 / ABV 6.8% / IBU 15 / SRM 5

7.5# 2-row
7.5# White Wheat
7.5# Pilsner
3# Crystal 10L

4oz Amarillo @ 40min whirlpool @ 170˚ with dose spread out
4oz Citra @ 40min whirlpool @ 170˚ with dose spread out
2oz Amarillo @ active fermentation
4oz Citra @ active fermentation
6oz Amarillo @ post fermentation
6oz Citra @ post fermentation

Adjusted Water – Ca 111 – Mg 5 – SO4 100 – Na 8 – Cl 150

Mash at 156° for 30 minutes then raise to 168° and hold for 10 minutes.  Collect 14 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Produces 12 gallons at the end of the boil and 11 gallons in the fermenter.

1x – Omega OYL-061 Voss Kveik Yeast

American Stout – OG 1.064 / FG 1.015 / ABV 6.5% / IBU 47 / SRM 32

18# 2-row
3.5# Munich
2# Crystal 60L
24oz Carafa II
1# Roasted Barley

2oz Chinook @ 60min boil
2oz Centennial @ 10min boil
2oz Cascade @ flame out

Adjusted Water – 10g of gypsum in 18 gallons to bump Ca and balance things out.

Mash at 154° for 60 minutes then raise to 168° and hold for 10 minutes. Collect 14 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Produces 12 gallons at the end of the boil and 11 gallons in the fermenter.

2x – Fermentis Safale US-05 American Ale Yeast

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Things were just starting to get a little serious when I planned this brew day. We were still going about our day relatively normal. That all changed by the time I drank the first pint. I hope things are moving in a better direction when I drink the last. This is a take on the rye heavy IPA I have brewed several times. I made some tweaks mainly to the hops to brew with ingredients that I had on hand.

Results: OG 1.073 (12 gallons) / FG 1.014

OG 1.072 / FG 1.013 / ABV 7.72% / IBU 80 / SRM 9.5

21# 2-row
2# Crystal 60L
6# Rye

2oz CTZ @ 60min boil
0.5oz CTZ @ 30min boil
0.5oz Chinook @ 30min boil
0.5oz Centennial @ 30min boil
0.5oz CTZ @ 10min boil
0.5oz Chinook @ 10min boil
0.5oz Centennial @ 10min boil
0.5oz CTZ @ 0min boil
0.5oz Chinook @ 0min boil
0.5oz Centennial @ 0min boil
0.5oz CTZ @ 20min whirlpool @ 160˚
0.5oz Chinook @ 20min whirlpool @ 160˚
0.5oz Centennial @ 20min whirlpool @ 160˚

Adjusted Water – Ca 86 – Mg 9 – SO4 113 – Na 16 – Cl 72

Mash at 152° for 60 minutes then raise to 168° and hold for 10 minutes.  Collect 14 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Produces 12 gallons at the end of the boil and 11 gallons in the fermenter.

2x – Fermentis Safale US-05 American Ale Yeast

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It has been a struggling to find time to brew. Thankfully my Wife encouraged me to brew a week ago. So on short notice I pulled together a IPA recipe that uses a light malt base and some hops that I have on hand. If it’s good I make make it a few times to play with different hop combos.

Results: OG 1.057 (12 gallon) / FG 1.007 / ABV 6.56%

OG 1.058 / FG 1.010 / ABV 6.26% / IBU 57 / SRM 3.9

21# 2-row
2.5# Vienna

1oz Commet @ 60min boil
1oz Commet @ 15min boil
2oz El Dorado @ 15min boil
2oz Commet @ 2min boil
4oz El Dorado @ 2min boil
1oz Commet Dry Hop @ 5 days
5oz El Dorado Dry Hop @ 5 days

Water target – SO4 200 (25g Gypsum added to 19gal)

Mash at 152° for 60 minutes then raise to 168° and hold for 10 minutes.  Collect 14 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Produces 12 gallons at the end of the boil and 11 gallons in the fermenter.

Fermentis – Safale – American Ale Yeast US-05

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I decided to donate and brew a batch of Resilience IPA using the recipe from chopandbrew. If you do, do not forget to donate to the camp fire fund. I had all but the yeast and crystal 60L on hand. After brewing a bunch of hazy IPA I am going to add whirlfloc and fine with gelatin to get a very clear beer for a change.

Results: OG 1.063 (12.5 gallon) / FG 1.TBD /

OG 1.065 / FG 1.014 / ABV 6.65% / IBU 66 / SRM 8.9

23# 2-row
2# Crystal 60L

2oz Centennial @ 60min boil
2oz Centennial @ 15min boil
2oz Cascade @ 15min boil
1oz Centennial Whirlpool @ 180° for 20 min
1oz Cascade Whirlpool @ 180° for 20 min
1oz Centennial Dry Hop @ high krausen
1oz Cascade Dry Hop @ high krausen

Water target – SO4 250

Mash at 152° for 60 minutes then raise to 168° and hold for 10 minutes.  Collect 14 gallons and boil for 60 minutes. Produces 12 gallons at the end of the boil and 11 gallons in the fermenter.

White Labs – California Ale Yeast WLP001

A part of my equipment that is not glamorous but works great is this big bucket. A quick hoist and dump of my grain bag into this large bucket makes moving my spent grain to the compost pile easy and clean. Also neat are these cold crash guardians. they are essentially bags that fill with CO2 from fermentation that then is available to fill the head space during cold crashing vs pulling oxygen or starsan in.

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The rye IPA is kegged and carbonating. It is already delicious, one of my favorite recipes. I like the increased % of rye. You can really smell the spicy rye. It also gets a great body/creaminess you can feel and see in the bubbles.

On to the next brew. Following the (m)Oktoberfest based on brulosophy.

Estimated
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.013
ABV: ~5.4%
IBU: 21
SRM: 10.6

10# Vienna
5# Munich Light 10L
4# Pilsner
1# Crystal 60L
1# Honey Malt
4oz Special B

4 oz Saaz Pellet – 60 min
1 oz Saaz Pellet – 15 min

Mash @ 152 for 1 hour

White Labs – German Ale/ Kölsch Yeast WLP029