Do-ocracy (do͞o äkrəsē): The spirit of taking ownership/command/possession/etc and making it happen. That’s how we operate at Splunk. To commemorate this methodology we teamed up with 21st Amendment to make a DPA, or “Do-Ocracy Pale Ale”.
On February 29th we walked over to 21st Amendment which is conveniently located around the corner from our headquarters (could that in itself be a reason we chose the location of our HQ? Very possibly). Before we started brewing, we thought to throw in a few sensors; since we recently Splunked BBQ using Tappecue we just re-purposed the sensors and modified the dashboard for the brew day.
There are four primary stages of the brew day:
1. The Mash-In: We add water heated to a specific temperature to the cracked grains in a vessel called a mash-tun. The heat from the water (referred to as liquor in breweries) activates the enzymes within the barley. These enzymes then begin to convert the starches in the grains into sugars.
2. Lautering (Sparge): The next step in the brewing process is to take the mash, and separate out the spent grain from the sugary liquid known as wort. By running water over the spent grain, this ensures all the residual sugars are extracted from the barley and transferred to the boil kettle.
3. The Boil: Once the sweet wort has been separated from the grains, it is brought to a strong, prolonged boil for anywhere between 1-2 hours. At this point, hops are added at various stages of the boil for bitterness and aroma. (We boiled ours for two).
4. The Transfer: Once the wort has been cooled, it is transferred to a fermentor where yeast is added and the fermentation begins! From the moment the yeast is added it gets to work eating the sugars that were created during the mash.
The Mash-In:
We put three probes at different heights into the mash and one in the air above the surface of the grain bed.
The Boil:
All was going so well. The mash went perfectly and it was time to start boiling the wort and add the secret ingredients (in this case, LOTS of Hops).
And that’s when we made a mistake… Nobody told Deep (seen with the spent grains on the right) that adding Hops faster does not make the beer ready faster. This caused the hot break to not go as planned and led to a boil over.
The quick reaction of the brewmaster saved the day by quickly spraying water to cool things down and the probes we were using to Splunk the wort caught all the action. The purple line is the probe that was in the air, as soon as the water hit the probe you can see its temperature drop, followed by the wort. Since we have the data we can now replicate this “procedure” to get the same beer.
If you’re a hop head you will love this beer (>100 IBU!). So hop on over to 21st Amendment and try it before it runs out! We won’t be brewing it again until the next February 29th.
Cheers!
Nate & RBH
Good things come to those who wait… The first glass poured last week. Cheers!