Nicks90's Brewdays

Nicks90 · May 17, 2024

Nicks90 said:
AG150
Summit IPA

A copy of ag148, but with different yeast and more hops!

4kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV. Back liquored to 18l to keep it sensibly session-able

Hops
10gm summit @ 15 mins
20gm summit @ 5 mins
30gm Simcoe @ 5 mins
40gm summit @ day3 for a dry hop
40gm Simcoe @ day3 for a dry hop

Yeast:
M66 hop head

After back liquoring I ended up with an OG 1.050 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 5%, 30ibu and 8SRM

Goddamit. Totally forgot about this brew, mistaking it for the English ales in ag149.
So it's not had a dry hop and needs bottling
Oh well, it will be a not very hoppy IPA.
BUT. I'm going to recover 2 yeast batches and use one immediately for a really hoppy IPA (probably bittered with challenger, and then whack 100gm in at 2mins before flameout and another 50gm at 80c during the cool down) and put the other in the fridge for next month.
In the meantime I've done a saison.

Nicks90 · May 31, 2024

AG151
anti-Brexit Saison

One for the pro union people on here - a french farmhouse saison using east kent goldings for the hops - hehehehe

3kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV. e

Hops
10gm EKG @ 45 mins
20gm EKG @ 5 mins

Yeast:
MJ french farmhouse

Ended up with an OG 1.040 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 4%, 30ibu and 5SRM
Expecting this to be a nice earthy peppery summer saison once its conditioned

Nicks90 · May 31, 2024

AG152
Summit IPA

finally getting around to re-doing this one - but properly this time with a good dose of hops

3.5kg Maris Otter

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 5l rinse sparge
Leaving 21l wort for a 30 minute boil and 18l in the FV.

Hops
10gm summit @ 30 mins
35gm summit @ flameout
40gm Simcoe @ flameout

Yeast:
M66 hop head

I ended up with an OG 1.050 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 5%,
As i have added ALL of my aroma hops at flameout, its hard to guess what the IBU will be, as it depends how quickly it converts at different temperatures down to the magic 80C and how long it takes to get to 80 from the boil as well.
But to help things along, I used my cooler to whack it down to 70C and then left it an hour to get as much aroma as possible before turning the cooler back on to pitching temp.

we will see.........

Nicks90 · Jun 26, 2024

AG153
Ermmmm, beer

Bit of an unusual one, in that i have burnt my notebook to a crisp and lost the recipe for this one and i genuinely cant remember much other than it had some summit in it and one other hop.
Basically i was playing with my stirling engine on my desk and spilt some fuel and when i lit the burner my desk caught fire and i had a little bit of an "oh cr@p" moment. By the time it was out my notebook was crispy and got chucked in the bin.
fast forward a week and i notice the FV in the corner of the office and think I must update here with the brew day and then remembered the recipe was toasted....
so its an IPA beer, cant remember the quantities or even what the second hop was.

it will be forever more known as "Ermmmmm, Beer"

Nicks90 · Jul 25, 2024

AG154
Amarillo IPA

I love a bit of Amarillo, and it goes very well with Centennial - and as i have an abundance of both - lets get a brew on!

4kg Maris Otter
25gm roasted barley
100gm crystal 30EBC

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 5l rinse sparge
Leaving 21l wort for a 30 minute boil and 18l in the FV.

Hops
10gm Amarillo @ 30 mins
50gm Centennial @ 5 mins
40gm Amarillo @ 5 mins

Yeast:
M66 hop head i recovered from an earlier brew

Hit all my numbers and ended up with an OG of 1.048, expecting a sessionable 5% abv with a nice amber 20ebc. Should be a good hoppy little number

Nicks90 · Jul 25, 2024

AG155
Olicana English IPA

This is a new hop to me, and i was keen to try this out as a SMASH to get a feel for what its like. So kept this one stupid simple

3.5kg Maris Otter

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 60 minute boil and 15l in the FV.

Hops
10gm Olicana @ 60 mins
20gm Olicana @ 15 mins
20gm Olicana @ 5 mins

Yeast:
Notties finest for a good clean brew

Hit all my numbers and ended up with an OG of 1.047, expecting a sessionable 4.7% abv with a super pale 6ebc. Really interested to see how this one turns out and if you can really get mango and grapefruit flavours.

Nicks90 · Aug 28, 2024

AG156
Challenger Saison

French farmhouse saison using challenger for the hops - a true classic

3kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV. e

Hops
10gm challenger @ 45 mins
20gm challenger @ 5 mins

Yeast:
MJ french farmhouse

Ended up with an OG 1.040 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 4%, 30ibu and 5SRM
Expecting this to be a nice earthy peppery summer saison once its conditioned

Twostage · Aug 28, 2024

Nicks90 said:
AG156
Challenger Saison

French farmhouse saison using challenger for the hops - a true classic

3kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV. e

Hops
10gm challenger @ 45 mins
20gm challenger @ 5 mins

Yeast:
MJ french farmhouse

Ended up with an OG 1.040 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 4%, 30ibu and 5SRM
Expecting this to be a nice earthy peppery summer saison once its conditioned

What temp are you going to ferment at ?

pilgrimhudd · Aug 28, 2024

Never thought of just using Challenger for a saison but you are right, should be a really nice peppery saison there.

Nicks90 · Aug 29, 2024

Twostage said:
What temp are you going to ferment at ?

I pitched at 25c and tuck it up in a warm corner of my office and just let it do it's thing. So no idea
But I would imagine the temp will stay in the low to mid twenties during primary fermentation

Nicks90 · Aug 31, 2024

and just to prove a point about yeast harvesting being discussed here https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/dirty-yeast.105618/#post-1292726 - i have a bottle of this yeast still in my fridge from AG 149 that i brewed in April
And as its a lovely beer i have done a carbon copy of it.

AG157
Another Old school Ale

Its a cracking pint and a cracking hop, so exactly as before

3.5kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc
30g roasted barley

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV.

Hops
25gm Challenger @ 30 mins
15gm Challenger @ 5 mins
15gm challenger @80c until at pitch temp

Yeast:
Lallemand Windsor ale yeast recovered from last brew ag149

OG 1.048 which is exactly the same as last time and BF reckons it should end up about 4.5%, 30ibu and 12SRM

Nicks90 · Sep 2, 2024

5 month old yeast doing it's thing.
Just goes to show that if you package it right and store it in a reliable fridge at 3-4c, it WILL last a good long time in a dormant state.

Nicks90 · Sep 8, 2024

Nicks90 said:
AG156
Challenger Saison

French farmhouse saison using challenger for the hops - a true classic

3kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV. e

Hops
10gm challenger @ 45 mins
20gm challenger @ 5 mins

Yeast:
MJ french farmhouse

Ended up with an OG 1.040 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 4%, 30ibu and 5SRM
Expecting this to be a nice earthy peppery summer saison once its conditioned

Never had a saison look so funky in the fermenter before.
Sod it, smells good, tastes fine, it's getting bottled!

Twostage · Sep 9, 2024

Nicks90 said:
Never had a saison look so funky in the fermenter before.
Sod it, smells good, tastes fine, it's getting bottled!

Looks OK to me. When I used to use Gervin yeast (G12 I think

) the yeast cake looked like a huge flat brain.

Nicks90 · Sep 9, 2024

Nicks90 said:
AG155
Olicana English IPA

This is a new hop to me, and i was keen to try this out as a SMASH to get a feel for what its like. So kept this one stupid simple

3.5kg Maris Otter

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 60 minute boil and 15l in the FV.

Hops
10gm Olicana @ 60 mins
20gm Olicana @ 15 mins
20gm Olicana @ 5 mins

Yeast:
Notties finest for a good clean brew

Hit all my numbers and ended up with an OG of 1.047, expecting a sessionable 4.7% abv with a super pale 6ebc. Really interested to see how this one turns out and if you can really get mango and grapefruit flavours.

Don't like it.
Flavour is at isn't quite right, like I've put two opposing hops in, and it's too bitter. Always worth trying a new hop, but I won't be trying this one again. Just not my cup of tea.

Pretty sure I didn't screw up the measurements, so either they are more bitter than the packet says or maybe I mistimed the last edition.

Nicks90 · Sep 20, 2024

AG158
Summit of an IPA

About to do a new HB order and found a full packet of Summit (14%) hops in the freezer i didnt realise i had. jsut about scraped together 3kg of malt, so what better than a quick summit ipa.

3kg Maris Otter
15g roasted barley for a bit of colour

15l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 17l wort for a 30 minute boil and 14l in the FV.

Hops
10gm Summit@ 30 mins
20gm Summit@ 5 mins
70gm Summit @70c until at pitch temp
Massive post boil addition, not done one that big before, but i just have just gone dry hopping.

Yeast:
Verdant IPA yeast recovered from a previous brew

OG 1.048 which is exactly on target and BF reckons it should end up about 5%, 37ibu and 10SRM
Massive post boil addition, not done one that big before

Nicks90 · Sep 24, 2024

Nicks90 said:
and just to prove a point about yeast harvesting being discussed here https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/dirty-yeast.105618/#post-1292726 - i have a bottle of this yeast still in my fridge from AG 149 that i brewed in April
And as its a lovely beer i have done a carbon copy of it.

AG157
Another Old school Ale

Its a cracking pint and a cracking hop, so exactly as before

3.5kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc
30g roasted barley

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV.

Hops
25gm Challenger @ 30 mins
15gm Challenger @ 5 mins
15gm challenger @80c until at pitch temp

Yeast:
Lallemand Windsor ale yeast recovered from last brew ag149

OG 1.048 which is exactly the same as last time and BF reckons it should end up about 4.5%, 30ibu and 12SRM

First taste test, yes it's beer and yes it's lovely!
Old yeast for the win

Nicks90 · Oct 4, 2024

AG159
Winter Warmer

Still not go around to doing my HB order so very much the dregs of the barrel for this last brew. Its coming up to winter, so a beer with suitable blackness and chewy aftertaste is required!
Bit of a mishmash of ingredients - and yes that is mushrooms you are seeing in the mash! They give a great earthy ummami extra hit and really work well. and yes thats centennial hops....... pine, citrus and floral works well in a dark beer and i dont consider it an american "ipa" hop, especially as its descended from BG and Fuggles. Purists will probably weep in to their beer, but i dont care. Its what i had and it will work fine.

3.25kg Maris Otter
160g roasted barley
154g chocolate malt
25gm dried shitaki mushrooms

18l mash at 68c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 60 minute boil and 15l in the FV.

Hops
18gm centennial@ 30 mins
12gm centennial@ 5 mins

Yeast:
Nottingham yeast recovered from a previous brew

OG 1.050 which is about right within a few points and BF reckons it should end up about 4.5%, 30ibu and 33SRM
hoping this will be all done and bottled and conditioned in time for December, so i can use it as an advent calendar like last year.

As an added bonus, my intention is to add some Bhut Jolokia jam to 10 of the bottles at random, maybe a 1/4 teaspoon, so its a chilli winter warmer. A teaspoon of this stuff in a single portion of a pretty mild curry (wife and child like korma levels of heat) turns it in to a blazing inferno of chilli goodness, so i reckon a 1/4 teaspoon in a pint of beer will give it a good jolly up without being ridiculous. No idea if this will affect carbonation, but whatever, sure it will be fine. However i do know it will potentiallyt ruin head retention depending on the amount of chilli oil in the jam. Not going to bother doing anything to the jam, my thinking is if a bacteria can grow in that volcanic cesspool of chilli lava, then its stronger than me and welcome to a pint of beer. I'm not going to label them either, so it will be a surprise when i taste it, hehehehe

Nicks90 · Nov 17, 2024

its been 6 weeks since i last put a brew on and stocks have all vanished.
double brew day today

AG160
English ale

HB order has arrived and now is the time to put on several brews across different styles as quickly as possible to get my stocks back up in time for christmas and new year. First up an English ale

3.2kg Maris Otter
10g roasted barley for a bit of colour
100gm crystal 250ebc

15l mash at 68c for 60mins with a 5l rinse sparge
Leaving 18l wort for a 30 minute boil and 14l in the FV. back liquored to 16l as i wanted it very sessionable.

Hops
20gm EKG@ 30 mins
20gm EKG@ 5 mins

Yeast:
Lallemand Windsor

OG 1.044 which is exactly on target and BF reckons it should end up about 4.5%, 23ibu and 15SRM

brew day part 2
AG161
Big C IPA

Lets get it on with some hops!

3.5kg Maris Otter
100gm crystal 145ebc

16l mash at 65c for 60mins with a 5l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 15l in the FV.

Hops
10gm Centennial@ 30 mins
15gm Centennial@ 5 mins
25gm Citra@ 5 mins
day 5 it will get a 25gm Citra dry hop

Yeast:
Lallemand Verdant IPA

OG 1.050 which is exactly on target and BF reckons it should end up about 5.2%, 30ibu and 7SRM

Moe · Nov 17, 2024

Nicks90 said:
AG159
Winter Warmer

Still not go around to doing my HB order so very much the dregs of the barrel for this last brew. Its coming up to winter, so a beer with suitable blackness and chewy aftertaste is required!
Bit of a mishmash of ingredients - and yes that is mushrooms you are seeing in the mash! They give a great earthy ummami extra hit and really work well. and yes thats centennial hops....... pine, citrus and floral works well in a dark beer and i dont consider it an american "ipa" hop, especially as its descended from BG and Fuggles. Purists will probably weep in to their beer, but i dont care. Its what i had and it will work fine.

3.25kg Maris Otter
160g roasted barley
154g chocolate malt
25gm dried shitaki mushrooms

18l mash at 68c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 60 minute boil and 15l in the FV.

Hops
18gm centennial@ 30 mins
12gm centennial@ 5 mins

Yeast:
Nottingham yeast recovered from a previous brew

OG 1.050 which is about right within a few points and BF reckons it should end up about 4.5%, 30ibu and 33SRM
hoping this will be all done and bottled and conditioned in time for December, so i can use it as an advent calendar like last year.

As an added bonus, my intention is to add some Bhut Jolokia jam to 10 of the bottles at random, maybe a 1/4 teaspoon, so its a chilli winter warmer. A teaspoon of this stuff in a single portion of a pretty mild curry (wife and child like korma levels of heat) turns it in to a blazing inferno of chilli goodness, so i reckon a 1/4 teaspoon in a pint of beer will give it a good jolly up without being ridiculous. No idea if this will affect carbonation, but whatever, sure it will be fine. However i do know it will potentiallyt ruin head retention depending on the amount of chilli oil in the jam. Not going to bother doing anything to the jam, my thinking is if a bacteria can grow in that volcanic cesspool of chilli lava, then its stronger than me and welcome to a pint of beer. I'm not going to label them either, so it will be a surprise when i taste it, hehehehe
View attachment 104485

How did the chilli beer come out?

Nicks90's Brewdays

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