Grainfather Brewday #12 - Citra Pale

DoctorMick · Jun 3, 2016

After not brewing since October I finally managed to get all of my gear out of storage, cleaned up and ready to go so got a brew on last night. Decided to create a simple Citra pale ale recipe:

4.8kg pilsner malt (because I bought a big sack of the stuff for a different recipe)
0.28kg Caramunich
25g Pligrim 60min
20g Citra 15min
20g Citra 5min
30g Citra flameout

Pitched WYeast London Ale Yeast which I'd made a 1l starter with the day before.

OG was 1.050, slightly above the predicted 1.048. Smell is absolutely superb, forgot how much I loved the smell of hops. FV is in the brew fridge happily chugging away, it's the shortest lag I've had for any of my brews so the starter has obviously helped with that.

I have another 30g Citra left to dry hop with in a week or so.

It shows how easy the Grainfather is to use, after so long between brews I managed to switch it on and do a brew without using the instructions and without any issues at all. I'll try and blog a more thorough write up if I can be bothered.

GHW · Jun 3, 2016

DoctorMick said:
After not brewing since October I finally managed to get all of my gear out of storage, cleaned up and ready to go so got a brew on last night. Decided to create a simple Citra pale ale recipe:

4.8kg pilsner malt (because I bought a big sack of the stuff for a different recipe)
0.28kg Caramunich
25g Pligrim 60min
20g Citra 15min
20g Citra 5min
30g Citra flameout

Pitched WYeast London Ale Yeast which I'd made a 1l starter with the day before.

OG was 1.050, slightly above the predicted 1.048. Smell is absolutely superb, forgot how much I loved the smell of hops. FV is in the brew fridge happily chugging away, it's the shortest lag I've had for any of my brews so the starter has obviously helped with that.

I have another 30g Citra left to dry hop with in a week or so.

It shows how easy the Grainfather is to use, after so long between brews I managed to switch it on and do a brew without using the instructions and without any issues at all. I'll try and blog a more thorough write up if I can be bothered.

Wondered where you'd been doc. Good to see you back in the saddle! Can't go wrong with citra, I love it even when it goes catty! Though its got lovely mango flavours too. I like Pilsner as the base for a pale, especially for citrus type hops.

I've got a gf too now, giving it a first run out tomorrow!

DoctorMick · Jun 9, 2016

Tested yesterday, down to 1.012 so very nearly done, and added the dry hops. Sample from the trial jar was good so I'm confident this is going to turn out well.

Gonna bottle next Tuesday and then harvest and rinse the yeast ready for another brew on Wednesday. From what I've been reading I shouldn't need to do a started for the next brew, does that seem right?

Slid · Jun 12, 2016

DoctorMick said:
Tested yesterday, down to 1.012 so very nearly done, and added the dry hops. Sample from the trial jar was good so I'm confident this is going to turn out well.

Gonna bottle next Tuesday and then harvest and rinse the yeast ready for another brew on Wednesday. From what I've been reading I shouldn't need to do a started for the next brew, does that seem right?

Yes it does. I tend to buy some 250ml bottles of lemonade and use them to re-use yeast. Leaving a fairly generous amount of beer in the primary FV will easily get you 5 or 6 starters and they do NOT need any encouragement. Especially the first one, which will not be long into its dormant phase.

DoctorMick · Jun 14, 2016

Got 37 bottles last night, down to an fg of 1.011. Smells lovely, can't wait to crack open the first bottle.

DoctorMick · Jun 16, 2016

Finally got around to blogging a more thorough write up...

https://northerncodemonkey.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/its-been-a-while/

DoctorMick · Jul 2, 2016

First bottle opener tonight and this is the best beer I've made so far, very nice brew.

DoctorMick · Jul 13, 2016

Tried a couple more tonight after 4 weeks in the battle and it's a lovely light drinkable ale, plenty of citrus (although not a hop bomb by any means) and a nice hint of fruit from the yeast. Think id like to try a couple of variations in the future, 1 with most of he hops put in to steep and another using a cleaner yeast to see what difference that makes.Id still put this down as my best beer tho, very pleased with it...sometimes simple is definitely best.

DoctorMick · Sep 8, 2016

Tried one of my last bottles of this last night and it's fell off a cliff! I've never had a beer which started so good end up so meh. Still, it was great while it lasted and I'll definitely be brewing it again soon.