IainM's brew day

So, I though I'd get one of these threads for my brews. Today was a Hefeweizen. Very simple recipe.

2.5kg wheat
2.5kg pilsner
Mash as 67C for 60 mins.
23g Halletau (4%AA), 60 min
Ferment at 17C with White Labs

Started with 25L to strike temp, and a mini 5L batch spage. Got 21L into the fv with OG of 1.052, pitched at 18C with 1L of WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale. A few pics:

Gotta say, this yeast smells amazing. Even the spent wort from the starter was pretty decent! I overbuilt it to store some, as I have a feeling I'll be using it many times.


This was the first time using my new grain mill, and I gotta say I love it. Drill ran out of battery about half way through, but milling by hand wasn't a problem.


Just chillin'




A whizz with the paint stirrer and the freshly crushed grain makes a lot of foam, much more than when I got it pre-crushed.


Should end up around 5%

Why 17°c for the fermentation?

Cheers

Clint

Clint said:

Why 17°c for the fermentation?

Cheers

Clint

Click to expand...

In short, because that was recommended on the byo style guide. I wanted to make something balanced, with only undertones of banana and clove. If it ends up too neutral I might ramp it up in for the next iteration.

Hi!
Thanks for the pics.
Did you adjust the setting on the grain mill or go with the factory setting?

Bigcol49 said:

Hi!
Thanks for the pics.
Did you adjust the setting on the grain mill or go with the factory setting?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I adjusted it down to 0.76mm (0.030") as I'm doing BIAB and don't need to worry about a stuck sparge. I might go even lower next time.

Hi!
Thanks!
I don't use a bag, but was considering conditioning the grain - I've read that you can have a finer crush but still get a good grain bed because the husks don't get torn up.

Bigcol49 said:

Hi!
Thanks!
I don't use a bag, but was considering conditioning the grain - I've read that you can have a finer crush but still get a good grain bed because the husks don't get torn up.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it is an interesting idea. I might give it a try next time I have a recipe with a lot of wheat or non-base grain.

So, the Hefeweizen is ok. It was a little scorched during the boil, and the smokey flavour doesn't fit with the style. I do get a lot of banana from it, and a very thick creamy head, so other than that it hits the style. It finished at 1.009. Not my proudest beer, but still drinkable so it won't go to waste. I will have to try this style again.


Than, back on the 25th Jan, I did a maxi-BIAB English Ale. This was boiled in my stock pot, to ensure that the odd taste of the last three batches was scorching from the peco element (it was):

Grain bill:
4.3kg MO
0.23kg crystal
115g brown
0.23kg aromatic
1h at 65C

34g EKG (5%) @ 60min
14g EKG (5%) @ 20min
14g EKG (5%) @ flameout
WLP002 English Ale, 1L starter

The WLP002 was very clumpy straight from the pack, due to its very high flocculance. I got 16L at 1.056, which I diluted down to 20L at 1.045. I just bottled it tonight, after a 4 day cold crash, with 75g dextrose. The yeast was so well compacted at the bottom I could get pretty much get all the beer into the bottling bucket. I hope there is enough yeast to carbonate. It was crystal clear:

Ended up with 37 500ml bottles. It could've been 38, but I drank a pint from the fv. This is one of those occasional beers that just tastes great straight from the fv, and I'm really looking forward to it being ready. I might submit it to the April HBF bitter competition, thought it is a bit sweet for style at the moment.

Since then, I've soaked the peco element in strong citric acid for four days, which has turned it super sparkly, and will hopefully have fewer nucleation point and be less susceptible to scorching. Next up will be a boaderline NEIPA/DIPA, to use up most the hops in my freezer. To avoid the scorching which has affected the last three batches I will vorlauf, clean the element after the mash, and only do a 35 minute boil, which shouldn't affect the beer too much given the last two xBmts on the matter.

20L batch length, using 100% Ashbeck water.

Grist:
6kg Maris Otter
240g Caramalt
660g Munich II
75min mash, at 64C, stirring at 30 and 60 minutes.
20L strike water, 2.5L hot water for 5min mash out, and 10L for batch sparge.

Hop Schedule for 35 minute boil:
25 min: Chinook 12.5% 44g
15 min: Ahtanum 5.2% 38g
10 min: Ahtanum 5.2% 19g
5 min: Citra 11.5% 14g
0 min: Ahtanum 5.2% 19g
0 min: Citra 11.5% 14g
The 0 min hops added at 80C for 30 mins after flameout
Dry hops:
6 days: Centennial 11.5% 36g
6 days: Citra 11.5% 25g
6 days: Falconers Flight 11.6% 31g
6 days: Amarillo 10.8% 8g
3 days: Centennial 11.5% 36g
3 days: Citra 11.5% 25g
3 days: Falconers Flight 11.6% 32g
3 days: Amarillo 10.8% 9g

2x packets Safale US-05, 17C.

It should be around the 7% mark, 40-50 IBUs, and very hoppy. Hopefully I can get this on tomorrow after work. I'm looking forward to this one!

The NE/D-IPA went well. I got a decent 80% mash efficiency and 71% brewhouse, so bumped up the volume a bit to 22L at 1.070 in the fv. Wort was very nice, bitter and the right colour. Despite all my efforts to avoid scorching, including only a 35 minute boil and cleaning the element after the mash, the element was still burnt. The element isn't as bad as it has been, so hopefully this hasn't damaged the wort as in previous brews. I have high hopes on this one. Now, though, I'm thinking I'm either going to have to get a new element, or perhaps cut my losses and get an ACE or GF and use the peco as a HLT, or just do maxi-BIAB in the stock pot.

I give a light brush on the right:


After scrubbing:


The stuff is a bugger to get off. Can't believe it ended up like this after a 35min boil, even though it was pristine when it went in. It is now sitting in vinegar.

The IPA is down to 1.010, so 7.9% already! The trial jar tastes very promising indeed, despite only a week into the fermentation. Still got lots of juicy hop flavour. I've just added to first 100g of dry hops.

M8,
Great thread.
Learning all the time pal.
I'm trying to master lagers at the mo, getting there.
After experimenting with hops I'm keen t experiment with yeast
L8r pal

Manxnorton said:

M8,
Great thread.
Learning all the time pal.
I'm trying to master lagers at the mo, getting there.
After experimenting with hops I'm keen t experiment with yeast
L8r pal

Click to expand...

Cheers Bri!

Very enjoyable read Ian. You are right your element does look very black. But at least you had the sense not to enter your burned beer into a competition unlike my gormless self.
I accidentally turned my old burco on without any water in and a lot of the coating popped off. Then i got some wire wool on it. I bet a lot of my beer brewed with that was scorched and i probably put it down to off flavours.

BeerCat said:

Very enjoyable read Ian. You are right your element does look very black. But at least you had the sense not to enter your burned beer into a competition unlike my gormless self.
I accidentally turned my old burco on without any water in and a lot of the coating popped off. Then i got some wire wool on it. I bet a lot of my beer brewed with that was scorched and i probably put it down to off flavours.

Click to expand...

That was nothing compared to some of the previous batches! I guess I'll be doing short boils from now until I save up for an ACE or similar. At least with those you can scrape the bottom with a paddle.

IainM said:

That was nothing compared to some of the previous batches! I guess I'll be doing short boils from now until I save up for an ACE or similar. At least with those you can scrape the bottom with a paddle.

Click to expand...

I have had to scrape the bottom of the ace with a wallpaper stripper before. Now i recirculate though i don't get any more scorching. Just means if you boil in it as well you need to give it a quick clean first. Good on you for milling your own grain. Some of the stuff i have been using is almost like flour.

So, I added the second 100g dry hop to the IPA last Wednesday, and bottled tonight with 145g dextrose batch prime, so should end up at 8.5% abv. Got 55 330ml bottles, and the trial jar tasted amazing. I could've drunk a skinkfull from the fv. I have a feeling that this is going the best beer I've ever brewed, and by no small margin.

IainM said:

The NE/D-IPA went well. I got a decent 80% mash efficiency and 71% brewhouse, so bumped up the volume a bit to 22L at 1.070 in the fv. Wort was very nice, bitter and the right colour. Despite all my efforts to avoid scorching, including only a 35 minute boil and cleaning the element after the mash, the element was still burnt. The element isn't as bad as it has been, so hopefully this hasn't damaged the wort as in previous brews. I have high hopes on this one. Now, though, I'm thinking I'm either going to have to get a new element, or perhaps cut my losses and get an ACE or GF and use the peco as a HLT, or just do maxi-BIAB in the stock pot.

I give a light brush on the right:

After scrubbing:

The stuff is a bugger to get off. Can't believe it ended up like this after a 35min boil, even though it was pristine when it went in. It is now sitting in vinegar.

Click to expand...

i had the same issue when i did hobgoblin clone, it took me ages to clean it,

So, I haven't really been keeping this up to date. Since the last post I did a cider kit, brewed short with honey for a nice 7.5%, which hopefully will be good for drinking at the end of summer. Then, week before last I put on 20L of clibit's Simcoe Mild as my first brew with the Bulldog Brewer.

2.600 kg Maris Otter Malt (74.71%)
0.400 kg Wheat Malt (11.49%)
0.300 kg Crystal 75 (8.62%)
0.140 kg Black Malt (4.02%)
0.040 kg Chocolate (1.15%)
10.0 g Simcoe Leaf (13% AA) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
10.0 g Simcoe Leaf @ 20 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
10.0 g Simcoe Leaf @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
US-05

Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my review of it, the 1800W element wasn't working so it barely simmered, so I ended up with 23.5L bottled (75% brewhouse efficiency, 1.032 to 1.006, giving about 3.5% abv). The low boil has left some DMS in it, and it does have a distinct cooked corn taste, but it isn't unpleasant. With the Bulldog Brewer now with Hambleton Bard for fixing, I decided to do a half batch of Russian Imperial Stout on the stovetop today, which I pitched directly onto the yeast cake left by the Mild. This is my own recipe, but sort of inspired by strange-steve's Event Horizon.

12L batch. 15L boil.
4kg Minch Pale
0.5kg Wheat
0.2kg Special W
0.4kg Roasted barley
0.36kg Chocolate
10g Zeus pellets (16.6%) 60 min
70g EKG leaf (5.5%) 60min
30g EKG leaf 15 min

Grain was milled very fine, and doughing in was easy with the 30" beast of a mash paddle I bought in the HBC Paddys day sale. Mashed in 12L for 70 mins at 63C, with a stir after 30 mins and 60 mins, squeezed the life out of the bag, sparged with 7L at 80C then squeezed again. I was aiming for 1.100, and got 12L into the fv with an OG of 1.102, so hit the numbers almost spot on (72% brewhouse). I imagine this finishing at around 1.020, so around the 11% mark. Trials jar tasted good, a decent amount of bitterness. Hopefully this will be ready for the Imperial Stout competition next year, or at least the Christmas after.

Incredibly, the Russian Imperial Stout appeared to have fermented out and the krausen dropped in only 2 days at 18C. I check today, after 5 days in the fv, and the SG has dropped from 1.102 to 1.022, so around the 11% mark. I was expecting the trial jar to taste very hot and green, but amazingly it tastes pretty decent already. I was planning on leaving it in the fv for three weeks, but I think it'll be good to bottle next week. Can't wait to try this after its had time to condition. After my earlier nightmares with big beers I'm stoked that the process has improved to the point that I've had two in a row working so well.

Today I will be mostly brewing a rye IPA, the second brew on the shiny Bulldog Brewer. Never brewed with rye before, but at 17% of the grist it shouldn't get too gummy and I can't be arsed with a glucan rest. However, I don't have any rice husks, so it might turn into a lautering nightmare. I'll crush the rye at 0.75mm and the the pale malt at 1.25mm, so hopefully the barley husks will create a passable grain bed. I'll also do a fairly thin mash which should help. Apparently rye can dry a beer out, so I'm putting a reasonable level of crystal and cara-pils to counteract this. I'm planning to chuck 150g in total of Mosaic, Amarillo and Centennial leaf at various points in the last 15 minutes of the boil, as well as a pretty epic simcoe/galaxy/amarillo dry hop. Anyway, the missus and I have been invited to a Polish brunch this morning, something to do with extended Easter celebrations that are customary in Poland, and then a two hour drive to Cambridge before I can get this done. Suffice to say I've already made my excuses for not hanging around after brunch.

23L, 1.055, 5.6% avb, 52 IBUs
4.5kg Minch pale
1kg Malted rye
200g Minch Cara-pils
200g Minch Crystal

27 IBUs of bitterness at 60 mins (probably Zeus and a bit of Warrior)
10g each Centennial (9.8%), Mosiac (11.3%) and Amarillo (9.2%) leaf at 15 mins
20g each of the same three at 5 mins
20g each steeped for 30 mins at 80C

Dry hop: not entirely sure yet, but I have 35g Simcoe pellets and 250g of Amarillo and Galaxy pellets in the freezer.