Ade's Brew Days

[AdeDunn]

Golden Glow update.

So yesterday I decided to try waking the yeast back up. SG was 1.013. So, have it a gentle stir with a sanitised soon. Today SG is down to 1.010, so that worked.

Trial jar sample:-


Racked to secondary to finish off, as I found this worked well for my other golden ale, much less sediment in the bottles.

I've left a bit of beer on top of the yeast cake though, going to reuse this tomorrow, see how well it works. I'd rather that than use CML Real Ale yeast (M36 produces much nicer results imho).

 

[AdeDunn]

There goes another brew day (AG BIAB #7), all that's left to do now is to clean out my boiler and some equipment I used.

Something different (for me anyway) this time around, I've taken a stab at a "clone" of Banks's Bitter (full disclosure, I actually can't stand Banks's Bitter, so did this one for my wife and her father). Making it even more different, this is the brew I decided to try out using Clarity Ferm on. My father-in-law, according to my wife, is prone to "wheat belly" when he drinks beer (even beer with no wheat in it.. lol), so decided to try this and see if he has less trouble with getting bloated from it. It may not have any effect on this, but I'm also seeing what effect it has on "chill haze" which it claims to reduce.

Anyway, the details. Started this at 8:45am for a change. I was aiming for 21 litres into the fermenter, target OG of 1.0138. Recipe is from Graham Wheeler's (RIP) BYOBRA, the first time I've tried one of his recipes. So:-

90 Minute mash at 66 degrees C (BIAB Medium Body) (25 litres (21 litres RO filtered, 4 litres treated tap water), strike at 68 degrees C). Varying from the book I also mashed out at 75.6 degrees C for 10 minutes (raising over 7, stirring the whole time until it hit 75.6 degrees C). I used a meat thermometer for temps, the digital one on the boiler doesn't do points of a degree, and isn't that accurate either. Sparged with 5 litres (RO filtered) @ 72 degrees C.

3330g Pale malt (mostly I used Crisp Maris Otter, but topped up a bit with IREKS Pale Ale rather than open a new bag of the Maris Otter for a few hundred g...)
34g Black Malt (scary eh? lol)

Mash SG was 1.035
Sparge SG was 1.018
Pre-Boil SG was 1.032
(take with a pinch of salt, I used my refractometer, which is pretty rubbish to be honest... lol)

90 Minute boil

36.2g Fuggles (whole hops) @ 90 mins
12.3g EKG (whole hops) @ 10 mins
1/2 Protafloc @10 mins

Tons of break this brew, both hot break and cold break. I'm going to put that down to the IREKS Pale Ale malt, I've noticed before I get a lot of break when I use that, very little using just Crisp Maris Otter malt. A huge gunky mess in the bottom of my boiler, thankfully I used whole hops and that's where it stayed.

23 litres of lovely clear wort into the FV, at an OG of 1.040... So yet again I overshot my target OG slightly, this time I also got an extra 2 litres too.... I really can't complain about the efficiency I'm getting.

Colour of the wort I estimated at 23-24 EBC (comparing to a colour chart), target was 23. I'd describe it as a nice mid-amber, which I would say is about right for Banks's Bitter from memory (my F-I-L drinks it regularly, my wife doesn't mind a pint or so of it either. I tend to find it tastes of paracetamol whenever I've tried a pint in pubs.... Could well be though that it's not supposed to...). Hard to capture the colour on camera, but had a go:-



A bit nervous too to be honest, as I re-pitched the yeast from my last Golden Ale. I wanted to get it done today, but didn't want to use CML Real Ale yeast, as to be blunt I really don't like the twang (lol, b'doing?) I get with it (reminds me of Belgian beers, such as Leffe brun). So yeah, too many trials in one brew really, tempting fate somewhat, so fingers crossed... I wont be heartbroken to be honest though if it doesn't come out well....

Next on the planned list, well it's going to either be Graham Wheeler's take on Banks's Mild (which I actually quite like, or at least I did when it was Banks's Original anyway... It lost the nuttyness about the time they renamed it), or I might finally get around to having a go at a Patersbier... Probably the former though, as if I brew the latter later on it will make a nice brew to drink when the sunshine returns to our shores. That said, loving the last Saison I made, so you can expect me to revisit it regularly... It's turned into an absolutely delicious beer, a lovely blend of tropical fruit with honey and lemon in the back, seriously moreish, but incredibly sneaky as it doesn't taste like the 6.8% ABV it likely is....

 

[AdeDunn]

Just a quick update on the Detectives Ale. It's turned an amber colour in the bottle (poured one earlier), so guess I can't call it a golden ale any more. lol Probably should have used less/skipped the crystal malt.... lol

 

[Dutto]

That's a real shame! When I saw the first photograph I actually thought you had somehow used Sweet Corn because it had to be the "goldenest" (is there such a word?) brew I'd ever seen!

Here's hoping that the Golden Glow doesn't go the same way!

 

[AdeDunn]

Touch wood, it's still golden so far. It hasn't been bottled yet though. I didn't use any crystal in this though, so stands a better chance of staying golden. I actually prefer the flavour of the detectives though, the combination of the hints of caramel with the hint of lime from the endeavour hops is delicious. I actually reckon that Endeavour would make a good alternative to EKG in recipes with EKG and Fuggles, I'll have to try it out at some point.

The golden glow is much more of a straw shade though. Make me think I might get a better colour using either tiny bit of the crystal, or a lighter one.

 

[Dutto]

Weird! I brewed this last Saturday using 4.5kg of MO and 0.5kg of Crystal at EBC 25, used 25g of EKG leaf and 15g of Perle leaf in the boil and then steeped 20g Citra leaf for 10 minutes before cooling and it looks nothing like as "golden"!:wave:If it's not the hops then maybe it's the water?

 

[AdeDunn]

It'll be the crystal malt colouring it bud probably. I didn't use any crystal at all in the glow, it's literally a SMASH with MO and Fuggles. All the info I can find is this is how Holdens themselves brew it, but with perhaps some sugar (which I left out as not one recipe I found said sugar... lol).

The Detectives (which my wife renamed to The Watch, to go with her Discworld theme... lol) I used 100g of 150EBC Crystal, which is probably why it finished off more of an amber.

Might be worth using something like Carapils rather than crystal maybe? Might give us a more golden colour. lol

 

[AdeDunn]

Hmmm, it's possible I may be been too quick to judge the Detectives... Took some pics to illustrate the colour, only to find that with a bit of light it is indeed rather golden...






Same sample (my wife is currently drinking it), different lighting/angle..

Thoughts?

 

[Dutto]

Looks like I will have to wait for a nice sunny day then!:thumb:

 

[AdeDunn]

Looks like I will have to wait for a nice sunny day then!:thumb:

Or just use an LED torch like I did. lol

I usually photograph my samples under the 7 watt LED light on my 30 litre Dennerle aquarium though, that's how I get the lovely glow effects, and why you usually see shrimp food in the background. :thumb1: It's bizarre just how much my shrimp hobby complements brewing! Full range of test kits (including KH), TDS meters, reverse osmosis filter, fancy lights for photographs..... :wink:

 

[Dutto]

My own "other hobby" is smoking stuff. Can't wait for those long warm days where I sit outside, take a sip of beer, stick a bit of wood or charcoal in the smoker, take another sip of beer and repeat for 8-12 hours until the meat is finished or I can see two stools and sit down on the one that isn't there!

Roll on summer!!

 

[Clint]

....oh THAT kind of smoking! Thought we were up for a picture of a diy bong....

 

[Dutto]

....oh THAT kind of smoking! Thought we were up for a picture of a diy bong....

That brought back vague memories of my youth - but we didn't need a bong, just some Rizla papers!:wave:Happy (but hazy) Days!

 

[AdeDunn]

Or a bucket and a bottle with a bit of foil and the bottom cut off..... :wink: I was a student once, many years ago.... :laugh2:

My other hobbies are keeping freshwater shrimp, tarantulas, computer gaming and building PCs. So it all sort of fits together somehow (yet to find a use for anything tarantula related for brewing though.... lol). Heck, I have a bunch of low wattage aquarium heaters that I never got around to using, all pre-set to 24 degrees C, which I am thinking to one day put into service in water baths to warm Saisons and the like when fermenting....:cheers9:

 

[Dutto]

..........., I have a bunch of low wattage aquarium heaters that I never got around to using, all pre-set to 24 degrees C, which I am thinking to one day put into service in water baths to warm Saisons and the like when fermenting.

I can fully recommend the Trug and Aquarium Heater method, especially in winter.

At the moment I have Bitter in an FV fermenting in Fridge 1, bottled Porter conditioning in Fridge 2 and a Premium Bitter in an FV fermenting in a Trug/Aquarium Heater arrangement.

I've given up on the 40W Heating Pad for the winter because I discovered that it couldn't maintain 21*C in my garage, even with an insulated FV wrapped in a sheet!

Live and learn: but only if you live long enough!

PS

Ditto on not finding anything useful that is Tarantula related. I don't think "Spider Bite" will ever be as popular as "Snake Bite".

 

[AdeDunn]

I can fully recommend the Trug and Aquarium Heater method, especially in winter.

At the moment I have Bitter in an FV fermenting in Fridge 1, bottled Porter conditioning in Fridge 2 and a Premium Bitter in an FV fermenting in a Trug/Aquarium Heater arrangement.

I've given up on the 40W Heating Pad for the winter because I discovered that it couldn't maintain 21*C in my garage, even with an insulated FV wrapped in a sheet!

Live and learn: but only if you live long enough!

PS

Ditto on not finding anything useful that is Tarantula related. I don't think "Spider Bite" will ever be as popular as "Snake Bite".

lol Especially not from my pulchra girl, her fangs would leave the same size of hole as hammering a small nail through your hand... lol Some of my collection do get to watch me mash though through their eedy beedy eyes (the ones who like it warmer so live in my brewing area, vs the ones that like it cooler so live on my side of the bed...). lol

If heat pads are anything like heat mats from the exotics hoppy, they max out at about 4 degrees over ambient. Running them any higher than that and they burn right through whatever they're attached to. :shock: One of our spiders was a sort of rescue (sort of as we still had to give them money for her, to get her away from them...). They'd had her in a plastic tank sat on a heat mat with no thermostat, it had burned a hole right through the bottom of her tiny plastic tank that they hadn't noticed. Never a good idea running heaters without some kind of thermostat/max temp cutout on it.

We are planning a fermentation fridge down the line too, but need to clear space for one first. Once we're ready though I'll go have a nose in a nearby 2nd hand white goods store near where we live, or failing that we have a British Heart Foundation specialist store in town who specialise in furniture and electrical goods and deliver for a fee. That way between a water bath and a fermentation fridge I'll be able to ferment warm and cool.:thumb: My wife is patiently waiting for me to be able to brew a Bitburger pils clone for her.

 

[Dutto]

You're definitely a "Hero!" in my book to like spiders.

The last time I was in close contact with one it had joined me in bed and had then attempted to escape without being rolled on. I must have originally trapped it somewhere near where my waist used to be because from there I had a line of bites about 2cm apart all the way up my body to my left shoulder, where it had finally expired. Shame really, it only needed another 4cm and it would have been free!:wave:BTW a mate of mine told a tale of a spider "like half an apple with legs" that his wife discovered above the door of their outside dunny in Australia. So, armed with a rolled up newspaper, Eric went out to do serious damage to whatever it was that his wife had seen and exaggerated out there.

He went into the small shed and closed the door. As his eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness be saw that A) His wife hadn't exaggerated. and B) It was still there and apparently looking at him. To quote Shakespeare, Eric "stiffened the sinews and summoned up the blood" before taking an almighty swipe at the offending spider with his weapon of choice. Unfortunately, the rolled up newspaper struck the side of the dunny and slowed down so much that in the end it finished up as a "prod" that completely missed the spider and buried itself into the shed wall at the side of it.

The spider took advantage of this sudden appearance of a bridge between himself and his enemy and ran along the newspaper! At this time Eric's memory is hazy as all he can remember is "standing in the garden and looking at the demolished remains of a shed".

The spider disappeared and Eric spent the rest of the day sourcing and building a new shed.

Happy Days!

 

[AdeDunn]

Pure class! lol

Probably a Huntsman spider. They grow to huge proportions, and are seriously fast things. Kinda harmless, apart from the heart attacks and road accidents they cause purely by been huge and fast... lol My wife has banned me from keeping huntsman spiders... lol

 

[AdeDunn]

Got another brew day planned tomorrow, this time for a Patersbier.

Modified (for BIAB) from the Greg Hughes recipe, 90 minute mash (24.5 litres water) at 65 degrees C, mash out at 76 degrees C, sparge at 76 degrees C (5 litres water). Aiming for 21 litres into FV, but keep in mind I've been getting fantastic efficiency lately.

Malt

4kg Dingemans Pilsen malt

Boil (90 minutes)

Saaz 3.5% AA whole hops 34.6g @ 90 mins
Hallertauer Mittlefruh 3% AA whole hops 16.1g @ 10 minutes
1/2 Protofloc @10 minutes

Yeast, I'll finally be trying out the CML Belgian Ale yeast. So yeah, not telling my wife but she's probably not going to like this one overly. :laugh2: Oh well, she has 2 lots of golden ale and a bitter to go at, as well as what's left of the last Saison....

[edit]

After a bit of research, I now have a name for this.

There's a character mentioned in the Discworld books, by Terry Pratchett, called Wen The Eternal. This character founded an order of monks called the History Monks, who's job it is to make sure time and history actually happen... Given that Patersbier was/is drunk by monks as nutrition whilst brewing stronger Abbey beers, I figured that the name Wen's Lunch is fitting. lol

[/edit]

 

[AdeDunn]

The grain is mashing (just did the first 20 minute stir), my wife is bashing (enemy characters in Elder Scrolls Online.. lol) and the hops are weighed. My favourite part of brewing, chilling out whilst the enzymes do their thing. Smells delicious, quite a lot of foam though so I am going to hazard this one is going to produce a fair bit of protein break during the boil and cool. Think I might mix up some more Brupaks Anti-Foam in my sprayer.... lol