Ade's Brew Days

[AdeDunn]

Nice post Ade :thumb:

How long have you had your Ace?

Sorry bud, only just spotted this, and thanks.

I've had my ACE mash tun boiler (not the brewer) since about mid November last year.

I have two adjustable height office chairs in the garage and boy do they help my back! "UP" for bench work and "DOWN" for lautering etc.

With regard to the Birthday Present I thought "All heart some women! Could she not have bought him a pump?"

I've started using a wooden chair, which helps a bit.

She sure is all heart. lmao I doubt she even though of a pump (she can nick the jug, where a pump isn't so useful... lmao). She dis however also buy me a very powerful head lamp with a Cree led and twin halogen bulbs for when I am working on a PC, or need to go in the back at night..

It's ok though, I bought her a Funko Pop figure and a cake pop maker for Valentines day.....

 

[Dutto]

I spoke too soon about the chairs!:wave:The other day I was using the" low" chair for lautering and sparging and didn't notice that it was slowly lowering me to a level where I had a real problem to get back up again!

It is now lower than the other one, but permanently fixed in a position a bit higher than "knees opposite my ears" level!

I suppose a "very powerful head lamp" is a nice present, but not exactly romantic! Welcome to the reality of married life eh!

 

[AdeDunn]

lol Aye, don't be too worried though, I'm more the type for making romantic gestures than enjoying ones made to me, I tend to be far more practical for my own wants. Our oldest daughter raised her eyebrow at the 5l jug as a birthday present, where I was pleased as I wanted one anyway.... Heck, my mum asked what I wanted for my birthday, I told her a gift voucher for maltmiller.... She sadly decided to buy me a present instead, darn it!

The last gas lift chair I sat in started upright, then gradually tilted to one side until I found myself on the floor on one side, chair still on my bottom, gas lift pillar snapped in two... I'm 6'5" tall and, dare I say it, could do with losing more weight (already lost quite a bit). The brewing helps, as gives me a regular workout. :laugh2: I just have to take care not to drink so much of the product that I start to gain weight again. :headbang: Needless to say, I try to avoid gas lift chairs these days.:nod:

 

[AdeDunn]

Another brew day under way by the way, this time an attempt to clone Hobgoblin Gold. :beer6:

It may be a bit more of a struggle this time... We decided to taste the mead that's been maturing since last year... Oops. I'm now a touch inebriated, as is my wife. However the show/normal mead was powerfully tasty, and the blackberry melomel is divine! Serious blackberry flavour and very dry, you expect it to be tart it's so dry, but instead you get a honey smoothness.

I'll post more about the brew in a minute, wife is calling me. Had to split the brew day for lunch.... Mash is pretty much done, but boil is on pause until everybody is fed (so much for getting done before lunch by getting up mega early today...).

 

[AdeDunn]

Shish, I leave the room for 10 minutes to put the wort into the boiler and get the boil going, the music goes from the Rolling Stones to SClub 7!!! Does anybody know how I can lock my wife out of our Echo Dots? lol The pain!!!

Ok, recipe.

Mash 75 minutes at 65 degrees (booo! Back to 90 minute mashing next time!). Boil 75 minutes.

Grain:-

3.75K Crisp Maris Otter 6 EBC
416g Torrefied Wheat 4 EBC

I say 90 minutes next time, as my efficiency is way down on when I mash for 90 at only about 72%. :headbang: 25 litres @ 1.037, where my target was 25.74L @ 1.039. I tried out doing a vorlauf during mash out though, which may not have helped, but did give me clearer wort, until I put it back into the boiler and discovered the bottom was covered in gunk....

Boil

Pilgrim 9% AA 8.6g @75 mins
Summit 19.1% AA 7.1g @75 mins

Nelson Sauvin 11.9% AA 14.7g @5 mins
Citra 13.8% AA 23.6g @5 mins

Nelson Sauvin 11.9% AA 18.3g @ 0 mins/80 degrees C 30 minute hop stand
Citra 13.8% AA 27.5g @ 0 mins/80 degrees C 30 minute hop stand

Here's hoping my OG is closer to target. The commercial version varies from 4.2 % for cask and 4.5% for bottled though, so anywhere in that range will be ok for me.

 

[AdeDunn]

Horlicks anybody?

 

[AdeDunn]

It's a foam monster!



Don't worry Dutto, I stirred it in this time. :wink:

 

[AdeDunn]

Well, all done (just some cleaning up to do, but I am shattered... lol). I somehow made a comeback with the efficiency, ended up with 19.5 litres of wort into the FV with an SG of 1.053. Given I was aiming for an OG originally of 1.042 (seemed low to me....), I used a dilution calculator, and 3.5 litres later have 23 litres of wort in the FV, with an OG of 1.045. So I have more wort than I planned for, AND I am over target slightly, so all good there for sure.

Boil was bonkers this time, way more evaporation than I normally get. All I can think of is that my wife had the oven on at the same time (I was been cooked alive brewing right by an in use oven...). You can see I also got a big foam up, but tamed it comfortably with a good stir. Lots of hot break too.

Cooling was the best yet. I went full on with the water flow, and stirred like a look nearly the whole time. Got the wort down to 18 degrees C in about 20 minutes. Thanks to this, big time cold break to go with the hot one. Coolest I've ever pitched at as well. Hoping the 2 good breaks help my clarity a bit.

Transfer went well too, although some of the break material decided it was joining the transfer whether I liked it or not. It just didn't want to settle out of suspension. You can see it still floating around in the SG sample I took. Nice colour though, and the smell is amazing! So fruity, spicey and herby, all at once.



I've not done a beer with this many hops before, so was a shock seeing them all in the bottom of my boiler afterwards, it looks like a pot of sprouts. lol

 

[AdeDunn]

Just drew a sample of Wen's Lunch to check the SG (probably the FG). 1.009, so not too bad at 80% attenuation.

Aroma, I'm not good at describing this, but definitely a bit malty/bready with nice floral and spice hints. Flavour, again not easy to describe other than delicious. Very drinkable even before priming and conditioning.

Tiny bit hazy still, but should settle out more both before bottling and in the bottle.

 

[Dutto]

I really must remember to put a light at the back of my brews to highlight the colour of the OG! :headbang:

 

[AdeDunn]

I really must remember to put a light at the back of my brews to highlight the colour of the OG! :headbang:

:p

There isn't a light behind it, it's above it, it's the light on my 30 litre shrimp tank. :p It's the only place I can get a photo that doesn't end up looking dull and unlit. Using the flash on my phone you just get reflections off the glass.

 

[Sadfield]

:p

There isn't a light behind it, it's above it, it's the light on my 30 litre shrimp tank. [emoji14] It's the only place I can get a photo that doesn't end up looking dull and unlit. Using the flash on my phone you just get reflections off the glass.

Pale Ale and seafood, right up my street. Yum.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

 

[AdeDunn]

You wouldn't get much meat of them bud, they're kinda tiny.

(sorry for the off topic pic)

 

[AdeDunn]

Back on topic, Wen's Lunch is clearing very nicely. Should be able to bottle later today (waiting on DPD to deliver more bottles, as we decided to refresh our stocks of PET bottles, and to switch to Coopers ones). Still absolutely yummy! One pic under the light, one away from it especially for Dutto.




Still a tiny bit hazy, but that should drop out in the bottle.

 

[AdeDunn]

That's Wen's Lunch bottled and put away to condition, and what a faff! I decided to try bottling straight from secondary, and prime using a sugar solution and a syringe into the bottles... Somewhere along the line something was measuring wrong, either the jug or my syringe. I dissolved the sugar into 200 mls of boiled water, then divided 200/43 (estimating 43 bottled). Finished bottling, find the jug says I still have 100mls left, which obviously was impossible..... Anyway, ended up opening them back up to add the rest, plus a carb drop each for some bottles as ran out of solution too soon... No winning on that one... I'm not worried about over-carbonation though, they're in PET and been a Patersbier it'll survive fine been a bit fizzy. Last time I bottle prime rather than batch priming though, what a sticky faff!

Now sat suppin' my 2nd bottle of Nanny Ogg's NSOB (my Banks's bitter-alike). It tastes so gooood! Tiny bit roasty (probably the black malt), biscuity with lovely citrus hints and bitterness. To think I thought I didn't like bitter... Turns out I've just never been served a decent pint of it...

All grain brewing? No regrets! Thanks for persuading me folks.

 

[AdeDunn]

Well, looking at pics on the internet, some golden ales are the same orange colour, so gonna let it off.

It's become an absolutely delicious pint, if a bit under-carbonated. I have to pour it from high above the glass, and then use a syringe on it, to get a head. Once I do though, it's an incredibly smooth and creamy pint, with a thick and creamy head on it that really sticks around. Still a bit hazy though, putting this down to my trying using a reduced water flow on my wort chiller, taking longer to cool. I'm using it at max flow now, and cooling in a quarter of the time, so hopefully will get clearer beer. I also only used 1/4 of a Protafloc tablet on this brew, and went back to 1/2 for subsequent brews. End of the day though, as my wife always says "we want to drink it, not date it" (pretty sure the original version of that is far cruder... lol), and it's absolutely blummin delicious! Smooth, creamy and a bit fruity, with a perfect level of bitterness. Just needs higher carbonation.

Probably going to brew a very similar beer to this next, but with the recipe tweaked:-

Ankh Morpork Goldish Watch

Aiming for 22 litres into FV.

Target OG: 1.045 (I overshot this last time, and probably will again... lol). Target FG: 1.011. Colour: 7.8 EBC. Bitterness IBUs: 31 Tinseth.

90 minute mash @ 67 degrees C (24.05l strike water), mash out at 76 C for 10 minute, rising over 7 minutes. Sparge at 76 degrees C with 4 litres.

Crisp Maris Otter pale malt 3652g
Torrefied Wheat 300g


90 minute boil (all hops whole hops).

Magnum 10g @ 90 minutes (bittering)

Endeavour 13g @ 20 minutes

Endeavour 17g @ 10 minutes

1/2 Protafloc @ 10 minutes

EKG 17g @ 0 minutes (flame out)

Then into the FV, with an extra 3 litres of water, ferment with MJ M36 Liberty Bell yeast.

Feel free to beat me to brewing this, and let me know how it turns out.

 

[AdeDunn]

So, going back to this brew Ade's Brew Days, that my wife named Captain Carrot's Gloden Glow, poured the first proper bottle today.

I have to say I definitely seem to have sorted the haze out with the faster cooling of the wort. Also this was the first brew where I lautered by draining the wort rather than lifting the bag.

Poured a lovely clear golden colour, light foamy head that quickly vanished leaving just a few bubbles on the surface (the commercial Golden Glow does this too). Thin body, pleasantly flavoured and only light bitterness. It's improved considerably with it's time conditioning, the hops have mellowed nicely. It's not the most amazing beer ever, but then it wasn't meant to be. It's an easy to drink session beer. I have to confess, I prefer fruitier tasting hops (like the Endeavour, or EKG), but it'd be boring if I didn't vary. lol

 

[AdeDunn]

Quick update on the Banks's Bitter clone. Finally bought a bottle of it, and we did a side by side comparison. It's VERY VERY close!

Colour is spot on identical, mine just has a bit of haze (bought some Gypsum, see if that helps).

Mouth feel, mine had slightly more body, but was also a tiny bit warmer. Also, the Banks's had obviously higher carbonation, effecting mouth feel and flavour.

Flavour, the hops are literally spot on. Malt mine is a little bit more complex from the Maris Otter, odds are they use a standard 2 row. The commercial beer also seemed drier (FG on mine was 1.008 though...Probably from over-pitching the yeast, as I re-used the whole of the yeast from the golden ale I did before this, giving me higher attenuation than I usually get using M36), but I am putting this down mostly to the higher carbonation levels, and a little to my using Maris Otter. I also wonder if Marstons do their usual trick of using a bit of white sugar, as this would make the beer thinner and drier (both of which I'd say about the commercial bottle).

Overall, you could certainly tell them apart, however both were tasty and easy to drink (shocking me utterly, and supporting that every single pint I've been served in pubs has been a bit on the off side...). With an ABV of 4.2% (BEFORE priming) however, Vs. 3.8% from the commercial bottle, mine is very slightly stronger.

 

[AdeDunn]

Just bottled the Goblin's Glod, at an FG of 1.010. 41 bottles filled nicely, so looking forward to drinking this one. 77.1% apparent attenuation from the M36 Liberty Bell yeast, so as dependable as always. Smells amazing!

 

[AdeDunn]

So, another brew day as I got fed up seeing my FVs all sat empty and lonely looking.... This one will also serve the purpose of trying out my new recirculation pump too.

I've gone a bit insane with this one though, and designed a recipe for a very hoppy braggot, fermented with Belle Saison yeast. I'm warning you now, there is very little sign of any sanity in this recipe....

First up, I'll be doing my usual 90 minute mash (but at 64 degrees C this time), and 90 minute boil. Also planning to use 3g of Gypsum, 2g in the grist, 1g in the boiler post mash.

Targets

OG: 1.060. FG: Beersmith 2 says 0.998 . Volume: 23 L. IBUs: 42.4 Tinseth. Colour: 9.0 EBC. Based on 83% Efficiency.

The Mash

23 Litres of strike water @ 67 degrees C, mashing for 90 minutes @64 degrees C. Mash out @ 75 degrees C, rising over 7 minutes then hold for 10 minutes. Sparge with 5 litres @ 75 degrees C.

1800g EBC 6 Crisp Maris Otter
500g EBC 17.7 Munich Malt
200g EBC 3.3 Torrefied wheat
60g EBC 150 Crystal Malt


The Boil

All whole hops.

@ 90 minutes:-

2270g of Asda own brand honey (any fancy flavours would boil out or blow out of the airlock...)
4g Summit 16.2% AA
4g Pilgrim 9.3% AA


@ 20 minutes:-

7g Belma 12% AA
7g Citra 13.5% AA

@ 15 minutes:-

9g Belma 12% AA
9g Citra 13.5% AA
1/2 Protafloc

@10 minutes:-

10g Belma 12% AA
10g Citra 13.5% AA

@0 minutes (flameout):-

25g Belma 12% AA
26g Citra 13.5% AA

Cool to 18 degrees C, into the FV, top up to 23 litres. Pitch 2 packets of rehydrated Belle Saison yeast, cover windows in blankets, hide kids in the bath...

Blame my wife, she started out wanting a hydromel doing, I talked her into a Braggot. She then asked for it to be bitter and fruity.... Oh, did I mention this thing will be going into our pressure barrel eventually? :beer6:

One day, I may need one of you guys to help me to pick my wife up after drinking some.... I really hope she realises this will be one to drink by the half, not the pint.....

Anyway, strike water is in the boiler heating up. Need to weigh the grain, but need to have breakfast first else I get a migraine brewing on an empty stomach. :headbang: I don't really want to pretend that I'm a Trappist monk this early in the morning.... :beer6: