AG#1 Green Gurkha

[marksa222]

I went to my LHBS with a recipe book and tried to get the ingredients for a hoppy APA. He didn't have anything I needed so we substituted all the ingredients. I hope he gave me an adequate alternative, and not just flog me the stuff he couldn't shift!

So here's what I made;

Grain
5.1kg M.O
245g terrified wheat
200g crystal

Hops
14g Admiral (16.5% AA) - 60 mins
12.5g challenger (8.5% AA) - 10 mins
10g Green Bullet (12% AA) - 10 mins
12.5g challenger (8.5% AA) - 0 mins
10g Green Bullet (12% AA) - 0 mins

Mashed at 68 degrees for 90 mins BIAB
Tsp Irish moss at 15 mins
Started with 33L water which had been left overnight with a crushed campden tablet.

O.G was 1.056 and ended up with 20l in FV.

I used no chill as I don't have a wort chiller yet.

And here are some pics!

Grains and hops

Doughing in.

Wrapped up mashing

First hop addition

No chill

Transferred to FV

Gravity reading.

I don't know what to expect from this. It all seemed to go to plan except I was aiming for 23L. There was probably 22 in the no chill cube, but I left some in there as I put some voile over the FV when pouring to use as a filter as the hop filter didn't keep them all out. The last bit in the cube was really thick and didn't go through the filter too easily. I decided its best to leave that out of the beer.

I had my brother round giving me a hand and had a good night (sore head this morning) and I learned a lot. Looking forward to getting number 2 going!

 

[dennisking]

Cherry popped. :thumb: :

 

[PD]

well done....always celebrate....AFTER the brew day

 

[marksa222]

Oh... and would this still be classed as an APA? If not, what could I call it?

 

[Tomcat]

well done - looks good and bet it will taste good - as to what to call it - Beer ! :

 

[Asalpaws]

Nice one, why don't you get some muslin bags for hop additions, that would help keep more of the hops out of the finished products. A good period in secondary FV also makes a big difference to clarity etc. T

 

[marksa222]

Thanks. I will be using a secondary. How long is best to have it in primary? I was thinking of 3-4 days, making sure it has finished the vigorous ferment has settled down.

I messed up a bit with the mash by the way. After I tucked up the boiler in a duvet, I checked the temp and it had dropped by 2.5 degrees after 10 mins. I put it back on the stove and it took an age to heat up. I didn't think to give it a stir round until it was off the heat. It was actually 85 degrees! I let it drop to 68 and timed an hour from there. BE says the efficiency was 68%. That is why i'd imagine.

 

[Asalpaws]

Not to worry, at the end of the day you made beer from grain! I bet it will turn out great. Leave it a good 7 days in primary (let the yeast settle out). Put it into secondary for another week (If you can chill it in the fridge even better, helps any remaining yeast drop out). T

 

[Jeff Brewjubbly]

Nice job! The finished article looks a great colour and just as cloudy as my IPA when it goes in the fermenter.

 

[marksa222]

Not to worry, at the end of the day you made beer from grain! I bet it will turn out great. Leave it a good 7 days in primary (let the yeast settle out). Put it into secondary for another week (If you can chill it in the fridge even better, helps any remaining yeast drop out). T

Thanks. That's what i'll do.

Nice job! The finished article looks a great colour and just as cloudy as my IPA when it goes in the fermenter.

Thanks for the reassurance. Using no chill, I thought it might come out cloudy. Fingers crossed it'll all settle. Just waiting for the yeast to kick in.

I mentioned I planned to rehydrate the yeast when I was in my lhbs, but the guy said to just sprinkle it on, it only saves a few hours. Just thinking now, it's still not started, so the beer has been sat overnight with no co2 blanket protecting it. Is this why people make starters or rehydrate? To start the fermentation quicker so it's less likely to get an infection?

 

[BrewBilly]

Well done, looks like you had a great first AG brewday

 

[Jeff Brewjubbly]

[/quote]I mentioned I planned to rehydrate the yeast when I was in my lhbs, but the guy said to just sprinkle it on, it only saves a few hours. Just thinking now, it's still not started, so the beer has been sat overnight with no co2 blanket protecting it. Is this why people make starters or rehydrate? To start the fermentation quicker so it's less likely to get an infection?[/quote]

A starter is really ideal because there is proof of live yeast and there will be lots of it, plus as you said, it gets a C02 blanket up and running very fast.

I haven't made up my own mind about rehydration but I do it nonetheless. There was a technical report I once saw when researching the practice that described a plausible sounding situation where cell coverage by a medium that does not cause it to perform work ensures a lot more cells will survive the pitching process. I tend to think that the sheer volume of cells in a dried packet is going to get you where you need to go though. I just did a brew with Nottingham yeast and it state don the packet that I needed to rehydrate for 15 mins first and how to do it so that was a sign for me as well.

 

[Duxuk]

I've found rehydration seems to get it going much quicker. You also need sufficient oxygen in the wort to get the yeast going but it's not a case of "the more the merrier". You just need "some"!
I read an academic article which I have searched the web for again but never found. It had a graph of the survival rate of dried yeast when added to water at different temps. The highest survival rate was at 35-37C. If you added the yeast to 18C you lost quite a bit.
So the procedure I use is to sterilise a jug and my thermometer. Add about 200ml of boiled water and allow to cool to 35ish degrees. Add the yeast and wait until the temp. has fallen to the temp at which I'll ferment. Usually 18-20C. It goes of like a good 'un.
This way you theoretically get the highest survival and no shock to the yeast through rapid temperature changes.

Having said all that, if you just chuck it in it's unlikely you won't get beer :drink:

 

[marksa222]

Thanks. I'll look at making a starter in future. If using no chill, would it make sense to put a little wort to one side to make a starter out of before pitching the next day?

I have another question if anyone can help. I planned on having a secondary, but the only way fv i have to do this in is a 25L one. As I only have 20L at the moment and even less if I use the secondary, would that leave excess head space? I'd imagine a lot of o2 in there is a bad thing?

Thanks in advance!

 

[brewtim]

Mod delete please

 

[brewtim]

Thanks. I'll look at making a starter in future. If using no chill, would it make sense to put a little wort to one side to make a starter out of before pitching the next day?

I have another question if anyone can help. I planned on having a secondary, but the only way fv i have to do this in is a 25L one. As I only have 20L at the moment and even less if I use the secondary, would that leave excess head space? I'd imagine a lot of o2 in there is a bad thing?

Thanks in advance!

A starter is for liquid yeast.

Rehydration is for dried yeast.

Your OP suggests you are using dried yeast? So you need to rehydrate not make a starter.

Having said that though, has anyone tried making a starter from dried yeast? What happened?

CO2 will still be produced in a secondary FV, albeit at a slower rate then in primary 20l or less in a 25l vessel is pretty standard so no probs with excess headspace and O2.

 

[marksa222]

Thanks, that makes more sense now. Just had a look at the fv. There seems to be a fair bit of activity now, with white bits floating round. It is slower than it was yesterday though and there's not been a bit head foam up like i've had with some kits. Is that normal?

 

[Jeff Brewjubbly]

Very normal. I've had some brews go banzai and the krausen has been 4 inches deep and some that toodle along slowely with a thin krausen that leaves after a day and then it gently does it's job... they have all got down to 1.010 in their own time. Also, when I didn't have temperature control I noticed the warmer ferments were fierce and the colder ones were slower and steadier.

 

[marksa222]

I'll take a gravity reading soon. I don't want to take too many as im a few litres short as it is. Which I had more fv's... want to crack on with the next one

 

[marksa222]

The gravity is currently at 1.020 after 3 days.

I'm giving some serious thought to not using a secondary. For a few reasons...
Firstly, everything I read about it contradicts everything else. A lot of sources say it's not worth doing and that the risks outweigh any potential benefits. Also in my john palmer book, he says do it into a 5 gallon carboy rather than a bigger fv to avoid excess head space as this can introduce to much oxygen in the head space. Some places say transfer after vigorous fermentation where as elsewhere it says wait until fermentation is finished.

As i'm not dry hopping, and the only secondary I have is a 25l fv (will only have 18L or so to transfer), i'm thinking of just leaving it in primary before bottling. I've never done it on any of my kits, and the beer has come out fine, maybe needs more time in bottles, but i'm not in any particular rush. What does everyone else think? I'm really caught in 2 minds.