AG#2 - Pinchy's Christmas Brew (BIAB) - Photos Added

[Pinchy]

AG#2 Hopefully this weekend with my shiny new 40L Buffalo Boiler :party: .

Although, there is nothing Christmassy about this beer; Just one to be drunk at christmas (a little young i know).

So here it is:
Any suggestions or advice very welcome (enough hops? too much? etc.) :thumb:


Christmas Beer

Recipe Overview

Style: Xmas Beer

Original Gravity (OG): 1.050
IBU's (Tinseth): 40
Bitterness to Gravity Ratio:
Colour:
ABV%: 4.51

Efficiency into Boil (EIB): 84.1 %
Efficiency into Fermentor (EIF): 75.8 %

Note: This is a Pure BIAB (Full Volume Mash)

Times and Temperatures

Mash: 90 mins at 67 C
Boil: 90 min
Ferment: 10 days at 18 C


Volumes & Gravities

Total Water Needed (TWN): 35.38 L = 9.35 G
Volume into Boil (VIB): 33.46 L = 8.84 G @ 1.04
Volume of Ambient Wort (VAW): 25.53 L = 6.74 G @ 1.05
Volume into Fermentor (VIF): 23 L = 6.08 G @ 1.05
Volume into Packaging (VIP): 21.3 L = 5.63 G @ 1.015 assuming apparent attenuation of 70 %

The Grain Bill (Also includes extracts, sugars and adjuncts)

82.7% Pale Ale Malt Grain 4238 grams = 9.34 pounds
7.7% Crystal Malt 394 grams = 0.87 pounds
5.8% Wheat Malt 296 grams = 0.65 pounds
3.8% Chocolate Malt 197 grams = 0.43 pounds


The Hop Bill

Fuggles (5.7%AA) 30 grams = at 90 mins
Styrian Golding (4.4%AA) 30 grams = at 90 mins
Styrian Golding (4.4%AA) 25 grams = at 15 mins
Styrian Golding (4.4%AA) 20 grams = at 0 mins (Aroma)
Styrian Golding (4.4%AA) 25 grams = at 14 Days (for 6 days)


Mash Steps

Mash Type: Pure BIAB (Full Volume Mash) for 90 mins at 66 C = 150.8 F

Mashout for for 10 mins at 78 C = 172.4 F


Miscellaneous Ingredients

Irish Moss (Boil) 15 Mins - Clarity


Chilling & Hop Management Methods

Hopsock Used: y

Chilling Method: Wort Chiller (Employed 15 mins boil .)

Fermentation& Conditioning

Fermention: Danstar - Nottingham for 10 days at 18 C = 64.4 F


Regards,
Pinchy

 

[Pinchy]

Well heres my brewday....

It was a bit of a disaster when my buffalo boiler kept cutting out after the mash so I had to give the element the occasional "scrape" to get the burnt wort off.
Also didn't meet my target 1.050 gravity and got 1.045 instead so I need to make a few changes for my next brew!

Grain weighed out!


My nice shiny (disfunctional!) Buffalo!


Here is where the photo of the mash should be (that i forgot to take!)

A nice rolling boil during a good spell of it not cutting out.


Transfering and aerating the wort


My favourite picture of the brew!


Looks.... nice! :sick:


Re-hydrated Danstar Windsor pitched at 21°C


And finally the dissapointing hydrometer shot :hmm:

 

[Duxuk]

Looks good. I have no experience of using Styrian Goldings but I'm sure you'll get a good traditional ale :drink: I'm currently boiling my latest BIAB brew. I did a mini sparge by reserving 4l of water from my starting volume. The result was over 4l of sparged wort at 1036, so I've definately extracted extra sugars. Looks like it will improve my efficiency by over 5 points!

 

[Pinchy]

Thanks for the reply mate.
I went for the Styrian Golding hops as I think Hobgoblin, Timothy Tailors Landlord and Tribute all use them them so i was hoping to replicate some of those beers :).
This one should be going into a barrel :drink: . Hopefully bottling my AG#1 this weekend! Exciting times!
I'm looking forward to seeing your brewday post for that one :thumb:

 

[Duxuk]

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=45416&p=436420#p436420

This is a link to my results from today's brew where I tested a mini sparge. Another thread is also running on the same subject, which makes good reading.

I've heard that Taylor's Landlord has a massive amount of late hops. Can't give you the details, but I read it somewhere on the forum :thumb:

 

[Pinchy]

cool cheers for the heads up :thumb: . This brew will consume my whole 100g pack of Styrian Goldings .


On another note.. I have been thinking.....

Sould I use Danstar Windsor yeast instead of Nottingham? I'm not quite sure what will work better for this one :wha:

 

[Pinchy]

Hi all,

Had a few problems on my brew day! (boiler cutting out) I will show add pics etc. later.

I went for windsor in the end which i beleive could have been a mistake? As my OG come in Low at 1.045 instead of the projected 1.50 (I will sparge next time for sure!!!) . I have read now that this yeast sometimes only goes as low as 1.020 is it has a "moderate attenuation".

My Question:
Should I also pitch Danstar Nottingham that I have to ensure it gets down to the 1.012 I was expecting?
Otherwise I will be left a bit dissapointed with my brew coming out at 3.3%. Chirstmas is the time to be merry and all that! :drink:

 

[Pinchy]

Photos added!

 

[Pinchy]

Kegged this today in a new Wilko Pressure barrel today with 100g of beer kit enhancer. Hopefully no leaks this time!!

Took a reading and only measured at 1018 so giving me a beer of 3.6% ABV maybe 3.7% with priming? Anyway I'm not too bothered it should be a nice session beer for the Christmas break :).

 

[Duxuk]

1018 seems rather high. Does it taste sweet? At your mashing temp you shouldn't be getting many unfermentables, but you could try mashing at a lower temp next time.
If it doesn't have a sweet taste (without the priming sugar added) then maybe your hydrometer reading is wrong somehow. Have you tested it in water at 20C to make sure it gives 1.000 ish? Could bubbles have made it float higher? Was the sample very cold?
If it carbs up OK and tastes OK you're winning :

 

[Pinchy]

Hi Andrew,

Taste wise its difficult to tell at this stage as im not very exprienenced. Although i have read that Windsor sometimes struggles getting down to thoese sort of levels. I didnt check the temp to be fair but it seemed fairly normal perhaps 17-18 deg at the lowest. And no bubbles!

Any ideas for next time? None of this brew seemed to go too well :lol: . Didnt reach my targets, Boiler kept cutting out, only thing left is for my pressure barrel to explode or something haha.

I will remain optimistic untill i have tried it properly

 

[boab42stout]

the brew looks good i also have a buffallo boiler which cuts out i was thinking of fitting a kettle element as aa back up has anyone done this

 

[artyb]

nice pics...

did you do a mash out this will get the most out of the grain.... :thumb:

 

[Pinchy]

the brew looks good i also have a buffallo boiler which cuts out i was thinking of fitting a kettle element as aa back up has anyone done this

Hi mate,

Have a look at this: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=45764
After unscrewing and taping up the thermal cutout mine works perfectly :thumb: . Give it a go it has solved mine and many others problems

Edit: More specifically this is the post viewtopic.php?f=23&t=31796&p=302796&hilit=buffalo#p302796

 

[Pinchy]

nice pics...

did you do a mash out this will get the most out of the grain.... :thumb:

Thanks bud. That could be it!! I didn't do a full mash out. As this was when my boiler begun to cut out I went into panic mode a bit I think :lol: .

 

[Duxuk]

nice pics...

did you do a mash out this will get the most out of the grain.... :thumb:

I agree with a mashout. As you know I'm also doing a mini sparge by reducing the starting volume by 4l and, after draining the grain bag, opening it and adding the 4l at about 80C. It gives you something to do whilst you wait for the wort to reach a boil! (Other than sampling previous brews.) I don't drink (much) and brew, it's far too serious a business.