AG no.3- late hopped IPA

[Hengoedbrewer]

Hi folks

I'm going to have a stab at a hoppy IPA next after an Oatmeal Stout bottled in November continues to be rank. Recipe below.

Method: BIAB
Batch Size: 10L (ish)

OG: 1.053
SG: 1.010
IBU: 57.04
ABV: 5.67

Strike Water: 7L Tesco Ashbeck
Sparge Water: 7L Tesco Ashbeck

Grain bill:
2.5 kg Crisp - Finest Maris Otter Pale Ale 91.7%
225 g Flaked Barley 32 2.2 8.3%

Hops:

15 g Magnum Pellet 11 Boil 20 min 21.97 9.1%
10 g Citra Pellet 12.8 Boil 10 min 10.2 6.1%
20 g Cascade Pellet 7.8 Boil 10 min 12.43 12.1%
10 g Citra Pellet 12.8 Boil 5 min 5.61 6.1%
20 g Cascade Pellet 7.8 Boil 5 min 6.84 12.1%
10 g Citra Pellet 12.8 Boil 0 min 6.1%
20 g Cascade Pellet 7.8 Boil 0 min 12.1%
20 g Citra Pellet 12.8 Dry Hop 5 days 12.1%
40 g Cascade Pellet 7.2 Dry Hop 5 days 24.2%

I'll be doing a 60 min boil, late hopping- this is basically a "borrowed" recipe from @matt76 "Podium IPA". Hopefully simple as only my 3rd attempt at AG. Plan is to mash at 65c for an hour, and ferment at 19c using US-05 in my new brew fridge using Inkbird 308. I also plan to no chill in my FV as I have struggled to get down to pitching temp quickly on my other 2 BIAB attempts. I plan on adding the flameout hops when wort has cooled to 80c and I will then transfer from kettle to FV1, and pour into FV2 when wort is at 20c(?)

One thing I need to work out how to do is get more accurate measurements- particularly, for efficiency (I have plugged mine in at 75% Brew House) and also how best to safely calibrate my brew kettle to see how much liquid actually I have post boil- I use a 15L stockpot to brew in. I'm assuming here 2L lost to grain absorbtion and roughly the same to boil off but it would be nice to be a bit more accurate somehow? I need to double check my FV and mark that in the same sort of fashion but that's relatively easily done with a measuring jug and marker pen!

Any comments on the recipe / measuring techniques appreciated.

 

[chrisb8]

I made a simple dipstick for my kettle using a length of copper pipe which can easily be marked or scored to denote the volume levels. For more accurate marking I would suggest weighing the water that you calibrate it with rather than using a measuring jug as these are not necessarily accurate.

Regards measuring mash efficiency you should take a gravity reading of the wort pre-boil to determine how much sugar you have converted from the grains. Brew house efficiency is calculated on the sg of the wort once it is in the fermenter, ie. after all boil off and other losses have been taken into account.

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

I made a simple dipstick for my kettle using a length of copper pipe which can easily be marked or scored to denote the volume levels. For more accurate marking I would suggest weighing the water that you calibrate it with rather than using a measuring jug as these are not necessarily accurate.

Regards measuring mash efficiency you should take a gravity reading of the wort pre-boil to determine how much sugar you have converted from the grains. Brew house efficiency is calculated on the sg of the wort once it is in the fermenter, ie. after all boil off and other losses have been taken into account.

Thank you- when is best to take pre-boil gravity- could I for eg do it after sparging? As I will sparge with room temp water (I don't have another kettle to heat up the sparge water at the moment) this should mean it isn't very hot wort when I check it.

 

[chrisb8]

Thank you- when is best to take pre-boil gravity- could I for eg do it after sparging?

Yes take a hydrometer reading once you have collected all the wort in your kettle from the mash and sparge. You can either let the sample cool in the trial jar or use a thermometer to find the temperature of the sample at the point of taking your reading and use a hydrometer correction calculator to adjust the reading to the temperature at which your hydrometer is calibrated - this is usually 20C. Brewers Friend has such a calculator which is simple to use.

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

Yes take a hydrometer reading once you have collected all the wort in your kettle from the mash and sparge. You can either let the sample cool in the trial jar or use a thermometer to find the temperature of the sample at the point of taking your reading and use a hydrometer correction calculator to adjust the reading to the temperature at which your hydrometer is calibrated - this is usually 20C. Brewers Friend has such a calculator which is simple to use.

Thanks once again. My ingredients should be there when I get home so I have a few bits and pieces to do; including possibly a trial run to calculate boil off rate; and setting the brew fridge up, then I'll see if I can get this brew on next week unless someone points out massive issues with the recipe or brewing process!