Anna's Brewdays

[Brewnaldo]

Anna you got a recipe for your Belson Sauvin one?

 

[foxbat]

I came back home to find the top of the wort encased in a creamy grey granular material, oh I've seen this before with poached meats I thought, it's the hot break denatured protein. Sure enough, bringing it up to the boil there was no hot break foam at all... oooh feeling chuffed I've found a way to eliminate the risk of boil over, having stirred the grey stuff back into the wort...

The hot break should be skimmed off with a strainer. There's nothing in that stuff that you want in your wort and you may as well get rid of it while it's making itself available:

 

[Hop_it]

Hmm .. some of that didn't go to plan.
I'll write up properly later but for now:

• I hate whole leaf hops
• Fitting the fine filter to the base on the robobrew wasn't quite the good idea I'd hoped
• Insoluble denatured friggin hot side break proteins form well below boiling and block everything..grr
• Well that's going to be an interesting Festbier
• Did I mention I hate whole leaf hops ( ok I give in I did swear just a bit )

Right now it's a pint of Nelson Sauvin Pale Ale time.. well just the one before Tesco arrives with the shopping and I need to be respectable.

Anna

I have a couple of questions concerning this and your previous post:

1. You mentioned doing a step mash in the Robobrew. What temperature steps did you make, and how did you achieve a quick increase from one mash temperature to the next? This is not at all easy with the Robobrew for many of the reasons given in previous posts on that topic e.g. the heating rate is slow with only the 500w heater, and there is a risk of scorching if you use the main heater. Also, the wort flow through the mash, and therefore the heat transfer from freshly heated wort to the grain bed, is slow.
2. What fine filter are you referring to? Is it the one that goes in the malt pipe, or did you improvise something else to use during the boil?

Finally, I'm a bit surprised that you had such problems with whole hops. Over the last year+ that I have owned my Robobrew I've used loose whole hops several times without any issues. I don't use the pump once I have put the hops in, and I have found that after cooling they form a nice bed on top of the perforated false bottom which filters out most of the coagulated proteins. I use the tap on the side to drain off the wort into a clean brewing bucket so that I can measure the volume. If I'm brewing with hop pellets I either use a hop spider or a couple of hop bags because of the amount of sludge they produce . . . . it makes cleaning up a bit easier. Whole hops in a hop bag are not such a good idea unless the bag is large so the flowers can move around easily.
PS - The Nelson Sauvin PA sounds very nice. I have a reliable PA recipe in which I try out different hops, so I might give it a try

 

[cushyno]

To avoid the "hop soup" when your chosen variety has lower Alpha acids than a known recipe, stick with the same volume of hops in the original recipe to get the desired flavour and balance, but adjust for low aa a neutral bittering hop like Magnum, or a clean hop extract. That way you don't end up with hop soup or risk imparting too much grassiness to the brew (or having blockage issues).

Just a thought.

 

[DocAnna]

I have a couple of questions concerning this and your previous post:

1. You mentioned doing a step mash in the Robobrew. What temperature steps did you make, and how did you achieve a quick increase from one mash temperature to the next? This is not at all easy with the Robobrew for many of the reasons given in previous posts on that topic e.g. the heating rate is slow with only the 500w heater, and there is a risk of scorching if you use the main heater. Also, the wort flow through the mash, and therefore the heat transfer from freshly heated wort to the grain bed, is slow.
2. What fine filter are you referring to? Is it the one that goes in the malt pipe, or did you improvise something else to use during the boil?

Finally, I'm a bit surprised that you had such problems with whole hops. Over the last year+ that I have owned my Robobrew I've used loose whole hops several times without any issues. I don't use the pump once I have put the hops in, and I have found that after cooling they form a nice bed on top of the perforated false bottom which filters out most of the coagulated proteins. I use the tap on the side to drain off the wort into a clean brewing bucket so that I can measure the volume. If I'm brewing with hop pellets I either use a hop spider or a couple of hop bags because of the amount of sludge they produce . . . . it makes cleaning up a bit easier. Whole hops in a hop bag are not such a good idea unless the bag is large so the flowers can move around easily.
PS - The Nelson Sauvin PA sounds very nice. I have a reliable PA recipe in which I try out different hops, so I might give it a try

The Robobrew that I have has two modes for stepped mash, one that only starts the timer when it reaches the temperature and one that just goes ahead and counts time including the ramp up. I used the 1900W element on it's own for this as I was using a thin-ish mash so I could recirculate with the pump fully open which avoided scorching. It was great - set and forget really. I set S1 to 5 deg C for 5 1/2 hours overnight so it didn't turn on till just before I was up, then S2 to the strike temperature for 2 hours - which I knew I wouldn't need but it ensured it wouldn't move on to the next temp on it's own. After mashing in, pressed pause and manually advanced to S3 which was the first mash temp of 50 deg, and pretty much left it to it. Whole hops are a pain in taking up so much space, bunging things up in a way pelleted hops don't and just getting everywhere , oh and they don't fit in the hop spider.
I moved the fine filter from the bottom of the mash pipe to join on to the false bottom screen...it's worked for a few brews now in reducing hop debris reach the fermenter.

@Brewnaldo -The NS pale ale is one of the nicest things I've brewed - but I can't take any credit since it's based on a Greg Hughes recipe Anna's Brewdays

To avoid the "hop soup" when your chosen variety has lower Alpha acids than a known recipe, stick with the same volume of hops in the original recipe to get the desired flavour and balance, but adjust for low aa a neutral bittering hop like Magnum, or a clean hop extract. That way you don't end up with hop soup or risk imparting too much grassiness to the brew (or having blockage issues).

I'm having a Doh moment... oh that is such a better idea. The original recipe called for 140g Saaz with 3.8% AA so my 200g didn't match the bitterness, and from your comment, probably that was a good thing. Thank you, that is a golden nugget of advice!

@foxbat That's really good advice too, and v helpful. Lots of learning for me from yesterday... maybe I will one day have a boring brew day, I can only wish .

Anna

 

[Brewnaldo]

Ah the GH single hop ale... My nemesis as the Amarillo was my worst brew so far. Howling it was

I suspect, much like your recent trials, I failed to adjust for an AA that was wildly different from the recipe and it really did not work well. Also underwent some serious oxidation but I do have the technology to be O2 free now, and the Nelson intrigues me.

That said, as I type I remember I have not one but three batches of grain to brew, so that puts the Nelson Sauvin at 4 in the queue

 

[Hop_it]

The Robobrew that I have has two modes for stepped mash, one that only starts the timer when it reaches the temperature and one that just goes ahead and counts time including the ramp up. I used the 1900W element on it's own for this as I was using a thin-ish mash so I could recirculate with the pump fully open which avoided scorching. It was great - set and forget really. I set S1 to 5 deg C for 5 1/2 hours overnight so it didn't turn on till just before I was up, then S2 to the strike temperature for 2 hours - which I knew I wouldn't need but it ensured it wouldn't move on to the next temp on it's own. After mashing in, pressed pause and manually advanced to S3 which was the first mash temp of 50 deg, and pretty much left it to it. Whole hops are a pain in taking up so much space, bunging things up in a way pelleted hops don't and just getting everywhere , oh and they don't fit in the hop spider.
I moved the fine filter from the bottom of the mash pipe to join on to the false bottom screen...it's worked for a few brews now in reducing hop debris reach the fermenter.

@Brewnaldo -The NS pale ale is one of the nicest things I've brewed - but I can't take any credit since it's based on a Greg Hughes recipe Anna's Brewdays


I'm having a Doh moment... oh that is such a better idea. The original recipe called for 140g Saaz with 3.8% AA so my 200g didn't match the bitterness, and from your comment, probably that was a good thing. Thank you, that is a golden nugget of advice!

@foxbat That's really good advice too, and v helpful. Lots of learning for me from yesterday... maybe I will one day have a boring brew day, I can only wish .

Anna

Thank you. That's really good of you to take the time to explain what you did. It's particularly useful to know that you were able to use the 1900w heater without any problems.
I have the 3.11 model, which looks just like yours. However, I haven't used the timer at all, so I don't really know what it can do yet. I've done everything manually so far. This was mainly because I was not happy that I could control the real temperature of the mash with any accuracy until I got a good flow through the grain bed. My last brew behaved the best so far - mainly because I played around with the grain crush, and left out the fine screen from the bottom of the malt pipe. I also added some extra insulation to the outside to help reduce thermal losses to the mash (see photo). Anyway, now that I have made some progress I will investigate what the timer will do, and perhaps attempt a step mash at the next opportunity. I've always fancied making a Weizen with a step mash profile to see if it makes much difference. It's a good summer drink, so I may well make some soon as it benefits from some time in the bottle.

I hadn't realised that you had used such a lot of hops. It can be a real problem when the AA is low. This is not unusual with the traditional "Noble" hops. I have used Magnum whole hops for bittering several times with no problems, but the overall quantity (weight) was relatively low compared with what you had to use.

PS - The Brewzilla neoprene jacket is under several layers of the metalized insulation film.

 

[Brew_DD2]

Ah the GH single hop ale... My nemesis as the Amarillo was my worst brew so far. Howling it was

I suspect, much like your recent trials, I failed to adjust for an AA that was wildly different from the recipe and it really did not work well. Also underwent some serious oxidation but I do have the technology to be O2 free now, and the Nelson intrigues me.

That said, as I type I remember I have not one but three batches of grain to brew, so that puts the Nelson Sauvin at 4 in the queue

Do it! Nelson Sauvin is spectacularly good. Bloody expensive at the moment though. Very much in vogue.

 

[DocAnna]

Hmm.., the shed has been a bit cold overnight - the max/min thermometer is showing 5 deg overnight and a high of 10 deg, so unsurprisingly both my beers are looking rather quiet - but worried that the yeast hasn’t had a chance particularly since I pitched dry yeast. This could turn out to be an expensive experimental loss.

We have a dehumidifier in the shed running most of the time so I’ve just popped the warm setting in to try to gently warm the space - just to get some of the chill off and fermentation hopefully going. Fingers crossed.

Anna

 

[Wynne]

Hmm.., the shed has been a bit cold overnight - the max/min thermometer is showing 5 deg overnight and a high of 10 deg, so unsurprisingly both my beers are looking rather quiet - but worried that the yeast hasn’t had a chance particularly since I pitched dry yeast. This could turn out to be an expensive experimental loss.

We have a dehumidifier in the shed running most of the time so I’ve just popped the warm setting in to try to gently warm the space - just to get some of the chill off and fermentation hopefully going. Fingers crossed.

Anna

What is the temperature of your fermenters? Are they well insulated to retain tbe heat liberated during fermentation? If not, you could wrap them in a sleeping bag of duvet and, hopefully, the temperature will begin to pick up.

 

[DocAnna]

What is the temperature of your fermenters? Are they well insulated to retain tbe heat liberated during fermentation? If not, you could wrap them in a sleeping bag of duvet and, hopefully, the temperature will begin to pick up.

Good idea, I think I'll leave them uninsulated today while it warms up then wrap them up tonight, thanks! I haven't checked their temperature as I don't want to open the fermenters to take a direct reading. I have an infrared ear thermometer which I think I'll use to check them at the end of daylight.

Anna

 

[DocAnna]

I was trying to go low tech for these two lager brews but I can’t help myself - so they each have their own thermometer nestled in , and tonight they are going to tucked up with a sleeping bag.
Temp is about spot on at the moment.

So tonight’s Sunday roast is being accompanied by Apple’s feeling good playlist which is absolutely fab , so roast potatoes being precooked while dancing to murder on the dance floor very much my happy place - baby beers doing nicely, timings going to plan for cooking!

Anna

 

[Tommo 2]

Go girl

 

[DocAnna]

So much for lagering my beers - 15 deg today, that's awful, it was supposed to be much cooler according to the weather forecast. I guess it's not a disaster but it's warmer than anticipated. I've never wished for cold boring steady weather before. This was a bit of an experiment I guess, trying to find a time of year in Scotland when we could expect an average temperature of about 11 deg. Maybe late February would have been better.

Anna

 

[cushyno]

So much for lagering my beers - 15 deg today, that's awful, it was supposed to be much cooler according to the weather forecast. I guess it's not a disaster but it's warmer than anticipated. I've never wished for cold boring steady weather before. This was a bit of an experiment I guess, trying to find a time of year in Scotland when we could expect an average temperature of about 11 deg. Maybe late February would have been better.

Anna

It'll be fine, give it time. Time is the most important component in making good beer.

 

[DocAnna]

I'm not in a great place today

I tried my second attempt at an NEIPA today and it's really really poor. Faint aroma of lime, an odd light lager with a citrus light taste, vaguely like a Cervaza but with more mouthfeel and completely hides it's 7% alcohol. Nothing like an NEIPA at all.

Now I know my processes were sound this time around, mash, aroma stand temp, dry hop, closed transfer, fermentation off to a fast start. No water salts added so no contribution to bitterness from any of the salts, no sign of oxidation. So what has gone wrong? This time I'm sure of it, this has to be the hops. I've been storing them in a sealed container in a small fridge in the garage since I didn't have space in the freezer. They weren't vacuum packed and on reflection had far less aroma than expected when used. My most recent best beer I've so far made was the Bombay Bomber for my son, which used newly purchased hops, which was fruity and lovely.

So what to do.. I've made up my mind, for all but the most recently purchased hops unless vacuum packed, I'm binning them. This attempt at an NEIPA took a fair bit of my time, energies and emotional investment, and I'm fed up with an inadequate outcome. I'll freeze the remaining hops. This current indescribable beer will be conditioned for a couple of weeks and I'll taste it from an objective perspective later. I'll then offer it to any takers, it doesn't taste bad, just nothing like an NEIPA.

Anna

 

[pilgrimhudd]

That's a shame, it's taken me a while to realise how fast hops go 'off'. My most recent ipa is not particularly bitter and I think it's because the tomahawk I used for bittering was pretty old. I do freeze mine but still.....

Sounds like you've stumbled on something nice though, although i understand it's frustrating when that's not what you've tried to make!

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

trying to find a time of year in Scotland when we could expect an average temperature of about 11 deg.

Middle of summer I would think

 

[Brewnaldo]

I'm not in a great place today

I tried my second attempt at an NEIPA today and it's really really poor. Faint aroma of lime, an odd light lager with a citrus light taste, vaguely like a Cervaza but with more mouthfeel and completely hides it's 7% alcohol. Nothing like an NEIPA at all.

Now I know my processes were sound this time around, mash, aroma stand temp, dry hop, closed transfer, fermentation off to a fast start. No water salts added so no contribution to bitterness from any of the salts, no sign of oxidation. So what has gone wrong? This time I'm sure of it, this has to be the hops. I've been storing them in a sealed container in a small fridge in the garage since I didn't have space in the freezer. They weren't vacuum packed and on reflection had far less aroma than expected when used. My most recent best beer I've so far made was the Bombay Bomber for my son, which used newly purchased hops, which was fruity and lovely.

So what to do.. I've made up my mind, for all but the most recently purchased hops unless vacuum packed, I'm binning them. This attempt at an NEIPA took a fair bit of my time, energies and emotional investment, and I'm fed up with an inadequate outcome. I'll freeze the remaining hops. This current indescribable beer will be conditioned for a couple of weeks and I'll taste it from an objective perspective later. I'll then offer it to any takers, it doesn't taste bad, just nothing like an NEIPA.

Anna

Do you hold a stock of hops? I have considered this but simply don't brew enough and so I order the exact quantities I need from GEB recipe builder and nothing ever gets stored.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I'm not in a great place today

I tried my second attempt at an NEIPA today and it's really really poor. Faint aroma of lime, an odd light lager with a citrus light taste, vaguely like a Cervaza but with more mouthfeel and completely hides it's 7% alcohol. Nothing like an NEIPA at all.

Now I know my processes were sound this time around, mash, aroma stand temp, dry hop, closed transfer, fermentation off to a fast start. No water salts added so no contribution to bitterness from any of the salts, no sign of oxidation. So what has gone wrong? This time I'm sure of it, this has to be the hops. I've been storing them in a sealed container in a small fridge in the garage since I didn't have space in the freezer. They weren't vacuum packed and on reflection had far less aroma than expected when used. My most recent best beer I've so far made was the Bombay Bomber for my son, which used newly purchased hops, which was fruity and lovely.

So what to do.. I've made up my mind, for all but the most recently purchased hops unless vacuum packed, I'm binning them. This attempt at an NEIPA took a fair bit of my time, energies and emotional investment, and I'm fed up with an inadequate outcome. I'll freeze the remaining hops. This current indescribable beer will be conditioned for a couple of weeks and I'll taste it from an objective perspective later. I'll then offer it to any takers, it doesn't taste bad, just nothing like an NEIPA.

Anna

Hope it turns out ok. I have an NEIPA in the FV ready but haven’t plucked up the courage to keg it yet. I normally just purge the keg with a bit of CO2 and carefully syphon in. I have now bought extra gas and liquid posts with a view to doing a closed transfer but I’m now wondering if I’ll be better off risking a whole new process on it for the first time or just sticking with what I know!