Anna's Brewdays

[Clint]

I'm sad to say I'm a failure on the swearing as my teenage sons have heard it all....I know it's no excuse but *£#@ it!

 

[Brew_DD2]

Had my first experience of oxidised beer yesterday. My deliciously clean and lemony Citra pale ale is now a somewhat darker sweeter and less citric affair... Grump... it was a beer I was really chuffed with, clean and delicious and now distinctly not .

My condolences. It's incredibly frustrating, but knowing what the issue is, can be half the battle. I had a load of hoppy beers go that way before I was able to diagnose the problem.

Not too long until Xmas

 

[DocAnna]

So not really important enough for it's own forum thread but a muse for the day....

I really like the way a blow off tube in sanitiser stops the beer smelling of yeast. Much as though I quite like the smell of the London ESB yeast I'm using, since I'm fermenting this batch at room temperature in my home office it has been transformational to use the tubing rather than an airlock. Bubbling quietly away to itself it's like having an old fashioned grandfather clock ticking away in the back ground. Rather therapeutic really ☺ .

Anna

 

[Horners]

I also WFH right next to the fermentor. After 8 months think the rest of the team are now used to the metronomic background chug...chug.....chug sound as the latest batch bubbles away.

 

[Clint]

So not really important enough for it's own forum thread but a muse for the day....

I really like the way a blow off tube in sanitiser stops the beer smelling of yeast. Much as though I quite like the smell of the London ESB yeast I'm using, since I'm fermenting this batch at room temperature in my home office it has been transformational to use the tubing rather than an airlock. Bubbling quietly away to itself it's like having an old fashioned grandfather clock ticking away in the back ground. Rather therapeutic really ☺ .

Anna

Yes...and make sure as fermentation progresses you adjust the depth of the tube in the bottle so you still get bubbles. I jam a bit of card or something in the bottle neck to secure the pipe at just the right place.
I like the bubbles...

 

[DocAnna]

So... been a bit quiet on the brewing front, what with COVID work, academic stuff and... an awful lot of wiring and networking in the house. Oh and purchased just a little too much grain from Crafty Maltsters.. not helped by me turning up to their farm in business suit and heels since I was on the way to a meeting. He did raise an eyebrow and said I didn't look like a homebrewer . Youngest daughter then seeming unsurprised to find me portioning out the sacks into 3.5kg zip seal bags in the kitchen.

While it isn't brewing, my other interest is in most things IT and I've a fair bit of experience in medical IT too. So the OH has been very tolerant of me fiddling with our new fibre internet connection and installing cat 6 cables and ports in the house. Not all the way there yet but getting there. It's not really a competition with @The-Engineer-That-Brews but maybe it's good to challenge some stereotypes now and then!

Anna

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Mmmmm flashing lights.... must watch.... flashing lights....

 

[Gerryjo]

So... been a bit quiet on the brewing front, what with COVID work, academic stuff and... an awful lot of wiring and networking in the house. Oh and purchased just a little too much grain from Crafty Maltsters.. not helped by me turning up to their farm in business suit and heels since I was on the way to a meeting. He did raise an eyebrow and said I didn't look like a homebrewer . Youngest daughter then seeming unsurprised to find me portioning out the sacks into 3.5kg zip seal bags in the kitchen.

While it isn't brewing, my other interest is in most things IT and I've a fair bit of experience in medical IT too. So the OH has been very tolerant of me fiddling with our new fibre internet connection and installing cat 6 cables and ports in the house. Not all the way there yet but getting there. It's not really a competition with @The-Engineer-That-Brews but maybe it's good to challenge some stereotypes now and then!
View attachment 34717

Anna

That site brings back memories, spent 8 years as a network installation engineer installing fibre, multicores, cat5&6 and telecommunications. Loved that job but too much traveling...
There is a guy in Wales whom my brother worked with in London hada side business making home installation cabinets 6U in size incorporating networking, telephone, cameras and satellite though because it was modular it could be adapted for what you wanted.
Interesting fact that those cabinets were initially designed for vending/coffee machines then there potential was realised and the most common use is bolting them together for racks of servers, hard drives and power supplies serving the good old tinternet...

 

[DocAnna]

That site brings back memories, spent 8 years as a network installation engineer installing fibre, multicores, cat5&6 and telecommunications. Loved that job but too much traveling...
There is a guy in Wales whom my brother worked with in London hada side business making home installation cabinets 6U in size incorporating networking, telephone, cameras and satellite though because it was modular it could be adapted for what you wanted.
Interesting fact that those cabinets were initially designed for vending/coffee machines then there potential was realised and the most common use is bolting them together for racks of servers, hard drives and power supplies serving the good old tinternet...

That's really interesting about the cabinets being initially used for vending machines! There are extras I'd like to add longer term but I think I've pushed it quite a bit to get this in so will look to longer term. As an aside, working with solid core cat 6 is a pain in the rear end for wiring in to the sockets. I decided to do it myself after receiving a daftly expensive quote from a local data/electrical installation firm, but I was beginning to understand why they charged so much by the end of it.

Anna

 

[Brew_DD2]

So... been a bit quiet on the brewing front, what with COVID work, academic stuff and... an awful lot of wiring and networking in the house. Oh and purchased just a little too much grain from Crafty Maltsters.. not helped by me turning up to their farm in business suit and heels since I was on the way to a meeting. He did raise an eyebrow and said I didn't look like a homebrewer . Youngest daughter then seeming unsurprised to find me portioning out the sacks into 3.5kg zip seal bags in the kitchen.

While it isn't brewing, my other interest is in most things IT and I've a fair bit of experience in medical IT too. So the OH has been very tolerant of me fiddling with our new fibre internet connection and installing cat 6 cables and ports in the house. Not all the way there yet but getting there. It's not really a competition with @The-Engineer-That-Brews but maybe it's good to challenge some stereotypes now and then!
View attachment 34717

Anna

How did you find it up at Crafty Maltsters? I'll have to swing by there when my malt stocks start to dwindle. They selling their malt crushed? Got anything exciting planned for your newly-acquired malt?

 

[Gerryjo]

That's really interesting about the cabinets being initially used for vending machines! There are extras I'd like to add longer term but I think I've pushed it quite a bit to get this in so will look to longer term. As an aside, working with solid core cat 6 is a pain in the rear end for wiring in to the sockets. I decided to do it myself after receiving a daftly expensive quote from a local data/electrical installation firm, but I was beginning to understand why they charged so much by the end of it.

Anna

What termination modules they use will hike up the price as will cable brand and type allowing for low dB loss low interference.Most cat5&6 cable is rated to 90+3 metres before max loss but we used cable by avaya and systamax rated to 130+3 metres, the plus is 2mtr pc to outlet and 1 for patching at switch to patch panel using 110 type connection where as the other was krone which is standard for telecoms.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

To be fair, if you do it yourself at least you can make sure the sockets are properly wired with the twist maintained right up to the termination

 

[DocAnna]

What termination modules they use will hike up the price as will cable brand and type allowing for low dB loss low interference.Most cat5&6 cable is rated to 90+3 metres before max loss but we used cable by avaya and systamax rated to 130+3 metres, the plus is 2mtr pc to outlet and 1 for patching at switch to patch panel using 110 type connection where as the other was krone which is standard for telecoms.

eek that's quite complicated, none of my cables are over 20m, though one has a good 3m to one of the computers from the outlet. The patch panel links are 30cm to the switch. I have to admit to knowing about such things sort of in general but the specifics that you describe are a wee bit beyond where I'm working!
A
[Edit ... ok and back to brewing.... must bottle the plum wine that's been settling for ages..]

 

[DocAnna]

I'm annoyed. Proper fed up p'd off grrrr....

So bottled my plum wine today and it's super hazy despite several weeks of settling and finings. Oh and the sulphite smell and taste is there too... I did worry about that since I'd realised I'd used too much metabisulphite right back at the beginning but hoped it had bound to the plum pulp which I disposed off.
The alcohol content is also ... a lot... I was aware my calculations would be a bit rough since there was still sugar in the pulp when I took an OG. It tastes like 15-16% perhaps more which is far too strong for a table wine.

I'd designed some nice labels for it too... (though have upped the alcohol based on my estimate now)

So what to do.. I am not going to tip it all down the sink after that much work. The plan is to now leave it toe age in the bottle till the new year, let the sulphite dissipate a bit, then tip it all into a FV again in the new year, add new finings and cold crash it down to 1 deg to friggin make it clear whether it wants to or not! Grr...

Anna

 

[Clint]

Is it drinkable? If so just get it down your neck...

 

[Gerryjo]

I'm annoyed. Proper fed up p'd off grrrr....

So bottled my plum wine today and it's super hazy despite several weeks of settling and finings. Oh and the sulphite smell and taste is there too... I did worry about that since I'd realised I'd used too much metabisulphite right back at the beginning but hoped it had bound to the plum pulp which I disposed off.
The alcohol content is also ... a lot... I was aware my calculations would be a bit rough since there was still sugar in the pulp when I took an OG. It tastes like 15-16% perhaps more which is far too strong for a table wine.

I'd designed some nice labels for it too... (though have upped the alcohol based on my estimate now)
View attachment 34895

So what to do.. I am not going to tip it all down the sink after that much work. The plan is to now leave it toe age in the bottle till the new year, let the sulphite dissipate a bit, then tip it all into a FV again in the new year, add new finings and cold crash it down to 1 deg to friggin make it clear whether it wants to or not! Grr...

Anna

I maybe wrong but personally I would not have bottled it so early especially with there possibly having residual sugar leaving for long term fermenting in a sealed bottled. I would tip the whole lot back into the fermenter and bulk age/ferment for a few months before trying as I'm sure it will come good and just let nature take its course.

 

[DocAnna]

I maybe wrong but personally I would not have bottled it so early especially with there possibly having residual sugar leaving for long term fermenting in a sealed bottled. I would tip the whole lot back into the fermenter and bulk age/ferment for a few months before trying as I'm sure it will come good and just let nature take its course.

It's had 54 days in a fermenter and I've racked it twice during that time, no bubbles in the airlock other than a couple in the morning when the room heats up, and no fizz on the tongue when tasting it. I know I should age it in bulk but I'm feeling miffed and can't face tipping it all out again just now. I might change my mind later in the week but right now I'm sulking...

Is it drinkable? If so just get it down your neck...

If I had a bottle of it right now I doubt I'd remember what the problem was for a while at least.

Anna

 

[Gerryjo]

It's had 54 days in a fermenter and I've racked it twice during that time, no bubbles in the airlock other than a couple in the morning when the room heats up, and no fizz on the tongue when tasting it. I know I should age it in bulk but I'm feeling miffed and can't face tipping it all out again just now. I might change my mind later in the week but right now I'm sulking...


If I had a bottle of it right now I doubt I'd remember what the problem was for a while at least.
View attachment 34896

Anna

I've let beer sit for three months purely cause I couldn't be bothered with no I'll affects and wine will bulk age without issues. Stop sulking as I can sense impatience and pour it back into a fermenter or split into demijohns if you have any, clean and sanitise your bottles for when the time comes and you'll appreciate it when the time is right and pat yourself on the back for having patience and believing in your efforts.

 

[DocAnna]

@Gerryjo you are right, I’ll decant them all at some point and put it down to learning. OH has been v supportive about it all and I’m now probably over compensating cooking my usual Sunday roast but with a lovely piece of 30 day aged beef, and far too much much food for the family. Oh and though it’s a Sunday and so I try not to ... yes opening a beer. ... and breath.

Anna

 

[DocAnna]

So after work today I tipped out all my bottles into a sanitised fermenter added two part finings and sealed it all up. Rinsed the wine bottles and half filled them with Chemsan so I won't need to wash/santise them from scratch next time.... it was the right thing to do... doesn't make it any more pleasant though.

Time to do another brew I think and feel better making something. I'm planning on some back to basics Greg Hughes recipes to let the Crafty Maltsters malts shine so I've three I'm thinking of, a single hop Nelson Sauvin pale ale, an American IPA or a Belgian Pale ale, all have very limited malt bills.

Any suggestions for amendments to the recipes or shall I just go by the book?

Anna