Anna's Brewdays

[DocAnna]

More brew day musings, since this is a fairly simple base beer with just a single bittering hip addition (Magnum). I’m aware that my boil isn’t particularly vigorous.

And the sides of the kettle are not insulated like the brewzilla. So I’ve ordered an 8mm thick sheet of neoprene foam to make an insulating jacket for it. Should be a fun project anyway -I’m thinking of using a roll of spare wallpaper to make a template with all the holes for the handles, spouts and sticky out bits. Then sew on some Velcro for the overlap. If I was being good I’d bind the edges but my sewing machine skills might not be up to that!

 

[DocAnna]

Finished earlier this afternoon - a split batch which will have various additions to them. I also made up some diluting juice and added salts to put an alcohol free summer option on the kegerator.

I'm experimenting a bit with two different methods of CO2 blow off, just 'cos it seemed a good idea at the time!

So, I'm really not sure what the alcohol content will be of these two. The OG of just the base beer is a paltry 1.035, but I'll be adding:

Day 2
B) 1 kg Honey - added early to increase the lactic acid proportionally to alcohol

Day 3
A) 2 litre Raspberry purée and 0.5 litre blackcurrant purée
B) 1.5 litre Blackcurrant purée

Day 7
Dry hop and spice
A) Coriander freshly ground 40g + Citra hops + pink salt
B) Elderflower - not sure how much quite yet, probably make a tea. I have dried but we have fresh easily within walking distance + Citra hops

I know, not really ideal still to be working out the recipe at this stage !

A x

 

[DocAnna]

Home from the Cotswolds and Cornwall yesterday, and back with lots of brewing ideas. We visited St Austell's brewery, and had a fun tour of parts of the brewery, including their small batch set up and the cask filling plant - which was huge! The highlight was a very relaxed tasting session at the end with the opportunity to try lots of their beers, both regular and small batch. I was particularly impressed with Tribute, which would not have been a beer I would have usually picked as I don't go for English Ales usually. It had a citrus twist to it that reminded me of Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted, very balanced mouthfeel and malt too. @Clint has very kindly shared his recipe for Tribute which I'll be trying hopefully sometime next week if I get my act together and order the ingredients. I normally use a local Scottish base malt so this will be unusual to use Maris Otter.

The OH has also decided that St Austell's lager Korev is highly drinkable, and we've several cases home as evidence, along with a request for me to try making it or something similar. It is a good clean tasting lager, I'm not an expert in describing lagers, but it doesn't have that German Hallertauer flavour that is common to so many continental lagers. I've been a bit cheeky and emailed Rob Orton who is the production manager at St Austell if he'd share more information on the recipe beyond the ingredient list which is available on their site.

Lastly, my favourite was their small batch Cardinal Syn which is a Belgian Dubbel style beer which is not quite as sweet as similar style beers I've tasted. We have a case of this so I'm going to try something similar and compare over time.

Anna

 

[Baldbrewer]

Home from the Cotswolds and Cornwall yesterday, and back with lots of brewing ideas. We visited St Austell's brewery, and had a fun tour of parts of the brewery, including their small batch set up and the cask filling plant - which was huge! The highlight was a very relaxed tasting session at the end with the opportunity to try lots of their beers, both regular and small batch. I was particularly impressed with Tribute, which would not have been a beer I would have usually picked as I don't go for English Ales usually. It had a citrus twist to it that reminded me of Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted, very balanced mouthfeel and malt too. @Clint has very kindly shared his recipe for Tribute which I'll be trying hopefully sometime next week if I get my act together and order the ingredients. I normally use a local Scottish base malt so this will be unusual to use Maris Otter.

The OH has also decided that St Austell's lager Korev is highly drinkable, and we've several cases home as evidence, along with a request for me to try making it or something similar. It is a good clean tasting lager, I'm not an expert in describing lagers, but it doesn't have that German Hallertauer flavour that is common to so many continental lagers. I've been a bit cheeky and emailed Rob Orton who is the production manager at St Austell if he'd share more information on the recipe beyond the ingredient list which is available on their site.

Lastly, my favourite was their small batch Cardinal Syn which is a Belgian Dubbel style beer which is not quite as sweet as similar style beers I've tasted. We have a case of this so I'm going to try something similar and compare over time.

Anna

Did you try the Mena Dhu stout? Big job is also a nice beer at 7.2%abv. I would also recommend the beer and chocolate pairings they sell in the shop.
we are heading down this weekend for a quick Cornwall fix and will hopefully stock up with some local favourites especially Tintagel Brewery's Caliburn at 5.7% is a lovely dark beer for the winter months. Look forward to hearing the reply from Rob

 

[tigertim]

reminded me of Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted

I was wondering if you might have a recipe for this one? It came on tap at a local chain pub briefly a few years back, as did the Harviestoun "Old Engine Oil" and they were both utterly outstanding! I've seen some vague recipes floating around but never with any kind of vouch for their success or similarity to the original.

 

[An Ankoù]

Home from the Cotswolds and Cornwall yesterday, and back with lots of brewing ideas. We visited St Austell's brewery, and had a fun tour of parts of the brewery, including their small batch set up and the cask filling plant - which was huge! The highlight was a very relaxed tasting session at the end with the opportunity to try lots of their beers, both regular and small batch. I was particularly impressed with Tribute, which would not have been a beer I would have usually picked as I don't go for English Ales usually. It had a citrus twist to it that reminded me of Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted, very balanced mouthfeel and malt too. @Clint has very kindly shared his recipe for Tribute which I'll be trying hopefully sometime next week if I get my act together and order the ingredients. I normally use a local Scottish base malt so this will be unusual to use Maris Otter.

The OH has also decided that St Austell's lager Korev is highly drinkable, and we've several cases home as evidence, along with a request for me to try making it or something similar. It is a good clean tasting lager, I'm not an expert in describing lagers, but it doesn't have that German Hallertauer flavour that is common to so many continental lagers. I've been a bit cheeky and emailed Rob Orton who is the production manager at St Austell if he'd share more information on the recipe beyond the ingredient list which is available on their site.

Lastly, my favourite was their small batch Cardinal Syn which is a Belgian Dubbel style beer which is not quite as sweet as similar style beers I've tasted. We have a case of this so I'm going to try something similar and compare over time.

Anna

That sounds a great brewery tour. I don't really like proper job, but I have fond memories of Tribute. Can't get the latter here, but PJ is easy to get and, inspired by @Clarence thread, I've bought a couple of bottles in to see whether the yeast is as wild as he says.
We have a brewery called coreff here in Brittany. Apparently it means beer in breton so presumably your version is cornish. Regrettably, even though the brewery was established under the watchful eye of Peter Austin, the beer, or at least the blonde, is horrible stuff.
Good luck with the tribute.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Did you try the Mena Dhu stout? Big job is also a nice beer at 7.2%abv. I would also recommend the beer and chocolate pairings they sell in the shop.
we are heading down this weekend for a quick Cornwall fix and will hopefully stock up with some local favourites especially Tintagel Brewery's Caliburn at 5.7% is a lovely dark beer for the winter months. Look forward to hearing the reply from Rob

I'd second Caliburn, lovely winter drop as you say, I tried to tap them up for their recipe but no cigar.

 

[DocAnna]

I was wondering if you might have a recipe for this one? It came on tap at a local chain pub briefly a few years back, as did the Harviestoun "Old Engine Oil" and they were both utterly outstanding! I've seen some vague recipes floating around but never with any kind of vouch for their success or similarity to the original.

I used a version of @foxbat 's Bitter & Twisted recipe Inspired by Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted . It didn't really work out for me, I think there must have been a problem with my fermentation temperature as it wasn't my best beer. I'd still reckon on Foxbat having an excellent version of the recipe though. I like B&T as well but it's not on my imminent list of beers to try again based on that last go.

 

[Baldbrewer]

I'd second Caliburn, lovely winter drop as you say, I tried to tap them up for their recipe but no cigar.

They are very secretive about their recipes lol, I've always wanted the recipe for "harbour special" as I always think it's how Doom bar used to taste before Sharp's brewery got bought out.

sorry Anna scope creep ,your fault for going to Cornwall

 

[dcbrookes]

I used a version of @foxbat 's Bitter & Twisted recipe Inspired by Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted . It didn't really work out for me, I think there must have been a problem with my fermentation temperature as it wasn't my best beer. I'd still reckon on Foxbat having an excellent version of the recipe though. I like B&T as well but it's not on my imminent list of beers to try again based on that last go.

I brewed this recipe as well - it was as unlike Harviestoun B&T as it could possibly be. Most of it went down the sink.

 

[DocAnna]

I tried, the blackcurrant, honey and citra beer last night, before carbonation - far too dangerously drinkable, I'll share some photos once it's carbonated but it is only slightly sour, worryingly like a grown up alcopop.

lots of ingredients arrived today, and several more arriving over the next couple of days. Next week I'm planning three brew days, one of which will be a double batch of lager that I'm going to split and ferment one with dried Saflager W34/70 and one with liquid Omega OYL-111. So the only difference should be the yeast - they'll be at the same temperature schedule throughout. I'm keen to see what differences there are between these two fairly neutral lager yeasts, though there should be more character in the liquid Omega version. It would be quite good to do a remote triangle test sending some cans on to a few people - if any BJCP type qualified people would be willing to volunteer I'd really appreciate it.

A x

 

[DocAnna]

Brewday 1 for the week - my first attempt at Tribute - and the first brew with Klarstein’s dapper new jacket. A bit of a late start and overshot on the strike temp so before adding the grain added more cold water and took the same amount off hot to put in the sparge heater.
I’m also trying something new - putting the half protofloc in one my mesh balls to see if it keeps more if the trunk in the ball.

 

[tigertim]

Excellent! When I returned to brewing and finally splurged on the G30, I added the neoprene jacket to it as part of the original order because I planned to do a fair amount of my brews outside, even in winter. Now, whenever I see a stainless steel AIO brewery without a neoprene jacket, it just looks naked to me!

I have no point of reference for brewing without the jacket, but I've certainly never had a problem with boil vigour or mash temperature consistency, even with ambients hovering around freezing. And with energy prices as they are, extra insulation isn't a bad idea

 

[DocAnna]

I was just thinking that was an ok brew day when I woke up this morning and realised I'd forgotten the aroma hop stand doh, I was juggling recalibrating my canning machine, cleaning kegs, and prep for the risotto I was making, but a bit annoying all the same. Ok well I'll dry hop instead which won't be quite the same in bitterness but will add the aroma element. Won't be Tribute, more like Tribulations .

I also cut myself on a couple of fingers on the steel feet on the bottom of the mash basket - I hadn't realised they were sharp, I also couldn't find my hydrometer test jar so improvised with a plastic reusable water bottle....so not feeling the most competent really right now, and just a wee bit sore. Oh at least my numbers were on target, and the jacket certainly helped with the mash temp, much less heating going on to maintain temperature.

Anna

 

[Dutto]

I always think “You learn by your mistakes!” whenever I commit a crime against brewing (which is often) …

… but then my brain kicks in with “Only if you live long enough!”


Enjoy the day!

 

[Clint]

Anna,my first few batches of Tribute did not have the hopstand and definitely lacked something. I added the hopstand to fix this instead of a dry hop as even though dry hopping would have done the job I opted not to as its more faff!

 

[Baldbrewer]

Brewday 1 for the week - my first attempt at Tribute - and the first brew with Klarstein’s dapper new jacket. A bit of a late start and overshot on the strike temp so before adding the grain added more cold water and took the same amount off hot to put in the sparge heater.
I’m also trying something new - putting the half protofloc in one my mesh balls to see if it keeps more if the trunk in the ball.
View attachment 72562

View attachment 72563

Hi Anna, where did you those hop mesh baskets from? they look ideal for one pot systems.

 

[DocAnna]

Brew day 2 of 3 for the week , milled over 16kg of grain last night to get ready for the two - the grain father mill did admirably.

Today is the Verdant NEIPA which has a mammoth grain bill, and last time I did this in the brewzilla it was quite a squeeze but Is a lot easier mashing in with the larger system today. I haven’t done an NEIPA for a while partly because of the mash in hassle when it’s that thick. Currently it feels more like I’m making a giant batch up flapjack.

One of my aims this week is to properly dial in the efficiencies and volumes for ‘Klars’ - he has a number of quirks that I’m learning to work with, which I should update the specific thread with about this equipment.

Right, I’d better go measure the teeny bit of magnum that goes in at the start of the boil.

 

[DocAnna]

Wee bit concerned about my OYL-111 starter, my daughter appears to have turned the fridge up that the liquid yeast was stored in and the ice pack it was next to was solid. It could be that it’s just taking its time to get going - it was put on this morning but I’m used to seeing starter activity within hours.

 

[DocAnna]

I’d forgotten just hour irritating NEIPAs can be to make. Sparge went ok but the grain had soaked up far too much liquor - so throwing caution to the wind and with a thick nitrile glove, set to squeezing more liquid out - bah humbug and all that.

On the more positive:
1) the neoprene jacket is really quite good - once up to temperature for mashing it only occasionally cycles the power on, and in the boil the element doesn’t have to be on constantly.
2) I now have WiFi in the garage thanks to a new node for our home WiFi.
3) … which means I can move the HomePod mini into the garage and have music while I brew , well at the moment I’m actually listening to the Bridgerton soundtrack, it’s a lovely sunny day so why not dream .