Brew day this Friday

[johnnyh]

A good friend coming over for a brew day this Friday, and there are two brews to be done.

First up a "blonde"ish ale, not too strong, and then a stout that I am hoping will be a chocolate and chilli stout.

Both will be BIAB using the Buffalo urn.

The blonde is looking a bit like this:

Batch Size (L): 20.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.000
Total Hops (g): 59.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.044 (°P): 11.0
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.32 %
Total Water Required (L): 25.76
Colour (SRM): 6.9 (EBC): 13.6
Bitterness (IBU): 28.9 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 65
Grain Bill
----------------
3.500 kg Maris Otter Malt (87.5%)
0.200 kg Crystal 10 (5%)
0.200 kg Crystal 30 (5%)
0.100 kg Torrified Wheat (2.5%)
Hop Bill
----------------
24.0 g Fuggles Leaf (5.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.2 g/L)
15.0 g Fuggles Pellet (5.7% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)
20.0 g East Kent Golding Pellet (4.7% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
6.0 g Irish Moss @ 10 Minutes (Boil)
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Danstar Nottingham

Now I have taken delivery of some Citra leaf hops and so might well replace the 30 min and 5 min set out with Citra.

I've yet to build the recipe for the stout, but have roasted barley, torrefied wheat and flaked barley at my disposal, along with plenty of maris otter.
I hope to pick up some cocoa nibs to go into the FV, and am yet to decide on when to add chillis... part of me think racking to a secondary FV after a couple of weeks and then adding the chillis for a further 2 week period might be best.

Any input on that side of things welome :thumb:

Cheers all, hope to have a few pics on Friday :

 

[joe1002]

Sounds like you are going to have a much better friday than me :thumb:

I have not tried Fuggles yet but I keep seeing them mentioned. Will have to get myself some.

 

[johnnyh]

To be honest I play it fairly safe at the moment with Fuggles and East Kent Goldings being my hops of choice.... mainly due to their use in the favourite ales.

But, what is life without a bit of adventure :lol: So Citra it shall be, and lots of 'em! :

 

[joe1002]

I have some Citra waiting to be tried. Really looking forward to them :

 

[johnnyh]

I have some Citra waiting to be tried. Really looking forward to them :

Yeah me too, I am thinking of going in a little less conservative with them to really get a good feel for what they are about.

 

[Baldbrewer]

Just wait until you snip open that citra vac pack mmmmmmmmmmm!
5 days into fermentation and I just open the fermenting fridge and got hit by a wall of citra aroma :party:

With 20g dry hopping yet to come this should be good , enjoy your brews they sound good :thumb:

 

[johnnyh]

Ooh that sounds nice, Citra should go well with the blonde ale :)

 

[joe1002]

Yeah me too, I am thinking of going in a little less conservative with them to really get a good feel for what they are about.

That will certainly be my plan :thumb:

 

[joe1002]

Just wait until you snip open that citra vac pack mmmmmmmmmmm!
5 days into fermentation and I just open the fermenting fridge and got hit by a wall of citra aroma :party:

With 20g dry hopping yet to come this should be good , enjoy your brews they sound good :thumb:

I can't wait!!!!

I also have a load of simcoe to try, have you used them

 

[johnnyh]

Nope, they go on about Simcoe a lot on the Brew TV vids, what have you used them in?

 

[joe1002]

I haven't yet

Citra first then simcoe.

Actually, I should really try and use up some of my opened packs first :lol:

 

[johnnyh]

I've got half a pack of EKG and half of Fuggles, then a fresh of each plus the Citra.

Think I'll Citra the blonde ale and use up the Fuggles in the Stout... Then order some new supplies... Warrior sounds cool, Simcoe to see what it's about and Willamette maybe?

 

[johnnyh]

30 mins to go on the blonde boil, Citra hops at the ready for 10 and 5 min additions, on target for 22 litres at approx 4.1% ABV, no probs with the Buffalo boiler, no cut outs and plenty of headspace.

 

[joe1002]

How did you get on bud?

 

[johnnyh]

Had to abort the 2nd brew as I went down with nasty bug and had shivers etc. but we did finish the blonde ale off.

Hit the target SG post boil, and today there if a nice fermentation well underway. My mate thoroughly enjoyed the experience and was bending his good lady's ear about starting BIAB.

The hop filter and ball valve tap, as per rpt in the how to, worked like a dream,and the buffalo boiler performed flawlessly once more. We only brewed 20 litre length, but there was plenty of headroom and no danger of a boil over, so would confidently say the buffalo 30litre can do a 23litre brew length if you so wished. Me ill stick to 15 to 20 as it's plenty of one beer for me.

A few pics...

Water waiting to be turned into beer... Better than water into wine :pray:

My mate as we add the grain to the bag

Boil on...

Fermenting nicely...

 

[joe1002]

I hope you feel better soon :thumb:

So have you converted your friend to brewing?

 

[johnnyh]

he already does kits, but yesterday I got him to try a few beers in order.

1) Caxtons Real Ale single can kit
2) Wherry two can kit
3) young honey ale BIAB
4) conditioned BIAB dark ale/porter

He was amazed at the difference and concluded he would pay for either the honey ale or the dark ale, would tolerate the Wherry but could happily live without drinking the Caxtons.

He has been bending his wifes ear about it, but she isnt budging. So I have suggested we set up in my garage and just do a couple of brews together once a month or so, splitting the output.

Who knows, maybe we could progress towards a joint set up... :party: