Brew_Dave Brew Days

[Brew_Dave]

Hi All,

Over the weekend I made my very first beer using my Grainfather. I decided to make a Timothy Taylor's Landlord clone, the real thing is one of my all time favourite beers, lets hope I do it justice!

For the recipe I used:

• Golden Promise Pale Ale (4250g)
• Crisp Pale Wheat (50g)
• Crisp Black Malt (30g)
• East Kent Goldings pellets (30g)
• Celeia Styrian Goldings pellets (70g)
• Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire (1 pack)

I was aiming for a batch size of 19 litres and to hit an OG of 1.045, an FG of 1.010 and an ABV of 4.6%.

The plan was to mash at 66 degrees for 90 minutes followed by a 10 minute mash out at 75 degrees, followed by a 90 minute boil. I added 30g of the East Kent Goldings and 30g of the Celeia Styrian Goldings at the beginning of the boil, a further 20g of the Celeia Styrian Goldings with 10 minutes to go along with half a protofloc tablet, and the remaining 20g at the end of the boil.

Overall the process went really well, I couldn't be bothered heating up sparge water, so just used cold water, this greatly extended the time taken to heat the wort to boiling temperature. Next time I will use heated sparge water to save time. I'm still getting used to the overall process of making beer, as a result, I think I missed my OG - I was expecting an OG of 1.045 but instead came in at 1.050 (I think - gods honest truth, I don't really know how to read a hydrometer). This could be as a result of me eyeballing water rather than carefully measuring it out and I think the recipe was actually for 23 litres. Also, if you look at one of the pictures you'll notice some white blobs floating in the wort, this was pre-boil once all the sparge water was in - any ideas what this could be?

The beer is now sitting in the FV, wrapped in two sleeping bags, safely stored away in a cupboard. I checked on it after a couple of hours and nothing was happening, I politely reminded myself that this was far too early. Checked again around 12 hours after the yeast was pitched, and the airlock was bubbling along nicely. 48 hours after pitching and all is looking good so far.

I plan to keep it at 18 degrees for 3 days and then to increase the temperature to 20 degrees for 10 days before bottling.

Thanks for reading - I've enclosed a few pictures.

I will provide a further update when it comes to bottling day and another when I crack open my first bottle. Hopefully I will be able to do a side by side comparison with the real thing.

Cheers

 

[Tanglefoot]

Well done, looking good !
Following with interest as I have a similar all in one system (Klarstein) on its way.

 

[Justin Dean]

I find with my Grainfather the efficiency is 75% plus so it often finishes og a little higher. Liquor back and you will be bang on your target?

 

[Brew_Dave]

I’ve just taken a hydrometer reading which came out at 1.014, so nearly at FG.

I’ve taken a picture of the beer. Looks a little paler than I anticipated and a bit on the cloudy side.

I had a taste and so far so good. Flavour is nearly spot on. Looking forward to bottling.
.

 

[Brew_Dave]

Drinking day is finally here!

On the left is a pint of Landlord and on the right is my attempt. You can see that mine doesn’t have the same level of clarity. Flavour is nearly the same but I must admit I actually prefer my attempt, it has less of a sulphur taste to it.

Overall I am really impressed with how this has turned out and have really enjoyed the process, I can’t wait to start my next batch, just need to ‘plough’ through the remaining 31 bottles.

Cheers!

 

[moto748]

Maybe it'll be as clear as the Landlord by the time you get to the last bottle!

 

[Brew_Dave]

Maybe it'll be as clear as the Landlord by the time you get to the last bottle!

Certainly hope so!

 

[Brew_Dave]

Belgian Tripel

Hello All,

Today I brewed my attempt at a Belgian Tripel. It was my first attempt at creating a recipe from scratch. For this recipe I used:

Malts/Fermentables

• 6000g of Pilsner (76&)
• 400g of Aromatic Malt (5.1%)
• 250g of Carapils (3.2%%)
• 1200g of Clear Candi Sugar (15%)

Hops

• 60g of Saaz at 60 minutes
• 30g of Saaz at 15 minutes
• 0.5 of a Protofloc tablet at 15 minutes

Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity Yeast - 1 packet

Batch Size: 23L
OG: 1.079
FG: 1.009
EBC: 10.6
IBU: 28
BU/GU: 0.36

I mashed in the malts and followed the following mash schedule: 20 minutes at 60 degrees, 20 minutes at 65 degrees, 20 minutes at 69 degrees and a mash out for 10 minutes at 75 degrees.

I created my very first yeast starter, as I needed to pitch around 444 billion cells and one packet of yeast was not going to cut it. This was a lot more straightforward than I first thought, and fingers crossed has been a success.

The brew day went swimmingly up until the time it came to cool the wort, using the Grainfather Counterflow Chiller. Almost instantaneously it became clogged, I managed to unblock it using a bike pump. I was able to chill the wort to pitching temperature but I have sucked in an awful lot what I presume is hop pellet residue into the fermenting bucket. I think the fault was not leaving the wort to settle before turning on the pump - I did a whirlpool, and then without really thinking started the pump.

Altogether I was able to collect 19L in the fermenter - no idea where the other 4 litres have gone, I spilt a fair bit but not sure it was 4 litres worth.

A hydrometer reading shows that I had hit a reading of 1.080 which was one point off. The wort is in the fermenting bucket, bubbling away already.

I plan to leave it in the fermenter for two weeks or until FG has been reached, hopefully by that time the hop residue will have dropped out of suspension and I will be able to rack off lovely clear beer into a bottling bucket.

I would appreciate any advice on what to do about the hop residue.

Picture below shows the hydrometer and the hop residue that has started to sink to the bottom.

 

[Brew_Dave]

Brew #3: English Stout

Hi All,

I have recently brewed an English Stout - it was originally meant to be a Porter but having tasted the beer it has more roasty qualities than a Porter would do. Currently conditioning in bottles, but so far I am very pleased with this recipe.

Stats:
ABV: 5%
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.012
EBC: 56
IBU: 26
BU/GU: 0.51

Fermentables:
Maris Otter - 3.95kg - 75%
Brown Malt - 0.530kg - 10.1%
Chocolate Malt - 0.260kg - 4.9%
Dark Crystal - 0.240kg - 4.6%
Medium Crystal - 0.240kg - 4.6%
Special B - 0.050kg - 1%

Mash in at 67 degrees for 60 mins followed by a 10 min mash out at 75 degrees.

26G of Fuggles at the start of the 60 minute boil, followed by 25g of Bramling Cross with 15 minutes to go, along with a whirfloc tablet.

I created a yeast starter for this brew, it was either Wyeast London Ale Yeast, or Wyeast London Ale Yeast III. I honestly can't remember which one I used.

When it came to bottling I split the batch into three. I added caramel extract to 7 litres, vanilla extract to another 7 litres, and the final batch I left untouched. I used 24ml of extract in each 7 litre batch.

Beer conditioning in bottles for two weeks. I have had one of each - very subtle caramel and vanilla flavours, although the aroma is very strong on the caramel ones. The beer has a nice roasty flavour to it, is very smooth, not overally bitter, just nicely balanced.

 

[Brew_Dave]

Brew #4: American IPA

Hi All, for my fourth brew (since joining the site) I brewed an American IPA using Galaxy, Mosaic, Citra and Amarillo hops.

Stats:
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.009
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 36
EBC: 10.7

Fermentables:
Pilsner Malt - 45%
Extra Pale - 45%
Carapils - 5%
Crystal Light - 5%

I mashed in at 65 degrees for an hour followed by a mash out at 75 degrees for 10 minutes. At the 60 minute boil mark I added 10g of Galaxy and the same at the 15 minute boil mark.

A hopstand at 80 degrees was done for 15 minutes using Mosaic, Citra and Amarillo (3.9 IBUs each). Wort transferred and cooled into the fermenter before adding Verdant IPA yeast.

A dry hop of 35g each of Mosaic, Citra and Amarillo was done for 3 days before bottling.

Review:
The beer was unfortunately absolutely disgusting. It had gone into the bottle a golden colour and came out with more than an orange colour, so some oxidisation had taken place. The beer had a very strong raw alcohol flavour, nail varnish, which my research tells me is due to the fermentation temperature being too high, which makes sense considering I brewed this beer in July when the temperatures were very warm and I don’t have fermentation control in place at the moment. Good points? Well it smelled absolutely fantastic and the head retention on the bottles I was brave enough to drink was excellent, the brightness and colour of the beer pre-oxidisation was incredible.

In short I am really disappointed considering how much I spent on the hops.

 

[Brew_Dave]

Brew #5 British Golden Ale

Hi All, after the crushing disappointment of my failed American IPA, I thought I’d try and keep it simple with a British Golden Ale. For this brew I wanted to use British hops and yeast.

Stats:
ABV: 4.1%
OG: 1.042
FG: 1.011
EBC: 5.3
IBU: 30
BU/GU: 0.71

Fermentables:
Extra Pale Maria Otter - 47.5%
Pilsner Malt - 47.5%
Torrefied Wheat - 5%

I mashed in 67 degrees for an hour in an attempt to gain some more body, followed by a mash out at 75 degrees for 10 minutes. At the start of the 60 minute boil I added First Gold and East Kent Goldings. With 15 minutes to go I chucked in more of the First Gold. Upon the completion of the boil I did a 15 minute hopstand using both First Gold and EKG at 80 degrees using my new drill and paddle (worked a treat).

Cooled the wort and transferred to the fermenter using Wyeast 1098. Hit all my numbers bang on for a change and produced a lovely clear wort. Currently conditioning in a bottle for two weeks.

Will post an update and picture in a few weeks time.

 

[Brew_Dave]

Brew #5 British Golden Ale

Hi All, after the crushing disappointment of my failed American IPA, I thought I’d try and keep it simple with a British Golden Ale. For this brew I wanted to use British hops and yeast.

Stats:
ABV: 4.1%
OG: 1.042
FG: 1.011
EBC: 5.3
IBU: 30
BU/GU: 0.71

Fermentables:
Extra Pale Maria Otter - 47.5%
Pilsner Malt - 47.5%
Torrefied Wheat - 5%

I mashed in 67 degrees for an hour in an attempt to gain some more body, followed by a mash out at 75 degrees for 10 minutes. At the start of the 60 minute boil I added First Gold and East Kent Goldings. With 15 minutes to go I chucked in more of the First Gold. Upon the completion of the boil I did a 15 minute hopstand using both First Gold and EKG at 80 degrees using my new drill and paddle (worked a treat).

Cooled the wort and transferred to the fermenter using Wyeast 1098. Hit all my numbers bang on for a change and produced a lovely clear wort. Currently conditioning in a bottle for two weeks.

Will post an update and picture in a few weeks time.

The beer has now been conditioning for just under two weeks, I couldn’t wait any longer and cracked open a bottle.

First thoughts, nice level of carbonation, but sadly the head disappeared very quickly. It has a really nice smooth and silky mouthfeel. Flavour is very nice, first time using First Gold and I’m really enjoying the flavour. Smells fantastic.