C.D.'s Brewery.
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Gyle 305 (contd)
Final jobs on Brew Day are rigging an aquarium pump to bubble air through the wort for 6 hours, and with the ambient temperature being 8C, setting the temperature controller at 19C which will turn the heater on at 17C and off at 19C. And so to bed.
Fermentation. In common with Commercial breweries I conduct a single fermentation, rack into casks a week to the day after brewing, and rely on the residual sugars produced during mashing to condition the beer. The trick is to watch the PG (present gravity) like a hawk, and judge the moment to start cooling the FV down, which slows the yeast activity, so the PG is around 10 to 12 at racking.
This page from the brewery log shows how things went. The Hours column is time from pitching the yeast, then any comments, ambient temp, whether in Heating or Cooling mode, and setting of the Thermomowhatsit. Yeast is removed once it is cool by draining it from the bottom of the FV and skimming it from on top (leaving a protective cover). How much from each depends on the type of yeast. 24 hours before racking I add 1pt of Murphy’s Finings Adjunct, which lifts the finished beer from being ‘Bright’ to ‘Polished’.
Racking and Fining
The Isinglass which I buy from my friendly brewer is known in the trade as Fish Finings, and I care not a jot about its origin as it stays in the lees, not the beer! Diluted with an equal quantity of beer, the dosage is 320cc per 5 gallon PB, or pro-rata for other volumes. I believe the shelf life of beer is reduced once finings are added, so I don’t dose the first two PB’s (and put a red sticker on them so it’s not forgotten) and do so a week before each is needed.
The racking tube that’s fitted to the FV outlet has a ½” ball valve and copper pipe to fill the PBs from the bottom, and after filling the first one half full, I fill a 500cc graduated sample jar to measure the PG, and then use the contents to dilute the finings. For Gyle 305 the PG had fallen from 14.5 when cooling was started, to 10.5, giving an approx. ABV of 4.4%. With all 7 PBs filled and in the temperature-controlled beer store, the job’s a good ‘un.
Final jobs on Brew Day are rigging an aquarium pump to bubble air through the wort for 6 hours, and with the ambient temperature being 8C, setting the temperature controller at 19C which will turn the heater on at 17C and off at 19C. And so to bed.
Fermentation. In common with Commercial breweries I conduct a single fermentation, rack into casks a week to the day after brewing, and rely on the residual sugars produced during mashing to condition the beer. The trick is to watch the PG (present gravity) like a hawk, and judge the moment to start cooling the FV down, which slows the yeast activity, so the PG is around 10 to 12 at racking.
This page from the brewery log shows how things went. The Hours column is time from pitching the yeast, then any comments, ambient temp, whether in Heating or Cooling mode, and setting of the Thermomowhatsit. Yeast is removed once it is cool by draining it from the bottom of the FV and skimming it from on top (leaving a protective cover). How much from each depends on the type of yeast. 24 hours before racking I add 1pt of Murphy’s Finings Adjunct, which lifts the finished beer from being ‘Bright’ to ‘Polished’.
Racking and Fining
The Isinglass which I buy from my friendly brewer is known in the trade as Fish Finings, and I care not a jot about its origin as it stays in the lees, not the beer! Diluted with an equal quantity of beer, the dosage is 320cc per 5 gallon PB, or pro-rata for other volumes. I believe the shelf life of beer is reduced once finings are added, so I don’t dose the first two PB’s (and put a red sticker on them so it’s not forgotten) and do so a week before each is needed.
The racking tube that’s fitted to the FV outlet has a ½” ball valve and copper pipe to fill the PBs from the bottom, and after filling the first one half full, I fill a 500cc graduated sample jar to measure the PG, and then use the contents to dilute the finings. For Gyle 305 the PG had fallen from 14.5 when cooling was started, to 10.5, giving an approx. ABV of 4.4%. With all 7 PBs filled and in the temperature-controlled beer store, the job’s a good ‘un.
Postscript.
I enjoyed the fruits of our labour from exactly a fortnight after brewing for the next 70 days, by which time the gravity had fallen from 10.5 to 4.8. This showed that the beer had been quietly fermenting for all this time, and increasing the strength from 4.4% ABV at racking to 5.1% by the last drop. Who would have thought it!
In contrast, on an earlier brew (Gyle 299) I made a mistake of 10F (12.2C) when reading the thermometer checking the strike temperature (due to my specs steaming up – or that’s my excuse). This resulted in the mash being at 160F (71C) instead of 150F (65.5C). This effectively killed the Beta amylase enzymes, and resulted in a wort of mostly fast fermenting dextriin, with little or no slow fermenting maltose. The gravity was 14.3 mid-ferment when cooling was started, 14 at racking, and precisely the same by the last drop 80 days later. I won’t make that mistake again.
I enjoyed the fruits of our labour from exactly a fortnight after brewing for the next 70 days, by which time the gravity had fallen from 10.5 to 4.8. This showed that the beer had been quietly fermenting for all this time, and increasing the strength from 4.4% ABV at racking to 5.1% by the last drop. Who would have thought it!
In contrast, on an earlier brew (Gyle 299) I made a mistake of 10F (12.2C) when reading the thermometer checking the strike temperature (due to my specs steaming up – or that’s my excuse). This resulted in the mash being at 160F (71C) instead of 150F (65.5C). This effectively killed the Beta amylase enzymes, and resulted in a wort of mostly fast fermenting dextriin, with little or no slow fermenting maltose. The gravity was 14.3 mid-ferment when cooling was started, 14 at racking, and precisely the same by the last drop 80 days later. I won’t make that mistake again.
Bloody big drums!
What a brilliant read! Keep posting; it's fascinating. I hope you have a good apprentice?
Oops. That could be a throwback to pre-decimal days, when the polyester resin I ordered came in 500 pound drums that size. Or an onset of senility.Bloody big drums!
What a brilliant read! Keep posting; it's fascinating. I hope you have a good apprentice?
I’m speechless, what an awesome set-up. Hats off :hat::hat::hat:
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Fantastic reading 
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