pvt_ak
Budding Brewer !
Retirement clearly = losing track of all time [emoji23]
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Dutto's Brew Day
- Thread starter Dutto
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Dutto
Landlord.
Well that's Day Two completed okay. Amazingly, no accidents and all went swimmingly. :thumb:
The OG is four points down on the BrewersFriend prediction at 1.034 but that's not of much concern as I like low ABV brews!
The colour is also pretty amazing. It's a deep ruby colour so "Dark Lager" just about covers it! :thumb:
I've included the second photograph because it's a sample of the last litre or so that came out of the Mash Tun when I was rinsing the mash to fill the Boiler.
I'm happy with an SG of 1.012 by the time the Boiler is full. :thumb:
PS
Nearly forgot! With a tap water temperature at 22*C there was no chance of getting the wort down to the desired 19*C so I cooled it down to 28*C using the immersion cooler and then added 3 litres of cold water at 10*C.
The resulting temperature came in at 24*C so I pitched in a packet of Wilco Ale Yeast and set the fridge to 19*C.
I then discovered that the Wilco Yeast (aka Gervin 12) is rated at a maximum temperature of 22*C so I will keep a very close eye on the fermentation and start my "Here's hoping." mantra.
The OG is four points down on the BrewersFriend prediction at 1.034 but that's not of much concern as I like low ABV brews!
The colour is also pretty amazing. It's a deep ruby colour so "Dark Lager" just about covers it! :thumb:
I've included the second photograph because it's a sample of the last litre or so that came out of the Mash Tun when I was rinsing the mash to fill the Boiler.
I'm happy with an SG of 1.012 by the time the Boiler is full. :thumb:
PS
Nearly forgot! With a tap water temperature at 22*C there was no chance of getting the wort down to the desired 19*C so I cooled it down to 28*C using the immersion cooler and then added 3 litres of cold water at 10*C.
The resulting temperature came in at 24*C so I pitched in a packet of Wilco Ale Yeast and set the fridge to 19*C.
I then discovered that the Wilco Yeast (aka Gervin 12) is rated at a maximum temperature of 22*C so I will keep a very close eye on the fermentation and start my "Here's hoping." mantra.
Last edited:
Dutto
Landlord.
Checked this morning and fermentation is underway ... :thumb:
... so now all I have to worry about is that the high pitch temperature didn't affect the taste! :hat:
A few quick tips for Newbies who use a Blow-Off Tube instead of an Air-Lock.
The depth of water into which the Blow-Off Tube is dipped sets the amount of pressure required in the FV to produce a bubble through the tube!
This being the case, anyone who wishes to know whether or not a brew is fermenting can just retract the tube a few millimetres until it sits just below the surface of the water.
If the tube produces any bubbles as it is being lifted then fermentation is underway. :thumb:
(If it doesn't then either fermentation hasn't started or you have a leak in the system.)
I have learned a few things since I took the photograph below. Briefly:
Live and learn - if you live long enough! :thumb:
... so now all I have to worry about is that the high pitch temperature didn't affect the taste! :hat:
A few quick tips for Newbies who use a Blow-Off Tube instead of an Air-Lock.
The depth of water into which the Blow-Off Tube is dipped sets the amount of pressure required in the FV to produce a bubble through the tube!
This being the case, anyone who wishes to know whether or not a brew is fermenting can just retract the tube a few millimetres until it sits just below the surface of the water.
If the tube produces any bubbles as it is being lifted then fermentation is underway. :thumb:
(If it doesn't then either fermentation hasn't started or you have a leak in the system.)
I have learned a few things since I took the photograph below. Briefly:
- I mix a bit of Tesco Thin Bleach with the water to prevent anything nasty from starting to grow in there.
- The bottle is too small so I now use a 1.5 litre one.
- The water level is too high. I now limit the amount to about +/-3cm so that it provides a seal, it can still be checked but (most importantly) the brew will have to fill the bottle before leaving the system!
- I now use a groove cut into a kitchen sponge to hold the temperature probe up against the side of the FV.
Live and learn - if you live long enough! :thumb:
Dutto
Landlord.
Er .... it didn't build up any pressure because I dropped the Wilco Keg and damaged the lip some time ago!
A full description of the incident is contained in my CO2 Thread because I wasted the best part of a Sodastream bottle before I got any carbonation!
Dutto
Landlord.
Had a few minutes to spare today so nipped over to Tesco, bought a couple of tiny bottles of Caramel Flavouring (1) and brought it back to mix with my 30 month old undrinkable Barley Wine to try and make a "Mars Bar Beer".
So in a DJ I mixed:
The Barley Wine was bottled at 10.6% so I assume that carbonation sugar will have moved it up to +/-11% so:
I tasted the mixture as I was bottling it and it seemed a bit "weak". Unlike the Barley Wine, it is currently drinkable but not yet palatable, so we'll see what a couple of weeks carbonating and a few more conditioning will produce.
One thing's for certain, it's way better than the Barley Wine ever was! :thumb: :thumb:
(1) When I was in Tesco I also bought a 60ml bottle of Salty Caramel Flavouring so that will be the next experiment it this one turns out alright!
(2) The brew is in capped 500ml bottles so I deliberately kept the sugar addition low. I don't know how much fermentable sugars are in the Caramel Flavouring; and I don't like bottle bombs any more than I like "gassy" brews.
So in a DJ I mixed:
- 5 x 250ml bottles of Barley Wine
- 3,250ml of water
- 70ml of Caramel Flavouring
- 27g of Brewing Sugar (2)
- 5.5g of Wilco Ale Yeast
The Barley Wine was bottled at 10.6% so I assume that carbonation sugar will have moved it up to +/-11% so:
- 1,250 x 11 = 13750
- 13750 ÷ 4,500 = 3.1% ABV
I tasted the mixture as I was bottling it and it seemed a bit "weak". Unlike the Barley Wine, it is currently drinkable but not yet palatable, so we'll see what a couple of weeks carbonating and a few more conditioning will produce.
One thing's for certain, it's way better than the Barley Wine ever was! :thumb: :thumb:
(1) When I was in Tesco I also bought a 60ml bottle of Salty Caramel Flavouring so that will be the next experiment it this one turns out alright!
(2) The brew is in capped 500ml bottles so I deliberately kept the sugar addition low. I don't know how much fermentable sugars are in the Caramel Flavouring; and I don't like bottle bombs any more than I like "gassy" brews.
![BREWING THERMOMETER STICKERS ACCURATELY MONITOR FERMENTING BEER & WINE LIQUID TEMPERATURES 5PCS HOME BREW SPIRITS WINE LCD ADHESIVE [US]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/311DDjo2X3L._SL500_.jpg)
I bet Mrs Dutto does too...
Dutto
Landlord.
Do you think I have time to experiment with beer if I had anything better to do?
Get a grip! abigt
Zephyr259
Landlord.
Sounds like a good experiment, this was the barleywine with too much chocolate malt right?
Also your method is perfectly scientific. :-)
Dutto
Landlord.
Absolutely correct!
After 30 months the Barley Wine still tastes like liquid black chocolate so anything will be an improvement ... abigt
... and I still have a few bottles left for further experimentation. :thumb:
AdeDunn
Member
Have you thought of maybe adding some black cherry essence too? Black forest beer...
Dutto
Landlord.
Not to the Mars Bar Beer ...
... but I have a litre of Lowicz Black Cherry Syrup that I had a struggle to not add it to the Dark Lager brew!
Maybe next time, after the Mars Bar Beer has failed and I've done the Salty Caramel Mars Bar Beer! abigt
Dutto
Landlord.
Got bored today so started this instead of staring at the wall.
ENGLISH PALE ALE - ORDINARY BITTER
INGREDIENTS
3.4kg of Maris Otter
0.5kg of Cara Malt
80g Styrian Goldings (AA 3.9%)
Wilco Ale Yeast
Protafloc Tablet
Yeast Nutrient
DAY ONE
Mash
Strike Water = 3.0 litres per 1kg of grain = 14.0 litres at 72*C.
Mash at 60*C > 62*C for 90 minutes.
Sparge Water at 80*C
Lauter until clear then sparge until Boiler is at 30 litres. Cover Boiler and leave overnight.
DAY TWO
Preparation
Prepare Hop Bags comprising:
Put out Yeast Nutrient.
Boil
Boil with 35g Styrian Goldings Bittering Hops for 60 minutes.
Add Protafloc tablet and boil for further 10 minutes.
Flameout.
Add 45g Styrian Goldings Leaf Aroma Hops and steep for 30 minutes before cooling.
Cool to 19*C, whirlpool, run off into FV, make up to 23 litres.
Take OG, add Yeast Nutrient and Yeast.
Ferment at 19*C in Brew Fridge 1 increasing to 20*C after first week.
After taking FG add:
NOTES:
The brew will meet all style measures on BrewersFriend if "tweaked"; but with a slightly lighter colour.
Tomorrow we have a Met Office Weather Warning for thunderstorms ... abigt
... so that should make for an interesting day, sitting outside for the Boil.
ENGLISH PALE ALE - ORDINARY BITTER
INGREDIENTS
3.4kg of Maris Otter
0.5kg of Cara Malt
80g Styrian Goldings (AA 3.9%)
Wilco Ale Yeast
Protafloc Tablet
Yeast Nutrient
DAY ONE
Mash
Strike Water = 3.0 litres per 1kg of grain = 14.0 litres at 72*C.
Mash at 60*C > 62*C for 90 minutes.
Sparge Water at 80*C
Lauter until clear then sparge until Boiler is at 30 litres. Cover Boiler and leave overnight.
DAY TWO
Preparation
Prepare Hop Bags comprising:
- 1 x 35g Styrian Goldings Leaf
- 1 x 45g Styrian Goldings Leaf.
Put out Yeast Nutrient.
Boil
Boil with 35g Styrian Goldings Bittering Hops for 60 minutes.
Add Protafloc tablet and boil for further 10 minutes.
Flameout.
Add 45g Styrian Goldings Leaf Aroma Hops and steep for 30 minutes before cooling.
Cool to 19*C, whirlpool, run off into FV, make up to 23 litres.
Take OG, add Yeast Nutrient and Yeast.
Ferment at 19*C in Brew Fridge 1 increasing to 20*C after first week.
After taking FG add:
- Hop Tea made from 20g of Styrian Goldings Leaf
- 60g of Brewing Sugar.
NOTES:
The brew will meet all style measures on BrewersFriend if "tweaked"; but with a slightly lighter colour.
Tomorrow we have a Met Office Weather Warning for thunderstorms ... abigt
... so that should make for an interesting day, sitting outside for the Boil.
Dutto
Landlord.
Well, Days One & Two were both "interesting"!
I rigged up a pipe from the Strike Water to the drain off the Mash Tun as I read somewhere on the Forum that this method prevented "dough balls". It did. The system was so good that I hardly lost any heat between the Strike Water (72*C) and the Mash (68*C)! This was an unwanted surprise because I intended to Mash at 60*C to 64*C. So that's one to put down in the memory!
This morning I started in Day Two at the ungodly hour of 0750hrs 'cos SWMBO isn't here and I'm bored!
Everything went fine until after Flameout. I introduced the Hop Bag, stirred it up a bit and stuck the immersion cooler in there ready for cooling. This leaves a small gap between the lid and the Boiler and after 20 minutes I lifted the lid to give everything a stir and discovered that a wasp had decided to commit suicide in the wort! At 84*C I don't think it will have done any harm but I decided to fish it out, wring out the Hop Bag and start cooling everything.
That was when I discovered that although the ambient temperature was down to 19*C the water coming out of the tap was still at 22*C and therefore cooling it down to the planned 19*C was not an option; so in the end I sprinkled the yeast on top of the foam created by the addition if some "cold" water and stuck it in Brew Fridge No.2 at 24*C; with no cooling available,
I left the fridge door open and intend to shut it tomorrow morning when the garage temperature is at its coolest.
The good news is that the OG came in at the predicted level of 1.036! :thumb:
I rigged up a pipe from the Strike Water to the drain off the Mash Tun as I read somewhere on the Forum that this method prevented "dough balls". It did. The system was so good that I hardly lost any heat between the Strike Water (72*C) and the Mash (68*C)! This was an unwanted surprise because I intended to Mash at 60*C to 64*C. So that's one to put down in the memory!
This morning I started in Day Two at the ungodly hour of 0750hrs 'cos SWMBO isn't here and I'm bored!
Everything went fine until after Flameout. I introduced the Hop Bag, stirred it up a bit and stuck the immersion cooler in there ready for cooling. This leaves a small gap between the lid and the Boiler and after 20 minutes I lifted the lid to give everything a stir and discovered that a wasp had decided to commit suicide in the wort! At 84*C I don't think it will have done any harm but I decided to fish it out, wring out the Hop Bag and start cooling everything.
That was when I discovered that although the ambient temperature was down to 19*C the water coming out of the tap was still at 22*C and therefore cooling it down to the planned 19*C was not an option; so in the end I sprinkled the yeast on top of the foam created by the addition if some "cold" water and stuck it in Brew Fridge No.2 at 24*C; with no cooling available,
I left the fridge door open and intend to shut it tomorrow morning when the garage temperature is at its coolest.
The good news is that the OG came in at the predicted level of 1.036! :thumb:
Dutto
Landlord.
The EPA - Ordinary Bitter is "glubbing" away nicely at 22*C.
The Dark Lager is still chucking out the odd "glub" at 22*C, which after 8 days it's to be expected.
Happiness is a "glub" in the right place! :thumb:
The Dark Lager is still chucking out the odd "glub" at 22*C, which after 8 days it's to be expected.
Happiness is a "glub" in the right place! :thumb:
Zephyr259
Landlord.
And a frothy starter.
Dutto
Landlord.
Today's updates:
English Mild Ale (previously known as Dark European Lager - Munich Dunkel):
Transferred to the Wilco Keg today with an FG of 1.013 after nineteen days in the FV so:
It tasted delicious so I'm really looking forward to this maturing by the time we put the clocks back!
Experiment using the bitter juice from Rowan Berries instead of Hops
Started two days ago, today I replaced the two Blow-Off Tubes with standard "S" Air-Locks on the two DJ's.
The garage worktop temperature (and the two DJ's) are fluctuating between 15*C and 20*C but still fermenting away nicely.
English Mild Ale (previously known as Dark European Lager - Munich Dunkel):
Transferred to the Wilco Keg today with an FG of 1.013 after nineteen days in the FV so:
- OG = 1.038
- FG = 1.013
- ABV = 3.28%
It tasted delicious so I'm really looking forward to this maturing by the time we put the clocks back!
Experiment using the bitter juice from Rowan Berries instead of Hops
Started two days ago, today I replaced the two Blow-Off Tubes with standard "S" Air-Locks on the two DJ's.
The garage worktop temperature (and the two DJ's) are fluctuating between 15*C and 20*C but still fermenting away nicely.
Experiment using the bitter juice from Rowan Berries instead of Hops
Be very careful on your quantity as I did the same thing nearly 2 years past with a handful of which I used the juice as I had steeped them in boiling water overnight and they were really tart....
Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk
Be very careful on your quantity as I did the same thing nearly 2 years past with a handful of which I used the juice as I had steeped them in boiling water overnight and they were really tart....
Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk
Dutto
Landlord.
You're preaching to the converted here!
All I did was bring them to the boil, simmer for 10 minutes, pulp them with a spoon and pass the pulp through a cafeteria.
I tasted the stuff before I stuck it in the DJ's
which is why I split the 800ml of juice into 450ml and 350ml in the two DJ's. I'm hoping that I can taste a difference; but not one so great that it puts me off drinking it!
Dutto
Landlord.
Transferred the EPA - Ordinary Bitter to 10ltr Growler & PB and 4 x 650ml bottles today.
Beautifully clear ...
... it gives statistics of:
Beautifully clear ...
... it gives statistics of:
- OG = 1.036
- FG = 1.006
- ABV = 3.94%
- Kcal per litre = 342Kcal
- Attenuation = 83%
