Dutto's Brew Day

[Dutto]

I decided I had to get back into brewing again so decided on a simple SMASH with Maris Otter and Saaz Hops.

This was the original recipe and method:
INGREDIENTS
4.5kg Maris Otter Malt
50g Saaz Leaf Hops
Muntons Beer Yeast
Yeast Nutrient
PREPARATION
Mill 4.5kg of Maris Otter Malt
Prepare 1 x 25g and 1 x 25g Saaz Hop Leaf
Put out 1 x Protafloc Tablet
Put out Muntons Beer Yeast
Put out Yeast Nutrient
MASH METHOD
Strike Water = 2.8 litres per 1kg of grain = 13 litres at 68 degrees
Mash at 60 to 62 degrees for one hour.
Run off wort and circulate using TWO vessels until wort runs CLEAR.
Heat SPARGE water to 68 degrees.
Sparge at one litre per minute. Stop sparge when runnings reach SG1.008 / SG1.012.
Overfill boil kettle to 27 litres so that there is no need to add more water later.
BOIL METHOD
Boil with 25g of Saaz Bittering Hop Leaf for 60 minutes.
Add Protafloc tablet and boil for 10 minutes.
Add 25g of Saaz Hop Leaf and boil for 5 minutes.
Flame Out
Leave the Saaz Hop Leaf to steep for 30 minutes (stir occasionally).
Cool to 20 degrees, whirlpool and run off into FV.
Take OG.
Add 1tsp of Yeast Nutrient.
Pitch yeast and ferment at 20 degrees for two weeks in FV in fridge.
Take FG.
Add 80g of sugar and Hop Tea (see Note) before bottling. (Destined for King Keg PB.)
DETAILS
OG = 1.034
FG =
ABV =
NOTES
For Hop Tea Steep 15g of Saaz Hop Leaf for 15 minutes in 250ml of boiling water.


So, what's the saying? The best laid plans of mice and men?

First thing I did was to leave the valve open on the Mash Tun when I ran hot water into it as a pre-heat! It pre-heated the garage carpet a treat!

Everything else was spot-on until I tried out my new "back saving device" and humped the Mash Tun on to the little wheeled carrier I bought from Lidl's last week.

I pulled it along for all of 5cm before it decided to go sideways away from the garage and tipple over on to the gravel. BUGGER! With only having a length of string attached I couldn't control it. (It now has a rigid handle! :thumb:)

Anyway, I grabbed the Mash Tun, turned it upright and tried to rescue as much of the Maris Otter as I could.

I guess the rescue operation wasn't too bad (even though a few lumps of gravel were included in the recovered grain) and by the time it hit the FV the OG turned out to be a fairly respectable 1.034 which (hopefully) will translate to an ABV of 3.15%.

Daft as it sounds, I was hoping for a lower ABV than other SMASH efforts and I had already reduced the amount of Maris Otter from 5.0kg to 4.5kg!

A new innovation for this SMASH is the increase and steeping of the aroma hops. For previous brews I used less aroma hops and didn't steep them after "flame-out" so I'm looking forward to how this one turns out. :thumb:

Back to the grind tomorrow (hopefully) for a SMASH with Maris Otter and EKG. :thumb:

 

[Manxnorton]

Really interesting and your speeding the grains is something I've looked on the clone brew book m..the speciality grains infant..
But it's Bri...n I'm not too clever but once I see how steeping with improve my brews I'm all ova it!!!
Great thread my m8.
Bri

 

[Dutto]

Used the same SMASH recipe today to do a SMASH with EKG's.

Slight variations are:

1. I didn't spill the Mash all over the gravel. :thumb:

2. I only steeped the EKG for 10 minutes after Flame-Out on the basis that the aroma from the EKG was very strong.

The OG came in at 1.043 which should give an ABV of about 4.33%; an ideal summer drink. :thumb:

I finally got round to making a "Three Tier System" instead of humping stuff around. I now do water heating, mashing, sparging, boiling and cooling in situ so the only stuff I need to move is the boiler (after the wort has been cooled) and the FV full of wort and ready to pitch the yeast.

I should have done it ages ago but just never got around to it.

 

[Ajhutch]

What does that message on the HLT say? Do not something until here but I can't quite tell

 

[Dutto]

What does that message on the HLT say? Do not something until here but I can't quite tell

It says

------ "DO NOT SWITCH ON UNTIL THE LEVEL GETS TO HERE" -----​

On first use, I plugged it in and automatically switched the socket on; and about 5 seconds later, the smell reminded me that I hadn't filled the old FV with water!

Luckily, the element survived to fight another day! :thumb:

 

[Ajhutch]

It says

------ "DO NOT SWITCH ON UNTIL THE LEVEL GETS TO HERE" -----​

On first use, I plugged it in and automatically switched the socket on; and about 5 seconds later, the smell reminded me that I hadn't filled the old FV with water!

Luckily, the element survived to fight another day! :thumb:

Gotcha, excellent idea

 

[Dutto]

Gotcha, excellent idea

Only until I forget another time!

 

[Gerryjo]

What does that message on the HLT say? Do not something until here but I can't quite tell

Well spotted 👍

Gerry

 

[Dutto]

I have now finished off the last litre of Vienna Lager Batch One (the one that was Cold Crashed for a week at one degree AFTER carbonation.

I am now drinking the first litre of Vienna Lager Batch Two (the batch that was lagered at six degrees for ten weeks and then carbonated, four weeks ago.

They both taste superb ... :thumb:

... but, to my mind, the only discernible difference between the two batches is that Batch Two is very slightly more bitter; and this may be due to the fact that is has only been conditioning for a few weeks after carbonation.

This very slight difference between the two lagers means that in future I won't bother lagering for weeks on end because it increases the waiting time and at the same time leaves the brew open to infection.

However, I will:

o Try Cold Crashing at one degree for a week before AND after carbonation to see if that makes a difference.

o Retain the 10 weeks conditioning time on the shelf.

Here's a photograph of Batch One ...



... and here's Batch Two ...

 

[The Idiot]

You need a bigger glass.

 

[Dutto]

Don't you start! :lol:

I had a beautiful 800ml sized one that could take a full 650ml bottle with head ... :thumb:

... until SWMBO broke it.



I brandish the replacement every time it's empty and she walks past ... :thumb:

... but I daren't ask her to re-fill it in case it becomes her "Weapon of Choice"! :whistle:

 

[pvt_ak]

I really like the idea of this Lager, sounds and looks scrumptious !!
But it takes up so much time in the brew fridge and I’m wanting to crank out at speed at the minute ! (I said crank)...

Mmmm.... a second brew fridge maybe ?


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[Clint]

...pseudo lager......

 

[Dutto]

...pseudo lager......

Nope! :nono::nono:

Sorry, but my brew fulfilled all the criteria for a Vienna Lager as defined by the Beer Judge Certification Programme, guidelines ...

https://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php

... and who am I to go against any organisation with such an illustrious name? :whistle: :whistle:

 

[Clint]

Not you...for those who can't free up the fridge weeks on end...to lager...make a fake one...as I am..I hope! It tastes great but has woken up again after being raised from 14 to 20...but the fg hasn't changed for 2 days so may bottle tomorrow. ....

 

[Dutto]

I really like the idea of this Lager, sounds and looks scrumptious !!
But it takes up so much time in the brew fridge and I’m wanting to crank out at speed at the minute ! (I said crank)...

Mmmm.... a second brew fridge maybe ?

I like the idea of a second brew fridge (who wouldn't?), but at this time of the year the only time I would have to use my fridge would be for the one week Cold Crash down to one degree.

For me, the rest of the time it would just ferment and carbonate on the work-top. :thumb:

 

[Clint]

...do you always cold crash?

 

[Dutto]

...do you always cold crash?

I don't even brew Lager normally! :lol:

Last years I stepped away from my "norm" and brewed a lager to leave for 12 weeks in the fridge whilst we were away in France.

The result brew was so different from the gnat's pee that they sell as lager in my local pubs that I thought I would try it again for this summer.

I had some spare grain so I searched for a lager that would fit what I had available and discovered Vienna Lager on the BJCP site.

At the same time, someone on the Forum posted an article whereby another person had suggested that Cold Crashing a lager for a week at one degree resulted in the same taste as lagering the same brew at a low temperature for a much longer period.

I was in an ideal position to try both ways so "Bingo"!

Batch One was Cold Crashed at one degree for only five days, after carbonation, and then conditioned at ambient temperatures for 12 weeks.

Batch Two was lagered for ten weeks at six degrees and then kegged and carbonated/conditioned for four weeks.

As both batches tasted near enough the same, I just don't think it's worth the effort, money or risk to leave a lager conditioning for 10-12 weeks when I can get the same results a week; plus conditioning.

So, in the future I will Cold Crash my lagers for a week at one degree and then leave them to condition on the shelf for a minimum of ten weeks before drinking. :thumb:

 

[pvt_ak]

...pseudo lager......

Interesting. What how etc ?


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[Clint]

Someone might posts a link to my have a go thread or something. ...