Dutto's Brew Day

[Dutto]

Well, that's me back. Two great games and the usual heartbreak for the losers.

Next stop is the ProBowl next Sunday and then SuperBowl 51 on 5th February.

The usual problem when anything is played live from the US (especially west of New York) is that neither game will finish until it's well into Monday!

Enjoy if you are a fan. :thumb:

 

[Dutto]

What size brew was it because with that size grain bill and guessing 23l brew day, there is no way you would have hit 1.031. I guess brewers friend cocked up.

It's a 23 litre brew and I'm using Wilco Ale Yeast; which I think is actually Gervin 12. Up until now it has always managed to drag the wort down to at least 1.012 so it may hit 1.010. Brewers Friend predicted an FG of 1.006 using the Gervin 12 yeast with an attenuation of 77%.

I must admit, when I saw the grain bill "in the flesh" so to speak, I was amazed that it was supposed to produce an ABV under 4%.

Up until now I have only brewed AG with Fulstow Kits and there was definitely a lot more grain in today's brew than I'm used to seeing for +/-4%.

Definitely a "suck it and see" brew! On the plus side, I always taste the wort after doing the OG and this batch tasted lovely. Sweet and with the muted bitterness you'd expect from EKG! :thumb:

 

[Dutto]

What yeast did you use. To hit an FG of 1.010 it would have to hit 85% attenuation

I got impatient so I checked the SG, tasted it (superb) and bottled the Bitter one day early!

With an OG 1.070 and FG 1.010 the ABV calculator gives an ABV of just under 8%; and that's without the extra 0.5% for carbonation!

I was going to put it in MKs but after seeing the ABV I decided on 650ml flip-tops on the basis that it will need to be treated with a lot of respect! :thumb:

BTW the hydrometer is the "weird" one from Wilco that requires the SG to be read from the top of the meniscus and not the liquid level.

 

[MyQul]

BTW the hydrometer is the "weird" one from Wilco that requires the SG to be read from the top of the meniscus and not the liquid level.

Is that what it says on the instructions on how to use it? I have a wilko hydrometer but never read the instuctions that came with it. I assumed it was like other hydrometers and have always read from the liquid level

 

[Dutto]

Is that what it says on the instructions on how to use it? I have a wilko hydrometer but never read the instuctions that came with it. I assumed it was like other hydrometers and have always read from the liquid level

Absolutely! It overturned everything I had learned from school back in the 60's!

 

[Redron]

Meniscus, lovely word....

 

[Dutto]

What I like to see, a fridge full of carbonating beer! :thumb:

Only four weeks to go and then I can try it out! :lol:

 

[MyQul]

Absolutely! It overturned everything I had learned from school back in the 60's!

I wonder if it's bollards and they've got it wrong?

 

[Bigcol49]

Well, that's me back. Two great games and the usual heartbreak for the losers.

Hi!
Can't watch live - no SKY and always working on Sunday evening.

Watched the BBC2 highlights - gutted that the Steelers lost; I don't think I've seen them play so badly.

 

[Dutto]

Hi!
Can't watch live - no SKY and always working on Sunday evening.

Watched the BBC2 highlights - gutted that the Steelers lost; I don't think I've seen them play so badly.

I subscribe to GamePass so I watch via the Internet. I don't think £129 a year is all that expensive because I can watch almost every game live as it's happening (including SuperBowl) and then 24 hours later they provide a recording of all the games in full, or a condensed version of the games that just show the plays that accounted for the 60 minutes.

https://gamepass.nfl.com/nflgp/secure/schedule

Wouldn't touch Sky with a long pole on the basis that I loathe Murdoch and also what Sky has done; making us pay to watch UK sport that we used to watch for free 99% of the time! (Hope no-one tells me that Murdoch owns GamePass!) :nono: :nono:

I too despaired of the Steelers in the Championship round; but as all my other favoured teams fell by the wayside (starting with The Texans in the Divisional Round) I guess I wasn't surprised.

 

[Dutto]

I wonder if it's bollards and they've got it wrong?

Checked it on water and that's the way they do it nowadays!

Maybe 'cos modern education means that kids can't even spell "meniscus" never mind understand what one is! :lol: :lol:

 

[Razor]

Hi!
Can't watch live - no SKY and always working on Sunday evening.

Watched the BBC2 highlights - gutted that the Steelers lost; I don't think I've seen them play so badly.

Could you record off of bbc2 on Sunday night?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dutto]

Went out to the garage and decided that to get to the Barley Wine was too complicated as it involved moving dozens of bits of kit; so I decided to do a Light Ale to this recipe:

INGREDIENTS
5.50kg of Maris Otter Malt
0.25kg of Cara Malt
0.25kg of Crystal Malt
25g EKG Leaf
50g Styrian Goldings Leaf
Wilco Ale Yeast
Protafloc Tablet

PREPARATION
Rehydrate yeast.
Mill 5.50kg of Maris Otter.
Mill 0.75kg of Cara Malt
Mill 0.75kg of Crystal Malt
Prepare 1 x 25g EKG Bittering Hops
Prepare 1 x 25g Styrian Goldings Bittering Hops
Prepare 1 x 25g Styrian Goldings Aroma Hops.
Put out 1 x Protafloc Tablet.

MASH METHOD
Strike Water = 2.5 litres per 1kg of grain = 17.5 litres at 85 degrees
Mash at 70 to 75 degrees for one hour - DO NOT exceed 75 degrees.
Run off wort and circulate using TWO vessels until wort runs CLEAR.
Heat SPARGE water to 80 degrees.
Sparge at one litre per minute. Stop sparge when runnings reach SG1.008 / SG1.012.
Overfill boil kettle so that there is no need to add more water later.

BOIL METHOD
Boil with 25g of EKG Bittering Hops for 60 minutes.
Add 25g of Styrian Bittering Hops at 30 minutes
Add Protafloc tablet and boil for 10 minutes.
Add 25g of Styrian Aroma Hops for 5 minutes.
Cool to 20 degrees and run off into FV.
Pitch yeast and ferment at 20 degrees.

The Hop Dropper worked a treat and it all went to plan ...

... apart from the OG which came in a 1.061.

If this brew ferments out to 1.010 like the last one then I will have an ABV of 6.7%; which is way higher than I wanted.

I think I will give up on Brewers Friend as a Planning Tool because with the same recipe it gives me an ABV of 2.9% which is where I wanted it.

Not to worry, another brew to bottle and treat with respect! :thumb:

 

[wfr42]

Are you using brewer's friend on a PC on tablet/mobile?
I found the later problematic previously although it appears to have been updated.

From my limited experience, I have found 1kg of (crushed) grain adds about 1% abv so was expecting your SG to be around what you saw...

That is quite a high mash temperature and large amount (10% of each) of crystal/cara so you may have more unfermentable sugars and a higher FG than expected....

Having inputed your recipe in lbs and then switching to metric I get similar to what you say brewer's friend is telling you. Although the values have changed to their metric equivalents.

You can look if you have saved either of your recipes because it shouldn't be that far out (let alone twice in a row).

 

[Dutto]

Thanks for that.

Just checked Brewers Friend and still all the same as before!

It's no big deal in a way because we will be away for April - June so I need a few bottles of high ABV to sit on the shelves while we are away!

With regard to the unfermentable sugars, that's why I tend to brew at higher temperatures. I quite like a sweet, low ABV beer so "One out of Two" ain't bad! :lol: :lol:

I'm still at the "suck it and see" stage of Own Recipe AG (I've used kits so far) so it's all good experience. :thumb:

 

[cheapbrew]

Why don't you just liqour it back to where you want it and have more beer to boot?

 

[Dutto]

Why don't you just liqour it back to where you want it and have more beer to boot?

Great idea but not feasible I'm afraid.

I'm not "banned" from bringing brewing stuff into the house but it's not welcomed with open arms either! :whistle:

I have limited fermenting options at the moment! The Brew Fridge is full of beer being conditioned, the Immersion Heater committed suicide about a month ago and it's too cold to ferment on the work-top in the garage at this time of the year! So all I have is the Heating Pad controlled by the Inkbird.

Not to worry. It tasted great when I did the OG so I have no doubt that it will disappear before it goes off! :thumb:

 

[cheapbrew]

Adding water is not feasible, why, no room in FV?

 

[Dutto]

Adding water is not feasible, why, no room in FV?

The OG was taken with the brew already at the "23 and a bit litre" mark in a 25 litre FV.

There's not much room for a krausen and the photo is of the last brew.

I didn't mind too much. It was in the fridge and the next stop for any overflow is the floor but the FV is currently on the work-top and if I get an overflow it can go almost anywhere ...

... and Sod's Law says it won't go anywhere nice!

 

[Dutto]

It's time to brew a Mild Ale for (hopefully) the tail end of Winter; so here's the recipe for tomorrow's Brew Day:

MILD ALE for a 23 litre brew:

2.50kg Maris Otter Malt
0.20kg Chocolate Malt
0.25kg Caramel Malt
0.25kg Crystal Malt
50g EKG Whole Leaf (60 mins)
25g Perle Whole Leaf (5 mins)
Wilco Ale Yeast
15g EKG Whole Leaf for Hop Tea (added after fermentation)

I'm hoping that this recipe will produce a relatively dark beer, an ABV of +/-3.5% with a mild chocolate flavour.

(After the disastrous "black chocolate" taste of last year's Barley Wine I hope that I am now treating the Chocolate Malt with sufficient respect!)

All comments welcome. :thumb: