Hasta la homebrew baby! You are like a brewing terminator....never stopping. ..
Dutto's Brew Day
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Dutto
Landlord.
According to SWMBO it's more "You never stop drinking!" :whistle:
Dutto
Landlord.
Remember this from last Thursday?
On the Friday the fermentation had stopped again and yesterday I checked the SG and it was still at 1.022! "Bugger!" I thought and resigned myself to another long, long wait for something to happen!
It did. My brain started to work and I checked my records!
I brewed a "Low ABV Pale Ale" which is why I mashed the grain at 72 degrees. i.e. To produce non-fermentable sugars ...
... the presence of which will result in a high FG!
I actually posted this little snippet ...
"The wort tasted really sweet when I sampled the OG sample. As it's almost certainly "non fermentable sugars" (due to the high mash temperature) it bodes well for a session beer come Christmas."
I'm not sufficiently confident (stupid?) to bottle the brew but in a few days time I will have an empty 23 litre PB with a pressure relief valve so that's where this brew will finish up. Lightly primed (just in case) and left in the garage to carbonate and condition until November. :thumb:
I guess the one "Positive" from this experience is that, because I keep a record of ALL my AG Recipes and Brew Days, I can go back and check on something if it doesn't seem quite right. :thumb:
Dutto
Landlord.
Okay, everything sorted and ready for France tomorrow! :thumb:
The Wilco Pilsner with Lowicz Cherry Syrup is in the King Keg with 35g of brewing sugar because even though the FG was 1.010 it was still giving the odd "glub-glub" from the air-lock.
The remaining "SMASH with Saaz" (10 litres) has been reansferrred to mini-kegs and will be coming to France with me; along with most of the Wilco Hoppy Copper Bitter, which is now in 2 x 10 litre kegs.
Everything is washed, dried and put away for when I get back in November ... :thumb:
... and I will be taking 30 litres of beer with me.
If I supplement my drinking with the occasional litre or so of wine, I should just about manage to survive! :whistle:
The Wilco Pilsner with Lowicz Cherry Syrup is in the King Keg with 35g of brewing sugar because even though the FG was 1.010 it was still giving the odd "glub-glub" from the air-lock.
The remaining "SMASH with Saaz" (10 litres) has been reansferrred to mini-kegs and will be coming to France with me; along with most of the Wilco Hoppy Copper Bitter, which is now in 2 x 10 litre kegs.
Everything is washed, dried and put away for when I get back in November ... :thumb:
... and I will be taking 30 litres of beer with me.
If I supplement my drinking with the occasional litre or so of wine, I should just about manage to survive! :whistle:
Dutto
Landlord.
Here's the update:
1. The Low ABV Pale Ale is crap with a capital "K"! It tastes of grapefruit which is a sure-fire sign that I screwed up badly and probably pitched the yeast at much too high a temperature!
2. The Cherry Flavoured Wilco Pilsner is a real success. A lovely red colour, a genuine bite of cherry flavour and it still tastes like beer. I picked up another three bottles of Lowicz Cherry Syrup in Lidl yesterday and will brew it again for the summer.
3. The Vienna Lager that was left on the shelf to look after itself is so nice that I took a nap this afternoon after sampling 3 x 650ml bottles. It really is a superb recipe and well worth the effort; even for someone who doesn't normally like lager!
What's the saying "Two out of three ain't bad!"? :thumb: I will give the Pale Ale another couple of weeks to see if it sorts itself out but the drain is beckoning!
1. The Low ABV Pale Ale is crap with a capital "K"! It tastes of grapefruit which is a sure-fire sign that I screwed up badly and probably pitched the yeast at much too high a temperature!
2. The Cherry Flavoured Wilco Pilsner is a real success. A lovely red colour, a genuine bite of cherry flavour and it still tastes like beer. I picked up another three bottles of Lowicz Cherry Syrup in Lidl yesterday and will brew it again for the summer.
3. The Vienna Lager that was left on the shelf to look after itself is so nice that I took a nap this afternoon after sampling 3 x 650ml bottles. It really is a superb recipe and well worth the effort; even for someone who doesn't normally like lager!
What's the saying "Two out of three ain't bad!"? :thumb: I will give the Pale Ale another couple of weeks to see if it sorts itself out but the drain is beckoning!
Dutto
Landlord.
PUMPKIN ALE USING WILCO CERVEZA KIT AS A BASE
Day One
Finely sliced 3 x Pumpkins into 8 litres of water.
Added 1 x Tablespoon of Mixed Spice and 8 Cloves and boiled for two hours.
Allowed brew to cool, minced with blender and reboiled.
Day Two
Strained out most ââ¬Åbitsââ¬Â with coarse colander.
Added 1 x Tablespoon of All Spice.
Added can of malt from Wilco Cerveza kit.
Brought back to boil and allowed to cool.
Day Three
Transferred to FV.
Brought volume up to 23 litres with cold water.
Pitched yeast at 20 degrees and fermenting at same temperature.
OG was 1.030 which should give +/-3% ABV after carbonation.
MAY BE READY FOR NEW YEAR - but will be better for the cold days of late January! :thumb:
Day One
Finely sliced 3 x Pumpkins into 8 litres of water.
Added 1 x Tablespoon of Mixed Spice and 8 Cloves and boiled for two hours.
Allowed brew to cool, minced with blender and reboiled.
Day Two
Strained out most ââ¬Åbitsââ¬Â with coarse colander.
Added 1 x Tablespoon of All Spice.
Added can of malt from Wilco Cerveza kit.
Brought back to boil and allowed to cool.
Day Three
Transferred to FV.
Brought volume up to 23 litres with cold water.
Pitched yeast at 20 degrees and fermenting at same temperature.
OG was 1.030 which should give +/-3% ABV after carbonation.
MAY BE READY FOR NEW YEAR - but will be better for the cold days of late January! :thumb:
....people strive for the grapefruit pale ale!
sdt7618
Landlord.
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Do you leave the skin on?
Oh and why boil the malt after boiling the pumpkin....
I know questions questions
Dutto
Landlord.
I always leave the skin on - even when making soup!
The slurry blocked the holes in a steamer (first stage) and even had to be "spooned" through a colander to get out most of the bits; so I re-boiled the pumpkin mixture to make doubly sure that nothing nasty had been introduced during the process.
I had the malt from the Cerveza kit so it seemed a good idea to put it in before I did the re-boil.
I don't think it's really necessary though. :thumb:
Dutto
Landlord.
I've decided to call the last brew "Spiced Pumpkin Ale" on the basis that it contains a fair whack of All Spice, Mixed Spice and Cloves. It is currently sat on the shelves at between 2 to 4 degrees to condition ready for Christmas. I haven't tasted it yet because it's quite cloudy and I would like it to clear a bit before tasting.
Today I started brew Number 18 for the year. I had four pumpkins left over from the "19p a pumpkin sale" at Lidl so I decided to use it for a quick brew that should be ready sometime before the end of January next year.
I "blended" the last batch of pumpkin and struggled to separate the "liquor" for fermentation. As a result, I finished up with a 10cm section of mashed pumpkin in the bottom of the FV and only managed to recover just over 16 litres of product from a 23 litre batch! (i.e. 25 x 650ml bottles.) This time I didn't "blend" the pumpkin but spent more time and effort boiling it and straining off the liquor as I went.
As I like the golden colouring of pumpkin I decided to go for an un-spiced version using a Wilco Golden Ale kit as a base as follows:
GOLDEN PUMPKIN ALE
Day One:
Chopped up 4 x Pumpkins into 6 litres of water and boiled for two hours.
Strained liquor through colander, refilled with water and boiled for one hour.
Strained liquor through colander, refilled with water and boiled for one hour.
Strained liquor through colander and allowed it to cool in FV overnight.
Day Two:
Added can of Wilco Golden Ale malt mixed with 3 litres of boiling water.
Allowed to cool.
Brought volume up to 23 litres.
Pitched yeast at 21 degrees.
OG 1.031
The wort looked incredibly "clear" compared to the one where I blended the pumpkin so i am expecting a normal recovery rate after fermentation.
With an FG of 1.010 this should yield an ABV of about 4% after adding carbonisation sugar.
Currently waiting for the first "glub" from the Blow-Off bottle! :thumb:
Today I started brew Number 18 for the year. I had four pumpkins left over from the "19p a pumpkin sale" at Lidl so I decided to use it for a quick brew that should be ready sometime before the end of January next year.
I "blended" the last batch of pumpkin and struggled to separate the "liquor" for fermentation. As a result, I finished up with a 10cm section of mashed pumpkin in the bottom of the FV and only managed to recover just over 16 litres of product from a 23 litre batch! (i.e. 25 x 650ml bottles.) This time I didn't "blend" the pumpkin but spent more time and effort boiling it and straining off the liquor as I went.
As I like the golden colouring of pumpkin I decided to go for an un-spiced version using a Wilco Golden Ale kit as a base as follows:
GOLDEN PUMPKIN ALE
Day One:
Chopped up 4 x Pumpkins into 6 litres of water and boiled for two hours.
Strained liquor through colander, refilled with water and boiled for one hour.
Strained liquor through colander, refilled with water and boiled for one hour.
Strained liquor through colander and allowed it to cool in FV overnight.
Day Two:
Added can of Wilco Golden Ale malt mixed with 3 litres of boiling water.
Allowed to cool.
Brought volume up to 23 litres.
Pitched yeast at 21 degrees.
OG 1.031
The wort looked incredibly "clear" compared to the one where I blended the pumpkin so i am expecting a normal recovery rate after fermentation.
With an FG of 1.010 this should yield an ABV of about 4% after adding carbonisation sugar.
Currently waiting for the first "glub" from the Blow-Off bottle! :thumb:
chub1
Junior Member
Prior to both of those had you tried a pumpkin beer?
Strangely enough i picked up some cans of pumpkin puree in tesco this morning,stuck em back down again though as i have so many other beers to brew.
Dutto
Landlord.
I made a Spiced Pumpkin Ale for last Christmas (Lidl had pumpkins at 10p each back then!). The spiciness was very subdued so I put extra in this years brew.
SWMBO bought EIGHT pumpkins this year; and as only so much Pumpkin Soup can go into a freezer, only one of them went into soup.
The "pumpkin" flavour carries through to the finished beer so if you like the taste give it a go. :thumb:
SWMBO bought EIGHT pumpkins this year; and as only so much Pumpkin Soup can go into a freezer, only one of them went into soup.
The "pumpkin" flavour carries through to the finished beer so if you like the taste give it a go. :thumb:
chub1
Junior Member
Never tried a pumpkin.
Are they sweet?
Dutto
Landlord.
I try to make low ABV beers so I am looking for flavour more than anything else and don't add any extra sugar to the wort.
Pumpkins have what I consider to be an "earthy" flavour, so see if you like the taste I suggest that you try out a Pumpkin Soup which takes about an hour to make.
For soup:
o Fry a chopped onion in olive oil in a saucepan until the onion starts to brown.
o Wash the mud off a a small pumpkin, cut it into two halves, throw away the stalk and de-seed it. (* Save the seeds.)
o Chop the pumpkin into coarse chunks.
o Add the pumpkin chunks to the saucepan and add sufficient water to just cover them.
o Bring the mixture to the boil, add 2 to 4 Oxo cubes (I prefer Chicken flavour), a pinch of salt to taste (optional) & pepper and then simmer until the pumpkin skin is soft. (About 30 minutes.)
o Add a tin of coconut milk (or a small carton of ordinary UHT cream) blend the mixture into a smooth consistency and bring it back to the boil.
o Serve with crusty bread.
If you want, you can add a stick of celery to the mix, or a chillie, or a few cloves of garlic etc etc. Anything left over can always be popped into the freezer and re-heated on those cold winter days that we have been promised. :thumb:
Pumpkin is a very versatile vegetable and at 19p each (AFTER Halloween) they keep for over a month in a nice chilly garage.
(*) I fry the seeds very slowly in a bit of olive oil until light brown and then sprinkle them with a bit of salt.
Served to guests they make great "nibbles" and go well with Pumpkin Ale!
Enjoy! :thumb: :thumb:
Dutto
Landlord.
OATMEAL STOUT
Preparation
Milled 1.5kg of Maris Otter
Milled 1.0kg of Caramel
Milled 2.5kg of Crystal
Milled 0.3kg of Chocolate Malt
Toasted 1.0kg of Rolled Oats
Prepared 1 x 50g EKG Bittering Hops & 1 x 25g bags of EKG Aroma Hops
Put out 1 x Protafloc Tablet
Put out Yeast Nutrient & Packet of Wilco (Gervin) Yeast.
Mash & Sparge
Strike Water = 16.5 litres at 80 degrees
Mashed at 68 falling to 65 degrees after one hour
Heated SPARGE water to 80 degrees.
After one hour lautered Mash until clear.
Batch Sparged:
o 1st Run 1.080
o 2nd Run 1.040
0 3rd Run 1.020
Stopped sparge when boil kettle at 30 litres.
Boil
Ran out of gas when wort at 80 degrees. (One and a half hour delayuntil new bottle fitted!)
Boiled with 50g of EKG Bittering Hops in bag for 60 minutes.
Added Protafloc tablet and boiled for 10 minutes.
Added 25g of EKG Aroma Hops in bag at Flameout and steeped for 10 minutes (stirring occasionally).
Cooled to 20 degrees and whirlpooled.
Ran off into FV and added 1tsp of Yeast Nutrient.
Topped up to 23 litres with 3 litres of cold water.
Pitched yeast at 19 degrees.
Fermenting at 20 degrees.
From Brewers Friend (Ticks all boxes for UK Oatmeal Stout)
OG = 1.056 FG = 1.016 ABV = 5.26% IBU = 31.58 SRM = 24.93
Reality
OG = 1.060
The higher than expected OG is hopefully caused by non-fermentable sugars. The wort tasted sweet and an OG of 1.060 fermented down to 1.016 will give an ABV of 5.78%, which is pretty much on my planned upper limit for any brew.
As usual "Here's hoping!" :lol:
Preparation
Milled 1.5kg of Maris Otter
Milled 1.0kg of Caramel
Milled 2.5kg of Crystal
Milled 0.3kg of Chocolate Malt
Toasted 1.0kg of Rolled Oats
Prepared 1 x 50g EKG Bittering Hops & 1 x 25g bags of EKG Aroma Hops
Put out 1 x Protafloc Tablet
Put out Yeast Nutrient & Packet of Wilco (Gervin) Yeast.
Mash & Sparge
Strike Water = 16.5 litres at 80 degrees
Mashed at 68 falling to 65 degrees after one hour
Heated SPARGE water to 80 degrees.
After one hour lautered Mash until clear.
Batch Sparged:
o 1st Run 1.080
o 2nd Run 1.040
0 3rd Run 1.020
Stopped sparge when boil kettle at 30 litres.
Boil
Ran out of gas when wort at 80 degrees.
(One and a half hour delayuntil new bottle fitted!)Boiled with 50g of EKG Bittering Hops in bag for 60 minutes.
Added Protafloc tablet and boiled for 10 minutes.
Added 25g of EKG Aroma Hops in bag at Flameout and steeped for 10 minutes (stirring occasionally).
Cooled to 20 degrees and whirlpooled.
Ran off into FV and added 1tsp of Yeast Nutrient.
Topped up to 23 litres with 3 litres of cold water.
Pitched yeast at 19 degrees.
Fermenting at 20 degrees.
From Brewers Friend (Ticks all boxes for UK Oatmeal Stout)
OG = 1.056 FG = 1.016 ABV = 5.26% IBU = 31.58 SRM = 24.93
Reality
OG = 1.060
The higher than expected OG is hopefully caused by non-fermentable sugars. The wort tasted sweet and an OG of 1.060 fermented down to 1.016 will give an ABV of 5.78%, which is pretty much on my planned upper limit for any brew.
As usual "Here's hoping!" :lol:
Dutto
Landlord.
Glubbing away nicely this morning! (It's on the worktop with a heat-pad controlled by the Inkbird that I won in the summer!) :thumb:
Dutto
Landlord.
Beer and lager drinking visitors are due tomorrow and staying a week so the Golden Pumpkin Ale was transferred to a Keg and placed in a warm fridge on the 22nd (a day earlier than normal) with 50g of Brewing Sugar.
Testa a day later showed signs of carbonation (and proved that the keg wasn't leaking) and after six days I cold crashed it for three days at 6 degrees and moved it on to the shelf to clear and condition.
It tasted fine after cold crashing so I'm hopeful it may clear enough to be palatable before our visitors leave. Here's hoping! :thumb:
The Spiced Pumpkin Ale is clearing okay but still has the predominant (but getting better) medicinal taste of cloves. As a "Winter Warmer" I'm sure that it will be fine by the middle of the month.
The Oatmeal Stout? Bugger!
I checked it on the 29th expecting it to be ready for bottling and discovered that it was stuck at 1.024. As a "sweet" Oatmeal Stout the Brewers Friend Recipe had predicted an FG of 1.016 but at 1.024 I decided to do the usual. i.e. "Beat it as if it owed me money." and chuck in a packet of Wilco Ale Yeast for good measure.
Sure enough, by the time I had finished tidying up the garage and lifting the Golden Ale out on to the shelf to condition it was "glubbing" away again. :thumb:
I'll leave it for another couple of weeks before checking the SG. (I plan to store it in capped bottles and definitely don't want it to be over-carbonated.)
During 2017 ...
o I brewed 17 x 23 litres of beer or lager.
o About 50:50 AG and Kit.
o A couple of stuck brews (one of which was probably kegged early).
o No infections. (Thank-you Lord!)
... and almost all of it consumed by yours truly! (An average of one litre per day is within the guidelines set me by a Consultant Urologist last year!) :thumb:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Testa a day later showed signs of carbonation (and proved that the keg wasn't leaking) and after six days I cold crashed it for three days at 6 degrees and moved it on to the shelf to clear and condition.
It tasted fine after cold crashing so I'm hopeful it may clear enough to be palatable before our visitors leave. Here's hoping! :thumb:
The Spiced Pumpkin Ale is clearing okay but still has the predominant (but getting better) medicinal taste of cloves. As a "Winter Warmer" I'm sure that it will be fine by the middle of the month.
The Oatmeal Stout? Bugger!
I checked it on the 29th expecting it to be ready for bottling and discovered that it was stuck at 1.024. As a "sweet" Oatmeal Stout the Brewers Friend Recipe had predicted an FG of 1.016 but at 1.024 I decided to do the usual. i.e. "Beat it as if it owed me money." and chuck in a packet of Wilco Ale Yeast for good measure.
Sure enough, by the time I had finished tidying up the garage and lifting the Golden Ale out on to the shelf to condition it was "glubbing" away again. :thumb:
I'll leave it for another couple of weeks before checking the SG. (I plan to store it in capped bottles and definitely don't want it to be over-carbonated.)
During 2017 ...
o I brewed 17 x 23 litres of beer or lager.
o About 50:50 AG and Kit.
o A couple of stuck brews (one of which was probably kegged early).
o No infections. (Thank-you Lord!)
... and almost all of it consumed by yours truly! (An average of one litre per day is within the guidelines set me by a Consultant Urologist last year!) :thumb:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Happy New Year Dutto, and welcome back:thumb:Beer and lager drinking visitors are due tomorrow and staying a week so the Golden Pumpkin Ale was transferred to a Keg and placed in a warm fridge on the 22nd (a day earlier than normal) with 50g of Brewing Sugar.
Testa a day later showed signs of carbonation (and proved that the keg wasn't leaking) and after six days I cold crashed it for three days at 6 degrees and moved it on to the shelf to clear and condition.
It tasted fine after cold crashing so I'm hopeful it may clear enough to be palatable before our visitors leave. Here's hoping! :thumb:
The Spiced Pumpkin Ale is clearing okay but still has the predominant (but getting better) medicinal taste of cloves. As a "Winter Warmer" I'm sure that it will be fine by the middle of the month.
The Oatmeal Stout? Bugger!
I checked it on the 29th expecting it to be ready for bottling and discovered that it was stuck at 1.024. As a "sweet" Oatmeal Stout the Brewers Friend Recipe had predicted an FG of 1.016 but at 1.024 I decided to do the usual. i.e. "Beat it as if it owed me money." and chuck in a packet of Wilco Ale Yeast for good measure.
Sure enough, by the time I had finished tidying up the garage and lifting the Golden Ale out on to the shelf to condition it was "glubbing" away again. :thumb:
I'll leave it for another couple of weeks before checking the SG. (I plan to store it in capped bottles and definitely don't want it to be over-carbonated.)
During 2017 ...
o I brewed 17 x 23 litres of beer or lager.
o About 50:50 AG and Kit.
o A couple of stuck brews (one of which was probably kegged early).
o No infections. (Thank-you Lord!)
... and almost all of it consumed by yours truly! (An average of one litre per day is within the guidelines set me by a Consultant Urologist last year!) :thumb:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Oneflewover
Landlord.
Happy new year. Good to see you back.
