Hazelwood’s Brewday Part 2

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I’m busy trying to empty a couple of kegs so I can brew some more beer/lager but they are clinging on. They’ll probably both go at the same time.

I hope you have more than two kegs!

 

[Twostage]

I hope you have more than two kegs!

Three.

 

[Twostage]

Three.

I also did an assessment of my conditioning shelving today and decided I could re-arrange and make space for a couple more brews.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I’m about to start planning the project I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Here’s a clue…

 

[Rodcx500z]

Some kind of new chilling system

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Some kind of new chilling system

It is Rod . This is the uprated chiller I will be using. My current (small) one is good but starts to struggle when the temperature is around 30. I also want three temperature controlled zones; one for fermenting, one for my ales at cellar temps, and one for cold beers and conditioning at fridge temps - will also chill the taps and pipes to minimise foaming.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Now that’s sounds really good

 

[Leon103]

It is Rod . This is the uprated chiller I will be using. My current (small) one is good but starts to struggle when the temperature is around 30. I also want three temperature controlled zones; one for fermenting, one for my ales at cellar temps, and one for cold beers and conditioning at fridge temps - will also chill the taps and pipes to minimise foaming.

So it struggles 3 days of the year

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

So it struggles 3 days of the year

The chiller manages to keep my brewshed at 13-14C and in the cooler months the ice bank has capacity to also chill selected beers.

In the warmer months the cooling fan is running more frequently and the ice bath starts to warm. The net result is beers that should be chilled are not much cooler than my ales. It’s really this issue that I’m looking to overcome. We may not get 30 degree heat every day but on those days we do you really want a properly cold drink.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I had a busy day today attending a couple of tap rooms and forgot to post that I kegged a couple of beers. First was a Czech Lager and then I kegged that bitter I want to serve cask-like.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I tested that chiller and found it had a leak. D’oh! I drained it and inspected the drain coupling which is in the area of the leak. It looked ok but had no thread tape so when I reassembled it I added PTFE thread tape. I started my follow-up test with an inch of water and all was fine, topped up the water bath to just below the overflow and again fine, then topped up again until water came out of the overflow. Still dry. I’m hoping a bit of thread tape has fixed the leak and now I have the cooler switched on again to continue testing.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

An update on a couple of things here.

The chiller checked out fine after I’d put a few turns of thread tape on the drain fitting so I’m now in the process of designing the re-fit of the brew shed. I’ll post some pictures on this as I complete the work.

The other thing to update on is the cask version of my bitter (in the King Keg). I haven’t yet done the work to fit the keg to my taps so for now I’m just pouring a glass direct from the King Keg which is in my garage. The beer isn’t clear yet so has a little more conditioning to do but is already one of the most exciting beers I’ve brewed since I developed my Pirate Pale.

 

[Buffers brewery]

But what does it taste like @Hazelwood Brewery ? And what happened to the NEIPA that was on your schedule? I was hoping to pick up some tips.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

But what does it taste like @Hazelwood Brewery ? And what happened to the NEIPA that was on your schedule? I was hoping to pick up some tips.

I’ve moved on to port now so I’ll return to the taste tomorrow. The NEIPA is still on my list for my next batch of brews so should only be a few days.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Prompted by @Buffers brewery I’ve put together a recipe for a NEIPA that I’ll brew Saturday, probably.

I gave it the name Afterglow and after building the recipe I did a Google search to see if any other beers carried the same name. The first hit was a NEIPA called Afterglow from the Mad Squirrel Brewery! Just proves there’s nothing new in the world . Anyway, I’ll only be brewing this for myself so I’m going to keep the name but please note this is not a clone, my use of the same name is entirely coincidental.

Anyway, on to the recipe. This is my initial version of this brew so it may need a little (or a lot!) of refinement. You’ll find my recipe sheet here…

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/media/afterglow.975/full

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

The things we’re looking for in a NEIPA is quite a strong beer with a fruity flavour, juicy character, soft body/mouthfeel, fairly low bitterness, and will be slightly sweet from the low bitterness. NEIPAs are also often quite hazy to emphasise the juicy, fruity character.

I started with water and in keeping with the principles for brewing a NEIPA I’ve built a chloride rich profile. This gives a softer fuller mouthfeel and accentuates the sweet malt. I’ve also added a little campden and lactic acid because I’m using quite a high proportion of tap water with high alkalinity.

The grist comprises basic Pilsner malt, a little Vienna, and a blend of golden naked oats and regular malted oats. The oats give a little body and proteins that promote head formation and a hazy appearance. Golden naked oats add a little nutty breakfast cereal flavour but also add colour so I’ve blended them with regular malted oats.

The hops I’m using in this brew have all been given to me as prizes in competitions and I’m just using them up. BRU-1 is supposed to have a pineapple flavour and improve haze stability, Idaho-7 are supposed to have a tropical fruit flavour, and Vista are supposed to have tropical, tangerine, melon and pear flavours. I’m also using Citra in a keg hop and I’ll be using Magnum in the mash. The mash hop addition is intended to “complex” metal ions in the mash and reduce the likelihood of oxidation in the packaged product. I forgot to write it on the recipe sheet but I will also add a couple of grams of ascorbic acid to the keg too to scavenge oxygen from the packaged beer.

The yeast I’ll be using is WHC Labs Saturated, again a prize from competitions although it does seem appropriate as a NEIPA yeast.

Questions and comments welcome. Otherwise, wish me luck!

 

[Buffers brewery]

Interesting recipe. I'm not brave enough or experienced enough to construct my own recipe and rely on Greg Hughes' recipe. Main difference (apart from hop selection) seems to be you have a hop addition during the boiler whereas GH's recipe has no hops until flame out. And a significant quantity (250gm) of dry hop.
I'll be watching with interest

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Interesting recipe. I'm not brave enough or experienced enough to construct my own recipe and rely on Greg Hughes' recipe. Main difference (apart from hop selection) seems to be you have a hop addition during the boiler whereas GH's recipe has no hops until flame out. And a significant quantity (250gm) of dry hop.
I'll be watching with interest

I get as much pleasure from crafting a recipe as I do brewing one, maybe more.

 

[Twostage]

The things we’re looking for in a NEIPA is quite a strong beer with a fruity flavour, juicy character, soft body/mouthfeel, fairly low bitterness, and will be slightly sweet from the low bitterness. NEIPAs are also often quite hazy to emphasise the juicy, fruity character.

I started with water and in keeping with the principles for brewing a NEIPA I’ve built a chloride rich profile. This gives a softer fuller mouthfeel and accentuates the sweet malt. I’ve also added a little campden and lactic acid because I’m using quite a high proportion of tap water with high alkalinity.

The grist comprises basic Pilsner malt, a little Vienna, and a blend of golden naked oats and regular malted oats. The oats give a little body and proteins that promote head formation and a hazy appearance. Golden naked oats add a little nutty breakfast cereal flavour but also add colour so I’ve blended them with regular malted oats.

The hops I’m using in this brew have all been given to me as prizes in competitions and I’m just using them up. BRU-1 is supposed to have a pineapple flavour and improve haze stability, Idaho-7 are supposed to have a tropical fruit flavour, and Vista are supposed to have tropical, tangerine, melon and pear flavours. I’m also using Citra in a keg hop and I’ll be using Magnum in the mash. The mash hop addition is intended to “complex” metal ions in the mash and reduce the likelihood of oxidation in the packaged product. I forgot to write it on the recipe sheet but I will also add a couple of grams of ascorbic acid to the keg too to scavenge oxygen from the packaged beer.

The yeast I’ll be using is WHC Labs Saturated, again a prize from competitions although it does seem appropriate as a NEIPA yeast.

Questions and comments welcome. Otherwise, wish me luck!

I'm worrying about the citra.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I'm worrying about the citra.

. What’s your beef with Citra?