Hazelwood Brewday

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Today’s update.

More Kingspan - Boooo! Nearly finished now though, just a couple of ceiling panels.

Far more interesting, I’ve fitted the taps!

 

[Clint]

Viz zees pictures you are spoiling us Mr. H..
So you got 12 king kegs...and now...6 taps...so you could have up to 18 beers on tap!!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Viz zees pictures you are spoiling us Mr. H..
So you got 12 king kegs...and now...6 taps...so you could have up to 18 beers on tap!!

Only 11 kegs - but still a good selection

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I’m treading water a little now because the next job is to line the inside of the shed with ply and it’s not arriving until Tuesday.

I’ve brought in the cooler and been thinking through the layout of all the pipes and whatnot. This is the cooler in place. Once plumbed-in it will sit in a box inside the shed - similar to the “box” in a freezer that houses the compressor.

Because I’m not doing much on the project at the moment, here’s a bit more of a description of the cooler for people that don’t yet know much about these.

This is what they look like under the cover. This picture is of someone else reconditioning a similar unit. You can see the round-shaped compressor on the left. The whole of the right-hand side is filled with water (or glycol for lower temperatures - to minus 30!). The outer ring of pipes is the freezer coolant that chills the water/glycol. The inner rings are the “product” coils that the beer flows through for cooling - the pipes sticking out the front are the start and end of these coils and there can be several. Mine has four, 2 6-metre long and 2 3-metre long coils. Not shown here is a pump that sits in the middle that pumps the cold water/glycol out of a pipe on the front and back in via another pipe. It’s this “recirculation” circuit that will cool my fermenter/shed/python.

This is a picture of the front on my model. You can see the “in” and “out” for each of the 4 “product” coils and the two that point up are the recirculation out/in.

 

[DocAnna]

Crikey that's complicated , trust me it's simpler to keep things cool in Scotland, the chiller for brewing is highly technical - you open the window!

Anna

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Crikey that's complicated , trust me it's simpler to keep things cool in Scotland, the chiller for brewing is highly technical - you open the window!

Anna

I guess it is complicated at first but with a bit of exposure (and after asking a few questions or watching a few video-clips) it all starts to make sense. In this case the cooler is exactly the same as your domestic freezer but the cooling coils are used to chill a water bath that coils are immersed in and beer is passed through.

 

[Clint]

So..you are going to send beer through the maxi? From king keg of cornie? I thought you was making your beer storage into a fully controlled environment?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

So..you are going to send beer through the maxi? From king keg of cornie? I thought you was making your beer storage into a fully controlled environment?

The cooler will keep the shed cool so all my kegs will be cool as a result. Four of the cornys will go through the cooler and will be further chilled. So... 2 cornys at about 0 degrees, 2 cornys at about 7 degrees, 2 cornys at 14 degrees, and 8 or 10 kegs at 14 degrees (but lower pressure).

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Got a bit further today with wiring up and plumbing in the coolant system. All working to spec. so once I’ve got the heat exchangers fitted I’l be able to run it all up. Just started on building the python but ran out of pipe so will have to order some more before I can finish that.

...and a closer look...

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I said I would post my competition scores with recipes and then forgot to post the last two months

So here is August - English Bitters & Pale Ales. I entered my “Best” bitter, it was placed 2nd, and the scores are shown below. There are two lots of scores because there were two judges...

Aroma: 8/12 and 6/12
Appearance: 3/3 and 3/3
Flavour: 16/20 and 15/20
Mouthfeel: 4/5 and 4/5
Overall impression 8/10

The recipe was originally posted in this thread (#209) and is reproduced here...

Hazelwood Best
2.5Kg Maris Otter
2Kg Pilsner malt
200g Flaked barley
150g Crystal 225
100g Torrified wheat
30g Roasted barley
75 min mash at 150F
18g Magnum leaf AA=15.3% for 60 mins
1/2 Protofloc tablet at 15 mins
30g Fuggle leaf AA=4.5% at 15 mins
24 litres in FV, OG=1042
1 pack S-04

 

[Pennine]

I said I would post my competition scores with recipes and then forgot to post the last two months

So here is August - English Bitters & Pale Ales. I entered my “Best” bitter, it was placed 2nd, and the scores are shown below. There are two lots of scores because there were two judges...

Aroma: 8/12 and 6/12
Appearance: 3/3 and 3/3
Flavour: 16/20 and 15/20
Mouthfeel: 4/5 and 4/5
Overall impression 8/10

The recipe was originally posted in this thread (#209) and is reproduced here...

Hazelwood Best
2.5Kg Maris Otter
2Kg Pilsner malt
200g Flaked barley
150g Crystal 225
100g Torrified wheat
30g Roasted barley
75 min mash at 150F
18g Magnum leaf AA=15.3% for 60 mins
1/2 Protofloc tablet at 15 mins
30g Fuggle leaf AA=4.5% at 15 mins
24 litres in FV, OG=1042
1 pack S-04

That's a really good idea, I will post mine up as well.

Those taps are looking good, and the temp control unit. Nice job.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

In the September competition I didn’t get a placing in the top three but got a reasonable score for a beer I didn’t honestly expect to do well because it was massively over-bitter. I guess I was hoping for some divine conditioning in the time between sending it and the day of reckoning - you gotta have faith!

Anyway, the beer was Harlequin, an experiment in high hopping rates. The scores were...

Aroma – 8/12
Appearance – 2/3
Mouthfeel – 4/5
Flavour – 13/20
Overall – 7/10
TOTAL 34/50

The beer scored lower on flavour and overall because of the bitterness.

This is the recipe, posted at #253. It might actually be a nice beer if all the 15 minute additions were moved to the hopstand.


Harlequin 5.0% (Experimental)
4Kg Pale malt
1Kg Malted wheat
250g Crystal 30
75min mash at 150F

No bittering additions needed!

15 minute additions
1/2 Protofloc tablet
30g Simcoe Leaf AA=13.2%
30g Mosaic Leaf AA=11.4%
30g Amarillo Leaf AA=9.2%
30g Citra Leaf AA=13.6%
30g Equanot Leaf AA=13.2%

Hopstand, 30 minutes, 165F
40g Simcoe Leaf AA=13.2%
40g Mosaic Leaf AA=11.4%
40g Amarillo Leaf AA=9.2%
40g Citra Leaf AA=13.6%
40g Equanot Leaf AA=13.2%

22 litres in FV, OG=1044
1 Pk US05 yeast

Dry hop on day 7
30g Simcoe pellet
30g Mosaic pellet
30g Amarillo pellet
30g Citra pellet
30g Equanot pellet

Keg on day 12, FG=1006

 

[Clint]

I said I would post my competition scores with recipes and then forgot to post the last two months

So here is August - English Bitters & Pale Ales. I entered my “Best” bitter, it was placed 2nd, and the scores are shown below. There are two lots of scores because there were two judges...

Aroma: 8/12 and 6/12
Appearance: 3/3 and 3/3
Flavour: 16/20 and 15/20
Mouthfeel: 4/5 and 4/5
Overall impression 8/10

The recipe was originally posted in this thread (#209) and is reproduced here...

Hazelwood Best
2.5Kg Maris Otter
2Kg Pilsner malt
200g Flaked barley
150g Crystal 225
100g Torrified wheat
30g Roasted barley
75 min mash at 150F
18g Magnum leaf AA=15.3% for 60 mins
1/2 Protofloc tablet at 15 mins
30g Fuggle leaf AA=4.5% at 15 mins
24 litres in FV, OG=1042
1 pack S-04

Tis goodly stuff!
Is the split with pilsner and Maris otter on purpose, traditional? What's the thinking with it?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Tis goodly stuff!
Is the split with pilsner and Maris otter on purpose, traditional? What's the thinking with it?

I was low on MO! Sorry, no great insightful revelation here.

I do use Pilsner quite a bit in pale ales where I’m looking for something a little more dry and neutral in flavour to accentuate the hops.

I should also note I have Munich and Vienna but these are both a bit too sweet and malty for an English bitter.

D’you know, maybe they’re not? Another thing to try!

 

[Pennine]

In the September competition I didn’t get a placing in the top three but got a reasonable score for a beer I didn’t honestly expect to do well because it was massively over-bitter. I guess I was hoping for some divine conditioning in the time between sending it and the day of reckoning - you gotta have faith!

Anyway, the beer was Harlequin, an experiment in high hopping rates. The scores were...

Aroma – 8/12
Appearance – 2/3
Mouthfeel – 4/5
Flavour – 13/20
Overall – 7/10
TOTAL 34/50

The beer scored lower on flavour and overall because of the bitterness.

This is the recipe, posted at #253. It might actually be a nice beer if all the 15 minute additions were moved to the hopstand.


Harlequin 5.0% (Experimental)
4Kg Pale malt
1Kg Malted wheat
250g Crystal 30
75min mash at 150F

No bittering additions needed!

15 minute additions
1/2 Protofloc tablet
30g Simcoe Leaf AA=13.2%
30g Mosaic Leaf AA=11.4%
30g Amarillo Leaf AA=9.2%
30g Citra Leaf AA=13.6%
30g Equanot Leaf AA=13.2%

Hopstand, 30 minutes, 165F
40g Simcoe Leaf AA=13.2%
40g Mosaic Leaf AA=11.4%
40g Amarillo Leaf AA=9.2%
40g Citra Leaf AA=13.6%
40g Equanot Leaf AA=13.2%

22 litres in FV, OG=1044
1 Pk US05 yeast

Dry hop on day 7
30g Simcoe pellet
30g Mosaic pellet
30g Amarillo pellet
30g Citra pellet
30g Equanot pellet

Keg on day 12, FG=1006

Would you get rid of the 15 min additions or change something else next time?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Would you get rid of the 15 min additions or change something else next time?

Either move them to the hopstand or remove them altogether. Given that this was an experiment in high hop additions - probably try moving them first?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

The ply arrived yesterday - although quite late in the day so not much done before it got dark. Weather was against me today but I did manage to dodge the showers this afternoon and made a bit of progress. Beer line was delivered yesterday too so I’ve also been able to progress the python. With some wooden walls now rather than all foil it’s just starting to feel a bit less like being in a freezer!

 

[Pennine]

Wow very nice looks like a nice little hobby room now.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Wow very nice looks like a nice little hobby room now.

It does, should look even nicer with some varnish. Quite a long way to go still but you can at least see it moving forward.

There won’t be much room for any other hobbies though when all the kegs, cornys, gas bottle/regulators/lines are all installed - and the fermentation cabinet - and the heat exchangers.

I think the Kingspan will be worth the effort too, the shed was warming up with just my body heat. I’ll give this a test when I’ve finished.

 

[Pennine]

It does, should look even nice with some varnish. Quite a long way to go still but you can at least see it moving forward.

There won’t be much room for any other hobbies though when all the kegs, cornys, gas bottle/regulators/lines are all installed - and the fermentation cabinet - and the heat exchangers.

I think the Kingspan will be worth the effort too, the shed was warming up with just my body heat. I’ll give this a test when I’ve finished.

With all of the new keg additions I am sure you will be looking at an expansion around the summer of 2021 or so

It's quite inspiring I have always thought a walk-in is the best way to go for us beer nuts. Refrigerators and freezers are so restrictive.