Hazelwood Brewday

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I’m pretty amazed at the yeast starter I started this morning. This is a 2-litre bottle and I started with 20g of dried yeast 12 hours ago.

 

[Clint]

Is that for the stout?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

For the Russian Imperial Stout which I’m brewing now. Water just coming up to mash temp.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

The Russian Imperial is about to finish it’s first mash and I’ve just kegged the dry stout - turns out is isn’t quite as dry as I’d planned finishing with a gravity of 1010 and an ABV of 4.2%. I’m not disappointed though, it tastes pretty good out of the fermenter and taste is what counts most.

I’ve also filled one more slot on the shelves in my brew-shed

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

From the first mash I got just over 17 litres at 1060. I should get the same from batch 2 giving me about 35 litres at 1060. I’ll then boil that down to around 24 litres to concentrate the wort and by my reckoning I should have something between 1085 and 1090. I’ll lift that a little more with a Kilo of Demerara for an OG between 1090 and 1100.

 

[dave_77]

I’ve now kegged my Czech Pilsner and it actually tastes like it will be really good once it’s cleared. I think it tastes as good as some of my ales at this point and that’s quite a big statement from someone that’s not especially excited by lagers.

It is stronger than I planned having both a higher OG by a couple of points and a lower FG than expected finishing at 1004 rather than 1008. This puts the ABV at 6.3% so a little strong for a Czech Pilsner.

The colour looks good (to me anyway!) and it smells quite hoppy. I’m quite looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

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Sounds good. I had pretty much stopped drinking Lager unless it was all that was on offer(my father in-law loves a Foster's ). Recently I have been really enjoying fresh craft Lagers and Brooklyn Amber Lager(not fresh). Mind you can't beat a Czech Amber with pork knuckle in Prague

 

[Neil Whittaker]

wow, boil off 9 litres of wort. How long will that take, 3 Hours?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

wow, boil off 9 litres of wort. How long will that take, 3 Hours?

Depends how vigorous a boil you have and how much burnt sugar you want Honestly I don’t know - I’ll update you later for interest.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Depends how vigorous a boil you have and how much burnt sugar you want Honestly I don’t know - I’ll update you later for interest.

I’ve figured out a way to accelerate the boil-off, I’ll put up a photo in a while.

 

[samale]

I’ve figured out a way to accelerate the boil-off, I’ll put up a photo in a while.

Looking forward to seeing this

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

The moment you’ve been waiting for

I’m running my boiling wort through my atomiser spray, lifted the lid using a couple of off-cuts of timber, and blowing the steam away with my bar fan.

It’s not easy taking a photo of steam, you just get a less clear photo! Anyway this is the setup...

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

It’s done! All went exactly as planned but it took me all day. Here is the beasty beer in the brew-shed, 23 litres and OG of 1100.



One unexpected result, the bottom of the boiler was barely mucky - thankful for that!

 

[Clint]

What's your expected fg?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

What's your expected fg?

Hard to say because I’ve not made this before. I guess I’m hoping for something around 1020 but as long as it tastes good I won’t worry too much.

 

[Clint]

You be wrecked in the brew shed!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

You be wrecked in the brew shed!

Yup!

 

[Clint]

I think I might brew an Imperial stout after Christmas...for next Christmas! But I'll drop the batch size to under 20 litres.
Any recipe pointers?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I think I might brew an Imperial stout after Christmas...for next Christmas! But I'll drop the batch size to under 20 litres.
Any recipe pointers?

@Pennine made a really nice Impy you can find in his brewday posts. The recipe for “Everything Good in the World”, it might have been August? My own recipe is untested so while I’m happy to share it, it might be rubbish!

 

[Mrhandsome]

Share it anyway!

I did a similar double mash and long boil for my impy and it turned out great, though not as strong as yours.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

You asked for it...


Russian Imperial Stout ~ 10%
3Kg Pale Malt
3Kg Munich Malt
600g Crystal 385
500g Roasted Barley
400g Flaked Barley
400g Malted Oats
400g Chocolate Malt
400g Biscuit Malt
400g Cafe Malt
300g Black Malt
300g Melanoidin Malt
200g Torrified Wheat

Mash at 142F, 15 mins
Mash at 154F, 25 mins
Mash at 162F, 30 mins
Mash at 170F, 10 mins

25g Magnum AA=15.3% 60 mins 50 IBUs
25g Cascade AA=8.3% 10 mins 6 IBUs
1Kg Demerara sugar 10 mins

23 Litres in FV, OG=1100

M42 New World Strong Ale Yeast starter made using 2 packs

I’m planning to add some or all of: coffee, vanilla, whisky, and chocolate in the latter days of fermentation.