Hoddy’s Brewing Odyssey

[Hoddy]

So here she is

2 weeks fermentation and a massive 400 gram DDH. I’ve paid meticulous attention to O2 exposure so I’m hoping that this beer won’t oxidise at all.

I think that I did have a bit of a yeast issue as I think there is an element of under pitching as there seems to be a pineapple character to the beer rather than the expected apricot/stone fruit expected Vermont character you would expect. I’ve read that’s what you get more of with this yeast with under pitching.

Really pleased with tho. The citra, comet and galaxy really zing out of the beer. I think the water profile is bang on (credit @strangesteve for the sanity check) and I can smell it just sat on the table in front of me.

Although it’s very young, so conditioning for a week or two will really tell. But it’s tastes great right now.

What to brew next.....

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[Hoddy]

So I thought I would add any beer reviews in my thread as well. Just seems right to lump it all together for now.

Here’s @BeerCat Kolsch review

This is a really nice Kolsch. This is an underrated style and beer that I think lager drinkers don’t know about. And this is a great example.

I suspect this has been brewed with the CML Kolsch yeast that I have tried in recent months. There’s something about the CML dried yeast that I can seem to pick out. It’s got a bit more diatecyl than the wyeast or white labs. Not in a bad way.

The aroma and flavour is nicely balanced. I think the more cara malt in this (than standard style would say) works well with the CML yeast and noble hops in this beer. What are the hops? Hersbrucker? And it’s not hazy at all after being in my fridge for few weeks.

All in this is a real nice beer. A bit drier than the “style” but I think that’s more of the CML yeast than anything.

I think everyone should make at least one Kolsch, and this one is pretty darn good. Thanks @BeerCat




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[BeerCat]

Thanks for the kind words Hoddy. Glad you enjoyed it. I have never tried a commercial version so i have been basing mine mostly on lagers. My notes say i actually used wlp0029 for this but i cant really tell much difference between that and the cml yeast if i am honest. Possibly the white labs is a little less flocculant. This one was fermented on the low end and bottled the end of October. I used beer brite finings after cold crashing.
5kg lager malt
150g torrified wheat
200g melanoidin
50g saaz @60
50g saaz @15
50g saaz@0
50g glacier @0

 

[Hoddy]

So it’s a Friday night. What have I been doing???

Prepping for a Saturday brew day obviously [emoji6]

Water measured and treated (to a light and hoppy profile with a s/c of 2.4) and malts all measured out ready for a #3 variant of my rosemary and simcoe pale ale. Although this time I’m adding cascade in at mid, late and dry hop stages to add an extra back note to the piney simcoe hops. Also tried balancing the malts with golden promise and Pilsner to add a touch more malt body.

Brew day start early doors Saturday....... oh wait...... I haven’t got enough rosemary........

Shops first thing then.... doh!!!!


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[Hoddy]

So today was brew day. A little later start than planned as I had to go out and get the rosemary, and the wife was working today so breakfast and general running around after mini-me’s slowed down proceedings.

Never the less the brew went without any obvious hitches and I actually well over shot my numbers post mash by best part of 6 pts.

Hop additions this time are a little different from the previous two versions. This time I’m trying some cascade in with the normal simcoe additions time.

Sparge went well, even with my heath Robinson malt pipe brackets (4 x 2 timber left over from the shed build)

Two packets of US05 rehydrated and pitched into 25 litres of wort, which even after a further top up was still 4 pts over target.

I think I’ve sussed where I’ve not been getting my usual mid 80’s efficiencies from. I just need to adjust beersmith to reflect this.

I am still loving the BM transfer adapter with the HS. No farting around having to get the BM up higher than the fermenter.

I’m going to try the normal air lock on the HS with this beer. And then put on the pressure transfer lid when Im Cold crashing and transferring. I’m interested to see if the pressure fermenting does inhibit yeast and hops esters.

All in. Should see a quick start on the yeast by tomorrow morning given the double pitch.


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[Leon103]

Interested to see how this turns out. My version of the rosemary and simcoe is still one of my best brews

 

[dan125]

Looks good - I'm sure it'll be a winner if the previous incarnations are anything to go by.
Let us know how you get on with the standard airlock.
What kind of filter does the BM use to filter the hop pellets? This is driving me to despair with my BIAB set-up

 

[Hoddy]

Well we have a Krausen and the starts of airlock activity at 10am Sunday (18 hrs after pitch) on Saturday the day before. A pretty good start for an 18oC fermentation’s temp.

Now 24hrs later it’s going proper mental.

The airlock you get with a HS as standard is a slightly different one. It’s the upturned cup, inside a cup type.

Although this ones not quite as well made as the Braumeister ones you can buy. But it does the job.




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[Hoddy]

Water filled and minerals added complete with grains all measured out ready for a black IPA brew day tomorrow.

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[dan125]

That bucket looks pretty full - is it gonna be a big one?

 

[Hoddy]

That bucket looks pretty full - is it gonna be a big one?

5.6Kg total grain bill so it’s gonna be there or there abouts.

Should be a nice 6.2% with a IBU/SG of 0.88


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[Hoddy]

Brew day went ok. Mashing and sparge was trouble free.

Hit my mash and sparge targets but post boil I was down by 2pts to 1.056.

Usual heavy hop additions late on. And as the weather was ok I’ve come up with this boil method until I work out what I’m doing with boiling indoors in the brew house long term.

Ended up with 24 litres in the HS and pitched 0.5 litres of harvested yeast. Hopefully I’ll get a good quick start on activity.




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[BeerCat]

Ha ha, love the idea. I see we have the same nutrient. I am convinced it works as my beers are pretty consistent since. What hops did you use? I am going to do another one with simcoe and cascade, maybe some chinook as well. Cant decide if i should use london3 or cml pale ale yeast. Probably use the latter as its easier. Getting the same FG with both yeasts which surprised me.

 

[Hoddy]

This black IPA was with citra and simcoe and I repitched with lallemand New England yeast.

 

[Hoddy]

24hrs in and we have a good krausen forming. I pitched 400ml of very thick and washed yeast from the last brew using the lallemand dried NE yeast that I harvested 4 weeks ago.

First impressions look positive for repitching.

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[Hoddy]

Another 12hrs later and it's going full belt.

Interestingly this is allot shorter lag time and quicker activity after pitching than when I used the 25g of dried yeast originally.

Maybe a higher pitch rate in slurry has led to a quicker and healthier start? Maybe i should be able to tell by the type of yeast character in the final beer.

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[Leon103]

Looks good

 

[BeerCat]

Most impressive. Do you think you could put a heat belt around the FS or would it damage the plastic? Was thinking of a 25w belt with the voltage halved but i suppose i might as well ferment in the fridge as its not movable.
What pressure are you fermenting this one at? How long before you harvest the yeast? The krausen looks very healthy. So nice to be able to see whats happening.

 

[Hoddy]

Most impressive. Do you think you could put a heat belt around the FS or would it damage the plastic? Was thinking of a 25w belt with the voltage halved but i suppose i might as well ferment in the fridge as its not movable.
What pressure are you fermenting this one at? How long before you harvest the yeast? The krausen looks very healthy. So nice to be able to see whats happening.

I wouldn’t want to put anything like that around/against the wall of the FS. In the main body it’s actually really quite thin. It’s real easy to generate a small amount of vacuum and to pull the walls in around the middle. You gotta be real careful.

I’m actually trying fermenting using the spunding valve but at a really really low pressure. Like on the first segment mark of the gauge. Just enough to keep it full of co2 and not allow any o2 in. Just to see what it does for the esters as the last Vermont I did under a 1 bar pressure it was subdued and I’ve read pressure fermenting can hold off esters and create a cleaner beer.

I’ve tended to wait until fermentation is completed and then I collect a bottle or two from the bottom. I then do a three stage wash using three sizes of erlmer flasks to get pure yeast slurry in a mason jar. Four washes if I did a NEIPA with biotransformation hops.

I yes it’s great to be able to see when activity and fermentation is properly progressing. And I can understand now how yeast harvesting at different times you can pull of trub or yeast.




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[dan125]

Just polished off the bottle of your mosaic/azzacca pale and it was just my cup of tea :hat:
I thought it had a really nice, but not too intense, sweet orange & pineappley aroma, that came through in the flavour. It was clean & neutral neutral yeast wise - what yeast did you use in this one?
Medium bodied and malty sweet up front, but finished with a nice crisp bitterness.
Very refreshing at the end of a stinking hot day here in sunny Kent.
As you mentioned, the hops may have faded a bit, but all in all a great pint:thumb: