Hoddy’s Brewing Odyssey

[dan125]

View attachment 16064
So I had the first test of my hazy ipa I made a few weeks ago. Only 7 days in the keg so it needs about another week but OMG this has been by far the best hazy ipa i have made so far.

Dank, ripe mango, pine, juiciest fruit juice.

Nice glass
Looks like the CO2 rumbling is a great way to create a good haze - I wonder what causes it??

 

[Dutto]

Seeing a top heavy Grainfather (or similar) sat on a spindly chair made me glad that I retired!

PLEASE put it on a more secure base before the next brew, if only out of respect for Murphy’s First Law!

You know it makes sense.

 

[Hoddy]

Seeing a top heavy Grainfather (or similar) sat on a spindly chair made me glad that I retired!

PLEASE put it on a more secure base before the next brew, if only out of respect for Murphy’s First Law!

You know it makes sense.

Ah she will be fine @Dutto ive been using that chair (it’s flat so it’s ideal for the Braumeister) for like 5 years. It’s surprisingly strong even though it looks like a marathon runners legs.

 

[Dutto]

Ah she will be fine .........

Isn't that more or less what they heard the man say as he passed the 5th Floor when falling off the roof off a skyscraper?

All I can say is "Remember when you nicked some of your Mum's jam tarts straight out of the oven?" Well wort is just as hot and sticky as jam; which is why I think it was a Brewer that invented Napalm!

Be careful. 'cos the older I get the less fun there is in saying "I told you so!"

 

[Hoddy]

So I realised I haven’t actually posted anything in my brewing thread for like, ever.

So here’s what I’m up to today.

Needless to say winter is coming so it’s dark beer, well porter to be exact, time of year.

Gone well so far and mash is in

 

[MyQul]

Recipe?

 

[Hoddy]

It’s a relatively simple grain bill. But one I’ve tweaked and developed over the last few years.

Pilsener malt - 53%
Wayermann rauch malt - 26%
choc malt - 6%
black malt - 3%
light crystal - 6%
flaked barley - 5%

And then I like to use bramling cross and an underrated hop called Pacific jade to get 55 IBU’s.

Fermented with London Ale III.

Recipe?

 

[MyQul]

Looks exactly like the type of beer Id like. Rauch malt? So a smoked porter then? I made the smoked porter from the GHbook once and really enjoyed it. I might nick your recipe. I've been getting back into dark beers recently. I made my Olde Albion mild again a couple of weeks ago and I'll be making a Oatmeal Stout/Mild next week

 

[stigman]

View attachment 16064
So I had the first test of my hazy ipa I made a few weeks ago. Only 7 days in the keg so it needs about another week but OMG this has been by far the best hazy ipa i have made so far.

Dank, ripe mango, pine, juiciest fruit juice.

Looks juicy as a juicy thing, I can smell the hops from here.

 

[dan125]

It’s a relatively simple grain bill. But one I’ve tweaked and developed over the last few years.

Pilsener malt - 53%
Wayermann rauch malt - 26%
choc malt - 6%
black malt - 3%
light crystal - 6%
flaked barley - 5%

And then I like to use bramling cross and an underrated hop called Pacific jade to get 55 IBU’s.

Fermented with London Ale III.

How smokey is the rauch malt? I've never used any smoked malts, but 26% sounds like a lot??

 

[Hoddy]

How smokey is the rauch malt? I've never used any smoked malts, but 26% sounds like a lot??

It's not as smokey as you think, but you need enough to get the character come through. Interestingly they didn't havethier usual rauch in stock so I'm trying pre packed brupack.

And then with the choc and black malt and light crystal it balances.

It's been a while since I've made this and I'm not convinced today's brew day has produced a beer that is as good as when I last did this. Only time will tell.

 

[Hoddy]

So brew day complete. Mash and sparse went ok, apart from a semi stuck sparge which has never happened before. But we got through it ok.

Massively over shot my numbers so ended up with 26L in the HS. Ended up with 1.053 (target 1.050) but should be ok.

I think where I've jiggled the hop additions and used all pellets hops the IBU's might be a bit low. So I might have to see if I can adjust the IBU's later if needed.

 

[Hoddy]

Looks exactly like the type of beer Id like. Rauch malt? So a smoked porter then? I made the smoked porter from the GHbook once and really enjoyed it. I might nick your recipe. I've been getting back into dark beers recently. I made my Olde Albion mild again a couple of weeks ago and I'll be making a Oatmeal Stout/Mild next week

Sounds like a bottle swap is on the cards

 

[MyQul]

Sounds like a bottle swap is on the cards

Maybe. I havent even made it yet

 

[Hoddy]

So latest news is I bottled it when it came to pitching. 7 gallons and only a packet of liquid yeast I felt wasnt quite enough.

I’ve russelled up a quick starter and I’ll get that one tonight and pitch it Monday just to make sure I have a healthy fermentation when it does get going.

 

[Hoddy]

So I made a starter Saturday night with 1.9L of water and 180grams of LME and pitched the 1 month old liquid yeast onto a stir plate.

All finished up by Sunday evening so I left it to settle and pitched it this morning before I went to work.

Got home at 7pm from work and it’s on it’s way already. Glad I decided against pitching one pack onto 7 gallons as that would have been right under.

 

[Hoddy]

In honour of the Beer World Cup thread I’ve created (what have I done) I’ve taken it upon myself to sample some of the beers that people have nominated. And ones being honest that I wouldn’t normally pick up.

This weekend (and the duvel tonight) I shall be trying these I’ve picked up during the week. I’m also going to see if I can hunt out some more.

I will say how much I love the fact that people have embraced the beer World Cup and the responses to the first round matches have been great. Who knows who’s gonna be in the final.

 

[Hoddy]

So today was a kinda “double brew day”. I had a day off (using up leave before the end of the year) so what better to do that brew. And well keg/bottle too.

So up today is an American pale ale with Columbus BBC, centennial BBC, and simcoe hops. I wanted this beer to have a west coast vibe of a piney bitterness, and clean with some citrus aroma, but with a bit of sweetness and juicey quality. Hopefully with these malts of Golden promise, Munich and caramunich with some oats I will achieve that.

I’ve been struggling to get the s/c ratios (perceived bitterness) right in my beers. I can’t help but think I’ve got more surfaces in my water than my current water report is telling me. And to prove my calculations are right I’ve bought in 35L of ashbeck water to brew with today and I’ve then added all anions and cations to get the water profile I want and a s/c ration of 1.0 only time will tell.

Managed to just over shoot my numbers a touch with 1.050 in the HS as I was aiming for 1.048 as this should only be a 5.2% beer.

In addition to brewing I was kegging and bottling my smoked porter at the same time (multitasking) partly as it needed doing and also I needed the HS to put this brew into.

Got a full keg and 10 bottles c02 flushed and filled straight from the HS with my beergun. All went well and I harvested the yeast for another batch in the new year.

Everything all washed, Vermont starter pitched and now sat down after cooking the family tea.

Jeeez I would have had an easier day if I had gone to work

 

[dan125]

It'll be interesting to see if you notice a difference using the treated Ashbeck - what levels did you go for with the Calcium, Sulphate & Choride in the end?

 

[Hoddy]

I went with water adjusted to 48ppm calcium, 72ppm chloride and 62ppm sulfate. A touch under 1.0 s/c but I didn’t want to go mental and have to drain pour the final beer, more keeping them on the lower side while still getting the s/c to see what affect it has.

I’m thinking of getting a Murphy analysis done as well if this beer turns out where I think it should. The BBC hops smelt amazing in the whirlpool.