Hoddy vs. dan125 brewday

[Leon103]

ill judge :)

I think that job as been filled

 

[dan125]

I haven't made a starter for ages before now but there's some very promising aromas coming out of this badboy

 

[Hoddy]

Mines been busy growing away since Wednesday night

 

[Hoddy]

So my starter is all finished now and I’m dropping the yeast out of the liquor in the fridge ahead of a cold brew day tomorrow.

In prep of that I thought I would get ahead of the game and get the water filled, minerals added, recipe printed and QC items written down and prepped, bags of hops ready, and to finish all the grain measured out and ready.

I do however have concerns how I’m going to run water to cool my brew after boiling. Just have to play that one by ear tomorrow.....

 

[dan125]

Not quite as organised as you hoddy, but thankfully under 10s hockey was cancelled this morning so I can make an earlier start than planned.
Had to make a last minute change to my bittering addition as I hadn't checked AA of the simcoe

 

[Hoddy]

Mash is on @9.30am. I think today is going to be a long one as moving up through the mash steps is going to be slow given it’s 4 oC in the brew house this morning. The BM will soon warm things up in there, but there is frost on the outside of the windows....

 

[dan125]

Yeah, I'm gonna brew in the shed doorway for a bit a shelter - its brass monkeys out there.

 

[Hoddy]

I’m loving my new ph meter I got myself with the excess amazon vouchers at Christmas. I don’t know about everyone else but the cheapy yellow one just is so unreliable it was driving me mad. So I invested in this one, temp compensation, water cap to keep the electrode good. Loads of other bells and whistles. Love it.

Ph was down after mash in and on proteinase step. Added another 3ml of CRS to correct

 

[dan125]

A touch under where I wanted to be but close enough on a cold day.
I'm trusting beersmith with the ph on this one

 

[Hoddy]

Well the new meter is showing its value as BS miscalculated the ph correction (unless I did something wrong) so I’ve corrected it as much as I can mid mash. I now know I can use this ph correction data accurately in later brews.

Close enough.

 

[Hoddy]

Mash and sparge done. Overshot target OG post mash by 2-3 pts. But that’s ok as it should correct post sparge and I can correct it through the boil if needed. Colour is coming out a lovely deep orange with this imperial malt.

I’m loving having all this snow to chill my samples

 

[dan125]

View attachment 17708
Well the new meter is showing its value as BS miscalculated the ph correction (unless I did something wrong) so I’ve corrected it as much as I can mid mash. I now know I can use this ph correction data accurately in later brews.

Close enough.

That's interesting - the times I've checked BS against the (crappy yellow) meter, its been pretty much spot on. Might have to test it again on the next brew.

 

[Braindead]

You guys need to have a dance off as well while cooling.

 

[Hoddy]

That's interesting - the times I've checked BS against the (crappy yellow) meter, its been pretty much spot on. Might have to test it again on the next brew.

It just be the one I have. At £3 I don’t expect it to be that accurate or last that long tbh. Your might be fine but every time I got mine out it would read between 7 and 8ph on my tap water and need another recalibration.

 

[Hoddy]

So post sparge numbers were over target still. Seriously I think I’m gonna have to go back and look at my BS efficiency figures.

Hops measured out and ready. 60 mins already in. Tbh the majority of hops in the pale ale will be in the dry hop so a pretty simple schedule. It’s more about the balance of the hop flavours/aromas.

 

[dan125]

'sparge'

 

[Hoddy]

I’m just sitting on the whirlpool hops right now before cooling and tranfering. I might have overshot the cool to 72oC for the whirlpool to 67oC as the ground water is so cold. Should get it to pitch temp in 10 minutes like this

 

[dan125]

I'm all done at 1.053 - a point over estimated.
Time for a beer i think while I let the pot settle.

 

[Hoddy]

That’s me done too. About 2pts over target even though I topped up the kettle with 3.5 litres of water mid boil. Need to look at my BS settings.

26 litres transferred into the HS and cooled in SUPER QUICK time due to very cold tap water.

Just the cleaning to get done while the kids are at the cinema and the yeast starter that I’ve not decanted warms up to pitch temp.

All in all a good brew day with no dramas. I’m liking the look and taste of this imperial malt, a light biscuity sweetness in the wort I can taste atm.

Fermentation here we come!

 

[dan125]

28.5L of aerated wort into the FS - I'm hoping the krausen doesn't go too wild!
Yeast pitched at 18C and fridge set to 19C, a bit higher than ususal for me and I plan to let it rise up to 20C once it gets going.