HoppingMad Brewdays

[HoppingMad]

So, I completed my first ever AG brew yesterday in my new GF G30. Have to say that whilst it was a bit of a learning curve, it was relatively straight forward and came off pretty much as planned, barring my gravity readings (more on that later) and the chilling and transfer into the FV which I'd not read up on, didn't concentrate properly (I was being harassed by the wife to get out of the way by this time), so ended up with 39c work in my FV!

Anyway, it was Crafty Brews "Wreck the Halls" festive ale recipe pack, to make 23L, as I thought a recipe pack was a better idea to start off my foray into AG brewing.

5.35kg grain bill:

• 4.4kg of Maris Otter
• 350g Cara Munich I malt
• 300g Crystal
• 200g Carared
• 100g Carafa Special I

Extras:

• 500g Candi Sugar
• 4 x Star Anise
• 2 x Cinnamon sticks
• 50g orange peel

Hops:

• 18g Challenger
• 52g Stryian Goldings

Expected recipe "stats" were stated as:
O.G. = 1060
F.G. = 1011
ABV 6.5%

However, inputting the ingredients into the GF recipes it arrives at an expected 5.79%.

I took a pre-boil S.G. which I read as 1060, and an O.G. reading of 1075. However, using those figures works out the efficiency to over 100%, so clearly that's incorrect, and if I take the OG reading and the expected FG of 1011, it works out to 8.4% - would be great if that was correct but I'm assuming I must got them wrong / my hydrometer is knackered. It's the same one I've always used mind, so I'm guessing it was more me than it!

I used the Grainfather calculators to calculate the Mash and Sparge volumes, based on this forums advice, and they worked out spot on so thanks for that, so I started the boil on the advised 26L. However, the target final volume was 23L and I ended up with 21.5L, so I assume I need to work out the % difference and add that to my sparge water volume next time? I didn't want to "top up" back to 23, so I left it the 21.5.

I ended up heating my sparge water on the hob, using my 30L Brupack brew pan I used for my extract brews, as the heater I'd ordered wasn't the heater delivered (separate thread on that, so I won't go into it). Hopefully, I'll have the heater next time which will make that process simpler / quicker (takes a bloody age to heat up even on the massive gas ring).

Re the cooling and transfer, I'd not read up as much on the counterflow chiller, which didn't help when I got to that stage and realised I wasn't prepared! In hindsight, I should have just used my immersion chiller but we live and learn. Next time, I'll a) use the wortometer (really can't believe I forgot about that!!), and b), I'll re-circulate for 5-10 mins to reduce the overall temp a bit before starting the transfer to my FV. I also didn't realise the red tap on the pump could me used to slow the flow and increase the effects of the chilling!

Overall, I found the process less stressful than extract TBH, but I'm guessing that's a big selling point on the Grainfather! It all seemed a bit less hectic and with the timers in the GF app, along with the ability to monitor the temp (no overshooting in sight), meant I didn't have to be glued to the stove, which helps with relations with SHMBO!

 

[HoppingMad]

Happy to report that in the spare bedroom, which is running an ambient temp of around 16/17c, it's now bubbling away nicely with circa 1/2" krausen.

On a side note, does anyone use a Mangrove Jacks Hop Spider? I bought one, as I figured it would make cleaning the GF much easier, especially given the electrics so a bit more care with the water / tap needed than with my stainless steel brew pot! Whilst it did make the cleaning pretty straight forward, I did feel like it was restricting the hops slightly. Also, given my boil started with 26L, it meant the Hop Spider was around 60% submerged in the wort, which obviously decreased throughout the boil. I must admit, although I'd seen the pictures and read the dimensions, I was expecting it to be sat in the wort a lot more than it was.

I ended up putting the spices and last 26g hop addition directly into the Wort. I'd be interested to hear what other folks opinions were on the use of a Hop Spider?

I should also add that I used Safali-S04 yeast.

 

[DocAnna]

Really interested to hear how the Star Anise turns out in this recipe as I'm a bit of a fan of spices in beer. As to the hop spider, much depends on the volume of your batch. I did a smaller than usual batch yesterday with a lot more whole leaf hops than i'm used to and really agree with you that the hop spider likely reduced the circulation or flavour from them. I try to compensate by recirculating through the spider. However that's not a lot of use at the whirlpool stage as the cooling makes the hop spider mesh less permeable and it will rapidly overflow if left to it.

Anna

 

[HoppingMad]

Really interested to hear how the Star Anise turns out in this recipe as I'm a bit of a fan of spices in beer. As to the hop spider, much depends on the volume of your batch. I did a smaller than usual batch yesterday with a lot more whole leaf hops than i'm used to and really agree with you that the hop spider likely reduced the circulation or flavour from them. I try to compensate by recirculating through the spider. However that's not a lot of use at the whirlpool stage as the cooling makes the hop spider mesh less permeable and it will rapidly overflow if left to it.

Anna

Yeah ditto, I love Christmas beers because of the spices and I tend to drink them all year round.

Thanks re your Hop Spider comments and I did the same on my Kolsch brew on Satursday (brew update to follow), re the recirculating it through the HopSpider for 10 mins to reduce the temp prior to transfer to the FV (still ended up at 26c in the FV, even after recirculating and slowing the flow through the tap - I may just go back to my immersion chiller next time!). I'm going to give my next brewday a go without it to see how the GF pump fairs and the clean-up is effected.