January Brew and Swap

[AJA]

Don't want to give that away until after the tasting, but I wasn't expecting apricot from the hops.

I think it's the US-05 honestly, as my husband got a similar flavour with his last couple of beers.

We had a lot of US-05 to use, because silly me ordered what I thought was 2 packs from the malt miller, but it was actually 2 packs of 5

We've found the strong flavour normally conditions out.

US-05 can throw off fruity esters when fermented under 18oC (from linalyl formate, apparently). People usually describe it as peach though.
I can see from the temperature trace (batch 2) that this was the case for the majority of the magic window, but this shouldn't affect batch 1.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Yes I over-chilled batch 2 and it took forever to come back up to fermentation temperature.

Haven't tasted batch 2 yet.

I wonder what's happened to batch 1 then? Perhaps I'm just being impatient as it's still very young.

 

[AJA]

Yes I over-chilled batch 2 and it took forever to come back up to fermentation temperature.

Haven't tasted batch 2 yet.

I wonder what's happened to batch 1 then? Perhaps I'm just being impatient as it's still very young.

Ah I thought you were talking about batch 2! Batch 1 should have no issues at all. It'll be interesting to find out whether batch 2 is even more apricotty.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Ah I thought you were talking about batch 2! Batch 1 should have no issues at all. It'll be interesting to find out whether batch 2 is even more apricotty.

Will be sure to let you know.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I kegged my Rye IPA this morning. I’m happy with it so far - big hit of sweet tropical fruity hops then almost immediately the spicy rye and quick on it’s tail a fairly assertive and lingering bitterness. 6.3%

 

[Nottsbeer]

Bottled my Rye brew this evening. After worrying about it having a slightly high FG, it was 1.013 (1.011 aim). I reduced priming sugar slightly to ensure no gushers, but think it will be fine. Bit like Hazelwood's initial taste. Nice touch of tropical fruits coming through. Can't pick out the Rye yet, but as this was a glass from the bottling bucket it's plenty of time to develop. Slightly miffed I only did a small batch

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I've just this minute kegged mine too, and the tilt has been reading 1.013 for a couple of days. I've added another sachet of yeast just to make sure there's enough for carbonation, as it's been struggling in the bucket with me underpitching. Gonna bottle it tomorrow from the keg with a carbonation drop and my new bottler.

This one is waaaay nicer than the first batch and I get clean hops, followed by what I think is just the right amount of rye and some bitterness, so I'm hopeful for something half-decent to send you guys.

No horrid apricot-ness, thank the lord.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I've decided to leave batch 2 in the keg on gas instead of bottling.

I tasted a bottle of my batch 1 yesterday and it was quite thin with less than adequate carbonation. I checked the gravity and it had gone down to 1.007. That's put me off botting this particular beer now lol.

I know it will have some oxygen in it now but hopefully it'll still be worth sharing.

If I'd have planned it better it would have been in a pressure vessel to ferment from the start instead of a bucket.

This has just not been my swap

Will try harder for the next one!

 

[Stu's Brews]

I've decided to leave batch 2 in the keg on gas instead of bottling.

I tasted a bottle of my batch 1 yesterday and it was quite thin with less than adequate carbonation. I checked the gravity and it had gone down to 1.007. That's put me off botting this particular beer now lol.

I know it will have some oxygen in it now but hopefully it'll still be worth sharing.

If I'd have planned it better it would have been in a pressure vessel to ferment from the start instead of a bucket.

This has just not been my swap

Will try harder for the next one!

All part of the learning process, which is one of the great things about the swap. I've never brewed a Rye IPA, Tropical Stout or Cream Ale before and I've learnt a lot as a result of doing it.

When did you bottle the first batch and what was the gravity at the time?

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

The first batch was bottled on the 7th January by the looks of Brewfather, and then the gravity was 1.010. So looks like it wasn't quite finished. Maybe explains the apricotiness? I split the batch and the keg part of it has a lot of diacetyl, now the apricot has worn off a bit. The bottles don't though.

 

[Stu's Brews]

The first batch was bottled on the 7th January by the looks of Brewfather, and then the gravity was 1.010. So looks like it wasn't quite finished. Maybe explains the apricotiness? I split the batch and the keg part of it has a lot of diacetyl now the apricot has worn off a bit. The bottles don't though.

I wonder whether you got a bit of hop creep - it would explain the diacetyl being present in the keg rather than the bottles as the yeast would have been able to clean it up in the bottles, assuming they were kept at room temperature for long enough. Doesn't explain the low carbonation though but that could be just a case of not enough priming sugar.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I think you may be right Stu.

The carbonation is my fault as I only put 1 drop in. I daren't put two in cos sometimes the crown caps won't take it.

The problem is I'm using Mangrove Jacks's ones, and apparently 1 drop is suitable for 375ml bottles, and 2 drops for 750ml bottles, but I have 500ml bottles. Ugh.

You're going to say boil some water and put some sugar in aren't you lol

 

[Stu's Brews]

You're going to say boil some water and put some sugar in aren't you lol

That is what I do as it means I can theoretically control the carbonation level more accurately. However, I batch prime in an old pressure barrel before bottling and have had some issues with inconsistent carbonation from this so it's by no means a perfect method.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I want to try keg priming with sugar next. I have an apricot pale ale in the fermenter which is not getting dry-hopped but it had a huge whirlpool. Needs the fruit adding yet but I think I might try this after the fruit is fermented.

 

[AJA]

The first batch was bottled on the 7th January by the looks of Brewfather, and then the gravity was 1.010. So looks like it wasn't quite finished. Maybe explains the apricotiness? I split the batch and the keg part of it has a lot of diacetyl, now the apricot has worn off a bit. The bottles don't though.

I'm now so afraid of hop creep and diacetyl, incidentally not from my own beer, that I dry hop post ferm at 14oC. Could you try elevating again to 21 to rouse the yeast, and hopefully get rid of the diacetyl?
Is the apricot horrible? Some might find it desirable.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

It's fading now to be fair, but that is making the diac a lot more noticeable.

Perhaps apricot is not the right description - it was more like hops mixed with something else (butter?) and together producing something which shouldn't be there. Hope you know what I'm on about lol

I never expected the first batch to be drinkable really, as the GF whirlpool arm knocked the false bottom off and the hop sludge was everywhere. Never using that again, it's way too long, and sooo difficult to put in and out.

The second batch went like a dream though.

 

[Stu's Brews]

I'm now so afraid of hop creep and diacetyl, incidentally not from my own beer, that I dry hop post ferm at 14oC.

That's what I've done, albeit at 12degC.

I think if you dry hop during active fermentation you are fairly safe (something I'm planning on trying out for hazy styles). The danger-zone seems to be hopping once fermentation is complete but before cold crashing. When dry hopping warm the diacetyl precursers may form just before you drop the temperature and reduce the ability of the yeast to clean it up. Dry hopping at a cooler temperature apparently reduces the enzymatic activity that causes the diacetyl production.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

It's not foolproof though I don't think. My husband tried that once and he got diacetyl that way too.

Next time I dry hop I'm going to do what Verdant do I think. Dry hop at 15c after doing a forced diacetyl test.

I warmed up some of my batch 1 the other day and it was butter city lol

 

[AJA]

It's not foolproof though I don't think. My husband tried that once and he got diacetyl that way too.

Next time I dry hop I'm going to do what Verdant do I think. Dry hop at 15c after doing a forced diacetyl test.

I warmed up some of my batch 1 the other day and it was butter city lol

Yeah, Verdant don't do 'biotransformation' dry hop which surprised a lot of people. You get enough biotransformation from a big whirlpool imo.

I've never done a diacetyl test. Will do for the next brew.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Exactly AJA.