Mark K’s Brewdays

[Benfleet Brewery]

Thought I’d jump on the old bandwagon and make the move on from the “what did you brew today” thread. I suppose that even if no-one reads it I’ll have a record for myself Oh well, here goes

Busy day today. After setting out at kegging my Old Freckled Chicken and being faced with the prospect of having an empty FV I decided today would be my second consecutive brew day.

I’m now on a mission to use up existing hop supplies with a 25kg sack of clear choice pale malt but didn’t have enough Summit hops for my Summit pale ale recipe so instead decided to mix these with my last lot of Mandarina Bavaria for Mandarina Summit Pale Ale.

Second time using CML Pia yeast. I used it the first time in a Ghost Ship type pale ale which was kegged a couple of weeks ago. Not done a comparison with the real thing but it tastes great regardless. Hope this turns out as good. Now in the brew fridge at 19 degrees.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Mandarina Summit Pale Ale

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 23 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 28 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.045
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 5.06%
IBU (tinseth): 35.72
SRM (morey): 6.2
Mash pH: 5.4

FERMENTABLES:
1 kg - Finest Maris Otter (18.9%)
4 kg - Pale Ale (75.5%)
0.3 kg - Munich - Light 10L (5.7%)

HOPS:
15 g - Summit, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.2, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 26.23
5 g - Mandarina Bavaria, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 2.43
5 g - Summit, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.2, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 4.34
5 g - Summit, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.2, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 1.74
5 g - Mandarina Bavaria, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.5, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 0.97
15 g - Mandarina Bavaria, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.5, Use: Aroma for 0 min
15 g - Mandarina Bavaria, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
15 g - Summit, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.2, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temp: 66 C, Time: 75 min, Amount: 23 L

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
5 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
5.3 g - Gypsum, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.5 each - Irish Moss, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
0.5 each - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash

YEAST:
Crossmyloof Brew - Pia
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 74%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 15 - 22.22 C
Pitch Rate: 0.35 (M cells / ml / deg P)

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I Dry hopped my Madarina Summit Pale Ale today and took a SG reading whilst doing so. It’s down to 1.014 from 1.051 so all seems good. Prediction is for an FG of 1.012. The sample was Crystal clear (wish I’d taken a photo). Tasted promising too. I’ll give it a couple of days and take another reading. Looking to keg this next weekend. I’m not sure I need to cold crash this but will probably do so anyway so that I can keg it when it’s cold to help it carbonate.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Brew day today. Tried a sort of English IPA style beer. I’m trying to use up the grain and hops I have and 35g of my home grown Fuggles went in for the last 5 minutes.

Pitched the yeast as 2.30pm and in the brew fridge set to 19 degrees. Airlock was already bubbling away when I took a peek at 6.00pm.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: English IPA

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: English IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 22 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 28 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.042
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (alternate): 5.23%
IBU (tinseth): 26.96
SRM (morey): 8.78
Mash pH: 5.3

FERMENTABLES:
4.5 kg - Clear Choice Malt (91.3%)
0.25 kg - Munich - Light 10L (5.1%)
30 g - Roasted Barley (0.6%)
150 g - Flaked Barley (3%)

HOPS:
25 g - Fuggles, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 13.92
20 g - East Kent Goldings (5 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 5, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 9.51
35 g - Home grown Fuggles, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: ?, Use: Aroma for 5 min, IBU: 3.53

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temp: 66 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 23 L

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
2.3 g - Calcium Chloride (dihydrate), Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
6.3 g - Gypsum, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
6 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.25 g - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.5 g - Protafloc, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
1 g - Calcium Chloride (dihydrate), Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
2.5 g - Gypsum, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
2 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
0.25 g - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge

YEAST:
Crossmyloof Brew - BEòIR
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 74%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 15 - 22.22 C

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

No brewing today but I was able to keg my Passionfruit Cerveza due to a keg surprisingly becoming available half way through pouring my third pint of Ghostly Ship last night (blimey, that keg didn’t last long).

This SMaSH had reached its expected FG and was dry hopped 5 days ago and then cold crashed to 0 degrees two days ago. I planned to just let it sit there until the keg was free!!

It smells really good. I’m hoping to be able to leave this alone for some weeks before trying it

This is the recipe I used:

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Passion fruit Cerveza

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: International Pale Lager
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 22 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 29 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.039
Efficiency: 72% (ending kettle)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 5.53%
IBU (tinseth): 23.98
SRM (morey): 3.2
Mash pH: 5.56

FERMENTABLES:
5 kg - Pilsner (100%)

HOPS:
5 g - Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.6, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 9.9
10 g - Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.6, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 9.82
20 g - Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.6, Use: Hop Stand for 15 min, IBU: 4.26
20 g - Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.6, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temperature, Temp: 63 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 23L

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
4 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
6 g - Gypsum, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash

YEAST:
Crossmyloof Brew - Californian Common
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (custom): 80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 15 - 22 C

FERMENTATION TEMP:
16 degrees 8 days
19 degrees 6 days

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I tried something different today. A low alcohol pale ale. I’ve read a lot of posts on this forum about making a LA beer and took a lot of the advice given in these to give it a try. The recipe was punched into brewers friend and I hit the predicted OG but I’m hoping the FG will be a bit higher than predicted as I mashed at 69 degrees. Looking for something around 2.5%abv

Everything seemed to go well. The only hitch (and there is always something on a brew day) was when the hose attachment flew off the hot end whilst chilling the wort squinting hot water all over my arm and the brew area. It had made quite a mess by the time I’d got to the tap to turn it off but no real harm done. Will all be worth it if the beer turns out well. Here’s the recipe I followed:


HOME BREW RECIPE:

Title: Low Alcohol APA
Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Experimental Beer

Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 23 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 27.2 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.028
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:

Original Gravity: 1.031
Final Gravity: 1.008
ABV (standard): 3.1%
IBU (tinseth): 19.37
SRM (morey): 3.2
Mash pH: 5.36

FERMENTABLES:

2 kg - Clear Choice Malt (63.5%)
700 g - Dextrin Malt (22.2%)
300 g - Munich (9.5%)
150 g - Flaked Barley (4.8%)

HOPS:

7 g - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 11.99
5 g - Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.25, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 7.38
20 g - Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.25, Use: Aroma for 0 min
20 g - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Aroma for 0 min


MASH GUIDELINES:

Temp: 69 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 17L


OTHER INGREDIENTS:

4 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
3.2 g - Gypsum, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
3 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
2.4 g - Gypsum, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
0.25 - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.25 - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
1/2 - Protafloc, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

YEAST:

Crossmyloof Brew - Five
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 78%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 17.22 - 27.78 C

Fermentation Temp: 20 C

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Kegged my English IPA today. Finished spot on the predicted 1.012 so around 5.2%. Smells really good.
The temperature of the FV was dropped from 19 degrees to 12 degrees five days ago. I then added Gelatine and dropped the temperature to close to freezing for a further four days before kegging. The beer into the keg was nice and clear and the yeast cake was solid in the bottom of the FV. I think I will stick to this method from now on.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I’m planning on using the Lallemand Kveik Voss in an APA soon and would like to ferment this at close to 40 degrees to try to get more of the fruit flavours from this yeast. Whilst I have a brew fridge free I’m testing it to see how high I can get the temperature in there. The fridge is in the shed so maybe I am asking a lot of the 60w tube heater. I set it at 40 degrees about two hours ago and it’s currently sitting at 28 degrees. The other potential issue is the heater may have a built in thermostat.

 

[DocAnna]

I’m planning on using the Lallemand Kveik Voss in an APA soon and would like to ferment this at close to 40 degrees to try to get more of the fruit flavours from this yeast. Whilst I have a brew fridge free I’m testing it to see how high I can get the temperature in there. The fridge is in the shed so maybe I am asking a lot of the 60w tube heater. I set it at 40 degrees about two hours ago and it’s currently sitting at 28 degrees. The other potential issue is the heater may have a built in thermostat.

Crikey 40 deg! That sound ambitious though a 60W heater I guess in theory should manage it fine but only if the thermostat allows it that high. I’m rather impressed by anyone using the Kveik yeasts at this sort of temperature!
Anna

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Well, it’s now up to 30 degrees so fingers crossed. I was a bit worried about the Leccy bill but from what I’ve read, this should fully ferment out in 3-4 days at these temperatures.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Well, it’s now up to 30 degrees so fingers crossed. I was a bit worried about the Leccy bill but from what I’ve read, this should fully ferment out in 3-4 days at these temperatures.

Ok, so it got to 32 degrees and that was it. That said, it was just an empty fridge which isn’t the best way to test it. I’m thinking if I start off with 23l of wort in that at about 35 odd degrees the heater may be good enough to keep it thereabouts.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Mark, i have used cml kveik i cooled to 35c pitched no temp control it was done in 3 days, this was in the summer though

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Hi Mark, i have used cml kveik i cooled to 35c pitched no temp control it was done in 3 days, this was in the summer though

Ok, thanks for that. I’m going to be using the CML one too. I will chill to 35 then pitch. I should then be able to maintain pretty close to that.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Had the first pint of my Mandarina Summit pale ale tonight, albeit after one or two others, but was very impressed. This is my type of beer. After I have finished brewing my next few planned brews I will definitely get a few more Summit based brews in. Not a hop that is raved about but I’ve not brewed a bad beer with this.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Well, I kegged my LA APA today. I’m not sure if brewers friend overestimated the attenuation of the CML Five yeast or perhaps just didn’t account for the higher mash temperature but, either way the true FG of 1.014 instead of the predicted 1.008 worked in my favour resulting in a table beer at a little over 2.3%abv. The taste from the fermenter was promising with the American hops showing through well. It does taste quite thin but I’m hoping this will improve once carbonated. I ended up with a keg and 5 bottles so I hope is not too bad. There was very little waste from the FV after adding gelatine and cold crashing for three days.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Because of a combination of Xmas and COVID our postal service is really messed up so I haven’t received my Kveik yeast yet. So as not to have two empty FVs I made a 4th version of my German (pseudo) Lager today. I have kept the hops and hop schedules the same as last time as I was really happy with how it turned out. Only differences from last time are the yeast (real lager yeast last time) and I’ve replaced some of the Pilsner malt with table sugar to compensate for the added colour of the Munich Malt.

HOME BREW RECIPE:

Title: German Lager V4

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: German Pilsner (Pils)
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 23 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 28.68 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.036
Efficiency: 65% (brew house)


STATS:

Original Gravity: 1.042
Final Gravity: 1.007
ABV (standard): 4.59%
IBU (tinseth): 26.15
SRM (morey): 3
Mash pH: 5.42


FERMENTABLES:

3.5 kg - Pilsner (79.9%)
300 g - Dextrin Malt (6.8%)
250 g - Munich (5.7%)
330 g - Cane Sugar (7.5%)


HOPS:

15 g - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 18.79
15 g - Hallertau Hersbrucker, Type: Pellet, AA: 4, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 3.73
20 g - Hallertau Hersbrucker, Type: Pellet, AA: 4, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 3.63
20 g - Hallertau Hersbrucker, Type: Pellet, AA: 4, Use: Aroma for 0 min


MASH GUIDELINES:

1) Temperature, Temp: 65C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 23 L


OTHER INGREDIENTS:

6 ml - Lactic acid, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.5 each - Campden Tablets, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.5 each - Protafloc, Type: Fining, Use: Boil


YEAST:

Mangrove Jack - Californian Lager M54
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 79.5%
Flocculation: Med-High
Optimum Temp: 17.78 - 20 C
Fermentation Temp: 18.5C

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

The Kveik yeast I ordered before Christmas finally arrived on New Year’s Eve so I was able to make my Kettle Kveik beer today.

I think the thing I was most looking forward to was not having to chill it down to 20 odd degrees and therefore save a bit on my water bill. Although, any saving here was likely to be lost trying to heat my brew fridge to over 35 degrees in the shed!

After chilling I usually remove the false bottom from my Brewzilla and leave it with the lid on for 30-40 minutes or so to allow the trub to settle at the bottom before opening the tap into the FV. This usually gives me almost perfectly clear wort but today it started pulling pretty murky wort through. I thought this may just be the first bit and it would clear after a bit but it didn’t seem to be doing so. Then, just as I neared the end I could see that I’d actually forgotten the remove the false bottom on this occasion so the trub had just settled on this only to be pulled through when the tap was opened. What a plonker. Never mind, I hope that after cold crashing at the end of fermentation it’ll drop clear.

I also over shot my OG. The last couple of brews had came out between 66-70% BHE so I created this recipe on that but ended up with an OG of 1.054 instead of the expected 1.044! So more like 75% BHE. Never mind.

Anyway, I pitched the yeast at 35 degrees and put the FV in my brew fridge, inkbird set at 38 degrees. At time of writing this 3 hours later the temperature is hovering around 35.6 degrees. I can’t see it getting up any higher since it’s currently just 1 degree outside but hope I can maintain it there or thereabouts.

For my records, and anyone else interested, the adjusted recipe is:

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Kettle Kveik

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 22 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 27.2 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.046
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)


STATS:

Original Gravity: 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 5.67%
IBU (tinseth): 25.58
SRM (morey): 7.4
Mash pH: 5.54


FERMENTABLES:

4 kg - Clear Choice Malt (78.4%)
300 g - Dextrine Malt (5.9%)
300 g - Flaked Oats (5.9%)
300 g - Torrified Wheat (5.9%)
200 g - Crystal Dark - 77L (3.9%)


HOPS:

15 g - Warrior (16 AA), Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14.6, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 23.73
3 g - Galaxy (14.25 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 14.25, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 1.85
7 g - Galaxy (14.25 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 14.25, Use: Aroma for 0 min
10 g - Galaxy (14.25 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 14.25, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
100g - Vic Secret (15.5 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 15.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days


MASH GUIDELINES:

Temperature, Temp: 66 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 20 L
Starting Mash Thickness: 3 L/kg


OTHER INGREDIENTS:

6 g - Gypsum, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
3 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.25 each - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.5 each - Protafloc, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
1 tsp - Yeast Nutrient, Time: 5 min, Type: Other, Use: Boil
3 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
0.25 g - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge


YEAST:

Crossmyloof - VOSS KVEIK ALE YEAST
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (custom): 80%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 25 - 40 C
Fermentation Temp: 38 C

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

So, my Kettle Kveik sat in the fermenter set at 38 degrees but never made it that high even with the internal 60w tube heater on continuously. It hovered between 34.5 and 35.5 for the first three days and, although the outside temperature hasn’t changed, it’s currently sitting at just over 31 degrees. I would imagine the initial higher temperature was created by the fermentation to some extent and that now it’s possibly finished, the temperature has fallen. I think I’ll leave it like this for another day, drop the temperature to more like 25 degrees and dry hop it.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Busy weekend this weekend (not said that a lot recently).

Saturday
Dropped the temperature of my fermenting Kettle Kveik beer from 31 degrees ish to 21 degrees and dry hopped with 100g Vic Secret and the last 20g Galaxy I had left. Planning to leave this for 3-4 days before kegging. Hoping for something very fruity here .
Also on Saturday I kegged my German Lager V4. The temperature had been dropped to 10 degrees in the week when I added Gelatine and cold crashed for 4 days. Planning to reuse the yeast cake to do another Lager tomorrow. It will be my first time reusing yeast so thanks for all the tips on how best to do this when I asked in another post.

Sunday
True to form I had a change of plan for brew day today. I really wanted to test out the water from my new RO filter on a lager but It occurred to me that most of the lagers I brew are consumed by others and since we are unlikely to have anyone round anytime soon it would be stupid having lager taking up two of my kegs. So, I dumped the old lager yeast cake and set about making a batch of my Ghostly Ship. I still used the RO water mixed 50/50 with my tap water along with some very minor other adjustment to give what I hope is a good pale ale water profile. I had a very slow sparge on my Brewzilla. Not had one this slow before. The wort was coming to a boil before it had finished but this probably helped me to achieve my highest ever BHE. It was a bit of a tough day being outdoors for the best part of 6 hours with the temperature barely rising above freezing all day although the biggest issue was trying to thaw out my outside tap and hose for the chilling and clean up but I did it eventually.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Ghostly Ship

Brew Method: All grain Brewzilla
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 23 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 28.68 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.042
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.049
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 4.9%
IBU (tinseth): 30.12
SRM (morey): 8.96
Mash pH: 5.4

FERMENTABLES:
4.5 kg - Clear Choice Malt (91.5%)
0.3 kg - Carapils Malt (6.1%)
0.1 kg - Extra Dark Crystal 120L (2%)
0.02 kg - Roasted Barley (0.4%)

HOPS:
15 g - Chinook, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 20.95
20 g - Amarillo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 8.6, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 9.17
20 g - Amarillo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 8.6, Use: Whirlpool for 20 min at 76 °C
20 g - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 11, Use: Whirlpool for 20 min at 76 °C
25 g - Citra, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 11, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
Temperature, Temp: 66 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 20L

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
7.1 ml - CRS/AMS (6.3% HCl, 8.6% H2SO4), Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
4.1 g - Gypsum, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.4 g - Calcium Chloride (dihydrate), Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.5 each - Whirlfloc, Time: 10 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Boil
1 tsp - Gelatin, Time: 0 min, Type: Fining, Use: Secondary
4.91 g - CRS/AMS (6.3% HCl, 8.6% H2SO4), Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
3 g - Gypsum, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
0.3 g - Calcium Chloride (dihydrate), Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge

YEAST:
Crossmyloof Brew - Pia
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 74%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 15 - 22.22 C

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: Pale Ale
Ca2: 120
Cl: 50
SO4: 200
CaCO3: 20

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I finally got around to kegging my Kettle Kveik today. It was in the brew fridge set at -1 degrees cold crashing as I do with all my beers now, but the delay meant this had been there for 5 days when I usually only cold crash for 3 days. I wasn’t expecting this to make any difference but having taken it from the fridge to remove the dry hops ready to keg I found the hop bag was frozen to the inside if the FV and a layer of ice across the top of the beer.

I put the lid back on and left it for a couple of hours when all but a small bit of the ice had melted and I proceeded to keg. There was a bit left over in the FV which I bottled and although my beers usually take a bit of time to clear completely, this one is really murky. I’ve never made this beer before so have nothing to compare it with so not sure if this is due to the 6% oats and 6% torrified wheat or perhaps the fact I’d frozen it. Oh well, let’s see what it turns out like!

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I’m busy decorating my Kitchen this weekend and knew I’d struggle to squeeze a brew in so I used one of the days holiday I’d accumulated from last year and took Friday off to do one then. I can’t stand it when I have a FV empty.

Fridays brew was a Pilsner. I already have a German lager kegged but was desperate to find out how different this turns out now I have an RO filter. I used a combination of RO and tap water with a small amount of Calcium Chloride to give what I think could be a good Pilsner type water profile. I didn’t have enough Saaz to do the same recipe I did for a Czech style Pilsner previously so I used some Hallertau Hersbrucker at the beginning of the boil to make up the difference.

The day almost turned out to be a total disaster when mash temperature was reached and I was just about to add the first of the grains to the Brewzilla when I realised in the nick of time I hadn’t put the malt pipe in yet! Luckily my brain clicked into gear just in time. Pitched the yeast and popped it all in the brew fridge at 19 degrees, cleaned up and then put my feet up ready to tackle the kitchen tomorrow.


#34 HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Kettle Pilsner

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Pilsner (Pils)
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 23 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 28.68 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.039
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.046
Final Gravity: 1.008
ABV (standard): 4.96%
IBU (tinseth): 28.97
SRM (morey): 2.87
Mash pH: 5.64

FERMENTABLES:
3.5 kg - Crisp Pilsner (82.7%)
200 g - Dextrine Malt (4.7%)
200 g - Munich (4.7%)
330 g - Cane Sugar (7.8%)

HOPS:
25 g - Hallertau Hersbrucker (4 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 3.3, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 10.03
30 g - Saaz (3.5 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 3.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 12.77
40 g - Saaz (3.5 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 3.5, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 6.17

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temperature, Temp: 63 C, Time: 75 min, Amount: 23 L
2) Strike, Temp: 68C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 18 L

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
0.25 each - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.5 each - Protafloc, Time: 0 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
0.5 g - Calcium Chloride (dihydrate), Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
2.36 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.4 g - Calcium Chloride (dihydrate), Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
1.64 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
0.25 each - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge

YEAST:
Mangrove Jack - Californian Lager M54
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 79.5%
Flocculation: Med-High
Optimum Temp: 17.78 - 20 C
Fermentation Temp: 19C

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: Pilsen (Light Lager)
Ca2: 50
Mg2: 4
Na: 26
Cl: 50
SO4: 50
CaCO3: 15