marshbrewers brewdays

[marshbrewer]

New shelving set up worked really well today. I also think I've found my mysterious missing 2L, as I hit 21.5L in the FV against a planned 20L, and I k is exactly where I went wrong, so I'm pretty sure I've got Brewfather dialed in as far as volumes go.

Strike temps all over the place. Last time, it was too low, this time too high, so I need to do some calibration around that, but I'll sort it.

Today, I brewed the export version of Ind Coopes Double Diamond from Graham Wheelers euro book.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

New shelving set up worked really well today. I also think I've found my mysterious missing 2L, as I hit 21.5L in the FV against a planned 20L, and I k is exactly where I went wrong, so I'm pretty sure I've got Brewfather dialed in as far as volumes go.

Strike temps all over the place. Last time, it was too low, this time too high, so I need to do some calibration around that, but I'll sort it.

Today, I brewed the export version of Ind Coopes Double Diamond from Graham Wheelers euro book.

View attachment 48553

Nice! Better than my setup, where I’m using just one Burco but hoisting it up and down with a block and tackle

 

[marshbrewer]

Nice! Better than my setup, where I’m using just one Burco but hoisting it up and down with a block and tackle

Thanks. At the moment, it's slightly self defeating, and I have to lug up the strike and sparge water to the HLT Burco at the top, but this will be resolved when I plumb in a tap up there, but it's progress!

I also need to change the tap in the Boiler Burco to a ball valve, so I can feed a pipe from it into the FV sat in the brew fridge, but again ,I'm getting there.

The most satisfying part of the brewday was when I had a boil over, and the base of the boiler trolley could just be wiped clean because it's made of an old door from some bedroom furniture which is coated with some horrendous 1980's hard plastic coating which is completely waterproof. Of course, I totally planned this and didn't use that piece of wood because I'm a tight ****.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I have to lug up the strike and sparge water to the HLT Burco at the top

Can’t you just fill ‘em up using a hose?

 

[marshbrewer]

Aha, no, for two reasons.

The first is that my hose isn't food grade, and I'm convinced it provides a taint to the water. When I plumb in a tap, it will be fed from a food grade hose. I'm currently researching this, but caravan hose looks like a good bet.

Secondly, without a sight glass, I need to jug the water in so I know the volumes.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Ah yes understood - I stand my Burco on the scales while I’m filling it up, for similar reasons! Ive been thinking another option might be to tee off at the tap, to a short length of clear beer line secured to the side wall - DIY sight glass

 

[marshbrewer]

Yesterday, I brewed a sort of 'light' or golden Californian Common. Which basically means its not a Californian Common. 60 min boil / mash.

Malts (5.1 kg)
4 kg (78.4%) — Simpsons Lager Malt — Grain — 3 EBC
500 g (9.8%) — Muntons Caramalt — Grain — 29.5 EBC
500 g (9.8%) — Bairds Munich Malt — Grain — 9.9 EBC
100 g (2%) — Muntons Wheat Malt — Grain — 4.3 EBC
Hops (50 g)
20 g (19 IBU) — Northern Brewer 8.5% — Boil — 60 min

30 g (15 IBU) — Northern Brewer 8.5% — Boil — 15 min

Aimed for 20L in FV with an OG of 1046. Got 21L in the FV with an OG of 1049. Lower trub losses due to my improved cooling procedure and my new set up are slowly improving both my mash and brewhouse efficiency. Lovely golden coloured wort. Now sat in my kegerator at 13 deg C. Yeast was CML Kentucky. Looks like its started already to no long lag time.

If things carry on like this I might have the confidence to adjust the efficiency figures in Brewfather!

 

[marshbrewer]

Lovely lemon citrus smell coming from the FV. Don't usually get this with Northern Brewer hops, I wonder if it's the CML Kentucky yeast?

 

[marshbrewer]

Got the Lovibond XB into a cornie keg today with 60g of boiled sugar. Sample was 1.012 and tastes good; unfortunately that means it has come out at 7% rather than 5.5. Minimum of 6 weeks conditioning going by my experience of this beer; perhaps even 8-10 before tucking in.

 

[marshbrewer]

Today I kegged the Inc Coope and the golden Cali Common, that had been sat in the primary for about 8 weeks, due to being really busy with wedding planning, actually getting married, honeymoon, etc etc.

I was expecting them to be ruined, but they both appear to be ok. Primed both cornies with 60g of sugar, gases them up / purged and gasses up enough to seal the lid. Now both sat at conditioning temps. Once the Ind Coopes has carved up, I'll let it clear for a couple of weeks then get into it. I will probably leave the Cali Common to condition at cool temps for longer.

 

[marshbrewer]

Bit of an experimental day today. First up, I wanted to give melanoidin malt a spin. I started with one of my ruby mild recipies and messed around, beefing it up until I came up with the below. I originally had a small amount of black malt in it to try and get a ruby colour, but missed them out to see what the melanoidin and molasses would do on their own. The other thing I wanted to try was dual pitching with S-33 plus something that attenuates better and would finish lower. I had CML BEòIR in stock, so I chose that. It isn't the fastest starting yeast in my experience, so I pitched both at the same time. Might have been better to pitch the S-33, wait 12 hours or so, then pitch the CML. We will have to see. I was shooting for 20L @ 1.052 and got 21 @ 1.051, which is pretty good. Colour was good; but I will try a tiny amount of black next time to increase the ruby notes. Wort tasted amazing.

John's Old Ale
5.6%

Batch Volume: 20 L
Boil Time: 60 min

Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity (Adv): 1.009
IBU (Tinseth): 36
Colour: 30 EBC

Mash
Temperature — 67 °C — 60 min

Malts (4.68 kg)
4 kg (76.5%) — Crisp Plumage Archer Malt — Grain — 4 EBC
380 g (7.3%) — Crystal 60L — Grain — 118 EBC
200 g (3.8%) — Muntons Melanoidin — Grain — 60 EBC
100 g (1.9%) — Muntons Wheat Malt — Grain — 4.3 EBC
Other (550 g)
500 g (9.6%) — Demerara Sugar — Sugar — 3.9 EBC — Boil
50 g (1%) — Blackstrap Molasses (Meridian) — Sugar — 1875 EBC — Boil

Hops (40 g)
20 g (33 IBU) — Summit (Whole) 14% — Boil — 90 min
20 g (4 IBU) — Fuggles 4.5% — Boil — 10 min

Miscs
4 ml — Phosphoric Acid 85% — Mash
2.6 ml — Phosphoric Acid 85% — Sparge

Yeast
1 pkg — Fermentis S-33 SafBrew Ale 70%
1 pkg — Crossmyloof BEòIR 75%

Fermentation
Primary — 21 °C — 0 days

 

[marshbrewer]

The s-33 / BEòIR combination has conked out at 1014 rather than 1009. Tastes ok, so I'm cold crashing it for a week to see if I can get it nice and clear. There are, however, some suspicious looking yeast rafts on the top which might be mould I guess I'll find out in a week when I package it.

 

[marshbrewer]

A week of cold crashing, and the yeast rafts / possible mould has disappeared, so I'm thinking it was yeast that has now sunk to the bottom. Packaged it into a cornie with 60g of dissolved / boiled unrefined sugar.

It hasn't shifted from 1014. Sample tastes lovely, and is really clear so the dual strain yeast looks to be a winner. Might try it with s-33 / Wilko Notty next time.

Should be ready in three to four weeks, by which time, on my current form, it will have magically gone as cloudy as f**k.

Something Belgian inspired next, me thinks. Thinking along the lines of a beefy dark mild with a Belgian yeast.

 

[marshbrewer]

Today I am brewing a sort of beefed up dark mild, but I am going to ferment it with CML Belgian Ale yeast at 26° C. I've absolutely no idea why. I've upped the IBU's a bit because I'm not sure I'm getting very good bitterness extraction, so its just outside the official style for a Mild.

Dark Mild Experiment

3.8%
62% efficiency

Batch Volume: 20 L
Boil Time: 60 min


Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.030
Original Gravity: 1.039
Final Gravity (Adv): 1.010
IBU (Tinseth): 33
Colour: 39 EBC


Mash
68 °C — 60 min


Malts (3.67 kg)
3 kg (72.5%) — Crisp Plumage Archer Malt — Grain — 4 EBC
300 g (7.3%) — Muntons Melanoidin — Grain — 60 EBC
220 g (5.3%) — Chocolate — Grain — 835 EBC
150 g (3.6%) — Amber — Grain — 53 EBC
Other (470 g)
400 g (9.7%) — Lyle's Golden Syrup — Sugar — 25 EBC — Boil
70 g (1.7%) — Molasses — Sugar — 158 EBC — Boil
Hops (35 g)
15 g (25 IBU) — Summit (Whole) 14% — Boil — 60 min
20 g (9 IBU) — Fuggles 4.5% — Boil — 30 min

Yeast
1 pkg — CML Belgian Ale Yeast
Fermentation
Primary — 26 °C — 14 days

 

[marshbrewer]

OG was 1042, so 3 points up. Wort was lovely and clear. Now sat at 24° with the yeast hydrating on top of the wort.

I've set the fermentation fridge to 22°, and unplugged the cooling from the inkbird. I'm hoping that once the yeast gets going, it will get as warm as it likes without ever getting below 22°. I will ramp that up by 1° a day so as the fermentation slows it is being kept up the top end of its range to finish up.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Yaaay for doing a mild

 

[marshbrewer]

I love mild. Dark mild. Light mild. Ruby mild. Historical milds that are really bitter and strong. Keg mild in pubs. Cask mild in pubs. Cans of mild. Mild in bottles.

 

[marshbrewer]

With no heating, the temp in the fermentation fridge was 26.4°c this morning, so I've plugged the cooling back in and set the inkbird to 25° to stop it running away as it could get warm today. This yeast is a bit of a monster!

 

[marshbrewer]

First brew in ages. I've got a mouse problem in my brewery / garage. They haven't found the malt, as it's up high and in well sealed containers, but in my head they have been walking and urinating all over everything, even things they couldn't possibly get at, so the first two hours was spent cleaning and bleaching things. However, eventually, I got this in. A nice, simple strong pale ale.


British Strong Ale

6.8%

61.5% efficiency

Batch Volume: 19 L
Boil Time: 60 min
Original Gravity: 1.072
Expected Final Gravity: 1.020
IBU (Tinseth): 47
Colour: 16.4 EBC

Mash
Temperature — 65 °C — 90 min


Malts (7.5 kg)
4.5 kg (60%) — Crisp Plumage Archer Malt — Grain — 4 EBC
3 kg (40%) — Muntons Munich — Grain — 16 EBC
Hops (125 g)
50 g (24 IBU) — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5% — Boil — 60 min

25 g (11 IBU) — Fuggles 4.5% — Boil — 60 min

25 g (6 IBU) — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5% — Boil — 15 min

25 g (5 IBU) — Fuggles 4.5% — Boil — 15 min


Miscs
0.46 g — Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) — Mash

1.98 g — Epsom Salt (MgSO4) — Mash

0.53 g — Gypsum (CaSO4) — Mash

7 ml — Phosphoric Acid 85% — Mash

0.24 g — Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) — Sparge

1.02 g — Epsom Salt (MgSO4) — Sparge

0.27 g — Gypsum (CaSO4) — Sparge

3.35 ml — Phosphoric Acid 85% — Sparge


Yeast
1 pkg — Fermentis S-33 SafBrew Ale 70%
1 pkg — Crossmyloof BEòIR 75%
Fermentation
Primary — 20 °C — 14 days

It all went quite well, the mash temp was a paltry 60°c after mashing in, as I haven't adjusted for the low temps of the grain, but 4L of boiling water sorted that out, and I adjusted the sparge volume accordingly. I had to do some messing around with the phosphoric acid to hit the correct mash pH, but nothing too taxing.

For some reason, I ended up with tons and tons of trub in the kettle, even after leaving it a couple of hours to settle, so the volume in the fermenter was 15L rather than 19L; no idea what caused this.

I also forgot to take any photos, but the wort was a lovely deep gold colour. Looking forward to this one.

 

[marshbrewer]

Today, I'm doing the Einbecker Maibock from Graham Wheelers Euro book.

Mash is in, and sparge water ready...