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Flat out like a lizard drinking
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Bitters and stouts
matt76's Brewdays
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Update: AG#30 Red IPA
Bottled the Red IPA the other day...
I got 19 x 500ml bottles from this one. Will be interested to see how hoppy it turns out with no dry hop. Looks a lovely clear amber in the bottles though.
I also got 7 x 500ml bottles from the experimental brew I made by re-mashing the spent grain from the red IPA. Noticeably less hoppy, more like a bitter but we'll see how it tastes in a few weeks.
Bottled the Red IPA the other day...
I got 19 x 500ml bottles from this one. Will be interested to see how hoppy it turns out with no dry hop. Looks a lovely clear amber in the bottles though.
I also got 7 x 500ml bottles from the experimental brew I made by re-mashing the spent grain from the red IPA. Noticeably less hoppy, more like a bitter but we'll see how it tastes in a few weeks.
Updates: Took some gravity readings yesterday...
AG#32 "Cheatin' Like Helles"
Gravity 1.006. Little bit hazy, should be fine with a cold crash. Not much aroma, quite dry and a lovely Jacobs cracker malt flavour with just a twist of lemon in there. Little bit more bitter maybe then my actual Munich Helles but very pleased so far considering what a "cheat" this one is.
AG#31 Golden Ale
Gravity 1.008-1.009. Cloudy, faint hoppy aroma, taste of honey and very faint hint of orange citrus. Not a cloying sweetness, actually fairly dry, just a honey flavour. Flavour seems more English or noble hop character? Reminds me of AG#10 with First Gold hops, or maybe a Badger beer? Not bad as such, just a bit dull for my tastes so think I'll do a dry hop with the remaining Crystal hops, plus maybe a little Amarillo or similar.
AG#32 "Cheatin' Like Helles"
Gravity 1.006. Little bit hazy, should be fine with a cold crash. Not much aroma, quite dry and a lovely Jacobs cracker malt flavour with just a twist of lemon in there. Little bit more bitter maybe then my actual Munich Helles but very pleased so far considering what a "cheat" this one is.
AG#31 Golden Ale
Gravity 1.008-1.009. Cloudy, faint hoppy aroma, taste of honey and very faint hint of orange citrus. Not a cloying sweetness, actually fairly dry, just a honey flavour. Flavour seems more English or noble hop character? Reminds me of AG#10 with First Gold hops, or maybe a Badger beer? Not bad as such, just a bit dull for my tastes so think I'll do a dry hop with the remaining Crystal hops, plus maybe a little Amarillo or similar.
Brewday: AG#34 Czech Pilsner
4th brew in the Klarstein, still thrilled with it. Kind of a re-brew of AG#7 in that it's a Czech Pilsner (via Berkshire). Building on AG#28 Munich Helles, (and using same grist) but wanted something crisper and more bitter.
2250g Lager malt
200g Vienna malt
50g Victory malt
TOTAL 2.5kg
Full-volume / no-sparge mash for 30 mins @ 67degC in 15L tap water treated with 1g CaCl, 0.5 Campden tablet, 5ml Lactic Acid 80%.
Boil 30mins with a metric buttload of hops! (Used a full 100g pack for this!) :
70g Saaz leaf hops 3.62% 30mins (N.B. since it's all leaf hops used grain basket as hop spider)
15g Saaz leaf hops 3.62% 5mins
15g Saaz leaf hops 3.62% 0mins (Cooled rapidly to 70degC then steeped for 10mins before continuing cooling)
Mains water is nice and cool this time of year so was able to chill down to 14-15degC. Left to settle for a few hours before draining 9.5L clear wort to FV - remaining 3L crud and sludge collected in plastic bottle and left to settle out as usual. Again, as if by magic the crud settled just below the drain hole allowing me to drain off the crystal clear wort to the FV.
Pitched Wyeast 2278 Czech Pils at 12degC, OG 1.045. Let's do this!
A metric buttload of hops, 70g bittering charge at top
The crud magically settles just below the drain hole - awesome
4th brew in the Klarstein, still thrilled with it. Kind of a re-brew of AG#7 in that it's a Czech Pilsner (via Berkshire). Building on AG#28 Munich Helles, (and using same grist) but wanted something crisper and more bitter.
2250g Lager malt
200g Vienna malt
50g Victory malt
TOTAL 2.5kg
Full-volume / no-sparge mash for 30 mins @ 67degC in 15L tap water treated with 1g CaCl, 0.5 Campden tablet, 5ml Lactic Acid 80%.
Boil 30mins with a metric buttload of hops! (Used a full 100g pack for this!) :
70g Saaz leaf hops 3.62% 30mins (N.B. since it's all leaf hops used grain basket as hop spider)
15g Saaz leaf hops 3.62% 5mins
15g Saaz leaf hops 3.62% 0mins (Cooled rapidly to 70degC then steeped for 10mins before continuing cooling)
Mains water is nice and cool this time of year so was able to chill down to 14-15degC. Left to settle for a few hours before draining 9.5L clear wort to FV - remaining 3L crud and sludge collected in plastic bottle and left to settle out as usual. Again, as if by magic the crud settled just below the drain hole allowing me to drain off the crystal clear wort to the FV.
Pitched Wyeast 2278 Czech Pils at 12degC, OG 1.045. Let's do this!
A metric buttload of hops, 70g bittering charge at top
The crud magically settles just below the drain hole - awesome
Good choice of yeast! Nice and crisp and clears easily.
What's your tap water like in terms of minerals? Apart from the yeast I believe the key to the success of my Czech Pils last year was using Ashbeck (as I always do) because its very low mineral content makes it easy to adjust to a good pils profile.
Saaz is a perfect hop and I can't argue with chucking a ton of it in. Wonderful hop.
What's your tap water like in terms of minerals? Apart from the yeast I believe the key to the success of my Czech Pils last year was using Ashbeck (as I always do) because its very low mineral content makes it easy to adjust to a good pils profile.
Saaz is a perfect hop and I can't argue with chucking a ton of it in. Wonderful hop.
Yeah, I used the same yeast for AG#7 (sounds like an age ago but it was only a year!)
Tap water here is harder than Bruce Lee with a hangover! So fairly similar to Pilsen - not!
I agree with you, Ashbeck would be better but I'm on a mish to reduce plastic waste so I'm sticking with tap water for the most part. And I'm totally fine that that's not right for a Czech pils.
Likewise, strictly speaking I should be using Bohemian pils malt rather than UK lager malt - but I'm up for trying it out and seeing what happens (I'm also planning German pils, same grist, different hops & yeast).
I figure it'll make good beer, and if I don't like it, well, I can change it up in the future.
Hi Matt I see the 35L is on sale at £209-00 30L £199-00 great kettles for the money, looking at your pics do you not use the boozuka on the tap
MyQul
Chairman of the Bored
I'm guessing he didnt need to as he used the grain basket as a hop spider and leaves the wort for several hours to let the trub settle out. So doesn't need to worry about that either
I only asked because I use mine and just chuck the hops in not with good results I might add, I have ordered a hop spider to try and get rid of all the trub I get, I guess im still on the learning curve
What Bazooka? It doesn't come fitted with one as standard - it's something I was thinking about adding but I decided is more trouble then it's worth...
Firstly I'm not certain it would fit beneath the grain basket...
Secondly, from what I've read they're helpful with leaf hops (and I can use the grain basket to deal with those) but I've yet to find anything conclusive that there is anything or there that is effective at filtering the gunge left behind from pellet hops.
Thirdly, as @MyQul says, I'm getting good results just by letting the crud settle for a few hours before I drain the wort - useful time to clean up, or do other chores to keep in Mrs76's good books!
Simple rule of thumb:
Leaf hops => Use the grain basket as a hop spider
Pellet hops => Throw them in loose, just give it a few hours (2-3 hours seems to be sufficient) to let the crud settle out
Cheers Matt I now know were my problem lies the false bottom it just gets clogged with trub had to sanitise my arm twice to get it out, I have a hop spider coming soon that should help, I suppose I could brew without the false bottom the bag is only in for the mash all is becoming clear, cheers and happy brewing
Sounds like it'll be a nice tasting hazy pils. 
Eh? I don't get it - why hazy?Sounds like it'll be a nice tasting hazy pils.
ahh you're always moaning about the clarity of your beer, poor joke sorry....
Oohhh...that...
It's often hop haze if I dry hop...
Or chill haze... Interestingly I've recently stopped putting flaked barley in everything just to see if that's actually the cause. And if it isn't then I give up because I've tried everything else!!!
It's not the FB unless you're putting a metric boatload in there. My latest IPA has 5% FB and it's as clear as usual with the caveat that I fine in the keg.Oohhh...that...
It's often hop haze if I dry hop...
Or chill haze... Interestingly I've recently stopped putting flaked barley in everything just to see if that's actually the cause. And if it isn't then I give up because I've tried everything else!!!
Yeah but that's precisely the point.....
You fine your beers (and very handsome they look too I might add) and I don't*.....
I've tried everything else I can think of including radically altering my brewing process with limited success regarding chill haze - crystal clear at room temp and virtually no sediment in the bottles (which is a very worthwhile achievement IMHO) but hazy once it's chilled.
So omitting FB is just the next step in a process of elimination. We'll see in a few weeks.
(* Actually I did add some Harris Startbrite finings to my Golden Ale in the FV yesterday - haven't used it before, will also be interesting to see what that does)
Zephyr259
Landlord.
My bitter and golden ale have 9% flaked barley, they are unfined (beyond irish moss), bottle conditioned and drop clear no bother so I'm always curious why people seem to link flaked barley to haze, maybe I'm just lucky?
I don't, at least not automatically. But it's something I came across recently that hadn't occurred to me before so I figured I've tried everything else, let's see if this makes a difference.
By the way, what you describe sounds similar to me, 9% FB, Irish Moss, unfined, bottle conditioned etc - so maybe you see my point when I ask myself what the heck am I doing wrong!
On the flip side, for the most part the beer tastes good so maybe I shouldn't sweat it. But it just something that niggles at me that I'd like to solve.
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