matt76's Brewdays

[pilgrimhudd]

Sounds like a nice beer.

Although my thermostat seems accurate like you i've noticed that it tends to overshoot the set temperature which is annoying, i've been turning down the power just before it reaches temperature too. I've also noticed that on the lower setting it won't achieve a rolling boil where as on the higher setting it's like Vesuvius down there so I occasionally flick the switch up and down over the hour.

 

[chrisb8]

Like @Rodcx500z I find that the temperature reading on my klarstein kettle is around 4-5 degrees lower than the actual water temperature

 

[matt76]

Sounds like a nice beer.

Although my thermostat seems accurate like you i've noticed that it tends to overshoot the set temperature which is annoying, i've been turning down the power just before it reaches temperature too. I've also noticed that on the lower setting it won't achieve a rolling boil where as on the higher setting it's like Vesuvius down there so I occasionally flick the switch up and down over the hour.

Hmm... That's weird... What temp do you set it to for the boil? I set mine to 102degC, but it never reaches that high of course. I use 3kW for heating up after mashing, but then 1.5kW is just right for a nice rolling boil.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I think the difference is the power settings I have 3 as opposed to 2, when I am mashing I heat the water on full 2500w temp set at 4 degrees lower than I want, if I want 67c I set it at 63c it then knocks off I mash in set the timer for 1 hour leaving temp set at 63c with the power set at 900w it normally kicks in twice over the hour, I then go back to full power for the boil when it gets to the boil I knock it down to 1600w and it maintains a rolling boil, I see you guys lowest setting is 1600w I think that's your problem its to fierce for mashing accurately

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Hmm... That's weird... What temp do you set it to for the boil? I set mine to 102degC, but it never reaches that high of course. I use 3kW for heating up after mashing, but then 1.5kW is just right for a nice rolling boil.

103c, maybe I should make it drop ot a bit, thinking about it I only put it that high because I read that's what somebody else sets it at!

 

[matt76]

103c, maybe I should make it drop ot a bit, thinking about it I only put it that high because I read that's what somebody else sets it at!

Try setting it a bit higher, maybe 105degC, if it will go that high - when I'm boiling it never actually reaches the temperature set point, so the thermostat never actually kicks in.

I have experimented with a lower temperature setting, but once the thermostat kicks in it shuts off the power and it stops boiling.

And since the dead band on the thermostat is too wide (I think it's something like +/-2degC), the power won't come back on again until the temp drops another 2degC.

So I just set the temp high enough that it'll never reach it and the heat stays on the whole time. 1.5kW gives a sensible rolling boil with pretty much the same boil off as I was getting on the kitchen hob.

Apparently though, I've head that if you leave it at to 3kW for the boil it gets very lively indeed. Though I've never done that of course

 

[matt76]

All a bit quiet at the moment. No time for brewing lately but the Czech Amber is still in the FV and I've bottled 3 other batches recentlly:

AG#37 Czech Amber Lager
This has been bubbling away slowly but steadily for a week in the fridge at 8degC. Gravity down to 1.017 so moved it somewhere warmer to finish off and clean up. Colour is actually a bit lighter than I originally thought - it's darker than amber - more like Newcastle Brown maybe - but definitely not black like porter or stout. Coffee aroma and tastes of coffee, toffee & bready - very moreish!

AG#35 Chinook APA
Yield = 21 x 500ml bottles

Colour = Pale, hazy
Aroma = hoppy
Taste = hoppy, think maybe the Cascade dry hop has brought out the Chinook flavour somehow, but need to wait for a proper taste.

ABV = 5.3%
SRM = 4
IBU = 38

AG#34 Czech Pilsner
Yield = 30 x 330ml bottles

Taste = Crisp, clean, refreshing. Something floral from the Saaz hops.

ABV = 5%
SRM = 4
IBU = 42

AG#36 German Pilsner
Yield = 30 x 330ml bottles

I tried an experiment when bottling and deliberately syphoned up 1-2tbsp yeast from the bottom of the FV, which mixed with the beer and priming solution - interested to see if it makes much difference to the carbonation.

Taste = Crisp, dry, refreshing. There's certainly a difference compared to the Czech Pils, partly due to the yeast and partly the hops I think.

ABV = 5%
SRM = 4
IBU = 43

I think what I might do with both pilsners is keep half for drinking sooner rather than later, and put the other half in the shed to lager in a more traditional way for as long as the weather remains cool - or until I get thirsty again!

 

[Mangold]

Matt, how do you get the bottle tops like that? Brilliant idea.

Thanks

 

[matt76]

Matt, how do you get the bottle tops like that? Brilliant idea.

Thanks

@Mangold - thanks! See this post here:
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/how-to-print-bottle-cap-labels.80204/#post-832036

I design the labels in Excel, print them on a big A4 sheet of sticky label paper, then cut them out with a 25mm circle cutter (like a big hole punch).

The German flag was done just by colouring cells in Excel. For logos, I print the images (I normally make it semi transparent), then I put the paper back in the printer and print the text (it didn't work so well when I tried to print it in one hit).

 

[matt76]

Gratuitous beer pic: AG#31 Golden Ale (4.8%)

A mate of mine was quite impressed with this so I decided to give it a reappraisal myself...

Not sure if that's hop haze or chill haze, possibly a bit of both.

From my notes I added a bit of Harris Starbrite to the FV. I notice the sediment in the bottle is a bit loose but the yeast was US-05 which I gather is to be expected.

Considering it was originally quite sweet and insipid before I decided to dry hop, it's now quite a pleasant hoppy pale ale - more of a gentle grassy hoppiness than your typical citrus overload but very agreeable nonetheless

 

[matt76]

AG#38 Matt's Berkshire Porter

This is the first of a couple of porter's I plan to make: This one is a lower strength homage to Fuller's London Porter, the next one will be a Josh Weikert recipe. I originally thought about making a hybrid of the two but in the end decided what the heck, let's do both and then see.

If you've tried Fuller's London Porter you'll know it's excellent, and the GH Brown Porter I made last year seemed fairly close. After a bit of Googling I found this thread that describes an apparently accurate recipe for Fuller's taken from the Real Ale Almanac:
https://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1811

I tweaked it a little, adding some flaked barley and also doubling the chocolate malt from 2 to 4% to make certain it would be as dark as I wanted. I was also curious to try Northdown hops so I used them instead of EKG. I messed up a little as I was aiming for about 4.5% ABV but the flaked barley robbed me of a few points and I reckon this will end up around 3.7-3.8% - as long as I end up with a tasty beer I won't complain. I also forgot to switch Brewer's Friend from pellet to leaf hops so I'm a couple of IBU's short of what I intended - but I think it'll be fine.

15L water, half a Campden tablet, 1g CaCl, 5ml lactic acid 80%

1650g Golden Promise
250g Dark crystal
300g Brown malt
100g Chocolate malt
200g Flaked barley
2.5kg Total

Full-volume no-sparge mash 30mins @ 69degC

Boil 30mins:
20g Northdown leaf hops 6.19% 30mins (20 IBU's)
10g Northdown leaf hops 6.19% 10mins (5 IBU's)
1g Irish Moss 10 mins (I'm trying some new powder from Crossmyloof to see if it's any better than the protafloc tablets I've been using)

Chilled to 20degC in about 8mins then left for 2 hours for the crud to settle out before draining 9L clear wort to the FV, plus another 3L or so that I'll leave to settle out before topping up the FV with the clear wort - should end up with about 10-11L in the FV.

Pitched a pack of S-04 at 18degC and put the FV in the garage where it's about 13degC - haven't used this yeast before but I want to ferment it on the cooler side.

OG = 1.039, Brewer's Friend reckons it'll get down to 1.011 which will give me 3.7% ABV.

 

[cushyno]

@matt76 Your Brewday thread is a great read.

Your whole brewing journey unfolds here and shows what can be achieved by one amateur brewer over the course of a year.

Maybe because you brew often and incrementally learn and improve your process makes for good reading. Your learning becomes rapidly apparent with each brew and write up. It is interesting to see you go through your favoured styles and refine them, settling on your go-to grist and cooling process, then refining again until you have it nailed.

There's a lesson in persistence and dedication for all of us in these pages.

Keep it up my friend.

 

[matt76]

AG#39 Pliers Porter

And here's the second porter of the week. This one is a Josh Weikert recipe from Craft Beer & Brewing:
https://beerandbrewing.com/make-your-best-english-porter/

Compared with my previous one it has slightly different amounts of dark crystal and brown malt, and chocolate rye malt (which I've never used before) instead of regular chocolate malt.

15L tap water, half a Campden tablet, 1g CaCl, 5ml lactic acid 80%

1625g Golden Promise
225g Dark crystal
225g Brown malt
225g Chocolate Rye Malt
200g Flaked barley
2.5kg Total

Full-volume no-sparge mash 65mins @ 68degC

Boil 30mins:
20g Northdown leaf hops 6.19% 30mins (20 IBU's)
10g Northdown leaf hops 6.19% 10mins (5 IBU's)
1g Irish moss powder 10 mins

Chilled and pitched a pack of S-04 at 18degC and put the FV in the garage to ferment on the cool side.

OG was a couple of points higher than last time at 1.041 (maybe due to the longer mash, maybe the 1degC cooler mash temp, maybe just one of those things) which should end up around 4.0% ABV.

Early days yet of course but I would swear the wort tasted noticeably different to the previous Fuller's inspired attempt - AG#38 tasted like a chocolatey horlicks, whereas this one had a more spicy dark chocolate bitterness. Whatevs, guess we'll see in a few weeks.....

 

[matt76]

Bottled: AG#37 Czech Amber Lager

FG = 1.009
ABV = 5.2%
SRM = 18
IBU = 35

Yield = 30 x 330ml bottles
2.3 vols CO2

Colour = Dark brown, like coca cola
Aroma = Maybe coffee or dark chocolate
Taste = Medium mouthfeel: I want to say there's a taste of fig in there but it's more like a chocolate bourbon biscuit - not that's it's overtly chocolatey, more that that's how the bitterness comes across.

 

[matt76]

Update: AG#38 & AG#39 A Tale Of Two Porters

Both have had a week fermenting in the cool of the garage, both now at room temperature to finish off for another week or so. Checked the gravity this evening and as expected both are now a few points away from the predicted final gravity.

Neither has much body though that's not much surprise for two beers that will end up around 4% ABV - which isn't to say they're totally watery either! But being totally honest with myself I stuffed up a bit with the flaked barley which robbed me of a few OG points - lesson learned for next time!

AG#38 "Matt's Berkshire Porter" has something chocolatey in the taste but seems like there's also a bit of a twang there. It's not bad and I think it will condition out into an OK beer, just not my best work.

(Which is a bit odd since the grist is almost the same as the GH Brown Porter I made a year ago which turned out excellent and not a million miles away from Fuller's London Porter)

AG#39 "Pliers Porter" taste-wise is altogether more interesting. It's hard to describe, maybe a bit woody, maybe spicy - I'm not sure if it's the Northdown hops or Chocolate Rye malt but it's like what I had in mind at the outset. I'm already contemplating a higher strength version to get some more body in there. Looking forward to this one being ready to drink in a few weeks time

 

[matt76]

First Tasting: AG#34 & AG#36 Czech & German Pilsners

After a month in the bottle I decided it was time for a taste. Both use the same water and grist, it's only the hops and yeast that are different (Saaz vs. Tettnang; WY2278 vs. W34/70).

Both beers are reasonably well carbonated but not overly so. I deliberately syphoned over some of the yeast cake for the German Pilsner to see if it improved carbonation but I don't notice any difference (based on an experiment I did with my Helles a couple of months back, the best thing seems to be airing cupboard or just give it time). Both yeasts seemed pretty well stuck to the bottom of the bottle.

The main issue, and hardly a surprise, was that both beers have a bad case of chill haze. Oddly, the Czech Pils which seemed clearer at bottling of probably the more hazy of the two! The good news is that the bottles I stuck in the cryogenic lagering chamber (a.k.a. the shed) initially went hazy but seem to be clearing after a couple of weeks in the cold. My other recent lagers have also cleared very nicely after some time in the cold so I'm sure these ones will get there too.

Taste-wise, they both still seem a bit young but that's fine as I'm not exactly in a rush to down them all. But there's certainly a difference in taste: the Czech Pilsner seems very soft, laid back and rounded; the German Pilsner meanwhile seems altogether, well, more German - it's like it's got more bite somehow, like it sits up straight and takes itself much more seriously.

Both are ok beers now, though certainly each is a little different. But based on my other recent lagers then with a bit more time I think they'll mature into very good beers.

 

[matt76]

AG#40 Friday Club IPA
Nailed it! I try not to worry too much these days about hitting my OG, but it still rocks when you bullseye it!

This is a lower strength homage to Lagunitas IPA based on the recipes here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/lagunitas-ipa-clone.212382/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/can-you-brew-it-recipe-for-lagunitas-ipa.175370/

I really like Lagunita's IPA, one of my favourites, but I prefer a more modest and sessionable ABV so I made a few tweaks and juggled the water volume vs. total grain bill to target an OG in the mid-high 40's. The original recipe is a bit unusual for an AIPA as it's mashed at ~71degC (yes, really). I went a little lower just to hopefully improve the accuracy of the FG predicted by Brewer's Friend.

Also the original calls for wheat malt (presumably for body???) which I didn't have so I used some flaked barley instead. It also calls for various specific colour crystal malts which we don't really do in the UK so I did my best. And of course I scaled everything to fit my full-volume no-sparge mash + 30min boil regime:

16L tap water, half a Campden tablet, 2g Gypsum, 15ml CRS.

2275g Golden Promise
175g Flaked Barley
175g Munich malt
125g Crystal malt (60L)
250g Carared malt
3.0kg TOTAL

Full-volume no-sparge mash 90mins @ 68degC
I just left it to do it's thing while I took care of some other chores. Hard to say exact temp as it seemed to yoyo up and down between 66-72degC during the mash so who knows what the FG will be!

Boil 30 mins:
25g Willamette 4.7% 30mins (19 IBU's)
15g Centennial 9.7% 30mins (24 IBU's)
1g Irish Moss powder 6mins
15g Cascade 5.6% 1mins (1 IBU)

(10g each Cascade and Centennial to follow as a dry hop)

Nice just to be using pellet hops again for the first time in ages - this meant I didn't need the grain basket during the boil (it makes a great hop spider for leaf hops). And since I didn't need to keep adding hops every 5 minutes I could use the time instead to clean up and be done sooner.

Chilled to 18degC in about 6mins then left for 3 hours for the crud to settle out before draining 9L clear wort to the FV, plus another 3L or so that I'll leave to settle out before topping up the FV with the clear wort - should end up with about 10-11L in the FV.

Pitched a pack of Crossmyloof "Pia" Kiwi pale ale yeast at 18degC and put the FV in the garage where it's about 14degC. This is a new yeast for me but I hear great things about it for this style so fingers crossed. The aim is to start cool then bring it up to room temperature to finish off.

OG = 1.048, bang on what I predicted using Brewer's Friend #SMUG BF reckons it'll get down to 1.013 which will give me 4.5% ABV, but given the up and down mash temp we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[matt76]

AG#41 F-Rye-Day 13th IPA
(Do you see what I did with the name there? That's gold that is, pure gold!)

Well that wasn't without it's challenges! 5 mins before the end of the boil the Klarstein decided to throw an error code (E4 = boil dry?) and cut out! I had just thrown in the last of the hops so effectively they had a 5 min long hot hopsteep, rather than a boil. But I'm fairly comfortable that it won't be too dramatic or have a disastrous impact on the bitterness.

More of a concern was that on draining the boiler I discovered a scorch mark over one of the heating elements (that was fun to clean - not!). Hopefully the finished beer will still be OK. I found an old post that suggested this could be directly related to rye malt, which I've never used before - apparently the trick is to stir the wort as you bring it up to the boil:
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/scorched-element.76452/#post-746855

Anyway, as the name implies (it does, right?), this is a Rye IPA, tweaked slightly from a Josh Weikert recipe to yield something around 4.5% ABV:
https://beerandbrewing.com/make-your-best-rye-ipa-beer-recipe/

Boiler problems aside, it's my standard full-volume no-sparge mash followed by a 30min boil.

15L tap water, half a Campden tablet, 2g Gypsum, 15ml CRS.

800g Lager malt
600g Pale Rye malt
625g Vienna malt (I added an extra 25g I had spare)
200g Carapils
100g Dark Crystal malt
100g Light Crystal malt
50g Victory malt
2.475kg TOTAL

Mash 60mins @ 65degC.

Boil 30 mins:
5g Simcoe 13.1% 30mins (11.5 IBU's)
15g Amarillo 8.5% 10mins (10.5 IBU's)
15g Northern Brewer 6.1% 10mins (7.5 IBU's)
1g Irish Moss powder 10mins
15g Amarillo 8.5% 5mins (6 IBU's)
15g Northern Brewer 6.1% 5mins (4 IBU's)

(15g Amarillo to follow as a dry hop)

Chilled to 18degC in 5mins and left for 3 hours while the crud settled out. Collected 8L crystal clear wort in the FV, plus 5L crud.

Normally I let the crud settle out over a day or two and then top up the FV. But tonight I tried something different - I passed the remaining crud through a large sanitised fine-mesh hop bag suspended over the kettle, and just gave it time to drip through. In the end I collected about another 4L crystal clear wort which I used to top up the FV, bringing the level to just over 11L of very nice looking burnt gold wort. I'm pleased with this process tweak - I'm getting a bit more wort in less time with less hassle and can top up the FV before it gets going so less oxidation risk.

Despite all the fun and games I hit my predicted OG of 1.043. I pitched a full pack of Crossmyloof "Five". I believe this is essentially US-05 so should be nice and clean and attenuate well - down to about 1.007, according to Brewer's Friend, which should end up around 4.7% ABV which will suit me perfectly.

 

[samale]

AG#41 F-Rye-Day 13th IPA
(Do you see what I did with the name there? That's gold that is, pure gold!)

Well that wasn't without it's challenges! 5 mins before the end of the boil the Klarstein decided to throw an error code (E4 = boil dry?) and cut out! I had just thrown in the last of the hops so effectively they had a 5 min long hot hopsteep, rather than a boil. But I'm fairly comfortable that it won't be too dramatic or have a disastrous impact on the bitterness.

More of a concern was that on draining the boiler I discovered a scorch mark over one of the heating elements (that was fun to clean - not!). Hopefully the finished beer will still be OK. I found an old post that suggested this could be directly related to rye malt, which I've never used before - apparently the trick is to stir the wort as you bring it up to the boil:
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/scorched-element.76452/#post-746855

Anyway, as the name implies (it does, right?), this is a Rye IPA, tweaked slightly from a Josh Weikert recipe to yield something around 4.5% ABV:
https://beerandbrewing.com/make-your-best-rye-ipa-beer-recipe/

Boiler problems aside, it's my standard full-volume no-sparge mash followed by a 30min boil.

15L tap water, half a Campden tablet, 2g Gypsum, 15ml CRS.

800g Lager malt
600g Pale Rye malt
625g Vienna malt (I added an extra 25g I had spare)
200g Carapils
100g Dark Crystal malt
100g Light Crystal malt
50g Victory malt
2.475kg TOTAL

Mash 60mins @ 65degC.

Boil 30 mins:
5g Simcoe 13.1% 30mins (11.5 IBU's)
15g Amarillo 8.5% 10mins (10.5 IBU's)
15g Northern Brewer 6.1% 10mins (7.5 IBU's)
1g Irish Moss powder 10mins
15g Amarillo 8.5% 5mins (6 IBU's)
15g Northern Brewer 6.1% 5mins (4 IBU's)

(15g Amarillo to follow as a dry hop)

Chilled to 18degC in 5mins and left for 3 hours while the crud settled out. Collected 8L crystal clear wort in the FV, plus 5L crud.

Normally I let the crud settle out over a day or two and then top up the FV. But tonight I tried something different - I passed the remaining crud through a large sanitised fine-mesh hop bag suspended over the kettle, and just gave it time to drip through. In the end I collected about another 4L crystal clear wort which I used to top up the FV, bringing the level to just over 11L of very nice looking burnt gold wort. I'm pleased with this process tweak - I'm getting a bit more wort in less time with less hassle and can top up the FV before it gets going so less oxidation risk.

Despite all the fun and games I hit my predicted OG of 1.043. I pitched a full pack of Crossmyloof "Five". I believe this is essentially US-05 so should be nice and clean and attenuate well - down to about 1.007, according to Brewer's Friend, which should end up around 4.7% ABV which will suit me perfectly.

I really enjoy reading your brew log. I always seem to get scorching when using rye. I try to stir but probably not enough. I don't know if it's because I order crush grain. I was told adding the dust could be the reason not sure if I am honest. Saying that rye is great addition to a beer

It adds great mouth feel to a beer.
That's my rye IPA with 1kg of rye

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I really enjoy reading your brew log. I always seem to get scorching when using rye. I try to stir but probably not enough. I don't know if it's because I order crush grain. I was told adding the dust could be the reason not sure if I am honest. Saying that rye is great addition to a beer
View attachment 23508
It adds great mouth feel to a beer.
That's my rye IPA with 1kg of rye

Looks a tasty pint!