matt76's Brewdays

[matt76]

AG#94 Third Time Lucky Lager (v2)

Re-brew of my AG#86 (cough cough award winning ) lager. I was a little short on Hallertau Mittelfruh so I had to sub-in some Magnum for the bittering addition, but otherwise no change to the recipe.

Lately I've been making vitality starters but for this one I wanted to make a point of hitting it with plenty of healthy yeast cells, (a) because it's a lager and (b) because I struggled last time to get it to nibble those last couple of gravity points.

With this in mind I went old school last weekend, dusted off my stir plate and pitched a full pack of Wyeast 2308 into a starter made with 1L tap water and 100g DME. I let it ferment out in the brew fridge at 20degC before chilling it to crash out the yeast (thanks for the pointers @foxbat ).

15L tap water, 5.0ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 154
Chloride 99
Sulfate 41
Alkalinity 90

1500g Maris Otter
500g Vienna Malt
250g Amber Malt
250g Carapils
2.5kg TOTAL

120min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
10g of Magnum 10.0% AAU for 30mins
10g of Hallertau Mittelfruh 4.0% AAU for 30mins
15g of Hallertau Mittelfruh 4.0% AAU for 5mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 5mins

The groundwater is so warm at the moment I couldn't reasonably chill it below 23degC so I once I drained the FV to the kettle I got it in the brew fridge to finish chilling down to something like a sensible pitching temperature.

I got 11.2L crystal clear wort in the FV (plus about 1.5L crud which should give me another pint or two once it's settled out). I let this chill down a few degC before pitching my starter.

7 SRM - Golden
22 IBUs Rager
OG 1.048

The starter went from an estimated 1.036 to a measured 1.007 which makes it 80% AA.

If the actual brew behaves the same way we're looking at an FG of 1.010 and around 5% ABV.

 

[foxbat]

What temperature are you fermenting at? 2308 likes it cold, I recall doing all mine at 11C or so and it does make a rich, refined and malty lager. Never used MO though, all mine were with a pilsner malt.

 

[matt76]

What temperature are you fermenting at? 2308 likes it cold, I recall doing all mine at 11C or so and it does make a rich, refined and malty lager. Never used MO though, all mine were with a pilsner malt.

The plan is to start at 11degC which I think it's in the middle of the range according to Wyeast.

Once it gets 50% of the way to FG (below about 1.030 in this case) I'll start ramping up - I can't remember from last time but I think it's either 1 or 2degC/day.

Then once it's 75% of the way to FG (below 1.020) I'll keep bringing it up slowly to 18degC for the diacetyl rest.

I think that's what I did last time. Much to my surprise it took 1st place in the April competition so I'm fairly confident.

But yeah, both MO and also amber malt are a weird choice for a large but somehow it seems to work.

Actually I'm seriously considering the next brew being the same but double up on the amber make for extra toastiness.

 

[foxbat]

The plan is to start at 11degC which I think it's in the middle of the range according to Wyeast.

Once it gets 50% of the way to FG (below about 1.030 in this case) I'll start ramping up - I can't remember from last time but I think it's either 1 or 2degC/day.

Then once it's 75% of the way to FG (below 1.020) I'll keep bringing it up slowly to 18degC for the diacetyl rest.

I think that's what I did last time. Much to my surprise it took 1st place in the April competition so I'm fairly confident.

But yeah, both MO and also amber malt are a weird choice for a large but somehow it seems to work.

Actually I'm seriously considering the next brew being the same but double up on the amber make for extra toastiness.

MO and Amber are an odd choice for sure but perhaps similar to Munich I and II? Not sure.

Which yeast did you use before? 2308 is a superb strain and really highlights refined 'maltiness' in a lager.

 

[matt76]

Which yeast did you use before? 2308 is a superb strain and really highlights refined 'maltiness' in a lager.

WY2308 last time as well, although I had 2 duff packs (or so I thought) before getting lucky with the third one, hence the name! TBH I wasn't convinced about the first batch at first tasting but I think it improved a lot after a few weeks in the keg.

Literally the only recipe change from last time is adding in some Magnum for bittering as I was short on HMF.

That said, there was a change in how I prepared the yeast, plus I have a suspicion my water has changed recently and become a tiny bit softer (though still very hard!) - hard to know for sure since I'm lazy and the previous measurements I did were 12 months ago!

MO and Amber are an odd choice for sure but perhaps similar to Munich I and II? Not sure.

I think you're exactly right there, this is exactly how I've been thinking lately.....

To be precise it's Warminster Floor Malted MO and Warminster Amber Malt, simply because that's what my LHBS sells.

Chewing the grains I honestly can't taste a huge difference between the MO and the Vienna and Munich (both Weyermann) I use. The amber malt though is more biscuitey, brown bread crust, maybe slightly toasty. What it isn't though is roasty, unlike brown or chocolate malt.

I've used the same grist in quite a few beers now and even at 10-12.5% amber malt I don't get any pronounced toasty flavour (I'm very tempted to re-use the yeast cake and simply brew another batch with double the amber malt to see if I can get more toastiness, I think that could be interesting).

At around 25L it gives just a touch more colour and I reckon it behaves like a kind of "Munich-extra" - I think what the amber malt is perhaps doing is adding some richness, maybe some of that melanoidin (?) character you might associate with doing a decoction mash.

I was thinking about this over the weekend and I realised maybe this beer reminds me of a bog-standard lager I had quite a few pints of in Prague a few years ago. Unfortunately I don't know what it was, maybe Pilsner-Urquel, maybe something else. But I remember it being quite biscuity, and although it was pale it wasn't anywhere near as pale as the BJCP guidelines would have you believe a Czech Pils should be. So maybe there was some decoction character.....

One school of thought is you have to replicate the entire process, but another school of thought is to mimic the same effect/flavour profile by choosing the right ingredients. So maybe I've just got lucky (and is is most definitely luck rather than judgement) and found something that replicates that character.

But again, that gives me a few other ideas to play with such as re-brew it replacing the HMF with Saaz (and probably more of it), and try that Saaz version with both 2308 and 2278.

 

[matt76]

Kegging: AG#94 Third Time Lucky Lager v2

I left this fermenting while I was away on holiday - the beauty of having a Wi-Fi connected Inkbird temperature controller is I was able to ramp up the temperature and then do the diacetyl rest remotely. Once I got home all I had to do was connect the CO2 bladder and cold crash it for a few days.

I added gelatin finings to the keg and purged it before transferring what I reckon must be just shy of 12L. It's on the gas now at 20psi - from memory the last batch took a few weeks before it really came into its own so I'll try to leave it at least another week and a half before having a first taste. The hydrometer sample tasted good though.

I'm pleased the Wyeast 2308 attenuated a few points more than last time, where I ended up pitching some W-34/70 to get it to finish off! It could just be luck but I prefer to think it's down to the fact I made a proper starter and pitched lots of healthy yeast. In any case I've harvested a good few hundred ml of thick yeast slurry which I'll re-use in the near future.

OG = 1.048
FG = 1.011
ABV = 4.8%
Apparent Attenuation = 76%

SRM = 7.2
IBU = 21.6 (Rager)

 

[matt76]

AG#95 Get Even IPA v4

No notable changes changes to the recipe for this classic West Coast IPA since last time but for some inexplicable reason I thought I'd give no-chill a whirl. We don't have a hosepipe ban in the area yet but I'm conscious just how much water is wasted just on chilling so I figured why not try it.

15L tap water, 15ml CRS, 2g gypsum, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 151
Chloride 106
Sulfate 208
Alkalinity 84

1000g Maris Otter
500g Vienna
250g Munich
250g Carapils
2.0kg TOTAL

120min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
25g Chinook 12.5% AAU for 30mins
20g Chinook 12.5% AAU for 10mins
0.6g Britewort 10mins

Whirlpool/Hopsteep 15mins @ 90->85degC:
20g Columbus 14.3% AAU
20g Simcoe 13.0% AAU

I plan to dry hop somewhere near the end of fermentation with 25g each Columbus & Simcoe, perhaps once the gravity drops below 1.020.

Once the whirlpool was done I removed the hop bag, sealed up the kettle and left it outdoors to cool overnight. Early this morning it was down to 35degC so I transferred to the FV and put it in the brew fridge to chill down to 20degC.

The wort appeared more murky than normal, I assume because there was no cold break and this crud is still dissolved/mixed in with the wort. I got a bit more in the FV than usual, maybe 0.5-1.0L extra, but on the other hand, whereas I usually get zero trub, approximately the same amount of trub has now settled out in the bottom of the FV!

I have some concerns about the wort spending so long around the 35degC where the majority of infectious bugs like to grow but fingers crossed all will be well.

Pitched a vitality starter made yesterday with 500ml tap water, 50g light DME and half a pack of BRY-97 - I haven't noticed any major difference pitching a full pack (apart from hop creep!) so I figure I may as well halve my yeast costs.

4.5 SRM
72 IBUs Rager
OG 1.039
Expect it to end up about 1.009 and 4.0%.

 

[matt76]

Update: AG#95 Get Even IPA v4

SG this morning was below 1.020 so I added 25g each Columbus & Simcoe under light CO2 pressure. As far as I can tell everything about the fermentation is proceeding normally - looking at the Tilt logs it's exactly as I'd expect for this kind of beer with BRY-97 - and no sign of any off smells or anything like that when I dry hopped so fingers crossed all is well

 

[matt76]

Kegging: AG#95 Get Even IPA v4

I dry hopped this as planned once the gravity dropped below 1.020. As I expected this was a couple of days into fermentation and by then it was already all over bar the shouting - from experience a combination of BRY-97, a vitality starter and a low-ish OG makes for a brisk fermentation

I gave it a few more days to finish off then cold crashed for 2 more days before kegging via closed transfer and my filter to catch any hop bits, that's just 6 days from pitching to kegging.

I must have got distracted during the transfer as the syphon tube ran dry with 3-4L still left in the FV so I had to disconnect it and suck on the tube to get it going again - not ideal if you're as obsessive as I am about closed transfers but hopefully no major harm done.

I got about 11.5-12.0L in the keg - I don't normally fine my IPAs but since this is meant to be in the old school classic West Coast IPA style (i.e. bitter and clear) I added some gelatin finings before purging the keg with CO2 prior to transfer.

OG = 1.039
FG = 1.008
Apparent Attenuation = 79%

ABV = 4.1%
SRM = 4.5 (Pale)
IBU = 72 (Rager)

I'll give it another week before getting stuck in but the hydrometer sample tasted bitter, piney-resiney and with maybe a bit of fruitiness in there too.

Interesting to note that despite brewing this as no-chill it didn't seem any less clear than normal coming out of the FV and I didn't pick up any odd, unusual or unexpected flavours so far

Next up it's gonna be a Czech Pils inspired lager using the WY2308 I harvested from my AG#94 Third Time Lucky Lager and of course lots of Saaz!

 

[matt76]

This is about 6 hours after I pitched some WY2308 slurry into a regular 1L starter on the stir plate.

I'm beginning to suspect that in the 2 weeks in the fridge since I harvested it, the yeast hadn't gone quite as dormant as I imagined it would

 

[matt76]

Well as it turns out the yeast didn't try to escape

In fact I think the pic in my previous post was high krausen and it had already started to subside by the following morning. I've given it a bit longer to make sure, now crashing the yeast out so hopefully find time to get a new on in the next few days

 

[matt76]

AG#96 "Before the rain" Czech(ish) Pils

This is essenially a re-brew of my recent "Third Time Lucky Lager" - same grist, same water, same yeast, but using Saaz hops (a whole pack as it turned out since they were only 2.6%AAU).

I haven't been to Prague since 2018 so it could well be my imagination but I feel like my 3rdTLL has some of the characteristics of the bog standard but very nice lager I had (might have been Urquell, not sure).

I was musing on this recently, maybe the amber malt that acts like a Munich+ and gives it a bit of decoction character (or maybe not!).

Anyway, I figured let's give it a whirl and throw in some Saaz and see what happens. I've actually gone for a whirlpool which doesn't sound very traditional for lager but if this very old post is to be believed they may well throw in a good dose of Saaz at flameout, so maybe...

15L tap water, 5.0ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 155
Chloride 100
Sulfate 41
Alkalinity 88

1250g Maris Otter
500g Vienna Malt
250g Amber Malt
250g Carapils
2.25kg TOTAL

120min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
50g of Saaz 2.6% AAU for 30mins
25g of Saaz 2.6% AAU for 15mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 5mins

Whirlpool/Hopsteep 15mins @ 90->85degC:
25g of Saaz 2.6% AAU

As noted in my previous couple of posts I made a starter of Wyeast 2308 so once the wort was below 15degC in that went. The yeast cake in the starter jar was a good 10-12mm thick and needed persuading out with a sanitised spoon! As with 3rdTLL I'll hold it at 11degC until it gets about 50% of the way to FG (about 1.027) then ramp up 0.5degC every 12 hours up to 18degC.

Interesting point, I made the starter at 20degC and the result tasted just fine. Now I can't help but wonder how this strain would do fermenting warm at, say, 18-20degC...

7 SRM - Golden
30 IBUs Tinseth on paper, though who knows once we factor in the whirlpool!
OG 1.044

Expect it to end up about 1.010 and 4.4%.

 

[matt76]

AG#97 Snuggly Duckling Bitter

Bitter or British Golden Ale, call it what you will. AG#82 without the crystal malt and a slightly tweaked water profile.

15L tap water, 12.5ml CRS, 0.75g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 133
Chloride 116
Sulfate 116
Alkalinity 129

1000g Maris Otter
500g Vienna Malt
250g Amber Malt
250g Carapils
2.0kg TOTAL

130min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
10g Magnum 10.0% AAU 30mins
6g Cascade 7.2% AAU 15mins
6g First Gold 8.0% AAU 15mins
8g Cascade 7.2% AAU 10mins
8g First Gold 8.0% AAU 10mins
11g Cascade 7.2% AAU 5mins
11g First Gold 8.0% AAU 5mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 5mins

Whirlpool 10mins from 90-85degC:
10g Cascade 7.2%
10g First Gold 8.0%

Pitched 5.5g Lallemand Verdant IPA.

6.5 SRM - Golden
37 IBUs Rager
OG 1.039
Expect it to end up about 1.009 and 3.8% ABV.

 

[matt76]

Kegging: AG#97 Snuggly Duckling Bitter

About 11.5L in the keg, fined with gelatin, on the gas at 10psi to keep the carbonation nice and low. It looks like bitter, smells like bitter and tastes like bitter

OG = 1.039
FG = 1.011
ABV = 3.7%
SRM = 6.5 (Golden-Amber)
IBU = 37 (Rager)

 

[matt76]

AG#98 Podium IPA v10

This is effectively a re-brew of my AG#90 Inspiration Pale Ale but using the Simcoe, Citra & Amarillo hops of my house IPA.

15L tap water, 17.5ml CRS, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 120
Chloride 117
Sulfate 150
Alkalinity 45

1000g Maris Otter
500g Vienna Malt
250g Carapils
250g Flaked Oats
2.0kg TOTAL

2hr full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
10g of Simcoe 13.0% AAU for 30mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 7mins
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient (a.k.a. dry bread yeast)

Whirlpool 20mins, starting at 90degC, finished at 80degC
20g Citra 13% AAU

Will dry hop post fermentation with 60g Amarillo 8.0% AAU.

Pitched directly on to the Lallemand Verdant IPA yeast cake from the previous brew, AG#97 Snuggly Duckling Bitter, which I'd just kegged.

4.1 SRM - Pale
25 IBUs Rager / 36 IBUs SMPH
OG 1.039
Expect it to end up about 1.009 and 4% ABV.

 

[matt76]

Kegging: AG#98 Podium IPA v10

11.5L of something suitably hoppy kegged and on the gas, ready for a first taste tomorrow night

OG = 1.039
FG = 1.007
ABV = 4.2%
SRM = 4.1
IBU = 25 IBUs Rager / 36 IBUs SMPH

 

[matt76]

AG#99 Czech Amber Lager

I brewed something similar way back in AG#37 which I recall was nice, though I don't remember much more. It's based on Josh Weikert's "Make Your Best Czech Amber Lager" though this time I've used my own go-to base grist of Maris Otter, Vienna Malt, Amber Malt and Carapils.

15L tap water, 2.5ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 155
Chloride 100
Sulfate 41
Alkalinity 202

1000g Maris Otter
500g Vienna Malt
250g Amber Malt
250g Carapils
125g Dark Crystal Malt
125g Chocolate Rye Malt
2.25kg TOTAL

120min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
15g Magnum 10.0% AAU for 30mins
25g of Saaz 2.6% AAU for 15mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 5mins

The wort tasted nice, and surprisingly chocolately for such a modest amount of chocolate rye malt!

I think I've been getting some light esterey notes from Wyeast 2308 yeast in my recent pale lagers so rather than ramping up the temperature as I've done before I'm gonna keep it low and slow at 10degC and see how it goes. That said, a darker beer like this probably has a bit more room to hide.

With this in mind, once I'd drained the wort to the FV I chilled it down to 10degC overnight before pitching my yeast early the following morning, a starter of Wyeast 2308 made from harvested slurry.

17 SRM - Dark brown, like Coca-Cola
25 IBUs Rager
OG 1.043
Expect it to end up about 1.014 and 3.8%.

 

[matt76]

AG#100 "Waxing Gibbous" Tropical Stout

Up comes my century brew with little fuss or attention, and certainly nothing extraordinary to mark the occasion. Simply a dark beer as we head into the darker wintry months

Re-brew of my AG#67 Tropical Stout but with less base malt to make it sessions strength. I'm perfectly well aware Tropical Stout is meant to be much stronger so if you don't like it you can make your own!

15L tap water, 1.25ml lactic acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 154
Chloride 99
Sulfate 41
Alkalinity 261

2000g Maris Otter
125g Roasted Barley
125g Chocolate Malt
125g Chocolate Rye Malt
125g Carared
125g Dark Crystal Malt 80L
125g Extra Dark Crystal Malt 160L
125g Special B Malt
2.875kg Total

120min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
10g Styrian Wolf 12.4% AAU 30mins
5g Amarillo 8.0% AAU 10mins
5g Citra 13.0% AAU 10mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 5mins
5g Amarillo 8.0% AAU 0mins
5g Citra 13.0% AAU 0mins

Dry hop:
Will dry hop post-fermentation with 15g each Amarillo & Citra.

10.5L in the FV plus 1.7L crud which will yield a little extra once it's settled out. In the brew fridge at 20.0degC. Pitched a full pack (11g) of BRY-97.

43.4 SRM - Very dark!
39.5 IBUs Rager
OG 1.054
Expect it to end up about 1.024 and 4.0% ABV.

 

[matt76]

I've been busy in the brewery this week - I finished off two kegs last weekend so had the joy of cleaning them out (still better than bottling though!) but fortunately had not-one-but-two beers ready for kegging. I should know better than to judge before they're carbed and ready to drink properly, but I'm going to anyway:

Kegging: AG#99 Czech Amber Lager

OG = 1.043
FG = 1.011
Apparent Attenuation = 74%
ABV = 4.2%
SRM = 17.19 (Dark brown)
IBU = 24.81 (Rager)

Much darker than the pic would suggest, it'll look very dark brown, black at a glance perhaps, in the glass. Tasted very clean with a hint of chocolate - I didn't ramp up the temperature, just kept it steady at 10degC which I'm hoping means there are no esters.

Kegging: AG#100 "Waxing Gibbous" Tropical Stout

OG = 1.054
FG = 1.018
Apparent Attenuation = 66%
ABV = 4.7%
SRM = 43.4 (Black)
IBU = 39.5 (Rager)

This one is properly black and no mistake. The malt flavours seemed really good, roast, coffee, chocolate, but I'm not sure yet about the hop flavour. I wonder if something a bit less modern would work better, Cascade, Willamette, something English maybe... we'll see how it drinks in a week or two

 

[matt76]

AG#101 "Mustang" American Amber Ale

Rebrew of AG#89. I was really pleased with the previous brew. I've cut the base malt back slightly to my usual sessionable amount and instead of fermenting with BRY-97 I'm gonna see how it turns out with Lallemand Verdant IPA.

15L tap water, 15ml CRS, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 120
Chloride 106
Sulfate 134
Alkalinity 84

1000g Maris Otter
500g Vienna Malt
250g Amber Malt
250g Carapils
125g Carared
125g Dark Crystal
2.25kg TOTAL

2 hour full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
I'm using a blend of hops, Amarillo 8.0%, Cascade 7.2% and Centennial 9.9% AAU
5g of each for 30mins
5g of each for 15mins
10g of each for 10mins
10g of each for 5 mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 5mins

Dry hop:
Will add 10g of each at end of fermentation

All plain sailing, no issues to report. Pitched a vitality starter made yesterday afternoon with 500ml tap water, 50g light DME and half a pack of LVIPA.

10.35 SRM - Deep amber
50 IBUs Rager
OG 1.044

Should end up around 1.012 and 4.1% ABV-ish.