matt76's Brewdays

[matt76]

AG#139 "Waxing Gibbous" American Stout

Have made this a few times before, it's always a bit of a mish-mash of whatever American hops I have on hand at the time.

Nothing too radical, though I added some hops in the mash to see if it has any impact on metallic flavours - not normally a problem but arguably faintly there in the background sometimes.

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
175g Dark Crystal Malt 80L
125g Simpsons DRC
75g Special B Malt
2.875kg Total

Also added 10g Chinook 12.6% to the mash.

10.5 hour (overnight) full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
10g Chinook 12.6% AAU 30mins
20g Simcoe 13.3% AAU 10mins
20g Centennial 7.6% AAU 5mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 5mins

Pitched a vitality starter made the day before with 500ml tap water, 50g light DME and half a pack (5.75g) of US-05.

OG = 1.057
SRM = 43.0 (Very dark!)
IBU = 43 Rager / 45 SMPH

Should end up around 1.021 and 4.6%.

 

[Appleton Brews]

AG#139 "Waxing Gibbous" American Stout

View attachment 104165

Have made this a few times before, it's always a bit of a mish-mash of whatever American hops I have on hand at the time.

Nothing too radical, though I added some hops in the mash to see if it has any impact on metallic flavours - not normally a problem but arguably faintly there in the background sometimes.

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
175g Dark Crystal Malt 80L
125g Simpsons DRC
75g Special B Malt
2.875kg Total

Also added 10g Chinook 12.6% to the mash.

10.5 hour (overnight) full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
10g Chinook 12.6% AAU 30mins
20g Simcoe 13.3% AAU 10mins
20g Centennial 7.6% AAU 5mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 5mins

Pitched a vitality starter made the day before with 500ml tap water, 50g light DME and half a pack (5.75g) of US-05.

OG = 1.057
SRM = 43.0 (Very dark!)
IBU = 43 Rager / 45 SMPH

Should end up around 1.021 and 4.6%.

Isn’t 62% a very low attenuation for US05?

 

[matt76]

Isn’t 62% a very low attenuation for US05?

If you were asking it to ferment a wort made from 100% Maris Otter then yes it would be.

If you were asking it to ferment a wort made from a grist that contains 30% essentially unfermentables then I would argue strongly no.

(my reasoning is in this thread from 2022)

 

[matt76]

AG#140 "Fifth Time Lucky" Lager

Riffing on various lagers I've made over the years. I'm feeling too lazy to whirlpool at the moment so simpler hopping and fewer hops overall for a maltier beer.

I'm also feeling too lazy to make a proper starter, plus liquid yeast is getting really expensive now so it's time to give W-34/70 another go - I've made decent beers with it in the past so let's see.

15L tap water, 5ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Ca: 156 Cl:102 SO4:41 HCO3:103

1000g Maris Otter
500g Vienna Malt
250g Amber Malt
250g Carapils
2.00kg TOTAL

Overnight 10hr full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
45g of Saaz 3.1% AAU for 30mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 7.5mins
20g of Saaz 3.1% AAU for 5mins

Pitched a vitality starter made the day before with 500ml tap water, 50g light DME and a full pack (11.5g) of W-34/70. In the brew fridge at 15°C.

OG = 1.041
SRM = 6.4 (Pale Gold)
IBU = 21.6 Rager / 21.4 SMPH

Should end up somewhere around 1.008-1.010 and 4.1-4.3%.

 

[Twostage]

AG#140 "Fifth Time Lucky" Lager

Riffing on various lagers I've made over the years. I'm feeling too lazy to whirlpool at the moment so simpler hopping and fewer hops overall for a maltier beer.

I'm also feeling too lazy to make a proper starter, plus liquid yeast is getting really expensive now so it's time to give W-34/70 another go - I've made decent beers with it in the past so let's see.

15L tap water, 5ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Ca: 156 Cl:102 SO4:41 HCO3:103

1000g Maris Otter
500g Vienna Malt
250g Amber Malt
250g Carapils
2.00kg TOTAL

Overnight 10hr full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
45g of Saaz 3.1% AAU for 30mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 7.5mins
20g of Saaz 3.1% AAU for 5mins

Pitched a vitality starter made the day before with 500ml tap water, 50g light DME and a full pack (11.5g) of W-34/70. In the brew fridge at 15°C.

OG = 1.041
SRM = 6.4 (Pale Gold)
IBU = 21.6 Rager / 21.4 SMPH

Should end up somewhere around 1.008-1.010 and 4.1-4.3%.

34/70 is one of my favourite yeasts.

 

[matt76]

AG#141 Hurricane Porter

Early start again after an overnight mash. Slight tweak to the crystal malts used, a bit short on Northdown so addeded some EKG as well and fermenting this time with Lallemand Verdant IPA which has served me well in the past. On a whim I decided to ferment this one open.

15L tap water, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet.
Ca:156, Cl: 102, SO4:41, Alkalinity 317

2000g Maris Otter
375g Brown Malt
375g Chocolate Rye Malt
125g Carared
125g Dark Crystal Malt 80L
125g DRC Malt
3.125kg Total

Full-volume no-sparge overnight mash, 10hrs @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
15g EKG 4.8% AAU 30mins
15g Northdown (leaf) 5.76% AAU 30mins
15g Northdown (leaf) 5.76% AAU 10mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 4mins

Pitched a vitality starter of Lallemand Verdant IPA. Will ferment at 20°C and with the FV open for the first few days until it looks like the krausen is about to drop.

35 SRM
25 IBUs Rager
OG 1.060

Expect it to end up around 1.022 and 4.9% ABV.