matt76's Brewdays

[pilgrimhudd]

I'd like to meet this forum expert...

 

[matt76]

Bottling: AG#51 Munich Helles

FG = 1.007 (CML "Hell" seems like a keen attenuator!)

ABV = 5.1% (A little higher than planned but I'll suffer it)
SRM = 4
IBU = 17 (Rager) (I'm convinced that for whatever reason, for my brewing Rager gives a better indication of IBU's than Tinseth)

Colour = Pale golden; little bit of haze but confident it'll clear in time
Aroma = Not much
Taste = Slight malt sweetness and maybe a hint of lemon or orange, nice dry finish.

Yield = 21 x 500ml bottles

Batch primed using 65g table sugar giving me something around 2.4vols CO2 - this level worked well last time I made a Helles, and similarly in my Czech and German Pilsners. Now I need to put this away and wait. And wait. And wait some more. Last time it took a while to carbonate fully - different yeast this time mind you and in the meantime I still have plenty of other beers to enjoy.

I cold crashed for about 5 days but I just could not get my fridge any lower than 7-8degC. It certainly seems clearer than when it went in and I suspect what remains is chill haze. I'm confident from past experience with lagers that once the bottles are carbed they will eventually clear given enough time in the fridge.

I'll be interested to see how this tastes back to back against one of my Pilsners given the allegedly stark difference in bitterness. Also interested to see if the Carapils I added makes much difference to head retention.

 

[matt76]

First Tasting: AG#51 Styrian Wolf Golden Ale

Colour = Pale; Lots of chill haze!

Appearance = Good head on pouring which is pretty well retained along with good lacing.

Mouthfeel = Nice mouthfeel, certainly not thin. Moderate carbonation but sufficient; not too gassy or bloaty.

Aroma = Subtle but fruity

Taste = I'm gonna say maybe peach, maybe tropical fruit salad; maybe also kinda floral-to-blossom.

Hopslist says:

"When brewed, expect intense fruity and floral notes. These include flavors of sweet tropical fruits and complex aromas of mango, elderflower and even a hint of violet."

Well suggestion is a powerful thing but yeah I'll go with that - maybe the peach I'm getting is more mango; yeah that could be elderflower; and maybe even just a touch of Parma Violets!

This is a really tasty beer. It's not at all the hoppy Session IPA I was trying to make, maybe Golden Ale is a better description. Yet despite my fears, it hasn't ended up tasting like grass steeped in perfume either!

It's light and it's refreshing, a good lawnmower beer. It's kinda like a lager, but more fruity and hoppy - dare I say more interesting - but without going anywhere near IPA territory. In fact it would be interesting to re-brew it with a lager yeast, this is after the same grist I use for my Pilsners and Helles.

Speaking of which, I feel like the Carapils I added has made a difference to head retention, lacing and mouthfeel - I'll have a better idea in a few weeks once my Helles is ready to drink.

In the meantime, although my Session IPA still eludes me, I'm pleased to have this Golden Ale to see me through the rest of the summer

 

[foxbat]

Oooh hark at mister la-de-da with his Parma Violets! I had a commercial single hop styrian wolf ale once and while it was perfectly fine I didn't get any of that tropical stuff they talk about like you do from the new world hops. Methinks they're trying to jump on the IPA bandwagon with all these new Styrian releases when they just don't have that IPA punch behind them.

 

[matt76]

Oooh hark at mister la-de-da with his Parma Violets! I had a commercial single hop styrian wolf ale once and while it was perfectly fine I didn't get any of that tropical stuff they talk about like you do from the new world hops. Methinks they're trying to jump on the IPA bandwagon with all these new Styrian releases when they just don't have that IPA punch behind them.

Yeah, I think you're right mate - it's nice and the flavours are there but just nowhere near as pronounced in in your face as American C hops and their ilk, for example. I have room in my life for both kinds but I do find it much harder as a result to pick up on the subtlety of old world hops.

 

[matt76]

AG#53 Munich Dunkel
(Now with added brew fridge )

Confession time, I've never actually tried a Munich Dunkel, but for some reason I've been wanting to brew one for ages (I hadn't tried a Munich Helles before I brewed one either but that worked out pretty well).

This is a Josh Weikert recipe from beerandbrewing.com adapted to my process, though I've changed the hops to Northdown which while maybe not true to style has worked well for me in my recent Porters so I figure will work here in what is a malt-forward beer anyway.

As I did in my previous brew I tried an overnight mash again - and again my efficiency was way higher than I get normally, and in fact even slightly higher again than last time. The difference this time is I was ready for it adjusted my recipe accordingly and ended up just one point higher than the OG predicted by Brewer's Friend.

Whether the overnight mash was a factor or not I don't know but I barely slept a wink and was up with the cock just after 6am and getting on with my brew before the little monsters appeared.

17L tap water, 5ml lactic acid 80%, 1g CaCl, half a Campden tablet.

Grain Bill:
2700g Munich Malt
125g Victory Malt
125g Carafa II
TOTAL 2.95kg

Overnight (~9.5hrs) full-volume no-sparge mash @ 70degC
(I know in the first 2 hours this dropped to 68 then rose to 74degC so who knows what it was doing overnight!)

Boil 30mins:
25g Northdown leaf 6.1% 30mins
15g Northdown leaf 6.1% 5mins
1/4tsp Irish Moss powder 5mins

10.5L crystal clear wort into the FV, plus 2 x 2L bottles of crud to settle out and top up the FV. Put the FV in the fridge for a few hours to get it down below 20degC then pitched a whole pack of CML "Hell".

I lucked out and pounced yesterday on a fridge that had just popped up on Facebook Marketplace, then got straight on it and ordered myself an Inkbird ITC-308. So finally I transferred it to the new fridge and set it 17degC - fingers crossed no more messing about with water baths and ice blocks!

19 SRM - Very dark brown to black
21.15 IBUs Rager
OG 1.051

My experience so far of CML yeasts is that they all seen to be keen attenuators, includng Hell which I've used twice before. Although there's quite a margin of uncertainty in the overnight mash temp I'm hoping it won't over-attenuate too much and come in just shy of 5% ABV.

 

[samale]

AG#53 Munich Dunkel
(Now with added brew fridge )

Confession time, I've never actually tried a Munich Dunkel, but for some reason I've been wanting to brew one for ages (I hadn't tried a Munich Helles before I brewed one either but that worked out pretty well).

This is a Josh Weikert recipe from beerandbrewing.com adapted to my process, though I've changed the hops to Northdown which while maybe not true to style has worked well for me in my recent Porters so I figure will work here in what is a malt-forward beer anyway.

As I did in my previous brew I tried an overnight mash again - and again my efficiency was way higher than I get normally, and in fact even slightly higher again than last time. The difference this time is I was ready for it adjusted my recipe accordingly and ended up just one point higher than the OG predicted by Brewer's Friend.

Whether the overnight mash was a factor or not I don't know but I barely slept a wink and was up with the cock just after 6am and getting on with my brew before the little monsters appeared.

17L tap water, 5ml lactic acid 80%, 1g CaCl, half a Campden tablet.

Grain Bill:
2700g Munich Malt
125g Victory Malt
125g Carafa II
TOTAL 2.95kg

Overnight (~9.5hrs) full-volume no-sparge mash @ 70degC
(I know in the first 2 hours this dropped to 68 then rose to 74degC so who knows what it was doing overnight!)

Boil 30mins:
25g Northdown leaf 6.1% 30mins
15g Northdown leaf 6.1% 5mins
1/4tsp Irish Moss powder 5mins

10.5L crystal clear wort into the FV, plus 2 x 2L bottles of crud to settle out and top up the FV. Put the FV in the fridge for a few hours to get it down below 20degC then pitched a whole pack of CML "Hell".

I lucked out and pounced yesterday on a fridge that had just popped up on Facebook Marketplace, then got straight on it and ordered myself an Inkbird ITC-308. So finally I transferred it to the new fridge and set it 17degC - fingers crossed no more messing about with water baths and ice blocks!

19 SRM - Very dark brown to black
21.15 IBUs Rager
OG 1.051

My experience so far of CML yeasts is that they all seen to be keen attenuators, includng Hell which I've used twice before. Although there's quite a margin of uncertainty in the overnight mash temp I'm hoping it won't over-attenuate too much and come in just shy of 5% ABV.

I have a Munich dunkel in the bottle if you fancy a swap. My one is a bit under carbonated for the style. The same with my bock. Something I need to work on since I started using my brew fridge. Anything I lager has been under carbonated.

 

[matt76]

I have a Munich dunkel in the bottle if you fancy a swap.

Sure, I'd be up for that - it'll be a while before it's ready so you'll probably have to remind me! And as I recall we were also going to swap the Helles too, right?

Something I need to work on since I started using my brew fridge. Anything I lager has been under carbonated.

I wonder why that is? Are you lagering in the FV or in the bottle? Are you giving it enough extended time to carbonate? Do you do a diacetyl rest? Are you taking into account the low fermentation temperature when you calculate how much priming sugar to add?

 

[matt76]

Bottling: AG#52 "Chocks Away" ESB

Bottled this yesterday once I'd finished brewing the Dunkel. Split batches are a really easy way to experiment, unlike malt or hops say. The only trouble is you almost double your work when it comes to bottling!

Each batch (one was CML Midland, the other CML Beoir) yielded 10 x 500ml bottles.

17.5g sugar per batch - pretty low carbonation but consistent with what I did last time I made this.

Based on a couple of little samples I'd say they're not night and day but they are different:

Midland seems to have a little more fruity ester and brings out the bitterness more, while Beoir seems more neutral and malt forward.

Both are really tasty so I'm looking forward to trying them in a few weeks.

Both also attenuated really well - 6 points more than expected, which combined with the higher than expected OG means instead of a 5.5%ish beer I've actually got two beers at 6.7 & 6.6% ABV!

 

[samale]

I wonder why that is? Are you lagering in the FV or in the bottle? Are you giving it enough extended time to carbonate? Do you do a diacetyl rest? Are you taking into account the low fermentation temperature when you calculate how much priming sugar to add?
[/QUOTE]
Not sure I calculate the priming sugar based on 20 degrees. I do a diacetyl rest. If I am honest my carbonation levels are a bit up and down. My English ale is over carbonated. Both German dunkel & bock pour with a good head but it fades very quickly.
It's all a learning curve. Normally for 19 litres finished I add 85 grams for 2 vol carbonation. The bock I went 2.5 vols which I think from memory was 120g.

 

[matt76]

Not sure I calculate the priming sugar based on 20 degrees. I do a diacetyl rest. If I am honest my carbonation levels are a bit up and down. My English ale is over carbonated. Both German dunkel & bock pour with a good head but it fades very quickly.
It's all a learning curve. Normally for 19 litres finished I add 85 grams for 2 vol carbonation. The bock I went 2.5 vols which I think from memory was 120g.

Hmm... process sounds similar to mine - the point being that when you do a diacetyl rest the warmer temperatures allow more of the dissolved CO2 to escape, and you're calculating sugar based on 20degC as I also do.

I generally get a bit more than 10L in the FV but after losses etc I normally end up with 20 x 500ml bottles so exactly 10L.

- For IPA's I've gradually reduced the priming sugar down from 55 to 50 to 45 and finally to 40g as I was finding them a bit over carbonated, probably due to hop creep.
- For the ESB above I've gone even lower with 35g.
- But for the Helles I bottled recently I used 65g (around 2.4-2.5 vols CO2), which is consistent with what I've done previously in my Helles and Pilsners (and roughly consistent with your 120g in 19L) which all achieved a good level of carbonation - eventually...

...when I made the Helles first time round it took quite some time to carbonate fully, certainly more than 4 weeks. I remember posting about it - some I roused the yeast, some I put in the airing cupboard and some I popped the caps and added a bit of US-05. But given time they all got there in the end (maybe 8-12 weeks). I think partly the issue was the yeast (WY2206 in that case - I'm using CML Hell now) maybe worked a bit slower even at room temps, combined with a good cold crash that left relatively little residual yeast in the bottles.

So to cut a long story short maybe give them a bit more time?

With regard to head retention, for sure this is not an issue in my hoppy beers! But in my previous lagers (Helles, Pilsners, even last year's Baltic Porter) then it's not been so good - good head on pouring but then it dissipates.

As you may have read, I've started adding a bit of Weyermann Carapils to my "standard" pale lager/session IPA grist (about 5% I think). Now based on a single result - my Styrian Wolf Golden Ale - I think this has made a difference in terms of head retention, lacing and possibly mouthfeel too. But that's a more hoppy beer and may be more susceptible to hop creep so hard to know for sure. I'll have a better idea in a few weeks once my latest Helles is ready for drinking but so far it's only been about 2 weeks since I bottled it.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

When are you trying this matt? I want to sample one!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Sorry internet died when i posted that, i was talking about the baltic porter....

 

[matt76]

Sorry internet died when i posted that, i was talking about the baltic porter....

Sorry, been in the garden this morning getting a brew on - more on that story later...

I checked the other day and next weekend is 8 weeks since I bottled my Baltic Porter. Since the suggested conditioning time is 12 weeks I think 8 weeks is acceptable to have a little taste

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Sorry, been in the garden this morning getting a brew on - more on that story later...

I checked the other day and next weekend is 8 weeks since I bottled my Baltic Porter. Since the suggested conditioning time is 12 weeks I think 8 weeks is acceptable to have a little taste

Doesnt sound good...the brew that is.

 

[matt76]

Bottling: AG#53 Munich Dunkel

Bottled this yesterday evening:

FG = 1.015
ABV = 4.7%
SRM = 19
IBU = 21 (Rager)

Yield = 22 x 500ml bottles

Colour = Very dark brown; like Coca-Cola
Aroma = Slight, malty, maybe a touch of spice
Taste = Malty; A touch of burnt toast but in a good way; maybe a bit of toffee/caramel in there (which is weird because there's no crystal malt in it!)

Not too much to report. The CML Hell yeast seemed to ferment out pretty quickly - whether this was just luck or anything to do with my new brew fridge and keeping temperatures steady I'm not sure. However, I was very pleased to discover the fridge will get down (according to the Inkbird at least) to 0.0degC which is a lot better than 6degC when I'm trying to cold crash.

I'm not totally bowled over by the taste yet, but I'll reserve judgement until it's properly carbed and ready to drink - let's say I'm quietly curious.

 

[matt76]

AG#54 Rainy Days Hazy IPA

So named because I've had to keep a weather eye on the horizon to get my brew in between the rain, but I guarantee you this will probably end up my clearest brew ever!

Overnight mash again then up with the cock to get my brewday done early. I thought the adjuncts would peg the efficiency back a bit but no, higher than ever - not that that's a terrible thing, but you kinda want some consistency and predictability when planning your brews.

This started life as a single hop Mosaic session IPA but then I realised a had some leftover Citra to use up, plus some Galaxy to try too and it went from there... In truth the grist is a bit of a user upper too hence the assortment. I'm sure I read a recommendation somewhere about using Vienna malt in hazies, and Mike Tonsmeire has a recipe for a Rye NEIPA which is enough of a recommendation for me.

17L tap water, 5ml lactic acid 80%, 3.5g CaCl, 0.3g Gypsum, 0.25g NaCl, half a Campden tablet.
(Targeting 120 Ca; 150 Cl; 50 SO4; 20 HCO - but a bit high on Ca & HCO)

Grain Bill:
1000g Maris Otter
500g Lager Malt
500g Vienna Malt
400g Rye Malt
250g Carapils
150g Flaked Barley
150g Flaked Oats
TOTAL 2.95kg

Overnight (~9.5hrs) full-volume no-sparge mash @ 70degC
(As before I think the temperature was up and down all night probably about +/-4degC)
Also added 10g Mosaic to the mash - why? Something Scott Janish mentioned in a recent interview with Drew Beechum, basically an it-can't-hurt insurance policy IIRC.

Boil 30mins:
5g Citra 10mins
5g Galaxy 10mins
10g Mosaic 10mins
5g Citra 5mins
5g Galaxy 5mins
10g Mosaic 5mins
1/4tsp Irish Moss powder 5mins

Whirlpool 10mins @ 90degC:
10g Citra 5mins
10g Galaxy 5mins
20g Mosaic 5mins

Plan to dry hop with 20g each Citra & Galaxy plus 40g Mosaic - haven't totally decided on the details yet!

Ended up with 10L in the FV, plus 4L crud which should yield another 1-2L once it's settled out.

Pitched 5g CML Haze and put it in the brew fridge set to 19degC.

Ended up at OG = 1.053, quite a bit more than expected.
Not sure how it'll attenuate but maybe around 4.9% ABV if it stops at 1.016 as predicted by Brewer's Friend.
36 IBU's (Rager) and a pale 4.6 SRM.

 

[foxbat]

Galaxy, Citra and mosaic. That ought to taste amazing.

 

[matt76]

Galaxy, Citra and mosaic. That ought to taste amazing.

Here's hoping!

 

[matt76]

Right, I think I've decided on a dry hopping schedule for this hazy;

I've got 50g Mosaic pellets, 20g Citra leaf and 80g Galaxy leaf. I've also got 35g Citra pellets spare if I need them.

I'll dry hop early with 20g each Mosaic, Citra leaf and Galaxy leaf - I'll spilt this between 2 x small nylon hop bags so I can remove them carefully after 2-3 days contact time.

Then at the end of fermentation I'll dry hop again with 30g each Mosaic & Citra pellets plus Galaxy Leaf with 1-2 days contact time, probably with a soft crash around 10degC. These can all go in loose as I can filter them out easily at bottling