MickDundee
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I just added it to the original FV and it was fine. I’m the ultimate lazy brewer (and also petrified of oxidation) - why use 2 FVs when you can use 1?
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AG#62 Blueberry Kettle Sour
I've fancied making a sour for a while - in fact one of the first craft beers I tried was a sour from Siren Craft Brewery. More recently I've been spurred on by @MickDundee ' s fairly recent Raspberry Kettle Sour. I guess mine is pretty similar but I've put my own spin on it and gone down the blueberry route.
Today was the day for making and souring the wort. This will stay in the Klarstein for a couple of days around 35degC while the lactic culture does it's thing. Then once it's ready I'll boil it up as normal - add some hops, chill, pitch yeast and ferment as normal
15L tap water, 20ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet.
(That's way more lactic acid than I'd normally use (20ml vs. 5ml) but the aim here is to pre-sour the wort to around pH 4.0-4.5 so the lacto culture is more at home.)
1250g Lager Malt
1000g Wheat Malt
2.25kg Total
(A modest grain bill even by my standards!)
60min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC.
(Well, I was aiming for 67degC - normally the Klarstein is fairly stable but today it insisted on heading to around 70!)
Boil 5mins - this is just to kill off any residual bugs to yield a sterile wort. I'll do a proper boil and add hops after the souring.
Chill to 40degC then transfer the Klarstein to the garage set to 33degC. The lacto culture wants to be between 30-40degC. I figure it'll wander up and down a bit - if it's too low I guess the lacto will just work a bit slower, but too high could kill it, so I'm erring slightly on the lower side. I can set the Klarstein for 24hrs, so I just need to remember to reset the time and temp once a day for the next day or two.
Before pitching the lacto culture I drew off 750ml wort to a snitised bottle and pitched a full 10g pack of MJ M44 - effectively a vitality starter to give the yeast a proper head start before they get pitched into a more hostile and acidic wort than normal.
Then I pitched my lacto culture, Lallemand WildBrew Sour Pitch. The pack says 10g is actually enough for 100L! I wasn't sure how much to use so I went with a third of the pack, 3.3g. If you're interested, it's a powder like sherbert, rather than tiny grains like dry yeast - I just sprinkled it on top of the wort and whisked it in.
Final step, I laid some cling carefully over the top of the wort to limit oxygen exposure and other undesirable bugs. Then I sealed it up and tucked it in a 33degC.
All being well, more to follow in a day or two
Christ, that sounds utterly dreadful, my worst nightmare!
There's still the GH Spiced Coriander & Lime Beer to come yet.Christ, that sounds utterly dreadful, my worst nightmare!
I'll put you down for a couple of bottles of each shall I?
There's still the GH Spiced Coriander & Lime Beer to come yet.
I'll put you down for a couple of bottles of each shall I?
The spiced coriander and lime as long as it isn't too limey sounds ok.....but, just to make it clear, I am up for drinking anything.
Day off work today so busy day in the brewery starting with.....
AG#63 Mexican Lager
This is another Josh Weikert "Make Your Best..." recipe. It's a little strange in that he suggests MO as the base malt rather than, say Pilsner malt, though I tend to use GP instead of MO anyway. I've subbed in a bit of Carapils - opinions vary but I think it improves head retention/lacing a bit in my lagers. First time for me using flaked maize.
One extra tweak I've made in addition to Motueka at 5mins is to add some extra Motueka in the whirlpool. I'm really curious about the idea of "survivables" diuscussed by Scott Janish et al. The idea is to load up the whirlpool with certain precursor compounds that are then biotransformed by the yeast to help boost hop aroma and flavour. That said there doesn't actually seem to be any data how much of these precursors Motueka actually contains!
First time using Lallemand Diamond Lager yeast. According to their datasheet this strain has limited biotransformative power - rather lower than other strains, but not zero either so fingers crossed.
15L tap water, 5ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet.
Calcium 171
Chloride 106
Sulfate 40
Alkalinity 133
1250g Golden Promise
750g Flaked Maize
250g Carapils
75g Munich
2.325kg TOTAL
60min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC - unlike last time the mash temperature decided to stay more or less constant.
Boil 30mins:
5g Galaxy (leaf) 15.7% AAU 30mins
20g Motueka 6.3% AAU 5mins
1/4tsp Irish Moss powder 5mins
Whirlpool:
30g Motueka 6.3% AAU 20mins @ 75degC
I was aiming for 85degC but overdid it with the chiller. It's just occurred to me I could have just switched the kettle back on to warm it up a bit!
Cooled in the fridge to 12.5degC and pitched a full 11g pack of Lallemand Diamond Lager Yeast - another first time yeast for me, though many say it is the same as W-34/70. I've just gone for the middle of the 10-15degC range on the pack.
8L in the FV with another 5L crud in bottles to settle out and top up the FV later.
3.4 SRM (pale golden)
20 IBUs Rager
OG 1.043 - should end up about 4.4% ABV if it ferments down to 1.009 as predicted by BF.
AG#63 Mexican Lager
This is another Josh Weikert "Make Your Best..." recipe. It's a little strange in that he suggests MO as the base malt rather than, say Pilsner malt, though I tend to use GP instead of MO anyway. I've subbed in a bit of Carapils - opinions vary but I think it improves head retention/lacing a bit in my lagers. First time for me using flaked maize.
One extra tweak I've made in addition to Motueka at 5mins is to add some extra Motueka in the whirlpool. I'm really curious about the idea of "survivables" diuscussed by Scott Janish et al. The idea is to load up the whirlpool with certain precursor compounds that are then biotransformed by the yeast to help boost hop aroma and flavour. That said there doesn't actually seem to be any data how much of these precursors Motueka actually contains!
First time using Lallemand Diamond Lager yeast. According to their datasheet this strain has limited biotransformative power - rather lower than other strains, but not zero either so fingers crossed.
15L tap water, 5ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet.
Calcium 171
Chloride 106
Sulfate 40
Alkalinity 133
1250g Golden Promise
750g Flaked Maize
250g Carapils
75g Munich
2.325kg TOTAL
60min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC - unlike last time the mash temperature decided to stay more or less constant.
Boil 30mins:
5g Galaxy (leaf) 15.7% AAU 30mins
20g Motueka 6.3% AAU 5mins
1/4tsp Irish Moss powder 5mins
Whirlpool:
30g Motueka 6.3% AAU 20mins @ 75degC
I was aiming for 85degC but overdid it with the chiller. It's just occurred to me I could have just switched the kettle back on to warm it up a bit!
Cooled in the fridge to 12.5degC and pitched a full 11g pack of Lallemand Diamond Lager Yeast - another first time yeast for me, though many say it is the same as W-34/70. I've just gone for the middle of the 10-15degC range on the pack.
8L in the FV with another 5L crud in bottles to settle out and top up the FV later.
3.4 SRM (pale golden)
20 IBUs Rager
OG 1.043 - should end up about 4.4% ABV if it ferments down to 1.009 as predicted by BF.
Also bottled up...
Bottling: AG#61 Czech Dark Lager
31 x 330ml bottles
FG 1.015 - rather higher than expected but despite raising the temperature for a diacetyl rest it stubbornly refused to drop any lower so no question for me it was definitely finished.
ABV = 4.0%
SRM = 22.5 very dark brown
IBU = 22 (Rager)
The hydrometer samples I tasted were quite murky and yeasty. However, after fining with Harris Starbrite and then gelatin, followed by several days cold crash it looked very clear and bright at bottling (for a dark beer!). I think the trick here is to fine well before bottling to leave the crud at the bottom of the FV and not transfer it into bottles.
The sample I tried at bottling was very sweet as I used more sugar than normal to carbonate it more like a pilsner, say. But It certainly smelled nice and malty, and actually quite Porter-ish, so fingers crossed.
Bottling: AG#61 Czech Dark Lager
31 x 330ml bottles
FG 1.015 - rather higher than expected but despite raising the temperature for a diacetyl rest it stubbornly refused to drop any lower so no question for me it was definitely finished.
ABV = 4.0%
SRM = 22.5 very dark brown
IBU = 22 (Rager)
The hydrometer samples I tasted were quite murky and yeasty. However, after fining with Harris Starbrite and then gelatin, followed by several days cold crash it looked very clear and bright at bottling (for a dark beer!). I think the trick here is to fine well before bottling to leave the crud at the bottom of the FV and not transfer it into bottles.
The sample I tried at bottling was very sweet as I used more sugar than normal to carbonate it more like a pilsner, say. But It certainly smelled nice and malty, and actually quite Porter-ish, so fingers crossed.
First tastings:
AG#58 Chocks Away Bitter:
Pilgrimhudd has already written a nice review for me but I can make a couple more comments (BTW @pilgrimhudd you were close with your Fuggles guess - I believe Willamette is a close American relative).
It was brewed as an unashmedly low strength session beer. Unfortunately I got caught out as the MJ 36 yeast finished way higher than I expected, at 1.018. I think this is why it has much more body than you'd expect for a 3.0% ABV beer.
I fined half the batch with gelatin shortly before packaging - and actually the fined ones seem more yeasty in the glass. I think the trick is to fine and cold crash in the FV well before bottling to stop the very crud we're trying to eliminate ending up in the bottles.
AG#59 "Chequered Flag" Black IPA:
This one also suffered from MJ M36 finishing way higher than expected - but in this case I dry hopped to deliberately induce hop creep so it ended up at 4.3% ABV.
The finished beer is perfectly OK, but could be better - when I've made it before I've used Chocolate Malt or Chocolate Rye Malt instead of Carafa Special 3. I get a similar thing from my recent Munich Dunkel, it's a bit "meh" on the malt front.
We maybe don't want full-on heavy roast in a Black IPA but I think there's room for more "dark" flavour that I think you do get from Choc/Choc Rye malt but not, it seems, from Carafa Special 3.
AG#60 Hoppy Amber Ale:
Had one of these last night - it's a perfectly decent beer that'll do the job over the holidays but still room for improvement.
I did my short-cold dry hop too cold which seems to have added bitterness but very little extra flavour or aroma.
But there's something much more interesting here.....
Just for a laugh I threw some leftover wort in with some old (1 year +) WY1318 slurry. I bottled the un-dry-hopped result, literally just a single 355ml bottle, with only about 1g sugar to prime it...
WOW!!! It had a bit less carbonation which worked for me, and since it hadn't been dry hopped it lacked the bitter hop bite of the main batch.
There was a nice malty backbone from the Amber Malt, some fruitiness from the yeast all combining with a gentle hoppiness. I'm itching to make a full batch of this again now properly!
The only change I'd make is instead of blending the 3 hops together (Amarillo, Cascade & Centennial) I think I'd layer them 2 at a time in stages to make them more distinct and add a bit more complexity. I'd probably omit the dry hop altogether too, and perhaps do a whirlpool addition instead as I'm all about survivables and bio-transformation at the moment!
Summary:
So, the learning journey continues - plenty of useful lessons learned, some decent enough beer in the process and plenty of inspiration to continue tweaking recipes for future brews
AG#58 Chocks Away Bitter:
Pilgrimhudd has already written a nice review for me but I can make a couple more comments (BTW @pilgrimhudd you were close with your Fuggles guess - I believe Willamette is a close American relative).
It was brewed as an unashmedly low strength session beer. Unfortunately I got caught out as the MJ 36 yeast finished way higher than I expected, at 1.018. I think this is why it has much more body than you'd expect for a 3.0% ABV beer.
I fined half the batch with gelatin shortly before packaging - and actually the fined ones seem more yeasty in the glass. I think the trick is to fine and cold crash in the FV well before bottling to stop the very crud we're trying to eliminate ending up in the bottles.
AG#59 "Chequered Flag" Black IPA:
This one also suffered from MJ M36 finishing way higher than expected - but in this case I dry hopped to deliberately induce hop creep so it ended up at 4.3% ABV.
The finished beer is perfectly OK, but could be better - when I've made it before I've used Chocolate Malt or Chocolate Rye Malt instead of Carafa Special 3. I get a similar thing from my recent Munich Dunkel, it's a bit "meh" on the malt front.
We maybe don't want full-on heavy roast in a Black IPA but I think there's room for more "dark" flavour that I think you do get from Choc/Choc Rye malt but not, it seems, from Carafa Special 3.
AG#60 Hoppy Amber Ale:
Had one of these last night - it's a perfectly decent beer that'll do the job over the holidays but still room for improvement.
I did my short-cold dry hop too cold which seems to have added bitterness but very little extra flavour or aroma.
But there's something much more interesting here.....
Just for a laugh I threw some leftover wort in with some old (1 year +) WY1318 slurry. I bottled the un-dry-hopped result, literally just a single 355ml bottle, with only about 1g sugar to prime it...
WOW!!! It had a bit less carbonation which worked for me, and since it hadn't been dry hopped it lacked the bitter hop bite of the main batch.
There was a nice malty backbone from the Amber Malt, some fruitiness from the yeast all combining with a gentle hoppiness. I'm itching to make a full batch of this again now properly!
The only change I'd make is instead of blending the 3 hops together (Amarillo, Cascade & Centennial) I think I'd layer them 2 at a time in stages to make them more distinct and add a bit more complexity. I'd probably omit the dry hop altogether too, and perhaps do a whirlpool addition instead as I'm all about survivables and bio-transformation at the moment!
Summary:
So, the learning journey continues - plenty of useful lessons learned, some decent enough beer in the process and plenty of inspiration to continue tweaking recipes for future brews
Update: AG#62 Blueberry Kettle Sour
Another question for you @MickDundee , what would you do at this point - would you add the fruit coulis now or give it another day or two to be sure?
I pitched my yeast (vitality starter made from a full pack of MJ M44) on Monday. It got going quickly and judging by airlock activity and trub/yeast settling out it was all done fermenting within 48 hours or less.
In that time it's gone from 1.042 to 1.019 - the krausen has dropped and everything about it screams "I'm done!" to me. It was mashed originally at a nominal 67degC but it kept wandering around during the mash so the effective temperature may have been a tad higher.
Based on my previous experience mashing beers around 70degC this is not too unusual for a FG reading. Plus it's a sour so I wonder if the more acidic environment may mean the yeast won't attenuate quite so much???
Apart from that, the pH has dropped to around 3.8 and it's got some nice sour acidic "zip" to it. It maybe needs something more, but hopefully the fruit, further fermentation and carbonation will see to that - so far, so good
Another question for you @MickDundee , what would you do at this point - would you add the fruit coulis now or give it another day or two to be sure?
I pitched my yeast (vitality starter made from a full pack of MJ M44) on Monday. It got going quickly and judging by airlock activity and trub/yeast settling out it was all done fermenting within 48 hours or less.
In that time it's gone from 1.042 to 1.019 - the krausen has dropped and everything about it screams "I'm done!" to me. It was mashed originally at a nominal 67degC but it kept wandering around during the mash so the effective temperature may have been a tad higher.
Based on my previous experience mashing beers around 70degC this is not too unusual for a FG reading. Plus it's a sour so I wonder if the more acidic environment may mean the yeast won't attenuate quite so much???
Apart from that, the pH has dropped to around 3.8 and it's got some nice sour acidic "zip" to it. It maybe needs something more, but hopefully the fruit, further fermentation and carbonation will see to that - so far, so good
MickDundee
Landlord.
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- 4,056
To be completely honest, I didn’t even check the FG until bottling time. I added the coulis after a week, and at the end of week 2 my FG was 1.008.Update: AG#62 Blueberry Kettle Sour
Another question for you @MickDundee , what would you do at this point - would you add the fruit coulis now or give it another day or two to be sure?
I pitched my yeast (vitality starter made from a full pack of MJ M44) on Monday. It got going quickly and judging by airlock activity and trub/yeast settling out it was all done fermenting within 48 hours or less.
In that time it's gone from 1.042 to 1.019 - the krausen has dropped and everything about it screams "I'm done!" to me. It was mashed originally at a nominal 67degC but it kept wandering around during the mash so the effective temperature may have been a tad higher.
Based on my previous experience mashing beers around 70degC this is not too unusual for a FG reading. Plus it's a sour so I wonder if the more acidic environment may mean the yeast won't attenuate quite so much???
Apart from that, the pH has dropped to around 3.8 and it's got some nice sour acidic "zip" to it. It maybe needs something more, but hopefully the fruit, further fermentation and carbonation will see to that - so far, so good
Last edited:
Update: AG#62 Blueberry Kettle Sour
I added the blueberry coulis a few days ago, this is a full 1kg pack which brought the gravity up from 1.019 to 1.023. My assumption is that this is equivalent to adding 4 points to my OG of 1.042:
This seemed to ferment for a couple of days before going quiet again. I took a sample again yesterday and found it was down to 1.015 - I reckon that works out around 4.1% ABV:
I think that picture is pretty much how it looks in real life, kind of a berry-red rather then any deep blue or purple you might imagine for blueberry.
I'll reserve final judgement until it's completely done and carbonated. Right now it's got quite a nice sour "zip" to it, though I wouldn't mind a bit more.
(Mrs76 who is not a beer drinker thought it was like fizzy pop, which I'd agree with!)
The fruit is most certainly there though I felt it tasted a little thin. I don't mean thin mouthfeel, more like the fruit is a bit watered down, like when you make a glass of squash and it's a bit weak.
[Just read that back to myself and it sounds quite negative - it's good and I like it, just room for improvement. But happy so far with my first effort at a kettle sour
]
Interestingly enough I found a Reddit of something very similar - they used 12lbs puréed blueberries in a 6USgal batch, about 3x what I've used in my 11L batch (~3USgal).
Even though I don't personally brew to save money, at around £10 per 1kg-pack of coulis that's getting rather expensive! Tesco frozen blueberries (£5/kg) defrosted and whizzed up might be a better option if I want to do it again
I added the blueberry coulis a few days ago, this is a full 1kg pack which brought the gravity up from 1.019 to 1.023. My assumption is that this is equivalent to adding 4 points to my OG of 1.042:
This seemed to ferment for a couple of days before going quiet again. I took a sample again yesterday and found it was down to 1.015 - I reckon that works out around 4.1% ABV:
I think that picture is pretty much how it looks in real life, kind of a berry-red rather then any deep blue or purple you might imagine for blueberry.
I'll reserve final judgement until it's completely done and carbonated. Right now it's got quite a nice sour "zip" to it, though I wouldn't mind a bit more.
(Mrs76 who is not a beer drinker thought it was like fizzy pop, which I'd agree with!)
The fruit is most certainly there though I felt it tasted a little thin. I don't mean thin mouthfeel, more like the fruit is a bit watered down, like when you make a glass of squash and it's a bit weak.
[Just read that back to myself and it sounds quite negative - it's good and I like it, just room for improvement. But happy so far with my first effort at a kettle sour
]Interestingly enough I found a Reddit of something very similar - they used 12lbs puréed blueberries in a 6USgal batch, about 3x what I've used in my 11L batch (~3USgal).
Even though I don't personally brew to save money, at around £10 per 1kg-pack of coulis that's getting rather expensive! Tesco frozen blueberries (£5/kg) defrosted and whizzed up might be a better option if I want to do it again
Sounds better and better...
For my next brew I'm considering either Russian Imperial Tizer, or maybe a Baltic Vimto...
Bottling: AG#62 Blueberry Kettle Sour
Anyone for fizzy-pop?
Happy enough so far for my first attempt at a sour
18 x 500ml bottles with 60g table sugar giving me about 2.5vols CO2.
FG = 1.015
pH = 3.8 approx. (managed to source some wine pH test strips suitable for lower pH)
ABV = 4.1%
SRM = n/a
IBU = 17 (Rager)
Colour = Berry red
Aroma = Fruity
Taste = Bit tart but not excessively so; Fruity berry; blueberry.
Looking forward to a proper tasting once it's carbonated in a couple of weeks
Anyone for fizzy-pop?
Happy enough so far for my first attempt at a sour
18 x 500ml bottles with 60g table sugar giving me about 2.5vols CO2.
FG = 1.015
pH = 3.8 approx. (managed to source some wine pH test strips suitable for lower pH)
ABV = 4.1%
SRM = n/a
IBU = 17 (Rager)
Colour = Berry red
Aroma = Fruity
Taste = Bit tart but not excessively so; Fruity berry; blueberry.
Looking forward to a proper tasting once it's carbonated in a couple of weeks
Bottling: AG#63 Mexican Lager
I have to say, even for a very pale beer this has to be the clearest one ever at bottling - I could see right to the bottom of the FV and then the bottling bucket. I just hope there's enough residual yeast in the bottles to carbonate it!
Clear to the bottom of the FV...
Clear to the bottom of the bottling bucket...
And pretty darn clear in the bottles
28.75 x 330ml bottles (the last one wasn't quite full)
60g priming sugar giving me about 2.4 vols CO2.
FG = 1.016
pH = 4.5
ABV = 3.6%
SRM = 3.4, very pale golden
IBU = 20.5 (Rager)
I fined a few days ago with Harris Starbrite, and then a day later with gelatine, followed by a cold crash at 0degC for a few days.
I'm really puzzled as to why the FG is as high as it is (1.016), but there is no question in my mind it was definitely done. I don't think I can blame mash temp, maybe it's the flaked maize (which I've never used before, and made up 30% of the grist!). This brings it in around 3.6% ABV but that'll do just fine for me for something light to drink by the BBQ once the weather warms up a bit.
Bit early to comment on taste yet but I got a definite hint from the Motueka hops of lime or lemon in the hydrometer samples I tasted. Now I'll give it plenty of time to carbonate before transferring to the cryogenic lagering chamber (a.k.a. shed).
I have to say, even for a very pale beer this has to be the clearest one ever at bottling - I could see right to the bottom of the FV and then the bottling bucket. I just hope there's enough residual yeast in the bottles to carbonate it!
Clear to the bottom of the FV...
Clear to the bottom of the bottling bucket...
And pretty darn clear in the bottles
28.75 x 330ml bottles (the last one wasn't quite full)
60g priming sugar giving me about 2.4 vols CO2.
FG = 1.016
pH = 4.5
ABV = 3.6%
SRM = 3.4, very pale golden
IBU = 20.5 (Rager)
I fined a few days ago with Harris Starbrite, and then a day later with gelatine, followed by a cold crash at 0degC for a few days.
I'm really puzzled as to why the FG is as high as it is (1.016), but there is no question in my mind it was definitely done. I don't think I can blame mash temp, maybe it's the flaked maize (which I've never used before, and made up 30% of the grist!). This brings it in around 3.6% ABV but that'll do just fine for me for something light to drink by the BBQ once the weather warms up a bit.
Bit early to comment on taste yet but I got a definite hint from the Motueka hops of lime or lemon in the hydrometer samples I tasted. Now I'll give it plenty of time to carbonate before transferring to the cryogenic lagering chamber (a.k.a. shed).
A slice of lime in the neck and I could almost remember the early 90s in Ibiza, or Tenerife, or both. They were hazy days.Clear to the bottom of the bottling bucket...
View attachment 38660
And pretty darn clear in the bottles
AG#64 Hoppy Amber Ale v2
Now with added Tilt Hydrometer!
This is a rebrew of my recent AG#60 Hoppy Amber Ale. Version 1 was a really enjoyable session strength brew to drink over the Xmas & New Year period, but I alway felt there was room for improvement so I've made a few tweaks:
Main difference is the yeast - I want to do a lot more split batches as the ones I've done previously have been really quite intriguing. I felt the BRY-97 I used last time was a little... flat maybe... whereas a mere pint or so of spare wort I fermented with some old WY1318 slurry really sang. So this time it's a split batch with WY1318 vs. Lallemand Verdant IPA which I've been itching to try (word is it may be derived from 1318).
I've also changed the hopping - I felt the three hop blend I used last time was a little too... well, "blended" I suppose, so this time I've kept the same three hops but split the additions into two at a time to try and encourage them to stand out more. I've also added some whirlpool hops to try and promote biotransformation and hence hop flavour and aroma. I felt the dry hop I added last time just made it more bitter so this time I absolutely definitely won't dry hop!
One final change forced upon me is I subbed in 500g Wheat Malt in place of Vienna as I'm out of the latter, otherwise I'd have stuck with it. I realise more base malt would probably have been a less-bad match, but I figured I'd take the opportunity to experiment a little (famous last words! ).
15L tap water, 15ml CRS, 2g gypsum, half a Campden tablet.
Calcium 166
Chloride 110
Sulfate 207
Alkalinity 114
1500g Golden Promise Malt
500g Wheat Malt
250g Amber Malt
250g Carapils
2.5kg Total
105min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC - nominally at least! It was really weird actually - the mash temp was all over the place and ended up around 75degC. Similar thing happened last time I used wheat malt in my recent kettle sour. Mash temp is normally fairly steady so I wonder if it's the wheat.
Boil 30mins:
I'm using the same hops as before, but added differently - Amarillo 8.3%, Cascade 6.7% and Centennial 9.5% AAU
5g of each for 15mins (just to bump up the IBU's a little - not totally sure if it's really needed)
15g each Cascade & Centennial for 10mins
15g each of Amarillo & Cascade for 5 mins
1/4tsp Irish Moss powder 5mins
15g each Amarillo & Centennial whirlpool @ 85degC for 20mins
I got 7L crystal clear wort into the first FV and pitched about 1/3 cup WY1318 slurry - along with my new Tilt hydrometer (woop woop!
). Into the brew fridge and set to 20degC.
And then 7L wort, crud, gunk, sludge and gloop into the second FV and pitched 5g Lallemand Verdant IPA. I'm optimistic once the crud settles out I'll still get a few litres of beer out of it. No space in the fridge so this one will just have to go in a cool spot like the good old days. I'm not too worried about maximising yield, more understanding how the different yeast strains compare.
5.6 SRM - Amber
36.5 IBUs Rager
OG 1.044 - due to the high mash temp I reckon this might end up around 4.0% ABV, possibly even a touch lower, but if the beer is good and I learn something then that'll do me grand!
Now with added Tilt Hydrometer!
This is a rebrew of my recent AG#60 Hoppy Amber Ale. Version 1 was a really enjoyable session strength brew to drink over the Xmas & New Year period, but I alway felt there was room for improvement so I've made a few tweaks:
Main difference is the yeast - I want to do a lot more split batches as the ones I've done previously have been really quite intriguing. I felt the BRY-97 I used last time was a little... flat maybe... whereas a mere pint or so of spare wort I fermented with some old WY1318 slurry really sang. So this time it's a split batch with WY1318 vs. Lallemand Verdant IPA which I've been itching to try (word is it may be derived from 1318).
I've also changed the hopping - I felt the three hop blend I used last time was a little too... well, "blended" I suppose, so this time I've kept the same three hops but split the additions into two at a time to try and encourage them to stand out more. I've also added some whirlpool hops to try and promote biotransformation and hence hop flavour and aroma. I felt the dry hop I added last time just made it more bitter so this time I absolutely definitely won't dry hop!
One final change forced upon me is I subbed in 500g Wheat Malt in place of Vienna as I'm out of the latter, otherwise I'd have stuck with it. I realise more base malt would probably have been a less-bad match, but I figured I'd take the opportunity to experiment a little (famous last words! ).
15L tap water, 15ml CRS, 2g gypsum, half a Campden tablet.
Calcium 166
Chloride 110
Sulfate 207
Alkalinity 114
1500g Golden Promise Malt
500g Wheat Malt
250g Amber Malt
250g Carapils
2.5kg Total
105min full-volume no-sparge mash @ 67degC - nominally at least! It was really weird actually - the mash temp was all over the place and ended up around 75degC. Similar thing happened last time I used wheat malt in my recent kettle sour. Mash temp is normally fairly steady so I wonder if it's the wheat.
Boil 30mins:
I'm using the same hops as before, but added differently - Amarillo 8.3%, Cascade 6.7% and Centennial 9.5% AAU
5g of each for 15mins (just to bump up the IBU's a little - not totally sure if it's really needed)
15g each Cascade & Centennial for 10mins
15g each of Amarillo & Cascade for 5 mins
1/4tsp Irish Moss powder 5mins
15g each Amarillo & Centennial whirlpool @ 85degC for 20mins
I got 7L crystal clear wort into the first FV and pitched about 1/3 cup WY1318 slurry - along with my new Tilt hydrometer (woop woop!
). Into the brew fridge and set to 20degC.And then 7L wort, crud, gunk, sludge and gloop into the second FV and pitched 5g Lallemand Verdant IPA. I'm optimistic once the crud settles out I'll still get a few litres of beer out of it. No space in the fridge so this one will just have to go in a cool spot like the good old days. I'm not too worried about maximising yield, more understanding how the different yeast strains compare.
5.6 SRM - Amber
36.5 IBUs Rager
OG 1.044 - due to the high mash temp I reckon this might end up around 4.0% ABV, possibly even a touch lower, but if the beer is good and I learn something then that'll do me grand!
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Update: AG#64 Hoppy Amber Ale v2
Really liking the output from the Tilt
It's gone in 3.5 days from 1.043 to 1.013 giving me 4% ABV which will do me fine. It was a low OG so maybe not too surprising it's reached pretty much the FG quite quickly.
But more then that, considering I just threw in some slurry that had been in the fridge for a few weeks I was more surprised how quickly it took off, probably no more than four hours.
But probably the most interesting point for me
is seeing the history, the way the curve flattens off at the end - totally expected of course but it saves me having to take a gravity sample today and then another one in a day or two.
Current plan is to give it the day just to make sure it's totally flattened off and then all being well I'll go ahead and cold crash for a few days - I won't find this one as I want to harvest the yeast to reuse.
Now I just hope the beer actually tastes good!
Really liking the output from the Tilt
It's gone in 3.5 days from 1.043 to 1.013 giving me 4% ABV which will do me fine. It was a low OG so maybe not too surprising it's reached pretty much the FG quite quickly.
But more then that, considering I just threw in some slurry that had been in the fridge for a few weeks I was more surprised how quickly it took off, probably no more than four hours.
But probably the most interesting point for me
is seeing the history, the way the curve flattens off at the end - totally expected of course but it saves me having to take a gravity sample today and then another one in a day or two.Current plan is to give it the day just to make sure it's totally flattened off and then all being well I'll go ahead and cold crash for a few days - I won't find this one as I want to harvest the yeast to reuse.
Now I just hope the beer actually tastes good!
So what is this tilt hydrometer sorcery?
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