My first brew (Now with Pics)

[mattpullin]

Well here it is my first home brew, im not one for dipping my toe so iv just jumped right on to the dark side.

I moved to Yorkshire 3 years back for work and got introduced to proper beer by the locals, Iv been a huge fan ever since.

Been thinking about starting this hobby up for about a year but was living in rented accommodation and the landlord did not think it was a good idea. Now iv moved and i am free to brew as i wish. I used the returned deposit money to buy some kit.

The beer i chose was one of my fave styles an American IPA. Here is the recipe, I wanted it big and hoppy!

Im doing BITB, the name took some thought Wolley (my new street name) Mamoth (because its a big beer)

Wolley Mamoth IPA (American IPA)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.066 (°P): 16.1
Final Gravity (FG): 1.017 (°P): 4.3
Alcohol (ABV): 6.48 %
Colour (SRM): 9.7 (EBC): 19.0
Bitterness (IBU): 69.6 (Average)

90% Maris Otter Malt
10% Caramalt

0.8 g/L Centennial (9.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Centennial (9.7% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Columbus (14.2% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Simcoe (12.2% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Centennial (9.7% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Columbus (14.2% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Simcoe (12.2% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Centennial (9.7% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Columbus (14.2% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Simcoe (12.2% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Centennial (9.7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Columbus (14.2% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
0.8 g/L Simcoe (12.2% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes. Boil for 60 Minutes
Fermented at 18°C with WLP001 - California Ale
Recipe Generated with BrewMate

Ok so here we go with the pics, well there would be if the forum was more trusting of new posters :-)

I believe the appropriate term is SHINY!!!!! 30Lt Buffalo boiler from Nisbets clearance shop on ebay £79, bargain!

pic to follow but imagine a big shiny boiler fresh out of the box

Mash time material & snacks to keep my strength up + yeast

pic to follow

Mash time in a insulated jacket, i sparged by swooshing the grain about in 10 lts of hot water in a spare FV i bought.

pic to follow

Starting the boil

pic to follow

I used my emptied/ rinsed grain bag for hop management.

pic to follow

I have no method of cooling so i put it in the FV, sealed it upand left it until morning. Pitched the liquid yeast in the morning, stuck the fish tank heater in and i came home to this.

pics to follow but there was a good 6 inches of foam on top

Overall an amazing experience the boiler performed better than myself & Brewmate expected. The boil was violent rather than rolling. I ended up with 17lt @ 1.082 so i had to add some extra water got it back to 20lt @ 1.072. My efficiency must have been good i have it set to 70% on the software.

Going to dry hop too, need help with a query i have. Do you let the bag of hops sit on the top or weigh it down? if so what do you use.

Also can i brew a stout and drop it onto an IPA yeast cake?

Also is it to soon to be thinking about getting a cornie keg??

Happy brewing! :drunk:

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome. That is a big bold beer for your first brew :clap: :hat: Sorry you can't post pictures yet, it's an anti spamming measure, we have had a lot of problems in the past. You will after 5 posts.

 

[MattN]

Flippin' heck, and well done!

Welcome.

Matt

 

[Good Ed]

well done mate, looks like you've brewed a cracker, although we will have to visualise it at the moment. For dry hopping use some stainless steel cutlery to weigh the hops down, I use 6 spoons, boil with the hop sock for 15mins to sanitize before putting in the brew

 

[Fil]

thats one hell of a hop schedule once youve made 5 posts u should be able to pop the pics in

Sounds like its off to a good start for you too.

:thumb:

 

[Duxuk]

Wil you software tell you what efficiency you achieved? If not you can use this method..........
X=Total grain weight*295/litres brewed

Last 2 figures from OG *100 (gives 7200 in this case)/X = %efficiency.

It's a usefull figure to help tweek your methods. I see you did a mini sparge. A long thread ha been running on the subject. I'm convinced it's a worthwhile thing to do.
I think I can smell all those hops from this side of the penines :

 

[pittsy]

welcome to brewing and well done on your first and impressive brew :thumb: hope it's as good as it sounds .

 

[mattpullin]

Thanks guys, all the research/planning for this first brew came from posts and guides from this site! its a great forum! I do love my craft beer, brewery's like Flying dog and brew dog amongst others are the inspiration for this recipe. Spoons are promoting a series of joint brews with Adnams & American brewery's at the moment iv got lots more to try on the way. i highly recommend the Bengali tiger if you can find a pint in your local spoons :thumb:

The hop schedule was a bit mental, so much so i forgot to add the protofloc but it was worth it, the pantry where im keeping the FV smells nice and fruity!

Its been in the FV a week now so im going to take a reading and dry hop today. think i may need some more cutlery iv only got 4 of each.

 

[Jeff Brewjubbly]

Agree 100% on the style... me and wife made short work of the American IPA I brewed and had to make a subsequent batch :) I found that tasting it green was very agreeable and it changed very heavily over 2 weeks. But green was nice.

 

[mattpullin]

Hi Jeff what would you say was green, 3 weeks after bottling? it was my understanding that higher ABV beers take longer to condition. With a hoppy beer like this i guess you don't want to leave it to long or you might lose the aroma. which is a big part of these beers for me i love to have a good sniff

 

[Good Ed]

Big American beers, like an American IPA are best drunk young so you get all that fresh hoppiness, I start drinking mine after a couple of weeks and they stay good for about 8 weeks, after that I find the flavour starts to diminish, still good beer btw, but it is just down to personal preference.

On a general note I think you should sample beer straight away and then every week, and you will then see how beer changes over time.

 

[mattpullin]

On a general note I think you should sample beer straight away and then every week, and you will then see how beer changes over time.

I think i could handle that :drink:

 

[Jeff Brewjubbly]

Hi Matt,

I tasted it one week after kegging it (2 weeks in the fermenter and then 1 week in the keg so it was very young). And it was smashing. We dropped 12 pints that weekend of it knowing that we shouldn't, but just couldn't stop :) A week later it tasted far less fragrant and one week after that it ended up getting finished and was quite balanced. This next batch comes when I have beer on tap already so it should be left alone to age a bit.

 

[mattpullin]

Yes i can see this beer disappearing quite quickly, must remember to save a few bottles for prosperity.

Its down to 1012 has been for 2 days so i think its finished, its still a bit cloudy but cant change that now.

1072 down to 1012 that's roughly 8% right? Oh lordy :shock:

Anyone in the Leeds area want a taste let me know and ill set a bottle aside :thumb:

Matt

 

[mattpullin]

Pic's attached and bottled today. I decided to batch prime I dissolved the sugar in hot water first i hope that is not a no no, i thought it would disperse better that way. bottled using a bottle bucket and a bit of tube. i bought one of these
http://www.balliihoo.co.uk/little-bottl ... -p-41.html and it was useless it took 97 seconds to fill one 500ml bottle (i know i timed it i was that bored waiting). now i play the waiting game.