Nicks90's Brewdays

[Nicks90]

However in other news, the el Dorado IPA is a hit. It always is

 

[Nicks90]

AG146
Belgian Black

and now for something completely different! inspired by the brewdog recipe for AB12 Imperial black Belgian ale, but not wanting something quite as alcoholic, i decided to modify the recipe for something a bit more drinkable and using up what i had left in various cupboards and freezers, including some elderberries that were stuck in the back of my downstairs freezer that i meant to use in my last blackberry wine..... oh well.
So lets get it on, my first ever fruit beer!!!

4.3kg Maris Otter
200g carafa 111
90g chocolate malt
1kg elderberries

18l mash at 69c for 60mins with a 5l rinse sparge
Leaving 20l wort for a 60 minute boil and 16l in the FV.

Hops
25gm Cascade @ 60 mins
20gm Cascade @5 mins

Elderberries were boiled for a few minutes in a litre of water and allowed to cool and then added directly to the wort at the same time as the yeast.
Yeast
Mangrove Jacks M41 Belgian ale yeast

Came out bang on the money at 1.060 and fairly dark. BF says it will be about 30srm which seems about right. Will end up quite potent at approx 6.5%
My intention is to leave it on the fruit for primary fermentation, then rack it to a secondary for another week to finish off and settle before bottling.

 

[Twostage]

AG146
Belgian Black

and now for something completely different! inspired by the brewdog recipe for AB12 Imperial black Belgian ale, but not wanting something quite as alcoholic, i decided to modify the recipe for something a bit more drinkable and using up what i had left in various cupboards and freezers, including some elderberries that were stuck in the back of my downstairs freezer that i meant to use in my last blackberry wine..... oh well.
So lets get it on, my first ever fruit beer!!!

4.3kg Maris Otter
200g carafa 111
90g chocolate malt
1kg elderberries

18l mash at 69c for 60mins with a 5l rinse sparge
Leaving 20l wort for a 60 minute boil and 16l in the FV.

Hops
25gm Cascade @ 60 mins
20gm Cascade @5 mins

Elderberries were boiled for a few minutes in a litre of water and allowed to cool and then added directly to the wort at the same time as the yeast.
Yeast
Mangrove Jacks M41 Belgian ale yeast

Came out bang on the money at 1.060 and fairly dark. BF says it will be about 30srm which seems about right. Will end up quite potent at approx 6.5%
My intention is to leave it on the fruit for primary fermentation, then rack it to a secondary for another week to finish off and settle before bottling.

I've done elderflower but not elderberry.

Does M41 ferment fructose or is the elderberry there for fruity flavour (I should google it really). If it doesn't would you consider putting in a wine yeast into the secondary ? (just musing)

 

[Nicks90]

i am presuming it does - as its a very high attenuation yeast at 85% - so i am hoping its a proper hungry-hippo and will chew through it all.
If not, I might put some wine yeast in the secondary. Will take a gravity reading once its in the secondary to check.

It's looking a good purple black in the FV. Very excited

 

[Nicks90]

AG145
Bitsa American brown ale thingy

Bottled this today and it's smelling lovely. I think I may have an accidental mega brew!

 

[Nicks90]

Bottled this today and it's smelling lovely. I think I may have an accidental mega brew!

First proper taste test.

It's ooo-k
I would never brew it again, but it's ok. My Yorkshire-ness would mean I would drink it anyway, but it has a good malty backbone, fruity eaters from the yeast, but the hops jar with it. Bit of a downer really, what I would consider sub standard. But it was a user-upper mystery beer, and they don't always work!

 

[Nicks90]

i am presuming it does - as its a very high attenuation yeast at 85% - so i am hoping its a proper hungry-hippo and will chew through it all.
If not, I might put some wine yeast in the secondary. Will take a gravity reading once its in the secondary to check.

It's looking a good purple black in the FV. Very excited

racked this in to a clean fermenting bucket today and took a reading, 1.008
so it would appear to be finished, but i think having it off the fruit and lees for another week to finish off and clean up after itself wont do it any harm. Might even put it in the cellar for the last few days to semi-cold crash - as the cellar is a nice steady 10C right now.

edited to add: smells bloody brilliant! Was worried it would be too fruity with the elderberries, but it defo smelt "beer-y" with a hint of fruit. Cant wait to try this one out

 

[Nicks90]

AG147
Old school Ale

Havent done a straight up English ale for what seems like ages - and as my latest HBS order has just been delivered - time to put on a good old fashioned beer in the most classic of styles

3.5kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc
30g roasted barley

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV.

Hops
25gm Challenger @ 30 mins
15gm Challenger @ 5 mins

Yeast:
Lallemand Windsor ale yeast

OG 1.048 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 4.5%, 30ibu and 12SRM
This will get fermented at the higher temp range of about 22C for a more fruity flavour and then very lightly carbed with perhaps just under half a teaspoon of sugar per bottle

 

[Nicks90]

I have a holiday coming up for a couple of weeks, so have decided to make a concerted effort to get a few brews in beforehand and get them bottled up to carb whilst I am away - giving me a nice post holiday stockpile to maintain onwards.

AG148
Summit IPA

4kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV. Back liquored to 18l to keep it sensibly session-able

Hops
10gm summit @ 15 mins
20gm summit @ 5 mins
30gm Simcoe @ 5 mins

Yeast:
Verdant ipa

After back liquoring I ended up with an OG 1.050 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 5%, 30ibu and 8SRM

I reckon if I get a saison on tomorrow, I should be in a position to bottle up my Belgian elderberry black, the English ale, this IPA and the saison at the back end of next week before I go :-)
That's 140+ bottles to clean and fill potentially in a day... Bah. I feel a shift towards kegs coming on.

 

[Twostage]

I have a holiday coming up for a couple of weeks, so have decided to make a concerted effort to get a few brews in beforehand and get them bottled up to carb whilst I am away - giving me a nice post holiday stockpile to maintain onwards.

AG148
Summit IPA

4kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV. Back liquored to 18l to keep it sensibly session-able

Hops
10gm summit @ 15 mins
20gm summit @ 5 mins
30gm Simcoe @ 5 mins

Yeast:
Verdant ipa

After back liquoring I ended up with an OG 1.050 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 5%, 30ibu and 8SRM

I reckon if I get a saison on tomorrow, I should be in a position to bottle up my Belgian elderberry black, the English ale, this IPA and the saison at the back end of next week before I go :-)
That's 140+ bottles to clean and fill potentially in a day... Bah. I feel a shift towards kegs coming on.

I did 70 bottles yesterday, had a break at 11 for coffee and 1/2 hour lunch and it took me from 9:30 to 3:30. Admittedly it was 5 different brews and there is faffing about changing between FVs.

I'd do your bottle cleaning in advance.

 

[Nicks90]

@Twostage all my bottles are clean, as I give them a thorough rinse after I've poured them
All I need to do on bottling day is give them a dunk in soapy water and a quick whizz with my bottle brush before moving straight on to sanitising

 

[Twostage]

@Twostage all my bottles are clean, as I give them a thorough rinse after I've poured them
All I need to do on bottling day is give them a dunk in soapy water and a quick whizz with my bottle brush before moving straight on to sanitising

Mine were clean too. All I was doing was dunking them in Chemsan for a bit and putting on a bottle tree. Still took longer than I was expecting.

My Missus says whenever I do a job I should double my time estimate.

 

[Nicks90]

If I put my mind to it, I can clean, sanitise and bottle a 15l batch - and cap them - in about an hour.
But with the usual distractions at a weekend that usually ends up as 2 hours

 

[Nicks90]

AG146
Belgian Black

I cheated a bit with this, by putting it through my fizzics beer engine to get a head from the very initial meagre carb... But it's already lovely!
Black and toasty, dry as hell with a strong aftertaste of sweet berry. If I didn't know it was elderberry I wouldn't know, it could be blackberry or red berry...but it's lovely already.
Give this one a month and it will be phenomenal

 

[Nicks90]

This time without cheating and relying just on bottle carbonation, first proper taste test

Nomnomnom
That's proper good. You can just about see the pink tinge on the head and the dark ruby red at the bottom of the glass. Very fruity, but you can tell it's not a regular strength beer
We got any Belgian beer or dark beer comps coming up?????

 

[Twostage]

AG146
Belgian Black

I cheated a bit with this, by putting it through my fizzics beer engine to get a head from the very initial meagre carb... But it's already lovely!
Black and toasty, dry as hell with a strong aftertaste of sweet berry. If I didn't know it was elderberry I wouldn't know, it could be blackberry or red berry...but it's lovely already.
Give this one a month and it will be phenomenal

I remembered about this brew as I'm still reading the IPA hop book and he is talking about using wine yeast (specifically 71B) alongside an ale yeast to bring out fruity flavours. Apparently 71B can release/produce/bio-transform (whatever it is, book is in another room and I can't be bothered to get off my backside) thiols from hops as well as grapes.

So, the opposite of what you did really but it put me in mind. Thinking of doing a test brew.

 

[dad_of_jon]

However in other news, the el Dorado IPA is a hit. It always is

I love el dorado

 

[Nicks90]

I love el dorado

Yep, it's my go to smash IPA beer
Doesn't matter if it's got adjuncts or crystal, just pile the hops in and keep adding. Really comes alive after about 4 weeks in the bottle, which is normally counter intuitive for a hoppy IPA. But you get an enormous stone fruit hit if you leave it a month

 

[Nicks90]

AG149
Another Old school Ale

Carbon copy of ag147, mainly to use up the challenger hops and reuse the yeast I recovered from 147. So thought I might as well just basically do it again but with a post flame out hop addition for the remnants of the packet

3.5kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc
30g roasted barley

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV.

Hops
25gm Challenger @ 30 mins
15gm Challenger @ 5 mins
15gm challenger @80c until at pitch temp

Yeast:
Lallemand Windsor ale yeast recovered from last brew

OG 1.048 which is exactly the same as last time and BF reckons it should end up about 4.5%, 30ibu and 12SRM

 

[Nicks90]

AG150
Summit IPA

A copy of ag148, but with different yeast and more hops!

4kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 113ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins with a 3l rinse sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 30 minute boil and 16l in the FV. Back liquored to 18l to keep it sensibly session-able

Hops
10gm summit @ 15 mins
20gm summit @ 5 mins
30gm Simcoe @ 5 mins
40gm summit @ day3 for a dry hop
40gm Simcoe @ day3 for a dry hop

Yeast:
M66 hop head

After back liquoring I ended up with an OG 1.050 which is spot on what i was expecting and BF reckons it should end up about 5%, 30ibu and 8SRM