PilgrimHudds Brewdays

[foxbat]

Got an overnight mash on at the mo, trying out @foxbat Fuggle Duck, pretty much the same mash bill with a little tweak here and there. I had no medium crystal and increased the choc malt a touch for colour, i'm also aiming for it to be a little bit stronger so brewing shorter and going for 19-20l in the FV.

3.02 kg Otter
0.84 kg Munich Malt
0.17 kg Barley, Flaked
0.17 kg light Crystal Medium
0.07 kg Chocolate Malt

Mash in at 72, temp set at 68c.

Sounds good. I mashed high on mine because I wanted the FG to be higher than it is when I mash at my usual 66-ish to leave some body in the beer since it wasn't planned to be strong and I didn't want a thin feel. Mashing high seems to be the only way I can get control over the FG because when I mash around 65-67 I always seem to get an FG of 1.006 to 1.008 regardless of yeast strain. Nowadays I've settled on the Vermont yeast strain for all pale ales because it gives a soft, full mouthfeel to all beers without having to manipulate the FG.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Whatever I do I always seem to come out at an fg of 1010 ish so it seems we both have the same issue somewhere! And yes I think a fuller body would be better in this one so I'm mashing relatively high. It seems to have kept temp over night fine and have just got the boil on.

Decided to try a dunk sparge this time in 11l of water, few dunks a couple of little squeezes and chucked in to the boiler. I wondered if my overzealous squeezing was giving me an over bitter aftertaste on some of my beers.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I'll be interested to know what this does for your efficiency.

I tried a "set it and forget it" mash recently (though not overnight) and found the efficiency wasn't great.

Instead for me I found it's much better if I mash for 60mins and regularly stir and recirculate the mash ever 15 mins. Mind you, that's for a puny 2.5kg /15L mash

My previous efforts have shown a tiny bit of extra efficiency but more than that I have found the beer to have a bit more body. However as I haven't done side by side comparison it could just be the vagaries of the mash...

 

[foxbat]

I wondered if my overzealous squeezing was giving me an over bitter aftertaste on some of my beers.

I squeeze the bejeezus out of my BIAB bag and don't get any noticeable change in the beer flavour. I'm quite sensitive to tannins and dislike tannic wines so I reckon I'd notice it if it was there, particularly with the lagers. But every system's different and if you're picking something up you don't like then it's a change that you can try. Maybe suspend the bag above your pot and let it drip out?

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I don't think I have much of a problem with it to be honest, just experimenting....

Just going in the fv now, an og of 1050, typically I'm going to end up with more than I wanted but at that gravity I'm quite happy.

Gravity sample was tasty, I've brewed a few with first gold now and i can really pick it up.

 

[matt76]

I squeeze the bejeezus out of my BIAB bag and don't get any noticeable change in the beer flavour. I'm quite sensitive to tannins and dislike tannic wines so I reckon I'd notice it if it was there, particularly with the lagers. But every system's different and if you're picking something up you don't like then it's a change that you can try. Maybe suspend the bag above your pot and let it drip out?

Yeah, same here - it's quite a comical sight (apparently!) watching me squeeze the bejeezus out of my grain bag using my arms and knees!

Regarding mash temp, yeah this is something I also play around with. I've only ever mashed as high as 70degC (well, on purpose at least). I'm sure I've read on here of some folks going higher still, maybe 72-74degC-ish and I'd be up for trying this as an experiment.

One of the reasons I mash higher is to try to moderate the FG and hence the ABV. But I have a feeling that the effect is not very linear, i.e. not much difference between 65-67degC, but a much more pronounced difference between 65-70degC, say. One of the troubles though is it can be quite unpredictable - despite your best efforts to mash high sometimes the yeast will still attenuate more than predicted!

By the way, I agree mashing higher creates some extra body too but for sure I don't get any increased sweetness - I'm pretty sure the latter is a myth!

(There was a recent Basic Brewing Podcast - in the last week or two I think - with a guy who mashes extra low and/or high to make reduced ABV beers. I wasn't totally convinced, but maybe worth a listen)

 

[pilgrimhudd]

20l in the fv, cooled to 25 so have now wrapped it in a wet towel to get down the last couple of degrees, going to try cml beoir yeast for the first time. Once it gets to 22c.

The whole mash temps/body thing I'm still unsure about, I think that because I'm still very inconsistent, its dificult often to compare and contrast things. It's got better with the brew fridge and taking more care over temps but there are still too many variables in how I do things.

@matt76 Had to nip out to the shop this morning for milk so posted another treacle and a bitter for you to try. Hopefully they survive this time!!!!!

 

[matt76]

going to try cml beoir yeast for the first time

Actually I'm planning a re-brew of my ESB soon, hopefully this weekend. Since I can't decide on yeast I think I'm going to go a little bit larger then split the batch between CML Beoir and Midland.

(Ideally I'd like to try it with M36 but I don't have any and feel I ought to be good use up some of my stock!)

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Ahh yes I've only done one with liberty bell (I think) but it was a good one. It would be great if the beoir is good, i find crossmyloof to be very convenient and well priced.

 

[matt76]

Cracking job @pilgrimhudd - this NEIPA is a seriously good beer!

(I'm jealous and now feel like I'm wasting my time! )

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Bottled up my Cali Common last night, 100g sugar boiled in 200ml water, 5ml per bottle, 34 x 500ml bottles. FG of 1014 giving an abv of 5%.

Looks a lot darker than planned, crystal clear though, should lighten up in the glass, thought it was too much choc malt, oh well.

Taste, underwhelming although I was drinking a beer whilst bottling so perhaps it's just more subtle than what I was drinking. Sweet and full bodied. We'll see......

Starting to worry about whether I have enough bottles to bottle up my fuggle duck this weekend, better get drinking!

 

[Pennine]

Bottled up my Cali Common last night, 100g sugar boiled in 200ml water, 5ml per bottle, 34 x 500ml bottles. FG of 1014 giving an abv of 5%.

Looks a lot darker than planned, crystal clear though, should lighten up in the glass, thought it was too much choc malt, oh well.

Taste, underwhelming although I was drinking a beer whilst bottling so perhaps it's just more subtle than what I was drinking. Sweet and full bodied. We'll see......

Starting to worry about whether I have enough bottles to bottle up my fuggle duck this weekend, better get drinking!

I always find them underwhelming too and wonder often why I brew them. I think they taste much better lagered for a while and probably the last couple of bottles in the batch make me want to brew it again.

by the way you up for a cali common swap? I have a higher alcohol one with tettnang and sladek if you want to try it. Surprisingly similar to my northern brewer ones.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I always find them underwhelming too and wonder often why I brew them. I think they taste much better lagered for a while and probably the last couple of bottles in the batch make me want to brew it again.

by the way you up for a cali common swap? I have a higher alcohol one with tettnang and sladek if you want to try it. Surprisingly similar to my northern brewer ones.

Yes I'd be up for that, I'm sure I'll be getting the better part of the swap.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Is Cali common yeast an ale or a lager yeast.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Is Cali common yeast an ale or a lager yeast.

An ale yeast but to get a cleaner taste you can ferment down to 15c.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Back from work late last night so with no interference from swmbo and the little ones I thought I'd do an overnight mash to try and get rid of some hops that have been kicking about in the freezer.

4kg otter
1kg munich
250g carapils

Mashed at 66c for 7 hours.

20g magnum @60
20g citra &cascade @10
20g cascade and centennial @5

Will dry hop with cascade/citra/centennial.

Yeast once down to 20c or so will be a cml pale or something similar. Beersmith says I'm shooting for 1063 19l of wort and ibu's of 47.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

All done, fv in the fridge and all cleared up, og of 1060, loads of trub again, so 18l in the fv, very clear sample, tastes sweet and bitter. Lovely

 

[foxbat]

Nice to have three of the big C hops to get rid of! Should make an excellent AIPA.

 

[matt76]

Sounds good, save one for me

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Another late finish another overnight mash. This time a 10l brew, pumpkin ale! Well, butternut squash anyway.

1.75kg otter
800g munich
400 biscuit
200 caramunich

I'm not sure about the last 2 because beersmith didnt save my recipe but it was roughly as so.

Mashed overnight at 68c

This morning I quartered a butternut squash and covered it liberally with brown sugar, roast at 180c for 90mins.

Brought the wort to the boil, added 110g brown sugar, the squash in a bag and 8g northdown hops. Protofloc at 45mins, at 5 mins 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

Og of 1064, wort tasted very sweet, a different taste which I presume to be squash and of cinnamon. Brought down to 22c and pitched Windsor.

Cant wait to try this one, something different anyway!