Stu brü days

[stubrewworx]

Thought I'd jump in and create some kind of brew log...

I'll kick off with my 14th brew of the year, a simple saison. I think the majority of the recipe influence came from Greg Hughes, if not a direct copy?

Day 1 - mash and boil

Day starts with lugging the brew pot and other brew day equipment out of a storage cupboard.

1st job is checking the water, the KH/Alk and Calcium have slowly been rising since I first checked them, but today they both dropped to the original 86 and 80 respectively.

I then work out my (usually) Alk reduction using crs, plug adjusted water into brewfather then work out calcium chloride/ sulphate adjustment if required. The amount of crs I use usually balances the ratio, but in this brew I added calcium chloride flake to lean towards a malty profile, brewfather says too much but I'm going with @strange-steve post on water.

Whilst the 22l of water is taking approx. 35mins to heat to strike temp, I weigh out my grains using a new bucket I acquired from work. It just holds my usual 4-5kg of grain.

I don't weigh the base malt as I ordered the required amount, in this case 3.2kg of Crisp Europils. At the moment I'm using different base malts for each brew to test efficiencies etc.

After doughing in I set the 45mins mash, revisiting for a stir 2 or 3 times during the course.

I didn't mash at 80c, my thermometer is out. I double check with an old school thermometer, but I did start the mash high at 73c.

Weigh out the hops while mash is on. 2 shots of 25g saaz at fwh and 5mins.

After mash I pull the grain bag (unsnagging it from the hop bazooka. On my to replace list) and rest on an oven rack, which I also leave in place and rest the lid during the boil.

Mash efficiency was 73% rather than my estimated 65%, giving a pre-boil gravity of 1.050. I might consider liquoring back on this brew, I usually go with it but I don't want this to be too strong. I'll have to do it at time of transferring to the fv as I didn't do it when bringing to the boil. I don't know how to account for this in brewfather?

With boil complete I allow to cool in the boiler (with lid on) before bedtime, which I then clingfilm the lid to continue cooling until day 2.....

 

[crowcrow]

Love it! A fellow no-chill brewer. Though for the first time lately I've been tempted to use the chiller I got with my set up. But I'd rather just not bother and leave it to do its thing. Do you remove your hops while leaving it to cool, or just leave them in there over night?

 

[stubrewworx]

@crowcrow i leave them in, but i plan to test removing them. Some a/b tests planned soon.

I do have an immersion chiller but it's a faff with the taps and draining the water. I like splitting the brew day too.

 

[UKSkydiver]

I'll have to do it at time of transferring to the fv as I didn't do it when bringing to the boil. I don't know how to account for this in brewfather?

Pretty sure that Fermenter Top Up is the bunny for this (and you may have to add to the Fermenter volume also):

And here for the dilutuion calc: Dilution And Boiloff Gravity Calculator | Brewer's Friend

e.g.

 

[cushyno]

Your target gravity of 1.008 may end up being much lower, as someone more knowledgeable also pointed out to me when I posted my first Saison recipe.

They were right of course. Belle Saison can go really low. After 1 week of rapid fermentation and 2 of slow chugging away, my recent Saison using Belle Saison finished at 1.001. Beware it could be stronger than you expect!

 

[stubrewworx]

@UKSkydiver cheers for that

 

[stubrewworx]

#14 Simple Saison - Day 2

So before I could transfer the sainson to the fv, I had to bottle #12 Live is Life, a golden or english pale ale. A bonus point for anyone that can work out why the name?

After a dog walk I cracked on the bottling regime at 7am, which included a sort of my bottles. Strategically I did this while the missus was at work.

I put 5.6-6l in the pinter! To use like a minicask, first time doing this. 4.48l in mixed bottles and a further 5.24l which was dry hopped with 40g with a hoptea. Strange quantities I know, but I have some coopers bottles which are 740ml or something?

With that cleared it was time to go to work until 7pm while the saison still chills.

Gladly got out of work early, so a good clean and sanitise of the fv, I transferred the wort and added 2.5l (more than initially planned, but increased due to comments from @cushyno). Giving me 17l of, according to brewfather, an og of 1.041 but still could come out at 4.5%.

Yeast is pitched and sitting in a sink of cold water until tomorrow, then I'll move to its usual spot. Due to 'life' this might be in the fv longer than my usual 2 weeks, but it sounds like it might need that?

 

[cushyno]

Opus-live is life! Ha ha!

 

[stubrewworx]

#13 Weiss n Sleazy - Bottling Day

I initially planned to bottle this a few days ago to make room for a Patersbier, but I cancelled the brew day for now.

Bottling process starts with filling the bottling bucket with a VWP solution and adding the siphon, wand and any other required equipment. Whilst this is soaking, I collect my bottles and dunk any previously used bottles in the solution.

After a soak; I drain, rinse and refill bucket and all bottles with starsan. While also making my priming solution, 185g of sugar in this case, giving approx. 4psi.

I drain the bucket of sanitizer, add the priming solution and siphon in the ale while capturing a sample for hydrometer readings. I hit the target 1.014, giving me a nice 4.5%. That's the lowest brew I've made for a while.

I would say the aroma was full of bananas and/or cloves but I'd be lying, it might be, not I don't get it. With a hooter like mine, you'd think l could smell every note, but I'm useless.

I had a little panic as I spotted a hair in the krausen line, but there doesn't seem to be anything untoward going on? Can you spot it?

Once bottled I clean both fv and bottling bucket and all equipment in VWP again, dry and store away.

With 3x 740ml (keepers/emergency stash) and 26x 500ml, I'm near capacity with the Saison still to bottle in 2 weeks time, but 4 days away at half term with the BiL should free up some bottles.

Dog isn't too impressed with his floor space being taken away.

 

[stubrewworx]

Your target gravity of 1.008 may end up being much lower, as someone more knowledgeable also pointed out to me when I posted my first Saison recipe.

They were right of course. Belle Saison can go really low. After 1 week of rapid fermentation and 2 of slow chugging away, my recent Saison using Belle Saison finished at 1.001. Beware it could be stronger than you expect!

Correct. Bottled this after about 25 days in the fermenter.

FG 0.998!!

I'm not 100% sure of my OG, according to brewfather it was 1.041 after topping up the fermenter but brewersfriend calculator gives me 1.046.

I'm leaning to brewersfriend because sometimes brewfather doesn't always refresh/calculate estimates and figures straight away.

So it's now 6.3%. Oh and the apparent attenuation was 104.5%!

It was almost clear going into the bottle, presumably a result of the extended time in the fermenter?

 

[stubrewworx]

As I was nearing my capacity for dispensing options, I decided to take an inventory.

46.26l in total
68 x 500ml
9 x 740ml
1 x 5.6l pinter

I have 4 x 500ml empties and 6 x 740ml, with currently nothing in a fermenter.

Temperature is just too high at the moment I don't think it's wise to brew. I do have a Belgian blonde planned using Lallemand Abbeye, which might be able withstand the heat?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Temperature is just too high at the moment I don't think it's wise to brew

Wise man. Wiser than me… I’m wishing I’d not done last weeks brew now, or at least not until I’d got space in the chiller cabinet

 

[stubrewworx]

Wise man. Wiser than me… I’m wishing I’d not done last weeks brew now, or at least not until I’d got space in the chiller cabinet

Have just ordered some kveik from CML. I have 5 weeks before summer holidays to get something in bottles to condition for 8-9 weeks while we're away... hopefully away.

 

[stubrewworx]

#15 - Mysticale Machine Gun

A 13hr no-chill brew day today thanks to cml kveik. An english style ipa using Mystic hops, which not many people appear to have used yet.

Day started at 6.45am and by 10am the mash, boil and hop stand were done and shrink-wrapped up to cool.

The aroma from the hops was very promising. Much more prominent than Opus.

After work I checked the temp which was around 40c, so transferred to fv and pitched the kveik at 19.45.

My mash efficiency was short a few points, but after the boil I beat the target og by 5pts, giving me an og of 1.056.

I only managed 12.6l into the fermenter, my new hop filter didn't do very well. I have some hop socks from cml which I might use on the next brew. Are there re-usable?

 

[stubrewworx]

Less than 12 hours in and the kveik is very active as my lid as popped domed, I don't use airlocks.

Apart from the visuals, is there a downside to not using airlocks?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Less than 12 hours in and the kveik is very active as my lid as popped domed, I don't use airlocks.

Apart from the visuals, is there a downside to not using airlocks?

I tend to just rest the lid loosely on the top - if you’re not using an airlock it’s probably best not to clip the lid down (!)

I do sometimes use an airlock at the start just so that I can get an indication that “stuff is happening”; but in general I think that a loosely fitting lid is fine from a hygiene perspective, and keeps the beer sitting quite happily under a blanket of CO2

 

[stubrewworx]

While I wait for #16 - Here comes the hopsteiner, an american pale using exp. Hops 09326 to cool to kveik pitching temps, I'm sampling #14 - simple saison.

Only 10 days in the bottle but it did have 20+ in the fermenter so its dropped clear but has a little chill haze.

It's been too long since I've had a saison, so its difficult to judge. Certainly get a Belgian style aroma from the yeast, it's very dry as it should be. There might be too much bitterness as a result of no chilling with hops in, which on today's brew I've tried to combat (kind of).

I planned to use my grain bag, after mash to boil the hops in, but I noticed the boil wasn't penetrating the bag so removed it and just added the bittering hops straight in. The last additions of 09326 I bagged and removed after a 30 min hopsteep. So.... the magnum and perle stayed in while it cools.

Here's today's recipe: