Tanglefoot's brewdays

[Tanglefoot]

Today I took the first step towards all grain with a partial mash.
I was trying out the secondhand induction hob and 27 l stainless steel pan I recently picked up ( also got a copper wort chiller )
to make an American Pale mini mash kit from the Malt Miller.

crisp pale wheat malt 200 gm
crisp munich malt 150 gm
crisp crystal malt 150 gm

60 mins mash at 65c

30 mins boil then
15gm Simcoe pellets
15gm Citra "

mixed with 3kg light liquid LME, made up with cold water to 21 l
pitched 15gm NBS west coast style yeast at 20 C

(15gm each Mosaic,Simcoe,Citra for dry hopping )

The hob is fairly basic but has a warming setting at 60 c, a boiling setting and a frying setting which can be set between 80 - 240 c.
I was able to mantain a reasonably consistent 65 c for the mash and boiling was straightforward.
OG was on the mark at 1050, expected to finish 1010 for 5% abv.
Now sitting in my new mark 2 brewfridge which has room for two fermenters.
I am now looking at an all grain kit as my next brew.


I also have a Klarstein Mundschenk ( like the Maischfest but with a recirculation pump )on order which I picked up for £ 190 as B stock
but not sure when It'll be delivered, likely to be at least 4 - 6 weeks.
I'm in no rush though and enjoying learning the ropes, for now.

 

[chillipickle]

Citra, mosaic, simcoe by far my fave hops great combo.When i use them normally dump 60g of each in dry hop for 23ltrs of ipa.
Dark rock brewing do some nice all grain kits, worth a look and they are all great quality.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Citra, mosaic, simcoe by far my fave hops great combo.When i use them normally dump 60g of each in dry hop for 23ltrs of ipa.
Dark rock brewing do some nice all grain kits, worth a look and they are all great quality.

Yeh, I was looking at the Dark Rock all grain kits, they have some clone recipes which look very tasty !

 

[Tanglefoot]

Yesterday I barreled the partial mash American Pale, it finished a little high at 1.012 but the OG was
a point above predicted so attenuation was respectable with ABV a shade under 5%.
Sample tasted fantastic !

With the fridge now free I got on with my first attempt at all grain BIAB no sparge.
I scaled down a Jon Finch recipe I saw on Malt miller to 10 litres to see how my pan/induction hob
coped with a larger boil.
I also realised that my pan is bigger than I'd thought ( advertised as 27 L, actually 38 L )after measuring
( using pi x r sq x h ) so at 8 gallons a bigger batch of around 20l should be manageable ?

https://share.brewfather.app/9NdF8V0jB6Rr1C
It took half an hour to heat water ( which I'd treated with 1/3 spoon campden powder ) and drop back
to mash temp, I wrapped the pot in a padded bed roll and gave it an occasional stir.
Kept a check and managed a reasonably consistent 65c, the hob has a warm setting at 60c so I could
give it a little boost if needed.

After mashing I drained the bag with a bit of a squeeze but after reading how it can cause haziness
I didn't go too mad - hard to resist the desire to wring every drop out of it !
It took 40 mins to get to a boil, although probably would have been quicker if I hadn't kept lifting the lid
to have a look.
10gm Hop additions went in as recipe at 60 and 10 mins and then after the boil to stand.
I ended up with just under the target 10 L which I was happy with.
I was a little concerned about lack of clarity in the wort, a little soupy if anything so I decided
for better or worse to strain it through a sieve and muslin cloth, into the fv.
Now think what I was looking at during the boil was hop debris, hoping it wasn't a bad
decision as the bittering had been achieved.

I forgot to put my wort chiller in the boil to sterilise so ended up deciding to do an overnight chill.
Checked the gravity this morning, a little higher than predicted at 1.060.
Pitched the safale US -05 at 18c and stuck it in the fridge
A little later I wondered if I should have made up a little of the short volume with some extra water
and dropped the ABV a touch.

All in all pretty happy with how it went, I have another 2.5kg of the Extra Pale Maris Otter to do
another similar sized batch this time it'll be an American Pale Ale with Cascade.
My new fridge has space for two fermenters so plan is to get a couple of batches on at the same time
and use the old small fridge for cold crashing.

https://share.brewfather.app/RXned3001isvUR
Edit. I updated the IPA recipe on Brewfather as I overdid it a little with the grain and it amended
the OG to 1057 and FG to 1.012 so fairly spot on. Smaller volume post boil may account
for slightly higher actual OG.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Yesterday I brewed my second AG batch with the over half of the Maris Otter.
This time I used Cascade.
Other than that it's the same recipe although 11 L this time for a slightly lower ABV.
Last time volume was slightly short so I rounded up Brewfather's 15.49 L to 16 L.

American Pale 5.5% 11 L

total water 16 L
OG 1.052 FG 1.010
IBU 42
mash 65c 60 mins

Malts
2.46 kg Extra Pale Maris Otter
300gm Cara Malt

Hops
20 gm Cascade 60mins boil
20 gm Cascade 10mins boil
20 gm Cascade 80c hopstand
50 gm Cascade 3 days Dry hop


Took a bit longer to get to temp with extra 1.5 L this time, around 50 mins.
I think the mash was overall warmer than last time, been reading up a little on this and
understand it can produce less fermentable sugars and sweeter beer so will be a comparison
to make with the first batch of IPA.

I left it to cool overnight, then this morning at 20c I strained the wort into fv.
Somehow I ended up with 12.5 L this time, think must be a steadier boil than last time.
Starting gravity was 1.049 so a little short, but volume was approx 1.5 L up so about right.




It's now in my new double brewfridge. I have a belt for each fv on a double socket and
I moved the probe from batch 1 ( day 7 ) to batch 2.
I moved the belt up off brew 1 in case of fermentation temp spike in new brew,
but it's happily carrying on regardless.

 

[Tanglefoot]

At the start of the week I bottled my first all grain batch, an American IPA.
Finished a point lower than predicted at 1.011, looked a bit murky but is already dropping and clearing.
A bit stronger than expected at 6% although volume was a little short.
Tasted and smelt very promising.


Did my third all grain brew yesterday, BIAB no sparge as before.

English ESB 5.4% 11 L

OG 1.054 FG 1.013
total water 15.6 L
IBU 46
mash 65c 60mins

Malts
Crisp Maris Otter Ale 2.5 kg
Crisp Cara 250gm
Crisp Crystal Extra dark 125gm

Hops
15gm Target 60 mins boil
5gm EKG 10 mins boil
5gm Fuggles 10 mins boil
1/4 protofloc 10 mins boil
5gm EKG hopstand 80c
5gm Fuggles hopstand 80c

15gm EKG dry hop
15gm Fuggles dry hop


Decided to try my gas burner this time and it was quicker to heat the mash water and generally easier
to keep in control of the temperature.
I had a new, finer grain bag which was a little big so I sat it inside the old one which kept it off the bottom.
Also tried out a hop spider, which together with the bag seemed to produce a clearer wort although
I could still see what I took to be proteins floating about, looking a bit soupy still.
I used a third of a protofloc tablet for first time so hoping I'll see a difference in the finished beer.
The volume was slightly over again at 11.5 L although OG was a bit down at 1.051 .
I only gave the bag a light squeeze this time so perhaps that would have made a difference.
Next time I might give the boil another 15 mins for good measure.
Left it to cool overnight, pitched NBS ale yeast at 20c and now in the fridge.


I took the opportunity to check the gravity of batch 2, American pale which at day 9 had reached the
predicted 1.010 so I dry hopped with Cascade and put it back in the fridge for 3 days until cold crashing
at weekend.

Next up is another English type bitter with the other half of the malts/hops I have as above
- any suggestions ?

 

[Tanglefoot]

No.4 Batch

Another similar recipe to previous ESB, just using the EKG this time.

English IPA 5.4% 11L

OG 1.054 FG 1.013
total water 15.6L ( 1/2 tsp campden powder )
IBU 45
mash 65c 75 mins

Malts
Crisp Maris Otter Ale 2500 gm
Crisp Cara malt 270 gm
Crisp extra dark crystal 60 gm

Hops
30 gm EKG 60 mins boil
15 gm EKG 10 mins boil
1/4 Protafloc 10 mins boil
10 gm EKG 30 hopstand 80c

20 gm EKG 3 days dry hop

Used the stove again with both rings this time.
Got to mash temp quicker in 38 mins and only 19 mins after mash to reach boiling
Hit volume and gravity as predicted, so feel quite dialled in to the Brewfather settings
now.
Used my wort chiller for first time, took about 20 mins then pitched at around 19c.

Got the ESB cold crashing, will probably bottle it tomorrow - 11L is much less hassle than a full 23L !
Thinking of trying a 2 Gallon PB for this batch.
Although judging by regular use my beers seem to carbonate pretty quick in the barrel and I'm sure any
headspace would get filled by co2 pretty quick with secondary fermentation.

Looking forward to my first proper English bitter, looks and smells the part.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Not kept up to date with this for a while since using Brewfather, have done another couple of brews since.
This first one was same recipe as my 'Almost Smash' Cascade pale ale which got me 2nd place in March freestyle competition, as I try and develop my appreciation of different hops.

06 april brew #5 Single hop Chinook Pale Ale 5.5%

batch size 15L
OG 1.052
FG 1.010
total water 20.25L
IBU 55

mash 65C 75 mins

malts
Crisp Extra pale Maris otter 3.25 kg
Crisp Cara 500 gm

hops
15gms Chinook 60 mins boil
15gms Chinook 10 mins boil
1/3 tsp protafloc 10mins boil
15gms Chinook 60 min hopstand 80c

30gms Chinook 3 days dry hop

yeast Safale US 05 11gm


I managed by mistake to add an extra 500gms Extra pale Maris Otter so started with OG 1.064
Volume was slightly down at 13.6L and ended with FG of 1.010 giving ABV of 7.1%
I considered liquoring back to try and backtrack to planned ABV but after calculating it would need
an extra 3.75L of water I decided to leave as it was.
As a compromise I boiled 1.5L water to mix with priming sugar and ended up with 15L in bottling bucket.
I measured the gravity again and it had hardly changed, still at 7%.
Looked and tasted very promising when I bottled a couple of days ago, lovely light straw colour.




11 april Brew #6 American Amber Ale 5.6%

Tried biggest volume yet in my pan - probably near it's limit with BIAB no sparge

batch size 17L
OG 1.053
FG 1.010
total water 22.65L
IBU 39

mash 65c 75 mins

malts
Crisp Extra pale Maris Otter 3750gm
Crisp extra dark crystal 300gm
Crisp Cara 250gm

hops
15gm chinook 60mins boil
10gm Cascade 10mins boil
5gm Citra 10mins boil
.5 tsp protafloc 10mins boil
5gm Cascade 60mins hopstand 80c
5gm Citra 60mins hopstand 80c

30gm Cascade 3 days dry hop

yeast safale US 05 11gm

Volume was spot on, OG a little up at 1.055.
Dry hopped this yesterday day 10, gravity now at 1.012 so ABV as planned.
Will cold crash friday and then intending to barrel this over weekend.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Brew #7 Cali Common steam Beer 4.9%

This is another Jon Finch recipe pilfered from Malt miller kit and scaled to 18L, at near limit of my pan.

https://share.brewfather.app/gNJ5khLLJ0k3Wa

OG was up at 1.052, volume a little short at 17L.
IBU's up a little also as had an extra 5gm in packet at the end for hopstand
Chilled to 19C and pitched MJ54, hopefully working it's magic right now !

Put previous batch of American Amber Ale in a barrel this morning, was a little worried as it was only 17L
but was pressurised within hours.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Brew #8 3C's American pale ale 5.5 % ( name shamelessly lifted from Clint ! )

Brewed this with extra pale MO, Cara and some Munich malt had left over from previous Cali Common steam beer.
Bittered with Chinook, then Cascade and Citra at 10 mins and 80c hopstand.
Aiming for 14L but ended up with just over 15L in the FV with OG up a couple of points from predicted at 1.054.
Safale US-05 pitched at 19c and now in fridge ( with brew #7, now on day 8 having reached it's FG in about 5 days ).

https://share.brewfather.app/f4q5vP1aVX7s3C

 

[Tanglefoot]

Brewed my second batch of ESB yesterday trying Challenger for bittering this time and using
Target for a later addition at 10 mins and at 80C for hopstand.
Decided to stick to just those hops to try and familiarise myself with them both individually.

Was aiming for 17L but ended up with 18 and a slightly lower than planned OG of 1.049 rather than 1.053,
but am fine with that, wort looked nice and clear.
Used Malt Miller ale yeast, pitched at around 19c and healthy looking Krausen already this morning.

Now cold crashing my 3C US pale ale, finished at 1.012 from OG 1.054 and tastes very promising.
Just had my Mangove Jacks 10L mini keg delivered so will be using that for first time to keg this one.

https://share.brewfather.app/nG1y4bzQLXaDHY

 

[Tanglefoot]

Yesterday I brewed a White IPA 5.9%

Extra pale MO and Cara malts, bittered with Chinook and later additions of Citra and Cascade
https://share.brewfather.app/xrKYBtkZvk8Ke6Volume very slightly over, OG couple of points below target at 1.055 but plenty strong enough for me.
Now fermenting happily in the brew fridge with the ESB#2 ( day 9 )


I had a visit from one of my oldest mates last weekend for first time since last summer and we drank
through my recent output - nice to share and appreciate with an old friend ( plus bash out a few chords
on the old geetars ! )
Almost Smash Cascade pale ale
ESB bittered with Target
Chinook pale ale
English IPA single hop EKG
American amber ale
Cali Common steam ale
3C American pale ale

 

[Tanglefoot]

Been a little quiet on the brewing front due to work and family stuff but yesterday grabbed a few hours
in the afternoon to get a brew on, all done by about 10pm.
It's another Jon Finch recipe from Malt Miller kit range scaled back to 18 Litres on Brewfather.

West Street Steam Pilsener

Batch size 18L
OG 1.059
FG 1.014
total water 23.55L ( 1/2 tsp campden powder )
IBU 47

mash at 65c 75 mins

malts
Weyermann extra pale pilsener 4kg
Crisp Vienna 1kg

hops
65gm Saaz 60mins
35gm Saaz 10mins ( 1/2 protafloc )

Pitched 1 packet Mangrove Jacks 54 Californian lager yeast at 20c


Originally this was going to be a 5% recipe but I didn't realise I had got 1 kg bag of Vienna malt rather than
the 170gm bag I thought I'd ordered until it was in the mash.
Pushes up the ABV to 5.9% which is no bad thing though I may liquor it back a bit, I also upped the hops
with this in mind - thought I may as well use the whole bag as the original recipe doesn't call for dry hopping.

Got a nice krausen this morning and chugging away happily !
Next up is my first attempt at a stout - a Chinook Porter.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Not updated this for a while.
In the meantime I've made a Chinook Porter, another ESB (#3) and a Simcoe and Citra pale ale.
The first two are still being drunk ( in barrels ) and the pale ale in a corny is almost finished.
Recipes as below,
Chinook Porter
https://web.brewfather.app/tabs/bat...4lzmZM4/recipe/oioAr4H4G69Bcp0lQlGsuHZgFJMqM6
ESB#3
https://web.brewfather.app/tabs/bat...zMrUtaU/recipe/rxCUHhfyfu8aLZPusnuaTIawHrs4lb
Simcoe & Citra pale ale
https://web.brewfather.app/tabs/recipes/recipe/QFLI6b5g0zQchX3CzsKAGEpUwsSHt4

Will be getting some brews on again when I'm back from holiday.
Well happy with third place in August competition, recipe and feedback below for anyone interested.

ESB (#1)
https://web.brewfather.app/tabs/bat...8J24AC7/recipe/dTGBT7tHJNmwfReEwhnwEnnl9wZ8om
Comp feedback;

Aroma - 8/12
Little boozy on the nose. Nice English yeast esters. Low hop aroma

Appearance - 3/3
Clear, Amber in colour, nice fluffy head


Flavour - 16/20
No boozy flavours or warming or astringency. Biscuit, toasty and toffee flavours. Earthy & floral from the hops


Mouthfeel - 4/5
Medium body, appropriate level of bitterness for the level of malt character. Balanced nicely.


Overall impression - 7/10
Overall a very drinkable bitter. Aroma suggested it might have been a little too much Alcohol but didn't come across in the flavour and was really pleasant to drink.
The top 3 beers all had a good level of bitterness or the water profile was more suited and gave a crisper finish to the beer. Well done
38/50

 

[moto748]

Good work there! Your ESB was using M36 Liberty Bell, yes? Clearly much more successful than my attempt. What I found was that, looking a clear-glass bottle, the beer looked pretty clear (albeit not 'crystal' clear), but although I always pour carefully into a jug first, the sediment in the bottle was very 'flyaway', and did not 'stick' to the bottom of the bottle of the as some do, so that it would start to run in to the glass a little even when I'd only poured half a pint. In other words, I could never get it looking as clear in a glass as it did in a clear bottle. But obviously you didn't have this issue. I guess I'll put it down to the high ambient temp. Midsummer is perhaps not the best time for brewing if you have no temp control.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Good work there! Your ESB was using M36 Liberty Bell, yes?

No, I've used NBS ale yeast in all my ESB's so far. I think the one you brewed was a copy of my second batch.
My competition entry was from my first batch bottled end of march so not such a straight forward comparison.

 

[Tanglefoot]

After a bit of a break with work/holidays etc. I got a couple of brews on in the last week.
Thought I'd remake a couple of my favourite early batches, a Cascade pale ale and a single hop English IPA
with EKG.
As I had some Simcoe I thought I'd use that to bitter the pale ale, otherwise the recipes are as before
with similar malt bills of Extra pale MO and Finest Ale malt, Cara and a little extra dark Crystal.
Hit volumes planned, the pale ale was a point under SG at 1.052 and the IPA a point over at 1.055
with a consistent mash/brewhouse efficiency just under around 69.
Nice to have the brew fridge full again.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Been a bit short of time of late but managed to get two brews done this weekend.
Not got round to my ususal Malt Miller order online so on saturday morning I got on the phone to a local homebrew supplier I've not used before and a couple of hours later picked up a box of goodies.

Plan was an APA with Mosaic and Cascade and an English IPA with Admiral, Challenger and Target.
Continuing to use same base malts as previous batches while I try out new hops and
combinations.

I went for 19L with my first brew and almost regretted it ! When the bag of grain went in it was touch
and go whether the pan would overflow.
By luck pan just big enough and after mashing and removing the bag for the boil the level was
more comfortable.
Ended up with 20L at expected OG, couple of days later now chugging away.

Mosaic APA BIAB
19L
total water 25.1L
OG 1.054
FG 1.013
IBU 48
mash 65c 75 mins

Extra pale MO 4.5 kg
Cara 350gm
Extra Dark Crystal 60gm

Safale US-05

15gm Mosaic 60 mins
15gm Mosaic 10 mins
10gm Cascade 10 mins

15gm Mosaic flame out
10gm Cascade flame out

30gm Mosaic dry hop
20gm Cascade dry hop


On sunday I brewed this, inspired to give Admiral a try after downing a few Hook Norton Flagship IPA's.


Admiral IPA
18L
total water 24.1L
OG 1.055
FG 1.013
IBU 52
mash 65c 3 hours

16gm Admiral 60 mins
10gm Challenger 15 mins
10gm Target 10 mins

10gm Admiral hopstand 80c
8gm Challenger hopstand 80c

40gm Admiral dry hop

Volume was slightly up. OG also up three points from recipe at 1.058, maybe as mash was at least couple
of hours longer than usual.
Using Lalbrew Nottingham for first time. Made a starter with boiled water at 30-35C as per instructions
trying to time it with chilling wort to 20c in pan then straining into fv.
Was worrying that yeast hadn't cooled enough ( around 26c ).
But wort was cooling also so pitched it anyway and all seems ok today.
Reading on their website it actually says fine to pitch dry unless under harsher conditions such as high gravity
or sour wort so next time I'll probably spare myself the hassle.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Yesterday I kegged the Cali Common user upper brew I made just after Christmas.
As I've been busy it sat cold crashing for best part of a week so wort had great clarity, finished at predicted 1.012.

15L batch
total water 20L ( BIAB no sparge )
IBU 44
EBC 26.5
OG 1.053
ABV 5.4%

Extra Pale MO 1.4kg
MO 1.4kg
Light Munich 500gm
Extra Dark crystal 250gm
Cara 200gm

Admiral 12gm 60mins
Cascade 15gm 15mins

Cascade 10gm 60min hopstand 80c
Cascade 35gm 3 days dry hop

MJ54 pitched at 18c.

Have now got a new ( secondhand ) 70L pan so will be planning some bigger batches and reconfiguring my brewing area
- shed needs a good clear out first though !
Meanwhile have been enjoying my first oatmeal stout I barreled week before Christmas.
Lovely velvety smooth head, tasty bitterness from EKG's.

Really pleased with first place in December competition for my Admiral IPA, recipe in previous post above
for anyone interested.

 

[moto748]

That stout looks great! Can you append the grains for that Admiral IPA; you've only listed the hops?