Twenty Something

[digitalcatfish]

I'm putting a brew on tomorrow, so thought I'd share it as my first post. :party:
I've not done one for over a year so I'm keeping it simple.

Twenty Something
Mash
66degC for 90mins (Strike 15L at 73degC)
4.5kg Pale Malt (Maris Otter)
0.45kg Crystal Malt (55)
0.05kg Chocolate Malt
Boil - 90 mins
East Kent Goldings (whole, 5%) - 46g for 90mins, 13g for 15mins, 5g at flame out
Whirlflock Tablet (for 10 mins)
Fermentation
12g Muntons Yeast
Figures
Batch Size 25L
OG 1.047
EBU 32

I've now taken over the kitchen ready for the morning :whistle:
Maybe I'll have a :drink:to get me in the mood.

 

[Wez]

Hope it goes well DC :thumb:

I like the choc malt addition :thumb:

Keep us posted :grin:

 

[digitalcatfish]

Overshot the temp a bit at 69degC, but swiftly corrected it. Hope those little enzymes are OK.

Hmmmm, I love the smell of malt. :grin:

 

[BrewStew]

i normally mash at 68... have had one go to 68.5 before and it was fine :)

have a good one! :thumb:

 

[Jonnyv]

Hmmmm, I love the smell of malt.

Me too, and I like the way it lingers around the house

However the missus says, "it stinks". What does she know!

 

[BrewStew]

every woman that's smelled my brewdays has said they hate it... yet every guy says they love it... weird!

 

[digitalcatfish]

I guess I'm lucky, the missus likes the smell too :grin:

I'll do the boil outside though, not keen on the sticky condensation that coats the kitchen walls.

The first runnings from the mash are a good colour, measured in at 1.073.

 

[digitalcatfish]

 

[Jonnyv]

Looking good :thumb:

 

[Vossy1]

Hope the brews going well dc

 

[digitalcatfish]

Disaster's struck :cry:

I left the boiler alone for 10 minutes to load some stuff into the car, when I got back the brew was pouring out of the tap.
I know it wasn't open before, so I guess it must have been too tight and it's just popped with the heat.

I'll reduce the boil to 75 mins, add half the final hops and hope for the best :hmm:

I guess it could have been worse, at least I'm not cleaning it up off the kitchen floor

 

[Jonnyv]

I've had that happen many a time - what sort of tap have you got on your boiler?

I've got an orange H&Q thorn-style tap which has been fine since I replaced the previous one. I am tempted to fit a ball valve to my boiler tho - for added safety.

Hope you didn't lose too much wort

 

[digitalcatfish]

I've got 13.5L into the FV, so I've still got more than half.
The OG was a bit low too, 1.041. Definately more practise required.

It's a plastic 'Waddington and Duval' tap, which I won't be using again!

 

[Jonnyv]

Have a look at this tap. It's done me well.

It does have a slight design flaw however... The way you turn the tap on is the same direction/rotation as the nut on the back so what tends to happen is you try to turn the tap on and the whole thing twists round. With two hands it's fine though.

 

[Jonnyv]

I take that recommendation back... don't get the H&G boiler tap. The backnut's just split on me, spilling about half a gallon of boiling wort everywhere. Argh!

Ball valves!

 

[Vossy1]

Sorry to hear that Jv :cry:

 

[Wez]

Sorry to hear it didn't go totally to plan DC

Sounds like you're still going to end up with a decent amount of beer so not a total loss - well recovered :clap:

 

[Smod]

every woman that's smelled my brewdays has said they hate it... yet every guy says they love it... weird!

Thats because it smells like TROUBLE !!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[BrewStew]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[digitalcatfish]

It seemed quicker than usual, but it's now down to 1.011 and has stopped bubbling.

I couldn't help but take a sip, and it tastes good.
Just as I like it, with a hint of the chocolate malt.

:drink: