UKSkydiver's Brewdays

[UKSkydiver]

Enjoyed reading your brewday thread, i'm going to brew a saisson soon, were you not keen on yours at all? Ironically you've also inspired me to brew a southern ale even though it's a bit 'meh'!

I think on the I made an error in yeast selection; a schoolboy error that did not pay off.
My original plan was a Pelforth Brune clone. I did some reading and worked out this beer is from the north of France, which is (roughly) 'saison' country.
So I naturally thought, well, a saison yeast will be true to type.
What I had not considered is the characteristics that this type of yeast brings. Add that to the malt forward recipe and the huge attenuation and you end up with a strange mix of flavours and really high fusel alcohol (It sounds like I know what I'm on about, but I'm not sure I do )
So - I think I was just a bit over enthusiastic and hadn't really appreciated the consequenses of changing the yeast to something else.

I brewed an ESB and the Southern Ale back to back and I think they were too similar, and hence 'meh'. Plus, I am struggling with something that I believe causes my brews to be quite samey - certainly nowhere near as spectacular as some of the brews that people have swapped with me.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Ahh yes I was going to ask you about 'the taste' too, what is it? What does it taste like? I too have something similar but I think it's because I have brewed quite a lot of similar beer or at least that's what I'm hoping. My wife describes it as fag ash.

 

[UKSkydiver]

If I may be so bold, I would point you to this thread:

Improving Brews | The HomeBrew Forum

It has all the detail and you can contribute as you see fit.

 

[UKSkydiver]

AG#13 - Oxfordshire Milk Stout

Second outing for the Brewzilla. Again - super easy brewday, and temps seemed spot on, but I think I need to change my losses. First brew I only lost 1.5 litres (instead of 3 litres) to the boil, so I had more volume at a slightly lower ABV.

So this time I changed to boil off to 1.5 litres and it boiled off more, so I ended up with less going in t the FV.

Question: Does anyone do half batches (about 11 litres) What is your boil off per hour?

I may have had a stuck mash. It may not be, I need to do some reading on it. At the end of the mash, when I lifted the malt pipe up it wouldn't drain (I'm sure it would have eventually, but it was taking an age).

I stirred the mash until I got to the bottom plate and then it started draining reasonably well. I was still about 1 litre short with my post mash volume. I did a small sparge with about 1.5 litres to make up the shortage.

Recipe is a bit of a mish-mash. Started with GH, then some info from Josh Weikert and a recipe from London Beer Factory and made some subs based on what I had and what I wanted to finish off, using the same percentages where possible.

Pre boil gravity was a bit under, but I hadn't added the lactose at that point. OG was a point over but with litre or so less volume.

Yeast will be two half packets of S04 and MJ M15 Empire Ale as user-upper

I have been looking forward to doing this second Brewzilla brew. The first one (Belgian Tripel) whilst still young, seems to have improved compared to my earlier brews that I've been complaining about. I can't see that the brewing system would make a difference, compared to BIAB, but as long as they are improving, I will be happy.

AG#13 Oxfordshire Milk Stout
Sweet Stout
6.3% / 17.3 °P

70% efficiency
Batch Volume: 11 L
Boil Time: 60 min
Mash Water: 16.5 L
Total Water: 16.5 L
Boil Volume: 14 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1060

Vitals
Original Gravity: 1071
Final Gravity: 1023
IBU (Tinseth): 32
Colour: 80.5 EBC

Mash
Temperature — 68 °C — 45 min

Malts (3.4 kg)
2.6 kg (76.5%) — Maris Otter Pale Malt, Maris Otter — Grain — 4 EBC
250 g (7.4%) — Weyermann Wheat Malt Pale — Grain — 3.9 EBC
240 g (7.1%) — Crisp Low Colour Chocolate Malt — Grain — 550 EBC
180 g (5.3%) — Muntons Black Malt — Grain — 1035 EBC
130 g (3.8%) — Brown Malt — Grain — 170 EBC

Other (160 g)
160 g — Milk Sugar (Lactose) — Sugar — 0 EBC — Boil — 7 min

Hops (24 g)
15 g (28 IBU) — Northern Brewer 9.5% — Boil — 60 min
9 g (4 IBU) — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5% — Boil — 15 min

Yeast
0.5 pkg — Mangrove Jack's M15 Empire Ale Yeast 72.5%
0.5 pkg — Fermentis S-04 SafAle English Ale 75%

Fermentation
Primary — 19 °C — 14

 

[matt76]

Question: Does anyone do half batches (about 11 litres) What is your boil off per hour?

I do - I reckon on getting 2L boil off from the Klarstein in a 30min boil. That said, I've long since given up actually trying to measure boil off. I have a suspicion it may be a little bit less, maybe 1.5L in 30mins, but it seems close enough for recipe planning in Brewer's Friend.

Depending on the recipe I start with between 15-19L and typically end up with 10-13L in the FV and I'm pretty happy that I can pretty much account for where all that goes. I generally get pretty close to my target OG, uually within a point or two and I'm not the kind of brewer who worries about this (if I'm much over I might liquor back in the FV a little bit). It's actually FG where things go pear shaped for me, lately this seems to be way higher than predicted - but if the beer tastes good...

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I occasionally do 11l batches too, like Matt i've given up trying to measure it, it seems to be very variable!! However I usually boil for an hour and I guess I average about 3l of boil off.

 

[UKSkydiver]

Thanks for the input. I think I was overthinking it and in my head went from 3L to "oh it must be 1.5L because it's a half batch" which is actually bonkers when you think about it.

AG#13- Milk Stout update

I think (again, more overthinking) there is always a nagging doubt in the back of ones mind "Did I hydrate for long enough?" "Did I aerate enough?" "Did I pitch too soon, was the temperature low enough?"

Well, only 12 hours later and these yeasties seem pretty happy with what I've given them.

 

[UKSkydiver]

AG#11 - Belgian Tripel II - Update

Brewed this, first time out for the Brewzilla, mid-Dec. So it's about 6 weeks old.

Super happy with it.

Crystal clear. Much clearer than any of my previous brews which I'm putting down to the recirc during the mash. Just the colour I was after.

A bit of pfffft. Maybe a tad undercarbed for the style, but doesn't detract, in my opinion.

Bubble gum aroma. Hint of Belgianyness. Refreshing. It doesn't feel like an 8% brew.

There are many posts that suggest leaving this for 3-4 months, which frankly, I think I'm going to struggle to achieve.

 

[UKSkydiver]

AG#13 - Oxfordshire Milk Stout - Update
Two weeks in the FV and came down to 1022 giving an ABV of 6.8% which is slightly higher than planned. I put this down in part to the miscalc of boil off.

I had a brainwave. I had previously dabbled with adding vanilla paste to a previous brew with less than brilliant results, so I thought I'd revisit this plan.

Split the batch roughly half and half. Bottled the standard brew on Sunday.

For the vanilla batch I put a couple of tablespoons of paste into 50ml vodka for a couple of days and then threw gently added to my FV for a day or so.

I had previously primed using maple syrup on the Christmas Stout brew without any issues, side effects or strange flavours, so I thought I'd batch prime the vanilla stout to use it up. Added 35 g (ml?) of syrup in 5.3 litres

If it's anywhere as good as my Belgian Tripel I will be super happy.

 

[UKSkydiver]

AG#14 - Oxfordshire California Common
Monitor progress here: Cali Common - Brewfather

Batch Volume: 11 L
Boil Time: 60 min
Mash Water: 16.93 L
Total Water: 16.93 L
Boil Volume: 15 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1044

Vitals
Original Gravity: 1053
Final Gravity: 1013
ABV: 5.3%
IBU (Tinseth): 40
Colour: 22.5 EBC

Mash
Temperature — 66 °C — 60 min

Malts (2.81 kg)
2 kg (71.2%) — Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner — Grain — 4 EBC
610 g (21.7%) — Weyermann Wheat Malt Pale — Grain — 3.9 EBC
86 g (3.1%) — Muntons Crystal Dark — Grain — 240 EBC
86 g (3.1%) — Crisp Extra Light Crystal 100 — Grain — 110 EBC
27 g (1%) — Crisp Low Colour Chocolate Malt — Grain — 550 EBC

Hops (40.8 g)
14.6 g (31 IBU) — Northern Brewer 9.5% — Boil — 60 min
6.2 g (6 IBU) — Northern Brewer 9.5% — Boil — 10 min
20 g (4 IBU) — Northern Brewer 9.5% — Aroma — 10 min hopstand

Yeast
1 pkg — Mangrove Jack's M54 California Lager 76.5%

Been planning this for a while. Another opportunity to use some malts up. I didn't have any pale MO, and I see plenty of other recipes using pils and wheat (and a separate Brulosophy experiment using pale and pils side by side) so I thought it would be close enough, especially since I have stuck to style with the correct hops and yeast.

I did not have the correct colour crystal, so I mixed 50:50 a dark with a light

Third time out with the Brewzilla and first time programming it to come on in the early morning to heat the strike water up. I have no idea why I hadn't done this before. Like garlic bread, It's the future.

I decided to try underletting, by filling the malt pipe and lowering into the strike water. Quick stir. Easy.

Pretty straight forward brew day except for one thing (which I will probablky ask elsewhere on the forum if there is a BrewFather thread somewhere)

I use two devices; iPad next to the brewing paraphernalia and phone in my pocket, both running BrewFather. As far as I can tell, it syncs the steps across devices e.g. it will move on to mash, but the timings don'y sync. It's hard tp describe, but they appear to sync, but then when you start on one device, the other will drop back to the previous timing. Need to do more research.

Anyway, this balls up meant that the boil timings were off and I boiled off too much. I just boiled the kettle and added back to the correct post boil volume.

Yeast calc says I need two packets of dried yeast for an 11 litre batch. It actually looks like 1.4 packets are required. I only have one and I haven't had time to make a starter, so I'm going to have to under pitch slightly. I'm risking it, but I think it'll be ok. OG was a tad under at 1050 and it's not a full 23 litre batch, so I'm going with it.

Wort is already super clear (something I've noticed since moving away from BIAB) which I put down to the recirculation.

 

[UKSkydiver]

AG#14 - Oxfordshire California Common - Update

Visible signs of fermentation after ~6 hours.
After 12 hours - Happy yeasties

 

[matt76]

What's that you're fermenting in @UKSkydiver ? A stock pot? Your brew kettle?

I take it that's a Tilt or iSpindel I can see poking out? I spotted the link in your signature block to track progress

 

[UKSkydiver]

Hi Matt
Yeah. It’s my 'old' 16 litre SS pot that I used for BIAB mash and boil.

In trying to change things to get rid of my off taste, I decided to avoid the plastic fv, and seeing as this was sat doing nothing i thought I’d give it a go.

Clearly, no air lock, but based on common knowledge that FVs aren’t air tight and airlocks shouldn’t be used to monitor ferm progress, I couldn’t see a problem in using it like this.

I guess these is a possibility of ingress by nasties, but it’s in a fridge and I imagine there is a bit of positive pressure from the released CO2.

And yes, self assembled ispindle. I do like being able to track progress from laptop / phone. Even if the reading itself isn’t 100% spot on, you can see when it’s done.

 

[UKSkydiver]

AG#13 - Oxfordshire Milk Stout - Update

I’m pretty happy with this one. Some are a tad under carbed, but you can get a reasonable head from a higher pour. Some of the flip tops are way under, so I may need to furtle with the wire/spring to improve the seal.

Smells like a stout you’d buy in a shop, even if I do say so myself. I’d even say I’ve had worse ones from commercial breweries.

Smooth mouthfeel and slight sweetness, but with a following bitterness, I think from the roast.

These are not lasting long and I wish I’d brewed a bigger batch. I’m a happy boy with these.

 

[matt76]

Judging by the pic that looks proper - have yourself another young man

Sounds like you've turned a corner with your packaging issues then? Good to hear - as I told you before, I'm convinced you were always brewing good wort and probably fermenting good beer, just something was going awry at that critical last step.

Not sure if you batch prime in a bottling bucket? I had it once recently (Czech dark lager) where the priming solution stratified and didn't mix properly so I got uneven carbonation. Only had a problem that one time though. But something like that might explain the variation you're seeing???

 

[UKSkydiver]

Judging by the pic that looks proper - have yourself another young man

Thank you

Sounds like you've turned a corner with your packaging issues then? Good to hear - as I told you before, I'm convinced you were always brewing good wort and probably fermenting good beer, just something was going awry at that critical last step.

I hope so, and I do plan to update that other post at some point after I sample my latest brew just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.

Not sure if you batch prime in a bottling bucket? I had it once recently (Czech dark lager) where the priming solution stratified and didn't mix properly so I got uneven carbonation. Only had a problem that one time though. But something like that might explain the variation you're seeing???

These standard stouts I primed per bottle. The vanilla ones were batch primed.

My notes tell me I primed 500ml @ 2.3g sugar and 330ml @ 1.5g sugar (+/- 0.2g) which should have been ~2.0 vols. It may be I’m being overly cautious as some of my beers were suffering with over carb, which could also have been my bottle cleaning regime.

 

[UKSkydiver]

AG#14 - Oxfordshire California Common - UPDATE

You may notice the lack of a bottle as I now have a couple of kegs, and this is my first brew in one. Yay for me.

Ummmmm. It's ok.

There is nothing wrong with the beer per se. As far as I can tell, no off flavours. It seems lovely and clear and certainly the taste problem I have had previously is not present.

I do not like 'bitters'. I do not like IPAs. They all taste much the same to me, and sadly this sits in the same category.

I was hoping and expecting this to be a malty brew, but it just tastes like an English bitter / beer.

This was a brew from the James Morton book, and I think he's a bit of a hop head. The recipe calls for 37 IBU. I don't think it's massively hoppy, just hoppier than I was expecting.

This is the first time I've done an aroma steep and I wonder if that's the source of the hoppiness I'm getting.

I've just realised I made a mistake too, but fortunately to the better.

Morton's recipe calls for a 30 min hopsteep, but I only did a 10 minute steep, so it could have been much 'worse'. I ended up adding 20g of 9% Northern Brewer for 10 mins for 3.5 IBU (30 mins would have given me 7.5 IBU by the looks of it)

I'd be interested in a swap if anyone has the inclination, so I can compare what others' Cali Common are like.

Cheers

EDIT: I've just read through my Brewday notes and it looks like I underpitched the yeast. Yeast calc in BrewFather suggest 1.3 packets and I only had one. As far as I can tell, it was no detrimental effect. It fermented down to 1010 giving 5.3% ABV from 79.4% attenuation.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

AG#14 - Oxfordshire California Common - UPDATE

You may notice the lack of a bottle as I now have a couple of kegs, and this is my first brew in one. Yay for me.

View attachment 43176

Ummmmm. It's ok.

There is nothing wrong with the beer per se. As far as I can tell, no off flavours. It seems lovely and clear and certainly the taste problem I have had previously is not present.

I do not like 'bitters'. I do not like IPAs. They all taste much the same to me, and sadly this sits in the same category.

I was hoping and expecting this to be a malty brew, but it just tastes like an English bitter / beer.

This was a brew from the James Morton book, and I think he's a bit of a hop head. The recipe calls for 37 IBU. I don't think it's massively hoppy, just hoppier than I was expecting.

This is the first time I've done an aroma steep and I wonder if that's the source of the hoppiness I'm getting.

I've just realised I made a mistake too, but fortunately to the better.

Morton's recipe calls for a 30 min hopsteep, but I only did a 10 minute steep, so it could have been much 'worse'. I ended up adding 20g of 9% Northern Brewer for 10 mins for 3.5 IPU (30 mins would have given me 7.5 IBU by the looks of it)

I'd be interested in a swap if anyone has the inclination, so I can compare what others' Cali Common are like.

Cheers

Always happy to swap, I brewed my cali common from mortons book (or maybe greg hughes) in autumn last year, I had one yesterday and it's quite nice and much improved.

 

[UKSkydiver]

Oxfordshire Oatmeal Stout AG#15

Vitals
Original Gravity: 1061
Final Gravity: 1015
IBU (Tinseth): 38
Colour: 79.5 EBC
ABV: 6.0%

70% efficiency
Batch Volume: 14 L
Boil Time: 60 min
Mash Water: 20.99 L
Total Water: 20.99 L
Boil Volume: 18.13 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1052

Mash
Temperature — 67 °C — 45 min

Malts (3.981 kg)
2.8 kg (70.3%) — Crisp Clear Choice Malt ® Ale — Grain — 5.9 EBC
381 g (9.6%) — Oats, Flaked — Grain — 2 EBC
286 g (7.2%) — Crisp Low Colour Chocolate Malt — Grain — 550 EBC
167 g (4.2%) — Muntons Crystal Dark — Grain — 240 EBC
167 g (4.2%) — Crisp Extra Light Crystal 100 — Grain — 110 EBC
90 g (2.3%) — Muntons Black Malt — Grain — 1035 EBC
90 g (2.3%) — Crisp Roasted Barley — Grain — 1200 EBC

Hops (48.7 g)
26.7 g (33 IBU) — Challenger 7.5% — Boil — 60 min
11 g (3 IBU) — Challenger 7.5% — Boil — 5 min
11 g (2 IBU) — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5% — Boil — 5 min

Miscs
0.5 items — Protafloc — Boil — 15 min

Yeast
1 pkg — Mangrove Jack's M42 New World Strong Ale 76.5%

Had a bit of a shocker with this one. I didn't bother doing any water 'analysis'. I just bunged a pinch of SMB and 6ml of CRS in. I guessed my hard water and the dark malts would probably sort themselves out.

Temp was all over the place. Brewzilla said 67c, thermometer was well down. Ended up with 80c on the Brewzilla before it got up to 67c. I suspect most of the mash was nearer 63c. So let's call this one a stepped mash. This might ferment out a little more than expected, but I have oats so hope I won't lose the body. Who knows. It will still make beer.

Mash seemed to 'stick' and I had to stir to keep it from compacting on the bottom of the malt pipe. This won't be clear, but no one will know. Pump blocked with fine grains.

Volumes were all over the place and efficiency was down so ended up with ~13.5 litres of 1059 wort.

Yeast calc called for 1.4 packets, but bearing in mind the lower OG and volume, I guess one will be enough.

In order to try and go back to some of my old kit, I've put this one in the plastic fermenter bucket. I noticed late last night there was a slow leak on the thread, so this morning I had to clean and sanitise the SS pot, transfer, fix the leak and transfer back. Let's call this delayed supplimentary aeration.

 

[An Ankoù]

Hi @JonBrew
I'm a fair way through these now. I had forgotten you asked the question.

I'm not sure I've ever tried a Scottish Export / 80 shilling, so difficult to comment. It's certainly drinkable.

Lovely dark red colour.

Ended up being 4.2% ish. Not hoppy at all, quite balanced I think.

I may have over carbonated / primed it. It seems really gassy. It's better when I pour between two glasses to remove some of the gassy-ness.

I think I also used too much Campden, something I've only just fixed in my latest brew.

I'd like to try this again, with a better temperature regime, a better understanding of water alkalinity, less campden, less priming sugar..... I think the basic recipe stands up, it's just my processes that let it down...

Still beer though!
CheersView attachment 24391

It looks a lovely pint from where I'm sitting. I think trad Scottish ale's were more lightly hopped than English and more fizzy.