MitchellScott

I also recommend as the others said doing some hop stands around the 80C mark. I noticed a great improvement in my beers when I started doing that.

Polished off a whole case from Thursday to now. Went down to Canberra for my sisters 30th and picked up a case down there. Certainly a nice beer that you can session without any issues. As some others have said I don't think its quite IPA territory but nonetheless a beaut beer. I was expecting some more hop aroma/flavour but the whole beer moulded together nicely and I think its the first time I've had a beer with honey in it so that was cool too! Well done Woodsy

Cheers guys!

Looks very similar! Cheers mate

Hi legends. The time has come for me to try out a dark beer. I'm Usually a Pale Ale, XPA/IPA and (sometimes) Lager drinker. I have had a Milk Stout at a Craft Brewery before and quite enjoyed it, I like the thought of sipping a couple on a cold Winter night. For next winter I might age a few for 6 months or so before winter hits but at the moment I don't have the time for that so was hoping to get it brewed and let it age for 4 weeks or so before starting to enjoy late June. I'm not too fussed if its not at its "best" before I start drinking. So I am going to brew my first dark beer. The darkest beer I've brewed to date is the 2019 ESVA which came out quite dark but I know is nothing like a Porter/Stout. I have tried Porters before and wasn't a huge fan, hence I am going down the Stout path. I have found Cheeky Peaks recipe below, and thought I would ask if anyone has any recommendations on any changes or whether to just brew exactly how it is? Keeping in mind this is my first Stout so I don't want something that is suuuuper roasted or gonna blow my head off.... Just something I can have a few of on a cold night. I chose this recipe as the bitterness looks enjoyable and the recipe overall looks quite nice to me. Thoughts? Cheers! Mitch.

Not really, just wash your hands afterwards. I've never had any dramas with it but I assume if you had sensitive skin you may want to wear gloves.

150 Lashes uses: Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Amarillo and Willamette. Play around with this combination and you should get something similar. Mitch.

The reason behind this was probably mash temp being too high accidently, resulting in less fermentable sugars from the mash. In the OP's case, I think it's a yeast issue as kit/extracts always have the same amount of fermentable sugars. Back to the OP, I have banged all of this recipe into the IanH spreadsheet, and it certainly isn't going to get down to 1.010 and probably not 1.014 either. When I did kits/extract I found the FG guides of the spreadsheet to be fairly accurate. See below. Don't take any notice of the colour or bitterness, as they are not correct for this recipe. I am getting the sugar content only from it, hence using the light malt extract and Coopers Lager kit does not make any difference to total sugars used in the brew. To me, sounds like its just about finished fermenting. Did you get your volume (8.5L) perfect? I would expect it to go slightly lower than 1.020 as you said it currently is, but its not far off where it's meant to finish. Mitch.

The difference is the amount of C02 in solution after a brew has fully finished fermenting is minimal. Most of my ales when I am transferring them to a keg have no signs of carbonation at all. After the beer has attempted to be carbed in a bottle then yeah that's a whole different kettle of fish. Mitch.

This is correct. Consuming before this date can lead to the secondary ferment not being completed and a sweet/undercarbed beer.

I tested a Crown Lager once, was pretty much spot on 1.006.

SG check today and its down to 1.010-1.011. So with a expected FG of 1.006 I have bumped the InkBird up to 18C to finish off and perform a Diacetyl rest. Will leave it at 18C for 3-4 days then crash it. Hopefully we get down to the expected FG. The fridge still smells like ass everytime I open it so it must be fermenting still Will update as the days go on.

Cheers guys! I was thinking Citric Acid but thought I'd ask first.

Random question, any recommendations of acids or something that will clean caked on carbon from stainless steel stove tops? I know you guys are pretty good with cleaning products usually so thought I would ask.

3.5% in my case (kegging). Exactly the same as Great Northern super crisp.

This brew was the following: 2 x Morgan's Australian lager tins 1kg DME 1.5kg Dextrose W34-70 yeast. Less malt and more dex will give you a drier brew, within reason.

The recipe was designed to finish at 1.006 without the need for added enzymes.

Yeast is in, did another SG check and she's down around 1.020-1.022 so is dropping nicely now. Expected FG is 1.006 so I think the low temps has just slowed the multiplication and therefore ferment right down. So will keep you updated and of course post a pic once its all done and my mates are (hopefully) enjoying it. Cheers.

Hey hey, they are good blokes.... Just like water beer. I should brew them up a nice RIS to get some hair on their chests

2 more packs acquired and rehydrating as we speak. Brew temp is also now up to 11.6C. Everything shall be OK

Have done starters before but nothing that big. Usually just do 2L starts with my US-05 for standard 23L batches (pitch half and save half for the next starter). Might go to the LHBS and get another few packs then. My plan is to save the slurry from this batch and make a 2L starter with it then pitch the whole lot into it for the next 60L batch I make for them.

I'll wait and see what the others think. The LHBS is only a 10min drive so can easily go grab some more if needed. Lol that won't happen... It's all they drink. One reason though is because they drink at a workshop a lot and being mid strength they can have a few and still be OK to drive. I must admit, I don't mind a GN on a hot day, but its got nothing on my Ales

The other option I have is dash to the LHBS and get 2 more packs, rehydrate them and add today?

Yeah now I think about it I think I did that last time. I probably should have rehydrated in some water around 20C then pitched into the wort. I know you can pitch into cool wort, but cell count would probably need to be higher. Hopefully the multiplication is just slow on this brew due to the temps... Like I said, its certainly fermenting. Will just need to wait and see if it hits FG I guess. I didn't want to pitch too high because its a 60L batch and it would take ages for the fridge to bring that volume of wort down to 12C from 20C or so. Bloody lagers...........

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well. Well, its been a while since I've made a lager and I may have had a brain fart here lol... My mates wanted me to make them something similar to a Great Northern Super Crisp as that is all they drink, so I made up a 60L extract batch for them. OG is pretty low at 1.033 (because its only a mid strength beer). I dry pitched 3 x packs of W34-70 into the wort (wort was approx 12-13C during pitching) and fermentation has been held at 10C since Sunday. I have just bumped it up to 12C today due to the slow fermentation. Lag time was pretty long (around 48 hours before I saw any signs of a Krausen), but I was expecting that due to the low temps at pitching and just typical lager yeast, as I am used to Ale yeast taking off within 18 hours or so. I checked the SG yesterday and it was around 1.026-1.028 so has dropped a bit, and fermentation is definitely happening due to the good old fart smell it gives off lol.... But I am a little worried I haven't pitched enough yeast for this due to the cold pitching temps? I thought at the time due to the low OG that 3 packs would be plenty but I am second guessing myself now. I've only just bumped the temp to 12C so will see if that helps to get things happening a little quicker. Cheers, Mitch.