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DIPA

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Thanks Gents i appreciate the advice cool

 

Brew is progressing well' date=' tastes dank already, 22-26 degrees now, man the galaxy flowers are pungent, even copping grief from the ole ball n chain about it, how does the brewing gig work, do you have a designated room to brew in, use a shed, or do we just get rid of the wives?[/quote']

 

I use a brew fridge in the garage.

Wives too difficult and expensive to dispose of.

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Thanks Gents i appreciate the advice cool

 

Brew is progressing well' date=' tastes dank already, 22-26 degrees now, man the galaxy flowers are pungent, even copping grief from the ole ball n chain about it, how does the brewing gig work, do you have a designated room to brew in, use a shed, or do we just get rid of the wives?[/quote']

 

I use a brew fridge in the garage.

Wives too difficult and expensive to dispose of.

 

Hahaaaa yes they arebiggrin

 

Im guessing its temperature controlled Gag?

 

Mid teens where i live currently and she has dropped into the 20-24 range, i dont really want it to go any lower, trials an tribulations of a first time brewer...

 

 

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Thanks Gents i appreciate the advice cool

 

Brew is progressing well' date=' tastes dank already, 22-26 degrees now, man the galaxy flowers are pungent, even copping grief from the ole ball n chain about it, how does the brewing gig work, do you have a designated room to brew in, use a shed, or do we just get rid of the wives?[/quote']

 

I use a brew fridge in the garage.

Wives too difficult and expensive to dispose of.

 

Hahaaaa yes they arebiggrin

 

Im guessing its temperature controlled Gag?

 

Mid teens where i live currently and she has dropped into the 20-24 range, i dont really want it to go any lower, trials an tribulations of a first time brewer...

 

Oh yes,yes you do. You want ot at 18-20 from the start. I currently have a pale ale i made on the weekend sitting at 16. It was using the mj workhorse yeast. It acyually was down to 14 and has chugged along. Amazingly in 48 hours at 14-16 it has gone from 1.050 to 1.1016. Thats why workhorse is my favourite winter yeast... but thats another topic. Ale yeast is best at about 18 degreea no matter what the instructions on the pack aay(yea there are exceptions but they are specialist yeasts)

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Ahhhh rightyo, i used an american west coast yeast BRY 97 i think, i should be right to just leave her be then, should the number on my final gravity matter or just that it is the same 2 days in a row?

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Ahhhh rightyo' date=' i used an american west coast yeast BRY 97 i think, i should be right to just leave her be then, should the number on my final gravity matter or just that it is the same 2 days in a row?[/quote']That one is one that's better at 18-20, but by now it's probably not worth dropping it, it's the beginning of fermentation and the first few days that it needs to be at the optimal temperature.

 

The SG reading itself doesn't matter, to a point. With the recipe as written I'd expect an FG around 1.012 give or take a couple of points, so say a range between 1.010 and 1.014. Anywhere in there or close to that range will be ok, but if it finished at like 1.020 or something then you'd probably be dealing with a stuck ferment. With FG readings I usually take them 2 days apart, e.g. take the first reading on a Monday and the second reading on a Wednesday. Just gives more peace of mind that it has actually stopped if it doesn't move for 48 hours.

 

As it stands, fermenting in the low-mid 20s with an 11g packet of yeast, I don't think you'll have any problems with a stuck ferment.

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Ahhhh rightyo' date=' i used an american west coast yeast BRY 97 i think, i should be right to just leave her be then, should the number on my final gravity matter or just that it is the same 2 days in a row?[/quote']That one is one that's better at 18-20, but by now it's probably not worth dropping it, it's the beginning of fermentation and the first few days that it needs to be at the optimal temperature.

 

The SG reading itself doesn't matter, to a point. With the recipe as written I'd expect an FG around 1.012 give or take a couple of points, so say a range between 1.010 and 1.014. Anywhere in there or close to that range will be ok, but if it finished at like 1.020 or something then you'd probably be dealing with a stuck ferment. With FG readings I usually take them 2 days apart, e.g. take the first reading on a Monday and the second reading on a Wednesday. Just gives more peace of mind that it has actually stopped if it doesn't move for 48 hours.

 

As it stands, fermenting in the low-mid 20s with an 11g packet of yeast, I don't think you'll have any problems with a stuck ferment.

 

Wow it read 1.039 day 1, 1.020 day 2 and today 1.012 w00t

 

I guess my next question should be do the amount of days matter?

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Ingredients probably weren't mixed through properly, that can cause low OG readings as well. Temperature will cause it to read low too, so if you took the OG at somewhere in the high 20s, it'll be about 2 points low. Either way, 1.041 is still a low OG for the ingredients listed.

 

Rather than wasting beer every day taking readings, give it another few days then take the two readings 48 hours apart. If they are the same then it is safe to bottle it.

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No worries. My usual procedure is to take the OG after the boil on brew day (for you this would obviously be after mixing the kit etc. in the FV), then I take a sample after 3 days and leave the hydrometer floating in it until it stops dropping, which is usually only another couple of days or so. After 7 days I take a proper FG test sample, and another 48 hours later to confirm.

 

Some cats like to take readings every day or two but for me personally it's of no use because the fermentations all pretty much run to the same time frame anyway, so it would just be a waste of beer. Plus there's already the 4th day sample with the hydro floating in it to get a rough idea of FG.

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Thanks Gents i appreciate the advice cool

 

Brew is progressing well' date=' tastes dank already, 22-26 degrees now, man the galaxy flowers are pungent, even copping grief from the ole ball n chain about it, how does the brewing gig work, do you have a designated room to brew in, use a shed, or do we just get rid of the wives?[/quote']

 

I use a brew fridge in the garage.

Wives too difficult and expensive to dispose of.

 

Hahaaaa yes they arebiggrin

 

Im guessing its temperature controlled Gag?

 

Mid teens where i live currently and she has dropped into the 20-24 range, i dont really want it to go any lower, trials an tribulations of a first time brewer...

 

 

Yeah, do yourself a favor and get an STC1000. about 15 bucks delivered from eBay

Easy to wire if you know how or get a competent mate to do it.

These little gadgets seem to be the go to for most brewers and work well.

I now have 3 of them (2 brew fridges and a keezer) all working well so far.

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Thanks Otto that sounds like a good option for me going forward cool

 

Cheers Gag, im in the process of getting a fridge for next time, il get onto one of my sparky's to give me a hand with it all happy

 

While im at it could you help me come up with a combination to go for hop selections in my next IPA...

On hand i have

 

El Dorado Pellets 160gms

Citra Pellets 160gms

Columbus Pellets 160gms

Hallertau Pacific Flowers 200gms

Kohatu Flowers 100gms

BRY 97 Yeast 11gms

 

I picked these hops based on the info provided and was initially thinking of sticking to SMaSH theory to help build up a knowledge of each type individually, now im thinking if i ask it will limit my mistakes.

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The top three would go well together in an IPA. I'm guessing Hallertau Pacific is the one grown in NZ so it will have a different influence to the German grown Hallertau; that one might be better used on its own in something to start with just to see what sort of flavor and aroma it brings. I often do this with hops I haven't tried before. Kohatu I have heard of but don't know much about it.

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Cheers Otto, would you steep equal amounts of all 3 or choose 1 specifically to bitter?

 

The other 2 NZ hops came with these descriptions

 

The Kohatu Hops

Tropical Fruit salad, pineapple, pine needle and lime are the common descriptors for this hop.

 

Hallertau Pacific Hops

Pacifica displays classic Hallertau citrus and floral aroma character. Orange marmalade aptly describes the citrus aroma notes achieved through late addition and bittering quality is such that early kettle additions net a soft yet solid finish even in highly bittered beers.

 

Cheers again for the tips smile

 

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Citra is a good bittering hop, I haven't used the other two so not sure about them. Citra can also be used late in the boil, for steeping and dry hopping. It's pretty versatile.

 

That description of Hallertau sounds about right for an NZ grown hop, I have used Hallertau Hersbrucker in lagers in the past and definitely didn't get any citrus from them, floral perhaps but not citrus. That's a result of the different growing region. Interestingly, I have a Hallertau hop plant in my backyard which I was able to harvest some hops from last year for brewing, and they weren't particularly citrusy either.

 

The Kohatu description sounds like it'd go well in an IPA too, but you probably don't want to have a heap of different varieties in one beer. It works sometimes but other times they all just cancel each other out.

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Thanks Otto, i went with your recommendation in brew 2, used 40gms of the Citra for bittering in the Coopers Bootmaker Pale Ale, definitely dissolved all ingredients and got my temp between 18-20 for 20 litres, will be dry hopping 40g Citra, 80g Colombus and 80g El Dorado, OG was 1.040.

 

Bottled the first one this morning and you were right, there was some residual sugar/malt that didnt completely dissolve, the beer itself smelled and tasted the part, very pungent, quite excited about how it scrubs up in a few weeks time...

 

 

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How long did you boil the 40g of Citra for in the Bootmaker brew?

 

It wouldn't be residual sugar or malt you found in the bottom of the fermenter though, even if it doesn't dissolve properly at mixing time it will still end up being eaten by the yeast anyway. The cake of trub in the bottom is mostly yeast, and other crap like proteins, hop matter etc.

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About 15 minutes boiling for the Citra and 15 more off the heat while i stirred in the Coopers Light Dry Malt and the TCPA can, I'm not sure if that is the right thing to do, probably another 15 while i chilled to keep overall temp low, i was tasting the bitterness regularly as i went

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Id had a couple last night and wrote that wrong, id combined the light dry malt and PA can mix in the boil, hops went in for 15 off the heat and stayed in when i chilled the wort for another 15.

 

The guy i bought the BRY 97 from told me too reactivate it in 37 degree water, it doesnt seem overly "activated" would it be better to just pitch it dry?

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Id had a couple last night and wrote that wrong' date=' id combined the light dry malt and PA can mix in the boil, hops went in for 15 off the heat and stayed in when i chilled the wort for another 15.

 

The guy i bought the BRY 97 from told me too reactivate it in 37 degree water, it doesnt seem overly "activated" would it be better to just pitch it dry?[/quote']

 

1. don't boil the can. Increases bitterness and darkens colour. Maybe okay but to be able to predict this and use it in recipe formulation may be difficult.

2. do rehydrate. It is not activating, merely waking up the yeast in preparation for consuming maltose.

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