Hermoor Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 My raspberry Candian blonde is now aging and after picking up some cheap cans from Big W I've decided to do a kit and focus on my techniques. 1.7kg Thomas Cooper Pale Ale 1.5kg LDM Kit yeast Made up to 23 litres I think this is going to be pretty good, I tasted the lid of the can and it was good ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Well I didn't take the 3 days reading on my pale ale after all, but given these fermentations are pretty predictable I did raise the temp a day later up to 22C where it's sitting currently. Tomorrow will be 7 days in the FV so I'll take a gravity sample then, and another one on Sunday and if they're the same then I'll throw in the dry hop and begin the temp drop to 0, with a view to keg it either the following Sunday or Monday. The next batch to go in will be a German style lager... it doesn't really seem to fit any style particularly (probably closest to Munich Helles) but I have brewed similar recipes in the past that have been very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman1525230189 Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Just tapped a hybrid Irish red ale, using tc amber ale, tc Amber malt,500g dry malt, 400g golden syrup. I'm new to the style, usually sparkling ale, this is a nice addition to my brew rotation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoppy81 Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Put a couple of kits down the other day. Coopers English bitter 1.5kg Amber malt extract 500g light dry malt 100g choc malt 50g special roast 40g Styrian Goldings dry hop 2 x kit + 1 x Nottingham yeast rehydrated 26 litres Coopers family secret amber ale 1.5kg light dried malt 300g carared 60g maltodextrin 20g Simcoe @ 10 min 20g Pacific Jade dry hop Kit + S04 yeast rehydrated 27 litres Cheers, Hoppy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 I checked the SG on my pale ale on Friday, it was sitting at 1.0119 so I figured it's done and didn't bother taking another reading, it's going into kegs anyway so it's not like there's any bomb threat . It's just begun it's drop down to 0C for a week of CCing before being kegged. Saturday I'm planning on brewing my German lager so that one will be the next into the FV after this one is finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headmaster Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 But yesterday I also put on a 4L batch of something completely different: Hibiscus Rice Wine /Cider Christina. Amazingly adventurous there Christina, you never fail to surprise me with your creations! Will be a very interesting beverage I'd say. Jools, How is that Saison going? I've entered mine, plus an American IPA, plus Weissbier plus Kolsch in the ISB comp. Not that happy with the IPA, too sweet for the style, despite FG being 1.011. Gladfield Ale malt seems to be a bit sweeter than standard ale malt, and I have noticed mention of this and that they say to order the Gladfield American Ale Malt if you want dryer outcomes. I did add close to 300g of C60 so that together with the slightly sweeter gladfield ale malt has pushed it a bit too far I suspect.. Anyway, looking forward to this comp, will be there on the day as a Steward. I cannot make the club meeting tomorrow night BTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joolbag Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Jools' date=' How is that Saison going? I've entered mine, plus an American IPA, plus Weissbier plus Kolsch in the ISB comp. Not that happy with the IPA, too sweet for the style, despite FG being 1.011. Gladfield Ale malt seems to be a bit sweeter than standard ale malt, and I have noticed mention of this and that they say to order the Gladfield American Ale Malt if you want dryer outcomes. I did add close to 300g of C60 so that together with the slightly sweeter gladfield ale malt has pushed it a bit too far I suspect.. Anyway, looking forward to this comp, will be there on the day as a Steward. I cannot make the club meeting tomorrow night BTW. [/quote'] Hi Mark I also can't make this club meeting. I am not going to participate in the herb/spice challenge because I don't particularly like these styles of beer and I have no experience in brewing them! Plenty of other styles for me to experiment and learn from first. I use Gladfield American Ale as my base malt. My brews are usually American pale ales and IPAs, so this malt suits very well. I also do some lagers and I have used this malt + Gladfield pilsner to good effect. I haven't used their standard ale malt, but heard it is more like a Marris Otter in flavour so is a good choice for English beers. My saison is doing well (see https://club.coopers.com.au/coopers-forum/post/209833/. I chose not to bottle it on Friday and submit it to the competition because I wanted to make sure it was finished fermenting. Too risky bottling early and creating bottle bombs in my house and especially for the judges! I had some other beers I am really happy with (German Pilsner, Vienna Lager, Dortmunder Export, Gose) and wanted to enter them, but they weren't in the styles list! I should've checked earlier and brewed to the comp spec. The German Pilsner I could have entered under the pilsner category but it wouldn't have stood a chance since it was bittered with Perle and flavoured with Hallertau Mittelfrueh. I love the beer I brewed and very proud of it, but it's not a Czech pale lager or a Czech premium pale lager by any stretch. Good luck with your entries Mark. I'll be looking our for your name in the results! Jools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headmaster Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Thanks Jools, That's a shame about just missing the window of entry there, and could well be finished at 1.002! I only have just my one Saison to go by, not 41 in three years (must be close to a home brewing Saison World Record there I'd say Ben10!) and all I can add is that the dry Belle Saison yeast from Danstar really smashed it out of the park, hit 1.000 in a few days and was stable from then on. I still left it several more days to settle out at ambient temps and for a 'clean-up'. I was very impressed I could brew this style without using my fridges at all, will be making this a regular summer brew I think. May even brew another using the harvested yeast and see what it's like run a bit cooler than the mad almost 30c ferment I did there in the heat wave. Tasters among friends family and colleagues like this best from my recent batches, and it is really enjoyable to drink. I can now appreciate the style, which is something I love about the hobby of brewing beer at home, exploring beers that I'd never really heard of only a short while ago, their history, researching recipes, methods and then making one from scratch and enjoying the spoils. Looking at your comments regarding the german pils, I once submitted to a comp something a czech pils using urquell yeast, but using german hersbruker or hallertaur hops and they actually picked up on this! (and got marked down..) Then tried to make a german pils but I used a bit of crystal and they said it was actually a Helles and was not to style. All a good learning experience for me. I'm trying to get myself on this year's BJCP judging course so will need to keep researching these styles. If you are ever worried about glass and entering in a comp, the Coopers PET is a great option, they are rated for very high pressure when in good condition I understand, many very good entries are submitted in these bottles. My asahi bottled Saison is certainly the highest carb I've ever achieved in the bottle (on purpose!) and you certainly get the burps going when having one! No signs of any gushing however, there might be if you swirled the yeast up before pouring I suspect though. I have had people complain about that (not with this batch) who I have given a beer and they have chilled horizontally in the fridge or just inverted it on the way to pouring or opening. They just need a bit of bottle conditioned 'Keep Upright' education.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joolbag Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Hey headmaster Yes I do believe that my saison is finished, but will give it a bit longer and then measure and bottle. I will be very surprised if it goes any lower as 96% attenuation is enough i feel! Like you, I really enjoy brewing, but my consumption doesn’t match my output. Since I’ve joined a cycling club I’ve backed right off because beer and hangovers don’t mix with the early starts and hours in the saddle. My friends are loving it at the moment and I have trained them to wash and return the bottles. Which means the beer keeps flowing for them, I get the feedback and can keep brewing new beers using new hops, recipes, styles, etc. I have 4lbs of hops from Yakima Valley on the way, so I suspect some super hoppy American beers will be on my to do list shortly. I try not to rush things and am fastidious with my cleaning and sanitation. Thankfully this has translated to no bottle bombs or gushers. I had a feeling that my saison would be done and I could have bottled it on 2nd March (11 days in FV) and entered it into the ISB comp. but I felt it was rushed and wanted to give it at least a full two weeks to finishes and also time to clean up. I will plan further ahead for the NSW state comp that is in September or October from memory. I am enjoying the freedom to experiment and try new styles or bastardized styles in the meantime. My next brew is going to be a Riwaka new world Pilsner. I had a few commercial examples of NZ pilsners over Christmas and I am a big fan. After that I will go a bit crazy on the hops to try and emulate some of my favorite APA and IPAs. Looking at 300-400g hop bills for a 22l batch. I think I will try my hand at my first porter, as one of my spearfishing buddies loves the dark beers and I don’t often have anything dark for him to try. I really liked the Bridge Road Brewers robust porter, so will do my research on this style and aim for something with that amount of roast, choc and coffee flavour. Cheers, Jools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Hi guys. Well my current Pale Ale has finished fermenting and stabilized at 1.010. My use of no body adding grains this time has improved final attenuation with the US-05 achieving 79%. Final ABV is high too at 5.25%! I'll have to be careful drinking too many of these in a session once it's in the keg! I am very interested to see whether the beer has a decent head retention, and whether some changes I made to my late hopping temperature steeps has made any notable improvements to hop character in the beer. Colour-wise it is one of the lightest beers I've ever made! I'll remove the dry hop bag tomorrow & likely begin the cold crash sometime after work Monday. Looking forward to this one. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 I put my German lager that I brewed on Saturday in to the FV earlier today. It was pitched at around 26 degrees after being oxygenated for a couple of minutes, but in the 9 hours or so since it has now dropped to 12, with the target ferment temp being 10C. I got 22L into the fermenter at an OG of 1.0461, which was about 3 points lower than the target OG although one litre more volume. BH efficiency was 73.2%, so not a big deal lower than my nominal 75% figure the recipes are based on. The pre-boil figures were spot on though, with the mash efficiency half a percent higher than the target, so I don't know what's going on with the boil off but it's obviously mucked up somewhere. Either way, I'm sure it'll still be a nice beer. It's being fermented with Wyeast 2000 Budvar lager yeast which had been sitting in the fridge since October last year when I spun it up in a 3.5L starter last week. It had no trouble getting going again, adding further anecdotal "data" to my theory that the viability of yeast doesn't drop off by the often quoted 21% per month and in fact drops quite a deal slower than that. I just used normal tap water for this batch with some small additions of gypsum and chalk, but for the next batch I'm going to make some distilled water and build the water profile from scratch. I'll have to research it a bit, since I won't be using the really soft Pilsen profile for these lagers. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headmaster Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Kelsey, Regarding the boil-off rates my postulations and theories are below, not saying that I am right about this mind you. I find that the variables that affect this with an electric system that is only around 10 amps at 240V or approx 2400 watts are: Ambient temp Voltage when boiling lid partially on or off completely. Ambient temp is self explanatory, the colder it is the less boil-off likely as power of element is limited and more of that power will go to holding temp rather than generating steam due to increased heat loss. My boiloff is less in winter. Humidity may come into play but prob negligible IMO Voltage can vary from say 245V to 200V, depending on mains load at that time in your street, and your own house circuits. Extension leads drop voltage at these current levels. In winter my system can struggle to keep a rolling boil with the lid off but if I keep lid on but partially on, this keeps the boil rolling nicely, at ambients as low as 10c in my garage. So I have observed much higher boiloff with the lid partially on, compared to off. If I had gas power this would not be an issue but I'm working with a 2200W element, at 240V. I often drop to 220v or less and see 1900 or even 1800watts actual power levels on my power meter, when the circuit is loaded and using an extension cord. My kettle does have 10mm nitrile closed cell foam rubber insulation around the sides and it sits on this too on the brewtable. This rubber came from a $10 kmart yoga mat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Captain!! Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 So running my lastest Saison with white labs saison 2. It’s open fermenting at 20c and looks like for the most part it’s done already, it’s only been 3 days. I’ll take a sample tomorrow and see where she’s at, After that I’ll take her out the freezer and let the ambient temps clean up the job at hand. Then cold crash for clarity. Cheers Kirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 19, 2018 Author Share Posted March 19, 2018 I too have noticed boil off differences with ambient temp changes, so that one I definitely agree with. There hasn't been much change over the last 6 months though, so at least for the last few months that one probably isn't affecting it much. Even in winter it's still low 20s during the day rather than anything close to single figures. Power load might well be though. I usually have to use an extension lead because SWMBO is using the washing machine when I'm brewing and the dopes who built the laundry only put a single power outlet in there. Having said that, she's usually finished with it by the time I get to the boil so it might be worth plugging it straight into the wall for that part of the brew day. I do boil with the lid off, and from a visual point of view it doesn't look any different to how it did when I was living and brewing at the olds and the urn was plugged straight into the wall, but that probably doesn't mean much. That last brew day, I boiled the wort for 90 minutes and it only dropped the wort level by a touch over 3 litres, which is quite low. Normally in a 75 minute boil I lose about 3.5-3.75L. I think towards the end of the boil it slowed down a bit though, I have a suspicion that the element cover got a bit caked up with crap. Normally I only boil for 75 minutes and have no problems. At least I know my mashes are going fine though, always up around the high 80s for mash efficiency, it might drop to the mid 80s with a bigger grain bill but it's consistent each batch. It's just the boiling side of things has altered itself lately. I'll try plugging the urn straight to the wall socket next brew day and monitor the boil off. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 My German lager is down to around 1.030 after 5 days in the fermenter, so I'll give it another day then allow the temp to rise up to 18C to finish off/have a D-rest. That should be all done by next Wednesday or Thursday at which point I'll drop it down to 0C for its cold crash and probably keg it the weekend after. I don't think I'll leave it the full 2 weeks this time because once it's kegged it's going straight into the back of the fridge anyway so it will have more time to sit there untouched and lager further while I drink the pale ale keg and whatever blend ends up in the mini keg. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joolbag Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 By chance my fermenter also contains a lager beer Kelsey. Mine is the NZ Pilsner that I posted in the Brewday thread. I made a starter of 2 x M76 Bavarian Lager yeast packets, cold crashed it and pitched the yeast cake into my fermenter last night. Riwaka smells amazing and I am so keen to see how this turns out. Will have to be patient... it will be bottled in about 4 weeks and then 2 weeks conditioning before my first sample! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 Hope it turns out well mate. I have a few NZ hops in the freezer that I'm gonna start experimenting with in some pale ales over the coming weeks and months, just for something different from the American ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Captain!! Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I pitched my yeast into the not so big red rye yesterday and this morning she was bubbling away nicely this morning at 4. This is the first time I’ve harvested and reused liquid yeast. Hope this one works out. Have fun Captain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 I've just set my controller to 18C, I figure the brew won't rise above lager fermenting temps before the SG drops into the low 1.020s so it should work out fine. It's sitting at 10.3C currently and moving up rather slowly. I'll take SG readings after 12 and 14 days (next Tues and Thurs) to confirm it has reached FG, then it will be dropped down to 0C for a week and a bit before kegging day. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowbrew Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Its been 3 days since pitching the WLP001 starter into Gails Pale Ale, and it has taken off nicely. I am hoping for an FG of about 1.012, but ill just wait and see what happens. No dry hops are going in this batch, so i am relying on the cube hops for aroma. It smells absolutely amazing! I cant wait to get this one in a glass Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tja1980 Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 G'day all, Have in my Oxebar Fermentasaurus Capital Pils - minus the 86 kit yeast, muscle memory accidentally discarded it, pitched on 17/03/2018 @ 1075, not sure its a bad thing, fermentation is just coming out primary into cleanup, Dry hopping tomorrow a day earlier then I expected, it has been hot in WA this week so I've been convection cooling with ice in the bottom of the Fermenter with the insulation jacket using the pressure kit, so its been between 16~19 degrees with the fermenter outside temps being between 22~24 degrees. So dry hop tommorow then again on monday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No_vice Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 [hide][/hide] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No_vice Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Doing a Coopers Bootmakers Pale Ale. Did the 23 litre option with 1.5kg of LDME. Added Coopers yeast from the can but nothing was happening after a day and a bit, so figured I would experiment. I had a sachet of Morgans Wheat Yeast in the fridge, so pitched that at around 22C and slowly dropped it to sit around 19C. Went absolutely crackers, then went from 10cm Krausen to 1cm after 6 days. SG down to 1007 from an OG of 1051. I will check over a couple of days but it tastes, and looks, great. I am tempted to dry hop with 25gms of Goldings for a few days for some more hoppiness - had them left over from an imperial IPA. Thoughts and suggestions please. Also do I wait for the Krausen to completely drop or cold crash it once the SG remains stable? Then again maybe the addition of the hops will cause the Krausen to drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtman Dan Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Thought id try this NEIPA craze going down, but murky beer is nothing new to me been brewing for a lil over a year and alot of my earlier kit brews were pretty hazy. Finally got a temp controlled fridge and chucked a lil recipe together biab stylee.. 5kg Gladfield American Ale Malt 500g Flaked Oats 400g Munich 200g 40L Crystal @60 8g Magnum @0 50g Citra/Azacca/Galaxy will probably dryhop the same 20 min steep then cube overnight Rehydrated US-05 Been in the fridge for 5 days, pulled a sample tonight and it smells pretty damn nice, the hops are really present but it definitely just smells 'cleaner'. Excited about the recipe but more so the fact its been at 18c the whole time, looking forward to tasting the results and not messing around with bloody frozen bottles and laundry tubs@! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowbrew Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Looks nice Dan. Is it bitter? 150g at flameout in a no chill situation seems like it would add alot of bitterness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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