#granted+brew Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Howdy All, I'm going to put down this recipe from the site recipe page tomorrow, but the stated finished ABV is a tad high for my liking (5.2%) so rather than brewing to 20 litres I'll be going to 23 litres instead. ( I also like getting 30 longnecks bottling day) I would like to maintain the normal bitterness and hop profile so I would like to try my first hop boil. The proper recipe calls for just 25g steep in 500mls water for 15mins. I'm toying with this as my schedule: 200g LDM and 2 litres water 15g Sazz at 15mins. 25g Sazz Flameout for 15mins. Then into the F.V. with 800g LDM. Cooper's 86 Days Pilsner 1.7kg. Filtered Adelaide water to 23 litres. Also wasn't able to obtain any w-34/70 from the LHBS , the recipe calls for the kit yeast plus the saflager. With what i have on hand I have two options; 1 pkt coopers lager yeast (86-Days kit) and 1pkt of the coopers Ac+L yeast (Mexican cervesa kit) or just 2 × coopers Ac+L yeast sachets I'd be looking to ferment at 12°C / 13°C before ramping up to 18°C for a D Rest. Followed by cold crash at the end of week 2. any thoughts or advice are greatly appreciated. Thanks and Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Add all 3 sachets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Hi Lee. There's nothing really wrong with your adaption, but understand that with so many changes the final beer will not produce the same result as the DIY recipe. If you were to use 2 x AC+L yeasts & ferment @ 12-13°C, you may run into a position where the brew stalls due to the low ferment temp given the Ale yeast component of the AC+L blend. I'm not sure what ABV% you're looking for at the end of things, but I'm guessing around 4.2-4.5% given the increased volume. The pilsner kit is an excellent kit & I'd be more inclined to ferment it to 21 litres, & perhaps drop the 1kg of LDM to 750 - 800gms & follow the steep to approx. 2/3 hop weight vs your hop boil plan. The kit likely comes inclusive of W34/70 hence the reference to adding another pkt of it for the ferment. If you can't get hold of a sachet of this yeast then make a starter a day or two before your planned brew day with the kit yeast to increase the volume of yeast you'll pitch on brew day. Otto Von Blotto, PB2 & others will be able to help you further with methods & volumes to achieve a good pitching rate on that front. Hopefully those with more knowledge on that front chime in to help you with that. I hope some of what I said helps. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted July 22, 2018 Author Share Posted July 22, 2018 Cheers PB2 and Lusty, You know I'd never really considered dropping the amount of LDM, I sort of had it set in my mind to up the batch volume to get more longnecks out of it at the same time as dropping the ABV. I think I may go with your suggestion Lusty and just use 800g LDM and stick to 21 litres or 20 The coopers recipe states 25g Sazz steeped in 500mls hot boiled water for 15 mins. Lusty, are you implying that I just do a steep but only use 2\3 that amount of hops or 2\3's of the total hop weight in 'my' recipe? I could go to another homebrew shop to get yeast but I'd rather stay true to my LHBS. I'll take my third option with the yeast thanks PB2 , and pitch all 3 packs. Or make a starter with the 86 days kit yeast.. Thanks again. Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Hi again Lee. 6 minutes ago, #granted+brew said: I think I may go with your suggestion Lusty and just use 800g LDM and stick to 21 litres or 20 The coopers recipe states 25g Sazz steeped in 500mls hot boiled water for 15 mins. Lusty, are you implying that I just do a steep but only use 2\3 that amount of hops or 2\3's of the total hop weight in 'my' recipe? I could go to another homebrew shop to get yeast but I'd rather stay true to my LHBS. I'll take my third option with the yeast thanks PB2 , and pitch all 3 packs. Or make a starter with the 86 days kit yeast.. When you drop the ferment volume with a kit it intensifies the flavours of the kit. So if following a pre-designed kit recipe you need to take that into consideration when making alterations to it. In situations like this, I trust the kit above what I think the brew might need, but that is up for interpretation by each of us brewers. My suggestion will save you money on ingredients & the potential for imbalances against what you are expecting from the kit in the final beer as it will have the most influence over those final flavours etc. given what I've suggested against your higher volume brew with potentially a lowered malt flavour but added hop influences. My 2/3 hop steep advised weight is based on your overall intended lower malt content that influences the impact of hop weights vs various wort gravities. +1 to PB2's 3 x dry yeast pitch suggestion as a simple solution, but understand that it is based on the potential for 3 x the lager component of those dry yeasts to work & a BIG maybe that the ale components might at some stage to help ferment the wort if not at all depending on your pitching & actual ferment temperature. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted July 23, 2018 Author Share Posted July 23, 2018 Not brewing tonight, going to wait till tomorrow as I'll be able to get another sachet of w-34/70 Its also giving me a chance to get a bit of cleaning done and starting to make some shelving in my little brew shed. I don't normally like stirring up any dust and wood shavings while I've got a brew going so its a busy night here, lucky we have no close neighbours as the circ saw is getting a workout Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Ended up with the following recipe, 1.7kg Coopers 86 Days Pilsener can 800g LDM 25g Saaz steeped for 15 mins in 500mls boiled water Water to 21 litres O.G was 1.038 Kit yeast and a 10g satchet of saflager w-34/70 rehydrated Pitched at 17°C Will hold that temp until Wednesday morning then drop to 11°C. I don't use a fancy online brewing calculator yet, I just do it the old school way with a pen and paper and the trusty old calculator and the formula. I hit my numbers spot on with this one (1.0377) , with a brewhouse efficiency of 82%. Hopefully the F.G comes in not too low. I'm aiming for 1.009/1.008 to give me the ABV I'm after... Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I wouldn't worry about brewhouse efficiency with a kit and kilo type brew, that's more an all grain thing. Anyway, with the OG and batch volume you've got, that amount of yeast should be fine for the task. There are ways to build it up prior to pitching but it's not necessary if you're pitching enough already. You haven't got any simple sugar in there so the FG shouldn't turn out too low, somewhere around your aim or maybe a point or two higher would be my guess as to where it finishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted July 26, 2018 Author Share Posted July 26, 2018 On 7/25/2018 at 5:19 AM, Otto Von Blotto said: I wouldn't worry about brewhouse efficiency All good, just need to factor that in when working out my recipes old school style. Anyway, brew had a skim of white bubbles this morning 33 hrs post pitch, presently @ 43 hrs has nice thick krausen about an inch and a half at 11°C So happy days hopefully. I tell ya when I'm tasting it Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 My point was more that you will always end up with a given OG if the fermentables and volume are the same. The brewhouse work has already been done in producing the extract. For example a kit and 800g dry malt in 21 litres will always give you a 1.038 OG. Anyway, hopefully it turns out well for you mate. Looks like a nice lager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 Quick update on this beer. Was going to take S.G reading last night but upon looking at the brew I decided to give it another day before checking as the krausen was still quite big. Checked it tonight, Day 6 S.G of 1.013, krausen pretty much gone and the yeast seem to have started to drop out as the beer has cleared considerably. On with the heat belt and going to stagger the temp up 2°C every 12hrs up to 18°C and hold there until day 14, then cold crash using the same staggered temp drops. The sample tasted very good, very light straw colour, very excited about this one. Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 Day 11 for my Czech Pils and it looks like it has finished down at 1.009 F.G , but will check again on Tuesday before beginning the cold crash. The sample I just tasted from the hydrometer tube was by far the best I have yet tasted in my short brewing career. Thoughts are now focused on my next brew. Been scanning through last years 'brew day thread' for inspiration Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 Bottled the Czech Pils last night, sample tasted great! Scored 72 coopers longneck bottles, 70 pick-axe stubby bottles, bench capper, bottle tree, 2 F.V's and a heat belt off Gumtree last week for $50. I've been washing and scrubbing bottles all week..... Needless to say I bottled into my new glass! Can't wait to try some in a few weeks. Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Good pickup if only for the coopers long neck bottles. Everything else is a bonus. Those bottles can hold 3.5 CO2 volume easily so will do any style you ever want to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 Yeah I was pretty stoked, like you said @Greeny1525229549 It was the bottles and the bottle tree that caught my attention. LHBS sells identical bottle tree for $55! That said, I can't wait to get a keg system.... One day Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Glad to hear the Pilsner appears to have turned out well Lee. Good stuff! Cheers & good brewing, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 20 hours ago, #granted+brew said: Yeah I was pretty stoked, like you said @Greeny1525229549 It was the bottles and the bottle tree that caught my attention. LHBS sells identical bottle tree for $55! That said, I can't wait to get a keg system.... One day Cheers, Lee Keg system is great but still have a place for bottles. Belgian types and stouts mostly where they need maturation time and taste better with the secondary fermentation. Otherwise you have a keg sitting with beer in it for 3 or 4 months before you even taste it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 I guess that's the beauty of having 7 kegs and two beer taps. Although it's really 6 kegs because one is a dedicated soda water keg that sits on the third tap. I can brew a stout and tuck it away for as long as I like without running short on kegs, and unlike other styles I haven't noticed a difference in flavor from no secondary fermentation. The other beers taste better to me without the secondary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Yeah 5 kegs only for me. And 1 is an old one i need to fix once i get around to it. So only 4 in a rotation. If i could get 2 9.5L ones i would probably keg the belgians in those and secondary ferment and condition in the keg. Dont see any 2nd hand ones though and new is only 10 or 15 bucks off a 19L new keg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Otto Von Blotto said: I guess that's the beauty of having 7 kegs and two beer taps. Although it's really 6 kegs because one is a dedicated soda water keg that sits on the third tap. SWMBO and my kids would love it if they had a soda water tap to use, might be a good bargaining chip eventually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 Hi Everyone, Well my Czech Pils has been in the bottle for 17 days now, I put a test bottle in the fridge 3 days ago and just popped the top off then. I'm pretty impressed with what I've got and just know this beer will be great in another month or two. I tried a Pilsner Urquell the other day, with my newbie taste buds.. this recipe is not too far off. Now I know the batch is carbed up I will move the rest of the longnecks into the fridge and start drinking them in a couple of months if I can resist temptation. Cheers Coopers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted September 19, 2018 Author Share Posted September 19, 2018 Had some of the Whānau down from Brisbane staying with us over the weekend and sadly my Czech Pils. was on the menu.. Only managed to save 5 longnecks and 6 stubbies for further lagering. From all reports the beer was choice as cuzzy bro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 Well you can always brew it again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#granted+brew Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 Will do Kelsey, I've got 75g of Saaz in the freezer to use up and some w-34/70 slurry too. Might increase the hop amount in the next one and note the difference. Just wondering also what other styles of beer can Saaz be used with with good results? Cheers, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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