What's in your fermenter? 2019

[BlackSands]

Pacific Gold

• 1.7kg Coopers OS Lager
• 1kg GF American Ale Malt
• 1kg GF Vienna Malt
• 400g GF Wheat Malt
• 15g Kohatu @ 10 min
• 15g Pacifica @ 10 Min
• 20g Kohatu @ 1 min
• 20g Pacifica @ 1 min
• 15g Pacifica (Dry Hop)
• 15g Kohatu (Dry Hop)
• 5g Gypsum
• Nottingham Yeast

| ABV=4.3% | IBU=29 | EBC=8.5 |

First time my temp has landed under my intended pitching range!  Still, it's Nottingham so no worries!  

 

[ozlizard]

2 hours ago, BlackSands said:

So, based on this first time kit wine experience I think it's safe to say that even the cheapest wine kits are going to result in a wine that easily competes with 'bottom shelf' commercial offerings and from what I gather the better kits in experienced hands can result in some excellent wine.     

Thanks Blacksands for that info. Good to hear that even a cheaper kit can produce good results. I think as soon as my current brew is bottled I will get a kit wine into it. May have to order one in as there aren't any available locally, but the town hardware is an agent for Brewmart stuff.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I usually aim to pitch under the intended ferment temp. Seems to produce better results to me, more so with lagers to be fair though. 

[Beerlust]

I have just removed the dry hops from my current Coopers DIY Chubby Cherub brew, & squeezed all their liquid goodness back into the beer. The brew is now in cold crash mode.

The aromatics from the Chinook, Vic Secret & Motueka dry hop came across really nice I thought for a combo I've never used before.

Cheers & good brewing,

Lusty.

[Lab Cat]

I got my eye on that recipe, it's a Little Creatures clone isn't it?

[Pezzza]

23 minutes ago, Beerlust said:

I have just removed the dry hops from my current Coopers DIY Chubby Cherub brew, & squeezed all their liquid goodness back into the beer. The brew is now in cold crash mode.

The aromatics from the Chinook, Vic Secret & Motueka dry hop came across really nice I thought for a combo I've never used before.

Cheers & good brewing,

Lusty.

Hey Lusty,

good luck with the brew - sounds good!

I have embarked upon dry hopping finally and put in some Galaxy flowers into a brew this morning... they are floating around akimbo in the brew - another batch on the go in parallel I did use a SS Mesh Hop Tube which will be a little more well behaved re floaties and will be relatively easy to remove once done.

Did you have flowers and just get the gloves on and just squeeze them out back into the brew or how was the squeezing done?

Cheers and thanks for your help in advance.

BB

 

[Pezzza]

On ‎8‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 8:59 PM, Otto Von Blotto said:

Put the dry hops into my leftovers pale ale earlier today. 30g Cascade, 26g Waimea, and whatever of Vic Secret, Centennial and Motueka. All up there was about 80-85g split over two large tea strainers. 

Large Tea Strainer sounds like a good idea for the dry hopping Kelsey... got some flowers floating in the brew at the moment which may not be the best way to go... got a hop tube that works pretty well... but the Tea Strainers might be the way to go - screw apart to fill/clean?

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Checked the SG on my duvel clone as the bubbling has slowed to a trickle. As suspected the WY1388 is up to its usual tricks and has stalled at the 1030 mark. Opened it up and gave it a stir to kick it off again. Temp is up to 21c from the 16c start. 

[Pezzza]

14 minutes ago, Greeny1525229549 said:

Checked the SG on my duvel clone as the bubbling has slowed to a trickle. As suspected the WY1388 is up to its usual tricks and has stalled at the 1030 mark. Opened it up and gave it a stir to kick it off again. Temp is up to 21c from the 16c start. 

Hey Greeny - hope it all cranks up again.

I had my US05 crank like a mad thing for a  few days at 18 in an IPA - bubbling like crazy - but then unfortunately had it drop to 15.5 with the weather change while I was away over the weekend... not quite sure when the cool down took place... 

Have taken it up to 22 for a Di-Ac rest... should I stir the pot a bit do you think to see if that can help crank things up again or?

Is down from 1055 to 1015 already... but believe it should go finish around 1010-1012...

Any thoughts?

Cheers

BB

 

[Beerlust]

Hi Lab Rat.

1 hour ago, Lab Rat said:

I got my eye on that recipe, it's a Little Creatures clone isn't it?

Yup.

The Coopers DIY team did a really good job of this one. If you like the commercial version, you'll really enjoy this. 

46 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Hey Lusty,

Did you have flowers and just get the gloves on and just squeeze them out back into the brew or how was the squeezing done?

Cheers and thanks for your help in advance.

BB

I use a combination of chux cloths & heat seal-able tea bags to encase my dry hops. The benefit of a flexible casing is it allows you to squeeze the highly aromatic hop oils that are still trapped in the physical matter of the hops encased in your dry hop packages without releasing too much physical hop matter back into the beer.

If you use solid materials to house your dry hops, you lessen the impact those hops can deliver by weight due to the fact that when you remove them they are still holding some level of unreleased aromatic liquid within the physical hop matter that remains.

That's my view of getting the best bang for your buck through dry hopping. The Coopers DIY team advise the chux cloth method, although they don't promote squeezing, but I wish they would. 

Cheers,

Lusty.

[Pezzza]

Just now, Beerlust said:

That's my view of getting the best bang for your buck through dry hopping. The Coopers DIY team advise the chux cloth method, although they don't promote squeezing, but I wish they would. 

Cheers,

Lusty.

Gold thanks Lusty.  Aromatic hop oils is what we want. 

I thought I saw a picture I think in Palmer of hops floating in a brew and threw my flowers in - now am a bit concerned about the particulates... live and learn.

Anyway... I might dredge them out in a few days with a sterilised sieve and give them a good squeeze in honour of your suggested system ; )

And then give it all a decent cold-crash to see whether I can settle some of the partics out.

Cheers and good brewing.

BB

 

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

14 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Hey Greeny - hope it all cranks up again.

I had my US05 crank like a mad thing for a  few days at 18 in an IPA - bubbling like crazy - but then unfortunately had it drop to 15.5 with the weather change while I was away over the weekend... not quite sure when the cool down took place... 

Have taken it up to 22 for a Di-Ac rest... should I stir the pot a bit do you think to see if that can help crank things up again or?

Is down from 1055 to 1015 already... but believe it should go finish around 1010-1012...

Any thoughts?

Cheers

BB

 

Hey BB. Yeah this strain does it all the time. Great yeast with a great taste but a little bit of a PITA. Stirring has worked in every premature stall I have had bar the last time it happened which was with CCA yeast. If never had CCA stall before and I couldn't get it going. Had to pitch a kept slurry to finish it off. 

Id wait a couple of days to see what the increased temp does before stirring. If it won't move then a stir might work. Saying that 1015 ain't far away so leaving it for 4 or 5 days will probably get it down as well

[Otto Von Blotto]

1 hour ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Large Tea Strainer sounds like a good idea for the dry hopping Kelsey... got some flowers floating in the brew at the moment which may not be the best way to go... got a hop tube that works pretty well... but the Tea Strainers might be the way to go - screw apart to fill/clean?

I don't think they'd be much use for flowers, they'd probably hold about 2 grams of them. I haven't actually dry hopped with flowers before because I was worried about them blocking up the FV tap. But yeah the strainers just open up, usually I just rinse the hop matter off after the brew is kegged since they sink during the cold crash, then when I use them again another quick rinse then I boil them before putting the pellets in.

[Gazzala]

13 hours ago, Beerlust said:

I have just removed the dry hops from my current Coopers DIY Chubby Cherub brew, & squeezed all their liquid goodness back into the beer. The brew is now in cold crash mode.

The aromatics from the Chinook, Vic Secret & Motueka dry hop came across really nice I thought for a combo I've never used before.

Cheers & good brewing,

Lusty.

Sounds great Lusty!

Apart from the different dry hops you used do you otherwise follow the recipe and method as written?

I recently made my first extract brew - Neil’s Centenarillo recipe - and am really happy with it so next brew is likely to be another extract and Chubby Cherub sounds perfect - but I just wonder about the instruction to boil (simmer?) hops in plain water... I’m sure I’ve read not to do this in other threads and/or forums. 

Cheers, Gaz.

[ozlizard]

14 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Is down from 1055 to 1015 already... but believe it should go finish around 1010-1012...

The numbers for my NEIPA are exactly the same. Will test again today but hoping it drops a few more points. Might move it to a warmer spot and if it's the same today give it a stir.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Pilsner SG is at 1.013 and has dropped clear, so I'm figuring it's done. I'll wait til Sunday to begin the lagering phase just to confirm and give it a bit of cleaning up time. Tasting pretty good but will be better once it goes on tap.

[porschemad911]

The krausen had dropped on my partial mash Nelson Sauvin lager so I checked the gravity last night. It's down to 1.012 from 1.047 so pretty much done I'd say. I'll probably bottle it up mid next week, leave it sitting at 15 or 16C until then. 

It's tasting very nice. Nelson is one of those hops you can get away with being light-handed with. I find some others can come across a little diluted rather than suitably subtle at low levels. Should be a nice beer for the warmer weather, so for a leftovers batch that's a win.

Cheers, 

John 

Edited September 12, 2019 by porschemad911

[Norris!]

8 hours ago, Gazzala said:

Sounds great Lusty!

Apart from the different dry hops you used do you otherwise follow the recipe and method as written?

I recently made my first extract brew - Neil’s Centenarillo recipe - and am really happy with it so next brew is likely to be another extract and Chubby Cherub sounds perfect - but I just wonder about the instruction to boil (simmer?) hops in plain water... I’m sure I’ve read not to do this in other threads and/or forums. 

Cheers, Gaz.

Hey Gaz,

The recipe actually says to add 500g of dry malt extract to the water and then add the hops. Have another look at the recipe. But yes you are right. Boiling the hops in just water will increase the extraction of the oils, but it can be harsh.

Good luck with the brew.

[Worthog]

22 hours ago, Beerlust said:

......The aromatics from the Chinook, Vic Secret & Motueka dry hop came across really nice I thought for a combo I've never used before.

Cheers & good brewing,

Lusty.

Chinook and VS, I get, and I want to add Mouteka, but I will need to procure on ebay. Sounds like a great combo.

Cheers

[Gazzala]

17 minutes ago, Norris! said:

The recipe actually says to add 500g of dry malt extract to the water and then add the hops. Have another look at the recipe.

 

Oh bugger! Cheers Norris! 

I was actually reading the SMOTY Ale recipe - that one says to simmer the hops in plain water.

[Gullys Brewing]

Red ale- and before you say it! I know that is a truck load of cara or crystal. Didnt really think this one through, I also tested out a decoction mash for the mash out.. Thats alot of work but my house smelt amazing for hours afterwoulds

And 20lts of komucha for the keg

[Pezzza]

6 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Pilsner SG is at 1.013 and has dropped clear, so I'm figuring it's done. I'll wait til Sunday to begin the lagering phase just to confirm and give it a bit of cleaning up time. Tasting pretty good but will be better once it goes on tap.

What was your OG Kelsey if I may ask?

[Otto Von Blotto]

1 hour ago, Bearded Burbler said:

What was your OG Kelsey if I may ask?

1.048. I might chuck an extra 200g or so of pilsner malt into the next one and get it up around 1.050-51. 

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Another check on the duvel and its at 1022 so the stir worked and the bubbling is more vigorous than yesterday. Temp up to 22c. Usual Duvel taste coming to the fore.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Berliner Weisse AG has gone well.  SG tonight is down to 1.011 from 1.034.  Sample has a reasonable taste of sour.  I was a bit surprised because there was no detectable sourness on brew day.

Very hazy.  Should I leave it that way or try finings and a cold crash?