What's in your fermenter? 2019

[BlackSands]

Back To Roots NZPA

As mentioned in the brew day thread, there's several NZ hops that seem to have either fallen into disfavour, are underrated, or have simply largely been overlooked, probably displaced by more recent new world varieties.   So, I thought it might be fun to revisit  two hops I used as a kid, Green Bullet and Sticklebract and try another classic NZ hop, Dr Rudi for the first time.   I purchased from a LHBS that I've never used before - THEY vacuum seal their hops.  The aroma of the hop bags was noticeably more potent than the hops a usually buy from elsewhere.  Dr Rudi was particularly pleasing to my olfactory nerves!   

 

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

Busy beer day - Part 1

Brewed The Kraken - Black IPA on Friday.

I had a massively stuck sparge.  In fact it probably got stuck early in the recirculating mash.  Flow rate into overflow tube did not change much.  Plus I had half a stainless hop ball as a filter over the overflow tube and it kept clogging up.  I am guessing that the grain crush was too fine.  It came in a box pre-crushed.

• 6.3kg Gladfield American Ale Malt
• 0.35kg Gladfield Munich Malt
• 0.35kg Gladfield Dark Crystal Malt
• 0.21kg Carafa III - Dark Roasted Malt
• 0.21kg Gladfield Dark Chocolate Malt
• 10g Calcium Sulphate
• 17g Pacific Jade 60 minute boil
• 55g Mosaic flame-out 20 minute hop stand
• 55g Simcoe flame-out 20 minute hop stand
• 55g Citra flame-out 20 minute hop stand
• 75g Mosaic dry hop day 5
• 75g Simcoe dry hop day 5
• 75g Citra dry hop day 5
• 1 x Deltafloc
• 2 x Mangrove Jacks US West Coast M44 dry yeast packets
• Mash Step 1 - 50°C for 30 minutes
• Mash Step 2 - 68°C for 60 minutes
• Mash Out - 75°C for 10 minutes
• 90 minute boil

21.5L of 1.074 wort.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Busy beer day - Part 2

Bottled the Coopers 2019 Vintage Ale on Friday after 5 days cold crashing.  This brews smells wonderful with the Cascade and Mosaic dry hop.  I will drink some early to get the most out of the dry hop.  Did 11 glass long necks for ageing.  The rest I will drink in stages.

7.7% ABV in the bottles, including priming with sugar.

[Pezzza]

4 hours ago, BlackSands said:

Back To Roots NZPA

As mentioned in the brew day thread, there's several NZ hops that seem to have either fallen into disfavour, are underrated, or have simply largely been overlooked, probably displaced by more recent new world varieties.   So, I thought it might be fun to revisit  two hops I used as a kid, Green Bullet and Sticklebract and try another classic NZ hop, Dr Rudi for the first time.   I purchased from a LHBS that I've never used before - THEY vacuum seal their hops.  The aroma of the hop bags was noticeably more potent than the hops a usually buy from elsewhere.  Dr Rudi was particularly pleasing to my olfactory nerves!   

Sounds good BS... have got a cuppla Dr Rudi plants in pots... so that sounds promising... if I can keep them alive to the flowering stage... in the garden way too dry... but in the big pots... may not survive without my watering (the half bucket of water waiting for the hot to kick in on a shower)  when I head off for a cuppla weeks over Christmas... bit of a worry... 

[Pezzza]

What's NOT in my fermenter.... the AG Black IPA with split late hop treatments... now in 30+ Coopers Largies:

They are headed into the spare room at around 21 deg C so will be nice to see how they turn out in a few weeks.

Cheers Brewers

BB

[Shamus O'Sean]

With my Black IPA I have to get 225g of dry hops into the fermenter.  Is ten chux cloths the way to go or should I just buy a hop tube or something for that many hops?  Discuss

[PaddyBrew2]

I use a paint strainer bag. You get them in Bunnings. That will hold it fair handy 

[Shamus O'Sean]

2 minutes ago, PaddyBrew2 said:

I use a paint strainer bag. You get them in Bunnings. That will hold it fair handy 

Ideal.  I have some from when I did some stove-top brew in a bag AG brews.

Thanks @PaddyBrew2

[ozlizard]

Not beer but anyway, I just pitched a 5lt batch of apple and pomegranate wine (as you do) not more that 2 hours ago and it's started bubbling already! Thought I heard something behind me in the pantry and I thought, no way! Yeast is EC1118 and temp about 20deg, but never had one take off like that!

Edited November 5, 2019 by ozlizard

[Aussiekraut]

7 minutes ago, ozlizard said:

Not beer but anyway, I just pitched a 5lt batch of apple and pomegranate wine (as you do) not more that 2 hours ago and it's started bubbling already! Thought I heard something behind me in the pantry and I thought, no way! Yeast is EC1118 and temp about 20deg, but never had one take off like that!

Yeah, some yeasts seem to be rather keen. Did a MJ Mixed Berry Cider a while ago and it too was going quite wild after just 1.5-2 hours. Not just the occasional bubble in the airlock but a steady stream of bubbles.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I get that with beer yeast but only in yeast starters

[Pezzza]

So I know   it is not beer but if I need to make a Gluten Free Brew and getting GF Malted Grain seems hard and expensive... so was thinking I could just do a cider... 

Buy some half decent apple juice and juice a few fresh apples (got a proper small juicer) and blend to make up the brew... then what - @ozlizard and @Aussiekraut and any other "cider inside your inside" brewers... just keep it at 20 or 18 degC and pitch your EC1118 or some other cider yeast...  can you do it in the Coopers non-airlock Ferment Vats or does it need a proper seal and bubbler (can do that too)… I saw somewhere someone adding Dex?! to get the OG up?  Surely if you start with half decent juice it should work or?  And then bottle in Coops bottles and add some Carb lollies for secondary ferment for some bubbles?  Would US05 do the trick if I don't wanna drive for miles to some doddgy scoundrel selling old yeast? I saw on some other site a feller using US04...  Be interested to see what you cider brewers think.  [Apologies re the apple juice focus everyone else].

And for those fans of Fantastic Mr Fox... 'Apple Juice... Apple Juice Flood'   ; )

 

[Pezzza]

In the meantime all that has been in my "fermentation vessel" recently was this rye wheat blend+seed loaf which has come out ok... 

I did use bread yeast but threw in a nice spoonful of US05 harvested yeast just for the LOLs  ; )

 

[ChristinaS1]

@Bearded Burbler Another option is to make a regular beer and add a tube of Clarity Ferm to the FV when you add the yeast. I have been doing this since the summer. It has no effect on taste. It contains some sort of enzyme that breaks down the gluten to the point it can be tolerated by celiac patients. They are not allowed to call it gluten free for legal reasons; they call it gluten reduced. It cost $8 in Canada. 

Cheers,

Christina. 

[Aussiekraut]

15 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

So I know   it is not beer but if I need to make a Gluten Free Brew and getting GF Malted Grain seems hard and expensive... so was thinking I could just do a cider... 

Not really a cider brewer. Only do quick and dirty kit & kilo to keep the daughter and SWMBO happy

I only ever used my spare FV for cider and it is air-locked but I can't see why it wouldn't work in an air-lock-less one. Kit asks for a kilo of dex and I use the kit yeast. This particular one comes in a 5.6% ABV with a kilo of dextrose, so lowering it wouldn't hurt. I do add a little artificial sweetener to it as sugar is naturally not an option.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Pitched my AG centenarillo ale. Oxygen for 90 seconds or so before the yeast went in. Full 25 litres. Can't remember the OG but it's written down in my book and Beersmith. 

I put the cube in the fridge last night when I went to bed so pitching temp is about 11/12 degrees. Done this before and it worked fine, so I'm not concerned about it. It's pretty warm here now so it should warm up to 18 over the next 6-7 hours or so 

[Pezzza]

9 hours ago, ChristinaS1 said:

@Bearded Burbler Another option is to make a regular beer and add a tube of Clarity Ferm to the FV when you add the yeast. I have been doing this since the summer. It has no effect on taste. It contains some sort of enzyme that breaks down the gluten to the point it can be tolerated by celiac patients. They are not allowed to call it gluten free for legal reasons; they call it gluten reduced. It cost $8 in Canada. 

Cheers,

Christina. 

Hey thanks for that Christina!  

Do you think it would make a difference if All-Grain or not?  Or heavier OG brews or no?  Hopefully one tube is good enough for a 23L type brew heavy or not.  And maybe not load up with too much wheat...  which I like for head retention and creamy mouthfeel but could ease off it a bit.

Anyway - I think it sounds like something to chase up.  Thanks very much - most appreciated.

Cheers,

BB

[Pezzza]

6 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

Not really a cider brewer. Only do quick and dirty kit & kilo to keep the daughter and SWMBO happy

I only ever used my spare FV for cider and it is air-locked but I can't see why it wouldn't work in an air-lock-less one. Kit asks for a kilo of dex and I use the kit yeast. This particular one comes in a 5.6% ABV with a kilo of dextrose, so lowering it wouldn't hurt. I do add a little artificial sweetener to it as sugar is naturally not an option.

Cheers Cobber.  I am hoping to do a juice thing - not concentrate - squeeze some buy some - probably going near to a HB shop in next cuppla weeks so might see what yeast they have...  and just do a small test batch to begin with.  And think I will stick with a dry version.  I will look into using Dex if my OG turns out a bit low... see how we go. 

If I do a small batch and bottles it will give me an idea I guess ; )

[ChristinaS1]

4 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Hey thanks for that Christina!  

Do you think it would make a difference if All-Grain or not?  Or heavier OG brews or no?  Hopefully one tube is good enough for a 23L type brew heavy or not.  And maybe not load up with too much wheat...  which I like for head retention and creamy mouthfeel but could ease off it a bit.

All grain has the same amount of gluten as extract, so would be the same. I have not used it in a high OG brew myself, as I don't make them, but I don't anticipate a problem.

All of my brews have 5-10% malted wheat and I have not experienced any issues, but I can't speak to wheat beers, which might be 65% wheat.

Cheers,

Christina.

Edited November 6, 2019 by ChristinaS1

[Beerlust]

On 11/4/2019 at 10:38 PM, Shamus O'Sean said:

With my Black IPA I have to get 225g of dry hops into the fermenter.  Is ten chux cloths the way to go or should I just buy a hop tube or something for that many hops?  Discuss

The largest size Chux cloths from the supermarkets will easily hold 100-125gms of hops. I did a brew with over 200gms a while back & used two of them.

Cheers & good luck with the brew.

Lusty.

[Shamus O'Sean]

5 hours ago, Beerlust said:

The largest size Chux cloths from the supermarkets will easily hold 100-125gms of hops. I did a brew with over 200gms a while back & used two of them.

Cheers & good luck with the brew.

Lusty.

Thanks Lusty, now that you mention it I have seen these large Chux at the supermarket.  I will get some as an option to the paint strainer bags, which might actually be too big.

[Otto Von Blotto]

That fridge insulation must be good, bloody beer is only just coming up to 18 degrees now a day after pitching it

[ChristinaS1]

On 10/24/2019 at 4:40 PM, ChristinaS1 said:

Put down another brew, the second one this week. I make one stout a year.  This one is meant to last the winter and will be bottled so as not to tie up a keg. Originally I was going to make Dry Irish Stout in the 4% range but changed my mind. I wanted a higher ABV and thought the OS kit would be better suited. 

 

Winter Stout

 

1.7kg Coopers OS Stout

1.3kg Briess Golden Light LME

750gm Vienna 20%

400gm home toasted base malt 10.6%

75gm C75L 2%

10gm MJ New World Strong Ale yeast plus 7gm Coopers ale/lager blend dry pitched

21L

 

OG 1.054; FG 1.012; IBU 57.4; EBC 110; ABV 5.9% bottle; BU:GU 1.07.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina. 

Bottled this today. Ended up with 1L less than anticipated. Leftovers are tasty. 

Cheers,

Christina.

[BlackSands]

On 11/6/2019 at 9:42 PM, Bearded Burbler said:

Hey thanks for that Christina!  

Do you think it would make a difference if All-Grain or not?  Or heavier OG brews or no?  Hopefully one tube is good enough for a 23L type brew heavy or not.  And maybe not load up with too much wheat...  which I like for head retention and creamy mouthfeel but could ease off it a bit.

Anyway - I think it sounds like something to chase up.  Thanks very much - most appreciated.

Cheers,

BB

The other benefit of Clarityferm, and the clue is in the name, is it's also a great clarifying agent!  

[Otto Von Blotto]

Centenarillo up and going as of this morning, so I'll take a progress sample on Sunday and see how it's tracking.