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What's in Your Fermenter? 2020


Otto Von Blotto

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Hey all. 
just took up brewing this year to while away the isolation (us Victorians have had a lot of time on our hands!) and have loved it. This forum has been awesome for me, so much knowledge.  This is my first post here. 

Im just doing extract brews so far and throwing in some steeped grains, and late hops and dry hops. Have done a couple of lagers too which I really enjoyed doing. 
This week I tried to do a clone of Mountain Goat summer ale. It’s my favorite commercial beer so thought I’d give it a try:

200g Cara-Pils steeped at 70 deg

1.7 kg pale ale can

500g LDME

500g Dry wheat malt

250g dextrose

HOPS: 10g Galaxy, 20g Nelson Suavin, 10g Motueka (all steeped for 20 mins with the boiled Dry malts)

Yeast: US05

Planning on dry hopping this weekend with 20g each of NS and Motueka. 
Made 23 litres. OG 1.040

if it turns out to be a decent beer that’s close to the real thing I’ll be sure to let you know.  Cheers to all 👍

Edited by Tone boy
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Brewed this up today, 43 litres sitting in the FV now ready for the Kveik Voss to kick in. Fermenting at ambient with no temp control so once it starts going I will bump up the pressure. Pitched at 3 pm so should the blow off should be bubbling before I go to bed. Plan to ferment this out at 5psi rather than the 15 i usually use and see if I get any ester production from the Kveik.   

image_2020-10-29_203118.png

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14 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

That is a great combo. Have you used it before? 

No Marty. Their website says the summer ale has Motueka and Wakatu hops. I couldn’t get Wakatu so just chose another NZ hop. 
I really don’t know much about this caper yet so am happy to just try things and see. Am taking lots of brewing notes so if I stumble upon something good, hopefully I’ll be able to replicate it!

 

C63DABDC-B790-47D7-A275-D6639D5C7390.png

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13 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:NS is a great hop.   As is Motueka which is a super charged Saaz so great in Pilsners as well. 

Oh great info. I’ve tried pilsners twice now and each time thought it could use more hops. On both occasions I used Saaz. The second time I coupled it with hallertau. I think both are pretty low AA so maybe the Motueka in the pils could be a goer. 

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1 hour ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

Brewed this up today, 43 litres sitting in the FV now ready for the Kveik Voss to kick in. Fermenting at ambient with no temp control so once it starts going I will bump up the pressure. Pitched at 3 pm so should the blow off should be bubbling before I go to bed. Plan to ferment this out at 5psi rather than the 15 i usually use and see if I get any ester production from the Kveik

I will watch this one with interest.  A Kolsch without a Kolsch yeast.  Mmmm.

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5 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I will watch this one with interest.  A Kolsch without a Kolsch yeast.  Mmmm.

Well this is a change up to the original that used a Kolsch yeast but due to the ferment fridge having a Sparkling Ale in it using Coopers commercial yeast I just changed the yeast and did not change the names.   The colour is wrong for a Kolsch as well.  See the kveik can ferment without temp control. Kveik is a wonderful thing. 

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9 hours ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

Plan to ferment this out at 5psi rather than the 15 i usually use and see if I get any ester production from the Kveik.   

 

What does the pressure do to the fermentation process?

I’ve only got a Bog standard plastic FV with a plastic airlock so I’m guessing you’ve got something more high tech...

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2 hours ago, Tone boy said:

What does the pressure do to the fermentation process?

I’ve only got a Bog standard plastic FV with a plastic airlock so I’m guessing you’ve got something more high tech...

To pressure ferment you need a vessel that handles pressure and a spunding valve.  They are the essentials.  I use repurposed 50 litre kegs. However it can be as simple as using a cornie keg. There is a wide range of FVs on the market that allow for pressure fermentation. The cost starts in the $100+ range up to close to  $1000 but essential they are a pressure rated vessels.  The two advantages of pressure are no need for temp control because of the reduction in chemical production as that is suppressed by the pressure so if the temp fluctuates you don't get the nasty off flavours.  Also because you ferment at a higher temp the whole process is quicker.  These are  particularly beneficial if you ferment lagers as I do. Instead of doing lagers at 10c I have had then as high as 30c but around 24c looks to be the sweet spot when using pressure.  Also there is no need for a D-rest or traditional lagering. 

There are some negatives but  largely they can be over come by changing the pressure  fermentation schedule and instead of using pressure from the start you apply it later in the process. If you do then temp control is necessary .  The reason: until pressure is being applied the FV is a conventional FV therefore the yeast is not stressed and are making all the wonderful chemicals they produce during fermentation.  Another issue is dry hopping can be problematic. 

I have an Australian Sparkling Ale fermenting in my ferment fridge using Cooper's commercial yeast harvested from some Cooper's stubbies. I want consistent  yeast flavours.  So that brew has been fermenting at zero pressure at a steady 21c for 4 days.  Hopefully the yeast will produce some fruity esters. Today, day 4, the ferment  slowed so I have adjusted the spunding valve to start applying pressure. Hopefully I will  end up with 15psi in the keg. This will help carbonate the beer.  I can also then do a closed transfer to my kegs using the pressure. This will eliminate the possibility of beer oxidation.  When fermenting lagers pressure is applied from the start so esters are totally eliminated. 

I pretty much exclusively pressure ferment as it suits the styles of beers I make which are mostly lagers or yeast neutral ales. If I was drinker how liked yeast driven flavours pressure fermentation has no real benefit.   However, if you like neutral yeast and really hoppy beers pressure ferment is great as the flavours and aroma are held in the brew. However,  dry hopping can have it issues. 

Sorry for the lengthy answer.  There is a whole thread on pressure fermentation maybe you should have a read of it. It has loads of great info and images of guys setups.   There are quite a few of us who pressure ferment here. 

 

Edited by MartyG1525230263
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1 hour ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

 

Sorry for the lengthy answer.  There is a whole thread on pressure fermentation maybe you should have a read of it. It has loads of great info and images of guys setups.   There are quite a few of us who pressure ferment here.

Thanks for the answer, don’t apologize. That’s pretty awesome and something I could get into down the track. I love Pilsner so could be a good way to brew them over summer. The 2 I did brew I had to stick in the shed over winter to get them down to 10 degrees!

sounds like there could be a market for a remote controlled hop bomb, to solve the dry hopping problem without losing your pressure!

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2 minutes ago, Tone boy said:

sounds like there could be a market for a remote controlled hop bomb, to solve the dry hopping problem without losing your pressure!

The the less basic pressure vessels have a variety of ways to dry hop. Some work great others are so so.  The problem with the pressure release is the CO2 that is in solution leaves solution. This causes the trub to rise and the FV can overflow bit like a pouring an over carbonated beer. Not ideal.  But instead of say a 500ml glass you have 23 litres or more. So in my case 43 litres.  I did it once and not doing it again. Because I AG brew I now adjust the late boil and whirlpool additions to get the hoppy goodness I desire.  

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Nut Brown Porter - Inspired by the Coopers recipe Nut Brown Ale and its suggestion to increase the Crystal addition.

  • 1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale
  • 1.5kg Pale Liquid Malt Extract
  • 500g Medium Crystal Malt - 1 hour steep @63°C
  • 200g Brown Malt - 1 hour steep @63°C

25L of OG 1.047

Stocks are low and I need a quick top up brew.

Loved the smell of the boiling Crystal and Brown Malt wort.  Tonight I made my son his usual two heaped teaspoons black coffee, I gave it a sniff and I thought it was exactly the same as the day's earlier wort boil.  This bodes well for the beer.

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Kegged this on Thursday. The leftovers tasted very nice. Version 1 of this recipe was pretty good, which is why I made it again. Version 1 had 25gm Cascades at 20 minutes, 20gm Motueka at 5 minutes, 30gm Cascades and 15gm Motueka @ FO, and the same DH additions as this version. Although the recipe is similar, I like this version better. The lemon-y zip of the Cents additions in the kettle are great....As for the Denali, I have a bunch and had not been thrilled with them. They supposedly add pineapple and pine, but I could not tell when I used them in the dry hop (in another beer). I thought FO additions would be a good way to use them up, as they are extremely high in total oils (40% more than Cents, which is also high in total oils). Unfortunately there is not a lot of info on the makeup of those oils....

Cascades & Moteuka Pale Ale ver. 2
 
1.7kg APA
1.5kg Light LME
900gm Maris Otter
100gm flaked wheat
300gm Munich
15gm Cents @ 20 min
23gm Denali @ FO x 20 min hop stand
23gm Cents @ FO x 20 min hop stand
10mL Clarity Ferm
23L RO water
20gm Cascades x 3 day DH
10gm Motueka x 3 day DH
 
Cheers,
 
Christina.
 
PS In case you are wondering why I have not been very active on the forum of late it is because we got a puppy, a Golden Retriever, a replacement for our other Golden Retriever who died in May, at the age of 12. Trying to keep the peace between the puppy and our seven year old Havanese.
Edited by ChristinaS1
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On 10/28/2020 at 5:12 PM, NicolasW said:

Really struggling with the efficiency

Nic mate it seems to me that the Voyager malts do not deliver quite like some of the say German malts...

Veloria is a wonderful wonderful malt... but this schooner malt just does not deliver the amount of fermentables like e.g. Weyermann Pilsener malt... 

But makes for wonderful AG beer!

I buy 25kg bags and am not scared of using a cuppla more kilos if need be to get the bigger brews that I like...  yes it does cost a bit more but you get the beer you want.

And am happy to spend the extra $5.20 on a brew I prefer.

My Drug Lord (haha = malt and hop supplier) says that the Euro Malts given their breed and growing conditions produce malts that just deliver greater fermentables than Aussie grains....

Might be interesting to see what others reckon...

I crush my own and have gone a bit finer - and I think it has helped a bit...  and there is something nice about mashing in a freshly crushed malt bill : )

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1 hour ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Veloria is a wonderful wonderful malt... but this schooner malt just does not deliver the amount of fermentables like e.g. Weyermann Pilsener malt... 

But makes for wonderful AG beer!

What is wrong with it? Is it not delivering on the OG or do you get less fermentable sugars from it, so things get sweeter? I like to support Aussie maltsters where I can and was considering Voyager but I also use Barrett Burston pale and wheat malts unless something else is needed. 

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8 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

What is wrong with it? Is it not delivering on the OG or do you get less fermentable sugars from it, so things get sweeter? I like to support Aussie maltsters where I can and was considering Voyager but I also use Barrett Burston pale and wheat malts unless something else is needed. 

Yeah it is just the OG... nothing 'wrong' with it mate - it is just you don't seem to get the efficiency and hence OG that you do from the Euro Malts kilo for kilo like Weyermann Pilsener malt... but you get depth and body in the beer. 

I would definitely recommend having a crack at the Voyager malts - beautiful stuff.   And you can trace pretty much back to the paddock where it was grown from the barcode thing on the bag.

I did get some Maris Otter recently - but once my Bo Pils is gone I will really only have Voyager malts in store... 

Veloria Schooner Malt was my first Voyager grain - and it contributed to some magnificent ales mate...  here is a cracker - Pale Mozzie ha ha - at the dry firey time the start of the year.... Malt Bill was only Veloria and some Wheat... was sennnsational beer and self-medicating during the nasty latter stages of the fires was very helpful 😝

image.thumb.png.4ef653ae3c75ee7a4ae73111a358b60e.png

 

 

 

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On 10/17/2020 at 3:19 PM, Red devil 44 said:

Some K & K action this arvo, keeping the stocks up with Xmas on the horizon.
Stone & Wood Pacific Ale Clone in the FV.

Coopers Pale Ale of sorts in the other FV, might dry hop with Lemon Drop & Galaxy, see how it turns out (just using up some odds & ends )

Pacific Pale Ale 6 days in, dry hopped with 30g Galaxy, probably leave until Wednesday then CC, keg next weekend. 
‘Cheers RD44 🍻🍻

How did the Morgan's Pacific Pale Ale turn out?

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On 11/2/2020 at 9:45 PM, Titans19 said:

How did the Morgan's Pacific Pale Ale turn out?

Hi Titans19, the Pacific Ale is all kegged & sitting in my keg room, no room on tap yet, but it will get a guernsey in the next few weeks.

Have brewed this before & can highly recommend 👍

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47 minutes ago, Red devil 44 said:

Hi Titans19, the Pacific Ale is all kegged & sitting in my keg room, no room on tap yet, but it will get a guernsey in the next few weeks.

Have brewed this before & can highly recommend 👍

I came across the Morgans Recipe Chart yesterday when searching for online morgans tins. The Little Creatures Pale Ale looked good.. Not sure if I'll do that or the Pacific Ale. Do you just follow exactly as the chart says? 

.. Bad news about your back. I hope it gets better soon.

 

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47 minutes ago, Titans19 said:

I came across the Morgans Recipe Chart yesterday when searching for online morgans tins. The Little Creatures Pale Ale looked good.. Not sure if I'll do that or the Pacific Ale. Do you just follow exactly as the chart says? 

.. Bad news about your back. I hope it gets better soon.

 

Cheers Titans19, yeah I bought it in a pack from the LHBS, just found a pic.

51FBA0A6-4BC2-4124-8126-9E04E8B61806.jpeg

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Greetings from Poland
There is a simple Ale in my fermenter, which I had previously brewed with Danstar Notthingam yeast and it was very tasty.
This time I use yeast recovered from a commercial bottle of Cooper's Australian Sparkling Ale. It was not easy to get it in Poland as we do not have any importer of Cooper's beer here, although brewkits are readily available.
So I bought a beer in one of the German online stores with a shipment to my cousin who resides in Germany, who brought it to Poland and sent me by mail.
I recovered the yeast, multiplied it and put some of it into the fridge, preserving it in physiological fluid. After 7 months of storage, they took off like a rocket.
The starter tasted very fruity and lovely, so I hope the beer with this yeast will be exceptionally delicious.
5,0 kg - Pale Ale Malteurop
0.5 kg - Munich 16-24 EBC vikingmalt
0.3 kg - Buiscit Castelmalting

0.4 kg - Roasted oatmeal - 10 min at 200 degrees
 

Mashing:
68°C - 60 min
76°C - 10 min
79°C - 10 min mashout

Boiling 60 minutes
30g Marynka Hops 7.4% - 60 minutes
20g East Kent Golding 4.7% - 10 minutes

29 liters of wort cooled to 17 degrees

Fermentation start in 16 degrees of environment for 4 days
18°C - 2 days
20°C - 3 days
22°C - until fermentation is complete


Planned bottling after 3-4 weeks

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50 minutes ago, Mirek Kania said:

Greetings from Poland

Wow Mirek - welcome aboard - and what a profound effort to get some Cooper Commercial Ale Yeast and culture - love your work - well done and great stuff!!!

Quick Question - why are you leaving in your fermenter 3 weeks before bottling?

Myself - I would get it into kegs or bottles earlier than that...

But you may have other ideas and experience..... love to hear of your plans - and great to be reading your post!

And PS = when it comes to Australia - as I got to you first - you are now an official Queensland Maroons Supporter - do not support the NSW Blues in any State of Origin Rugby League Match please from now on 😝

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/state-of-origin/state-of-origin-2020-game-1-nsw-v-qld-live-stream-live-blog-highlights-team-lists-late-mail-adelaide-oval/news-story/1b02458feed4645f5019f9e3717648e8

 

 

Edited by Bearded Burbler
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