BREW DAY!! WATCHA’ GOT, EH? 2021

[Classic Brewing Co]

23 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

MR BEER NORTHWEST PALE ALE

1.3kg Can Extract

500gm BE2

Suppled Yeast

25gm Centennial Infusion

SG 1.060 

9 litres

I thought a tad high but see what happens in a week or so.

 

Another Brew working, this is one of the new FV's I was given, I haven't used one of these Pail type since the old days, once upon a time they were nearly all like that, I must say very easy to clean.

This is a Morgan's Wheat Beer " Golden Sheaf "  

Happy Sunday, Cheers.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Busy Brew Day, or should I say Busy Beer Day (this was actually Saturday just gone)

Brew Day was a Corona clone from Aussie Brewmakers for my brother.

 

Kegging Day was my Oktoberfest

 

Fermenting Day was my Hoegaarden clone that I brewed and cubed last week

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Busy Brew Day, or should I say Busy Beer Day (this was actually Saturday just gone)

Brew Day was a Corona clone from Aussie Brewmakers for my brother.

Sounds good @Shamus O'Sean precise as always, I am keen to try a Hoegaarden as well shortly, I am developing a taste foe Wheat Beer rapidly.

[MitchBastard]

Nice easy brew day today. Dug Up my red ipa recipe and had a bit of a shuffle around if a few things….most notably the yeast. This thing is taking a Belgian turn…. American Red IPA with an abbey ale yeast. The pine/resin from the chinook/Columbus and cascade should hopefully marry in with the heavy pear and plum esters from the big boy yeast. Planing on Kegging half and bottling half with a high priming rate.   
 

[stquinto]

First BIAB effort yesterday. An Old Peculier clone. From Brewfather (which is the same as CAMRA Brew Your Own Real Ale book by Graham Wheeler,  but out of print at the moment).

For 19 litres:

4510g Marris Otter
240g Crystal
180g Chocolate

I think I might have milled a bit fine: I did the credit card trick but it still ended up a bit floury.
I could get 22 litres in my boil kettle. Strike at 71°, and mashed for 90 minutes at around 68° (can't tell exactly, as it only has a dial and is not digital). Found a use for an old ski jacket
At the end of the mash the gravity was 1.050 but at 60° so dunno what it would be at 20°. Couldn't find accurate information on the web to cacluate with different temperatures.
Down to 19l so sparged 2l at 70°.
90 minute boil, starting with 20.5l:
34g Challenger (24g in the recipe but I couldn't be bothered to put the 12g left back in the freezer), and 12g Fuggles.
10 minutes: 17g EKG (12g in the recipe, but finished off the packet)
1/2 table Whirlfloc for the last 5 minutes.
I only ended up with 14 litres after the boil (19.5 l at 30 minutes, 18 l at 60 minutes), but I got a decent rolling boil.
The gravity was 1.076 so I topped it up to 22l to make the OG 1.053.
I used one pack of S-04.
It's fermenting at 17.5°. At the moment I have a choice of three temperatures: 17.5°, 16° or 22.5°

Fingers crossed 

The only thing I have to work on is the fact that I started at 2PM and pitched at midnight... Probably not the best day to cook a full dinner on brew day 

Edited November 8, 2021 by stquinto
typo

[Tone boy]

36 minutes ago, stquinto said:

First BIAB effort yesterday. An Old Peculier clone. From Brewfather (which is the same as CAMRA Brew Your Own Real Ale book by Graham Wheeler,  but out of print at the moment).

For 19 litres:

4510g Marris Otter
240g Crystal
180g Chocolate

I think I might have milled a bit fine: I did the credit card trick but it still ended up a bit floury.
I could get 22 litres in my boil kettle. Strike at 71°, and mashed for 90 minutes at around 68° (can't tell exactly, as it only has a dial and is not digital). Found a use for an old ski jacket
At the end of the mash the gravity was 1.050 but at 60° so dunno what it would be at 20°. Couldn't find accurate information on the web to cacluate with different temperatures.
Down to 19l so sparged 2l at 70°.
90 minute boil, starting with 20.5l:
34g Challenger (24g in the recipe but I couldn't be bothered to put the 12g left back in the freezer), and 12g Fuggles.
10 minutes: 17g EKG (12g in the recipe, but finished off the packet)
1/2 table Whirlfloc for the last 5 minutes.
I only ended up with 14 litres after the boil (19.5 l at 30 minutes, 18 l at 60 minutes), but I got a decent rolling boil.
The gravity was 1.076 so I topped it up to 22l to make the OG 1.053.
I used one pack of S-04.
It's fermenting at 17.5°. At the moment I have a choice of three temperatures: 17.5°, 16° or 22.5°

Fingers crossed 

The only thing I have to work on is the fact that I started at 2PM and pitched at midnight... Probably not the best day to cook a full dinner on brew day 

Great stuff Sainter. That’s gonna be tasty. Looking forward to the review already

[ozdevil]

7 hours ago, stquinto said:

First BIAB effort yesterday. An Old Peculier clone. From Brewfather (which is the same as CAMRA Brew Your Own Real Ale book by Graham Wheeler,  but out of print at the moment).

For 19 litres:

4510g Marris Otter
240g Crystal
180g Chocolate

I think I might have milled a bit fine: I did the credit card trick but it still ended up a bit floury.
I could get 22 litres in my boil kettle. Strike at 71°, and mashed for 90 minutes at around 68° (can't tell exactly, as it only has a dial and is not digital). Found a use for an old ski jacket
At the end of the mash the gravity was 1.050 but at 60° so dunno what it would be at 20°. Couldn't find accurate information on the web to cacluate with different temperatures.
Down to 19l so sparged 2l at 70°.
90 minute boil, starting with 20.5l:
34g Challenger (24g in the recipe but I couldn't be bothered to put the 12g left back in the freezer), and 12g Fuggles.
10 minutes: 17g EKG (12g in the recipe, but finished off the packet)
1/2 table Whirlfloc for the last 5 minutes.
I only ended up with 14 litres after the boil (19.5 l at 30 minutes, 18 l at 60 minutes), but I got a decent rolling boil.
The gravity was 1.076 so I topped it up to 22l to make the OG 1.053.
I used one pack of S-04.
It's fermenting at 17.5°. At the moment I have a choice of three temperatures: 17.5°, 16° or 22.5°

Fingers crossed 

The only thing I have to work on is the fact that I started at 2PM and pitched at midnight... Probably not the best day to cook a full dinner on brew day 

with BIAB  you can have the grain cracked fine  more so then all in one vessels or 3 vessel system

looks like you will have a nice beer and very well looking forward to seeing the end result and your tasting notes

[Classic Brewing Co]

8 hours ago, stquinto said:

First BIAB effort yesterday. An Old Peculier clone. From Brewfather (which is the same as CAMRA Brew Your Own Real Ale book by Graham Wheeler,  but out of print at the moment).

Great stuff @stquinto  Looks like you have made an effort to go all out, very impressive. It is certainly a lot more work but if the rewards are there, that's all that matters. I want to sneak up on it slowly so I just have to make the right decisions on what gear to buy.

[Aussiekraut]

9 hours ago, stquinto said:

First BIAB effort yesterday. An Old Peculier clone. From Brewfather (which is the same as CAMRA Brew Your Own Real Ale book by Graham Wheeler,  but out of print at the moment).

For 19 litres:

4510g Marris Otter
240g Crystal
180g Chocolate

I think I might have milled a bit fine: I did the credit card trick but it still ended up a bit floury.
I could get 22 litres in my boil kettle. Strike at 71°, and mashed for 90 minutes at around 68° (can't tell exactly, as it only has a dial and is not digital). Found a use for an old ski jacket
At the end of the mash the gravity was 1.050 but at 60° so dunno what it would be at 20°. Couldn't find accurate information on the web to cacluate with different temperatures.
Down to 19l so sparged 2l at 70°.
90 minute boil, starting with 20.5l:
34g Challenger (24g in the recipe but I couldn't be bothered to put the 12g left back in the freezer), and 12g Fuggles.
10 minutes: 17g EKG (12g in the recipe, but finished off the packet)
1/2 table Whirlfloc for the last 5 minutes.
I only ended up with 14 litres after the boil (19.5 l at 30 minutes, 18 l at 60 minutes), but I got a decent rolling boil.
The gravity was 1.076 so I topped it up to 22l to make the OG 1.053.
I used one pack of S-04.
It's fermenting at 17.5°. At the moment I have a choice of three temperatures: 17.5°, 16° or 22.5°

Fingers crossed 

The only thing I have to work on is the fact that I started at 2PM and pitched at midnight... Probably not the best day to cook a full dinner on brew day 

Looking good. You will work out your volumes over time. It took me a few brews until I had figured out grain absorption, boil off rates, etc. It's all a bit of a learning curve.

For BIAB, a finer mill is ok, so don't worry about it. 

What you need to work on is the length of your brew day. 10hrs is a long time and I usually brew 2 batches in the same time. Some beers take a little longer, it all depends on the mash time, boil time, whether there is a hop stand in the mix etc. but generally, 5 hours is a good number, including chilling and cleanup. 

See how it goes and what the final product is like.

[stquinto]

Cheers for all of your encouragement fellas

The brew is bubbling away nicely and giving the man cave a nice malty smell to it

I mentioned having a choice of three different temperatures : 17.5° (man cave, where it is), 16° (garage with window open) or 22.5° (boiler room). I can't remember if you tend to up the fermenting temperature for the last two or three days or not (before cold crashing, which I probably won't do as I don't have enough fridge space). Anyone have a suggestion ?

Next round will be a smaller batch Duvel. I just got delivered a Keg King Junior, so will ferment in that then transfer it to a 10l keg to keep at fridge temeperature for about 2 - 3 weeks. The 10l kegs are quite good as the diameter is quite small so it doesn't take up too much space. 

As for the brew day, it took me 10 hours because I didn't organise all my other household stuff beforehand so got sidetracked. The actual time "working" isn't much, the only time really you can't leave the kettle to its own devices is if you think it might boil over, otherwise you can carry on with other stuff.  No fancy dinners on Brew Day though, deffo takeout day ...

Edited November 9, 2021 by stquinto
typo

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 hour ago, stquinto said:

I mentioned having a choice of three different temperatures : 17.5° (man cave, where it is), 16° (garage with window open) or 22.5° (boiler room). I can't remember if you tend to up the fermenting temperature for the last two or three days or not (before cold crashing, which I probably won't do as I don't have enough fridge space). Anyone have a suggestion ?

Hi Sainter, It sounds like brew day was a good experience.  Cannot wait to read your tasting notes and see a picture.

Regarding temperatures, I worry about S-04 stalling.  Therefore, given the three choices, I would go with 22.5°C. 

I hope you like the Keg King Junior.  I have two.  They both fit in my small fermenting freezer.  I do a slightly concentrated batch in my Grainfather.  Then I split it into the two FKJ's and top them up with a couple of litres of water to my desired OG.  My last batch gave me two kegs with 16 litres in each keg.  Not too heavy to lift.  I like the easy of transferring to a keg.  Bottling might be a bit more tricky.

I like mine, but I have some issues with the FKJ's:

• They are awkward to clean.  A 3 year old might fit their hand in the opening.  With the Krausen line around the 16 litre mark, I fill the FKJ's with 5-6 litres of Oxy-Clean treated water.  Warm, not hot.  Heat is the mortal enemy of your PET fermenters.  Then I seal them back up and invert them on a towel.  As long as the Oxy-Clean is at the right concentration, they come out sparkling.  I still give them a clean and rinse session on my Kegland Bucket Blaster.
• Getting an OG sample can be difficult.  A wine thief or something similar would be handy.  Maybe I should take a reading before I put the wort in the FKJ.  I use a beer line with a beer disconnect and a picnic tap to get an SG sample mid-ferment time.
• Getting my iSpindel out of the FKJ is tricky too.  I 1/3rd fill the FKJ, then lay it flat.  I use a straightened coat hanger to manoeuvre the iSpindel near the opening, then use tongs to pull it out.  

[stquinto]

10 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Regarding temperatures, I worry about S-04 stalling.  Therefore, given the three choices, I would go with 22.5°C

Cheers Shamus mate, I moved it. I also did two 9 litre kits of a Belgian Dubbel and put them in so it wouldn’t get lonely. I’ll post my tweaks to them for what they’re worth tomorrow. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

18 minutes ago, stquinto said:

Cheers Shamus mate, I moved it. I also did two 9 litre kits of a Belgian Dubbel and put them in so it wouldn’t get lonely. I’ll post my tweaks to them for what they’re worth tomorrow. 

 

@stquintoGood to see you have things under control, I assume that is the boiler room where the brews are fermenting at ambient although one gauge says 22.5 & the other 19.

I scored one of those Pail type FV's & on Sunday I did a Wheat Beer & the Airlock is still bubbling away, they are also very easy to clean.

[stquinto]

32 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Good to see you have things under control, I assume that is the boiler room where the brews are fermenting at ambient although one gauge says 22.5 & the other 19.

Eagle eyes Phil! Normally it’s Muzzy that notices Ibiza t-shirts in the background at the October fest, not to mention “extra” golf clubs 

The 19 degree thermometer was from the room I just moved it from - it hadn’t warmed up enough. Well spotted

Hope your brews turn out well mate, and I’ll let you know how my kit goes so if you do give BIAB a go it might give you a couple of pointers

Edited November 9, 2021 by stquinto

[Classic Brewing Co]

9 minutes ago, stquinto said:

Eagle eyes Phil! Normally it’s Muzzy that notices Ibiza t-shirts in the background at the October fest, not to mention “extra” golf clubs 

The 19 degree thermometer was from the room I just moved it from - it hadn’t warmed up enough. Well spotted

Hope your brews turn out well mate, and I’ll let you know how my kit goes so if you do give BIAB a go it might give you a couple of pointers

It pays to notice everything  but sometimes you see things you don't want to !!    Very happy with my brews ATM however between now & summer I will be doing more with added grain. BIAB is something I could do but I need more equipment. Cheers.

[Classic Brewing Co]

FERMENTERS ALL WORKING

Well after today's brew - Coopers Real Ale, I have 5 x Fermenters out of 6 working ( Craft Kit not shown with Mr Beer N/W Ale Ale )

I am stocking up for Xmas/New Year - if they last that long !! I would like to think so but I have a few others planned in 1-2 weeks after this lot is bottled. The average ambient temperature is around 20c in this brew room.

Cheers

Phil

[DavidM]

Hey @Classic Brewing Co what did you put in the "Boot Maker"?

I just picked up a can.

[Classic Brewing Co]

7 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Hey @Classic Brewing Co what did you put in the "Boot Maker"?

I just picked up a can.

There you go, it is actually going on nicely, active krausen, hoping for a nice brew, Cheers.

[DavidM]

Thanks, helps me out with things i'm still getting used to

[Classic Brewing Co]

Just now, DavidM said:

Thanks, helps me out with things i'm still getting used to

The only thing is with 1.5kg fermentables ( LDME ) it would normally call for more yeast, however this range of Thomas Cooper Cans supply a better one albeit 7gms, 11.5gms US-05 would probably been the go but it's working out fine.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Asian lager put down today. Simple recipe. 3kg pilsener, 1kg woolies white rice. Started with rice in 15L with 100gm of pilsener at 70c. Held for 20 mins then rise to 98c to cook through. Water added to 25L and temp back to 64c. Added the 2.9kg pilsener and mashed for 60 mins. 10gm magnum and a 20gm centennial addition at whirlpool for 10 mins. Unfortunately no starter so cheated and decanted off 2.5L and cooled and added a half pack or M84 bohemian to the starter. Will pitch in the morning with the other half of the pack. Wort was super clear which is nice 

[stquinto]

14 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

FERMENTERS ALL WORKING

Well after today's brew - Coopers Real Ale, I have 5 x Fermenters out of 6 working ( Craft Kit not shown with Mr Beer N/W Ale Ale )

I am stocking up for Xmas/New Year - if they last that long !! I would like to think so but I have a few others planned in 1-2 weeks after this lot is bottled. The average ambient temperature is around 20c in this brew room.

Cheers

Phil

Amazing stuff there Phil

Good idea to get it all ready for Christmas. I’ll have two kegs’ worth, a full load of Vintage 21 and hopefully my first BIAB of Old Perc. The Belgian Dubbels will need a few months to age. 

[stquinto]

6 hours ago, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

Asian lager put down today. Simple recipe. 3kg pilsener, 1kg woolies white rice. Started with rice in 15L with 100gm of pilsener at 70c. Held for 20 mins then rise to 98c to cook through. Water added to 25L and temp back to 64c. Added the 2.9kg pilsener and mashed for 60 mins. 10gm magnum and a 20gm centennial addition at whirlpool for 10 mins. Unfortunately no starter so cheated and decanted off 2.5L and cooled and added a half pack or M84 bohemian to the starter. Will pitch in the morning with the other half of the pack. Wort was super clear which is nice 

Looks like a nice brew there

As you say, already clear…

[evo_wm]

Put down the Shark Attack XPA from coopers website today, slight change was removal of the 500G Light DME & doing a stove top mash of 1Kg Crystal in 3Ltrs of water with the hop additions done in the boil.

Gravity was initially around 1042 but i have added a little more water to bring it down to 1038 as I want an easy drinker over Christmas.

Initial impressions encouraging, fingers crossed

Didn't take too many pictures, thought id throw up one of the brewery

Edit - also tonight i discovered my stick on thermometer isn't worth the plastic its printed on, guess that's going

 

Edited November 13, 2021 by evo_wm

[Red devil 44]

Yesterday’s picks from an AG brew day.

‘Ella/Munich Smash 

Now transferring from cube to fermenter.