What's in Your Fermenter? 2021

[Aussiekraut]

I did a dirty batch of Mötley Brëw on a previous US-05 yeast cake and it took off like a rat down a drain pipe. It’ll probably be finished way ahead of schedule. The other is a single hop pale ale with HBC 630 hops using Verdant. This one is also VERY active. They will both finish ahead of schedule but unless I take a day off early next week, I still won’t be able to brew until Sunday week. I kinda see a sickie coming on

[Frosty Chop]

I bottled my Coopers APA and 1kg LDM today so now have two batches bottle conditioning while I try desperately to build a stockpile since getting back into brewing.

So now I have one FWK going in the brew fridge and a spare FV that's bothering me. The weather looks like it's going to be cool for the next few days so I'm going to throw my two year out of date $5.35 Woolies clearance sale Coopers dark ale kit into the spare FV tomorrow with a kilo of (sealed in bag) old LDM that I've hammered into some smaller lumps and throw a fresh Coopers yeast from the APA kit into it tomorrow and set it in the cool bathroom.

It's not costing me anything much to do and hopefully it'll turn into something drinkable.

[iBooz2]

Pitched the CIPA - Collaboration IPA batch today with my stash of CCA yeast and aerated it with the O2 wand.  Going to ferment this one at 17 C then 18 C then 19 C until I get to 22 C.  It will be dry hopped with 20 g Eclipse and 20 g Vic Secret on or about BD + 3.

Edited December 10, 2021 by iBooz2

[Shamus O'Sean]

Pitched a VB clone from Aussie Brewmakers for my brother today.  Fell pretty short of my target OG.  Got 1.038 (Well, I actually got 1.040, but that was in 30 L.  If I diluted to 32 L it would have been 1.038).  So I added in the 600 g of LDM mixed into 2 L of water.  This alteration got me to the target OG 1.045 and 32 L.  You can see if my efficiency was as expected the OG should have been 1.050

Now safely in my Fermenter King Juniors.  Just set at 5psi to stop air going back into the FKJ's.

 

[iBooz2]

The CIPA - Collaboration IPA Batch BD + 2 @ 18 C, using CCA yeast from my stash pitched @ 17 C and I am stepping this one up 1 C per day until 22 C.  Will dry hop about BD + 4.

 

[iBooz2]

5 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Pitched a VB clone from Aussie Brewmakers for my brother today.  

@Shamus O'Sean , in my opinion Shamus after brewing a dozen or so of these VB clones and in order to get that pub beer flavour and aroma that everyone knows (and seems to compare other peoples beers to) you have to first bitter it with the high alpha hop @ 60 " first up then hit it with the PoR late say @ 10 " not the other way around.  I used to bang in the PoR first and then hit it again maybe later with more PoR but too much PoR with two hits took it too far away from where it needed to be.

So my suggestion for your next VB, is to bitter with whatever high alpha hop you want to get the main IBU's then aroma it up and "polish it off" with the last little required IBU's using PoR.  You will notice a big difference and you be glad you did.

Edited December 12, 2021 by iBooz2

[Shamus O'Sean]

52 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

The CIPA - Collaboration IPA Batch BD + 2 @ 18 C, using CCA yeast from my stash pitched @ 17 C and I am stepping this one up 1 C per day until 22 C.  Will dry hop about BD + 4.

 

I noticed the fail-safe device on your tap.  Good work.  I do that with one of my taps where the lug does not properly 'click' in place.  Better to be safe than sticky.

I think you could be onto something RE: the VB clones.  My first Mitch's Aussie Lager was a cracker.  It had a pinch of PoR at 60, then some PoR and EKG at 30, then some more PoR at 10.  The next one was similar but had EKG at 10 instead.  The first one was better.

[Tricky Micky]

11 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

@Shamus O'Sean , in my opinion Shamus after brewing a dozen or so of these VB clones and in order to get that pub beer flavour and aroma that everyone knows (and seems to compare other peoples beers to) you have to first bitter it with the high alpha hop @ 60 " first up then hit it with the PoR late say @ 10 " not the other way around.  I used to bang in the PoR first and then hit it again maybe later with more PoR but too much PoR with two hits took it too far away from where it needed to be.

So my suggestion for your next VB, is to bitter with whatever high alpha hop you want to get the main IBU's then aroma it up and "polish it off" with the last little required IBU's using PoR.  You will notice a big difference and you be glad you did.

Boozer, from memory there was even an Extract recipe as well for a VB clone floating about on one of the threads here. POR boil at about 60 or so and another hit late......about 2kg of Light Dry Malt extract added..I did this ages ago and it went okay...

[DavidM]

Bottle, Wash and Brew

Bottled the Bootmaker Pale today, looking forward to trying this one.

Cleaned up and put a Coopers Pale in, forgot the hops.

Will dry hop on day 4.

Keep it Simple!

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, DavidM said:

Bottle, Wash and Brew

Bottled the Bootmaker Pale today, looking forward to trying this one.

Cleaned up and put a Coopers Pale in, forgot the hops.

Will dry hop on day 4.

Keep it Simple!

I can guarantee it's good I am just opening the first of mine & so far really enjoying it. Cheers.

[iBooz2]

On 12/13/2021 at 8:33 AM, Mickep said:

Boozer, from memory there was even an Extract recipe as well for a VB clone floating about on one of the threads here. POR boil at about 60 or so and another hit late......about 2kg of Light Dry Malt extract added..I did this ages ago and it went okay...

@Mickep, Don't know about a 60" boil with an extract as you would not want to boil the kit tin contents at all.  And just boiling the malts alone for too long either as it would make it far too dark EBC.

If you are talking about a partial mash then you would need a lot of liquid at start of boil for a 60" addition otherwise not enough left at the end of the boil, am picturing / thinking 3 or 4 or 5 litres to start with here with a normal partial mash or grain steep would not leave much.

Plus there is no need to bitter the tin contents as its already been done with PoR anyway.  You just need to do the late addition of PoR @ 10" -20" to get the pub beer aroma and this would be perfect for a kit tin plus partial mash of 3 - 5 L -ish.  Have a look at my pub lager recipe here to see what I mean.

Edited December 19, 2021 by iBooz2

[Frosty Chop]

I bottled my first FWK yesterday it was a Grain and Grape Fresh Ale brewed with US-05 at 18.5C for 15 days, I slowly brought the temp up by 2 degrees for the last few days.
I decided to put another of the same kit on but this time with Nottingham yeast and temp set at 18C just for a comparison.

Tonight the Nottingham seems to be really getting on with the job compared to the 05 and I'm really looking forward to trying both these brews

[Tricky Micky]

11 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

Don't know about a 60" boil with an extract as you would not want to boil the kit tin contents at all.  And just boiling the malts alone for too long either as it would make it far too dark EBC.

Nah it was from scratch no kit involved. No Kit involved just light dry malt extract, sugar and POR. Might have been 30 minute boil - forget. 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Mickep

[Tricky Micky]

Boozer I've done the recipe and it wasn't bad....if you like the aussie pub lager styles. I forget who posted the recipe but it was a "Mitch" Just Light dry malt, white sugar and POR added at various stages. Tasted like a pub tap beer to me.

[Aussiekraut]

I dropped a batch onto a Verdant yeast cake and it is taking off. After 12 hours, the krausen is desperate to escape the FV. What a beast this yeast is.

[jamiek86]

@Aussiekraut do you find that the krausen hangs around like US-05? I've only used it once and remember it was big and fluffy but think that it did go down at end of FG I cant remember. I have another packet to try in between all my other brews I have planned.  Good yeast for XPA type beers assuming going by name.

[Aussiekraut]

43 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

@Aussiekraut do you find that the krausen hangs around like US-05? I've only used it once and remember it was big and fluffy but think that it did go down at end of FG I cant remember. I have another packet to try in between all my other brews I have planned.  Good yeast for XPA type beers assuming going by name.

This is only the 3rd batch I made with it but yes, the krausen seems to drop faster than US-05 from what I can tell. It doesn't flocculate well, so it is best for beers where clarity doesn't matter.

[jamiek86]

21 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

This is only the 3rd batch I made with it but yes, the krausen seems to drop faster than US-05 from what I can tell. It doesn't flocculate well, so it is best for beers where clarity doesn't matter.

Yes now you mention it the Hazy IPA recipe calls for it I think.

[DavidM]

Bottled the Stout yesterday and put another Draught in (after a wash).

Used ginger beer bottles for the stout, a bit of extra work but easy enough.

My storage cupboard is looking good, almost full.

[jamiek86]

@DavidM yes stubbies are hard work but handy if only want one more and don't need to leave half.

[Aussiekraut]

Ok, it’s escaped…

 

note to self, if you do something like this, make sure it is in the Coopers FV and use the krausen collar.

[Pickles Jones]

7 hours ago, DavidM said:

Used ginger beer bottles for the stout, a bit of extra work but easy enough.

After filling hundreds of Grolsch swing tops over the years I finally removed the "valve" off the bottom of the Coopers bottling wand and used the tap to fill and stop.

I wish I had done it years ago cuts the filling time by about half if not more.

The extra waste is minimal.

[Pints]

3 hours ago, Pickles Jones said:

After filling hundreds of Grolsch swing tops over the years I finally removed the "valve" off the bottom of the Coopers bottling wand and used the tap to fill and stop.

I wish I had done it years ago cuts the filling time by about half if not more.

The extra waste is minimal.

Isn't the valve meant to keep extra oxygen from getting into the beer or something 

[DavidM]

10 hours ago, Pickles Jones said:

After filling hundreds of Grolsch swing tops over the years I finally removed the "valve" off the bottom of the Coopers bottling wand and used the tap to fill and stop.

I wish I had done it years ago cuts the filling time by about half if not more.

The extra waste is minimal.

I started doing one batch without the wand.

Stopped and went back to the wand, it's a bit slower but much easier one the hands.

We are all different and I've got a bit of Arthritis in the thumbs. 

the Morgans FV I use mostly, the tap is hard to turn.

[Pickles Jones]

13 hours ago, PintsAtMeLocal said:

Isn't the valve meant to keep extra oxygen from getting into the beer or something 

The valve stops the free flow of beer when the wand is withdrawn from the bottle.

I don't know if the valve also stops extra oxygen getting into the beer. If it did I would suggest would be minimal.