BREW DAY!! WATCHA’ GOT, EH? 2022

[RDT2]

3 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

Rice lager boiling away happily but I am not convinced it is going to be good. Suffered a stuck sparge and by the look of it, the mash didn’t go to plan either. It initially cleared up well but after mashout, it was very starchy looking and the pre-boil sample was in the 1.050s, rather than the estimated 1.036. I often overshoot the pre-boil SG but not by 15+ points. Let’s see what happens.

 

Sure it will be fine mate

[Aussiekraut]

13 minutes ago, RDT2 said:

Sure it will be fine mate

I hope so.

I had taken a 2nd, larger sample so I can take a hydrometer reading and it looks a lot more promising at 1.044. Still a tad high but getting there. I didn't tip out the first sample and draw a new one when I did the initial reading and we all know the first sample always lies. 

 

[Aussiekraut]

2 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

I hope so.

I had taken a 2nd, larger sample so I can take a hydrometer reading and it looks a lot more promising at 1.044. Still a tad high but getting there. I didn't tip out the first sample and draw a new one when I did the initial reading and we all know the first sample always lies. 

 

It's in the FV and in the fridge now cooling to pitching temp. OG is 1.051 according to both, the refractometer and the hydrometer. I'll take another sample when it hit pitching temp when most of the solids still floating around have settled a little. That'd make it 7 points above estimate, which tells me something isn't quite right. I cannot imagine overshooting the OG by 7 points. 

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

3 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

Rice lager boiling away happily but I am not convinced it is going to be good. Suffered a stuck sparge and by the look of it, the mash didn’t go to plan either. It initially cleared up well but after mashout, it was very starchy looking and the pre-boil sample was in the 1.050s, rather than the estimated 1.036. I often overshoot the pre-boil SG but not by 15+ points. Let’s see what happens.

Fingers crossed emoji that it turns out okay.  Your update posts seem to suggest it will be.  What would you differently, if doing this brew again?  You may not be able to answer that until you get to try the finished beer.  It might be perfect!

[Aussiekraut]

2 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Fingers crossed emoji that it turns out okay.  Your update posts seem to suggest it will be.  What would you differently, if doing this brew again?  You may not be able to answer that until you get to try the finished beer.  It might be perfect!

Depending on how it goes, I'd probably go for more rice hulls, do a 90 minute mash and potentially mill the flaked rice. 

 

[Dustin Frothman]

Today is the first brew where I’ve used the neoprene jacket on the Braumeister and wow has the boil been angry! I’ve had to remove the hood a few times to stop a boil over. Usually brewers will criticise the Braumeister for having a gentle boil compared to other electric kettles.

It’s 29 degrees here in Radelaide today. I don’t think I’ll use the jacket again until mid winter as I just don’t think it’s necessary yet.

[Shamus O'Sean]

59 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

Depending on how it goes, I'd probably go for more rice hulls, do a 90 minute mash and potentially mill the flaked rice. 

 

Sounds like a plan.  I often extend my mash if the brew does not look to be clearing up.  For my last 6-7 brews I have also stirred the mash every 15 minutes (say 3 times during a 60 minute mash).  I am not sure it makes a difference, but I figure it cannot hurt.  Each stir takes 3-4 minutes, during which I pause the timer, so I am already adding 9-12 minutes to my 60 minute mashes.  The recirc pump is not running during the stir, but conversion would still be happening much like a BIAB system.

[Aussiekraut]

18 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Sounds like a plan.  I often extend my mash if the brew does not look to be clearing up.  For my last 6-7 brews I have also stirred the mash every 15 minutes (say 3 times during a 60 minute mash).  I am not sure it makes a difference, but I figure it cannot hurt.  Each stir takes 3-4 minutes, during which I pause the timer, so I am already adding 9-12 minutes to my 60 minute mashes.  The recirc pump is not running during the stir, but conversion would still be happening much like a BIAB system.

To be honest, I don't know if I can pause a step on my system. I never even though of it  If my readings are correct and it isn't starch that's messing with the readings but all sugar, I might have achieved an efficiency I'd never though possible. Maybe it is Beersmith getting things wrong. Apparently it is not uncommon for rice beers to overshoot efficiency estimates by a country mile. I watched a video of a fella whose normal efficiency is around 77% for <6kg grain bills and he achieved a 90% efficiency using 25% boiled rice.

The last sample I took just as I pitched read 1.051 as it did earlier. And the wort was no longer murky but crystal clear. Let's see.

[Marty_G]

@Aussiekraut the only thing I can add is: are you sure of the volumes you used?  The few times I overshot I found the settings in my software had changed. It was a pain as I was overshooting and coming up short on the final volume. Was an easy fix once I found the glitch in the matrix. 

I have had discussions with brewers who get crazy efficiency from their systems.  One guy gets around 90% constantly. He has an "All in one " like yourself.  He reports crazy figures. Sometimes I think he must be pulling my leg but he is adamant that he can get around 90% regularly.  Where I am pretty solid at ~75%. 

[Popo the Reprobate]

American-ish Brown done and cubed. Last time I made it, I was using up bits and pieces. It turned out well enough, I thought I'd make it again - and I've still got the same bits and pieces lying around.

I upped the hop steep to 40g to use up the last of that packet. Will dry hop with more Chinook and Cascade.

[Aussiekraut]

6 hours ago, Marty_G said:

@Aussiekraut the only thing I can add is: are you sure of the volumes you used?  The few times I overshot I found the settings in my software had changed. It was a pain as I was overshooting and coming up short on the final volume. Was an easy fix once I found the glitch in the matrix. 

I have had discussions with brewers who get crazy efficiency from their systems.  One guy gets around 90% constantly. He has an "All in one " like yourself.  He reports crazy figures. Sometimes I think he must be pulling my leg but he is adamant that he can get around 90% regularly.  Where I am pretty solid at ~75%. 

Nah, all bog standard volumes I always use. 25l mash, 8l sparge for a 30l pre-boil volume and 26l after flame out. Gives me 21-22l in the FV. The numbers all add up. I actually ended up with 25l because I took a few largeish samples and tipped them out because they were full of break. 

[ben 10]

On 4/10/2022 at 9:07 AM, RDT2 said:

I would of thought it to be a harsh bitterness at a higher ibu just my thoughts no science or experience to back it up hence the reason I ask.

The only harsh bittering hop I have encountered is Galaxy due to the high cohumolene (sp?) content

[RDT2]

2 hours ago, interceptor said:

The only harsh bittering hop I have encountered is Galaxy due to the high cohumolene (sp?) content

Me too unfortunately I drank about 3/4 of the batch and tipped the rest. I learnt my lesson that day to follow the recipe. The first hop addition didn’t seem like much so I thought I will add some more bad idea I now. I now err on the side of caution hence the reason I was asking about Super Pride. I was surprised Emu Export was only 18ibu’s I always thought it would of been more. 

[Popo the Reprobate]

Yesterday's effort. Ferment with either Verdant or East Coast Ale.



[Popo the Reprobate]

SNPA-ish.  I'll have to call this a tribute as it's not really a clone. Was shorter than I thought on ingredients and being a fair distance from a lhbs had to cobble it together.

 

[kmar92]

Short of beer and a bit short of time. So I liked the look of the ROTM Coopers Regency Park Red Ale so today I threw a batch of it together today. I pimped up the grain bill of the ROTM by adding 300g of Melanoiden, that I had on hand, and did a proper mash of the Carared and Melanoiden. 21.5l of a nice coloured brew in the S/S pressure fermenter, the colour looked great, rich red, copper colour.

[Pale Man]

Not much going on here. Mosiac Pale Ale.

Weyerman Pale Malt 4 kilo . Super Pride for bittering, then a Mosaic schedule. Lallemand East Coast Ale Yeast. Should end up around 4.7%

I did something different here. Boiled rainwater the night before brew day, instead of using my local tap water which is full of chemicals. See how it goes.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Pale Man

[Pale Man]

5 hours ago, Popo said:

SNPA-ish.  I'll have to call this a tribute as it's not really a clone. Was shorter than I thought on ingredients and being a fair distance from a lhbs had to cobble it together.

 

Looks good my man.

[Popo the Reprobate]

12 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Looks good my man.

Cheers mate. I'm looking forward to it. It might jump the cube queue.

 

Good luck with the rainwater. All of mine are from the tank. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by Popo

[Dustin Frothman]

Late start for me today as was our working this morning. Hopefully I won’t regret getting into it so late.

David Heath’s Verdant IPA on the go.

[Tone boy]

Pub lager partial mash 

Coopers liquid malt extract 1.5kg

BE3

800g Pilsner malt

250g carapils 

200g sucrose 

15g Super Pride @ 30 mins

15g PoR @ 10 mins

Repitched lager yeast slurry from previous brew at 13 degrees C 

21 IBU OG 1.049 23 litres

Brew dog supervising 

[Dustin Frothman]

The boil with the jacket on is just too good to pass up, so I’ll just stand here with a my Coopers XPA and watch it whilst listening to the footy.

Happy Easter All. 

[Pale Man]

No pics but brewed this today. Bit of a hazy pale ale. Hop schedule will be interesting.

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

3 hours ago, Pale Man said:

No pics but brewed this today. Bit of a hazy pale ale. Hop schedule will be interesting.

Definitely interested to hear how it turns out.  I have about 90g of Cashmere in the freezer.  Just not sure what to do with it.  I used some in a sour and as a result I cannot really tell what I get from it.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Today I did a slightly different version of the Modus Operandi Former Tenant Red IPA.  Dropped the Brewhouse Efficiency and used a bit more grain.  Also topped up with a few hundred grams of Light Dry Malt at Flameout.  Only boiled for 30 minutes, instead of an hour (when the first hop addition is at 10 minutes, a longer boil seemed a waste).  I also left the 10 and 5 minute hop additions in the wort for the "cool to Hopstand temperature" phase and for the whole 77°C 20 minute Hopstand.  Last time I pulled them before the hopstand and I thought the bitterness was a bit lacking.  My taste-test of the sample tube suggested I got a bit more bitterness this time.

OG one point up (1.077), yay!  Volume 0.5 litres up (23.5) , yay!

• 6.1kg Maris Otter
• 610g Wheat Malt
• 510g Munich Malt
• 300g Light Dry Malt
• 240g Medium Crystal
• 240g Dark Crystal
• 80g Chocolate Malt
• 43g Galaxy and 43g Mosaic 10 minute boil
• 38g Cascade 5 minute boil
• 57g Mosaic and 44g Galaxy 20 minute Hopstand @ 77°C
• 15g of US-05 in a 1.5 litre starter with 150g LDM

• FG predicted 1.015
• ABV predicted 8.0%
• EBC predicted 32
• IBU predicted 66

The first few photos are doing the grain crush last night.  Then one, just at the end of the mash.  Plus one with the fermenter filled (23.5 litres) and covered in foam from aerating the wort.  You can see my cubes/jerry cans for collecting the warm water from the counterflow chiller.