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BREW DAY!! WATCHA’ GOT, EH? 2022


Marty_G

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Did a half batch of an imperial stout today. Recipe wise it’s not far off my house stout I do occasionally. Few tweaks here and there in the roasted malt department. Has all you’d expect.

maris otter

Rolled oats

dark crystal

choc malt

roasted barkey

black patent 

warrior and EKG to get it up to 84 ibu

nottingham makin the booze. 
 

OG 1.084

FG 1.022

8.5% ABV once bottle carbonated 
 

what’s different in this one is that I’ve played with water profile, boil legth and yeast. Normally I’d use the s04 and a 60 min boil. Thought I’d give the notty a go as I know it’s well received round these parts.

boil length….. I’ve noticed a really distinct and nice complexity by extending the boil on my darker beers. My previous barley wine and ESB all had 90 min boils so today I upped the boil legth to 100mins. This isn’t anything new by brewing standards but definitely something I’d recommend if you’ve got the time and desire. 
 

wort sample tasted great. big dark Chocolate, roasty, nutty, sticky caramel all coming through. 
 

no photo cause we all know what black wort in the tube looks like. 

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2 hours ago, MitchBastard said:

Did a half batch of an imperial stout today. Recipe wise it’s not far off my house stout I do occasionally. Few tweaks here and there in the roasted malt department. Has all you’d expect.

maris otter

Rolled oats

dark crystal

choc malt

roasted barkey

black patent 

warrior and EKG to get it up to 84 ibu

nottingham makin the booze. 
 

OG 1.084

FG 1.022

8.5% ABV once bottle carbonated 
 

what’s different in this one is that I’ve played with water profile, boil legth and yeast. Normally I’d use the s04 and a 60 min boil. Thought I’d give the notty a go as I know it’s well received round these parts.

boil length….. I’ve noticed a really distinct and nice complexity by extending the boil on my darker beers. My previous barley wine and ESB all had 90 min boils so today I upped the boil legth to 100mins. This isn’t anything new by brewing standards but definitely something I’d recommend if you’ve got the time and desire. 
 

wort sample tasted great. big dark Chocolate, roasty, nutty, sticky caramel all coming through. 
 

no photo cause we all know what black wort in the tube looks like. 

Sounds awesome Mitch, nice & gutsy.

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Fruit Bomb Triple IPA, a recent brew from the David Heath Homebrew YouTube channel video.  Except, I decided to do it as a reiterated mash brew.  That's where you split the whole malt bill in half and mash the first half like normal.  Then you remove the first lot of grains, then mash the second lot in the wort from the first mash.  Afterwards you boil the resultant wort like usual.  It is a method to make a high ABV full sized batch.  AND I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN.  Pretty much a 12 hour brew day.  I could have sacrificed a few litres and done a longer boil to concentrate the wort for a higher OG.

  • 7.65kg Pale Malt
  • 1.41kg Dextrose (I actually ended up only using 1kg)
  • 375g Light Dry Malt (I added this when it looked like my OG was going to come in pretty low)
  • 220g Acidulated Malt
  • 210g Carapils
  • 210g Wheat Malt
  • 160g Medium Crystal Malt
  • 23g Mosaic and 22g Azacca - 20 minute boil
  • 23g Mosaic and 22g Azacca - 15 minute boil
  • 24g Mosaic and 24g Azacca - 10 minute boil
  • 24g Mosaic and 24g Azacca - 5 minute boil
  • 55g Azacca, 58g El Dorado and 47g Vic Secret 15 minute hopstand at 77°C
  • 46g Mosaic, 46g Azacca, 42g El Dorado and 46g Vic Secret dry hop
  • Predicted 11.9% ABV (adjusted to 10.8% based on my ingredient changes below)
  • Predicted OG 1.107
  • Actual OG 1.095 (Although I added 375g of LDM at the last minute, I also left out 410g of Dextrose)
  • 97 IBU
  • 16 EBC
  • I used 2 packets of Nottingham and did a starter to pitch about 3 packets worth

Crickey, I hope all the effort was worth it.

Mash 1 about to start

IMG_2975.JPG.d173c895ed194cc7e17c60abc4a128e9.JPG

Mash 2 about to start

IMG_2976.JPG.406986cb21b8e8f1ddc97f447e4da063.JPG

Stuck sparge (on Mash 2)

IMG_2977.JPG.ab940f261345ac98811c874c678d9e16.JPG

Boiling away with Shamus' patented hop spider

IMG_2978.JPG.ca8c1b0e116f61dbae0a6fb2ae3e830e.JPG

The next morning (today).  Krausen is dense, thick and crusty looking

IMG_2980.JPG.7ae379e2f13596cd69901703ddf67d9f.JPG

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10 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Fruit Bomb Triple IPA, a recent brew from the David Heath Homebrew YouTube channel video.  Except, I decided to do it as a reiterated mash brew.  That's where you split the whole malt bill in half and mash the first half like normal.  Then you remove the first lot of grains, then mash the second lot in the wort from the first mash.  Afterwards you boil the resultant wort like usual.  It is a method to make a high ABV full sized batch.  AND I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN.  Pretty much a 12 hour brew day.  I could have sacrificed a few litres and done a longer boil to concentrate the wort for a higher OG.

I think Michael Caine said it all: 

 

 

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1 hour ago, RDT2 said:

German Kolsch brewing it now, so far so good I made a starter hence I put 2 packets of yeast 🍻 

A35044C5-E894-4E1B-B72A-FCAD7833CADC.jpeg

 

Couple of points down again but happy with that and actually measured my mash ph 5.3 happy with that and had a couple of KB lagers while brewing good times! Going to ferment Kolsch at 15degrees anyone have any further advice will ramp as it nears fg.

D42022EF-6EA2-4D4D-BB7E-311AF4DA4F6C.jpeg

Edited by RDT2
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25 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Fruit Bomb Triple IPA, a recent brew from the David Heath Homebrew YouTube channel video.  Except, I decided to do it as a reiterated mash brew.  That's where you split the whole malt bill in half and mash the first half like normal.  Then you remove the first lot of grains, then mash the second lot in the wort from the first mash.  Afterwards you boil the resultant wort like usual.  It is a method to make a high ABV full sized batch.  AND I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN.  Pretty much a 12 hour brew day.  I could have sacrificed a few litres and done a longer boil to concentrate the wort for a higher OG.

  • 7.65kg Pale Malt
  • 1.41kg Dextrose (I actually ended up only using 1kg)
  • 375g Light Dry Malt (I added this when it looked like my OG was going to come in pretty low)
  • 220g Acidulated Malt
  • 210g Carapils
  • 210g Wheat Malt
  • 160g Medium Crystal Malt
  • 23g Mosaic and 22g Azacca - 20 minute boil
  • 23g Mosaic and 22g Azacca - 15 minute boil
  • 24g Mosaic and 24g Azacca - 10 minute boil
  • 24g Mosaic and 24g Azacca - 5 minute boil
  • 55g Azacca, 58g El Dorado and 47g Vic Secret 15 minute hopstand at 77°C
  • 46g Mosaic, 46g Azacca, 42g El Dorado and 46g Vic Secret dry hop
  • Predicted 11.9% ABV (adjusted to 10.8% based on my ingredient changes below)
  • Predicted OG 1.107
  • Actual OG 1.095 (Although I added 375g of LDM at the last minute, I also left out 410g of Dextrose)
  • 97 IBU
  • 16 EBC
  • I used 2 packets of Nottingham and did a starter to pitch about 3 packets worth

Crickey, I hope all the effort was worth it.

Mash 1 about to start

IMG_2975.JPG.d173c895ed194cc7e17c60abc4a128e9.JPG

Mash 2 about to start

IMG_2976.JPG.406986cb21b8e8f1ddc97f447e4da063.JPG

Stuck sparge (on Mash 2)

IMG_2977.JPG.ab940f261345ac98811c874c678d9e16.JPG

Boiling away with Shamus' patented hop spider

IMG_2978.JPG.ca8c1b0e116f61dbae0a6fb2ae3e830e.JPG

The next morning (today).  Krausen is dense, thick and crusty looking

IMG_2980.JPG.7ae379e2f13596cd69901703ddf67d9f.JPG

I am sure it will work out mate good work!

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Recipe: It's not a Pilsner
Style: Australian Premium Lager

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------

Batch Size (fermenter): 21.00 L   
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 6.0 EBC
Estimated IBU: 34.0 IBUs

Ingredients:
------------
Amt              Name                                             Type          #          %/IBU         Volume        
5.00 kg          Pale Malt, Galaxy (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC)    Grain         1          90.9 %        3.26 L        
0.50 kg          Carapils (Briess) (3.0 EBC)                      Grain         2          9.1 %         0.33 L        
50.00 g          Saaz [4.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min                    Hop           3          22.7 IBUs     -             
0.50 Items       Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)                Fining        4          -             -             
50.00 g          Saaz [4.40 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  60.0 min, 90.2  Hop           5          11.3 IBUs     -             
1.0 pkg          California Lager (Mangrove Jack's #M54)          Yeast         6          -             -             


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I brewed batch AG  #2 Sparkling Ale on Sunday now transferring to the FV the overall volume is down as I thought I had my calculations right ( I am still struggling with BrewFather

Looks & smells pretty good so I suppose I have made a high ABV Ale.

I just de-gassed the Hydrometer jar & the SG is bang on 1.051.

I will have to get my water volume right for the next brew.

20220517_111228.jpg

20220517_111328.jpg

20220517_112454.jpg

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Recipe: Hop2It 
Style: Double IPA

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------

Batch Size (fermenter): 21.00 L   
Estimated OG: 1.070 SG
Estimated Color: 19.0 EBC
Estimated IBU: 81.4 IBUs


Ingredients:
------------
Amt              Name                                             Type          #          %/IBU         Volume        
4.00 kg          Pale Malt, Galaxy (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC)    Grain         1          64.0 %        2.61 L        
1.00 kg          Munich, Light (Joe White) (17.7 EBC)             Grain         2          16.0 %        0.65 L        
1.00 kg          Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC)           Grain         3          16.0 %        0.65 L        
0.25 kg          Crystal, Dark (Joe White) (216.7 EBC)            Grain         4          4.0 %         0.16 L        
30.00 g          Super Pride [13.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min            Hop           5          40.2 IBUs     -             
25.00 g          Centennial [10.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  20.0 min Hop           6          7.4 IBUs      -             
25.00 g          Enigma [16.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  20.0 min, 90 Hop           7          12.0 IBUs     -             
25.00 g          Galaxy [15.70 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  20.0 min, 90 Hop           8          11.4 IBUs     -             
25.00 g          Mosaic (HBC 369) [14.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  20 Hop           9          10.3 IBUs     -             


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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5 hours ago, interceptor said:
Recipe: Hop2It 
Style: Double IPA

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------

Batch Size (fermenter): 21.00 L   
Estimated OG: 1.070 SG
Estimated Color: 19.0 EBC
Estimated IBU: 81.4 IBUs


Ingredients:
------------
Amt              Name                                             Type          #          %/IBU         Volume        
4.00 kg          Pale Malt, Galaxy (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC)    Grain         1          64.0 %        2.61 L        
1.00 kg          Munich, Light (Joe White) (17.7 EBC)             Grain         2          16.0 %        0.65 L        
1.00 kg          Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC)           Grain         3          16.0 %        0.65 L        
0.25 kg          Crystal, Dark (Joe White) (216.7 EBC)            Grain         4          4.0 %         0.16 L        
30.00 g          Super Pride [13.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min            Hop           5          40.2 IBUs     -             
25.00 g          Centennial [10.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  20.0 min Hop           6          7.4 IBUs      -             
25.00 g          Enigma [16.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  20.0 min, 90 Hop           7          12.0 IBUs     -             
25.00 g          Galaxy [15.70 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  20.0 min, 90 Hop           8          11.4 IBUs     -             
25.00 g          Mosaic (HBC 369) [14.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  20 Hop           9          10.3 IBUs     -             


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mmmmmmm I think I smell the hops from down here Ceptor @interceptor ; )

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8 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I brewed batch AG  #2 Sparkling Ale on Sunday now transferring to the FV the overall volume is down as I thought I had my calculations right ( I am still struggling with BrewFather

Looks & smells pretty good so I suppose I have made a high ABV Ale.

I just de-gassed the Hydrometer jar & the SG is bang on 1.051.

I will have to get my water volume right for the next brew.

20220517_111228.jpg

20220517_111328.jpg

20220517_112454.jpg

I forgot to mention this before, I brewed this on Sunday & today, Tuesday,  I am filling the FV, I couldn't believe the smell of this wort, it was very similar to the smell of a can of commercial stuff I have been buying for years.

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14 hours ago, MitchBastard said:

@Shamus O'Sean Hooley Dooley mate that’s a big beer. Looking forward to your tasting notes. 
 

what do you think was the issue with coming up short on the OG? I’ve tossed up doing REiterated mashes myself but always end up doing a half batch and boiling down further. 

Hey Mitch,

I think the main issue is my process/understanding of reiterated mashes.  A reason why they work well to give you a full volume wort with a high OG, is that you are brewing with a grain weight in your system's highest efficiency range. 

In my case, with my Grainfather, high efficiency is not just about grain bill, but brew volume (especially sparging).  I think I misunderstood this because I halved the grain bill in each mash, but I also halved the intended wort volume for each mash.  This made the sparge volume of the first mash about half of the volume it usually is for a 4.5kg grain bill.  Rinsing the grains with less water extracted less sugar from the grains.  The gravity of the first mash was 1.062 compared to a predicted 1.079 (based on an efficiency of 75%).  Plus this water was around 45°C to help to get my mash-out 75°C wort back to 67°C for the second mash.

When it came to the second mash, I realised its sparge volume of 4.5 litres would not end up in me having 23 litres of wort into the fermenter.  Therefore, after doing some on the fly calculations in Brewfather, I ended up sparging the second mash with 13-14 litres of water.  That is a bit too much sparge water for high efficiency.  So the second sparge may have been diluted the OG a little.

I added the LDM to try to help up the OG.  I also should have added the 400g of Dextrose that I had in the original recipe.  But by this time I had been in the brewhouse for 12 hours, I'd had a late night, dinner was on the table, and I had to try to wrap up the brew quickly.

If I did it again, I would increase the first sparge to close to "normal" for a 20 litre brew.  For the second mash, I would remove some of step 1's wort from the Grainfather, leaving a wort volume to match the second step's mash water volume.  I would use the wort I removed as part of the second sparge volume, making up the difference with water.  I think that these steps would optimise the amount of sugars extracted from the first mash and keep the second sparge volume to something more typical.

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On 5/17/2022 at 8:27 PM, Classic Brewing Co said:

it was very similar to the smell of a can of commercial stuff I have been buying for years.

But wait till you taste it and get the creamy mouthfeel and great head and head retention of AG... but good indications that we are heading in the right direction with the volatiles in the olfactory indicating it's a nice Brew ; )

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On 5/17/2022 at 12:10 PM, Classic Brewing Co said:

I brewed batch AG  #2 Sparkling Ale on Sunday now transferring to the FV the overall volume is down as I thought I had my calculations right ( I am still struggling with BrewFather

Well done Phil, you're on your way. 

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Just now, Mickep said:

Well done Phil, you're on your way. 

Cheers Mick, yes I am but still need to perfect the BrewFather to get the water volumes right. Also the sparge process seems to be letting me down as I never seem to have enough room in the kettle to add the sparge water let alone see the volume markings.

I do understand if you have your water volumes correct you will achieve the target.

All I did first AG brew was top🤔 it up & it taste's beautiful & the head retention is outstanding. 

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10 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hey Mitch,

I think the main issue is my process/understanding of reiterated mashes.  A reason why they work well to give you a full volume wort with a high OG, is that you are brewing with a grain weight in your system's highest efficiency range. 

In my case, with my Grainfather, high efficiency is not just about grain bill, but brew volume (especially sparging).  I think I misunderstood this because I halved the grain bill in each mash, but I also halved the intended wort volume for each mash.  This made the sparge volume of the first mash about half of the volume it usually is for a 4.5kg grain bill.  Rinsing the grains with less water extracted less sugar from the grains.  The gravity of the first mash was 1.062 compared to a predicted 1.079 (based on an efficiency of 75%).  Plus this water was around 45°C to help to get my mash-out 75°C wort back to 67°C for the second mash.

When it came to the second mash, I realised its sparge volume of 4.5 litres would not end up in me having 23 litres of wort into the fermenter.  Therefore, after doing some on the fly calculations in Brewfather, I ended up sparging the second mash with 13-14 litres of water.  That is a bit too much sparge water for high efficiency.  So the second sparge may have been diluted the OG a little.

I added the LDM to try to help up the OG.  I also should have added the 400g of Dextrose that I had in the original recipe.  But by this time I had been in the brewhouse for 12 hours, I'd had a late night, dinner was on the table, and I had to try to wrap up the brew quickly.

If I did it again, I would increase the first sparge to close to "normal" for a 20 litre brew.  For the second mash, I would remove some of step 1's wort from the Grainfather, leaving a wort volume to match the second step's mash water volume.  I would use the wort I removed as part of the second sparge volume, making up the difference with water.  I think that these steps would optimise the amount of sugars extracted from the first mash and keep the second sparge volume to something more typical.

Interesting mate, sorry it didn’t go as planned for you. I’m sure the beer will be great though.  My understanding of a re iterated mash, even though I have not done one is that you would,  for example with a total grain bill of 9kg do the following. 
 

1. halve grain bill (4.5kg each) as you did

2. mash 1,  let’s say you have a mash volume ratio  of 4:1, mash with 18L

3. no mash out

4. remove first mash which would leave you with about 14L of wort once drained.

5. Sparge back to the 18L mark only.

6. Mash two

7. mash 2 and mash out as normal

At this point I would take a gravity reading pray for an extremely condensed wort and sparge in smaller amounts until you hit gravity to avoid dilution??? 😂

There is a calculation you can do to avoid dilution or at least guide you for sparge amounts based on current volume, current gravity and desired gravity. From memory it would be as follows

(current volume x current gravity / desired gravity) - current volume 

so with a pre sparge gravity of say 1.120 and a current kettle volume of 14L and a desired gravity of 1.082

(14 x 120 / 82) - 14 = 6L

that means you can add 6L of plain water to get to the desired gravity of 1.082 OR since you’d be sparging and adding sugars back in as you sparge, you can sparge to the 20L mark without worrying about diluting. If you choose the latter, you then Do the same calc at the 20L mark and see how things are looking in terms of gravity.  That’s only if you wanna really hone on a number 🙂

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11 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

A reason why they work well to give you a full volume wort with a high OG, is that you are brewing with a grain weight in your system's highest efficiency range. 

And a massive amount of active enzymes to convert the second mash

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