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BREW DAY!! WATCHA’ GOT, EH? 2022


Marty_G

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1 hour ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Cheers. Hopefully this time I don't get lazy and stop for ages again 🥴

You will be like a kid waiting on Christmas Eve except it will be good beer on tap your waiting for!

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11 hours ago, Tone boy said:

I used M54 early on in my brew journey, but found it to throw green apple 🍏 - which cleared up in time. I have since moved on to w34/70 and find it much cleaner. And fast too. 
Am aware that @beach_life Beachy is north, and no temp control, so brew with the seasons and use the warmer yeast - great thinking - no point fighting nature. 
As a great man once said (you there @Pezzza?) many ways to the top of the mountain in the journey…

Glad you guys are enjoying it. cheers 🍻🍻

I prefer a true lager yeast, such as trusty old Dubbya, for a Pilsner or a Helles but for a quick and dirty lager, it is a decent yeast. It's quick enough, saves the d-rest and stepping down of temperatures and overall shaves a week of fermenting time with my procedures. It does feel a bit like a cheat though 🙂 

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Japanese Rice Lager

My first time doing a Cereal Mash with Rice.  It was fun, but a long brew day.  Would I do it again - Probably. It is a way to use cheap plain Rice in a brew.  You can also use ready-to-go Flaked Rice, but it is about 5 times more expensive than supermarket rice.  I might actually repeat this brew, using Flaked Rice, for a comparison.

Overall brew efficiency was high.  Although the volume was a bit down.  In the end, I could not get enough water top up in the FV to get down to the intended OG of 1.042.  Decided to hit 1.048.  Brew will probably be around 5% instead of 4.5%.

  • 30L batch (Actual was 30.8L)
  • 4.12kg Pilsner
  • 1.5kg Rice
  • 4g Sorachi Ace - First Wort
  • 15g Sorachi Ace 10 minute boil
  • 30g Sorachi Ace 1 minute boil
  • 20 minute whirlpool
  • White Labs WLP802 Czech Budejovice Lager (probably not the right yeast for this brew, but it is what I had and it was close to its best before.  Did a 2 step starter, including harvesting around 200 bil cells for a future brew)

Heating cereal mash water

77245811_Heatingcerealmashwater.JPG.f5bdd68936f8fb522f5ded88d547506c.JPG

Mashed in

1116063102_Mashedin.JPG.a741eca6d359a05fd8ce7f914c286b06.JPG

74°C 20 min mash

514144459_74C20minmash.JPG.da75538f6da803439406e1683149b929.JPG

Coming to the boil

1719888301_Comingtotheboil.JPG.4ed726e8a181d8fb3792a3863cfab148.JPG

Mid 30 min boil

848425322_Mid30minboil.JPG.0599a9da3b8737e8929317ea8beee2a6.JPG

Boil complete

1087950263_Boilcomplete.JPG.f1779ba2ae1569b448c9c3274af14bc4.JPG

Bit of a stuck sparge

113228087_Bitofastucksparge1.JPG.894e748ff3e3f707bc2b7a8dbffc730e.JPG

790497474_Bitofastucksparge2.JPG.45ed6d1556db008058b19be7be76a67b.JPG

Nice pale wort

1152820539_Nicepalewort.JPG.e06a9cf0ec5c3febe1c7373fafd5e889.JPG

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6 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Heating cereal mash water

Hmmm.. when I have done it - boiled the rice to mush, added a handful of malt off the boil - that gets the enzymes in, then dumped the lot into the main mash.

works well

what was your process?

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5 hours ago, beach_life said:

Hmmm.. when I have done it - boiled the rice to mush, added a handful of malt off the boil - that gets the enzymes in, then dumped the lot into the main mash.

works well

what was your process?

I did a bit or research about how others do it.  The results and my process:

image.png.b6253b61bced182565c3b248027aacac.png

  • So I added 1kg of the Pilsner to the 1.5kg of three times milled rice.
  • Mashed that into 78°C water then held at 74°C for 25 minutes - constantly stirring the mash
  • Raised gently to the boil - constantly stirring
  • Boiled for 30 minutes - constantly stirring the boil
  • Added to the main mash in two lots, stirring in between
  • I also stirred the 60 minute mash 3 times

I also read about some folks doing like you BL, and just adding a handful of grain into the rice.  However, it seems to me that 50-100g of grains would not have enough enzymes to help convert the rice starch.  Your experience says different though.

Some key things I learnt

  • Added about 2 hours to the brew day.
  • I had the main mash water at 25°C, I assumed adding 7-8 litres of boiling gloop would raise the temperature to my first mash step of 55°C.  But I missed that by about 20°C.  The cereal mash must have cooled to about 80°C by the time I actually added it to the main mash.
  • A rice cereal mash will create a slow sparge.  I added 4 handfuls of rice hulls to the mash, but should have doubled that.
  • I got really good brewhouse efficiency:  88% instead of my predicted 75%.  Post-boil gravity was 10 points high at 1.067, but my volume was 1.5L down (this was after I added 1.7L into the sparge, so really would have been 3L down).  I had allowed to lose 1.5L in the cereal mash boil, but must have lost a fair bit more.  Plus, rice probably absorbs water much more than grain.

 

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1 minute ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Your experience says different though.

Definitely works.... try it sometime, stir the grain in and you can see the enzymes work,,,  goes from thick to thin reasonably quickly

 

you put a lot of thought into yours, well done.

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My experience is you dont need to boil it to a mush. I don't even mill my rice. And still get in the 80s for efficiency. I just add it to 17 or 18L of water with a handful of malt. Hold it at 72c for about 15 mins. Bring it to just below boiling and hold it for 30 mins. In that time its cooked through but still intact. Add cold water in to bring it back down to 67c then add in the malt and mash as normal at 64c. 

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17 minutes ago, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

My experience is you dont need to boil it to a mush.

that way works for me though, that way I get the mash on in the crown urn at the same time

 

making beer is fun, making up your own processes for the same result

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17 hours ago, beach_life said:

Hmmm.. when I have done it - boiled the rice to mush, added a handful of malt off the boil - that gets the enzymes in, then dumped the lot into the main mash.

works well

what was your process?

What temp do you bring the rice down to before adding the malt beach boy??
How hot is too hot for the enzymes?

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9 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Pros/Cons?

Nope but temp drop is the only issue I see.

 

6 hours ago, Tone boy said:

What temp do you bring the rice down to before adding the malt beach boy??

I recall just throwing the malt in off the boil, I assume the enzymes works before they are denatured

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On 10/22/2022 at 10:42 PM, Shamus O'Sean said:

Japanese Rice Lager

My first time doing a Cereal Mash with Rice.  It was fun, but a long brew day.  Would I do it again - Probably. It is a way to use cheap plain Rice in a brew.  You can also use ready-to-go Flaked Rice, but it is about 5 times more expensive than supermarket rice.  I might actually repeat this brew, using Flaked Rice, for a comparison.

Overall brew efficiency was high.  Although the volume was a bit down.  In the end, I could not get enough water top up in the FV to get down to the intended OG of 1.042.  Decided to hit 1.048.  Brew will probably be around 5% instead of 4.5%.

  • 30L batch (Actual was 30.8L)
  • 4.12kg Pilsner
  • 1.5kg Rice
  • 4g Sorachi Ace - First Wort
  • 15g Sorachi Ace 10 minute boil
  • 30g Sorachi Ace 1 minute boil
  • 20 minute whirlpool
  • White Labs WLP802 Czech Budejovice Lager (probably not the right yeast for this brew, but it is what I had and it was close to its best before.  Did a 2 step starter, including harvesting around 200 bil cells for a future brew)

Heating cereal mash water

77245811_Heatingcerealmashwater.JPG.f5bdd68936f8fb522f5ded88d547506c.JPG

Mashed in

1116063102_Mashedin.JPG.a741eca6d359a05fd8ce7f914c286b06.JPG

74°C 20 min mash

514144459_74C20minmash.JPG.da75538f6da803439406e1683149b929.JPG

Coming to the boil

1719888301_Comingtotheboil.JPG.4ed726e8a181d8fb3792a3863cfab148.JPG

Mid 30 min boil

848425322_Mid30minboil.JPG.0599a9da3b8737e8929317ea8beee2a6.JPG

Boil complete

1087950263_Boilcomplete.JPG.f1779ba2ae1569b448c9c3274af14bc4.JPG

Bit of a stuck sparge

113228087_Bitofastucksparge1.JPG.894e748ff3e3f707bc2b7a8dbffc730e.JPG

790497474_Bitofastucksparge2.JPG.45ed6d1556db008058b19be7be76a67b.JPG

Nice pale wort

1152820539_Nicepalewort.JPG.e06a9cf0ec5c3febe1c7373fafd5e889.JPG

Looking good.

Have you used Sorachi Ace before? I have made a rice lager twice, once with Tettnang, the second time with Sorachi Ace but I think I liked the Tettnang version better. I also used Flaked rice, rather than just boiled rice as I was worried about a stuck mash or sparge. I did use a fair bit of rice hulls to loosen up the grain bed though. 

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Back to my best best bitter recipe today.  Actually, I have been swapping out for different flavour/aroma hops each time I brew this one.  I'm content with the malt base, but it's been interesting featuring different hops.  The original recipe showcased Fuggles, I then did a batch with Sticklbract and today its East Kent Goldings that is the star of the show.

Just took an SG and it's well down -  hmmm 🤔   Seems to be a bit hit 'n' miss with these stove-top BIAB AG's I do.   Anyway, it'll still be beer!  

 

IMG20221024093717~2.jpg

IMG20221024093727~2.jpg

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5 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

Looking good.

Have you used Sorachi Ace before? I have made a rice lager twice, once with Tettnang, the second time with Sorachi Ace but I think I liked the Tettnang version better. I also used Flaked rice, rather than just boiled rice as I was worried about a stuck mash or sparge. I did use a fair bit of rice hulls to loosen up the grain bed though. 

Thanks, AK. First time I have used Sorachi Ace. Should be interesting.  Some people do not like it.  I thought it tasted fine in the samples I took for SG readings.

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On 10/22/2022 at 11:42 PM, Shamus O'Sean said:

Japanese Rice Lager

My first time doing a Cereal Mash with Rice.  It was fun, but a long brew day.  Would I do it again - Probably. It is a way to use cheap plain Rice in a brew.  You can also use ready-to-go Flaked Rice, but it is about 5 times more expensive than supermarket rice.  I might actually repeat this brew, using Flaked Rice, for a comparison.

@Shamus O'Sean I just use flaked rice in my rice lagers because when you think about it the cost is 1/5th of FA really and you probably spent more on energy costs going the 'long road' not to mention your time that could have been better spent perhaps.  Just saying.

Good on you for having a go though, nothing learned unless you do it the hard way at least once. 

I have a saying,...  No effing effort = No effing reward.  (NFE=NFR just for Phil)

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6 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

@Shamus O'Sean I just use flaked rice in my rice lagers because when you think about it the cost is 1/5th of FA really and you probably spent more on energy costs going the 'long road' not to mention your time that could have been better spent perhaps.  Just saying.

Good on you for having a go though, nothing learned unless you do it the hard way at least once. 

I have a saying,...  No effing effort = No effing reward.  (NFE=NFR just for Phil)

Yeah, I copy the Aussie lingo.  🇦🇺 🦘🪃

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1 hour ago, iBooz2 said:

@Shamus O'Sean I just use flaked rice in my rice lagers because when you think about it the cost is 1/5th of FA really and you probably spent more on energy costs going the 'long road' not to mention your time that could have been better spent perhaps.  Just saying.

Good on you for having a go though, nothing learned unless you do it the hard way at least once. 

I have a saying,...  No effing effort = No effing reward.  (NFE=NFR just for Phil)

Right on all fronts @iBooz2.  I probably saved $10 on ingredients.  Costs in energy probably close to that.  I could have slept in for another 2 hours and just got up and did brew day like normal.  I did catch up on some brewing YouTubes while I was stirring the rice, so not really a loss.

I did enjoy the process.  Also knowing you made something from basic ingredients is rewarding.  If the beer comes out okay, I will definitely do it again.  I will also give it a crack with Flaked Rice.  Probably as a dirty batch onto the yeast cake of the current brew.

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A double banger all-grain brew day today.

First up was a Coopers Sparkling Ale.  This is brew #90 AG#49.  It was supposed to be 5.8 % ABV but just overshot my numbers so it will be 5.99 % now.  This one will be dumped onto the yeast cake of a previous Coopers Pale Ale and it will be the second dirty batch done in the Coopers FV.  Normally I only do one dirty batch in these FV's and then retire the yeast.

Second brew was another of my 150 Lashes clones.  It is still only version 2.0 again as I don't need to tweak this recipe any more as I am very happy with the outcomes of the previous version 1.0 (in keg) and 2.0 (to be kegged tomorrow).  This one will also be dirty batched on top of the US-05 yeast cake from previous two brews.  It is in the fermzilla so I am comfortable going this far re dirty batches in a sealed FV.

This second brew brings up my 50th AG brew since going AG in January 2021.  So its brew #91 since resuming brewing in January 2020 and AG#50. whoo-hoo! 🥳     This one also just overshot the numbers as it was supposed to be 4.6 % ABV and it will now be 4.9 % ABV.  The longer mash steps have seemed to have made the difference for me as its the same grain grist volumes / weights as previous two 150 lashes clones.

 

 

Edited by iBooz2
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22 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

A double banger all-grain brew day today.

First up was a Coopers Sparkling Ale.  This is brew #90 AG#49.  It was supposed to be 5.8 % ABV but just overshot my numbers so it will be 5.99 % now.  This one will be dumped onto the yeast cake of a previous Coopers Pale Ale and it will be the second dirty batch done in the Coopers FV.  Normally I only do one dirty batch in these FV's and then retire the yeast.

Second brew was another of my 150 Lashes clone.  It is only version 2.0 again as I don;t need to tweak this recipe any more as I am very happy with the outcomes of the previous version 1.0 (in keg) and 2.0 (to be kegged tomorrow).

This second brew brings up my 50th AG brew since going AG in January 2021.  So its brew #91 since resuming brewing in January 2020 and AG#50. 🥳     This one also just overshot the numbers as it was supposed to be 4.6 % ABV and it will now be 4.9 % ABV.  The longer mash steps have seemed to make the difference for me.

 

 

Nice brewing rythmn mate !

I started AG after I got hold of a Grainfather G40 in February this year. I was on a waiting list for a few months and then they got some in stock so I went for it. Good move 👍

I've done 14 AG brews since the end of February, and a few Coopers recipes. I'm still keeping on with those. Mainly if they are a really nice recipe, if I don't have time for an AG brew, and a kind of "tax" for using the forum 😉

I also buy slabs of Pale Ale when I go to the specialist shop.

 

Edited by stquinto
typo
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Made a couple of keg fillers today. 3kg pilsener malt and 1kg of wheat malt. Mashed at 67c and boiled for 30 mins with Irish moss at 10 and a 60gm FO hop addition at 85c for 10 mins. Hops were 42gm of simcoe and 18gm of galaxy. Cubed this and tomorrow splitting in two and adding a can of Coopers pale ale to each. Got these on clearance at woolies for 7 bucks each. One will be fermented with hophead yeast and the other a combo of WY1388 duvel and WY3724 Dupont yeast. Plan to keg hop both with 30gm galaxy. Should be two easy drinking beers

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Looking at doing an extract pale ale today. Scored a 100g of mosaic - never used mosaic before so after a bit of advice…

I was thinking of just using this hop by itself to see what it’s like - 40g at flameout, 60g dry hop…

Has anyone used mosaic by itself before, and thoughts. Should I pair with with another hop, scale back if the amount suggested is too much? That sort of thing…

Proposed recipe is simple enough to get an idea of the hop…

1.7kg pale ale kit

1kg LDME

250g light crystal steeped 

Mosaic as above

M44 yeast

23 litres

Thanks in advance guys and girls. Cheers

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46 minutes ago, Tone boy said:

Has anyone used mosaic by itself before, and thoughts. Should I pair with with another hop, scale back if the amount suggested is too much? That sort of thing…

 

I never used it with a kit but I have made AG brews using only Mosaic hops. In that case it was usually something like 10g @60, 20g @20, 20g @FO and 50g dry hop (day 4 for 4 days). Since you won't need the bittering hops, you can scrap the 60 minute addition and maybe do a 40g steep for 10 or 20 minutes and use the rest for dry hopping as you had planned. That should give you nice flavours and aromas. I like Mosaic.

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