Canadian Eh!L Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Hey Otto, I've been meaning to ask you guys about the 'hot break'. Do you guys skim this off or not. I've done both. I've stopped skimming recently because I've been FWHing and I don't want to skim off the hops. I don't see it as making any difference, but I was wondering what others thought on the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Hey Chad, I've never skimmed it off, I just let it boil until it goes away by itself. I also have been doing FWHing in my last few batches but I didn't skim it before I started doing that. Mostly because I couldn't be bothered. [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I don't skim. For no scientific reason though; I just don't do it. Chad, did you notice any difference when you did it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Chad, did you notice any difference when you did it? Nothing! I guess that settles that, eh?[biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I finally got enough spare time to put down the brew recipe I listed in Post #127 of this thread. Although the brew may seem very simple on the surface to some, it means much more to me. It is in some ways the culmination of the last 18 months worth of brewing knowledge gained from a @#$% load of reading, practical brewing experiences using a multitude of different malt grains, yeasts, hops & learned techniques. The recipe I brewed is predominantly based on an online recipe, that I have tweaked & altered slightly. I'm claiming it as my own anyways! [lol] The final recipe differed slightly from my post. I took the peel from 2 large oranges that ended up weighing approx 80gms. I also reduced the Cascade 10 & 5min additions down to 15gms each. Other than that, the recipe is as it was stated. I'm personally interested to see how much of the lovely orange peel aroma survives the primary ferment, whether I have accurately assessed the FWH addition & the bitterness it will produce, & whether the yeast (damn BRY-97 yeast! [pinched]) does its job this time around! [lol] Fingers crossed. Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilboBaggins Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I'm going to reinforce how excited I am to be brewing again this weekend. I haven't brewed since the weekend Del came over. This Sunday also marks a momentous event. The farewell brew for my faithful Victoria/Corona grain mill. Thanks to a bulk buy for roller mills on AHB I will now be equipped with a malt-muncher. [happy] Looking forward to having a more customisable crush and also going to be wet conditioning my grain, a procedure which nearly killed my drill on the Corona. Much as it pains me, there will probably be a free mill up for grabs in the northern burbs within the fortnight. [crying] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I'm hell excited about doing a brew day tomorrow too, first in about two months. SWMBO is gonna be getting in the way (observing and maybe helping [lol]) then we are heading out for drinks after. Should be a good day/night methinks [happy] I picked up a sachet of BRY-97 when I went to CB for the Maris Otter the other day, I'll be using it on this brew when I get to fermenting it. The next batch in the FV I am just gonna use harvested and washed US-05 from the current batch. I don't think I've ever sold any of my brewing equipment. I am getting rid of all my twist top stubbies though, as they get emptied, in favour of pry offs. So far I haven't found anyone who wants them so they are just being chucked for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 Tommorow is Brew day for me![joyful] I'm going try my hand at a Cascadian Dark Ale! I've been meaning to for a while now. After all, it is my regional beer style CDA Anyways, This is the recipe I was thinking of: Black Skies Cascadian 4.Kg Pale Ale Malt .3Kg Choclate Malt 350L .1Kg Black Patent 525L .1Kg Crystal 120L .05Kg Roasted Barley Mashed @ 65C for 60mins 20g Cascade 7.4% (FWH) 20g Cascade (60mins) 15g Cascade (15mins) 15g Cascade (5mins) TBSP 5.2 pH Stabilizer 1/2 Whirlfloc 7g Yeast Nut. 21L water Windsor OG 1.052 - FG 1.013 IBU 37.8 SRM 30.7 Brewhouse Efficiency 78% What do you guys think, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 I think after rereading that BYO article I posted I'll go with US-05 instead of the Windsor for it's drier finish. Not to mention I have a fresh yeast cake of US-05 to throw it on once I transfer my lastest GPA to seacondary.[cool] Another thing of note is this one is intentionally brewed at a gravity and bitterness more in line with a PA than an IPA. I wanted the bitterness and ABV% a little lower for a more sessionable brew.[unsure] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 G'day Skookum! [biggrin] An interesting style this one. The accepted name is "American-Style India Black Ale", as given by the GABF over there in the states. Good to see you picked up on the yeast change. [happy] I took the time to read through the article link you provided, & if you plan to brew this beer to style, I would take note of the following passages... What differentiates Cascadian dark ale from a hoppy porter or stout?...the vastly reduced roast malt flavor contributions. The use of debittered Carafa\xae malts instead of black patent or roast barley. This provides color without the harsher' date=' burnt flavor profiles of robust porters or stouts.....It was agreed that one of the key characteristics of this style was that the dark malts are so subdued that, if you closed your eyes during a sip, you would not suspect that the beer was black.[/quote'] I feel if you stick with the Black Patent & Roast Barley in conjunction with the Chocolate Malt in your recipe, you will simply end up with a hoppy stout. Also your recipe has no dry hopping, which is again a requirement of the style. I would go to the trouble of acquiring the Carafa grain & brewing it without the roasted barley & black patent. Otherwise I think you'll be somewhat disappointed in what you might be expecting against what it actually turns out like. [pinched] This style could certainly get a nod to brew for one of my winter beers next year. [cool] Good luck with it Chad. [wink] Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 Hey Lusty, It's still a disputed title![bandit] I think the People of Cascadian prefer the title CDA![rightful] I'm pickin' up what you're layin' down, Man (Mate)! I hear ya about the Carafa product being suggested instead of Black Patent malt and the Roasted Barley. It is mentioned that BPM and RB are acceptable in small quantities. Also, this is a brew made of ingredients I have on hand at the brewery. I'm not purchasing any new ingredients before tommorow. The BYO article goes on to mention that cold soaking of these dark grains to limit these harsh tannin flavours might be an option somewhere down the line but for now I think I'll go as is. BTW, I think this brew would be great with Windsor, but I will go with US-05 mostly because of the fresh yeast cake.[wink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Had a really good brew day yesterday, did up the recipe in this post. The only thing I changed was the 10g addition of Chinook to about 15g because I really couldn't be bothered sealing up a 5g bag of hops.[bandit] SWMBO helped out with a few things to make it run a bit smoother, and we had a few brews, and also for the first time - a soundtrack! It consisted of a fair bit of Motorhead, Maiden, Priest and some other random tracks. It was just Winamp playing on shuffle so had a lot of bands featured through the day. Afterwards we headed out into town for a couple of beers with my best mate and his missus, then partied a little too hard until about 3am.. and now I'm tired as hell. [lol] I may well be doing another brew day on Sunday, because I am bottling the current batch tomorrow and then putting on another pale ale straight away so I will have an empty cube... two brew days in two weeks. Unheard of!! [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilboBaggins Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Good job Kelsey, sounds like you two are really hitting it off. [cool] I had a fantastic brew day today. My volumes on the new system are still a bit off, but I'm staying on the ball enough to correct on the fly. Today's ESB was 1.050 instead of 1.051, but I've got an extra litre or so due to being caught off guard again by far lower losses to trub with 3V. For the first time today, I also used a hop 'sleeve' over the silicon hose going into the cube. SWMBO made it for me with swiss voile, as I was worried that I was getting too much hop debris into the cube, explaining the grassy flavours I was experiencing. I got brilliant formation of a trub cone after whirlpooling, but it still caught some bits. Stewed hops. [sick] Hopefully never again. [happy] Used Target (FWH), EKG, and Styrians all courtesy of our old mate Yob. Smells killer. [love] Anyway, got some 1275 that I grew during the week in a 1L starter of DME (bloody hell, nearly looks like enough to pitch already) which I will add my 'real wort starter' to in a minute as the temps have come down. I will pitch it at high krausen tomorrow after work. My brew fridge blew up yesterday, so it'll be left to ambient temps. That combined with what I suspect is an overpitch should make for an interesting ferment, eh? EDIT: 3 beers, can't speel. [annoyed] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Yeah, we are. [cool] I'm slowly converting her to craft beers, so the batches might not last as long as they have in the past. [lol] She rather liked the Helles brews I've done and the Suntan ale. And that dodgy batch of amber ale that I only had one bottle left of.. if only I'd met her 6 months ago she could have had the lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Yeah' date=' we are. [cool'] I'm slowly converting her to craft beers, so the batches might not last as long as they have in the past. [lol] She rather liked the Helles brews I've done and the Suntan ale. And that dodgy batch of amber ale that I only had one bottle left of.. if only I'd met her 6 months ago she could have had the lot! Yeah, my wife used to pretend she liked my beer too [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 Well, I put down the Cascadian Dark Ale. Things went ok on this brew day.[pouty] My mash temps were all over the place.[annoyed] I blew right through my Strike temp while I was eating breakfast.[pinched] After this blunder I never did recover. I had to settle on 63C instead of the instended 65C over 60mins. My Brewhouse Efficiency was a little lower that I predicted. I was shooting for 78% and ended up with only 74%.[roll] This cost me 3 points on the OG. This might have something to do with the lower mash temp.[unsure] Anyway, It's in the FV now and happily on it's way to becoming beer. And maybe even... "The Best Beer on Earth!"[wink] EDIT: Holy Shite![w00t] I just went down to the Brewery to check on how things were coming along. After a mere 5.5 hours this baby already has 10cm of krausen! I love throwing a brew on top of a fresh yeast cake. It's really satisfying to see that much activity so quickly. Not to mention It's so darn easy! [biggrin] [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Don't worry mate, you will still make beer. Let us know if it becomes the best beer on earth. Perhaps you should have gone with the Windsor in the end to make up for the low mash/dry finish [wink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 Don't worry mate, you will still make beer. Let us know if it becomes the best beer on earth. Perhaps you should have gone with the Windsor in the end to make up for the low mash/dry finish [wink] [lol] I know. That's what I was thinking. I didn't have a nice fresh Windsor cake. Only dry packets. We'll see how this one goes and maybe we'll try something different next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 The worst bit is if it does turn out to be the best beer in the world it's hard to replicate when you've stuffed something up [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 I'm doing more brew activities tomorrow. Today I bottled my Amber Ale and harvested/washed some yeast from it, to be pitched into a Pale Ale tomorrow morning. Will be interesting to see how the 2nd gen US-05 goes. I'm also gonna have a bit of a muck around roasting some base malt in the oven just for interest's sake, to see what it turns out like and what it will impart on the brew. My plan is to roast it for however long I decide, and remove some at certain intervals so I get a range of colours and then use one at a time in future brews to see what they impart on them. Should be an interesting experiment methinks. [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Going to the trouble of roasting your own grains, I reckon that's pretty cool Kelsey. Further than I think I want to go with my home brewing, but interesting for sure. [cool] I think you have the ability to make something truly unique by doing this, & regardless of that, there would have to be an added satisfaction drinking a home brewed beer where you had personally roasted some grains that contributed to part of it's eventual flavour. [joyful] Good luck with it. [smile] Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Thanks mate. [smile] Yeah, it's not something I would do very often, unless I made one that turned out bloody awesome - then I might put some base grains away to try to replicate it more often. I have a little bag of base malt that was leftover from a batch so I'm just gonna have a bit of a muck about with that. It's probably a kg or so. My plan is to brew essentially the same base recipe a few times, each time using a malt roasted for a different length of time at the same sort of levels as you'd add specialty grains. I figure this will be the only real way to detect what each of them contribute to a brew. I'd agree that the resultant grains would be different to commercially available stuff. Looking forward to having a crack at it though and seeing how it all turns out. [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilboBaggins Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Plenty of people do this with good results. I reckon you'll love it, and apparently the smell of the house is to die for. [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Yeah I can't imagine it would turn into an epic fail unless I forgot the oven was on or something. [alien] The only thing I'm not sure about yet is what temperature to actually set it at. [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 The only thing I'm not sure about yet is what temperature to actually set it at. [lol] Home Roasting Grains Hopefully that link can give you some ideas. [biggrin] Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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