Jump to content
Coopers Community

Brew Day!! Watcha' got, eh!? 2015


Canadian Eh!L

Recommended Posts

I would ask my self if 15 g will be noticeable in what is a large batch? Perhaps throw it in earlier for some IBUs and move the 30 min Cascade to later?

 

As for the hops - I like to try different ones, and oh boy did the Eureka smell good!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 888
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Thanks, Ben. Being a bitterness princess, I don't really want to let the IBUs get too high, but I do enjoy flavour/aroma. Is this schedule getting closer to what you were thinking?

 

Estimated IBU: 35.9 IBUs

 

25.00 g Amarillo [9.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min 12.7 IBUs

 

20.00 g Cascade [7.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min 4.9 IBUs

15.00 g Ella [14.30 %] - Boil 20.0 min 7.0 IBUs

 

15.00 g Cascade [7.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min 2.2 IBUs

10.00 g Amarillo [9.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min 1.8 IBUs

10.00 g Ella [14.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min 2.8 IBUs

 

15.00 g Amarillo [9.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10 min 1.4 IBUs

15.00 g Cascade [7.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10 min 1.1 IBUs

15.00 g Ella [14.30 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10 min 2.1 IBUs

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks' date=' Ben. Being a bitterness princess, I don't really want to let the IBUs get too high, but I do enjoy flavour/aroma. Is this schedule getting closer to what you were thinking?

 

[/quote']

 

that looks great...!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brew Day Aye - nothing went to plan.

Doing the English County FWH and due to a minor emergency I ended up having to do a no chill in the FV in the brewing fridge. The boil was also longer than planned so I am hoping this isn't one for the Mistakes thread.

 

Only just made enough to fill a keg, but achieved around 75% efficiency thanks to a 90 minute mash. Second time I've mashed for this long following the success of OVB's Squaw Red Ale. Pitching some Notto when it cools down.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I certainly hear you, Scottie. Some days are diamonds, and some days you should've stayed in bed. If you do enough brew days it's inevitable you'll eventually get unexpected interruptions, I suppose.

 

Yet it's great when you get an efficiency boost, so that's gotta be an upside. The good thing is that you've got more than enough experience to save the day; I bet it will turn out a ripper!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I certainly hear you' date=' Scottie. Some days are diamonds, and some days you should've stayed in bed. If you do enough brew days it's inevitable you'll eventually get unexpected interruptions, I suppose.

 

Yet it's great when you get an efficiency boost, so that's gotta be an upside. The good thing is that you've got more than enough experience to save the day; I bet it will turn out a ripper![/quote']

 

Hey Phil

 

First AG brew day since March 31. It feels a bit like that old Madonna song wink

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brew Day Aye - nothing went to plan.

Doing the English County FWH and due to a minor emergency I ended up having to do a no chill in the FV in the brewing fridge. The boil was also longer than planned so I am hoping this isn't one for the Mistakes thread.

 

Only just made enough to fill a keg' date=' but achieved around 75% efficiency thanks to a 90 minute mash. Second time I've mashed for this long following the success of OVB's Squaw Red Ale. Pitching some Notto when it cools down.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

[i']Valley Brew[/i]

 

Alright where there's life there's hope.

Pitched the yeast today into a 1.050 wort at 23 degrees Celsius. That's an efficiency of 80%, easily my best ever. Tasted the wort and I must say that EKG as a FWH is presenting brilliantly.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike managed sufficient encouragement for me to squeeze in another brew day to do a revised Landlord type today (after the Vienna Lager yesterday). Just sparging it now so it'll probably be another late-ish night.

 

Recipe: Landphile

Style: Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)

 

Recipe Specifications

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

Boil Size: 51.76 l

Post Boil Volume: 45.76 l

Batch Size (fermenter): 40.00 l

Bottling Volume: 40.00 l

Estimated OG: 1.055 SG

Estimated Color: 17.3 EBC

Estimated IBU: 32.2 IBUs

Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %

Est Mash Efficiency: 88.0 %

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

 

Ingredients:

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

Amt Name %/IBU

4.70 kg Pale Ale Malt (2 Row) (4.0 EBC) 49.2 %

3.70 kg Golden Promise (6.0 EBC) 38.7 %

0.40 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) 4.2 %

0.40 kg Melanoidin (Weyermann) (59.1 EBC) 4.2 %

0.20 kg Special B Malt (354.6 EBC) 2.1 %

0.15 kg Acidulated (Weyermann) (3.5 EBC) 1.6 %

25.00 g Ella (aka Stella) [14.30 %] - @60 21.2 IBUs

50.00 g Willamette [4.80 %] - @20 8.6 IBUs

8.00 g Brewbrite (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining

50.00 g Styrian Goldings [2.20 %] - @10]

Hey Phil,

I see you're using Acidulated malt in your brewing these days. I have a big bag of it but I'm unsure of the results of brewing with it. I've use it in one batch but I'm not sure of the results and haven't used it again. Do you use a calculator to help with your recipe formulation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see you're using Acidulated malt in your brewing these days. I have a big bag of it but I'm unsure of the results of brewing with it. I've use it in one batch but I'm not sure of the results and haven't used it again. Do you use a calculator to help with your recipe formulation.

 

G'day Boss

 

I took the advice of a wise guru around the same time as I got a pH meter. We have high pH town water here (usually between 8.2 and 8.4), and it was suggested that, as a rule of thumb, for pale-colured beers to add between 3% and 4% acidulated to get the mash pH right (in the 5.1-5.4 range). For darker beers, it's between 1% and 2% to target 5.4-5.6. These figures have worked out very well without any other water additions about 80% of the time. But it's always nice to get a pH measurment after the protein rest to confirm it.

 

Yet since I'm a compulsive fiddler, when I add salts especially for the pilsners etc, I've found I can get away with just 2% acidulated. I love using it because it's very unobtrusive and flavour neutral at that rate.

 

Cheers mountain man

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lusty' date=' I have made a similar beer twice before but this time I moved my whirlpool hops to the cube. Slightly more hops in this one but not a huge amount. I have never cube hopped before so I am not sure exactly what bitterness I will get.[/quote']

Given you've not done this before, I was just interested in what you end up with volume-wise outta the cube for the beginning of fermentation. unsure

 

As for low alpha bittering hops' date=' I am using Magnum at 14.1% AA. I could use something like Fuggles but would need a huge amount more and given there is another 230g hops added late then I probably wouldn't notice it. (Edit: what Kelsey said)[/quote']

This interest was more directed at Antiphile as his brew is a lager. As a comparison using Magnum to bitter a beer is more about leaving space front-end in the boil for higher flavour & aroma type additions. In a lager beer traditionally any flavour that presents in the beer primarily comes from the back-end bittering addition, so using a low quantity of a high alpha neutral hop such as Magnum as a lager bittering addition I find rather bizarre TBQH as it diminishes a favourable component of a good lager beer (IMHO).

 

Alpha is NOT the be-all & end-all when it comes to hops & their best usage.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

Lusty, I was about 1 litre short of my estimated volume in the FV but I was also a little short after the boil.

 

I poured the wort through a strainer into the FV and it wad a pain in the ass. I hope the cube hopping was worth it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see you're using Acidulated malt in your brewing these days. I have a big bag of it but I'm unsure of the results of brewing with it. I've use it in one batch but I'm not sure of the results and haven't used it again. Do you use a calculator to help with your recipe formulation.

 

G'day Boss

 

I took the advice of a wise guru around the same time as I got a pH meter. We have high pH town water here (usually between 8.2 and 8.4)' date=' and it was suggested that, as a rule of thumb, for pale-colured beers to add between 3% and 4% acidulated to get the mash pH right (in the 5.1-5.4 range). For darker beers, it's between 1% and 2% to target 5.4-5.6. These figures have worked out very well without any other water additions about 80% of the time. But it's always nice to get a pH measurment after the protein rest to confirm it.

 

Yet since I'm a compulsive fiddler, when I add salts especially for the pilsners etc, I've found I can get away with just 2% acidulated. I love using it because it's very unobtrusive and flavour neutral at that rate.[/quote']

 

Okay, Wise Guru you. If I want to make a Pale ale and this is my water profile:

 

Ca: 43

Mg: 17.2

Na: 9.4

SO4: 21.3

Cl: 15

HCO3: 191 <------This is the killer for pale ales

 

pH:8.2

 

What would you suggest for an Acid malt addition.

 

I'm looking for answer for my inability to brewing Pale Ales without using RO and a ton of salts.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Triple brew-day this weekend (assuming wife doesn't go into labour)

...

Irish Stout

(a Craft variation of the Cooper's recipe)

...

Scottish Stout - aka "an English Stout' date=' just a bit more punchy"

(a Craft variation of the Cooper's recipe)

...

Raspberry Secret Saison

(a Craft version of porschemad911's Raspberry Petite Saison)

All done with nary a hint of labour in sight.

 

Made a few minor changes to the Saison recipe, mostly to account for the AA% of the hops I had on hand, though it also turned out the LHBS overshot my LDME order and threw in an extra 100g or so. First time I've used spices in a brew too, and though they were a flame-out addition, the smell of boiling hops and cracked pepper was incredible. Just hope the brew turns out the way I want it to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All done with nary a hint of labour in sight.

 

Well done' date=' Gibbo. I've never been keen on doing work either!

 

Dear Mountin' Man, I've just run a few figures and reckon with that water profile, if you just wanted to add acidulated malt to the grain bill and nothing else, your recipe could use between 1.9 and 2.4% acidulated malt to get the mash pH around 5.2.

 

If you also wanted to make some water profile adjustments, this is how I calculated it (and assumed you were treating 60 litres of water to cover the mash and the sparge).

 

Used Bru'n Water spreadsheet to calculate the "desired" water profile for a pale ale (listed as "Target Profile" in the pic. Then plugged in your current water profile into BS2. Just used the "auto calculate" function ('cos I'm lazy) and got these additions needed:

 

[img']http://selma.phile.com.au/beer/CanCanMan.jpg[/img]

 

Note: the carbonate is still 50% too high, but I wouldn't stress over it; nor would I bother diluting your water 50% with demineralised or RO water and recalculate the water additions, but you could if you really wanted!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last week I threw a Coopers Mexican with BE2 and some extra dry malt to 21L for some megaswill mates when they visit. One doesn't like pale ales but he's keen to buy some of this batch off me.

Since I've got the twin brew brew fridge going (and an empty FV) I put on another Mexican for me with 600g light dry malt and 500g wheat dry malt to 22L.

Probably dry hop with ~50g Kohatu or Sorachi Ace and ~20g Citra

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems as though I tempted fate once too often recently and turned Brew Up Day into Screw Up Day. If I was superstitious, the last straw was calling yesterday's PA recipe Phale Ale. Even though the day went well, there was very little (or in reality, no) pre-planning of the yeast to use. I knew there was plenty of refrigerated S-04/US-05 mix that was only about 3 weeks old, but I changed my mind when I saw some 2 month old 3rd generation Burton (WLP023) yeast. This has been a star performer in the past!

 

It was pulled out before starting the mash, and not having enough time to make a starter, the decision was to let it warm to room temp and rouse it with some (cooled) near-final runnings at 1.025. After boiling and cooling the wort, about 2 to 2.5 hours, it was evenly divided and pitched into the 2 FVs at 22C. Then cleaned up the cave and retired for the night.

 

Mid afternoon today, did the day 1 check, took a refrac reading and no change from Tues night (still 1.055). No sign of any krausen developing at all. As all AGers know, this is most unusual, even if the wort had cooled to 16C overnight. Since it's easier to attack these situations sooner rather than later, I pitched a sachet of Windsor in one FV, and 2 of Coopers ale kit yeasts in the other to save the day.

 

The upside is, after changing the hop schedule to one recommended by an FNQ looney, it should turn out beautifully, I hope and expect according to the sample! innocent

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm brewing another of my Bo Pils recipes on Saturday. This one I'm using untreated tap water with, just to compare to the same recipe with the distilled water with small amounts of salts added back in to get it really soft.

 

Same recipe as last time. Next time I brew it after this I am going to move the 20 minute Saaz addition back to 10 minutes, and see how it compares.

 

5.000 kg Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner (4.0 EBC) Grain 1 95.1 %

0.250 kg Munich Malt - 10L (23.0 EBC) Grain 2 4.8 %

0.007 kg Black (Patent) Malt (1300.0 EBC) Grain 3 0.1 %

 

40.00 g Saaz [3.03 %] - First Wort 90.0 min Hop 4 13.9 IBUs

50.00 g Saaz [3.03 %] - Boil 80.0 min Hop 5 15.6 IBUs

60.00 g Saaz [3.03 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 6 10.7 IBUs

 

1.0 pkg Urquell Lager (Wyeast Labs #2001) [124.21 ml] Yeast 7 - actually 4th gen harvested from the previous starter, which I'm making up tomorrow in prep to ferment the 3rd batch of this.

 

Est Original Gravity: 1.046 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.5% (bottled)

Bitterness: 40.3 IBUs

Est Color: 9.2 EBC

 

I'm doing a Hochkurz mash of sorts on this. 60min at 63C, then 20min at 70C before mash out. I'm not sure if the Beersmith FG prediction of 1015 is on the money or not, but I guess I'll find out when I ferment it. I wouldn't complain if it got down more around 1010-1012 though. This mash schedule is another thing I'm experimenting with on each batch to work out how long I want to hold each of the two temperatures. Also, doing a 90 minute boil, aiming for 25 litres into the FV.

 

Looking forward to this one, it's my first brew day in a couple of months and having some mates around as well. biggrin

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't brew but went and picked up another load of grain.

 

iCBZEFu.jpg

 

Three bags of BB Ale, 1 Marris, 1 Weyerman Pilsner and 1 Munich II. Grabbed half a bag of rye too.

 

$395, should see me through six months.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

iCBZEFu.jpg

 

Three bags of BB Ale' date=' 1 Marris, 1 Weyerman Pilsner and 1 Munich II. Grabbed half a bag of rye too.

 

$395, should see me through six months.[/quote']

 

Oh Ben so your cutting back a bit then. whistling

 

Cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

lol

 

Well my brew day today went pretty well. Mashing went well, did the 63C for an hour and 70C for 20 mins then mash out. I hit my target pre-boil volume and SG, actually had to boil it down to get to the target "pre-boil" volume, which wasn't an issue really as I boil longer with pilsners anyway. SG 1041.

 

Unfortunately I either boiled it a little too far or I got more boil off than in the past for some reason, so I got a post boil SG 1048 but lost a couple of litres volume, only ending up with 23 at a guess. Not sure why though as I did my usual 75 minutes from the usual level, and the amount of trub didn't appear to be any more than usual either. Oh well, next batch I'm just going to start the 90 minute timer a few minutes after it reaches a boil, and sacrifice a couple of SG points if need be to get a full 25 litres into the cube. It's all learning though, and refining the process.

 

Only one very minor hiccup, the urn did cut out once during the boil. I had scraped the element prior to the boil with my newly acquired stainless steel mash paddle, but a quick re-scrape sorted that out and had no issues from there on, so I don't think it will have any effect on the beer. Seems to be this particular base malt that's doing it as I've not had this issue with any other base malts; the sugars in it caramelise on the element a lot more than other base malts I've used, including the Weyermann German pils, so I'll be interested to see how the 'normal' Bo Pils malt goes compared to this floor malted version. I'll be getting a sack of the 'normal' version to try next. I don't know if it'll make any difference, but regardless, at least I've worked out a process that should work to get my 25 litres into the cube now.

 

Also had a few friends come and go through the day which was good. They tried some beers and enjoyed them too. Sometimes it gets a bit lonely brewing alone, so I like to invite people around to check it out and share a beer or two and talk some crap during the waiting periods between tasks. All in all it was a great day, and now time to have a couple more beers while I watch the cricket, before heading to bed and listening to it on the radio. happy

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of hops in these recent Pilsner brews of yours Kelsey due to using low alpha hops.

 

Any chance you could be losing liquid to absorption? unsure

 

I asked Hairy a similar question leading into his last brew as I felt it could be an issue, & he appeared to lose some final volume possibly due to this.

 

What do you think?

 

Lusty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll admit that is one thing I hadn't thought of, although, I did adjust where I started my 75 minute timer for the amount of hops that were in there pushing up the volume level. I started it above the marked line on the urn. In saying that though, I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that the larger amount of hops is absorbing more wort than my usual ale batches which probably only contain about a third of what I'm using in these pilsners (The 20 minute addition in these is usually my entire hop bill lol). I'm not sure they would be absorbing 2 litres more, although they could be unsure but certainly they are affecting the volume.

 

It's all learning from experience though and working out how to adjust for it, and I feel like I've pretty much worked it out now. I will find out on the next brew day I suppose whether my plan works as intended. I'm bottling the first batch of these 'proper' pilsners tomorrow, so in a couple of weeks I'll know how it really turned out. biggrin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...