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


Canadian Eh!L

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Do you make it as described? I'd like to put one of these down in the not too distant future.

What was your base kit can?

 

Not even close.

Mine was a star anise flavoured Vienna lager.

I cane help you come up with something like that if you can control ferment temps but otherwise I am certain the Coopers one will be fine.

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Brewday! happy

 

Extract/Partial Pale Ale

 

Light Dry Malt Extract 1.5kg

Barret Burston Ale Malt grain 1kg

Munich Malt grain 250gms

Barret Burston Wheat Malt grain 200gms

Light Crystal Malt grain 150gms

Pride Of Ringwood 15gms @ 45mins

Riwaka 20gms @ 30mins

Riwaka 15gms @ 20mins

Yeast nutrient ½ tsp @ 15mins

Ella 25gms @ 5mins

Amarillo 25gms @ flameout

Ella, Amarillo & Motueka 25gms dry hopped

Coopers Commercial Ale yeast from 1 litre starter

Brewed to 23 litres

Ferment @ 20°C

IBU = 36.1

Kegged ABV = approx. 4.6%

 

Bizarrely my LHBS was all out of light liquid malt extracts when I went ingredient shopping yesterday. surprised

I've been discussing attenuation with some co-forum members on a couple of fronts, so here's a little opportunity to perhaps play around with that. As my first try on my last brew @ mashing a bit lower using my oven setup worked quite well, I might try that temp again here.

 

No liquid malt extract, & a lower mash temp for the grains will hopefully produce a higher attenuated beer.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

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G'day Chad. smile

 

I hope you are well.

 

Thanks for the kind words on the recipe. Pretty simple malt bill you understand well. The hop schedule is very different & has a very deliberate purpose about it. It's structured starting with a resiny hop at bittering, into citrusy/grapefruit for flavour & then to more floral hops for aroma.

 

I went away from PoR due to it being used so widely over here in AUS commercial circles, but recently made a Pale Ale using it later in the boil among some suitable hops & had a few mates over when it was on the pour. One of them just made an absolute guts of himself on the stuff & said he really liked it. I really liked the resiny character from the PoR above all else. Much the same as I like that aspect of Mt. Hood. cool

 

I've been following your recent posts, but haven't really had anything I could add to the conversations. The recipes look good as always, but since you & a few of the guys have started down this water profile path, it's all above where I'm at, & just makes my brain hurt if I start thinking about it too much! pinchedlol

 

I hope it's all coming together for you on that front. wink

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

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Hi guys,

 

I've decided to do an impromptu brew day on Wednesday, as it's a public holiday for the Show here in Brisbane. I'm getting back into ales now that the weather will be warming up soon. So I have one batch of the Bo Pils left to ferment next, then I'll do a couple of ale batches.

 

I've come up with this recipe using my standard pale ale malt bill to try out Mosaic hops for the first time so I'm looking forward to getting this one on tap.

 

Type: All Grain

Batch Size: 25.00 l

Boil Size: 32.00 l

Boil Time: 75 min

Equipment: Electric Urn (10 Gal/40 L) - BIAB

Efficiency: 72.50 %

Est Mash Efficiency: 81.7 %

Taste Rating: 30.0

 

Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU

4.500 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.6 EBC) Grain 1 84.9 %

0.500 kg Munich Malt - 10L (23.0 EBC) Grain 2 9.4 %

0.300 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (157.6 EBC) Grain 3 5.7 %

 

10.00 g Mosaic (11.70 %) - First Wort 75.0 min Hop 4 12.9 IBUs

10.00 g Magnum (12.20 %) - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 11.7 IBUs

20.00 g Mosaic (11.70 %) - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 8.2 IBUs

20.00 g Mosaic (11.70 %) - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min Hop 7 5.6 IBUs

1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 8 -

 

Est Original Gravity: 1.048 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.9 % (5.3% in bottles)

Bitterness: 38.4 IBUs

Est Color: 16.7 EBC

 

Will probably dry hop 25-30g Mosaic once fermentation dies down too.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

 

 

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Well Folks it's a 3 degrees brew day at the moment. I was about to top up the HLT and mill the grain but decided to come back inside and put some thermals on. We had some exceptional weather in July and August started of wet and windy, then the big snow day, and now Jack Frost decides to come out of hibernation.

 

Cheers & Frosty Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

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G'day Scottie.

Well Folks it's a 3 degrees brew day at the moment. I was about to top up the HLT and mill the grain but decided to come back inside and put some thermals on. We had some exceptional weather in July and August started of wet and windy' date=' then the big snow day, and now Jack Frost decides to come out of hibernation.[/quote']

Ahh karma, you gotta love it.

 

Nice & 18°C here today mate. biggrin

 

Hehe!

 

Good luck with the brew. wink

 

Lusty.

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G'day Scottie.
Well Folks it's a 3 degrees brew day at the moment. I was about to top up the HLT and mill the grain but decided to come back inside and put some thermals on. We had some exceptional weather in July and August started of wet and windy' date=' then the big snow day, and now Jack Frost decides to come out of hibernation.[/quote']

Ahh karma, you gotta love it.

 

Nice & 18°C here today mate. biggrin

 

Hehe!

 

Good luck with the brew. wink

 

Lusty.

 

18°C = glorious.

The fog has cleared, the sky is blue, the sun is shining right through the door of the Valley Brew, and it must now be 12°C in the shade pinched

 

Cheers

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Est Original Gravity: 1.048 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.9 % (5.3% in bottles)

Bitterness: 38.4 IBUs

Est Color: 16.7 EBC

 

Sounds like a good brew and looks to be well balance.

 

Pretty simple one for me today' date=' coopers ipa tin with 1kg light dry malt made up to 21 litres and pitched kit yeast.[/quote']

 

Yum, great tin that one!

 

Recipe: Hop2iT X

Brewer: Grumpy

Asst Brewer:

Style: American IPA

 

Recipe Specifications

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

Boil Size: 30.00 l

Post Boil Volume: 25.04 l

Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l

Estimated OG: 1.066 SG

Estimated Color: 22.6 EBC

Estimated IBU: 63.4 IBUs

 

Ingredients:

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

Amt Name Type # %/IBU

3.50 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 1 -

1.50 g Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 2 -

5.00 kg Pale Malt, Ale (Barrett Burston) (5.9 EB Grain 3 77.5 %

1.25 kg Munich II (Weyermann) (16.7 EBC) Grain 4 19.4 %

0.20 kg Caraaroma (Weyermann) (350.7 EBC) Grain 5 3.1 %

20.00 g Dana [13.90 %] - First Wort 90.0 min Hop 6 29.4 IBUs

4.00 g Brewbrite (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 -

50.00 g Sticklebract [12.10 %] - Steep/Whirlpoo Hop 8 16.5 IBUs

30.00 g Perle [6.70 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 m Hop 9 5.5 IBUs

25.00 g Eureka [17.70 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 Hop 10 12.1 IBUs

50.00 g Eureka [17.70 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs

 

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

 

IPA time again. At the moment I can ferment them on the table while the fermeezer is busy with lagers.

Sticklebract is massively piney, so that in combo with the Eureka fruit and the Perle spice should be a cracker.

Should be around 7.5% in the bottle.

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Cheers mate, looking forward to the tasting in a couple of months time.

 

APAs are one style that I feel I have nailed. I pretty much go for those numbers every time I brew one and they always turn out nicely balanced, to my palate anyway. Some experiments like the Northern Brewer one aren't too crash hot lol but most of the time they turn out really nice. I almost always brew something different every batch though as a way of experimenting with different hops, so I don't really know what my "best" one is.

 

Looks like a nice IPA there too from the descriptors you've mentioned. I've only used Perle hops out of that bunch in my SNPA clone so I don't know really what it brings.

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Benny's got an order line to some of the Yakima Valley hop varieties. wink

 

Out of sheer curiosity, I went searching for them on the web last night, & that's where I found them. biggrin

 

There's some very interesting experimental varieties they are producing.

 

Cool stuff, & as a hop freak of sorts myself, I can understand why Ben is playing around with them. cool

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

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I get all my hops from there, the service is great and I'm happy with the pricing too. They're always well packaged although I usually transfer them to my own vac sealed bags when they arrive.

 

I notice they have a lot more varieties now than they did when I last ordered hops about 2 years ago.

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Well the mash is finally underway on my Mosaic Pale Ale. Just doing a single infusion around 66-67C for 90 minutes this time, as is usual for my APAs.

 

I decided to get out the Bosch drill driver to run the mill today and it worked much better this time. Unfortunately I think there was still some of that Simpsons MO in the mix because the base malt did take a while to crush, however it wasn't as bad as it was when it was fully Simpsons in there; it also made short work of the Munich and crystal grains. They took about a minute and a half all up for 800g grain. The crystal grain went through in record speed, I reckon it probably took about 20 seconds for the whole lot of it.

 

Having a little snack and a beer as I write this, but it's just about time to go and clean up the mill and other stuff I won't be needing again today.

 

I also got a wire brush from Bunnings yesterday which has had a long handle attached to it - I'll be using this to clean the element before I start boiling.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

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Hey Blotter

 

You probably know this already, but to get a really good appreciation of how well the crush goes, your camera is your friend. Benny gave me the idea about 12(??) months ago when he posted a pic of his. Try to get a close-up that is still in focus and view on your computer (enlarging the image if needed). You certainly don't have to post it here or anywhere, but it really is a great way to judge roller width, roller speed etc etc.

 

Who says the camera lies? Bah!

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I might just do that next brew day, it's a little late for this one lol

 

I'm at the leaving bag to drip stage at the moment so the perfect time for a beer and a ciggy, especially now that that pretend thunderstorm has passed through and it's bright and sunny again. Again, it looks like I'll end up with a volume of wort that is almost as much as the volume of strike water I started with, it's already gone a litre over my defined pre-boil volume, and I've yet to squeeze the bag. There is a false bottom in there though which would be giving a bit of a false high reading. It will be removed once I squeeze the bag.

 

I've got some Budejovicky Budvar at the moment, trying to let my own pilsners age a little longer in the bottle. One of the rare occasions that I've had to buy commercial beer for home consumption this year. w00t

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I've got some Budejovicky Budvar at the moment' date=' trying to let my own pilsners age a little longer in the bottle. One of the rare occasions that I've had to buy commercial beer for home consumption this year. [img']w00t[/img]

You've gotta try the Wyeast 2000 Budvar strain next time you lager brew Kelsey, it's a ripping lager yeast strain I reckon! cool

 

Brew enough lager brews in a row, & you are bound to end up buying commercial brews for some period of time while they age to sufficient drinking levels/standards. It's just a pitfall of home brewing them constantly I reckon.

 

It could also be because my rate of consumption is what one might suggest as being 'a little on the higher side'. whistling

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

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I do plan on trying that yeast out yeah, but I'll kill the Urquell strain first I think. lol

I don't like having many strains in the fridge because I don't really brew that often and they end up sitting there forgotten, and then get thrown out anyway. So I generally just stick to one lager and one ale strain at a time.

 

It could also be because my rate of consumption is what one might suggest as being 'a little on the higher side'. whistling

 

lol Mine has been lately (with home brews) due to an increased amount of house parties/get togethers that I've attended in the last couple of months. Most of my drinking happens out at the pub so normally, brewing a few lagers in a row would not see me run out of beer, but when this happens, unfortunately that is the result, even with the quicker lager method.

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I do plan on trying that yeast out yeah' date=' but I'll kill the Urquell strain first I think. [img']lol[/img]

I don't like having many strains in the fridge because I don't really brew that often and they end up sitting there forgotten, and then get thrown out anyway. So I generally just stick to one lager and one ale strain at a time.

 

It could also be because my rate of consumption is what one might suggest as being 'a little on the higher side'. whistling

 

lol Mine has been lately (with home brews) due to an increased amount of house parties/get togethers that I've attended in the last couple of months. Most of my drinking happens out at the pub so normally' date=' brewing a few lagers in a row would not see me run out of beer, but when this happens, unfortunately that is the result, even with the quicker lager method. [/quote']

You crack me up at times Kelsey on how similar (I reckon) we are with certain things. lol

I'm the same with my yeast storage etc. Since you provided your yeast starter/pour off method, I've followed that as best I can with the yeasts I'm interested in re-using. I think I've thanked you for that, but it doesn't hurt to say thanks again! cool

 

Right now, I like to keep 3 going if I can. Above that, just like you said, they sit there forgotten & lay dormant too long. I've got enough containers to use in rotations to keep 3 so I'd like to keep that going if I can.

 

I have a little experiment planned very shortly relating to the viability of stored yeast. About 18 months to 2 years ago I bought a commercial Saison beer by Wild Beer Co. (I can't believe there is Sorachi Ace in this beer?!!) I musta F@#%ed up bad when I used Sorachi Ace!

 

If you can get hold of any of Wild Beer Co's brews,....KILLER! High end quality IMHO. cool

 

Anyways... I decanted the bottle of beer containing this yeast at the time, & it has spent the a fore mentioned time sitting at the rear of my main house fridge up til now. I'm going to try & revive the yeast soon. I know viability will be low but if it begins signs of activity it tells me many things about yeast survival & may have me contradict much of the current literature relating to yeast storage & re-culturing practices.

 

If it gets going, watch me ROAR!! devil

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

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It's certainly been working well for me, so I'm glad someone else has been able to make good use of it too. happy

 

I have read about folks successfully re-activating really old yeast like that. I think provided there are some viable cells left, and you start it in very small amounts of wort, you should be able to build up a sizable culture over a number of step ups.

 

My brew day went reasonably well. I only ended up with about 23L into the cube at 1.048 SG. Happy with the SG but the volume is disappointing, however, I think I've worked out what my issue is now.

 

Previously, what I used to do after mash out was hoist the bag, let it drain, give it a quick squeeze to stop the drips, then remove it and hang it on a hook over the rinsed out grain bucket and commence the boil, starting my timer at the appropriate marked level on my urn. The bag would begin dripping away into the bucket. About halfway through the boil I'd give the bag a proper squeeze and pour this extra wort into the urn (maybe increasing the length of the boil by a few minutes at the end). I figured it was good wort, why waste it? I constantly and easily hit 25 litres i.e. filled my cubes completely with no need to squeeze air out, when doing this. More recently I've taken to squeezing the whole thing out BEFORE commencing the boil, still starting the timer from the same point but not adding any extra wort half way through it. I think this is why I'm coming up short volume wise.

 

So I have two choices, go back to the old method (easy way), or re-calculate what level to start my boil timer from (more difficult way). Given my penchant for simplicity in brewing I think I will just go back to the old method, it worked then so there's no reason it shouldn't work now. cool

 

It's funny the crap you think of while sitting around waiting for different steps of a brew day to happen, but I'm glad I realised this one in order to rectify it on future brews.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

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Well tonight I'm brewing my attempt at a Tasty Mid Strength.

The cube had cooled down to 16C overnight so I pitched the yeast, gave it an almighty shake, changed the bung for a tap, backed off the lid a couple of turns and set it to ferment at 18C. This is my first time fermenting in a cube, so see how that goes. There's plenty of headspace so the krausen shouldn't be an issue, although I hear Wyeast 2565 can be a bit explosive.

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