Otto Von Blotto Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 When you try the water treatment test' date=' do the one with additions using only distilled water rather than a diluted water base. Then you'll be able to really tell what effect the minerals have. (If needed, Aldi bottled water is pretty cheap).[/quote'] That's exactly what I am doing. I have created another Pils recipe using only Saaz hops' date=' which I will use for my experiments on brewing water. I'll brew that recipe twice, only difference being one with un modified tap water, [b']the other with 100% distilled water, with mineral salts added back in to replicate Pilsen's water profile.[/b] I have a water distiller on the way to make my own. Just need to pick up a couple more cubes or whatever from Bunnings to store it in. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Brew day today! Having not been able to source some of the ingredients for a Kölsch I had planned, I decided to do a midstrength beer for my father as I haven't made him a beer for a while. Coopers Light Liquid Malt Extract 1.5kg Light Dry Malt Extract 250gms CaraMalt 200gms CaraBohemian 100gms Pride of Ringwood 12gms @ 60mins ½ teaspoon yeast nutrient @ 15mins Chinook 10gms @ 10mins Chinook & Cascade 10gms each added after flameout (30min 65°C- steep) Rinsed CCA yeast from 1½ litre starter Brewed to 21 litres Ferment @ 18°C OG = approx. 1.031 FG = approx. 1.009 IBU = 19.4 EBC = 11.5 Bottled ABV = approx. 3.3% I also portioned off 500mls from the original 2 litre starter (as per the method Otto man has detailed) for use on a future brew. It's a low gravity brew this time, so I should be pretty safe to have enough yeast cells at least this time around. We'll see how the re-use of the yeast goes over time. Happy Easter to everyone on the forum. Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Geez, Groin Gurgler, you come up with some good recipes. Have to admit, chinook is not in my top 5 for hops, but vive la difference! I haven't tried (nor have I ever heard of, so I had to look it up) Carabohemian. So I hope you come back with a report of what it brings to the brew party! Happy Easter to everyone on the forum. +1. And I think we should give a special shout out to Hairy. I know he didn't have to buy a furry suit, but he still needs to make fluffy ears to hand out chocky eggs to all the young boys and girls in his neighbourhood so they have an Easter to remember. Cheers from moi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Finally up to the boil stage on this brew, I managed to fish out the false bottom in order to scrape the element cover. I think next time I do a step mash I'll forego the false bottom and just lift the bag up each step for heating. It gradually took longer to heat it each step and I reckon it's because the more time the grains sat in there, the more crap built up on the element cover, diminishing its effectiveness in heating. I remember a batch a couple of years back where I left the mash in for 5 hours because I had to go out, and had a lot of trouble maintaining a boil due to the crap built up on the element cover. However, the false bottom will be useful when I do single infusion mashes for every other beer bar pilsners, for being able to switch on the urn at various intervals to maintain mash temp over the 90 mins without raising the bag. I might even do another experiment with my pilsner recipe: one using a step mash and one using a single infusion and see if I can notice any difference between the two. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Hi P2 & Kelsey. Geez' date=' Groin Gurgler, you come up with some good recipes. Have to admit, chinook is not in my top 5 for hops, but [i']vive la difference[/i]! I haven't tried (nor have I ever heard of, so I had to look it up) Carabohemian. So I hope you come back with a report of what it brings to the brew party! "Groin Gurgler" (by the way I don't live in Sydney!) Thanks for the kind words on the recipe(s). I, like your good self, took some time to take an interest in Chinook. If I had to pick one thing I like about it most of all, it would be "spiciness". It has a grapefruit flavour & a lower level citrus/piney undertone as well (IMHO). But if you want a hop that can add a little spiciness into a citrusy brew & compliment those more obvious citrusy hops, then add some at timings of your own desire in the last 20 minutes of your boil down to flameout. In these types of brews, it certainly rates in my top 5 now. Ironically I am just sampling my first brew using the CaraBohemian grain right now. I first took interest in this grain from Dr. Smurto's evolution of his Golden Ale recipe. To categorize it, I would say it is the Weyerman's equivalent of a medium crystal (with added benefits) as produced by other grain producers. It's EBC suggests it is a less crystallized version of CaraAroma, & I would certainly agree with that theory & sentiment. Very yummy & noticeable in this brew I am currently drinking. Finally up to the boil stage on this brew... Bahaha! I started umpteen hours after you today' date=' & am about to pitch my yeast! [img']tongue[/img] Who says there are no benefits to extract brewing? Seriously, good luck with the step mash Pilsner Kelsey, I hope the extra effort produces a ripping beer for you. P.S. If it ends up with that fast disappearing head again, don't forget I told you so about the CaraPils/Wheat malt inclusion. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Ah I won't be letting this one age in the bottles long enough to have that issue Yeah extract is quicker no doubt, but I still prefer my AG brews. Today I also threw the pale ale with the late Northern Brewer hop addition into the FV, so that one is getting underway and next in line is today's pilsner recipe. I hope it turns out well too, but the positives out of today's exercise are a learning experience which will help refine my process for next time. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Here's something I haven't seen before in my brew fridge. Icicles! Basically, I had the STC probe dangling in the fridge set to zero for a couple of days to crash chill my yeast starter for the Northern Brewer pale ale; I took the yeast out this morning but left the fridge as it was because it had bottles of beer in it. Fast forward to pitching the yeast into the pale ale. I'd removed the beers to another fridge, and turned the STC off. There was ice forming on the freezer chest in the fridge. Pitched the yeast, set the STC back to 18C, and left it alone. Came along a couple of hours later and found this: Obviously the ice had started to melt and drip into the tray below, but with the fridge being back on again to chill the batch of beer to 18, it has frozen it 'mid-stream'. Pretty funny but cool (excuse the pun) I thought. NB: I don't leave the freezer chest door open, this was just to make it easier to take the photo. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Today's brew Recipe: Hop2iT VII Brewer: Grumpy Style: American IPA Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Boil Size: 30.00 l Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l Estimated OG: 1.068 SG Estimated Color: 28.3 EBC Estimated IBU: 68.9 IBUs Boil Time: 60 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ 6.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 1 - 3.00 g Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 2 - 3.00 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 3 - 2.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 4 - 1.00 g Salt (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 5 - 5.00 kg Pale Malt, Ale (Barrett Burston) (5.9 EB Grain 6 75.8 % 1.00 kg Munich II (Weyermann) (16.7 EBC) Grain 7 15.2 % 0.50 kg Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC) Grain 8 7.6 % 0.10 kg Roasted Malt (Joe White) (1199.7 EBC) Grain 9 1.5 % 25.00 g Chinook [12.60 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 10 30.8 IBUs 4.00 g Brewbrite (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 11 - 25.00 g Chinook [12.60 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20. Hop 12 8.5 IBUs 25.00 g Jarrylo [15.10 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20. Hop 13 10.2 IBUs 25.00 g Simcoe [13.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 Hop 14 8.9 IBUs 25.00 g Topaz [15.70 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 Hop 15 10.6 IBUs 25.00 g Jarrylo [15.10 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs 25.00 g Topaz [15.70 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 17 0.0 IBUs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 I see you've gone whole hog on the water salts, Ben! Have you tasted any of your brew since you've started treating the water? Have you used Munich II much before? What's it like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Salts - have not tasted the beer yet. Have used them three times including today. Going for a bitter profile with this one. Munich II I use a lot. It is one of my base malts and really nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Why are there two gypsum additions? Or is that a typo? Looks like a nice recipe though. I use Munich II a fair bit myself, probably not in high enough quantities to notice anything from it though. Usually only use 500g per batch, except in yesterday's pilsner when I had to use 1kg to make up for the missing pilsner malt. Smells really nice while it's being milled though. I have learned and noted a couple of things from yesterday's step mash trial. Overall, the process isn't difficult to do, it just takes a bit longer. However, using the false bottom and leaving the bag in there put things back even further. The longer the grains sat in the water, the more rubbish built up on the element, and the longer it took to heat up each step. After I emptied the urn into the cube (trub and all), I noticed the element had a rather dark brown hardened build up on it - caramelised sugars no doubt. I have decided next time not to use the false bottom and to simply lift the bag up to apply heat for each step, and hopefully this will see it not take as long, and result in less crap on the element. Not having the false bottom in there, will allow scraping of the element if needed as well. The false bottom isn't completely useless however, I will still use it for single infusion mashes in order to periodically apply heat to keep the temp as stable as possible, which is the only reason I really got it in the first place actually. Apart from that little hiccup, the brew day went well and I actually hit my numbers exactly, getting 75% efficiency, which is up from my normal 70-72%. Will be interesting to note if the caramelised sugars impart anything to the finished beer too. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 Typo. I think. Hey, Otto. Who many watts is the the element in your urn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 2400W I think. I suppose I could always put an immersion element in as well to speed it up, although I don't have one at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Yeah typo on the salts there. Otto - have you used Rye in your urn yet? I get so much crap on the element cover then it is almost completely black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Nah mate, haven't used rye in a brew at all as yet. Does it harden on the element like the caramelised stuff I encountered on this batch? I left it soaking in water overnight and just put some citric acid in and boiled it for a few mins before scrubbing it with steel wool. Came up brilliantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Yeah typo on the salts there. Oh Benny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling, la la la, la la la la le dah.... It may not be a typo. I've had that happen to me on Beersmith at times, and I'm pretty sure I didn't add the water profile twice. But after deleting all the additions and adding the profile again, it was OK. I haven't checked on their forum yet, but maybe it's a program bug. Cheers from warm but very humid Brissy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnaman Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Cheers from warm but very humid Brissy. Oh no' date=' there goes the neighbourhood . [img']rolleyes[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 . Does it harden on the element like the caramelised stuff I encountered on this batch? Yep, thick black crust. Had it so bad once the boil would not sustain. I had to drain it and clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Oh no' date=' there goes the neighbourhood . [img']rolleyes[/img] If you don't mind, Mentos Man! My beauty and fatness regime is second to none. In fact, last time I was here I was on the cover of Home Beautiful, but they renamed it just for that one edition, Body Beautiful* Cheers from Philly Schwartenegger *Of course, that was the braille edition and it cost me a fortune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koo wee brew Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Happy Easter to all. Hope the bunny found you. Brew day yesterday: Bottled Anzac Ale. Bits and Bobs English Pale (Took inspiration from Battleship Bitter and Magnaman's Dreadnought Bitter) Coopers EB kit 1.7kg Blackrock Ultralight LME 1.7kg Victory malt 0.2kg (overnight steep) Fuggles 25g @ 10mins Cascade 40g @ flameout (45mins steep) US05 (re pitched slurry from Anzac Ale. Brew #3 from 1 packet of US05) Pitched at 18C, ferment at 18C 23L, OG 1047, FG (est) 1013, IBU 37, 4.9% abv bottle Apple, Pear and Raspberry cider Black rock Cider can 9L Apple and Pear juice 0.5 kg frozen Raspberrys MJ cider yeast Pitched and fermented at 18C 23L, OG 1054 Cheers, Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 You're listening to Mental Montage now? Geez, no wonder someone else was complaining about the neighborhood going to wrack and ruin. That sounds like a seriously nice beer though, Koo Wee. I wish I could be with my lovely brewery now-- you're making me homesick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koo wee brew Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 You're listening to Mental Montage now? Geez' date=' no wonder someone else was complaining about the neighborhood going to wrack and ruin. [img']ninja[/img] That sounds like a seriously nice beer though, Koo Wee. I wish I could be with my lovely brewery now-- you're making me homesick. I'm a bad judge of character and easily led................. Thanks for the compliment, and I hope your back with your brewery soon. I'm sure it's missing you as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Yep' date=' thick black crust. Had it so bad once the boil would not sustain. I had to drain it and clean.[/quote'] I actually considered draining and cleaning it out, but I managed to keep it boiling by scraping the element with my mash paddle. I'm gonna try the raising the bag each time I need to heat it next time I do a step mash, hopefully it results in a quicker rise in temp, and not as much caramelised crap on the element. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnaman Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 That sounds like a seriously nice beer though' date=' Koo Wee. I wish I could be with my lovely brewery now-- you're making me homesick.[/quote'] G'day Koo Wee, while I'm adverse to any agreement with P2, in the case of your brew it seems I must, I look forward to your report on the results and what the Victory malt brings in this brew. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I quite like Victory malt and often used it with the EB kit. I recently tried someone's kit/extract beer that used 1kg Victory malt. That were hoping for a LCPA but ended up with an amber ale instead. It wasn't a bad beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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