Chinook Ale

[yashicamat]

Today was the day that saw my new brewing set up put to the test. Main changes are:

- 4 tier gravity set up, as opposed to 3 tier (which involved a lot of lifting about)
- New mashtun (far better than the old one, loses less heat over the mash and runs off better)
- New FV (with even more headroom and a proper seal, this will take 24 litres with about 5" of headspace still. Smaller output diamter tap fitted too so when racking the flow rate down the racking tube isn't quite so extreme)

Brewday itself was pretty smooth, the new setup works brilliantly when it's all singing, but it's a bit of a pain putting the various bits of wood around so that the different vessels are at the correct height. The hopstopper actually struggled a bit with the 90g of pellets I threw at it today, probably because the complete lack of any whole hops meant that they just swamped the hopstopper mesh. Still ran off, but a lot more slowly than normal and not quickly enough to get a proper siphon, so I collected 23 litres instead of 24. Oh well.

Here's the recipe, just intended for a nice session ale:

4050g Low colour MO
224g Vienna malt
134g Munich malt
90g Caramalt

20g Chinook 11.1% AA for 60 minutes
47g Chinook 11.1% AA for 15 minutes + 1 No. protofloc
23g Chinook 11.1% AA steep

Expected OG at 75% efficiency* : 1042
Expected IBUs : 48

*I used to always attain 83% efficiency as regular as clockwork, however last week saw a much lower efficiency so I thought I'd play safe. As it happens, my efficiency has gone up again, so I have ended up with an OG of 1046. As a result, I upped the IBUs to 50 (sounds a lot, but I am finding 1:1 ratio beers still not that bitter, so I am experimenting). The hop quantities above reflect the revised bitterness levels.

Anyway, some photos:

HLT on:


New mashtun (notice I have added 6 stainless steel bolts to hold the plate down firmly - really works a treat and also supports the ball valve)


Preheating the mashtun:


Water treatment chemicals used:


Grains:


Doughing in:


Mash temp reached:


Insulation during mash (I was very cynical of this method compared to a coolbox, but it really works . . . £10 Argos bag):


Start of the run-off (fly sparging):


4 tier brewery in action:


View of the setup from above!:


Bittering hops (I can never get my head around how little pellets are used . . . but then again the AA is very high too):


Reaching the boil (yes I had to stir those pellets back in, but it settled down after this):


Spent grain:


Wort looking nice and clear during cooling:


Running off into the FV:


Overall a good brewday, even managed to barrel my Bobek Pale Ale during the boil.

[flything]

Looks good, impressed with the clarity of your wort, do you think it's the mash tun false bottom that does it (I use a manifold and it's never that clear)?

[yashicamat]

Looks good, impressed with the clarity of your wort, do you think it's the mash tun false bottom that does it (I use a manifold and it's never that clear)?

A good boil, a protofloc tablet and a rapid cool are the key. It wasn't this clear until the temperature had dropped below 30 degrees C. The mashtun definitely helped with clear runnings (although I think I need to recirculate more) but this on it's own isn't a major factor in my experience. Last weekend's brew saw a previous version of that mashtun allowing huge amounts of grain bits into the boil, but that cleared in the same way (and thankfully is tasting fine too).
The protofloc though is a country mile away from old fashioned irish moss, which I never had much success with in getting the wort to clear.

[WishboneBrewery]

Interesting setup there, good job for that plank in your 4 tier!
A HLT is the next logical step for me.

[yashicamat]

Interesting setup there, good job for that plank in your 4 tier!
A HLT is the next logical step for me.

Yeah, that plank is quite important. It looks a bit haphazard, but it does work well. There are little wooden wedges supporting the HLT and the boiler as the chairs don't have a flat surface. The overall setup is quite solid actually, especially once the vessels all have liquid in them.

A HTL is invaluable - best thing I made, perhaps apart from the hopstopper. Just a 1/2" ball valve and associated fittings (I use 8mm microbore copper pipe to give an extension, it's a nice size and works well, plus it's easy to fit tubing over the end), a couple of kettle elements and a suitable bucket (the Ritchies one shown in the photo is suitable, but NOT the Youngs type FV which are hopeless for anything above mash temperatures). A ball valve is very handy if you fly sparge as it is so much easier to control flowrate than a plastic tap.

[WishboneBrewery]

I've found 8mm a good size as it keeps the syphoning going well, I restrict my outflow pipes to around that size and they work well.

[DarloDave]

Great brewday, Im gonna order some Chinooks soon I think!

[flything]

It looks a bit haphazard, but it does work well.

Looks quite tidy to me !

I've always used Irish Moss and my beers turn out well but for some reason I'd still like clearer wort, will give one of the 'flocs a go next time, cheers

[yashicamat]

This is tasting excellent from the FV. Really hoppy, fantastic aroma and a really nice bitterness. Hopefully it'll all last into the cask when it's dropped bright.

[adeybambam]

Is that just a sleeping bag wrapped round the mash tun? Does it maintain the temperature well? I'm in the process of getting together some equipment and want to do 10gallon brew lengths so if I could get away with a large FV wrapped in a similar bag that would be grand. Congrats on a great brewday!

[mysterio]

Nice pics!

I've been a bit conservative with my hop varieties, been using the same 4 or 5 for ages now, i'm branching out a bit now and Chinooks are definately coming up on my hit list.

[Nermal]

Looks like a nice brew - might do this to use up my chinooks.

What yeast did you use? - I was thinking of using US-05

Cheers

[yashicamat]

I used US-05 for this - my preferred yeast for hoppy ales. Note quite clear yet though, still has a slight haze. Should be ready by the end of the week.

[Nermal]

Splendid - that's what I've ordered. I've not got too many chinooks so have changed the schedule to:

20g Chinook 90 min
35g Chinook 15 min
20g Chinook 0 min / flame out

Should give me 39 IBUs and have upped the grain slightly to give me an OG of 1047 with my 70% mash efficiency.

[yashicamat]

Just supping a half of this Chinook Ale now. Fantastic grapefruit flavour and aroma, followed by a lovely subtle maltiness then a fantastic dry finish. Really worked out well this one. Not 100% star bright yet though, but it tastes fabulous. I think I'd be tempted to up the munich and vienna a touch next time though so their presence is a little more.