AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

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Monkeybrew
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AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by Monkeybrew » Sun May 27, 2018 8:40 am

After lots of reading, watching YouTube videos, saving and also the selling of some kit, I finally received my Grainfather on Monday this week :D

I can honestly say that it was a joy to use, and it made most of the brewday experience very relaxing, as everything felt very controlled. The only stage that I was faffing with, was when I used the counterflow chiller, which was down to my lack of understanding of how this process worked compared to using an immersion chiller.

The mash was underway at 6pm and I was all cleaned up by 11.30pm, which was about an hour quicker than my usual 3 vessel brewday, but I know that I have definite room for improvement as I refine my chilling technique and my cleaning regime.

I have been planning to brew Dennis King's Galaxy Delight for a while now, but fancied trying it with some 2017 Citra t0 start with, and boy did they smell amazing when I opened the pack!

I've also got the Galaxy version planned and also an Apollo one.


Citra Delight
American Pale Ale

Brew Date: 25/05/18

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.5
Total Grain (kg): 5.000
Total Hops (g): 112.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.049 (°P): 12.1
Final Gravity (FG): 1.010 (°P): 2.6
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.07 %
Colour (SRM): 4.8 (EBC): 9.4
Bitterness (IBU): 48.0 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 73
Mash Efficiency (%): 88
Mash pH: 5.54
Pre-boil Gravity: 1.045 @28.5L
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.600 kg Bairds Heritage 1823 Maris Otter Malt (92%)
0.300 kg Weyermann Vienna Malt (6%)
0.100 kg Dingemans Aromatic Malt (2%)

Hop Bill
----------------
12.0 g Magnum Leaf (13.2% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)
50.0 g Citra Pellet (13.1% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (2.1 g/L)
50.0 g Citra Pellet (13.1% Alpha) @ 10 Days (Dry Hop) (2.1 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
0.83 g Calcium Chloride @ 60 Minutes (Mash)
3.95 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) @ 60 Minutes (Mash)
3.95 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
0.5 g Protafloc Tablet @ 15 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 67°C for 60 Minutes.
Mash Out at 75C for 10 Minutes

Fermented at 19°C with M44 - Mangrove Jacks West Coast Ale

Total Liquor - 32L
Mash Liquor - 17L (2.7L/Kg + 3.5L)
Sparge Liquor - 15L


The Grainfather sitting on it's little dolly, worked out an almost perfect height for filling and sparging from my existing HLT setup - 'The Not Quite All In One Brewing System' [-X
1.jpg

The Grainfather Connect Bluetooth App is a nice bit of kit, but seems slightly redundant, when you can do everything from the connect controller on the GF itself
2.jpg

These next 3 pictures show the mash at the start, at 30mins and then 60mins, the way that the clarity of the wort improves during the recirculation of the mash is very pleasing to the eye and mind. (note the Welsh dragon on my brewfridge keeping an eye on things in the 2nd pictue :mrgreen: )

The sink strainer addition is something that I picked up from watching YouTube videos, to stop any pieces of the grain from going down the centre overflow pipe if the grain crush is too fine, but I had no issues, as my grain came from the Malt Miller :wink:
4.jpg
5.jpg
6.jpg

The Connect controller has some great features and is simple to use. My favourite feature is the way that it automatically sets the wort temperature target to 96C when you move to the sparging stage of a recipe, so it's heating towards the boil while you sparge, but has no danger of boiling over
8.jpg

Hop additions at 60mins (Magnum Leaf) & 15mins (Citra Pellets)
9.jpg
10.jpg

Running the wort through the counterflow chiller at knockout to sterilise things
11.jpg

Leftovers
12.jpg

Clearest wort that I've ever had at the end of a brewday :)
13.jpg
One thing that I still haven't fully got my head around yet, is the big difference from mash efficiency to brewhouse efficiency - 88% down to 73% :-k , I will just have to see if this ratio continues as I get more brews under my belt.

Certainly still a successful first brewday, and with a few lessons learnt, I'm already planning the next brew which is going to be a 12L batch of a Vienna Lager.

Cheers

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

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Jim
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Re: AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by Jim » Sun May 27, 2018 8:53 am

Usually brewhouse efficiency is down the sparge in my experience.

Nice post for anyone considering a GF. :)
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Manngold
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Re: AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by Manngold » Sun May 27, 2018 9:23 am

Brilliant write up MB. I love my Grainfather, it has reignited my spark for brewing and makes me want to brew regularly.

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Monkeybrew
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Re: AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by Monkeybrew » Sun May 27, 2018 9:34 am

Jim wrote:
Sun May 27, 2018 8:53 am
Usually brewhouse efficiency is down the sparge in my experience.

Nice post for anyone considering a GF. :)
I would say that my sparge went well, as my mash efficiency was 88%, but I think that I lost some wort in the chiller that probably affected my overall brewhouse efficiency.

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4104
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by Monkeybrew » Sun May 27, 2018 9:53 am

Manngold wrote:
Sun May 27, 2018 9:23 am
Brilliant write up MB. I love my Grainfather, it has reignited my spark for brewing and makes me want to brew regularly.
Cheers MG,

I hadn't lost my spark, but my 3 vessel kit took up a fair bit of room when I wasn't using it and my homemade boiler had lasted well for the 29 brews that I used it for, but it was in need of replacement, so I ended up deciding that a GF would suit my needs.

I also bought the micro pipework, as I want to perfect brewing decent low abv beers, as well as having the ability to brew small batches of higher abv beers or to brew smaller amounts of beers that i dont necessarily want 40 pints of.

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4104
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by Monkeybrew » Mon Jun 04, 2018 7:45 pm

I checked the gravity on day 8, and it was sitting at 1.014 and there was still that thick gloopy krausen on top of the brew that you get with West Coast yeast.

Checked it again today on day 11 and the krausen was gone and the gravity is now reading 1.011, so I've added the 50g of Citra Pellets dry hop.

After pressure from the wife, I'm now brewing a Honey Ale next.

Cheers

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

WalesAles
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Location: South Wales UK.

Re: AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by WalesAles » Mon Jun 04, 2018 9:53 pm

MB,
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, BLAH! :D
Glad it all worked OK for you!
Sunday I will be `Taste Testing` the 3 bottles you sent me last year [-o< Oooops, forgot about those. And 2 of Barnsley Brewers Beers.
That is the plan but I am going to see Pink Floyd on Saturday, so depending on how I am on Sunday! [-X

WA

Don`t you just love the `Pfssss` sound when you open a Kit Can ready for a Brew? :D

Sent from my Garden because it is still sunny.

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4104
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by Monkeybrew » Tue Jun 05, 2018 7:30 pm

WalesAles wrote:
Mon Jun 04, 2018 9:53 pm
MB,
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, BLAH! :D
Glad it all worked OK for you!
Sunday I will be `Taste Testing` the 3 bottles you sent me last year [-o< Oooops, forgot about those. And 2 of Barnsley Brewers Beers.
That is the plan but I am going to see Pink Floyd on Saturday, so depending on how I am on Sunday! [-X

WA

Don`t you just love the `Pfssss` sound when you open a Kit Can ready for a Brew? :D

Sent from my Garden because it is still sunny.
Christ, I started to wonder if you had gone in the big GDPR purge of 2018 #-o
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4104
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by Monkeybrew » Tue Jun 05, 2018 7:30 pm

WalesAles wrote:
Mon Jun 04, 2018 9:53 pm
MB,
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, BLAH! :D
Glad it all worked OK for you!
Sunday I will be `Taste Testing` the 3 bottles you sent me last year [-o< Oooops, forgot about those. And 2 of Barnsley Brewers Beers.
That is the plan but I am going to see Pink Floyd on Saturday, so depending on how I am on Sunday! [-X

WA

Don`t you just love the `Pfssss` sound when you open a Kit Can ready for a Brew? :D

Sent from my Garden because it is still sunny.
Christ, I started to wonder if you had gone in the big GDPR purge of 2018 #-o
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4104
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: AG#30 - Citra Delight (GF#1)

Post by Monkeybrew » Sun Jun 17, 2018 10:28 am

I kegged this brew last Sunday, and tried a sneaky half pint tester after 5 days, and for any beer that tastes this good at this early stage, it get's my vote :D
20180615_195706.jpg
Even though the Citra are strong, the sweet malt base is present, and I would assume that this will balance out a bit more over the next few weeks, if it lasts that long!

I will certainly be using Dennis' recipe for all sorts of future hoppy pale ale brews =D>

Cheers

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

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