Brew Day 11-2-07

[Western Brewer]

Half hour to go on the mash all going well so far. No pictures this time as my cluttered garage has left so little space i'm to let you all see it.

When sparging is it ok to stop the flow while you cool a sample to check gravity then start again?

[Horden Hillbilly]

Hope you have a good brew day WB.

[Garth]

Hope your brewday is going well WB , you'll probably be boiling by now.

[Western Brewer]

Ok! Could resist a few pics. About 1/4 of an hour into the boil now having a goodtime as Sarah is visiting her Mum. She went yesterday afternoon and is not back to this evening so not getting disturbed.



Coming to the rolling boil.


And here it is!



So celebrating with a pint or two of my DL Directors clone from my cornie.

[Western Brewer]

Trying to show how nice and clear the Directors is so sorry about my fingers and the cr*ppy view.

[Frothy]

That's a great pint I could show you a pint of my ESB that's a real contrast.

Frothy

[Western Brewer]

Flavour hops (Styrian Goldings) and Irish Moss going in. 15 minutes to go. 7g of Styrians to go in for aroma at end of boil. Then the counter-flow comes out. The bit I hate, always get panicky about how long it's taking and whether is sticking or not.

Frothy. Thanks for the compliment. It goes down rather well I must say. Although is it a bit light in colour compared to the genuine thing? I followed the recipe to the letter.

[Western Brewer]

Cooling.



Usual dodgy set up.



The business end.

[Western Brewer]

All done and dusted at 2.30 pm started at 9.30 so pleased with that timing.

OG is 1060 by the looks of things, aiming for 1058 but I have seriously underestimated the efficiency of my CF cooler. Wort temp is only about 9deg C Going to place the fermenter next to a rad for a while to see if I can raise the temp prior to pitching the yeast. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Really enjoyed today, great fun.
Edit: Just checked and the recipe OG was 1059 not 1058 as I stated so I missed by one.

[Andy]

but I have seriously underestimated the efficiency of my CF cooler. Wort temp is only about 9deg C

You don't need much flow with the mains water temp this time of year! I found out I was using a dodgy thermometer to monitor the wort output of my CFC on the last brew and the 23degC reading was actually 15 degC. Luckily I sussed what was going on and turned the cooling water flow right down for the rest of the batch and got to a suitable pitching temp.

Fingers crossed for you but it will take ages to get that volume of wort form 9 up to 20 degC. Have you got an electric blanket or similar you can wrap around the fermenter ?

[iowalad]

Looks like a nice days work. Hope you get your temp figured out.

Nice looking pint.

[Western Brewer]

[quote="AndyHave you got an electric blanket or similar you can wrap around the fermenter ?[/quote]

No unfortunatley. I am thinking about putting the fermenter into a bath of hot water to try and raise the temp a bit quicker.
Will pitch the yeast this evening no matter what though and will keep my fingers crossed.
I'll watch the flow rate next time.

[kt88man]

Looking good - Your Hobgoblin clone I assume. Hope it turns out well.

Be interested in how this matches the genuine beer, I'm rather fond of a pint or two of the 'goblin. I take it you're using the Wyeast 1187 to attain the 'goblin fruitiness?

BTW, garages are meant to be cluttered...

[Western Brewer]

I take it you're using the Wyeast 1187 to attain the 'goblin fruitiness?

I guess so. I freely admit that I am still learning. The recipe is from Beer Captured/Clone.

[Western Brewer]

Put the rather cool wort in the airing cupboard. Warmest place. Took a reading before it went in and already up to just under 12degC. Will take another in an hour or so to see how it's going.