maxashton wrote:piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiics.
No piiiiiiiiiiiics!
They'd be the same as the other ones for Porter I posted except we're outdoors, and the beer is paler in colour.
Ok, we're done and the yeast has started gathering at the top of the FV 4hrs after pitching....ahh you can have a pic of that!! Hang on...
Well, the day was smooth, with a couple of things worth a mention....
(1) Water treatment. I did my usual thang with CRS/DLS for pale ale/bitter brewing, which would give about PH 5-5.2 in the mash. I casually ask Andy for the mash PH as I'm preparing to lock down the lid. "4.6" he replies. Whaaaa? Testing PH of liquor reveals about 4.9 No No No!! Dilute liquor with plain water back up to PH 5.5. Toss in a half Campden tab. Leave mash alone.
The only thing I can think of is our supply water has suddenly got softer, probably temporarily. Having mentioned this, Andy tells me he thought it was lathering better all of a sudden, and a machine wash had the feel as if a water softener had been used. Wierd.
(2) I underlet the liquor to mash in, using gravity feed. This was a dream
Boiler tap connected to mashtun tap, and boiler temp at 77c to allow for the fact that a higher strike temp seems required for this method. Dry grist in the tun, and mixed as the liquor rose through it. Doughing in and temp equalisation done in no time at all. Initial heat 67.5c. Bang on. Much easier than adding grist to mash liquor already in the tun, especially if you're alone.
Run off was free, with no hint of blocking. Sparge with Liquor at 90c+ maintaining the mash bed at 73-77c. Collected until preboil gravity G1046, and 31L-ish collected. Final gravity of spargings G1016. 15 mins boil, then Copper hops added, and boiled further 90 mins. G1062 at switch off. Steep hops added. Cooled, strained, and topped up to 24.5L in the FV at OG1051 Brewhouse Efficiency 65%
Pitched with 189g of thick yeast slurry.
So, pretty much to spec.
Had a weeny bit less pale than I though. 5.85Kg, not 6kg. The melanoidin seemed to give more malt aroma, and will give a dark amber colour to the finished beer, at a guess.
