Mount Cook Ale

[yashicamat]

Now the exams are finally over, back to work . . .

Picked up a pack of Nelson Sauvin 2008 hops a few months back from the LHBS and I've been waiting for ages to do a nice IPA with them. Today was the day, so I came up with this pretty simple single hop recipe (based on similar beers from both Garth's Nelson Sauvin Ale and Alasdair's (adm) Nelson's Gem):

23 litre brew length (25 in boiler)

4609g low colour Maris Otter
307g wheat malt
204g vienna malt

60 min mash

19g Nelson Sauvin 11.5% AA for 60 mins
58g Nelson Sauvin 11.5% AA for 15 mins
23g Nelson Sauvin 11.5% AA 80 deg C steep (20 mins ish)

(these hops smell incredible!)

2 x packets of US-05

Came out with the exact predicted OG of 1055 (seem to have my efficiency nailed now, am always within a point of predicted OG ) and I am expecting good attenuation with two packets of US-05, so probably looking at about 1010 or so FG. This one will be going into bottles and left to mature for a bit. Hopefully this should lock in the hoppy goodness too.

Really enjoyable brewday (best use of rainy weather!) and even managed a respectable 5.5 hours from HLT being switched on to putting the kit away.

[Cheshire-cheese]

5.5 hours? Now that's brewing efficiency
What power is your HLT? I'm slowed down by 1.8kW (poor workman an' all that)

[adm]

Good stuff Rob....that's going to be a nice beer.

I love those Nelson Sauvin hops - they are just packed with complex flavour. I noticed Craftbrewer have new season (although being as they are on the other side of the world, does that mean late 2008/early 2009??) flower hops in.....might be time for a new order from Ross soon.

[yashicamat]

5.5 hours? Now that's brewing efficiency
What power is your HLT? I'm slowed down by 1.8kW (poor workman an' all that)

The HLT has two 2.4kw elements in I split across the kitchen ring and the rest of the house (demand is a tad high to load onto just one ring).

[DarloDave]

I've got a pack of these to use at some point, the bottle I tried off Garth of these hops was amazing.

[Cheshire-cheese]

5.5 hours? Now that's brewing efficiency
What power is your HLT? I'm slowed down by 1.8kW (poor workman an' all that)

The HLT has two 2.4kw elements in I split across the kitchen ring and the rest of the house (demand is a tad high to load onto just one ring).

What a beast of a HLT! I'm beginning to see the benefit of making one's own. One day perhaps

[yashicamat]

What a beast of a HLT! I'm beginning to see the benefit of making one's own. One day perhaps

Really quite cheap to make actually. I used a Ritchie fermenting bin (as they're polypropylene so safe to use with boiling water) - about £10 I think, maybe less. Then I pulled apart two £4.88 Tesco Value kettles. Didn't have a big drill bit for the holes, so just did a ring of 4mm holes then used a junior hacksaw blade and went around it by hand to cut it out. Quick blast with the heat gun and a bit of pushing about to flatten the plastic a bit so the elements fitted in nicely.

Most expensive bit was actually the ball valve assembly. 1/4" ball valve, stainless fittings (1/4" BSP to 1/4" BSP male to male, then a backnut to mount the valve into the HLT wall) then there was a brass 1/4" BSP to 8mm compression fitting on the other side to fit to a short length of copper microbore tube to, which is angled down at the end like a tap. I just slide some plastic tubing onto this and route it anywhere I want.

Total cost for the fittings was probably about £15 I expect, but they'll last forever and the ball valve offers excellent control which I find invaluable for my unconventional method of fly sparging. You could use a blacktop drum tap instead, they're about £5, so all in a 4.8kw HLT shouldn't set you back much away from £25.

Only remaining expense are two power cables capable of withstanding the load, but I just use the two that came with the H&G boiler as the boiler and HLT don't need to be on at the same time.

[yashicamat]

Seems to have finished already. Yeast head which usually lingers with US-05 has been and gone! Will take an SG reading tomorrow, but I think it's actually finished completely. Obviously a combination of a nice yeast-friendly wort and two packs of US-05 being pitched!

[yashicamat]

Gravity check - 1009. Not expecting it to drop anymore so will bottle tomorrow.

Drinking the hydrometer jar sample now - very nice indeed. Exactly what I was aiming for, although it will definately benefit from a good month of maturing. Reminds me a lot of how my Cascades IPA tasted initially and that one turned out well. The signature NS taste is there, with a pleasant bitterness and a good aroma.

Can't wait.