Some sort of Citra, Nelson, Simcoe ale....

[bod]

Got up bright and early this morning to brew a hop loaded APA, and for the first time in 10 years I decided to give fly sparging a bash. I've been batch sparger until now. No pictures unfortunately, cant find my camera anywhere!!

4Kg MO
0.5Kg Crystal
0.25Kg CaraMunich

Mashed in at 67c with 15 litres, sparged at 75c to collect 28 litres.

Also today I'm trying out purely late hopping after reading a few things and studying all the pros and cons.

15g simcoe - 12.2%aa - 20 mins
15g citra - 13.8%aa - 20 mins
15g nelson sauvin - 12.6%aa - 20 mins

15g simcoe - 12.2%aa - 10 mins
15g citra - 13.8%aa - 10 mins
15g nelson sauvin - 12.6%aa - 10 mins

25g simcoe - 12.2%aa - 0 mins (at 80c)
25g citra - 13.8%aa - 0 mins (at 80c)
25g nelson sauvin - 12.6%aa - 0 mins (at 80c)

52 IBU

Based on recent (and fairly rubbish) efficiency of 65% with a 23l finished brew length, brew pal says pre boil gravity is 1.040, post boil 1.049. but, my hydrometer test pre boil at 21c shows a whopping 1.061!!!!! Now either Rob the Malt Miller sent me way too much MO by mistake, or i've seriously screwed up somewhere!! I checked the invoice and its 4Kg I ordered, plus the label says as such, but I just took his word for it and didnt weigh it again. I've check my hydrometer and in plain water at 19c its about 1.000.

Something cant be right here as there is no way on earth fly sparging should make that sort of a difference to my efficiency!

Oh well, I guess only time will tell once its finished the boil to see what I've really got.... Anyway, I tried a few things different this time, recirculated about 7 litres till the wort was crystal clear (normally its kinda murky when I batch sparge as I'm doing it for time, not clarity) and the sparging was nice and slow over the space of an hour.

[trucker5774]

If you think the gravity is too high, you can dilute in the FV.......or just drink less of the finished beer. With the amount of hops you have it will probably be a fair balance.

[bod]

well, oddly enough the post boil gravity is bang on target! I still have the pre boil sample, checked with with two thermometers to make sure one wasnt really wrong, and both read 20c. I have a spare hydrometer (I'm waiting for the day I break my current one. I've had it 11 years now!!!!), so got that out and checked it with that. it still reads 1.060, however the post boil is fine, and both readings with different hydrometers in that read at 1.049.

Strange but true!

The only possible conclusion I can come to is that the wort in the boiler wasn't stirred or mixed with the speed in which i normally empty the mash tun with when i batch sparge, and therefor the first runnings were sitting at the bottom, being heavier that the run off from the sparge. But I dont know if thats likely.

Either way, brew done, cleaned up and I have an awesome smelling ale in the fermenter!!! It'll be interesting to see how this late hopping only pans out.

[trucker5774]

The late hopping will be great. I use late only, as my preferred method. What do Simcoe taste like? It's another on my list.

[WishboneBrewery]

This will taste great, I have proof viewtopic.php?f=24&t=42015 though I used different proportions of the hops.

[bod]

Trucker, I made a single hop ale with simcoe and it had a serious pine/earthy aroma and taste but with with a mild citrus thing going on. I've much preferred it mixed with other hops, Cascade and Citra do well with it. Its got a really high alpha acid count like Citra.

[bod]

This will taste great, I have proof viewtopic.php?f=24&t=42015 though I used different proportions of the hops.

It was in fact yourself, an old one of Mysterios and Leedsbrew that made me opt for this combination, so i'm expecting great things!

[trucker5774]

Sounds like both Nelson and Simcoe could be partnered with my old mate Amarillo

[WishboneBrewery]

Oh, I think so

[Rowang]

Just giving this a bump - Let us know how the brew turns out!!! I saw the hop schedule and started drooling... i might have a crack at that myself it it turns out well!

[bod]

it smells insane! not sure if i should dry hop it withe the remaining hops from each bag, or just from the citra/nelson, but so far, it oozes citrusy mango, taste wise is a little too soon as its still a little sweet, but the us05 will sort that out, as i've found it to drop to below the 1.007! nice and dry and a huge hop profile comes out of that yeast!

[gnutz2]

The only possible conclusion I can come to is that the wort in the boiler wasn't stirred or mixed with the speed in which i normally empty the mash tun with when i batch sparge, and therefor the first runnings were sitting at the bottom, being heavier that the run off from the sparge. But I dont know if thats likely

This does happen, infact i did the exact opposite, i was getting really bad efficiency when checking pre boil gravity.

It turns out all the first runnings were staying at the bottom of the HLT and the really diluted stuff was sitting at the top, this is where i took my hydrometer reading from. If i took it from the bottom tap i would have the same problem as you. a good stir sorted it out.