Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.038 SG
Estimated Color: 34.4 EBC
Estimated IBU: 15.9 IBUs
Boil Time: 70 Minutes
Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3.50 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 86.1 %
0.30 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (157.6 EBC) Grain 2 7.4 %
0.11 kg Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC) Grain 3 2.7 %
0.10 kg Wheat, Torrified (3.3 EBC) Grain 4 2.5 %
0.05 kg Black (Patent) Malt (985.0 EBC) Grain 5 1.4 %
24.00 g Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 70.0 min Hop 6 11.8 IBUs
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 -
24.00 g Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 4.1 IBUs
1.0 pkg Ringwood Ale (Wyeast Labs #1187) [124.21 Yeast 9 -
I'm not going to do step-by-step because basically it was a fricking nightmare.
I discovered my first mistake when I went to print off my Bru'N water and Beersmith spreadsheets and brew steps. The volumes didn't agree. I'd carefully made up my liquour from 50% tap water and 50% Ashbeck and in theory this should have given a good pH with a nice salt profile without acids. Turns out I hadn't amended the volumes from the last time I used the spreadsheet so the Bru'N water calculations were done on a 19L brew length not 23L.... So I changed them and my pH went crazily low. So I ended up having to get bicarb from the kitchen cupboard. With my high alkalinity water that's one thing I thought I would never be doing!
Second issue was a bit bigger.... Last night I'd used the HLT PID controller to control a little water bath I'd made (did some sous vide burgers for the evening's BBQ). Before going to bed I set-up the HLT was usual. I always set up the HLT on a timer so it comes on at about 6am so the water is ready when I get back from dropping my daughter off at nursery. Obviously it was still setup for the water bath. Rather than reprogram it which takes a while because some of the parameters are four figures and you just have to press "up" until it gets to the value. So I thought I'd be clever, set the PID to auto-tune, have it switch off, then switch on again as usual at 6am at which point the autotune would be done.... In theory. When I opened the doors to the brew-shed I knew something was wrong. The shed was boiling and steam billowed out of the shed and steamed up my glasses good and proper. It was literally like a Turkish Bath. I then saw the Sesto PID controller was showing 100 degrees and still on auto-tune! When I lifted the lid on the HLT all was not well- the water level was down to the elements (just!). Turns out I had (in my post BBQ relaxed state) put it on auto-tune and manual. Doh! Bizarrely the auto-tune parameters were spot-on... Hmmmm. So I've boiled 36L of water and I've got 5L left. I worked on the principle that the alkalinity will be low so I could just re-fill with the 50:50 mix and carry on. Trouble is I believe to remove the precipitated carbonate species you have to let it settle and decant. Which I didn't do. Still, the mash pH came out at 5.55 (room temperature) and I hit all the numbers so can't complain too much. Luckily my brew shed is tough stuff- I lined it with polystyrene and marine ply and painted it with exterior gloss with all the edges sealed with exterior grade silicon- so the moisture stayed inside the shed. Scary what would have happened if the elements had been exposed- wooden lined shed, MDF temperature controlled chamber and workbench, polystyrene insulation, wooden exterior, wooden roof (with bitumen covering). 4* 2L bottles of citronella / paraffin oil for mossie repellant torches. And an oxygen cylinder. Oh yes, and 2L of thinners.
Third issue was more of a pain (literally). When I stuck my IC in the boiling wort it transpires there was a little water left in the coils. Due to the sugar content boiling wort is over 100 degrees C so the water immediately changed phase and blew out of the IC hose as pure steam. The hose that I was holding.....
Nice second degree burn on my index finger and thumb on my dominant hand.... Luckily I did my time on the burns ward so knew what to do.... 
Anyway. Load of rubbish but through determination I ended up with a beer that's pretty much spot on- slightly high on the OG but I can live with that. And for once I didn't need to liqour back- my new in-Bazooka widget worked perfectly, giving me pretty much zero deadspace in the kettle despite a high take off...
