Home Brew Forum

Yeehaw!

3rd brew in the bag. This time it's my own recipe:

Fuggin' Ale

5Kg Optic Malt
0.56Kg Crystal

50g Fuggles 90 min
30g Fuggles 15 min
20g Fuggles 1 min

Safale S04
Protafloc
Pinch of Sodium Met in the strike water

Took some pH readings this time as well: Tap water was 6.8, Mash pH was about 5.4. Is this too much? 5.2 is recommended, right ?

I modified my IC per Talisman's photos (10mm-15mm copper adaptors, 15-15mm sleeve, garden hose & jubilee clips) so I can get more water through it without worrying about it pissing water into the wort. Result! Down to 25C in just under 30 mins.

Left it to sit for 30 mins tightly covered, into FV and I've got an OG reading of 1.055 corrected to 20C - which is higher than the Beer Tools Pro prediction of 1047 - and appears to give an efficiency of around 77% (although I've used the same potential extract figure of 300 for the Optic malt as for MO - should it be around the same, less or more?)

Anyway - well chuffed. This one went extremely smoothly and the final wort out of the boiler looked and smelled brilliant. Really clean and bright with a lovely head of creamy foam. In fact, it was tough to get a hydro reading from the FV as the foam was so high.

As a matter of interest, how do you guys take hydro readings? Do you tap of a bit from the bottom tap of the FV (if it has one) or what ? I've got a trial glass on order, but for ow I just have to dunk the (sanitised) hydro in the top.

Cheers,

Alasdair (now off to pickup my takeaway curry and finish off the rest of the Hogs Back Summer Ale)

Looks like a good recipe to me, i'll be keen to know how it turns out. I used to hate Fuggles but I love them now, i'm thinking of trying a single hop recipe like yours with them soon.

Like you say, tap at the bottom of the FV is the ideal method to take a hydro reading. I use one of these FVs which come with a tap fitted:

Good work adm

I use one of these FVs which come with a tap fitted:

Me too.

Well done adm

It's bubbling away like a good 'un now...and I've ordered two more cornies from norm, so that leaves me with one potential corny to fill.....and 5kg of Marris otter in the cupboard along with some other bits and pieces. Might get another brew on early next week. I fancy something really pale and refreshing that I can serve cold, but that doesn't need lager fermentation temps (ad could preferably made with MO!) - anyone got any ideas? I've also got some coriander seeds and orange peel floating around, so something along the lines of Hoegarden might be nice....

The last two I've done appear to have stopped fermenting by around 4 or 5 days. Is this normal for S04? My plan is to leave everything in FV for 7 days, then rack to 2ndary for 2 weeks, then into cornies. I know I need to make the decision on when to rack based on hydro readings, but I don't have a deep enough glass yet (trial glass on order), and don't want to risk opening up the lids to use the hydrometer on the top.

So - is 4-5 days normal for S04? It seems to take about 24 hours to get really going, then chug along for a couple of days, then tail off.

Nice one adm, well done!

adm wrote:It's bubbling away like a good 'un now...and I've ordered two more cornies from norm, so that leaves me with one potential corny to fill.....and 5kg of Marris otter in the cupboard along with some other bits and pieces. Might get another brew on early next week. I fancy something really pale and refreshing that I can serve cold, but that doesn't need lager fermentation temps (ad could preferably made with MO!) - anyone got any ideas? I've also got some coriander seeds and orange peel floating around, so something along the lines of Hoegarden might be nice....

Marc O's Styrian Stunner seem s to be a popular MO only brew and is a Summery pale ale, Townes IPA is also lovely but will need a little wheat malt or carapils.

adm wrote: The last two I've done appear to have stopped fermenting by around 4 or 5 days. Is this normal for S04? My plan is to leave everything in FV for 7 days, then rack to 2ndary for 2 weeks, then into cornies. I know I need to make the decision on when to rack based on hydro readings, but I don't have a deep enough glass yet (trial glass on order), and don't want to risk opening up the lids to use the hydrometer on the top.

So - is 4-5 days normal for S04? It seems to take about 24 hours to get really going, then chug along for a couple of days, then tail off.

Aye this is quite normal for S-04 my recent Landlord clone went from 1038 to 1011 in 36 hours from pitching. Most people with cornys (including myself) tend to leave the beer in the FV for 10days regardless of hydro reading then rack straight to the corny and either prime or force carbonate.

Cheers,

John

Mmmmm....Styrian Stunner - that sounds good although mine will need to be more of a Bobek Belter instead!

I like the idea of leaving the brews in the primary for a bit longer and then going straight to the corny. Should mean less work - and hopefully less time from boiler to belly.