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Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:31 am
by Aleman
Sometime this weekend I intend to brew my
Effin Bohemian Pilsner The obligatory pictures should be forthcoming
Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 11:58 am
by Aleman
Ok, well for once I managed a decent nights sleep, and didn't get the burners on till 06:45, having filled the copper the night before, I had to get the temp up from 6C . . . This is after 10 minutes

Took just over an hour to heat the 35L of strike liquor up to temperature . . . then having transferred it over thought that there was too much So left a few litres behind. . . also got the liquor too hot.

and it took over an hour to cool to the strike temp . .. not that I was bothered, as it made for a relaxing brewday
Here's one of the Pico system all set up to go

And the grain bill . . . all 15 kilos of it is in this grain sack

When I mixed it in, I had a much stiffer mash than I like, but there just wasn't enough room in the tun for any more liquor . . . Before doing another batch I need to commission the 80L thermobox Tun

Still Strike Temp was where I wanted it . . .

pH was a bit low at around 5.0

and the temperature is a bit cooler at the top of the tun which favours beta amylase, so I should end up with a nice crisp balanced beer.
Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 12:04 pm
by Jim
Hope it goes well, Aleman. My pH seems to be
always around 5!

Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 12:10 pm
by Aleman
Jim wrote:Hope it goes well, Aleman. My pH seems to be
always around 5!

I know what you're saying Jim, I have similar water to you and its a PITA . . . still by mashing warm (favoring alpha amylase) and having a lower pH (favoring Beta Amylase) its should turn out reasonably balanced although drier would be better for this style.
I can get a good pH (5.3) using gypsum and calcium chloride in the mash for pale wort just decided not to for this . . . as Plzen have almost distilled water anyway

. . . I will be supplementing chloride in the boil though
Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 2:14 pm
by Aleman
So far things have gone well . . . . . I have managed to crack the carbon seal in my Mash pump, but only lost a couple of hundred ml of wort so that's not really a problem especially as the March May arrived on Friday

.
I have 91l of wort at 10.6 Brix so approximately 1.041 which is spot on 75% efficiency, which is what I base my recipes on.
First lot of hops are in (100g of saaz pellets in each fermenter, only around 1.6%aa)
Pictures to follow
Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 4:47 pm
by jdt199
Sounds like its going well Aleman! All this is making me want to move to AG quicker. I must sort a boiler soon. A bad time for the credit cruch I feel.
Anyway keep us updated with more pics. I want more brew porn!!
Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 7:02 pm
by Aleman
OK just to update the thread. This is one of the kettles, just after I started transferring wort from the tun, with the First Wort hops added (100g Saaz Pellets)
So while I was removing wort from the tun, I had to sparge the grain . . for this I use a really hi-tech piece of equipment . . . Note the recirculation Manifold left in place
Estimated that I needed to collect around 90L of wort . . . . which gave me my second problem . . . The coppers only hold 50L max . .. it was a bit full as they came to the boil, I was concerned in case it boiled over.
However, I was fairly lucky, and soon achieved a rolling boil . . . one benefit of FWH it does tend to make boil overs a little less likely
Not to sure about the colour of that wort though, who ever heard of green beer ? :sick: Still this stack of hops is still waiting to go in.
After 90 minutes I cooled the wort in each copper down to 35C . . . Note the formation of a good Hot Break'
and then the brewday was interrupted by the Brazilian Grand Prix, followed by a very nice roast Lamb Henry dinner .. . meant I resumed brewing at around 9 PM, so a quick transfer of the cooled wort (which had dropped to 25C at this time). After transferring the wort to the FV I was left with this
In the copper. However I did get 71L of wort at 12.2 Brix (1.047) in the FV.
Which was well aerated
Unfortunately I just screwed up the Yeast stuff So the wort was left to cool, and this afternoon (almost a whole 24 hours after transferring the wort into the FV) I pitched 125g of Saflager W34/70 yeast in 1.5L of sterile water.
Fermenting Pics will follow
Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 7:08 pm
by Jim
Nice pics, Aleman - I like the shot of the hot break material clumping together.
I take it from your comments that the wort actually looked green in reality, rather that just being a photographic effect? Have you seen that before when hopping a very light wort?
Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:19 pm
by Gurgeh
Awesome Pics Aleman - particularly like the hotbreak one.
Save me some for the next floc?
Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:40 pm
by booldawg
Great pics Aleman. Thats pretty clear looking wort in your dip tube! Mine's usually cloudy at this stage

Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:40 pm
by Aleman
Jim wrote:I take it from your comments that the wort actually looked green in reality, rather that just being a photographic effect? Have you seen that before when hopping a very light wort?
That wort was most definitely green . . . . Very much more so that in the picture . . . It only really happens with pellets and pale wort . . . but its a surprise the first time . . . . Luckily the wort doesn't stay that colour

Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:44 pm
by Aleman
booldawg wrote:Thats pretty clear looking wort in your dip tube! Mine's usually cloudy at this stage

Yes It was very clear . . . . . I used a new technique for wort transfer, I switched the pump on, then went to the FV pulled the tube out of the FV and shoved a sanitised thumb over the end to spray the wort into the FV . . . lots of aeration.
I think it was so clear because of the long time it had to settle following cooling, and then there was no recirculation . . . The initial wort from the FV was pretty yucky with break, but that was pretty much all gone in a couple of litres . . . which sprayed all over the shed cause the hose came out of the FV

Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:04 pm
by Jim
Aleman wrote:........... a sanitised thumb ........
Do you prefer any particular sanitising product for that job?

Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:55 pm
by jdt199
Are you going to be fermenting this as a lager I assume? If so I would be interested to hear how you are going about this and will you be going through a "lagering" process? Do you have a freezer for this and what vessels do you lager in?
Keep the pics coming there great!
Re: Effin Bohemian Pilsner - 02 November 2008
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:55 am
by Aleman
Jim - I normally flame the end of that implement just to be on the safe side
Yes this is being fermented as a true lager . . . currently fermenting at 10C . . . you can see the cooling coils in the wort in this quick update, After leaving the wort with no yeast pitched for 18 hours They took a bit of time to get working. This is it after 25hours (from pitching)
And here is a close up
This morning (about 39hours after pitching it is fermenting well
And who says Lager yeast doesn't form a thick yeast cap
All you need to do is to pitch sufficient yeast in the first place . . .
The FV is a Nordic Optical 100L Stock Pot . . . What I'm going to do when the primary is complete, id to rack into a corny and a 60L FV the FV will go into the converted chest freezer for laagering . . . . and I'll probably end up drinking the corny
