Phew finished - Flying Pig American Pale Ale, NOW WITH PICS!

[farmhousekeg]

Hi all

Just had a good day using my recently developed false bottom mash tun and my new H&G Boiler! Recipe was developed from my initial thoughts posted on JBK and then adjusted based on the excellent input of forum members on here - thanks to all for your great comments and advice!

Recipe is as follows:
Grain
Pale Malt (Marris Otter) 4750g
Crystal Malt 250g
Wheat Malt 250g

The target OG for 23 litres at 70% efficiency is 1049

Hop Schedule for a 60 minute boil
Cascade 7.3 AA(%) 25g at 60 minutes 19.04 IBUs
Cascade 7.3 AA(%) 25g at 20 minutes 11.9 IBUs
Cascade 7.3 AA(%) 25g at 10 minutes 9.5 IBUs
Cascade 7.3 AA(%) 25g at 5 minutes 3.97 IBUs

Total IBUs: 44.43
BU:GU Ratio: 0.9

I used a 90 minute mash at 65C and batch sparged with water at 80C. This all went well and the false bottom tun lost less than 1 degree C over the 90 minutes.

Onto the boil! Think I saw the hot break about 10 minutes after things got rumbling in the boiler. Not too sure but there were "bits" rolling around in the wort so I guessing this was it? All hop additions went in as planned and I also added a Whirlfloc tablet at 15 minutes (free sample from H&G! ).

Boil finished after 60 minutes and then my home made immersion cooler took over, cooling to 23C in about 35 minutes. So far so good THEN....................opened the tap on the boiler and got about 10 litres of lovely clear wort out UNTIL the hop strainer got blocked! The only way I could get my precious wort out was to gently stir the hops away from the slits in the strainer. Unfortunately this means that I now have a lot of "gloop" in my FV which should have been caught by the hops in the boiler I guess. Will this affect the quality of my brew????? As I type there is about 2 or 3 cm of this stuff settled out in the base of the FV and smaller bits look like they are still in suspension.

Any advice on how this might affect things in the finished beer would be most welcome!

The final result was pretty close to the predictions. I got 22 litres at an OG of 1051 (instead of 23 litres at 1049). The predicted numbers were worked out at an efficiency of 70% with predicted 15% loss during the boil, a 2 litre loss to hops and trub and the known deadspace of 250mls in my mash tun. I guess this result means that I have either had higher evaporation losses and/or lost a bit more to the hops and trub? Does the higher OG mean my efficiency is in fact a wee bit higher than 70% or I am talking sh**?

Finally, pitched with Safale-05, rehydrated about 30 minutes earlier in boiled water at 25C. Now waiting nervously for the action to start, hopefully by the morning!

[adm]

Nice work fella!

Sound like that will be nice. Glad you had a good brewday!

[stevezx7r]

I've had several stuck run offs from my boiler/MT resulting in super murky wort but the end result is always excellent beer

In future, try blowing back up the tap to blow the hops out of the slits in the filter. Don't use your mouth though as your sure to infect the beer

[farmhousekeg]

I've had several stuck run offs from my boiler/MT resulting in super murky wort but the end result is always excellent beer

In future, try blowing back up the tap to blow the hops out of the slits in the filter. Don't use your mouth though as your sure to infect the beer

Cheers Steve, never thought of that, next time I will try giving it a blow up the tap How was the clarity of the final beer from your "super murky" wort? I'm really hoping my beer will still be clear though I know taste is the important point!

[farmhousekeg]

Nice work fella!

Sound like that will be nice. Glad you had a good brewday!

Cheers ADM, hope its goin to be clear and tasty despite the hiccup with the hop strainer!

[adm]

I wouldn't worry about it.

I've had several beers where I've had to screw around to get the wort out (hint:search on here for the Aleman type hopstopper and maybe build/buy something similar) and have ended up with lots of trub in the FV.

All of the beers have been absolutely fine. The trubby bits either sink to the bottom or get stuck on the side.

Really - it will make no difference to the finished beer as you'll leave all the crap behind when you bottle or keg.

[farmhousekeg]

The Saf-05 has got to work overnight and theres now a beautiful Krausen starting to form and the bubbling is getting up to speed! Isn't it amazing how grown men can get so excited at the sight and sound of small volumes of gas bubbling through an airlock! Looks like me dipping my (sterilised) hands into the boiler to free up the hop strainer has not had a negative effect . Will be modifying my hop strainer on basis of the good advice given by JBK members on another thread started yesterday.

I'm reassured by ADM's comments on the trub. The depth of trub is compacting at the bottom of the FV and I'm hoping the yeast will also compress this layer as things progress. ADM is also dead right when saying that other bits of trub will stick to the side of the FV - I can see that happening.

[yashicamat]

Trub isn't anything to worry about, I often get plenty in the FV and it usually compacts down to about 1.5cm after fermentation, which includes the yeast in that layer. Sounds like your brewday went very well! US-05 is a very interesting yeast to watch I think, you get quite a fluffy foam head on it initially, then it turns into a creamy bubbling mass after about 3 days, which then settles into a thick, dense layer of yeast. This will sit there for up to a week or even longer before finally dropping through the beer and settling on the bottom.

[farmhousekeg]

My God........the Saf-05 is really motoring now after just over 24 hours. There's a beautiful fluffy head on top just as Yash predicted. What I didn't expect is the amazing activity below the surface. My FV is a bit see through and the way the Trub is flying about at high speed can only be compared to a Lava Lamp on drugs! Its truly amazin! Trub being lifted from bottom to top and whirled all over the shop. Good thing is that everything is in nice big clumps, presumably thanks to the Whirlfloc in the boil and will settle well when the fermentation activity stops. In the meantime its quite a spectacle.

[farmhousekeg]

Thought it's be fun to show you some shots of my FV after 48 hours. This is Safale US-05 yeast in my Flying Pig APA, OG was 1051. Lots of trub flying around due to the Hop Strainer problems!

Here's the FV, 24 hours earlier there had been a lot more trub at the bottom but now the fermentation has it all flying around in the wort!



My Flying Trub in my Flying Pig APA. Pity this isn't video, its moving at a hell of a speed!



And finally the amazing foam head Safale US-05 as predicted by Yashikamat


By the way it smells WONDERFUL - the hop aroma is good enough to eat! I can't wait to drink this stuff but will promise to try and be patient - note I said TRY.

[flytact]

Great job!

[yashicamat]

That foam head will now go progressively creamier and yeastier over the next few days, which is oddly satisfying.

Try to resist the temptation to peek in there too often though! That's partly why I use transparant fermentors.

[farmhousekeg]

That foam head will now go progressively creamier and yeastier over the next few days, which is oddly satisfying.

Try to resist the temptation to peek in there too often though! That's partly why I use transparant fermentors.

Sorry Yash - I need a fix of that aroma and I look rather strange kneeling on the kitchen floor with the outlet of the airlock stuck up my nostril!!

3 days after pitching and exactly as you predict - the beast continues to grow and is indeed getting creamier. The depth of the head on top of the beer is now about 2 inches - bl**dy amazing! But ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.................the smell, the smell, the sm........

[yashicamat]

But ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.................the smell, the smell, the sm........

If you're like this over fermenting wort, heaven knows what you're going to be like with the finished product!

[farmhousekeg]

But ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.................the smell, the smell, the sm........

If you're like this over fermenting wort, heaven knows what you're going to be like with the finished product!