First AG brew day.. first own recipe..

[NickK]

Brew completed

The original brew was to be:
IBU 25, ABV 6.4%, 5 Gallons
70% Maris Otter
10% Honey Malt
15% Carastan
03% Carapils
02% Honey

However Honey malt wasn't available, so I decided to match what was on hand.. (although MO was available)

IBU 25, ABV 6.4%, initally started with 6G targetting 5G..

Malt (weight, ratio%)
2.7 kg 70% Golden Promise 4L (replacing MO)
635 g 15% British Caramalt 30L
431 g 10% Cara Amber 70L
204 g 5% Carapils 5L

Hops (ratio of 2:1)
27.81g Fuggles (AA 4.8%)
13.10g Goldings (AA 5.1%)

All was going swimmingly well except a couple of things:
a) I only had 500g of Caramalt - answer just use 500g..
b) I had 30l of bottle water.. originally planned start of 6.5G is 32l.. ahh well.. 6G it is..

Now I decided to add 7 points to the gravity target (target of 1047 originally, 1054 after) as I'm damn sure I'll not get the brew to drop to 1000 and also this is not meant to be a extra-dry beer.

I decided against honey, even thought I bought it as I've read that honey results in mean hangovers.

The yeast is a WYeat #1968 London Special made up into a litre of DME based starter. Addition of 100g of DME adds to the resulting gravity.. not a problem..

The American White Oak i still sat at Tamworth.. do I expect this monday or tuesday. Assuming first ferment is fine, I'll add these cubes on the second ferment.. so more on that later.

Anyway on to the photos and commentary..


Ingredients as per above

Brupaks 29 ltr boiler.. just heating it up before I add the bottled water.



Thermos based Mash Tun


Heading up to 67 degC... (do I trust this? hell no..)

[NickK]

So I get the old trusted tub-o-glass out... well over ... So this is all good as we need that additional heat to make the transfer and stay at our target 67degC..



I warm the mashtin up with just normal kettle heated tap water..


This is the yeast starter.. smack-pack popped at about 7, this starter prepped at about 10/11pm.. still bubbling away nicely..


Oh, by the way.. my chillis are coming along nicely.. the two in the foreground are Dorset Nagas, in the background Caldero Jalepenos.

[NickK]

The smell of grain and malt fills the air..


That'll do..


First look at the runnings as I'm clearing it.. (this went right back into the tun.. but gives you an idea of the colour..



Well the hose didn't fit so I spent the entire time using a spoon to conduct the water so it's not splashing.. mental note for next time #1 get tap adaptor.. the hose fits inside but the liquid comes down the sides..



Going, going, gone ... it's amazing how the grain bed filters the liquid..

[NickK]

Onto the rolling boil..


Add IC..


At this point the decision not to pop out and get a hose adaptor (I have a hose connector under the sink.. but not the part for the IC hose side of the joint!) bit me... Oh how I love spending 20-30 mins with my hands in cold water.. hence no photos of the break in action..
Mental note #2 get the connector!

Drop, aerate into the FV ... just look at the head! The Carapils is already doing it's stuff and there's no yeast in it yet!


For all you gunk merchants out there (sick puppies) here's the bottom of the boiler..



Hmm I think I have some losses to adjust for! 5G (25l) my butt!! Even with starting 6 gallons..



And so... its currently sat downstairs wrapped up warm after pitching.. although I've not seen any activity... so fingers crossed (I always worry about this and then come down in the morning to find all is well).

[NickK]

I think a largest portion of the loss was from (a) the Mash Tun and (b) the couple of gravity tests and (c) the boil..

The colour is fantastic, although using Irish moss rather than Whirlfloc means it's clearer but not crystal clear. This could also be due to the little longer time for the break (about 20-30 mins) than perhaps it could have been achieved in.

I forgot to add some background.. I've imported some (2lbs!) American White Oak cubes from the US - they're here in the UK (Tamworth) and I should get them tomorrow or the day after. Once this is 7 days old and in the secondary, I'll add about 2oz of cubes for a longer secondary..

[NickK]

Looks like adding a towel around it and a heat belt has worked. Just checked the FV and there's a kroysen that's competely different to the others I've had (non-AG). It's looks like someone has dried it (like the top of a cow pat). However it's moving up and down (it's alive!) so it's producing CO2. I'm putting this down to the Carapils.

With the snow outside I've even had to put a towel over the propagator..

[Scooby]

I'm impressed looks like a very smooth brew day. You will gradually sort the losses over
the next brew or two.

I've had good crops of chillies in the past, I remember one warm summer having a freezer
full of Habaneros

[stevezx7r]

As Scooby says, you'll iron those creases out in the next few brews.

A good brew day, well done

[roger the dog]

Nice work Nick, like the photos

Welcome to the dark side

[NickK]

Well this is the odd looking Kroysen. First time I've had one look like a cow pat.. smells ok, sounds of bubbling from the FV so it sound like it's all ok.


Also the American Oak arrived this morning..


All Sixteen 2oz bags!

[stevezx7r]

Reading the packet of those oak cubes and it looks like you have enough for 16 x 5 gallon brews

What if they're horrid?

[NickK]

Reading the packet of those oak cubes and it looks like you have enough for 16 x 5 gallon brews

What if they're horrid?

Well there's two brews I have planned to refine:

1) The my own recipe brew.. this will have a mild oaking.
2) Look at I&G if I get an acceptable version of this these will be used too..

Oak is interesting - if you use chips, then it will take 1 week to drain the chip due to the surface area. I've used 2oz french oak chips in a 12l extract brew FV, it's overly oaky and one dimensional. It also takes time for the initial harshness to drop so it needs longer conditioning.
The reason for the cubes rather than chips is that these provide less surface area but extract over a longer time - the result is that the beer has oak extracts at different stages in the beer at one time giving more complexity. The fun comes deciding when is enough.. at which point the cubes should be extracted from the beer (which is the reason for 5G on this brew as I'll be sampling regularly ). Once I feel that the brew has reached it's peak taste I'll look at rekegging.

With 16.. I may have some available at cost.. but I want to get this brew running first.

[Garth]

Looks like a good brewday there Nick

What are the containers that the chillies are growing in?

I had great success last year, I kept some seeds from the old plants but I have some new seeds for this season, Jalepeno Early, Bird Eye Demon and Fatali, hopefully a level of heat for every occasion....!

[NickK]

Looks like a good brewday there Nick

What are the containers that the chillies are growing in?

I had great success last year, I kept some seeds from the old plants but I have some new seeds for this season, Jalepeno Early, Bird Eye Demon and Fatali, hopefully a level of heat for every occasion....!

The propagator is a a simple Stewart 22W (without thermostat). I have the trays raised off the floor of the prop so they're not heated too much. I don't have the handles on the lid so that the holes act as vents which helps alot. If you're looking at a prop then I'd look at ensuring the right level of vents are available and it has enough height. This one is ok but I suspect it will get too cramped height wise.

[Garth]

might have to get a prop, whats the little soil pot things?