AG#2 Black Cat Brewday (Pics Added)

[Tequilla6]

Well the brew was completed at the weekend and I thought I would show some pictures of the Black Cat Mild.

As I don't really know how to move a topics or if I can and I have only just noticed I have loaded the initial post to the recipe forum i have posted the brewday here where it should be.

I did decide to adjust the recipe a small bit and added some Roasted Barely at 65gms as well to give a bit more colour and more of a slightly bitter burnt taste and to use Nottingham which may not have been a good idea for this brew but it was the first packet I grabbed and so though what the heck. After reading the forums about it and it's neutral flavour profile and high attenuation I am not so sure that it was right for this particular brew. But hey it's all a learning process isn't it

So onto the ingredients. I may have done something slightly wrong here and added the sugar to the mash as opposed to the Boil. Any comments

Liquor taken to 82c and then put into the Mashtun and waited till strike temp was reached and then poured in the grain.

A good stir and then to check the temp it was at 65.8c so very happy with that.Very unhappy that I forgot to add some Sod-Met to the HLT before this stage, Damn shows the need for a check list I guess.


On with the lid and let it sit there for 90min, Very happy with the temp after the 90min it was at 63.9c

On with the sparging I had set my efficiency at 85% from the last brews figures. I guess the broken hydrometer and the interruption to my fly sparging had more of an effect than I imagined as I only managed to collect 29L of wort before the runnings were @ 1.006. So stopped a little earlier than I would have liked. Maybe some channelling occurred or my Aluminium foil spreader in the mashtun was not quite right.

Anyway, hops for the boil ready to go in when the rolling boil commences. 90min for the Boadicea and 10min for the Fuggles


In with the wort chiller for the last 15min and then get the wort down to 20C asap took 24min so I was very happy. Would ahve been nice if I had remembered the Protofloc before chilling the wort though. CRIBSHEET!!!

Anyway the brew was completed along with a pulled back moving the FV so no more pictures as yet, But I will get some of the FV and the move to the PB or bottles if I can. Its down to 1.010 as of yesterday and so looks ready for moving, I'm sure a day or two longer in the FV will not hurt it as I had to bottle 25L of Rose wine yesterday as well so I could get on another 25L of Cider. I guess as I still have some Tooheys left this will be bottled.

The only issue was the reduced volume which turned out at 23L instead of the expected 25L at a slightly higher gravity, maybe the 2 element vigorous boil was more fierce than I thought and I need to move back to one element after the rolling boil has started. I topped up with 2L of HLT water and hit my expected gravity so no real issues there in the end. But I hope that it tastes OK, initial tasting of the hydrometer sample yesterday confirmed it was beer and was drinkable. I also had a bottle of my "Toasted Oatmeal Stout" yesterday as I was bottling and this one is looking good. I can now understand about the sweet tang people say disapears when you move to AG. I'm happy about that.

Cheers

[WishboneBrewery]

That is quite some immersion cooler you've got there!!!

[Tequilla6]

Thanks should go to Scooby who I think came up with the design, see his post here

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19876

Mine is made from 8mm copper with a 8mm to 15mm reducer to allow for the isolating valves and quick hose disconnects. Apart from the first time of use, the compression joint acting like a bullet from a gun the first time I put the wort chiller in the boiling wort, shot off the end of the 15mm copper pipe onto the driveway.... (Don't forget to tighten up those Compression joints...lol) it's a real beauty.

Cheers

[ChrisG]

Looks a good one....not sure what the suguar would do to adding it to the mash....increase PH?

It should ususlly be added to the boil or ever in the FV after run off.

[SiHoltye]

... initial tasting of the hydrometer sample yesterday confirmed it was beer and was drinkable.

I've had beers that have tasted great from the fermenter straight off, and some that started urgh and developed over time getting better and better, and some that tasted urgh for 4 weeks, then in a week to 10 days more went bang - gorgeous.

You're right when you say you confirmed it was beer that's about all I can confirm at that stage too. Good luck with it, Cat's a nice pint.

[Tequilla6]

Just to let everyone know this is not a Moorhouse Black Cat Clone, it was an attempt at an Elgood's Black Dog style dark mild and named in memory of my cat that is unfortunately not with me any more and seemed an appropriate alteration of the commercial beer. The label will have a picture of the cat on it, taken from a painting I have of her.

It is now conditioning and from initial tasting is doing very well. A picture is sure to follow.

Cheers