K19 - "Widowmaker" 15 Nov 2009

[adm]

Just mashed in on this little number. I'm planning it to be a really, really Cascadey Pale Ale. 23L at about 1051 for a c.5% ABV beer.

K19 - Widowmaker
(15th November 1969 – Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea. Ok - it's a tenuous link at best, but I couldn't think of a name, so I did an "on this day in history" search)

Grain Bill:
4Kg Maris Otter
1Kg Lager Malt (as i ran out of Pale)
250g Pale Crystal
150g Wheat

Hops: (may change still...)
22g Green Bullet 13% AA, 28.9 IBU, First Wort
50g Cascade 7.6% AA, 17.8 IBU, 15 minutes
50g Cascade 7.6% AA, 0 IBU, 80C steep

Yeast will be US05 as I forgot to step one of my WLP001 splits up into a starter earlier this week. I think it's essentially the same yeast though.

Mashed in. Now it's time for a bacon sarnie, a walk for the dog and a splash in the puddles for the kids. Pics to follow at some point....

[adm]

I ended up with a 3 hour mash on this......temperature was 63.7 by the time I got back from a long and very muddy kid and dog walk.....


Anyway. It's boiling now with the first wort Green Bullet, which used up an open pack. I ended up collecting 34L of 1044 wort.....so that's 89.8% efficiency according to Beer Alchemy.

Now to go and play with my Cascade hops....

This is going to be a tricky brewday to balance as I've got to do a 90 minute boil, plus fit in roast pork belly and hopefully get the whole thing done and in the FV before Doctor Who at 7pm

[bosium]

Good luck with that, gotta love Cascades!

IMHO, it's a crucial skill of any decent all-grain brewer to be able to juggle cooking and brewing simultaneously. My biggest problem is keeping swmbo out of the kitchen, err, I mean brewery, for the 5-8 hours the whole process takes.

[GeordieBrewer]

I second that!

As a rookie AG brewer (less than a year) haven't quite mastered doing the Sunday dinner and brewing at the same time! The brewday has gone well, but gonna succomb to a Dominos for tea!

[floydmeddler]

I thought that the name suggested that this brew was going to be so strong that any married man who drank it would make his wife a widow!

[adm]

I thought that the name suggested that this brew was going to be so strong that any married man who drank it would make his wife a widow!

I'm hoping that it's going to be so GOOD that the wife of any man drinking it might as well be a widow!

Actually, at first I just called it K19, but then I saw there was a film called "K19 The Widowmaker".....so I just went with that!

Boil finished, late hops in....

I went with a different hop schedule in the end as I'm pushed for time. I'd have liked to have done an 80C steep, but instead I went for:

22g Green Bullet First Wort Hops
50g Cascade 15 minutes
10g Cascade 10 minutes
15g Cascade 5 minutes
25g Cascade Flame Out

I can always dry hop later for additional aroma if I need to......might not though

Smelling good, and settling out nicely. I need to get it pumping and chilling out to the FV by 1800 to meet my schedule.

[floydmeddler]

We have quite similar brews on the go at the min actually!

Cascade Raid 2
8-C Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
Date: 26/05/2009

Size: 24.0 L
Efficiency: 72.0%
Attenuation: 77.0%
Calories: 162.91 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.049 (1.048 - 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.011 (1.010 - 1.016)
Color: 7.49 (6.0 - 18.0)
Alcohol: 4.96% (4.6% - 6.2%)
Bitterness: 31.7 (30.0 - 50.0)

Ingredients:
5.2 kg English 2-row Pale
200 g British Crystal 55°L
120 g Torrified Wheat
22 g Cascade (7.6%) - added first wort, boiled 90 min
45 g Cascade (7.6%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
18 g Cascade (7.6%) - added dry to secondary ferment

Had a shitty efficiency with it (need to change my false bottom) but it's tasting great (in secondary at the min). To be honest though, I wish I had have added more flavouring hops so yours should be grrrrrrrrrrrreat!

[adm]

We have quite similar brews on the go at the min actually!

Excellent stuff! I love the "C" hops, and as I find myself with an abundance of them at the moment, I thought I might as well get a bit liberal with them.

I should really go and buy a vacuum sealer tomorrow though...

[adm]

Righty Ho! Here's the pics:


Grain bill....


Mashed in


pH looks good. About 5.1 to my somewhat colourblind eyes


Temperature is good too. It was down to 63.4 after three hours.


Some leftover NZ Green Bullet hops from an earlier project....stick em in the First Wort


First runnings. Quite pale due to the bit of lager malt and light crystal in there.


Coming to the boil


50g of lovely fresh Cascade for the 15 minute addition. I also chucked another 50g in split at 10, 5 and 0 minutes. Was going to do an 80C steep, but ran out of time.


A nice pint of Galaxian 3.0 while I was brewing and cooking. Actually, I had a few more than one....


All set up and ready to run off


Here's the wort running into the FV..... I love my plate chiller, even if it does need a good cleaning regime.


Here's the result. I ended up with 22L at 1054 or so (wasn't watching the boil too closely and probably left the burner on a bit too high). I diluted it back to about 23L at closer to 1052.


Here's the final result. Pitched with US05 and put to bed!

All's well that ends well.....

[bosium]

Good brew day! I like your brewery, I *wish* I had some dedicated space to devote to a brewery myself..

Where did you get your march pump btw? I'd really like one to use with my IC to make a whirlpool chiller but I've only seen them on MoreBeer for like $150 or so.

Also - is that the garden hose coming in the window, or are you recirculating from the HLT?

[adm]

The March pump came from eBay. it worked out about £70 delivered, but was an excellent buy. The pump head is far better than many that I've seen in that it has just 4 butterfly nuts that hold it together, so it's only 20 seconds to remove and completely dismantle it for cleaning. Which is great.

And it IS a garden hose coming in the window. Despite my garage being next to my kitchen (and connected by a conservatory), I can't get water in easily as the Mrs. likes the kitchen door shut so the hop smells don't fill the house. So I have to run a hose about 20 metres from an outside tap and through the garage window. Its the only negative thing about my brewery. I could dig a trench and plumb it properly, but it would mean 20 metres of concrete and tarmac to come up and i can't be arsed....maybe one day....

The sink, HLT and takeoff points for the chiller are all hard plumbed (in plastic pressfit) inside the garage, but I do have to drag the hose round on a brewday and stick it through the window to get water into the brewery in the first place. Other than that, it's superb to have your own space permanently set up to brew (and do other "man stuff" that involves power tools)

[adm]

I had a quick taste of this in preparation for kegging it tomorrow.

It's 1.010.....for a nice 5.5% ABV.....and feck me does it taste of grapefruit juice or what? Fresh grapefruit juice for that matter.

No surprise given the amount of late Cascade.....but great nonetheless. I'm really looking forward to this now. If I get it kegged tomorrow, I can give it three weeks or so to fester and it will be prefect for Christmas! (To go with all the other beer I have been stocking up on for Christmas!)