Home Brew Forum

Hi all,

I had the urge to brew something vaguely inspired by TTL today, so this is my (half-arsed) attempt at it using what I had lying around. I made it as a small batch on the stove-top in a big stockpot and grainbag. 2KG grain, no sparge, 70% efficiency, 8L in the fermenter. Quick and easy, required minimal attention so I could watch the footy whilst brewing, and was quick and easy to clean up afterwards.
Result!

I admit I went a little heavy on the Bobek at 0 mins, but it's what I had left in my freezer so I thought why not. I want a strong Styrian aroma and a bit of the lemony taste to come through from the hot steep.

OG 1.046
FG 1.011
IBU 40
EBC 14

Recipe
85% Maris Otter
3% Flaked Barley
6% Caramalt
4% Pale Crystal
2% Medium Crystal

24g - 33.0 IBU - EKG 5.2% @ 60 min FWH
16g - 7.0 IBU - EKG 5.2% @ 10 mins
29g - 0 IBU - Bobek 4.8% @ 0 mins
Protofloc and Servomyces at 10mins

Small additions of lactic acid and gypsum to the mash.
150°F / 65.5°C single infusion mash, large repitch of WLP002 (Fullers).
Pitched at 18°C after 45 seconds @ 2L / minute pure O2. I'll allow it to reach a maximum of 21°C over the course of fermentation.

First time using an antique 2-gallon solid glass carboy I picked up at the local second hand store for a fiver. It's really heavy and solid but it works out perfectly as I can fit about 8L in it, which is about the max I can get out of my stock pot after hop losses. It also fits perfectly into an old 33L plastic bucket so I can ferment in a water bath to keep the fermentation temperature a bit more stable.

BIAB are taking over the world!!!

Mattypower wrote:BIAB are taking over the world!!!

Yeh, well I don't like how I get all the bits of grain in the boil from the lack of vorlauf, but it sure does save a lot of time at the expense of a small amount of efficiency. Anything that gets my experimental batches done quicker is fine by me. It is supposed to be a fun hobby after all, and sometimes it feels like a chore after an 8-hour AG brewday!

Ideally, I need to invest in a slightly bigger stock pot, preferably with a ball valve on it. Then I can still use the BIAB but I can then add a vorlauf step as well as recirculate during chilling to speed up the brewday even more.

Yeah I use a 5 gallon burco with a ball valve and a hop strainer in it! 11 gallon keg conversion up next! Possibly a 22 gallon cask i might be able to long term borrow from work, need to source a decent gas ring/burner to save the trouble from elec heating elements!!

Kegged this on Friday, it turned out really well actually Nice and caramelly, but finishing dry and hoppy.
I might mix it up the goldings next time with fuggles, or FWH the beer with fuggles.

Had another glass of this yesterday, and I have to say it's pretty damn tasty. It looks for all the world like the bottled TTL - colour is dead-on. It also tastes remarkably similar. The bitterness is a bit finer, TTL is somewhat coarser which I'm guessing comes from the use of fuggles as well as goldings. Also the TTL has a sort of maple-syrup, caramel something to it that my beer doesn't have, but it's very subtle.