So, back to the good solid (liquid?) stuff, beer! I decided on a fairly straightforwards pale ale using some amarillo I've had in the freezer for a while (this is discipline - I really wanted to crack open the delivery of simcoe, mount hood etc. that I've had . . . but decided to use up the older hops first). Lager malt (as this too needs using up) with a bit of vienna and wheat, mostly late hopped and fermented with US-05. This particular beer is destined for bottles, mainly because I've never actually bottled a relatively low gravity pale beer before so I'm intrigued.
The recipe:
4027g lager malt
133g wheat malt (in other words, the last of that bag)
311g vienna malt
Mashed at 64 deg C for 60 minutes. 0.4ml/L CRS (slightly more than usual - another trial), tsp gypsum in boil/mash, Campden for chlorine neutralisation.
15g amarillo 9.5% for 60 minutes
88g amarillo 9.5% for 10 minutes
Protofloc tablet for 15 minutes
Bitterness 43 IBUs
Measured OG 1044 (26.5 litres)
Estimated FG 1009 (I know this gives quite a high attenuation, but in my experience US-05 always finished about here for this style of beer)
Estimated ABV 4.5%
Some photos:
HLT on
Spot the grains entering the mash tun
. . . a few more now . . .
Doughing in
Another trial design; a stationary circular sparge. Seems to work very well, using a ring of upward holes to allow the liquor to gently be introduced into the layer of liquor I maintain over the grainbed.
Slightly modified brewhouse arrangement (FV not in the picture, but it fits into the system without anything being moved - entirely operated by gravity)
Wort entering boiler and first element switched on
Boiler getting up to temperature
Rolling boil achieved and 60 minute hops added
Some lovely late hops (these are 2008 harvest but smell super fresh as they've been kept in the freezer)
Chiller, protofloc and late hops in
Running off into the FV at 21 deg C
Wort entering the FV
All gone!
Smooth brewday - 5.5 hours in total. I could probably shave 15 minutes off by stirring constantly during the cooling and by faffing about a little less with other things between stages (which inevitably overrun meaning delays).
