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AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:37 am
by selondoner
This is my second All Grain but there was no diary first time round as there was no way I could cope with the complexities of my first brew as well as document it, so this is my first go at a brewday diary!

The missus was on her hen do so it was a perfect time for me to attempt my second brew with the whole house to myself.

I had a go at a Hophead clone for the first brew which went pretty well. Yet to clear but tasting great after only a week in the barrel. Not sure how much longer it will last though!

So having thoroughly enjoyed it when I was in the States last year I thought Id have a go at Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I took the recipe and ingredients from the Malt Millers site. I decided to use some liquid yeast this time round and also added 150g of Pale Wheat Malt for good head. :lol:

Ingredients
Grain
5.45 kg Lager Malt or Lower Colour Maris Otter
450g Light Caramel/Crystal Malt

Hops
30g Northern Brewer (60 min) Hops 38.7 IBU
30g Cascade (10 min) Hops 5.0 IBU
70g Cascade (1 min) Hops 9.7 IBU

Yeast
California Ale Yeast WLP001

Beer Profile
Measured Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.60 %
Bitterness: 53.4 IBU
Est Color: 6.2 SRM

The grains I was using. (this is what I had left over, not what I was using)
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And all ready in the bucket
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The hops line-up:
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So at midday a full boiler went on:
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An hour later it was up to strike temp:
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Filled the mash tun with 15 litres of water (based on 2.5:1 ratio) Mixed thoroughly and measuring a little below temp (was aiming for 68c, though the recipe doesn’t stipulate this)
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90 mins later the temperature hadn’t dropped at all.
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First runnings:
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Clear after about 4 litres so time to sparge:
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Once I had got the required amount it went in to the boiler. Roughly about 30 litres plus 4 litres in a jug to top up. None of the run off dropped below 1.000.
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Put on full heat and off I went to grab a beer. Took longer than I expected and oh no! Escaping beer:
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Had a sip to stay calm. (This is the Hophead I brewed 3 weeks ago. Only had a week in the barrell and yet to clear. Tastes damn good though)
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Lid came off quick. 60 minute boil started and in went the Northern Brewer hops.
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Irish Moss went in at 15 mins, 25g of Cascade at 10 mins and then 70g at 1 min. Then the chilling started:
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Then two things happened. First I realised my hop strainer for the boiler was sat on the kitchen work top. :oops: I then managed to dunk my digital thermometer. Double :oops: Meaning it no longer worked. I quickly threw the hop strainer in the still steaming brew to sanitise it. With no back up thermometerI had to chill as much I could and did the temp test by touch. I then dunked my whole arm in some VWP and rinsed thoroughly. I then dived in and attached the hop strainer.

I gingerly started to pour off the liquid and got a few bits of hop so threw that out and rinsed the barrel again. I then went for it:
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Oxygenated enough?!
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With the yeast added it went in its home next to the Hophead. The time was just after 6pm, so a good 6 hour day.
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The reading at roughly 25c. So not far off the 1.053 target
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After all that I was starving and as she was away the only answer was a Full House Dominoes! Yum.
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Summary
Enjoyed this brewday much more than the first. Had problems with my boiler last time so ended up starting and of course finishing very late. This was much more relaxed and enjoyable.

I hope I haven’t caused any problems by forgetting the hop strainer. My hope is that by disinfecting I wont cause any problems. Buts it's a risk I had to take. (though thinking about it now maybe pouring through a sieve would have been more sensible! #-o )

Not knowing exactly what the temp was when adding the yeast is also a worry. Concerned I may have damaged the yeast but it seems to be coming along ok at the moment.

I hope any hop sediment will drop out and stay in the fermenter. May put through a sieve in to the barrrel to ensure nothing gets in.

With some Hophead still in the other barrel I hope to be able to give this the time it needs to really condition properly. Fingers crossed it comes out as expected. Its all part of the learning curve!

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:40 am
by selondoner
Oh and a quick update from this morning. Had a quick peek (couldnt resist). Nice head of froth so yeast seems to be ok and doing its work. Smells lovely and seems much stronger in smell than the last brew. Much to the delight of my wife to be. :D
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Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:57 am
by simco999
You probably did the right thing with the hop strainer. Those pesky hops can easily bung up your tap.

I ended up jugging it out the other day when I forgot mine.

BTW - great post.

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:58 am
by GrowlingDogBeer
Looks like a good brewday.

Mysterios SNPA is a nice brew, I have about 20 pints of it left from the 70 that I brewed.

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:00 pm
by trucker5774
Excellent write up and top photos. I bet you are looking forward to that big cascade hit :D

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:26 pm
by deanrpwaacs
Great post,i always like to see how peoples brew days go and am trying to pluck up the courage to post my own.
Luky that thermometer went in the drink as i had one and they are crap.
Search the forum as i bought one on posters recomendations and its waterproof so you can bath it as much as you like.
Regards Dean.

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:29 pm
by deanrpwaacs

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:53 pm
by jmc
Hi

Good post, excellent pics.
You're doing really well for AG#2. I'm sure brew will be lovely. (I love Cascade)

Only one question, what was your minimum SG for sparged wort?
selondoner wrote:Once I had got the required amount it went in to the boiler. Roughly about 30 litres plus 4 litres in a jug to top up. None of the run off dropped below 1.000.
Did you mean 1010?

ATB
John

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:05 pm
by selondoner
Nice one. This is already my 2nd thermometer so could do with a recommendation. I actually revived it by putting it in rice and drying it out. However for £13 delivered I think I will go with this one. Thanks :)

Oh and you should take the leap! I love watching how other people do it too. Ive learnt so much just browsing this place.

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:08 pm
by selondoner
simco999 wrote:You probably did the right thing with the hop strainer. Those pesky hops can easily bung up your tap.

I ended up jugging it out the other day when I forgot mine.

BTW - great post.
Thanks :=P

Well that's good to hear. Guessed it would be problematic without it. Hopefully I disinfected my fat arm well enough!

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:12 pm
by selondoner
jmc wrote:Hi

Good post, excellent pics.
You're doing really well for AG#2. I'm sure brew will be lovely. (I love Cascade)

Only one question, what was your minimum SG for sparged wort?
selondoner wrote:Once I had got the required amount it went in to the boiler. Roughly about 30 litres plus 4 litres in a jug to top up. None of the run off dropped below 1.000.
Did you mean 1010?

ATB
John
Thanks John. I owe a lot to this forum and it has meant I havent made too may of the common mistakes. Really enjoying everything about brewing at the moment.

I didn't temp correct with that figure. It was at or just above 1.000 at roughly 60c. So temp corrected I make that 1.015?

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:56 pm
by Lewy
Great photos and write-up mate. Funnily enough the last brew (AG#5) I did was the SNPA clone, and I also for the first time left my hopstrainer sitting on the side. Tap got totally clogged, lost a few litres because of that. Still, the 17 odd I did claim taste great :-)

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:01 pm
by GrowlingDogBeer
The easiest way to resolve the hop strainer problem is to pour the entire contents of your boiler into a sanitised FV, then after sanitising your hop stariner fit it to the boiler, then pour it all from your FV back into the boiler and leave it to settle for a while.

Or, don't take your hop strainer out of your boiler in future.

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 6:08 pm
by jmc
Runwell-Steve wrote:The easiest way to resolve the hop strainer problem is to pour the entire contents of your boiler into a sanitised FV, then after sanitising your hop stariner fit it to the boiler, then pour it all from your FV back into the boiler and leave it to settle for a while.

Or, don't take your hop strainer out of your boiler in future.
+1 to Steve's comment.
I've done this before after forgetting strainer.

selondoner wrote:
I didn't temp correct with that figure. It was at or just above 1.000 at roughly 60c. So temp corrected I make that 1.015?
That sounds much better. Worried you had extracted tannins by over sparging

After a couple of AGs I got myself a refractometer like the one here. Image

It makes testing SG of wort much easier and less beer wasted! :)

ATB
John

Re: AG#2 - Mysterio's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 9:00 pm
by WishboneBrewery
Great post :)