Dark Star HopHead - US05 yeast

[LeedsLad]

Put my first extract brew on yesterday using my shiny new twin element boiler .

Adapted an all grain Hophead recipe based on a post by Siholtye last year.
3kg Coopers Light LME
50g Crystal
100g Torrified Wheat
90mins - 40g Cascade
20min – 60g Cascade
0mins – 60g Cascade
US-05

Turned out darker than the commercial brew so depending on how it looks once cleared, I’ll either drop the Crystal or only boil half the LME or substitute for Extra Light DME.

However in my excitement, I forgot to aerate the wort, other than the 30cm drop from the boiler tap into the fermented. I had a look at it this morning and not much is happening, apart from a 10mm froth on the surface. I haven’t any experience of using US-05 before, is this normal?
Should I give it a good mixing tonight to get some air into it? Are there any issues in mixing the yeast head back in at this stage?

Cheers

[barl_fire]

I'd just give it a wee stir, the yeast is probably starting to grow anyway. Don't expect a huge eruption of bubbles from US-05, you'll more likely end up if anything like mine with a thick hard crust of yeast floating on the top with the occasional crater venting gas and foam through it, once that yeast crust begins to break up over the next week you might get a little bit of foam. Usually that floating crust stays to the end in my experience with US05 though

The recipe sounds well tasty by the way

Got something very similar in the FV myself but hopped to the hilt with Citra instead of Cascade, some carapils rather than wheat and pitched with US05 too, smells gorgeous.

[Fuggled Mind]

I had a look at it this morning and not much is happening, apart from a 10mm froth on the surface. I haven’t any experience of using US-05 before, is this normal?

I agree with Barl Fire. I used to use US-05 quite a lot when I first started extract brewing. I've never developed much of a crust on my brews using this yeast. However, it's generally a reliable yeast despite the disappointing head. The very first time I used this yeast, it crawled out the fermenter - but that was an infected brew

I remade my first ever extract brew again two months ago using this yeast (John Palmer's Cincinnati Pale Ale), same as always - not much going on on top. It turned out well though.

If your worried, give it a stir but otherwise, I'd just let it get on with it's work.

Cheers

Jason

[DaveyT]

I brewed a Hophead clone on Friday. I didn't have enough Cascade hops so I threw in a bunch of Challenger. It'll probably deviate a lot from the original, but they were burning a hole in my freezer.
The US-05 has started slowly but seems OK. There was a skin, rather than a crust, the day after I pitched it. I gave it another aerate and it continued happily on its way.
What did yo do with the wheat? Did you steep it?
I used 100g of wheat malt extract in mine. That was against 1200g of DME, but for only 12l. Hasn't affected the colour too much, although it's lost the straw-yellow hue of the original.

DaveyT

[LeedsLad]

Thanks for the replys chaps.

I was in two minds whether to give it a stir as there was a thick yeast skin on the top of the brew when I got home. But gave it a quick mix anyway. It was now or never!

Barl_fire, not heard of citra hops before, sounds good. Do you mind posting the recipe?

DaveyT. Yes I steeped the torrified wheat in a muselin bag from about 40 degs until the boil got going. Kicked out a load of brown skum, which didnt look too good, but it supposed to give the beer its characteristic foamy head. Alos be interested in the hoping rate for your recipe?

Cheers

[barl_fire]

Barl_fire, not heard of citra hops before, sounds good. Do you mind posting the recipe?

Aye no probs, goes something like

Citra Pale Ale

Dried Malt Ext. Xtra Pale 5.5 EBC 3000 grams 93.8%
Carapils 3.0 EBC 200 grams 6.3% (steeped 30 min at 70degrees)

Citra Whole 13.8 % 60 mins 20 grams
Citra Whole 13.8 % 15 mins 20 grams
Citra Whole 13.8 % 5 mins 30 grams
Citra Whole 13.8 % 0 mins 30 grams flame out

yeast: US-O5

Final Volume: 23 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.010
Alcohol Content: 4.9% ABV
Bitterness: 51 EBU
Colour: 7 EBC

[barl_fire]

well this Citra pale ale proved me wrong this morning, normally I don't get much foaming in the FV with US-05, but woke up today to find this one had broken through the crust on top completely and the foam was pushing against the lid. I'm wondering if my liberal use of carapils has given this one some good heading properties compared to my other brews done with US-05.

[DaveyT]

LeedsLad
The recipe I used is for 12l (I'm making it faster than I drink it):
DME 1200g
Wheat ME 100g
Challenger 10g 60min
Cascade 25g 10min
Challenger 15g 10min
Cascade 25g steep
Challenger 15g steep
IBU 29
OG 1.038 @ 28 C = 1.040
With the steeped hops I boiled two litres of water then added them when it had cooled to 80 C. Once my wort was cooled to 80C I added the hops to that and put the tea into the FV. This is something I've recently tried and I'm not sure if it's having a significant effect. Looked good when it went in, though.
I've heard torrified wheat needs malted barley to mash. Was yours OK?

[DaveyT]

Hello
Thought it was time for an update.
Leedslad: How's the Hophead looking? Did the wheat do the job? How about the crystal?
I got a really good result from mine. The wheat malt extract has left a good lace without affecting the colour at all. The Challenger hops changed the flavour quite a lot, but not enough to make it unpleasant. It's quite tart with less fruit than I would've liked. It's pretty clear too with the yeast clinging to the bottom of the bottles nicely when I pour it.
I've heard Dark Star Over the Moon is the same recipe but with a load of crystal malt added. My Hophead was a very dry; perhaps the crystal will balance that somewhat.
Any advice on countering the dryness?

Cheers
David

[JTK]

Barl_fire, not heard of citra hops before, sounds good. Do you mind posting the recipe?

Aye no probs, goes something like

Citra Pale Ale

Dried Malt Ext. Xtra Pale 5.5 EBC 3000 grams 93.8%
Carapils 3.0 EBC 200 grams 6.3% (steeped 30 min at 70degrees)

Citra Whole 13.8 % 60 mins 20 grams
Citra Whole 13.8 % 15 mins 20 grams
Citra Whole 13.8 % 5 mins 30 grams
Citra Whole 13.8 % 0 mins 30 grams flame out

yeast: US-O5

Final Volume: 23 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.010
Alcohol Content: 4.9% ABV
Bitterness: 51 EBU
Colour: 7 EBC

Gearing up to brew this one tomorrow!
Havent used the Citra yet, but keep reading nice things about them. Considering using Columbus (17.9%) for the 60 minute as I have 200 grams and need use some of it. Want to save some of the Citra for a dry hop in this as I want to go a bit overboard with hoppy this time.

[barl_fire]

great! look forward to hearing what you think of it, Citra hops are just awesome. I've used that same basic recipe but swapped the Citra for some Sorachi Ace which are kicking off some lovely smells in the FV as I type.

Got the dme, carapils and yeast being delivered today for another batch of Citra and also to use with the same recipe again but this time with some Motueka I got very cheaply online, can't wait to try that one as it's a hop I've never tasted before

[JTK]

great! look forward to hearing what you think of it, Citra hops are just awesome. I've used that same basic recipe but swapped the Citra for some Sorachi Ace which are kicking off some lovely smells in the FV as I type.

Got the dme, carapils and yeast being delivered today for another batch of Citra and also to use with the same recipe again but this time with some Motueka I got very cheaply online, can't wait to try that one as it's a hop I've never tasted before

Motueka? I've never even heard of it!
So with that 100 grams total of Citra, how do find the overall hoppiness to be? 50'ish IBU seems a bit on low side of what I am shooting for, was thinking 70'ish. I also want to bump the OG a bit to 1.055'ish.

[barl_fire]

Considering there's only 100g of hops in total used I'm totally amazed by the massive amount of flavour Citra gives, big juicy and grapefruity. I'd hazard a guess but I think the Citra will dominate in your brew with Columbus, which I'm thinking is what you want anyway. The bitterness of my brew tastes about right for the predicted IBU's but I think it would certainly be very very nice if you took it a bit higher to the 70-80's, with mine I'd probably extend the boil to save hops for late addition.

Yeah Motueka was relatively new to me to, from New Zealand and apparently it has a big zingy zesty lime character

[JTK]

Zesty lime sounds great! I would be very into that!
Im hoping to use the Columbus just to bitter, and save the 100 grams of Citrus for flavor/aroma. I have a stash of other hops like Progress, Cascade, Fuggles, and Goldings, but I really want to do this all Citra and hopefully cheat it with the Columbus to get the extra bitterness. Wish I had 200 grams of the Citra! Would take a week for them to get here to Zambia from the UK and I am too impatient