Brewday - Xmas Centennial

[crow_flies]

Bit of an Experiment, but here goes......got my new copper filter for the boiler and using 1/2 camden tab as advised by Daab as well as usual CRS & DRS. Unfortunately my lou filter hasnt arrived yet.

3Kg M.O.
1Kg Lager (needed using up)
200g Amber
150g Crystal
100 Wheat
250g dark brown soft sugar

35g centennial start
35g centennial 30 mins
25g fuggles end

struck at 74c and mashed for 1.5hrs & 67c

here are the pics so far.....

ingredients weighed and ready to go.....



homemade mash-tun receiving liquor.....


mash t=0



mash acidity was around 5.6

interestingly my water sample prior to strike was nearer 6.2

mash t=90 mins - sweet mmmmm


it looks a good dark colour and tastes really complex....promising.


watch this space - on with the sparge......

/crowflies

[Vossy1]

Gr8 pics CF

[crow_flies]

thanks Vossy - just finishing off - waiting for Trub / cold break to die down. I posted a question in other forum about cold break - look at my pics - is it normal to get sooooo much. I fitted a copper filter to the boiler today, so hope this will filter some. but if you look after 10 mins there is about 1/3 clear beer and the remainder is trub and cold break. Does anyone else get this much or am i doing somthing wrong?

anyway, here is the rest of the brew day....

on the boil - hot break



and here is the cold break starting


and settling out


and finally after 15 mins settling


I'm pitching danstar Windsor - I like this yeast as it doesnt fully attenuate, so leaves some residual sweetness. I prefer this in bitter styles.

I did save some from my last brew, following 'palmers' process for diluting in boiled cool water, but decided to use a new batch as this is intended for Xmas - dont want end up with an off batch at this time of year!!

hope you've enjoyed the pics folks - answers / suggestions on the cold break issue welcomed!

/CF

[Andy]

Wow, I see what you mean - that's a lot of trub!

When you examine the trub is much spent grain in there ?

[crow_flies]

yeah some - that was my post in the other forum topic - I wonder if my cooler box filter (copper pipe) has too large slits?

Although - I must say that now I have a boiler filter pipe, after about 1/5th of the liquor had poured into the fermenting bin the liquor began to clear - so Daab was right that this would help. Mind you the flow is very slow now..... I'll live with that!

/CF

[Andy]

Trub up to the 17 litre mark is a lot of trub though! Will be interesting to see how much trub is actually left behind after running off into a fermenter

[crow_flies]

It's alive!!!!

[crow_flies]

glad to report the centennial special is in the barrel - conditioned, just dropped clear and delicious.......absolutely no hint of aftertaste - so Daab was right my problems were chloromine and the 1/2 campden tab worked a treat!

Can heartily recommend the recipe, interesting almost pepper/ginger flavour initially, but that is fading now and has great malt/bitterness balance and the windsor definitely leaves a nice residual sweetness

Got some mates over the weekend, think this one wont actually make it to Xmas somehow - ah well have malt on its way from Grape&hop - gonna try doing TTL at the weekend.

I've also adapted my mashtun per other comments and taken delivery of my inline filter now - will take some pics when i start the brew....

cheers all

/Crowflies

[vaudy]

Can anyone advise how to open the photo's, do I need something downloading at my end as when I try an error report appears.

Cheers Vaudy

[DRB]

Ditto.

[crow_flies]

I think the website they are on is down....normally they just display.