AG#7: 24.02.09 - GW's Deuchars IPA (With Pics)

[Grahame]

Hi everyone,

Currently mashing the Deuchars IPA recipe from GW's new book - it took me a while to decide between it and Cocker Hoop from the same book, but I have plenty of grains and you can never have too much beer so I will do that one in the next few weeks

I have built a new manifold for the mash tun to see if I can overcome my stuck mashes, really hope that works, it significantly slows the day down for me otherwise.

Pics so far:

I adjusted my water using the "sweet pale ale" profile of Graham's calculator, and used my shiny new scales to measure the salts (these weigh to 0.01 of a g, up to 100g, and cost only £7 from ebay!):


Extreme closeup:


Hops all ready:


Mash on just where I want it (ish):


All cosy:


pH (still low, I even added carbonate to the mash...)


In true brewday style, a beer. This is my last AG, Townes IPA. It has only been in the corny a week but it tastes lovely. Hoppy as hell though! Too early for more than a half


I will post more pics as I progress. Man, I love this AG brewing lark


G.

[stevezx7r]

Nice one Graham. I'm looking at my next brew day and was thinking of the deuchars clone. I've seen several recipe formulations for this beer though, I'm still not sure which I'd like to do. The GW recipe does seem very straightforward compared to some of the other one's i've seen.

I remember I did one quite a while ago and it was ok but as I was only making 5g it got drank much too early

Once I get round to cracking this recipe it will be a regular as I do love that beer

[Grahame]

Cheers Steve. I was also thinking that GW's recipe was quite simple compared to others I have seen - many seem to add Williamette hops too, but the email that is floating about from the head brewer on other forums states that these were only added to counteract the variable quality of super styrians. They use different pale malt too, but they do say it was mainly for economical reasons rather than for taste, and that MO should produce something just as close. I really hope it is even approaching the real thing, as you say it is a cracking pint. It's quality does seem to vary a lot however, even here in Edinburgh. I have found one or two pubs that do a good pint of though. With an OG of around 1.040 this should be ready to drink in just a few weeks

More pics:
Tin foil ready for batch 1:


Ready for returning to the mash:


First runnings:


Getting there:


First hops in:


Boil underway:


PS: YES!!!! The new manifold works a treat, not a single stuck sparge - saved me a good bit of time already!

G.

[mysterio]

It's quality does seem to vary a lot however, even here in Edinburgh.

I think this is more to do with what happens to the casks after they leave Caledonian, I know at least one pub in the Grassmarket that doesnt clean its lines and recycles the slops... they get away with it because it's mostly tourists and stag/hen nights i guess.

[myke2008]

One thing. You may already do it but I noticed your using a whole PH strip. If you have loads thats great but I cut mine in half down the middle so I effectively get 2 strips in everyone. Saves a few quid.

[Grahame]

One thing. You may already do it but I noticed your using a whole PH strip. If you have loads thats great but I cut mine in half down the middle so I effectively get 2 strips in everyone. Saves a few quid.

You know what, I never thought of that before - great tip, thanks!

All done now, here are the rest of the pics. I used US05 yeast as I ran out of S04 so I will be trying my hand with finings in the corny with this one. Hit 21L bang on at my estimated 1.040. I get 70% efficiency consistently now, which I guess is not to shabby considering I batch sparge.

Late hops in:


Cooler on the go:


Dropping and aeriating:


Bang on 1.040:


Crud left over:


G.

[myke2008]

Great photos by the way, hope it turns out great.

I noticed you got an adapter on your kitchen tap to hook up your IC. Where did you get it from? Ive been looking in BQ, Homebase etc and couldn't find one.

[Grahame]

Great photos by the way, hope it turns out great.

I noticed you got an adapter on your kitchen tap to hook up your IC. Where did you get it from? Ive been looking in BQ, Homebase etc and couldn't find one.

I got it in B&Q mate, beside all the garden hose stuff. Think it cost around £6.50. It is called a Universal Tap Connector. It comes with various rubber inserts to suit all taps.

G.

[myke2008]

I got it in B&Q mate, beside all the garden hose stuff. Think it cost around £6.50. It is called a Universal Tap Connector. It comes with various rubber inserts to suit all taps.
G.

Thanks I will continue my hunt then

[Redbloke]

Hi Grahame, excellent post (and brew)
Where did you get hold of your digital thermo' ? I've been trying to get hold of one of them.

Cheers

[Grahame]

Hi Grahame, excellent post (and brew)
Where did you get hold of your digital thermo' ? I've been trying to get hold of one of them.

Cheers

I got that one from http://www.thermometersdirect.co.uk/

to be honest, it seems to be accurate enough, but it takes a good 30 seconds to give a stable reading. That site is awesome though, it has all you could ever want thermometer wise. I think I paid about £8 for it, but it is probably worth spending a bit more. I think I read that the site is a sister company of a homebrew shop

G.

[richtangsoo]

Its worth paying for a good therm, i bought one from me hbs and its totally inacurate, so i'm back on the glass one.

[BarryNL]

Yeah - I got one from thermometersdirect and sprung for the extra to get it calibrated. It reads about 5 deg different to the previous cheap digital one I was using. I dunno how I ever got a working mash before getting the new thermometer!