28/02/09 Cascarillo Armadillo

[adm]

Haven't brewed for a couple of weeks due to work, so I've kicked a brew off this afternoon as tomorrow's likley to be busy....

Today's brew is a quickly thrown together effort using up a few bits and pieces:

Cascarillo Armadillo

Grain:
Maris Otter 2750g
Lager Malt 2750g
Vienna Malt 260g
Medium Crystal Malt 40g
Torrefied Wheat 150g

This should give me 23l at around 1053

Hops:
US Amarillo 12g FWH
NZ Cascade 12g FWH
US Amarillo 24g 15 mins
NZ Cascade 24g 15 mins
US Amarillo 25g Flame Out
NZ Cascade 25g Flame Out
Total 40IBU
I'll dry hop with some more of the above a couple of weeks before I want to drink

Yeast will be Nottingham as I want a crisp dry beer that pushes the hops to the front.

Water treatment to "General Purpose" via Graham's Calculator

Mash has been on for 40 mins right now..It'll be a 90 min mash & boil.

Pics to follow....

[arturobandini]

Look forward to the photos adm I thought you'd joined the temperance movement!

[adm]

This brew went very smoothly and looks promising.

I ended up with 22l at 1052.

Here's the pics:


Grain bill


Mash in temperature


Today's hops. A mix of American Amarillo and New Zealand Cascade. This should be excellent!


Now, I'd best have a glass of Northdown Bitter while I wait for the mash.


Mash pH seems respectable. That's me out of pH strips then. I feel a visit to the LHBS coming on.


Virgin hops awaiting the purifying wort.....


Gravity plays it's part. I guess I could fly sparge about as easily as I batch sparge given this set up. Might get a spinny sparger thing.


First runnings.


Coming to the boil...


I took off some wort at 30 minutes into the boil, into a sanitised jug, there's loads of hot break material. I let it settle, then poured the clear wort into a sanitised glass and used that to rehydrate the yeast once it had cooled to 20C.


Here's today's kit configuration. No hopback as I've used loads of aroma hops in the kettle once the boil finished.


By now, it's time for another glass of beer.....Four Shades of Stout(ish)


Once settled. This is a fantastic stout!


I left the aroma hops to steep for a while before cooling. There's loads of hot break material swirling about while it sits.


Finally, running off into the FV. I've put the flow control valve right at the FV - it's like a petrol pump, you can control it right at the nozzle....

This works really well. Straight into the FV at 25C in 5 minutes.


Here's the leftover hop bed


I ended up with about 20l at 1058, due to an over-vigorous boil but diluted it back to 22l at 1052 with boiled water


Pitched, aerated and ready to get going

All in all, a nice smooth brewday. Tastes and smells great so far. I think this will be a right cracker. I'm earmarking it for the Easter bank holiday weekend.

[aceuass]

regarding the 4 shades, how did you get it to look like that-do you have nitrogen
I brewed this and bottled and it is a fantastic beer
Cheers
Paul

[adm]

Paul,

Thats exactly it. I've got a 70/30 N/CO2 bottle for Stouts. It works great.

[mysterio]

Sweet hop strainer, how'd you make that thing?

[adm]

Sweet hop strainer, how'd you make that thing?

I can't take credit for making it! It was bought from www.beerbelly.com.au......

It is rather shiny though and does exactly what it's meant to do!

[Garth]

looks like a winner to me adm, and great pictures as usual

I was going to ask how you bent the hop strainer pipe but mysty already had.

still waiting to try one of your tasty beers.......

[DarloDave]

Great pics as always. Just out of interest, how much would a shiny boiler like yours set me back?

[arturobandini]

Excellent looking photogaphs as usual adm and a sexy looking stout there.

[awalker]

A nice name for a nice looking beer

[jubby]

A very nice looking beer there adm. Cascade and Amarillo, I bet that smells great!

[adm]

Thanks Chaps,

It's bubbling away nicely now.....

Dave - the boiler itself was about £80. I bought it in the US and hand carried it back. The hop strainer was about £45 from Oz.

[coatesg]

Good job - and two cracking looking pints to get the brew on with And a lovely glass too to display them in too.

[farmhousekeg]

Great work ADM - I can smell those hops from here - bet its gonna be a beauty