AG number two - the summer brew

[NickK]

Well I prepared, made all the calculations but this brew day is turning out to be the complete opposite of my smooth AG#1..

For the purists - ignore the IPA template in use with BrewAlchemy as I was only using this as a guide..

Code: Select all

Nicks Summer Job

Selected Style and BJCP Guidelines
14A-India Pale Ale(IPA)-English IPA

Minimum OG:	 1.050 SG	 Maximum OG:	 1.075 SG
Minimum FG:	 1.010 SG	 Maximum FG:	 1.018 SG
Minimum IBU:	 40 IBU	 Maximum IBU:	 60 IBU
Minimum Color:	 8.0 SRM	 Maximum Color:	 14.0 SRM

Recipe Overview
Wort Volume Before Boil:	 23.00 l	 Wort Volume After Boil:	 20.00 l
Volume Transferred:	 20.00 l	 Water Added To Fermenter:	 0.00 l
Volume At Pitching:	 20.00 l	 Volume Of Finished Beer:	 19.00 l
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity:	 1.028 SG	 Expected OG:	 1.032 SG
Expected FG:	 1.008 SG	 Apparent Attenuation:	 74.8 %
Expected ABV:	 3.2 %	 Expected ABW:	 2.5 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth):	 49.0 IBU	 Expected Color (using Morey):	 4.2 SRM
BU:GU ratio:	 1.53	 Approx Color:	
Mash Efficiency:	 75.0 %		
Boil Duration:	 90.0 mins		
Fermentation Temperature:	 18 degC		

Fermentables
Ingredient	Amount	%	MCU	When
UK Golden Promise	 1.145 kg	 41.4 %	 1.9	 In Mash/Steeped
UK Pale Ale Malt	 1.145 kg	 41.4 %	 1.4	 In Mash/Steeped
German Caramel Pils	 0.376 kg	 13.6 %	 0.3	 In Mash/Steeped
UK Amber Malt	 0.100 kg	 3.6 %	 0.8	 In Mash/Steeped

Hops
Variety	Alpha	Amount	IBU	Form	When
UK Challenger	 7.1 %	 20 g	 22.5	 Loose Whole Hops	 First Wort Hopped
UK Fuggle	 4.8 %	 10 g	 5.5	 Loose Whole Hops	 30 Min From End
UK Golding	 5.1 %	 10 g	 5.8	 Loose Whole Hops	 30 Min From End
UK Challenger	 7.1 %	 10 g	 5.2	 Loose Whole Hops	 15 Min From End
UK Fuggle	 4.8 %	 10 g	 3.5	 Loose Whole Hops	 15 Min From End
UK Golding	 5.1 %	 10 g	 3.7	 Loose Whole Hops	 15 Min From End
UK Bramling Cross	 5.1 %	 10 g	 2.7	 Loose Whole Hops	 10 Min From End

Other Ingredients
Ingredient	Amount	When
Elderflowers	 10 g	 In Boil
Irish Moss	 4 g	 In Boil

Yeast
Wyeast 1028-London Ale

Water Profile
Target Profile:	 No Water Profile Chosen
Mash pH:	 6.4
pH Adjusted with:	 Unadjusted

Total Calcium (ppm):	 27	 Total Magnesium (ppm):	 7
Total Sodium (ppm):	 7	 Total Sulfate (ppm):	 11
Total Chloride(ppm):	 6	 Total Bicarbonate (ppm):	 103

Mash Schedule
Mash Type:	 Full Mash
Schedule Name:	 Single Step Infusion (67C/152F)

Step Type	Temperature	Duration
Rest at	 67 degC	 60

Recipe Notes
Summer beer 
Designed for easy drinking in the sun. 

So far I'm measuring more issues than prime minister.

1. No pics yet.. I'll take a pick of the colour later.
2. First time attempting to drop the pH. I think I missed 5.2.. think it's 5.0-5.2 as my litmus tests only go down to 5.2.
3. Spill #1 - small not an issue..
4. Spill #2 - you know with kids when something goes quiet they're up to something.. in my case I was using a bit 7l pan to take the initial runnings as the boiler provided sparge.. it was going slowly... turn my attention to preparing the hops in advance (sooo prepared!) then the it's-all-gone-quiet alarm sounds in my head... spillage over stick malt over the floor - joy!
5. I need to pop out to the shops and get a few bits.. this is likely to take longer than I have in brew time left on the boil..
6. Forgot to attach the hop strainer to the boiler.. now it's on the rolling boil!

So.. as always I bet this will either come out fantastic or infected at this rate! The Malt itself tastes really good - far better than my previous AG - I think this is down to both the pH and a bit of help from BrewAlchemy..

Update - this is not going to be a clear beer! After adding 5g of irish moss (alot!) there was no real break material. The final gravity was bang on the money at 1032. This will be slower ferment I think too to try and get the brew down to a dry level.

The wort tastes superb. With alot of late hopping there's a real taste of hops there with a good amount of bitterness but not overpowering Only down side is that the volume that came out was 16 litres! No point crying over spilt beer - I want to bottle (I found 12x0.5l grolsch-top type bottles) 6l but what do I do with the remaining 10l - it's small to really keg in a 25l KK as the plan was. I have a stack of I&G bottles that may use too.

Last boo boo - just realised I didn't put the elderflower in - think I'll go and boil some up and add them into the FV.

[richtangsoo]

We have all had brew days like these . I've never used elderflower before, what does it do to the finished beer

[NickK]

We have all had brew days like these . I've never used elderflower before, what does it do to the finished beer

I was assuming an elderberry tang - I'll have to see.. it smelt very odd (not the same as the taste of elderberry). The good news is that after a slow start it's bubbling away with a head in the FV. I'm interested in this too - the taste pre-elderberry was very good.

I have my next brew ingredients too.. so not this weekend but next I think the next brew will be done.. however I think I'll try whirlfloc..

[richtangsoo]

I just bought some protafloc, i've always used irish moss before, i suppose whirlfloc and protafloc are much the same thing.

[NickK]

Well this seems to have stuck at 1014.. even gave it a stir last night and the heat belt.. I'll give it till tomorrow. It's cloudier than a wheat bear... so the appearance is not good! However the actual taste is really good (lots of hops, good bitterness).. I just wonder with all the problems if the beer will age well as nothing seems to be settling as trub even after five days.. so if all that is sat with the beer for a couple of months then it could all be for nothing..

Chances are this one may be binned straight from the FV (I may take a bottle to full term for curiosity's sake) as I want to get my "Scottish Brew that cannot be named" on the go as I have all the ingredients standing by - which I want out of the way before I start dry run for brewing the Bere beer.

I have about three weekends free in a row as the other half is distracted

[richtangsoo]

I would'nt give up on it, theirs plenty of beers that are designed to stop fermenting at a similar OG or up to 1025 particularly malty scottish type beers.
If you want to get the grav down further try Dry Beer Enzyme from brupaks, it ferments normally unfermentable dextrins. I used it once on a 1070 porter that had stopped at 1020, and it got it down to 1012 in 3 days.