Special Bitter with all pellet hops

[Trefoyl]

After looking at so many fantastic pictures everyone takes of their brew days I thought it was time to make my meager contribution. The hard part was to not show how grubby my kitchen is - It badly needs a good scrub.
My main difference from others is that I use loose pellet hops in the boil. I whirlpool the chilled wort with a stainless spoon for about 45 seconds, then wait 15 minutes or more before opening the kettle's tap.
I use BeerAlchemy to calculate my recipe. I don't really understand water treatment yet so the numbers shown are probably not truly accurate. I added 1 tsp each of gypsum and calcium carbonate to the mash / sparge water.
I collected 5 gallons from the sparge and added 1.5 gallons of plain water to bring the preboil volume to 6.5 gallons.

13 Dec 2009

Target Wort Volume Before Boil: 6.50 US gals
Target Wort Volume After Boil: 5.50 US gals

Actual Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.035 SG
Actual OG: 1.040 SG
Actual IBU: 33.8 IBU
Actual Color: 6.9 SRM
Actual Mash Efficiency: 82.2 %


Muntons Maris Otter 7lb 0oz 93.3 %
Muntons Crystal (60 lovibond) 8.00 oz 6.7 %


Hops Alpha Amount When

Challenger 7.0 % 1.00 oz 60 Min From End
Kent Golding 5.5 % 0.50 oz 10 Min From End
Kent Golding 5.5 % 0.50 oz 5 Min From End


Yeast
Wyeast 1275-Thames Valley Ale


Water Profile

Total Calcium (ppm): 327 Total Magnesium (ppm): 0
Total Sodium (ppm): 13 Total Sulfate (ppm): 255
Total Chloride(ppm): 0 Total Bicarbonate (ppm): 321


Mash: Single Step Infusion (68C/154F) for 60 minutes, mash out at 168 degrees F.

Zoe, the brewery bunny


Schmidling Malt Mill

The Crush

I missed the target mash temp by 2 degrees so I heated the tun on the stove.

I don't think my ph strips are accurate enough to be useful.

Dough for a loaf while I brew

Mash out

My sparging mash temp at this point fluctuates from 160 and raises to about 168 F. as I add fresh sparge water. My sparge water is heated to 210 degrees F. Actual boiling stops the water from moving along the hose.

Preboil gravity, at 104 degrees F.

Freshly baked loaf

Drinking Harpoon IPA while I brew

I use copper scrubbies to filter the wort. To sterilize them I boil them with the IC

Irish moss. I haven't tried whirlfloc yet.

This is towards the end of the boil when I put the lid on to sterilize it and to help keep the flavor of the late hops. The stainless spoon is also boiled now.

Whirlpool started slowing down by the time I got the pic snapped.

The mound of hops in the middle of the pot, with the last drops of good wort draining off.

I use my big wooden spoon to gently prop the kettle to get all the wort out. I swab the mouth of the carboy with Everclear, it's not there for drinking.

The scrubbies in the funnel. Ignore the shabby counter.

Final gravity. The wort looks a little cloudy today for some reason. No worries.

The cross section of the hop mound, with protein trub contained inside.

My fermentation chiller cooled by big jugs of ice. Very primitive but it's better than nothing. This is an ale I just dry hopped, it will share the space with today's brew.

[Trefoyl]

Thanks Cris-X1 ! I just figured out how to add large pictures too for clarity.
I was trying for a lower abv ale so that it would be more "authentic" and nicely hoppy, but lost count and added a pound too much malt. The prefermented wort tastes wonderful.

[WishboneBrewery]

Looks like a good day, our cooker that I boil my stock pot on looks minging so I wouldn't worry about the scruffy kitchen
Good shots too.

[6470zzy]

Very nice, pics are always good I never sparge with water higher than 170F so as not to get too many tannins are you doing 210?

Cheers

[mysterio]

Nice recipe & pics

Is that the Ken Schwartz 'son of fermentation chiller' design. I thought about putting together one of those once but I gave up.

[Trefoyl]

I never sparge with water higher than 170F so as not to get too many tannins are you doing 210?

Yes, my hot sparge water is around 210 F. I've read about this in a couple of different places and they both said that by the time it gets through the hose, sparger, and then finally diluted by all the water in the mash, the temp will not go above 170.
I found this to be true, my mash temp never goes above 168. I stop the sparge a couple of times to let the water drain from the mash tun, and then the mash drops down to 160.
I could always be wrong though, that's why I like to hear what other people think.

[Trefoyl]

Is that the Ken Schwartz 'son of fermentation chiller' design.

Actually it is the "38DD Mother of a Fermentation Chiller"
http://suburb.semo.net/jet1024/FermChill.htm
I even have the computer fan and modified thermostat, but I took them out because it works well enough without them. With the fan blowing I've actually stopped fermentation by cooling the chamber too much. There is a shelf under the carboys where I have a big plastic bin to hold the 2-gallon ice jugs. one jug is usually enough. The jugs once held liquid extract. Also, just the whole front panel comes off. I didn't like all the cuts he made. I don't need a separate door just to check the ice, etc.
I bought nice oak veneer to make the whole affair pretty and all, but I figured it would only add weight. It is big, but weighs very little so I can move it by myself up and down stairs if need be.
I'd love another fridge, but I don't know if the antiquated plugs in my apartment could handle the load. The breakers pop sometimes with a just a blow drier or the microwave. This is because the circuits are shared by other apartments as well.