First own recipe brewday!

[Stoat on a rope]

WM Low Colour MO 5500 grams
WM Caramalt 400 grams
WM Roasted Barley 70 grams



Nelson Sauvin Whole 11.3 % 60 mins 20 grams
Herkules Whole 17.3 % 60 mins 21 grams

Nelson Sauvin Whole 11.3 % 30 mins 10 grams
Pacific Gem Whole 14.6 % 30 mins 10 grams

Pacific Gem Whole 14.6 % 5 mins 15 grams
Herkules Whole 17.3 % 5 mins 5 grams
Motueka Whole 7.6 % 5 mins 10 grams

post boil (switched off boil, waited 15mins, then these hops went in for 15 mins)

Pacific Gem Whole 14.6 % 15 grams
Herkules Whole 17.3 % 5 grams
Motueka Whole 7.6 % 10 grams

Final Volume: 21 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.078
Final Gravity: 1.020
Alcohol Content: 7.7% ABV
Total Liquor: 29.9 Litres
Mash Liquor: 14.9 Litres
Bitterness: 90 EBU
Colour: 50 EBC

The brew went very well, with the exception of still struggling to get strike temp correct. i went for 73oC but once i had added the grain bill to the mash tun i was only at 62oC, so i added some boiling water to raise it to 66oC.

i originally calculated the recipe with the efficiency at 75% but in the end i think it work out at around 90% which was very pleasing!

fermentation should be complete tomorrow, gravity today read at 1.027, and its tasting brilliant, im very pleased so far!

i will be doing this brew again soon, but im thinking of leaving all of the aroma hops for post boil instead of just half of them, or maybe do some dry hopping. i dont think i quite got all the aroma i wanted this time, but we shall see!

anyway, here are some piccys!

lots of grain!



commence mashing!



Collecting runnings and sparging



and boiling




really cant wait to start drinking this

[adm]

Nice work! Looks like it all went smoothly. Now you just have to wait - so my recommendation is to get another one on quickly.

That's going to be very bitter, so will take a few weeks to settle down.

Next time, you could move the 30 minute addition to 15 or 10 minutes, and use your aroma hops after turn off and once the wort has cooled to 80C. You'll get less bitterness, more taste and more aroma.

On the strike temp - was your grain at room temperature? If it had been stored in the garage, it would be cold and so absorb more heat...thus dragging your initial mash temp down.

[floydmeddler]

Looks like a nice little set up you have there. That beer will be very bitter indeed but I'm sure that's what you wanted. I second adm's advice. Get another on the go and let that one settle out.

Well done!

[WishboneBrewery]

Thats a hefty ale Nice.
I always stick a thermometer in my grain, leaving it for 10 mins or so, to get an accurate temp before working out the Strike heat.

[floydmeddler]

Thats a hefty ale Nice.
I always stick a thermometer in my grain, leaving it for 10 mins or so, to get an accurate temp before working out the Strike heat.

+1 on that. I then use this: http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/calc.html

[Stoat on a rope]

thanks guys!

on strike temp, might be the grain, i did do a temp check and took it to be 18oC so made calculations for that. il leave the thermometer in longer this time and try to be more accurate but the grain is inside so i cant see it being too cool. the other thing causing it to cool could be me stiring in the mash too much of course

it went into secondary fermenter yesterday, had a taste and its bitter but ive tasted bitterer! i think a week from now i could be drinking it! for now though i will do another brew, taking adm's advice on the hops, and im also going to double the post boil Motueka hops and double the 30 min (now 10 min) pacific gems.

anyway, now my fermenter is free again, and ive got nothing happening tomorrow, my next brew will be going ahead in about 50 mins!

[mysterio]

Nice work, ambitious first recipe if I may say but looks like you pulled it off!

Quite keen to try out Motoueka.

[Stoat on a rope]

Quite keen to try out Motoueka.

they are fantastic, ive put loads in this time. hard to come by though!

[Stoat on a rope]

just tried the first batch, carbonated to 2.4 volumes, and its fantastic!not too bitter at all, nice creamy head (though not sure how i got it!). cant wait to try the next batch, should be ready in a week! final gravity was 1.016.



still a bit cloudy but it doesnt bother me, should clear soon anyway.

not quite as dark as i was going for so might change that next time, might try some chocolate malt.

[Stoat on a rope]

also, forgot to say on the strike temp issue, i realised when i did the second batch that temperature varies quite a bit from the bottom of the mash tun to the top (i think it was up to 4oC difference), which reading should i take or should i measure the temp from the middle?