23/04/12 - Third Time Lucky

[coatesg]

This is the third time in the last week or so that I've tried to make this beer. First time I landed up ditching the mash after having to sit with my wife in the hospital for the day (nothing serious, all is well - though, relatedly, I'm gonna be a dad again in Oct! ). Second time was on Sat when I was ill, but today I finally managed it. Big beer.

10.5kg Maris Otter
260g Caramunich II
260g Dark Crystal

Challenger 8% 40g, Target 12.9% 40g - 90min
Challenger 8% 14g, EKG 5.9% 14g - 20min
Progress 5.6% 15g, EKG 5.9% 14g - 0min

1/2 pack of old dry yeast in the boil as nutrient. Whirlfloc in at 15min.

22L, OG 1.109, IBU ~63

Pitched a load of harvested Wy1028 from the previous brew... some pics...

[EDIT: Correction - Pre boil was about 1080 gravity] First runnings refractometer reading:



Post-boil refractometer:



Yeast prior to pitching:



It's all tucked up nicely in the fermenting fridge - currently pegged at 17C - I'm wary of the ferment kicking out a lot of heat - I don't want to especially let this out of control, though I may let it go to 18C before too long (maybe tomorrow morning). After that I'll let it free rise to 20C and hold it still.

[simple one]

Looks lovely. That's going to take a long time to mature, considering there is no sugars used......

How long and what temperature was the mash?
When is the estimated time of consumption?

[coatesg]

Mashed at 67C - about 2hrs. Boil was fairly vigorous for some more colour formation and production of melanoids.

I'll maybe try one in a year, except for a quick sample after ferment to make sure all is well. Other than that - I'll have a good 80-odd nip-bottles to keep somewhere for some considerable time...

[Dennis King]

Congrat's on the baby.

[coatesg]

Cheers!

[leedsbrew]

Congrats G! I'll not be the only one with sleepless nights now eh!

[WishboneBrewery]

Damn you, guess what I was awake thinking about last night after reading this! I am oh sooo easily lead!
Thinking I could Parti Gyle it with a Mash-topper of Caramalt for the second beer.

Hope its a good one

[coatesg]

Final runnings were down around the 1025-30 mark so you'd possibly need more malt for a second brew, unless you make the first a little less strong.

[WishboneBrewery]

Yeah, I wouldn't go as strong as you, 8-10% maybe, I'd need a donor brew for yeast first.

[coatesg]

Can't you scrounge from work?

[naffolddog]

I'll maybe try one in a year, except for a quick sample after ferment to make sure all is well. Other than that - I'll have a good 80-odd nip-bottles to keep somewhere for some considerable time...

Surely you can crack one open before then to wet the baby's head!

Congratulations!

[coatesg]

Cheers! I will try and save the majority of this though, at least through the first year or two. Beers like this gain a lot from extended aging and this is a long term project (which I may try and redo each year if I can find the bottles and the storage space...I need a cellar...). At the baby's 18th birthday, now we're talking!

Changed fridge to 18C this morning. I suspect a massive krausen tonight - had an inch or so of thick foam and crud this morning....

[Capn Ahab]

Final runnings were down around the 1025-30 mark so you'd possibly need more malt for a second brew, unless you make the first a little less strong.

...or a smaller volume.

[coatesg]

...or a smaller volume.

Well yes, true. All depends on how small a volume your kit will let you do though. I'd always try and brew as much as possible - when it takes years to mature, you want to have as much as possible (or do it on a regular basis) so you don't run out quickly!

[Capn Ahab]

S'funny, must be the season for it or something. I've been planning a barleywine for a while and hope to brew it on Friday. Ali did one last week too. My system won't handle a full batch of massive beer so I'm scaling back to 15l. With the parti-gyle you may not get two full sized brews, but you do get TWO brews!