Wort into Boiler (L): 25.0
Pre-boil Gravity (OG): 1.050
Original Gravity (OG): 1.060
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.5%
Colour (EBC): 57
Bitterness (IBU): 22.0
Mash Efficiency (%): 73.0
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 68.0
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Mash (Minutes): 90 @65C
Grain Bill
2.560 kg Muntons Pilsner 3.0 EBC (43%)
2.560 kg Weyermann Munich 1 15.0 EBC (43%)
0.300 kg Weyermann Carapils 4.0 EBC (5%)
0.300 kg Dingemans Special B 300.0 EBC (5%)
0.240 kg Weyermann Melanoidin 70.0 EBC (4%)
Hop Bill
36.0 g Northern Brewer Whole 5.40%AA @ 60 Minutes
10.0 g Tettnang Whole 3.40%AA @ 30 Minutes
Misc Bill
1 tbsp Irish Moss @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
Yeast
WLP833 German Bock + 1 x sachet of Coopers Lager (600ml of slurry from a 1.042 Pils) @12C
I've been meaning to brew this for a couple of months now, and finally got around to it on Friday night in the peeing rain!
Barley Water on here gave me the idea of brewing a smaller lager first and using the yeast cake slurry a for this brew, as it's got a relatively high OG for a cold pitch. I brewed a Coopers Pils kit with Saaz hop tea to an OG of 1.042, and ended up with approximately 600ml of yeast for the Bock.
My water isn't really suited to normal lagers, but as this is a darker, maltier style, I'm thinking that it will be ok. I reduced the alkalinity from a measured 148 to 51ppm and ended up with a mash ph of 5.3. All I did then was balance the Sulphate and Chloride by adding 1.5g of Calcium Chloride to the mash.
Apart from the rubbish weather, my brewday mainly went without a hitch, apart from missing my target OG of 1.064 by 4 points. I can only put the low efficiency down to the different base malts, as I normally use Maris Otter from my LHBS for my AG brews, and get much higher efficiencies.
I finished around midnight, and couldn't seem to get the wort below 22C, so decided to just get in the FV, and let it cool overnight in my fridge to my intended pitching temperature of 11C. I didn't get the chance to pitch the yeast until 7pm on Saturday evening, as I got called into work, but I gave the wort some good aeration by thrashing away with the metal probe of my digital thermometer. Judging by the fermentation activity 24 hours later, I think the yeast was happy.
Here are a few pic's of the brewday -
Racked Coopers Czech Pils brew with jug of yeast a couple of days earlier.
Grain shot, and the Special B certainly tasted good when I had a nibble.
Almost bang on my intended mash temperature.
I had a semi-educated guess at my starting alkalinity, so pleased with this.
Supped a couple of Vienna Blondes while the mash was on.
The first runnings were a lovely reddy brown colour.
Check out my fully IP rated extension lead!
Spent mash.
All leaf hops, so no blockages with this brew.
24 hours after pitching and it's all happening.
Cheers
MB
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