Home Brew

[johnny]

Yesterday:


1X tin of Coopers Amber
1X tin of Coopers light unhopped
120gm Caraaroma
210gm Medium Crystal
55gm Roast Barley (placed in the grain bag for the sparging process only)
225gm Maltodextrin
100gm Dry DME
130gm Dex
30gm Simcoe 60mins
30gm Amarillo 10 mins
30gm Citra 10 mins
40gm Chinook (whirlpool, or at least my equivalent - just as the wort is transferred to the ice bath I chucked it in and left it there for 12min swirling it around every couple of mins)

OG 1062

All I can taste is the malt, can't detect much hops at all (although I am a few sheets to the wind, so who knows)

I plan on dry hopping with Galaxy and something else that I haven't made up my mind about, probbably Chinook.

If it comes out the way I want it, it will be a hoppy summer red.
If not, it's a malty Xmas amber.

 

[indica]

What volume is your boil johnny and what is the gravity of the aforementioned boil?

 

[johnny]

From memory I put the grain into 4lt (have details at home) and kept it on the boil for 60min, so it reduced a lot. I've never measured the gravity of the boil, I now there's a reason to do so, just haven't read up on why and learned how to do it correctly.

I put less water in the fermenter as I'm going for something with a higherr ABV (something I should plan for properly rather than just shooting from the hip the way I do).

 

[indica]

Hop utilisation changes with boil gravity and boil volume. More volume = more hop goodness into the boil - hence why you may find the bitterness and flavour from the hops lacking.

 

[johnny]

Well shit, that would be it as I didn't skimp on the hops this time but it doesn't show.

Might bboil some hops and add it to the wort as I rack it and dry hop. Not too keen on a heavy malt ale for Summer.

 

[indica]

Well shit,

Don't boil in water - 1.040 is ideal apparently.

 

[johnny]

When you say don't boil in water, you're saying that I should only dry hop from here on in?

I had read elsewhere that it's ok to add a hop solution a bit later in the game.

 

[indica]

When you say don't boil in water,

No, you need malt in the water otherwise harsh bitterness can result.

Google hop tea and try that. I have not done extract brews (maybe once) but I understand that can work well.

 

[LPG]

Currently I'm brewing a 100% vienna blonde ale which should be a nice easy drinking beer for the summer. And decided to pour an english bitter to enjoy on the patio while the mash does it's thing.
I've been brewing for a long while but not that frequently as I don't go through it too quickly. That will probably change this summer as I'll be brewing for my wedding in march so I'll be buildibg up stock for then.

 

[Freediver]

My partner has a thing for honey and she buys it non stop. We ended up with more than 1 1/2 kg in 1/2 a dozen half emptied containers so what could I do other than have a crack at mead. I'm using an ale yeast, safale us 05 if that means anything. The guy in the shop seemed to think it did.
This is my first time brewing mead and my first time in over 20 years brewing anything so fingers crossed.

 

[johnny]

Nice. You go to the shop in Kambah?

If so, dude knows what he's on about. US 05 is an ale yeast and should sit at around 18-20 degrees celcius.

 

[Freediver]

I'm in Melbourne and not even sure what city Kambah is in. found a shop in Newport with some hipster dude that seemed to know what he was talking about and impressed me when he told me not to buy a few things that I wouldn't need. I always like a shop that tells you to spend less money.
My house hovers between about 18 and 25, I hope that's not too warm.

 

[johnny]

I think I made the mistake of thinking you were in Canberra before too.....

Cover the fermenter with something like a towel to protect it from light and if the temp guage on the side (your have a temp gauge, right?) is up too high you can soak the towel and that will drop it by a degree or two.

 

[Freediver]

Fish tank thermometer. Cheers for the hint.

 

[indica]

Made a very simple saison yesterday and an Aussie Pale today.
I will make a big and nasty IPA tomorrow, I have some Simcoe resin for bittering. I used Mosaic resin recently and it is so fucking dank and nasty - I love it!

 

[johnny]

As above - this was my first attempt at a red, colour is more auburn than the ruby I would have preferred. It was bottled a week and a half back, will probably wait another two weeks before chilling and trying the first one.


1 tin of Coopers Amber
1 tin of coopers light malt extract
100gm dry dark malt extract

225gm maltodextrin
130gm dextrin

120gm Caraaroma
210 medium cyrstal
45 mins at 65

55gm roasted barley added during sparging process

30gm Simcoe 60min
30gm Amarillo 10min
30gm Citra 10min
40gm Chinook added as the pot placed in ice bath (not sure how long it took to cool but count on a good 20min)

23 lt - OG 1062

5 days later after fermenting at 18-20c

gravity at 1021
20gm Chinook
15gm Galaxy

2 days later fermenting at 18-20c

gravity at 1016 - wort racked
25gm Chinook
25gm Galaxy

1 day later fermenting at 18-20c

20gm Chinook
25gm Galaxy

2 days later fermenting at 18-20c

30gm Cascade

2 days later fermenting at 18-20c

15gm Cascade
15gm Chinook

bottled 2 days after with an FG of 1015

 

[johnny]

I also put down a pale ale for summer last night:

1.5kg Morgans pale malt extract - unhopped
1.5kg DW Pilsner malt extract - unhopped
250gm maltodextrin
200gm pale crystal steeped for 20 min at 65c
15gm Simcoe for 20min
5gm Amarillo 10min
5gm Galaxy 10min
11.5gm Safale US 0.5

Will dry hop with Galaxy and I'm considering either simcoe (I know that's not a common hop to dry with but hey, who cares?) or citra.

I'm looking for a light bodied, mid/heavy hop hit with fruity/citrus flavours for hot summer days.

OG was 1041 and the initial taste was good but had a little more body than what I was aiming for, which I'd say came from the pale crystal.

I'm fermenting in the range of 18-20...., hopefully as I don't have a fridge yet.

So I started dry hopping 2 days into the fermentation process with:

15gm Amarillo
15gm Simcoe
20gm Galaxy

However, the airlock had slowed a lot and the gravity was at 1012 meaning that my beer was only 3.8% ABV.

I put in another 330gm of dry light malt extract with 500ml of water that had 10gm of Simcoe boiled for 10 min and 18gm Citra steeped for 8min. It was bottled 10 days later on the 1st of Dec with a final gravity of 1011.

I'm drinking it now and it is by far the best beer I've ever brewed. I'd put it at a mild IPA or a full-bodied, full-hopped pale. Nice, light but noticeable malt profile and a juicy bot not over the top hop flavour. I know I'm probably drinking this too early but it tastes spot on so I really can't see the point in waiting any longer!


The last bottle I popped was a bunch more clear than this one, although the flav is still the same

 

[oldstinky75]

Been a while between drinks for me on this forum. I've got a dilemma I need some expert advice on. Yesterday I began brewing a recipe using a Pilsner with lager yeast but forgot to change the temperature settings on my thermostat. Subsequently the yeast has been punished at 22 degrees for about the last 24 hours. Temperature has been reset to 15 but I'm concerned the higher than usual temperature may impact the flavour profile. Would be interested to hear anyone's thoughts or recommendations. Cheers

 

[scblack]

Been a while between drinks for me on this forum. I've got a dilemma I need some expert advice on. Yesterday I began brewing a recipe using a Pilsner with lager yeast but forgot to change the temperature settings on my thermostat. Subsequently the yeast has been punished at 22 degrees for about the last 24 hours. Temperature has been reset to 15 but I'm concerned the higher than usual temperature may impact the flavour profile. Would be interested to hear anyone's thoughts or recommendations. Cheers

At 22 I reckon you’ll be fine and could have the sort of characteristics of a steam Lager sort of thing. Steam lager uses a lager yeast but at ale temps. Yes you are above those temps but only for a day. I reckon you’ll be fine.

 

[oldstinky75]

At 22 I reckon you’ll be fine and could have the sort of characteristics of a steam Lager sort of thing. Steam lager uses a lager yeast but at ale temps. Yes you are above those temps but only for a day. I reckon you’ll be fine.

Thanks for the heads up. At least now I don't have to worry it's a complete write off.