# Looking For My Next Brew.. A Brown Beer



## PhilipB (12/11/11)

Ok Guys, 

I have bottled my Australian Lager that came with the Kit, brewed with the ingredients 'as is'. 

I have my Ginger Beer in its fermenter in the esky around 20 - 22 degrees, the Morgans Ginger Beer with 1 kg dextrose, 1 kg Raw sugar. 

Still keeping with the kit style of brewing at the moment, I want to 'experiment' and make a brown beer. I want to work on something that is not just pour the tin into the water, add dextrose, stir and add yeast. I want to work on something that is a little unique so to speak.

I don't have my STC1000 or my fridge set up yet. I am working with a Techni-ice Esky that I can comfortably see a temperature range of 20 - 22 degrees. 

I don't have any BIAB gear - need to keep things simple at this stage. 

any thoughts and suggestions? I am also looking to learn how different ingredients affect a brew as well.

Cheers, 

PhilipB


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## pyrosx (12/11/11)

How's about working on an extract recipe - something where you use a portion of raw malt extract to make a wort, then boil it in a pot on the stove, add hops at various times according to the recipe.... then water it down with the rest of the extract and water and ferment it.

At this point, the "boil phase" of the brewing technique sounds like about all you are ready to upgrade to - you've got some kind of temperature control going, and aren't ready to start boiling actual grain. So you take pre-mashed grain and add hops? Even if this doesnt actually produce a beer that is all that much better than a kit+kilo, you're at least getting your head around hops schedules and recipes?

You can't really look at lagers - 20-22 means ale. So maybe something like a Newcastle Brown style clone recipe?


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## PhilipB (12/11/11)

pyrosx said:


> How's about working on an extract recipe - something where you use a portion of raw malt extract to make a wort, then boil it in a pot on the stove, add hops at various times according to the recipe.... then water it down with the rest of the extract and water and ferment it.
> 
> At this point, the "boil phase" of the brewing technique sounds like about all you are ready to upgrade to - you've got some kind of temperature control going, and aren't ready to start boiling actual grain. So you take pre-mashed grain and add hops? Even if this doesnt actually produce a beer that is all that much better than a kit+kilo, you're at least getting your head around hops schedules and recipes?
> 
> You can't really look at lagers - 20-22 means ale. So maybe something like a Newcastle Brown style clone recipe?



I am open to suggestions. This will be my third brew. An extract recipie sounds good (need to understand what that is really... more googling  ). 

I am happy to learn. I had been looking at the Toucan recipies as I was thinking about a Kit n Kilo tin with extra's.

I suppose my head is in experimenting with flavour however I can see that learining brewing technique is also important. 

An extract recipie will help me do both?


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## Tanga (12/11/11)

Extract is great for experimenting with hops. Kit tins are liquid extract with bittering hops already added. You can get liquid or dry extract. I prefer dry, as liquid is messy, but you may prefer liquid as it will be more like working with tins. What's your fave dark beer? Then we can suggest hops and maybe some grain.

Steeping is fun and a great way to make things more interesting.


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## PhilipB (13/11/11)

Tanga said:


> Extract is great for experimenting with hops. Kit tins are liquid extract with bittering hops already added. You can get liquid or dry extract. I prefer dry, as liquid is messy, but you may prefer liquid as it will be more like working with tins. What's your fave dark beer? Then we can suggest hops and maybe some grain.
> 
> Steeping is fun and a great way to make things more interesting.



Hi Tanga, 

What is my Fav dark beer? Well I don't have one. I don't want a black beer or something that can be cut with a knife. Sorry that might not help  I am used to drinking commercial beers like Hahn Premium, Toohey's Extra dry etc. Just wanted to take a step towards the darker side (darth vader ish) without being hit with a full black Guiness if you know what I mean. My thinking of a brown beer was something different without having a meal in a glass. 

Its new ground for me. Sorry to be vauge. 

Thoughts?

Phil


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## enuun (13/11/11)

I made a dark ale from a coopers tin for my second brew. Not too bad considering I was still learning but the ingredients were stellar and can produce a good beer if you have your sanitation and temperature control down.

1 Coopers Dark Ale
500g DDME
500g Dex +100g Maltodextrin
100g Crystal steeped
10g Willamette hops 10mins addition
Nottingham yeast


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## PhilipB (13/11/11)

enuun said:


> I made a dark ale from a coopers tin for my second brew. Not too bad considering I was still learning but the ingredients were stellar and can produce a good beer if you have your sanitation and temperature control down.
> 
> 1 Coopers Dark Ale
> 500g DDME
> ...



Enuun. what sort of temperature am I looking at for this? At the moment I am getting a stable 20 - 22 degrees in my esky set up.


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## Mayor of Mildura (13/11/11)

PhilipB said:


> Enuun. what sort of temperature am I looking at for this? At the moment I am getting a stable 20 - 22 degrees in my esky set up.


20 - 22 for nottingham would be fine.


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## PhilipB (13/11/11)

mayor of mildura said:


> 20 - 22 for nottingham would be fine.



Thanks Mayor 

I suppose I better find out how to do it .. on that note I am looking through the forum site and finding it difficult to get a step by step explanation of what I should be doing so I am going to ask some questions based on what I have read and my assumptions: 

1. Pour the Coopers Dark Ale in a pot in the stove and heat? 

2. place the 100g Crystal in a bag and allow to soak in the hot mix? (steeped?? is that what it means?)

3. Place 10g Willamette hops in the mix for 10mins? Is this 10 minutes before taking off heat? Do they get strained out? 

4. Take everything off the heat and place in fermenter stir in 500g DDME, 500g Dex +100g Maltodextrin

5. Make up to 21 litres, stir in and add yeast. Put on the lid and wait patiently. 

Having never brewed before, I really want to get a handle on method


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## Samuel Adams (13/11/11)

Hey Philip,

1. No need to heat or boil the dark ale kit in a pan, just put it in a sink of hot/warm water to loosen it up before opening and pouring into fermentor
Also it's not a good idea to boil the kit, not exactly sure what it does I think it effects the hops (isohops) in the can.

2. Yep that what a steep is, I usually leave the grain in for 30min then strain into another pot, then fill again with water and repeat to get the most out of your grain. You also need to bring to the boil and boil for a few mins to kill any bugs etc, this is where you can add hops and boil for a certain amout of time depending if you want bitterness (early) flavour (middle-late) or aroma (late-dry hopping) from your hops.

3. Yeah 10 mins means 10 from the end, this will add a small amout of bitterness, some flavour & aroma. Being a dark ale which is pretty bitter & roasty already you probably wont notice much from 10g of hops.

4. After your boil is done a good method of cooling it before mixing everything together is puting it in a sink with cold water and letting it sit for a while, you can also add ice or change the water to speed it up (or not). Once it's cooled down a fair bit tip it in with your dark ale kit and extra malt, dex etc add water and stir. I actually mix all the extras into the pot after your boil is done, then cool and then tip it in and add water.

5. Yes or 23L

Hope that helps,
Cheers


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## PhilipB (13/11/11)

Samuel Adams said:


> 2. Yep that what a steep is, I usually leave the grain in for 30min then strain into another pot, then fill again with water and repeat to get the most out of your grain. You also need to bring to the boil and boil for a few mins to kill any bugs etc, this is where you can add hops and boil for a certain amout of time depending if you want bitterness (early) flavour (middle-late) or aroma (late-dry hopping) from your hops.



Ok just want to clarify. 

To steep the grain is to place it in the water, in this instance, for 30 minutes. Strain off the water to another pot, and soak the grain in new water for another 30 minutes. Keeping both lots of water to pool together and boil. 

Is this water cold / warm / hot? 

How much water do you use for 100g of Crystal ?


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## Samuel Adams (13/11/11)

Sorry, if you are using a grain bag you won't need another pot you can just lift the bag, squeeze out a much of the water (liqour) out as you can, and if you can pour some more water through the bag to get more out of it.

The second lot of water is like a sparge (an all grain term) where you just want to get that little bit extra out of the grain.

I heat the water up to 65-70 deg to do the steep, it can also be done in cold water but I think it takes longer.

If you use 1L for the steep and then another 1L to sparge (rinse) that will give you 2L to boil your hops in.
Also with hop boils you want a gravity of about 1040, simple way to get close to this is 100g of LDME per L, so use 200g in your 2L.


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## Liam_snorkel (13/11/11)

Mate, head to the top of the page, click Articles > kits & extracts. There is heaps of info there that will answer a lot of your questions from doing an extract brew to steeping specialty grain.


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## J Grimmer (13/11/11)

for your first port-ish style beer try a fresh wort kit bit pricy but good beer will be produced. On the other hand if you want to try an amber ale then try the morgans royal oak amber and a kilo of be2 or malt extract depending how sweet you like it. Also the Cascade Porter is nice kit and not as dark as you would expect a porter to be, but a good amber ale.


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## PhilipB (14/11/11)

Liam_snorkel said:


> Mate, head to the top of the page, click Articles > kits & extracts. There is heaps of info there that will answer a lot of your questions from doing an extract brew to steeping specialty grain.



Thank you  learning to navigate around this site as well. I will read through these.


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## szopen (15/11/11)

My third brew turned out fantastic (in my not so humble opinion) and if you want to try to do something more thank straight kit this might be a good idea.




Go to Craftbrewer in Capalaba and buy:
1 (1.5kg) container of Briess Munich malt extract (50:50 base malt and munich), 13.6$
1 (1.5kg) container of Briess Wheat malt extract (65:35 base malt and wheat) 13.6$ (not visible in online store but present on the shelf)
1 bag of dextrose (you will use half for this brew) 3$
1 90g pack of Amarillo hops ~9$ (you will use half for this brew)
200g of Caramunich I and 300g of Carared cracked grain (total 500g) ~3$
1 packet of Nottingham yeast 4.5$
1 bag 12"X12" ~7$ (a bit big for this time but you will use it again, better than too small).

(Malt extracts as above will give you base similar to Dr Smurto Golden Ale)

On brew day prepare: 
-sanitized fermenter (including cleaning and sanitizing taps) and mixing spoon.
- one 2-3l pot (small pot)
- one 9l pot (big pot)
- one large bowl
- 3 soft drink bottles filled with water (to 80%) and frozen.

First step: steeping grains.
Boil a kettle of water.
Put your cracked grains in the bag (over a large bowl as some fines will go through the mesh).
Pour 1.5 litre of boiling water into small pot, add 1 litre of cold tap water, mix,
Put you bag with cracked grain in, mix a bit, cover and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Lift the bag out, gently squeeze, place in the bowl.
Pour your steepings into big pot.
Again
Pour 1.5 litre of boiling water into small pot, add 1 litre of cold tap water, mix,
Put you bag with cracked grain in, mix a bit, cover and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Lift the bag out, squeeze well, place in the bowl.
Pour your steepings into big pot.

Put the big pot on the stove, add 500g of dextrose (half a bag), fill up to approx 5 litres and start heating.

Empty your grain bag, chuck away spent grain, give it a rinse.

Open your packet of hops, take out half of contents onto a plate, divide into 3 parts (each ~15g).
Close well the packet with remaining hops and put it in the freezer.

Once the wort starts boiling it's time to start adding hops. 
You may just chuck them in (easy way) but there is a small risk of hop floaters in the bottles (as happened in my brew, no problem for me) or use your grain bag as hop bag.

Add 1/3 of hops, start the clock, this is your 60m addition,
After 40 minutes add second 1/3, this is your 20m addition,
After 20 minutes, add remaining 1/3 and turn off the fire, this is your flameout 0m addition.

Add both containers of malt extract in, mix well with sanitized spoon, cover and put into laundry tub filled with cold water to cool down. Change water until wort is cold.

Add 10 litres of cold tap water into the fermenter splashing well.
Take the big pot from laundry tub, take out the hop bag if you used it, gently pour wort into the fermenter leaving the very last 200-300 ml of trub in the pot.

Fill the fermenter up to 25 litres.

Place your fermenter in your esky, put the 3 ice bottles beside, close the door.



When temperature of the wort in fermenter drops below 26C sprinkle your yeast on top and start fermenting.



You will need to rotate your ice bottles every morning and evening, 2 or 3 each time to keep temperature around 18-20C.



(If you dont have a 9 litre pot, use 5-6 litre one for boiling and cooling wort and than again to dissolve the extract.)


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## PhilipB (15/11/11)

szopen said:


> My third brew turned out fantastic (in my not so humble opinion) and if you want to try to do something more thank straight kit this might be a good idea.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



WOW thank you  this is really helpful. I will definately do this  

Capalaba is a bit away.. I might see if my local http://www.qualityhomebrew.com.au/ has these things. If not I will definately take the trip. I have just registered online so I can order and get it delivered 

What sort of starting SG and finish SG would I be looking at? 

Thank you heaps.

Phil


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## szopen (16/11/11)

PhilipB said:


> WOW thank you  this is really helpful. I will definately do this
> 
> Capalaba is a bit away.. I might see if my local http://www.qualityhomebrew.com.au/ has these things. If not I will definately take the trip. I have just registered online so I can order and get it delivered
> 
> ...




According to the Kits & Extracts spreadsheet available somewhere on this forum SG at the beginning (OG) should be 1.050 and at the end (FG) 1.013, IBU ~25, 

Above recipe is quite simple and is focused on "easy to do, no stress" method.
It can be tweaked of course:
- fill to 23 litres only (SG 1.054 and 1.014, more body and more alc),
- change hopping schedule (25g at 60m, 10g at 20m and 10g at 0m) will give ~30IBU
- use more hops (but if only 45g (half packet) used as above there will be enough for second batch, same with dextrose)
- use Coopers Amber (or Pale) and Coopers Wheat instead of Briess malt extract
- probably many more.


To put things in a bit of perspective this was my third brew.
I am on brew number 5 at the moment


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## PhilipB (16/11/11)

szopen said:


> According to the Kits & Extracts spreadsheet available somewhere on this forum SG at the beginning (OG) should be 1.050 and at the end (FG) 1.013, IBU ~25,
> 
> Above recipe is quite simple and is focused on "easy to do, no stress" method.
> It can be tweaked of course:
> ...



Thanks heaps. I found the spread sheet. Giving me a look at specs before making them. Its a fantastic idea. 

Went down to Craftbrewer today and collected all the relevant items. 

Looking forward to kicking this one off on sunday. I will prepare it before getting ready to bottle my ginger beer. Tag team the use of the esky


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## szopen (18/11/11)

PhilipB said:


> Thanks heaps. I found the spread sheet. Giving me a look at specs before making them. Its a fantastic idea.
> 
> Went down to Craftbrewer today and collected all the relevant items.
> 
> Looking forward to kicking this one off on sunday. I will prepare it before getting ready to bottle my ginger beer. Tag team the use of the esky



Good move visiting craftbrewer.
Hope you will have fun this weekend.

A couple more tips or options (you still have time to prepare).

Make sure you aerate well (by splashing and sloshing) water first and than cooled wort in your fermenter.

Add a packet of baking yeast to the boil (at least a 5 minutes before the end), this will provide extra yeast nutritient, heat will kill these yeast.

Your esky is providing a very good insulation so using frozen water bottles will work well enough to control temperature. 
Once you have wort cooled to pitching temperature and yeast sprinkled on top put it into your esky with extra bottles of ice to cool it down to around 18C. 
As a very rough guide 1kg of ice (1.25l pet bottle) will cool 23-25 litres of wort by 2.5C while melting.
So if your wort is 27C placing ~4kg of ice in the esky will result in wort temperature dropping to desired 18C after about 12 hours.

For the first 3-4 days when fermentation is going strong there is a fair bit of heat generated in fermenter so you will have to put 2-3kg of ice inside the esky to keep it at 18C, later when fermentation slows down 1-2kg will be enough to keep it at correct temperature.
You do not need the wet towel inside the esky, just place the fermenter and ice bottles together inside and keep the lid closed. It will work better (I know I repeat what have said already in your other thread but I sort of earn my crust dealing with cooling things down).

Have fun.


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## PhilipB (18/11/11)

szopen said:


> Good move visiting craftbrewer.
> Hope you will have fun this weekend.
> 
> A couple more tips or options (you still have time to prepare).
> ...


Thank you I will do.  I will definately post updates on this one.


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## PhilipB (19/11/11)

PhilipB said:


> Thank you I will do.  I will definately post updates on this one.



I have started this today. the longest part is waiting the 40 mins to add the 2nd lot of hops. I have cleaned and all pepared for the fermenter. 

It is smelling good. I will take a sg when I place in the fermenter. before pitching yeast. Understandably I will need to adjust the sg reading according to the temperature of the mix.


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## PhilipB (19/11/11)

PhilipB said:


> I have started this today. the longest part is waiting the 40 mins to add the 2nd lot of hops. I have cleaned and all pepared for the fermenter.
> 
> It is smelling good. I will take a sg when I place in the fermenter. before pitching yeast. Understandably I will need to adjust the sg reading according to the temperature of the mix.



Took a SG at 28 degrees of 1046

Pitches yeast at 26 degrees

looking to get temp down to 18 degrees. 

final SG of 1014 at 18 degrees should see me near 5% in the bottle

According to the Kit and Extract Beer designer spreadsheet this is a Belgian Specialty Ale style


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## PhilipB (23/11/11)

PhilipB said:


> Took a SG at 28 degrees of 1046
> 
> Pitches yeast at 26 degrees
> 
> ...



Took an SG reading today of 1020 @ 19%

The brew sort of smells like beer, and it smells sweet. I am a little concerned. When I took the sample it contained a couple of sludgy looking bits and the brew looks quite cloudy with not many bubbles. 

For this brew I used glad wrap and the rubber ring. I know it has a seal because the glad wrap is convex on top of the fermenter. 

I tasted a little and it tasted l sort of like beer. I have kept the sample in a glass covered in glad wrap and placed it in the fridge. I want to see what it looks like tomorrow in the glass. Mayby picking up the fermenter has stirred the bottom up on it. 

There is a white yeast cake formed on the bottom. So hopeing all will be well. 

Being my first extract beer I am a bit nervous with the whole steeping the grain and adding the hops. 

I know that patience is the key, but if my beer is infected what sort of signs would I be looking for? The yeast seems to be working, is it possible to be infected?

Cheers, 

Philip


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## szopen (24/11/11)

PhilipB said:


> Took an SG reading today of 1020 @ 19%
> 
> The brew sort of smells like beer, and it smells sweet. I am a little concerned. When I took the sample it contained a couple of sludgy looking bits and the brew looks quite cloudy with not many bubbles.



All is good.
You probably have some hop floaters, that is small flakes of hops from pellets, nothing to worry about.

If the fermentation was going well at the beginning and now only few bubbles are visible it means that most of fermentation is over. Nottingham are hungry and fast yeast.



PhilipB said:


> For this brew I used glad wrap and the rubber ring. I know it has a seal because the glad wrap is convex on top of the fermenter.
> 
> I tasted a little and it tasted l sort of like beer. I have kept the sample in a glass covered in glad wrap and placed it in the fridge. I want to see what it looks like tomorrow in the glass. Mayby picking up the fermenter has stirred the bottom up on it.
> 
> ...



All is good.
You have fermentation going on.
You have yeast cake at the bottom.
Looks like beer in making.
Smells like beer in making.
Tastes like beer in making.

I would guess that you are making beer.  

No infection.

Now just leave it be and relax.
Change the ice bottles from time to time (without stressing about a degree ot two either way, critical first few days are over).
Fermentation will finish, maybe it will reach 1.014 maybe a bit above.
Yeast, cloudy stuff and most of hop pieces will drop down (you may have some hop floaters remaining), Notthingham flocculates very well (drops suspended pieces down).

Let the yeast just do it's thing.
It has only been 4 or 5 days.
After 10 days you may slow down with your ice bottles and let it warm up to 20-21C
Taste from time to time.
At the end of 2 weeks bottle it.
It will be a bit cloudy at bottling, it will take about 2 weeks to carbonate and clear.

It will taste very different from commercial beer.

To fill the time start planning next brew.


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## PhilipB (24/11/11)

szopen said:


> All is good.
> You probably have some hop floaters, that is small flakes of hops from pellets, nothing to worry about.
> 
> If the fermentation was going well at the beginning and now only few bubbles are visible it means that most of fermentation is over. Nottingham are hungry and fast yeast.
> ...



Thanks for that  am leaving it sit. 

It rained last night and the temp in the esky got down to 14 degrees. I have got it on its way back up to 18 degrees now. 

The smell is a sweet fruity aroma. is that the Amarillo hops?


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## going down a hill (24/11/11)

PhilipB said:


> I know that patience is the key, but if my beer is infected what sort of signs would I be looking for? The yeast seems to be working, is it possible to be infected?



From the sounds of it your beer has a yeast infection. The type that makes beer.  

It might take four or so weeks before it's drinkable, but when it's ready it will be the best beer you have made, by a long shot. Keep up the good work.


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## PhilipB (28/11/11)

going down a hill said:


> From the sounds of it your beer has a yeast infection. The type that makes beer.
> 
> It might take four or so weeks before it's drinkable, but when it's ready it will be the best beer you have made, by a long shot. Keep up the good work.



:icon_chickcheers:


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## PhilipB (3/12/11)

Well Guys the SG was sitting at 1014 since Sunday the 27th and so I Bottled today. 

The brew actually looked great and smelled great. 14 1/2 days in the fermenter. 

Looking forward to tasting this one in a month or so and seeing how it improves as time goes by. 

Thank you to all for this one 

Now to planning my first BIAB 

Phil


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## PhilipB (24/12/11)

PhilipB said:


> Well Guys the SG was sitting at 1014 since Sunday the 27th and so I Bottled today.
> 
> The brew actually looked great and smelled great. 14 1/2 days in the fermenter.
> 
> ...



Hi Guys, 

Well I could not wait. It has been in the bottle exactly 21 days (3 weeks).

I put a bottle in the fridge about lunch time and cracked it open at about 5:30pm. 

It was a clean, clear brown color. The Amarillo hops had put a nice fruity flavour through it and it was one of the best beers I have tasted. 

This one goes on my list to do as often as I can. It was awesome. I even got a great little head when poured into the glass and plenty of carbination. 

szopen - Thank you  Thank you. 

:icon_chickcheers: 

Phil


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## PhilipB (21/5/12)

PhilipB said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> Well I could not wait. It has been in the bottle exactly 21 days (3 weeks).
> 
> ...




Well I know its an old post, I have been enjoying this one since late January 2012 and its gets better all the time. This one is definitely on the list to brew again.


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## timobriennz (22/5/12)

szopen said:


> My third brew turned out fantastic (in my not so humble opinion) and if you want to try to do something more thank straight kit this might be a good idea.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Looks like a good recipe to have a crack at - I'm waiting for my third beer which is mid way through the fermentation so this may well be a good option for beer no. 4.


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## PhilipB (22/5/12)

timobriennz said:


> Looks like a good recipe to have a crack at - I'm waiting for my third beer which is mid way through the fermentation so this may well be a good option for beer no. 4.



I found it was a good step towards BIAB. Its a great tasting beer. Very refreshing. I will take a pic of one poured in a glass and post it for you. Will be on the weekend.


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## PhilipB (16/11/16)

Hi guys and gals, 

it's been a while but I have just ordered the ingredients to make the brown beer that szopen shared in the thread. 

At the moment I don't have room for a full mash type set up, so I am sticking with the extract brewing using my 10 litre pot. 

I am not sure if szopen is still active here,but I want to say thank you so much for not only sharing this recipe, but also thank you for sharing all the how too's in the step by step guide. 

When i first did this one in 2012 it created such a passion for creating a beer that I am starting back out making it.

I encourage anyone who wants to step up from straight tins to working with grains, specialty yeasts and hops, to start the journey with this one. 

Thank you szopen!


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## PhilipB (21/11/16)

Using glad wrap. 

What the beer looked like cracking one open 3 years later.


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## Gigantorus (21/11/16)

Hi Phil,

My fav brown is the American Brown Ale style. The following is my 3rd version and one I'll be doing time & time again. It's a variation of the Coopers "Ol Brown Dog" recipe.

Cheers,

Pete

*Spicy Grizzly Bear Ale (V3)*
[SIZE=18pt](23 Litres)[/SIZE]​This recipe makes a hoppy version of the *American Brown* *Ale* style (category 10.C. of the BJCP guidelines). The end result is a rich dark brown ale displaying a creamy beige head, rich coffee/chocolate aromas combined with citrus undertones and a hint of spiciness from the 2 Rye malts. 

Ingredients 

1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale 
1.5kg Thomas Coopers Amber Malt
500g Light Dry Malt
200grams CaraMunich3 Malt
200grams Rye Malt
200grams CaraPils Malt
300grams Shepherds Delight Malt
100grams Chocolate Rye
100grams Belgium Special B Malt
90grams Experimental Pine Fruit Hops
90grams Falconers Flight Hops
3 X American Ale Yeast Packs


Colour: Brown (EBC= 59)
Body: Medium-Heavy
Bitterness: Medium (IBU=32)
Approx. Alcohol Level: 5.9%
*Step 1: Mix*
In a good sized pot (around 15 Litres), mix the malts with 6 litres of hot water (not boiling – 65C to 70C) and let steep for 40 minutes.
After 40 mins, strain the grain and add the grain liquid back into the pot then add another 2 litres of water, add 500grams of LDME and bring to the boil. Start with approximately 8 Litres.
Once boiling start timer for a *30 mins boil*.
At Flame-out add 45g of Exp. Pine Fruit & 45g Falconers Flight Hops, stir well and let sit for 15 mins.
Set the pot in a cold/ice water bath to cool to around 18C to 20C. Then strain into sanitised fermenting vessel.
Then add the Dark Ale can, Amber Malt can and stir well.
Top up with cool water to the 23 litre mark and stir thoroughly.
Check the brew temperature and get as close as possible to 18C.
Sprinkle one the dry yeast and lightly stir into wort, then sprinkle second yeast on top of wort, fit the lid and ferment at 18C.
*Step 2: Brew/Dry-Hop Schedule*
Fermenting Temp Schedule: 
- First 7 days @ 18C,
- On Day 8 raise to 21C,
- 3 days from bottling drop to 2C + dry-hop addition*.
*3 Days before bottling, add 45grams of Exp. Pine Fruit hops & 45grams of Falconers Flight Hops in sanitised mesh hop bag.


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## PhilipB (21/11/16)

Thank you Pete. 

Looks like a great recipe 

I think I need a bigger pot. Mine is only 10 liters


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## Gigantorus (23/11/16)

PhilipB said:


> Thank you Pete.
> 
> Looks like a great recipe
> 
> I think I need a bigger pot. Mine is only 10 liters


No worries, Phil.

I got my 20Litre pot at Crazy Clarks for $10 and it's been going well for a couple of years now. Perfect for a 10L boil - plenty of head room in case the foam rises up when you aren't looking. You can always simply do a 7L boil in your 10L pot.

Cheers,
Pete


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## PhilipB (23/11/16)

I will look around

Thank you


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## PhilipB (23/11/16)

I will look around

Thank you


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## LAGERFRENZY (23/11/16)

Big W do a 19 litre Stockpot for $20. They are also great for doing half sized BIAB batches, etc. I still use mine to heat the sparge water for my Grainfather


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## PhilipB (24/11/16)

LAGERFRENZY said:


> Big W do a 19 litre Stockpot for $20. They are also great for doing half sized BIAB batches, etc. I still use mine to heat the sparge water for my Grainfather


Thank you 

I started looking around for a bigger pot.


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## PhilipB (26/11/16)

Made this one today and is in the fermenter!


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## PhilipB (12/12/16)

The ferment started well with a good cover of froth on top. It disappeared after two days. 

think this has stalled at 1020 sugar level reading  

No yeast activity. 

The yeast cake on the bottom is very thin. I gave it a stir with a sanitized stirrer in hope for the yeast to kick start. 

Nothing 

Shall I re pitch yeast? From memory it should go down to 1005


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## Gigantorus (16/12/16)

[SIZE=10.5pt]Phil,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]That all sounds typical to be honest. You will generally get a couple of days of noticable fermentation activity then it will drop off. That doesn't mean the fermentation process has stopped though just because you aren't hearing or seeing anything. Depending on the type of brew and gravity etc. the actual fermentation process could go 5 to 10 days in duration.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The most important aspect is to have an understanding right at the start what your brew figures are and what your yeast pitch rate should be. In other words calculate how many yeast cells are required for your batch given your desired pitch rate and if you have enough yeast. I use the Brewers Friend brewing system, which will tell me all this.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]But in general terms. For a standard 23Litre batch of American Pale Ale with an ABV of around 5% I'd use 2 packets of US-05 yeast. If the pale ale was to be higher - say a 7+% IPA etc. then I'd probably use 3 packets. But I rarely use only one packet these days - 2 packets is my standard pitching rate.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Hope this makes sense? And sorry for not responding before now.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Cheers,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Pete[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]


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## Beil (17/12/16)

That's awesome that a thread from like 4 years ago is commemorated as a basis for ones appreciation of a craft.

Hey, gigantosaurus, I looked at that yeast calc. I've attached a screenshot, but I believe I have under pitched (started ferment last Sunday, reading past two days of 1.02 (was keeping an eye on this as I had a weird og reading))
Should I wait or bung another packet of Nottingham in? I know it's only been 5 days.
I used one originally but I think the calc. is saying I should have used 3!!

Is there any harm in pitching more yeast just to be sure?
I think I will be using minimum 2 packets from now on.


Edit: I forgot about reading about degassing samples, I just did that and it's 1.016. Target was 1.015. So I guess they did their thing.


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## Gigantorus (18/12/16)

Beil said:


> That's awesome that a thread from like 4 years ago is commemorated as a basis for ones appreciation of a craft.
> 
> Hey, gigantosaurus, I looked at that yeast calc. I've attached a screenshot, but I believe I have under pitched (started ferment last Sunday, reading past two days of 1.02 (was keeping an eye on this as I had a weird og reading))
> Should I wait or bung another packet of Nottingham in? I know it's only been 5 days.
> ...



Beil,

Throwing an extra yeast in now won't harm the brew. But you may have to give it an extra week in the fermenter just to be sure fermentation has finished.

Re the yeast calculator. I tend to take the approach that if 2 packets get me close to the suggested level then work with that. If I'm way short of the suggested yeast level, then add another one. This approached has produced good beer to date.

Cheers,
Pete


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## PhilipB (18/12/16)

Hi guys,

Threw the extra packet of yeast in on Friday and it was quite active through Saturday and today. 

I am looking to check and bottle on Wednesday. 

Cheers,

Philip


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## PhilipB (21/12/16)

PhilipB said:


> Hi guys,
> Threw the extra packet of yeast in on Friday and it was quite active through Saturday and today.
> I am looking to check and bottle on Wednesday.
> Cheers,
> Philip


Well guys the start SG was 1042 and the finish was 1010.

Bottled today. 4.42% 

Now to get ready for my Kilkenny style


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## PhilipB (18/1/17)

Cracked open a bottle tonight.


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