A Few Questions

[kelbygreen]

yeah or any lighter ale malt will do. Prob to start with try a few different ones to see what they are like. I only used pils malt so far

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Pilsner malt for any crisp pale ale or lager. I love Weyermann's Pale Premium Pilsner Malt - the quality it adds to beers is really worth the extra couple of bucks.

Perle malt for any lighter coloured (or with spec grains a darker coloured) english ale.

You can build just about any recipe on those as a basis. Grab a sack, if you have a mill, but even then, with $1 off per kg over 4kg (if buying milled) it's still cheaper to buy 4.5kg and then spec it out.

Citra was the hop in the beer - Amarillo is the closest in flavour in the DB, so chose that and put the note there.

Very good piece of advice to set the efficiency in your program at 65-70%, and slightly up the base grain by 500g or so. That'll just make sure you get a decent wort. The efficiencies can be fixed, but get the basic mashing technique, mashing temp concepts and hop boil times under control, the rest will come with practice.

Goomba

 

[TmC]

I still need to do a bit more reading and get some more equipment but will definitely give this a go sometime this month.

 

[kelbygreen]

read nicks post in the beginner AG section and use that. You can of coarse use different or more or less grain and different hops and schedule but that will show the gear you need and how to do it. I followed his guide but I used a esky for a mashtun and tipped the wort into the kettle that way I could sparge in the mash tun to, I really want a bigger pot as full boil would be best..

HERE! is his thread

 

[fawnroux]

My second question is in regards to aerating wort. As i have been brewing at work i have been bringing my beer home to bottle, on this occasion however i was going to throw it in the fridge for a few days to see if that helps clear the beer and taste, i have already transferred to secondary and the hydro reading was 1005 today so i think its pretty much done but wanted to cold chill to see how it went. Living in NQ our roads have recently been plagued with potholes, and in some parts it covers the whole road, by the end of it my brew had about 1-2cm of bubbles in each secondary vessel from the bumpy ride. Is this considered aerating/and or what will this cause?

This is not considered aerating the wort. Wort is unfermented sweet barley juice. If your beer is shaking around like this, you risk oxidising it, which can result in some pretty delicious cardboard/ cheap sherry like flavours in your beer. I remember making an bock one time, transfering the beer to a cube to lager. Then when I pulled it out a month later, I hadn't put the tap in the bung I tried really gently to get it into another container and bottled it. It tasted like **** rolled in a wet newspaper. So beware of oxidised brews!

Also, why did you transfer to secondary? Just curious

My Last questions is that today i put in my second fermenter an Coopers English Bitter with 1kg Light Dry Malt and 250g dex. As i was trying to dissolve the can of goop and LDM i noticed that a lot of my malt was clumping together and not dissolving, turning into big chunks of rubbery plastic is how i would describe it, what would this be caused by/and or is this bad? It has not happened to any of my brews previously using LDME.

Dissolve your dried malt extract in cold water. Hot and/or boiling will always make it clump together. A little cold water will dissolve it quick smart, then add the hot water.

Dave

 

[TmC]

Ordered 5kg Weyermann Pilsner Malt to have a crack at AG, just need to get my hands on a 19L pot.

 

[TmC]

Also, why did you transfer to secondary? Just curious

Dave

I have been getting cloudy beer, floaties and nasty homebrew twang, i have controlled temps and using US-05 so its neither of those, i heard racking to secondary and then putting in the fridge may help this so i wanted to find out for myself. Each to their own.

 

[going down a hill]

Dissolve your dried malt extract in cold water. Hot and/or boiling will always make it clump together. A little cold water will dissolve it quick smart, then add the hot water.

I'll be doing that from now on, I love getting around a problem with one easy step.
Cheers

 

[fawnroux]

I have been getting cloudy beer, floaties and nasty homebrew twang, i have controlled temps and using US-05 so its neither of those, i heard racking to secondary and then putting in the fridge may help this so i wanted to find out for myself. Each to their own.

Cool. I was genuinely curious. I'm always interested why people do certain things with certain beers, especially when it comes to yeast. There so many different opinions out there as what to do with beer. Leave it on the yeast, rack it off, do x before dry hopping etc etc. I like to hear what other brewers do and why.

Hope the toucan comes up great. I hear those stout ones can be something special! :beerbang:

Dave

 

[TmC]

Yeah, looking at the recipe its going to be as bitter as a mother in law but hoping it mellows out. I heard some of the darker beers can be a bit more forgiving to the homebrew taste so fingers crossed.

 

[manticle]

Ordered 5kg Weyermann Pilsner Malt to have a crack at AG, just need to get my hands on a 19L pot.

That malt plus 100g light/medium crystal malt and tettnanger hops to around 35 IBU will give you a lovely beer. I have a recipe somewhere if you're interested.

Works best with US05 - I've tried it with German liquid ale yeast but the 05 seems to let the hop shine.

 

[TmC]

That malt plus 100g light/medium crystal malt and tettnanger hops to around 35 IBU will give you a lovely beer. I have a recipe somewhere if you're interested.

Works best with US05 - I've tried it with German liquid ale yeast but the 05 seems to let the hop shine.

I have some Medium Crystal Malt leftover that i will use, i would love to see the recipe thanks manticle, was also going to try and use the trub from my Coopers Heritage Lager (US-05) in one of my future brews, i have some notto on the way as i have read its not a bad yeast either so will use that if i cant get my hands on some more US-05. I love it because it gives me the closest thing to a lager without lashing out on a fridge and temp control (power bill is already pretty hefty with aircon).

EDIT: Dont have any tettnanger but have Centennial, Amarillo, Cluster and POR so will do some research as to which will be better suited.

 

[manticle]

Just checked and my original recipe also has biscuit malt in there. You could leave it out to keep it simple or sub in weyerman vienna. It's only about 250g and just gives a nutty, toasty quality.

Otherwise: 5kg pils
100g med crystal
250 biscuit (optional)

50g tettnanger@60 (4.5% AA)
20g @20
10g at flameout.

US05

20-22 litres

If you're not using tettnanger, I'd look at Centennial and amarillo as a nice combo (bitter to at least 40 IBU) and upping the crystal malt.

Obviously a completely different beer

 

[TmC]

Ok thanks for that, i dont mind what kind of beer it is as long as its not too hoppy, still building my "craft" beer palette. Only stopped buying commercial beer about a month ago. Still have 3 bottles of pure blonde that are sitting in my fridge.

 

[fawnroux]

Still have 3 bottles of pure blonde that are sitting in my fridge.

Use it for beer batter!

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Ordered 5kg Weyermann Pilsner Malt to have a crack at AG, just need to get my hands on a 19L pot.

Big W. 19L pot is $20 (and I got my second for $12, so I split the grain bill now, which has improved efficiency).

I had a friend who tried one of my beers last year. Then went back to the bottle soon after, purchased a carton of Carlton mid.

Couldn't get through it. He tells me the other day "I've found my new fave beer - Fat Yak Pale Ale". I stifled a guffaw, but in all truth, this is a seriously big jump after one beer of mine. He's been a cheap megaswill drinker for years. Now he is going after beers with some pronounced hop character. I told him he'll be a hop head in no time.

It's funny, I was thinking about this the other day and realised that pushing wham bam hoppy (not necessarily bitter, but pronounced hop flavour) onto people won't make them hop heads. It becomes a gradual process from bad megaswill, and as one tries more and more beers, one builds up a taste for hoppiness. I'm really of the frame of mind that it is an acquired taste for most persons.

Goomba

Edit: clarity.

 

[TmC]

I have thrown my Coopers Heritage Lager in the fridge at 5C. I was a bit concerned that it hadn't finished fermenting as after 2 weeks it still had a 1" krausen. I checked the hydro and it was down to 1005 so i racked it into secondary vessels. My question is that because this isn't a real lager (i used US-05) how long would be good to "lager" this brew? I can leave it in there for up to about 3-4 weeks until my next brews need to be put in there.

 

[fcmcg]

I have thrown my Coopers Heritage Lager in the fridge at 5C. I was a bit concerned that it hadn't finished fermenting as after 2 weeks it still had a 1" krausen. I checked the hydro and it was down to 1005 so i racked it into secondary vessels. My question is that because this isn't a real lager (i used US-05) how long would be good to "lager" this brew? I can leave it in there for up to about 3-4 weeks until my next brews need to be put in there.

Mate,
Nothing stopping you leaving it for 3 weeks...it will drop alot of yeast out of suspension...the down side of this , is your beer will then take alot longer to carb up....but...you will have a clearer beer...otherwise , you bottle , let it sit for 2 weeks and then put it in the fridge for a month...you'll just have to decant into a jug and leave the extra sediment behind !
Cheers
Ferg

 

[TmC]

I do that anyway because all my beers have a pretty yuk yeast cake at the bottom, it doesn't matter if it takes ages to carb up, was planning on doing a few batches for summer anyway as i heard 6 months in the bottle might work wonders on my brews.

 

[Nick JD]

...i heard 6 months in the bottle might work wonders on my brews.

If I hit FG on a Tuesday, I'm pouring from the keg on Friday.

The only beer that needs a long time to get good wasn't very good in the first place .

AG beer is delicious out of the fermenter.