Ag No 2 - And A Couple Of Questions

[Bizarre]

Hi guys.

I havent had the chance to post up till now, but I did another AG on the weekend and once again it all went pretty smoothly. Details are as follows and I also have a couple of questions too! I gotta make this a quickie lol as I gotta head off to work, so if I forget anything Ill add it in later (and you really wanted to know that didnt you? Hehehe)

Pale ALe
A ProMash Recipe Report
BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

07-0 India Pale Ale, India Pale Ale

Min OG: 1.050 Max OG: 1.075
Min IBU: 40 Max IBU: 60
Min Clr: 8 Max Clr: 14 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (L): 20.50 Wort Size (L): 20.50
Total Grain (kg): 5.65
Anticipated OG: 1.064 Plato: 15.73
Anticipated SRM: 9.8
Anticipated IBU: 42.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------
Evaporation Rate: 5.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 21.58 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.061 SG 14.98 Plato

Formulas Used
-------------
Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Coarse Grind As Is.
Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager
Additional Utilization Used For Plug Hops: 2 %
Additional Utilization Used For Pellet Hops: 10 %
Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
44.2 2.50 kg. JWM Traditional Ale Malt Australia 78.94
44.2 2.50 kg. TF Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt UK 77.43
3.5 0.20 kg. TF Amber Malt UK 69.13
5.3 0.30 kg. Weyermann Carapils (Carafoam) Germany 76.15
2.7 0.15 kg. TF Crystal UK 67.92

Potential represented as Yield, Coarse Grind As Is.

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
36.00 g. Amarillo Gold Pellet 10.00 27.5 30 min.
40.00 g. Willamette Pellet 5.00 10.1 20 min.
35.00 g. Willamette Pellet 5.00 5.2 10 min.

Yeast
-----
DCL Yeast S-04 SafAle English Ale

Notes
-----

80C Dough in - 65C mash temp achieved.
1.5 Hr Sacharification rest - 30 minutes in temp dropped to 63 - water added to bring it up to 65 again.

2 x 20 minute sparges at 80C
SG of wort was well over 1.088 and volume was on
ly 15 litres or so - topped up fermenter to 20.5 - SG was 1.064. Efficiency of 78 - consistant with last batch done too (bitter).

The dregs left in my kettle from this one smelt fantastic (I think it was the amarillo and a nice malty aroma combining - made my mouth water!!)

I know Ive only done a couple of ags, but so far my efficiencies seem to be consistant so hopefully that means I am doing something right!! I just wondered if I want to get my efficiency up a bit more what should I be looking at? Would changing my sparging technique help or would a finer crush be the way to go (I think I am currently on about 0.7)?

Also I have been considering saving some of the wort from my AG batches and using it to make a starter from some of my already bottled beers. i.e. drain a bottle of my beer a few days before I want to do a batch and take the yeast cake from that to add to my wort bottle, and let that ferment for a few days.
I just thought this may be a way of saving a bit of cash, I dont really have space to culture up starters from the initial pack of yeast, and I just thought this may be another way of going about it. I would imagine though that it would not be something you would want to do too many times though but I could be wrong.

If I ever get a bit of time to myself I had thoughts of doing a guide post for potential AG newbies showing what I have done and the equipment I have used. Not that I am any expert, but Ill bet you all there are stacks of people on here who think they cant do it, or its too complicated or expensive. As I have found out, its nowhere nearly as complicated as you think it is, and in some respects I actually think its easier than cans of goop etc.

:chug:

Cheers

Paul

 

[tangent]

don't stress about efficiency, anything in the 70's is good.
if you crush too fine you run the risk of stuck sparges and they SUCK!
I'd lessen the amount of carapils but that's just MO, otherwise everything is looking great. well done!

 

[razz]

Well done Bizarre, great stuff. One thing I can say about making any changes to your methods, to improve efficiency, is this. Only make one change at a time. You can try the things you mentioned as well as recirculating the wort during the mash, putting everything from the kettle into the fermenter. You can reuse the sediment from the bottle, or save some from the fermenter will give you more. If you use the search tool I think pistol patch did a walk through for ag'ers.

 

[Stuster]

I agree with Tangent. That efficiency is fine. No need to worry about that.

As far as yeast, you'll be better off reusing the yeast from primary. The yeast in bottles is certainly usable, better is to use the yeast from the primary. You can just pitch another beer on top of the yeast cake in the primary, or preferably scoop some out in a sanitised jug. Have a look at Chiller's great post, here or at the top of the Common Ground forum. You don't need to wash it in the way he describes, you can just put some in the fridge in a jar. 6-10 generation is often recommended as the most generations to do this, as long as you are certain of your sanitation.

Well done on the switch to AG. :super:

Maybe have a look at the Style of the Week on IPAs for some ideas, but I'd say you could up the bitterness on that a touch.

 

[Bizarre]

don't stress about efficiency, anything in the 70's is good.
if you crush too fine you run the risk of stuck sparges and they SUCK!
I'd lessen the amount of carapils but that's just MO, otherwise everything is looking great. well done!

Duly noted for next time Tangent - I'll make notes and compare this one to my next one

If you use the search tool I think pistol patch did a walk through for ag'ers.

Thanks Razz - if PP already did a walkthrough then theres no point in me doing one. Besides his is probably about 10,000 pages long anyway. LOL

I agree with Tangent. That efficiency is fine. No need to worry about that.

As far as yeast, you'll be better off reusing the yeast from primary. The yeast in bottles is certainly usable, better is to use the yeast from the primary. You can just pitch another beer on top of the yeast cake in the primary, or preferably scoop some out in a sanitised jug. Have a look at Chiller's great post, here or at the top of the Common Ground forum. You don't need to wash it in the way he describes, you can just put some in the fridge in a jar. 6-10 generation is often recommended as the most generations to do this, as long as you are certain of your sanitation.

Well done on the switch to AG. :super:

Maybe have a look at the Style of the Week on IPAs for some ideas, but I'd say you could up the bitterness on that a touch.

Thanks for the tips Stuster - the efficiency thing was curiousity on my part I guess. The yeast I would like to do - my biggest issue is lack of fridge space so I cant really keep a lot of bottles in the fridge. Which leads me to my next (hopefully not dumb) question - can you freeze yeast? I know there are some organisms that you can freeze and they come back okay - I cant for the life of me remember if yeast is one of them or not.

 

[Steve]

don't stress about efficiency, anything in the 70's is good.
if you crush too fine you run the risk of stuck sparges and they SUCK!
I'd lessen the amount of carapils but that's just MO, otherwise everything is looking great. well done!

Duly noted for next time Tangent - I'll make notes and compare this one to my next one

If you use the search tool I think pistol patch did a walk through for ag'ers.

Thanks Razz - if PP already did a walkthrough then theres no point in me doing one. Besides his is probably about 10,000 pages long anyway. LOL

I agree with Tangent. That efficiency is fine. No need to worry about that.

As far as yeast, you'll be better off reusing the yeast from primary. The yeast in bottles is certainly usable, better is to use the yeast from the primary. You can just pitch another beer on top of the yeast cake in the primary, or preferably scoop some out in a sanitised jug. Have a look at Chiller's great post, here or at the top of the Common Ground forum. You don't need to wash it in the way he describes, you can just put some in the fridge in a jar. 6-10 generation is often recommended as the most generations to do this, as long as you are certain of your sanitation.

Well done on the switch to AG. :super:

Maybe have a look at the Style of the Week on IPAs for some ideas, but I'd say you could up the bitterness on that a touch.

Thanks for the tips Stuster - the efficiency thing was curiousity on my part I guess. The yeast I would like to do - my biggest issue is lack of fridge space so I cant really keep a lot of bottles in the fridge. Which leads me to my next (hopefully not dumb) question - can you freeze yeast? I know there are some organisms that you can freeze and they come back okay - I cant for the life of me remember if yeast is one of them or not.

From what ive read you're probably best not to go freezing yeast. Some people have (by accident) and they've survived but, no its not recommended.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Stuster]

Do crush finer if you want to up your efficiency, but little by little.

Don't freeze the yeast. How to manage your yeast depends on how often you brew. So how often do you get that urge, Bizarre?

 

[Bizarre]

Do crush finer if you want to up your efficiency, but little by little.

Don't freeze the yeast. How to manage your yeast depends on how often you brew. So how often do you get that urge, Bizarre?

Ummm - oh yeah - brewing urge hehehe

I usually try to put a batch down every 2 weeks so I always have aged beer. Nothing worse than gasping on a beer and they are all greener than the greenest thing in greendom! Hehehe

 

[Stuster]

In that case just recycle the yeast from your last batch. Once the last beer is out of primary, take 1/2 litre of the yeast cake and use it for your next batch. Easy, no starter to make and no fridge issues. It'll keep fine in a sanitised bottle in the fridge for a couple of weeks. In fact, I've been bottling tonight and done just that.

PS How green is the greenest thing in greendom? :unsure:

 

[Bizarre]

In that case just recycle the yeast from your last batch. Once the last beer is out of primary, take 1/2 litre of the yeast cake and use it for your next batch. Easy, no starter to make and no fridge issues. It'll keep fine in a sanitised bottle in the fridge for a couple of weeks. In fact, I've been bottling tonight and done just that.

PS How green is the greenest thing in greendom? :unsure:

Very VERY very green!

So I have heard anyway!