An Opportunity

[johnw]

Hi Guys,

I have managed to win a good mate over with the joy of home crafted beers. I have only ever brewed from a can and am moving into all grain this coming week. I have promised him it should be even better than the canned method. He is rather confident in my ability (confidence has only ever been expressed after a few frothies) and has asked me to brew the beer for his engagement party (requested once sober).

He is marrying an Italian girl and as is mandatory with the Italian celebrations, there will be a lot of people there. We will be building a kegerator in the coming weeks and the party is about 6 weeks away.

I will be getting an Urn and BIABing. Can you guys suggest a few simple AG recipes that will win the masses over and be a great drop by the time the party comes around. And also have a decent margin of error as i havent BIABed before.

Ta for your help

DrinkBeer

 

[kenlock]

Dr Smurto's Golden Ale. Search Recipe DB and plenty of threads.

 

[crundle]

+1 for Doctor Smurto's Golden Ale. I introduced the family to it and they still want it made everytime I make a beer up for a gathering, nearly a year down the track. Flavour, body, aroma, and very forgiving recipe. It is well balanced and you can brew it using no chill cooling of the wort with no worries.

Are you new to kegging or have you used the kegs before, because that will take a little bit of work to get sorted out right. You want the beer to be in the keg for at least a few weeks to make sure it is gassed up perfectly, and if you are new to kegging, I would suggest that you read up about gassing at serving pressure and don't try the quick method as there is a risk you may overcarbonate the kegs and everything will not work out on the night of the party!

Plenty of help on here if you need it,

Crundle

 

[johnw]

Cheers for the replies guys.

Yes i am new to kegging but i have read up a lot in the subject, but i know thats no replacement for experience. i think it is going to be were we set up and test the day of the party and if all goes to sh*t we go to the bottlo and its becomes a megaswill session.

i am basically looking for AG recipes that are ready after only a week or two in the keg to be ready to be served to the masses, plus another one or two that can be put on tap once the good stuff is gone. the old saying of start on the good stuff then finish them off on the not so good stuff may need to apply.

 

[mika]

Philsale recipe comes to mind and 'assistant brewers ale' or some such, also rings a bell (use the google search function).
I brewed Philsale for my Pa' and it seems to have gone down well with the rest of the local swill drinking community as well. I've got my Father drinking Cantillion with me, so his opinion doesn't matter as much as the rest.
Big hop recipe's are great for the brewer, but generally not appreciated by the mega-swilling public. I remember sitting down to a new beer and sampling what at the time was a nice soft malt background hiding behind a light noble hop taste. After remarking to an associate that it was 'not a bad drop' and him basically agreeing, I was about to launch into my detailed analysis when he noted 'it could do to be a couple of degrees colder and this would be perfect'... I bit my tongue and took another swig.
Allow for 1.5 wks in the fermenter and the same in the keg, you've got plenty of time to play. The biggest drama will be getting that carbonation level, just right. By the time you've got it sorted, the tap will pour gas. Keep it simple, pander to the public (sort of) for such an important brew, no need to be impressing the fussy beer critics for this one.
If it turns out real bad, you can always start them on Carlton Mids before switching to the HB, by that stage they won't care what it tastes like, as long as it's alcoholic.

 

[Effect]

wheat beers can go from grain to brain in 4 days...

doc's wheat beer


also, tony's little creatures bright ale clone goes down really well with everyone here.

bright ale

Cheers
Phil

 

[crundle]

Cheers for the replies guys.

Yes i am new to kegging but i have read up a lot in the subject, but i know thats no replacement for experience. i think it is going to be were we set up and test the day of the party and if all goes to sh*t we go to the bottlo and its becomes a megaswill session.

i am basically looking for AG recipes that are ready after only a week or two in the keg to be ready to be served to the masses, plus another one or two that can be put on tap once the good stuff is gone. the old saying of start on the good stuff then finish them off on the not so good stuff may need to apply.

I would be inclined to brew the same beer for all the kegs to make it easier on you, and as said, DSGA is very forgiving on new brewers. It might also be a good idea to knock up a can of goo beer to keg so that it is ready to keg ASAP. That way you can have it to test your kegging setup with to make sure you get it right.

The biggest issue that people have when kegging is overcarbing, which gives a beer that is frothy with no bubbles in it (which often leads people to think it is flat and needs more gas - NO!). Have a read of this article - Balancing a draught system, and use Crozdog's xl sheet at the end to work out your serving pressure. EDIT: I use a longer line length than the xl sheet shows, it might be an idea to double the length to start with to see how it goes.

As a rough guide, at a temperature of 4 degrees Celcius, with a desired carbonation level of 2.4 volumes, I normally set my pressure to about 75kPa. My beer line is about 1.5 metres long and the beers pour fine after about 10 days in the keg at that pressure and temp. The length of your beer line plays a big role in how your kegerator pours, so if in doubt, use a longer line because you can always cut it if needed, but you can't make it longer!

Good luck with your kegerator building and BIAB efforts - it is a fair learning curve you are about to experience, with a fairly tight timeline to get it right by. Just proceed methodically and you should be fine, but my biggest worry would be the kegging system - avoid the temptation to charge the kegs up quickly unless you have someone with Corny kegging experience to assist you, because if the beer is overcarbed, you wont be able to bottle it either, as it will be far too gassy to pour into bottles.

cheers,

Crundle

 

[Bribie G]

Are the guests of Italian descent or actually from Italy? If from Italy they might not take too well to a hoppy ale, much as we brewers love them, you might want to brew something a bit more Euro, or if Australian Italians then something a bit more Carltonish.
Also being a new brewer, either way you could do worse than a single malt single hop beer for your main event but ferment it coolish 17 degrees using US-05 which makes a great 'fake' lager. Suggested recipe for BIABing with an urn is:

4000 Pale Pilsener Malt
500 rice cooked to a mush and added at mash temperature

90 mins at 66 degrees

Then either 30g Saaz pellets in a 90 min boil and 10g Saaz for the last 10 min - eat your heart out Peroni
Or 30g Pride of Ringwood in a 90 min boil, for an Aussie Style

Don't forget the whirlfloc in the boil, and add polyclar before kegging to prevent chill haze.

Aim to get about 21L of wort and that should, with wastage, fill a keg nicely. You have six weeks to go so anything you brew with US-05 should turn out fine, but you have left it a bit late to do a true lager. Once you have popped your cherry with a single malt single hop brew you will have plenty of time to do a Golden Ale and give them a real choice at the party. Northern Italians (from up near the Austrian Border) would probably go for something a bit more powerful as they are more Germanic oriented B) so you will have all bases covered.

 

[Effect]

4000 Pale Pilsener Malt
500 rice cooked to a mush and added at mash temperature

you and your rice bribie...

 

[Bribie G]

you and your rice bribie...

You'll never know if you never go Got one on the go right now. Now for Italians maybe Polenta would be the go.

 

[crundle]

Might have to give the rice a crack soon Bribie, it has me intrigued.

Do you find you get more chill haze when you use rice? I haven't experienced it yet, so no idea myself.

Crundle

 

[buttersd70]

If from Italy they might not take too well to a hoppy ale, much as we brewers love them, you might want to brew something a bit more Euro, or if Australian Italians then something a bit more Carltonish.

Not everyone loves a hoppy (read American hops) ale, not even all brewers.
Bribie makes a good point about brewing more to the taste of the guests, rather than the brewer.

My 2c would be an Australian ale of some sort, there are a few in the dB. the CPA clone comes immediately to mind....

 

[Bribie G]

Yes an Australian Pale made with light malts and with the Coopers recultured yeast should suit lager drinkers as well, and it's pitch to pour in a couple of weeks. I've been drinking a bit of it lately to get the tall bottles, plus the yeast of course, and when you pour it carefully off the sediment you would swear you are looking at VB etc, I remember when it used to be an almost orange colour but they are obviously catering for the younger trendier drinker. However that would be a good wedding party beer for sure

 

[crundle]

Going to give some rice a try this week Bribie, using Galaxy malt and thinking of using POR for the bittering.

Wondering how the OP is going with the kegerator build btw, the function should be coming up soon.

Crundle

 

[mr_tyreman]

23L batch

Est Og 1.050
Est Fg 1.011
EBC 7.7
IBU 34.3
Eff. 70%

5.5KG Pils malt
0.25 Wey Carapils

45g Spalter 60mins
15g Spalter 15mins
20g Spalter 0 mins

Safale lager yeast

Everyone i know just loves this one...its very light colour, and very easy drinking.

Not one of the great beers, but a good intro beer into HB

if that helps

 

[HoppingMad]

Tony's Aussie Ale works well (on recipe DB). Have brewed a variation of this (based on the grain amounts I had on hand) and was a crowd pleaser with a large group at work (all non-brewers).

Or have a bet each way - a Dr Smurtos and a Tony's.

Hopper.

 

[flattop]

2c

Any of you ever drank Morretti? or any other Italian beer... those guys need to stick to wine (which they make very well).
My better half is pure blood Roman and her folks went nuts over my K&K efforts last year.
Now i've moved to AG i'm concerned about the stockpiles of DR Smurto's and Honey ale i've made through the winter.

Concern 1) Dr Smurto's may be too bitter and hoppy for their palate (or they will like it and drain me dry)
Concern 2) They liked my Cerveza (which was green and a touch tarty in early summer but was ok at the end) and perhaps my beers are now too heavy (or they will like it and drink me dry)

To resolve my drink dry issue's i bought a LWK from Pete in Boronia which should go into bottles this week but it's another amarillo ale, i guess if the iti's don't like amarillo then i will have a lot of stockpile.

Seriously though, Italians are not beer connoisseurs, i think that any good beer will be fine, and variety is the key, a couple of light easy drinkers and a couple of solid bitters should round it off.

Get plenty of good quality proscuitto and olives as it compliments beer really well, guaranteed the Italians will go off.... by the way they are not really angry they just talk loud.... I love em personally, full of life!

 

[Fourstar]

You'll never know if you never go Got one on the go right now. Now for Italians maybe Polenta would be the go.

Mmmmmmm.. something for the Aussie Italians.

OG 1.050
35 IBU
80% JW Pilsner
20% Polenta
30IBU POR @ 60 Min
5IBU POR @ 15 Min
Wyeast Bohemian Lager
66deg Mash Temp @70Min
Ferment @ 10deg.

aweeeeesoommmeeeee! A little extra time to help convert the polenta, you can just dump dry it straight in with the grain, ive tested with my last batch and it works fine little less efficiency, if you can be arsed boiling it up and dump in hot, even better.

Cheers!