How was the fermentation Malted?
I prefer slow....then fast. That Burton really does like to get fermented.......
I am glad you asked!
As with all things the conditions have to be just right for a successful fermentation; prior to that there is quite a bit of coaxing involved to get a mash going. Generally at the start of a mash I will probe the grist to make sure that it suitably prepared. In this instance the lick her ratio was too low and consequently the mash was a bit dry; it did seem to me like a fairly complete grind and I was expecting a good conversion ratio. I just added some external liquids and kept mashing; it seemed to work for me.
Towards the end of the mash it was developing a bit of harshness but I may have mashed for too long. Perhaps I should have mashed hotter. At the completion of the mash it seemed to develop some astringency but that may have just been the vinegar stroke. Despite this apparent acetic presence, there were certainly no infection problems.
I was up for a reiterated mash but the grist was spent. I know a partigyle is certainly out of the equation as I have proposed this in the past and have been told that there will be no additional grists in my brewing. It is not that I am bored with the same grist, it is the house ale after all but I wonder what it would be like to use several grists in the same brew session. Prior to this house ale I experimented with some novel brewing techniques such as under letting the mash and some international grists; mashing an Irish red grist at all times of the night was exceptionally good. I enjoyed them all but seem to have settled for the house ale I am currently brewing.
I dumped the krausen onto her chest to avoid any unwanted products. The fermentation was quite vigorous with a thick, creamy, layer of krausen spewing out onto her chest. She then sparged her grist in the shower; I didn't keep the runnings from that. Cleanliness, sanitisation and good hygiene practices are the key to having a successful fermentation and avoiding unwanted nasties. Some folks wrap their fermenter top in glad wrap but I prefer an open top ferment. I feel it produces more of an authentic fermentation with more enjoyable and refined characteristics. Of course novices shouldn't attempt this themselves, it is a process that requires precise timing and you have to have an in depth knowledge and synchronicity with your equipment. I suppose you could say this is risky brewing but I have been brewing this way for over three years without any unwanted nasties. One could say that there is a lag phase between fermentation and unwanted nasties appearing but despite this being about 9 months, there are early signs that something is amiss. If you take necessary precautions and use you're equipment properly you can brew this way. It is called traditional brewing and was how it was originally done.
Regarding the provenance of my malt, I have met the plant breeders and they are of good disposition and must be good producers as they have three different malts. My malt is very good, a younger malt is probably of more use for VB and the youngest malt appears to be of exceptional quality. I have never brewed with the other malts so can't compare them. I reckon a great many brewers would like to mash the youngest malt. I hope one day to produce my own malts from my seed. I know that most folks generally don't get much time to brew once they start malting so I am content for now just to keep brewing. It must be said that I don't get to brew often enough but I suppose most blokes think that at some stage. Sometimes on the internet, particularly when I haven't brewed for a while, I will look at the grist of other malts and other brewers mashing them. I prefer not to see too much of the brewer in action but more over the malts getting mashed. I particularly like several malts that are well rounded in the top end yet thinner in the body mashing together with the brewer. These sorts of malts appear to be mostly European malts. I am led to believe that a lot of UK malts will mash on the first occasion, you don't even need to get them back to the brewery. I know I mashed that Irish red at a variety of locations both indoors and outdoors.
Depending on the conditions, sometimes my domestic malt will produce good head and at other times it won't. Sometimes with the domestic malt it is possible that if the conditions are not perfect, you won't get a complete fermentation, brewing is always good though. Sometimes the krausen is thick, creamy, large in volume and is expelled at high velocity. At others times the krausen is of lesser abundance.
