Cascade Spicy Ghost

[Windy Hill]

G'day again all . Have had a Cascade Spicy Ghost Draught kit sitting around for a few weeks ( yeah , i've read a variety of wide ranging reviews on this one ) & decided to go for it and get it out of the way .

Ingredients include :

Spicy Ghost Kit
1kg Brewcraft Brewblend #20
500g Coopers LDME
20g Cascade Hop Pellets @ 60 min
20g Cascade @ 30 min
10g Cascade @ flame out for couple mins along with Kit , just long enough to dissolve kit through .

OG : 1.044

Bit of a flying blind sort of wort but had the spare ingredients sitting around as well & thought they may all go ok together .

Unsure if i've used the Hops correctly , but at flame out , the wort smelt amazing .

Anyway , to the real point of the post . Pitched the kit yeast ( Cascade Bohemian 7g ) @ 22*C , have maintained approx 18-20*C
for nearly 24 hrs now & theres no activity , maybe a slight push on the airlock every now and then . Have decided to just nudge the temp up a bit to say 24*C to see if that inspires a beginning to fermentation . Thinking by the end of the day if there's still no start , i might throw in some of the only spare yeast i have sitting around . The spare yeast looks to be a generic Black Rock 5g . Have 10g of this yeast and would even consider pitching the whole 10g.

So any help much appreciated , not just re: the yeast bizo , but any other things that stand out to you .

Cheers for now ,

Windy Hill .

 

[Pennywise]

I'm not sure on the IBU of the kit, but I don't think a 60 min addition was needed, I'd say it would be a fairly bitter beer, appart from that the use of hops looks fine to me.
24hrs isn't very long to wait for activity, especially for only 7g of yeast. I'd bring the temp back down to 18 and wait another 24hrs at least. And then if still concerned take a hydrometer reading, bugger the airlock

 

[Windy Hill]

I'm not sure on the IBU of the kit, but I don't think a 60 min addition was needed, I'd say it would be a fairly bitter beer, appart from that the use of hops looks fine to me.
24hrs isn't very long to wait for activity, especially for only 7g of yeast. I'd bring the temp back down to 18 and wait another 24hrs at least. And then if still concerned take a hydrometer reading, bugger the airlock

Thanks for that , point taken on the Cascade @ 60 mins , as i said , flying blind a bit . Just done a little research , Spicy Ghost Draught = 90 -100 EBC & 17 - 23 IBU .

I'll back the temp off to 18*C again a show a bit of patience . Yeah i know some feelings towards airlocks , it's a bad habit i have to shake off .

Thanks again .

 

[Windy Hill]

I'm not sure on the IBU of the kit, but I don't think a 60 min addition was needed, I'd say it would be a fairly bitter beer, appart from that the use of hops looks fine to me.
24hrs isn't very long to wait for activity, especially for only 7g of yeast. I'd bring the temp back down to 18 and wait another 24hrs at least. And then if still concerned take a hydrometer reading, bugger the airlock

I stuffed up , can't count today , it's approaching 48 hrs HB79 not 24 . Make any diff to the overall thoughts do you reckon ?

Cheers .

 

[mwd]

If you just sprinkled the dry yeast onto the top of the wort then don't start worrying until about day 3.

You may be able to see little clumps of bubbles appearing on the surface first as the yeast starts working.

 

[bum]

And then if still concerned take a hydrometer reading, bugger the airlock

Yeah, I'd be doing this first.

Can you give some detail of how you did your boil? i.e. what went in it and how big was it?

 

[Pennywise]

Good question, if the whole lot except the kit went into a 5-6L boil, the utilisation from the hops would be sweet FA. May only bump up the IBU by a couple

 

[Lodan]

WH,
You will find Ian's spreadsheet to be very helpful.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...st&p=644029

Agree with above questions about more detail on your boil.

I've also heard/read that the bohemian yeast is a lager variety so consider dropping the temperature further once you see signs of fermentation. But check and confirm that it's a lager or ale yeast first

 

[Windy Hill]

Yeah, I'd be doing this first.

Can you give some detail of how you did your boil? i.e. what went in it and how big was it?

Yeah sure bum , i'm an L plater & here to learn .

Righto , stainless stockpot atop the wok burner . 2 full kettles of boiling water in , approx 3.6 ltrs , that's the whole volume of water used . Added & dissloved the 500g LDME & the 1kg Brewblend #20 + the 20g hops . Boil broke after 10 min simmer . Another 20g hops at 30 mins continuing gentle simmer . At more or less 0 mins added entire Kit + remaining 10g hops . Only long enough to dissolve kit goo throughout . Strained off into fermenter , topped up to 23 lts with rainwater . The only other boiling water that went in was the water i poured into the kit can to get all the goo out . OG 1.044 .

This is a great chance to ask : Why add hops at intervals ? Do they release different characteristics over different periods of time in the boil ?

Hope this helps . Thanks for your interest .

 

[Windy Hill]

WH,
You will find Ian's spreadsheet to be very helpful.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...st&p=644029

Agree with above questions about more detail on your boil.

I've also heard/read that the bohemian yeast is a lager variety so consider dropping the temperature further once you see signs of fermentation. But check and confirm that it's a lager or ale yeast first

Thanks very much for the link Lodan , very handy . Unfotunately i chucked the yeast packet , did read it though & all it stated was " Cascade Bohemian Yeast " . I'm thinking i'll be leaning toward treating it as a Lager Yeast .

 

[manticle]

This is a great chance to ask : Why add hops at intervals ? Do they release different characteristics over different periods of time in the boil ?

Really basically -

Early = bitter
Mid = flavour
late = aroma

Crossover occurs between (eg a 20 minute addition will add flavour and some bittering, all aroma additions in my experience (including dry hopping) will add some flavour).

 

[Windy Hill]

Really basically -

Early = bitter
Mid = flavour
late = aroma

Crossover occurs between (eg a 20 minute addition will add flavour and some bittering, all aroma additions in my experience (including dry hopping) will add some flavour).

Thanks Manticle , simple but essential info , good stuff .

 

[bum]

Hey, Windy. I reckon you'll probably be okay in as far as the issue of being over bittered goes. Your method isn't really ideal for a hop boil but I think that'll end up working in your favour at the end of the day.

As a loose rule of thumb it is best to make a wort of about 1040 for a hop boil - most consider 100gm of LDME per litre of water as a good estimate of that. Many also consider a minimum boil size of 5L to be a good starting point. The reason for this is basically that give you an optimal extraction of the stuff we want from hops for our beer. Why? Uh...it's very technical...I'm sure you wouldn't understand...(aka - I don't understand it exactly myself). But experience shows me it is true so I'm happy to believe it.

In the case of your beer, your 20gm 60min boil might have made your beer overly bitter but since your gravity for the boil was much higher than 1040 your IBU extraction will be much lower. Looks like it'll be a nice beer so long as cascade works with the flavours of the kit goo.

There is tons of info around on how to do a hop boil. Have a read around and see how others do it and find out which method appeals most.

 

[Shed101]

Backing up bum ...

(sorry, had to say that)

I made an extract with Galaxy that was supposed to be heavy IBU, but because I had a brain fade and didn't put enough water in the pot the SG was a fair bit above 1040. Result was low IBU, but incredible flavour and aroma, high FG (probably a result of over grinding the steeping grains which pushed the OG up).

Anyway, the beer wasn't what i'd planned ... but 5 weeks later there's only one tallie left

Your cascade-athon will be a good'un

 

[Windy Hill]

Hey, Windy. I reckon you'll probably be okay in as far as the issue of being over bittered goes. Your method isn't really ideal for a hop boil but I think that'll end up working in your favour at the end of the day.

As a loose rule of thumb it is best to make a wort of about 1040 for a hop boil - most consider 100gm of LDME per litre of water as a good estimate of that. Many also consider a minimum boil size of 5L to be a good starting point. The reason for this is basically that give you an optimal extraction of the stuff we want from hops for our beer. Why? Uh...it's very technical...I'm sure you wouldn't understand...(aka - I don't understand it exactly myself). But experience shows me it is true so I'm happy to believe it.

In the case of your beer, your 20gm 60min boil might have made your beer overly bitter but since your gravity for the boil was much higher than 1040 your IBU extraction will be much lower. Looks like it'll be a nice beer so long as cascade works with the flavours of the kit goo.

There is tons of info around on how to do a hop boil. Have a read around and see how others do it and find out which method appeals most.

Thanks for that , two thumbs up ' bum ' . Probably the biggest lesson from this brew is likely to be general method of going about the boil . I'll work on a 5L wort in future , with more research in the meantime .

By the way , nearly 36 hours now , taken another SG . Down to 1.042 from 1.044 . ?? Can probably hold off another day max , and see if LHBStore has a suitable yeast , if not , i'll have to pitch the Black Rock yeast i have spare on hand . Thats the thinking at the moment anyway .

Cheers .

 

[bum]

Gravity has dropped so it is fermenting - albeit a little slow to take off. I don't think you need to be looking at a repitch just yet.

RDWAHAHB

 

[Windy Hill]

Gravity has dropped so it is fermenting - albeit a little slow to take off. I don't think you need to be looking at a repitch just yet.

RDWAHAHB

Righto , Ta , bit of patience & will go day to day .

 

[Lobby Lobster]

Curious to know how you went Windy. Did your patience hold out?

The bohemian yeast is a tricky one. I nearly caved when I did a toucan from the Cascade website - the Winter warmer choc mahogany porter.
It took ages to activate the airlock and bubbled in an irregular manner.

I had learned the patience lesson the hard way previously though so I held my nerve.

For the record though, it turned out pretty good - and being such a heavy beer should apparently keep improving for a few more months. Cascade cop a bit of a bagging (including for their choice of yeast) but for a toucan kit recipe I thought it was better than lots of other kit recipes I've done. 7.8% too.

So let us know how it tastes down the track too.

 

[Windy Hill]

Curious to know how you went Windy. Did your patience hold out?

The bohemian yeast is a tricky one. I nearly caved when I did a toucan from the Cascade website - the Winter warmer choc mahogany porter.
It took ages to activate the airlock and bubbled in an irregular manner.

I had learned the patience lesson the hard way previously though so I held my nerve.

For the record though, it turned out pretty good - and being such a heavy beer should apparently keep improving for a few more months. Cascade cop a bit of a bagging (including for their choice of yeast) but for a toucan kit recipe I thought it was better than lots of other kit recipes I've done. 7.8% too.

So let us know how it tastes down the track too.

G'day Lobby , Thanks for your interest . It was certainly an interesting time with this one . 1st go with a Cascade kit & Bohemian yeast for that matter .

OG 1.044

Day 4 : Very thin Krausen developed .

Day 5 : SG of 1.029

Day 7 : 1.016

Day 11 : 1.015

Day 12 : Satisfied with SG & Bottled .

Took some getting going , maintained temp at an avge of around 20*C , but in looking at the SG readings it appears that there was always something going on . Just a very quiet fermentation . Airlock didn't bubble once , not that i stared at it 24/7 , but would be very surprised if it really gave off enough to bubble the airlock . And i think this brew has finally snapped me out of the habit of looking to the airlock for activity . Looks can deceive .

Taste wise , i'm quietly confident , aren't we all i guess . Aroma should'nt be a problem , from the gas top boil thru the SG readings to the bottle it always had a moreish nose . Strong Flowery & Fruity . As for bitterness ?? I think it will be , am estimating around 45 IBU's , bit much i feel & as another poster said , probably could've done without the Cascade @ 60 mins . Thinking at the moment when I first have a crack at it , it's gonna be served COLD . Don't know why I have that feeling , just seems to have very cold serve written all over it . Shall keep in mind to let you know in about a month .

This'll be a great learning brew in alot of ways .

Cheers.