My Extra Strong Vintage Ale cook!

[clauddr]

So I got the Coopers ROTM and this time it was the 2014 ESVA.

I boshed it out tonight and thought as my Mrs is away with work it'd be fun (& possibly useful to someone) to document it here.

So:
Step 1
Sanitising and cleaning my gear which had been sitting in my tub for a week and a half filled with Coopers San from my last cook!


Step 2
From there I cracked open the box that came last week.
I'd opened it already to get the hops and yeast in the fridge ASAP. I must say I like the way it comes neatly and tightly packed, all prod's had plenty of time on the Expiry and delivery took a week door to door


Step 3
Here I deviated from the recipe a bit. The site said to steep the crushed grains in cold water overnight but I've always steeped Crystal in 70c water for and hr...so that's exactly what I did!
First I cracked the grains in a ziplock bag using a rolling pin then chucked them in a muslin bag


From there I popped it in a pot and let it sit in 2.5l for an hr. Temp fluctuated a bit to 80 then down to 60 but constant for the most part


Step 4
Once the grains were done, I put the wort in the bigger pot, sparged the grains (rinsing them using a sieve) and chucked the rinse in the pot - I gave the bag a squeeze, many people say don't as it releases bitterness or tannins or something...meh. Then brought to the boil.

Whilst it was coming to the boil I popped the 2 kit cans in hot water in the sink along with the can opener


Step 5
Once the wort was boiling, I removed the pot from the heat and popped in the 25g galaxy hops

I then let it steep for 15min before taking it to another sink filled with cold water. Again I let it sit for another 15min to cool down


Step 6
Whilst the wort was cooling I added 100ml of bolide and cooled water at 30c with the Nottingham Ale yeast to rehydrate and covered the container with foil to avoid the nasties


Step 7
Time to add all the bits and pieces to the FV - first the wort, then the cans (which I then rinse through with boiling water) and the 1kg dex

Then I topped up the to 18l with cold water aiming for 18c but only got to 20c.

From there I topped up the remaining 3l with ice to hit BANG ON 18c...what a beautiful sight

From there I took my OG sample...a sweet 1068...couldn't ask for any better!


Step 8
Yeast pitching time! Perfect temp, perfect volume, no reason not to.


Step 9
Done and dusted, time to tuck her away (sharing a blanket with my Ol Brown Dog) and keep her steady at 18-20c

Only thing
Eft to do is dry hop 25g Ella and Bravo on day 3 (basically just lobbing them straight into the FV...no faffing)

And that's it, that's my Monday night cook. It took me about 2hrs all in, not bad for 40odd pints of kickass beer in 6 weeks!

Hope this is mybe useful at most and in the least as entertaining as it was to write

Cheers
C

 

[brzt6060]

Only had a quick read, seems pretty good. Only thing I would suggest is that the water in your sink most likely isn't hot enough to sanitize the cans and the can opener. I used to add them to hot water like that to soften up the stuff inside. I would then spray the top 1/4 of the can my can opener with starsan from a spray bottle. That said if the water in your sink is over ~80c for 10 or so minutes you should be all good.

 

[pcmfisher]

Love your passion!

However what you have done should only have taken about 30 mins.
Seeing as though you are happy to put in 2 hours of time you could have made a nice recipe using unhopped malt boiling up fresh hops at various intervals, giving what I believe is a quantum leap in quality.
Plus the added advantage/problem of the Mrs knowing exactly what you have been up to while she was out due to the smell of a 1 hour hop boil.


Next time maybe.
Keep up the good work.

 

[Major Arcana]

Great work looks good, where did you get the FV from may i ask? I havn't seen one like that before, although i only frequent 2 different LHBS, love that it is clear see through plastic.

 

[clauddr]

Love your passion!

However what you have done should only have taken about 30 mins.

HAHA, It's taking over my life!
Not sure I could do it in 30min with all the prep etc but I'm pretty sure it could've been done a bit quicker. TBH with the house to myself and the cricket on in the background I was in no rush

I actually did my first full extract brew recently - a Hop Hog clone very recently. Was AWESOME fun, and not much more complex than this process really. I just followed the coopers directions for this one.

 

[clauddr]

Great work looks good, where did you get the FV from may i ask? I havn't seen one like that before, although i only frequent 2 different LHBS, love that it is clear see through plastic.

Cheers bud - It's a Coopers FV that came with the Starter Kit. It's pretty cool, doesn't need an airlock and has a Krausen collar that you remove after the Krausen settles...makes it easier to clean. I've heard only good things about it from various sources and I've done 7 batches with zero issues.

 

[Major Arcana]

HAHA, It's taking over my life!
Not sure I could do it in 30min with all the prep etc but I'm pretty sure it could've been done a bit quicker. TBH with the house to myself and the cricket on in the background I was in no rush

I actually did my first full extract brew recently - a Hop Hog clone very recently. Was AWESOME fun, and not much more complex than this process really. I just followed the coopers directions for this one.

Yeah nice mate, seems like a good quality FV definitely would make cleaning up easier, i noticed you put down the Hop Hog Clone, i did the exact same thing and it has been bottled now for a week, absolute ripper recipe and cant wait to try her, the smell was unbelievable. :icon_cheers:

 

[RobboMC]

Love your passion!

However what you have done should only have taken about 30 mins.



I think you may have missed Step 3 where the OP writes that he steeped the grains for one hour.

I did a full-on steep, heat, boil partial brew last week and the overall time also depends on how much heat you have to get the grain runnings from 70 deg C up to a boil. even with my
stove top gas burner it took 15 min ( but I had 6 litres of wort ) From the picture looks like an electric cooktop.

I also love your passion. Brewing a recipe pack like this is great practice for going to at least partial. You steep 300g of grain and go - well if I just get a bigger grain bag I could maybe steep 1 full kg,
and once you've done a 2 litre boil you can do a 10 litre boil. Upgrading just becomes an issue of scale, not skill.

Keep up the great brewing, as slow and steady as you like. My full-on partials usually take close to 3 hours by the time I've cleaned up all the vessels and pots.

 

[beercus]

You should not touch hopped cans again.... always move forward, do not go back..... stay on the extract boils for a while.....
With this enthusiasm you will be on AG before you know it......
good work.....
Beercus

 

[clauddr]

i noticed you put down the Hop Hog Clone, i did the exact same thing and it has been bottled now for a week, absolute ripper recipe and cant wait to try her, the smell was unbelievable. :icon_cheers:

Man that recipe is the bomb! I cracked one on Friday after 10 days (as mentioned on the thread) and it was incredible! So much so that I couldn't resist another on Saturday!
But I must be patient from now on, just 1 per week for the next 3 weeks to let it really shine. When will you be having your first sample?

Think it'll be extracts and partials from here on in for me...other than the ROTM if its a good one

 

[clauddr]

I also love your passion. Brewing a recipe pack like this is great practice for going to at least partial. You steep 300g of grain and go - well if I just get a bigger grain bag I could maybe steep 1 full kg,
and once you've done a 2 litre boil you can do a 10 litre boil. Upgrading just becomes an issue of scale, not skill.

Keep up the great brewing, as slow and steady as you like. My full-on partials usually take close to 3 hours by the time I've cleaned up all the vessels and pots.

Thanks man, I def wanna keep progressing - The only thing holding me back from trying larger partials and AG is justifying the upscale to my 6 month preg wife...LOL! She's super-supportive and up for most things but that'd be a pretty hard sell right now.
It looks like the core processes and skills required stay the same for the most part...just larger vols and more time required.

 

[beercus]

What size pot is that you have?
go to Big W and get a $20 pot, a grain bag is cheap (you could make one with swiss voil)

The ingredients should be less that you are paying now, or at least no more

This was the first extract brew i did and it was in a 9L (dissolve first can in 7L of water) pasta pot. Follow the instructions and the beer is amazing.... http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/14897-james-squire-amber-ale-clone/#entry201036

Tell the baby oven that in the end you will save money as you will not be buying beer, also you will be at home and can still make cups of tea for her while you brew!


beercus

 

[menoetes]

You should not touch hopped cans again.... always move forward, do not go back..... stay on the extract boils for a while.....
With this enthusiasm you will be on AG before you know it......

I agree that new brewers should keep moving forward, Beercus but I also believe hopped tins still have their place.

I've just started into AG brewing now but as I have two fermenters going at once (and knocking out an AG takes me all day) - I often still use the hopped tins for a quick partial or Kit+Bits brew to fill the second fermenter.

It's quick, easy and if you have enough experience/good recipes you can knock out a very drinkable brew in under an hour. Certainly better than half the crap you can buy down at your local. It's also very cheap time-wise and keeps the kegs/bottles filled.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing kits to AG or even extract/partials in quality but at the same time I think people sometimes underestimate what you can do with them.

Sorry to go OT Clauddr, your brew looks great and I'm sure this post will be helpful to newer brewers. You drink as you brew too, the sign of a true enthusiast.

The other posters are right in saying that now you have accomplished this level of brewing with steeped grain and hops etc. Taking the next step into extract and partials is a simple one and only a matter of scaling up your process rather than doing something unfamiliar or new.

Jump on in sir, the wort-er is great

 

[Major Arcana]

Man that recipe is the bomb! I cracked one on Friday after 10 days (as mentioned on the thread) and it was incredible! So much so that I couldn't resist another on Saturday!
But I must be patient from now on, just 1 per week for the next 3 weeks to let it really shine. When will you be having your first sample?

Think it'll be extracts and partials from here on in for me...other than the ROTM if its a good one

Im in the same boat as you mate, just doing extracts and partials etc from here on in, am loving it, thinking on moving to AG in the next few months, that Hop Hog Clone has only been bottled a week exactly today, so wouldn't mind trying one out at the earliest Sunday or next week, gotta let her carb up etc. But **** i am hanging out to try it!

Cheers,

Dan

 

[beercus]

I agree that new brewers should keep moving forward, Beercus but I also believe hopped tins still have their place.

Menoetes
I have not done a hopped can for years. When i taste ones others have made i get way too much of that homebrew twang. I think that i will never go back.... Maybe with my extract and AG experience (not that much) i would be able to do a better KK but not really into it... time would be the only carrot....
beercus