My First Ag Attempt

[Ross]

I stand corrected Ross. I've been partially covering my kettle somewhere along the lines of Jazman's post. I'll be leaving the lid off during the boil in future.

:beer:

[post="99956"][/post]​

Pete, As Jazman & i said - partial covering is fine... just don't cover completely - personally i prefer to leave completely open as I boil very near the top & I find covering makes controlling it a bit harder - also using more sparge water & boiling off, improves effiency...

cheers Ross

 

[Guest Lurker]

As Ross notes, Lid off = evaporate more = sparge more for same volume = higher efficiency, so I cant see the point of lid half on unless you are kettle constrained and cant make use of the extra volume

 

[tangent]

also using more sparge water & boiling off

i've been doing this recently because my spent grist was still tasting too sweet
it was fermenting in the garden and the vinegar flys were going bezerk - insect oktoberfest

ive been reading in farmhouse ales about getting a copper colour from extended boiling, so i figured a good boil's better than a half-covered simmer and deal with the losses via the extra sparge

 

[browndog]

Dicko, no worries about a thread hijack here, it's all about boiling and evaporation that I was asking about and all very good info at that.
I started with 27L and ended up with 17.5L instead of a pale ale it looks more like a brown ale, seems to taste OK though.

cheers

Browndog

 

[Darren]

Do you put the lid back on when the boil starts? This saves a litre or two over 90 minutes.

[post="99907"][/post]​

hope not Pete - you should always boil with the lid off...

cheers Ross

[post="99913"][/post]​

Ross is correct,
You should boil with the lid off. Next time you are brewing and the beer is coming to boil put your head in the steam and have a good sniff. You should easily smell DMS (cooked corn). You don't want that in your beer. If you are worried by loss of beer top up with some water 10 minutes from the end of the boil. Replace lid at 10 mins from end of boil to sanitise it and also helps to keep the beer covered whilst you are cooling.
cheers
Darren

 

[browndog]

Thought I'd better make a report on the final product
I;ve just force carbonated and poured a glass of my APA and I must say that as far as taste goes I'm quite surprised, it is comparable to APAs I've tried of other Brewers. However, the colour is all wrong, it looks more like a brown ale than a pale ale. Could the darkness have come from a weak boil, where the beer on the bottom of the kettle burned ?
I have not tried anothe brew yet as the hot weather we have been experiencing has been putting me off, I reckon I'll wait till I can get a fermentation fridge before I try another brew.


cheers

Browndog

 

[tangent]

put red light globes in all your lights and then have a look
(i saw a restaurant in Singapore that was lit only by red light so you couldn't really see what you're eating other than shape so all your perceptions were from taste and smell)
i don't worry too much about colour. i figure that and perfect carbonation will eventuate over time. i'm putting 100% into flavour and smell at the moment. efficiency is back there somewhere as well

 

[Weizguy]

Mr Brown D,

Maybe you had too much crystal (I think), or the crystal was a darker variety.

I had the same thing recently in an APA, with 250g light crystal (JW, IIRC). Still tasted good, and that's the object.

So, the colour has nothing to do with your boil, and everything to do with the crystal.

As for the hot weather, you can always ferment with Cooper's yeast and make an Aussie Pale. Let's not slow down so soon.

Big ups to ya.

Seth out

 

[Mr Bond]

Second what Weiz says.
Just racked an aussie pale and did a dunkelweizen this morning (AG).This warm weather suits the fruitier styles like wheats etc....

50% wheat
50% pils/or ale
And a weizen strain yeast and let it rock away in the low/mid 20's

couldn't be simpler for a quaffer.