Stout on the go.

[GeoffN]

Put this down last week Tuesday

Coopers stout tin
1kg malt steeped for 2 hours with 0.5kg oats
0.7 kg LME
Windsor yeast hyrated in 150 ml sterile water with a spoon of sugar.
OG 1.047
Predicted FG 1.015 (IanH spreadsheet)

Day 7 added
20g Fuggles
Chocolate essense
star anise
All in 1 cup boiling water added to the fermenter.

Fermenting at 18C

Am looking forward to how it will turn out.

I considered adding some coffee but decided that would be over doing it. I have managed to control myself and have not tasted it yet. Tomorrow I'm going to do a gravity check as I am hoping it will be done so that I can bottle over the weekend. I want it to be ready by Easter.

 

[Joel Mcleod]

Go on. Go ahead and have a taste mate, you might as well take hydro readings while your doing it. Its a good way of keeping track of how the beer is fermenting, what flavor, aroma, bitterness you can pick up on. So next time you want a similar beer you'll remember how this one was going and compare.

Sounds like a tasty brew for Easter to me. Have you ever tried star anise in a brew before? Let us know what the flavor is like when you try it.

Cheers

 

[GeoffN]

Checked the gravity today. 1.019 So I think it has a bit more to go. Windsor can finish high from what I have read but 1.019 seems a little more than I expected. I am not sure if the oats and grains will cause that variation from predicted.

Taste Hmm. Chocolate comes through strong. Bitter, rough almost unpleasant finish. Hint of Anise that is a little surprise in the flavour profile. As I worked my way though the sample there were more flavours comoing through, hops, little bit of sweet malt. The kit bitterness does not blend very well at the moment. It has potential to mature into something that is going to be very good to drink. I am looking forward to it in a few weeks time and if I manage to hold out for the next 6 months.

If anyone has experience with Windsor I would appreciate a little advice on how close to finished the brew is likely to be. I most likely won't listen but will check gravity again tomorrow and Sunday. If all three readings are the same then I will bottle on Sunday as I need to move the brew fridge and it will be unplugged for a day.

 

[Mickcr250]

What was the malt that you steeped? I assume its base malt you mashed for 2 hours and at what temp? This will have an effect on fg

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[Mickcr250]

Also I wouldnt be adding sugar when rehydrating the hole idea is for it to be low gravity. And also I wouldnt be cups of boiling water at anytime after pitching the yeast. I'm not saying the brew is stuffed but its not good practice

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[pat86]

The batch I brewed with Windsor finished at 1012, on the high side of normal for me.

Any reason you re-hydrated the yeast with a spoon of sugar? It seems the normal advice now is to not proof yeast, unless it is old or questionable, in which case you are better off making a starter. I think John Palmer said proofing with sugar actually detracts from the yeast as it is simpler sugar and they tire themselves out before getting stuck into breaking down the malt sugar (or something like that...)

 

[GeoffN]

Answering all the questions I hope.

I steeped a standard malt at about 68°C at the start and 60°C at the end.

I added a spoon of sugar when hydrating the yeast as it was about 6 months old and i wanted to be certain that it was active. I pitched as soon as I saw evidence of fermentation.

There was no sugar in the actual wort only when hydrating the yeast

Fermentation kicked off very fast and the krauzen had dropped and fermentation slowed within 3 days.

The weekend went haywire so I did not get to bottle. Checked gravity on Sunday and it was identical. More anise flavour coming through and less dominant chocolate flavour. More hop atoms and the bitterness is better balanced. It is very nice.

I am so glad I have a temp controlled fridge as my beer is way better. Reading about kit twang and I don't have any hint of that now.

Than you all four the comments.

It may be that my mash has left a whole bunch of unfermentables in the wort.

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[GeoffN]

I Finally managed to bottle this today. Aniseed flavour is now a dominant. I'll see how it ages but at this stage it is not bad but not great. Still got some good flavours but not balanced.

I'll let you know what it is like in a couple of weeks when I crack the first one.

 

[GeoffN]

Had one a week ago with some mates. They loved it. Aniseed is not as prominent. Chocolate flavor is coming through nicely. Will leave it for another week or two before I crack another one.

So far i consider this a success.