What are you brewing?

[PostModern]

I pulled a double brew yesterday to put my new gear to the test. First an American Brown followed by an English Pale Ale (not too pale thx to 150SRM crystal). Both brews are currently in cubes waiting for the starter to take off.

 

[Weizguy]

Nice warm weather for brewing. Not a Saison, however, but a Kolsch.

...or rather, not a Kolsch (Koeslch?), but a Kolsch-style. A Kolscher, Kolnisch or Kolschy, perhaps, in deference to the controlled name (regional appellation).

As mine is an Aussie-made beer, albeit with German ingredients, I'm calling it Kolschy, Kolschy, Kolschy (without the expected reply of "oi, oi, oi!").

This is a kitchen bench-top mash, using the finest insulated plastic mash vessel, and a step mash, with suggestions from the Eric Warner book entitled "Kolsch", from the Classic Beer Series.

Wish me luck. It's my first step on the road to the Mash Paddle. 2nd Kolnisch ever.

I find, with Beersmith, that I have to add my own mash schedules most of the time, coz their's are not what I'm after, and not even close on many occasions.

Seth (back to the high saccharification rest at 71C) out

Edit: Spellig

 

[Voosher]

Kolsch time for me too. Starter's just about ready so we roll tomorrow.
Also doing an Aussie swiller with 2112 Wyeast.

 

[Weizguy]

Kolsch time for me too. Starter's just about ready so we roll tomorrow.
Also doing an Aussie swiller with 2112 Wyeast.

I'm also planning a swiller as a gift for my neighbour's birthday. Yep, it's K&K.

Cooper's Draught, plus some lhbs dry malt pack (300g DME, 300g Maltodextrin, 300g Dextrose, 100g Wheat DME). To be brewed semi-cool using WhiteLabs San Fran lager. Might even keep some 4 myself.

Beerz
Seth

 

[petesbrew]

I'll be mixing up a nice Coopers Dark Ale (with choc malt and goldings) this weekend for Christmas, all to the tune of my wife asking yet again, "How much beer do you actually need?".

 

[Steve]

I just put down an ESB Traditional Bitter with 20gms Willamette steeped for 20 mins and Windsor Dry yeast....and yes I would like it on record that I still brew kits as well as all grain beers.....why? because it took 20 minutes and I love drinking beer....any beer.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Jye]

Well after 4 weeks at 30C my first Saison is officially stuck at 1.018 from 1.056 :angry:

I saved the yeast cake and Saison II will be getting it all, hopefully I will get to brew it sometime this week.

5.00 kg Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM) Grain 90.9 %
0.50 kg Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) (1.5 SRM) Grain 9.1 %

30.00 gm Mt. Hood [6.00%] (60 min) Hops 18.6 IBU
40.00 gm Mt. Hood [6.00%] (20 min) Hops 15.0 IBU
30.00 gm Mt. Hood [6.00%] (5 min) Hops 3.7 IBU

1 Pkgs Belgian Saison I Ale (White Labs #WLP565) Yeast-Ale

 

[AUHEAMIC]

I brewed this on the weekend.

Batch size 52 litres
OG 1048

6kg Light dry malt

1.4 kg Joe White pale ale malt
0.2 kg wheat malt
0.16 kg Munich
0.32 kg Caramunich
(Mashed @ 66deg for 60mins)

25gr Chinook @ 60mins
80gr Cascade @ 15mins
40gr Cascade @ flame out

US56


Its my first full size batch so I hope all goes well.

 

[warrenlw63]

Well after 4 weeks at 30C my first Saison is officially stuck at 1.018 from 1.056 :angry:

Kegged mine on Friday night Jye. Dry as a nun's nasty. (1.008).

One keg has been innoculated with the dregs of 2 bottles of Orval. We'll see what happens there. Let the brett run free. :beerbang:

I think yours will lean out over time myself. You may still need to be a little patient. :unsure:

Warren -

 

[Trough Lolly]

Brewed a "Golden Ale" over the weekend...I'm looking for a very pale straw coloured ale.
50% Wey Pils
45% IMC Ale malt
5% Carafoam
Whirlfloc
13.5% A/A Chinook to bitter, 9.5% Amarillo to flavour and 6.3% Cascade for aroma
1L of 1056 slurry and it's going off like a frog in a sock right now.

Hope to keg on Friday.

Cheers,
TL

 

[Paleman]

I just put down an ESB Traditional Bitter with 20gms Willamette steeped for 20 mins and Windsor Dry yeast....and yes I would like it on record that I still brew kits as well as all grain beers.....why? because it took 20 minutes and I love drinking beer....any beer.
Cheers
Steve

Here here Stevo !!. I too chuck the odd kit together. A stop gap thing. as even a kit beer taste's better than some of the lifeless commercial beer on offer.

A good post Stevo.....loved it. :beerbang:

 

[Steve Lacey]

My brewing was a bit slow getting back underway following the summer recess. Finally brewed a standard all-grain hefeweizen in mid November. That's now bottled and is conditioning at the place where I do my all-grain brewing.

So then on Saturday I did a minimash dunkleweizen at home.
* 1.8 kg of 60/40 wheat/barley liquid malt
* 1 kg of Munich
* 1 kg of wheat malt
* 450g of medium crystal
* 60 g of chocolate
* WLP Hefewizen IV
* 20 g of Perle at 6.7% for 1 hour, 10 g of Perle at flame out.

Did a couple of decoctions on the minimash and a 2-hour boil to help with mailiard reactions.
Not having a manifold for sparging I used a big netting-like bag, kind of like brewing in a bag. Calculations suggest I got 80% out of the grain though, so happy with that.

What I am not so happy about is the sulphury/farty smell that was emanating from the airlock last night. I was a bit lackadaisical with the cooled wort and just dumped the whole thing into the fermenter, hot break, cold break, hop residue, and all. My thinking was that the main problem with a lot of trub is if the finished beer sits on it for too long. So I decided I would skim the krausen and rack to kegs after five or six days.

First skim, yesterday morning, suggested no problems. But when I got home last night, as soon as I walked in the door I could smell the unpleasantness. My son told me what it smelt like, and they were not words I could or should repeat at the dinner table. I tried not to panic and then skimmed again this morning. Again, pulled off a lot of crud with the yeast foam. The last thing I did was take a small sample and taste it. It seemed fine. So maybe it is just the cruddy stuff on the surface giving off the pong, or maybe it is just the yeast's natural tendency. Or maybe the taste just hasn't been too badly affected...yet!

The point of this long story is to ask if anybody has any experience that would support either of these theories, i.e., is it the excessive protein trub, and will this carry over to a sulphury beer taste? Or, does Hefewizen IV tend to throw a lot of sulphur during fermentation? For what it's worth, the starter had a normal weizeny smell.

Steve

 

[lokpikn]

Im on to my 20th AG batch on the weekend am going to try a xmas beer 40ltr batch.
7kgs ausie malt
2kgs munich
200grm choc malt
100grm crystal wheat malt

HOPS
Bitter with Perle
Flavour with Hallertau

Than i will use about 400gm honey and in that i will simmer the rinds off about 10 oranges, 3 lemons, throw in some cinnamon, cloves and fresh ginger about 150grms and simmer this in the honey for about 30 to 45 mins. Than drain and put it all in the fermenter with my wort.
Using a burton ale yeast.

I think it should be good and thats good enough for me.

 

[Stuster]

Sounds good, lokpikn. I think though you'd be better off not simmering the honey. If you do that, you'll lose any honey aroma and probably flavour too. Nice yeast.

 

[warrenlw63]

Tomorrow's brew. A Belgian Pale Ale.

Need to finally do something with that 2 year old smack pack of Leuven Pale Ale yeast. :beer:

Alimenter le Spcial de Rue

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

16-B Belgian & French Ale, Belgian Pale Ale

Min OG: 1.048 Max OG: 1.054
Min IBU: 20 Max IBU: 30
Min Clr: 20 Max Clr: 36 Color in EBC

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 47.00 Wort Size (L): 47.00
Total Grain (kg): 9.60
Anticipated OG: 1.050 Plato: 12.43
Anticipated EBC: 17.5
Anticipated IBU: 27.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 79 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 60.64 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.039 SG 9.72 Plato

Formulas Used
-------------

Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.

Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager

Additional Utilization Used For Plug Hops: 2 %
Additional Utilization Used For Pellet Hops: 10 %


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.3 0.60 kg. Weyermann Caramunich I Germany 1.036 133
31.3 3.00 kg. Weyermann Pilsner Germany 1.038 4
52.1 5.00 kg. Baird's Golden Promise Pale A UK 1.037 7
10.4 1.00 kg. Baird's Maris Otter Pale Ale UK 1.037 7

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
57.20 g. Styrian Goldings (hopback) Plug 4.50 0.0 0 min.
50.00 g. Fuggle Pellet 7.20 25.2 60 min.
14.30 g. Goldings - Kent Plug 5.20 1.0 10 min.
14.30 g. Styrian Goldings Plug 4.50 0.8 10 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.00 Oz Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

WYeast 3538 Leuven Pale Ale


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Name: straight infusion

Total Grain kg: 9.60
Total Water Qts: 30.20 - Before Additional Infusions
Total Water L: 28.58 - Before Additional Infusions

Tun Thermal Mass: 0.00
Grain Temp: 15.50 C


Step Rest Start Stop Heat Infuse Infuse Infuse
Step Name Time Time Temp Temp Type Temp Amount Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sacc Rest 10 90 65 65 Infuse 72 28.58 2.98
Mashout 5 5 75 75 Decoc 100 10.00 3.13 (Decoc Thickness)


Total Water Qts: 30.20 - After Additional Infusions
Total Water L: 28.58 - After Additional Infusions
Total Mash Volume L: 34.99 - After Additional Infusions

All temperature measurements are degrees Celsius.
All infusion amounts are in Liters.
All infusion ratios are Liters/Kilograms.

Step Time for Decoction Steps represent how far back in time the Decoction was pulled.
Infusion amounts for Decoction Steps represent the amount pulled for the Decoction.
Infusion ratios for Decoction Steps represent the Decoction Thickness.


Notes
-----

All aroma hops will be added to the hopback.
Will add 2 teaspoons of gypsum to the mash.

Warren -

 

[tangent]

Grrrr. My brewery is now a bathroom, the bathroom is currently a hole in some dirt, the bar is a storage area and the brew gear is all stashed away until Xmas!
It's "no brew" beer for me at the moment. LC mixed cartons and CVA's every now and again.

 

[bconnery]

Im on to my 20th AG batch on the weekend am going to try a xmas beer 40ltr batch.
7kgs ausie malt
2kgs munich
200grm choc malt
100grm crystal wheat malt

HOPS
Bitter with Perle
Flavour with Hallertau

Than i will use about 400gm honey and in that i will simmer the rinds off about 10 oranges, 3 lemons, throw in some cinnamon, cloves and fresh ginger about 150grms and simmer this in the honey for about 30 to 45 mins. Than drain and put it all in the fermenter with my wort.
Using a burton ale yeast.

I think it should be good and thats good enough for me.

Lopkin,

I've done an xmas beer, and a few using orange and I think your number of oranges there will be a few too many. I would consider cutting back, even if you are only using the rind.

I would also consider not using the lemons, but that's only because I didn't and found it works. There is nothing to say that using them won't also work.

I did the honey simmer the same as you did. The honey aroma isn't really there but that wasn't what I really wanted in the beer anyway...

I put the recipe for mine in the recipe section. Amounts might help as a guideline anyway...

Early on the cloves etc were strong.
Then the cinnamon was dominant.

Now it is all kind of blended and balanced. About 5 months in. At three weeks, which is Xmas, you should find the spices are still kind of there and strong, which I really liked.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...&recipe=171


Anyways, go for it! This makes for a great beer, even if it isn't for everyone...

 

[lokpikn]

Lopkin,

I've done an xmas beer, and a few using orange and I think your number of oranges there will be a few too many. I would consider cutting back, even if you are only using the rind.

I would also consider not using the lemons, but that's only because I didn't and found it works. There is nothing to say that using them won't also work.

I did the honey simmer the same as you did. The honey aroma isn't really there but that wasn't what I really wanted in the beer anyway...

I put the recipe for mine in the recipe section. Amounts might help as a guideline anyway...

Early on the cloves etc were strong.
Then the cinnamon was dominant.

Now it is all kind of blended and balanced. About 5 months in. At three weeks, which is Xmas, you should find the spices are still kind of there and strong, which I really liked.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...&recipe=171


Anyways, go for it! This makes for a great beer, even if it isn't for everyone...

I made one a bit like this some months back and thougt it could have done with a bit more orange flavour (Sort of tasted like jaffa) but have not tried the lemons in it but will give it a go. I might knock the simmer down to only 15 min just to try end extract some oils from the rinds.

I only used cinnimon last time and it was a bit strong so will drop this down and i want to try a AG ginger beer so i thougt this will give me a small start to how the ginger may turn out.

Going to brew on sunday. I may be lucky to try one by xmas.

 

[DJR]

Doing a cut-down Roggenbier (only 30% Rye or so), wish me luck for the sparge...

23Litres @ 34EBC/15IBU/1051OG

4.3kg grain mass of:

20% Weyermann Rye
10% Rolled Rye (from the hippy shop)
10% JW Wheat
42% JW Light Munich
4.5% JW Light Crystal (ran out of caramunich)
1% Carafa Special III

Double decoction 50C->60C->70C, sparge at 78C

10% of grist cane sugar added to kettle for OG adjustment

90min boil

Hops: 3g Taurus 14.8% 75', 4g Magnum 13% 75', 15g Saphir 4.5% 15'

Yeast: WLP300 and WLP029 mix (have to control the esters in this style supposedly) pitched cold @10C and fermented at 20C

After tasting a couple of rye beers, this one should turn out well i hope! :super:

 

[Steve]

Warren - how come you are using both GP and MO? Never seen that done before.
Cheers
Steve