Working on a Pale Ale

[Canadian Brewer]

Hey guys, starting bright and early tomorrow I will be brewing my first pale ale. I brew BIAB and from experience with my first brew, I have upped the volume and grain bill. I am using 8.2 kg of Castle Pale Ale, 0.6 kg of Castle Crystal and hoping to end up with a 35L batch. I'll be hopping with Cascades 45g at 60min to end of boil, 25g at 15min to end of boil and 25g of Willamette for the last 5 minutes.

Taking water loss into account (it is significant since I am currently working off of an electric contact stovetop which takes forever to get to temperature) it looks as if I need a total pre-boil volume of 42.5L, however that does not take grain into account and my kettle is only 40L! Is it a big brewing no no to add additional water during post sparg to hit desired volumes? Worst case scenario I just reduce the batch size, but I was hoping for larger this time.

Thanks for any tips!

 

[ticinglese]

Hey Canadian Brewer. Sounds nice, though without knowing what yeast you are using and your mash efficiency this sounds like quite a strong pale ale. No problem topping up with water (in fact it's better to use water than sparge the hell out of the grains and extract astringency from the husks). You can even dilute post boil but obviously use pre-boiled water to avoid infection. Just give it a go and learn from it

 

[Canadian Brewer]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that I am using us-05. As for my brewing efficiency I wish I could tell you but I am unsure of that myself. From experience my first brew should have come out around 4.2% with a 70% efficiency, however I believe it was somewhere around 3% from the taste. I will be picking up a propane burner as soon as I can convince the missus it's a good idea, but will have to work with the stovetop until that time : p

 

[ticinglese]

ok so attenuation of the yeast should be in the mid-70s%. Is 35 litres your knockout volume or in the fermentor (the former would suggest a strong pale ale)? Does "I believe it was somewhere around 3% from the taste" mean you have yet to invest in a hydrometer?

 

[Canadian Brewer]

I have purchased 2 as the first thing broke due to poor handling on my part on brew day before I cold take my readings. Bloody fragile things they are.

 

[Canadian Brewer]

Also 35 is the knockout volume I am aiming for.

 

[joshF]

Hey Canadian Brewer. Sounds nice, though without knowing what yeast you are using and your mash efficiency this sounds like quite a strong pale ale. No problem topping up with water (in fact it's better to use water than sparge the hell out of the grains and extract astringency from the husks). You can even dilute post boil but obviously use pre-boiled water to avoid infection. Just give it a go and learn from it

What gives you the impression it's going to be quite strong?... PA's style has a pretty high alc % range and this sounds like it's on the lower end of the spectrum ala James Squire Pale Ale style.

 

[NewtownClown]

To answer your question, You can add water post boil to the fermenter to get your volume and OG.
It is known as a high gravity boil.
Just be aware that gravity and volume effects hop utilisation. Brewing software will assist with your hop schedule in such a situation

 

[Barry]

Just a thought, add the 20 and 5 minute hops at the end of the boil and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. You will get more Cascade flavour and aroma IMHO.

 

[Canadian Brewer]

Thus far this has been a hell of a learning experience! For instance, I have learned that 30L of water, the protective colander, and a little more than 8kg of grain are about the absolute limit of my 40L kettle. I ended up leaving about 600g of my Castle Pale Ale malt out. I think I will be looking for a much shallower colander tomorrow :unsure:

Edit: I took some pictures but need to upload them first, I'll have them up tomorrow.

 

[Canadian Brewer]

Brew day done! I lost more than I thought I would to turb, but ended up with 32.5L of delicious looking wort with an OG of 1.049. Now it's time for the waiting game, I wonder if the missus would kill me if I got another fermenter

 

[lukiferj]

Nice one. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than receive permission.

 

[ticinglese]

You can always just steep the crystal in a bowl of water, strain it and add it to the boil later - crystal doesnt need to be mashed. Efficiency sounds pretty low (~60%), is that normal for BIABsters? I have a Braumeister so always get 70+ and assumed BIAB would be similar. Sounds like a tasty brew anyway

 

[syl]

You can always just steep the crystal in a bowl of water, strain it and add it to the boil later - crystal doesnt need to be mashed. Efficiency sounds pretty low (~60%), is that normal for BIABsters? I have a Braumeister so always get 70+ and assumed BIAB would be similar. Sounds like a tasty brew anyway

Depends on your methods and how much you've got it down!

 

[Canadian Brewer]

Just an update as I bottled today. Final gravity was 1.014 which works out to about 4.6% abv, that plus priming glucose (measured for 2.3 volumes as with American pale ale style) should be looking at around 5% after everything is said and done. Quite a nice taste with a fantastic dark pale colour, slightly darker than a Little Creatures Pale ale but quite similar in taste. I'll update again when in 2 to 3 weeks after conditioning!