Ya gotta laugh ....

[dago001]

or you would cry.
Just mashed in with 7.8 kg of Heritage Crystal instead of Maris Otter.
Oh the humanity of it all!!!!!!!

 

[dicko]

Freeze the wort in Pet bottles and use as crystal additions in your next 25 brews. :huh:

 

[manticle]

Mash as normal, draw of first runnings, boil 10 mins, draw off into suitable containers and freeze.
Only thing I can think of to avoid losing a significant quantity of lovely, lovely heritage.

 

[dago001]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I have drained the wort straight away. It only spent 2 minutes mashing. Ended up with 18 litres of 1040 wort. I'm going to brew with it and see what happens. I think I already know the result but dues to various other circumstances, it's either brew with it or throw it.
I will let you know the results in about 6 weeks.

 

[Yob]

Would enzyme help?

 

[manticle]

Was the heritage left over from a TAS BB or did you get it from elsewhere?

 

[dago001]

No. I bought from Bintani. I buy from them every now and then. Works out reasonably cheaper than buying local. I havent been part of the Tas bulk buys for a while. They don't happen regular enough for me, and I end up having to do an eight hour return trip to Hobart to pick it up. The cost of fuel etc means buying direct is pretty much the same.
I am going to use the LHBS in Launceston now as his prices arent to bad.

 

[manticle]

Cool. Just researching now I have moved. You get all your grain through bintani generally?

 

[dago001]

Kind of Manticle.
When I did the bulk buys, I normally bought up big, 8 to 10 bags at a time. I started buying from Bintana about 3, maybe 4 years ago, because I was getting low. Same deal, I buy 8 or so bags at a time. Freight is the killer though. If you can organise your own freight it is cheaper, as Bintani "value add" the freight cost.
In saying that, I also get it delivered to the depot in Burnie, which again is a cost saving.

 

[technobabble66]

Hey LB,
Commiserations! Terrible tragedy.
I don't want to further rain on your optimism but I've done I 100% med crystal microbrew (~300ml - putting the micro back into microbrewing!) and it didn't end well. It came out quite harsh and astringent with a very burnt flavour (standard 30min steep at 65*C).
Great for understanding the fundamental flavours the med crystal brings and an appreciating the wonderous "synergy" achieved by blending different flavour elements in brewing.
However, as a 100% grist I'd be a little concerned. Maybe with your superfast mash you might avoid the harshness - fingers crossed.
Could you throw a tin of LME into it? I find LME ferments out to leave a bit more sweetness that might offset the burnt astringency. Fwiw, I found the high % of crystal gives no sweetness. When used in small quantities it creates that caramel type flavour which translates to a certain sweetness.

Could you cube it?

 

[pist]

Must of been the day for it. My stuff up wasnt as bad as yours. Commiserations thats a big loss there. After filling the 2 cubes i shut the ball valve...and then proceeded to disconnect the hose from it...with the pump still running. Shot a nice little fountain of wort all over my shed thats gonna take me ages to clean up

 

[dago001]

I also forgot to put the drain tube into my kettle. Really was the day for it.
I havent brewed for a few months due to a workplace injury. It's amazing how you forget the basics so quickly.
Anyway, drained the wort immediately and added 9 litres of water. I crushed some more grain (a guesstimate) and mashed it with the saved wort.
Checked the SG then hopped it accordingly for a big IPA. SG in the kettle wasn't huge so I will dry hop it to suit if its any good.
The worst thing that can happen is that I brew the best beer that I have brewed. The best thing is he same

 

[danestead]

Zig brewed a 100% crystal beer. PM him!

 

[technobabble66]

Really? Did he ever report how it went?

 

[danestead]

You can PM him if you like. His username is zig.


Quote: It actually is pretty decent - good in small quantities, it passes as a very intense stout. Doubt I'd make it again but it isn't a fail by any means.

 

[dago001]

Well, all I can say is it is very black. So it's now a Double Black IPA. I don't hold out much hope for this, but it is a valuable lesson. I'm going to chuck a heap of hops in it to dry hop it. I'm just going to use up all my bitsa bags of hops.
The worst thing is, I hadn't had a beer. it was just a plain and simple stuff up.

 

[benno1973]

A friend once ordered his grain pre-milled from the HBS, but they got the order arse about and gave him the bulk as crystal, with a small amount of pale malt. He brewed with it before he realised, and it turned out pretty good. I was surprised it fermented out so well!

Here's a reference to some testing of fermentability of crystal malt. (see the last post)

 

[dago001]

Well the results are in.
I ended up fermenting this with MJ10 workhorse yeast. We went away for 5 weeks on holiday, so I just left it in the shed with a glad wrap lid. Temps wouldnt have been anymore than 10 degrees. I drained it into kegs two days ago and today I put one of them on the beer engine to see what it is like. Turns out it is drinkable. Almost stoutish, so much so that I now wish I had used some Extra Special Malt. It is a little sweet to be a stout, but too bitter for a Porter, but either way, it is good enough to drink. If I could find my brew gear I would measure the SG ( we moved house just before I brewed this and I havent located all my brew stuff yet), as it does seem to have an alcohol smell and burn/taste to it. So I suppose next best method is to drink 4 pints and see how I feel.
I won't be brewing it again, but I'm happy enough that I have something for my efforts. More care needed next brew.
Cheers
LB

 

[yankinoz]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I have drained the wort straight away. It only spent 2 minutes mashing. Ended up with 18 litres of 1040 wort. I'm going to brew with it and see what happens. I think I already know the result but dues to various other circumstances, it's either brew with it or throw it.
I will let you know the results in about 6 weeks.

A style is born. I'd suggest dextrose to get OG up to at least 1.046, light hops, English ale yeast, Or maybe add something tart for balance. You're boldly going . . .

 

[mckenry]

Can you brew a pale unhopped ale and blend in the glass?