What are you brewing?

[nzbrewer]

Since this is the most popular thread on the RealBeer.co.nz forum I thought I would start it here just to see what happens

[Tony]

yup you got it Ed, S-04. To be honest, I intended it to be quite bitter. Originally I only gave it a short boil- about 35 minutes. But after the first yeast failed I reboiled it, in case there was an infection. So now I am sure it will be bitter. Having said that, I did taste it from the hydrometer as I took the OG, it didn't give me an overly bitter taste.

I was hoping for a chocolaty, bitter stout. I am hoping it is ok?

A bottle is coming your way Ed.

[Stu McKinlay]

I'm sure it will be better than your best extract brew Tony. There's something special about your first all-grain brew. Mine was with Brendon (who had already done a few in the UK) - we used wet hops sent over from Nelson harvest and had a shocking amount of DMS in the final beer (left the lid on during the boil). Still... it only lasted a couple of weeks. Sweet, magic beer!

It won't be too bitter but it will be very bitter.

[Edward Siddle]

i'll look forward to it! as i say it looked a great recipe in the end and i know you spent quite a bit of time thinking about it. reboiling sounds like a lot of work, but sensible in the circumstances. saf04 also a good choice for first all grain - should ferment out real quick and then 2 weeks in the bottle and you'll be tasting.

[Martin Bridges]

I'd be really interested to hear how your first all-grain batch went Tony. I'm just gearing up for a partial mash in the next couple of weeks, then hopefully all-grain after my birthday (beginning of August).

Martin

[MrC]

Well I harvested some yeast from some Coopers Pale Ale and brewed up an extract NZ Pale Ale. The banana aroma from the airlock was almost overwelming and the beer isn't much better, "Whiteboard Pale Ale".

After bottling, I washed the yeast using a technique provided in a link from denimglen (thanks mate) and I've just put down an American Brown Ale using my washed Coopers yeast, steeped, crystal & chocolate and some Amarillo hops. Ive managed to keep the temp around 17-18c and so far no bananas. I think your comments were right on the money jt, bananas after 18-19c.

I still have another washed yeast batch in the fridge, might save that for a summer aussie pale ale.

[Dan]

Why not just buy some fresh yeast?

[jt]

Aw Dan, that's like saying 'why grow hops'

[Dan]

Yeah! point taken, that whiteboard just sounded scary to me.

[Martin Bridges]

Just coming up to the boil on 4BC Altbier v2.0. This is my first partial mash brew so anything could happen!

1.8kg Muntons Light LME
1.5kg Pale Ale malt
0.5kg Crystal malt
0.5kg Munich malt
0.5kg Vienna malt
50g Roast Barley (added because I had some left in the cupboard!)
40g Pacific Jade hops @ 60 mins
30g NZ Hallertauer @10 mins
Irish Moss @ 10 mins

I was planning to use SafAle K-97 like I used for my last Alt, but apparently it has been discontinued so I'm using Safbrew WB-06, which is a weizen yeast. Planning to keep the temps down to 15-16 degrees.

Mash went OK but I was struggling to keep the temp down, which was a surprise.

Cheers,

Martin

[MrC]

Looks good, making me thirsty. Sounds like a lot of crystal to me but if you've used that amount before then you'll know what you're getting.

That's interesting about the K97. I'll be interested to know what you think ok K97 vs. WB-06.

[Martin Bridges]

Well, I've just tasted a hydrometer sample after a week and I'm a little bit disappointed. If I'd been brewing a wheat beer I'd be very happy - tons of phenolics. However, not in style for an alt. Also fermentation seems to have stuck a bit. It's down from 1.052 to 1.030 but there's very little airlock activity. It's sitting at 15 degrees but I think I might need to warm it up a bit to reawaken the little yeasties.

Martin

[Martin Bridges]

Well, I was worrying over nothing fermentation-wise. I moved it to a warmer place (about 16-17) last weekend and gave it a bit of an agitate, but there still seemed to be little or no airlock activity. My plan was to check it today and if it hadn't dropped any further either give it a serious stir up or pitch a sachet of S04 I have in the fridge.

However, when I took the hydrometer reading it was down to 1.014, which'll do for me. Still pretty heavy on the phenolics but maybe those will settle down over the 4-6 weeks I plan to lager it for.

Moral of the story - zero airlock activity does not necessarily mean zero yeast activity.

Martin