That is good OG for only 4kg of grain - I have been averaging 1044 with 4.5kg although I am pretty fussy about clarity and tend to stop the siphon as soon as it is picking up trub. Last time I slowed down the flow rate which gave me more clear wort before picking up trub. I guess the extra flow rate increased turbulence in the bottom of the kettle. Sorry - rambling - on my second bottle of scottish amber (my best yet :)
Gave it a taste after a week in the fermenter and I may have stuffed this batch up perfectly. I think the extra volume has made it a much milder brew which should make it more drinkable for the regular folks.
The gravity is already 1.006 (lowest FG yet), about 4.6% ABV. Turns out my glass thermometer is out by 5deg at 100c so the mash was probably too cool.
I would suggest carbonating low - like 1.8 - 2.2 volumes and serving warmer. This will help full out the body of the beer. That and a few extra weeks will do wonders for it.
Well, got the day off and cant think of anything better to do than brew :o) Went to heat up the strike water and realised my flatmate broke my thermometer :o( So off to the shop to get another one and then ill be brewing this...
Rye Dubbel Saison
1.95kg Global Pils
1.95kg Rye
1.95kg Wey Vienna
780g Kolsch
468g CaraBohemian
234g CaraAroma
78g Carafa Special III
780g Brown Sugar - Might do a reduction, still thinking about it
Sauvin for bittering with a touch of motueka at 15mins
Wyeast 3711 - Big cake, pitched warm, fermented warm..
Mate, its like 30*c + in my garage right now, just about to start sparging this bad boy, massive aroma of coffee even tho theres bugger all carafa in the grist?? Going to take 3litres first runnings and mix the sugar into it, reduce it down to say 1.5/2 litres...
Bugger, ended up getting 3 more litres than I wanted so as a result a lower OG of 1069 for 24 litres, still, this yeast has every chance of getting it down to 1008 so its still got potential to break into the 8% mark...
Aiming for an OG of about 1080 with 40 IBU, the saison yeast is an absolute monster tho so im expecting it to be around the 9% ABV mark, it will most likely be dryer then hell on a hot day which should be interesting!!
Let me know if you need a crash-test-dummy, I am still searching for a strong beer that I actually like - the only one so far is Leffe on tap at my old local in London (one of the few who would serve it in pints) Wouldn't mind getting your opinion on that scottish amber ale I brewed too. Do you bottle at all?
Yep - dirty old Manurewa, I really need to focus on stock-piling before I can do a proper swap-meet, I am drinking it as fast as I am brewing it at the mo!