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

[vdog]

American Wheat last night, not our best brew session. Slow-as runoff from the mash, pretty close to a stuck sparge - so took frickin' ages to get it done. Efficiency was a good way off what we usually get too, which I guess might have been because of the sparge problem - not sure if it's just the wheat that was the problem, or if a lower-than-usual sparge temp (70C instead of 78C) had a part to play in that? Pretty murky wort as well, even with a good vigorous boil and a dose of koppafloc - anyone else have that problem with a large proportion of wheat?

Recipe was:
50% NZ Pale
50% Weyermann wheat malt
24 IBU Pacific Jade @ 60min
35g NZ Cascade @ 0min
50g Motueka @0min
US-05, fermenting at 19C (couldn't be arsed with getting a liquid yeast).

OG 1.042 (miles off target), so I guess it's headed for 4-4.3%abv - should be ideal for a summer quaffer if it turns out okay! Tasted pretty good going into the fermenter so I reckon it'll be all good, just might need a good cold crash and fine to drop out as much of that murkiness as I can.

[Llew Bardecki]

It’s getting to be about hefe time again, so I brewed one last night. Nice and simple:

2.25kg Wheat Malt
2.15kg Malteurop Pils
0.10kg Melanoiden

10g Pacific Jade @ 60
15g Pacifica @ 15

18 IBU

Pitched the slurry from a 2L starter stepped up from an Emerson’s Weissbier.

(I also took the 2L, 4%, 35IBU starter beer and dry hopped it with some NZ Cascade. The sample I had was a bit harsh, but maybe some time and more hop aroma will help. And if not, well, it was primarily meant as a starter anyway.)

[Stu McKinlay]

I love how you've cultured the Emerson's yeast while also culturing a bit of a Richard emerson look ;-)

[Llew Bardecki]

I think my beard was well bigger than RE's (last I saw anyway.)

 

Sadly, however, I finally succumbed to Sarah's wishes and gave it a trim last night.

I've still got the Richard Emerson haircut though :) 

[Fairlane]

Here's a little summer quaffer that I've just bottled.

 

IPA

 

Taget Gravity 1.060

11.64 kg   Pale

0.71  kg   Crystal

0.20 kg    Toasted Pale

 

Target IBU 66.0

80 g  NZ Sticklebract @ 60

45 g  NZ Goldings @ 55

25 g  NZ Pacific Hallertau @ 30

36 g  NZ Cascade @ 25

10 g  NZ Sticklebract @ 20

25 g  NZ Pacific Hallertau @ 7

36 g  NZ Cascade @ 6

10 g  NZ Sticklebract @ 5

 

Fermented with S04 due to not being able to find Gervin English Ale yeast in time.

 

OG 1.060

FG 1.012

Alc % 6.4

 

As a little side project I took 2L and did a trial ferment with some untoasted oak chip at 1g/L.  This rate was the result of some extensive trial work with different types of oak boiled in water and the extract added to a commercial beer at different volumes.  Anyway... it came out pretty well giving an extra layer of flavour without dominating.  Don't know if I'd bother repeating though.

 

[jt]

Fermented with S04 due to not being able to find Gervin English Ale yeast in time.

I thought gervin - which was nottingham repackaged ? - was defunct ?

And there wasn't much difference with SO4 anyway ?

[Fairlane]

Well I managed to get some eventually so it must still be around...

 

And I have found quite a bit of difference in my EPA using the different yeasts...  haven't compared them in other beers however so can't say that it's always different...

[Stu McKinlay]

I have always found them quite different... I

 

I loved Gervin, a nice mildly fruity yeast that allows hops through, but it became really hard to get. 

 

S04 I've never really nailed... it has a really slim temperature range (drops out below 16c and throws a fair bit of isoamyl acetate if you even contemplate getting over 20c - seems more pronounced in dark beers)  

 

but... I know wonderful things can be done with it as Barry Hannah has shown me the light.  The best S04 beers I've tried have probably been a bit more memorable than the best S05 beers.

[Fairlane]

Yeah I got mine from BrewersCoop in the end...   And got it really quickly also.

Unfortunately due my impatience, on the brewday I went out to my mailbox to see if it had arrived, and I didn't check the box cause I got distracted by a courier delivery of S04 etc..so I used that instead.  Then of course when I checked the mailbox in the afternoon and it had been there all along.  doh!

[JoKing]

Well... everyone has been brewing Mini IPAs, Red IPAs, Belgian IPAs, etc etc...

 

I just kegged a MiniBelgianRed IPA.

 

Suck on that!

 

Tastes real weird too!

[jt]

How mini ?

 

i heard talk the other day of a nano ...

[JoKing]

It was like 1.040... wich is about as mini as I'm capable of!