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

[studio1]

I saw that on FB - hahahaha

 

[Richard Jack]

Tried an afterwork allgrain brew today, even though I had to swing past the brew shop, and forgot to set my HLT when I left in the morning, I had the yeast pitched at 10pm. This is dangerous. This means I can brew any day I feel like it. I'm going to need more kegs...

[Tilt]

Great work Richard - glad to hear it came off.  You could probably even get 2 down with the HLT cranked and ready to go when you get home.  Thanks for the tastings last week - and haven't forgotten about that timber for your tap handles.  I'll drop it by with a bottle of my crack at a PKB (JAFA I call it) next week. Cheers

[Richard Jack]

Awesome! Thanks. I also lost some time because I needed to swing past brewers coop. So yeah, I reckon there is at least an hour to be clawed back with the brew shop detour, hlt warmup, water chemistry, and milling taken care of the night before or avoided.

[Tilt]

No probs - too right - some more easy time to make up on the process so 2 brews or a partigyle is well within reach.  I take this to mean your electric HLT is going great guns which simplifies things no end.  I'm also relieved to say by the tastings of JAFA out of the secondary i think i've beaten the bugs this time around too.  There's hope yet.

[Richard Jack]

What do you think the problem was? I dunno about 2 brews, that's a pretty big ask, couple of areas I'd need to improve my setup before that would be viable... But now I can just brew 2 days in a row! The electric HLT has definitely helped things along. Can't believe it's taken me this long to get it over to electric. It's almost tempting to try for full electric in the boiler too, but I think I'll leave it as gas + a heatstick for now.

[Tilt]

I reckon I isolated it to either my kettle tap or my "old favourite" fermentor - the one I've had for a few years. Had a close look at the fermentor and found the injection moulding tag on the bottom was rough and possibly hiding bugs - I never use scourers to clean but the entire  inside surface was slightly rougher than my other fermentors - a characteristic of the moulding process too i guess.  Also I figured I could remove the lid and rubber seal as a possible source by switching to glad wrap.  

So all in all - swapped to a new fermentor, new tap for the fermentor and kettle, new transfer tubing and used glad wrap to cover up - results seem good so far.  But I won't be too cocky, the real test will be when this batch has been in the bottle for 4 months (if it lasts that long!)

I agree on the electric HLT - best thing I've done for time and convenience in the last year.

[Martin Bridges]

I seem to be going through an American hop phase at the moment, although finances suggest this will be short-lived. Yesterday I kegged an Imperial American Brown (Tasty McDole's Janet's Brown) which is tasting like liquid jaffas! This was kegged while I was brewing an attempt at a clone of Russian River's Pliny The Elder. The recipe came from as close to the horse's mouth as I could get - published by head brewer Vinnie Cilurzzo in the AHA's Zymurgy magazine in July 2010. The recipe has evolved a bit over the years apparently, so this one was down to just three hop varieties: Columbus, Simcoe & Centennial. Shedloads of them! 

 

I was a little worried as the recipe called for 100g of Columbus at the start of a 90 minute boil, which BeerSmith calculated as 123 IBUs! However, when I tasted the wort going into the fermenter it was surprisingly non-bitter. Lots of hop flavour & aroma though, and I hit my target OG bang on (1.072). Let's hope for a nice clean ferment.

[Joel Wicks]

Hi, I'm new posting here but have been reading this forum for ages. So far I've brewed the obligatory Coopers lager kit and 3 partial mash brews (an ESB, a Porter and a Stout) and have gone over to an all grain (BIAB) for the first time this weekend. In hope of some warmer weather I brewed a golden ale:

20L, OG 1040, 32 IBU

88% Malteurop

5% Pale crystal

5% Sugar

2% Wheat

 

60 mins 20g Saaz

30 mins10g Nelson Sauvin

15 mins 10g Saaz

10 mins10g Riwaka

5 mins10g Saaz

0 mins 20g Riwaka

 

Fermenting at 14c (ambient temp) with Nottingham yeast, hopefully for a clean ferment. Sugar added to boost gravity a few points as my efficiency was low. Hoping for a clean, balanced, refreshing summery beer.

[James Lawson]

Sounds like you'll get exactly what you're hoping for :)

[Chris Scott]

Putting down a 60L lager in the next couple of days

12.75kg Malteurop Premium Pils

1.5 kg Malteurop Munich

0.75kg Carapils

30gm Green Bullet 60mins

30gm Green Bullet 30mins

25gm Hallertau Tradition 15 mins

25gm Czech Saaz 15 mins

25gm Hallertau Tradition 1 mins

25gm Czech Saaz 1 mins

Koppafloc 10 mins

50gms w34/70

Mash at 65 1 hour

Boil 1 hour

 

Any critique appreciated. Hallertau/Saaz combo ok?

Aiming for about 1.050

 

Putting down a 60L lager in the next couple of days

12.75kg Malteurop Premium Pils

1.5 kg Malteurop Munich

0.75kg Carapils

30gm Green Bullet 60mins

30gm Green Bullet 30mins

25gm Hallertau Tradition 15 mins

25gm Czech Saaz 15 mins

25gm Hallertau Tradition 1 mins

25gm Czech Saaz 1 mins

Koppafloc 10 mins

50gms w34/70

Mash at 65 1 hour

Boil 1 hour

 

Any critique appreciated. Hallertau/Saaz combo ok?

Aiming for about 1.050

 

[Michael]

Being a hop head, I hate to say this...

 

It seems your IBUs are a bit high for a lager. I would either reduce the 60 and 30 min weight of hops considerably, or go with something with a bit lower IBU. Maybe Motueka would be good as a sub? The thing is, it is related to your saaz hops, but a bit of different taste. Personally, I would just go Motueka and Hallertau.

 

What yeast are your planning on using?