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

[Pilgrim]

My Visa card mikes at 34thou, a bit narrow if you ask me. My mill is set to 45thou and I get a good ratio of flour to cracked husks.

[Christian]

I had a some-what random occurance like this 2 weeks ago. That paste on top of the mash (Germans call in Teig) stopped my sparg dead as it formed a watertight seal. Also, had a lot of break material in the kettle. Grist was nothing but Golden Promise but I did the same recipe from the same sack before Christmas and had no issue. Finished beer is fine and very clear.

[Mark]

I've found Malteurop pils gives an awful lot of break in the boil, sometimes it looks like you're boiling eggs and tofu. Some Irish moss and and it settles out ok though.

[Michael]

On the bright side, I am getting to do a little experiment on temp control due to this batch being so large for me.

I have one fermenter in the temp control fridge, locked in at 18C, and the other one in a cabinet that generally stays at 22C. It will be interesting to taste the difference in esters from the higher temp since it is the same batch.

[Matt Smith]

My mash almost always looks like this after recirculation, I just thought it was normal. I buy pre crushed grain, usually from brewers coop. At times when its been bad Ive had to gently disturb the cake on top to keep the sparge flowing properly.

[Martin Bridges]

I was way behind on my brewing schedule due to a combination of summer holidays and visiting parents, so I decided to get back on track by doing a double brewday. I got Gordon Strong's book "Brewing Better Beer" for Christmas and he points out that you can overlap processes and get some efficiencies that way. All in all it worked out OK, but I'm sure it could be improved upon. I'm completely exhausted after it and I made one error which hopefully won't be too drastic.

Anyway, I brewed a Golden Ale (supposed to be for the next WBC but might not be ready in time - did I mention that my schedule was screwed?) and a Real Ginger Beer using ginger beer plant.

GOLD! I Tells Ya! (Golden Ale, leaning towards a Kolsch)

90% Pilsner

5% Munich

5% Vienna

Mashed at 65 degrees

Meant to boil for 90 mins but only boiled for 60. There's my mistake for the day.

50g Saaz @ 60 mins

Wyeast 1338 European Ale yeast, fermenting at 16 degrees

OG 1.047, 23 IBUs

Real Ginger Beer

93% Maris Otter

7% Crystal 120

Mashed at 67 degrees

60 minute boil

10g Target @ 60 mins

3oz grated ginger root @ 15 mins

1oz lemon rind @ 5 mins

3oz grated ginger root @ 0 mins

Fermenting with ginger beer plant (symbiotic colony of bacteria & yeast)

Wort looked great but doesn't taste as gingery as I would have liked.

OG 1.033

All in all not something I'd plan to do again unless absolutely necessary. No chance to relax all day.

[Glynn Foster]

I also scored a copy of this book for Christmas - it's a bloody good read! (I don't think I could face a double brew day, but have been recently doing double batches with different yeasts and finding that a winner).

[Mike Neilson]

Have the day off to day so I better brew!!

 

Tropical Fruit Punch

 

96% Gladfield Lager

4% Caramalt

 

69 Degree Mash

 

20ibu Nelson Sauvin @ 60

2g/l Zythos 1g/l Galaxy and 1g// Nelson Sauvin Whirlpool

 

1.046 - 1.011 4.5% Abv

20ibu

US05

[MrC]

Looks a bit boring Mike. You feeling ok?

[Mike Neilson]

Yeah im not sick ;) Im all good I had a pint of the good old Tropical fruit juice last night and thought I should clone it but with Malt Hops and yeast, I have a 1kg tin of Mango pulp that one of the fermentors might get as well after primary has kicked off.

 

[Kelly Ryan]

A little Saison been brewed on ePICObrewery today... Aiming for 5ish %, nice and simple with some trial variety hops from NZ Hops and fermented with 3711. 

[Raffe]

Nice. My saison yeast is still sitting in the fridge, it is next on the schedule.

Out of interest, what was your malt bill, and what fermentation temp are you aiming for?