Recipe advice

[Nick Good]

Can somebody give me some advice on this recipe. It is a Montieths original cone or should I say, was.

I started with the recipe from AHB but found it to be to caramel so tried lightening the crystal malt but I raised the pale chocolate a notch to try and compensate a bit. I almost had it but the last brew is a bit sherry like. Could this be the chocolate?

3.7 UK pale

.46 German wheat

.3 UK crystal

.06 UK pale choc

Original recipe was:

3.7 Golden promise

.46 wheat malt

.23 dark crystal

.046 pale choc

I also added .2 carapils in last brew.

I have tried this beer very early after bottling so haven't given it a chance really.

Nottingham yeast BIAB no chill.

[Des Ross]

Yes the research pretty much debunks HSA as a factor in off flavours in the beer making process...' Brulosophy' and renouned 'beer' academic, Professor Charles Bamforth, have articles online that suggest faults and shortcomings in the brewing process , other than HSA, are responsible for off flavours in the finished beer. Stale ingredients will also compromise quality. It does make sence, as oxygen is driven off during the boil and as we all know, yeast requires oxygen for colony growth once in the FV. Having said that, I still try to be gentle when mashing, sparging and during transfers but give it hell once in the FV. Old habits die hard I guess!

[Crusader-Rob]

it shouldn't make a difference. ho side aeration is the same thing, its transfer from kettle to FV when hot thats where most people have discussed issues. as the boil drives out the oxygen

[Des Ross]

HSA ( Hot Side Aeration) according to the theory, is more of an issue during mashing, sparging and splashing during wort transfer from mash tun to kettle. Oxygen certainly gets boiled off during the boil but oxygen attached to fatty acids, which can occur during the mashing process and transfer to kettle, is NOT boiled off and remains in the wort right through to bottling/ kegging. Off flavours are far more likely to be traced to other origins OTHER than HSA. As others have already noted, sherry type flavours in the finished beer more likely point to other factors like infection or overly high fermentation temperatures. My point is, despite the theory debunking HSA, I like to be gentle with my beer and will continue to be very anal about introducing oxygen at any point in the process other than the FV, which is why I like to cool the boiled wort as quickly as possible and introduce a healthy yeast starter.

[Nick Good]

I re-hydrate dry yeast and I have an STC1000 controlled fridge and I am extremely fussy with sanitation. Also I measure mash temp with Stc1000. I get wort down to around 35C ish the same as you and fridge it with bottles of ice and fridge on before pitching. You guys know a lot more than me but Ive been brewing ( mainly rubbish) for a long time and now I want a decent end product. Suddenly my beer is tasting really good consistently.  

[Nick Good]

It may have been Homebrewtalk that I saw it, I will try to find it again.

[Des Ross]

Hey Nick, I know other experienced brewers who like me, are also very careful to avoid any possibility of oxygen pickup when the wort is hot and swear that this is important to consistently produce great beer.... If you have adopted this practice and your beer has improved then it's a compelling reason to keep doing it despite any research that states otherwise! Based on many years experience, I stick to a set process and the beer consistently tastes great. Take lots of notes when you brew and if you can, spend a day with an experienced and successful brewer...it's amazing what you can pick up!