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

[Reviled]

lolz, or I could use coconut cream for that Thai twist ;o) hahaha

Might be an opportunity for Michael to use his coriander leaves ;o) hehe

[Matthew]

Picked up the latest NZ Hop price list yesterday. For anyone else that wants it:

[vdog]

Brewed 'Revenge of the English' last night (finished batch 68L):
11.5kg Maris Otter
850g Crystal 55L
850g Carared
130g EKG @ 70min (boiled a bit long, got distracted building the new chiller below, shown mid-construction)
70g EKG @2min
Nottingham yeast

All went pretty well, looks like our efficiency was up which is a bonus, although the volume was slightly off what we had expected. Smelled and tasted magic going into the fermenter, and the new chiller dropped the full 70-something litres from boiling to 30C in about half an hour. Back to beers with lots of late hops!

As for yeast, tried something new - using a dried nottingham strain, made up a starter a couple of days ago and left it on the stirplate to sort itself out, then tipped off most of the wort, topped it up with cooled stuff from the brew, gave it a shake and chucked it in the fermenter. Hope it works!

Pretty smooth brew session, good beer to drink, and new brew bling - what more could I ask?

[Reviled]

"As for yeast, tried something new - using a dried nottingham strain, made up a starter a couple of days ago and left it on the stirplate to sort itself out, then tipped off most of the wort, topped it up with cooled stuff from the brew, gave it a shake and chucked it in the fermenter. Hope it works!"

May as well have just used a liquid strain if you went to all that hassle?

[vdog]

Agree - but I didn't have time to get one in, in the end, so had to go with what was available. It was more to test the whole starter-making process to make sure we're happy with it, and maybe use a liquid strain (I'm thinking 1272) for our next pale ale.

[Ally Mcg]

Black Francis Mk IV today - stealing a beat from the YB"s and re-imagining it as a stout for the next CBC comp.

Malts - Gladfields Pale, Munich, Pale Choc, Melanoiden, Carafa II, Black Patent, Roast Barley
Hops - Pacific Gem and Rakau
Yeast - S-05

[MrC]

Just in the process of whipping a up a couple of experiments. I'm not expecting great beers from these but hoping to learn a couple things. I've also reduced my steeping water ratio back down to 3L:kg t see if it cures the astringency problem that I've had with my last few steeped grain batches.

Metric Brown Porter (<1.5% ABV)
This is the "All Grain, No Mash" beer that I mentioned on the How Low Can You Go thread.

La Crappe
(Dubbel'ish?)
This is a test to see whether the yeast from La Trappe bottles is reusable and whether I like CaraAroma.
It's the last kit from the 24 kits that I won in the 2008 NHC and I couldn't decide whether throw it away or use it try and learn something. I've opted for the latter.

[11L batch]
1 x Macs Pale Kit
100g Caramunich II
100g CaraAroma
150g Carapils
250g Sugar

Hops - none.
Yeast - harvested from La Trappe Blonde.

[Reviled]

Have you done a starter with the la trappe yeast Mr Cherry? Has it kicked off? If so how long did it take?

[MrC]

Sure did make a starter, built it up three times. The starter smelt OK.
I pitched around 8pm last night and she's bubbling away this morning at 18c. The tap water here is 22c so temp control is a little difficult. Ice in the bath time.

[Reviled]

Should be really interesting, ive read conflicting info on the net, some places say its the genuine brewery strain and others say its just a bottling strain...

[MrC]

I'm sitting here drinking a sample of La Crappe trying to asses whether the yeast from the La Trappe bottles is worth harvesting and for me the answer is a "No it's not worth harvesting".

The beer has a slight Belgian character but it's a long way from what the La Trappe beers are like. It's been an interesting exercise for me but I can't see myself finishing the "half keg" that I brewed. It has a very strong marmite character, light Belgian phenolics, medium bananas and a very low attenuation. I realise that various factors such as fermentation temp have a lot to do with the results but my gut tells me that this is not a good yeast for brewing with.

In a brighter note, I'm enjoying the caraaroma. I just need to decide what beer to put it in next.

Living & learning...

[jt]

Inspired by the cascade / mot hop combo of Matthews NZ IPA last weekend I'm repeating the Hallertau / Cascade / Mot Blande recipe from last year, I just don't know why I didn't repeat it then, that's a beaut hop combo

All mashed in and cursing at the cloud - I've got fruit to ripen !