First AG Brew day - SMaSH Citra IPA

jafski · Feb 4, 2017

First AG brew day (much delayed), going to follow Brewstew's guide.

Scaled up to 23l from this recipe:

http://beerandbrewing.com/VaVFqB4AABJirjpT/article/smash-citra-ipa-recipe

(though I've dropped the estimated ABV to 5.5%.)

All ready to go. See you on the other side.

cheapbrew · Feb 4, 2017

I hope it all goes well for you, I find Citra can be a little catty tasting on its own, keep us posted.

braziliain · Feb 4, 2017

Good luck! :thumb:

jafski · Feb 4, 2017

Mash temp bang on and Ph looks about 5.2 from the colour chart, so it's so far so good.

jafski · Feb 4, 2017

cheapbrew said:
I hope it all goes well for you, I find Citra can be a little catty tasting on its own, keep us posted.

Will do, cheers. Yeah, I'm hoping for something like Oakham Citra, but expecting something less good!

Thought I'd start with a SMaSH and then see what difference additions/changes make as I make another.

jafski · Feb 4, 2017

braziliain said:
Good luck! :thumb:

Cheers, fingers crossed!

Linalmeemow · Feb 4, 2017

I'd put money on this being an absolute blinder of a beer, but it won't be a lot like the Oakham ale. This will be way more hop-forward and fruity - really intensely mango / passion fruit flavours. Good choice for your first AG though. Be sure to let us know how it turns out.

jafski · Feb 4, 2017

Linalmeemow said:
I'd put money on this being an absolute blinder of a beer, but it won't be a lot like the Oakham ale. This will be way more hop-forward and fruity - really intensely mango / passion fruit flavours. Good choice for your first AG though. Be sure to let us know how it turns out.

Will do, just waiting for the boil to start now. Hops are smelling great just sat in their bowls!

Mash lost hardly any temp so decent, have ended up with 1L less than expected for the boil, but not too unhappy with that, can adjust my efficiency now.

Pre-boil OG 1.050 (temp adjusted) Brewsmith estimated 1.045. I guess that's down to the missing Litre?

Linalmeemow · Feb 4, 2017

jafski said:
Will do, just waiting for the boil to start now. Hops are smelling great just sat in their bowls!

Mash lost hardly any temp so decent, have ended up with 1L less than expected for the boil, but not too unhappy with that, can adjust my efficiency now.

Pre-boil OG 1.050 (temp adjusted) Brewsmith estimated 1.045. I guess that's down to the missing Litre?

Did you go with the suggested yeast?

jafski · Feb 4, 2017

Linalmeemow said:
Did you go with the suggested yeast?

No, went with Safale 05.

Haven't made a starter, thought I'd keep it as simple as possible first time out, so Brewsmith is telling me to use 14g, so a packet and a bit.

First hops are in and it's smelling lovely in here!

Personal91 · Feb 4, 2017

jafski said:
No, went with Safale 05.

Haven't made a starter, thought I'd keep it as simple as possible first time out, so Brewsmith is telling me to use 14g, so a packet and a bit.

First hops are in and it's smelling lovely in here!

You taking any pics?

jafski · Feb 4, 2017

Personal91 said:
You taking any pics?

Yeah, got a few. Will post them at the end.

Linalmeemow · Feb 4, 2017

jafski said:
No, went with Safale 05.

Haven't made a starter, thought I'd keep it as simple as possible first time out, so Brewsmith is telling me to use 14g, so a packet and a bit.

First hops are in and it's smelling lovely in here!

You'll be fine with a single pack of US05, it'll go through a 23l batch with no problems at all. You can also expect it to ferment down to 1010 so you're likely to end up with a 5.2-5.3% beer.

If you enjoy this one try repeating it but subbing in Magnum for bittering and then Galaxy for all the other additions...

jafski · Feb 4, 2017

Linalmeemow said:
You'll be fine with a single pack of US05, it'll go through a 23l batch with no problems at all. You can also expect it to ferment down to 1010 so you're likely to end up with a 5.2-5.3% beer.

If you enjoy this one try repeating it but subbing in Magnum for bittering and then Galaxy for all the other additions...

I did wonder about using just one pack, may take a bit longer to get going but will be OK won't it?

OK, will save a pack for the next brew. Thank you.

Cheers for the hop advice as well, it's a bit daunting at first knowing what's best for what. So I'll take your advice.

I used some Cascade to dry hop a Coopers IPA Kit and have 50g of that left over in the freezer, so may try some of that as well.

Linalmeemow · Feb 4, 2017

jafski said:
I did wonder about using just one pack, may take a bit longer to get going but will be OK won't it?

OK, will save a pack for the next brew. Thank you.

Cheers for the hop advice as well, it's a bit daunting at first knowing what's best for what. So I'll take your advice.

I used some Cascade to dry hop a Coopers IPA Kit and have 50g of that left over in the freezer, so may try come of that as well.

I've been using US05 pretty exclusively until I get my brewfridge sorted. In a simple pale ale like this one it's unbeatable in terms of reliability. If you pitch at around 22c you can guarantee fermentation will be visible within 24 hours.

I haven't been brewing long in the scheme of things, only a couple of years now, but you learn so much so quickly (especially from the folks on here). Working out what hops you like has been my favourite part of the experience so far!

jafski · Feb 4, 2017

OK, all done and in the fermenter. Here are some pics. Thanks to Brewstew for the guide, invaluable. Got an OG of 1.054 which is bang on the Brewsmith Estimate. Also got 24.25L into the fermenter (target 23L) by tipping my boiler a little (5.5l dead space if not!).

Ajhutch · Feb 4, 2017

Great pictures, congratulations on your first all grain brew

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Spapro · Feb 4, 2017

Pleased it went well, no way back from all grain!

jafski · Feb 5, 2017

Linalmeemow said:
I've been using US05 pretty exclusively until I get my brewfridge sorted. In a simple pale ale like this one it's unbeatable in terms of reliability. If you pitch at around 22c you can guarantee fermentation will be visible within 24 hours.

I haven't been brewing long in the scheme of things, only a couple of years now, but you learn so much so quickly (especially from the folks on here). Working out what hops you like has been my favourite part of the experience so far!

It's bubbling away nicely already. Cheers!

DoctorMick · Feb 5, 2017

Great work, I love a citra pale ale.

First AG Brew day - SMaSH Citra IPA

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