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BeerCat

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Irish Dry Stout

Not had the time to brew for the last 2 weeks so eager to crack on. Be heading outside to start soon and have a massive clear up. Ever since i spilled 20l of wort over the the garage floor had mice in there doing there business over my bench. Gonna have to empty it, scrub the floors and throw some malt away. Decided to do another stout after the success of my last one. I had almost given up on brewing dark beers but the change of yeast seems to have worked really well. Its also the first time i have got the correct mouthfeel. Normally they come out thin and far too roasty for my taste.
Its basically the classic 70/20/10 mix.

Irish Dry Stout BIAB no chill
20l batch
OG 1047
FG 1014
IBU 36.42
SRM 36.7

3.08 kg Maris Otter
0.88 kg Flaked Barley
44 kg Roast Barley

50 EKG @60
5g Fuggles @60
4 Vanilla pods @15
protofloc tablet @15

Mash 1 hour at 67c
White Labs Irish Ale Yeast WLP004 starter

Using RO water PH 7 with 1g of gypsum per 10l
Mashing in around 15l and dunk sparge 10l

As my boiler only holds about 22l full to the brim i normally end up with about 18l which i top up with water to drop the temp to at least 80c. Pitch the yeast the next day or maybe tomorrow evening.
Not sure whether to add a sachet of goldings hop powder at the start of fermentation like the St Peters kits. Also not really sure if the vanilla cuts through. I know i could soak some in vodka and add later but don't have enough or any vodka.
 
Sounds like a nice brew to me :) Not sure about the vanilla pods, I would have suggest get some more and add them to the fermenter?

Cheers
Jay :)
 
Sounds like a nice brew to me :) Not sure about the vanilla pods, I would have suggest get some more and add them to the fermenter?

Cheers
Jay :)

Cheers i think your right. May as well get some more and a small bottle of vodka to soak them in. I did a choc vanilla mod to a coopers kit before and all I could taste was chocolate.
 
Not sure what happened but I ended up with only 16l. I stuck it in the FV and cooling in the sink. Wanna take a OG before I dilute it. Pre boil OG was 1042. The Fuggles I had were stronger than I thought 5.7% so used 45g and the leftover 5g at turn off. Colour looks great. Had 7 vanilla pods left in the end so added 3 to the boil and using the other 4 for secondary. Nice and peaceful sitting here. The mice have caned my peated and smoked malts so all is not lost. Saved 400ml for a starter. Will get yeast out from fridge to warm and do a starter overnight.

20160402_161719.jpg


20160402_171715.jpg
 
Ended up with 16l at 1052 but i lost 2l to the hops and gunk. Couldn't find a clean sieve. Diluted it to 1046 so still have 16l. I really must get a bigger boiler. It started of full but the boil was so vigorous lost quite a lot. More vigor than normal which is strange but there you go. I think my efficiency was around 67%. Smells divine, strong vanilla. Starter seems a bit lacking but will see, got another pot of same if necessary. Cant remember what it was like last time i used it.
 
Finished at 1014 which is just what i wanted. Sample tastes decent, just repitched some of the yeast onto a Brown Porter i did yesterday and instant bubbling. Chuffed me own recipe and smells very chocolatey. Got enough yeast slurry for 2 more batches. Gonna do another Porter variation and another Dry Stout. Really loving this Irish Ale Yeast. I never got around to adding any more Vanilla to the stout. Just had the thought i may use them in some mead so i can have a shot of that in my Dark Beers.
 
Ive got a mate who is terrified of them and i got him to help me move a desk in the garage. When we picked it up there was a massive spider on his end but i didn't tell him as he would of dropped it on my foot.
Brew is smelling fantastic. Flame out in 5mins. Wort tastes really good. big hopes for this. :)
 
BIPA; Not decided exactly on the hops yet but going to try not adding any bittering until last 15mins. Still not got a new hose so gonna be doing no chill with whatever hops i have aiming at around 50-55 IBU. The roast barley and choc are cold steeping overnight at around 20c in 4l. Wanted to use less dark grains but to get within the syle i had to up it a bit. Interested to try this out as enjoyed the cold steeps i have done before. Going to use US05 and not making a starter this time.

4.5kg Maris Otter 91%
200g Roast Barley 4%
240g Choc malt 5%
 
On the go for this evening another Dry Stout.

21 liter batch
Mash @67c
3.5kg Maris Otter
1kg Flaked Barley
600g Roast Barley cold steeped overnight
300g caramalt
50g EKG @60
WLP004 starter
Goldings hop sachet at start of fermentation
 
Just went to get the Yeast starter for my Weizenbock and the bottle has blown up. Glad was in the airing cupboard. Thats £9 for the bottle and the yeast gone. Think i am gonna have to do some bottling tonight and pitch it on the Dunkelweizen cake. Could be so dangerous. Should not of left the cap screwed on. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-1000M...819239?hash=item25be9e0de7:g:eZkAAOSwbYZXe7JO

I did wonder what the amazing bread like smell in the house was. Time to cheer myself up with a Beer. :doh:
 
Spent around 2 hours cleaning up that mess. Managed to cut myself as well. Absolutely no sign of any liquid apart from on the inside of the door. We both heard a loud bang earlier in the day and thought it must be the cat banging around. Anyway please don't do as i did and if your gonna use a glass bottle make sure the lid is loose.
Somehow the Doppelbock didn't hit the right OG which is weird as its an extract recipe. Roasted the grains in the oven, steep then boil them for the whole brew.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEIw5bTOMeo[/ame]
Really looking forward to trying this on. I guess it mimics a decoction mash.
The cold steeped Stout i brewed was drinkable after a week. Caned a lot of it already. It really has taken the harshness out of it.
 
Brewed the English IPA from the bible and wondering what to dry hop with? Recipe is Challenger and East Kent Goldings so i am thinking either the EKG or Fuggles? Any help welcome as its the first time i have brewed this. I threw a Goldings Hop sachet in at start of fermentation so high hopes with this one. Will have a taste after lunch and check the gravity.

The Doppelbock i brewed is undrinkable, maybe i burned the grains or wort or both. Either way an expensive waste of time but will try again soon.
Also did a 5l Cascade extract brew which is extremely cack. I have 3 thermometers all giving different readings which i doubt helps neither does starting a brew when half cut. :doh:
 

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