AG66 - Struise Pannepot Clone Attempt

[Sadfield]

Gutted for you, after all that research and planning. Hopefully, it'll be an amazing beer, regardless.

 

[Simonh82]

I don't think you will regret a grain mill. I know you said you don't buy in bulk but it certainly opens that option up. It also definitely makes a difference to the efficiency you will get.

Make sure you get one you can attach a drill too. Milling by hand is a bit of a ball ache.

 

[Zephyr259]

That sucks a bit, sorry to hear it. I forgot you were a grainfather brewer, checked your recipe and 8kg malt in an 18l batch, did you just mash and sparge as per the normal GF water figures. My quick sums said 25l mash and 4l sparge? GF gets really wonky with higher grain bills.

 

[strange-steve]

I boiled up 500g of DME and chucked it in this morning which raised the gravity by 9 points, so if I hit the 82% attenuation I was aiming for it'll be a fairly respectable 9.5% ABV.

@Zephyr259 no I don't use the GF calculator I have an Excel SS which I've been using for years and I tweaked it for the GF when I bought it. I've been gradually dialling it in and my volumes are now pretty much spot on. I tend to add as much mash water as the GF will comfortably hold, including the grain volume, and up to now my efficiencies have been decent, mid 70s to 80% usually. I managed even 65% bhe on a no-sparge oktoberfest and 68% on an eisbock with a 9kg grain bill. So to hit 52% on a batch with almost a kg of sugar added mid boil is a bit of a mystery to me aunsure....

 

[Sadfield]

Was the Eisbock the same mash profile? I wonder if your problem was compounded by your saccharifaction steps (62 and 68c) being at the edges of the ideal, although not normally a problem in themselves.

 

[strange-steve]

Was the Eisbock the same mash profile? I wonder if your problem was compounded by your saccharifaction steps (62 and 68c) being at the edges of the ideal, although not normally a problem in themselves.

No I used a different mash profile for the eisbock, however I used the same schedule for my previous brew (except I skipped the acid rest) and had a decent efficiency. It was brewed with Weyermann pils malt, this one with Chateau pilsner.

Interesting comment though. I know the 68 could have been a little higher, but otherwise what's your thinking on this?

 

[Sadfield]

Just wondering if it was a combination of conditions that caused the big drop in efficiency. Poor crush, slightly high pH and enzymes not working at optimum temperature, etc. All of which wouldn't be a concern in isolation.

 

[strange-steve]

It's certainly a possibility. Unfortunately I'll probably never know exactly what happened. I have 3kg of pale malt from the same store still to use, I'll have a good look at the crush before I do.

 

[strange-steve]

Well one week in and gravity is currently 1.020 meaning 75% attenuation thus far. On tasting the sample I'm really glad I held back on the spicing. Even as is it's a bit much, especially the thyme which is very prominent, so hopefully that'll smooth out with some aging.

 

[strange-steve]

Two weeks in now and the gravity is at an acceptable 1.016 meaning 80% attenuation. I have some French oak chips steeping in a drop of dark rum which I'll add to the brew in a few days then chill for a while before bottling.

 

[Keruso]

I have a grainfather but still a newbie and don’t have anywhere near your level of knowledge, but I did have a problem with two brews where the grain bill was over 8KG. It seems the sheer volume of grain may make recirculation difficult and hence mid 60’s efficiency. I use the grainfather calculator for mash and sparge. Last brew I did the reiteration method and got an OG of near 1.095 with 8KG of grain and no sugar.

 

[strange-steve]

@Keruso
I think in future I'll use a reiterated mash for anything over 6kg, good to hear it worked for you. This was just one of those brewing anomalies that I seem to experience every now and then, because as I mentioned elsewhere I managed 68% efficiency with a 9kg grain bill a few brews back. I'm brewing again next week with malt from the same shop, although a different maltster, so we'll see how that turns out.

 

[Keruso]

Hi, reiterating was an interesting experience, I followed David Heath (YouTube) instructions where he recommends doing a full mash and sparge (grainfather calculators) on the first mash, then the second batch of grain goes in for the second mash, after mash out you sparge to raise to pre boil volume which will mean a far shorter volume of sparge water on the second batch. Of course it does add a lot of time to your brew day. I have had Pannepot loads of time, one of my favorites. Be good to hear how the finished results are

 

[strange-steve]

Another week gone by and the SG seems to have settled at 1.016. The spice flavours have mellowed a tad but still too much thyme coming through, that addition would have been plenty at half the amount. I've added the oak infused rum which should add an interesting note in the background. I'll give it a couple more weeks at 14° then get it bottled. I have a feeling this'll need a fair bit of aging to smooth out.

On a related note, I brewed a porter today and hit 78% BHE :tinhat:

 

[strange-steve]

Bottled this today after 6 weeks in the FV. Final gravity is 1.016 meaning a fairly respectable 9.2% ABV.

The spicing has mellowed a little, though the thyme is still a little too prominent. Likewise the oak flavour, it's not too bad but a touch more than I'd like even though I only used 5g of chips.

 

[strange-steve]

Well 3 months or so after bottling and this is finally starting to come good. The flavours are starting to blend a little better and some of the harshness is gone. Also the thyme and oak flavours which were too strong initially have mellowed. Is it much like Pannepot? Not really but I'll settle for a good beer, and with a bit more aging it could be that.