Black Sabbath Stout - Clibit recipe -and a little issue

[mike-os]

Batch size 23l
target OG 1.058
FG
Bitterness 48

Grain bill as recipe, x 2.5 ( as i have been a bit low on efficiency

so
Maris Otter Malt (81.47%) 5kg
Black Malt (8.15%) 500g
Crystal Rye (4.89%) 320g
Crystal 120 Dark (3.05%) 200g
Roasted Barley (2.44%) 150g


Mashed at 66c for 60 minutes in 16l
sparge at 75 21l

i will post gravity & volumes recovered later

My current pre boil gravity is 1.054 !!!!!! :lol:

so I propose to dilute slightly to about 1.045 pre boil?

this will give me a small additional brew to brew with US05 rather than mauribrew weis in the main brew

should i be OK?.... goint to boil in a few so anyone reading this i would appreciate any advice

thanks

 

[cheapbrew]

my understanding is pre boil volume x gravity should equal post boil volume x gravity

so if you have 10 litres pre boil at 1040 it would be 10 x 40 = 400

if post boil is 8 litres, then divide 400 by 8 = 50

therefore post boil gravity should be 1050

 

[mike-os]

well a good day i guess, new kit and all, makes it a bit more complicated

Mashed 6 kg grain with 16l water at 66c recovered 7l wort @ sg 1.100:mrgreen:

sparge with 10.5l at 75c for 15 min, recovered 10l wort @ sg1048

repeat and recovered 10l wort @ sg 1030

this left me with a pre boil SG of 1054!

volumes kept tight because boiler has a max capacity of about 28l, should have reduced the brew to about 20l but hindsight is a wonderful tool

because of the high OG i added about 3.5l water and split to give me the maximum i could boil and ended up with a

main brew of 19.5l @og 1058 with mauribrew weis
Second brew of 5l @ og 1056 with US05

how do i work out the brewhouse efficiency?

 

[cheapbrew]

Did you mix the three worts together before adding the 3.5 L of water?

so 7+10+10 = 27 plus 3.5 added water = 30.5 pre boil volume, or did you mix water into just one of the worts?

by my calcs for your original recipe of 23 litres @ 1.058,
if you ended up with 24.5L it should have an OG of 1.054 in each batch so you are slightly high, but not sure how you got the two differing brew OG's?

As for brewhouse efficiency it seems to depend on whose formula you use.
http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Understanding_Efficiency

 

[mike-os]

The smaller boil lost more water so I added a little...

 

[cheapbrew]

Ah extra water in one, that explains it.:thumb:

interesting that the smaller pot lost more during the boil, just more excuse to do bigger batch I guess :drunk:

 

[mike-os]

both bubbling away merrily :lol:

 

[mike-os]

slight concern, just had a look prior to bottling and there is what i can only describe as a layer of dust on the surface, any idea what it is, where it comes from and if its an issue?

taste is a little odd too, slightly astringent

 

[DanST]

Ah extra water in one, that explains it.:thumb:

interesting that the smaller pot lost more during the boil, just more excuse to do bigger batch I guess :drunk:

A bigger pot has a smaller surface area to volume ratio so you lose a smaller percentage to evaporation. It's also why it's easier to maintain temperature when mashing in a larger batch.

Sorry for the science lesson, I'm bored waiting to finish work.

 

[clibit]

slight concern, just had a look prior to bottling and there is what i can only describe as a layer of dust on the surface, any idea what it is, where it comes from and if its an issue?

taste is a little odd too, slightly astringent

I've no idea sorry. I'd plough on regardless and see what happens.

If you used Mauribrew Weiss, it has a strong flavour, which is what you could be tasting. It makes this a very distinctive brew if you use this yeast, I was unsure at first but grew to love it, and the beer got better and better with age.

 

[MyQul]

slight concern, just had a look prior to bottling and there is what i can only describe as a layer of dust on the surface, any idea what it is, where it comes from and if its an issue?

taste is a little odd too, slightly astringent

The "dust" could be some sort of mould. I would have said rack from below and you'll be fine (as I've dont that before when I had mould on top of a brew), but you've bottled it now so just see how it goes.

As for the astringency, this is a big beer with loads of dark grains giving lots of roastyness. This roastyness can be quite astringent tasting for some people (although I love it). Give it lots of conditioning and it'll mellow/blend out

 

[clibit]

The "dust" could be some sort of mould. I would have said rack from below and you'll be fine (as I've dont that before when I had mould on top of a brew), but you've bottled it now so just see how it goes.

As for the astringency, this is a big beer with loads of dark grains giving lots of roastyness. This roastyness can be quite astringent tasting for some people (although I love it). Give it lots of conditioning and it'll mellow/blend out

The grains will be a factor but the yeast is very overpowering, especially early on.

 

[mike-os]

'The small batch with us 05 tastes great, big powerful flavours, the big one with mauribrew tastes and smells really odd....not 'different' but quite unpleasant . i think it has got infected tbh but I will rack to a keg and see what happens. How long would you suggest clibit?

P's I just dry hopped a clibit half hearted ale today. . That tastes great too, so a bit of a consolation

think I will have another go and maybe do half with mauribrew and half us05. .. then I will know for sure

 

[mike-os]

As an aside, I am going to assume infection and deep clean fv.... what do you recommend for cleaning? I have metabisulphite, but wonder if an oxy cleane like w5 would be better?

 

[nbpicklesno2]

I would say bleach, but there again, I'm just a spokesperson for the chlorine industry:whistle:

 

[clibit]

'The small batch with us 05 tastes great, big powerful flavours, the big one with mauribrew tastes and smells really odd....not 'different' but quite unpleasant . i think it has got infected tbh but I will rack to a keg and see what happens. How long would you suggest clibit?

P's I just dry hopped a clibit half hearted ale today. . That tastes great too, so a bit of a consolation

think I will have another go and maybe do half with mauribrew and half us05. .. then I will know for sure

It might just be the yeast, it has a strong flavour, and the Weiss version will be very different from the US05 version. A lot of people will probably prefer the US05 version, but I think the Weiss yeast makes a really different and unique beer that is fantatsic after a few months. But it could also be infected and that could be the issue. I don't know how long to leave it in a keg, you can only see how it goes. Maybe leave it a month and then just taste it once a week? Draw a sample off. Are you then going to bottle it?

 

[MyQul]

As an aside, I am going to assume infection and deep clean fv.... what do you recommend for cleaning? I have metabisulphite, but wonder if an oxy cleane like w5 would be better?

I'd agree with nbpickes. I also strongly suspect I have a wild yeast infection in a porter I've just bottled this eve. So will be taking the nuclear option to the FV (and problably the mini kegs too if it does prove to be an infection) and bleaching it.

 

[mike-os]

I would end up bottling it but dont want to bottle then chuck it:-?


see what its like in a month then i guess.....

 

[clibit]

I would end up bottling it but dont want to bottle then chuck it:-?


see what its like in a month then i guess.....

Yes, just be patient, and enjoy your other beers for now. The Half-Hearted is great.

I agree about the bleach too. :thumb:

 

[mike-os]

well i have tried it...

i have also done another brew in the same FV, this one bottled :-(

both brews have the same unpleasant taste so i guess

A, infected,:-(
B, 2 bleach soakings and starsan did not clear up the problem
C, i now have an FV and 2 kegs that are infected (and 40 bottles):-(


As i have clearly lost 2 brews i am looking for a "serious" cleaner/steriliser..... used household bleach previously... so maybe need a much higher dose? any particular product to go for?

Bottles should be easy... dishwasher on hot for a couple of cycles i guess?

i will also probably change the taps, but the FV is one of the "new" coopers ones with the clip in tap, so may just have to try and clean it again