Brew day - Dark Island from the Orkney Brewery - with pics

[PD]

Er.....pushing through the lid today !

Houston we have a problem !..The beer was trying to make its escape this morning so I quickly attached a blow off tube to the fermenter. First time I've had one escape past the lid, who said these liquid yeasts were not very good... Temp check on the beer was 20C-21c which ain't bad considering all the volcanic activity taking place.

 

[pittsy]

funny how as it escapes and makes a mess you have a little panic while pleased with the outcome at the same time .... sounds promising :thumb:

 

[PD]

Glad I had an air lock with blow off tube already made up for emergencies..................

Just that I'd forgot I'd need a hole drilling in the lid as I don't normally use air locks.

 

[joe1002]

I dont use airlocks either and my last brew with WLP001 was rather messy. Every day I cleaned it up but for four days I was presented with this:

Still, nothing compared to GA's stout, that takes some beating!

 

[PD]

what size ( length ) is that tubular heater ?

 

[joe1002]

It's the Toolstation 60w heater, so 305mm long :thumb:

 

[Baldbrewer]

Blimey I have been away for a while, when did you go stainless Brian?
Very impressed and ever so slightly envious! : :grin:

 

[PD]

Oh those little things....... :whistle: :whistle:

 

[PD]

looks like the yeast has calmed down a little, still got a 3 inch head on it but its not pushing up into the blow off tube...phew what a good bit of yeast activity ....

 

[pittsy]

i hope it tastes as good as it seems , no looking back from liquid yeast now

 

[PD]

yes but just a bit confused as to why it took so long to actually start to do anything and I wonder if its just as advisable to pour the liquid yeastr direct into the brew without trying for a starter

 

[Tomcat]

nice one :clap: , looking forward to how this one turns out - I just bought Marcs book online and looking at the recipes - so many to chose from - where to start, seriously worth the money :grin:

Had a similar thing with the whitelabs liquid yeast - slow to start 24-36hrs but then went off like a good un and was a fast finisher as well.

 

[PD]

I'm thinking of buying the hard copy of his book ( got the version on-line )
I forget about it being on the computer...

 

[Tomcat]

just printed it out and put it in a file folder - can then turn to the recipe I want and work from it, if (when) it gets messy just reprint the page again

 

[PD]

Don't you just hate a clever cloggs.........

 

[PD]

Printed the book out ! ....my its a thick one.....

 

[PD]

Took a gravity reading tonight first one. its at 1010 which gives me a brew of 5%, I doubt if the readings will go much lower but its still got a few days to rest.
Taste wise its very pleasant and malty... dark brown in colour and very smooth....think I'm going to like this one....

I called in at my local police station this afternoon and spoke to one of the lovely lady PCSO's, came away with some free SMART WATER together with the obligatory warning stickers to display in house windows to deter the above average intelligent metal thieves, ie those that can read.
Have " dabbed " all my stainless pots and lids, copper chiller, electric drills planers routers saw bench etc etc in the garage. Televisions and computers and DVD's etc in the house, even the dog got dabbed ! ( but he's micro chipped anyway) still got loads of the stuff left.

 

[PD]

Racked to clean 2nd fermenting vessel for a week.

Yeast cake transferred to a 5 litre water bottle and put in fridge to settle for a new brew Monday or Tuesday.

That's one dark brew !! and smells really Malty, quite bitter as the moment but not unpleasantly so.
Lets see how the yeast goes on, its looking quite lively as I transferred it to a dj and put it in the fridge.

 

[Tomcat]

nice brew, look forward to updates as to how it turns out
going to take a run at the Raven brew with BIAB and see how that goes but will use a nottingham yeast and prestart it.

 

[PD]

Bottled it today................( Is it ever going to warm up !, bloody freezing sat in the garage ! )
ended up with 41 x 500ml bottles of a lovely dark malty brew.
The gravity remained at 1010 but an awful lot of sediment was dropped into the 2nd fermenter,The beer was lovely and clear going into the bottle.
Little paper name disks added and the whole lot placed into the airing cupboard,far too cold in the garage for carbonating them.

AND NEVER TASTED A DROP ! ( I forgot )

The Kingsdown Ale brew still has a big yeast head on top, it again is having to cope with a low fermenting temp of around 17-18 degrees, but its going on steady.

So only 1 fv in use......hmmm

Nah I'm going to wait a week to brew see if the weather improves...

I've got my orders another Big Kenny or Piddles Dribble required ! :party: