So I had some time to use the GF again today. Planned to make "Granary Punk IPA" (basically Brewdog Punk IPA with Citra replacing Nelson Sauvin).
Got up early, heating the strike water nicely....then fused my garage. Checked the fuse board, couldn't get it restarted so called out the emergency electrician. Had to wait four hours....then he reset the fuse board with the flick of a finger. The RCD had tripped and when I was resetting for some reason switch had got stuck. He was in the house less than 60 seconds!! Not my finest hour. :whistle:
Anyway, basic recipe is as follows:
Maris Otter Extra Pale - 4.38Kg
Caramalt - 0.25Kg
Mash at 66C for 75mins. 16L of strike water at 72C
Sparged 15.7L at 75C
Chinook 20g, 75 mins
Ahtanum 12.5g, 75 mins
Chinook 20g, 40 mins
Ahtanum 12.5g 40 mins
Half Protofloc 10 mins
Chinook 27.5g, 5 mins
Ahtanum 12.5g, 5 mins
Simcoe 12.5g, 5 mins
Citra 12.5g, 5 mins
Wyeast 1056 American Ale
Aiming for OG 1053, FG 1011. 25L target for boil to leave 20L.
Target ABV 5.6%, EBC 15, SRM 7.6
I'm planning to dry hop post fermentation for five days with:
Chinook 47.5g
Ahtanum 37.5g
Simcoe 37.5g
Citra 20g
Cascade 37.5g
Amarillo 10g
I had a few niggles through the brew:
1. the wort didn't run clear until late in the mash. I used some advice from the forum and stirred the grains 10 minutes before the end of the mash, which obviously made the wort cloudy again.
2. when recirculating the wort, it ends up running heavily down the overflow pipe. I don't mind this, but not sure it's the most effective recirculation. I suspect this is because the amount of water GF recommend means the mash is a really thick porridge.
3. again, I really struggled to get a sensible pre-boil gravity. I mixed the wort for a few minutes to make sure the sparge was mixed well in, but was coming up at around 1041 (temp adjusted).
4. my Wyeast "smack pack" had obviously been smacked in transit as it arrived fully blown. I left in the fridge for ten days while waiting for the brew, so hopefully it will be ok.
I ended up with exactly 20L at an OG of 1051, which was pleasingly close to target (1053). It's all pitched with the Wyeast and fingers are crossed.
If I believe my 1041 reading, it's an efficiency of 72% - using the OG of 1051 it's nearer 90%. Sound right?
I have to say I'm loving the GF - once my electrical woes were behind me, it was 5 hours from beginning to end including cleaning the GF and putting my mess away.
Views on my niggles very welcome!!
Got up early, heating the strike water nicely....then fused my garage. Checked the fuse board, couldn't get it restarted so called out the emergency electrician. Had to wait four hours....then he reset the fuse board with the flick of a finger. The RCD had tripped and when I was resetting for some reason switch had got stuck. He was in the house less than 60 seconds!! Not my finest hour. :whistle:
Anyway, basic recipe is as follows:
Maris Otter Extra Pale - 4.38Kg
Caramalt - 0.25Kg
Mash at 66C for 75mins. 16L of strike water at 72C
Sparged 15.7L at 75C
Chinook 20g, 75 mins
Ahtanum 12.5g, 75 mins
Chinook 20g, 40 mins
Ahtanum 12.5g 40 mins
Half Protofloc 10 mins
Chinook 27.5g, 5 mins
Ahtanum 12.5g, 5 mins
Simcoe 12.5g, 5 mins
Citra 12.5g, 5 mins
Wyeast 1056 American Ale
Aiming for OG 1053, FG 1011. 25L target for boil to leave 20L.
Target ABV 5.6%, EBC 15, SRM 7.6
I'm planning to dry hop post fermentation for five days with:
Chinook 47.5g
Ahtanum 37.5g
Simcoe 37.5g
Citra 20g
Cascade 37.5g
Amarillo 10g
I had a few niggles through the brew:
1. the wort didn't run clear until late in the mash. I used some advice from the forum and stirred the grains 10 minutes before the end of the mash, which obviously made the wort cloudy again.
2. when recirculating the wort, it ends up running heavily down the overflow pipe. I don't mind this, but not sure it's the most effective recirculation. I suspect this is because the amount of water GF recommend means the mash is a really thick porridge.
3. again, I really struggled to get a sensible pre-boil gravity. I mixed the wort for a few minutes to make sure the sparge was mixed well in, but was coming up at around 1041 (temp adjusted).
4. my Wyeast "smack pack" had obviously been smacked in transit as it arrived fully blown. I left in the fridge for ten days while waiting for the brew, so hopefully it will be ok.
I ended up with exactly 20L at an OG of 1051, which was pleasingly close to target (1053). It's all pitched with the Wyeast and fingers are crossed.
If I believe my 1041 reading, it's an efficiency of 72% - using the OG of 1051 it's nearer 90%. Sound right?
I have to say I'm loving the GF - once my electrical woes were behind me, it was 5 hours from beginning to end including cleaning the GF and putting my mess away.
Views on my niggles very welcome!!