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Just kegged my “Goofie” saison and I’m really impressed with the performance of the Belle Saison yeast: OG=1042, FG=1003.
....
23 litres in FV, OG=1042
1 pack Belle Saison yeast
Keg after 14 days, FG=1003
My recent Saison with Belle Saison ended up a little high on the OG due to unexpectedly high efficiency (1060) and Belle Saison ripped through that wort effortlessly to deliver 95% attenuation. Final gravity 1003, same as yours. Resulting in a dry and far too easy drinking 7.5%.
 
Yesterday I brewed my first Munich Dunkel based on a recipe kindly suggested by @strange-steve.

It won’t be the same beer this time round because I made a change and I made a mistake. The change was substituting the yeast from WLP833 to MJ M84 because that’s what I had. The mistake was paying rather more attention to the beer I was drinking than the one being brewed and, running in auto-pilot mode, I made a 23 litre batch rather than a 20 litre batch.

Despite my sabotage the finished wort looks and smells really good so although it may not be the same beer (sorry Steve), I’m pretty sure it’s still going to be great.
 
Yesterday I brewed my first Munich Dunkel based on a recipe kindly suggested by @strange-steve.

It won’t be the same beer this time round because I made a change and I made a mistake. The change was substituting the yeast from WLP833 to MJ M84 because that’s what I had. The mistake was paying rather more attention to the beer I was drinking than the one being brewed and, running in auto-pilot mode, I made a 23 litre batch rather than a 20 litre batch.

Despite my sabotage the finished wort looks and smells really good so although it may not be the same beer (sorry Steve), I’m pretty sure it’s still going to be great.
Many packets of the dry yeast did you use. I plan on brewing mine next week once I get my order. I went with wyeast 2308. It will be the first time using liquid yeast
 
Many packets of the dry yeast did you use. I plan on brewing mine next week once I get my order. I went with wyeast 2308. It will be the first time using liquid yeast

I used two packs. On the MJ website there are instructions for the rehydration and use of their yeasts and they give examples of where two packs are required. One example is where the fermentation temperature is below 14C.
 
While waiting for others to join us at the bar on the drinking channel I’ve been tasting some of my conditioning ales:

Plum porter: Been conditioning 3 weeks and the colour, aroma, and taste are all pretty good but not quite on point yet. The plum flavour is a little assertive right now but I’m expecting it to back off as the beer conditions. I made the right choice though in moving to “Special Ingredients” plum flavouring.

77E4F94D-D638-466B-A135-99D0065B4CAF.jpeg
 
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Next up “Trinity” brown ale. Conditioning 2 weeks so far. Looks murky, smells bready, tastes pretty awful but there is fruit and nut chocolate in there somewhere. This one has quite a way to go yet so I’ve no idea if my improvements have made the beer better or worse at this stage.

68D13D76-2EAB-4C5A-8C8B-C5EBB8345E6D.jpeg
 
Summer Breeze - my signature ale. A Citra/Galaxy IPA, conditioning for just 1 week so far. HUGE hoppy aroma and biscuit malt, good colour but still quite hazy, flavour is nice already but with a slight breadiness. Nice IPA bitterness and no astringency. I’m looking forward to this.

198F9B56-4264-4712-8A83-FA9B031B550A.jpeg
 
Summer Breeze - my signature ale. A Citra/Galaxy IPA, conditioning for just 1 week so far. HUGE hoppy aroma and biscuit malt, good colour but still quite hazy, flavour is nice already but with a slight breadiness. Nice IPA bitterness and no astringency. I’m looking forward to this.

View attachment 26196
Citra and Galaxy, great combo. What's the recipe?
 
Citra and Galaxy, great combo. What's the recipe?

This version is slightly different, most notably I’ve used a higher mash temperature.

Summer Breeze 4.8%
4.5Kg Vienna malt
500g Caramalt EBC 30
250g Flaked Oats
250g Torrified Wheat
75 min mash at 160F

25g Magnum Leaf AA=15.3% 60 min

1/2 Protofloc tablet at 15 mins

At 0 mins cool to 165F
40g Citra Leaf AA=12.8%
40g Galaxy Leaf AA=12.6%
Hold at 165F for 30 mins

Fermenter = 20 litres, SG =1052
10g Liberty Bell yeast

60g Citra Leaf, added dry, day 8
60g Galaxy Leaf, added dry, day 8

Barrel on day 14, SG=1015

If you don’t already have a fruity, hoppy, IPA in your repertoire, give it a try.
 
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“Goofie” saison, flavoured with Amarillo and Nelson Sauvin hops, and with fresh orange peel. Been conditioning just 2 days so not expecting much... It actually smells quite clean, there’s a hint of citrusy white wine but not much else. Colour is nice, quite pale and still very hazy but that’s no surprise. The flavour is not bad but I’m struggling to describe it. I think I can discern a hint of white wine and a hint of orange but the flavour is quite delicate at this point. It certainly gives no clue that it’s still 5.1%.


AE0D17CD-810E-4FA8-86D4-7D8D8B2DF66E.jpeg
 
This version is slightly different, most notably I’ve used a higher mash temperature.

Summer Breeze 4.8%
4.5Kg Vienna malt
500g Caramalt EBC 30
250g Flaked Oats
250g Torrified Wheat
75 min mash at 160F

25g Magnum Leaf AA=15.3% 60 min

1/2 Protofloc tablet at 15 mins

At 0 mins cool to 165F
40g Citra Leaf AA=12.8%
40g Galaxy Leaf AA=12.6%
Hold at 165F for 30 mins

Fermenter = 20 litres, SG =1052
10g Liberty Bell yeast

60g Citra Leaf, added dry, day 7
60g Galaxy Leaf, added dry, day 7

Barrel on day 14, SG=1015

If you don’t already have a fruity, hoppy, IPA in your repertoire, give it a try.
Cheers, was particularly interested in the grist, thought it was a good colour. I think 160f is just over 70c, if so that is quite a high mash temp....
 
While waiting for others to join us at the bar on the drinking channel I’ve been tasting some of my conditioning ales:

Plum porter: Been conditioning 3 weeks and the colour, aroma, and taste are all pretty good but not quite on point yet. The plum flavour is a little assertive right now but I’m expecting it to back off as the beer conditions. I made the right choice though in moving to “Special Ingredients” plum flavouring.

View attachment 26192

Something i've been missing from my repertoire, would you mind sharing your recipe for it? 👍
 
The best bit about this post for me (the equipment setup is way beyond my current setup) is the “looks and tastes pretty awful” line.
So glad there are other people who don’t produce perfect beer every time :)
 
Something i've been missing from my repertoire, would you mind sharing your recipe for it? 👍

Hi PH!

At this stage I would say 12ml of the Special Ingredients plum flavour would be better than the 15ml I used - but the beer is only 3 weeks conditioned so it’s still all to play for. Maybe by the time you make it (if you do), I’ll be able to confirm.

Here you go...

Plum Porter 5.7%
3.6Kg Maris Otter
500g Brown malt EBC 140
350g Crystal malt EBC 385
350g Chocolate malt EBC 1125
300g Special-B malt EBC 300
240g Torrified wheat
75 min mash at 150F

45g Fuggles AA=4% (60 mins)
25g Fuggles AA=4% (15 mins)
30g Bramling Cross AA=6.8% (15 mins)
1/2 Protofloc tablet (15 mins)
1Kg dextrose (0 mins)

24 Litres in FV, OG=1062
20g MJ Empire Ale yeast

Barrel on day 15, FG=1018
15 ml Special Ingredients plum flavouring
 
Hi PH!

At this stage I would say 12ml of the Special Ingredients plum flavour would be better than the 15ml I used - but the beer is only 3 weeks conditioned so it’s still all to play for. Maybe by the time you make it (if you do), I’ll be able to confirm.

Here you go...

Plum Porter 5.7%
3.6Kg Maris Otter
500g Brown malt EBC 140
350g Crystal malt EBC 385
350g Chocolate malt EBC 1125
300g Special-B malt EBC 300
240g Torrified wheat
75 min mash at 150F

45g Fuggles AA=4% (60 mins)
25g Fuggles AA=4% (15 mins)
30g Bramling Cross AA=6.8% (15 mins)
1/2 Protofloc tablet (15 mins)
1Kg dextrose (0 mins)

24 Litres in FV, OG=1062
20g MJ Empire Ale yeast

Barrel on day 15, FG=1018
15 ml Special Ingredients plum flavouring

Cheers! Very kind of you! I will let you know how it goes, although I probably wont brew it till next month at the earliest!
 
Going to keg my Mosaic/Simcoe IPA I started on post #76 tonight. It’s a little overdue and I’d have preferred to have kegged a couple of days ago.

My Dunkel will need kegging by the weekend so I’d better crack on with drinking the stout to free up another keg.

Pressure! ;)
 

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