Brewtime AG #12 - Bock
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So, this turned into a bit of an epic. Also turned out to be AG#13, not 12.
The issue I found with starting a brew spontaneously, is that everything takes a bit longer than you think, as it hasn't been properly prepped, weighed, timers set and everything.
I got to bed at midnight in the end.
Also had to put kids to bed, cook dinner, help Mrs with shopping put-away, etc.
Lesson : None. It was really good fun anyway. Although more prep would be much more beneficial. And no kids. Can't do much about the latter, mind. Not legally.
The only dramas while brewing were a small boil over which I missed as I was making a cup of tea, but which wasn't too bad as I only had 2/3 of the wort in there at that point. I batch sparge twice, and get the first and second runnings boiling whilst the second sparge is on, but left it a bit too long this time.
Lesson : Tea. Evil. Stick to beer. (Only joking.) Mind you, everything on the worktop was sticking to beer.
I also hadn't put in the bazooka hop-filter. Oops. Meant I ended up using an auto-syphon to transfer the wort to the FV, as the tap simply blocked with hops immediately it was switched on. Luckily I had anticipated this and had a sterilised auto-syphon and tube ready and waiting. Next time I plan to use pellet hops and whirlpool it.
Lesson : Don't be an idiot all your life. You've made this mistake before. Learn from it!
The final drama was a bit more serious, and involved a few sweary-words. The outflow hose from the copper chiller coil popped off just after it started cooling, gushing what I shall describe as "refreshingly" hot water onto the worktop and hence the garage floor.
The inlet hose was fed from a tap 15m away on the outside of the house, and it was dark and raining. Also, the Mrs had gone to bed, and I was all alone. Sob. Managed to pop the chiller outflow hose back on without any serious burns, but with a few random squirts around the garage, hooked it out of the boiler and and wrestled it outside, where it could gush quite happily. I had an FV which was about to be sterilised sitting nearby waiting, so dropped the coil into that. Relief. Some new electrical tape and a new jubilee clip, and I was back up and running.
Lesson : Have a bucket and a load of old towels handy when using the chiller, and make sure the jubilee clip is done up properly. Don't ever tell anyone.....
Interestingly, when you make your own kit, it is fun and stress-free to fettle it back into life when it fails. When it is a piece of bought kit, then you often just think it's broken, panic, and eventually get it fixed. Much more stressful.
Lesson : Make more of my own kit.
So, grain bill pretty much as per Greg Hughes' "Traditional Bock" on p100 of his book "Home Brew Beer", although I went a bit heavier on the Pale and Munich malts as my efficiency last time I did this was a bit low. I also was slightly light on the Carapils, as I had bought a kilo, and simply used half last time and half this. So:
3kg Pale Malt
3kg Munich Malt
500g Carapils
350g Weyermanns Special B
Hop schedule :
Boil time 75 mins.
Northern Brewer, Leaf, 8.4% AA, 25g, 75 mins
Tettnang, Leaf, 1.7% AA, 20g, 30 mins (Double the recipe, but only 1/3 the AA%).
Protafloc 1/2 tab, 10 mins
WLP833 German Bock Lager Liquid Yeast
It is getting going in the kitchen and was slow to start. Brewed Thurs pm, and by late Fri pm there were a only a few spots of tiny bubbles, but nothing major. By Sat am there was a 1" Krausen and a familiar and reassuring sulphur smell. Now it's Sat pm, and after this heavy shower passes I am going to pop it in the brew fridge in the garage at 15c for two weeks. Then I will transfer to secondary and lager for 4 weeks at 3c before bottling. I expect to be able to drink it in a further 4 weeks.
I've done this one before and love it. It is a beautiful, sweet, malty, amber-coloured beer. It's darker than in the book photo, but I'm not entering it for a compo, so who cares?
I'm also now experienced with the time it takes to bottle-condition to full fizz, and this time I won't touch it until at least 4 weeks after bottling, as it will just be not ready to drink and a waste of what is yet to come.
Lesson : Patience.
So, there we are. AG#13. Bock.
Dog.
The issue I found with starting a brew spontaneously, is that everything takes a bit longer than you think, as it hasn't been properly prepped, weighed, timers set and everything.
I got to bed at midnight in the end.
Also had to put kids to bed, cook dinner, help Mrs with shopping put-away, etc.
Lesson : None. It was really good fun anyway. Although more prep would be much more beneficial. And no kids. Can't do much about the latter, mind. Not legally.
The only dramas while brewing were a small boil over which I missed as I was making a cup of tea, but which wasn't too bad as I only had 2/3 of the wort in there at that point. I batch sparge twice, and get the first and second runnings boiling whilst the second sparge is on, but left it a bit too long this time.
Lesson : Tea. Evil. Stick to beer. (Only joking.) Mind you, everything on the worktop was sticking to beer.
I also hadn't put in the bazooka hop-filter. Oops. Meant I ended up using an auto-syphon to transfer the wort to the FV, as the tap simply blocked with hops immediately it was switched on. Luckily I had anticipated this and had a sterilised auto-syphon and tube ready and waiting. Next time I plan to use pellet hops and whirlpool it.
Lesson : Don't be an idiot all your life. You've made this mistake before. Learn from it!
The final drama was a bit more serious, and involved a few sweary-words. The outflow hose from the copper chiller coil popped off just after it started cooling, gushing what I shall describe as "refreshingly" hot water onto the worktop and hence the garage floor.
The inlet hose was fed from a tap 15m away on the outside of the house, and it was dark and raining. Also, the Mrs had gone to bed, and I was all alone. Sob. Managed to pop the chiller outflow hose back on without any serious burns, but with a few random squirts around the garage, hooked it out of the boiler and and wrestled it outside, where it could gush quite happily. I had an FV which was about to be sterilised sitting nearby waiting, so dropped the coil into that. Relief. Some new electrical tape and a new jubilee clip, and I was back up and running.
Lesson : Have a bucket and a load of old towels handy when using the chiller, and make sure the jubilee clip is done up properly. Don't ever tell anyone.....
Interestingly, when you make your own kit, it is fun and stress-free to fettle it back into life when it fails. When it is a piece of bought kit, then you often just think it's broken, panic, and eventually get it fixed. Much more stressful.
Lesson : Make more of my own kit.
So, grain bill pretty much as per Greg Hughes' "Traditional Bock" on p100 of his book "Home Brew Beer", although I went a bit heavier on the Pale and Munich malts as my efficiency last time I did this was a bit low. I also was slightly light on the Carapils, as I had bought a kilo, and simply used half last time and half this. So:
3kg Pale Malt
3kg Munich Malt
500g Carapils
350g Weyermanns Special B
Hop schedule :
Boil time 75 mins.
Northern Brewer, Leaf, 8.4% AA, 25g, 75 mins
Tettnang, Leaf, 1.7% AA, 20g, 30 mins (Double the recipe, but only 1/3 the AA%).
Protafloc 1/2 tab, 10 mins
WLP833 German Bock Lager Liquid Yeast
It is getting going in the kitchen and was slow to start. Brewed Thurs pm, and by late Fri pm there were a only a few spots of tiny bubbles, but nothing major. By Sat am there was a 1" Krausen and a familiar and reassuring sulphur smell. Now it's Sat pm, and after this heavy shower passes I am going to pop it in the brew fridge in the garage at 15c for two weeks. Then I will transfer to secondary and lager for 4 weeks at 3c before bottling. I expect to be able to drink it in a further 4 weeks.
I've done this one before and love it. It is a beautiful, sweet, malty, amber-coloured beer. It's darker than in the book photo, but I'm not entering it for a compo, so who cares?
I'm also now experienced with the time it takes to bottle-condition to full fizz, and this time I won't touch it until at least 4 weeks after bottling, as it will just be not ready to drink and a waste of what is yet to come.
Lesson : Patience.
So, there we are. AG#13. Bock.
Dog.
MyQul
Chairman of the Bored
I fancy doing a bock. I've ever even drank the style let alone made one, so I might make the GH's reciepe like you and see how it turns out
Zephyr259
Landlord.
How did this turn out in the end? I was planning on doing this recipe last weekend but a bunch of things came up so it's on hold for a bit.
Hello,
It was absolutely beautiful. Iââ¬â¢ve made it again since as I had extra ingredients and it was just as good the second time.
Takes time though.
2 weeks primary at 22c, then 4 weeks secondary at 12c. Then 2 weeks in bottle at room temp then 2 weeks in bottle at 12c or garage temp.
Absolutely worth it though.
Dog.
It was absolutely beautiful. Iââ¬â¢ve made it again since as I had extra ingredients and it was just as good the second time.
Takes time though.
2 weeks primary at 22c, then 4 weeks secondary at 12c. Then 2 weeks in bottle at room temp then 2 weeks in bottle at 12c or garage temp.
Absolutely worth it though.
Dog.
Zephyr259
Landlord.
Thanks, think I'm going to knock out a saison first then go back to the bock since I'll have plenty stocks to last me through the lagering. Those temps can't be right are they? I'd have expected primary around 12c then lagering between 0 - 4c or have you brewed this a bit more like a California Common?
Sorry, my mistake. Youââ¬â¢re spot on.
2 weeks at 12c, then 4 weeks at 2-3c.
I used a proper Bock yeast, too. WLP833 German Bock Lager Yeast from White Labs.
Found a bottle tucked away in the garage. About to be opened....
Dog.
2 weeks at 12c, then 4 weeks at 2-3c.
I used a proper Bock yeast, too. WLP833 German Bock Lager Yeast from White Labs.
Found a bottle tucked away in the garage. About to be opened....
Dog.
Zephyr259
Landlord.
Wow that's a pretty beer. I'm going to be using Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager, I'm a bit cheap so like to overbuild starters and keep yeast for multiple batches and it looked like the most versatile strain. Looking forward to my own brew of this.
How's it come out for abv? Much what the recipe suggests? I'm trying to decide if it should go into 500 ml or 330 ml bottles.
How's it come out for abv? Much what the recipe suggests? I'm trying to decide if it should go into 500 ml or 330 ml bottles.
I use Mangrove Jack's Lager Yeast for bocks. Waiting for the temperatures to drop, so that I can ferment it in a cool place in the house. This year I will be making my third bock. Unfortunately, I can't compare it to the real style. German bocks are not sold here. The Dutch bocks are available, but no-one can convince me that they are like the real thing. That is not to say that they are not good (well, some are not, according to Roland Pattinson), but somehow, bock has to come from Germany, or be brewed the German way.
Hello again,
The ABV was in the region of 6% in the end, from memory.
I had a Kronenbourg Brun in the summer in France, which also said Bock on the label. I firmly believe that mine was nicer.
I use 50cl bottles, as I prefer something a bit larger, as I tend to only drink one or two at a time, plus all the cleaning and rinsing is a pain, without increasing the number of bottles. Finally, the little bit of beer left in the bottle when pouring, to avoid drinking the sediment, is a larger proportion of a smaller bottle. At least in my head. Which is more wasteage.
Hope that helps!
Oh, and I've found another one tucked away tonight. Something for the weekend, perhaps. Brewing Sunday, so maybe after that.
Dog.
The ABV was in the region of 6% in the end, from memory.
I had a Kronenbourg Brun in the summer in France, which also said Bock on the label. I firmly believe that mine was nicer.
I use 50cl bottles, as I prefer something a bit larger, as I tend to only drink one or two at a time, plus all the cleaning and rinsing is a pain, without increasing the number of bottles. Finally, the little bit of beer left in the bottle when pouring, to avoid drinking the sediment, is a larger proportion of a smaller bottle. At least in my head. Which is more wasteage.
Hope that helps!
Oh, and I've found another one tucked away tonight. Something for the weekend, perhaps. Brewing Sunday, so maybe after that.
Dog.
