AG Brewday - "Look, a Baby Koala!"

[Ceejay]

I brewed this yesterday, and it's the first beer I've brewed for about 4 months! It's a really simple APA with Australian & NZ Hops. I wanted this to finish dry (1.008), with plenty of tropical-fruit hop character. Our local water has very little in the way of minerals, so I added 10g of gypsum to accentuate the hops.

It was probably had the best brewday to date. Hit all my numbers bang on, thanks to dialling everything in properly on Brewers Friend and sticking to my usual routine. I'd prepared really well, weighing everything out before mashing in instead of doing it as I go like I have done in the past.

I forgot to take any pictures, but I got super-bright wort into the fermentor and left a tonne of break material in the kettle. This is a massive improvement over previous brews, where I've been too impatient and not let the hops and trub settle out before transferring slowly to the FV.

:

Recipe via Brewers' Friend:


Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 23 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 28.5 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.039
Efficiency: 77% (ending kettle)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.049
Final Gravity: 1.008
ABV (standard): 5.32%
IBU (rager): 40.23
SRM (morey): 5.25

FERMENTABLES:
3.8 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (84.4%)
0.5 kg - German - Munich Light (11.1%)
0.2 kg - Cane Sugar (4.4%)

HOPS:
10 g - Kohatu, 60 min, IBU: 9.11
10 g - Kohatu, 30 min, IBU: 5.06
10 g - Galaxy, 15 min, IBU: 5.4
10 g - Kohatu, 15 min, IBU: 2.43
10 g - Galaxy, 5 min, IBU: 3.28
10 g - Galaxy, Type: 1 min, IBU: 0.66
30 g - Galaxy, Type: Whirlpool for 20 min at 100 °C, IBU: 9.85
30 g - Kohatu, Type: Whirlpool for 20 min at 100 °C, IBU: 4.44
40 g - Galaxy, Type: Dry Hop for 4 days
40 g - Kohatu, Type: Dry Hop for 4 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 64 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 10 L, Single Infusion
2) Fly Sparge, Temp: 75 C, Time: 45 min, Amount: 25 L
Starting Mash Thickness: 2.5 L/kg

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
0.5 each - Protofloc, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
10 g - Gypsum, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (custom): 83%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 15 - 23.89 C
Fermentation Temp: 19 C
Pitch Rate: 0.75 (M cells / ml / deg P)

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: Light colored and hoppy
Ca2: 75
Mg2: 5
Na: 10
Cl: 50
SO4: 150
HCO3: 0
Water Notes:
10g Gypsum


http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/66552/look-a-baby-koala-

 

[calumscott]

I got super-bright wort into the fermentor and left a tonne of break material in the kettle. This is a massive improvement over previous brews, where I've been too impatient and not let the hops and trub settle out before transferring slowly to the FV.

Yup, 'tis a good lesson that one! Makes a hell of a difference.

 

[JonnyD]

I got super-bright wort into the fermentor and left a tonne of break material in the kettle. This is a massive improvement over previous brews, where I've been too impatient and not let the hops and trub settle out before transferring slowly to the FV.

Yup, 'tis a good lesson that one! Makes a hell of a difference.

How long do you leave it to settle?

 

[Good Ed]

nice looking brew :thumb: but no pics :cry:

 

[Ceejay]

Cheers. Checked yesterday and it was past high krausen, so getting a strong, fast ferment by the looks of it. No pics I'm afraid; first brew for a while and I wanted to concentrate on the brew. I'll be brewing an Southern Oat Brown soon, so I'll take plenty of pics of that, as it'll include a beta-glucan rest for the oats :party:

I let the hops and trub settle out for about 30 minutes after chilling down to about 21C. Left the immersion chiller running to get down to 18C. Made a huge difference. It's the gunkiest I've ever seen the boiler after racking, so I was really happy with that. Runnings into the fermenter were really bright. It's probably something most decent brewers take for granted, but I realise I've been too impatient in the past. I also limited the flow into the fermenter too, which seemed to help.

 

[Ceejay]

8 days into the fermentation and it's down to 1.008. I started the ferment at 19C, notched it up to 20C about half way through and today I've kicked it up to 21C for the final 3 days. I'm dry hopping this with 40g each of Kohatu and Galaxy :thumb:

Pics of my fermfridge and dry hopping:





And this is the beer as is:



It's still very yeasty, which is to be expected with US-05. I've dumped the hops into the fermenter, loose, and have swirled it around to get them all broken up and into the beer. Got a good buildup and off-gas of CO2 in doing this, so I know I'm not oxidising anything. Note, I don't use a hop sack and I don't transfer to "secondary".

In terms of aroma and flavour, this beer is right where I want it. The aromas are all tropical fruit salad but the flavours are more grapefruit and pine with a hint of backing sweetness from the Tuckers Maris Otter. A firm, clean bitterness too, which is spot on.

I'll keep it at 21C for 3 days, and then chill it down as far as the fridge will go for 2 days to dry and drop everything out, before bottling.