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Looks like a fine recipe, but I would expect it to go well below FG 1.012

Thanks for that athumb..
I deliberately kept the mash temp on the low side and added cane sugar to get a drier beer, so I'm expecting it to get down around 1.010. I wonder if the carapils will be the limiting factor to keep a little body?
 
Bottled the AG22 Split batch, no boil last night. A bit of a faff with bottles to clean, having 4 demijohns to do and hydrometer readings for each.

The two warmer batches were at 22°C for about 36 hours during initial fermentation as I didn't have have cooling on these two.

There was a lot of trub in the demijohns from the no boil wort that hadn't dropped out in the kettle. Got 7 bottles from each demijohn, 6 from the Kölsch which was a trub monster, plus 2 mixed bottles - 29 in all.

Now leaving them at 20°C for 2 weeks.

Not such a scientifically controlled experiment for the repitched Notty batches, they were heavily affected by the previous Citra dry hop still in the trub. I didn't think that one through. asad.
 
Looks like a fine recipe, but I would expect it to go well below FG 1.012
Spot on @Oneflewover , the Saison was down to 1.006 after 4 days and it's still bubbling away. I've been increasing the temperature 0.5°C every 12-18 hours since that point. Now up to 26.5°C. I'll keep raising this up to a ceiling of 30 if the little terror keeps bubbling away.
 
After 11 days fermenting the AG23 Saison was done, finished, yeast had gone to sleep. I'm not surprised though as the Lallemand Belle Saison had done fabulous service attenuating at 95% to bring gravity down from 1.060 to 1.003.

After the 11th day I cold crashed it to 1.5°C over night and held it there for about 36 hours.

Bottling as always was a long evening because I only had 20 or so clean bottles, so deep cleaned another 30. In the end the overall haul was 45 bottles of the good stuff. Bottled at 5°C with 185g caster sugar using my usual syringing the sugar solution into bottles. This should give about 3.2 volumes of CO2 and will be climbing out of the bottle as it pours 😜.
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No bottling bucket or bottling wand for me. I do it old school style to control the flow with a kink in the tubing.
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First impressions? It's dry. There's a real earthiness to the flavour with a fair bit of yeast still in suspension at bottling time. I can't quite place the taste that seems familiar and homely. A hint of spiciness is there too that makes it taste more bitter than it should be. (Can you tell I'm not used to describing tastes?)

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I hope this brew will condition well as it could go one of two ways: thin and lifeless, or spicy and moreish.

Whatever happens with the flavour profile over the next month or so, I'll need to be careful with this as it promises to be an easy drinking 7.4%, well above the intended ABV.

acheers.
 
Dropped off a bottle each of AG17 Lakeland Ale and AG21 Stockpile APA and a packet of crisps to six of my local running mates earlier today to share over a Zoom pub night.

Got some good feedback and a decent bit of banter out of it. Lakeland Ale was the biggest hit, which I knew it would be. I'll have to do another batch of that soon.
 
Quick update.

A busy May evening was had after a 4pm finish working at home during lockdown. I managed to fit in a brew 😁.

AG 24 Re-cali-bration - California Common, recipe to follow.
Had trouble with strike and sparge temperatures being too high, hence the name.

Great evening for it, wind dropped, blue skies and still light at 9:30pm. You don't get that very often in May.

Tried one each of the Lakeland Ale, American APA/IPA thing, and the obligatory Saison carb test after one week. Lakeland Ale has been a real hit. Loving it. American job, aka 'Stockpile' is has come good especially when serving at 4°C 😊.

The Saison is a good light golden colour and very promising after 1 week in the bottle. I'll have trouble holding out for a month to let this condition.
 
Having a go at culturing up yeast from bottle conditioned beer. Spotted St. Austell Proper Job in Morrisons a couple of weeks ago so decided to give this a bash.

Using the @MyQul method How to culture up yeast from bottle conditioned beers, I'm into the third step up tonight and it looks promising. There are large clumps of yeast that take regular agitation to keep in suspension.

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The Proper Job yeast is alleged to be primary strain and so far it's living up to reputation of smelling great and sticking well to the bottom of the bottle. For this step I've put it in an Erlenmeyer flask on my DIY stir-plate to keep the yeast in suspension.
 
I got on with AG25 last weekend. Wanting to use the St Austell starter I did a bit of recipe investigation. A mate of mine is partial to a drop of Tribute that uses Williamette with Styrian Goldings. I had the SG but no Williamette so improvised.

Code:
AG25 Tribute Tribute
Special/Best/Premium Bitter
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.100
Total Hops (g): 70.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.043 (°P): 10.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.010 (°P): 2.6
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.33 %
Colour (SRM): 7.7 (EBC): 15.2
Bitterness (IBU): 34.7 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 70
Grain Bill
----------------
2.800 kg United Kingdom - Pale 2-Row (68.29%)
0.900 kg German - Munich Dark (21.95%)
0.200 kg Cane Sugar (4.88%)
0.200 kg German - CaraMunich II (4.88%)
Hop Bill
----------------
10.0 g Admiral Pellet (14.5% Alpha) @ 70 Minutes (First Wort) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Northern Brewer Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 70 Minutes (First Wort) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Northern Brewer Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Styrian Goldings Pellet (5.5% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
20.0 g Styrian Goldings Pellet (5.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (0.9 g/L)
10.0 g Tettnanger Pellet (4.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (0.4 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 68°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with St Austell

Trouble is I also realised that the Munich I had was only 15EBC and not dark at all, so added 50g of Crystal 60.
Then there was the 10g if Fuggles needing using up and it wasn't worth opening another pack of NB. Tettnang packet was almost at an end too. In short, I tweaked the hops on the fly:
Code:
Hop Bill
----------------
10.0 g Admiral Pellet (14.5% Alpha) @ 70 Minutes (First Wort) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Northern Brewer Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 70 Minutes (First Wort) (0.4 g/L)
5.0 g Northern Brewer Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
5.0 g Styrian Goldings Pellet (5.5% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Fuggles Pellet (4.5% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Styrian Goldings Pellet (5.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (0.9 g/L)
20.0 g Tettnanger Pellet (4.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (0.4 g/L)

A bit of faffing about to ensure correct mash and sparge temperatures, but Brewday was pretty smooth. Except I forgot the cane sugar! No matter, as the wort was strong enough without it.

The final starter went a bit bonkers, 2L flask not large enough to contain a vigorous 1.5L straight into another (after decant).
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What was left of the starter, maybe 1.2L was pitched into the FV without decanting as I overshot on wort SG a little (78% BH efficiency - bloody good crushing my own!). Resulting in an overfull FV with a potentially vigorous yeast, so siphoned off 3L into a demijohn.

The 21.5L main FV was put in the fermentation fridge at 20°C and demijohn with 3L placed beside the conditioning Cali Common in the ferm cupboard, also at 20°C.
After 48 hours of vigorous fermentation things have settled down. Wonderful aromas from the St Austell yeast and still a good Krausen.

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This one looks very promising so far.
 
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Bit of a panic tonight. Mrs C went slightly overboard on the weekly salad quota at the local supermarche. Coinciding with the impending 24degC+ heatwave tomorrow (I mean today), so I swapped the AG25 Tribute Tribute to higher temps usually reserved for carbonating and the AG24 Cali Common to cold crashing beside the spinach and carrots.

Sadly both FV's sucked in a load of O2 during manual transfer along the driveway. I'm hoping the floppy PP FV containing the Tribute kicks off again in the warmer temperature so that the sucked in CO2 can be re-purged.
 
Looks good to me. I've got Proper Job on my list of ale yeasts to try out if I ever get bored of, or can't get the Conan strain.
 
Four days for the St Austell yeast to ferment out. I checked yesterday morning because I thought it may have stalled, but it looks like it's done at 1.010. Oddly the krausen remains in tact and somewhat buoyant on top of both vessels. This seems a yeast that could easily be top-cropped.

Cold crashing the AG24 Cali Common was hit and miss yesterday, my old fridge couldn't get temperature down below 6 degrees during the day as my garage was like an oven. I'll probably bottle the CalCom tonight and bottle the AG25 Tribute Tribute at the weekend.
 
Time for an update on a few things...

The AG24 Cali Common was left to carbonate for 3 weeks. Tested a first bottle last night. Some things I remember about this recipe from last year and notice again with this batch: a) it takes a few weeks to condition and show its true nature, the Northern Brewer hops become more noticable, b) The CML Cali Common yeast takes a while to condition out, but when it does the beer becomes really clean and the hops are accentuated, c) what an enjoyable recipe this is.

This batch comes across quite malty and fuller bodied, which I suspect is due to the temperature inaccuracies and adjustments during the mash and sparge. However, it adds something different that's not unpleasant.

AG25 Tribute Tribute in PB is already going down too fast, it's so drinkable! I did a side by side test with a bottle of Tribute, and mine, while not a proper match for the colour or flavour was definitely preferred. This may be due to pouring from the PB making it more like a pub-pint.

AG26 Red(ish) Lager was brewed on the evening of 28/05. Another experiment really as I was desperate to brew something but hadn't planned ahead (as usual). I had saved the Cali Common yeast cake and thought I'd have a go at fermenting at lager temperatures and pitching most of the CC to get things going quickly. I'm not sure what colour this will turn out, and the hops won't be typical of a lager, but here's the recipe:
Code:
Red(ish) Lager
Recipe Specs
---------------
Batch Size (L):           23.0
Total Grain (kg):         4.900
Total Hops (g):           45.00
Original Gravity (OG):    1.051  (°P): 12.6
Final Gravity (FG):       1.011  (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  5.21 %
Colour (SRM):             5.7   (EBC): 11.3
Bitterness (IBU):         28.4   (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes):      60

Grain Bill
---------------
3.000 kg German - Pale Ale (61.22%)
1.200 kg German - Vienna (24.49%)
0.500 kg Bestmaltz Red X (10.2%)
0.200 kg United Kingdom - Wheat (4.08%)

Hop Bill
---------------
10.0 g Admiral Pellet (14.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (First Wort) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Hallertau Blanc Pellet (9% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Hallertau Blanc Pellet (9% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
15.0 g Hallertau Blanc Pellet (9% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)

Misc Bill
---------------
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes. Fermented at 12°C with CML California Common Lager

Fermented for 4 days at 12°C, then detached probe from side of fermented and raised fridge to 15°C over 24 hours, then again to 18°C over the next 24 hours. Left at 18°C for 4 days, then as all bubbling had stopped I took a gravity sample to see that it had reached about 1.012, so set the fridge to 5°C and left for 24 hours. This morning, I dropped it down again to 1.5°C and will leave at that until the weekend.

I don't have great hopes for this brew except to get to see what the Hallertau Blanc is like and whether CML CC yeast ferments cleanly at 12°C. It'll be a good thirst quencher served cold, if nothing else.
 
Bottled my AG26 Red(ish) Lager tonight. Except it's not that red. More an orangey hue. This photo makes it look yellow, but seen in a clear bottle it's more orangey. As always with bottling the colour may change over time.
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I haven't thought of a decent name for this yet. Whenever the inspiration comes it has to reflect the Hallertau Blanc. This bottling sample had very little aroma but lots of grape like fruitiness with a mellow aftertaste of noble hop. I hope the fruitiness mellows and becomes more complex because right now it steals the show and pretends to be the big badass hop, that it isn't.

Bottling went very smoothly. First time I've bottled in my new brewing space in the garage. It actually felt much easier and less cluttered than in the kitchen. Happy with that.
 
Things didn't quite pan out yesterday morning. As the result of a few strong beers on Friday night, brewday didn't begin until 9am.

However, it was a very relaxed morning with no incidents. Breakfast and a couple of coffee breaks punctuated the mash, sparge and boil.

It helped that I'd milled this little lot the night before:
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Plenty time to check temperatures, weigh out hops and rig up a hood above the kettle to an open window in my garage (opening window was last weekend's challenge). The whole brew was done within the confines of my garage, cleared of junk and provisioned with extra lighting, sockets and worksurfaces. Even chilling the wort was managed with a hose into the garage and a couple of buckets to transfer waste to waterbutts. It's good to test this arrangement while the weather is fine.

Code:
AG27 Dunkelweizen

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 5.000
Total Hops (g): 19.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.049 (°P): 12.1
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.81 %
Colour (SRM): 15.4 (EBC): 30.3
Bitterness (IBU): 15.5 (Rager)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
2.500 kg United Kingdom - Wheat (50%)
1.700 kg German - Munich Light (34%)
0.400 kg United Kingdom - Brown (8%)
0.300 kg German - CaraMunich II (6%)
0.050 kg German - Melanoidin (1%)
0.050 kg United Kingdom - Black Patent (1%)

Hop Bill
----------------
9.0 g Hallertau Blanc Pellet (9% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil)
10.0 g Hallertau Blanc Pellet (9% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil)

Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 68°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 22°C with CML Kristallweizen (7g for a 30% underpitch, rehydrated)

Notes
----------------
20ml CRS
4g Calcium Chloride

1 point over the intended SG, that's no bad thing.

Yeast is merrily bubbling away today.
 
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Setting up for tomorrow, SWMBO was consulted and as she's partial to everything German and especially lagers, we're looking at a Munich Helles.

2.5L starter of MJ Bohemian yeast had been on the go since Friday night.

About 5kg of grain milled and 31L of water treated. That includes 16L of fresh Lancashire rainwater to cut my horribly hard groundwater from the tap.

Father's Day brew in the garage in the rain is forecast. ;)
 
AG28 Munich Helles is underway

Code:
Munich Helles

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.800
Total Hops (g): 49.300
Original Gravity (OG): 1.049 (°P): 12.1
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.81 %
Colour (SRM): 3.3 (EBC): 6.4
Bitterness (IBU): 17.8 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 75

Grain Bill
----------------
4.300 kg German - Pilsner (89.58%)
0.350 kg German - Vienna (7.29%)
0.150 kg German - Carapils (3.12%)

Hop Bill
----------------
15.0 g Hallertau Mittelfruh Pellet (3.0% Alpha) @ 75 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
9.3 g Hallertau Blanc Pellet (9% Alpha) @ 75 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Hallertau Mittelfruh Pellet (3.0% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
15.0 g Hallertau Mittelfruh Pellet (3.0% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
Protofloc 1/2 tablet @ 15 minutes

Hochkurz decoction Mash at 59-71°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 11°C with MJ84 Bohemian Lager

Just reached boil.
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Quite enjoyed doing the decoction mash even though it lengthened the mash time.
 
Not quite sure what happened there. 8 points higher than it was supposed to be. So a few frantic moments adding 1.7l of water and measuring gravity before the last hop addition to get the SG down to 1.052. I don't want it any stronger than 5.5%

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A light straw colour. Smells and tastes great.

FV now being chilled down to pitching temperature in the brew fridge.
 
Drained off 2/3 of the starter liquid and pitched the rest at 13°C last night, didn't wish to delay until this morning.

I've read that M84 yeast can be a slow starter, so relieved to see the first vital signs of life at 6pm tonight. A few tiny regular bubbles. Off to a good start.
 
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