GrainFather Brew Day #17 - Mikkeller Milk Stout

[DoctorMick]

Finally brewed this after months of trying to get it done but failing for one reason or another. I'll not post the recipe as it was taken directly from the book. Oddly, I plugged the recipe exactly from the book in to beersmith and the IBUs were nowhere near what the book suggested, not sure why that is. Left it as it was tho rather than adjusting to hit the IBUs in the book.

The brew day went well, it was the first time I've bottled a batch at the same time as brewing and it was much more efficient than doing it separately so I think I'll make that a regular process now. Target OG was 1.073 but I only hit 1.070 which I'm putting down to some of the grains not being particularly fresh.

Pitched freshly harvested wyeast american ale at about 25c (couldn't get it cooler for some reason, that hasn't happened before) and it's gone off like a rocket. The sample from the trial jar last night was incredibly good for fresh wort so I can't wait to see how this comes along.

 

[TheRedDarren]

Nice one Doc, sounds good.
I had the same problem the first time I used beersmith (switched from Brewers mate or whatever it's called) th ibu's were miles off.
If I recall correctly there is a setting for Tinseth or Rager? Also there was another option for late addition/steeping. Once I'd set it all up right it gave a much more expected value.
I'm not sure bs is worth it?!
Anyway, looking forward to trying this, I'll get a bottle of Texas Ranger up to you as soon as I'm home.

 

[DoctorMick]

That's annoying, will play with the settings and see how it comes out. Mind, it was pretty spot on for the Greg Hughes recipes I've put in there.

The krausen on this brew is nuts, my 30l fv is struggling to contain it! This happened with my last milk stout and ended up blowing the lid and getting an infection although that was with a smaller fermenter so I'm hopeful it won't happen again but it's gonna be tight!

 

[Leon103]

I need to get the book, some of their beers sound lovely - yet to try any. I have the recipe for their cream ale, I should start with that.

 

[DoctorMick]

This seems to have stopped at 1.032, was expecting 1.026 so not sure what to do...

 

[DoctorMick]

Panic over, beersmith said it should finish at 1.026 but the mikkeller book said 1.030 so it's probably done. As I didn't hit the targets it's gonna be closer to 5% than 6% but that's alright for me. The sample from the trial jar is absolutely superb already, should be spot on by Christmas.