matt76's Brewdays

[Twostage]

Though why it wouldn't also drive off desirable compounds is beyond me

Get a copy of The New IPA. It will help. Its based on a mixture of research and breweries experiences. It explains which hops are good for bittering/flavour/dry hopping and which aren't and why. Its sciency but you can skip those bits. Some interesting nuggets :-

It explains why three days is the peak for dry hopping which works better at 4c than 20c (extracts faster at 4, is mostly complete after 6 hours and only extracts the 'nice' flavours). Going to try that.

Fuggles can impart better flavours (floral rather than earthy) if stored at room temperature in an open packet (you know, like they used to).

Some hops increase head, some decrease it when dry hopping.

Why with some hops when you are doing a whirlpool 75c is too cool, 95 is too hot and 85 is Goldilocks. Already adopted that.

A good read.

 

[matt76]

Get a copy of The New IPA. It will help. Its based on a mixture of research and breweries experiences. It explains which hops are good for bittering/flavour/dry hopping and which aren't and why. Its sciency but you can skip those bits. Some interesting nuggets :-

It explains why three days is the peak for dry hopping which works better at 4c than 20c (extracts faster at 4, is mostly complete after 6 hours and only extracts the 'nice' flavours). Going to try that.

Fuggles can impart better flavours (floral rather than earthy) if stored at room temperature in an open packet (you know, like they used to).

Some hops increase head, some decrease it when dry hopping.

Why with some hops when you are doing a whirlpool 75c is too cool, 95 is too hot and 85 is Goldilocks. Already adopted that.

A good read.

Read it cover to cover when it came out

I chatted to Scott a little bit on Twitter around that time, seems like a nice guy. His book is focusing more on Hazy IPA's which isn't quite what I'm going for, I'm more West coast, but it's still relevant.

But despite all that, I've still generally struggled to get the hop punch I want - I've experimented with wine yeasts to liberate thiols, dry hopping early and late, warmer, cooler, soft crash, whirlpools, obsessively closed & oxygen free transfers.....

I'm not sure yet dip hopping makes any major difference either, but I figure I've tried everything else so why not.

The only significant difference I've ever found was just before Christmas I made a pale ale (have a look above at AG#124) - because I didn't have any kettle finings I ended up throwing all the trub and hop crud in the FV, and dry hopped at the end like normal... After I fined it in the keg it ended up super super hoppy and fruity.

(Fun fact - that beer was also hopped with Azacca/Citra/Mosaic, same as my latest Black IPA)

I'm still not sure what made the difference, but I wonder if it was the kettle trub somehow. I have a re-brew planned, this time using kettle finings, to see if it still turns out super hoppy.

 

[Twostage]

I'm still not sure what made the difference, but I wonder if it was the kettle trub somehow. I have a re-brew planned, this time using kettle finings, to see if it still turns out super hoppy.

I think there's a mention of trub helping hop flavour.

 

[matt76]

I think there's a mention of trub helping hop flavour.

Really? Oh, I don't recall that, I'll have to have a hunt for that - thanks

And there lies the problem with that book - it's a decent literature survey with a lot of useful information but the index isn't great (actually it's dreadful). A searchable electronic version would be super but I'm not sure I want to fork out an extra ~£15 for the Kindle version!

Funny how we all absorb different details, have different takeaways - you've remember something there that totally passed me by!

I'm curious as to the mechanism by which trub might improve hoppiness. There's an interesting post/link here by @Sadfield - the article suggests trub acts as nucleation sites that promote the release of CO2 which otherwise inhibits the yeast. As well as improved hoppiness I did also observe a few points more attenuation then usual in that beer. But the hoppiness might come via a totally different mechanism. And equally the extra attenuation might be explained by hop creep. Hmm... Interesting

 

[matt76]

AG#129 London Bitter

I've been discussing in another thread about doing a partigyle clone of Fuller's London Pride & ESB - this isn't it, but rather it's a way of building a big yeast starter for the pitch rates I want. The recipe is similar to London Pride except I couldn't get any Northdown so using CML's Tropical England mix instead for now.

15L tap water, 5.0ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2.0g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 156
Chloride 102
Sulfate 41
Alkalinity 103

2000g Maris Otter
150g Dark Crystal Malt
5g Chocolate Malt
2.155kg TOTAL

10hr overnight full-volume no-sparge mash @ 65degC

Boil 30mins:
20g Target 10.0% AAU for 30mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 10mins
10g Challenger 6.5% AAU for 3mins
5g EKG 4.5% AAU for 3 mins
10g CML Tropical England 6.0% AAU for 3mins

Pitched a full pack of Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale. Fuller's fermentation schedule is to start at 17°C, raise it to 20°C over 10hrs, hold there until it gets to half OG, then back down to 17°C.

OG = 1.044
SRM = 9.4 (Copper)
IBU = 31 Rager / 30 SMPH

Should end up around 1.013 and 4.1%.

 

[matt76]

AG#130 London Pride / ESB Partigyle

It's been a while in the planning (discussed in depth here) but I finally got round to brewing this earlier this week.

For the uneducated, partigyling is basically boiling the first and second runnings seperately, then blending them to make two or more different beers. This is how Fuller's make ESB and London Pride (and Chiswick Bitter too).

GYLE #1
15L tap water, 5.0ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2.0g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 156
Chloride 102
Sulfate 41
Alkalinity 103

4000g Maris Otter
300g Dark Crystal Malt
10g Chocolate Malt
4.310kg TOTAL

11hr overnight full-volume no-sparge mash @ 65°C
BG 1.074

Boil 60mins:
14g Target 10.0% AAU for 60mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 8mins
20g Challenger 6.5% AAU for 3mins
10g EKG 4.5% AAU for 3 mins
20g CML Northdown (Leaf) 5.76% AAU for 3mins

Collected 8.0L @ 1.091 (but about 1L of that was trub)

GYLE#2
15L water as above
Gave the grain bag above a decent squeeze then continued mashing:
2hr full-volume no-sparge mash @ 65°C
BG 1.015

Boil 60mins:
7g Target 10.0% AAU for 60mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 8mins
10g Challenger 6.5% AAU for 3mins
5g EKG 4.5% AAU for 3 mins
10g CML Northdown (Leaf) 5.76% AAU for 3mins

Collected 10.4L @ 1.020

Blending the 2 Worts
ESB:
3.5L Gyle 1 + 3.0L Gyle 2
=> 6.5L @ 1.056
Expect it to end up around 1.016 and 5.3% ABV

London Pride:
3.0L Gyle 1 + 6.5L Gyle 2
=> 9.5L @ 1.046
Expect it to end up around 1.013 and 4.3% ABV

Into each FV I pitched a full pack of Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale. Fuller's fermentation schedule is to start at 17°C, raise it to 20°C over 10hrs, hold until it reaches half-OG, then back down to 17°C until it reaches quarter-OG, then crash down to 6°C for before packaging.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Just as a note, part-gyling does not necessarily mean blending the 2-3 seperate runnings after boil or before boil as both methods have been used historically.
I guess it comes down to wich stage you prefer personally.

 

[Twostage]

AG#130 London Pride / ESB Partigyle

It's been a while in the planning (discussed in depth here) but I finally got round to brewing this earlier this week.

For the uneducated, partigyling is basically boiling the first and second runnings seperately, then blending them to make two or more different beers. This is how Fuller's make ESB and London Pride (and Chiswick Bitter too).

GYLE #1
15L tap water, 5.0ml Lactic Acid 80%, 2.0g CaCl, half a Campden tablet, giving:
Calcium 156
Chloride 102
Sulfate 41
Alkalinity 103

4000g Maris Otter
300g Dark Crystal Malt
10g Chocolate Malt
4.310kg TOTAL

11hr overnight full-volume no-sparge mash @ 65°C
BG 1.074

Boil 60mins:
14g Target 10.0% AAU for 60mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 8mins
20g Challenger 6.5% AAU for 3mins
10g EKG 4.5% AAU for 3 mins
20g CML Northdown (Leaf) 5.76% AAU for 3mins

Collected 8.0L @ 1.091 (but about 1L of that was trub)

GYLE#2
15L water as above
Gave the grain bag above a decent squeeze then continued mashing:
2hr full-volume no-sparge mash @ 65°C
BG 1.015

Boil 60mins:
7g Target 10.0% AAU for 60mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 8mins
10g Challenger 6.5% AAU for 3mins
5g EKG 4.5% AAU for 3 mins
10g CML Northdown (Leaf) 5.76% AAU for 3mins

Collected 10.4L @ 1.020

Blending the 2 Worts
ESB:
3.5L Gyle 1 + 3.0L Gyle 2
=> 6.5L @ 1.056
Expect it to end up around 1.016 and 5.3% ABV

London Pride:
3.0L Gyle 1 + 6.5L Gyle 2
=> 9.5L @ 1.046
Expect it to end up around 1.013 and 4.3% ABV

Into each FV I pitched a full pack of Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale. Fuller's fermentation schedule is to start at 17°C, raise it to 20°C over 10hrs, hold until it reaches half-OG, then back down to 17°C until it reaches quarter-OG, then crash down to 6°C for before packaging.

Interesting. When I was reading it I got worried when the second runnings was only 1.015 but then read you blended it

I’ve only partied once and both turned out ok. Which reminds me I’ve still got some of the first runnings barley wine in the fridge (vintage 2017 I think).

 

[matt76]

AG#131 Hurricane Porter

Up early this morning after an overnight mash to brew my house Porter. Also first test drive with an upgraded pump.

6 different malts in there

I've upgraded my mash re-circ pump to something (hopefully!) more robust

Brew on!

All done!

15L tap water, 1.25ml lactic acid 80%, 2g CaCl, half a Campden tablet.
Calcium 171, Chloride 106, Sulfate 40, Alkalinity 288

2000g Maris Otter
375g Brown Malt
375g Chocolate Rye Malt
125g Dark Crystal Malt 80L
125g Extra Dark Crystal Malt 160L
125g Special B Malt
3.125kg Total

Full-volume no-sparge overnight mash, 10hrs @ 67degC

Boil 30mins:
25g Northdown (leaf) 5.76% AAU 30mins
15g Northdown (leaf) 5.76% AAU 10mins
1/4 Britewort tablet 8mins

Pitched a vitality starter of Wyeast 1968 harvested from my recent London Pride clone.

I'm going to follow the Fuller's fermentation schedule again, start at 17°C, raise it to 20°C over 10hrs, hold until it reaches half-OG, then back down to 17°C until it reaches quarter-OG, then crash down to 6°C for before packaging.

I'm also going to try fermenting this open for the first 24-48hrs to see what that adds.

38 SRM
24 IBUs Rager
OG 1.060

Expect it to end up around 1.028 and 4.2% ABV.