matt76's Brewdays

Update on my AG#15 & 16 IPAs - i bottled both about 10 days ago but neither is clearing as I'd expect - any suggestions?

It's irksome as i used WY1272 which is supposed to clear better than 1056 which I've used before.

Both seemed clear in the trial jar before i dry hopped so I'm pretty sure it's hop matter. I used pellets for AG#15, and leaf hops for 16 (plus a hop tea experiment).

When I've dry hopped before I've just added pellets loose and they seemed to settle out, whereas this time i used hop bags.

Some material settled out in the bottles initially in the first 2-3 days but no change since then.

My current plan is to give them a full 14 days to carb up at room temp, then stick them in the shed where it should a few degs cooler to see if that helps - might also try putting a couple in the fridge to see.

I'd prefer them to clear, but I'd the beer still tastes good then I'll be happy with that.

 

Update: I caved after only 2 weeks and had a try of AG#15 & 16 (and I'm not even sorry ). Both have carbed up well already but neither is remotely clear as you'll see from the photos - but both taste good, which frankly is a relief after a couple of dodgy brews.....

AG#16

It's refreshing, dry and finishes with a subtle pineapple flavour from the El Dorado hops. If I'm honest it's a bit one dimensional, certainly not an IPA and maybe note even an APA - either it needs a bigger hop punch or complexity, or more malt character (maybe if I'd used pellets instead of leaf hops it would have more of a hoppy punch). But nevertheless it's good and it's very drinkable

AG#15

This is a re-brew of AG#5. Really big, powerful hop punch befitting an IPA. Could be imagining it but it seems a bit more bitter then last time, more orange peel than tangerine maybe. But it's good and the three hops are really coming out to play

Yep, so, after a couple of disappointing brews which are still weighing on my mind, I'm more than happy with these two

 

Just call ag16 a hazy pale ale and be done with it. Both look good to me!

 

Ha ha ha, like it! Yeah, I'm really pleased with both, so "Hazy Pale Ale" it shall be

 

I want to reach into the screen and drink that pint of #16. It looks delicious and refreshing.

I like some haze in an APA or IPA because I think the hops come through more and the mouthfeel is more smooth.

 

Err... See above, that's HPA (aka Hazy Pale Ale) thank you very much

Thanks though - yeah #16 is really refreshing and easy drinking for a five percent-er. Actually I think a lot of it is probably chill haze - but I'm totally like "yeah whatever" about that since it tastes fine. I feel like I've got the monkey off my back now and I'm back on my mojo

 

AG#19 Chinook APA

Partly inspired by Bingham's Viennese Whirl which uses Vienna malt and Chinook hops (among others), plus I've had a hankering for a while to try amber malt - so I'm continuing my recent theme of single hop beers while experimenting with the malt bill.

11.8L batch

61% Lager malt
20% Vienna malt
10% Amber malt
9% Flaked barley

Mash 65degC for 60 mins

Boil 60 mins:
60 mins - 22.2 IBUs Chinook
10 mins - 10.5 IBUs Chinook
5 mins - 5.8 IBUs Chinook
0 mins - 10g Chinook (13.6% AAU)

Not planning to dry hop but we'll see how it is in a couple of weeks and rethink if necessary.

OG 1.052
36.5 IBU
6.24 SRM

Pitched Wyeast 1272 American Ale II harvested from AG#15 and growth in a starter.

All went to plan, done and dusted in about 4 hours, no drama. Even had time once i was done to dry hop AG#18

 

AG#18 Update:

Gravity now at 1.014 which is pretty much as expected.

Very clear, dark amber/brown in colour, rich roasty flavours coming i think from the brown malt i used. On this basis it'll definitely be one to leave for the full 4 weeks to carb and condition i think.

Dry hopped with 18g of Fuggles (all that was left in the pack) and another 18g EKG loose in the FV.

I'll give it a few more days for the dry hop to do is thing then get it bottled

 

Great reading your write ups Matt.... I've been having some very good results using Wilko beer finnings as of recent, and they are cheap, especially for my lighter beers, actually I don't use finnings in the darker ones. Hazy beers often do taste good as you have found but there is something very satisfying about a nice clear beer.

 

Do you know if finings do anything to combat chill haze? That honestly seems to be my biggest issue.

For an IPA I can live with haze. Heck if it tastes right I don't mind too much if a lager is hazy - but you're right, if it's a clear style (like the märzen I have conditioning at the moment) then it'd be even better if it's really clear.

PS - you still getting on ok with your one concept system?

 

Ahh now I'm not sure if the finnings will sort chill haze, someone else reading this might chime in on that one.

The one concept system is great Yes! although having said that... my last use of it I found that the internal thermometer needed re calibrating and I think that impaired the mash, still produced a drinkable beer though. I think sometimes we can expect too much from the beers we produce. You might have been following my dreadful mash n' ferment thread, the beer is turning out quite nice hahahaha. I'm now brewing a simple one gallon LME batch just to see if I can find this dreaded Twang, it's going to be interesting how that turns out.

 

AG#20 Chequered Flag Black IPA

Re-brew of my AG#3 Chequered Flag Black IPA. I remember getting stuck into this with a buddy of mine last new year's eve. I had the penultimate bottle the other day, it was still superb, I really like the malt complexity against the balanced but not over the top hoppiness.

12L (ish) batch

1800g MO
175g Munich
175g CaraRed
175g chocolate malt
175g flaked barley

Mash 95 mins @ 65degC (60 mins would be fine)

37 IBU's Simcoe 60 mins
16 IBU's citra 15 mins
12g citra 8.6AAU flameout

Pitched full pack of Wyeast 1272

OG 1.050, should end up about 5% ABV - last time I used Wyeast 1056 which attenuates a little more, but we'll see.

Will dry hop for 4-5 days with 12g each citra & Simcoe

 

AG#18 ESB Update:

Took a sample to check gravity and see how dry hopping is coming on.

Gravity down to 1.012.

Some haze from the dry hop. But it's tasting really good...

... From the little taster I had when I dry hopped I was a little worried it was too roasty tasting and that I had overdone it with 10% brown malt. But actually now I think the extra hoppiness from the dry hop is playing off nicely against the roasty malts

Time to bottle

 

Just bottled AG#18 ESB...

Little disappointed to only get 18 X 500ml bottles but as long as they taste good I shan't complain.

Made a mistake dry hopping loose in the FV I think, though I'm sure it's not been a problem before - but all the bits affected my yield.

I tried a hop bag on the syphon tube to act as filter but it just screwed everything up so in the and I just did it as normal. Hopefully it hasn't introduced any serious oxidation problems.

FG = 1.012

10L in bottling bucket
1.75vols CO2
35g table sugar boiled in 300ml water for 2mins

Yield = 18 x 500ml bottles
Waste = 875ml (hop bits were blocking up bottling wand!)

Colour = dark amber (think London Pride)
Aroma = malty
Taste = malty, floral hoppiness

ABV = 5.31%
SRM = 11.9
IBU = 39.0

 

Several Updates:

AG#17 Marzen/San Miguel "Selecta"
Tried a bottle of this last weekend only 2 weeks after bottling - tasted fine but needs longer to carbonate. Not really a surprise given it's a lager! Noted some chill haze too, although my AG#7 Czech Pilsner seems to have improved in this regard after several months in the bottle. Happy to leave the Marzen longer, plenty of other beer to drink in the meantime.

AG#18 "Chocks Away" ESB
Still conditioning but noted it dropped clear in the bottles within a couple of days. Lovely colour. Fingers crossed re. chill haze but as noted above as long as it tastes good I'll be happy.

AG#19 Chinook APA
Bottled this yesterday.....

FG = 1.012 (BF predicted 1.011 based on average attenuation for WY1272)

10.15L in bottling bucket
2.215vols CO2
55g table sugar boiled in 300ml water for 3mins

Yield = 20 x 500ml bottles
Waste = 150ml

Colour = Golden
Aroma = Very slightly piney
Taste = Maybe nutty/bready malt flavours - hop flavour is very gentle and restrained, maybe a bit of pine with a subtle lemon flavour right on the end. Refreshing.

ABV = 5.2%
SRM = 6.24
IBU = 36.45

Will be interesting to see how this turns out. If I'm honest it tasted to me more like a bitter but maybe we're splitting hairs and good beer is good beer regardless of the name. I'm not getting that strong piney
characteristic chinook flavour I was after and was already thinking if I did it again maybe I'd increase the hop additions at 5mins and flameout. But we'll see what it's really like in a few weeks once it's carbed and ready to drink properly.

AG#20 "Chequered Flag" Black IPA
Gravity 1.013 (BF predicted 1.012 based on average attenuation for WY1272 so I suspect it's done). Dry hopped yesterday with 15g each Citra and Simcoe, loose pellets in a small hop bag weighed down with spoons. Will check again early next week.

 

AG#21 "Extra Viking" Baltic Porter


OG = 1.084 - Yeah, baby!

Brewed this on Friday night. It is, straight-up, GH's Baltic Porter with a few minor changes:
- Swapped out 7.3% base malt for flaked barley for head retention.
- Swapped out saaz hops for H. Mittelfruh from stock.
- Changed the yeast to Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager as this is good up to 20degC.

Despite the name, Baltic porter is really a lager - challenging in the current warm weather when you have no temperature control!

The only major challenge on brew day was dealing with twice as much grain as I'm used to and still getting a satisfactory bag squeeze after sparging - in the end I split it into three lots.

Even so I ended up with slightly less wort then normal in the kettle, but I only lost a couple of percent points efficiency. Boil off was about the same as normal.

Even though my wort volume was slightly down on normal I was pleased with an OG = 1.084 - and OMG the wort tasted amazing! Really thick and silky and very rich!

Groundwater temp at this time of year means chilling is problematic and it took ages just to get it down to 21degC.

Normally I just pour the wort into the FV to aerate it but for such a strong brew I gave it an extra for thrashing with a spoon and whisk.

I had pitched a full pack of yeast into a starter a few days prior so in that went.

Overnight I put the FV in the shed to cool off a little more. Since then it's been sat during the day yesterday in a water bath in a big plastic storage create with freezer blocks to keep it cool, and then I put everything outside overnight again to keep cool while I refreeze the freezer blocks.

I'm a little cautious about introducing temp fluctuations, but in the other hand I think the thermal inertia in this much liquid will tend to damp out any severe temp swings.

In any case I understand the risks and I'm happy to roll the dice. If it comes back and bites me on the ass then so be it, I've already learned a good deal from this brew - and at the end of the day, it's a hobby not a space shuttle launch!

 

Nice one, it's tough to brew high gravity without losing efficiency and missing your target OG.

That wort is so strong it's warped your trial jar

 

Lesson learned early on in my brewing career - if you dip a thin plastic trial jar in boiling wort it WILL warp!

 

Update:


Black IPA on the left ready for bottling, and...

... Baltic Porter on the right with my new- ahem - "high tech" temperature control system

(Don't knock it, it works and seems to be staying under the 20degC upper limit of the yeast )

 

Like it Matt!