Nicks90's Brewdays

[Nicks90]

Bottled the kviek beer yesterday and as per my original post I back liquored after fermentation as a change in process.
It was actually pretty easy, I wanted to dilute 10% and just dissolved the priming sugar in water and added equivalent of 1/2 tsp sugar and 50ml boiled and cooled water to each 500ml bottle.
This should bring it down to a 5% beer, which is much more to my liking.

As usual I took a pint of thr raw beer as a taster and it was very pleasant. I've started doing this with every brew, and whilst it tastes very different to the end carbd and conditioned beer, it does give a really fascinating indication of how it will turn out and develop over time.

But I did suffer catastrophic flatulence this morning, which could be a reaction to the yeast. Some yeasts do seem to set me off....

 

[Nicks90]

Ag106 summer saison - the dark variety
First taste of this, and its nice.... But different to any saison I've brewed before.
I usually do them as a smash, so adding some medium crystal has given it a different dimension that I wasn't expecting.
Let's see how it develops over the weeks, but in first taste it's not as good as a super pale, super dry smash saison.

 

[Nicks90]

AG 109
The Mouldy Stout

Decided i needed to get a stout on for the coming colder months, but made a tragic discovery - the biab bag had been put away damp and not fully cleaned of the previous brews malt and was covered in mouldy spots and dried on grain. :vomit:
Not to be deterred (stop reading now if you are squeamish), I scrubbed the bag of all solids and then boiled it for 30 minutes in a strong bleach solution and used the bag anyway.
bag is utterly horrible to look at, but boiling in bleach will kill any mould and spores quite effectively and the mash is getting a 60 min boil so should be fine. But either way, I am getting a new bag!

3.5kg Maris Otter
150gm Chocolate malt
150gm Carafa 3

18l mash at 70c for 60mins, and a 4l 'dunked in a bucket for 10 mins' sparge
Leaving 20l wort for a 60 minute boil and 16l in the FV.

Hops
15gm challenger @30min
30gm challenger @15min

Yeast
lallemand Voss Kviek recovered from the last brew

Brew day went perfectly.
Hit my numbers exactly - OG of 1.052, expecting 38 IBU and colour of 30SRM
as per the usual with kviek yeast, i will be setting the brew belt to 'high' to keep this around 30C. I fully expect it to be finished in 2 or 3 days.

 

[Nicks90]

AG 107 a BIG IPA
Proper hazy Jane in appearance. However dissatisfied with the overall hoppiness of the brew.
Don't get wrong, it's still hoppy and you can't mistake the American ipa hitting your taste buds... But its not a smack you in the face ipa like I have previously has with this hop combo and Verdunt yeast.
[scratches head]
However I am happy with the head retention, proper lacing and thick and creamy.
Don't get me wrong, I'll be supping this like its going out of fashion... But its no gamma Ray.

 

[Nicks90]

AG 110
Centennial SMASH

Using my new biab bag for the first time. Its much better at draining the liquid out of the bag and rinsing the grains compared to the last one. Much improvement and easier to use and clean. So to put it to good use, i have done another favourite of mine - a centennial SMASH. Its always a crowd pleaser and always comes out good.

3.5kg Maris Otter
all on its own

18l mash at 65c for 60mins, and a 4l sparge
Leaving 20l wort for a 60 minute boil and 16l in the FV.

Hops
15gm centennial @30min
35gm centennial @10min
50gm centennial @ day 5

Yeast
Verdunt ipa yeast recovered from the last ipa brew

Brew day went perfectly.
Hit my numbers exactly - OG of 1.044, expecting 40 IBU and colour of 5SRM
Big dry hop going in this one, as i want it punchy!

 

[Nicks90]

Also bottled my mouldy stout. Luckily no visible mould on the brew after 10 days in the FV. So whilst the old bag was proper minging, my sanitation seemed to have done the trick.
also a quick pic of my new bottle washer brush. Took all the plastic handle off and extended the wire using some polymorph and attached to my drill. hey presto - super quick and effective bottle scrubbing

 

[Nicks90]

First taste test of the mouldy stout. Its not mouldy (!!!) and you get a hint of a marmalade aftertaste from the voss yeast.
Using the fizzics dispenser has given it a thick creamy head and its all very velvety and dark roast.
Lovely stuff!

 

[Nicks90]

AG 111
Winter Warmer

The nights are drawing in and the weather is closing down, must be the season for a nice pint of real ale!

4.0kg Maris Otter
100g crystal 113ebc
50gm special B
20gm carafa 3
The 2 speciality malts are more for colour adjustment, but I would imagine the B will give it some flavour and make it a more 'weighty' beer on the tongue. But I wanted to avoid a full Belgian or Rigg welter style. That will be my Christmas beer.

18l mash at 67c for 60mins, and a 5l sparge
Leaving 21l wort for a 60 minute boil and 17l in the FV.

Hops
15gm challenger @60min
30gm East Kent goldings @15min

Yeast
Lallemand London ESB

Brew day went perfectly.
Hit my numbers exactly - OG of 1.044, expecting 30 IBU and colour of 20SRM

 

[Nicks90]

AG 110
Centennial SMASH
First taste test after 2 weeks in the bottle, a crowd pleasing easy to drink hoppy pint of beer!
Ta muchly


Critique? It's not hazy and it's not clear so it's neither one in the typical IPA labelling point of view. And it's got a bit of hop debris in it. Oh well, I don't brew them as ornaments to look at.

 

[Nicks90]

AG 112
Experimental Lemon and Coriander Saison

I know saisons are traditionally a summer drink, but i have a bottle of recovered yeast in the fridge and i want to use it up. Digging through my ingredients bin this is going to be a real mix and match - very VERY loosely based on Craftwork “Barrique Saison Citron Soleil” which is brewed with lemon zest, coriander seed, and white pepper by Craftwork Brewery in Oamaru, New Zealand. I am not adding the pepper though. Its way to difficult from what I have read, going from 0 to awful is a tricky one to gauge with pepper.

2.0kg Maris Otter
1.0kg Wheat malt

18l mash at 65c for 60mins, and a 3l sparge
Leaving 19l wort for a 60 minute boil and 15l in the FV.

Hops/Additions
25gm East Kent Goldings @30min
15gm East Kent Goldings @5min
5gm Coriander seeds @5mins
10gm Lemon peel @5mins

Yeast
danstar belle saison with a brew belt fitted to maintain mid/high twenties to maximise the natural pepperiness and funk from the yeast.

Brew day went perfectly and managed not to transfer any of the seeds or zest in to the FV, as i poured it through a sieve.
Hit my numbers exactly - OG of 1.047, expecting 21 IBU and colour of 4SRM. Should come out about 5.2%. I am saying 'about', as i always find second gen saison yeast to be super greedy and over attenuates.

This is my first fruity spicy number, so interested in seeing how this one turns out.

 

[Nicks90]

AG 111
Winter Warmer taste test
It's pretty damned good, a bit doombar in colour and profile, but tastes way better than that commercial slop.
Can't believe I haven't used this yeast before, it's very very nice. Really sticks to the bottom of the bottle and has given a lovely ale -y taste. Very pleased

 

[Nicks90]

bottled my AG 112 Experimental Lemon and Coriander Saison this afternoon and had my usual taste test out of the fermenter and i am suitably impressed and confused about how this will taste once its carb'd up.

yes you can taste the typical saison style yeast flavour element, but you dont get much citrus - but you do get a fruit aftertaste. Interested to see how this changes when the nasal receptors are fully engaged with fizz. Also get a very unexpected but pleasant aniseed very late after taste in the back of the mouth. Was not expecting that, but presuming that could come from the coriander seed and the EKG hops. But again fascinated to see how this changes once carb'd.
so my initial thoughts are "Complex" and i am hoping some fixx will accentuate this rather than dissipate and overpower with the normal dominant saison profile.

 

[Nicks90]

AG 113
Winter Warmer (Repeated)

This is an exact copy of the brew i did 4 weeks ago on AG111 - its turning out to be a fantastic pint of beer! So much so that I have decided to brew it again identically.

4.0kg Maris Otter
100g crystal 113ebc
50gm special B
20gm carafa 3
No changes to the grist from the previous brew

18l mash at 67c for 60mins, and a 5l sparge
Leaving 21l wort for a 60 minute boil and 17l in the FV.

Hops
15gm challenger @60min
30gm East Kent goldings @15min

Yeast
Lallemand London ESB

Brew day went perfectly.
Hit my numbers exactly - OG of 1.044, expecting 30 IBU and colour of 20SRM

 

[Nicks90]

And just 4 hours in there is already activity. Benefits of using a healthy chunk of the yeast saved from the previous brew.

 

[Nicks90]

Ag111..... Damn I drink a lot. This is going way too quickly

 

[Nicks90]

AG 114
Mosaic IPA

I was tempted to just do this as a SMASH, as I really like mosaic - but having seen some really good write ups on how this hop pairs with amarillo, I have decided to do a full on New England IPA small batch, full of orange and tropical juicy fruit!

3.5kg Maris Otter
100g crystal 140ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins, 2l rinse sparge over the kettle
Leaving 18l wort for a 60 minute boil and 15l in the FV.

Hops
10gm Amarillo @30min
25gm Amarillo @5min
35gm Mosaic @5min

Yeast
Safale US-05

Slightly missed my numbers, as I was expecting an OG of 1.050, but ended up with 1.046. Not the end of the world and it should be a steady 5% with 40IBU and very pale at 6SRM

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Reason i remembered about the one above is because i did another brew today

AG51
Pilgrim SMASH

This is a very straight forward pale ale using up the last of my English hops. so a simple SMASH in honour of a truly fabulous hop!

3.5kg Irish Malt
100gm crystal 40ebc

Hops
10gm Pilgrim @30 mins
30gm Pilgrim @5 mins

18l mash at 67c for nearly 4 hours!!!! (got stuck on a major incident call with work), followed by a 2l sparge and a good bag squeeze.
Leaving 19l wort for a 60 minute boil and 15l in the FV

Yeast - i top cropped a load of notty from AG49, so will be using that once its cooled down
As usual I'm expecting about 5% abv with 26 ibus and a lovely pale SRM of 5

Reserecting a slightly old recipe here but I was looking through the search for Pilgrim Hop recipes and I bumped into this one! I'll be brewing this on Tuesday, I saw you were happy with it, was there anything you'd change (if you can remember)? I was probably going to use Liberty Bell yeast as that's all i've got.

 

[Nicks90]

@pilgrimhudd
I found the post I did after it was conditioned. I seemed to have liked it!
Istr that it was a very traditional front ended English pale ale, with a slightly sweet in an earthy way on the backend.

So I will remind myself again, I must get round to brewing this recipe again.

Ag51 pilgrim smash... Is a smash hit!
Damn this is a nice hop. It's just so......... English!

Just utterly pleasant, bitter fruity notes with a slight honey / woody backend. Combined with using a clean yeast and Minch malt, gives a really fresh session ale.

Note to self when browsing this thread for ideas on repeat brews. DO THIS ONE AGAIN NICKS!!!!

 

[Nicks90]

AG 115
Mosaic / El Dorado IPA

After my first taste test of ag114 with mosaic, I am blown away. So straight on to another mosaic IPA, this time paired with El Dorado. I am expecting this one to be full of mango, tropical juice and grapefruit flavours!

4.0kg Maris Otter
150g crystal 140ebc

18l mash at 66c for 60mins, 3l rinse sparge over the kettle
Leaving 19l wort for a 60 minute boil and then back liquored to give me 18l in the FV.

Hops
10gm El Dorado @30min
40gm El Dorado @5min
25gm Mosaic @5min

Yeast
Lallemand Verdunt IPA yeast

Brew day went perfectly and after back liquoring, I got an OG of 1.046 and exactly 18l of wort. It should be a steady 5.0% with 46IBU and pale at 7SRM

 

[Nicks90]

AG 116
First of Three English Ales

Next set of brews is going to be a three parter, first off an english pale ale - then reusing the Windsor yeast for a Foxbat mainline bitter and then finally a stout.
Decided to mash this at a slightly higher temperature than normal to give it a bit more body and malt forward profile. I know it affects efficiency, but that doesnt bother me too much.

3.5kg Maris Otter
100g crystal 40ebc

18l mash at 69c for 60mins, 3l rinse sparge over the kettle
Leaving 19l wort for a 60 minute boil and 16l in the FV.

Hops
10gm Challenger @60min
25gm EKG @15min

Yeast
Lallemand Windsor yeast

Brew day went perfectly and I got an OG of 1.046 and exactly 16l of wort. It should be a steady 5.0% with 27IBU and pale at 6SRM