PilgrimHudds Brewdays

[pilgrimhudd]

Love the smell of mash in the morning....

5.5 kg of clear crisp pale mashed in at 68, heat set at 66c. Mash for a couple of hours.

Hops 15g hallertau at 60
15g saaz and crystal at 30
1 tsp coriander at 30
30g crystal and protofloc at 15

Yeast cml belgian

I've never dry hopped this type of beer before, would it add much if i did do you think? I was thinking 40-50g of saaz?

 

[cushyno]

You've added coriander so you're interested in spice and flavour. Using Belgian yeast you're probably hoping for phenols.

I don't see why a saaz dry hop wouldn't compliment that. It depends whether you're doing an experimental brew or going to keep to style.

 

[matt76]

I've never dry hopped this type of beer before, would it add much if i did do you think? I was thinking 40-50g of saaz?

Only one way to find out I suppose...

 

[pilgrimhudd]

You've added coriander so you're interested in spice and flavour. Using Belgian yeast you're probably hoping for phenols.

I don't see why a saaz dry hop wouldn't compliment that. It depends whether you're doing an experimental brew or going to keep to style.

I'm going to do it! Cheers!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

So tonight, i've realised that i'm not doing much at work tomorrow so i've decided to have a couple, finishing with a bottle of my pumpkin ale.....it's ok, a bit vegetabley not as sweet as the sample I had at bottling. I wouldn't say it's great, but not awful either. A bottle coming to you @matt76 , (i need to get rid of 20 odd bottles)...

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I had a bit of a stock check last night and realised that not only do I have about 1.5kg of caramalt in lots of little bags I also have 4 kgs of wheat alongside lots of other small quantities of stuff in open bags, so ive decided my next two brews will be a weizenbock with cml krystalweizen hopped with saaz and a broadside clone, pale malt, choc and black malt hopped with first gold, what shall I do first??

 

[pilgrimhudd]

So trying to get a load of old malt and loose packs out of my cupboard I decided to brew my version of a weizenbock.

Slightly odd malt bill to reflect what I had to get rid of....

Wheat malt 2.9kg
Munich 2kg
Pilsner 1kg
Choc wheat 150g
Caramalt 250g

Mashed for 60mins at 68c.

Boiled for 50 mins (as it turned out)

Saaz 48g @50

Cooled and cml krystalweizen pitched at 25c, no temp control as my belgian is in the fridge so it'll be around 20-23 ambient in the utility I reckon.

So, why 50 mins you ask? Well i was just going out to chuck in the protofloc when the boiler cut out E4 again!! Couldnt get it to restart... I hadnt sterilised the chiller so I chucked it in at 95 thinking that the worst will die off hopefully. Left it for 20 mins then started to cool.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Oh... og of about 1066, and 17l in the fv!

 

[matt76]

I hadnt sterilised the chiller so I chucked it in at 95 thinking that the worst will die off hopefully.

FWIW, @foxbat pointed out to me somewhere recently (we were discussing hop bags) that pasteurisation takes something like 1s or 0.1s at 90degC (Google it if you want exact details) so you should be fine.

I've been doing it like this the last few brews, just shoving the chiller in after I switch off the heat (rather than 5 mins before end of boil as I used to) without any issues so far.

So basically I reckon you'll be fine but obviously if you do get an infection then it's all foxbat's fault

 

[pilgrimhudd]

FWIW, @foxbat pointed out to me somewhere recently (we were discussing hop bags) that pasteurisation takes something like 1s or 0.1s at 90degC (Google it if you want exact details) so you should be fine.

I've been doing it like this the last few brews, just shoving the chiller in after I switch off the heat (rather than 5 mins before end of boil as I used to) without any issues so far.

So basically I reckon you'll be fine but obviously if you do get an infection then it's all foxbat's fault

Yes I did think I'd probably be ok.

 

[foxbat]

Yes I did think I'd probably be ok.

I do like a good sour if you have an agreeable infection.

(You won't!)

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Bottled up my Golden Belgian Ale, 36 x 500ml bottles. 70g Sugar boiled in 200mls water, 5ml per bottle.

FG of 1008 giving it a meaty 6.5% abv.

It was lovely, a refreshing golden beer, can't wait for it to carbonate and drink it cold. Saaz is an odd hop to describe, but it's saazy....

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Forum Xmas Brew...

5kg Otter
700g Choc Malt
200g Light Crystal
100g Black
450g Oats

Mashed Overnight at 68c

Hops 50g Fuggles and 11g Magnum @60
23g Fuggles @10
340g Lactose & 400g homemade invert sugar

150g cacao nibs boiled for 10 mins in water then the whole lot chucked in to the FV.

20l in the FV OG 1086 37 IBU

Sample tasted v chocolatey even without the nibs!!

 

[matt76]

Chocolate stout is it? And a rather potent one at that by the looks of it!

How did you get on making the invert syrup? I've heard it's quite a palava...

I've never messed around with stuff like lactose, syrups or treacle - maybe I should, since all the stuff I do experiment with invariably turns to rat$h1t!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Chocolate stout is it? And a rather potent one at that by the looks of it!

How did you get on making the invert syrup? I've heard it's quite a palava...

I've never messed around with stuff like lactose, syrups or treacle - maybe I should, since all the stuff I do experiment with invariably turns to rat$h1t!

Yep choc stout, ever used nibs? Smell is incredible.

The invert was fine to be honest, took 2 hours but to be honest I just got it to a simmer and left it, no idea if it was invert or just boiled sugar with a bit of lemon but it was quite treacely..

It was my most enjoyable brew for awhile though and no e4 cut outs!

 

[matt76]

Yep choc stout, ever used nibs? Smell is incredible.

The invert was fine to be honest, took 2 hours but to be honest I just got it to a simmer and left it, no idea if it was invert or just boiled sugar with a bit of lemon but it was quite treacely..

It was my most enjoyable brew for awhile though and no e4 cut outs!

Nope, never used nibs either. I think if I can get my porter right where I want it then this would be a great starting point to experiment with a lot of these things, cocoa nibs, treacle, invert etc included

 

[matt76]

Hey @pilgrimhudd , random non-urgent question for you - what do you do in terms of water and water treatment?

Just curious as I don't think you've ever mentioned it. Do you use bottled water or just straight out the tap with or without any additions, however hard or soft it might be?

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Hey @pilgrimhudd , random non-urgent question for you - what do you do in terms of water and water treatment?

Just curious as I don't think you've ever mentioned it. Do you use bottled water or just straight out the tap with or without any additions, however hard or soft it might be?

F all.....

Straight out of the tap not even a campden tablet, well, I added one once.

It is something that i've thought of getting more interested in though, I like a decent stout but the water here is very soft and so I think needs the additional minerals in the water. I did go so far as to get a water report through once so I have all the info to get started I just haven't got round to it yet. Are you planning on dabbling in a bit of water chemistry?

 

[matt76]

Are you planning on dabbling in a bit of water chemistry?

I've been meddling with water additions probably for the last 18 months and kinda settled into a groove now.

I have the opposite problem, I have mega hard water. For the most part it's actually not that much of an issue, as long as I don't lose my shizzle that my water profile is a bit out of whack for pale beers like Pilsner and Helles.

But on the plus side I think my hard water is is a reason why darker beers just seem to work for me

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Yes I thought you did, so what difference does it make for your pale beers, too much body? I know theres a difference in ph etc, but not sure why that matters? May have to read that thread on here one day and educate myself.