The Dudes Brewday

[HisDudeness]

Hoping to brew this tonight as 1 final addition to the lineup for my birthday beerfest at the end of March! Its definitely one for the hop heads and is an evolution of my Ghost Ship based recipe but with added Centennial to crank it up a notch or 2 and a bit more wheat to hopefully keep it nice and smooth. In contrast to the Wakatu Pale this definitely should have a smash your face off citrus character!

 

[HisDudeness]

Still thinking! :thumb:

Was reading the Yeast book last night and while discussing the importance of fermentation temp control it mentions that any temp sensor used must be in contact or in the FV to properly control wort temps. It also confirms the importance of insulating an external sensor against the FV with foam or similar and that if this is done the difference in temp to the centre of FV should be minimal. So it seems that although the gaffa/foam solution isn't pretty it is a good method for accurately monitoring wort temps! :thumb:

 

[Dutto]

I agree that sticking the sensor to the FV with an insulating pad and duct tape is the best option for a single FV, but I have other requirements as well. :thumb:

Combinations that I need to temperature control within the single cabinet are any combination possible from:
o Two FV's
o 40 bottles.
o 3 DJ's.

e.g. Today started off with 3 DJ's of Barley Wine in one half of the cabinet and one FV of Pale Ale in the other side. After bottling the Pale Ale it is now keeping warm 3 DJ's of Barley Wine on one side and 40 bottles of Pale Ale on the other!

Apart from the 45W Tube-Heater in the cabinet I've also got a 25W Immersion Heater so for the last brewing session (3 DJ's and One FV) I positioned the Inkbird Sensor at a low level in the air-space alongside the FV and then let the Inkbird control both the 45W tube-heater and the 25W immersion heater in the FV itself.

With the Inkbird Set Point at 20 degrees and the Immersion Heater Set Point at 19 degrees they seemed to balance out okay.

Even last night's severe cold didn't seem to really upset things. Although the 45W Tube-Heater couldn't keep the cabinet temperature at the 20 degree Set Point (despite being on for 100% of the time), the Immersion Heater kept the FV warm directly and even cut out occasionally when the FV temperature reached 19 degrees.

 

[HisDudeness]

Update on a couple of the beers for anyone whose interested! Both these served from the kegs which is great at this time of year when I can keep the shed at a nice cellar like temperature.

The wakatu pale came out pretty well, smooth zesty and refreshing with a dry finish. Pretty hoppy as you would expect with a whole pack thrown in and definitely get the lime flavours from the wakatu but it a more subtle way than a typical citrussy US hop and with a traditional noble hop profile in the background. Will be great in the warmer weather if it lasts that long!

The boltmaker ended up more like a landlord in terms of strength oops! But definitely had a lot of the TT character in there, the yeast is very flavoursome with rich malt and fruitiness coming through. It gives what I would describe as a very english (yorkshire) character to the ale and I will definitely be using this one again for bitters and the like. The amber malt is quite prominent as are the hops so its a slightly amplified version of the original Boltmaker but in a good way IMO! It dropped very clear as well which was a bit of a surprise as it covered the inside of the FV in yeast on all sides which made it look pretty murky prior to kegging, I'd say its on a par with the fullers yeast I have used for clarity. A nice contrast to the wakatu pale and very drinkable, keeps a nice head on all the way down too :thumb:

 

[MyQul]

What temp did you ferment the 1469 at? The first time used it I fermented at 20C and it was very estery, lots of appley flours. The second time I used it I fermented at about 16C/17C very clean but malty

 

[GHW]

Nice looking beers, dude. The Wakatu in particular sounds good. I liked the limeyness of my green bullet but it had some major flaws, so I'd like to have a go at something similar again. Your grain bill is similar (mo, Munich) to that beer too.

Too many hops to try, not enough brews to try them in, that's my problem.

 

[HisDudeness]

What temp did you ferment the 1469 at? The first time used it I fermented at 20C and it was very estery, lots of appley flours. The second time I used it I fermented at about 16C/17C very clean but malty

Went for 18 and that was based on some of your comments regarding the esters. Seems a nice balance of fruit and malt at that temp. Sounds like it's very temperature dependent for ester production

 

[MyQul]

Went for 18 and that was based on some of your comments regarding the esters. Seems a nice balance of fruit and malt at that temp. Sounds like it's very temperature dependent for ester production

I think your right. It's like two different strains the two times I've used it. I'm culturing it back up again from my own bottle as I may have lost the Shepard neame strain I bottle cultured

 

[HisDudeness]

Nice looking beers, dude. The Wakatu in particular sounds good. I liked the limeyness of my green bullet but it had some major flaws, so I'd like to have a go at something similar again. Your grain bill is similar (mo, Munich) to that beer too.

Too many hops to try, not enough brews to try them in, that's my problem.

Indeed I am always caught between trying to use up the existing stocks and wanting to try out the new and exciting hops I just bought. Another 5 packs turned up in the post yesterday

I would recommend the Wakatu if you want something that's a bit of a new world old world crossover, I think it would blend very well too but I won't be able to test that just yet as I smashed the whole packet in that one brew!

 

[HisDudeness]

I think your right. It's like two different strains the two times I've used it. I'm culturing it back up again from my own bottle as I may have lost the Shepard neame strain I bottle cultured

Bummer! What happened to the SN? Seems we are both doomed with that one

 

[MyQul]

Bummer! What happened to the SN? Seems we are both doomed with that one

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=60341&page=9 Post 83.It's 50/50 wether It's infected as I don't know which FV the probable infection is in?

 

[HisDudeness]

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=60341&page=9 Post 83.It's 50/50 wether It's infected as I don't know which FV the probable infection is in?

Man that sucks! Good heads up about the fruit though, I suppose all you need is one manky Apple or whatever and there's going to be spores galore up in the air

 

[MyQul]

Man that sucks! Good heads up about the fruit though, I suppose all you need is one manky Apple or whatever and there's going to be spores galore up in the air

Fruit is covered with wild yeast spores. I watched a youtube vid once on how to capture wild yeast and one of the way's to do it is by just leaving a bit of fruit in some wort for a while then fermenting it out.

On a positive note, I opened one of the bottled from the batch I thought was infected and it seems ok. So it may have been an inection in just a couple of the bottles. I'll know when I open the remaining bottles of the batch wether it was just those two. Odd though as I routinely oven my bottles. May be the wild yeast got in during the bottling process?

 

[HisDudeness]

Fancied getting some big hoppy IPAs on the go over the weekend so had a bash at the original recipe punk IPA and then did this brew yesterday, its inspired by Fourpures Session IPA which is a lovely drop (on tap at least not so convinced by the cans). Trying out some Wyeast 1272 in this one to see what that brings to the party. Been using the Minch malt in these and efficiency shot up about 5% so maybe a finer crush/fresher malt having an influence? As such OG a bit higher than expected so not quite as 'sessionable' but nothing to get upset over!

The hops in this were all this years harvest (apart from the ahtanum) from unopened packs and the smell was incredible. Have high hopes for this.....