Right, the same again this time more hops and hop schedule. I've started another couple brews since last time. I think we can say this is a rather easy beer to make well. There are lots of wiggle room, so you can't go wrong.
First off some comments about the last batch, it is a complete success. After 4 days in the fermenter wort cleared, and the wort, now beer, was transferred into another carboy for secondary fermentation, then 3days later I primed with 36g of corn sugar and transferred to a Cornelius kegs. It was totally drinkable, right there and then and improved considerably over the weekend. I've been pouring off a few glasses all weekend, from days +5 until today +7. Initially, it was flat of course but by day +7 it was really quite tasty with very small suspended bubbles and thin head.
Rewind the clock at bit, whilst I was preparing to transfer the initial batch into the secondary fermenter I started yet another batch. I endeavoured to make this batch even before than the first one, by boiling the wort harder to improve my sugar and hop conversion efficiency. The higher gravity showed that this was indeed achieved and wort had the hop character that tastes very promising.
The ingredients are much the same but I've added some Fuggle hops and modified the hop schedule.
5gal Water
6lb Pale Malt Extract
1oz Kent Goldings (60min)
1/2oz Fuggles(30min)
1oz Styrian Goldings (1/2 oz for last 15min of boil and 1/2 oz for flame off)
Nottingham Ale yeast (started from initial brew)
1/2 Wirlfloc tablet
Same basic procedure as before, one step sanitize everything. Heat 5gallons of water to 40C, flame off, add malt extract, stir til dissolved, flame on, heat til 100C, add boiling hops, boil 60 min, add finishing hops, insert chiller, boil 30min, flame off, add final hops, chill to 80C in 10min, then continue to chill to 30C.
While the wort was chilling I transferred the initial batch into secondary. There was quite a bit of sludge at the bottom and I wished there was something I could do with it, well there was. I pulled the lot into a tall glass and let it settle. I poured off the liquid into a sanitized PET bottle and added a teaspoon of corn sugar (not completely sanitary), giving it a good shake to add oxygen as yeast needs oxygen to multiply. By the time the wort chilled to 30C the yeast starter had a vigorous foam going already! Add a bit of wort to the yeast starter then pitched it in. I transferred the wort to the carboy and poured it back into the copper boiler. I let the lot settle for 10min then siphoned the wort back into the carboy. The pre-fermented wort had a really smooth hop ramp that goes on and on. I could drink the wort in place of tea.
On Friday when I transferred the initial batch into a keg I started yet another batch. This time with a slightly different hop compliment and schedule.
5gal Water
6lb Pale Malt Extract
1oz Kent Goldings (60min)
1/2oz Fuggles (60min)
1oz Kent Goldings (1/2oz 60min, 1/4oz last 15min of boil, and 1/4oz at flame off)
Nottingham Ale yeast (started from secondary brew, but pitched dry yeast after 3hr of no activity)
Nothing much to note here, forgot the Whirlfoc tablet in the last 15min of boil and the yeast starter didn't seem viable after 3hr in fermentater so I pitched in some dry yeast. I wasn't about to risk infection. That most certainly worked, as with 30min there was a healthy foam at the top. I always try a bit of the wort, this one had a pleasant hop ramp. I think the Fuggles hops may be more distinctive that the Styrian Hops used in the previous brews. Can't wait to find out.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Brewing Babys
Started a Yorkshire Bitter this weekend. It should be ready to bottle after just 4 days. I'll upload the pictures later, but here are the brewing notes for now.
Ingredients:
5gal Water
6lb Pale Malt Extract
1oz Kent Goldings (saved off 1/4 oz for last 15min of boil)
1oz Styrian Goldings (saved off 1/2 oz for last 15min of boil)
Nottingham Ale yeast
1 Wirlfloc tablet
The general idea is to clone my favorite Yorkshire Bitter, Timothy Taylor's Landlord (tm). This a seriously tasty beer and there is simply nothing like it to be found here in the states. I wanted to keep it simple so I used a Pale Malt Extract. Ignoring the cock-ups, this was about the easiest brew I've ever done. The total preparation time was about 4 hours.
Image source: http://www.timothytaylor.co.uk/
The procedure is rather simple. I started by rinsing off the dust gathering on my equipment with warm soapy water, then rinsed it all with a no rinse sanitizer. The fermenter was filled with 5 gallons of water then transfered to the copper. The water was heated to 40C then the malt extract was added with the heat off, stirring all the way until the malt is fully dissolved.
The wort was brought to a boil in about 60min and the hops where pitched in, with the exception of the bit that was saved off. The wort was boiled for 90mins then I pitched in the rest of the hops and full tablet of Wirlfoc, when I should have only used half. The tablet fissed like an antacid tablet.
I also jumped the gun a bit and put the immersion chiller into the wort. That quickly dropped the wort temp to about 92C and stopped the boil. I've heard that 80C is the perfect temp of finishing hops so I decided to go with it and slowly reduced the temp to target temp of 80C over a 15min period. After that the rate of flow through the chiller was increase and I continued to reduce the temp towards 30C. I added some more liquor to restore the volume and measured the gravity ratio of the wort; 1040 at 35C which corrected for temp was about 1045, right on the target of 1046. The wort tasted like a sweet version of Landlord, but lacking the nutty creaminess that hopefully the yeast will provide.
Some wort was spooned out to cool for the yeast starter and a teaspoon of corn sugar was added. I didn't read the instructions for my yeast before doing this but it suggests adding to boiled water cooled to 30C and specifically not to use the wort as a starter. Any road, I pitched in the yeast at 30C and let it sit on the top for 15min after which a health foamy cake had formed.
The fermenter was rinsed with sanitizer and the wort siphoned off into it. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the residue so I tipped into the drain. In retrospect that's where on the Alpha acids from the boiled hops and the oils from the finishing hops would be. After 3 hours of steady drinking, or should I say, research, I'm mostly operating on instinct.
The wort was aerated by pouring it back in the copper with a swirl to get the vortex going in the carboy. Some wort was spooned into the yeast starter to avoid temp shocking. I pitched in the yeast and check the temp again. The temp read 32C! Quick panic! I put the immersion chiller back in the wort and pump it up and down. The temp rapid was back down to 30C and I hoped for the best.
I transfered the wort back into the fermenter and capped it with a vapor lock, then rolled the fermenter on to a rug and pulled it into the closet. I shut the door with a heavy heart and concern about the high pitching temp and tipping the hoppy goodness. I tried to distract myself with an episode of "All Creatures Great and Small" but when the pub landlord popped down to the coil 'oil for another pitcher of Ale, it was too much for me. I went to bed and curled up into a ball.
I woke up in the morning concerned but optimistic. I figured at worst I could pitch in some old yeast I had in the frig, but none of that was necessary. I opened up the closet, flipped on the light and was meant by a delightfully rocky foam head. The yeast was very much alive and active. The wort was clear with giant churning chunks. It was one of the most active batches I've ever seen!
In the afternoon, about 18hr into fermentation, I couldn't leave well enough alone and gave it a bit of a shake. What I've read about Northern British Yeast is that there are bottom fermenting and a bit slow. Well, this Nottingham Yeast is a vigorous top fermenter and this shaking was probably not needed. It was already bubbly with gas and smelled very much like the target beer.
The wort quickly cleared again, but by the next day (32hr of fermentation) the wort was cloudy with fluffy pillow of yeast 1 to 2 inches high on the bottom. This yeast is supposed to have a high attenuation at a SG of 1008 after 4days. We shall see. I'm planning on correcting the errors in the next batch and we shall compare the results.
Ingredients:
5gal Water
6lb Pale Malt Extract
1oz Kent Goldings (saved off 1/4 oz for last 15min of boil)
1oz Styrian Goldings (saved off 1/2 oz for last 15min of boil)
Nottingham Ale yeast
1 Wirlfloc tablet
The general idea is to clone my favorite Yorkshire Bitter, Timothy Taylor's Landlord (tm). This a seriously tasty beer and there is simply nothing like it to be found here in the states. I wanted to keep it simple so I used a Pale Malt Extract. Ignoring the cock-ups, this was about the easiest brew I've ever done. The total preparation time was about 4 hours.
The procedure is rather simple. I started by rinsing off the dust gathering on my equipment with warm soapy water, then rinsed it all with a no rinse sanitizer. The fermenter was filled with 5 gallons of water then transfered to the copper. The water was heated to 40C then the malt extract was added with the heat off, stirring all the way until the malt is fully dissolved.
The wort was brought to a boil in about 60min and the hops where pitched in, with the exception of the bit that was saved off. The wort was boiled for 90mins then I pitched in the rest of the hops and full tablet of Wirlfoc, when I should have only used half. The tablet fissed like an antacid tablet.
I also jumped the gun a bit and put the immersion chiller into the wort. That quickly dropped the wort temp to about 92C and stopped the boil. I've heard that 80C is the perfect temp of finishing hops so I decided to go with it and slowly reduced the temp to target temp of 80C over a 15min period. After that the rate of flow through the chiller was increase and I continued to reduce the temp towards 30C. I added some more liquor to restore the volume and measured the gravity ratio of the wort; 1040 at 35C which corrected for temp was about 1045, right on the target of 1046. The wort tasted like a sweet version of Landlord, but lacking the nutty creaminess that hopefully the yeast will provide.
Some wort was spooned out to cool for the yeast starter and a teaspoon of corn sugar was added. I didn't read the instructions for my yeast before doing this but it suggests adding to boiled water cooled to 30C and specifically not to use the wort as a starter. Any road, I pitched in the yeast at 30C and let it sit on the top for 15min after which a health foamy cake had formed.
The fermenter was rinsed with sanitizer and the wort siphoned off into it. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the residue so I tipped into the drain. In retrospect that's where on the Alpha acids from the boiled hops and the oils from the finishing hops would be. After 3 hours of steady drinking, or should I say, research, I'm mostly operating on instinct.
The wort was aerated by pouring it back in the copper with a swirl to get the vortex going in the carboy. Some wort was spooned into the yeast starter to avoid temp shocking. I pitched in the yeast and check the temp again. The temp read 32C! Quick panic! I put the immersion chiller back in the wort and pump it up and down. The temp rapid was back down to 30C and I hoped for the best.
I transfered the wort back into the fermenter and capped it with a vapor lock, then rolled the fermenter on to a rug and pulled it into the closet. I shut the door with a heavy heart and concern about the high pitching temp and tipping the hoppy goodness. I tried to distract myself with an episode of "All Creatures Great and Small" but when the pub landlord popped down to the coil 'oil for another pitcher of Ale, it was too much for me. I went to bed and curled up into a ball.
I woke up in the morning concerned but optimistic. I figured at worst I could pitch in some old yeast I had in the frig, but none of that was necessary. I opened up the closet, flipped on the light and was meant by a delightfully rocky foam head. The yeast was very much alive and active. The wort was clear with giant churning chunks. It was one of the most active batches I've ever seen!
In the afternoon, about 18hr into fermentation, I couldn't leave well enough alone and gave it a bit of a shake. What I've read about Northern British Yeast is that there are bottom fermenting and a bit slow. Well, this Nottingham Yeast is a vigorous top fermenter and this shaking was probably not needed. It was already bubbly with gas and smelled very much like the target beer.
The wort quickly cleared again, but by the next day (32hr of fermentation) the wort was cloudy with fluffy pillow of yeast 1 to 2 inches high on the bottom. This yeast is supposed to have a high attenuation at a SG of 1008 after 4days. We shall see. I'm planning on correcting the errors in the next batch and we shall compare the results.
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