AG#1 - Batemans Dark Mild

Today I brewed this recipe;

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Batemans Dark Mild

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Dark Mild
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 20 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 23.1 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.027
Efficiency: 65% (brew house)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.031
Final Gravity: 1.007
ABV (standard): 3.11%
IBU (tinseth): 22.18
SRM (morey): 23.8

FERMENTABLES:
2.42 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (78.3%)
0.36 kg - United Kingdom - Crystal 60L (11.7%)
0.21 kg - American - Black Malt (6.8%)
0.1 kg - Torrified Wheat (3.2%)

HOPS:
14 g - Challenger, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.5, Use: Boil for 90 min, IBU: 19.91
8 g - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 2.27

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 67 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 9.5 L
2) Sparge, Temp: 72 C, Time: 15 min, Amount: 18.7 L
Starting Mash Thickness: 3 L/kg

YEAST:
Mangrove Jack - Liberty Bell Ale M36
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 76%
Flocculation: Med-High
Optimum Temp: 16.67 - 23.33 C
Fermentation Temp: 20 C

First things first ~ I made a mess of hitting my strike temp, simply heating the water to 67 C, rather than calculating how much over this it needed to be to give a mash temp of 67 C. That meant I had to calculate and add some boiling water to the mash, which I did, but this didn't quite work, so I had to add a bit more,

After the 90 min mash, I drained the mash tun, and forgot to lauter my wort, which I might get away with as its a dark beer. Then the remaining hot water was added ( I remembered to calculate this time) for the 72 C sparge. The tun was lautered / drained and I ended up with just over 23L of wort to transfer into the boiler. 

The boil went well, as did chilling the wort. However, as I was draining the final part of the cooled wort into the FV a drip of water fell into it from the garage door that was open above the boiler, so I didn't risk transferring any more. So I only ended up with 15L in the FV. However, when I cam to clean up I doubt there was the expected further 5L in there ~ so I need to revisit both measuring the dead space in my boiler, and it's boil off rate and update my equipment profile in Brewers Friend.

The result was wort with an OG of 1040, which is higher that expected ~ the hydrometer in the picture reads 2 points high ~ and  if it ferments down to 1007 will give an ABV of about 4.3%. The sample tasted really good; much better than any kit / modified kit I have ever brewed.

Yeast added, its sat in my fermentation fridge at 20C. I've got high hopes for this one.

Lincolnshire breweries

See? I told you something would intervene and stop me doing my first all grain. A heavy cold, and a broken patio door blocking the route between where I would boil and the kitchen mean its on hold for a few days. So, to keep me amused while I am not brewing, I'm going to start researching Lincolnshire breweries, past and present.

Exciting, huh?

The map is here. There is nothing on the map yet, but I am thinking of having a blog page or post (don't know which yet) per brewery, and a pin on the map that takes you to it. Hopefully, I can have two colour pins for existing and historical breweries.

That's what I've got in my head at the moment, but I suspect it will be an evolving idea.

Wort chiller

I now have a wort chiller, so can finally do my first ever full all grin brew. In the end, after realising I could use my nectar points on ebay, I brought one as it was less faff than making one, and by the time I'd got y hands on a pipe bender, not that much cheaper. Once I'd factored in the nectar points, it only set me back £7. Its really great, well made, and I've connected it up today and doesn't leek. It fits my 30L Burco perfectly.

Hope to be brewing one day this week (haven't I said that before?).

WOW updates

I racked the first of the WOW Rose wines into a fresh demijohn containing a teaspoon of campden powder and also wine stabiliser. It was degassed then finings added and is now somewhere cool to clear, once it is it will be bottled The second had thrown a huge amount of sediment, and I also realised I needed to add another 100g of sugar as I'd only added 600g originally, so I made up a syrup, and added this to a fresh demijohn whilst racking the wine from the first. Judging by the airlock activity, this still has a way to go before I rack it again.

Kitsters last stand update #3

I've bottled this today as it was stable at 1012, and had nearly 3 weeks in the FV giving the yeast lots of time to clear up.

Batch primed in the bottling bucket with 75g of sugar, then packaged into 500ml bottles. After trub, etc, accounted for, I got 37 bottles in total.

This is the first brew I've bottled for years, but it's just as much of a faff as I remembered it. I need to have a think about the whole process, as I want to brew several beers that won't really suit being put into a king keg for various reasons. There has to be a better way!

Now carbing up at 20 degrees in the brew fridge for a couple of weeks then into the garage for conditioning.

The sample tasted really nice. Lots of flavours that need melding in the conditioning phase.

Planning my first AG

So, wort chiller excepted, and that's being sorted this week, I'm all ready for my first all grain brew. I've been mulling this over, and this is what I have come up with.

What shall I brew?

It needed to be a style that would suit being put in a King Keg, as I really don't like bottling beer, and my last brew is going into bottles and I will need a break to get over the trauma. In my book, that eliminates any style that needs high carbonation levels (lagers and similar); any style that you would drink small amounts of infrequently as it would tie up a King Keg for too long (strong beers mainly) and finally anything that would need conditioning for a long time (same reasons / styles)

That leaves me with a fair range of styles still, three of which I want to brew on a regular basis ~ an English Golden Ale, an English Bitter and a Dark Mild.

For my first AG attempt, the golden ale looked initially like a sensible option ~ very simple grain and hop bill could produce something quite nice. However, if you've seen my mini mash posts, you'll know I'm struggling a bit with efficiency, which while I think I can improve this area, if it doesn't get better, a 2.5% golden ale will be a bit pants. Getting an English Bitter down to a T is a fine art, and best left until I am happy with the AG process, so I decided on a mild. Even if efficiency woes mean I end up with a 2.5% rather than a 3.1% beer, I think the dark malts will still give something drinkable and tasty. So I've settled on Graham Wheeler's clone of;

My Yeast Conundrum

I brought a selection of Crossmyloof brewery dried yeasts, and was initially very impressed with them. They are fantastic value, and take off like a rocket. However, I had a sort of sour, yeasty taste in the background of my modified Canadian blonde brewed with the real ale yeast. It eventually conditioned out almost completely, but it took ages. I have noticed that my Coopers IPA mini mash, using the US Pale yeast, has a similar taste to it, all be it in a much, much reduced prominence. On the homebrew forum, a couple of other people have noticed the same thing, although it has to be said we are in a minority and I'm by no means sure that it's anything to do with the yeast at all. However, my Coopers Ruby Porter / Old ale mini mash, that used the Mangrove Jacks Liberty Bell yeast doesn't have a hint of it, and it's still in the primary. I'll get to the bottom of it, but until I do, my three remaining CML yeasts I have in store (one Real Ale, one US Ple and a Californian Common) will remain unused until I get the hang of AG. So, what yeast to use? I did think of something nice and fruity, eithe Mangrove Jacks Old Empire or Danstar Windsor. However, they both have low attenuation rates according to many, and what with my efficiency problems, I don't want to end up with a 1% ABV beer or something! So I think for this brew I'll use the Liberty Bell yeast again.

So hopefully, wort chiller manufacture Monday; brew Tuesday.

WOW Rosé wine #2

I saw these in Morrisons on offer, 3L for £2.50. The ingredients are 40% Grape, 40% Apple and 20% Raspberry, so these looked ideal for another WOW. Exactly the same recipe as before, and as before, it took off within 3 hours.

The Apple and Red grape one is still  chugging away 9 days later, and shows no sign of slowing; I've no idea how long these will take. I've only got one demijohn left now, which I will need for racking, so that's it until one of these bad boys is bottled. The one with raspberry is producing a lot more sediment, I am assuming that is the pectolaise having something more to work on with this juice combination? It's the one on the right.