A Riwaka Amber Rye experiment…

After jonesing for a brew day for a while, (I look after my little boy a lot of the time as the wife works 12 hour shifts, I dont get to do them often) I managed to have a brew morning yesterday, and after some careful deliberation with my brewing brother HisDudeness, I decided to push the malt envelope (for me anyways) and see if I could deal with the thin body issues Ive been having with recent beers…

I wanted an amber beer, as Ive been really enjoying my Rakau and Wakatu amber I did a while back, and so this recipe was born. Dude recommended some Rye for the beer to add body. I have to say from the smells coming out during the mash this could be spectacular…

Title: Riwaka Amber
Author: Chem

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American Amber Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 10 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 15 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.032
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.049
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV (standard): 4.98%
IBU (tinseth): 33.31
SRM (morey): 14.16

FERMENTABLES:
1.3 kg – United Kingdom – Maris Otter Pale (61.9%)
0.5 kg – United Kingdom – Wheat (23.8%)
0.1 kg – United Kingdom – Dark Crystal 80L (4.8%)
0.2 kg – United Kingdom – Crystal Rye (9.5%)

HOPS:
5 g – Southern Cross , Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 18.9
30 g – Riwaka, Type: Pellet, AA: 6, Use: Whirlpool for 20 min at 80 °C, IBU: 14.4
30 g – Riwaka, Type: Pellet, AA: 6, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Sparge, Temp: 66 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 8 L, Sparge with 8L @ 68
Starting Mash Thickness: 3.5 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
Pitch Rate: 0.35 (M cells / ml / deg P)

Straightforwards brew until my dad decided to arrive an hour early to give me a hand in the garden with some chores (My lawnmower is knackered, and he has 3… lol) So the end of the brew was a bit of a mess but the start was great, hit the mash temp, hit the PB Gravity, hit the volume in the boil all bang on…

Was using the Buffalo induction hob I bought a while back now its been fixed, and I think that may have contributed to me missing my final volume by about a litre… no probs just topped it up with tap water (As I’ve always done and had no issues at all, ever) The yeast was pitched in a rush,I dont like to leave wort hanging around and totally forgot the check the SG, so we’re winging this one lol. If the preboil was spot on, the SG SHOULD be about right also…

The riwaka smells like grapefuity skunk, and I’m well down with that… Should be a good one this one.