A Podcast about homebrewing…
So, was chatting to a bloke at work and got a book off him. I read it for a little while and then this happened.
Yeah. Apparently I’m making mead as well as beer and wine now. Basic recipe to follow, probably while I’m out having dinner with the outlaws.
Smells nice and yes that is a balloon. Yes it works. Yes it has a couple of nicks in it to stop it blowing off.
I’ll let y’all know how it turns out in about 9 months when I get to drink it…
I’ve recorded another podcast but Wales V Ireland is on so I’ll do the last bit tomorrow evening. How to Kit – A beginners guide to your first brew. I think it’s a good one personally, your opinion may differ…
So, after the cock up that was my last brew, I decided to stock up on dried yeasts so that it didn’t happen again. I decided to go for a range of yeasts with some specific to brews I’m planning on doing soon and some for the future…
This is what I ended up with. Any suggestions for brews involving these yeasties welcomed. Help me choose the right beers for the yeast!
Chem
You may have read my post a couple days ago about my potentially failed brew, well, it seems its not as failed as I thought, and is in fact chugging along quite nicely now after the introduction of a non dead yeast…
Yep, you guessed it, the wonderful Wyeast Ringwood liquid yeast I inoculated with initially was dead. It’d been in the fridge for 8 weeks, and I honestly didn’t give it any thought at all before smacking it, and pitching it. Guess I really should have done.
Lesson Learned. Buy fresh yeast for brews you know you’ll have time to do VERY SOON, and keep a damned good stock of dried JIC.
Seems a few of the liquid yeasties were alive, and have begun making babies as I am getting a very interesting nose from the bucket which isn’t Weiss (From the MJ20 I pitched) but an estery almost floral mix…
Guess we’ll see how this one ends up, but it’s not the failure I first thought…
In the vain of Dudes recipes, I thought I’d share one of my favourites, and an absolute ever present staple of my beer arsenal…
Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Weissbier
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 23 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 31 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.036
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Original Gravity: 1.049
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV (standard): 4.93%
IBU (tinseth): 12.38
SRM (morey): 5.01
3 kg – German – Wheat Malt (56.6%)
2 kg – German – Pilsner (37.7%)
150 g – Rice Hulls (2.8%)
0.15 kg – German – Caramel Wheat (2.8%)
20 g – Hallertau Hersbrucker, 60 min, IBU: 9.08
20 g – Hallertau Hersbrucker, 10 min, IBU: 3.29
1) Sparge, Temp: 66 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 15 L
Starting Mash Thickness: 3.5 L/kg
Wyeast – Weihenstephan Weizen 3068
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 75%
Flocculation: Low
Fermentation Temp: 22 C
This comes out as a very clean, extremely close Weihenstephaner clone and a very nice weissbier. My brother in law loves the beer, so I decided to make him some for christmas, and it turned out amazing. I’ve since done another 2 batches scaled down to 10L and it doesnt hang around very long at all. Give it a shot, its Weihenstaphaner just at 30p a bottle…
Continuing the Golden Ale theme here is one that uses one of the less well know NZ hops, Wakatu, to deliver a really light and refreshing Blonde/Golden Ale, looking at the hopping schedule you would expect this to be more in the American Pale category but the Wakatu hops are very subtle and the end result was not the sort of hop bomb you might expect with that quantity of late additions. This is probably down to the noble heritage (hallertau) of this strain and the modest levels of oils they contain. My tasting notes for this brew ‘Smooth fruity taste with a zesty but mellow lime finish, clean malt profile and a light frothy mouthfeel’. The grist here is a good base for golden/pale ales generally, use different caramel/crystal malts to adjust the colour.
Batch size: 23 Litres
Brewhouse efficiency: 70%
OG: 1.041
FG: 1.008
IBUs: 37
ABV: 4.4%
4 kg Pale Ale Malt
0.35 kg Munich Malt
0.2 kg CaraGold (Or Caramalt or Light Crystal etc etc)
22g Topaz at 60 minutes (or use any clean bittering hop)
20g Wakatu at 10 minutes
50g Wakatu at 0 minutes
30g Wakatu dry hop for 5 days
US05 or consider an English strain for a more estery character
Mash at 65c
Ferment at 20c
This is a Pale Ale recipe from Australia although style wise its more of a British Golden/Pale Ale or Bitter, then again its also got American hops in so maybe its not worth trying to categorise at all! Anyway its very popular and rates extremely highly on the beersmith recipe database. I have made this as a partial mash and all grain and it’s been great both times.
Batch size: 23 Litres
Brewhouse efficiency: 80%
OG: 1.046
FG: 1.010
IBUs: 35
ABV: 4.7%
2.44 kg Pilsner Malt
0.8 kg Wheat Malt
0.8 kg Munich Malt
0.24 kg Weyermann CaraMunich II
20g Amarillo at 60 minutes
26g Amarillo at 20 minutes
26g Amarillo at 0 minutes
US05 or consider an English strain for a more estery character
Mash at 66c
Ferment at 20c
So, I went to a beer festival (the Magna Real Ale Festival in Sheffield) last saturday and ended up having a couple of pints of Why kick a Moo Cow by Arbor Ales, a very nice pint with a wonderful fruity twist and a good hoppy flavour, while avoiding my personal gripe of making them too bitter.
I tried to replicate a version of this, aimed for the right colour, had the correct hops and did a quick blast with some fairly neutral yeast but it just hasnt started bubbling yet. No Krausen, no activity of any kind…
Concerning.
I’ve pitched the only yeast I had in stock (Mental note, order more…) which was a Belgian weiss yeast, and I’m hoping this will pull it through.
Have you ever had one just not start? I havent changed a thing in my process, and the starting gravity was on point with what was expected (1.050) so I’m a little concerned that something may be wrong with my sanitation and sterilisation routine for this one…
Heres hoping the yeasties pull one back and this beer comes to fruition…
Chem
Those of you who know me, know that I ramble. My brain is working far too quick for my mouth to keep up sometimes.
I decided to utilise this and start doing some video blogs on YouTube. Just me rambling about something to do with brewing. I’m hoping that once I get the PC sorted in the shed and a decent network link, I’ll be able to have people skype in and we can do some serious podcasting and Vlogging down there.
In the meantime, check out my channel on YouTube and enjoy the ramblings of ElChemist. Please leave comments below, or on the Digital Media forum and we’ll answer them as soon as we can!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCS6K9J6oP8&lc=z13fizhbaojufj2gp04cixspepa4i5l42gk
Yeah, I know, looks crap, but I’m still working on it! Not easy when you’re daddy daycare most evenings…
Chem
Finally managed to kick the forum software into life and finally have it working. Feel free to check it out, post and let me know what you think!
I’ve also changed the layout and theme to get a more rich and immersive experience.
Let the good times roll!
Chem