Today is a re-brew of batch 29. Changes in today’s version include:
- Crisp Maris Otter in place of the Thomas Fawcett & Sons Halcyon malt
- Simpson’s Roasted Barley (550L) in place of the Briess Black Barley (500L) — I thought I ordered Crisp Roasted Barley (695L) but that’s not what my records show
- Re-pitching the Wyeast 1469-PC West Yorkshire Ale yeast from batch 31 in place of the Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale
- Single Infusion Mash in place of the Double Infusion Mash skipping the protein rest.
- As with batch 31, I am going to be using a low vigor boil — medium heat seemed to work fairly well
Note for next time: Gretchen pointed out the flaker marks on the flaked barley just like the ones she gets when she flakes oats for our oatmeal. We got a sack of barley from a local farmer to try our hand at malting, but we could use it directly just by running a pound of it through our flaker.
8:22 I am getting a slow start today. I set up the brewery last night, but have not managed to get myself going this morning. I have yet to measure out my strike water or crush my grains.
8:45 The strike water is measured out and heating. I still have the sparge water to do, but I wanted to get the grain crushed.
9:01 The grains are crushed.
9:16 The kettle strike water temperature is 174.5 °F.
9:17 Transferring the kettle strike water to the mash tun.
9:24 The strike water stabilized at 162 °F.
9:27 I am going to boil some of the strike water from the mash tun to try to get the strike temperature up to about 165 °F.
9:31 I boiled about 1½ quarts and it brought it up one degree.
9:39 Boiling another 2 quarts brought it up to 164.7 °F. That’s close enough. Making the same adjustment to the kettle strike water would have been 177.2 °F before the transfer.
9:46 The grain and the mash salts are in the tun and mashing.
9:48 The boil salts are in the boil kettle.
9:56 The mash has stabilized at 154.5 °F.
10:45 The mash is complete. The final mash temperature is 154 °F with a volume of about 6⅓ gallons. Proceeding to vorlauf and latter.
10:48 Regarding the elimination of the protein rest, for the first time ever, I appear to have a stuck mash.
10:50 Blowing back through the drain hose cleared the stoppage.
10:51 Lautering.
10:58 Lauter is complete. Collected 3¾ gallons.
11:00 Sparging. Sparge water temperature is 174.5 °F.
11:02 The temperature of the sparge stabilized at 163.3 °F. Proceeding to vorlauf and sparge.
11:03 The gravity of the first runnings is 1.052 SG (1.043 SG at 113 °F).
11:06 TBSL
11:11 Sparge is complete. Final collected volume is 7⅛ gallons, so the second runnings were 3⅜ gallons.
11:16 The flame is on and heating the wort to a boil.
11:23 Dumped the spent grains on the compost pile and rinsed the mash tun.
11:24 The gravity of the second runnings is 1.018 SG (1.010 SG at 109 °F).
11:43 Boiling. Waiting for hot break to subside.
11:48 Hot break has subsided. Reducing heat to a hair below medium. Adding bittering hops. The gravity of the first runnings is 1.034 SG (1.033 SG at 67 °F). The target was 1.036 SG.
12:35 Immersion chiller, yeast nutrient, and Irish Moss are in.
1:32 Chilled. Original gravity is 1.039 SG (1.038 at 71 °F). Target was 1.042 SG. Original gravity volume is 6 gallons. I stirred to create a whirlpool and put the cover on. I’m going to take a break and have a beer. I’ll come back later and drain the wort into a carboy.
Left over stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy for lunch. A shaker of “Hey, Zeus!” to wash it down.
Once again, the afternoon was a blur. Pitched and heading for 65 °F.
Monday Morning (11/28) There is a thin layer of yeast forming. Some CO₂ generation. Temperature is 65 °F.
Update (12/10) After about a week, when active fermentation was clearly over, I began increasing the temperature at about 1 °F per day. This morning, I moved the fermenter into the refrigerator to drop the yeast. The current gravity is 1.014 SG (6 °Brix). That gives an ADF of 64% and an ABV of 3.3%.
Update (12/17) Final gravity is 1.011 SG. That gives and ADF of 72% and an ABV of 3.7%. That’s just inside the style window for the FG, but the ABV is a bit low. Still, they hydrometer sample tastes good (if light). I cannot wait until it is carbonated.
Update (2/13) Kicked.