Brewday : Fat Rabbit IPA

Made up a beer today, due to the fact I have over a kilo of mixed Challenger/Redsell's Eastwell Goldings hops all bagged up I decided to do a big hopped IPA hence the name Fat Rabbit (Big Hopped)

At the same time I thought I would give the BeerSmith software a trial as version 2 now supports BIAB. I started out doing a SmAsH beer (Single Malt & Single Hop), but I wanted a bit more colour to the beer so added a little black and crystal malt bringing the EBC value to around 20.

The BeerSmith software is quite easy to used so I banged in the grain bill to make up a IPA at around 6% ABV, added the hops in pretty much a hap hazard way to give me quite a high bitterness value and ended up with the recipe you see below apart from where it just says Challenger it is in fact my Challenger/Goldings mix.

Fat Rabbit IPA

English IPA (14 A)

Created with BeerSmith

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 23.00 l
Boil Size: 34.49 l
Boil Time: 90 min
End of Boil Vol: 27.23 l
Final Bottling Vol: 21.60 l
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage

Date: 16 Sep 2014
Brewer:  Simon
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: Electric Urn (10 Gal/40 L) - BIAB
Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.7 %
Taste Rating: 30.0

Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
6.90 kg	Pale Ale (Crisp) (7.9 EBC)	Grain	1	98.6 %
0.07 kg	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (157.6 EBC)	Grain	2	1.0 %
0.03 kg	Black (Patent) Malt (985.0 EBC)	Grain	3	0.4 %
50.00 g	Challenger [7.50 %] - First Wort 90.0 min	Hop	4	42.2 IBUs
10.00 g	Challenger [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min	Hop	5	7.2 IBUs
10.00 g	Challenger [7.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min	Hop	6	5.5 IBUs
1 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	7	-
25.00 g	Challenger [7.50 %] - Cube Hop	Hop	8	3.3 IBUs

Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.020 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.2 %
Bitterness: 58.1 IBUs
Est Color: 19.1 EBC

Measured Original Gravity: 1.058 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.3 %

Calories: 543.1 kcal/l

Mash Profile

Mash Name: BIAB, Full Body
Sparge Water: -0.00 l
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Total Grain Weight: 7.00 kg
Grain Temperature: 18.0 C
Tun Temperature: 22.2 C
Mash PH: 5.20

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Saccharification	Add 34.77 l of water at 73.5 C	68.9 C	90 min
Mash Out	Heat to 75.6 C over 7 min	75.6 C	10 min

Mash Notes: Brew in a bag method where the full boil volume is mashed within the boil vessel and then the grains are withdrawn at the end of the mash. No active sparging is required. This is a full body beer profile.

 

My Notes

The BeerSmith software was bang on with the volumes of water I needed for the Mash, it suggested I needed 34.771 litres of water in the Boiler before I added the grains, I added 35 litres just for ease of measuring. It left me with hardly any dead-space after the grains where rained into the hot water for the Mash.

Did my usual 90 min Mash with a stir at the 45 min stage with a quick reheat to get the temperature back to 66'C as it had dropped to 65'C at that point.

After lifting the grain bag at the end of the Mash, BeerSmith said I needed to add water to make the Pre-Boil volume 34.49 litres so I did pretty much as I was told and added 3 litres of water which the brought my Pre-Boil volume back up to 35 litres.

I checked my Pre-Boil SG and it was bang on what BeerSmith said it would be 1.051. So far so good.

Chucked in my FWH (50g) and got on with the boil. After the boil was done and the Hops all added , turned off the heat and whirlpooled and let the Wort settle for 10 min then drained the Wort from the boiler onto 25g of hops in the No-Chill cube.

This is where I don't understand the BeerSmith figures, as BeerSmith says that I should of had a Post Boil Vol of 27.23 litres and a SG of 1.067 ? Well 1.067 would give me a a AVB of around 7.5% but my measured SG post-boil was 1.058 which is pretty much where it should be to hit a 6% ABV beer so I'm not quite sure where BeerSmith got those figures from as on the Design Tab it reads at 6.2% ABV.

Yet the Post-Boil volume was quite close, 27.23 litres was the BeerSmith value, and when I transferred the Hot Wort into the No-Chill cube it came up to the 25 litre mark, so 2.23 litres different. Well I added a bit more water post-boil, to that bring the discrepancy down to  about 1.7 litres and with the 70g of Hops soaking up a fair bit I reckon it's pretty much bang on.

I'll have to do some research into the post-boil SG's and Pre-Boil SG's in BeerSmith.

Right now the Sweet Wort is sat in the No-Chill cube ready for when I get a chance to ferment it into Beer

Fermenting: Boddingtons Mild aka (House Mild)

Well I did have to much Wort after all, about a litre to much to fit into the 25 ltr fermenting bin, I filled the bucket up as much as I dare quite a bit over the 23 litre mark on the side, I know this is going to make a right old mess in the fermentation fridge once it starts fermenting.

I've used Danstar Nottingham ale yeast for this brew as I had a packet handy that needed to be used. This yeast needs to be hydrated before use in 100ml of water at 30-35'C for 15 minutes.

This gave me time to transfer the Wort from the No-Chill cube into the fermenting bucket, via a sieve to catch the Cube Hops that might escape. (Fuggle Flowers (4%AA) @ 10 grams and 13 days in the No-Cube)

The SG of the wort is at 1032, and the Nottingham ale yeast should bring it down to around 1008 giving a nice lighter ABV of 3%, ideal for a session beer. A English Mild should be around the 3-3.6% ABV anyway so it hits the Beer profile just nice.

The  Boddingtons Mild  is now in the Fermentation fridge,  I have set the Temperature on the controler for 21'C to give the Yeast a good start and then after 24 hours I'll reduce this to 18'C for the rest of the fermentation.

This is the first time I have used the Fermentation fridge so I have a second temperature sensor measuring the values of the air in the fridge, and the temperature controller temperature sensor is strapped the the side of the bucket at it's half way point,under a polystyrene disk. At the moment there is a 1'C difference between the two readings.

According to the website for this yeast it's happy with temperatures between 14° to 21°C (57° to 70°F)

And just checking the temp readings now, the Fermenting bucket sensor is at 21°C and the Fridge sensor is at 22°C so I am quite happy with that for the moment.

So thus far, things I need to do for the next brewday is reduce the settings in the Brew Software so I don't make quite as much Sweet Wort. So not too much to change to get things almost bang on. Happy Days!!

Brewday : Old Grumpy Hen (Old Speckled Hen Clone) BIAB

BIABacus Pre-Release 1.3K RECIPE REPORT
BIAB Recipe Designer, Calculator and Scaler.
(Please visit www.biabrewer.info for the latest version.)

Old Grumpy Hen

Recipe Overview

Brewer: Simon Scott
Style: English Pale Ale
Source Recipe Link:
ABV: 4.5% (assumes any priming sugar used is diluted.)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.05
IBU's (Tinseth): 36.8
Bitterness to Gravity Ratio: 0.74
Colour: 21.8 EBC = 11.1 SRM

Kettle Efficiency (as in EIB and EAW): 84.1 %
Efficiency into Fermentor (EIF): 75.8 %

Note: This is a Pure BIAB (Full Volume Mash)

Times and Temperatures

Mash: 90 mins at 66 C = 150.8 F
Boil: 90 min
Ferment: 10 days at 17 C = 62.6 F

Volumes & Gravities

(Note that VAW below is the Volume at Flame-Out (VFO) less shrinkage.)
The, "Clear Brewing Terminology," thread at http://www.biabrewer.info/

Total Water Needed (TWN): 18.42 L = 4.87 G
Volume into Boil (VIB): 17.48 L = 4.62 G @ 1.04
Volume of Ambient Wort (VAW): 13.32 L = 3.52 G @ 1.05
Volume into Fermentor (VIF): 12 L = 3.17 G @ 1.05
Volume into Packaging (VIP): 11.11 L = 2.94 G @ 1.015 assuming apparent attenuation of 70 %

The Grain Bill (Also includes extracts, sugars and adjuncts)

Note: If extracts, sugars or adjuncts are not followed by an exclamation mark, go to www.biabrewer.info (needs link)

79.4% Golden Promise  (4.5 EBC = 2.3 SRM)   2049 grams = 4.52 pounds
8% Crystal Malt (150 EBC = 76.1 SRM)   206 grams = 0.45 pounds
12% Brewing Sugar (0.01 EBC = 0 SRM)   309 grams = 0.68 pounds!
0.6% Black Malt (1160 EBC = 588.8 SRM)   16 grams = 0.03 pounds

The Hop Bill

34.1 IBU Challenger Flowers (8.16%AA)  22.6 grams = 0.797 ounces at  90 mins
2.7 IBU Goldings Flowers (5.69%AA)  7.5 grams = 0.266 ounces CUBE HOP (or 10 mins)

Mash Steps

Mash Type: Pure BIAB (Full-Volume Mash)   for 90 mins at 66 C = 150.8 F

Miscellaneous Ingredients

3 g Irish Moss (Boil) 15 Mins - Clarity

Chilling & Hop Management Methods

Whirlpool: 15 mins after boil end.

Conclusion 

Well today I attempted to brew a Old Speckled Hen clone beer from Brew Your Own British Real Ale Book by Graham Wheeler using the BIABacus spreadsheet.

The brewday went okay really, the boiler using the BIABacus was pretty much full to the brim, so I'm happy with the way it works out the volumes pre boil.

I lost 1'C over the full 90 minute Mash time which wasn't bad, with 15 minutes towards the end of the 90 minute Mash the temperature dropped to 65'C

I added the brewing sugar at the end of the mash, seemed silly to lose the extra ABV by getting it all soaked up in the grain bill.

The SG before the boil came in at 1.040, with the sugar added. BIABacus estimated 1.039 so pretty bang on so far. BIABacus gave me a pre boil volume of 17.5 litres but I was unable to measure this volume at this point (must get a metal ruler at some point)

Boiled the Sweet Wort for the 90 minutes but lost more in evaporation than BIABacus estimated as by the end of  the boil and transfer into the No-Chill Cube I ended up with 10 litres instead of the expected 12 litres, but with a slightly higher gravity at 1.058, so with 1.5 litres of water added to the fermentor when I come to add the yeast, that will give me a final fermentation volume of 11.5 litres at 1.050 so pretty dam close if ya ask me. 

Due to the fact I No-Chill my Worts before fermenting, the 10 minute addition has been added directly into the No-Chill cube to allow for the hops sitting at a higher temperature for longer.

I hope to start fermenting this in the next few days, with yeast recovered from a bottle of Fullers 1845, if it is viable when I make up a starter. (if it is viable I'll blog how I recovered it from the bottle of beer)

Brewday: Chinook APA (BIAB+No-Chill)

Well the first brew in the Brewshed. It didn't go quite as planned, as my nice NEW digital temperature gauge I found to be faulty after I finished the brewday.

.

Chinook APA American Pale Ale

---

Recipe Specs

Original Gravity	Final Gravity	Colour (SRM / EBC)	Bitterness	Alcohol by Volume
1.043	1.011	8.5 / 16.7	46.7 IBU	4.2%

Brewhouse Specs

Recipe Type	Batch Size	Boil Time	Efficiency
All Grain	12.0 Litres / 3.2 Gal	90.0 min	60.0%

Fermentables

Name	Type	SRM	Percentage	Amount
Golden Promise Malt	Grain	3.0	95.24 %	2.60 Kg / 5.73 Lbs
Crystal 80	Grain	80.0	4.76 %	0.13 Kg / 0.29 Lbs

Hops

Name	AA%	Amount	Use	Time
Chinook	12.5%	10.00 g / 0.35 oz	First Wort	90 mins
Chinook	12.5%	10.00 g / 0.35 oz	Boil	15 mins
Chinook	12.5%	10.00 g / 0.35 oz	Dry Hop	3 days
Chinook	12.5%	10.00 g / 0.35 oz	Dry Hop	3 days

Misc

Name	Amount	Use	Time
Irish Moss	3.00 g / 0.11 oz	Boil	15 mins

Yeast

Name	Attenuation
Safeale S-04	75 %

Mash Steps

Step Name	Time	Temperature	Type
Saccharification Rest	90.0 min	66.0 °C / 150.8 °F	Infusion

NotesRecipe Generated with BrewMate


Got all my grains and water sorted the night before.

So this morning all I had to do was weigh out the Hops that have been sitting in the freezer for a long long time. The Chinook hops where 2011 harvest so they needed using as soon as possible. They still smell good though.

Got the water on to boil, about 16 litres at a guess. I really need to sort out a measurement for the strike water next time. So that was a mistake on this run that next time I'll fix.











Got the hops measured out and ready, FWH and Boil, and the Cube Hops all ready to be added when needed

Then on with the brewday as normal. Rained in the grains at a Strike temperature of 72'C, this brought the temperature down to 68'C, then mashed for 90 minutes, with a stir at the 45 minute mark.

The temperature at the 45 minute mark was at 67'C, then this is where I think the temperature gauge then had a hissy fit and died, because at the end of the Mash the temperature had risen to 70'C???

I didn't really think much of it at the time so I just carried on with the brewday using a now faulty temperature gauge.

Did a mash out at 77'C (maybe) and let the grains steep at this temperature for 10 minutes. Lifted the grains out and ran some hot water through them about 1.7 litres to try and get as much sweet wort as possible.

Then hung the BIAB bag over the boiler to let the wort run out.

Decided at this point to leave it there while the Wort went through the boil. Not sure if this is a good thing to do or not.

Checked the SG of the Wort and it came in at 1046 at 40'C ( maybe, faulty temp gauge!! ) so 1053 corrected.

Chucked in the FWH addition 10g of old Chinook and set the boiler to max, it took around 20 minutes or so to get to a good boil.

Twenty minutes before the end of the boil, I squeezed as much Wort out of the BIAB bag as possible, and put the spent grains to one side.

Added the 15 minute Hop addition along with the Irish Moss.

Once the boil was complete, a good whirlpool and a rest for the Wort to settle out the hot break material. I left it 15 minutes in total and the Wort temperature may have been around 85'C, but I can't be sure now.

Tested the SG of the Bitter Wort and it came in at 1070 at 25'C or 1072 temperature corrected.

Then transferred the Wort to the No-Chill cube with 10g of Chinook hops ready inside the Cube. Got a grand total of 7 litres of wort out of the boiler, which has to be my worst and lowest amount yet.





The Wort is now sitting in the Cube ready for fermentation at a later date.

I'll be adding 4 liters of water to the wort when I ferment it to give me a SG of 1043 and also Dry Hop with more Chinook, which will hopefully end up with a Hoppy 4% ABV beer and around the 20 bottles mark.


I still need to decide what weight of  hops to Dry Hop with and for how long. I will make my mind up on that when I start to ferment this brew. It will probably be around the 10g mark, doing a Hop Teabag. But I might add more. I'll decide on the day.

Planning: Chinook APA (BIAB)

Found some Chinook 12.5% AA hops in the bottom of the freezer and I haven't made up a BIAB beer for a while so thought I would do a single hop beer with the Chinook.



From beeradvocate.com
Chinook is a bittering variety with aroma characteristics released in May, 1985. It was bred by crossing a Petham Golding with the USDA 63012 male.

A high alpha acid hop with a wonderful herbal, almost smoky character when used as an aromatic during the last few minutes of the boil when dry hoping. Excellent for hopping American-style Pale Ales, especially those brewed to higher gravities. (alpha acid: 12.0-14.0% / beta acid: 3.0-4.0%)

My proposed Recipe:

Chinook APA American Pale Ale

---

Recipe Specs

Original Gravity	Final Gravity	Colour (SRM / EBC)	Bitterness	Alcohol by Volume
1.050	1.013	8.5 / 16.7	43.1 IBU	4.8%

Brewhouse Specs

Recipe Type	Batch Size	Boil Time	Efficiency
All Grain	12.0 Litres / 3.2 Gal	90.0 min	70.0%

Fermentables

Name	Type	SRM	Percentage	Amount
Golden Promise Malt	Grain	3.0	95.24 %	2.60 Kg / 5.73 Lbs
Crystal 80	Grain	80.0	4.76 %	0.13 Kg / 0.29 Lbs

Hops

Name	AA%	Amount	Use	Time
Chinook	12.5%	10.00 g / 0.35 oz	First Wort	90 mins
Chinook	12.5%	5.00 g / 0.18 oz	Boil	15 mins
Chinook	12.5%	5.00 g / 0.18 oz	Boil	5 mins
Chinook	12.5%	10.00 g / 0.35 oz	Dry Hop	3 days

Misc

Name	Amount	Use	Time
Whirlfloc Tablet	1.00 g / 0.04 oz	Boil	15 mins

Yeast

Name	Attenuation
Safeale S-04	75 %

Mash Steps

Step Name	Time	Temperature	Type
Saccharification Rest	90.0 min	66.0 °C / 150.8 °F	Infusion

NotesRecipe Generated with BrewMate


Download the Brewmate Recipe File

The plan is to make up this beer and No-Chill it, so I may still need to move the hop schedules around. Alot of No-Chillers use the chart below.

So I may move the 15min and the 5min hop additions directly to the cube to allow for the No-Chill system of cooling. I'm still trying to get my head around the No-Chill side of Aroma and Flavour. In fact the chart above does tend to confuse me quite a bit sometimes.

As long as the beer is drinkable that's what it's all about.

Any advice on this brew would be appreciated before I dive in and make it.