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The Pol · 06-18-2008, 11:55 PM

Brewed today... 4 hours start to finish incuding cleanup. It is the Centennial Blonde that is posted here, but with Columbus hops substituting the Centennial.

Hit my OG right on at 1.039 with 77% eff.
Racked the wort onto a fresh Safale-05 yeast cake.
There is a 1" krausen at 3 hours into the ferment... nice huh!
Here are a couple pics...

BeerCanuck · 06-19-2008, 12:09 AM

I like your brewing setup The_POL
I bet its going to be a tasty batch.

Cheers
BeerCanuck

The Pol · 06-19-2008, 03:14 AM

THANKS!

I still have (1) more keg to fill, then I am going to turn my system into a HERMS system. I will keep the coolers, because they are so efficient, but I will transform my immersion chiller into a HERMS coil as well with a couple QDs. This way I can dough in, then when my sparge water hits about 153F I can start the circulation... ramp up the temp to mash out, THEN use that water at 168F as my sparge water. That will be my project for July!

The Pol · 06-19-2008, 03:23 AM

Here is the recipe! COST: $14

Style Blonde Ale Efficiency 77.00 %
Pre-boil Volume 6.80 gallons US
OG 1.039
IBU 22.6
Mash Ratio 1.25 qt/l
Post-boil Volume 5.50 gallons US
FG 1.010
SRM 4.1
Mash Time 60 min
Boil Time 60 min
Yeast Danstar Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast
ABV 3.8 %
Evaporation 1.3 gallons
Attenuation 75.00 %
Mash Schedule
Mash in with 2.4 gallons US of water at 168.4 F
Sparge with 5.4 gallons US at 170.0F to collect 6.8 gallons US
Fermentables
American Crystal 10L 0.5 lb 6.5 % 1.035/lb/gal 10 Mash
American Two-Row 6 lb 77.4 % 1.037/lb/gal 1.8 Mash
Belgian Carapils 0.75 lb 9.7 % 1.030/lb/gal 7.9 Mash
Vienna 0.5 lb 6.5 % 1.030/lb/gal 4 Mash
Totals: 7.75 pounds 100% 1.039 4.1
Hops
Name Quantity Form Alpha Stage Time
Columbus 0.12 oz Pellet 13.5 Boil 60
Columbus 0.25 oz Pellet 13.5 Boil 40
Cascade 0.25 oz Pellet 6.5 Boil 20
Cascade 0.25 oz Pellet 6.5 Boil 5
Totals: 0.88 ounces 22.6 IBU
Fermentation
Primary 7 68.0
Carbonation
CO2 Volume Presure Serving Temp
2.7 13.34 psi 38.0F

I brewed a Cream Ale last week and had a GREAT yeast cake to rack this beer onto. I kegged the Cream Ale today while I was mashing this one, and within 2 hours I had a pretty vigorous ferment! My next beer will be a nice malty red ale or my fav. summer beer, Hugh Heffe!

The Pol · 06-19-2008, 12:26 PM

There is seriously a 1.25" yeast cake on the bottom of the fermentor this morning, about 16 hours after racking on top of the yeast cake. It is still fermenting, Id expect it to be complete by the end of the day seeing as how it started about 2 hours after racking yesterday and fermented like crazy all night.

How many times have YOU reused Safale-05 before starting over? It is cheap, but man, you cannot beat the ferment you get on a big nasty yeast cake!

POL

**gwood** · 06-20-2008, 06:29 AM

The digital thermo is sweet. Any details?

Kauai_Kahuna · 06-20-2008, 11:14 AM

My limited experience with reusing yeast cakes is after the second use, take out half the cake to force the yeast to do some replication. Personally wash the first cake, then I reuse any cake only once. That has more to do with going from lighter low gravity to darker and kick your a$$ets batches.

EricCSU · 06-20-2008, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwood

The digital thermo is sweet. Any details?

+1, how is the thermo installed?

Eric

**jagg** · 06-20-2008, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricCSU

+1, how is the thermo installed?

Eric

You can get the thru the wall fitting from Northern Brewer, you just drill a hole through the cooler and tighten it up, cheap and works like a charm, hope this helps

**gwood** · 06-20-2008, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jagg

You can get the thru the wall fitting from Northern Brewer, you just drill a hole through the cooler and tighten it up, cheap and works like a charm, hope this helps

Nice. I was hoping that was the case. Thanks.