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lhommedieu · 02-02-2013, 02:38 PM

btw, Thanks for the Gordon Strong reference. I just finished the first chapter on technique in Brewing Better Beer, wherein is the discussion of adding dark grains during the lauter and also some discussion of late hopping. There is also a little tidbit, almost buried in the text, about how Fuller's makes different beers from different runnings from the same mash. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book. Terry Foster's Pale Ale is on the way from Amazon.

As I like this style I think that I will continue to brew it through the summer, and make small changes to my recipe above in order to explore their effects.

I've got BrewSmith but I think I'll also work through the math as explained in the first chapter of Designing Great Beers to see how my recipe works from the ground up.

Thank you again for your help.

Best,

Steve

lhommedieu · 03-03-2013, 03:40 PM

I brewed my first AG about two weeks ago. The beer has been sitting in a 6.5 gallon carboy for 12 days (not counting today). I put it in a chest freezer and set the temperature regulator for 67 degrees F. Fermentation has been steady but not vigorous; I can see activity on surface and the blow-off bottle still registers about 2-3 bubbles a minute - but fermentation has definitely slowed since last week.

I ended up adding 4 oz. of 120 Caramel Malt during the sparge as per the discussion above. I'm not sure if it made a difference but the color is where I wanted it and it tastes really good. OG was 1.046 and my last two FG readings have been 1.015 and 1.014, respectively, over the past two days.

I probably rushed pitching the yeast (end of a long day) and I am wondering if I should have pitched more yeast? I used a Wyeast "London Ale" smack pack but didn't let it sit for more than half a day. Next time I'l do a starter as BeerSmith calculates that you need 2 million or so cells and the smack pack lists 1 million.

Since my estimated FG is 1.011, should I leave it in the carboy for another week (I am generally out on the Island on weekends, which keeps me from fiddling with my beer, lol)?

OR

Would be it advisable to add more yeast at this point?

Best,

Steve

Edit: I should have also mentioned: Mash temperature was 152 degrees for 1 hour; no mash out; fly sparge at 168 degrees for about an hour. Boil was 90 minutes.

**PhelanKA7** · 03-03-2013, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lhommedieu

I brewed my first AG about two weeks ago. The beer has been sitting in a 6.5 gallon carboy for 12 days (not counting today). I put it in a chest freezer and set the temperature regulator for 67 degrees F. Fermentation has been steady but not vigorous; I can see activity on surface and the blow-off bottle still registers about 2-3 bubbles a minute - but fermentation has definitely slowed since last week.

I ended up adding 4 oz. of 120 Caramel Malt during the sparge as per the discussion above. I'm not sure if it made a difference but the color is where I wanted it and it tastes really good. OG was 1.046 and my last two FG readings have been 1.015 and 1.014, respectively, over the past two days.

I probably rushed pitching the yeast (end of a long day) and I am wondering if I should have pitched more yeast? I used a Wyeast "London Ale" smack pack but didn't let it sit for more than half a day. Next time I'l do a starter as BeerSmith calculates that you need 2 million or so cells and the smack pack lists 1 million.

Since my estimated FG is 1.011, should I leave it in the carboy for another week (I am generally out on the Island on weekends, which keeps me from fiddling with my beer, lol)?

OR

Would be it advisable to add more yeast at this point?

Best,

Steve

You could try warming it up to 72-75 degrees for a couple of days then checking your gravity for 3 days in a row. If it still doesn't change after 3 days you are finished. 1.014 is an acceptable FG for ESB to be sure.

**ajf** · 03-03-2013, 06:45 PM

If the gravity has dropped one point over the past two days, I would definitely leave it in the carboy for at least one more week. As the gravity is still dropping, I don't see any point in adding more yeast.

-a.

lhommedieu · 03-03-2013, 07:52 PM

Thanks for your responses. Back again in 5 days; I'll take another gravity reading then...

lhommedieu · 03-09-2013, 07:45 PM

FG = 1.012. Looking good...

Thanks for your responses.

lhommedieu · 03-22-2013, 01:56 AM

Just an update: FG was 1.011.

The beer has been carbonating for about a week in the keg. I've drawn about 3 pints. First one was a little yeasty as you might expect but the next was clear and the third, a few days later, is clear and bright. I'm drinking it as I type.

The color was a bit darker than I wanted, and I think that, the next time, I'll just use one caramel malt instead of using Caramel 60 and Caramel 120. I was aiming for a copper color and what I got instead was a dark copper starting to verge on brown. I didn't use finings so the beer is a little hazy but that doesn't really matter to me as it's a house beer.

You can taste the hops but they are not nearly as strong as an IPA - there is a hop flavor under the malt, which is what I wanted. No hop aroma, really.

Flavor is excellent. This is a beer I could enjoy all night long. I had a couple of Fuller's London Pride ales earlier this evening and it compares very well. I would have to say that Fuller's strikes a clean balance between hops and malt, whereas in my beer the body is fuller and the malt predominates. I think that it will hit it's peak within a couple of weeks, at which point I'll have some friends over to celebrate.

Thanks again for your forbearance and excellent advice.

Best,

Steve