Want to brew Hob Goblin. Help required please.

I'm going to attempt to make my 2nd home brew beer today and I'd like to try your hobgoblin clone. The last time I made a home brew was a couple years ago and I used a simple n00bie kit to do it. I don't have any kind of sparging equipment etc. If you don't mind I have some questions:

How do you guys accomplish "aerating" your wort?

Is it possible to buy the specialty grains pre-crushed? I've never crushed grains before and if I had to I think the only apparatus I have for this would be my blender.

The first beer I made there was no secondary fermenter stage. Can I just make this beer in the primary fermenter (only fermenter) and leave it in for 21 days? I'd essentially combine the 1st and 2nd fermentation in the same bucket.

Is there a specific DME you use in the bottling stage?

I greatly appreciate the time and effort Orfy and everyone has put in sharing this recipe and I can't wait to taste my own compilation.

Aerating can be accomplished by using a kitchen whisk, sanitized well in your sanitizing solution, and then whisking the wort vigorously. I soak my arm in sanitizer for 30 sec before starting, to make sure i'm clean too, since I touch the wort.

You can buy grains pre-crushed from any of the major online HBSes... Austin Homebrew, Midwest, Northern Brewer, etc etc etc, or from your LHBS if they have a mill to crush them for you. Just take a copy of the recipe, printed out, in with you and you should be in good shape.

You don't have to use a secondary, I rather like my Hobgoblin in a primary for 21-28 days, then into a keg.

I usually force carbonate, or use dextrose (corn sugar) to prime in the keg, but have not used DME in the past.

phishie said:

I'm going to attempt to make my 2nd home brew beer today and I'd like to try your hobgoblin clone. The last time I made a home brew was a couple years ago and I used a simple n00bie kit to do it. I don't have any kind of sparging equipment etc. If you don't mind I have some questions:

How do you guys accomplish "aerating" your wort?

Is it possible to buy the specialty grains pre-crushed? I've never crushed grains before and if I had to I think the only apparatus I have for this would be my blender.

The first beer I made there was no secondary fermenter stage. Can I just make this beer in the primary fermenter (only fermenter) and leave it in for 21 days? I'd essentially combine the 1st and 2nd fermentation in the same bucket.

Is there a specific DME you use in the bottling stage?

I greatly appreciate the time and effort Orfy and everyone has put in sharing this recipe and I can't wait to taste my own compilation.

Click to expand...

I used to aerate by simply shaking the primary fermenter madly straight after pitching, but I have used an aquarium stone for my last couple of brews. It's as complicated a procedure as you want to make it. If you agitate the wort enough, you will aerate it sufficiently. Further aeration may be required if you do full boils.

My homebrew shop sells the grains already crushed, I have never done this myself.

I tend to use secondary, but no real fermentation takes place there, it's just a chance to take the beer off of the trub and help it to clear. It isn't essential I suppose, especially if the beer you're making is a darker brew.

I usually use cane sugar to prime the beer, since the amount involved will not affect the final flavour of the beer. I think a liitle more DME is required for the equivalent carbonation attained by sugar and it may take a little longer to carbonate.

Hope this helps, I'm a novice of less than 10 brews myself, but the above advice is what my limited experience has shown to be true.

Good luck, I was thinking of brewing the Goblin (extract and steep) within my next couple of brews.

Thanks for the updates guys, I appreciate the help.

Since my post I took a trip to the store and picked up the supplies. They didn't have any Fuggles so the guy recommended Super Styrian instead. He said the taste difference was negligible. His Styrian Goldings is only alpha 2.0% instead of the recipe's 5.0% therefore the Super Styrian would be good to offset it with a alpha 7.0%.

Also he didn't have Nottingham Yeast so he substituted a 11.5g package of Sarale S-04 Dry Ale Yeast by Fermentis. Finally, he sold me some priming sugar instead of DME for the bottle fermentation, per his recommendation.

Any thoughts on these changes? I figure the beer is going to be delicious either way.

Oh and I didn't have to worry about crushing the grains, they did it on the spot for me.

The problem with crushing grains at the shop is they won't stay fresh as long. If you're brewing fairly soon, no big deal, but don't buy pre-crushed if you're buying them in bulk and storing for many months.

Safale 04 ferments dry, like Nottingham, so this is a decent substitution. Priming sugar (corn sugar) is cheaper than DME, and isn't going to hurt anything. I don't know about Super Styrians vs. Styrian Golding. You should adjust the amount you use based on the AA%.

phishie said:

Thanks for the updates guys, I appreciate the help.

Since my post I took a trip to the store and picked up the supplies. They didn't have any Fuggles so the guy recommended Super Styrian instead. He said the taste difference was negligible. His Styrian Goldings is only alpha 2.0% instead of the recipe's 5.0% therefore the Super Styrian would be good to offset it with a alpha 7.0%.

Also he didn't have Nottingham Yeast so he substituted a 11.5g package of Sarale S-04 Dry Ale Yeast by Fermentis. Finally, he sold me some priming sugar instead of DME for the bottle fermentation, per his recommendation.

Any thoughts on these changes? I figure the beer is going to be delicious either way.

Click to expand...

Your HBS guy's substitutions were smart and thoughtful. He steered you right. Safale S-04 is a good substitute for Nottingham, and dextrose/corn sugar (priming sugar) is pretty standard and easier to deal with than DME. Did he tell you to reduce the amount of hops to compensate for the higher Alpha Acid of the Super Styrians? If not, the Bitterness Calculator at TastyBrew.com can help you match the recipe.

Good luck. Orfy's Hobgoblin recipe is excellent. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.

Chad

McGarnigle said:

The problem with crushing grains at the shop is they won't stay fresh as long. If you're brewing fairly soon, no big deal, but don't buy pre-crushed if you're buying them in bulk and storing for many months.

Safale 04 ferments dry, like Nottingham, so this is a decent substitution. Priming sugar (corn sugar) is cheaper than DME, and isn't going to hurt anything. I don't know about Super Styrians vs. Styrian Golding. You should adjust the amount you use based on the AA%.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I didn't factor Alpha % into the substitution. It's a good thing the Super Styrian is 7.0% as that puts might relatively close. I get 5.58 effective grams in the substitute recipes vs. 6.2 in the original. My final result is quickly becoming a 2nd cousin of the original.

Chad said:

Your HBS guy's substitutions were smart and thoughtful. He steered you right. Safale S-04 is a good substitute for Nottingham, and dextrose/corn sugar (priming sugar) is pretty standard and easier to deal with than DME. Did he tell you to reduce the amount of hops to compensate for the higher Alpha Acid of the Super Styrians? If not, the Bitterness Calculator at TastyBrew.com can help you match the recipe.

Good luck. Orfy's Hobgoblin recipe is excellent. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.

Chad

Click to expand...

Ah I wasn't aware of the "Bitterness Calculator". I get 1608.9 in the substitute recipe vs 1698.3 in the original. Not sure how significant the ~90 point difference is but I bet they both taste great.

Chriso said:

Aerating can be accomplished by using a kitchen whisk, sanitized well in your sanitizing solution, and then whisking the wort vigorously. I soak my arm in sanitizer for 30 sec before starting, to make sure i'm clean too, since I touch the wort.

You can buy grains pre-crushed from any of the major online HBSes... Austin Homebrew, Midwest, Northern Brewer, etc etc etc, or from your LHBS if they have a mill to crush them for you. Just take a copy of the recipe, printed out, in with you and you should be in good shape.

You don't have to use a secondary, I rather like my Hobgoblin in a primary for 21-28 days, then into a keg.

I usually force carbonate, or use dextrose (corn sugar) to prime in the keg, but have not used DME in the past.

Click to expand...

The LHBS guy mentioned I shouldn't leave the fermenting wort in the primary fermenter for longer than 2 weeks. He said something about oxidation if I left it longer. Is this because I use a starter plastic bucket for my primary fermenter, do you have special apparatus to primary ferment for 21-28 days?

phishie said:

The LHBS guy mentioned I shouldn't leave the fermenting wort in the primary fermenter for longer than 2 weeks. He said something about oxidation if I left it longer. Is this because I use a starter plastic bucket for my primary fermenter, do you have special apparatus to primary ferment for 21-28 days?

Click to expand...

You can leave your brew in a plastic fermenter for longer than 2 weeks with no problems. If you don't plan on using a secondary leave it in there for 3 or 4 weeks, then bottle it up. It would take months in the primary to even have a slight chance of getting ruined.

phishie said:

I've never crushed grains before and if I had to I think the only apparatus I have for this would be my blender.

Click to expand...

Glad your LHBS was able to crush them for you, I also get mine crushed there, but if I had to, I'd imagine just putting them in a large ziplock and rolling them with a rolling pin would be sufficient (as long as it's just specialty grains and not base malts for AG or Mini mashing). A blender would probably pulverize them a little more than you would want.

Alright so 20 hours in and things are looking alright. I've got the fermenting bucket in 8-10 inches of cool water with some frozen water bottles maintaining a temp of 18-21C. Only thing is: no fermentation bubbles.

I know this is considered a weak indicator, but it still worries me. I pitched the dry yeast without soaking it, shouldn't be a big deal right? Also, I swirled the wort around more than a few times with a sani'd spoon after pitching.

If I stick my nose up to the C02 valve it smells like great chocolately-hoppy brew so I have hope. I guess my question is, anyone who's brewed Hob Goblin before; is this typical? Should I raise the temp above 21C to get the yeast chompin' down?

I've been doing some more reading and I keep finding people who add their hops in a bag. With the Hob Goblin I added hops at the start, 30 min in, and when I took it off the heat at 60 min. I strained the wort when I transfered it to the primary fermenter but all the hops (pellet form) were added straight to the wort sans a bag. For future reference should I have used a hops bag for this brewing?

Personal preference. You are right, they are right, we're all right.