Kleggo
Active Member
This post is a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed information for the common good. There is so much gold on this site that taking the first few steps have been relatively stress free. I hope that I'll be able to add some value here after cutting my teeth. In relating my journey, if I'm way off base, nudge me back on track. I'm here to learn and grow as a home brewer.
The journey.....
After 3 years of saying "I should try brewing beer", I took the plunge (after moving to Oregon, I really had no other choice
) and visited my LHBS for a starter kit, inclusive of liquid extract ingredients for an American amber, which is currently conditioning in bottles. Right now, it tastes pretty bad, and I know I made some foobars (pitched yeast at a high temp - 80, letting it ferment above 81 without realizing it, and under-hopping). I think it'll turn out OK in a couple weeks. If nothing else, I've learned to RDWHAHB, or micro-brew for now.
I quickly became infatuated with all-grain, as I knew that would offer me the ability to control the end product more so than extract. I found a 15 gallon mash tun on CL that used CPVC piping for the drain/filter mechanism, plunked down my $22 for BeerSmith, and put together an AG recipe for an ESB, shooting for a Bass Ale clone. This is currently in secondary, dry-hopped and tastes wonderful. I'm hooked.
In the past couple weeks, thanks to this site, I've built a stir-plate, an immersion chiller (tested taking boiling water down to 70 in 9 minutes), and replaced the mash tun CPVC pipes with copper, since I didn't feel comfortable with all the jagged edges inside the CPVC, thinking they'd make great homes for a family of nasties. I've also washed and harvested 3 jars of yeast from the ESB (WLP005).
I only got 65% efficiency on the ESB, and I'm hoping to up that to 70%+ on batch #3. I plan to inspect the LHBS mill a bit more closely and double crush if the grain looks too intact.
Currently, I'm using a dual brew kettle setup, with a 5 gallon pot alongside a 3 gallon pot. It's not ideal, especially because I'm indoors, but on an induction range which is quite efficient at heating. I think the next step is to invest in a larger brew kettle so I can boil everything in one pot. I'm not sure the induction range will be able to effectively heat 7 gallons in one pot, though.
My next brew (#3) is going to be a Ninkasi Tricerahops clone. The OG is projected to be 1.081, so I plan to make a yeast starter and invest in an aeration system. Aside from these improvements, does anyone have any suggestions on either the technique, equipment, or recipe? Here is the recipe I've cobbled together. Thanks to Pietro75 for the inspiration.
Recipe: Tripahops (Tricerahops clone)
Brewer: Kleggo
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.04 gal
Estimated OG: 1.081 SG
Estimated FG: 1.018 FG
Estimated ABV: 8.25%
Estimated Color: 13.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 128.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (3Grain 61.54 %
2.00 lb Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (3.0 SRM) Grain 12.31 %
1.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.23 %
1.00 lb Honey Malt (17.5 SRM) Grain 6.15 %
0.75 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 4.62 %
0.50 lb Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain 3.08 %
1.00 oz Citra [13.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Citra [13.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Summit [18.00 %] (60 min) Hops 56.4 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (50 min) Hops 8.2 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [13.50 %] (50 min) Hops 18.1 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [13.50 %] (30 min) Hops 14.6 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [13.50 %] (20 min) Hops 11.5 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [13.50 %] (10 min) Hops 6.9 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.7 IBU
1.00 oz Summit [18.00 %] (5 min) Hops 11.2 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma HopHops -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SteepHops -
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Misc
0.25 lb Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 1.54 %
0.25 lb Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 1.54 %
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [StartYeast-Ale
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 15.75 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 19.69 qt of water at 169.6 F 154.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 11.03 qt of water at 198.4 F 168.0 F
I'm wondering if I should add the sugar to the boil or after primary fermentation has kicked off. Also, I'm looking for feedback on whether some of the hops should be FWH. I'm doing a 90 minute boil to concentrate the wort.
The journey.....
After 3 years of saying "I should try brewing beer", I took the plunge (after moving to Oregon, I really had no other choice
) and visited my LHBS for a starter kit, inclusive of liquid extract ingredients for an American amber, which is currently conditioning in bottles. Right now, it tastes pretty bad, and I know I made some foobars (pitched yeast at a high temp - 80, letting it ferment above 81 without realizing it, and under-hopping). I think it'll turn out OK in a couple weeks. If nothing else, I've learned to RDWHAHB, or micro-brew for now.I quickly became infatuated with all-grain, as I knew that would offer me the ability to control the end product more so than extract. I found a 15 gallon mash tun on CL that used CPVC piping for the drain/filter mechanism, plunked down my $22 for BeerSmith, and put together an AG recipe for an ESB, shooting for a Bass Ale clone. This is currently in secondary, dry-hopped and tastes wonderful. I'm hooked.
In the past couple weeks, thanks to this site, I've built a stir-plate, an immersion chiller (tested taking boiling water down to 70 in 9 minutes), and replaced the mash tun CPVC pipes with copper, since I didn't feel comfortable with all the jagged edges inside the CPVC, thinking they'd make great homes for a family of nasties. I've also washed and harvested 3 jars of yeast from the ESB (WLP005).
I only got 65% efficiency on the ESB, and I'm hoping to up that to 70%+ on batch #3. I plan to inspect the LHBS mill a bit more closely and double crush if the grain looks too intact.
Currently, I'm using a dual brew kettle setup, with a 5 gallon pot alongside a 3 gallon pot. It's not ideal, especially because I'm indoors, but on an induction range which is quite efficient at heating. I think the next step is to invest in a larger brew kettle so I can boil everything in one pot. I'm not sure the induction range will be able to effectively heat 7 gallons in one pot, though.
My next brew (#3) is going to be a Ninkasi Tricerahops clone. The OG is projected to be 1.081, so I plan to make a yeast starter and invest in an aeration system. Aside from these improvements, does anyone have any suggestions on either the technique, equipment, or recipe? Here is the recipe I've cobbled together. Thanks to Pietro75 for the inspiration.
Recipe: Tripahops (Tricerahops clone)
Brewer: Kleggo
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.04 gal
Estimated OG: 1.081 SG
Estimated FG: 1.018 FG
Estimated ABV: 8.25%
Estimated Color: 13.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 128.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (3Grain 61.54 %
2.00 lb Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (3.0 SRM) Grain 12.31 %
1.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.23 %
1.00 lb Honey Malt (17.5 SRM) Grain 6.15 %
0.75 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 4.62 %
0.50 lb Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain 3.08 %
1.00 oz Citra [13.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Citra [13.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Summit [18.00 %] (60 min) Hops 56.4 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (50 min) Hops 8.2 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [13.50 %] (50 min) Hops 18.1 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [13.50 %] (30 min) Hops 14.6 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [13.50 %] (20 min) Hops 11.5 IBU
0.50 oz Citra [13.50 %] (10 min) Hops 6.9 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.7 IBU
1.00 oz Summit [18.00 %] (5 min) Hops 11.2 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma HopHops -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SteepHops -
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Misc
0.25 lb Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 1.54 %
0.25 lb Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 1.54 %
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [StartYeast-Ale
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 15.75 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 19.69 qt of water at 169.6 F 154.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 11.03 qt of water at 198.4 F 168.0 F
I'm wondering if I should add the sugar to the boil or after primary fermentation has kicked off. Also, I'm looking for feedback on whether some of the hops should be FWH. I'm doing a 90 minute boil to concentrate the wort.
