Marvel Banale Belgian Pale Ale from How to Brew by Palmer.
Substituted Centennial for Triskel and Tettnanger for Aramis (because I couldn't easily get my hands on Triskel or Aramis)
5.4 gallons in the fermentor
Batch Sparge
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67%
Target OG: 1.052
Actual OG: 1.058
1) I decided to try an early brew day, so I awoke at 5am, poured a cup of coffee, and started heating my strike water. On the night before, I collected my strike and sparge water and made sure all my grains and hops were ready to go.
2) This was my first brew day on the deck rather than in the kitchen. The KAB4 burner was a vast improvement over the kitchen stove! The weather was beautiful this morning, so I'll likely continue brewing out there when the weather cooperates. We're reorganizing our garage right now, but it should be ready by my next brew day, in case the weather chases my indoors.
3) I feel like I really have my mash dialed in. I lose about 4 degF into my tun (10 gal round cooler), and about 12 degF into the grain. That makes it pretty straightforward to calculate my strike water temperature to hit my target mash temperature spot on.
4) This was my first time testing starch conversion using iodine, and it resulted in extending my mash by an additional 15 minutes. Without testing, I would have stopped at 60 minutes, per the recipe. I'd been getting around 60% conversion on my first three batches, so I think the extended mash time had the biggest effect on efficiency. I'd still like to get it over 70%, but 67% is better than 61%!
5) I was expecting a pre-boil volume of 6.65 gallons, but I was almost 2 gallons short after sparging! I'm not sure what happened there. I didn't think to measure my first runnings volume before sparging, but I definitely will next time to get an idea of my grain absorption losses (I've already measured my mash tun dead space).
6) This was my first time using Fermcap S in the boil (13 drops in 6.5 gallons of wort). Coincidentally, this was also my first boilover. Ha! I don't think the Fermcap cause the boilover, but I'm not sure it helped, either. Further experimentation is warranted.
7) This was my first time using yeast nutrient. I'm really just using it for the zinc. Per the package instructions, I dissolved half a teaspoon in warm water and added it to the boil with 10 minutes left. I haven't had any real problems with fermentation up to now, so I'm not sure what I'm expecting to see. It was cheap, so I figured I'd give it a try.
8) The low AA of the Tettnanger equals a ton of hop fiber in my wort!
9) This was my first time using my immersion chiller instead of an ice bath. I went from a 90 minute chill time to 30 minutes. That IC is worth three times what I paid for it.
10) This is my first time using the swamp cooler method to control fermentation temperatures. My daughter thought it was hilarious to see my carboy wearing a t-shirt.
11) Five hours from start to finish (including cleanup). I feel like there may be some additional time I could find here or there, but I can live with it.
In all, a good brew day. I have 5.5 gallons of wort happily fermenting in my closet. I probably tried too many new things, so it'll be hard to tell what's beneficial and what's not. I liked the early start. It let me have a couple of hours to get started and have some alone time, and then I get the last couple of hours with the kids helping. The best of both worlds!
Please critique my brew day! Any glaring issues you see?
Substituted Centennial for Triskel and Tettnanger for Aramis (because I couldn't easily get my hands on Triskel or Aramis)
5.4 gallons in the fermentor
Batch Sparge
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67%
Target OG: 1.052
Actual OG: 1.058
1) I decided to try an early brew day, so I awoke at 5am, poured a cup of coffee, and started heating my strike water. On the night before, I collected my strike and sparge water and made sure all my grains and hops were ready to go.
2) This was my first brew day on the deck rather than in the kitchen. The KAB4 burner was a vast improvement over the kitchen stove! The weather was beautiful this morning, so I'll likely continue brewing out there when the weather cooperates. We're reorganizing our garage right now, but it should be ready by my next brew day, in case the weather chases my indoors.
3) I feel like I really have my mash dialed in. I lose about 4 degF into my tun (10 gal round cooler), and about 12 degF into the grain. That makes it pretty straightforward to calculate my strike water temperature to hit my target mash temperature spot on.
4) This was my first time testing starch conversion using iodine, and it resulted in extending my mash by an additional 15 minutes. Without testing, I would have stopped at 60 minutes, per the recipe. I'd been getting around 60% conversion on my first three batches, so I think the extended mash time had the biggest effect on efficiency. I'd still like to get it over 70%, but 67% is better than 61%!
5) I was expecting a pre-boil volume of 6.65 gallons, but I was almost 2 gallons short after sparging! I'm not sure what happened there. I didn't think to measure my first runnings volume before sparging, but I definitely will next time to get an idea of my grain absorption losses (I've already measured my mash tun dead space).
6) This was my first time using Fermcap S in the boil (13 drops in 6.5 gallons of wort). Coincidentally, this was also my first boilover. Ha! I don't think the Fermcap cause the boilover, but I'm not sure it helped, either. Further experimentation is warranted.
7) This was my first time using yeast nutrient. I'm really just using it for the zinc. Per the package instructions, I dissolved half a teaspoon in warm water and added it to the boil with 10 minutes left. I haven't had any real problems with fermentation up to now, so I'm not sure what I'm expecting to see. It was cheap, so I figured I'd give it a try.
8) The low AA of the Tettnanger equals a ton of hop fiber in my wort!
9) This was my first time using my immersion chiller instead of an ice bath. I went from a 90 minute chill time to 30 minutes. That IC is worth three times what I paid for it.
10) This is my first time using the swamp cooler method to control fermentation temperatures. My daughter thought it was hilarious to see my carboy wearing a t-shirt.
11) Five hours from start to finish (including cleanup). I feel like there may be some additional time I could find here or there, but I can live with it.
In all, a good brew day. I have 5.5 gallons of wort happily fermenting in my closet. I probably tried too many new things, so it'll be hard to tell what's beneficial and what's not. I liked the early start. It let me have a couple of hours to get started and have some alone time, and then I get the last couple of hours with the kids helping. The best of both worlds!
Please critique my brew day! Any glaring issues you see?
