We (my brother and I) just brewed this beer on Saturday. Using the recipe from CloneBrews. Here are some notes on the brew so far.
1. Our goal mash temperature was 150. After the strike water had been fully added and the mash stirred, the temperature was too high at 163. Based on our experience with our equipment in our last brew, and the cold temp/grain/mash-tun, we heated strike water to 175. Obviously we made an error somewhere. (unless temp was simply still equalizing when I measured it at 163). We left the mash tun (a cooler) open to allow the temp to drop. This seemed to be effective and we shut the cooler at 151 a few minutes later. I hope the exposure of the mash to initially too high temps will not add any off flavors.
2. We achieved an OG of 1.074. The recipe says 1.083-1.086.
3. Our chiller was effective this time and we got the beer down to below 80 before draining it into a 5 gallon better bottle. Are we supposed to go colder to allow more trub to settle out? Should we be siphoning from the top of the brew pot instead of draining from a spout near the bottom? There is some clearance on the spout from the absolute bottom of the pot, so a significant amount of hops/trub were left behind in the kettle.
4. When I ordered my yeast online (Wyeast 1214), I didn't adjust for the gravity of the beer, and only ordered one pack. On the day of the brew I realized I'd need more yeast cells. (I do not have experience with yeast starters). As the store did not carry Wyeast, I went with Wlp530, and I mixed the two together.
5. The recipe in the book calls for only 1 week primary and 1 week secondary. Many other belgians in the book call for much longer aging. Is there any reason why this beer would be good to go after only 2 weeks?
6. Fermentation has been very active. Its at 67-68 degrees. Krausen/foam is rising up to the top of the better-bottle. Have been worried about blow-off.
I'll let you guys know how it turns out. Any feedback appreciated.
1. Our goal mash temperature was 150. After the strike water had been fully added and the mash stirred, the temperature was too high at 163. Based on our experience with our equipment in our last brew, and the cold temp/grain/mash-tun, we heated strike water to 175. Obviously we made an error somewhere. (unless temp was simply still equalizing when I measured it at 163). We left the mash tun (a cooler) open to allow the temp to drop. This seemed to be effective and we shut the cooler at 151 a few minutes later. I hope the exposure of the mash to initially too high temps will not add any off flavors.
2. We achieved an OG of 1.074. The recipe says 1.083-1.086.
3. Our chiller was effective this time and we got the beer down to below 80 before draining it into a 5 gallon better bottle. Are we supposed to go colder to allow more trub to settle out? Should we be siphoning from the top of the brew pot instead of draining from a spout near the bottom? There is some clearance on the spout from the absolute bottom of the pot, so a significant amount of hops/trub were left behind in the kettle.
4. When I ordered my yeast online (Wyeast 1214), I didn't adjust for the gravity of the beer, and only ordered one pack. On the day of the brew I realized I'd need more yeast cells. (I do not have experience with yeast starters). As the store did not carry Wyeast, I went with Wlp530, and I mixed the two together.
5. The recipe in the book calls for only 1 week primary and 1 week secondary. Many other belgians in the book call for much longer aging. Is there any reason why this beer would be good to go after only 2 weeks?
6. Fermentation has been very active. Its at 67-68 degrees. Krausen/foam is rising up to the top of the better-bottle. Have been worried about blow-off.
I'll let you guys know how it turns out. Any feedback appreciated.
