Cooper Canadian Blonde hopped up 11/27

[BobAgain]

(FWIW, is there such a thing as too much aroma??)

I am a complete noob to dry hopping, but I did my first on an Australian Pale Ale this year after the FG hydrometer sample seemed almost insipid. It had a great nose thereafter, and the more it sat in the keg, the better it tasted as well. A month later, it wasn't bad! Sadly, the last glass was the best.

 

[unionrdr]

Do it! You know you want to...

 

[Psylocide]

Do it! You know you want to...

Yeah... decided I'm going to go ahead and dry hop with 2 oz of Cascade pellets straight into the primary. I'm not racking this one to a secondary because my carboys will both be in use, I think I can rack around the pellets. If it gets a little hazy/misty, that's ok.

I'll probably do that in 1.5-2 weeks or so, let it ride for a few days, then bottle.

 

[unionrdr]

Some dry hop for 3 days to get a little aroma, I dry hop 7 days for more.

 

[Psylocide]

Some dry hop for 3 days to get a little aroma, I dry hop 7 days for more.

Yeah... It'll probably be a week. It's been in primary a week now, so I'll probably end up tossing them in around the 14th-15th, and bottle on the 20th or 21st.

 

[Psylocide]

Change of plans... hop pellets went in the primary today. Depending on where the SG is, I may be cold crashing later this week. I'm totally throwing caution to the wind on this one. Hope to bottle next weekend.

Dry hopping with 1 oz Cascade and 1 oz Centennial

 

[unionrdr]

Those two do play well together. Just hope it's settled out decent at this point with the hops added. Otherwise, part of the aroma will coat the yeast & trub, going to the bottom.

 

[Psylocide]

It was pretty darn clear after day 3 and there isn't much activity in the airlock. I did end up reading quite a bit on the subject of turning around a pale ale quickly and since I'm working with free ingredients (except hops) AND have a Stout that is going to be the more traditional method of longer primary ferment... I figure what have I got to lose to gain a bit of knowledge on this subject. If it turns out good... great. If it's passable... good enough.

This was day 3.

 

[unionrdr]

Not bad. Could be clearer, but not bad.

 

[Psylocide]

Not bad. Could be clearer, but not bad.

Well... that was day three. Today was day 9 and it looked really clear in the carboy. Didn't pull a sample. I have high hopes that it should turn out pretty nice.

Edit: Thanks for all your input too btw.

 

[Psylocide]

Sorry for double post but man do those pellets foam up. Thought it looked cool.

Light brown is krausen gunk that's stuck to the carboy.

 

[unionrdr]

Looks good so far...

 

[Psylocide]

Well... SG has fallen to 1.019, and I'm thinking it may stay there. SG was at 1.020 on day 3. I really think my first reading of 1.045 was slightly off but I don't know how to calculate that. Anyhow... attenuation wasn't great but this stuff was old (except packet of SA-04).

On a positive note... it tastes exactly as I was shooting for (much better than i expected) and am more than excited to see what comes out of this after it sits in primaryfor another week and carbs up/conditions.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, it's definitely not done yet, so at least another week to let it finish up is in order.

 

[Psylocide]

Ok... I've done a bit more research, According to Brewers Friend:

For a 5 gal batch -- 3 lbs DME + 1 lb Corn Sugar + 3.75 lbs Coopers LME should have come out with an OG of 1.064.

After all of the reading I've done here, it seems impossible that my OG would have been as low as the initial 1.045 reading that I took. Obviously the wort wasn't mixed in with the top-off water well enough.

Given that bit of info, attenuation would have been closer to 70% at the current SG of 1.019, which isn't bad given the age of the ingredients. I'll take another reading tomorrow and see where I'm at. But I honestly think it's going to stay right where it is.

Do my calculations look right? Said to add sugar under DME.

 

[unionrdr]

Well, if you truly didn't get wort & top off mixed thoroughly, those numbers could be right in BF. Giving it some time to make sure is never a bad thing.

 

[Psylocide]

Well, if you truly didn't get wort & top off mixed thoroughly, those numbers could be right in BF. Giving it some time to make sure is never a bad thing.

Yeah... I agree with you 100%. I'll take a few more over the week and see where I'm at.

My method for mixing the wort and top off water was, I had 2 gal top off in the carboy, I poured the 2 gals wort over that 2 gals of water, then added the last gallon to the top. Then, I just shook the crap out of it. It could have been slightly higher temp (didn't have thermometer at that point) so that could have played a role as well.

I'm going to stick with this conclusion because I just see no way that it could have been as low as 1.045 with the additions I made. I didn't believe it when I saw it and now I have a pretty darn good feeling that it was off and my FG (if it is indeed 1.019) is right within SA-04's average attenuation rate.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, but it's always better to measure the specific gravity as done, rather than counting on attenuation rates listed.

 

[Psylocide]

Yeah, but it's always better to measure the specific gravity as done, rather than counting on attenuation rates listed.

Understood... just thought it was a good sign that it seems to be bottoming out right around where it "should be" given the "estimated" OG. If I still thought the OG was really 1.045, I would be freaking out because of the current SG reading this far into ferment.

On a somewhat related note... this stuff tastes amazing already. Like, really, really good. And this is green/warm/flat beer... I can't wait to see what this ends up like.

Thanks for all the help man, I'll just keep on keepin' on.

 

[unionrdr]

Good point. But being sure will save possible injuries later.

 

[Psylocide]

Good point. But being sure will save possible injuries later.

So, let's say I check SG again for 3-4 days and it stays where it's at.

Am I risking bottle bombs, or is it done fermenting?

I thought it was pretty much established that once the SG is stable over a period of a few days, the chance of explosions is minimal. Am I wrong there?

 

[unionrdr]

No, unless it stalled. You just wanna be sure that's not the case.

 

[Psylocide]

Understood... I still think its going to bottom out here. Stout is at 1.018 for the past week and a half. Been in primary 2.5 weeks, same yeast and ingredients for the most part, minus the hops and what not.

 

[BobAgain]

I've been following along, and it smells great from here! I'm salivating....I've had a couple of batches fool me into thinking that they were finished, only to end up with a much lower SG a few weeks later. In my case, a change of temp in the basement was the culprit once.

Lookin good!

 

[Psylocide]

Yeah... smells amazing, tastes better. Temp has been a steady 66°- 68° throughout. SG is still 1.019.

 

[unionrdr]

Could well be done then?...my Burton ale started at like 1.065, ended at 1.018 after swirling up yeast again from 1.023. So it could be done.

 

[Psylocide]

Could well be done then?...my Burton ale started at like 1.065, ended at 1.018 after swirling up yeast again from 1.023. So it could be done.

Sounds like our numbers about line up. 1.064 to 1.019 on this.

I hate to be the token impatient noob... but this isn't the first time I've watched a brew start to finish (first solo). I read so much about how quickly SA-04 ferments out and turning around a pale in 4ish weeks from brew to glass. The biggest sign for me was that it was at 1.020 at day three and has dropped a single .001 point since then and has stayed there.

I'm going to start the crash today because the hop pellet foam is still the same as when I first put them in. Crashing at 37° until Saturday, then I'm going to bottle. If it wasn't done, I'll learn my lesson the hard way.

But I do appreciate all the advice, thanks for coaching me through some of this.

 

[unionrdr]

No problem. I hadn't remembered the Burton ale thing until this morning. I used S-04 in the ESB kit I got from Morebeer. Fermented out & clearing in 10 days flat! That one was rehydrated as well. So good, I have another one waiting in the wings.

 

[Psylocide]

20 hours or so into cold crash and ALL of the hop foam has dissipated/sunk to the bottom. Crazy... when it first went in the fridge, it still looked like that picture I posted when I first added the pellets.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, sometimes a fermentation will produce a rather dense krausen that'll perform that way. Isn't brewing science weird sometimes?