xdfireguy
Active Member
Okay just want to run this by you all and get some feedback. Ive been out of brewing for some time, and now that SWMBO is being obeyed by someone else, I can get back to doing things I once enjoyed. I picked up a kit from my LHBS just to make things easy and flew by the seat of my pants, thinking I remembered enough of what I once did regularly 10-15 years ago
Just to add to the (ahem!) challenge, I shared this experience with my 5-year-old daughter in an effort to teach her a little about the science behind it and get some more kitchen cooking time. (note to others: generally this is probably a bad combination)
So here is an excerpt from my brewsheet, brewed on 1/7
ESB Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Victory Malt (20.0 SRM)
6 lbs 9.6 oz Muntons Extra Light Malt Extract (5.5 SR
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins)
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.20 %] - Boil 2.0 min
1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)
Est O/G: 1.050 O/G: ~1.052
Est F/G: 1.013
Okay, thats the basics. In the last two weeks that this has been fermenting, I have taken the opportunity to reflect on the possible brew day errors that I made. First, I added the grains to cool water and brought it up to 155F slowly. I did not count the time bringing up to temp, but started the 30 min at the point where I reached 145F. Total time well over an hour.
Bittering hops went in a grain bag doubled over and tied tight dont know what I was thinking. Other than maybe I was afraid that the beer would end up too hoppy. (Read: I am not a fan of super hopped up beers to each their own)
Next error of my ways poor aeration. At least I ran the wort through a sieve and shook it about for a bit. But not nearly properly done. It took a bit longer than I expected for the WLP002 to take off. Oh yeah, direct pitch no starter.
Oh, and small child + first brew = plenty of distractions. The OG above is approximate, because of said distractions.
Now nearly two weeks later, I am holding steady at 1.021. With gentle swirling to get the yeast back up and running for the last 4 days or so - activity in airlock, but no change in SG. The brew is very malty, fairly sweet, with little to no hop character.
What Im not sure of is how this will develop after bottling. I am not in any rush, so any additions before bottling that might be recommended could be done in a secondary if that seems appropriate. I guess I would like to get it a bit more balanced and could use some feedback. Im prepared to just bottle, let it ride, and see what comes of it. But I am open to suggestions.
So here is an excerpt from my brewsheet, brewed on 1/7
ESB Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Victory Malt (20.0 SRM)
6 lbs 9.6 oz Muntons Extra Light Malt Extract (5.5 SR
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins)
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.20 %] - Boil 2.0 min
1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)
Est O/G: 1.050 O/G: ~1.052
Est F/G: 1.013
Okay, thats the basics. In the last two weeks that this has been fermenting, I have taken the opportunity to reflect on the possible brew day errors that I made. First, I added the grains to cool water and brought it up to 155F slowly. I did not count the time bringing up to temp, but started the 30 min at the point where I reached 145F. Total time well over an hour.
Bittering hops went in a grain bag doubled over and tied tight dont know what I was thinking. Other than maybe I was afraid that the beer would end up too hoppy. (Read: I am not a fan of super hopped up beers to each their own)
Next error of my ways poor aeration. At least I ran the wort through a sieve and shook it about for a bit. But not nearly properly done. It took a bit longer than I expected for the WLP002 to take off. Oh yeah, direct pitch no starter.
Oh, and small child + first brew = plenty of distractions. The OG above is approximate, because of said distractions.
Now nearly two weeks later, I am holding steady at 1.021. With gentle swirling to get the yeast back up and running for the last 4 days or so - activity in airlock, but no change in SG. The brew is very malty, fairly sweet, with little to no hop character.
What Im not sure of is how this will develop after bottling. I am not in any rush, so any additions before bottling that might be recommended could be done in a secondary if that seems appropriate. I guess I would like to get it a bit more balanced and could use some feedback. Im prepared to just bottle, let it ride, and see what comes of it. But I am open to suggestions.
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