NOVA Brewer
Well-Known Member
Bear with me guys and girls, this might take a while.
My first batch was a pre-hopped Cooper's kit. We won't mention it again. Next, a Brewer's Best kit Robust Porter that turned out delicious. Third was Edwort's Apfelwein, in Primary 1.
So, my fourth brew was my own recipe for a Northwest Pale Ale, cobbled together from help here and experimenting with Beersmith.
Brewed 4/20/2007
NOVA Brewer's NW Pale Ale
6 lbs. extra light DME
8 oz. Cara-pils
8 oz. Crystal 20L
3 oz. Cascade hop pellets
1 oz. Centennial hop pellets
1 tsp. Irish moss
White Labes WLP051 California Ale V
Steep grains, bring 2.5 gallons of water to boil
Add 2 lbs. extra light DME
Add 1.5 oz Cascade pellets (boiling)
Boil 40 minutes
Add 1 oz. Cascade pellets (flavor)
Boil 5 minutes
Add 1 tsp. Irish moss
Boil 10 minutes
Add .5 oz Cascade pellets (aroma)
Boil 5 minutes
At flameout, add remaining 4 lbs. extra light DME, dissolve
Cool, add to 2 gallons cold water in carboy, top off to 5 gallons, pitch yeast, cap and plug in airlock.
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 5.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 43.2 IBU
Now, my problems:
1. I'm done with hop pellets. Here and with my porter, they gunk up my strainer as I pour the wort through my funnel into the fermenter, which takes forever and frustrates me. From now on, it's only whole leaves.
2. I ended up with a HUGE OG!! Measured it at 1.074!! What the hell happened?
3. There's a ton of $h!+ floating around in my carboy now. We're now at brew day + 2, there's a respectable amount of fermentation going on, brew is holding steady at 70F. Crap is floating all around, settling out, and getting kick up again by all the yeast action. Is this the result of the moss? This is my first time using a fining agent.
So, whaddaya think, HBT? Should I RDWHAHB? I'll rack to secondary once fermentation appears to be complete, and hopefully all the crap in my brew will settle out as trub leaving me a nice, clear, bitter pale ale.
Any advice would be appreciated. I'll update this thread as the process progresses.
My first batch was a pre-hopped Cooper's kit. We won't mention it again. Next, a Brewer's Best kit Robust Porter that turned out delicious. Third was Edwort's Apfelwein, in Primary 1.
So, my fourth brew was my own recipe for a Northwest Pale Ale, cobbled together from help here and experimenting with Beersmith.
Brewed 4/20/2007
NOVA Brewer's NW Pale Ale
6 lbs. extra light DME
8 oz. Cara-pils
8 oz. Crystal 20L
3 oz. Cascade hop pellets
1 oz. Centennial hop pellets
1 tsp. Irish moss
White Labes WLP051 California Ale V
Steep grains, bring 2.5 gallons of water to boil
Add 2 lbs. extra light DME
Add 1.5 oz Cascade pellets (boiling)
Boil 40 minutes
Add 1 oz. Cascade pellets (flavor)
Boil 5 minutes
Add 1 tsp. Irish moss
Boil 10 minutes
Add .5 oz Cascade pellets (aroma)
Boil 5 minutes
At flameout, add remaining 4 lbs. extra light DME, dissolve
Cool, add to 2 gallons cold water in carboy, top off to 5 gallons, pitch yeast, cap and plug in airlock.
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 5.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 43.2 IBU
Now, my problems:
1. I'm done with hop pellets. Here and with my porter, they gunk up my strainer as I pour the wort through my funnel into the fermenter, which takes forever and frustrates me. From now on, it's only whole leaves.
2. I ended up with a HUGE OG!! Measured it at 1.074!! What the hell happened?
3. There's a ton of $h!+ floating around in my carboy now. We're now at brew day + 2, there's a respectable amount of fermentation going on, brew is holding steady at 70F. Crap is floating all around, settling out, and getting kick up again by all the yeast action. Is this the result of the moss? This is my first time using a fining agent.
So, whaddaya think, HBT? Should I RDWHAHB? I'll rack to secondary once fermentation appears to be complete, and hopefully all the crap in my brew will settle out as trub leaving me a nice, clear, bitter pale ale.
Any advice would be appreciated. I'll update this thread as the process progresses.