George MacDonald
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- Dec 2, 2018
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so I experimented. It isnt really about money or cost. I dont really care about the expense lost or what a failed batch would have lost me. I did not have time or opportunity to brew for an entire year... I usually brew in winter when my home temp is about 20C... I had bought grain and liquid and dry malt too but only got around to brewing a year later... Grains partial mashed was crushed before the mash but the grains were old. I also opted to boil grains and then sparge after 20 minutes to get a nice flavor but wet and dry malted 50/50 up to 1.055 to give decent ipa abv. I pitched dry yeast into the wort at around 30 C and the yeast was us05 and champagne yeast 50/50. Within the first 30 hours the majority of the fermentation was done and the two 22L(5 gallon) buckets went quiet at around 1.024 and 1.022
I repitched pure activated champagne yeast starters 5 days in and it bubbled for an hour or two then went dormant. a week in I checked gravity again ( it was on 1.020 and 1.022) and pitched activated us05 starters again and again it bubbled for a few hours and went dormant. The fg is about 1.020 for both brews 7 days in. I will allow it to sit for another 10 days, but I want to know...
If there are unfermentables in the mix I would still bottle and bottle condition... OG on the first batch is 1.054 and the second is 1.044 so final abv of 1.020 on both would give quite low abv... I am intending on upping the abv by adding a 750ml bottle of brandy to each 22L bucket a day or two before bottling to up the abv (which would raise it by about 1.65% per batch...) and to improve the flavor a tad which seems to be quite sour due to the higher temp initial fermentation rate and the current prevalence of yeast in the wort, hoping that it may clear up the sour misty mess a bit as well.
What do you predict would happen on this experimental batch? I will do what I intent anyways, and will let you know about the results in the end... I am just curious to know if anyone else has ever done this kind of unconcerned brew where whatever happens is in the name of science rather than cost and care...?
Thank you for your input. I live in Cape Town, South Africa where temp is quite high now during summer. My house is a wooden cottage and gets very hot. average temperature in the fermenting room is around 25-30C. brew stays at around 22C under an insulation blanket
I repitched pure activated champagne yeast starters 5 days in and it bubbled for an hour or two then went dormant. a week in I checked gravity again ( it was on 1.020 and 1.022) and pitched activated us05 starters again and again it bubbled for a few hours and went dormant. The fg is about 1.020 for both brews 7 days in. I will allow it to sit for another 10 days, but I want to know...
If there are unfermentables in the mix I would still bottle and bottle condition... OG on the first batch is 1.054 and the second is 1.044 so final abv of 1.020 on both would give quite low abv... I am intending on upping the abv by adding a 750ml bottle of brandy to each 22L bucket a day or two before bottling to up the abv (which would raise it by about 1.65% per batch...) and to improve the flavor a tad which seems to be quite sour due to the higher temp initial fermentation rate and the current prevalence of yeast in the wort, hoping that it may clear up the sour misty mess a bit as well.
What do you predict would happen on this experimental batch? I will do what I intent anyways, and will let you know about the results in the end... I am just curious to know if anyone else has ever done this kind of unconcerned brew where whatever happens is in the name of science rather than cost and care...?
Thank you for your input. I live in Cape Town, South Africa where temp is quite high now during summer. My house is a wooden cottage and gets very hot. average temperature in the fermenting room is around 25-30C. brew stays at around 22C under an insulation blanket
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