Northern Brewer Plinian legacy - your experiences ?

[Duster]

Making MB Plinian legacy in a couple days..... any suggestions ? THanks !

 

[CapnHook]

I brewed this as an extract kit a little over two months ago, mixed up the late addition of hops a little bit. Cooled with immersion chiller; 1 packet SA-05 yeast added at 68 degrees - OG 1.077. After two days in fermentor at 65-66 , no activity in the blow off tube. I had been prepared for a big blow off. That day, made a yeast starter with 1/3 cup of Lite DME, one packet of 05, swirled all day, chilled in refri all night, warmed up to room temp and pitched around noon. Within ONE minute of pitching, the blow off tube started burping gas at the rate of more than one per second, and continued at that rate for three days before slowing down. I kept the fermentation at 64-66 until then, then it warmed up to about 68 and stay there. I bottled 6 weeks after brewing (carbed with 4 oz of corn sugar in the bottling bucket). Drank the first bottle one week after bottling.

Excellent. Good hoppy aroma, hop taste, good bitterness, nice lacing after pouring a creamy head.

I have had draught Pliny the Elder at the Russian River Brew Pub just this past summer, and while my memory of that most excellent beer has somewhat faded, Plinian Legacy is certainly within the ballpark, and I am not ashamed to serve this beer to anyone.

I was so pleased with this outcome that I immediately decided no more bottling, and I am eagerly awaiting delivery of my kegging equipment so I can do a keezer build and begin kegging.

I hope you have the same results I had. And continue having, after popping the cap on yet another bottle...

 

[Duster]

Great - Ill be making it soon...

 

[jspain3]

Same here. My kit arrived yesterday.

 

[Duster]

This will actually be my second time. First time was great but a little sweeter than I expected....

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

mine is in the keg on gas.. samples have tasted fantastic but havent really tried it carbed yet.

 

[dnslater]

I have made this twice now. The second time I served it at an open house at my business. It was really, really good. Several people asked me if my beer was available commercially. It is not a cheap kit, but I will be brewing it again. I've made around 40 extract kits, and this one is easily among the top 3.

I also used one packet of S-05 and fermented in high 60s. Did a 6 week primary with the two stage dry hopping. My open house was 10 weeks after brewing and it was perfect.

 

[philipCT]

I'm gonna cross-repost (is that a thing?) this from the thread about the extract kit because I just posted it last night and it may be helpful...

I have the AG version of this on tap right now and it is really insanely delicious. I've seen a number of questions in this thread about dry hopping. Here's an article by the man himself, listing the entire AG recipe with his extensive brewing notes.

He lays out exactly what he does for dry hops, which is not detailed in other Pliny recipes I've seen. Interesting that he does two rounds of dry hops, and they're not evenly divided. He adds 75% of the hops in round one, which is for a longer period, and then the rest in round two which is only five days. He also talks about rousing the dry hops using CO2.

I was fermenting a 10g batch in a conical, so that lends itself to some things that he talks about like drawing off some of the hop sludge before pitching the second round of dry hops.

I copied his dry hopping schedule and CO2 rousing techniques exactly and came out with a really terrific brew. Haven't had Pliny in a while, so I couldn't say how close it is, but it's definitely reminiscent, and really delicious.

He also talks about cold crashing. I typically cold crash for 24 hours, mix in some gelatin, and then crash for another 48. He's harvesting yeast, so he doesn't crash to 33F like I did. With this one, I crashed it for six days afterward and I simply can't believe the clarity of the beer. I'm used to getting some pretty clear beers, but this is remarkable. I may have to do that more...

Hope this is helpful.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I did all grain recipe...not the kit. will probably tap it today..... I will let you know if it is any good.

 

[Duster]

One question - is it wise to strain the hops and gunk between brew kettle and primary ? Or would that ultimately take away the flavor ?

The first time I did it I had excessive sludge in the primary from all of those hops....

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

I can't be bothered straining all the gunk out so it all goes into the fermenter. But I do a cold crash before transferring to a keg or bottles

 

[jeremybwilson]

6.5 gallon carboy + Plinian Legacy = my first 5+ gal batch with a blow off tube. Thank God NB calls this out in their instructions or the mess would have been epic.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

mY DAMNED KEG IS PARTIALLY FROZEN.just getting a trickle.. will try again in a while

 

[JJ900]

almost all my trub went into primary. That was not the plan but filter problems got in the way, anyway mine came out great even with all that trub and as jeremybwilson suggests, because you are adding up to the 6gal mark I still came out with around 53 beers.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

ahhhh,,, not fully carbed due to the keg freezing but so citrusy hoppy it tastes like grapefruit juice and peelings ... I LIKE IT

 

[jspain3]

Anyone use a blowoff tube with a fermenting bucket or just for the carboys? I only have the three piece airlock.

FYI - I'm breaking in a new 15g BK for this one (should arrive tomorrow).

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

cut the tip off the 3 piece where the X is on the end... remove the top and the gizmo that goes inside.. slide a tube over the stem sticking up and run the other end into a jar with starsan

 

[Duster]

ahhhh,,, not fully carbed due to the keg freezing but so citrusy hoppy it tastes like grapefruit juice and peelings ... I LIKE IT

Sounds great - Ill be making mine tomorrow...

 

[kh54s10]

I have not done this recipe.

But, in response to the hop debris question, I use 5 gallon paint strainer bags, the hops go in, clipped to the lip of the kettle, next addition, add to the bag and continue. Not much hop sludge into the fermenter. I don't think it lessens the hop effects much, my beers turn out very good.

 

[jspain3]

Wow! I spent about an hour this morning trying to input all the data for this kit into my BeerSmith2 app. The HopShot addition took the longest since it wasn't available in the drop down list.

I'm hoping to brew it this weekend but SWMBO is out of town until Sunday and I'm watching the kids. I may just pull a late nighter on Sunday and brew it after the kids go to bed. I don't want to wait another week to get this batch going.

 

[Patrick87]

NB's Plinian Legacy extract kit is the best beer I've made to date. Probably the best Imperial IPA I've ever had, let alone brewed. Super bitter and incredible citrusy-floral hop flavor. I used two non-rehydrated packs of US-05 the last time with great results. Fermented at 62-64 degrees. I've got another one fermenting right now with Nottingham just to compare the taste difference.

I think the kit is a real bargain given the amount of hops, especially since it's a 6 gallon batch.

 

[Patrick87]

Also: with 6 gallons in a standard 7.5 brewing bucket, this has been the only recipe I've that's had a massive krausen blow-off. (even in a water bath in the low sixties) A blow off tube is a must!

 

[Duster]

A blow off tube is a must!

Yes ... isnt that the truth...

 

[Duster]

NB's Plinian Legacy extract kit is the best beer I've made to date. Probably the best Imperial IPA I've ever had, let alone brewed.

Glad you think that..... that was my experience also...

With this batch I did a yeast starter .... Ill let you know the difference between this one and a non-yeast starter batch....

Cheers !

 

[jeremybwilson]

I just finished up the dry hopping and re-racked back to my 6.5gal carboy to try and reduce any hop floating a during bottling tonight.

The volume of beer was exactly 5 gallons after what was lost thru the blow off tube and the dry hopping.

NB isn't kidding in the kit instructions about wort loss and ridonkulous amounts of hops. 😄

Pics to follow.

 

[jeremybwilson]

Mobile app fail, please delete.

 

[jeremybwilson]

Mobile app fail, please delete.

 

[jspain3]

In lieu of making a starter, I'll be pitching WLP001 and US-05. I'm looking forward to breaking in my new Spike BK (15G)!

 

[jeremybwilson]

Bottled my PL last night. Decided to use these two bottles for comparative purposes. Lighter in color than I was expecting but a whopping 8.27 ABV between OG and FG.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1418363003.997925.jpg

 

[Patrick87]

Bottled my PL last night. Decided to use these two bottles for comparative purposes. Lighter in color than I was expecting but a whopping 8.27 ABV between OG and FG.

FWIW, my last two batches were the same color. Looks good to me! I get some pretty bad chill haze, hope yours clears a little better. Crystal clear @ 68*, then really hazy at 40* after three or four days in the fridge. (even using Whirlfloc)