Nut Brown ale

[WoodHokie4]

(unnamed) Nut Brown Ale

10lbs pale 2-row
1 lb caramel 60L
1 lb flaked oats
1 lb chocolate
0.5 lbs victory

1oz fuggles (60 min)
1 oz Willamette (15 min)
1 oz fuggles (15 min)

Wlp007 yeast


Don't have a name for this one just yet, but this is my first 5-gal all-grain batch. Since I've mostly brewed extract or partial mash before, I didn't account for the volume of grains I'd have and ended up needing to split my mash into 3rds. Not sure how that will impact flavor, but I have at least learned something today, so hurray for that! Also, sparging was an issue. I ended up pulling out each grain bag after its 30 minute mash time and using a combination of gravity, a little rinsing, and as much squeezing force as I could manage without popping the bag open. It seemed pretty effective...until I read my OG.

I always seem to have issues cooling my wort, and I knew I had to pour it over ice to get it to pitching temps. So I placed to mash ton in the sink with an ice water bath and ran down the road to grab some ice. I neglected to check the temp before cooling and poured my wort over 2 bags of ice. When the ice didn't melt, I checked the temps and sure enough, a fridged 32*F. Since I still had to make up a gallon of volume, I boiled some water and brought it up to the 5 gal mark so I could check the OG; getting a dissapointing reading of 1.030. I decided to throw together a simple syrup to boost my gravity as much as I could (probably 2 cups sugar total...I didn't measure) and for a 1.035. I'll have to see what my readings are for FG, but I'm a little sad this came out so low....guess I'm not ready for the big leagues of all-grain just yet.

I plan to let this sit and delishify in my basement for the next 2 weeks. Does anyone out there in HBTland think I could add more simple syrup before too far into fermentation to boost OG/content?

Anywhoo...thanks for reading! Feedback always appreciated!

 

[WoodHokie4]

Another note is that I don't use a yeast starter in any if my batches. I know I should, I just don't. That's a project on my back burner.

Anyway, I am always anxious about making sure the yeast starts working, and always get nervous when i don't see it start bubbling after a few hours. I pitched my yeast around 2:30 on Sunday and as of 6am Monday morning, it hadnt started yet. However, after I hot home from work, I was pleased to find it bubbbling at 2-3 seconds between bubbles. The CO2 coming out of the bubbler had a pleasantly sweet aroma. I'm very hopeful for how this will turn out.

 

[WoodHokie4]

Just transferred to secondary after a week in the primary. Has a very sweet aroma and beautiful dark brown color. O checked gravity before transferring and got a 1.012, which should make it around 3%....not terrible, but should be more palatable to use as gifts this yulemass season. I also plan to let it sit for another 2 weeks to finish up.

I'll be sure to keep this thread up on the progress, if for nothing else than.my own personal brew log.

Cheers!

 

[WoodHokie4]

Bottling day!

I finally got around to bottling this today. I went with 120g of clover honey for priming sugars. Had wanted to use maple syrup, but the real stuff is pretty pricey and I'm working within a budget.

Gravity came out to 1.010...0.002 points lower than when I racked it. Still puts the abv around 3%. I couldn't tell much about the flavor from what I was able to sample, but it smelled delicious! I will be anxious to try this when it is all done. Even though it is a mild beer in respects to abv, I will provably want this to condition for several weeks to months before opening. Unfortunately, this was intended as holiday gifts, so u hope is is ready by then.
I ended up with 25 12oz bottles and 2 pints. I also decided to try to wash out my yeast and reserve it for another day. I will provably try freezing this, as I am not sure when I would try to repeat this batch again.

Cheers!

 

[WoodHokie4]

So, I'm fairly sure my bottles are infected.

To prep the bottles, I had them soak in a weak bleach-water solution for about 3 days before removing the labels, rinsed them with the bleach water, and let them sit till bottling day (about 3 days-ish). Before bottling, I poured soapy water into the bottle, shook, rinsed, and sprayed out with sanitizer solution. For bottles with obvious contamination (I inspected by holding the bottle up to light), I used the bottle brush with the soapy water. When everything was all ready, I made sure my caps and all tools were properly sanitized.

today, while inspecting my bottles, I noticed a film on the top of the beer on a few bottles. I have not inspected all of them yet, but I fear that the majority of my bottles are gone-ers.

A: Is there a best way to know if my bottles are infected without opening? My thoughts were to use a high-powered LED flashlight. However, this particular beer is very dark and difficult/impossile to see through.

B: Assuming many bottles are infected, is there a way to save them? Example: freezer concentration to separate water from the beer?

C: Plans for a flux capacitor?

 

[ong]

I'd just let them go until they should be carbed up, and try a few. It sounds like you took all the right steps for bottling (although it's possible the beer got infected earlier). Most likely they're fine! Store them in a closed Tupperware tub if it puts your mind at ease!

 

[WoodHokie4]

Yup. Flashlight trick worked to identify infected bottles. Looks like most have a white/grey film on top and others have tiny floaters (im guessing yeast?)

I certainly cant give these out as gifts this year, but I'll try one or two and see how they taste. Maybe ill get lucky and they won't be toxic!

 

[midfielder5]

Sorry to hear it may be infected. A few things for next time. You used ice to cool the wort. All things that touch wort after boiling needs to be sterilized (boiled) or sanitized (star san is the best product imo).


I can't really decipher your sanitizing routine.
Dish soap is not a sanitizer. Anyways, buy Star san. Soak everything post boil in it including bottles. It is no-rinse, so you don't recontaminate things with tap water.

other random thoughts-- there was no reason to transfer this beer to secondary. I would have let it sit 10-14 days, then take a gravity reading. You can bottle when the second gravity reading 3 days later is the same.

Learn about making yeast starters.

cheers!

 

[WoodHokie4]

I can't really decipher your sanitizing routine.
Dish soap is not a sanitizer. Anyways, buy Star san. Soak everything post boil in it including bottles. It is no-rinse, so you don't recontaminate things with tap water

The soap was to eliminate any negativity from the bleach water and was followed by spraying/rinsing out with sanitizer. The bleach water ended up looking pretty nasty after a couple days and I didn't want any of that residue lingering. With that, I typically do a sani-wash cycle in my dish washer prior to bottling, but was not able to this time.

Thanks for the tips. I'll try to keep all this in mind for next time.

Cheers

 

[WoodHokie4]

Cracked open one of the ones that didn't have film on top tonight. I am surprisingly happy with the overall flavor. I definitely taste the nutty-ness and malty flavor. My wife said it tasted sour, but I'm betting It's just a little immature and needs to stand for a couple months to condition before its at its peak. It also tasted a little wattery, most likely because I wasn't able to extract as much sugar out of the malt as I would have liked. There was obvious healthy yeast activity, evident from the thick sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

Still not sure what yo do with the filmy bottles. I'm leaning more towards freezer-concentrating, but havnt made up my mind yet. I'll crack one of those open later and see how it is first.

Thanks for all your helpful comments!

Cheers

 

[Stocktonbrew]

delishify is a cool word. I agree about star san. I started out using bleach and it sucks. Star san is your best friend. As far as all grain goes its easy once you get set up. It may also help to read Palmers Book:How To Brew. He makes it simple. I highly recommend it. Good luck!

 

[Bearclaw215]

Definity check out palmers like stock said it's online and free, read it all, it's good stuff. Getting a better idea of the basics will clear up a bunch of stuff with your process. I get the idea that you might be doing a few things less than ideal just from the efficency.

Plenty of ways to sanitize. I personally do an initial cleaning removing labels and other junk followered by baking the bottles at 350 to turn anything living into ash, warm up slowly if you bake them or they can crack. Then Star San before bottling, prolly overkill but I'm happy with it. As for starters invest 20-30 in a homemade one plenty of diy instructions online. I use an old coffee pot for my flask.

Now to figure out some stuff so we can clear up with what your telling us.
Did you boil your either the sugar or honey addition?
Is your equipment big enough to handle 5 gal grain bills? What equipment do you have?
Did you pour your boiled wort onto ice or was your container in an ice bath?

 

[Hamaki]

That's too bad - sounds like a great recipe. I'm curious about the mash. I assumed a 5 - 5 1/2 gallon batch but 25 - 12 oz bottles & a couple of pints is just over 2 1/2 gallons. If that's the case, your efficiency's under 20%. So I'm wondering how you milled your grain and what your mash temps & times were? ...and definitely read Palmer.