Double IPA Pliny the Elder Clone

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PianoMan said:
Fermenting away at 61F. Used whirlfloc tablets for first time. Got 4.75gal of completely clear wort! Had about 1.25 left in kettle, but couldn't get myself to "dirty" it up with the 7oz hop ball at bottom of kettle. Have some ideas to solve the waste issue. Came out at 1.071. Another week for dry hop/FG measure.

Edit: My pre-boil gravity was higher then calculated so I dropped from 14.4oz to 4oz (thought it was 8oz, but finally looked at my brew sheet) corn sugar. Also had more wort at EOB as reason for slightly lower OG. And I always use FWH so did slight modifications myself. Need REAL Pliny to compare! [emoji12]
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What are you using for temp control? Is it in a fermentation chamber, or is the pot chilling it?
 
Resonator said:
What are you using for temp control? Is it in a fermentation chamber, or is the pot chilling it?
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In the picture of mine, one sees the temp controller, SCT1000. The T/C is in kettle with the fermenter bucket and filled to the rim with water. I have a Home Depot bought fountain pump with tubing going in and out of the kettle to an ice water filled cooler with a copper coil. I have to replenish the ice 2x a day with 6 trays or so. I've had no issues controlling to 61F. Lots of words so here's another picture.

View attachment 1440717931951.jpg
 
PianoMan said:
In the picture of mine, one sees the temp controller, SCT1000. The T/C is in kettle with the fermenter bucket and filled to the rim with water. I have a Home Depot bought fountain pump with tubing going in and out of the kettle to an ice water filled cooler with a copper coil. I have to replenish the ice 2x a day with 6 trays or so. I've had no issues controlling to 61F. Lots of words so here's another picture.
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First off, how am I not already subscribed to this!!! Glad I found it. Great stuff everyone!

PianoMan, I like your setup. Been looking to buy a Ferm chamber, but this might do the trick for a lot less money. Maybe with a cube cooler replacing the kettle for better insulation and more water volume. One question, why do you not run you T/C into the wort in the bucket instead of into the water in the kettle? Won't the wort be a little warmer (especially during high krausen) than the water?
 
TxBigHops said:
First off, how am I not already subscribed to this!!! Glad I found it. Great stuff everyone!

PianoMan, I like your setup. Been looking to buy a Ferm chamber, but this might do the trick for a lot less money. Maybe with a cube cooler replacing the kettle for better insulation and more water volume. One question, why do you not run you T/C into the wort in the bucket instead of into the water in the kettle? Won't the wort be a little warmer (especially during high krausen) than the water?
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That's a very good question! I've thought about it, but I prefer to keep the bucket sealed. Almost every beer I make is sampled by LHBS guys. They have not detected any off flavors as of yet. They mostly enjoy what is made. There are other's requesting my beer so feel more and more confident about the technique so far. 61f seems to work for most the fermentation.
 
PianoMan said:
That's a very good question! I've thought about it, but I prefer to keep the bucket sealed. Almost every beer I make is sampled by LHBS guys. They have not detected any off flavors as of yet. They mostly enjoy what is made. There are other's requesting my beer so feel more and more confident about the technique so far. 61f seems to work for most the fermentation.
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Thanks for the quick reply! So, to be sure I understand what's going on, the temp controller is in the water and set to turn the pump on when the water rises above 61, right? During the early, vigorous fermentation stage, does the pump run pretty constantly, or only cycle on once in a while? I'm trying to get an idea how long it takes, or how much ice cold water it takes to bring the water in the kettle back below 61. And did I also see you write that you needed to add ice to the cold water twice a day? Seems like the ice would last longer than that. Are you trying to keep the supply water very cold, or just a little colder than 61? Sorry about so many questions. Just trying to determine best practices for something like this.
 
Tx, I usually start fermentation at 65F for day 1 then drop to 61F for other 3. Go to 65F on day 5. I'm still playing with it.

I'll put an 8 lb bag of ice, in the cooler water bath, on day1 just to get ice water bath temp down quickly. After that, 6 trays of ice every 12hrs keeps the ice bath well below temp needed.

It's cycles relatively quickly, the colder you go the more it needs to cycle depending on ambient temperature. Hope this helps.

Also, the temp controller is not in the water. The T/C..thermal coupler..is in the water, it measures water temp.
 
PianoMan said:
In the picture of mine, one sees the temp controller, SCT1000. The T/C is in kettle with the fermenter bucket and filled to the rim with water. I have a Home Depot bought fountain pump with tubing going in and out of the kettle to an ice water filled cooler with a copper coil. I have to replenish the ice 2x a day with 6 trays or so. I've had no issues controlling to 61F. Lots of words so here's another picture.
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I kinda thought that's what was going on. Nice solution to a fermentation chamber.
 
Dry hopping now. Sample was more like flowers then anything. May have pulled too fast at 1.016, but I tend to be impatient. Especially after a hotdog taste incident back in spring. This formula definitely gives a different flavour then any other clone I've done. Real Pliny should be here Sept 20th. Just in time. Sorry no pics....try to remember during 2nd dry hop.
 
PianoMan said:
Tx, I usually start fermentation at 65F for day 1 then drop to 61F for other 3. Go to 65F on day 5. I'm still playing with it.

I'll put an 8 lb bag of ice, in the cooler water bath, on day1 just to get ice water bath temp down quickly. After that, 6 trays of ice every 12hrs keeps the ice bath well below temp needed.

It's cycles relatively quickly, the colder you go the more it needs to cycle depending on ambient temperature. Hope this helps.

Also, the temp controller is not in the water. The T/C..thermal coupler..is in the water, it measures water temp.
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Thanks for all your help. Looking to put something together soon. Do you recall what the flow rate is on your pump? I'm wanting it to do double duty in an ice water wort chiller. Looking at one that's 66 gph. I assume it sits in the bottom of the kettle and pushes out the warmer water through the wort chiller that you have in the cooler with the ice.

This is my last question here. Just realized I have totally hijacked this Pliny thread. Sorry!
 
TxBigHops said:
Thanks for all your help. Looking to put something together soon. Do you recall what the flow rate is on your pump? I'm wanting it to do double duty in an ice water wort chiller. Looking at one that's 66 gph. I assume it sits in the bottom of the kettle and pushes out the warmer water through the wort chiller that you have in the cooler with the ice.

This is my last question here. Just realized I have totally hijacked this Pliny thread. Sorry!
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This one. It's cheep and does the job I need. You assume correctly.

As far as hijacking, not tons of traffic here lately so going "off topic" for such an important topic at fermentation temperature can be forgiven. ☺


http://m.homedepot.com/p/Total-Pond-140-GPH-Fountain-Pump-MD11130/202017048/
 
PianoMan said:
You will not be disappointed.
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Haha never have been with MoreBeer! so far. Their lme is really nice -- especially the way they package it. Plus it usually comes next day living in the Bay Area. The worst I had was a tiny pinhole in a bag of maltodextin.

Agh, I totally forgot to grab more muslin bags off the shelf before I added the magnum. Guess I'll have a little more hops residue in the fastferment this time :\

Although, I was kinda thinking about letting the trub settle this time, and racking it off before adding the yeast. Might try that out. :/
 
You can't beat the MoreBeer Pliny kit when it's on sale. I often get it for less than $40.

I do not mash hop with the Cascade though, it's a waste. Russian River does not mash hop either. Save it and use it elsewhere, say dry hop or another brew.
 
ultravista said:
You can't beat the MoreBeer Pliny kit when it's on sale. I often get it for less than $40.

I do not mash hop with the Cascade though, it's a waste. Russian River does not mash hop either. Save it and use it elsewhere, say dry hop or another brew.
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Yea I always feel that way after I look in the bag at the hops. Wish I was doing all grain so I could partigyle it :/
 
Hi
Resonator said:
Haha never have been with MoreBeer! so far. Their lme is really nice -- especially the way they package it. Plus it usually comes next day living in the Bay Area. The worst I had was a tiny pinhole in a bag of maltodextin.

Agh, I totally forgot to grab more muslin bags off the shelf before I added the magnum. Guess I'll have a little more hops residue in the fastferment this time :\

Although, I was kinda thinking about letting the trub settle this time, and racking it off before adding the yeast. Might try that out. :/
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Its probably too late, but I've attempted using my SS sanitized strainer when transferring to fermenter. Limited success I might add. The proteins and hops do clog it pretty well.

Ultimately 14 days in the keg clears everything up. I cut off about 1in from the draw tube just for making sure I get clear beer.
 
PianoMan said:
Its probably too late, but I've attempted using my SS sanitized strainer when transferring to fermenter. Limited success I might add. The proteins and hops do clog it pretty well.

Ultimately 14 days in the keg clears everything up. I cut off about 1in from the draw tube just for making sure I get clear beer.
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Yea, it's already in, but I just dump it trub and all. I can take out most of the hops and trub with the collection ball after a week or two anyways. It always ends up pretty clear other than a few hop leaves from dry hopping occasionally. ( Been too paranoid to use bags after most people claiming it to be the source of infection after dry hopping )
 
PianoMan said:
Looks tasty! Did this batch have Amarillo? And I prefer your beer color..for whatever reason.
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Nah this is just the regular stock kit one. I have the Amarillo version in the FastFerment. Probably will use warrior to replace magnum next time I brew it.
 
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441832020.925560.jpg
Color comparison

Damn chill haze

Edit: after tasting the two mine was a bit more malty and fruity -- from not adding enough water and most likely my thermometer being off -- from overheating the steeping grains.

I actually liked mine a little bit more since it had more body and flavor to it, and about 0.5-1.0% more abv

I just need to find a way to control my temp, and get a better thermometer for brewing
 
Resonator said:
View attachment 302172
Color comparison

Damn chill haze

Edit: after tasting the two mine was a bit more malty and fruity -- from not adding enough water and most likely my thermometer being off -- from overheating the steeping grains.

I actually liked mine a little bit more since it had more body and flavor to it, and about 0.5-1.0% more abv

I just need to find a way to control my temp, and get a better thermometer for brewing
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My friends who are heading to Russian River, to bring back 20 PTEs, via Yosemite said it's supposed to hit 102. So much for El Nino.
 
PianoMan said:
My friends who are heading to Russian River, to bring back 20 PTEs, via Yosemite said it's supposed to hit 102. So much for El Nino.
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Haha tell them to buy ice for it! Hopefully the hops don't fade too much. How long is the trip going to take them?

F***ing heat wave this week brought my fermenter temps all the way up to 88*F :( I knew I should have done a saison this time. I'm just hoping it's not too bad :/ Think the fermentation mostly finished before it happened, but it definitely sped things up. Might rename the beer to heatwave IPA haha.
 
Resonator said:
Haha tell them to buy ice for it! Hopefully the hops don't fade too much. How long is the trip going to take them?

F***ing heat wave this week brought my fermenter temps all the way up to 88*F :( I knew I should have done a saison this time. I'm just hoping it's not too bad :/ Think the fermentation mostly finished before it happened, but it definitely sped things up. Might rename the beer to heatwave IPA haha.
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They're going to be gone 8 days total. Not sure how long in Yosemite.

Before building the chilling setup, i'd just use ice bath. I've seen other use there bath tube if anything else.

This is my 2nd go around of brewing. I never chilled anything before...think Central Texas summer heat...and beer never turned out well, so I quit. Controlling temps has vastly improved beer quality, and makes for a low stress fermentation.

I am curious what the high temps do.
 
PianoMan said:
They're going to be gone 8 days total. Not sure how long in Yosemite.

Before building the chilling setup, i'd just use ice bath. I've seen other use there bath tube if anything else.

This is my 2nd go around of brewing. I never chilled anything before...think Central Texas summer heat...and beer never turned out well, so I quit. Controlling temps has vastly improved beer quality, and makes for a low stress fermentation.

I am curious what the high temps do.
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Yea, it's just a little harder to do ice/water baths with the fastferment. :/ Plus, I'm a little hesitant to submerge it in water, since an o-ring is the only thing stopping water from contaminating my beer.
 
Resonator said:
Yea, it's just a little harder to do ice/water baths with the fastferment. :/ Plus, I'm a little hesitant to submerge it in water, since an o-ring is the only thing stopping water from contaminating my beer.
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I was thinking about a possible experiment for you. Filling fermenter with water, submerged in a bath with water dyed blue and see if anything comes through. I would think if there's a seal on the inside, the weight of the wort should be good to hold.
 
PianoMan said:
1st full glass. Beer lost some floral notes that were pronounced just before kegging. Oh well..
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If you're kegging I would almost add the dry hops straight into it, or at least the majority of them.

How long did you dry hop it before racking it to the keg?

Looks nice though.
 
Resonator,
About 8 days for the 2 dry hops. I only have one keg strainer and was using it for a session rye. Thinking the strainer is not allowing full immersion...maybe just deal with hop material from now on. Kegging seems to clear up fine. Should I go longer dryhops?
 
PianoMan said:
Resonator,
About 8 days for the 2 dry hops. I only have one keg strainer and was using it for a session rye. Thinking the strainer is not allowing full immersion...maybe just deal with hop material from now on. Kegging seems to clear up fine. Should I go longer dryhops?
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Longer would probably lose more aroma. If you were talking about floral taste, it was probably the fresh hops. You could get a paint strainer bag to dry hop in the keg -- just add some marbles and tie string to the bag. That would add the fresh floral notes.
 
Leaf would probably be easier to strain, and I feel like they would last longer, but not as intense.

Disclaimer(No really sure, just a hunch. since pellets add more bitterness and absorb quickly. I feel like it would just taste more consistent. Instead of really intense the first week and then fade. Again, nothing to back this up, just a hunch -- so take with a grain of salt)
 

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