Second Batch tomorrow - Need Advice

[Texas_Red]

So I am bottling my first batch and want to jump right into another batch and start fermenting. I went to my local LHBS and showed him this recipe and asked if I could do this in extract. I love this beer and wanted to try and make something similar at home.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/can-you-brew-recipe-firestone-walker-double-barrel-ale-189853/

So he didnt have the Marris Otter in the extract so I have 2 lbs of grain and will have to do a partial mash. He was also out of WLP002 but gave me WLP005 and said it would be fine.

So can anyone give me some tips of doing the partial mash. Right now I am planning on steeping the Marris Otter for 60 min at 145F. Then bring to boil and add the extract.

I know I have read about only adding some of the extract at the beginning of the boil and some at the end to keep it from getting too dark. How much at the beginning, half?

Im attatching my receipt of all the ingredients I picked up today. Also this will be my first time using liquid yeast.

 

[Brauer]

Well the first thing I see is 7 oz Kent holdings..is that
right ? The recipe only calls for about 1-2 oz. The WLP005 should be an ok sub for the 002. Do you know how to make a starter?

 

[Calder]

I assume the grains are crushed.

4 lbs of grains: Heat 5 to 6 quarts of water to 160 F. Drop in the grains (assume they will be in a bag). This should bring the temp down to about 148/150 F. 145 is too low. Keep warm for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Remove bag, and drain (add liquid back to main batch).

Rinse or dunk grains in bag in more water at 170 F to get more sugars. Can use a separate pot with 4 quarts of water and leave for 10 minutes.

Remove bag, and drain (add liquid back to main batch).

Boil for 60 minutes adding hops as normal.

Add extract at flame out.

You should end up somewhere around 1.060/1.065.

Go research on-line prices, and don't be afraid to buy in bulk. I average about $17 for a 5 gallon batch (and many have lower costs than I do). My average OG is around 1.060.

Good luck.

 

[Texas_Red]

Subbed the EKG for Styrian Goldings. Although you might be right about the amount He printed me off a sheet with the conversions and it shows a total of 3.6 oz of EKG and 2.7 oz of Syrian. I come up with 2.2 oz total if you convert 62g to oz.

To answer your other question, no I do not know how to make a starter. I guess I cant just add the liquid yeast straight to the wort?

 

[Brauer]

Yes you can pitch it directly but you going to be underpitching. It's still going to make beer.

 

[Kevin79]

To answer your other question, no I do not know how to make a starter. I guess I cant just add the liquid yeast straight to the wort?

Someone is probably going to chastise me for saying this, but with an OG of 1.051 you'll almost certainly be fine just pitching directly in the wort if you're anxious to brew right away. Making a starter is preferable but not necessarily in this case imho.

That being said, here is a good reference for making a starter. It's pretty easy, and there's plenty of more threads you can look up on the subject on the forum as well. http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew/starter-tips

 

[madscientist451]

Your hops are way off.
1 oz = 28.34 g
So 22g of hops =.77 of an ounce.
If you don't have a scale, just eyeball it, pour the ounce packet of hops into a shallow bowl and divide it into 4 portions, remove 1 portion and you have .75 oz, which is close enough.
Your goal is to have "something similar" to Firestone Walker double barrel ale.
But your ingredients are different, the process calls for a step mash and you're skipping that, you are using different hops and different yeast. Its hard to say how similar its going to be. Making clones is a great way to build your skills because you can compare your beer against a commercial example. At least adjust your hops to what it calls for.
It looks like you need about 1/10 oz Magnum at 75 mins, then to keep it simple you could go for 3/4 oz EKG at 30 mins and 1.5 oz Ekg at 0 mins.
Keep your extra hops sealed in an airtight container in the freezer, you can get the other hops and grain it calls for and try an all grain BIAB version next time and compare it to your Extract version. Good luck

 

[Texas_Red]

OK so I ended up brewing today as I didnt have the time yesterday. I just transferred the cooled wort (100deg) into my bucket and topped it off with cold water (1.5 gallons). The wort is still like 85 degrees so dont want to add yeast until it gets to 70. Is is ok to let it sit a couple of hours to come down the rest of the way on its own?

 

[Texas_Red]

So since I am waiting for it to finish cooling I checked the SG. Its at 1.064. Right at the upper end of the expected. Had a taste and it tastes really good at this point. Cant wait for this one to get done.

 

[rodwha]

Yes you can wait until it drops a bit more.

Did you adjust the gravity for the temp difference? Hydrometers are calibrated to a certain temp.

How did your partial mash work out? What temp did you do it at and were you able to hold it there?

Did you make a starter for your yeast?

 

[rodwha]

Cool concrete might be your friend at this moment. It's warm up here near Austin so I know it's warmer there. My friend lives near Tomball and uses the cool concrete to help control his fermentation temps when it's cooler out (late fall to early spring). I'm not sure how but it's what he claims.

You could also put your fermentor in the sink with cold water.

 

[Texas_Red]

Yes you can wait until it drops a bit more.

Did you adjust the gravity for the temp difference? Hydrometers are calibrated to a certain temp.

How did your partial mash work out? What temp did you do it at and were you able to hold it there?

Did you make a starter for your yeast?

I let the sample cool before I took the reading. And I did use the conversion chart as I think it was 70 when I took the reading. So had to add .001

The partial mash worked out really good. I followed the advise on here and it went very smooth. The final color looks good and very clear since I added the Whirlfloc tablet 5 min before the end of the boil.

I did not make a starter. The yeast instructions said you can add directly without a starter if SG is lower than 1.070 which mine is.

 

[Texas_Red]

Cool concrete might be your friend at this moment. It's warm up here near Austin so I know it's warmer there. My friend lives near Tomball and uses the cool concrete to help control his fermentation temps when it's cooler out (late fall to early spring). I'm not sure how but it's what he claims.

You could also put your fermentor in the sink with cold water.

Yes it did get warm here today. I have it sitting on a tile floor and it is currently just over 80. So I will wait a little longer and pitch the yeast.

 

[rodwha]

I'm still unsure about the need to make a starter with an average strength beer of 5 gals as I recalled Wyeast or White Labs stating it good up to about 1.055 or so. Yet most everyone, as well as calculators show you need a starter for better yeast health.

I made my first few without a starter and they all turned out OK. But I did make starters the next couple of years, but this was because I began saving a portion and without a known volume I'd be better off making one. But it also gave the yeast a little warm up prior to pitching giving me more active yeast.

I moved from San Antonio to Lakeway and so I dumped my liquid strains as I lost track of their use and knew I had a mutation with one strain (a good one in that I was getting higher attenuation). Since then I've been using dry yeasts.

 

[rodwha]

I recall my first partial mash. Yooper helped me out as I had tried a rye witbier and loved the rye. I HAD to have a rye pale and had to jump in. It's well worth it! Been doing partial mashes for some time now (full mash if I do smaller batches).

You'll be wanting to look into a mash tun build soon I'd guess. Sure does open more doors, reduces the cost, and is more fun, though certainly has its ups and downs. I still screw stuff up a bit from time to time. And then you'll be doctoring your water too... I began by knowing the water was a bit hard and so I'd use 1 gal of RO water for dark beers and 2 for light beers. It worked OK.