{"id":1332,"date":"2018-11-30T22:00:02","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T12:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/?p=1332"},"modified":"2019-02-12T09:40:42","modified_gmt":"2019-02-11T23:40:42","slug":"journey-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/trivial\/brewing\/journey-3","title":{"rendered":"Brewing Journey Pt 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brewing Different Styles
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Testing my skills and developing new ones by doing new things<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Several styles and new equipment and processes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\n let this ferment go for 12 days. The first 3 were fierce with the \nNottingham yeast. 9 days at 18 degrees +- 0.5 then one degree higher for\n the last 3 days. See the following for the transfer method. I am using 5\n PSI pressure to transfer and using my home style spunding valve to \nrelease keg pressure. I turned off the heat two days ago and let the \nfermenter cool naturally to 11.5 degrees. Looks to be 6% alcohol and \nquite clear. Lets’ see what happens in the keg after 2 weeks in that. I \nhave added no additional conditioning sugars and will leave it self \ncarbonate then bring it up to 10 PSI in the keg, if needed. This one \nwill be darker but not as dark as I thought. I will once again use the \nbottom contents of the fermenter to bottle some of the ale.It may only \nbe a bottle or two this time because I had 20l in the fermenter. It was \nactually 4 bottles before I got to the heavy sediment. Quite efficient \nreally. The bulb was enough to hold all the precipitated yeast and with \nno dry hopping there was not much else in the fermenter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brew #5 Bottle\/kegging. Brew #4 tasting<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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\"Laundry<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here is the result of Brew #4 \n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Amberish<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The bottled version was more yeasty, probably because it was from the bottom of the fermenter after I had filled the keg. Probably a little too much carbonation but I am unsure. The first glass from the keg went into the sink (15 July). Quite a lot of sediment and very frothy. Second glass was much better and still a bit cloudy. Later glasses were clearer still and poured well. Keg temperature 12 degrees the same as the laundry. Malty sweetness is more evident in the keg ale than from the bottle – drier finish form the bottle too. The bottle, had 3 g of glucose added … interesting. The bitterness is noticeable and pleasant after the first mouthful. I could drink this often. 5-5.5% alcohol by the calculations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tasting Brew #5<\/strong>
A\n week after transfer to the keg and Brew #5 tastes good from the keg. \nThis may be a bad thing because a litre disappeared on Friday evening. I\n still cannot work out how the glass emptied so fast. A week of \nconditioning seems to have mellowed the brew and the yeastiness is less \nevidenced. Pleasantly, there seemed to be minimal sediment when pouring \nfrom the keg this time – perhaps it was the different yeast. Initial \ncarbonation was a little low with not enough tongue tingle (is that an \nofficial term?) going on for me and it was around 6 PSI. I put the CO2 \non for an hour at 10 PSI and it was better by then. I may give it \nanother charge or two this weekend (21 July) while tasting more then \nleave it alone for a while. Temperature of the keg was just over 13 \ndegrees because the nights have been milder so there may have been a bit\n of fermentation but not much because the pressure was not much above \ntransfer pressure – I suppose a couple of PSI is significant over a week\n in Winter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The colour is a bit darker than Brew#4 and the malt \nis more pronounced. Alcohol tastes\/feels lower but should be around the \nsame as Brew#4 There is good bitterness and a nice balance over the \nwhole palate. A slightly watery feel in the mouth may be due to \ncarbonation being low. Also perhaps being a week since transfer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am interested to see what it is like after a few weeks. Might post tasting notes weekly …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Things<\/strong>
I\n have planted some hop rhizomes in pots so that they can be well exposed\n to the cold. Goldings and Chinook. Dug the garden bed to about 40cm \ndeep then built on top of that a raised bed 40cm higher. Gypsum turned \ninto the clay at the bottom, a half cubic metre of compost mixed in and \nthen next weekend I will add cow manure and more compost to the raised \nbed, sprinkle powdered clay over it then a large amount of stone dust \nfrom a mason. stone dust is usually a better fertiliser than chemicals \nand the clay dust also has good nutrient and water retention properties \nto balance out the quick drainage of the compost. I will show how I make\n the framework for the hops to grow up as I do it. Basically 3m high \nsquare aluminium posts with a similar cross bar. U bolts for attaching \nguy ropes and the whole frame inserts into concreted square tubes with a\n snug fit. Then all I do is attach the twine to some more u bolts to \nmake a good climbing frame for the hops. The frame will get a lot of sun\n and I can protect it a little in peak summer. Windbreak provided by the\n house and a fence. Irrigation via drippers and a controller that \nadjusts the amount of water according to humidity and temperature. It \nshould work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September, I will have a partially raised bed (20cm or so) for the barley crop. It will be at least 10 square metres and possibly 20. Depends on some other ideas I have. I would prefer to have planted potatoes or similar as a winter crop to prepare the soil … next year <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Brew<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Brew #5 after 3 weeks.
Mellowed a little and a nice colour. Some of the edge is gone. Quite a lot to like. Malt is still there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis is about Batch 13 and a bit about the Kolsch experiment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batch #12<\/strong>\n was the Grandfather Strong Ale. That is the name I am giving it. I \nsettles on Strong Ale rather than Porter or Amber Ale because it is not \neither of them. It may not strictly be a Strong Ale either because I am \nnot confident it was ever kept for months before drinking in Ballarat \n1850s style. It would have been drunk fairly soon, I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New pieces of equipment etc:
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