AG # 5 Northern Mystery(finished brewday)

[Deebee]

Well at last brewday arrived.

Swmbo wnt out at 0715 and by 0735 i had gotten the strike water to temp and was ready to go.

The grain bill for this one wasupped a bit as i worked on the average of 65% efficiency from my last 2 brews So if this one goes better i'll end up wth more beer at around the strength i want as i will have to dilute it.

This is also going to be my first batch sparge, the plan is 2 equal batches but i am not so sure th MT wll hadle another 9 liters so i may have t do 3 sallerones. I am a little anxious but i guess batch sparge virginity is easier than losing AG virginity. i hope to be all done by 1400 so that i'm tidied and finished by the time swmbo comes home.

The grain bill is as follows.

4340 MO
1000 pilsner malt ( just to bump the og up)
250 crystal
80 chocolate

hops

28 g northdpwn for 60
30 first gold for 20
20 g crystal for 2.

Righ now i have 15 minutes left of the 60 minute mash and will be then adding the first batch of sparge water. i do have some pics but will not get chance to load these until later.

i would be really happy if i managedt to get a better efficiency this time. lets wait and see.

Smells good from all that lovely malt though for sure.

pictures and update later.

Thanks for the help in getting this one planned and info on batch sparging.

[booldawg]

Hope all goes well. You'll find batch sparging a breeze. Its all about the maths!

[ChrisG]

Good one!

Looking forward to pics.

I'm gonna get brewing on Thursday night. Might end up a late one.

[Deebee]

ok, a bit later thn planned due to a few visitors and stuff but here are some pictures that might tempt you int a brew.


the grain bill, more grain than i ever used before



Doughing in with the aid of a bucket and a drill fixed paint mixer. worked really well, hit 67 on the nose!



The i tucked it all up in a duvet for 60 minutes. I was thinking of 90 due to efficiency but decided that i needed to get this finished before swmbo comes home so......Temperature was at 69.8 so i lost 0.2 degrees. pleased with that.



after 60 minutes i mixed in the first batch of sparge water as i had been advised 8 not drain the mash tun first but jus add the water mix and leave.

here are the first runnings of batch 1



there will be more to come but i am just coming up to the boil so have to go for now. updates later.

[Deebee]

I willbe using a wyeast esb liquid yeast fir the first time. I have smacked the pack and the pack is swelling-.

I have also drawn off 500 ml from te boiler now and have it cooling, i wonder if i should have the yeast in this as a starter when i put the cooler in, or should i just tip the yeast into he FV when i am at pitching temp.

Having never ysed this yeast before i am open for suggestions. looks like i did good though, smells lovely and the first hops are just about t go in.

[Deebee]

Chiller has been in for about 20 minutes and the temperature is dropping nicely.

I am witng to get the cold break and will try to capture it on camera. i used a protofloc tablet at 15 minutes, i love these things. More pics and figures a little later,

in between making this i have also done a complete wash down of the house and almost finished laying a laminated floor.

Surely SWMBO can't complain about me making this then.... can she.
More later

[Deebee]

Well thats that. all done and i am well pleasd. i'll haveto work out eficiency later though but it was over the 655 i got last time for sure.

more pics.

this is the colour of the runnings from the secon batch in the sparge. much lighter but still tasted sweet.



then after what seemed to be an age the Hot break started...


and aftr that the first hops northdown went in. i always have used the bafs, results in minimal trub and i have never had a problem



the boil went well and in wentthe hiller after 45 minutes.



i tried to get a pic of the cold break that is not reall thay clear, but i took a sample of the wort to get an Og and this shows it nicely.



I then checked temp, transfered to the Fv and ariated well with the drill and paint stirer. well pleased. yeast pitched at 1325, almost 6 hours exactly.





Now the planned Og based on 65 % was 20 liters at 1046 after the boil. i got 22 liters at 1058 and diluted by 3 liters to give me 25 at 1052.

the yeast is all pitched and i hope for some life too. the pack said suitable for 5 gallons whch is like a couple of liters less than i have. i don't expect this will be a problem though and have some s04 on standby just in case.

all in all best solo brewday yet.

if someone can work out the efficiency i'll be grateful. i don't have the time now. have to make dinner and keep SWMBO appeased.....

thanks for looking comments welcome.

[WishboneBrewery]

Nice one with the pictures
I keep getting kinked IC hose, I need to re-design a little sometime.

[trucker5774]

Hi Deebee. I seem to remember chatting about calling a brew Northern Mystery...........Is this the one

Anyway my calculations make your efficiency for 22 litres at 1058 with that grain bill................Woo Hoo...74% well done mate. Much better

[Deebee]

Hi Deebee. I seem to remember chatting about calling a brew Northern Mystery...........Is this the one

Anyway my calculations make your efficiency for 22 litres at 1058 with that grain bill................Woo Hoo...74% well done mate. Much better

Yes on bth counts. mystery due to the unknown efficiency. i guess that had i fy sparged i might have gotten a better efficiency, i'll try that when i have a lot of time though. the batch sparge went ok although i only have a 24 l mt so it was close. the drill mixer was a godsend though.

i diluted the batch with anoter 3 liters giving me 25 l at 1052. i can smell the hops in the room where it will ferment already. No action in the airlock as yet though. i guess the yeast might take little while to get going. if there is ( unlikely) no action by friday morning then i'll pitch the s04 to be safe.

All being well i hope to collect the ESB slurry from the bottom of the Fv and use it for future brews. its worth a go and only costs me well time sterilizing a glass eh.

again thanks for the help. i'll update this thread as we go. hopefully i'll get around 1012 on this as an fg . be pleased with that. is it relistic?
i know nothing about this yeast. thanks

[trucker5774]

1012 sounds realistic, Dave. I don't know thw yeast either, but that would be a decent finish. Anything lower will be a pretty strong beer. Even 1012 from 1058 will give around 5.2 ABV. I was about to ask how you sparged.............you beat me to it. I have bottled my strawberry and my honey today. Not quite the impact the female will be after from the fruit, but both taste good (and identifyable) without being overpowering. The strawberry is about 5% and the honey is 6.7%

[Deebee]

This was without doubt my best day yet. It does however leave of with a problem. I have commu chance of brewing next month, but not enough kegs. Neither do i have a recipe although i think something with bobek. Guess i best start drinking so i have at least enough for a 10 l batch.

[Deebee]

Nice one with the pictures
I keep getting kinked IC hose, I need to re-design a little sometime.

I have the same problem. I am thinking of just getting a couple of elbows so that the hose comes out already bent. I also tink i'll be cahngingthe hose soon too.

[Deebee]

I am not sure if this is the right place to post thi bit so i'll copy it to the yeast forum too.

I used the Wyeast ESB ( 1068) for this one. It was made in april so i was right on the 6 month limit. I never saw this til it was too late to make a starter for it.
The packet said that there was enough to innoculate 5 galons 8 although it never said imperial or US gallons.

I have 25 liters in the fv and it has now been 18 hours since i pitched and there is still no life in the FV.

The foam created by the oxygenating is still there though but thats it .

Question is how lonm do i wait before i throw in the packet of Safeale 04 i have available. I don'y want to wait too long for this as it is potentially going to be a great brew. i am worried that the longer it stands without doing something , the more chance there is it will be destroyed. I hve no HBS near me that sells this. I could possibly ring the supplier of this one and ask them to send one for me over night?

what do you all think?

thanks

[Deebee]

Well this might have started slow but OMFG this thing has taken off!

For the last 36 hours the airlock has ben goingballistic. Almost no break between the bubbles. The room is filled with a citrus smell but the yeast in the wort is very butterscocth smelling ( but the net site said it would be)

Last night i had a thick yeast head that treatened to blow the lid of the fv, it was amazing.

I toog a reading today and it is down to 1030 from 1052 so its on the way, although the action in the airlock suggests this may go to 1010... we wait and see.