Franconian Beer Message Board
OT: Latest home brew...cont. |
| Posted by Nick B. on 2013-02-13 00:42:48 |
| Lautering: Let the sweet wort run off into the brew kettle, whereby it is filtered through the bed of crushed grains on the floor of the mash/lauter tun. Recirculate the first 2-3 litres back into the mash just to help minimise the amount of grain bits that end up in the boil. (Some say this recirculation is completely unnecessary --and I believe them-- but I do it out of tradition.) (N.b. It's become fashionable among American homebrewers to use the German term "vorlaufen" to describe this recirculation of the first runnings, but this is a mistaken translation. German brewers say "pumpen die Vorderwürze um".) < http://i49.tinypic.com/deo5n5.jpg > Add 30 gm hops for bittering. < http://i49.tinypic.com/w87slv.jpg > Since the 36 litre kettle is too small for the entire volume to boil safely the entire 60 minutes, divide the sweet wort into two kettles. Cover partly to reduce the amount of steam in the kitchen and boil-off, to keep the specific gravity from rising, to keep the resulting beer from getting strong and the yield over 20 litres. After 20-30 minutes, dump the wort from the smaller kettle into the larger one. < http://i48.tinypic.com/fn4kug.jpg > < http://i45.tinypic.com/10dflao.jpg > Add 50 g of Chinook & Amarillo hops after 45 minutes of boiling and another 40 after 55 minutes to give a firm backbone of citric hop flavour and bitterness. < http://i48.tinypic.com/2ymya2b.jpg > Get the Würzekühler (wort chiller) ready. < http://i50.tinypic.com/1gnpxs.jpg > After 60 minutes of boiling (some insist on 90 minutes, I can't be arsed, plus it would reduce the volume too much!), begin chilling. When the temp falls to 80°C, stop the chiller and add the final 40 g of hops to give the beer a nice aromatic effect, wait a few minutes, then re-start. Stir hard to speed the process up, should take 7 minutes or so to reach 70°F. < http://i46.tinypic.com/4vo9sj.jpg > Re-hydrate the 11 g packet/sachet of dried yeast (Safale US-05, the famous Sierra Nevada strain) in 100 ml or so of boiled water cooled to 30°C. Sprinkle the yeast on the water, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes. < http://i46.tinypic.com/35mldmw.jpg > Strain the chilled wort into the sanitised fermenting vessel, to separate the hops from the wort. (I sanitise my 10 gal stainless kettle by putting a few litres of boiling water in it.) Save a liter for the yeast re-hydration and to take a specific gravity reading, in this case, 8.9 Plato, adjusted for temperature. < http://i50.tinypic.com/f3vxw.jpg > The yeast should show signs of life. It will have sunk to the bottom of the pot and should then begin to "erupt" to the surface. Add some wort and let sit for 5 minutes. Repeat this to gradually bring the temperature down to that of the wort. < http://i49.tinypic.com/1jp8yb.jpg > Add the yeast to the fermenter, cover, and wait a couple of days. |
| Followups: |
 OT: Latest home brew...cont. by barryriley on 2013-02-13 13:38:27 |
| OT: Latest home brew...cont. by Nick B. on 2013-02-13 23:55:19 |
| OT: Latest home brew...cont. by Nick B. on 2013-02-14 23:24:44 |
| OT: Latest home brew...cont. by mike004 on 2013-02-15 01:03:49 |
| OT: Latest home brew...cont. by Mark Andersen on 2013-02-15 07:41:13 |
| OT: Latest home brew...cont. by Nick B. on 2013-02-16 01:10:29 |
| OT: Latest home brew...cont. by Nick B. on 2013-02-16 01:15:55 |