Summer On My Mind

A lot of Hops

A freezer full of hops, sacks of malt,  empty carboys and a fresh culture of  ESB yeast sets up well for a "summer strength" American Pale Ale.  The goal? Aromatic, well balanced, light to medium bodied American style ale with serious pulling power.

The grist is simple; Pale Ale Malt, Flaked Barley and Crystal 40 to the tune of 1.050.  The plan is to mash just the Flaked Barley and Pale Ale Malt @ 150F for 60 minutes before adding the Crystal 40 during Vorlauf.

 

230 grams of aroma/late/dry hops (~1.5lb/bbl) will be divided:

• 20% (45g) Cascade @ 20 minutes remaining in boil
• 50% (115g) Simcoe/Galaxy @ Whirlpool (30 minutes)
• 30% (70g) Galaxy split between two carboys, 35g each.

I'll add an additional bittering hop, probably Columbus or Chinook @ 60 to hit 35 IBU's (Tinseth).  To better estimate the final bitterness, whirlpool hops are entered to my brewing software as a 5 minute addition. I have found this to be a reasonable estimation of their bitterness contribution.

To dial in my water profile, I'll treat the entire 60 litres of brewing liquor with lactic acid to a room temperature pH of 5.4.  Then add 2 tsp of Calcium Chloride, 3 tsp of Gypsum and a campden tablet.  This should yield an appropriate mash pH with a final Calcium concentration of ~ 100ppm.

Short & Heavy "Special" APA

WLP090 - Pitch +87hrs

Brewed 40 liters of APA yesterday.  I've been trying to use up stock and therefore I'm running light on malt; however, the freezer is well stocked with hops.  To borrow a term from British brewers, with respect to gravity or strength of ale, this is going to be a "Special" strength American Pale Ale.

Base was a mix of Domestic 2-row and Pils combined with a decent portion of Vienna.  Weyermann CaraFoam and some CaraMunich for colour and body.  The **CaraMunich was added late in the mash, during the mash-out, one of a few changes I made to my brew process.  The idea here is to introduce less variables to the mash and thus stabilize the pH resulting in a more predictable wort.

Rather than treating the mash with salts, I simply treated the entire volume of brewing liquor with Lactic Acid to a pH of ~ 5.50 as calculated with the sparge water acidification tool in Bru'n Water.  I then added Calcium Chloride and Calcium Sulfate to the boil for a desired flavour profile and calcium content.

Since I was brewing 40 liters, a decent water to grain ratio can quickly fill my 36qt MLT.  This meant that I was not able to add all my sparge water at once as I normally would with smaller batches. What I decided was to begin draining the second running, then when the water level had dropped slightly, add the remaining sparge water.  A cross between batch and fly sparging.  Didn't seem to impact my mash efficiency at all.

Beyond the tight working conditions of my MLT, the only other issues encountered were a slightly low temperature on the sparge water (got caught making dinner).  The mash and mash-out were a perfect though, 152/168F.  I had two minor boil overs, once before the first hop addition, the second just after the 20 minute addition.  These stops and starts reduced my anticipated boil off and dropped the *OG a point or two.  Finally, during the last 15 minutes of the boil, while recirculating boiling wort through my pump and lines to sanitize everything, I guess some thermo protection switch kicked in and the pump stopped working.  Once the wort had chilled considerably, the pump resumed function.  I feel the risk of infection is minimal since it did get about 10 minutes of contact time with boiling wort.

I've started using Yeastex, a nutrient.  Not sure if it does anything but I figured it's cheap insurance since I tend to re-pitch yeast often.  For this particular beer, I did a split batch, one half receiving 250ml of 3rd gen, BRY-97 - American West Coast Ale Yeast.  This was harvested from a Blonde Ale the previous day.  The other half received a fresh 1L starter of WLP090 -San Diego Super Yeast.   As of pitch +7.5hrs, the BRY-97 had a light krausen covering the surface.  No action on the WLP090.

Here's the recipe...

Short & Heavy Special APA

OG 1.047*/ IBU 40/ SRM 5/ 40L
BRY-97 West Coast Ale Yeast/WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast

42% Domestic 2-Row
33% Pilsner Malt
16% Vienna
5% CaraFoam
4% **CaraMunich I (38L)

15g (13 IBU) Columbus @ 60m
40/20g Centennial/Simcoe @ 20m
40/20g Simcoe/Amarillo, 1/2 @ 5m, 1/2 @ 1m

Dryhop (Keg)
***40/15/5g Centennial/Simcoe/Amarillo

***Amount specified is per keg/19L

Update - Pitch +20hrs

BRY-97 was quick out the gates, the krausen continues to slowly build.  WLP090 was slower off the get go but has exploded filling the entire 4L headspace with krausen.

Update - Pitch +32hrs

BRY-97 krausen now stands at ~2".  From what I've seen in the past, this is pretty much high krausen.  The San Diego Super WLP090 krausen has started to fall slightly.  Very quick!  Wort temperatures holding steady @ 20c

Update - Pitch +63hrs

Both krausens have fallen to a light layer covering the surface of each fermenter.

Update - Pitch +72hrs

Krausen on WLP090 has completely fallen, STC controller set to 22c.

Update - Pitch +87hrs

Sample pulled from each fermenter, BRY-97 @ 1.012, WLP090 @ 1.011.  WLP090 sample very clear already!

Update - Pitch +13 days

Move BRY-97 to ambient and WLP090 to the keg.  Added Dry hops to the WLP090.  Will DH @ ambient for 3 days before moving keg to serving fridge.

Update - Pitch +16 days

Moved WLP090 to the serving fridge.  Set pressure to 30psi.

120 Liter Weekend?

Yeast starters are fermenting, recipes have been planned and barring any major interruptions, I hope to put 120L into the fermenters this weekend...

1. 40L APA - 2-Row, Vienna, C60 & Wheat malt with Columbus, Simcoe & Amarillo hops
2. 40L SMaSH - Vienna malt & Citra hops
3. 40L Mild - MO, C60 & Pale Chocolate malt with Styrian Goldings hops

For the APA, I plan to use White Labs English Dry Yeast - WLP007.  To suppress ester production, this batch will be closely controlled in the fermentation freezer .  The plan is to complete the bulk of fermentation at the strains lowest optimal temperature, 18c/65F.  The yeast was harvested from LowTech Blonde v4 (June 26th) making this the 5th pitch.  Last evening, approximately 250ml of solid slurry was pitched to 1.4L of 1.037 starter.  After a day on the stir plate this should result in an anticipated cell count of 400B, enough for 40L of 1.056 Ale.

For the SMaSH, I plan to pitch Safale S-04 in one fermenter and Danstar BRY-97 in the other.  This batch will not be temperature controlled.  I will be at the mercy of my cold room's ambient temperature.  As of last night, this was 18c/65F.  So depending on how much heat each strain will generate, I may be pushing low 70's at the height of fermentation.  I plan to hydrate each dry yeast using 110ml of 38c/100F bottled spring water.  The dry yeast will be sprinkled evenly over top of the water and left to rest for 15 minutes after which the yeast will be re-suspended and left for 5 minutes.  At this point you attemperate with wort to within 10c of the pitch temperature.  From the reviews I've read on BRY-97, it does benefit from re-hydration.

For the Mild, the plan is to pitch Burton Ale Yeast - WLP023 to one fermenter and British Ale Yeast - WLP005 to another.  Again, no temperature control beyond the ambient of my cold room.  Approximately 150ml of WLP023 was harvested on June 24th will be added (2nd pitch) directly without a starter.  Yeast calc indicates a viability of 80% which results in a cell count of 120B.  The recommendation is 140B for 20L of 1.038 Ale.  Close enough I say.  The WLP005 was certainly getting long in the tooth.  190ml was harvested on March 27th.  Yeast calc pegs the viability at  39%.  After 1.2L of 1.037 starter, the resulting cell count should be in the neighborhood of 120B.  Again, slightly low of the 140B target but close enough I say.  This will be the yeast's 5th pitch.

Update July 19th

Both starters WLP007 & WLP005 appear to have fermented out.  When I woke this morning I found that both were starting to clear.  Both starters were placed into the fridge to crash remaining yeast, perhaps I can decant some of the starter liquid.

First up this evening is the Citra SMaSH.  Paired with 9kg of Vienna Malt for 40 Liters @ 1.050 & 37 IBU.  I treated my water with 1 tsp Gypsum, 2 tsp Calcium Chloride and 1 tsp Epsom for a room temp mash pH of 5.49.  An additional 1 tsp of Gypsum added to the boil.  Whirlfloc with 5 min remaining.  Hops at 60 (9g), 30 (15g), 5 (120g), and will dry hop each keg with an additional 60g.  As noted, will pitch BRY-97 and S-04 to this batch.  Water numbers: Ca 71, Mg 9, Na 18, Cl 61, S04 132.

100% Vienna Malt

Ended with ~19L in each fermenter.  Gravity measured 13.2% Brix = 1.051.  I left behind about 4.5L in the kettle, trying to filter it for a future starter.  Was only able to chill to 24c, so I will leave in the basement cold room until tomorrow morning and then pitch my yeast. 

Update July 20th

Hydrated both yeasts as described and pitched to SMaSH this morning @ 10am. 

Mashed in on the APA/WLP007.  Hit mash temp of 67c/152F.  7kg OiO 2-Row, 2kg Vienna, 500g CaraMunich 1, 500g Wheat Malt for 40L @ 1.056 and 41 IBU.  Treated water with 1 tsp Gypsum, 2 tsp Calcium Chloride, 1 tsp Epsom for a room temp mash pH of 5.6 (forgot Acid Malt).  Additional 1 tsp Gypsum to the boil as well as 1 tab Whirlfloc @ 5min.  Hops @ 60 (18g Columbus), 30 (15g Simcoe, 15g Amarillo), 5 (60g Simcoe, 60g Amarillo).  Each keg with receive a dry hop addition of 30g Simcoe, 30g Amarillo.  As noted, will pitch WLP007 to each fermenter and this batch will be controlled in the freezer @ 18c/65F.  Water numbers: Ca 70, Mg 9, Na 18, Cl 60, S04 129.  Finished with 2x20L @ 1.059 OG.



As of 2:20pm this afternoon, both SMaSH fermenters are showing air-lock activity. That's about 4hrs from pitching!  Cold room sits @ 19c/66F. 

Pitched the WLP007 @ 9pm.  Wort temp was down to 15c.  Controller set to  18c.

APA heading to the Primary

After struggling for the better part of an hour to try and fit both fermenters into the freezer, gave up and moved both to the cold room.  Need to figure a better solution in the future, perhaps 1 carboy and 1 pail?  Also, I noticed there was over a 1c difference in temperature between the two.  Not great.  Anyways, WLP007 now at the mercy of my 18-19c/64-66F cold room. 

Update July 21st

I don't have another 40L brewday in me.  I decided to mash only 20L of the Mild which is obviously much quicker.  When running off to the fermenter,  I intend to reserve 500ml of the wort and pitch to the WLP005 which has been waiting in the fridge, this should wake it up and build the cell count a little more. Will pitch tonight.

Mashed at 67c for 50m before beginning mash-out.   2.7kg of MO, 600g of Muntons 150 (57L), 200g of Wheat malt and 120g of Pale Chocolate malt from TF&S for 1.036 @ 14 IBU.  Styrian Goldings (30g) added @ 30m.  1tsp Calcium Chloride added to the mash for a pH of 5.56.  Additional 1 tsp of Calc Chlor and 1 tsp of Epsom added to the boil, Final water: Ca 66, Mg 15, Na 18, Cl 106, S04 81.

The setup for this weekend

Ended with 23L of Mild @ 10.6% Brix = 1.040.  Not sure why I overshot the gravity by 4 pts?  Volumes were as expected.  This one may end up being a touch under hopped. 

Pitched WLP005 @ 8pm.  WLP007 batch has beginning stages of Krausen in both fermenters.  BRY-97 still pushing the airlock but nothing in the way of Krausen.  S-04 looks like it may be half way done LOL! 

Update July 22nd

5 fermenters rocking this morning.  Krausen on the S-04 Citra SMaSH has fallen.  The BRY-97 is nearing peak.  Both WLP007 APA's are showing full krausen.  The WLP005 I pitched last evening (after a couple more hours on the stir plate with batch fresh wort) is popping the airlock at a steady pace.  It's ALIVE!   

Update July 26th

As of this morning, only the BRY-97 still has krausen.  All other fermenters have fallen.  I only have a single available keg so I for foresee some decent conditioning time for most of the beers.

Update August 3rd

Kegged 1 fermenter of APA @ 1.014 (7.8% brix = 3.55°P), ~5.8% ABV 

Update August 6th

Kegged both Vienna SMaSH and the Mild.  Bone head move on the Mild, started racking the beer to keg before dumping the 1/2 gallon of Starsan, DOH!  Dumped at least 2 gallons of Mild before continuing to rack the remaining beer.  The Vienna SMaSH fermented with S04 was near crystal clear heading into the keg.  The BRY-97 looks quite cloudy, hopefully the cold conditioning will help.  Same with the WLP005 Mild, very cloudy and somewhat yeasty smelling while heading to the keg.  I neglected to take FG on any of these beers.

The remaining 1 fermenter of APA was racked to a secondary to further condition and clear.  I didn't have any additional kegs.

Update Sept 22nd

Final carboy of the APA racked to keg, FG 1.010, no dry-hops.  Didn't like how this one turned out so I didn't want to waste the hops.  This second carboy sampled much nicer than the first.

Techniques - Reusing Yeast

Being a cheap bugger, I am a big fan of (re)pitching/reusing yeast.  It's something I've practiced since the time I began brewing.  I've tried just dumping new wort onto a yeast cake from a previous batch; however, after reading this thread on Homebrewtalk.com, going forward I'll be utilizing a more measured approach.  I would highly recommend giving the first post a read, it's very informative.

Referencing "Bob's" information (noted above), I've simplified the (re)pitching rates for my brew system as follows:

"Industry” pitching rule:  1 million cells  x  1ml  x 1˚ Plato"

Example:  25L @ 12 ˚ Plato (1.048) = 1,00,000 cells x 25,000ml x 12˚ Plato = 300 Billion Cells 

Pitching Rates for 25L:

●        10˚ Plato (1.040) = 250ml slurry

●        12˚ Plato (1.048) = 300ml slurry

●        14˚ Plato (1.057) = 350ml slurry

●        16˚ Plato (1.065) = 400ml slurry

●        18˚ Plato (1.074) = 450ml slurry

●        20˚ Plato (1.083) = 500ml slurry

Note, online yeast calculators (YeastCalc, Mr Malty) actually recommend a slightly lower pitching rate for ales,  750k cells  x  1ml  x 1˚ Plato

To-date, I've only used dry yeast (or yeast harvested from bottle conditioned beers).  I finally ordered some liquid yeast which I hope I can use as a sort of" house strain", WLP007, White Labs Dry English Ale Yeast. 

The yeast has been described as follows:

"Clean, highly flocculent, and highly attenuative yeast. This yeast is similar to WLP002 in flavor profile, but is 10% more attenuative. This eliminates the residual sweetness, and makes the yeast well suited for high gravity ales. It is also reaches terminal gravity quickly. 80% attenuation will be reached even with 10% ABV beers.  

Attenuation: 70-80% 

Flocculation: Medium to High 

Optimum fermentation temperature: 65-70°F 

Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High "

Having finally dropped the goods on a liquid strain, I began researching various reusing, re-pitching, harvesting techniques to prolong my meager investment.  Having purchased two vials, I hope to brew an entire years worth of beer from this yeast!  I stumbled across this thread which talks about "Splitting Starters".

Essentially, you make a large starter, more than what's required for the batch you intend to brew.  You reserve a portion of this starter for a future starter, the remaining content is pitched to your batch.  This process is repeated for each subsequent stater.

The problem I saw with this method is that to retain enough viable yeast for a future starter, I pegged this amount at 100B cells, you would not leave yourself with enough yeast for your current batch.  I determined that in the context of a 2L starter, reserving 700ml (100B cells), the remaining 1300ml would not contain enough cells (in my 25L system) to properly meet the pitching rate defined above.  To do so meant I would need to step-up this 1300ml with a second quantity of wort.  Based on this theory, I summarized...

1 vial of White Labs liquid yeast = 100B cells

100B cells into a 2L starter = 310B cells (YeastCalc) =  155M cells/1ml

700ml x 155M = 108.5B Cells (reserve for future starter)

1,300ml x 155M = 201.5B Cells (pitch/step for current batch)

Step-up amounts (25L Batch Size):

●        0ml = 201.5B cells ( < 1.043)

●        500ml = 240B cells (1.044 to 1.051)

●        750ml = 289B cells 1.052 to 1.063)

●        1L =  330B cells (1.063 to 1.072)

●        1.5L = 397B cells (1.073 to 1.088)

●        2L = 453B cells ( 1.089+)

For example, in the event I would brew a 1.060 beer, I would build a 2L starter, split and then step-up the 1300ml portion with an additional 750ml of wort.

Going forward I plan to combine the two techniques.  I will build and split starters for low gravity beers which require a minimal step-up.  For larger gravity beers (ie 1.060+), I will harvest slurry after primary fermentation and re-pitch.  The best of both worlds!

FYI, Yeast cell counts and step amount were calculated using: YeastCalc