Pineapple Crush IPA

[Darran Haynes]

Got that magical "Ready to Keg" message tonight... Just added the hops (2x H6) so will sample & bottle tomorrow night 👌👌

[Paul84]

Thats awesome mate , looks the goods. Now the conditioning time 😪

[Captain 3 Droids]

Yes very healthy looking. How did it smell? Pineapple? Have a taste when you bottle.😋

[Darran Haynes]

1 hour ago, Barrelboy said:

Yes very healthy looking. How did it smell? Pineapple? Have a taste when you bottle.😋

I didn't give it much of a smell .. so paranoid about leaving it open too long I get my partner to take the photo while I put the hops in and quickly reseal. 

Can't wait to get home later tonight to smell & sample before bottling 😎👌

Edited December 8, 2019 by Darran Haynes

[Darran Haynes]

UPDATE - have now bottled 12 of these beauties.  Sadly I don't have a time machine to travel 4 weeks into the future so we'll have to take the long way  

Some notes:
 - As Paul84 alluded to from his 2 week aged bottles; actually smelled more like Banana than Pineapple to me (the H6 hops maybe?).  Regardless, still smells and tastes promising indeed!  
 - Filled 12x 750ml bottles and (foolishly) ditched the rest.  I used a dirty pint glass to measure the leftover drainage and got at least 2+ full glasses.  Next time I might try the fabled bottle #13.

Have now cleaned and started the remainder of the half tins from my custom 'Beez Neez' (brew before this one) and made a hop tea with 10g of Cluster hops.  Also, first time I haven't used a droid cleanse; just StarSan.  Anticipating no issues but we'll see!

Edited December 9, 2019 by Darran Haynes

[Captain 3 Droids]

Glad it’s turned at well. Next time when you do a #13 mark the bottle so if it a bit different (sediment?) you’ll know why.

“Also, first time I haven't used a droid cleanse; just StarSan. Anticipating no issues but we'll see!” I assumed you cleaned out with water first. (just checking)

Edited December 9, 2019 by Barrelboy

[Paul84]

17 minutes ago, Barrelboy said:

Glad it’s turned at well. Next time when you do a #13 mark the bottle so if it a bit different (sediment?) you’ll know why.

“Also, first time I haven't used a droid cleanse; just StarSan. Anticipating no issues but we'll see!” I assumed you cleaned out with water first. (just checking)

Yeah Darran go for 13 , if your using Coopers Browns you should get 13.5 bottles. I have just labelled my last bottle as the "scraping the barrel series" so as Mark alludes to you can know if and why it tastes different.

And 4 weeks is forever away , maybe could chill one for new years eve ( only 3 weeks 😞 ) as your scientific sample of the ageing process. It was enjoyable but i am waiting a bit now to push that tropical citrus flavor to the foreground , still heavily malted when i tried it.

Edited December 9, 2019 by Paul84
Spelling

[Darran Haynes]

1 hour ago, Barrelboy said:

Glad it’s turned at well. Next time when you do a #13 mark the bottle so if it a bit different (sediment?) you’ll know why.

“Also, first time I haven't used a droid cleanse; just StarSan. Anticipating no issues but we'll see!” I assumed you cleaned out with water first. (just checking)

Yessir!  Full rinse out with warm water, then dried it with paper towels, then gave it some plentiful sprays of Starsan and left it for a few mins before filling with chilled spring water; then the diluted ingredients in warm water.  I haven't changed the tap over yet with the replacement as the old one seems to still be working ok (the rubber hasn't frayed further since the first brew).

Main takeaway was I should probably use some room temp water also; as most was chilled it took about an hour and a half to go from circa 15 degrees to the ideal 22 for propagation.  (First 4 litres was chilled; then added the warm/hot hop tea and diluted ingredients mix; then topped up with more chilled).

Part of me wishes I strained as I poured the mix into the droid as I noticed when almost empty there was a couple of small blocks of honey (size of half a sugar cube) that hadn't fully diluted.  Just hoping no other 'chunks' or bits made it into the brew as I assume these could lead to potential infection (or maybe like a mad beer scientist I'm overthinking it  )

[Captain 3 Droids]

Just making sure your doing it right, ha. Spot on with clean and sanitisation. Don’t worry about the “chunks” the yeast will attack those and convert.

”mad scientist” ?? Mad brewer, probably yes😳

[Darran Haynes]

2 hours ago, Paul84 said:

Yeah Darran go for 13 , if your using Coopers Browns you should get 13.5 bottles. I have just labelled my last bottle as the "scraping the barrel series" so as Mark alludes to you can know if and why it tastes different.

And 4 weeks is forever away , maybe could chill one for new years eve ( only 3 weeks 😞 ) as your scientific sample of the ageing process. It was enjoyable but i am waiting a bit now to push that tropical citrus flavor to the foreground , still heavily malted when i tried it.

Yeah I agree, in the name of science I'll have to crack one open at Xmas in 2.5 weeks 😎

I'm using Mad Millie swing top bottles ... Bought 72 of them 😂

https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/Mad-Millie-Flip-Top-Bottle-750ml-Case-of-12#

Edited December 9, 2019 by Darran Haynes

[Paul84]

24 minutes ago, Darran Haynes said:

Yeah I agree, in the name of science I'll have to crack one open at Xmas in 2.5 weeks 😎

I'm using Mad Millie swing top bottles ... Bought 72 of them 😂

https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/Mad-Millie-Flip-Top-Bottle-750ml-Case-of-12#

Nice one. Yeah should get close to 13 still . Doubt you will fill them all the way to the top . Was going to order some but looks like you bought them all haha

[Darran Haynes]

On 10/12/2019 at 6:01 AM, Darran Haynes said:

Main takeaway was I should probably use some room temp water also; as most was chilled it took about an hour and a half to go from circa 15 degrees to the ideal 22 for propagation.  (First 4 litres was chilled; then added the warm/hot hop tea and diluted ingredients mix; then topped up with more chilled).

First batch where it hasn't detected fermentation start after 24hrs. Thinking likely due to the above and I more so because I didn't give the yeast any time at room temperature, came straight out of the fridge. (SMH!)

Because it's a LAGER program the temp has dropped to 12 degrees after the initial 12hr propagation stage.  Should I intervene at all or just let it ride?

Edited December 10, 2019 by Darran Haynes

[Captain 3 Droids]

17 minutes ago, Darran Haynes said:

First batch where it hasn't detected fermentation start after 24hrs. Thinking likely due to the above and I more so because I didn't give the yeast any time at room temperature, came straight out of the fridge. (SMH!)

Because it's a LAGER program the temp has dropped to 12 degrees after the initial 12hr propagation stage.  Should I intervene at all or just let it ride?

 

17 minutes ago, Darran Haynes said:

First batch where it hasn't detected fermentation start after 24hrs. Thinking likely due to the above and I more so because I didn't give the yeast any time at room temperature, came straight out of the fridge. (SMH!)

Because it's a LAGER program the temp has dropped to 12 degrees after the initial 12hr propagation stage.  Should I intervene at all or just let it ride?

Let it ride. Lager yeasts can be slow to take off in an event. In addition you put cold yeast into cold water, few hours behind to start with. Via the app note any temperature rise and cooling as this is a fair indicator to fermentation.

[Darran Haynes]

On 11/12/2019 at 7:28 AM, Barrelboy said:

 

Let it ride. Lager yeasts can be slow to take off in an event. In addition you put cold yeast into cold water, few hours behind to start with. Via the app note any temperature rise and cooling as this is a fair indicator to fermentation.

Glad to report Fermentation detected last night and temperature fluctuating nicely 😎

[Paul84]

At 4 weeks now and the citrus hop profile is starting to sneak through . Wouldnt say tropical yet but still may be too young.  Still enjoyable though , not turning my nose up at it . Never will haha . Try again in 2 weeks time 🙂 . I will say had a satisfying "pffft" when opening this time and to me nice carbonation. 

[Paul84]

So have thrown the Keg in at 6 weeks . So very tasty , get the tropical IPA part but not too sweet from the pineapple. I am now doubting myself if I put the primer in the keg . Its "carbonated" but very light and wont pour a head. @Rob Courtney , you just use sugars now hey ? Much luck and better carbonation , how much do you add per keg ? 

[Rob Courtney]

11 minutes ago, Paul84 said:

So have thrown the Keg in at 6 weeks . So very tasty , get the tropical IPA part but not too sweet from the pineapple. I am now doubting myself if I put the primer in the keg . Its "carbonated" but very light and wont pour a head. @Rob Courtney , you just use sugars now hey ? Much luck and better carbonation , how much do you add per keg ? 

 

Yeah I use dextrose now but that was purely a financial reason, the primer pouches cost what a buck and a half each and 500gms of dextrose cost 7 bucks and I use 30-35gms in a keg. Funnily enough, the last beer I used the Brewart primer in ( and the primer I wasn't huge about) was bang on, like every pint had about 4-5cms of head, it was like it was giving me the finger for moving on.

I must admit, I do drink mainly lagers so it pours a head but doesn't last the whole pint but  I am drinking an APA at the moment and that is bang on

[Paul84]

This keg i have to sit the pint glass on the drip tray and let gravity do its job . Even then the head is dissapearing before it finished the pour . Its a tasty beer but thats a downer , hard to show it off to a mate lol , luckily the flavor won. I am sure i put primer in ....but haha . 

[Rob Courtney]

What is the ingredients ( minus the pineapple juice) for a PCIPA?

 

I would say if it is carbonated, it was primed and 6 weeks is enough time, maybe the acidicness of the pineapple juice affected it

[Paul84]

And a Y2 🙂

[Paul84]

But yeah maybe it was the pineapple juice . I did say high quality pineapple juice.  Dont know if the Golden Circle counts haha , was what I had to deal with . Have a mate with a cold press juicer so maybe next time will buy a couple of fresh pineapples . Thats about as high quality as you can get . 

[Rob Courtney]

Golden Circle...LOL...can't dismiss it but it may have been a factor. Anyways, this is half the fun of brewing, finding little faults that we can fix , redo and get a better beer

Next time, maybe look at changing one of the X1 for an X2

 

 

[Paul84]

4 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

Golden Circle...LOL...can't dismiss it but it may have been a factor. Anyways, this is half the fun of brewing, finding little faults that we can fix , redo and get a better beer

Next time, maybe look at changing one of the X1 for an X2

 

 

Haha well you gotta P*ss with the D*ck you got haha . Golden circle was the best i could find . But yeah next time i will do fresh . Yeah i could change up the recipe . I am only now learning what the different elements and enhancers do . 

[Captain 3 Droids]

2 hours ago, Paul84 said:

So have thrown the Keg in at 6 weeks . So very tasty , get the tropical IPA part but not too sweet from the pineapple. I am now doubting myself if I put the primer in the keg . Its "carbonated" but very light and wont pour a head. @Rob Courtney , you just use sugars now hey ? Much luck and better carbonation , how much do you add per keg ? 

Be careful when determining the reasons for poor head retention. You can have a well carbonated beer that isn’t flat but doesn’t hold or pours a good head. High alcohol brews, ciders tend to be like that.
One of the most common causes is the glass, not clean or has film on the inside. I’d get a glass and wash/wipe it in hot water (no detergent or dishwasher), put it in the freezer for a bit and then pour your brew.

If the head is not satisfactory then at least you have eliminated the glass as the problem. Also I note from time to time with kegs that the first one or two pour can be on the “less head” side of things.

cheers Mark

[Rob Courtney]

51 minutes ago, Barrelboy said:

Be careful when determining the reasons for poor head retention. You can have a well carbonated beer that isn’t flat but doesn’t hold or pours a good head. High alcohol brews, ciders tend to be like that.
One of the most common causes is the glass, not clean or has film on the inside. I’d get a glass and wash/wipe it in hot water (no detergent or dishwasher), put it in the freezer for a bit and then pour your brew.

If the head is not satisfactory then at least you have eliminated the glass as the problem. Also I note from time to time with kegs that the first one or two pour can be on the “less head” side of things.

cheers Mark

OMG, you sound like a married woman telling him why he should have less head, even after he has started with the pineapple juice