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Fresh wort brewing


Robert Pretty

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53 minutes ago, Robert Pretty said:

@dcm keen to hear how this one goes. Recommended hops for that one is 50g each of Simcoe, Galaxy, Warrior and Centennial. Is that what you doing. Just kegged their Legbreaker IPA using 50g of Citra and Centennial.

Yes.  I'll just start with the "factory" recommended hop mix.  I got lucky.  Everything I wanted was on EOFY sale anyway so all in, was about $84

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3 hours ago, Robert Pretty said:

@dcm where did you purchase from. 

Hoppy Days.  For me it's fairly local so I just drove there and got what I wanted.  I bought the last Assassin FWK though sorry.  Hopefully there will be more in soon.

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It's actually quite unwieldy to manhandle at > 15Kg bladder of wort but it smelled pretty good:

image.thumb.png.65d5661ecead4c52933cff7efb1930a1.png

Eventually I was able to decant 7.5 litres and aerate the hell out of it using some star-san soaked mixer beaters.  The outside of the 'droid has keg cleaner on it still but the inside was well rinsed and sprayed with star-san solution.

image.thumb.png.8587807d86c0145a98185d9418b267aa.png

I've added 2.5 litres of filtered water, pitched the yeast, set the 'droid to dry-hop mountain IPA cycle and we're away!

I managed to squeeze out most of the air that got into the bladder, star-san'ed the hell out of the cap, put it back on and get it into the freezer so I think I'll be ok.  I had to play a LOT of freezer-tetris to get that to happen.

image.png.ce1a7c4ce0d45ab5b8cc4db2f1077df4.png

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1 hour ago, dcm said:

It's actually quite unwieldy to manhandle at > 15Kg bladder of wort but it smelled pretty good:

image.thumb.png.65d5661ecead4c52933cff7efb1930a1.png

Eventually I was able to decant 7.5 litres and aerate the hell out of it using some star-san soaked mixer beaters.  The outside of the 'droid has keg cleaner on it still but the inside was well rinsed and sprayed with star-san solution.

image.thumb.png.8587807d86c0145a98185d9418b267aa.png

I've added 2.5 litres of filtered water, pitched the yeast, set the 'droid to dry-hop mountain IPA cycle and we're away!

I managed to squeeze out most of the air that got into the bladder, star-san'ed the hell out of the cap, put it back on and get it into the freezer so I think I'll be ok.  I had to play a LOT of freezer-tetris to get that to happen.

image.png.ce1a7c4ce0d45ab5b8cc4db2f1077df4.png

At least the droid has a decent opening. Try filling a keg fermenter or Snub nose fermenter, where the opening is tiny.

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The "Stronghold Assassin" iipa is still fermenting:  5 days in and there is still visible bubbling when you switch on the 'droid light.  It seems to be slow and steady rather than a fast burn.

The 'droid is yet to ask me to dry hop.  I'd like to see it do this in the next 48 hours or so.

It smells strong though.

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I won't bother posting a pic, it'd be the same pic again. 7 weeks today and once again it has developed losing the stronger lemony taste to a more distinctive melon taste. I think all up this has cost me 27 for the 10 litres and to be honest, I am glad I am liking it would have been a lot of beer to drink if I didn't

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Finally, at day 9, it asked for some dry hops.   100g going in a boiled stocking weighted with a few glass marbles (half dose for a half-wort mix to suit the 'droid's 10 litre volume).  It was still bubbling slightly when I hopped it but I guess the fermentation is at last winding down.  A fairly strong smell of alcohol from the wort by now.

hops.jpg.02be6698141cb5a4aa25265277071603.jpg

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3 hours ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Meant to ask @dcm , which yeast did you use for the Assassin? 

I see that either Safale US-05 or BRY-97 American West Coast Ale Yeast are recommended.

Safale 05 - thought it best not to muck around with the factory recommendation for a first attempt.

55 minutes ago, Thagomizer said:

I'm jealous.  No Fresh Wort kits in the USA.  Shipping from Australia would be prohibitive.  Luckily, I am quite happy with my BrewPrints.  😉

I'm jealous too.  You can drive to Walmart and buy a six pack of a not-half-bad craft IPA for around one third of what it costs in nanny-stralia and it's ludicrous safety-taxes 😆  The cost of good beer here (as opposed to fizzy, yellow, macro-swill) is blindingly high.

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Day #12 and the 'droid decided to cold crash things - a suspicious 48 hours after asking for the dry hops making me wonder how much science vs assumption there but anyway, it sure smells nice.  I suspect I'll be bottling on the weekend.  I'm not sure if there's point going much past a couple of weeks in secondary before sampling it.  My experience with hoppy brews is that the hop notes can fade or change over time but if anybody has a better opinion I'm all ears.

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Bottled after 14 days.  I only got 13 750ml for this and to be honest, the last bottle will be rubbish (full of air from a nearly-empty 'droid).  The yield seems quite low.  Now we wait for secondary..

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2 hours ago, dcm said:

Bottled after 14 days.  I only got 13 750ml for this and to be honest, the last bottle will be rubbish (full of air from a nearly-empty 'droid).  The yield seems quite low.  Now we wait for secondary..

Yeah, I thought the amount was a little low too

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On 09/07/2022 at 4:12 PM, dcm said:

Bottled after 14 days.  I only got 13 750ml for this and to be honest, the last bottle will be rubbish (full of air from a nearly-empty 'droid).  The yield seems quite low.  Now we wait for secondary..

 

On 09/07/2022 at 6:47 PM, Rob Courtney said:

Yeah, I thought the amount was a little low too

With respect to what you have both raised about yield, having experience with BrewArt Ingredients (extract), FWK and All Grain, you will find that with wort (FWK or all grain) brewing versus extract (BrewArt Ingredients) is that with wort brewing, there is more trub produced which leads to lower yield.

To add to that, when wort brewing, you are also likely to get more hop absorption due to a generally larger hop usage.

Most definitely both of these factors contribute to lower yields of the finished product and you may have to slightly adjust your recipe to accommodate if seeking a 10l yield.

@Dustin Frothman and I have both found that when all grain brewing, we aim for 11 litres or so of wort into the Droid to get around 10 litres of yield.

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On 09/07/2022 at 3:42 PM, dcm said:

Bottled after 14 days.  I only got 13 750ml for this and to be honest, the last bottle will be rubbish (full of air from a nearly-empty 'droid).  The yield seems quite low.  Now we wait for secondary..

All I can say is if it comes good the way mine has after nearly 9 weeks in the Stella glass...you'll be even angrier there was only 13 longnecks :)

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