Replaced the blow-off bottle with a bag of CO2 in order to prevent contamination by oxygen, set the controls for -1.5℃.
Oct 202404Fri
Blair's Best
| Ref | 2024-09 Blair's Best II | Brewer | Pain & Patience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Style | Best Bitter | Type | Beer, all-grain |
| Started | Thu 19th Sep 24 | Status | In Progress |
| Packaged | Fermenter | Fermzilla |
| Handle | 2024-09 Blair's Best II |
|---|---|
| Brewer | Pain & Patience |
| Style | Best Bitter |
| Type | Beer, all-grain |
| Fermenter | Fermzilla |
| Status | In Progress |
| Started | Thu 19th Sep 24 |
5 days
Sep 202429Sun
I was supposed to do this 4 days ago but we were travelling in Portugal, so this is the first opportunity I had. Fermentation seems well and truly finished now, and if Tilt Pro’s readings are to be believed it appears that the heater might be about to cut in (rather than the chiller) so I’m not sure how well the hops will be received – normally I like there to be some fermentation left at this stage in order to insure against contamination. Oh well, fingers crossed.
10 days
Sep 202419Thu
Standard brew day with just one mishap: forgot to gauge the kettle levels before cutting in the chiller. The numbers were pretty much spot-on today except for the final FV volume, because I didn’t use the Trubinator and rather than sucking up the last 2 litres of gunky wort I decided to cut my losses and ended up with 20 litres in the fermenter, which is about right for a 19 litre Cornelius keg anyway.
One thing I changed from the first go at this recipe is the quantity of rice hulls, which was reduced from 75g to 50g with no ill effects. I think next time that can be cut back further or maybe eliminated altogether, because there was no problems with the mash not flowing despite the new regime of not stirring.
Oh yeah, the yeast. My final pack of WLP-002 may have been past its best because the 24 hour old starter looked completely inert when I pitched it, and unlike the last attempt it didn’t take off for about 36 hours. Worried? Me? Hmmm.
Anyway, I’m writing this 2 days after brew day and it’s running fine now. For next time I’m going to tidy up the batch recipe to reconcile fermentation into one step (never do secondary anyway) and maybe get some clarity on the dry-hopping at 7 days. Not sure how the recipe aligns with what I did last time, nor what I’ll do this time. Gotta leave some room for improvement, right?
Continue reading1 day
Sep 202418Wed
Nothing unusual here; aiming for sweet spot of around 26 hours before pitching, 138g of light DME and one sachet of WLP-002. Straight onto the stir plate.
Update 19 Sep: It’s brew day and the starter looks a bit dead on the stir plate. Removing from the chiller where it’s been sat at 19℃ since creation, warming to room temperature.