Jan 202119Tue

Started Evil Dog II

SG 1.068 22.6℃ started

I decided to have another go at this one to see if I can improve the flavour over last time by adding the finishing hops in a timely manner.

All went well during the kick-off session. I’m using Tesco Ashbeck water throughout; boiled for diluting the initial mash and then chilled in order to bring the mash back down to the 20-25 ℃ temperature range ahead of pitching. I misjudged this process a little and cooled the mixture to 18 ℃ by the time I was up to 20 litres, so I reheated the remaining 3 litres and ended up with a mash that was too hot at 27 ℃. Bollocks.

My first reaction was to fit the lid and put her outside for half an hour, then it occurred to me that air is a poor conductor of heat and I’d be better off putting the vessel inside a larger fermentation bucket and filling that with cold water instead. The plan worked well and 25 minutes later I had the temperature down to 22.6 ℃, so I pitched the included yeast sachet. Initial gravity came in at 1.068 (slightly higher than my last attempt at 1.065) and I’m storing the vessel in my office at 19.5 ℃.

I’m going to check in on this one eight days from now in order to take a gravity reading as she slows down, adding the finishing hops no earlier than 1 or two days from bottling time.

No instructions here, go see the opening post on my first Evil Dog.