Stout Brew

[newToBrew]

Had a single  brew night last night - went with a simple stout in the end - none o that fancy cold steeping or double brewing this time !!

Recipe

PA @ 4 KG
RB @ 400 G
Amber @ 300 G
Wheat @ 150 G
Flaked Maize 500 G

NorthDown @ 50 G @ 40 -45 mins  AA 8.9 %

yeast: Safale 04 I think - the pink packet!!

mashed at @ 67 - 68 Degrees for 60 Mins
Batch Sparge at @ 70 Degrees for @ 20 mins

Did a 40 -45 min boil - lost a few litres - topped up a little at the end with some preboiled

came out at .042  which is better that the last time when I got .068

I paid better attention this time to the Gravitys
took a pre boil gravity reading - based on Ciderheads and deadmans posts @ temps effecting hydro readings - I cooled down the samples first, so think  I was in the proverbial ball park

preboil reading was @ .038

post boil - @ .044

added some water at the end and came out with .042

Probably not the most accurate way of doing it - the readings may be off , looking at it now it appears as though the amount of evap drove the gravity up .006 points - but tbh the temps of the samples could have been off slightly 

because of the 40 -45 min boil I didn't loose too much really

Wasn't going to pt 50 G of the Northdown in but figured the higher amount would compensate for the lower boil time in oil - utilization or whatever its called 

should I have mashed lower ? - Sparged Lower ?

[johnrm]

PA=Pale Ale
RB=?

Bleedin' Acronyms, TLAs and ETLAs all over the place!

[Taf]

RB = Roasted Barley.

[Beerdoh]

Hydrometer readings are standardized to 15C..the liquid density is dependent on the temperature, so you can use a correction table to get the accurate readings.

Have you used Northdown before? I have a bag of them but i've never used them before, so i'm curious what flavours they bring.

Looks like you got your Mash temp spot on - I brewed a porter (which i'll have with me on Saturday for the meet) with temps at 69C - the beer is noticeably fuller in body due to the favour of Alpha amylase at the higher temps. I missed my volumes a bit tho which meant its more alcoholic than I wanted - but how and ever!

[newToBrew]

sorry guys ! Acronyms  are great for a LAF like myself
(lazy Arsed Fecker)

yeah - once know I'm in a favorable range - I dont mind so much - it being somewhere in the region of between 4 & 5 % or there abouts
my Crimbo stout was @ 6.5 %  - not too bad as I think the Roast B and what not masked the Alcoholic taste to some degree - think I have 1 bottle left for tomorrow
and the Pale Ale was something like 7.8  - really hard to drink this one ! but I'm still trying !!!!  - can really taste the Alcho on this even though I flung in @ 200 G of Cascade ! - altough they were opened with a while and stored pretty badly
Don't think I'lll be bringing that one in with me tomoro  !!!!

this is my first time using NorthDown - I bought it a while ago for a stout, was gonna use Fuggles but the Northdown was in a smaller pack and I figured its really just for bittering anyway

[Hop Bomb]

Hydrometer readings are standardized to 15C..

My Stevenson Hydrometers SG is 20[ch730]c.

[Beerdoh]

Hydrometer readings are standardized to 15C..

My Stevenson Hydrometers SG is 20[ch730]c.

Whoops, my apologies - I blame this guy: http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html

Suppose it is dependent on the hydrometer...

EDIT: Hydrometer readings are standardized to a temperature, once you know what this is you can use the compensation chart for your specific hydrometer to compensate for a temperature different to that which the hydrometer is calibrated.

[rukkus]

Yea i think the ones i have are also 20c.

The beersmith app for iphone and android has a tool for conversion. I find that quite handy on a brew day as i tend to have my phone handy.

[Snuff]

I reckon your yeast used was US-05 if it was the pink packet.

[newToBrew]

yep thats the one - the pink yeast !!

[Ciderhead]

Not sure I plugged in all you ingredients right and equipment profile is not yours but from info you did give computer says yes
Homework for the weekend, work on Mash Efficiency

[Ciderhead]

dropped your boil time to 45, were you in a rush drops bitterness 1 IBU point only to 36