Hi there,
Would appreciate some feedback on the following entry from the GCB Competition where I scored 29 out 50.
Wicklow Competition American Amber Ale
American Amber Ale (10 B)
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 23.000 l
Boil Size: 31.040 l
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 27.040 l
Final Bottling Vol: 23.000 l
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
Date: 16 Mar 2015
Brewer: Shanna
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: Shanna's Equipment
Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.1 %
Taste Rating: 30.0
Taste Notes:
Prepare for Brewing
Clean and Prepare Brewing Equipment
Total Water Needed: 40.124 l
Mash or Steep Grains
Mash Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4.000 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 65.8 %
0.550 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) Grain 2 9.1 %
0.500 kg Munich Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain 3 8.2 %
0.475 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (59.1 EBC) Grain 4 7.8 %
0.350 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (78.8 EBC) Grain 5 5.8 %
0.200 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (157.6 EBC) Grain 6 3.3 %
Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 18.84 l of water at 76.4 C 65.6 C 75 min
Fly sparge with 21.281 l water at 75.6 C
Add water to achieve boil volume of 31.040 l
Estimated pre-boil gravity is 1.048 SG
Boil Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
20.00 g Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 27.8 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 8 -
35.00 g Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 6.9 IBUs
35.00 g Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 10 0.8 IBUs
Estimated Post Boil Vol: 27.040 l and Est Post Boil Gravity: 1.057 SG
Cool and Transfer Wort
Cool wort to fermentation temperature
Transfer wort to fermenter
Add water if needed to achieve final volume of 23.000 l
Pitch Yeast and Measure Gravity and Volume
Fermentation Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.275 ml] Yeast 11 -
Measure Actual Original Gravity _______ (Target: 1.057 SG)
Measure Actual Batch Volume _______ (Target: 23.000 l)
Add water if needed to achieve final volume of 23.000 l
Fermentation
16 Mar 2015 - Primary Fermentation (4.00 days at 19.4 C ending at 19.4 C)
20 Mar 2015 - Secondary Fermentation (10.00 days at 19.4 C ending at 19.4 C)
Dry Hop and Bottle/Keg
Dry Hop/Bottling Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
30.00 g Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
Measure Final Gravity: _________ (Estimate: 1.011 SG)
Date Bottled/Kegged: 30 Mar 2015 - Carbonation: Bottle with 135.29 g Corn Sugar
Age beer for 30.00 days at 18.3 C
The comments from the judges references solvent after taste and put it down to either poor temperature control or bleach residue. The beer was brewed on the 16th of March so it was specifically for this competition. Just to clarify I have a temperature controlled fridge where the beer fermented for two and a half weeks after @18C which time when it had reach around 1.012 I removed it and left it at room temperature for another 5 days. I dry hopped it for four of those five days with cascade. I used 2 full packs of US 05 and dosed it with 02 for about 60 seconds.
I clean & santise my fermenters/bottling bucket/siphons/bottling wand with VWP around 3 tablespoons to a 33 litre fermenter of hot water. Dosage on the VWP suggests 1-2 teaspoons to 1 gallon of water. 1 teapsoon per gallon would be about 4 tablespoons for 33 litres of water. I wash out the fermenter with cold water afterwards and then sanitise again with star san. I am not necessarily convinced that its either temperature or bleach coming through.
I suspect that the solvent after taste is actually too high an alcohol content that is overpowering the malt flavours. I switched the drill I was using for crushing the grain for this brew and I got an original gravity of just over 1.070 instead of the 1.059 I had dialled in the recipe. I put this increase in efficiency down to the higher crush effect from the mill. I bought my mill 2nd hand and continue to be haunted by an inability to get a consistent crush size. I have tried three different drills I have concluded its not drills but the mill. Is my suspicion correct or are the judges more likely to be right about the bleach? I can't be sure that there is not any residual bleach left from the VWP but its hard to know for sure. Would appreciate any insights people might have.
Shanna
Going from 1.070 to 1.012 is big, but mine was 1.067 to 1.012 and there was some alcohol comments but it wasn't what I would call solventy. That makes me think it isn't your extra effeciency that's causing the solvent off flavour as the rest seems fairly balanced.
Reading a bit more on the causes of fuesel/solvent alcohol it appears that maybe it could be caused by yeast stress or insufficient pitching of yeast. I did pitch two packets of yeast that have been stored in the fridge since purchase. One of the packets was best before May 2015 and I am now wondering if this is the likely cause. Have a home made stir plate made but its too bloody powerful :( Waiting for the slow boat from China to deliver a potentiometer. Just as an aside been reading also that off flavours in terms of scratches can come from old fermenters. Anybody care to comment on the appropriate time to keep a fermenter for?
Shanna
I know one of the capital brewers was having the solvent issue. He had chlorine coming from multiple different sources due to using a lot (fucking shit-loads actually) of bleach during sanitising and a high concentration of chlorine in his tap water.
He moved from using the bleach approach to starsan only, dumped the fermenters as they all stank of bleach and left his tap water out over night to let the chlorine dissipate out. The easiest way to check the chlorine in your water is to get a snifter glass (https://www.google.ie/search?q=snifter+glass&biw=1223&bih=929&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=VfthVeKYI8ev7AaQ_IPoCg&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ) and try a sample of the water in the evening and also the morning. I know mine smells like a swimming pool when I do this and usually leave it sit in the HLT the night before with half of a crushed campden tablet to allow the chlorine to dissipate out.
From what I can see, there isn't a silver bullet here for the problems brewers are having. Everyone has different set-ups, water supplies, sanitisation regimes, grain sources (Remember this from brewcon (http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/bmg/gudmestad.html)). We will all keep working on solving these problems as there is nothing like the excitement of that "lightbulb moment" when a potential improvement in your process has been pointed out to you. :)
Quote from: shiny on May 24, 2015, 05:24:27 PM
I know one of the capital brewers was having the solvent issue. He had chlorine coming from multiple different sources due to using a lot (fucking shit-loads actually) of bleach during sanitising and a high concentration of chlorine in his tap water.
He moved from using the bleach approach to starsan only, dumped the fermenters as they all stank of bleach and left his tap water out over night to let the chlorine dissipate out. The easiest way to check the chlorine in your water is to get a snifter glass (https://www.google.ie/search?q=snifter+glass&biw=1223&bih=929&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=VfthVeKYI8ev7AaQ_IPoCg&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ) and try a sample of the water in the evening and also the morning. I know mine smells like a swimming pool when I do this and usually leave it sit in the HLT the night before with half of a crushed campden tablet to allow the chlorine to dissipate out.
From what I can see, there isn't a silver bullet here for the problems brewers are having. Everyone has different set-ups, water supplies, sanitisation regimes, grain sources (Remember this from brewcon (http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/bmg/gudmestad.html)). We will all keep working on solving these problems as there is nothing like the excitement of that "lightbulb moment" when a potential improvement in your process has been pointed out to you. :)
Will give the campden tablets a try as it could very well be the water is the root source of the problem. Generally I would not notice any chlorine off the water but it can't do any harm to give it a go. Most of my fermenters are from when I first started brewing so its probably time they were replaced anyway. Appreciate you taking the time to post.
Speaking of "light bulb" moment, when I brewed that American Amber I filled my boiler on the evening of the brew, where as previously I had always filled it the night before to save time. I think I might revert back and throw a 1/2 a campden tablet in for good measure. Will also pay more attention to my crush and my efficiency to make sure that what I am brewing is as close as possible to my recipe numbers.
Shanna
For the first time ever I forgot to use a campden tablet last week. Hope I don't end up with solvent flavours.