This was brewed Tuesday 26th so will be a review in progress
Link to the kit https://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/hbc-american-pale-ale-mashkit-23lts-p-1251.html
Mash kit comes with a instructions page which assumes you are using a mash tun which requires a sparge as opposed to the BIAB method.
We are given an OG target of 1.51, no FG target. No list of hops included, no IBU mentioned and no mention of final volume of wort you should end with in the fermenter. A 72% efficiency is assumed.
Grain is packaged in a sealed bag with separate sealed bags for the 60, 30, 10 & 0 min hop additions. US05 Yeast and whirlfloc tablet also packaged in a sealed bag. The problem being all these sealed hop and yeast bags are thrown in with the grain. I couldn't see my 60 and 30 min additions so I had to pour all the grain into an empty fermenter to retrieve them. Grain smelled and tasted v fresh.
(http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz231/ggr34/20150526_141752.jpg) (http://s831.photobucket.com/user/ggr34/media/20150526_141752.jpg.html)
I am a full volume BIAB brewer so I heat my water to the correct temp, roughly 73 and dough in until I hit my given mash temp of 67 celsius, I then cover with two heavy duty towels and set my timer for 60 mins.
(http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz231/ggr34/20150526_143256.jpg) (http://s831.photobucket.com/user/ggr34/media/20150526_143256.jpg.html)
I then conduct my mash out for 15 mins and drain my bag into the kettle by holding it over the boiler and letting it drain and then giving her a good squeeze(careful with this as its pretty hot). We then start our boil and add our 60 min and 30 min hop additions. Per the web link the hops used are Nugget, Chinook and Cascade. I presume Nugget is our bittering hop as their wasnt much of it. I was impressed with the amount of hops for the last 2 additions though
(http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz231/ggr34/20150526_173406.jpg) (http://s831.photobucket.com/user/ggr34/media/20150526_173406.jpg.html)
Once our boil was finished we cooled and transferred to the fermenter. Quick pic of the lovely chunk of hops in my boiler
(http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz231/ggr34/20150526_190859.jpg) (http://s831.photobucket.com/user/ggr34/media/20150526_190859.jpg.html)
Our sample for gravity measure
(http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz231/ggr34/20150526_190840.jpg) (http://s831.photobucket.com/user/ggr34/media/20150526_190840.jpg.html)
I ended up with 20 litres of wort with an OG of 1.55 so pretty happy with that. The smell of the wort going into the fermenter was amazing so I really am hopeful with this beer.
The only real criticism I have of the mash kit is the packaging and the instructions.
I like that the hops are all individually sealed but I don't want them thrown in with my grain, i have made 3 different HBC mash kits and usually like to pour from the bag but couldn't on this occasion.
The instructions are the worst part in my opinion. Not including a list of hops or certain targets just doesn't seem right. It makes it harder to adjust to your own likes and needs. I understand that they don't want to give an exact grain bill but some more info is required, even label the hops included perhaps. I will put up another pic of my sample after a week and again at bottling time.
gravity sitting at 1.018 after 11 days in primary. not bottling until next weekend so it will hopefully drop another few points by then
Brewed this 6 weeks ago, its been in the keg a couple of weeks now.
I have to say it turned out really well. After about 4 weeks , it tasted pretty good, but given another couple of weeks in the keg it has really smoothed out and is a really nice SNPA style beer.
Did this recipe call for any dry hopping at all?, I'm gonna do an ipa next but wanna dry hop, might even double dry hop
I have just received two mashkits from HBC and they are no longer putting the hop bags in with the grain. Shane etc. have been listening and deserve kudos for that. ;)
Quote from: auralabuse on October 02, 2015, 04:38:17 PM
Did this recipe call for any dry hopping at all?, I'm gonna do an ipa next but wanna dry hop, might even double dry hop
No dry hoping in the standard recipe but there is no reason why you couldn't