Nov 24, 2020 4 min read brew-10

Brew # 10 - Balter XPA Clone Mk II

This was a cracking beer last time, so I'm trying again with extra dextrose for a bit more punch

Ingredients

Morgan's Pacific Pale Ale kit (1.7kg)
1.5kg Morgan's Master Malt Extra Pale Liquid Malt Extract
250g Dextrose
Morgan's American Ale Yeast (15g)
~30g Amarillo hop pellets
~40g Citra hop pellets
~15g Centennial hop pellets

Method

Brew day

Filled basin with hot water and stood the two liquid malt extracts in to soften
Boiled ~300mL (less than previously) of cold filtered water and added to glass flask for yeast rehydration (see below)
Filled Ferm'us with cold filtered water to 4L mark (also less than before)
Boiled 1.7L of filtered water (that's the max my kettle can take) and added to Ferm'us
Boiled another 1L of water
Emptied the wort and liquid malt extract tins into the Ferm'us
Used the boiling water to rinse the tins
Lifted the Ferm'us and gave everything a good shake to mix the wort and LME and give a bit of oxygenation
Topped up with more cold filtered water to 23L - I didn't need any additional boiling water and hit a final temp around ~27C, which is just about perfect

OG: Not measured, but the extra dextrose should increase the final ABV by about 1% (I'm told)

Yeast prep & pitching

Allowed the temperature of the 300mL pre-boiled water (in the flask - see above) to chill to ~26C
Pitched the yeast to rehydrate for ~30 mins
Gently (no splashing) swirled the flask to suspend the yeast in the liquid
Poured the yeast mixture into the Ferm'us
Attached pressure release valve (PRV) to the pressure kit
Placed the Ferm'us into a temp controlled fridge at 23C
Monitored every few hours and adjust the PRV to ensure the Ferm'us doesn't become over-pressurised

Primary Fermentation

Left alone for 4 days to ferment
Checked/adjusted the PRV to ensure no big pressure build up

Trub Collection

After 4 days, when the primary fermentation appeared done, I should have attached a sanitised, empty collection bottle to start collecting the trub. However, I forgot this bit and jumped straight to...

Dry Hopping

Add ~30g of Amarillo hop pellets (9.2% AA), ~40g of Citra hop pellets (13.9% AA), and ~15g of Centennial hop pellets (8.8% AA) via a sanitised collection bottle - this is slightly more than the suggested amounts, but it worked a treat last time

Attaching the collection bottle with dry hops, and opening the valve

As you can see above, the trub was resting at the bottom of the Ferm'us before opening the butterfly valve. Then it drops into the collection bottle once the valve is open.

I'm not sure how effective this is going to be in infusing the hop flavours into the beer.

I've tried pumping the bottle a few times over the last few days, but the lack of gasket (d'oh!) means it's not completely sealed. Bit of a disaster. Nevertheless...

Crash Cool

Start a slow crash cool straight after dry hopping to hit the target 3C after 7 days
Use a temperature controller to reduce the temperature by 0.3C every two hours to hit 3C after ~6 days

Keg & Carbonate

Sanitise a keg and place in keezer to chill
Pressurise to ~8PSI
Close-transfer the beer from Ferm'us to keg
Place the keg in the keezer
Attach CO2 at 39PSI to force carbonate for ~24 hrs

First impressions are that the beer is missing the hop flavour. Emptying the collection bottle, I could smell all the delicious flavours that should have been in the beer that got trapped.

However, on the second attempt (mouthfuls each, no more) it did taste okay. Certainly drinkable, and hopefully more so after a few days in the keg.

Coming Next...

Allow to stand for ~1 week to condition

Improvements

Easier brew ever, so nothing to mention so far
Remember...collect the trub BEFORE dry hopping!!!
Also, remember to add the gasket to the collection bottle before attaching to the Ferm'us (or the seal doesn't cope with pressure)