Brew # 19 - Balter XPA Clone mk IV

Paul Middleton -

After a good experience brewing the Little Creature Bright Ale clone, this time I'm trying the Balter XPA clone kit from Aussie Brewmakers.

Start date: DD MMM YY

Equipment

  1. Snub-nosed Fermentasaurus ("Fermus")
  2. 7 litre stock pot
  3. Paint strainer
  4. Sanitiser in spray bottle
  5. 1 litre glass stein
  6. Long handled spoon

Ingredients

  • 1x 1.5kg Morgan's Master Malts Extra Pale Liquid Malt Extract (LME) tins
  • 1x 1.5kg Briess CBW Pilsen Light Liquid Malt Extract (LME) tubs
  • 250g light dried malt extract (DME)
  • 200g dextrose
  • 150g cracked wheat grain
  • 50g loose hop pellet mix (20g Centennial, 15g Amarillo, 15g Citra)
  • 3x 25g hop tea bags (Centennial, Amarillo, Citra)
  • 11.5g Safale US-05 dry ale yeast

Cleaning/Sanitising

Sanitize the fermenter and all equipment.

Brew Day

  • Placed the two extract tins in hot water to soften
  • Boiled 1L of water and poured into 1L stein
  • Steeped the 150g crack wheat grain and 50g loose hop pellets in the hot water for 20 mins
  • Boiled 2L of water and added to stock pot (it was necessary to use the stock pot as the Fermus doesn't like boiling water)
  • Add the contents of the two extract tins to the stock pot, plus the 250g light DME and the 200g dextrose
  • Stirred to dissolve thoroughly
  • Rinsed each of the extract tins with hot boiled water
  • Added ~10L of cold filter water to the Fermus - this is to make sure that the temp doesn't exceed 50C when the wort is added
  • Poured to wort into the Fermus
  • Used the paint strainer to strain the grains and hops into the wort, making sure to not add any grains or hops to the fermenter
  • Rinsed with 500ml of cold filtered water
  • Added cold water to the fermenter to the 22.5L mark
  • Shook to oxygenate the wort
  • Placed in the fridge set to 20C
  • Once the temperature was in the 18-23C range, took a hydrometer reading
    OG: 1.045 + 0.001 (26C) = 1.046
  • Shook the wort to oxygenate again
  • Pitched the dried yeast

Primary Fermentation

  • Allowed the fermenter to sit at ~20C until primary fermentation activity had stopped (4 days)

Dry Hopping

  • Add the 3x 25g dry hop tea bags and stir gently with a sanitized long-handled spoon
  • Allow to sit for 72 hours

Coming Next...

Cooling

  • Remove the hop tea bags and begin cooling the beer by 0.3C every 2 hours
  • When the temperature has reached ~4C it's ready to keg

Kegging

  • Place a cleaned and sanitised keg into the keezer for 24 hours to chill to ~4C
  • Transfer beer from fermenter to keg
  • Allow to sit for at least a week
  • Attach CO2 to keg at 49PSI for 36 hours to carbonate
  • Drink

Improvements for next time