Fuggly Dog 40L Brewing Journal

Started 4th April 2020

This is a fairly standard bitter using fuggles hops but is the kind of beer that is easy drinking and well liked by guests. The estimated ABV is 5.00%, so this is not too strong as a regular session beer.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Recipe	Measure
Brew Length	40L
Pale Malt (EBC 6)	9200g
Crystal Malt (EBC 150)	800g
Chocolate Malt (EBC 950)	30g
Challenger Hops (Start of Boil)	70g
Fuggles Hops (start of Boil)	15g
Fuggles Hops (Last 10 Min)	30g
Yeast (Using Starter)	Imperial Yeast Pub A09
Mash Liquor	25 Litres
Strike Heat	72C
Mash Temperature	66C
Mash Time	1 Hour 30 Minutes
Sparge Temperature	77C
Mash Efficiency (estimated)	75%
Boil Time	1 Hour 30 Minutes
Fermentation Temperature	18C
Expected OG	1055
Actual OG	1053
Expected FG	1015
Actual FG	1013

Water Treatment:

Recipe	Measure
CaCo3 Adjustments
Calcium Carbonate CAC03	176 ppm
Calcium Carbonate Required	30 ppm
Adjustment Necessary	146 ppm
CRS per Litre Required	0.8 ml/L
Total CRS to add to Mash (25L)	20 ml
Total CRS to add to Sparge water (8+23L)	24.8 ml
*Chlorine Treatment*
Campden Tablets (half in mash, half in sparge)	1 tablet
Calcium Adjustment (using brupaks calculation)
Calcium in Water	126 ppm
Calcium Required	180 ppm
Adjustment	54 ppm
Gypsum	1 Tsp

Water Schedule:

This brew will be batch sparged, so the water will be scheduled as follows:

Mash = 25L using 20 ml of CRS +1/2 Campden Tab
Top Up = 8L using 6.4 ml of CRS
Final Batch Sparge = 23L using 18.4 ml of CRS and 1/2 campden tab

Mashing:

The SS Brewtech infussion mash tun is a large chunk of stainless steel so will need to be preheated.

18L of water at 78C added to mast tun for the pre-heat.
HLT topped back up and set for 78C
Water treated with 20ml CRS and 1/2 Campden tab.
Pre-heat water was pumped into fermenter to re-use and save time/energy
25L of water added to the mash tun, which settled quickly to 73C, so stirred until 72c
Doughed in + 1 tsp of gypsum
Temperature dropped to 66/67C. which is perfect.
Measured temperature with Thermapen and mash was showing as 66/67C, mash tun probe is still showing 67C in middle of mash.
mash will now be left alone for 1.5 hours.
Warm Pre-heat Water that was stored in the fermenter was then pumped into the HLT and topped up for sparge water.
10 minutes left on the clock and mash tun thermometer is showing as 66.5c
Final temperature was around 66C

Sparging

25L of sparge water was heated to 85C and treated.
Top Up of 8L was added to teh Mash tun and stirred in.
Recirc started and run for 10 minutes.
HLT topped back up to 23L mark.
Pumped wort into boiler and stopped once it cleared the bottom of the Mash Tun sight glass (before any trub was evident).
Added 23L of sparge water at 85C to Mash Tun, stirred and recirculated for 10 minutes.
Pumped to boiler and stopped just as the turbid last runnings appeared in the pipe.

Boiling

Boiler switched on as soon as first few litres of wort were drained from mash Tun.
Challenger hops added at start of boil
Last 15 minutes. added Immersion coil inserted to ensure sterilised.
Flame out.
Recirc started - When the boiler tap was opened, the flow was only a slow trickle. Once the pump had filled, switching this on/off a few times cleared the blockage
After allow 10 minutes of boliing wort to sterilise the pump and pipes, the chiller was switrched on. Recirculation was left running while chilling to avoid hot spots.
Post boil gravity = 13 brix, 1053, which was a little under the planned 1055.

Fermentation:

A 1.8L yeast starter of Imperisl Yeast A09 Pub was started 2 days before and refrigerated the evening prior to brew day.
Yeast was removed from the fridge around 1 hour prior to pitching and the main volume of liquid poured off.
When the wort was at a suitable temperature, some was transferred into the starter flask to acclimatize.
04/04/20 - 16:00 - Yeast pitched at 20C.
05/04/20 - 10:00 - Krausen has formed and fermentation is underway.
06/04/20 - 10:00 - The temperature is 19c and a thick creamy Krausen has formed.
07/04/20 - 16:00 - The Krausen has now thinned considerably so a Brix reading was taken. The Wort was at 8 Brix 1020 SG, so almost finished
08/04/20 - Brix Reading is now 7, SG 1013.
09/04/20 - Chiller switched on for cold crash.
10/04/20 - Temperature is now at 5C and to a sudden ho spell of weather the chiller is struggling to reduce this any further. Some additional insulation was added.
11/04/20 - Temperature was 3.5C, Gelatin for finings, 1 heaped tsp dissolved in 300ml and then heated to 65c. This was gently stirred into the fermenter.
13/04/20 - TRansferred to 2 x Cornies and 4 500ml bottles.

Tasting Notes:

At the time of taking the last brix reading a sample was tasted and this was very smooth and drinkable. I think this batch will be drinkable immediately and will be better fresh rather than conditioned..