Trying to replicate the Pilsner version of the Cream Ale Experiment, but this time with grains (Pilsner malt) and (flaked) corn. And Perle instead of Amarillo. Come to think of it I guess this is pretty different from the experiment.
Volume: 2.5 gal
Fermentables:
- 4 lbs Belgian Pilsner malt
- 0.7 lbs Flaked corn
Hops:
- 0.5 oz Perle (8.2 AA)
Schedule:
- 60 min: 0.2 g Perle
- 10 min: 0.3 g Perle 1/2 Whirlfloc tablet
Yeast: OSLO
Predictions:
- OG: 1.049
- FG: 1.009
- ABV: 5.27%
- IBU: 17.61
- SRM: 2.95
Mash at 67 C / 153 F for 90 minutes in 2 gal. Sparge until 2.5 gal is reached. Check SG and, if necessary, add DME to reach target OG. Boil.
BIAB! 90 minute mash. Keeping it between 150 and 156 F was pretty straightforward. Had to pull up the bag and heat twice. Going for a bit higher temperature before adding grains should remove at least one of those. Although I failed to record the temp pre-grain so not sure exactly how to adjust this going forward.
Sparged with 0.5 gal water at 165 F. Ended up with about 2 gal wort, so 0.5 lost to grain. Could've done more bag squeezing for sure, but I had no gloves so it got pretty hot and unpleasant. Topped off w tap water to 2.5 gal, took gravity reading, added more water up to 3 gal. Finally added 5 drops of Fermcap.
SG: 1.050 (corrected for temp, 1.046 @ 37 C)
By my math, that's an efficiency of 71%. Exactly what I happened to default to in Brewer's Friend, but a tad lower than what the internet says BIAB has to offer. A pair of gloves for squeezing that bag could be a good investment. OTOH, I hit my target OG spot on.
After 60 minutes of boiling I'd lost about 5/8 gal, i.e. 1/2 as planned, and in addition to that about an 1/4 of 1/2 gal, i.e. 1/8 + 4/8. Topped off to 2.5 gal. Cooled to ~30 C. Let it sit for about an hour or so for the trub to settle. Siphoned mostly clear wort into fermenter, although it was definitely more cloudy than when using extract. Got just over 2 gal in total.
Next, I washed the 5 gal brew kettle, attached an aquarium heater to the inside (set to ~95 F), filled it with 30 C water, moved to the synth room and plugged it in. I'll try to ferment this sucker near 37 C. I am a tad concerned about krausen reaching the airlock. That's why I added Fermcap. Also noted that it seems to help with hot break, since I saw essentially none of that when I started boiling. Very convenient.
My hydrometer sample tube fell into the sink and broke, so I didn't get a final gravity reading. Fortunately, I have the Tilt, which confirms my pre-boil reading.
OG: 1.051
Fermentor in water bath with temperature control
Reached terminal gravity after 36 (!) hours. Insane.
I gave it another 24 hours in the water bath and then moved it to a cooler space. Emptied the waterlock, which held starsan, and replaced that with vodka. Put a piece of cotton in there as well to keep as much bad stuff out as possible. Ambient temperature should go down a bit over the next few days, so I get some free cold crashing here.
2.4 grams flavorless gelatine dissolved in 3 oz boiling water, and then into fermenter. Didn't bother cooling it this time either. Beer looked incredibly clear already, with a solid looking layer of yeast in the bottom.
Gravity and temperature data from Tilt
Six days from grain to bottle/keg. Judging by the Tilt data, I could easily have cut that down to 48 hours. Incredible.
Trub was mostly under spigot. Poured off 1.5 - 2 pints before I got mostly clear beer. Still some yeast floating around though. Stupid spigot is too low. But it certainly beats using a siphon. Sample tasted pretty ok. Possibly some fusel alcohols, but I only really sensed that on the very first sip.
1.5 gal on keg, and 3 bottles of 12 oz each. Primed with 39 g sugar in 1/2 cup of water for the keg. For the bottles I just added 2.2 g dry sugar per bottle. Never done that before, but definitely easier and quicker than using the bottling bucket.
Harvested 2 mason jars of yeast sludge. A bit less than 1 cup in each.
- FG: 1.010
- ABV: 5.4%
Had a few pints from the keg. It's good. A little bit less of the fruity aroma I got last time. I think that's due to the higher fermentation temperature, oddly enough. Carbonation may be a bit low, even though the regulator read 10-12 psi and I got a very foamy pour.
I'm not sure cream ale is really my style. It's not very complex. Drinkable, but a bit boring. Next time I aim for drinkable, I think I'll try to a "pilsner", at ale temperature of course.