Autumn Cascade
My last two beers, Endeavour IPA and Admiral IPA No.2 have been brewed using Plumage Archer malt and Wyeast 1728 and both have had an uncharacteristically cloudy finish. Nothing has been amiss with the flavour it's just that I am used to and I prefer a clear beer.
So in an effort to revert to type I have changed both the malt and the yeast for this brew. I'll be using Weyermann pale malt because I've always had great results from their Bohemian Pilsner malt and I'll be fermenting with Wyeast 1469 (West Yorkshire) yeast. This is a yeast that I've used before and know I can rely on to flocculate well and leave a clear finish.
Starter
As is always the case I got my starter going on the Tuesday evening before Sunday's brewday. I made it up to 1.5 litres with 0.5 litres being earmarked to be stored in the fridge for next time and the remaining litre to be pitched into the wort on Sunday.
Brew day
Here's the recipe. I'm going for a classic IPA flavour combination of Cascade and Willamette hops. I'm bittering with Magnum but I'm a bit short on that hop so I'm topping up the bittering with some Endeavour that was used in last month's brew.
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Date: 8 Sep 2024
Batch Size (fermenter): 24.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.047 SG
Estimated Color: 9.2 EBC
Estimated IBU: 35.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Water profile: Ca:87 Mg:12 Na:9 SO4:105 Cl:108
Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type %/IBU
29.87 L Tesco Ashbeck Water -
2.90 g Calcium Chloride (Mash) Water Agent -
2.40 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash) Water Agent -
2.20 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) Water Agent -
1.60 ml Lactic Acid (Mash) Water Agent -
5.000 kg Weyermann Pale Malt (6.0 EBC) Grain 100.0 %
0.60 g Calcium Chloride (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.50 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.50 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.20 ml Lactic Acid (Sparge) Water Agent -
16.00 g Hallertau Magnum [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 17.3 IBUs
6.00 g Endeavour [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6.5 IBUs
6.00 g Cascade [7.40 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 2.4 IBUs
6.00 g Willamette [5.20 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 1.7 IBUs
8.00 g Cascade [7.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 2.3 IBUs
8.00 g Willamette [5.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 1.6 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 7.0 mins) Fining -
12.00 g Cascade [7.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 1.9 IBUs
12.00 g Willamette [5.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 1.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) Yeast -
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 5.00 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 24.87 L of water at 71 C 67.0 C 60 min
Sparge: Dunk sparge with 5L
There were no issues during brew day and the predicted gravity of 1.047 was easily surpassed at a measured 1.052. This is to be expected with a new pale malt as I get used to the amount of sugars that my system will extract from it. To make the next brew more accurate I'll increase the potential in Beersmith from 1.036 to 1.039. Weyermann malts really do perform well for me and using less malt to get the same end result is always welcome.
I normally get strong attenuation from my beers and if this one ferments down to 1.007 then I'll get a 5.9% beer, a little on the strong side for me but as mentioned above I'll adjust my recipe next time to try to ensure a more accurate result.
The wort was chilled down to 23C using my immersion chiller, I pitched the yeast and it's now set to 20C in the brew fridge waiting for fermentation to start.
Kegging day
It's cloudy again!
It appears that my guess that the yeast or the malt were to blame was incorrect. Let's get the stats out of the way first. I kegged this after 17 days in the fermenter and got a keg and 3 bottles out of it. FG was 1.007 giving an ABV of 5.9% which is a little higher than I would like but I'll get over it. The beer smelled lovely going into the keg and I purged the head space with the usual 5x15psi bursts and have left it on at about 15psi to carbonate and condition.
Back to the cloudiness coming out of the fermenter. I now know that the malt and the yeast strain are not to blame. I also know that there isn't an infection because the beer doesn't over attenuate and it tastes great, in fact the mouthfeel that the cloudiness gives is exceptional. I also know that it does eventually drop clear in the keg but it takes a very long time. I'd like to get back to clear beer out of the fermenter so I can brew authentic lagers again next year.
So my next plan of attack is the water treatment, specifically the calcium content. I brew with a very low calcium water and use gypsum and calcium chloride to bring it up to the desired profile. I recently ran out of both of those and replaced them with minerals from a different supplier (Amazon, I think). So the next change I'm going to make is to throw those away and order new minerals from a trusted supplier (the Malt Miller) and use those in the next brew. While I'm there I'll also get hold of some yeast nutrient to give the yeast an extra leg up.
Although I mentioned that I'm sure there's no infection it has been 6 years since I changed the stainless steel butterfly valve on my fermenter and they're only 12 pounds on Ali Express so I'll get a new one of those out of caution. I'll also change the PVC beer line that I'm using for my blow-off tube. I don't see anything growing in it but I haven't changed it for years and it's only a pound a metre so I'll change it.