Brew: Irish Red Ale - 16/07/2009

Hi,

Put down another fresh work kit tonight after a fine dinner cooked up by the missus. She goes real good in the kitchen. Anyway, the beer was an Irish Red Ale and she went down at about 25 degrees made up to 18 litres. Here are the vitals:

Style: Irish Red Ale

OG: 1037

Temp at pitch: 25 degrees

Volume: 18 litres

Yeast: White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast

I'll let you know how she goes in a couple of weeks.

TFM.

Brew: German Bock - 15/07/2009

Hi all,

Brewed a German Bock today. Used one of those Nitro brewing fresh wort kits which I have used before a i reckon taste sweet as. I tasted the wort and found it to be quite sweet up front (as you'd expect of an unfermented wort) with lots of rich chocolate tones and earthiness coming after that. Then is finishes nice and bitter at the end. I'm planning to ferment this at around 12 degrees for between 3 to fours weeks so it should be nice a crisp as you'd expect from a larger. Details below. I will post a report in a few days after fermentation has started. I'm also planning to put down a second brew tonight as well - trying a Irish Red Ale for the first time.

Style: Bock (German dark larger)

OG: 1044

Temp at pitch: 25 degrees

Volume: 17.5 litres

Yeast: White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast

Cheers,

Steve...

Brew: TFM Grand Cru (Belgian Dark Strong Ale) - 12/12/2008

Hi,

I put the Belgian dark (see here for recipe) in the fermenter today. It has spent about 2 months in a cube. I topped it up with about 3 liters of warm water so the wort was at 26C and pitched Wyeast 1214 Belgian Ale yeast. This strain is know to be a slow starter so i wait and see what happens.

S.G at 26C was 1.073 (corrected to 1.075) so if it ferments out as expected i'll have a final ABV of about 10%.

Cheers,

Steve...

EDIT: 16/12/2008, took a SG reading today and it came in at 1.018 so i think it has pretty much finished primary. Had a little tast too, prettty happy with it at this stage. I'm a bit worried about the speed of the fermentation but other than that all seems good.

Bottled: Belgian Wit - 01/12/2008

Bottled another batch of Belgian Wit beer this week. I had pitch this wort directly onto the yeast slurry from the last batch. Fermentation was fast to start and last about 5 days at 22C. This batch was a bit of an odds and ends mix of what i had lying around. I added:

1. Split Rock "Whispering Weat" kit
   
2. 1 x can of Coopers liqued malted wheat 
3. Orangle zest of 2 oranges
4. Corriander seeds
5. 20L water
6. White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast

Tasted the beer today and it is doing really well. One of the best kit based beers i have brewed. Just the shot for hot Chrissy days around the pool.

Cheer,

Steve...

Brewed: TFM Grand Cru - 06/10/2008

TFM Grand Cru

18-E Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Author: Steve Tindall

Size: 18.96 L

Efficiency: 75.0%

Attenuation: 75.0%

Calories: 257.6 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.077 (1.075 - 1.110)

Terminal Gravity: 1.019 (1.010 - 1.024)

Color: 18.82 (12.0 - 22.0)

Alcohol: 7.61% (8.0% - 11.0%)

Bitterness: 29.7 (20.0 - 35.0)

Ingredients:

120 g Amber Malt
900 g Munich Malt
230 g Caramunich® TYPE I
380 g Dark Crystal Malt 250ebc
230 g Torrified Wheat
3.0 kg Liquid Light Extract
250 g Candi Sugar Clear
250 g Dark Brown Sugar
30 g Hallertau (4.2%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
30 g Styrian Goldings (4.6%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
1.0 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 tsp Yeast Nutrient (AKA Fermax) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.0 ea White Labs WLP500 Trappist Ale

Ambient Air: 21.11 °C

I have not fermented this yet. I transfered the near boiling wort to a 17L cube and sealed it. I will probably ferment next week using Wyeast #1214 Belgian Ale Yeast.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.0

Bottled: Czech Pills - 09/10/08

TFM Czech Pills

Bottles the pills today. FG was 1020 so that puts here at about 5.5% ABV. Here all the details:

Brewer:	The Fat Monk		Email:	-
Beer:	TFM Czech Pills		Style:	German Pilsener
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	19 liters
Color:	10 HCU (~7 SRM)		Bitterness:	14 IBU
OG:	1.062		FG:	1.020
Alcohol:	5.4% v/v (4.2% w/w)
Grain:	0g 100g Belgian Munich 0g 200g Belgian Pilsner
Boil:	minutes	SG 1.146	8 liters
	3kg Light dry malt extract
Hops:	40g Saaz (3.75% AA, 60 min.) 15g Saaz (3.75% AA, 45 min.) 15g Saaz (3.75% AA, 30 min.) 15g Saaz (3.75% AA, 15 min.) 15g Saaz (aroma)

Brew: Belgian Wit - 06/10/2008

Hi All,

Brewed a Belgian Wit beer today. Bought one of the "Brewers Selection" Hefeweizen fresh wort kits. I added the peel of 2 small oranges and some crushed coriander seeds. I put the peel and the seeds in a cup of water and brought it to the boil to kill any nasties. Next I added this, and 4 litres of warm water with the fresh wort to the fermenter and pitched a vial of White Labs WL400 Belgian Wit yeast.

Data:

Name: TFM Belgian Wit

Style: Belgian Wit beer

OG: 1.040

Ferment temp: 22-24C

Volume in Fermenter: 20L

Cheers,

Steve...

Bottled: TFM Belgian Blonde 20/09/2008

Hi,

Bottled my Belgian blonde today. The FG was 1.010 which puts her in the 9% ABV range.  A serious beer. Hi fermentation temps (up to 32C for 24 hours) produced wonder esters and the bouquet is pretty nice. Can't wait to taste one in a couple of days and see how she turned out.

My recipe for this beer is here: http://thefatmonk.blogspot.com/2008/09/brew-tfm-belgian-blonde-06092008.html

Steve...

Bottled: Brewers Selection "The Bock" 04/09/2008

Bottled Brewers Selection "The Bock" which is a Dunkel Bock and has a beatufil earthy choc flavour but still finishes dry and crisp. Fermented witha larger yeast for about 4 weeks so it should be great. Will leave for min 3 months to bottle condition.

Bottled: Belgian Wit (Hoegaarden clone) 04/09/2008

Bottled a belgian wit beer today. It was a kit from The Country Brewer called "Summer Wheat" i think. Botttles 2 cases.

Brew: Czech Pilsner - 08/09/2008

Hi,

Brewd a Pilser tonight. Pretty standard pilss recipe:

3 KG LDME

30 g Saaz (boil for 45 mins)

12g Saaz (boild 5 mins)

12g Saaz (boil 5 mins)

12g Saaz (boil 4 mins)

12 Saaz (boil 1 min)

Boil size 10 litres.

Add to fermenter and fill up to 19 litres.

Pitch Saflager s-23 @ 22C or less.

Steve...

Chimay Blue Clone

I been looking around for a easy Chimay clone and came accross this: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/easy-chimay-blue-clone-73965/

I will try thing in the comming weeks and let you know how it turns out.

TFM.

Brew: TFM Belgian Blonde - 06/09/2008

Hi All,

Layed down a belgian blonde ale today. My first attempt at a belgian strong ale. Here's the analysis:

Brewer:	Steve Tindall		Email:	-
Beer:	TFM Belgian Blonde		Style:	Belgian Strong Ale
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	22 liters
Color:	12 HCU (~8 SRM)		Bitterness:	7 IBU
OG:	1.070		FG:	1.016
Alcohol:	6.9% v/v (5.4% w/w)
Grain:	150g American Vienna ** 150g American Munich 50g British crystal 70-80L
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.235	6.5 liters
	4.5kg Light malt extract 250g Belgian candi sugar
Hops:	9g Pride of Ringwood (15% AA, 60 min.) 24g Styrian Goldings (5.5% AA, 60 min.) 12g Styrian Goldings (5.5% AA, 15 min.) 12g Styrian Goldings (aroma)

Recipe Instructions:

Steep grains 35 minutes in 2 litres water @ 65 - 70C then strain water into brew pot and sparge grains with 1 litre of water also at about 65C.

Bring to boil then remove from heat.

Add to Brew pot:
4.5kg Light liquid malt
250g Belgian candi sugar disolved in 2 litres of boiling water
9g Pride of Ringwood (bittering hop)
24g Styrian Goldings (bittering hop)

Boil for 45 minutes then add:

12g Styrian Goldings

1 tsp. (5 ml) Irish Moss

Boil for 10 minutes then add:

12 g Styrian Goldings

Boil for 5 mins.

Chill and pitch.

White Labs Belgian Abbey Ale Yeast WLP530

** I lightly roasted the Vienna grain to try and recreate Biscuit malt flavour. I Layed out the grain on a baking tray and sprayed lightly with water (not soaking) then baked it at about 90C until colour just changed.

Actual OG was 1.073

Cheers,
TFM

My first Post

Hello everyone,

I am setting up this blog primarily as a brew journal so I can keep track of what I brew and when. Then i got to thinking that i might as well make it public so other people can see what I'm up to, make comments, share ideas etc.

Feel free to contribute.

I hope its of interest to some of you.

Cheers,

The Fat Monk (Steve)...