Todd, here’s an update for you on your Styrian Goldings. I understood it was the late additions that were supposed to be moved to FWH, but it doesn’t really matter because I am putting all of my hops into the FWH. For 10 gallons, after pulling the bag, I bring the wort to 155F and throw in 1lb of hops (pellet or leaf) and let them sit for 30 mins (the temperature drops to 150F) and then bring slowly to the boil and boil for an hour. I have been chilling but I am going to try no-chilling since I don’t really see the point of chilling when there are no late additions.
I still use one base malt only (Marris Otter which is floor malted) so that the hop flavours can be really appreciated.
I have been getting wonderful flavours with this method. I’m not really good at describing flavours but HbgBill gave a great description of his Cascade beer which fitted my Cascade version perfectly. "Well, there is a hint of grapefruit.. but, the overwhelming thing the strikes me is FLORAL with the hint of citrus. Very mild spiciness,"
The Styrian Goldings version that I just kegged is also amazing. I would say that the Cascade version would be the masculine version and the Styrian Goldings would be feminine. A bit like drinking the flowers from a lilac bush maybe (I told you I was bad at that). I can’t say which I like best, but I really like them both. Thank you very much Todd for the Styrian Goldings recommendation.
I am guessing that the bitterness I am getting with this method is around 50 IBU’s which would fit with Bobs podcast that he posted on not being able to get higher than 50IBUs with early additions. I experience the smoothness that’s described with FWH. We were in the city yesterday (Halifax) with friends and they took us to a fancy beer shop and I bought some very expensive, highly hopped IPA’s to check them out, and I must say that I would have been disappointed if I had brewed them. The bitterness, and also the carbonation were harsh and you had to wait quite a while for your mouth to recover before you could take another swig. Not so my FWH beer, it dangerously slips down the throat one swig after. I discovered that I spent as much on two bottles of beer as I do making 5 gallons. All in all, that was a good learning experience.
I realised after previous posts that in fact the method I am using isn’t entirely FWH, since I leave the hops in for the boil and also leave them in the fermentor during the full ferment. It occurred to me that alcohol might be also extracting something from the hops…possibly, but then maybe not.
I’m also kegging after one week in the fermentor, using more of the natural carbonation and just keeping the kegs on CO2 pressure that is just high enough to enable pouring. I am also keeping the kegs at cellar temperature. These things I learnt from the Real Ale thread
http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php ... t=real+ale – Thanks guys
I gave up on adding extract to up the batch size and just use all grain and maxi a little (you were right Aces
)
A lot of this stuff I learnt about on this site, including FWH. I’m one very happy BIABrewer.info customer. Thanks very much to the owners and organisers of this site and the contributors.
My father-in law just came around and I gave him a couple of beers. He said it reminded him so much of some very expensive beer he had oncce, made by some Belgian monks who make their beer under a tarp with open fermentation and bees and all sorts get in it and they strain it. He said it had the same smoothness and was just as amazing.
From the original post, the “Guinges project” beer has evolved to become a highly hopped, high ABV, FWH only, SMaSH IPA, using free range mashing, fermenting in the kettle and leaving hops in for the ferment, with real-ale simulation. No-chill in the kettle with the lid on, is likely to become a feature.
Step by Step:
12.5 gallons of water in 16 gal pot
Heat to 168F
Rain in 25lbs (or 27.5lbs which would be half a sack) of crushed Marris Otter and stir.
Don’t re-heat or insulate the mash.
Leave for 90 mins. The temp drops to 158 after adding the grain and then to 150 after 90 mins with the free range (not insulated) mash,
Pull bag.
Place bag into another pot containing 2 gallons of water at 170F for a bit and then drain the bag and pour into the main pot.
Bring main pot to 155F, throw in 1lb of pellet or leaf hops (Cascade or Styrian Goldings) and leave for 30 mins. The temperature drops to around 150F
Bring to boil and boil for 1 hour.
Chill to pitching temp (about 25C) in the kettle and then sprinkle on the surface, 3 packs of Safale US-05. Wait half an hour and then whisk with a Starsaned large whisk until the wort is thick and foamy.
Leave in the kettle to ferment for 1 week at 20C, with the lid on and then keg. The kettle has a bazooka screen on the inside. If you are using pellet hops instead of leaf hops then some pellet hop mush gets through into the kegs, but who cares! It still tastes good!
Leave the keg at room temperature for 3 days and then move to cellar temp. Keep on CO2 at a low pressure. Just high enough to enable serving.
It can be drunk as soon as it is in the keg and it is delicious. As time goes on it becomes crystal clear (after about 10 days) with my water which is fairly hard.
EOBV-A 11.25 gal
OG – 1.070
FG – 1.018
ABV – 7.2%
Let me know if you try it and you like it.