Alt Country

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Capn Ahab
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Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:32 pm

Alt Country

Post by Capn Ahab »

A Dusseldorf Alt, aided and abetted by Mr Palmer, good tunes, BBQ beef, way too much beer for a brew day and a cheeky BMC to round it off. The old Palmer-Grundy jedi approach was in evidence, as the brew was a bare bones recipe made flesh via minimal calculations and old fashioned empirical knowledge, but still managed to hit all the numbers bar one.

This was also my first attempt at decoction mashing, which was a laugh, though not an unqualified success (see below).

Munich malt 68 %
Pils malt 30 %
Pale chocolate malt 2 %

Protein rest at 122 F for 10 mins then raised by infusion to 149 F for 75 mins with a thin decoction to raise up to mash out.

Except I didn't, it got sticky (IPA's at 9.30 am I ask you...) and actually raised by infusion to 146 F for 60 mins and then mashed out with a decoction. I had meant to use a first decoction to raise to 158 F, but got the calculations a bit wrong and hit mash out temp immediately. No harm done though as the wort tasted nice and OG was spot on at 1.050.

NZ Hallertauer Aroma to 35 IBU at 60 mins
NZ Hallertauer Aroma to 5 IBU at 15 mins

WLP036 Dusseldorf Alt yeast

First time using NZ Hallertauer and it smells great! On opening the pack it is floral and citrussy, but develops to a nice noble spiciness.
Eat sh*t or die trying
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periolus
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Re: Alt Country

Post by periolus »

IPA at 9.30 sounds great if in a padded room with no gas, electricity or boiling water. Last time I drank a lot whilst brewing, I did a kit at about 1.30am and woke up sitting on the sofa at 10.30am clutching a vial of White Labs yeast! Came out okay in the wash ; )

Looking forward to the results at BBC/BCB, my man.
Capn Ahab
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Re: Alt Country

Post by Capn Ahab »

periolus wrote:Looking forward to the results at BBC/BCB, my man.
If all goes well this should be at least a couple of months down the line as I'm hoping Conor still has room for this in his lagering fridge.
Eat sh*t or die trying
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Mike Palmer
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Re: Alt Country

Post by Mike Palmer »

Aye, good day was had by all. I had an interesting meander to Temple Meads, and can't remember a thing about anything Charlie spoke to me about. I plastered on my best shit-eating-grin and nodded along blissfully unaware of what was going on.
Long live SHA(T)!
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alikocho
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Re: Alt Country

Post by alikocho »

See I'm going to miss to comedy when I move to Wales.
Ali

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periolus
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Re: Alt Country

Post by periolus »

alikocho wrote:See I'm going to miss to comedy when I move to Wales.

Yes, but you've bought your season ticket for Thursday travel to Bristol, right? ; )

To make up for it, Ali, you need to host an annual (at the very least) beer festival in Wales for BBC/BCB members and roast a couple of pigs etc. Looking forward to it already!
Capn Ahab
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Re: Alt Country

Post by Capn Ahab »

Just trying this now. It's pretty good I think, but a) hazy b) no head c) needs a bit more malt.

Next time will see a double decoction plus 1% caramunich and 3 - 5% wheat. NZ Hallertauer seems a very good hop though.
Eat sh*t or die trying
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Mike Palmer
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Re: Alt Country

Post by Mike Palmer »

Has you finished it yet? How did the short lagering affect it?
Long live SHA(T)!
Capn Ahab
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Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:32 pm

Re: Alt Country

Post by Capn Ahab »

Nah, still got some. Gonna try and bottle a fair bit of it this weekend, so will make sure you get a few.

Difficult to say what the lagering did. It was still hazy last time I checked, but I've stopped drinking from corny atm as a) it's too warm, and b) I get infested with fruit flies. It only got lagered about two weeks.
Eat sh*t or die trying
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