Sonny's 1st Partial Brew

[Sonny]

Aye, currently enjoying a Wals Old ale made to my recipe, and have also just polished of a nice Pale ale made to my recipe.

All whilst doing my first partial. Many thanks go to Bullfrog for his advice prior to hitting it today and to Beersmith for instilling the confidence in me as I came to realise that to make it easier and simpler than what Bullfrog was saying, I then needed to buy a bigger pot.
Well 'cheers' to big jugs I say.

Type: Partial Mash
Date: 5/28/2011
Batch Size: 20.50 L
Brewer: Sonny
Boil Size: 15.00 L Asst Brewer: Nah, everyone whinged and complained about the bloody smell.
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: 18L Kmart pot
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0
Taste Notes: Not yet. Yeh well it's nice at the moment, if that helps any.

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.50 kg Pale Liquid Extract (15.8 EBC) Extract 42.9 %
1.50 kg Wheat Liquid Extract (15.8 EBC) Extract 42.9 %
0.50 kg Vienna Malt (6.9 EBC) Grain 14.3 %
30.00 gm Cascade [5.50%] (60 min) Hops 15.8 IBU
30.00 gm Cascade [5.50%] (30 min) Hops 12.2 IBU

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.049 SG I got 1.052, yeahaa
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.6 %
Bitterness: 28.0 IBU Calories: 90 cal/l
Est Color: 14.7 EBC Color: Color

Pitched with a S-05 yeast starter at 22deg.

Why did I just go and do it. Well I was in the shop to get two kits and I couldn't pick a 2nd tin and thought, well I thought lets do an extract.
Ok, fire away fella's. How do you think I went?

[rotten]

Looks pretty good to me Sonny. You might want to adjust your actual OG for it to make sense later though I never used Liquid yeast extract in my partials so can't comment on that part. The Vienna and Cascade looked good though. Should be a ripper !!

Oh and nice jugs

[Oliver]

Congratulations, Sonny. I did my third partial this week (I did my first two at the same time ) and am currently drinking a dark ale that was the result of those first partials. Very nice it is, too. There certainly is a difference between them and extract/kit brews.

Anyway, this week's was using 1.2kg of wheat and ale malt and a bit of crystal.

I reckon partials are not nearly as daunting as they seem to someone who hasn't done one before. In my extensive experience partials are pretty straightforward as long as you plan.

I am well on the slippery slope to all-grain. I just don't think that 'er indoors shares my enthusiasm.

Cheers,

Oliver

[rotten]

I am well on the slippery slope to all-grain. I just don't think that 'er indoors shares my enthusiasm.

Cheers,

Oliver

Wouldn't having your own homebrew beer site justify your need, or even necessity, to make All Grain Beer?
Cheers

[Oliver]

Wouldn't having your own homebrew beer site justify your need, or even necessity, to make All Grain Beer?

That's certainly a very fair point and an argument I'll be prosecuting strongly. To tell you the truth, it's mostly a matter of logistics. The backyard needs to be done before I've got somewhere appropriate (not the mention safe) to boil AG. Also, I have quite limited space and despite much thought I still haven't worked out where the brewing fridge is going to go.

I'll get there though.

I think the first step will be a BIAB, no-chill and fermented in the laundry where it doesn't get below 15C and I can maintain a brewing temperature several degrees above that, and have successfully fermented several times already in cool temperatures.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Sonny]

Just racked this one.
Nice colour it is. 1014FG, so yep lookin' good.

The aroma is quite soft for what I was expecting, its taste is rather bitter and it has that other fine, strange taste to it. A taste that I have had develop before, one that I can pick up on but others don't.
No I cannot describe it properly.

Almost smelt like a hoegarten for a moment.

Am a bit hestitant in declaring any success. I know it'll be drinkable I just hope it matures into a nicer beer than it is now.

[rotten]

Give it time young grasshopper

[bullfrog]

From what the bloke with the new bike tells me, Sonny, your missus didn't much care for the smell of your brew day!

Oliver, do you still have the equipment that you and Geoff used to make the millenium ale? If so then you've got just about everything you need to go AG right away and not have to mess about with that NC caper.

[Oliver]

Good point Bullfrog. Yes, we do have all the equipment still. The converted keg is sitting in my backyard waiting for a good clean, and the immersion chiller is somewhere at Geoff's place. So yeah, I could go AG without NC. The chiller could probably do with a few more coils of copper, which wouldn't be hard to do (it was a bit light on to start with and more copper would no doubt make it more efficient).

Does anyone else feel guilty about the amount of water chillers use? In my case the water would be going straight down the drain as we have no garden worth speaking of.

Oliver

[hirns]

Does anyone else feel guilty about the amount of water chillers use? In my case the water would be going straight down the drain as we have no garden worth speaking of.

Oliver

Boil 2 to 3l of water before brew day and then freeze it. I boil vigiourously so i always need at least 3l to regain my final volume and FG. I then only need to chill the fermenter in a bath tub for 30min, an immersion chiller would be faster again.

Secondly, If you have an upright washer, re-use it to do a load.


Hirns

[Oliver]

... If you have an upright washer, re-use it to do a load.

Excellent idea. Why didn't I think of that ...

Cheers,

Oliver