AG #1: NUTS Brown Ale - First Taste Test

Well just over three and a half weeks ago I brewed my first ever all grain brew and today I got around to my first taste test. The beer (NUTS! Brown Ale) was in primary for 11 days, it was then transferred to secondary for 6 days and then transferred to a corny keg. The corny keg cold conditioned for 3 days and then was force carbonated for 3 1/2 days. The results overall are not bad for a first attempt.

Appearance - The colour is a little darker than I would have liked, I was aiming for 39 EBC's and it probably came out a bit darker than that. A great tan head forms and laces the side of the glass. For future versions I will probably scale back the chocolate malt slighty to bring the colour down. 

Aroma - The aroma is all about the malts, chocolate and crystal combine quite pleasantly, again I would consider scaling back on the chocolate for the next version.

Feel - Great mountfeel to this beer, medium bodied with a nice creamy texture. Very pleased with this aspect of the beer.

Taste - So how does it taste? Actually pretty good. A very smooth well balanced beer (if I do say so myself) once again the only negative I can discern is possibly the chocolate malt is a little too much to the fore, as a result it leaves a slightly cloying taste at the back of the throat. Also there is a very slight medicinal/metallic aftertaste that I think is due to the fact that I did not do any water treatment for this brew. However overall I am very happy with this and I am looking forward to seing how it develops as it is still quite young.

Summary - Overall very happy with this as a first attempt, hoping to get my second AG in the fermenter next Sunday.

NUTS! Brown Ale - Kegging

Today I finally got around to transfering my NUTS! Brown Ale that I brewed on St Patricks day from secondary to keg. It had spent 10 days in primary and then a further 6 days in Secondary. It had a final gravity of 1012 which meant an ABV of 4.58%. Recipe can be found here

Here are a few pics:

Racking using my auto-siphon:

Transfer nearly complete, approximately 16 litres went into the corny keg:

Close up of the beer in the line, looks very clear and the colour is what I wanted for my brown ale:

Corny keg was then transferred to my keggerator where it will cold condition for 3-4 days before I start to force carbonate. To achieve a carbonation level of around 2.2 I will typically force carb at 14-15 psi for 3 days.

It should be ready for the first taste test next weekend.

St Patricks Day - First AG Brew - Part II

Managed to get great aeration on the wort as it was transferred to the fermentor*:

Was aiming for 1046 and achieved an OG of 1047, this means that the efficiency of my first All Grain brew was 78%, which I was really hapy with:

Fermentor safely tucked away in my "brew closet"with blow off tube attached:

* When I decided to make the move to all grain I was looking for a way to reduce the cost and bulk of the equipment I would need with the result that I built a mash tun that doubles as my fermentor (I will put up a post about how I did this), the idea came from an article by sbillings on the ICB website. The full article can be read here

St Patricks Day - First AG brew - Part I

gSt Patricks day is a special day for any Irishman. A day to drown yourself in Irishness and pints of the black stuff. This year St Patricks day marked my entry into all grain brewing. For the last five months I have dipped my toe into the brewing water with a couple of kit brews and four extract brews. Having fully caught the brewing bug I decided that St Patricks day would be an apt occasion to mark my entry into the world of All grain brewing. Here are some pics of the brew:

Here is the first runnings from my mash tun entering the boiler:



Mash tun as the end of the second runnings drain away:

Third runnings nearly complete, 25l transferred to the boiler:

Vigorous boil of the wort achieved:

Last ten minutes of the boil, wort chiller added in order for it to sanitise in the boiling wort:


Part II to follow.

Recipe - NUTS! Brown Ale - AG

This is the recipe I have decided on for my first attempt at All Grain Brewing that I will be brewing on St Patricks day. The recipe was inspired by Goose Island Nut Brown Ale:

NUTS! Brown Ale
Brown Ale
Author: River Road Brewery

Size: 21.6 L
Efficiency: 77.67%
Attenuation: 76.6%
Calories: 155.62 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.047 (1.045 - 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.011 (1.010 - 1.016)
Color: 39.38 (35.46 - 68.95)
Alcohol: 4.71% (4.3% - 6.2%)
Bitterness: 27.5 (20.0 - 40.0)

Ingredients:
3000.0 g Golden Promise Pale
400.0 g Crystal 120EBC
150.0 g Chocolate 1060 EBC
50.0 g German CaraMunich II
500.0 g Dry Wheat
20.0 g Northern Brewer (10.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
10.0 g Fuggle (5.3%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1.0 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 15 min
10.0 g Fuggle (5.3%) - added during boil, boiled 1.0 min
1.0 ea Fermentis S-04 Safale S-04