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Fourth brew: Chocolate stout

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  • #31
    Originally posted by jakeslouw View Post
    Yes, filter it out using a paper filter, then bring to a boil or at least a simmer and let it cool just before pitching
    Sounds easy enough, think I'll do just that, and also add some cocoa powder to the mix before adding the water. Thanks!

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    • #32
      Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
      The kit works like this:

      Step 1: Gooi it in the fermenter.
      Step 2: Wait.
      Step 3: Drink beer.
      Where is the fun in that except for the drinking part
      Harhm
      Senior Member
      Last edited by Harhm; 16 May 2018, 12:23.
      2017 SANHC-Finals-German Pilsner.2019 Academy of Taste-1st Lager +1st Overall-German Leichtbier.2019 Free State Fermenters-1st Place-Australian Sparkling Ale.2019 SANHC-Final Round-German Leichtbier.2020 SANHC-Top 5-EishBock.2021 SANHC-Low Alcohol Cat: 2nd-2%Lager, Over All Cat: 2nd-Schwarzbier.2022 Free State Fermenters-1st-American light Lager.2022 Fools and Fans National Competition-Top 5-Dunkles Bock

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      • #33
        Originally posted by Harhm View Post
        Where is the fun in that except for the drinking part
        I guess it depends from person to person. As a starter (AKA me), it's lekker not having such a massive task of "brew day" to head toward, specially if you're just starting. It is seriously intimidating - milling, mashing, tapping off, boiling, chilling and then all the other things like getting the grain bill correct and all that in one thing. I will definitely get to it, but for me the extract brewing for now works - and it works well. I'm now starting to modify my extract kit recipes (this will be proper attempt number 1, actually) to get a feel for building a proper beer later on. Babysteps... :P

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        • #34
          Originally posted by JIGSAW View Post
          It's a "Kit & Kilo" pre-hopped kit .... so besides boiling a little water to rinse the tin/pouch, what else should be boiled
          When I do extract I bring ~5 liters of water to the boil, remove from heat, add extract, stir for a bit, add sugars, stir more, return to heat, bring to a rolling boil for 15 minutes, turn off heat and cool wort (either by adding to chilled sanitised water, or by other techniques).

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          • #35
            Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
            The kit works like this:
            Step 1: Gooi it in the fermenter.
            Step 2: Wait.
            Step 3: Drink beer.
            Ok... wow. I have never brewed that way. All my beers include a sanitisation boil.

            Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
            On the above notes - I haven't had lekker experiences with cold brew coffee. The coffee pot I have looks like this:
            Please create a seperate thread for coffee brewing questions.

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            • #36
              Originally posted by AtronSeige View Post
              When I do extract I bring ~5 liters of water to the boil, remove from heat, add extract, stir for a bit, add sugars, stir more, return to heat, bring to a rolling boil for 15 minutes, turn off heat and cool wort (either by adding to chilled sanitised water, or by other techniques).
              I did this with my first few brews and attempts, and then I was told and instructed by several "well known" people that it's not needed. The cider pouch I made didn't include a boil (but did include boiling water), and I don't see any instructions on my new kit to boil either. Doesn't seem like many people really think it as important anymore, specially since you're adding a ton of usually aggressive bacteria that kind of kill other organisms anyway. Not sure what to make of it all, to be honest. Anyway, since I have so much to "dissolve" with this specific kit, I think I'll do an ingredient boil anyway. Liquorice stick needs to be dissolved, got two bags of DME and then I still need to add coffee, cocoa and maybe even some lactose. I believe a boil would be best.

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              • #37
                Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
                I did this with my first few brews and attempts, and then I was told and instructed by several "well known" people that it's not needed.
                Maybe I am just holding on to old techniques.

                Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
                Doesn't seem like many people really think it as important anymore, specially since you're adding a ton of usually aggressive bacteria that kind of kill other organisms anyway.
                Fungi, not bacteria.

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by AtronSeige View Post
                  Maybe I am just holding on to old techniques.


                  Fungi, not bacteria.
                  Old techniques work. Personally I think perhaps the modern world is not focusing enough on sanitary practices, specially in commercial brewing, but maybe that's just me. And I could have sworn it's bacteria, but thanks for clearing that up, I was wrong!

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                  • #39
                    Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
                    Old techniques work. Personally I think perhaps the modern world is not focusing enough on sanitary practices, specially in commercial brewing, but maybe that's just me.
                    The good breweries will focus most of their effort on sanitising. No use creating a good product that goes off in a week.
                    All big breweries have labs, and a lot of smaller breweries will make use of lab services, like those provided by The Brewster (Apiwe)

                    Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
                    And I could have sworn it's bacteria, but thanks for clearing that up, I was wrong!
                    Saccharomyces a yeast. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast). It includes Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ale yeast) and Saccharomyces Pastioranus (lager yeast). There are others as well.
                    In certain beers, like sour beers, the brewer adds lactobascillus and/or pediococcus which are bacteria.

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                    • #40
                      Originally posted by AtronSeige View Post
                      When I do extract I bring ~5 liters of water to the boil, remove from heat, add extract, stir for a bit, add sugars, stir more, return to heat, bring to a rolling boil for 15 minutes, turn off heat and cool wort (either by adding to chilled sanitised water, or by other techniques).
                      Totally not needed & doesn't the extra boil time now mess with the hop profiles for the style of pre-hopped kit you making?
                      The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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                      • #41
                        OK so this weekend I kicked it off (finally, I know). Brewed the kit as per instructions on Saturday afternoon and I ended up having to do a boil anyway. There's a large amount of DME that needed to be dissolved, and one bag of the DME was completely solidified, so I had to get the water quite hot for it to dissolve. I also struggled to dissolve the liquorice stick that was included, so that also took quite some boiling. In the end all ended well though, and because of the boil I felt confident to sommer add the cacao powder as well, so I went ahead and did just that. Added 180ml of normal Nestle cacao powder to the boil to dissolve it all. I went on the amount of cacao I thought would work, so let's see how it plays out. Didn't want to add too much as I don't want an overbearing taste of chocolate, just a good "hint" of it.

                        Anyway, I ended up with an OG of 1.048, pitched the yeast at 30°C and had quite the airlock activity after as little as 3 hours. Sunday morning this thing was bubbling like it was on fire, and by this morning it's already slowing down. I know this new world ale yeast is fast but MAN that thing moved!

                        Anyway, on to the notes. The beer has a very syrupy and chocolate nose as it sits now. It's a very rich, dark brown colour and has a VERY thick krausen. Thickest I've ever seen. At the speed this is going, I'll be bottling it this coming weekend. Just need to cold brew some coffee and get me some lactose to sweeten it a bit and I will be on the money!

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                        • #42
                          Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
                          <>

                          Anyway, I ended up with an OG of 1.048, pitched the yeast at 30°C and had quite the airlock activity after as little as 3 hours. Sunday morning this thing was bubbling like it was on fire, and by this morning it's already slowing down. I know this new world ale yeast is fast but MAN that thing moved!

                          <>
                          Any reason why ? ... I take it you at least fermenting way lower ?
                          The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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                          • #43
                            Originally posted by JIGSAW View Post
                            Any reason why ? ... I take it you at least fermenting way lower ?
                            Oh yes. Fermenting at 22°C. I just figured that pitching a bit warmer would start it up sooner, and seeing that it's not a sensitive yeast at all I wasn't bothered to get it started. 30°C is the "upper end" of where the temps were, it might have been a bit lower, between 28°C and 30°C. It was quite cold out, by the time fermenting actually started it was down to 28°C already.

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                            • #44
                              It sounds like the bulk of the fermentation was done in less than 48 hours, if you started at 28 what was the avg temp of the fermentation in the 1st 48 hours?

                              Coffee, cacao and liquorice sounds tasty but be careful of high levels of solvent like alcohols and more than likely elevated Diacetyl
                              Harhm
                              Senior Member
                              Last edited by Harhm; 25 June 2018, 10:32.
                              2017 SANHC-Finals-German Pilsner.2019 Academy of Taste-1st Lager +1st Overall-German Leichtbier.2019 Free State Fermenters-1st Place-Australian Sparkling Ale.2019 SANHC-Final Round-German Leichtbier.2020 SANHC-Top 5-EishBock.2021 SANHC-Low Alcohol Cat: 2nd-2%Lager, Over All Cat: 2nd-Schwarzbier.2022 Free State Fermenters-1st-American light Lager.2022 Fools and Fans National Competition-Top 5-Dunkles Bock

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                              • #45
                                Originally posted by Harhm View Post
                                It sounds like the bulk of the fermentation was done in less than 48 hours, if you started at 28 what was the avg temp of the fermentation in the 1st 48 hours?

                                Coffee, cacao and liquorice sounds tasty but be careful of high levels of solvent like alcohols and more than likely elevated Diacetyl
                                I started it late in the afternoon. By the time it was bubbling quickly the temps were down to around 22°C, which is when I moved the fermenter to a cooler box to keep it from getting too cold.. That's where it's been sitting for most of the time, dropping to around 20°C at night.

                                I'm not too worried about by-products and esters. The yeast is surprisingly clean, and the nose of the fermenting beer is still very, very good. I'm loving this - it smells a lot cleaner than previous beers, and I guess that's due to the fresher ingredients?

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