Brew Day for ESB 3Kg APA

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Brew Day

I've made up this set of steps for brew day for a 3Kg ESB APA kit a Lager & Draught Infusion Pack.

Ingredients

• 3Kg ESB APA Kit
• US-05 Yeast
• Lager & Draught Infusion Pack

Equipment

Yeast Proofing:

• Cup
• Cling Wrap
• Fork

Flavor Pack:

• 2-5L Saucepan
• Fine Colander or Sieve
• Stainless Spoon

Cleaning and Sanitisation:

• Brewer's detergent
• Diluted Iodophor in a Spray Bottle
• Large tub or sink

Other Utensils:

• Long Stirring Spoon
• Can Opener

Brewing Equipment:

• Fermenter + Lid
• Airlock
• Grommet
• Tap
• Hydrometer and Sample Tube

Process

• Place the Extract Kit in a sink with hot water to soften the contents.

Clean and Sanitise:

• Gather all equipment and disassemble where possible.
• Wash all equipment with brewers detergent solution.
• Leave to drain.
• Once dry, sanitise all equipment that will touch the beer/yeast with iodophor spray.
• Leave to drain.

Prepare/Prove Yeast:

• Put 1 cup of warm water into the sanitised cup.
• Sprinkle Yeast into the water.
• Use the fork to break up the Yeast and make sure it's all submerged.
• Cover it over with cling wrap.
• Leave somewhere out of the way.

Prepare the Fermenter to take the wort:

• Fit tap to fermenter and close it.
• Put 10L of cold water into the fermenter.
• Fit the seal and grommet to the lid, then fit the lid loosely to prevent dust entering the fermenter.

Infusion Pack: From the Absolute Home Brew instructions on the Lager/Draught Infusion Pack.

• Heat 2L of water to 70^oC in a saucepan.
• Take the saucepan off the heat and add in the grain and hops while stirring.
• Cover with lid for 15 minutes.
• Stir and re-cover for 15 minutes.

Begin combining everything in the fermenter.

• Open and pour the Extract Kit into the Fermenter while stirring so it dissolves. Scrape the inside tin to get all of the contents out.
• Pour the Infusion Pack solution in into the fermenter through a sieve.
• Top Up to 23L
• Take a sample of the wort and measure the specific gravity. Record it.

Pitch the Yeast:

• Once the temperature is below 25 degrees Celsius pitch the re-hydrated yeast solution into the wort.

Prepare for Fermentation:

• Securely fit lid to the fermenter so a good seal is formed.
• Fill airlock with clean water or steraliser solution.
• Fit the airlock to fermenter lid.
• Store fermenter in a place out of sunlight between 18-22 degrees Celsius.

Comments

First Try:

This one appears to have turned out well. I brought the fermenter inside and wrapped it in an old blanket because it's getting so cold now. I monitored the temperature on the PC via a DS18B20 placed between the side of the fermenter and the blanket. It sat between 16 and 20 for the whole duration.

I've also given the instructions a major trim and simplification. I think they read better now.

Other Ideas To Try:

• 12g Cascade + 12g Willamette Steeped for 10mins in primary.
• 12g Chinook Steeped for 20 mins in primary.
• 12g Cascade pellets in fermenter after 4-5 days.

Logs

04/05/2008

• Per Recipe
• OG: 1044, 21^oC
• Pitched: 04/05/2008 19:30

13/05/2008 20:00:

• Strong Hop/APA type Flavor.
• Similar to LCPA on tap.
• SG: 1010, 18^oC

14/05/2008 21:50:

• SG: 1009, 18^oC
• Plan to bottle Sunday.

18/05/2008:

• SG: 1009, 18^oC
• Bottled.
• Bulk primed with 1 cup dextrose tamped down.
• Works out about 4.7%ABV

24/05/2008: Tested a stubbie.

• Tastes great, very, very hoppy.
• ~1.5-2mm sediment in the bottom of the bottle.
• Very slightly carbonated, only a small shh from the bottle when I opened it, bubbles rising, very sparse.
• Cleared up really well, still slightly cloudy.
• Batch not going to last long...