This is the 3rd brew I've done in my new house. I've been doing 11 gallon batches lately but decided to do a 5 gallon batch today. This beer is based on a recipe from Dave Millers "brew like a pro" book named 3 rings Blond ale. I added flaked wheat and subbed crystal hops instead of cluster.
6 lbs 2 row 1 lb flaked wheat 1 lb flaked maize
Water filter setup
My brew notes.
Heating up the mash tun
Mash water at 168. This will allow me to mash the grains at 154.
Mashing the grains.
Mash at 154 for 60 minutes.
Mash out! I use a gravity fed system so I collect the wort in a bucket then add it to the boil kettle. I've thought about buying a pump but I'm very happy with the way this works.
Grain bed after mash out. I then sparged at 170 for 10 minutes.
I was afraid that I didn't collect enough wort so I heated up 1 1/2 gallons more water just in case. It turned out that I didn't need it. I hit my target of 7 gallons. Sometimes you just have to trust the numbers.
1 oz crystal hops and safale us05
Hops added directly to the boil kettle
After I added the hops I stirred it well so they didn't stick to the side of the kettle.
I put the immersion chiller in at 15 left in the boil to sanitize it. I added a half tab of whirlfloc at 12 minutes.
Once chilled I opened the valve and put it in the fermenter. This works well and oxygenates the wort at the same time.
Check out the foam. That's not from Star San. That's from the transfer from the boil kettle. I sprinkle the dry yeast directly onto the foam and seal the fermenter. Once the airlock is in place I fill it with a clear alcohol like vodka.
Swamp cooler at 64 degrees. I don't have a fermenting fridge yet so this will have to do for now. The OG is 1.042 so it's going to ferment out around 4% abv. I will ferment for one week, then cold crash for 1 week. Then I will transfer to a keg with unflavored gelatin and put the gas on 15 psi for 5 - 7 days.
That's it! About 4 hours from start to finish.