27 monterey california common
brewed: 19/10/13
pitched: 21/10/13
bottled: 03/11/13
subsequent batch info: not in its current state. some tweaking is needed, but i doubt i'd do this one again sadly
ingredients:
3.61kg weyermann pilsner
30gm cascade (pellets, 5.5 aa%, 60 mins)
23gm cascade pellets, 5.5 aa%, 5 mins)
23gm fermentis saflager w-34/70 lager yeast
64gm long grain, white, minute rice (imperial grain brand - aldi)
1 tablet whirlfloc
0.5 tsp yeast nutrient
process:
20L batch, 2 step mash, no sparge, mash in 50C for 10 mins (protein rest), 60 mins 64C (saccaharification rest), no-chill, 12C fermentation, cold crash to 2C, bottle carbonate 2 weeks, lager in fridge at 5C
OG: 1.046 (1.043 expected)
FG: 1.008 (1.008 expected)
%AbV: 5.6% - bottled (5.0% expected - bottled)
australian standard drinks (1 x 370mL glass): 1.6
ibu: 24
brewing notes:
well this one was a LATE night brewing. i've done it so late because this beer is one i've wanted to make for our family christmas. the name comes from the street and suburb i grew up on as a kid. i realise i'm a big fan of making beers that represent neighbourhoods, oh well. this one will be a nice american-esque lager. my only concern was that i think i accidentally let my mash get too high (65-67C) by accident. i'm hoping it doesn't affect the enzymes too much and i can still have a lighter bodied lager.
21/10/13 - pitched it tonight. damn it feels good making 2 x cubes and not 1 worth of beer. just looking at a full 20L fermenter is...nice. i know it won't go to waste. fingers crossed she turns out well.
tasting notes:
27/10/13 - only a few days into fermentation and it's almost finished! it could actually already be finished. took a taste and it had quite a clean but full taste. i think this is probably just active yeast and other break and trub. i'm very excited to see how it looks after being bottled for 2ish months.
29/10/13 - still very 'clean' tasting at 18C for the diacetyl rest. extremely happy. got down to where i wanted it (1.008) and will be nice and light in the mouth, however still a liiiiitle bit strong for my liking. this is due to just overshooting my original gravity by 3 points. not really an issue though - will get the christmas crowd a bit tipsier! due to its now higher strength (5.6% bottled) i've changed it from a light lager into a californian common which it aligns closely with.
25-28/11/13 - over the last few days i've opened two of these babies and have given one to martin as a present for seeing what it tastes like. slight green apple flavour which will mellow over time as the beer matures. very light and mellow maltiness which i think the rice has evened out with. am liking the backbone of this beer. it is still very young for a lager and has only been bottled since 03/11 (only slightly under a month). hop-wise, there is a slight fruity cascade aroma which is out of style but nice to my tastes and nose, and also as much as i like it, i actually prefer my rice lagers with noble hops. next one i do i'm going to try it with a standard saaz to try and replicate a japanese lager. the body is fuller than a typical lager, which martin puts down to being under-carbed for the lager style and also perhaps mashing slightly higher than normal. next one will be mashed at about 62 with more carbonation. overall though, i feel it's a pleasant beer so far, and hopefully one which improves a bit with some age before chrissy!
09/12/13 - have had a few more tastes of this to see how it's been developing and i do like it, although the cascade-ness to it doesn't sit well with me for some reason. i could have one or two, but i wouldn't consider this to be a sessionable beer in that i could drink a few of. this might change soon though as the beer ages and hopefully matures in taste. apparently it takes a lot longer for lagers and lager yeasts to settle out and for the flavours to mature so more waiting!
21/12/13 - still has the same kind of taste. nothing much changed. it is nice when it's sub-5c degrees but after that the hop is just SUPER noticeable and i think it's because there is no malt sweetness to offset this. verdict is that there is too much hop flavour for too little malt sweetness. disappointed and should have only used a 60 minute addition. will do this next time.
24/12/13 - in an attempt to reduce the hop flavour i have moved the beers from the fridge back to ambient room temps in the cupboard. i aim to try these again in a week or two and see how it goes. i'm not giving up on it yet. if nothing changes after this time i'll consider tipping it which would be a shame! i feel as though with such minimal malt sweetness, and the fact i was no-chilling it meant that is is just pure hop citrus with nothing to offset this. fingers crossed for the next taste test.
02/03/2014 - i only have one bottle left which has been sitting in the fridge for a while. will crack it open in the next few months to see how it went with some age but in its current state, i won't be remaking this one. sadly it was just like hoppy water. way too many hops with a minimal grain bill (and the rice i think made it a very minimal grain-tasting beer too).
12/03/14 - decided to crack the last one tonight, impatient as i am, and it still tastes the same. not happy, sadly. not the best beer. i'll have to chalk it up to experience and now i have a chiller i think i could re-do this one a LOT better so as not to have way too much hop character in such a light beer.
brew day / beer pics: