Kit O' Beer #7 - Attack of the Clones - LCBA #1

[Glass]

Attack of the Clones - Little Creatures Bright Ale (LCBA) #1

KoB #7 is underway. I was not sure if I should start a new naming convention because we are not really doing a kit and kilo this time around. We've jumped into the shallow end of the big kids pool with this one. This is based on unhopped malt with some hop additions.

We are trying to clone one of my favorite beers right now, the Little Creatures Bright Ale. This is a nice light ale with some mild hopiness to it. Very pricey beer. Costs about $50 for 16 x 12oz bottles. I think that comes in at about $10/liter/quart. If buying at the pub expect to pay twice that.

The recipe:
2 x 1.5kg Coopers Light Malt liquid extract (unhopped)
0.3 kg Dextrose. I am using Coopers dextrose
1 pkt Brew essentials yeast 15gms
40 gms /1.3 Oz Cascade hops in 3 additions
40 gms /1.3 Oz B-SAAZ hops in 3 additions (also known as Motueka)

1 x brand new big arsed pot - 19L. Got it for a good price of $19. SS but thin.

O.G 1.044

The method:
Open a cold beer. Then bring 14L of water + 1.5kg of Coopers Light Malt liquid extract to the boil. I started with 13L. Then I pre-boiled 2 lites and used 1 of them to rinse the can into the pot. I used the 2nd liter at the end of the boil. We are going for a 45 minute boil.

Hop additions:
12gms B-SAAZ at 45 minutes
12gms Cascade at 45 minutes
10gms B-SAAZ at 15 minutes
10gms Cascade at 15 minutes
18gms B-SAAZ at 0 minutes
18gms Cascade at 0 minutes

I used to 2 hop socks for the additions. I added the next addition to the same sock. At least I think I did. I may have got them crossed up at some point. So it's possible we had a mix of hops in each sock.

On flame out add 2nd can of extract and the 300gms/10oz of dextrose and stir well.

Chill as quickly as you can. Anyone say Wort Chiller? I'll be looking for one of these soon. If we do more like this.

We went to the trough with frozen bottles in water. This took out probably 60% of the heat. I was tempted to buy a bag of ice for this step. Made do with out it. I was dealing with much more heated liquor than previous. We are usually only dealing with 4 -5 litres of hot liquid. This time we ended up with about 17litres.

I added a 2litre block of ice to the fermenter and then I strained the wort into the fermenter. Topped up with about 5L or so of cold water. This got us down to about 28C. I then used the swamp cooler method to get us down to 20C for pitching. This step took about 5 hours. I fell asleep again. Pitched pretty late. About 1am.

Things to watch for next time:
I might start the brewing a bit earlier in the day. I tinker about for a couple hours assembling things. So starting to get the boil going at 3pm you're looking at sometime after 6pm before you have the fermenter full. I did this in summer because it's going into the cooler time of the day. Now it's not so important.

I didn't quite get all of the 2nd extract can mixed in properly. Was worried about the hop socks floating around in there. There was some extract visible on the bottom when we drained the pot. Not much. Just a detail.

14 litres plus is pushing the weight the stove top can handle IMO. By the time were were done there was 20kgs+ on the stove. It's a bench top unit and I think it was at the limit. I'd hate to have all of this come crashing down. May need to go the gas burner route. The pot took a long time to get going with a boil on the stove. More than 30 minutes.

Hop socks are good. Amazing how much the hop pellets expand when wet. Stuff still gets out and it needed filtering. I had to cut up a 3rd hop sock to fit over a sieve. Was a pricey option as the sock was $10 and a bit small. I nearly bought a cheesecloth type one at the LHBS but didn't. Would have been perfect. Managed to filter a ton more stuff out. Definitely don't want that in the beer.

So thats the first brew with hop additions. It was nice to actually smell some hops. I recognize both of these from beers I've drunk. As I bought 100gm pkts of hops I have enough to do another brew. I've got a few days off so I will do another one this week. Been wondering about doing this one again or doing a canadian blonde kit the same way.

[Libertytree]

Good to see you making the leap. I think you'll like it a lot and will find that it gives you a creative freedom to make exactly the beer you want and like. Yeah, it's experimental as hell at first but I think it would be a bit more rewarding overall.

LOL...I know how ya feel, trying to get the wort chilled and it keeps on getting later and later. I also came to the same conclusion about getting started earlier or setting up the night before. Using a gas burner outside is a much better option IMO, it's quicker and if you have a boil over it's not inside and on/in the stove.

About the hops and hop sacks....You'll find that the hop particles that escape will have little to no effect on your brew as they settle to the bottom and stay there. I've never filtered it and have never had issues with it. The cheese cloth sacks work excellently, I don't know about the ones you used though.

I really like the Saaz hops and intend to try the Cascade hops in the future.

ETA....You're right, this ain't a kit beer at all. The name LCBA #1 is better than KOB#7 and correct.

[Glass]

Day 6. We put this one together on the 11th. Its made fairly decent progress.

1st reading was 1.0135 (@18C Day 6).

The ambient temps have been 22C/23C. Unlike ground hog day, winter never seems to get started. We have had a few good rain days but plenty of should have been wet days didn't happen.

I had this one sitting in the trough in water from when I cooled the wort. I never bothered to drain the tub. It was running at 17C until yesterday when I drained the trough and let things warm a small amount. I am probably going to lift it out and bench it when I pull the krausen collar, tonight or tomorrow.

Despite the cold it's done fairly well.

Taste and aroma. The aroma is prominent but not unpleasant. I get lots of passionfruit aroma and some taste as well as a kind of pithy citrus taste. So not zesty but bitter. I find the bitterness fairly intense. I am wondering if this will mellow at all because it is fairly strong. The taste overall is pleasant. It is fairly close to the Little Creatures Bright Ale. The colour is spot on and there is some cloudiness which is also good form. I would say the bitterness makes it more like their Pale Ale than their Bright Ale.

I hopped this one at 45min, 15 min and flame out.

I am going to do KoB #8 tomorrow and was going to do similar hopping but with a Canadian Blonde base. I don't think I would like two batches of this bitterness level though.

If I wanted to try and reduce the bitterness would I go for a 30 minute boil with additions at 30, 15 and flame out? OR would I use less hops at 45?

[Libertytree]

If it were me, I'd run the Cascade(2oz) at 45mins and the Saaz(1oz) for the last 15mins and would do neither at flameout. This is a typical hop set up. By doing this once you'll be able to get a true feel for the nature of those hops. I should also add that the Cascade hops are not an overly bitter hop, usually around 6%, so medium. The Saaz hops are around 3% and are generally used for aroma, at the end of the boil. Don't skimp on the Cascade hop quantity, a little extra is better than too less because what you don't want to happen is for it to be under hopped as this will render your brew too sweet.

Keep in mind there is no set formula for this but rather general guidelines....welcome to my world, lol. It's fun though and this is where you really start learning the inside outs of beer making and how to tweak it to your liking.

I thought you might like to peruse this. There are other sites too but this is a basic one.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/hops/

[Glass]

Day 10. I think it's day 10.

1st reading was 1.0135 (@18C Day 6).
2nd reading was 1.0115 (@20C Day 10).

Weather has been fairly steady for temps although the humidity is up and down. Was pretty uncomfortable for a few days there even though the temps only got to ~23C

I had a bit of a F*** No moment when I noticed the lid to the fermenter was not fully seated. I removed the krausen collar on maybe day 8 and replaced the lid. These things are not the screw on type. They merely sit down inside the rim of the fermenter. There is a lip extending out over the top of the fermenter and there is a rim that slides down maybe 2/3 an inch into the fermenter.

I paid special attention to getting it seated properly because the last time I did it I had trouble getting the thing to go back on. Both hands full kind of fiddling about BUT the thing is it wasn't sitting flat all around and was lifted maybe 4mm which I think is about 1/8th inch.

I think it is because the fermenter can flex a bit. I have it sitting in a lanudry trough and either the base of the trough which is slightly curved, concave is causing a distortion or the side of it was resting up against the faucet also causing some distortion OR the thing is just a bit warped now.

I pushed the lid down to seat it again ok, checked around the other side to make sure it wasn't just popping up on they other side. I checked it again after maybe 30 minutes and the back side was not seated properly. So I did it again and it lifts on the front side. So I have moved the fermenter about a bit to see if it is twisting from the base and causing the fermenter to get out of shape.

Anyway I'm figuring it was like that a couple days before I noticed. Even when I was working around it for a couple hours on Monday. It wasn't until I shined a light on it in thee dark I noticed the lid.

I decided another reading was needed and a swig to make sure it's not off. I think there is enough overlap of these lids and their lips etc that it isn't a wide open gap that oxygen can get in.

There is a lot of stuff at the bottom of this fermenter. When I took a sample I got a ton of floaties. So much so that I decided to fill the trough with some water again and see if I can bring the temps down another couple degrees for a few days before bottling. I thought there was a lot more floating in it than there probably really is. After the sample had sat for a while it seemed to settle out fairly well. So anyway we will do a mild crash for a few days and bottle on Friday/Saturday.

The aroma is nice. It has mellowed a bit. The bitterness is still very strong and I have to say I'm not a fan. I think it's too bitter. I was going to do KoB #8 and hop it like I did this one. I am hesitating until I am more confident on how to reduce this bitterness level. I am going to base it on a Canadian Blonde so I might actually only dry hop it. I'm leaning that way.

[Libertytree]

When I 1st started brewing in the trash can instead of the airtight ferment bucket I was freaked about it not being airtight but it's never been an issue and neither has it been a problem for my buddy that brews in the same fashion.

Like I said earlier, it seems to me you you used a lot of hops for that size batch but the good news is, is that it will mellow. How much is hard to tell.

[Glass]

ok well we bottled this one today. 52 stubbies (12 oz) glass + 6 king browns (25oz) PET.

FG was 1.012 which means maybe my reading was off last time but I find the guage hard to read so who knows. Ball park. It's a half point.

I bulk primed this one as well. Although there is another bucket to clean I like this method. I can take care with the primary fermenter to tilt it slowly and get the most beer out of it into the bucket. Leave behind the yeast cake and not have to worry when doing the bottling. I think the priming is also better, however # 6 is the only other one I've done so far. It's a ways off but the plastic bottles have firmed up nicely already. No bombs so far.

Getting better at the bottling process. I'm going to look for a large tray with low sides 1/2" - 1" high to contain any spills. I clean as I go but it's one more hassle I can eliminate.

LT you are right. Taste and aroma. It's mellowing already. I found the bitterness to have subsided a lot. I really like this one. It's going to be a cracker. I still don't think it is as light flavoured as the beer it's based on but it may mellow some more. It looks just a little bit darker. Slight. The aroma is also pleasant. Again a bit stronger at the moment but nothing wrong with it. My nose gets a wiff and the brain says more of that please.

I've been trying to find the original in the stores to remind myself. I have no more worries about this beer. Looking forward to it.

As for airtightness, yes it seems you can relax a bit about it. The 2nd fermenter, I used as a priming bucket today, I've discovered that it's not even close to airtight even though it has a screw down lid with a rubber seal. Not to mention it suffers from evil grommet syndrome.

[Libertytree]

As far as your bottling tray.... I found a pet potty training rig in the trash and the two trays are what I use when I'm bottling, it eliminated the entire mess. Those things are expensive though, well worth it but still expensive($40). If you can find trays, try and find one that's a little larger and one smaller that will fit into it upside down. Drill a bunch of holes in the smaller top one and sand it, making it anti-slide. Mine is 25in X 15in and perfectly fits 2 cases. The two tray, raised, drained system keeps the bottles from sitting in the spilt beer, which is also a PITA.

Attachment 6374

Attachment 6375

Yep, bulk priming is THE way to go! If you want to make it even cheaper and simpler, here's the trick I learned. For every 5 gals use 1/2 cup of regular table sugar. I'm assuming that the dextrose you're using is more expensive than sugar. I don't even cover the bottling/priming bucket, as I have the spigot from the fermenter sitting just above and inside the bottling bucket.

I'm happy to hear your fears about it going south have reversed themselves.

[Glass]

I will have a look around for something for spills. wont be too difficult.

I think I will try your suggestion for priming this next brew. I've been looking for something other than dextrose. I think it puts me to sleep or something. At the right time of day that would not be a bad thing. I also realise that it's basically corn sugar and that could mean GMO, probably does.

I've got about 40 kgs of sugar packed away and I might use 2kg a year tops. So I have plenty.

[Libertytree]

Have you figured out what your alc% was in your last batches? Maybe that's why you're getting sleepy?