mac batch #4
Based on a “Black 47 Stout” recipe from North American Clone Brews. Black 47 is brewed by The Old Nutfield Brewing Company of Derry, NH, but as I’ve never had any of their beers, I don’t quite know what to expect out of this brew, hence “Black Box”.
[2010-02-28] Boil Day
- 3 lb UK 2-row pale malt (1.8 L)
- 1 lb roasted barley (525 L)
- 8 oz black patent malt (500 L)
- 8 oz crystal 120 L
- 1 1/2 tsp gypsum
- 6 AAU Northern Brewer (0.8 oz of 8.1% AA) for 60 min
- 1/2 tsp Irish moss for 15 min
- 3 lb LD Carlson Briess Sparkling Amber dry malt extract for 15 min
- 4 AAU Fuggles (0.8 oz of 4.8% AA) for 5 min
steep all above grains (two giant muslin sacks worth) in 155*F water for 45 min (started with 5 3/4 gal), then bring to boil
Ended up with 1.018 @ 78*F, which corrects to 1.021; using hopville’s beer calculus, I worked out that I got about 56% efficiency from my “super steep” method.
The recipe I was following has OG at 1.047, so I needed to work out how much dry malt extract I’d need to add. Fortuitously, the 3 lb that I calculated I needed was exactly how much I had on hand.
As I was bringing the wort to a boil, I added ~1.5 tsp of gypsum. I’d never used the stuff before, maybe I should have added it before the steep, since I’ve read that its supposed to alter the pH, which has an effect on the mash.
Add Northern Brewer, boil 45 min
Off heat, add dry malt extract and Irish moss, return to boil for 10 min
Add Fuggles, boil 5 minutes
Chill to ~70 deg with immersion chiller (took 30-45 min)
Pitched Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale using the “immediate” method, rather than the “let swell for at least 3 hrs” method. It was probably around 10PM when the yeast met the wort.
Gravity was 1.049 @ 68*F, which corrects to 1.050; a little high. I have about 4.8 gals in the ale pail, so that’s 240 gravity units. If I want 1.047, I need to add water to get to 5.1 gal, so I put about 6 cups of water on to boil and cool (dig a hole; now fill it in). When it got to ~70*F, I popped the lid on the ale pail and poured in the water. I didn’t bother to take a hydrometer reading (cleaned and put away), but the math doesn’t lie, dude. OG should be 1.047 for my now 5.1 gal of wort.