Just tapped my latest and it is DAMN good.
Recipe? I think I may do a helles next
This is actually Northern Brewerās kit. Not sure why, but they havenāt stocked it in a whileā¦
10 gallon batch OG 1.051 IBU 21
15 gallons of RO water w/ 7 gr each of gypsum and CaCl and 4 gr of Mg added.
18 lb of pils, 1 lb carapils. mashed at 140 for 20 min and 148 for 80 min. mash pH 5.4. Mashed out at 168 for 10 min. Added 1 ml lactic acid to sparge. Did a batch sparge and collect 11.5 gallons of wort.
2 oz whole hallertauer for 60 min
1 0z pellet hersbrucker for 15 min
Pitch WLP 830 from starter at 48 degrees. Fermented at 52. 6 weeks in primary. Cold crashed and transferred to secondary for 20 days at 38.
Kegged and force carbonated.
I have to ask and I really donāt mean to put it down as it seems as though you are an experienced brewer: why do you bother using the kits still? Wouldnāt it be easier to just buy a sack of pils and make a beer like this? Just curious as to whether there is any advantage to a kit here. Beer sounds awesome. I think I rushed the one kolsch I ever made.
I use the kits mostly for ease and repeatability. I donāt brew a huge variety of beers and I know what I like. German lagers and British ales suit my fancy. So I do a lot of the same grain bills and just tweak my water/IBUās/yeast. Iām lazy too. Clicking a button is easy. Rounding up all the ingredients takes a while.
Your point about buy sacks of grain is a good one. Iāve considered that a lot and not sure why I havenāt pulled the trigger.
Cheers!
I still buy kits every once in a while usually for clone recipes. Just brewed the HT clone yesterday
Roger that, understood!
@ Matt, how high did you go on sulfate? Iād be curious to see how close you think you got, and your ferment temps.
[quote=āPietroā]Roger that, understood!
@ Matt, how high did you go on sulfate? Iād be curious to see how close you think you got, and your ferment temps.[/quote]
Sulfate was 300 based on a year old Ward labs report (should probably get a more updated one here one of these days). Fermenting at 66 for the first 3 days then plan to bump it up around 70-72. Initial tastes before pitching was VERY bitter (almost unpleasant) but there was still quite a bit of hop material in suspension.