the 2015 australian ale
brewed: 29/09/13
pitched: 07/10/13
bottled: 19/10/13
subsequent batch info: kind of an eclectic mix of ingredients, and while nice, i probably won't rush to make it again. liked it, but not as much as some of my others
ingredients:
1.7kg weyermann vienna
12gm galaxy (pellets, 11.0 aa%, 40 mins)
6gm galaxy (pellets, 11.0 aa%, 20 mins)
200mL WLPO009 - whitelabs australia ale yeast
100gm dextrose
0.5 tablet whirlfloc
process:
11L batch, single infusion, no sparge, mash in 64C for 60 mins, no-chill, 16C fermentation, 2C cold crash
OG: 1.040 (1.040 expected)
FG: 1.006 (1.009 expected)
%AbV: 4.5% (5.0% bottled)
australian standard drinks (1 x 370mL glass): 1.5
ibu: 46
brewing notes:
today i was feeling horribly sick and sadly couldn't do a bunch of things i'd have liked, so yep, beer time. i have a few beers lined up that i've wanted to make but i again wanted one that wasn't a huge big beer; reason being is that it is getting really hot in sydney and i'd rather have a nice light thirst-quenching beer than a big heavy one. this is that beer. the 2015's name comes from my new suburb's post code. my efficiency went up to 75% for this one too. very very happy. all my figures were hit and hit well.
07/10/13 - pitched the 2015 tonight. had a quick taste going into the fermenter and no harsh tastes or anything untoward. very excited to see how the yeast and the galaxy play together. i'm pitching this one at 16C which i've read keeps the banana flavours to a minimum and gives more of a bready-pear taste, which i think will compliment the passionfuit of the galaxy hop. i don't expect the vienna malt to do much but add a nice subtle malt background and let the yeast and hops shine in this beer. very excited to see how it turns out!
tasting notes:
03/11/13 - had my first taste this morning of this guy and while i will say it is probably still young, only 2 weeks in the bottle, it is shaping up to be a very nice tasting beer! no aroma on it, as i wanted to save the yeast and use it later, but a very faint hint of banana which i think plays well with the galaxy (passionfruity flavour). i can't wait for another try of this in a week!
04/11/13 - wanted to taste this again because i genuinely am interested to see what others think of this one and to try and get a better idea of it. it's a strange one to me. i'm not sure if i like it or not really. i keep tasting it and second guessing myself. if i had to choose i'd say i like it about 6/10 and don't like it about 4/10 (yes, i've been doing fractions with my year 3 class!!). either i'm just a hop-head who needs more bitterness in the final beer, but it seems like the yeast and maybe no-chill has eaten away at the galaxy hops too. had a few mates try it the other day and all said it was unique and not bad tasting, but it didn't sound as though they honestly thought it was a winner. i might take it to my brew nerd meeting and see what the consensus is there too.
10/11/13 - so, about 4ish weeks in the bottle now and i'm just not 100% on it. i just can't taste the 20 minute hop addition and i think the sugar may have given it something that just doesn't work taste-wise. for whatever reason, i'm just not getting any galaxy flavour anymore which is sad because it is definitely a gap in the beer's taste. the yeast certainly wasn't under-pitched like a lot of people have stated it has been in their usage of it straight out of the bottle. i'll look to use it again but probably only with a 60 minute pride of ringwood hop addition, and potentially a fuller malt bill which should give me something resembling a coopers pale ale. i honestly think this yeast has potential but it is very much the outstanding taste with this beer, and i don't think the simple base malt bill and addition of sugar helped balance out the flavour. perhaps it's just vienna also. the last beer i made (baxter pale ale) that was primarily using that malt was nice, but something was just not right for me. still going to give it some more time in the bottle (and now the fridge too) but i'm not completely confident it'll improve it's flavour.
11/11/13 - tasted one tonight that for some reason was better. perhaps it's the yeast that's throwing weird flavours in particular bottles. perhaps it's some bottles were slightly dirtier than others and weren't carbonating properly, or throwing off flavours. i might leave it another week and try some then and see how it tastes then. very strange! all in all, not my favourite beer, and one i'll definitely tweak if making again.
15/11/13 - well well well. it's finally come good. after a good month in the bottle the astringent flavours have mellowed and the galaxy hop flavour and coopers yeast flavour are now in a lovely synergy. very nice subtle hints of galaxy with the signature coopers bready yeast flavour. it's actually really nice. i'm going to try another over the weekend and see how it fares then too. hopefully it's not a once off. news for future...give this combination a lot of time to mellow and even out!
* formula from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/alcohol/publishing.nsf/Content/standard
brew pics:
pitched: 07/10/13
bottled: 19/10/13
subsequent batch info: kind of an eclectic mix of ingredients, and while nice, i probably won't rush to make it again. liked it, but not as much as some of my others
ingredients:
1.7kg weyermann vienna
12gm galaxy (pellets, 11.0 aa%, 40 mins)
6gm galaxy (pellets, 11.0 aa%, 20 mins)
200mL WLPO009 - whitelabs australia ale yeast
100gm dextrose
0.5 tablet whirlfloc
process:
11L batch, single infusion, no sparge, mash in 64C for 60 mins, no-chill, 16C fermentation, 2C cold crash
OG: 1.040 (1.040 expected)
FG: 1.006 (1.009 expected)
%AbV: 4.5% (5.0% bottled)
australian standard drinks (1 x 370mL glass): 1.5
ibu: 46
brewing notes:
today i was feeling horribly sick and sadly couldn't do a bunch of things i'd have liked, so yep, beer time. i have a few beers lined up that i've wanted to make but i again wanted one that wasn't a huge big beer; reason being is that it is getting really hot in sydney and i'd rather have a nice light thirst-quenching beer than a big heavy one. this is that beer. the 2015's name comes from my new suburb's post code. my efficiency went up to 75% for this one too. very very happy. all my figures were hit and hit well.
07/10/13 - pitched the 2015 tonight. had a quick taste going into the fermenter and no harsh tastes or anything untoward. very excited to see how the yeast and the galaxy play together. i'm pitching this one at 16C which i've read keeps the banana flavours to a minimum and gives more of a bready-pear taste, which i think will compliment the passionfuit of the galaxy hop. i don't expect the vienna malt to do much but add a nice subtle malt background and let the yeast and hops shine in this beer. very excited to see how it turns out!
tasting notes:
03/11/13 - had my first taste this morning of this guy and while i will say it is probably still young, only 2 weeks in the bottle, it is shaping up to be a very nice tasting beer! no aroma on it, as i wanted to save the yeast and use it later, but a very faint hint of banana which i think plays well with the galaxy (passionfruity flavour). i can't wait for another try of this in a week!
04/11/13 - wanted to taste this again because i genuinely am interested to see what others think of this one and to try and get a better idea of it. it's a strange one to me. i'm not sure if i like it or not really. i keep tasting it and second guessing myself. if i had to choose i'd say i like it about 6/10 and don't like it about 4/10 (yes, i've been doing fractions with my year 3 class!!). either i'm just a hop-head who needs more bitterness in the final beer, but it seems like the yeast and maybe no-chill has eaten away at the galaxy hops too. had a few mates try it the other day and all said it was unique and not bad tasting, but it didn't sound as though they honestly thought it was a winner. i might take it to my brew nerd meeting and see what the consensus is there too.
10/11/13 - so, about 4ish weeks in the bottle now and i'm just not 100% on it. i just can't taste the 20 minute hop addition and i think the sugar may have given it something that just doesn't work taste-wise. for whatever reason, i'm just not getting any galaxy flavour anymore which is sad because it is definitely a gap in the beer's taste. the yeast certainly wasn't under-pitched like a lot of people have stated it has been in their usage of it straight out of the bottle. i'll look to use it again but probably only with a 60 minute pride of ringwood hop addition, and potentially a fuller malt bill which should give me something resembling a coopers pale ale. i honestly think this yeast has potential but it is very much the outstanding taste with this beer, and i don't think the simple base malt bill and addition of sugar helped balance out the flavour. perhaps it's just vienna also. the last beer i made (baxter pale ale) that was primarily using that malt was nice, but something was just not right for me. still going to give it some more time in the bottle (and now the fridge too) but i'm not completely confident it'll improve it's flavour.
11/11/13 - tasted one tonight that for some reason was better. perhaps it's the yeast that's throwing weird flavours in particular bottles. perhaps it's some bottles were slightly dirtier than others and weren't carbonating properly, or throwing off flavours. i might leave it another week and try some then and see how it tastes then. very strange! all in all, not my favourite beer, and one i'll definitely tweak if making again.
15/11/13 - well well well. it's finally come good. after a good month in the bottle the astringent flavours have mellowed and the galaxy hop flavour and coopers yeast flavour are now in a lovely synergy. very nice subtle hints of galaxy with the signature coopers bready yeast flavour. it's actually really nice. i'm going to try another over the weekend and see how it fares then too. hopefully it's not a once off. news for future...give this combination a lot of time to mellow and even out!
* formula from: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/alcohol/publishing.nsf/Content/standard
brew pics: