RIPA into Kegs

Brew

Hops

Hop variety60min10minWP 80CDH5Total
Citra203050100
Superdelic100100200
Total2030150100300
Citra 100gm and Superdelic 200gm.

Grain

  • 5.5kg American Ale
  • 0.7kg Munich
  • 0.55kg Red Back
  • 0.45kg Shepherds Delight
  • 0.05kg Eclipse Wheat

Yeast

Lallemand BRY-97 West Coast Ale 2 pkts

Water Treatment

1 teaspoon Cal Sulphate and 1/2 teaspoon Cal Chloride to mash water, 4 drops Lactic Acid 88% to sparge water

Boil Additions

1/2 whirlfloc tablet and 1/2 teaspoon yeast nutrient at 15 min to go in boil

Brew

  • Mash in at 67°C with 17.5L, rest for 60 min at 67°C.
  • Mash out: 75C for 10 min
  • Sparge with 15L at 75°C
  • Preboil size 32.5L
  • Boil time 60mins
  • Top up volume 2L
  • Postboil size 25.5L
  • Fermenter volume 23L

Fermentation

19C and 3-4 psi for 5 days until dry hopped. Days 6 to 8 temperature to 22C. Day 6 ramped up pressure maxed out at 16.7psi @ 22C. Day 8-14 temperature ramped down to 4C, final pressure 8.3psi giving 2.15 vol CO2.

Fermenter Additions

N/A

Carbonation

Transferred to kegs, filling 5L, with balance to 19L keg. Carbonation is excellent.

Bottled

20240516

Final Volume

19.6L

Notes

First attempt at both CO2 capture and kegging. I sanitized and purged kegs during first few days of active fermentation then used closed transfer system to empty sanitiser. This left kegs oxygen free and sanitised ready to receive beer. I left pressure at 3-4 psi for 5 days and dry hopped at day 5 using the hop bomb on top of fermzilla. By this stage fermentation had slowed right down and when I screwed spunding valve tight shut, pressure only went to 16.7 psi at 22C. I increased temperature from an initial 19C for 5 days to 22C for 3 days to clean up any sugars. From day 8 to 14 I decreased temperature to 4C where pressure settled at 8.3 psi. This equated to 2.1 volumes CO2 and once kegged, produces a nice head and mouthfeel. The main issue with this brew was the very large whirlpool addition meant transfer from kettle to fermenter was problematic. I think I left at least 2 litres in kettle as hop cake was blocking everything. Hence only 19.6 litres in keg. Need to look at a hop spider/bag or use cryo hops to reduce volume. Brew came out at 6% abv and has very good hop flavours. Another minor issue is ensuring the fittings for gas and liquid lines are firmly attached. I thought my nukatap mini wasn’t working until I realised I hadn’t pushed it on fully.