So I had a very nice brew day today. Hit my temps, cleaned everything up nice, just an overall good brewing day.
I think the primary reason that my session was so successful is my new grain bag.
This being my 3rd attempt at a partial mash, I finally hit my target mash temperature, and held it for most of the 60 minute mash. Previously I had all of my grain in my small steeping bag, and it just sat in the middle of the brew pot. Today I bought a 5 gallon fine mesh paint strainer bag and it was so nice! It fit over the top of my brew pot, and I just poured the grain in, mixing it well before making sure my temperature was correct.
I feel this made a huge difference, where my previous attempts made it much harder to gage the correct temperature. The only snag I had was I forgot to add my extract! I've started to employ a late extract addition (last 15 minutes) and everything was going so well that I forgot to put it in! I placed the pot in the ice bath to cool it down, when I noticed the large plastic tub sitting on the table. Doh!
Oh well, I added the extract, boiled for a few more minutes and all was well.
Can't wait to try it!!
Recipe:
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4 lbs Pale LME
2 lbs 2-row
1/2 lb. Caramunich
1/2 lb. Belgian Carapils
1/2 lb.Crystal 20L
1 oz. Willamette hops (60 min boil)
1 oz. Willamette (30 min boil)
Add Extract (15 min boil)
1 oz. Willamette (15 min boil)
1 tsp. Irish Moss (15 min boil)
1/2 oz. Cascade (End of boil)
1 oz. Willamette (End of Boil)
2 oz. Cascade (Dry Hop)
1/2 oz. Willamette (Dry Hop)
WLP001 yeast, from a 1000ml starter
