Homebrew Review - Homegrown Hop 2013

I brewed this beer in mid-September with my new harvest of Bramling Cross hops.

Last year's incarnation was good, but unfortunately, the 2013 brew hasn't turned out quite so well, even allowing for the fact that I'm particularly hard on my beers.

Homegrown Hop 2013 

I was out of carahell malt when I came to brew, so substituted that with caragold this time around. It produced a paler beer, probably the colour I was looking for initially, but at the expense of some body. I definitely preferred the rounder flavour the German malt provided last year.

I also increased my estimate of the alpha. This was a good move as last year's beer was possibly a shade too bitter and this year's is nicely balanced. The disappointment comes with the flavour and aroma.

Hop aroma is earthy, spicy, but definitely muted. Not the assertive, fruitiness, I was expecting.

The flavour is not too bad and was better received by my local homebrew group than it was by me. To be fair, it is nicely balanced, has more fruit to it than you get on the nose, but overall the beer is a shade thin. I think reverting to last year's recipe with the carahell malt would help in this respect.

It's nicely clear and has a bright white head which dissipates about half way through. But although it looks the part, because of the lack of body and aroma, the beer is ultimately underwhelming.

Only I know what I was setting out to achieve, which is why I'm probably a harsher critic than most and I think the problem lies with my hop picking. Worried about them 'going over' I harvested a couple of weeks earlier this year and while the hops looked great, they probably lacked some of that 'paperiness' that you need to ensure the Lupulin is at its peak.

Having said all of that, the beer is perfectly palatable and I'll have no qualms about sharing this among friends. I've bottled the whole batch, rather than splitting half into a keg, as I get more requests for handouts of this brew, than any other.

I'll keep trying, though. I'll revert to the carahell malt and pick the hops a shade later and hopefully this time next year I'll be singing its praises.

Edit: If you're a hop geek, there's an article and some great pictures from this year's British hop harvest HERE

Brewday - RIP 06/12/2013

Friday is pencilled in for my next brewday. I've brewed this particular beer in some guise or another for a number of years. My father died unexpectedly a while back and I've tried to brew each year on the anniversary of his passing and that original beer I dubbed 'RIP'.

I'm not quite sure where you would pigeon-hole this brew. It's not really and ESB and I just tend to refer to it as my winter ale. The lower gravity version I did last year didn't really come up to scratch, so I'm bringing it back to a more respectable 1.055 gravity this year.

I've always found it very palatable. The British Challenger and EKG hops give the beer a moderate level of bitterness, with a late addition of Cascade delivering a hint of citrus.

And for this year, I've made a change to the grist, dividing the pale malt in half and substituting the other with mild ale malt. The other malts remain unchanged, the handful each of chocolate and roasted barley giving a nice touch of complexity to the finished beer.

I'm happier with my recent beers more than I have been in a long time and hopefully this will be another good one. A little later than usual this year, but dad, this one is for you...

RIP

Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)

Type: All Grain	Date: 12/06/13
Batch Size (fermenter): 45.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 52.43 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Elite 45L Brew
End of Boil Volume 48.88 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 45.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 73.1 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 5300.00 g Mild Malt (7.9 EBC) Grain 1 46.2 % 5300.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 2 46.2 % 500.00 g Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC) Grain 3 4.4 % 230.00 g Wheat, Flaked (3.2 EBC) Grain 4 2.0 % 75.00 g Chocolate Malt (1000.0 EBC) Grain 5 0.7 % 55.00 g Roasted Barley (1199.7 EBC) Grain 6 0.5 % 20.00 g Challenger [7.10 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 7 8.4 IBUs 20.00 g East Kent Goldings (EKG) [6.45 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 8 7.7 IBUs 22.00 g Challenger [7.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 8.4 IBUs 22.00 g Goldings, East Kent [6.45 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 10 6.5 IBUs 1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 11 - 40.00 g Cascade [7.50 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 12 4.4 IBUs 30.00 g Cascade [7.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 13 0.5 IBUs 3.0 pkg Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand ) Yeast 14 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.055 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.6 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 36.0 IBUs	Calories:
Est Color: 26.5 EBC

Homebrew Review - Galaxy

Firstly a big thanks to Scott, who kindly supplied the hops and the recipe for this one, all the way from Oz. Brewed at the beginning of October, the recipe for this one is here.

I split the batch into two and bottled half and stuck the other half in a keg. Gravity was 1.046, slightly under what was expected, but the beer is certainly no worse for it.

It pours a lovely golden colour, with decent carbonation producing a bright white head which laces the glass nicely. It's a cracking looking beer, but it sadly lacks the hop aroma I was expecting. It wasn't dry hopped, but I anticipated more from the good whack of late hops.

Galaxy

Initially, I was underwhelmed with the taste, but in fairness I was drinking the beer quite cold. Having raised the serving temperature a tad, the beer came to life. Even so, it's still a delicate number, no massive hit of peach, passion fruit or mango. More a gentle caress, with sweet herbal notes added in.

The more I drink it, the more I like it. I think my initial problem was that I was expecting something truly hoppy. With the bulk of the hops added from 10 minutes onwards, I guess that was never going to be the case.

As such, the beer makes much more sense as a summer drinker, but for now it gives me a nice low-gravity option over the Porter and IPA that were also recently brewed.

Ultimately it's a good beer, but I also liked the promise of the similar beer I brewed where the Galaxy hop was combined with Nelson Sauvin, although that brew wasn't without it's issues either. I reckon there's a really good beer somewhere between the two, which offers plenty of promise for a summer beer next year.

EDIT: A day after writing this review (of the kegged beer) I sampled one of the bottles. The beer was fresher and more vibrant, for sure. Although still a delicate number, the Galaxy aroma is definitely present in the bottled version and it drinks a nicer beer. I think the co2 in the keg might be responsible for masking a bit of the aroma. 25/11

Hop Growing

I'll get to review the beer featuring my homegrown Bramling Cross hops shortly, but the early news is that it's not quite the beer I wanted.

However, earlier this week I managed to secure an hour or two up the allotment to tidy up the hop vines and frames. After harvesting, I cut the vines at the base and let them die back. I removed the withered growth from the canes this week, so the frame is now empty as winter approaches.

I also took the opportunity to plant another variety. Regular readers might remember that in addition to the Bramling Cross, I also had some Target in the past. The Target failed to establish as well as the BX, so I dug them out at this time last year, with a view to replacing them.

It was some job trying to remove all trace of the roots, and to ensure there was no mix up with varieties in the future, I left the bed empty for a year. I must have made a good job of it as no growth appeared, so the bed is now ready for its new occupant.

WGV

These are Whitbread Golding Variety (WGV). I planted two rhizomes in a container last year, just to get them going prior to planting out at the allotment. Having retrieved them from the container, they have come on a bundle from their original size, so I'm hopeful of a good start from them next year. 

I tend to use WGV in a Best Bitter, a recipe I've probably returned to more times than any other, usually pairing it with Progress and a late addition of Styrian Goldings. 

Brewday - Best Bitter 06/11/2013

No time to waffle. I've wasted too much time over the last couple of weeks dealing with computer problems and emotional crap from the family. I'm certainly in no mood to write chapter and verse.

Suffice to say that anything expensive around the home that might breakdown, has done exactly that over the last fourteen days. If it carries on, I might be next.

Today I'm washing my hands of being a father, a husband and and employee. Today, the real world can feck off. I'm brewing.

Best

Special/Best/Premium Bitter

Type: All Grain	Date: 06/11/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 45.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 52.43 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Elite 45l Brew
End of Boil Volume 48.88 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 45.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 73.1 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 8200.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 94.8 % 450.00 g Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (157.6 EBC) Grain 2 5.2 % 30.00 g Progress [6.78 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 12.2 IBUs 20.00 g Whitbread Golding Variety (WGV) [6.78 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 8.1 IBUs 15.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 5.8 IBUs 1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 6 - 15.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 7 0.5 IBUs 2.0 pkg British Ale Yeast (Mangrove Jack's #M07) Yeast 8 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.042 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.1 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 26.6 IBUs
Est Color: 15.0 EBC

Brewday - Galaxy 03/10/2013

I hadn't originally planned to be brewing today, but pressure of work means it will be at least another two weeks before I'd get a further opportunity. I can't afford to wait that long as my homebrew stocks are relatively low in terms of what's available to drink.

I usually brew a winter ale at this stage of the season, but as my last two brews, the Porter and the HG Pale Ale, will need a bit of time to mature, I'm in dire need of a small beer that I can get ready quickly to bridge the gap. Looking at the ingredients I have available, I've decided to do another beer using the Galaxy hops my friend in Australia was kind enough to send.

This will effectively be his recipe. A single hop beer, with the majority of the hops added late in the boil. Although it leans more towards being a summer beer, I think a golden, 'easy-drinker' to sit alongside the robust porter and the stronger pale ale sounds exactly what I need at the moment.  The winter ale will have to wait until next time.

To ensure I have sufficient hops to replicate the Australian recipe, I've reduced my batch size for this brew and while the grist isn't exactly as per the original script, I've used what I've got to hand.

Galaxy

Pale Ale

Type: All Grain	Date: 03/10/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 45.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 53.13 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Elite 45L Brew
End of Boil Volume 48.88 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 45.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 76.2 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 7500.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 78.9 % 1400.00 g Caramalt (Thomas Fawcett) (29.6 EBC) Grain 2 14.7 % 330.00 g Maize, Flaked (Thomas Fawcett) (3.9 EBC) Grain 3 3.5 % 270.00 g Wheat, Flaked (3.2 EBC) Grain 4 2.8 % 20.00 g Galaxy [11.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 5 13.9 IBUs 1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 6 - 20.00 g Galaxy [11.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 4.6 IBUs 20.00 g Galaxy [11.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 2.5 IBUs 40.00 g Galaxy [11.00 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs 2.0 pkg US West Coast Yeast (Mangrove Jack's #M44) Yeast 10 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.048 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 21.1 IBUs
Est Color: 12.2 EBC

Looking forward to this one...

Homebrew Review - Longbow Ale

Brewed at the end of June, the recipe for this beer is here.

This was the beer I put together for my local homebrew group, where we all set out to brew what we like, but using a base of common ingredients. We had the choice of any English hops, but I chose to rely solely on 'Target', simply because it's often overlooked by homebrewers.

If you believe the marketing blurb, it's meant to be a harsh hop, best blended with others. I don't always believe what I read and thought this was an ideal opportunity to see what they bring to the table. A beer with Target all the way through, with hop additions at 60mins, 20mins, 1min, plus a few more thrown in for good measure as dry hops.

The beer pours a lovely deep amber/copper colour and is perfectly clear, with a tight head. Aroma is slightly herbal and vegetal. Not unpleasant, but not necessarily inviting, either.

Malt initially dominates the taste with hints of caramel and biscuit, but that is soon enveloped by the hops, which are a bit of a surprise. Yes they are assertive and maybe not for everyone, but there's a nice floral presence and even a faint hint of citrus and sherbet. Not in a big American way, but it's there.

A bitter finish then develops, but it's not harsh. I drank this bottle in the garden, basking in late September sunshine and it tasted as good as anything I'd brewed in a while. Yes, they need to be used carefully, but if this beer is anything to go by, Target are not the vicious, vindictive, bully of hops they are often portrayed to be.

The mouthfeel is soft and so very different to that earlier beer in which I used US05. The choice of WLP051 was a good one - the final gravity was 1.014 so there was plenty of residual sweetness in the beer, something that worked particularly well to help balance the assertive choice of hop.

So it maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I believe this is a good beer and I'd have no hesitation in brewing it again, maybe adjusting the malts a little, just to add a bit more backbone to the malt base.

Homebrew Review - Galaxy

It's been a while since I reviewed one of my brews and the recipe for this one didn't get posted on the blog. It was brewed at the time I was having Internet problems, hence the omission.

Bottle Conditioned 

I set out to make a low-gravity, hoppy pale ale. The grist consisted of 90% Marris Otter, plus about 5% each of Carahell and Carared, for no other reason than to use up some leftover malt from previous brews.

As for the hops, a friend of mine in Australia was kind enough to send me some Galaxy hops. He also sent me a recipe for a single-hop beer, which will be my next brew. For this one, I used the Galaxy in combination with Nelson Sauvin, with equal additions at 60mins, 20mins, 7mins and at switch-off.

Gravity was 1.042 with Beersmith predicting IBU's at 30. As is my usual M.O. I bottled half the batch and the other went into keg. The keg is long gone.

It pours nice and clear, with a bright white head which soon disipates to a small ring, but does continue to lace the glass. Aroma is what you might expect. Galaxy is known for a 'fruit salad' aroma and that's exactly what's here; pineapple, mango and the like.

Initial taste is similar to the aroma, but the beer soon dries the palate, leaving quite a harsh bitterness. It was always a bitter beer, even from the keg, but as the beer was brewed towards the end of May, this bottle is now past it's best, the beer having dried out significantly (something I've found previously when using US05 yeast).

But overall, it's a promising beer. Very clean, and if overlooking the current dryness, it's a lovely summer quencher. Enough promsie to brew again, although I'd change the yeast and probably rein back the hops a little, to prevent the bitterness from totally dominating this small beer.

Brewday - HGH Pale Ale 12/09/2013

It's time for the annual ritual that is brewing a beer with my homegrown hops. Last year's beer turned out especially good, so I'm planning to do something very similar this time around.

The recipe is essentially the same, although as I'm all out of Carahell malt, I'm going to replace this with Caragold in the same quantity. The Caragold is a lighter malt, but that's probably no bad thing as when I reviewed last year's beer, I did remark that the Carahell had made the beer a shade darker than I had originally anticipated.

I've also altered the hopping slightly. Beersmith predicted IBU's of 42 on last year's schedule and the beer came across significantly more bitter than that estimate. Of course, I had to guess the acid content of the hops and used a conservative 4.5% for the alpha content.

This year I'm assuming 5% alpha and have reduced the hop additions very slightly at various stages, so the recipe now looks like this;

HGH Pale Ale 2013

English IPA

Type: All Grain	Date: 12/09/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 50.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 61.39 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 75 min	Equipment: Elite Brewery
End of Boil Volume 55.12 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 50.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 77.4 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 11000.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 90.2 % 1200.00 g Caragold (9.0 EBC) Grain 2 9.8 % 80.00 g Homegrown Bramling X [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 19.4 IBUs 80.00 g Homegrown Bramling X [5.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 4 11.7 IBUs 1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 5 - 80.00 g Homegrown Bramling X [5.00 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 6 5.2 IBUs 80.00 g Homegrown Bramling X [5.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 7 0.8 IBUs 4.0 pkg US West Coast Yeast (Mangrove Jack's #M44) Yeast 8 - 150.00 g Homegrown Bramling X [5.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.056 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.6 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 37.2 IBUs
Est Color: 10.1 EBC

That's nearly 500g of hops in a ten gallon batch and as the yield from my hop plants was 900g (dried), there'll be plenty left for another brew.

Brewday for this one is penciled in for Thursday.

Hop Harvest - 2013

I spent the last couple of evenings harvesting my Bramling Cross hops

The yield wasn't as good as last year, but I think I've got a better grade of hop, as I've picked them about a week earlier this time. Last year I left loads on the vine as they had opened too far and had a bit too much brown about them for my liking. This year's lot are about right - the cones are just about opening, with a hint of 'paperiness' about them, but still nicely green.

We got these two bags on Wednesday and I went up again on Thursday to get what was left, which was about half as much again.

The hops are now spread upon net curtains which adorn various parts my loft, 'hammock' style. It's so hot and stuffy up there, the cones dried in about two days last year.

Once done, I'll vacuum pack them and stick them in the freezer - then on to brew.

Brewday - Export Porter 22/08/2013

It sees like an age since I posted about brewing an East India Porter, but the brewday has finally arrived.

Dark beers have been growing on me over the years, but although there are many nice examples of porters, there's still loads I don't get on with. For this reason I've decided to use Mild Ale Malt as the base for mine. I'm hoping this sweeter malt might help take the edge off the acrid bite that the dark malts contribute.

I've altered the hop schedule a little from that original post too. Although the historical records suggest the porter exported to India was stuffed full of hops, in a similar manner to that of IPA, I wasn't too comfortable with the number of bittering units the Beersmith software was predicting.

Also, my beers tend to come across a tad more bitter than the software sometimes predicts, so I've cut back a bit. Even with the reduction in hops, the bittering units are predicted at 70, which I would still consider pretty high for a porter with an anticipated OG of 1.064

As the brewery's not been used for a while I've spent the day giving it a good clean, a thorough rinse and attached new hoses and connectors. Oh, and I'll be using new stainless fermenters too.

My water here in the South West of the UK is ideal for dark beers, so there's not much to do in terms of water treatment. I'm really looking forward to this one;

Export Porter

Type: All Grain	Date: 22/08/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 50.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 61.39 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 75 min	Equipment: Elite Brewery
End of Boil Volume 55.12 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 50.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 77.4 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 10500.00 g Mild Malt (7.9 EBC) Grain 1 71.7 % 2800.00 g Brown Malt (150.0 EBC) Grain 2 19.1 % 750.00 g Amber (Crisp) (54.2 EBC) Grain 3 5.1 % 600.00 g Black (Crisp) (1339.6 EBC) Grain 4 4.1 % 200.00 g Goldings, East Kent [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 50.1 IBUs 100.00 g Goldings, East Kent [5.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 6 15.2 IBUs 35.00 g Goldings, East Kent [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 4.3 IBUs 1 Item Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 8 - 4.0 pkg Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) [23.66 ml] Yeast 9 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.064 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.2 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 69.6 IBUs	Calories:
Est Color: 72.8 EBC

Homegrown Hops

The anticipation has started.

My hops have reached the end of the frame and there's the tiniest hint of flowers starting to form. It seems an age since the plants started to poke their way through the earth earlier this year, but now there's just a month or so to go.

These are my 'Bramling Cross'. The second hop frame is currently empty as I dug out the 'Target' and wanted to ensure there was no growth, before I plant up a replacement next year.

The Bramling Cross don't look quite as good as last season, in terms of appearance - the plants don't look quite so lush and vigorous, but that may have something to do with the incredibly dry weather we've endured of late. 30deg may not be much compared to other parts of the world, but for the UK it's damned hot.

It will take a while for the cones to form properly, but with the harvest due in late August / early Sepetember, the waiting is almost over.

Bring it on...

East India Porter

There are a few things to get out of the way before I'm brewing next. Like a shedload of work, a quick vacation with the wife and kids, plus the Great British Beer Festival. But, I already know what I'm brewing as soon as the opportunity arises. An East India Porter.

Inspired by The Perfect Pint I'm going to have a crack at Will's recipe which was based on the Porter that Barclay Perkins produced for the Indian market. The original details can be found on Ron's blog and, I must admit, before reading this I didn't know that we exported as much, if not more, Porter to India than we did Pale Ale.

For someone whose preference is usually for a beer that's light and hoppy, the requirement of 19% Brown Malt is a wee bit scary.

The recipe, adjusted for my kit will be;

East India Porter 1859

Robust Porter

Type: All Grain	Date: TBA
Batch Size (fermenter): 50.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 61.39 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 75 min	Equipment: Elite Brewery
End of Boil Volume 55.12 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 50.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 77.4 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 10500.00 g Mild Malt (7.9 EBC) Grain 1 71.7 % 2800.00 g Brown Malt (150.0 EBC) Grain 2 19.1 % 750.00 g Amber (Crisp) (54.2 EBC) Grain 3 5.1 % 600.00 g Black (Crisp) (1339.6 EBC) Grain 4 4.1 % 230.00 g Goldings, East Kent [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 57.6 IBUs 115.00 g Goldings, East Kent [5.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 6 17.4 IBUs 40.00 g Goldings, East Kent [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 5.0 IBUs 3.13 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 8 - Yeast - TBA Yeast 9 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.064 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.2 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 80.0 IBUs
Est Color: 72.8 EBC

Yankee Doodle

What a week for our friends in the States.

I believe that Monday was the first time since Prohibition that all states in America can legally homebrew. And Independence Day follows on Thursday.

A day later, I shall be heading to London in pursuit of American craft beer.

The venue: The White Horse on Parsons Green.

The event: American Beer Festival 2013 - "The Big Weekend for Small Beer"

The beers: Beer List

EDIT:

If there's anything on the beer list that American readers feels shouldn't be missed, please comment before Friday.

Brewday - Longbow Ale 28/06/2013

With no free time through July or August, I've been busy brewing these past few weeks and Friday will see another brew on the go.

My local homebrew club has a regular schedule of beer styles to brew, but, from time to time, we have one where the style is left open, but only specific ingredients can be used.

So we all get to brew what we like, but only using a set of ‘common ingredients' which were pulled out of a hat, at an earlier meeting. A minimum of 5% on the malts, plus the yeast of your choice.

We don't need this beer until the September meeting, but, with so little time to brew in the coming weeks, I thought I'd crack on.

This time, in addition to Pale Malt, the grist has to include; Crystal, Munich and Caramalt. As for the hops, rather than being specific, we took a broad view; 'American', English' 'Aussie/NZ' etc. And the chosen hop for this brew was English!

Often these 'common ingredient' beers provide a chance to use hops and malts you may not usually be familiar with. Clearly that wasn't going to be the case with the hops this time around, although it does give me an opportunity to try something out.

For a while, now, I've been tempted to make a single hop beer with 'Target'. A robust English hop that seems to be largely ignored among homebrewers. Often referred to as a harsh bittering hop, I have a feeling it tends to get a bit of bad press.

Is it justified? I'm not entirely sure. I've used it in several beers before, but never as a standalone. While I agree it might be an unusual choice for a single hop beer, don't shoot me down unless you've tried it yourself.

Are there any commercial examples out there? Brakspear's 'Triple' is a nice drop of ale and their website lists Target as the sole hop. If that's the case, it can be done.

I also thought that, with the malts we're required to use for this brew, the malty base will need a fairly robust hop to help balance the beer. As I'm brewing it well ahead of the meeting, if the hops are quite harsh, then it will also have time to mellow.

So, I shoved all the ingredients into Beersmith and came up with 'Longbow';

common ingredients 2 (Longbow)

Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)

Type: All Grain	Date: 28/06/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 50.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 61.39 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 75 min	Equipment: Elite Brewery
End of Boil Volume 55.12 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 50.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 77.4 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 8000.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 70.2 % 2000.00 g Munich Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain 2 17.5 % 800.00 g Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC) Grain 3 7.0 % 600.00 g Cara (Crisp) (34.5 EBC) Grain 4 5.3 % 30.00 g Target [11.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 16.5 IBUs 50.00 g Target [11.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 6 16.7 IBUs 20.00 g Target [11.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 7 0.5 IBUs 2.0 pkg California Ale V (White Labs #WLP051) [35.49 ml] Yeast 8 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.3 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 33.6 IBUs	Calories:
Est Color: 19.5 EBC

The IBU's look a little light at first glance, but that doesn't worry me too much. Most of the hops are going in fairly late in the boil and I'm pretty sure the software over compensates.

I'll be mashing in on Friday morning and I'll report back on whether it hits the mark, later in the year.

Back In Business

It's been too long. Nearly four months since I last posted? Unbelievable.

The loss of internet access was the problem in April and that issue wasn't resolved for over a month. Then, out of the habit of posting, lethargy set in.

To be fair, if I'd produced a stunning beer in the meantime, I probably would have been back sooner, but in all fairness, my beers of late have been mediocre. But, I believe I'm turning a corner in that respect and the latest brews  haven't been too bad at all.

My overloaded work schedule through spring and summer doesn't help matters, but this week is a rare quiet one, so I thought I'd return to continue what I'd started.

Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to put up some of the recent recipes and reviews. Today, I have my latest beer to rack and on Friday, I'm hoping to brew again.

Thanks for hanging in there.

Homebrew Review - Porter

Several of my friends were surprised when they found out I was brewing a porter. As a relatively new convert to proper beer, my preference had always been for the pale ales over the dark ones and if that's what I enjoy drinking, that's what I tended to brew.

But, over the last year or so, I've not had such an aversion to the dark malts. I've enjoyed the odd commercial porter here and there, not to mention a friend's Imperial Russian Stout which I've really taken a liking too. So, the time was definitely right for me to have a crack at a porter and this was brewed last November.

This wasn't a strong, historical, porter mind, but more like the Fuller's version. The original recipe is here and the original gravity came in at 1.048

Porter

So what was it like? Not bad. I've enjoyed drinking it and it was well received at my local homebrewing group and some of them know a thing or two about brewing dark beers.

With an inviting scent of coffee and chocolate, the aroma was good, the colour was maybe slightly lighter than expected, but the off-white head laced the glass and didn't dissipate until half-way through.

The dark malts didn't produce the intense acrid taste I tend to dislike, but formed a light mellow flavour, which made for an easy-drinking pint. In all honesty, it was probably a bit lightweight for the style, but as my first porter attempt I was happy enough. Next time, I might increase the brown malt go for something a bit more intense.

Once I've finished this post, I'm off to crush malt for another brew tomorrow.

Brewday - R.I.P. 28/02/2013

It seems like an age since I last brewed.

I can't believe that February almost passed by without a brewday, so on Thursday I'll be braving the cold and having another crack at R.I.P., a beer I brewed last October.

The main reason for revisiting this recipe is that I didn't mash the dark grains last time, I simply added them to the mash tun prior to sparging. I'd heard on some American podcast that this was a better way to extract the sugar from darker malts, without getting any acrid roastiness. The process was likened to a coffee pot, where the first cup of fresh coffee is better than one from a pot which has stood on the heat for an hour.

I had no trouble extracting the sugars, but the process meant the dark malts didn't add much in the way of colour. So, the upshot is that I want to brew this again to compare the beers side by side. Exactly the same recipe, but the chocolate and roasted barley will be added at the start of the mash this time.

Original recipe here.

Homebrew Review - Homegrown IPA

Due to adverse weather, that Deuchers I was planning to brew this week will have to wait. Half a foot of snow and a frozen water supply have closed off that little avenue of pleasure.

As I've got behind with some of the tastings, perhaps it's a good time to review some of last year's brews. I'll kick off with the IPA I threw together with my homegrown Bramling Cross hops.

I have to confess, that despite not knowing the alpha content of the hops, this beer has turned out remarkably well.

As usual, I bottled half the batch and kegged the other. The picture is from the keg.

The 10% of Carahell I added to the Pale Malt made the beer a tad darker than I originally envisaged, but on the plus side, it does help to provide a decent malt backbone against the hops.

That's not to say this is a malty beer, far from it. But the balance is good, with the hops dominating as they rightly should. And the Bramling Cross are superb. My concerns that amateur drying techniques and storage would ruin them, failed to materialise. Perhaps it's because I used them relatively quickly after drying. But, surprisingly, I don't get the 'blackcurrant' that is often attributed to this variety. I'm getting fruity, spicy hop notes with a decent edge of bitterness, plus a hint of lemon.

Head retention is good and it laced the glass to the end. To be quite honest, I'm not sure I could have crafted a better beer, had I known the acid contents of the hop. If I'm being fussy (which I usually am) I'd prefer the colour to be slightly paler, but changing the malt would change the beer and I wouldn't want that. It's not completely clear, either, but that may be down to a hop haze.

Frankly, this is a lovely beer and I'd brew it again, just as it is. Granted a decent hop harvest in 2013, that's exactly what I'll be doing come September. It's a belter.

Brewday - Deuchars 18/01/2013

Having sorted through the hops in the freezer and having looked at what I’ve got sitting in kegs and bottles, I’ve decided my next brew is going to be something akin to a Deuchars IPA.

After a porter and a few strong beers, a light, easy-drinking, yet hoppy beer seems the perfect call.

British drinkers will no doubt be familiar with a pint of Deuchars, having won plenty of awards including the Champion Beer Of Britain. It’s also a favourite of Rebus, the fictional detective created by Ian Rankin.

Pale, fruity, with a citrusy nose and very sessionable at 3.8% abv

From the gravity, it’s not an IPA in the traditional sense, but a decent enough pale ale when it’s on song. 

My recipe is not intended to be a clone. Using grist made up simply of Pale Malt and a touch of wheat, I’m upping the gravity to about 1.046, but using what I believe is a similar combination of hops (although substituting Fuggles for Progress, as it’s what I have in stock).

Providing outside temperatures don't drop too low, I've pencilled in Friday as the brewday.

Deuchars 10G

Special/Best/Premium Bitter

Type: All Grain	Date: 18/01/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 50.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 61.39 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 75 min	Equipment: Elite Brewery
End of Boil Volume 55.12 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 50.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 77.4 %
Fermentation: My Aging Profile	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 9500.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 95.0 % 500.00 g Wheat Malt, Bel (3.9 EBC) Grain 2 5.0 % 28.00 g Aurora [4.90 %] - Boil 75.0 min Hop 3 6.8 IBUs 18.00 g Progress [6.00 %] - Boil 75.0 min Hop 4 5.4 IBUs 145.00 g Celeia [2.60 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 9.8 IBUs 50.00 g Williamette [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 7.1 IBUs 0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 - 2.0 pkg Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast 8 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.046 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 29.1 IBUs
Est Color: 8.4 EBC

Old London Boozers

With homebrew stocks still quite high, even after the Christmas festivities, it might yet be a week of two before I fire up the brewery for the first brew of 2013. I also need to do a proper stock-take of all the hops I've got sitting in the freezer, so I can plan ahead.

Anyhow, before all of this, I took some time out to visit a few old pubs and thought it might be good to do a quick post of those I visited.

The journey centered around the City of London, the financial heartland of the capital. The first port of call was the Counting House.

Counting House

Formerly occupied as a bank, the Grade II Listed building has been considerately converted with the main banking hall now a modern bar. The conversion won the City Heritage Award for being one of the finest examples of building refurbishment in the City.

Owned by Fuller's, all the usual suspects were available, plus their Black Cab Sout and Jack Frost. The beers were in good shape and the stout was my first beer of the morning.

A large glass dome formed part of the ceiling. We returned here for more beer and pies later in the day.

The Jamaica Wine House

Our next watering hole was The Jamaica Wine House, which is also known as the Jampot.

The history of this pub dates back to 1652. I understand that shares were traded here long before the stock market was set up. It's also understood to have been the market place for slave transactions too.

Once again, the beers were good, allowing for the fact it's now owned by Shephed Neame. I've had many a bottle of Spitfire in the past, but never on draught, so that was my beer of choice on this visit.

Of all the pubs we visited during the day, this one felt the most 'comfortable'. Whether it was the size, the partitioning, or the fact that it was just very old, it made for a good drink.

From here we moved on to one of the smallest pubs in the City. The Swan Tavern. And what you see is what you get. The inside shot of the narrow bar is all there is.

The Swan Tavern

Lamb Tavern

Visually, the Lamb Tavern which followed was very impressive. Shame the beer wasn't equally as good. Tired and lifeless - with the majority of these pubs catering for the City trade, they tend to close at weekends and I'm wondering whether on the Tuesday, we were drinking last Friday's beer?

A few doors along was the next pub on our list, The New Moon. The beer here was better. I downed a nice pint of Old Speckled Hen.

The last hostelry before departing homeward was a Weatherspoons, the Crosse Keys.

A Massive building, with huge marble pillars, this was also a former bank. Built in 1912 for the Hong Kong & Shangai Bank it was apparently named after a nearby Inn which was lost in the Great Fire of London.

Crosse Keys

As a 'spoons pub, the beer was cheap and I opted for a pint of Salopian Oracle. Full of American hops, perhaps a tad bitter for my palate, but a nice enough pint to end the day with.

So there you have it. Six old London pubs with a bit of history. I'm off now to do that stock-take of the freezer to see what hops need using up. All this talk of beer has got the brewing juices flowing again.

Happy New Year to you all.