Brewday - 09/08/2020 - Lockdown Lager

The session hazy beer I brewed last month turned out rather well.  I'll post a review of the beer and the recipe soon. 

Today I'm brewing a lager. I'm a bit late to the party with summer on the wane, but hopefully September will be nice and I'll still be craving a pint of something cold, wet and refreshing.

As is the norm for me it's going to be a small beer, so I guess if it had to be shoehorned into a category, it'll be a light American Lager. The mash is already underway at 63c

So the recipe for this brew looks like this;

92% Pilsen malt 
4% Carahell
4% Aromatic malt

Mash for 55 mins @ 63c / 20 mins @ 67c 

80 minute boil with 10g Centennial for 60 minutes

Yeast will be Saflager W-34/70

I'm thinking of pitching @ 15c for a couple of days to ensure the yeast takes off then reducing to 12c for 2 weeks and then lagering as low as I can get for a further 2 weeks. 

I'll update on how things went in due course. Have a great brewday if you're brewing this weekend. 

Brewday - 24/06/2020 - Play it again Sam...

... just slightly different.

So the next brew is very similar to the last. In fact, the grist will be identical and I'm swapping hops from the original European hops to a combination of American and New World. Simcoe and Galaxy to be exact. 

So the recipe for this brew looks like this;

3350g Maris Otter
300g Cara-Pils
180g Dark Crystal

Mash for 75 mins @ 67c

Hops during a 75 minute boil;

Galaxy 15g @ 50 mins

Galaxy 15g @ 7 mins
Simcoe 15g @ 7 mins

Galaxy 5g @ 2 mins

Simcoe 20g @ 2 mins

The hops have a higher alpha than the last brew so the quantities/timings are reduced but the intention is to hit  an OG of around 1.036 with around 30 units of bitterness again.

Yeast this time will be Lallemand BRY-97

Brewday is pencilled in for Wednesday June 24th. As usual I'll update this post on the day to report if things went to plan. 

EDIT: The day was hot, but drama free. It tool a while to cool the wort, but got it to 20.5c before pitching and put it in the temperature controlled fermenting fridge, where it dropped a bit more and when the yeast krausen started to form it was sitting nicely at 18c.

Brewday - Ordinary Ale - 03/05/2020

Nothing in this world is ordinary at the moment. My next brew, however, is an ordinary ale.

To be honest I wouldn't usually brew so frequently these days, but it passes the time nicely during lockdown. And as the last brew is going to sit a while before being consumed, I thought I'd jump straight back in and brew a low-gravity, easy-drinker, that I'll be able to get on tap real quick.

The recipe is based on a brew I first enjoyed after moving to my current town of residence. The missus and I had been on a 7 mile hike through the countryside on the outskirts of town and the weather was glorious. Conveniently the walk started and ended at a pub and after exerting myself in the afternoon warmth, I was in need of a pint of something nice and refreshing.

Being new to the area, I didn't know at the time that the beer I had chosen to enjoy was brewed locally, a few miles down the road. The beer was Archers Village - 3.6%

Many years have passed since that first taste and sadly the brewery is no more. Come to think of it, neither is that pub we ended up at. Sadly, that's closed too.

A recipe for this beer appears in one of the newer editions of Graham Wheeler's book 'Brew Your Own British Real Ale'. Described by the author as 'a dry, well-balanced beer with a full body for its gravity. Malty and fruity on the nose, then a fresh, hoppy favour with balancing malt and a hoppy, fruity finish'.

The recipe in the book calls for just pale and crystal malt, but in my version I've also included some Cara-Pils to boost the body and help with head retention. I'm also using a slightly different combination of bittering hops (Wheeler suggests Progress and WGV) but I'm using what I have in stock which is Progress and Aurora.

The full breakdown of the malt and hops I'm using is shown below. The brew is pencilled in for Sunday May 3rd when I'll update this post with how the brewday panned out.

3350g Maris Otter
300g Cara-Pils
180g Dark Crystal

Mash for 75 mins @ 67c

Hops during a 75 minute boil;

Progress 26g @ 60 mins

Aurora 16g @ 60 mins
Styrian Goldings 20g @10 mins
Styrian Goldings 20g @ 2 mins

OG should be 1.036 with around 30 units of bitterness. 

Yeast will be whatever I have available, which is likely to be dried Muntons Premium Gold.

As for the old Archers brewery, I happen to have one of their promotional bar runners from back in the day, with some quite scary looking west-country folk on. Cheers!

EDIT:

The day went fine, although I overshot the gravity despite the volumes being spot-on. SG is 1.040 instead of 1.036, so not quite the beer I was aiming for, but I decided not to liquor back and just go with it.

During the boil I did notice a dark twig-like object caught on the immersion chiller at one point. It looked darker than a bine, but thought no more about it until I had transferred the beer into the fermenter and then went back to deal with the clean-up. There, sitting on top of the trub was this fella. The same thing, but not a piece of hop bine. A caterpillar. Jeez.

On the plus side he was intact and hadn't ruptured. His insides only came out when I squeezed him after retrieval. Not sure how I feel about this brew now, but I doubt any damage has been done. Here's hoping and at least the wort is crystal clear above the cold break. 

Homebrew review - Brexit Beer

This beer was brewed at the end of January this year; brewday post here.

I bottled half the brew and put the other half in a 9L keg. First impressions are inviting. It looks good - pours clear with a nice amount of carbonation (this was a bottled conditioned example).

The head didn't dissipate too quickly and continued to lace the glass all through to the end. But looks aren't everything.

The hops are slightly underwhelming - I was expecting more from the late addition of Citra and being a beer I've done many times before, this was slightly lacking in hop flavour compared to earlier versions. Maybe the hops for this particular harvest weren't as pungent as previously.

Also, despite this bottle being okay, other bottles I've sampled have a definite phenolic character. It isn't present in the kegged version, so I'm guessing there may have been some cleaning residue on some of the bottles.

And although the keg beer doesn't have the pehnolic characteristics of some of the bottles, there is a hint of oxidation, so that beer is far from being perfect too.

Overall not a bad brew, but nowhere as clean as I would like. I'll have to review the bottle cleaning process and also the keg transfer, as that's the most likely cause of the oxidisation I guess. Hopefully the next brew will be better in that respect.

Brewday - Brave New World - 14/04/2020

Whoever and wherever you are, I hope you remain healthy and are surviving the virus that continues to devastate the planet.

This brew is the one I mentioned in my previous post, something along the lines of the old Brakspear Triple. For those unfamiliar with the original brew, this is not to be confused with a Belgian Tripel, but a strong traditional English ale.

The 20l Braumeister I now use will struggle to cope with the grain bill required for a starting gravity of around 1.063 / 1.064 unless I reduce the final volume, but I've decided to go for it, with 10% of the grain bill being Golden Syrup to help me achieve the gravity required. So the grist for this one (23l) is;

4800g Maris Otter
500g Dark Crystal
400g Malted Oats
150g Black Malt
650g Golden Syrup

Mash for 90 mins @ 68c for a target SG of 1.064

Hops during a 90 minute boil;

Target 22g (14%) @ 80 mins
Target 15g (14%) @ 20 mins

Target 30g (14%) @ 10 mins
Target 35g (14%) @ 1 min

Yeast will be Mangrove Jacks, New World Strong Ale Yeast

The yeast also gave me the inspiration for naming this brew. In view of what's going on around us at the moment, reference to 'New World', reminded me of the song 'Brave New World' from Jeff Wayne's musical interpretation of the War Of The Worlds. Ironically that story ends when a virus becomes the downfall of the alien invaders.

Hopefully I'll still be around to taste this brew once it's done. I'll probably age it in the keg for a bit, but I'll review it on here as soon as it's ready.

Take care all.

EDIT: The brewday was shifted to Tuesday as I took a chunk out of my finger in the garden the week before and wanted time for it to heal a bit, before dealing with lots of heat and cleaning. The wort was an incredible colour.

The day went smoothly and I adjusted the hop schedule from my original plan to lower the IBUs a bit and the revised details are shown in the main post above.

I drew off some boiling wort into a pan, to dissolve the golden syrup on the stove and thus avoid having sticky goo burning on the elements.



The starting gravity was bang on as predicted and the yeast is making good headway when I checked the fermenter this morning. My hydrometer reads slightly strong (2 pts) so although this looks like 1.066 it's actually 1.064.

Porter

As the years pass I'm mellowing in many ways. For longevity someone once said 'Sit loosely in the saddle of life'. Despite never being the most relaxed of people, age has tought me to slow down, not to sweat the small stuff and to drink dark beer.

That last bit might not be entirely true, but I am enjoying the odd darker brew from time to time and with that in mind I decided to brew a Porter toward the end of last year. It's my most recent brew and I have to say it turned out rather well.

To be fair the recipe's not entirely mine - I took it from an old home-brew publication by Marc Ollossen. The edition I have was printed in 1997 and is an ex-library book which cost pence to purchase, although I believe the book may still be about having been republished at some stage. I've only done a small handful of recipes from the book, but I can't remember a bad one so Marc has done his job well.

There's several Porter recipes within its pages and I narrowed the choice down largely based on ingredients I already had in stock. It's based on a commercial recipe but as far as I'm aware the brewery quoted (Marston Moor) is no longer around, unless it was swallowed up by one of the bigger boys.

The grist I came up with for a 23l batch was made up of;

4000g Maris Otter
155 g CaraPils
380g Roasted Barley
120g Dark Crystal
120g Wheat Malt

For an OG of 1.046

Hops were;

Challenger 43g @ 60mins
Savinjski Goldings 20g @ 15mins
plus
Savinjski Goldings 10g steeped at 80c during chillling.

The yeast I used for this one was Muntons Premium Gold. Not the most popular of dried yeasts among the brewers I know, but I find it works very well for beers with a malty profile;  https://www.muntons.com/home_brewing/muntons-premium-yeast/

These days I'm brewing with a 20L Braumeister and the brewday for this one was a bit of a mare. The mash schedule I intended was;

80mins @ 68c
5mins @ 78c

but I suffered a power outage - having left the German piece of kit to do it's thing unattended - this was the first time I hadn't sat like a nursemaid by its side while mashing (I'd nipped back to bed for an extra half-hours kip and a subsequent shower) - I returned to find the power dead due to a faulty extension lead.

I had no idea how long the power had been out, (I can't recall now what the temperature was when I returned to the mash either) so I decided to start the process over, so the upshot was a very long mash.

This may have contributed to a slightly thinner than anticipated body, but at the end of the day it didn't really detract from what was a damn fine pint. The recipe's a keeper.

It's been a while

Five and a half years to be precise. I've not brewed much in the intervening time and I've sold my old 10 gallon brewery pictured on the right.

But all is not lost. The hiatus is over and I'm finally brewing once more. Maybe only 3 or 4 times a year, but I'm enjoying it again and I'll bring you up to speed with details of the new set-up very soon.

I rediscovered this old blog and found it a useful resource to remind me what went well and what didn't. I also find it therapeutic to write (even if no else reads it but me) so here we go again...

Oh and apologies for any images missing on the old posts - there's nothing I can do to recover these.

Brewday - Cream Ale 05/06/2014

It's been a while. A change of work regime has impacted more than expected, but I'm still here and I'm still brewing.

A Cream Ale is on the agenda this week. The local homebrew club has a 'lager' night coming up, but I didn't fancy brewing a lager and thought a Cream Ale might fit the bill just as well.

The weather forecast looks shite, so I'm guessing I'll be in the garage, rather than pulling the brewery out onto the drive and sitting in the sunshine, but hey, ho, I'm looking forward to a day off and what better way to spend it?

I'm not sure if this is an authentic recipe for this American style beer, but I found a couple of recipes on the internet and tweaked them to fit what I had ingredient wise. Either way it should be a pale, lightly-hopped beer, that will be nicely carbonated and served chilled. One that's likely to go down well, should the summer ever threaten to make an appearance.

Cream Ale

Cream Ale

Type: All Grain	Date: 05 Jun 2014
Batch Size (fermenter): 50.00 l	Brewer: Mark
Boil Size: 59.08 l	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 75 min	Equipment: Elite Brewery 10G
End of Boil Volume 54.08 l	Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 50.00 l	Est Mash Efficiency 72.8 %
Fermentation: Lager, Single Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50):
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 8000.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 73.1 % 1260.00 g Munich Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain 2 11.5 % 1000.00 g Maize, Flaked (Thomas Fawcett) (3.9 EBC) Grain 3 9.1 % 450.00 g Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) Grain 4 4.1 % 240.00 g Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (5.9 EBC) Grain 5 2.2 % 30.00 g Cluster [7.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 11.0 IBUs 20.00 g Cascade [7.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 6.0 IBUs 10.00 g Cascade [7.50 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 8 1.1 IBUs 10.00 g Cluster [7.00 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 9 1.0 IBUs 15.00 g Cascade [7.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 10 0.3 IBUs 15.00 g Cluster [7.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 11 0.2 IBUs 4.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 12 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.048 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.9 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 19.5 IBUs	Calories: 427.1 kcal/l
Est Color: 10.3 EBC

Brewday - Blind Tiger 16/01/2014

Having spent much of the Christmas and New Year period drinking my HGH Pale Ale (5.5%), Porter (5.7%) and the recently brewed RIP (5.8%), I'm in the mood for something lighter and more refreshing.

I do have some of my Best Bitter left (a review of that one and the RIP to follow soon), but for now, I fancy brewing a low gravity beer, with plenty of flavour.

I've decided on American hops, with a simple grist made up from Mild Malt and Carahell. Although the starting gravity will be very low, I'm hoping the body from the sweet malts, combined with the citrus punch from the hops, will give the impression of a beer punching above its weight.

The recipe currently looks like this and I've pencilled in the brewday for a week today (providing my bad back allows).

Coincidentlaly, home brewing on Jan 16th will be quite fitting, for I believe it was on that date back in 1920 that Prohibition came into effect in the US. And with a 'Blind Pig' being a term for a low class drinking establishment that illegally sold alcohol, what better name for my first beer of 2014?

EDIT:
The answer to that question is 'Blind Tiger'. I've decided to change the name of this brew, so as not to confuse it with the beer brewed by Russian River BC in the US. Thanks Mark.

Blind Tiger

Standard/Ordinary Bitter

Type: All Grain	Date: 16 Jan 2014
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 7500.00 g Mild Malt (7.9 EBC) Grain 1 90.4 % 800.00 g Carahell Malt (25.0 EBC) Grain 2 9.6 % 20.00 g Simcoe [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 18.9 IBUs 20.00 g Cascade [7.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 4 5.6 IBUs 1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 5 - 20.00 g Willamette [6.30 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 6 2.1 IBUs 2.0 pkg US West Coast Yeast (Mangrove Jack's #M44) Yeast 7 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.039 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 3.9 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 26.6 IBUs
Est Color: 11.3 EBC

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

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...

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Brewday - Best Bitter 11/12/2012

Weather permitting, I'm planning to brew tomorrow. After some dark beers and a couple of big ones, it's time to brew something a bit more sessionable. My plan is for a standard English bitter.

I'm having another crack at my best bitter recipe as the last few attempts were not the best, as they came at a time when some form of infection was ailing my brews. As I've appear to have turned a corner on that front, I reckon it's worth another go.

A variation of this beer, was one of the first recipes I put together after leaving kit brewing behind, so it's kind of special to me. A very simple grist of 95% Pale and 5% Crystal malts, with a combination of Progress and WGV hops for bittering, plus a late addition of Celeia.

Although temperatures are likely to be below freezing when mashing in, I'll take steps to try and ensure the outside water supply isn't completely frozen, for what will be my last brew of 2012.

Best (Celeia)

Special/Best/Premium Bitter

Type: All Grain	Date: 11/12/2012
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 8700.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 95.0 % 460.00 g Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (236.4 EBC) Grain 2 5.0 % 30.00 g Progress [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 12.1 IBUs 30.00 g Whitbread Golding Variety (WGV) [6.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 11.0 IBUs 30.00 g Celeia [4.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 3.2 IBUs 0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 6 - 2.0 pkg Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-)  Yeast 7 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.042 SG	Measured Original Gravity:
Est Final Gravity: 1.009 SG	Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.3 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 26.4 IBUs
Est Color: 16.9 EBC