British Brewer

Recreating the perfect British Pint

26 April
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On Tap (April 26th)

This weekend has been one of the busiest in a long time. We hosted what started off as a quiet dinner party with a friend but turned into a big affair with lots of adults and kids over enjoying a warm spring evening around the fire pit drinking homebrew, wine and some Fullers Pride brought over by a good friend.  Saturday was another warm spring New England day taken up catching up on garden chores so no brewing time. Saturday evening was spent at the local boat club for a surprise 40th.  Lots of fun again (and Happy Birthday P).

Sunday I finally got to the brewing. I moved the IPA and my own Left Over Ale into bottles (with the help of my younger son who has taken a fascination to the capper) and then moved the Brakespears into the secondary (it is so good, took me back to the river and Henley).  This was followed by a massive amount of sanitizing and cleaning the used carboys, airlocks, brewing bucket and tubes. It took the whole afternoon so no time left to actually brew a new batch.  Well I can save the new stuff for next week. I have the Nut Brown ready to go and a Guinness Export clone from NB.

Its going to be another busy week so I will try and get the Malt part II post out and some tips I have queued up.  But first whats On Tap?

Primary

  • Nothing in the primary, some stout and a Nut Brown on deck though

Secondary

  • Brakespears Bitter clone (1 wk (p) 1 day (s) ) – Using the Brakespears yeast currently available from Wyeast.  FG came in on the money as did the colour. Brew already crystal clear and very drinkable. It is a very very good clone of the Henley classic.  Refreshing session brew.
  • Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 4 mths 3 wks (s)) – Now 3 weeks into the final 1/3rd of its 6 months rest.

Bottle/Keg Conditioning

  • Left Overs Old Ale (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 1 day (b) ) – So my left over recipe (sort of modeled after a Fullers Vintage) appears to be going fine. I don’t know if I can wait a year to try one of these. Came out of the secondary still with the rich full mouthfeel, strong caramel with a hint of marmalade.  It has a long rest ahead of it but I will sample a bottle in 4 weeks.
  • 115th Dream Imperial IPA ( 2 wks (p) 1 mth 2 wks (s), 1 day (b) ) – A rather extreme IPA, high in ABV and a whopping 120 IBUs with over a 1 lb of hops using a technique called Hop Bursting I covered a few weeks back. It came out of the primary a whopping 1015 FG, almost 83% attenuation from the mighty American Ale yeast and checking in at over 10% ABV. This is going to need some time to settle down, really hoppy with a small bitter aftertaste.
  • Petite Saison d’Ete (1 wk (p) 2 wk (s), 1 wk (b) ) – This is a first for me. Thought I would try a Belgium classic with this Saison from Northern Brewer. As reported last week I had to delay bottling due to very active yeast.  It was worth the wait as the SG came down quite a bit. The ale is also really clear and tasted great, nice and spicy from the Saison yeast. Week 2 of its 2 week rest.

Drinking

  • Old Speckled Hen clone ( 1 wk (p) 1 wk  (s), 1 mth (b) ) – Came out great, see the review here.  This is a REALLY popular drink in the house right now and I predict it will be gone within the week.
  • Olde Luddite English Strong Ale (1 wk(p) 3 wks (s), 1 mth, 1 wk (b) ) – A new Old Ale kit from Northern Brewer, thought I would add some Old Ale kits to my current Old’s and Browns series. This new ale from NB is a 5 star brew. Easily confused with a smooth session brew but don’t let it, it packs a massive ABV punch. Continues to age well. Will definitely lay some down for a while.
  • Theakston Old Peculier Clone (1 wk(p) 3 wks(s) 1 mth 2 wks (b)) – My first pass at this classic old ale, FG came out in range along with the colour, that is all we can ask. Came out a 10/10 (see review) and promoted to the permanent recipes page.
  • Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 5 mths 2 wks (b) ) – Looking forward to cracking the 6 month bottle open
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