British Brewer

Recreating the perfect British Pint

22 April
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Meat Beer

So I was reading my favorite Beer history blog, Zythophile, and I see this post on Meat Stout. I was intrigued and fascinated in the same way I am when examining the many dead, skinned “gifts” my cat leaves on the front stoop.  So I read on. Its a great post covering the history of “healthy” stouts containing meat. A meal in a pint, the true liquid lunch.

I know I like to brew classic British Ales but I am not sold on this. I have a feeling my very English Mother would jump at the chance. What is it about English Mum’s and their love of offal. My mum loved brains, liver, kidneys, tripe. Her face would light up at the thought. So the post links to a recipe for Offal Ale which I will dedicate to her.

Somewhere deep down I know I have to brew one of these, it has completely caught my imagination.  A heavy dark, may Old Pancreas or Liver Stout, Brains Best (actually there really is an ale called Brains, ewww, no it can’t be)

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21 April
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Malt: Part I – Base Malts vs Speciality Malts

English Marris Otter (2_Row Barley)

I have been working on getting my malt post together for what seems like an eternity. I have been finding blogging a difficult task with my work and family commitments.  I managed to get out of work at a reasonable hour this evening and decided I would work on getting my first Malt post out the door.

Over this series we are going to focus on the characteristics of malt, how it works, how to calculate the OG of the wort and then switch to looking at specialty malts and how they add flavour, colour, head, and improve mouthfeel.  But first I thought we should answer a very basic question.  What is the base malt, what is specialty malt and what is the difference between them?

First up what do they have in common – they are both barley.  Base malts impart colour, some flavour and supply the fermentable sugars.  Speciality malts provide little to none of the sugars but have a big impact to the colour and flavour.  First lets remind ourselves of the malting process first covered in my getting started post.  Malt is the product of soaking grains in water until they begin to germinate. The grains are then heated to halt the germination process.  This 2-stage “malting” process causes the grains to produce essential enzymes required to modify the grain starch into sugars and enable the yeast to do its job.

Base Malts
Base malts make up the bulk of the a batch and are typically derived from one of 2 types of barley, either 2-Row or 6-Row.  Base malts are created by drying the barley at a sufficiently low temperature to preserve enzymes (alpha and beta amylase) which convert starch into sugar (the same enzymes in saliva that make peanut butter and sour cream separate). It is these enzymes that are critical to the brewing process.  Without them the grain starch would not get converted to fermentable sugars. The sugars can be extracted from the barley’s own starches simply by soaking the grain in water at a controlled temperature in a process called mashing.

The most common form of base malt is Pale Malt, typically lite in colour and neutral malt flavour.  Another type of malt with high enzyme levels is Mild Malt, kilned at slightly higher temperatures to produce a nutty flavour. Other base malts include Vienna, Pilsener and Munich.

Specialty Malts
Specialty malts have no enzymes and therefor little to no diastatic power (ability to convert starch into sugars). These types of malt make up a smaller quantity of the grist but have a significant impact on the colour and flavour of an ale.  Most specialty malts are pale malts that have been kilned at higher temperatures and in doing so impart darker colours and roasted flavours.  The higher kilning temperatures do not preserve the enzymes. Typical specialty malts include Chocolate Malt, Black Malt and Brown Malt.

A special type of malt used a great deal in British Ales is Crystal malt.  Crystal malts are high-nitrogen malts which are soaked in water and roasted before kilning. They produce overly sweet toffee-like flavours and the sugars are sufficiently converted that they can be steeped without mashing to extract their flavor. Crystal malts are available in a range of colours, with darker-coloured malts kilned at higher temperatures, producing stronger, more caramel-like overtones. Some of the sugars in crystal malts caramelize during kilning and become unfermentable adding a sweetness to a beer.

So far the recipes we have covered have all been extract brews where the base malts are replaced with liquid or dried malt extracts.  The sugars have already been extracted and all we have to do is steep the specialty malts to extract flavour and colour.  But here is the twist and a major difference between extract and all-grain brewing.  With the exception of Crystal malts, which have no fermentable sugars remaining, other specialty malts such as the Chocolate, Brown and Dark malts may have no enzymes present BUT THEY ARE STILL LOADED WITH STARCHES.  So when an all-grain brewer adds his specialty grains to his grist there are enough enzymes present in the base malt to convert the specialty grains starches also.  I am very ready to retry some of my favorite recipes as all-grain to see the impact the mashing process has on the specialty grains.

There is a process called mini-mashing which adds a smaller, more manageable, amount of base malt to the specialty malt to convert the starches and then adding malt extract to the boil to get the OG gravity to where it needs to be.  In my humble opinion if I am going to go all-grain I am going all in.

Next up we will review how to use the diastatic level of the malt bill to predict the OG of the wort.

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19 April
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On Tap Update (April 19th)

Whaheyyyy, finally managed to get a couple of posts out this week even with a busy work schedule. Despite my lack of blogging the ales are working and the Speckled Hen clone is most definitely a winner, probably the best one to date.  It has been a busy week though, on the road again meaning more ales left in the cellar at the end of the week (unless the wife is sampling a few). There has to be some silver linings.

I caved and went on eBay and purchased a beat up floor model wine cellar for the summer. It will take well over a case of beers and keep the brews at 55ºF. I have decided to lay down some of the Old Ales and Imperial IPA’s over the summer and will need a constant temperature to avoid spoiling.  I am really excited to sample these beers this time next year to see how the Old’s really mature when given a chance (not something that happens much in this house, most ales are shown no mercy).

I managed to get some brewing done over the weekend, my first weekend brewing in April.  I got the Brakespears Bitter clone off and running using the Special Edition Wyeast Thames Valley II strain, allegedly taken from the now defunct Brakespear Henley Brewery.  Very excited to see how the brew comes out. Be good to have a session brew or 2 along side all the heavy Old’s and Browns I currently have in the cellar.  Next weekend I am planning to brew a small experiment batch of my Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale clone, the last in the Olds and Browns series.  I am also considering putting together another stout, especially given that Wyeast has a Limited Edition yeast hailing from the Guinness St. James Gate Brewery in Dublin, a opportunity that cannot go to waste.

So lots of excitement to come but whats On Tap today!

Primary

  • Brakespears Bitter clone (1 day (p)) – Using the Brakespears yeast currently available from Wyeast.  The observed OG was well within range.  Yeast cake is beginning to form.

Secondary

  • Left Overs Old Ale (1 wk (p), 2 wk (s) ) – 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. It tasted really delicious out of the primary, hints of marmalade, with a really smooth mouth feel. One of the reasons I brought the cellar was to lay a couple of these down for at least a year. Have decided to extend the rest for an additional week. No hurry and no need for the carboy.
  • 115th Dream Imperial IPA ( 2 wks (p) 1 mth 1 wk (s) ) – 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, now in the final week of its 6 week rest.
  • Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 4 mths 2 wk (s)) – Now 2 weeks into the final 1/3rd of its 6 months rest.

Bottle/Keg Conditioning

  • Petite Saison d’Ete (1 wk (p) 2 wk (s), 1 day (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. Will give this 2 weeks before trying a sample.

Drinking

  • Old Speckled Hen clone ( 1 wk (p) 1 wk  (s), 3 wks (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 (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. This ale will age well and I will be laying a couple down  in the cellar when it arrives.
  • Theakston Old Peculier Clone (1 wk(p) 3 wks(s) 1 mth 1 wk (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 1 wk (b) ) – Looking forward to cracking the 6 month bottle open
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18 April
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Recipe Update: Old Speckled Hen (10/10)

Old Speckled HenWe really are on a run here.  I have had numerous comments and emails on this blog and Hopville asking for feedback on my Old Speckled Hen clone.  Well I am happy to report we nailed it.  There is really nothing I would change.  It has become a very popular ale in my house and I really wish I had brewed the whole 5 gallons and not limited myself to a 2.5 gallon test batch.

First lets get a reminder of what we were shooting for, from the Almanac:

Nose: Superb Goldings hop aroma
Palate: Full hops and fruit in mouth, long dry finish with hops and delicate fruit notes
Comments: Rich coloured and fruit flavoured strong ale with generous hop support.

I did a side by side taste test with the wife and the malty flavours really come through all mixed up with the fruit and a tinge of bitterness. We drank the ales with a salty baguette with mustard and ham. The commercial version left a lingering aftertaste in the mouth which the clone did not and the mouthfeel of the clone was a little lighter than than the real-thing. My wife actually preferred the clone because there was no aftertaste. We used canned Speckled Hen Draught and I think the BeerGas insert in the can gave the brew a thicker mouthfeel than the bottled.  This clone would make a solid keg ale, especially with BeerGas. Next time 🙂

Here are the photo’s. We went into this exercise with SRM as a variable we did not have any definitive guidance outside of “Amber”.  As the photo’s demonstrate the colour appears to be a match, as is the brightness.

Old Speckled Hen (original canned version)

Speckled Hen Original (Canned Version)

Speckled Hen Clone

Speckled Hen Clone

The recipe we crafted was shooting for an OG of 1050 (mandated by the ales history) and a final ABV of 5.2%. The recipe was perfect and came in at 1050. The Wyeast Thames Valley was very active. The stated max attenuation was 77% which would have given us a final ABV of the 5.2% we were shooting for but the yeast was a little overactive and had an observed attenuation of 82% making a final ABV of 5.6%. It did not detract from the flavour in any way.

So this brew is being promoted to the recipes page along with the Theakston OP.  With my Left Over Ale coming out of the primary tasting good and the soon to be brewed Nut Brown Ale wrapping up the series I am confident we will have at least one more winner out of this group.

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17 April
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Recipe: Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale

Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale

Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale

So we reach our last brew in the Old and Browns series.  So far we have a Theakston Old Peculier (10/10), an  Old Speckled Hen, a Left Over Old Ale (my own take on the Old Ale style using left over ingredients) and finally we get to the Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale I have been promising.

I must admit to having a significant bias to Sam Smith’s, at the age of 18 I got a job there. The manager (a rather scary Mancuian) took a liking to me and began to teach me the art of cellaring and before you know it I was handling the oak barrels in the cellar, learning how to tap and spile, prep the beer lines, and take care of these hand crafted brews. It was the time I transitioned from drinking beer at parties to really beginning to appreciate real-ale as an art.

Samuel Smith’s brewery is a classic Yorkshire brewery located in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. Founded in 1758, it is also Yorkshires oldest.  The family owned brewery was not originally founded by the Smith’s. In 1847, Samuel Smith (a cattle dealer for Leeds) asked his son John to purchase a struggling Tadcaster brewery owned by the Hartley family.  John was joined by his brother William and John left his share of the firm in the custodianship of his other brother, Samuel.  William bought out Samuel’s half and moved the brewery next door where another classic Yorkshire ale, John Smiths Bitter, is still brewed to this day. The Smith family has quite the ale legacy.

In 1886 Samuel’s son Samuel Smith inherited the Old Brewery on Williams death and re-opened the brewery under his own name where it still runs as an independent brewery to this day. The firm is fiercely independent. They own over 200 pubs and refuse to carry any expensive branded drinks, they don’t play music to avoid paying the license fees and pass off the cost savings back to the customers by keeping the ales priced really cheap only increasing in price as the cost of raw materials and tax increases.

The brewery has other notable characteristics. It still uses a yeast strain that dates back t0 1900, it draws water from the same well the brewery was founded over in 1758, and still employs the Yorkshire Squares style of brewing. And for all you Vegans out there all Sam Smiths brews are vegan (with the exception of Old Brewery Bitter).

Now onto the beer.  Nut Brown Ale would have been traditionally called a “mild”. Not a reflection on its strength but because it was not sour as some of the aged strong ales became.  These sour ales were then blended with the newer mild’s in the local pubs to the taste of the custodian. It would be defined today as a “Northern English Brown Ale”, a topic we covered in the overview post on Brown Ales.  A Northern Brown is defined as:

Drier and more hop-oriented than the southern English brown ale, with a nutty character rather than caramel.

Research for this ale was tough. The Old Brewery folks are as tight with information as they are with their money.  I must admit to being a little concerned with replicating this ale. On the US importers website page on Nut Brown Ale it is claimed the nutty flavour is derived from the Yorkshire Squares technique. Something I will not be able to replicate.

The taste we are trying to replicate is described as follows (from the brewer):

Walnut-like color and palate of hazelnuts. Wonderful balance of roasted crystal malt and aromatic hops. Long clean finish.

I got some more stats from BeerAdvocate: 5.00 ABV, creamy mouthfeel with light carbonation.  So the rest we must derive from a process of deduction. We know all Sam Smith’s brews (with the exception of Oatmeal stout and the fruit beers) consist only of malt, water and hops with no adjuncts used. We also know the brewery uses the same strain of yeast in all its beers.

From comparing the recipe given for Old Brewery Pale Ale (OBPA) in an old version of Graham Wheelers “Brew Your Own British Real Ale” (the new version has no Sam Smiths recipes), the OBPA review in the Almanac, and both the Sam Smiths recipes in “Clone Brews” book, it is clear all make use of Fuggles as the flavour hop and East Kent Goldings for the bittering hop.

I also found a reference online to another Graham Wheeler book where he apparently has a recipe for Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale. I could not find a list of ingredients but I found the stats listed as 5% ABV, OG 1048, 35 IBU, 36 EBC (~19 SRM). The IBU’s seem a little high to me but I think we can figure the hop load out by referencing some classic Brown Ale recipes. Given the ale is a brown the hop load should be kept low to bring out the malt.

So in compiling this recipe I will follow the other Sam Smith recipes and go with East Kent for bittering and Fuggles for flavour. For yeast I am going to go with Whitbread dry, a popular strain for brewing Northern Brown styles. It has a high attentuation so will finish dry, a requirement for Northern Browns. For malt I will stick with crystal and chocolate malt, a staple in brown ales.  I shall use parameters set in the BJCP Northern English Brown style guide to help construct the recipe. So here goes.

(recipe can be found online @ hopville.com)

Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale (BJCP Beer Style: English Brown Ales, category: Northern English Brown)

  • 2.5 Gallon, 60 min boil
  • OG 1048, FG 1012
  • 4.8-5.0% ABV
  • 28 IBU (used the Rager formula)
  • 17° SRM (Light to Medium Brown)
  • Ready to drink in 2+ Months

Base Malt and Fermentables:

  • 2 lb 8 oz Light Dry Malt Extract (60 mins)

Specialty Grains:

  • 3 oz British Crystal 60L
  • 2 oz Chocolate Malt

Hops

  • Bittering Hops – 0.5 oz East Kent Golding (60 mins)
  • Flavour Hop – 0.25 Fuggles (15 mins)

Yeast

  • Wyeast British Ale (1098)

Other Additions

  • 1 tsp Irish Moss (15 mins)
  • 1/4 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 mins)

Process

  • Please follow the process guidelines outlined in my post here.  You will require all the equipment specified here.
  • Primary Fermentation: 7 days at 65-75°
  • Secondary Fermentation: 1-2 weeks in the same location as the primary
  • Prime and store in the bottle for at least 4 weeks before consuming
  • Peak flavour will be reached after 4 weeks in the bottle
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12 April
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On Tap Update (April 12th)

Another week and still nothing in the primary. I cannot remember a time since I started home brewing again that I have gone 2 weeks without brewing something new.  But with the Barleywine, IPA and Left Over Ale are all in a long secondary that just leaves the Saison, which was due to get bottled this weekend. But I go downstairs to find a secondary still active with the SG still dropping and a layer of yeast cake on top.  So my Brakespear Bitter clone will have to wait until next week.

In the meantime I will be getting a yeast starter going for some PacMan yeast I have in the fridge. It will go to a good cause, saving a stalled carbonation for a good friend.  This week will be another busy work week, I have some ideas for posts brewing (pardon the pun) and the Malt post series is still sitting incomplete in the Drafts section.  I should also be reviewing the Old Speckled Hen shortly, maybe even by next week.  So with a pending shortage of ale loomin, whats On Tap.

Primary

  • Nothing this week, all the carboys are still in good use.  The Brakespears Ale is still on deck and will definitely get brewed next week. Very excited to get a chance to brew this clone with the now closed breweries original yeast, as is my father. Its his favorite beer.

Secondary

  • Petite Saison d’Ete (1 wk (p) 1 wk (s) ) – This is a first for me. Thought I would try a Belgium classic with this Saison from Northern Brewer. So last week I reported the FG came out of the primary a little under what I was hoping and as reported above it would appear the secondary has re-invigorated the yeast and it is currently very active. Should be bottling this next week.
  • Left Overs Old Ale (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s) ) – 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. It tasted really delicious out of the primary, hints of marmalade, with a really smooth mouth feel. I am going to lay a couple of these down for at least a year. Now in week 2 of a 2 week rest.
  • 115th Dream Imperial IPA ( 2 wks (p) 1 mth (s) ) – 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, now on week 5 of its 6 week rest.
  • Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 4 mths 1 wk (s)) – Now a week into the final 1/3rd of its 6 months rest.

Bottle/Keg Conditioning

  • Old Speckled Hen clone ( 1 wk (p) 1 wk  (s), 2 wks (b) ) – I have had a lot of interest in the outcome of this clone. I can tell you the sample from the secondary was very good indeed. It was bright, crystal clear and the taste seemed close.  We won’t know for sure until the ale is conditioned. Week 3 of its 4 week rest but will probably try some next weekend.

Drinking

  • Olde Luddite English Strong Ale (1 wk(p) 3 wks (s), 3 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. This ale will age well and I will be laying a couple down.
  • Theakston Old Peculier Clone (1 wk(p) 3 wks(s) 1 mth (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.
  • Grateful Dead Guy Ale (1 wk (p), 2wks (s), 2 mths 1 wk, 3 days (b)) – Another special edition kit from Northern Brewer featuring the newly released PacMan Ale yeast strain from Wyeast/Rogue Breweries, this one is a Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone. I did a side by side taste test with an actual Rogue Dead Guy Ale, colour and flavour are so close its hard to tell which one was which. Taste tested by my good friend Mike Chase who ranks Rogue Dead guy as his favorite ale. He loved it. Down to my last bottle 🙁
  • Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 5 mths (b) ) – Looking forward to cracking the 5 month bottle open
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10 April
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Recipe Update – Theakston old Peculier (10/10)

With the sad passing of my DoA Shakespeare stout clone I decided to crack open an early sample of my Theakston Old Peculier clone, the first of the Old Ales series started back in the beginning of February. Well its been at least 2 months so it must be worth a try.  Old Peculier truly is a classic with its rich, almost porter like quality with heavy molasses and bitter sweet fruit.

What a way to begin a series. The English Pales series started late in 2009, got off to a slow start, finishing strong with a great Flowers Original clone and a Fullers London Pride to die for.  In the case of the Old Ales I seem to have struck gold early. I must admit to being a little worried about this brew. The recipe had a lot of ingredients, some of which I had never worked with before including black molasses and Lyles Golden Syrup. The speciality grains also packed a punch with Chocolate, Black, Crystal and Torrified Wheat all included.

The biggest concern was the use of Trappist Ale, a real leap for this recipe. We were looking for a high attenuating, high fruit yeast, a characteristic that is hard to find. With some inspiration from the Pretty Things Old Ale, inspired by Theakston Old Pecuilier amongst others, and their use of German and Belgian strains we were lead to the Belgian ale strains.  The Trappist Ale yeast worked, I am now convinced Old Peculier uses Belgian yeast as the final flavor characteristics in this clone are on the money with the original.

First the colour and head.  Head is thick, rich and a caramel colour similar to the original. Colour is as close a dark Old Ale can get.  It is almost indistinguishable from the original. The mouthfeel is that of a big Ale. Smooth at the front, hitting you hard at the back. Watch out cause this ale packs a punch.

So what about the taste, something a little difficult to demonstrate on a blog.  It is close, which is why I gave the brew a 9/10.  As a reminder the The Real Ale Almanac presents the following as the flavour profile we are trying to recreate:

Dark and vinous old ale bursting with complex fruit flavours. Massive winey bouquet of rich fruit with peppery hop notes.  Toffee and roast malt in the mouth, deep bitter-sweet finish with delicate hops

The taste definitely lives up to the billing. All of the above is in this clone, its hard to explain how complex this ale is. The hop load is lite considering the amount of malt and the final alcohol content but the peppery Fuggles come through perfectly.  The toffee and roasted malt hit the front of the palate but give way to heavy fruit at the end laced with the peppery hops. Quite delicious.

Despite my initial concerns around the ingredients the ale was easy to brew. The White Labs Trappist Ale yeast (#WLP500, Attenuation 75-80%, Flocculation: Medium-low) worked as advertised, the ale went into the primary with an OG of 1064, was in the secondary for 3 weeks and in the bottle for 4 weeks with the FG coming in at 1012 producing a whopping 7% ABV (the original 5.6% so a little upgrade here but not something I am complaining about).

This recipe is going to be posted on the permanent recipe page, the first of Old Ales to get there. 1-1 is not a bad start. In a week or so we will get to try the Speckled Hen, another popular brew. There are many eyes on the outcome of this batch and I hope it lives up to expectation. 🙂

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05 April
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On Tap (April 5th 2010)

So it has finally happened, I have gone a week without a post.  I can blame it all on work and significant time taken up by goings on at the kids school. So no free time until this weekend and what a weekend. Sunday the temps were 75ºF, so outside we all went cleaning patios, scrubbing the grill and having a cookout. A slow cooked 6 lb leg of pork on the grill (with a selection of fine ales to accompany to food of course).

I must also report a sad loss.  An ale that failed to accompany the delicious pig leg was the Rogue Shakespeare Stout clone. It was DOA. I attached the gas and stout came out the lid. So I guess it was not air tight and sure enough a quick taste test revealed a heavy oxidized ale. Very unhappy. I did however manage to get a few minutes to transfer the Saison (which I really could have drunk on the spot with a slice of lemon) and my Left Overs Old Ale which is surprisingly delicious, maybe I have stumbled up a unique recipe of my own. So what else is On Tap?

Primary

  • Nothing this week, all the carboys are in good use.  Have a Brakespears Ale on deck though. Very excited, as is my father. Its his favorite beer.

Secondary

  • Petite Saison d’Ete (1 wk (p) 1 day (s) ) – This is a first for me. Thought I would try a Belgium classic with this Saison from Northern Brewer. With all the Old Ales in progress with long conditioning times thought it was time for some variety plus something that would be ready to drink quickly or I risk running dry in a month or so. The FG came out of the primary a little under what I was hoping but tasted great. Only a week in the secondary then into the bottles for a couple of weeks.
  • Left Overs Old Ale (1 wk (p), 1 day(s) ) – So my left over recipe (sort of modeled after a Fullers Vintage) appears to be going fine. The second hand yeast performed well, with 75% attenuation and a FG of 1022 (9.0% ABV). Tasted really delicious, hints of marmalade, with a really smooth mouth feel. I am going to lay a couple of these down for at least a year. Now in week 1 of a 2 week rest.
  • 115th Dream Imperial IPA ( 2 wks (p) 3 week (s) ) – 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, now on week 4 of its 6 week rest.
  • Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 4 mths (s)) – 2/3rds of the way through the 6 months rest.

Bottle/Keg Conditioning

  • Old Speckled Hen clone ( 1 wk (p) 1 wk  (s), 1 wk (b) ) – I have had a lot of interest in the outcome of this clone. I can tell you the sample from the secondary was very good indeed. It was bright, crystal clear and the taste seemed close.  We won’t know for sure until the ale is conditioned. Week 2 of its 4 week rest
  • Olde Luddite English Strong Ale (1 wk(p) 3 wks (s), 2 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. Came out of the secondary a beautiful deep copper, crystal clear and tasting great. Now in its final weeks rest.
  • Theakston Old Peculier Clone (1 wk(p) 3 wks(s) 3 wk (b)) – My first pass at this classic old ale, FG came out in range along with the colour, that is all we can ask. Week 4 of a 6 week rest before a sample to check on performance. Might be tempted to lay some of this case down for a while

Drinking

  • Grateful Dead Guy Ale (1 wk (p), 2wks (s), 2 mths 3 days (b)) – Another special edition kit from Northern Brewer featuring the newly releasedPacMan Ale yeast strain from Wyeast/Rogue Breweries, this one is a Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone. I did a side by side taste test with an actual Rogue Dead Guy Ale, colour and flavour are so close its hard to tell which one was which. Taste tested by my good friend Mike Chase who ranks Rogue Dead guy as his favorite ale. He loved it. Good job NB.
  • Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 4 mths 3 wks (b) ) – Another week before I crack another bottle to test what 5 months tastes like
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29 March
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On Tap (Mar 29th 2010)… plus a small recipe I made up

Another week another paycheck. Brews are created and consumed and for some reason our Spring, which appeared to be approaching with a vengeance last week, has retreated to the shadows. We have had snow, rain and freezing temperatures all week.  I did have some fun with the brewing though.

Every so often I get a mix of left over ingredients from my various recipes and throw them together to just see what happens.  In this case I had a bunch of Crystal 80L left that has been sitting around for months from my Greene King clone, some flaked Maize from my Fullers Pride and ESB clones, and a little Black Malt.  I also had various amounts of US Goldings, Northdown, Fuggles and Challenger hops in open bags, all drying out and crying out to be used.  In the fridge I had some old Fullers ESB yeast I had captured from the London Pride clone and definitely getting near the end of its usable life.  So I made up a small yeast starter and poured in the captured yeast to see if it had any life left. Sure enough next morning the yeast was a raging. Luck would have it I also had some liquid malt extract and a couple 1 lb bags of Light DME left over from a couple of recent brews.

Off to Hopville I went, put in the ingredients and viola I have a recipe I chose to call my Left Overs Old Ale.  I chose the BJCP Old Ale style as we are doing Olds right now and it seemed the nearest fit in both strength and bitterness. Check it out on Hopville.  It was fun to brew and most importantly it was free! I did not have to purchase a single ingredient.

I also found time to bottle the Speckled Hen and kick off the NB Petite Saison d’Ete. So despite being a crazy cold wet week and a really busy work week I have managed to wind down this weekend with my favorite of all hobbies, my brews.  So whats On Tap?


Primary

  • Petite Saison d’Ete (1 day (p) ) – This is a first for me. Thought I would try a Belgium classic with this Saison from Northern Brewer. With all the Old Ales in progress with long conditioning times thought it was time for some variety plus something that would be ready to drink quickly or I risk running dry in a month or so.
  • Left Overs Old Ale (2 days(p) ) – See write-up above, it was fun to brew and even caused a blow-out in the fermenter. The OG came in at 1088, just under the required 1090 limit for an Old Ale.

Secondary

  • 115th Dream Imperial IPA ( 2 wks (p) 2 week (s) ) – 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, now on week 3 of its 6 week rest.
  • Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 3 mths 3 wks (s)) – well into the second half of its 6 months rest.

Bottle/Keg Conditioning

  • Old Speckled Hen clone ( 1 wk (p) 1 wk  (s), 2 days (b) ) – I have had a lot of interest in the outcome of this clone. I can tell you the sample from the secondary was very good indeed. It was bright, crystal clear and the taste seemed close.  We won’t know for sure until the ale is conditioned. I am giving this one 4 weeks in the bottle for sampling.
  • Olde Luddite English Strong Ale (1 wk(p) 3 wks (s), 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. Came out of the secondary a beautiful deep copper, crystal clear and tasting great. Now in week 2 of a 4 week rest.
  • Theakston Old Peculier Clone (1 wk(p) 3 wks(s) 2 wk (b)) – My first pass at this classic old ale, FG came out in range along with the colour, that is all we can ask. Week 3 of a 6 week rest before a sample to check on performance. Might be tempted to lay this case down for a while

Drinking

  • Twelfth Night Stout (2 wk (p), 2 wks (s), 4 wks (k) ) – A new extract clone recipe of Rogues Shakespeare Stout from Northern Brewer featuring the PacMan Ale yeast strain from Rogue. This one is an ass-kicking 70 IBU stout and is sitting in the keg for its 5th week.  Will be firing up with BeerGas this week and trying some out.
  • Grateful Dead Guy Ale (1 wk (p), 2wks (s), 7 wks 3 days (b)) – Another special edition kit from Northern Brewer featuring the newly released PacMan Ale yeast strain from Wyeast/Rogue Breweries, this one is a Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone. I did a side by side taste test with an actual Rogue Dead Guy Ale, colour and flavour are so close its hard to tell which one was which. Good job NB.
  • Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 4 mths 2 wks (b) ) – Letting them rest again to see what another month in the bottle will bring
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28 March
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Tips and Tricks: Buying Hops

HopsSo as everyone knows by now I like to brew beer, lots of it, and I like to keep my costs down. I did a post on reusing yeast and here is another tip for reducing costs even further.  Buy your hops in bulk on eBay.  Yep, eBay.  You can get 1lb vacuum bags of your favorite hop pellets or cones for VERY cheap prices.  I recently acquired a 1lb bag of Target pellets for a $1. That is a substantial discount to either $2.50/oz or $21 for a lb at most homebrew stores.  Shipping is comparable to other online homebrew stores but make sure to check.

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