British Brewer

Recreating the perfect British Pint

01 March
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On Tap (Feb 28th 2010)

Been more in the groove this week, head not spinning so fast and managed to get some posts done.  Getting used to the commute, the work and occassional travel and the wife drinking my ales without me home. I am happy about this fact I think. It was fun to brew this weekend, tried “hop-bursting” for the first time using over 1 lb of hops in a brew (12 oz in the last 15 mins). I also found some time to research another classic Old Ale, Old Speckled Hen, so its off with this weeks On Tap Update.

Primary

  • 115th Dream Imperial IPA ( 2 days (p) ) –  A rather extreme IPA, high in ABV and a whopping 120 IBUs with over a 1 lb of hops.  Thought I would try out hop-bursting.  I love the comment on the NB site “If you serve this beer to a Michelob Ultra drinker, he or she will cry. If life were a 1950s horror flick, this I2PA would climb out of the fermenter and turn on its master. Your dentist does not want you to brew or drink this beer. Sorry in advance about your tooth enamel“. OG came in perfect and the yeast is raging, was worried about a blow-out with this one.

Secondary

  • Olde Luddite English Strong Ale (1 wk(p) 1 day (s) ) – A new Old Ale kit from Northern Brewer, thought I would add some Old Ale kits to my current Old’s and Browns series.  The FG came in at a whopping 1017, almost 6% over its max attenuation, the Fullers yeast was very active.  The sample was already very clear and I could have drunk the whole thing.  This is going to be a very smooth, Old Ale. First week of its 3 week rest.
  • Theakston Old Peculier Clone (1 wk(p) 1 wk, 2 days (s) ) – My first pass at this classic old ale, FG came out in range along with the colour, that is all we can ask. Now for 1 more week in the secondary

Bottle/Keg Conditioning

  • Twelfth Night Stout (2 wk (p), 2 wks (s), 2 day (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 destined as is sitting in the keg. Will give this one 2-3 weeks to settle down before tapping
  • Fullers London Pride clone (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 2 wk, 3 days (b) ) – came out crystal clear from the primary with the FG exactly on target. Looking forward to seeing how this brew finishes off.  Week 3 of its 4 week conditioning period.
  • Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 3 mths (s)) – exactly half way through its 6 month rest.

Drinking

  • Spitfire Premium Ale clone (1 wk (p), 2wks (s), 3 wks, 3 days (b)) – my 2nd pass at Spitfire Ale, the Shepherd Neame classic from Kent UK.  Completely cleared but with a lot of sediment in the bottle.  We started drinking these this week and its good, as good as the first time I brewed it, rich amber colour, butterscotch notes, really yummy.
  • Grateful Dead Guy Ale (1wk (p), 2wks (s), 3 wks 3 days (b)) – a new 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.
  • Flowers Original Ale clone (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 5 wks (b)) – my first brew of 2010 and first attempt at the classic Flowers recipe. See review from earlier, its a winner and has been promoted to the recipe page.
  • Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 3 mnth 2 wks (b) ) – Continues to mature with age, been holding back on these to see how they pan out.
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