US/UK Pale Ale brewday with pics

[Clibit]

I did an impulsive brew yesterday, completely unplanned, had one packet of dried yeast in the fridge and decided to make a simple ale with some hops I've not used before. Have some brews planned but didn't have the yeast basically. Was going to do 4 single hop boils, ended up combining into two ales, one with US hops, the other UK.

23L Target gravity 1048-1050
Mash 66*C 60 mins
4200g Dingemans Pale Malt
340g Caramalt 30 EBC
1tsp Gypsum

Boil USA 14L 60 mins 41 IBUs
60 mins Summit 5g Apollo 3g Sterling 3g
15 mins Apollo 10g
10 mins Summit 7g
5 mins Sterling 5g
0 mins Apollo 14g Summit 14g Sterling 10g
Dry hop - will either use all 3 or just sterling, any votes?

Boil UK 9L 60 mins 43IBUs
60 mins 10g Northdown
20 mins 5g Northdown 5g First Gold
10 mins 5g Northdown 5g First Gold
0 mins 10g First Gold
Dry hop, which should I use? Or should I use Bobek, which I love?

NBS Ale 2 Yeast and Protofloc

Some generic photos that say very little but were actually taken yesterday...

HLT!



Mash! Stayed at 66C for the whole hour...



Recirc...



Sparge...



Boil. A mad idea that will never be repeated...



Sorted!

[Stapsin]

Gonna be using Apollo in my next brew I think too. Never used them before so looking forward to it.

[Clibit]

I boiled the three US hops separately to make single hop brews but then realised my two demijohns weren't as clean as I thought and needed a good cleaning, and didn't have time or the inclination, so i just combined all three in my 15L FV. Wanted to test all three on their own. I think they will combine well though, certainly smells great. The Sterling may get lost i guess, so may dry hop with just that.

[Clibit]

This has proved a useful comparison. Like many homebrewers, I have been (understandably) fascinated by the American Hop Dream, and it seems I have wrongly neglected the British hops. Specifically in the more hop focused beers. These two beers have both come out really well, very tasty, both nice hop combos. The caramalt, recommended by Seymour in place of Munich, is great too - I will be stocking up on it! Maybe my faourite way yet of adding some sweetness and body. It's not too much.

What I am most chuffed about though is that I prefer the British hop version - it's absolutely lovely. Really more-ish. I will be making regular ales based on this with different combinations of English hops. And this is not a million miles from the old Boddington's, I think. Certainly reminded me of happy days in my 70s/80s youth! I could drink this all day.

The NBS Ale 2 yeast is good - perhaps in the WLP002 zone for flavour - but not as flocculent. I'm struggling to keep sediment out of the glass. Will cold crash next time and be more patient.

[seymour]

This has proved a useful comparison. Like many homebrewers, I have been (understandably) fascinated by the American Hop Dream, and it seems I have wrongly neglected the British hops. Specifically in the more hop focused beers. These two beers have both come out really well, very tasty, both nice hop combos. The caramalt, recommended by Seymour in place of Munich, is great too - I will be stocking up on it! Maybe my faourite way yet of adding some sweetness and body. It's not too much.

What I am most chuffed about though is that I prefer the British hop version - it's absolutely lovely. Really more-ish. I will be making regular ales based on this with different combinations of English hops. And this is not a million miles from the old Boddington's, I think. Certainly reminded me of happy days in my 70s/80s youth! I could drink this all day.

So glad to hear it, mate! Hey, sometime try a Challenger/Progress combo: stir it all together ahead of time and use this blend for each hop addition. It'll come out amazing, I guarantee.

[Clibit]

stir it all together ahead of time

Explain?! What' difference does that make?


The reason I did this brew is cos I had these two hops, but was dithering about using them, and then had a lovely pint which used just Pilgrim hops. So I realised I needed to do a straight English ale. I will be ordering some Pilgrim soon, and I will also try the Challenger/Progress mix, thanks for the recommendation.

[oakwell]

i wondered about that and thought maybe no more than equal amounts of each hop, by weight, for bittering and flavour additions and timings left to brewer's recipe and discretion

[seymour]

stir it all together ahead of time

Explain?! What' difference does that make?

It's the result of a successful experiment I did awhile back. If you take two hops, both of which you really enjoy at all stages: bittering, flavour, aroma. What if you just mix 'em up and treat them like a single hop variety and use your normal weights. Those two go particularly well together in my opinion.

i wondered about that and thought maybe no more than equal amounts of each hop, by weight, for bittering and flavour additions and timings left to brewer's recipe and discretion

Exactly. No need to overthink it and enter both multiple times into a calculator or anything...

[Clibit]

But what AA% do you use?! How do you calculate IBUs? Or is this a case of brewing 'gung-ho' style?

[seymour]

But what AA% do you use?! How do you calculate IBUs? Or is this a case of brewing 'gung-ho' style?

Gung-ho, baby! Don't fool yourself into thinking AA and utilization percentages are an exact science to begin with.

Without expensive lab analysis of an exact beer sample at an exact moment in time, all IBUs are theoretical and highly variable. I'm friends with lab techs at the Schlafly brewery nearby. They routinely analyze store-bought bottles of competitors' IPAs for fun, and the real IBUs are always only a fraction of what is advertised. They've seen bottles labelled 100+ that only test at 18! There are just so many variables: freshness of hops, freshness of the final beer, condition of the hops at harvest, how the hops were mechanically treated and transported, the length and heat of the boil, the timing of the additions, geometry of the boil kettle, geometry of the opening, gravity and pH of the wort, amount of agitation, storage temperature, amount of UV exposure, etc, etc, etc.

If you absolutely must for peace-of-mind, simply average the two hops' AA%s together, then plug that one imaginary hop into your calculator with corresponding combined weights and durations.

But trust me: any amount of Challenger and Progress hops at any stage will make primordial English ale. So, Luke: disable your heads-up display, reach out, and use the force…

[Deebee]

DAMN YOU SEYMOUURRR

Now i have to go get some bloody progress.

i love challenger. all time favourite hope, nice smooth spicy.

Would take challenge over cascade any day ( he he) that porter arrived yet?

[seymour]

DAMN YOU SEYMOUURRR

Now i have to go get some bloody progress.

i love challenger. all time favourite hope, nice smooth spicy.

Would take challenge over cascade any day

Yeah. I like Cascade, my homegrown especially (has some grassy and peppery with the grapefruit, for some reason). But Challenger is awesome too, and more versatile. It doesn't immediately scream "look at me, look at me, I'm an American craft beer, love me, love me" the way Cascade does every time.

I've said it before, but I think Challenger and Progress are a simple way to take classic English recipes to the next level. Challenger strikes me as a super-Goldings and Progress strikes me as a super-Fuggles. Your mileage may vary...

...that porter arrived yet?

not yet, I can't wait! Thanks again in advance.

[Clibit]

But what AA% do you use?! How do you calculate IBUs? Or is this a case of brewing 'gung-ho' style?

Gung-ho, baby! Don't fool yourself into thinking AA and utilization percentages are an exact science to begin with.

Without expensive lab analysis of an exact beer sample at an exact moment in time, all IBUs are theoretical and highly variable. I'm friends with lab techs at the Schlafly brewery nearby. They routinely analyze store-bought bottles of competitors' IPAs for fun, and the real IBUs are always only a fraction of what is advertised. They've seen bottles labelled 100+ that only test at 18! There are just so many variables: freshness of hops, freshness of the final beer, condition of the hops at harvest, how the hops were mechanically treated and transported, the length and heat of the boil, the timing of the additions, geometry of the boil kettle, geometry of the opening, gravity and pH of the wort, amount of agitation, storage temperature, amount of UV exposure, etc, etc, etc.

If you absolutely must for peace-of-mind, simply average the two hops' AA%s together, then plug that one imaginary hop into your calculator with corresponding combined weights and durations.

But trust me: any amount of Challenger and Progress hops at any stage will make primordial English ale. So, Luke: disable your heads-up display, reach out, and use the force…

Thanks, I like what you're saying. I have realised that managing IBUs is impossible. And I like the gung ho notion, the idea of freedom and creativity. But I get very bitter beers if I overdo the high alpha hops, especially as I don't chill quickly. And low alpha hops provide little bitterness. So there has to be some thought given, but most English hops seem to be between 5 and 10% ish. So I guess there's not much to calculate, just lob a typical amount of hops in at various stages...

[Deebee]

Nothing to thank for. i guess it either is justtaking its time... or it has been drunk ( i mean stopped) by customs, or it was not packaged properly and has leaked all over the place:9

[Sunter0100]

A Progress / Challenger combination sounds very good. Does anyone have a tried and tested recipe?