Very late getting this posted up and there aren't many pictures as it was a bit of a fraught brewday, but here goes anyway.
Final recipe:
Substitute Creature
Special/Best/Premium Bitter
Recipe Specs
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Batch Size (L): 25.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.264
Total Hops (g): 76.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.040 (°P): 10.0
Final Gravity (FG): 1.008 (°P): 2.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.19 %
Colour (SRM): 7.6 (EBC): 14.9
Bitterness (IBU): 34.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
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3.161 kg Maris Otter Malt (74.13%)
0.502 kg Amber Malt (11.77%)
0.350 kg Wheat Malt (8.21%)
0.251 kg Crystal 30 (5.89%)
Hop Bill
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21.0 g Nelson Sauvin Leaf (12.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)
30.0 g Cascade Leaf (7% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.2 g/L)
25.0 g Cascade Leaf (7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Aroma) (1 g/L)
Misc Bill
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Single step Infusion at 67°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 18°C with Safale S-04
Recipe Generated with BrewMate
Mash temp ended up at about 66.5 C. Problems started with a stuck mash. I have firgured out why this happened - there is a recess in the bottom of the mash tun for the tap and the edge of the domed false bottom was hanging over that, so some grains got in and blocked the tap. I ended up having to take the tap off and shove a skewer in to unclog, resulting in more wort spillage than I'd have liked.
Finished fermenting in about 5 days but stopped at 1012, so I guess I should've mashed at a lower temperature. Can anyone tell me - is this because a higher proportion of my grain bill was roasted/caramelised malts?
Early tastings were disappointing - the Amber seemed to be overpowering everything and making it just taste of mild coffee - not in a bad way but in a one-dimensional way. Now that that is mellowing out it has turned into a really lovely flavourful beer, although I see what people mean about S-04 killing hop flavour!
Anyway - pictures:
Grains weighed and ready - the lucky cat didn't turn out lucky and the grains blocked my mash tun. Shouldn't have let the cat's batteries run out!
By skittlebrau666 at 2012-05-07
The mash
By skittlebrau666 at 2012-05-07
The boil
By skittlebrau666 at 2012-05-07
Apols for the boring pictures!
