Bishops Bitter Brewday with pics

[jimp2003]

I have not brewed a bitter for a while so thought I would give some new hops a go in one today.

Here is the recipe:

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 5.250
Total Hops (g): 90.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.050 (°P): 12.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.91 %
Colour (SRM): 10.4 (EBC): 20.4
Bitterness (IBU): 31.7 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 75

Grain Bill
----------------
4.500 kg Belgian Pale Malt (Dingemans) (85.71%)
0.300 kg Biscuit (5.71%)
0.300 kg Crystal 60 (5.71%)
0.150 kg Torrified Wheat (2.86%)

Hop Bill
----------------
50.0 g Bishop (CF114) Leaf (4.5% Alpha) @ 75 Minutes (First Wort) (2.2 g/L)
30.0 g Bishop (CF114) Leaf (4.5% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (1.3 g/L)
20.0 g Bishop (CF114) Leaf (4.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (0.8 g/L)


Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 19°C with Safale S-04



The boil is on so here are the pics so far:


No pic of the grains I am afriad but here are the hops before splitting. They are very pale as you can see and typical of a lot of English hops they were full of twiggage. I rubbed some between my hands and they have a really nice spicy character and a definite sweetness - I have high hopes for these...




Mash is on. I went for 3:1 ratio of water to grain. All the water was treated with half a campden tab and CRS as per the advice from Murphys water analysis. gypsum and sodiun chloride flafes also added. There is quite a bit of space left in this 45l mash tun and I am considering downsizing...




Just under the mash temp target of 66 degrees:




Tested the mash pH and I read it at about 5.2 (I think) although I know these strips are not all that accurate...




I even remembered check conversion with an iodine test. Looks okay:




Run off underway after recirculating only about half a litre:




First runnings into the kettle onto the first wort hops. The jug is in there as the bit if pipe does not quite reach the bottom of the kettle and it helps prevent too much splashing and aids the syphon.



Here are the first (left) and second runnings samples. Overall the preboil SG was missed by 3 points but about a litre over target was collected.



We are now up to the boil:



Thats all for now folks. Gotta go and add the 15min additions....


Cheers!

[jimp2003]

Just a couple more pics:

The chill:





Running off into FV:





The brew is all tucked up in the fridge set to 19 degrees C with the S04 rehydrated before pitching. I usually just sprinkle but a dry yeast but there was such a dense thick foam on top of the wort that I did not want it just sitting on top clumping while the foam subsides.

Frustratingly I ended up with only 21l at 1.046 and am scratching my head a bit as to where things went awry.

Preboil I had about 31l at 1.041 in the kettle. Measurement was taken at 20 degrees or so and the hydrometer was checked in water at the same temp.

There is only 1.5l at most left in the kettle plus whatever the hops absorbed - What do people allow for the hops?

I think I need to recheck the settings on Brewmate...

But nevermind - it is a nice clear brew looks and smells great and should still be ok

[AnthonyD]

Looks a lovely brew. I'll be watching this one to see how those Bishop hops end up tasting.

[6470zzy]

Looks as though you had a good brew day, thanks for sharing it with the pictures

Cheers

[jimp2003]

I took a reading of his last Friday and it was down to 1.014 so sill a little high. The fermentation had died down after about three days to leave just a few bubbles in top and the sample was nice and clear. There was a fairly pronounced butterscotch aroma which I put down to a little diacetyl but the beer tasted nice enough.

Today I took a second sample and it is down to 1.011/1.012 so that is done. Should give a nice 4.5% session beer. The butterscotch aroma has gone and it just smells and tastes like a classic best bitter. Its clean, biscuity with a bit of caramel sweetness and has a really nice level of bitterness that is nice and mellow but you know its there on the aftertaste. The hops have a definite honey hint to them with mild spiciness. And the clarity just gets better - beautiful amber colour.

All in all I am really chuffed and hope that this one does not change too much when conditioning.

I will bottle it this weekend.

[seymour]

Sounds great. And biscuit malt, eh? Is that your Marble Pint and Dobber grainbill?

[jimp2003]

I haven't tried either of those beers yet so can't comment on them. I seemed to remember reading somewhere that Marble use a bit of biscuit in Dobber I think it was...

Now what you have done is made me want to seek out Marble beers in time to do a taste test against the grainbill in my bitter - Oh what a chore that is!!

[seymour]

It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it. When you do score a bottle, be sure to culture the resident yeast, too.

[jimp2003]

This beer finished at 1.010 and is very clear even after only 5 days in the bottle.

The aroma is a mix of caramel and honey which would be about right based on the crystal malt used and the description of these Bishop hops. These are also the first flavours I get before the bitterness comes in and is then replaced with a mix of breadiness and fuggle-like flavour. All-in-all I am very happy with how this has turned out and look forward to seeing how it tastes in a couple of weeks.

I think I may settle on the grainbill as my standard house bitter and experiment with different hops.

[jimp2003]

The finished article:

[faeyd]

I'd like to drink that now thanks